Going to New York was always a destination I wanted, but never though I would actually go to. I had seen it, like all of us I bet, in so many movies and TV series so I could always picture myself walking down the streets that Miranda Hobbes did. But long and behold and in a mist of disbelief, but also a recent rain, I had arrived to the city that never sleeps.
Well to be completely fair, we neither arrived nor stayed in New York, but a bus ride away in New Jersey. New York seemed to be too expensive to find a decent place to stay in and since we could easily be in Manhattan with a bus we decided to stay there. Our first stop was a supermarket. One of my favourite activities when visiting a new country is to visit their markets and see what weird or different I can find. Given that, this was the USA and most of their products are well advertised, I had a lot in my list I wanted to try, like lucky Charms cereal and weird flavors of OREO. After a senior discount which my dad liked, cause he didn’t understand they thought he was over 60 and an overload of sugar, we headed for the city.
The bus ride was not without incident, since the driver was only accepting exact amount, which we did not have. Thankfully, my mom, opposite to me who would have just paid more, asked for change from another bus rider (is that what they are called?). After arriving at Port Authority, nearly avoiding being scammed by a fella, that was trying to be too helpful in the ticket machines to obvious tourists and a magnificent glimpse of the New York Times building, we have arrived. Where exactly, the question might be. But of course in Times Square. Every guide I read was talking about what a tourist trap it was and how it was not worth visiting, but I am either a tourist enjoyed being trapped or it was actually worth seeing. I could just stay there looking at their big billboard ads for days, which says a lot when I am always skipping YouTube 30 second ads.
New York was in general a treat. Walking around in the city, you have the feeling that you are smothered by the tall buildings all around you, with just a small line of blue sky to help the light break in. Doesn’t sound too pleasant, but for anyone liking fast paced streets, city sounds and skyscrapers, like me you are going to love it. You might not love however the Museum of Natural History, cause instead of getting a T Rex night in the museum type setting, you will just get less interesting bones. In Central Park you will hopefully not find bones, but it will be fun for a nice walk. 5th Avenue is also good for window shopping, cause clearly actual shopping would not be an accessible idea for most. As for the Top of the Rock in the Rockefeller Center, which I kept pronouncing wrong, it is just a top of a tall building, you have been to one you have been to most. Junior’s Cheesecake however, was not one of many, as it was the richest cheesecake I have ever had and as an avid cheesecake lover, I have eaten many. I couldn’t finish it thought as the portion was just too big and too sweet for me, which seemed to be a pattern for my whole stay there.
The next day was full of the classic touristy things, that most guides will suggest you not to do, but as a well known anarchist I will be going against them and tell you to do them, cause they were actually fun, if not a tad overpriced. Overpriced seemed to be a general state in New York, however, anyway. So first double deck bus, with a ride in all New York’s famous sights. It is an easy way, despite the traffic, to move around and see most things, even if it is in a hurry. It is also a great way to take pictures of the skyline above you. Then Ground Zero. The water construction was really bringing a serenity to a sight with such tragedy, while the museum itself except for giving a great sense of how things where, was also a very sobering experience. Close to that was Wall Street, which are a bunch of buildings, I guess, with a bull statue which people, for some reason, have the patience to line up for a picture. It is a bull statue, why even bother waste your time? Our most touristy moment however probably was Madame Tussaud’s. Since we had one of these tourist cards, the ticket was included and it was generally a fun experience. I would probably not suggest paying full ticket though. Finally we rode in these buses that have their one side completely covered with windows so you sit and watch the city like a moving theater audience. I had not seen that before and it was fun, although the comedy of the bus presenters was pretty questionable, ranging from audience targeted jokes to «spontaneous» street performances.
Helicopter riding seem to be getting more and more popular as there are many companies offering this service. Although expensive we decided to get into one. I mean if there is any city appropriate for helicopter rides, then it is New York, since the Manhattan skyline is simply one of the best. The ride was fun, although I was expecting it to be more thrilling. Since we got our ride in New Jersey, we decided to get the ferry for Ellis Island from there as well, which was a smart choice since it is much less crowded than the one from New York. Ellis Island, like Ground Zero was very emotional with the stories of the immigrants in every room, even for people like me who never had a personal family story related to it. Then Statue of Liberty, Little Italy, Chinatown and Empire State Building, with so many things already written about them, that I will just be repeating someone (like there were not for Times Square). I want to mention my first edible cookie dough experience in Do thought. Eating anything else other than ice cream in a cone seems wrong, but the flavor was actually great if not a little too sweet
MOMA or the Museum of Modern Art. Modern art museums are generally a gamble. You never know what you are going to get. You might get a new view of art or just a line on a blue background which someone deemed magnificent. MOMA had both. It had the starry night which was the painting I wanted to see most in my life but it also had a bunch of nonsense. The good probably over-shined the bad however. That Sunday there was also a flee market in the middle of Manhattan as well, with many things and food and most importantly funky socks. Seeing the streets that are usually full of cars, being full of people was definitely interesting. Brooklyn and its bridge was also interesting. It felt more calm and down to earth, like the place you can make all your avocado and quinoa dreams come true. What I did not expect was to find The Grand Central station interesting, however. I mean it is just a station, but its busy atmosphere and beautiful decoration changed my mind. Lastly I wanted to mention the National Geographic Encounter, which is an above water underwater experience with great employees who don’t seem to enjoy their work. Of course lastly what everybody is waiting for, Shake Shack. Well , except for having the pleasure of dipping fries in milkshakes, it was another burger place – please don’t kill me.
Before closing this lengthy article I wanted to give a few random thoughts. First going on Halloween was great as I got to see many spoooky decorations. Secondly, as said American portions and sugar content is too much for one person to eat alone. Maybe that why it is so expensive because it is meant to be split. Bathrooms are weird as you can clearly see in it with the huge gap in the bottom. October seems to be the perfect time to go as the weather was good and the crowds to the minimum ( at least for New York). Lastly people were helpful but not always the most polite, but I guess when you leave somewhere flooded by tourists, stress and high rents all the times it is to be expected.
New York was always a dream of mine, but after going there I can say that I liked other cities better. Of course seeing all the famous landmarks and places is always a great experience and I would love to be back. Now that I am writing this article the city is hit particularly bad by the COVID 19 pandemic, but hopefully it will rise above it like it has in other instances in the past and its streets will yet again be suffocated by people, cars and tourists
The Indonesian Chronicles 