New York City: Love it or hate it?

Nakedness is in at Times Square

We were conned into paying Spiderman $20 on our first night in New York. He who requested to take a photo with us AND THEN asked us to give him tips. Seriously!

Well the incident didn't leave a bad impression on us... it's only realistic to assume that tourists are the easiest prey, New York City or elsewhere. Back at Time Square, I was excited by the dazzling lights because it's been such a long time since I'm out in a city. A REAL city!!!

It's the second time I visited NYC. The first was with my parents in 2000, a year before 911. The 911 memorial site brought back memories of Sis and I, taking a photo at a photo booth atop one of the twin towers, and of us standing at the plaza between the towers. I still recalled the sculpture where we took a photo. Everything was gone a year later. The twin reflecting pools are painful reminders of what once stood, and how we take peace for granted everyday.



The Statue of Liberty. How would you define freedom?

Since I've been to most places and Panda was super laid back, we didn't do the overpriced tourist tours. We opted for the free Staten Island Ferry ride to see the Status of Liberty (Thanks Sixian for the tip!), and took 10 albums worth of photos outside significant buildings like Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden (not interesting since I'm not a basketball fan. Haha!), Rockefeller Center and Grand Central Terminal.

I really wanted to check out the American Museum of Natural History because I love Night at the Museum! (Where's my gum gum dum dum. Heh!) But we didn't have time so I settled for Roosevelt and the dinosaur bones at the main lobby.

I also like to cover local places when I travel so I was thrilled to visit Little Italy and Chinatown. We had a fabulous dinner with Panda's boss at Little Italy. Sixian also brought us to Nom Wah, the first dim sum parlour in NYC, to have brunch. Panda had his first proper haircut for $8 too!

For all the fun I've had in NYC, my feelings towards the city is still... undecided. You know when you see a pretty boy, and even after interacting with him, you feel that he is too easy, too suave to be trusted?

It may seem a little judgemental. But well, that's NYC to me.