Day 3
[caption id="attachment_1940" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Me @ Times Square"]
[/caption]IT IS NEW YORK BABY! I have always wanted to come to New York cos I think this is one of the coolest cities in the world. It is just cool to me.
My first impression of New York is that the Americans are really proud of their country. They are so patriotic that you can find American flags everywhere in the city.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Excited first-timers to New York! "]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1941" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="(From left to right) Julin, Lay Hui, Joan, Bee Peng, Chai Yean, Irene (Me), Tina, Yiiyin and Kent (the guy in the middle)"]
[/caption]There are some new faces in the group who have joined us from Frankfurt to New York flight. This is our first time to New York and our first stop was Times Square! One of the places when I think of New York is Times Square! I just have this impression that Times Square is a very happening place and true enough, it is.
[caption id="attachment_1942" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="(From left to right) Yiiyin, Julin, Irene (Me), Bee Peng, Chai Yean, Joan, Lay Hui, Tina and Kent"]
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The school buses are all in yellow color and it reminds me of the cartoon Magic School Bus in my childhood time.
We took the metro to Soho. According to Yiiyin's friend who is studying in New York, Soho is a pretty good place to shop for US brands.
[caption id="attachment_1952" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Soho!"]
[/caption]We did some shopping in Soho before going back to see the neon lights of Times Square at night.
[caption id="attachment_1945" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Times Square at night!"]
[/caption]Please don't ask me why we kept doing this "extending our hands out" pose. Lol! New York has one of the best neon signs I have seen so far.
We passed by this building as we were walking back to our hotel. It looks pretty interesting with the foggy background.
- End of Day 3 -
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Day 4
We started our day early with breakfast at Mcdonald's. This breakfast is the best meal I had in New York. Eating out in New York is a nightmare for me cos most of the food are junk food and it tastes very salty.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Spamming photos on metro again!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1954" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Our tickets to Statue of Liberty!"]
[/caption]Our first stop for the day was Statue of Liberty! How can you miss seeing the American icon Statue of Liberty when you are in New York!
[caption id="attachment_1959" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="At the ferry port!"]
[/caption]The Statue of Liberty is located on the Liberty Island and a way to reach Statue of Liberty is to take a 10 minutes ferry from the ferry port in Battery Park.
[caption id="attachment_1963" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Spamming photos on the ferry!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1965" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="All the girls!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1978" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Statue of Liberty!"]
[/caption]The Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from France and symbolizes a beautiful representation of freedom.
These photos are taken in two different occasions with the Statue of Liberty clone on my holiday trips to Taipei.
And hey, who knows I can see the real Statue of Liberty in New York a few years later? Sometimes, we may expect the unexpected twists and turns in life. I really feel blessed that I am able to do what I want and having fun traveling around the world at my age.
[caption id="attachment_1966" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="All the girls again!"]
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Must take a jump shoot with one of the iconic landmarks in the world!
I like this photo! Nice jump! Nice timing!
Our second stop was 9/11 Memorial. I guess everyone of us will remember that over ten years ago on September 11 2001, the hijackers from the terrorism group Al-Qaeda crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3000 people. Both towers collapsed within two hours and some of us may still have vivid memories of people jumping out of the buildings to escape the flames.
The 9/11 Memorial is a national tribute of remembrance and honor to the people who are killed in the terror attacks of 9/11. The Memorial was officially opened on September 12 2011 to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks.
This is one of the Memorial's twin reflecting pools and it is the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. The pools sit within where the Twin Towers once stood and the names of every person who died in the attacks are inscribed on the panels.
[caption id="attachment_1981" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="One World Trade Center"]
[/caption]The One World Trade Center is being constructed in an effort to memorialize and rebuild after the original World Trade Center that was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.
[caption id="attachment_1982" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Survivor Tree"]
[/caption]This is named the Survivor Tree in the 9/11 Memorial. It is a pear tree that miraculously survived the 9/11 attack and it is a testament to New York's "ability to endure" and "unshakeable belief" in a brighter future.
[caption id="attachment_1983" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Charging Bull"]
[/caption]Our third stop was Wall Street and we saw the Charging Bull which is also referred to as the Wall Street Bull. It is a "Wall Street icon" symbolizing Wall street and the Financial District and some say that you have the nose, horn and testicles of the bull for good luck.
We got hungry so we take away the chicken rice from one of the street vendors. It is the cheapest meal I had in New York but still, it is too salty for my likings. American food is really salty and the salt is like machiam free.
Our fourth stop was the Brooklyn Bridge, another iconic landmark in New York.
[caption id="attachment_1987" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="New York Skyline"]
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We then went to Times Square for more shopping before going back to the hotel. :)
- End of Day 4 -
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Day 5
[caption id="attachment_1988" align="alignnone" width="584" caption="Disappointing breakfast"]
[/caption]I met up with the girls to have American breakfast. I was hoping to have a good meal since the restaurant was recommended by the hotel's concierge. I guess you can see how unappetizing the breakfast was. Pancakes were burnt and the scrambled eggs did not look and taste like scrambled eggs at all.
After the breakfast, I did not join the girls out and continued with my rest instead cos I was feeling really fatigued with the madness walking and time difference. My conclusion is that I will never be able to survive more than a week in New York. Food is very important to me and I really do not like junk and salty food. The lack of greenery and high-rise buildings built in such cramped conditions made me felt very suffocated and stressed. Nevertheless, it is still an exciting and cool experience for me to visit New York. :)
Stay tuned for the next post back to Frankfurt! If you have previous posts, you can click on the following links - Day 1 (Frankfurt) and Day 2 (Heidelberg).
