As promised I will continue to update my blog, now moving onto Hong Kong, it's just easier to start from here then recap more of Europe, or my long flight from London to Hong Kong.
Campus:
The CUHK campus is outside of Hong Kong and is on a mountain. Yes, a mountain, to get to class, food, the metro (MTR), I have to hike up and down a mountain, or take secret elevators or staircases in buildings up and down that take you to different parts of the mountain, or I can catch a bus that goes around campus. I have been running some around the campus and think I may die some days, but the view is absolutely amazing. I have a local roommate from Hong Kong, she's very nice and made me dinner one night, except I already had dinner plans, but she ate the food so it's all good.
Hong Kong Island:
Hong Kong is a bit crazy. Picture NYC, but with millions more people packed into a smaller space with one or two lane roadways and monstrous buildings, flashing lights, stores open all the time, and just general chaos (and weird asian food smells drifting through the streets). It's pretty ridiculous. It can be overwhelming. There are malls everywhere here and shopping is a sport. Malls are kind of expensive actually except everything is half price and always on super sale. There are 7-11s and Starbucks and McDonalds everywhere here (except you can get noodle soup with egg in McDonalds along with your big mac).
The Food:
American Chinese food is not chinese food. Chinese food can be good, but it can also be horrible...picture a whole chicken with beak still attached fried and put on your plate. Never eat chicken here, it always includes the skin, cartilage, and bone. Also stay away from whole fish or anything that says "fresh" if its meat, it means it may still be served alive. Western food is not good here, they don't know how to make it and is ridiculously expensive, imagine your outback steak costing 40 dollars. I paid 20 dollars for a chicken quesdilla at TGI Fridays with the worst tasting salsa in the world, never again. The school canteen has food really cheap, only 2 or 3 dollars for a massive plate, but then again you never know if what you get will be edible (stay away from chicken).
Nightlife:
The nightlife is amazing here, but drinks are not dirt cheap, think NYC prices for a cocktail, beer, or wine. They do have ladies nights and liquid bars which are the way to go, or standing in the street outside 7-11 drinking...that's a good way to go too. Wan Chai has ladies nights Wednesday nights, Carnegie's has a bar you can dance on but is very crowded and serves free "champagne" to all girls (really sparkling wine). Lan Kwai Fong (lfk) has ladies nights on Thursdays, one place had free cosmos for girls, and Fever had a liquid bar, 5 dollar entrance for girls, but 30 for guys, free drinks once inside though. Friday night is Club 9 night, 18 dollars for entrance and free drinks till 1:30am. Saturday night is lkf again, Oysters has LITs for 4 dollars. Volare is a really cool bar/club in lkf on the 29th floor of a building and has awesome night views of the city. Going out here is fun, but you have to take a taxi back to campus, takes about 30 min. (getting into town take the MTR takes an hour). The MTR shuts down at 12:30 am, so taxis are a must.
The Markets:
Today I went to the Ladies market in Mongkok. Markets are great as long as you aren't too shy at bargaining, you have to be firm, they are trying to rip you off. I ended up with 2 D&G purses, a Marc Jacobs clutch, new black ballet flats, and some awesome rhinestone hair clips. Yes I went a little crazy, but its fun. I just need to stop buying stuff now, or I won't be able to bring it home.
Hong Kong is a crazy place, there's always something to do. Tomorrow I'm going for a corporate visit at Ocean Park and next weekend I think I'm hitting up Macau for a weekend of gambling and partying!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
It's been awhile...but now onto ASIA!!
Sorry for the lack of posting anything about Europe, it was a bit of a whirlwind that came with a lot of ups and downs. I travelled all over the place 1. Denmark--the country I studied in...if you can call what I did studying. 2. Spain-Barcelona...probably my favorite place in Europe, absolutely amazing in every way and I will definitely be going back there and want to explore Spain more. 3. Czech Republic-Prague: wonderful city, saw the pope in his pope mobile, went to a castle, the mini-Eiffel tower, Old town square, had amazing food, and went to the opera at the National theater. 4. Hungary: Budapest--not my favorite place on earth, a poor corrupt country, probably not the best place to go when your vacationing...although the exchange rate makes it very affordable. 5. Poland: Krakow: sad I only spent a day here since it was a nice break from the overly large cities I had visited previously. Planned to go to Auschwitz and the salt mines but ended up flying home early...costly mistakes. The one downside to Poland: the only people who speak English are in their upper teens, early 20s...sucks if your in a store, asking directions, or trying to take a bus somewhere. 6. Germany: Berlin: the first study trip of the semester involving too much drinking, sleepless nights and a breakdown...maybe that's why I hated Berlin...7. Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, Siena, Perugia, and Rome: I liked some Italian cities: Venice, Siena, Rome...not crazy about Milan, Florence, or Perugia....nice cities but the first two seemed dirty and overpriced. The canals of Venice were amazing and the David at the accademia in Florence...something that has to be seen, a photograph does not do it justice. I learned that if I lived in Italy long enough that I would most definitely learn Italian. 8. France: Paris, Versailles, Epernay: I don't understand why people hate the French so much, I actually like them a lot and their cities and trains were amazing. 9. Belgium: Brussels: study trip number two was a lot more fun than Berlin despite the black mold growing on the ceiling of our hostel and the crazy hours: they kicked us out of the hostel from 10am till 2pm...horrible. The beer was great and going out almost every night and EU presentations were the norm. The last night I almost ended up having a breakdown---maybe an indication that I can only stand GLOBE students for so long and can't handle them non-stop all the time. 10. The Netherlands: Amsterdam: Long weekend following Brussels, it was fun, learned I cannot handle 420 without freaking out, so have decided not to try it again--probably the healthier alternative. 11. Sweden: Lund: visited Bjorn and his family with my brother, nice chill day, nothing incredibly exciting but hanging out with the Swede was fun and meeting his family was really nice. 12. England/Wales: Brighton, London, Shrewsbury, New Town: Saw Michael and Katie again which was wonderful. Tried crumpets and was a cold rained on tourist in London. Went to Wales for a New Years that involved me passing out at 1:30am....too much alcohol.
Sums up my adventures through Europe, 12 countries in 4.5 months not counting Iceland--saw it from the sky was in the airport 1.5 hrs or Slovakia...8 hr bus ride through the countryside, saw castles, mtns, and stopped at rest stops there.
Being abroad has really changed who I am, at home I had friends to rely on all the time and going to Copenhagen I knew really no one. I was really excited at first, but then made the mistake of not meeting people outside my program, which really ending up biting me in the butt down later. Putting random people together in a group and expecting them to get along is insane, its not going to happen, we are friends with the people we get along with normally, you can't force yourself to be friends with or like a person. I have a few friends within my program, but am really trying to be just a normal study abroad student in Hong Kong, its hard when your already labelled from the beginning but I;m optimistic that it will turn out alright, I've already met some amazing people and I'm not afraid to just start talking to a random stranger...never was really.
I think I've grown up a bit, we'll see what people think once I get back home, but I figured out what I want to do with my life and the steps necessary to achieve my career goals. Learned about relationships with friends and with guys and learned more about myself. I am not the same girl who lets people walk all over me anymore, I don't just try to blow off things that bother me, I confront people about them now---part of growing up, learning to stand up for yourself...its not meant to be mean when you confront someone its just standing up for yourself. I'm through with fake people...can't stand them actually, hate backstabbers, and people who aren't trustworthy. Learned everyone needs friends and family, they're the people who will be there for you when the world falls apart---even if you call them at a ridiculous hour from a foreign number.
The best piece of advice I can offer anyone from my experience is: Don't let others bring you down, do what makes you happy, and never let anyone stand in your way.
More to come later, promise I''ll update in Hong Kong and that some of it will be more lighthearted, those were just some tough lessons I had to learn from my European experience....but now I'm in Asia, so only Asian lessons from now on. :)
Sums up my adventures through Europe, 12 countries in 4.5 months not counting Iceland--saw it from the sky was in the airport 1.5 hrs or Slovakia...8 hr bus ride through the countryside, saw castles, mtns, and stopped at rest stops there.
Being abroad has really changed who I am, at home I had friends to rely on all the time and going to Copenhagen I knew really no one. I was really excited at first, but then made the mistake of not meeting people outside my program, which really ending up biting me in the butt down later. Putting random people together in a group and expecting them to get along is insane, its not going to happen, we are friends with the people we get along with normally, you can't force yourself to be friends with or like a person. I have a few friends within my program, but am really trying to be just a normal study abroad student in Hong Kong, its hard when your already labelled from the beginning but I;m optimistic that it will turn out alright, I've already met some amazing people and I'm not afraid to just start talking to a random stranger...never was really.
I think I've grown up a bit, we'll see what people think once I get back home, but I figured out what I want to do with my life and the steps necessary to achieve my career goals. Learned about relationships with friends and with guys and learned more about myself. I am not the same girl who lets people walk all over me anymore, I don't just try to blow off things that bother me, I confront people about them now---part of growing up, learning to stand up for yourself...its not meant to be mean when you confront someone its just standing up for yourself. I'm through with fake people...can't stand them actually, hate backstabbers, and people who aren't trustworthy. Learned everyone needs friends and family, they're the people who will be there for you when the world falls apart---even if you call them at a ridiculous hour from a foreign number.
The best piece of advice I can offer anyone from my experience is: Don't let others bring you down, do what makes you happy, and never let anyone stand in your way.
More to come later, promise I''ll update in Hong Kong and that some of it will be more lighthearted, those were just some tough lessons I had to learn from my European experience....but now I'm in Asia, so only Asian lessons from now on. :)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
"Lei solo scopa i messicani"
Some nights you know will end up being completely ridiculous even before they become that way. A few weeks ago I decided at the last minute to go out on a Tuesday. I had something to celebrate or really the lack of something to celebrate. My idea of celebrating was going out to a party and consuming half a water bottle of tequila straight. Well actually I took it straight for awhile, but then decided to chase it with water. We went to a party for this kid coming to America. I'd never been to a party at this house before and ended up being well a little overdressed, short shorts, black going out shirt...a bit much when everyone else was in jeans and Ts.
Even if I was wearing a gorilla costume I have learned to enter a room filled with confidence, enough to prove that I should be there and have no reason to feel silly. I walked in and played flip cup with my tequila and then some beer when I thought that consuming that many shots in a short span would be bad. I met a good number of people at that party, even the guy who had come to America. I also had enough to tequila to dance like an idiot a bit. My friend who was DDing suggested we go to Waffle House. I've never really been to Waffle House. I tried once on New Year's at 5 am once when I was a freshman, but there were too many people there, I felt sketched out and left. Well she was the DD so I guess I had to go along with it.
Two people from the party wanted to come, but we couldn't give them a ride since we wouldn't be coming back. They decided to follow us in another car. Probably not the best idea. The driver ended up backing up too fast and swung the truck he was driving into another car. They did not make it with us to Waffle House.
At Waffle House there were 3 guys there besides me and my 2 friends. Apparently they were talking about us in Spanish-which I don't understand beyond a few words like: "Como estas?" "Muy Bien" "Mucho Gracias" "Como te llamos" "mi llamo es.." "huevos" "caliente" and some other random kitchen words and a few cuss words. I had no idea what they were saying, but my friend had just returned from Spain (she's also been studied in Mexico) and understood exactly what they were saying. She didn't want to hear them rate our bodies and talk about what they wanted to do with us....ewww. They thought I had a boyfriend since my guy friend was sitting next to me, so I was pretty safe. My friend decided to let them know she understood them so they would shut up. She began talking to them in Spanish-well that may not have been a good idea because they wouldn't shut up and were ow talking to her. I decided to interject and make them all shut up and somehow I thought talking to them in Italian would help out the situation. It didn't. They wanted to know where I was from in Italy...haha. My Italian is terrible and it's funny that they understood it at all.
They continued their assault on my friend. One of them was Puerto Rican, the other two were El Salvadorian. One was trying to convince my friend to go with him to a salsa club later in the week. I was so annoyed by this man's intrusion on what was otherwise a delicious meal (the food was amazing...I've heard you have to be intoxicated to enjoy it though). I decided to try once again to make him leave us alone. I began speaking in Italian again and since they understood everything I said last time I thought he would continue to understand what I said. "Lei solo scopa i messicani." "Que?" "Lei solo scopa i messicani" "Que?" Okay, he didn't get it. Maybe scopare was not the same in Spanish. In my mind at the time I thought telling him she would only have sex with Mexicans would make him go away since he was not. I also for some reason could not think of the word for any other nationality at the time. Whatever. This man was not giving up. He eventually left, but him and his buddy waited in their truck outside Waffle House for us to exit. My friend told us we had to run to her car. I guess she was a bit sketched out. I mean I didn't think these guys were going to throw us in their car and drive away or anything, but it was 3 am at a Waffle House.
Even if I was wearing a gorilla costume I have learned to enter a room filled with confidence, enough to prove that I should be there and have no reason to feel silly. I walked in and played flip cup with my tequila and then some beer when I thought that consuming that many shots in a short span would be bad. I met a good number of people at that party, even the guy who had come to America. I also had enough to tequila to dance like an idiot a bit. My friend who was DDing suggested we go to Waffle House. I've never really been to Waffle House. I tried once on New Year's at 5 am once when I was a freshman, but there were too many people there, I felt sketched out and left. Well she was the DD so I guess I had to go along with it.
Two people from the party wanted to come, but we couldn't give them a ride since we wouldn't be coming back. They decided to follow us in another car. Probably not the best idea. The driver ended up backing up too fast and swung the truck he was driving into another car. They did not make it with us to Waffle House.
At Waffle House there were 3 guys there besides me and my 2 friends. Apparently they were talking about us in Spanish-which I don't understand beyond a few words like: "Como estas?" "Muy Bien" "Mucho Gracias" "Como te llamos" "mi llamo es.." "huevos" "caliente" and some other random kitchen words and a few cuss words. I had no idea what they were saying, but my friend had just returned from Spain (she's also been studied in Mexico) and understood exactly what they were saying. She didn't want to hear them rate our bodies and talk about what they wanted to do with us....ewww. They thought I had a boyfriend since my guy friend was sitting next to me, so I was pretty safe. My friend decided to let them know she understood them so they would shut up. She began talking to them in Spanish-well that may not have been a good idea because they wouldn't shut up and were ow talking to her. I decided to interject and make them all shut up and somehow I thought talking to them in Italian would help out the situation. It didn't. They wanted to know where I was from in Italy...haha. My Italian is terrible and it's funny that they understood it at all.
They continued their assault on my friend. One of them was Puerto Rican, the other two were El Salvadorian. One was trying to convince my friend to go with him to a salsa club later in the week. I was so annoyed by this man's intrusion on what was otherwise a delicious meal (the food was amazing...I've heard you have to be intoxicated to enjoy it though). I decided to try once again to make him leave us alone. I began speaking in Italian again and since they understood everything I said last time I thought he would continue to understand what I said. "Lei solo scopa i messicani." "Que?" "Lei solo scopa i messicani" "Que?" Okay, he didn't get it. Maybe scopare was not the same in Spanish. In my mind at the time I thought telling him she would only have sex with Mexicans would make him go away since he was not. I also for some reason could not think of the word for any other nationality at the time. Whatever. This man was not giving up. He eventually left, but him and his buddy waited in their truck outside Waffle House for us to exit. My friend told us we had to run to her car. I guess she was a bit sketched out. I mean I didn't think these guys were going to throw us in their car and drive away or anything, but it was 3 am at a Waffle House.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Far Rockaway
Sunday was a gorgeous day and since they had mainly gotten a lot of rain up until I visited my cousin decided we should do something outside. Her friends wanted to go boating in Central Park, so we took the subway there only to discover that it would be an hour and a half wait and she couldn't get in touch with her friends (the subway was still not fixed and it took them 2 hours to use it). She decided we should go to the beach. I was skeptical...a beach in New York-cold water, not fun. We took the long hour or more trip on the subway to Far Rockaway and yes it is far away. My cousin loved the beach despite the fact that it was deserted except for an orthodox Jewish family and a few others and it was cold with broken glass embedded in the sand. We spread out our blanket and laid down only to discover the harsh wind blowing sand in our face. We moved closer the water's edge and tried again. I laid down and wrapped myself up in a towel and dozed off in an attempt to avoid freezing. My cousin stripped down to her bikini and tried to get a tan. After awhile I was glad my cousin wanted to leave this barren beach. We packed up and headed for the subway. We decided to get off at Canal St. and made our way past the street vendors with their suitcases full of knock off purses and arms piled high with fake Rolexs. All of these measures made it easier for them to pack up and move if the police decided to come through. We made our way to Chinatown and ended up eating at a dumpling house. Then we continued to Nolita (Little Italy) and then wandered through some area (I still don't know what part of town) to a subway and went home. We tried to finish the rest of the movie...but it was no good and passed out instead.
In the morning I woke up and got ready for my second meeting, this one was at 1pm. I went downtown on the subway...no way was I walking that far in business clothes and spent most of the morning wandering around looking at different buildings, stores, etc. I got food and ate at a small park and listened to investment bankers from Credit Suisse talk about this wedding they were going to attend. I then made my way to Starbucks and met an alum who happened to be only 26 and helped me realize what I ultimately wanted to do with my life. She was extremely helpful and encouraged me to continue improving my foreign language skills. I then wandered around a bit more and took the subway back uptown and then went shopping.
I met my cousin at dinner and her friend suggested we go to a movie downtown at a small park. We went by Chelsea first in search of some brownie shop, which happened to be closed so we went to s wine store instead. They were filming something at this wine store so it was closed, but the clerk let us in as long as we left very soon. I heard the producer complaining about the customers in the store and how he wanted them out so he could film. We left, hopped on the subway and wandered through downtown looking for some mysterious park among the tall buildings. Well, you couldn't see the park from the street, it was up an escalator from the street and right next to the Hudson. We met this boy my cousin's friend had been on a date with and snuggled against the cold breeze off the Hudson and watched a Marilyn Monroe movie. at the movie's conclusion we left and fell asleep back at my cousin's.
The next morning I woke up and my eyes were red and hurt....wonderful. I had planned on going to the Met, but I didn't feel like going that far away if my eyes were going to hurt all day. I decided to stay nearby and went shopping, which was fine minus the money I spent, until I was on 5th and 52nd and it started raining and I had no umbrella. I ran into H & M, probably the cheapest store on 5th and bought an umbrella. I went outside and it had stopped raining...oh well. I headed back to my cousin's, changed for my final meeting and then headed east in search of the office. This meeting was in a very large building with a lot of security. I had to have my bag scanned through an x-ray machine and tagged, and then go to the receptionist who called the person I was supposed to be meeting, then print me off a badge, so I could have security let me through a turn still to take a particular elevator to her floor, where she had to let me in the glass door. I talked with her for a bit, learned very little and left my new umbrella in her office...waste of time.
After leaving the office I went back to my cousin's and got ready for my last NYC night. We went to this place in Nolita, Il Piccolo Bufalo, which has amazing homemade sangria, except it's 20 dollars a pitcher. We finished the pitcher and were a tad bit drunk afterward. We went to Eileen's dessert cafe for cheesecake and had the cutest little cheesecakes outside. We walked through Soho to the subway and went to Alpha, a Japanese place with amazing drinks near her place. I got an Alphatini and she got a pom martini. Both amazing. We sipped our cocktails, tipped the bartender and proceeded to go back to her place. Watched the "Good Girl"-which is incredibly demented and I could never see how anyone could do that to other people.
The next morning I had breakfast, said good-bye, and went to the New Yorker to get picked up by the shuttle. The ride to the airport was sad, but as I said good-bye to New York I kept thinking-next summer I'll be here again.
In the morning I woke up and got ready for my second meeting, this one was at 1pm. I went downtown on the subway...no way was I walking that far in business clothes and spent most of the morning wandering around looking at different buildings, stores, etc. I got food and ate at a small park and listened to investment bankers from Credit Suisse talk about this wedding they were going to attend. I then made my way to Starbucks and met an alum who happened to be only 26 and helped me realize what I ultimately wanted to do with my life. She was extremely helpful and encouraged me to continue improving my foreign language skills. I then wandered around a bit more and took the subway back uptown and then went shopping.
I met my cousin at dinner and her friend suggested we go to a movie downtown at a small park. We went by Chelsea first in search of some brownie shop, which happened to be closed so we went to s wine store instead. They were filming something at this wine store so it was closed, but the clerk let us in as long as we left very soon. I heard the producer complaining about the customers in the store and how he wanted them out so he could film. We left, hopped on the subway and wandered through downtown looking for some mysterious park among the tall buildings. Well, you couldn't see the park from the street, it was up an escalator from the street and right next to the Hudson. We met this boy my cousin's friend had been on a date with and snuggled against the cold breeze off the Hudson and watched a Marilyn Monroe movie. at the movie's conclusion we left and fell asleep back at my cousin's.
The next morning I woke up and my eyes were red and hurt....wonderful. I had planned on going to the Met, but I didn't feel like going that far away if my eyes were going to hurt all day. I decided to stay nearby and went shopping, which was fine minus the money I spent, until I was on 5th and 52nd and it started raining and I had no umbrella. I ran into H & M, probably the cheapest store on 5th and bought an umbrella. I went outside and it had stopped raining...oh well. I headed back to my cousin's, changed for my final meeting and then headed east in search of the office. This meeting was in a very large building with a lot of security. I had to have my bag scanned through an x-ray machine and tagged, and then go to the receptionist who called the person I was supposed to be meeting, then print me off a badge, so I could have security let me through a turn still to take a particular elevator to her floor, where she had to let me in the glass door. I talked with her for a bit, learned very little and left my new umbrella in her office...waste of time.
After leaving the office I went back to my cousin's and got ready for my last NYC night. We went to this place in Nolita, Il Piccolo Bufalo, which has amazing homemade sangria, except it's 20 dollars a pitcher. We finished the pitcher and were a tad bit drunk afterward. We went to Eileen's dessert cafe for cheesecake and had the cutest little cheesecakes outside. We walked through Soho to the subway and went to Alpha, a Japanese place with amazing drinks near her place. I got an Alphatini and she got a pom martini. Both amazing. We sipped our cocktails, tipped the bartender and proceeded to go back to her place. Watched the "Good Girl"-which is incredibly demented and I could never see how anyone could do that to other people.
The next morning I had breakfast, said good-bye, and went to the New Yorker to get picked up by the shuttle. The ride to the airport was sad, but as I said good-bye to New York I kept thinking-next summer I'll be here again.
NYC Continued...
On the fourth we woke up, ate lunch and set out to once again find my cousin's friend. This time he was in central park-and we wandered around for an hour or more before we found him. Then we went to the Great Lawn and laid out for most of the day. The only exciting thing that happened here was being mistaken for someone's friend Rachel and having a group of men try to talk to me as I was walking around alone. We left the park in the afternoon and walked down Broadway to times square to meet my cousin's friend's mother. She was cute little woman who decided to have us search for her (must run in the family)-she was standing near Elmo-a small person in an Elmo costume. After we met here, we went to the river (west side) and realized that the cute vendors who were there in the morning had left and now people were already camping out for fireworks. We quickly left that area and went in search of food-no one wanted to be the one to suggest a place-but my cousin's friend finally decided we were going to have pizza. We went to this place (don't know the name) and consumed chicken parmigiana pizza. We left her friend and his mother and headed back to her place. We met here already drunk friend and decided to go to Trader Joe's for some 3 buck chuck. Trader Joe's is down near 14th st, so we hopped on the subway and found out that Trader Joe's closed early on the 4th. Slightly disappointed, we went to her roof and waited for the fireworks.
After the fireworks ended-I was very glad to be on a rooftop. The masses of people leaving the river area was ridiculous. I was also very glad to not be in the subway at that moment either. Three blocks worth of people were pushing their way down into the hot, putrid depths of nyc's dirty subway system.
Soon enough I found out I would be joining their ranks. My cousin's Brooklyn friends wanted to go out in Brooklyn and wanted to leave right then. We got on the subway and I found out how the subway must be in rush hour. Crowded, unpleasantly warm, and sweaty. Once in Brooklyn I was happy to be out in the slightly cold air. We went to some bar with a cute little back deck area (which I found out are very popular in Brooklyn). Drank and watched people play ping pong while trying to guess the accents of the group of people beside us. Apparently my cousin's friend won-the people were Polish. One thing about this area of Brooklyn-known as Williamsburg-it full of hipsters. Picture guys with longish hair. Thick rimmed black glasses. Bright colored tight shirts or plaid button ups and tight skinny jeans or jords (sp?) cut-off jean shorts. Not really the kind of guy I'm attracted to-not that it really mattered I was there one week and staying in a place where only girls could go upstairs and sleeping on a cot in a room so narrow that my cot had to be beside the actual twin bed, creating one large bed. My cousin's friend was actually a lot of fun and we all went to another bar that had free cheese puffs and cozies for canned beer. I opted for a bit more expensive bottled beer and watched my cousin's friend take a "vodka cranberry goggles" picture with a hipster. She only drinks vodka cranberries and claims that she gets those goggles instead of beer goggles and now takes pictures with people whose glasses she wears in the picture. Interesting...anyway, this girl proved to be incredibly social and I loved it. I acted almost as a wing woman and chatted up these Spaniards with her (not my type they looked about 12, but claimed to be 23 yr old med students). Then while waiting for the bathroom-the man she had taken a vodka cran pic with came up and started talking to me. Long blond-haired and wearing thick rimmed black glasses-no thanks. I used the bathroom and dodged him on my way out. Luckily I could escape b/c we had to take my cousin's friend home b/c she had had a few too many vodka crans and was stumbling down the street listening to "Billie jean is not my girl" over and over again. We put her to bed and headed to the subway.
Problem-the subway was broken-the next train leaving Brooklyn would be there in 45 min.-not good. We left hailed a cab to take us to the first subway stop in Manhattan-this cost about 10 dollars with tip. Then we took the subway and headed back to her place. At one point we were on the opposite side of the street of some guys who were fighting-it was only a yelling match-no physical contact. My cousin then started to go on about how we shouldn't be on the street alone. She was scared and I wasn't. I never felt scared for one minute in NYC. I don't know if that's good or bad. Maybe I don't have a good concept of what I should be afraid of.
After the fireworks ended-I was very glad to be on a rooftop. The masses of people leaving the river area was ridiculous. I was also very glad to not be in the subway at that moment either. Three blocks worth of people were pushing their way down into the hot, putrid depths of nyc's dirty subway system.
Soon enough I found out I would be joining their ranks. My cousin's Brooklyn friends wanted to go out in Brooklyn and wanted to leave right then. We got on the subway and I found out how the subway must be in rush hour. Crowded, unpleasantly warm, and sweaty. Once in Brooklyn I was happy to be out in the slightly cold air. We went to some bar with a cute little back deck area (which I found out are very popular in Brooklyn). Drank and watched people play ping pong while trying to guess the accents of the group of people beside us. Apparently my cousin's friend won-the people were Polish. One thing about this area of Brooklyn-known as Williamsburg-it full of hipsters. Picture guys with longish hair. Thick rimmed black glasses. Bright colored tight shirts or plaid button ups and tight skinny jeans or jords (sp?) cut-off jean shorts. Not really the kind of guy I'm attracted to-not that it really mattered I was there one week and staying in a place where only girls could go upstairs and sleeping on a cot in a room so narrow that my cot had to be beside the actual twin bed, creating one large bed. My cousin's friend was actually a lot of fun and we all went to another bar that had free cheese puffs and cozies for canned beer. I opted for a bit more expensive bottled beer and watched my cousin's friend take a "vodka cranberry goggles" picture with a hipster. She only drinks vodka cranberries and claims that she gets those goggles instead of beer goggles and now takes pictures with people whose glasses she wears in the picture. Interesting...anyway, this girl proved to be incredibly social and I loved it. I acted almost as a wing woman and chatted up these Spaniards with her (not my type they looked about 12, but claimed to be 23 yr old med students). Then while waiting for the bathroom-the man she had taken a vodka cran pic with came up and started talking to me. Long blond-haired and wearing thick rimmed black glasses-no thanks. I used the bathroom and dodged him on my way out. Luckily I could escape b/c we had to take my cousin's friend home b/c she had had a few too many vodka crans and was stumbling down the street listening to "Billie jean is not my girl" over and over again. We put her to bed and headed to the subway.
Problem-the subway was broken-the next train leaving Brooklyn would be there in 45 min.-not good. We left hailed a cab to take us to the first subway stop in Manhattan-this cost about 10 dollars with tip. Then we took the subway and headed back to her place. At one point we were on the opposite side of the street of some guys who were fighting-it was only a yelling match-no physical contact. My cousin then started to go on about how we shouldn't be on the street alone. She was scared and I wasn't. I never felt scared for one minute in NYC. I don't know if that's good or bad. Maybe I don't have a good concept of what I should be afraid of.
Uptown/Downtown/Brooklyn/Far Rockaway/Williamsburg
The title says it all, but I never made it to Queens, the Bronx, and the time I spent in Brooklyn was mainly concentrated in Williamsburg and Far Rockaway. I also went on the Staten Island ferry, passing by the statue of liberty.
On Thursday I woke up with my cousin (she had to go to her internship) and I was going running. I headed out to the Hudson river (on the west) side at 34th st. and began running downtown along the river walkway park. I was amazed by how many people were rollerblading. People in NYC love rollerblading and they even have a section blocked off in central park for roller blade dancers. Anyway, my run took me downtown and because of numerous detours i actually ended up running through the streets instead of by the river. Once I reached a certain point (about 40 minutes into my run)-I decided to stop and walk (also b/c it was becoming increasingly harder to run through the construction). I walked through john st, broad st, wall st, maiden lane, etc, passing the south harbor area. I walked uptown a bit, past the stock exchange (heavily guarded-you can't even stand on the sidewalk in front of it). Past many banks and firms, large buildings, a small park with a bull hung with some pretty big ones. I walked past Ground zero and NYU before I ran back, ate a sandwich I made at breakfast, showered, and got dressed for my first meeting (I had 3 meetings while in NYC with alumni at different corporations-I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life). Meeting number one went well, she showed me the office and what she did and afterward told me to let her know if I wanted a paid internship there next summer (of course I do-we'll see how it plays out later).
Once I arrived back at my cousin's I changed and ran to Bryant Park for yoga-which once I got there and met my cousin I realized had been cancelled because of rain-it wasn't raining then, but it had been. We decided instead to go back and eat at her place and find something to do that night. We decided to head uptown to go to bars-maybe meet a few cute guys from Columbia. Uptown we went to two bars- one with specials on domestic pitchers and another that we stayed at maybe 5 minutes because it was so narrow and crowded it wasn't worth it. We only made it that far b/c my cousin's friend wanted to head home-but after running 72 minutes and walking for hours I was really beat anyway.
Friday we woke up, ate breakfast, and then laid out on the roof. My cousin's friend was coming from out of town and we were going to be hanging out with him later in the day. Well, he somehow got off the bus he took from Vermont and decided to cross a bridge called the Manhattan bridge-for some reason he thought this took him to Manhattan-but he had already been in Manhattan so this bridge actually took him to Brooklyn. Our job was to find this friend who was horribly lost. We took the subway to Brooklyn and got off, told him to meet us at the Brooklyn Bridge and thought that he would soon arrive. A half hour later and still no friend, we began to search for him and found a really cute area DUMBO and with a huge bar (which we used the bathroom in). Finally her friend called to inform us that he was on the Brooklyn bridge and we raced to meet him there. We met him in the middle-how romantic-and crossed into Manhattan. We decided to walk downtown and take the Staten Island ferry by the Statue. After this we took the subway to central park and wandered around the park for a while. Then headed to my cousin's place ate dinner and then went back to her room and passed out (napped for a few hours).
That night we went out to Brooklyn with the intention of meeting up with my cousin's Brooklyn friends. We encountered one problem-my cousin's friend forgot his ID all he had was a student ID. Most bars won't take a student ID-it doesn't have a birth date, but we found one hole in the wall bar that did not care at all. So we chilled out, drank, and then left early again-probably around 2am-bars are open till 4.
On Thursday I woke up with my cousin (she had to go to her internship) and I was going running. I headed out to the Hudson river (on the west) side at 34th st. and began running downtown along the river walkway park. I was amazed by how many people were rollerblading. People in NYC love rollerblading and they even have a section blocked off in central park for roller blade dancers. Anyway, my run took me downtown and because of numerous detours i actually ended up running through the streets instead of by the river. Once I reached a certain point (about 40 minutes into my run)-I decided to stop and walk (also b/c it was becoming increasingly harder to run through the construction). I walked through john st, broad st, wall st, maiden lane, etc, passing the south harbor area. I walked uptown a bit, past the stock exchange (heavily guarded-you can't even stand on the sidewalk in front of it). Past many banks and firms, large buildings, a small park with a bull hung with some pretty big ones. I walked past Ground zero and NYU before I ran back, ate a sandwich I made at breakfast, showered, and got dressed for my first meeting (I had 3 meetings while in NYC with alumni at different corporations-I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life). Meeting number one went well, she showed me the office and what she did and afterward told me to let her know if I wanted a paid internship there next summer (of course I do-we'll see how it plays out later).
Once I arrived back at my cousin's I changed and ran to Bryant Park for yoga-which once I got there and met my cousin I realized had been cancelled because of rain-it wasn't raining then, but it had been. We decided instead to go back and eat at her place and find something to do that night. We decided to head uptown to go to bars-maybe meet a few cute guys from Columbia. Uptown we went to two bars- one with specials on domestic pitchers and another that we stayed at maybe 5 minutes because it was so narrow and crowded it wasn't worth it. We only made it that far b/c my cousin's friend wanted to head home-but after running 72 minutes and walking for hours I was really beat anyway.
Friday we woke up, ate breakfast, and then laid out on the roof. My cousin's friend was coming from out of town and we were going to be hanging out with him later in the day. Well, he somehow got off the bus he took from Vermont and decided to cross a bridge called the Manhattan bridge-for some reason he thought this took him to Manhattan-but he had already been in Manhattan so this bridge actually took him to Brooklyn. Our job was to find this friend who was horribly lost. We took the subway to Brooklyn and got off, told him to meet us at the Brooklyn Bridge and thought that he would soon arrive. A half hour later and still no friend, we began to search for him and found a really cute area DUMBO and with a huge bar (which we used the bathroom in). Finally her friend called to inform us that he was on the Brooklyn bridge and we raced to meet him there. We met him in the middle-how romantic-and crossed into Manhattan. We decided to walk downtown and take the Staten Island ferry by the Statue. After this we took the subway to central park and wandered around the park for a while. Then headed to my cousin's place ate dinner and then went back to her room and passed out (napped for a few hours).
That night we went out to Brooklyn with the intention of meeting up with my cousin's Brooklyn friends. We encountered one problem-my cousin's friend forgot his ID all he had was a student ID. Most bars won't take a student ID-it doesn't have a birth date, but we found one hole in the wall bar that did not care at all. So we chilled out, drank, and then left early again-probably around 2am-bars are open till 4.
Day one: NYC
I should mention that I've never been on an airplane. Or for that matter out of the southeast. I mean I've been to DC (farthest north), Florida (furthest south), and Louisiana (furthest west), but otherwise I have not seen much of the world. My dad thought that I was completely stupid, demented, and crazy to go to NYC and stay with my cousin while she had an internship and I would be alone to wander the streets for a few days. I am too headstrong to listen to people who tell me I can't do something (and normally telling me to do something produces the opposite result).
My first experience in an airplane was not as bad or scary as I thought it was going to be. I thought security would take 2 hours to get through...well I got through everything in 18 minutes and was sitting at my gate planning on waiting 2 hours for my flight (oh well time to catch up on reading). The flight was on a tiny commuter plane (which I was not expecting). I was getting nervous during take-off and began taking deep breaths to calm down. A few minutes later after we leveled off and didn't experience turbulence at that point I realized that I liked flying. Except I didn't like the even no turbulence smooth sailing, I liked take-off, landing, and the dips (kind of like a roller coaster ride). I also realized that I didn't want the plane to experience turbulence because even though it was the most fun thing that happens in an airplane (because I really don't see myself joining the mile high club-small bathrooms...come on). Because the plane is so high up and not attached to a track, like a roller coaster, it could fall out of the sky and I would die in a fiery crash-lovely thoughts, but you never know.
The plane landed in La Guardia, no problems, and I collected my bags and caught a shuttle heading for the New Yorker (even though I wasn't staying there and had to walk a block and a half). One note about NYC taxis-they are crazy. I mean it doesn't bother me that much as long as I never have to drive in New York. If I move there I will not own a car-because it's pretty pointless anyway and I will not drive. The roadways were so crowded and so much honking happened everywhere, but it didn't bother me much. There were many signs around in certain areas that threatened a 350 dollar fine if the vehicle owner honked (I guess it helps noise pollution, but what about if someone is about to hit you?). I got out of the shuttle and dragged my bags down the few blocks, checked into my cousin's room and unpacked my stuff. Her room faced the street and didn't have AC, just a small fan. I hadn't had any lunch, but didn't really feel like trying to find food. I ate a cookie out of the bunch I brought her and headed out the door. I was going to explore.
I thought New Yorkers were going to be mean, rude, and not even look at me (this was all advice my dad had imparted with me before I embarked). Well I hadn't been on the street 3 minutes when this business man approached me while I was on the phone and said "Excuse me, I just wanted to let you know your tag is hanging out the back." This was actually going to be the first of many stereotypes I let go of. I wandered all the way to central park and spent the better part of the day wondering around the park, reading, etc. I found the zoo, big rocks, a playground, meadows, and wandered all the way to the east side of the park and made my way back to one trump tower near the entrance on 7th or 8th (I can't remember). I went into the Time Warner center and grabbed a sandwich from Dean and Deluca while eavesdropping on the guy next to me who did something in theater because he was going on about the script he was working with currently.
After the overpriced sammie (8 dollars for something that hard and stale), I headed back to my cousin's place (until she called me and directed me to Bryant Park for jazz in the park). I ended up walking down broadway on my way back, walking through times square and the theater district with crowds of tourists. I learned to spot a tourist and vowed not to look too much like one, because trying to navigate through crowds of tourists was not fun. Tourists stare at the building tops, wait for the little man before crossing the street and walk very slowly while blocking the entire sidewalk. (The best way to navigate your way through the sidewalks in NYC is to walk at a pretty good pace-unless your wearing killer heels, but you will probably wear flip-flops and carry your heels with you if you have to go far. Also don't stop on the sidewalk, or look at the tops of the buildings or around too much in general (its ok to look around a bit, as long as you can keep walking)-just don't stop moving because people will run into you and you will have ruined the perfect rhythm of walking the street. As for crossing the street, most streets are one way, so if the little man is not present and the stop hand is not flashing, you can still cross the street, just check to see if anyone is coming and then cross. If you hear something honking at you though, then pick up the pace and get out of the middle of the street.)
Walking through Times Square I was harassed by a short man who claimed to want my autograph. I said no and kept moving. This guy could only have wanted it for three reasons: 1. he was going to use my signature to try to sign me up for something/steal my identity, or something along those lines. 2. he mistook me for someone famous. or 3. maybe he was trying to flatter me for some reason. I believe 1 or 3 are more likely since I don't really resemble anyone (I once had someone tell me I looked like Cate Blanchett, but I don't see it).
I found my way to the garment district and spent some time walking around before I headed for Bryant Park and found a spot near the jazz performance and sat back waiting for my cousin to get off work. By the time she got off the music was basically over (which was really good and relaxing) and we had to practically run to make dinner at the place she was staying (her meals were included in her rent-breakfast and dinner)-I had to pay for dinner, breakfast was free though. At 6 dollars for a buffet style meal I didn't think it was too bad-b/c all food in NYC is expensive and as previously stated my stale sammie was 8 dollars. After dinner we grabbed a bottle of sav blanc from the wine store down the street, relaxed on the roof, watched part of a movie (A Good Year is terrible btw-very boring, don't do it to yourself), and then passed out in the uncomfortable heat that was a combination of her un-air conditioned room and a few glasses of wine. I drifted off listening to the sounds of traffic outside her window that would range from quiet rumble to full on bouts of honking and sirens.
My first experience in an airplane was not as bad or scary as I thought it was going to be. I thought security would take 2 hours to get through...well I got through everything in 18 minutes and was sitting at my gate planning on waiting 2 hours for my flight (oh well time to catch up on reading). The flight was on a tiny commuter plane (which I was not expecting). I was getting nervous during take-off and began taking deep breaths to calm down. A few minutes later after we leveled off and didn't experience turbulence at that point I realized that I liked flying. Except I didn't like the even no turbulence smooth sailing, I liked take-off, landing, and the dips (kind of like a roller coaster ride). I also realized that I didn't want the plane to experience turbulence because even though it was the most fun thing that happens in an airplane (because I really don't see myself joining the mile high club-small bathrooms...come on). Because the plane is so high up and not attached to a track, like a roller coaster, it could fall out of the sky and I would die in a fiery crash-lovely thoughts, but you never know.
The plane landed in La Guardia, no problems, and I collected my bags and caught a shuttle heading for the New Yorker (even though I wasn't staying there and had to walk a block and a half). One note about NYC taxis-they are crazy. I mean it doesn't bother me that much as long as I never have to drive in New York. If I move there I will not own a car-because it's pretty pointless anyway and I will not drive. The roadways were so crowded and so much honking happened everywhere, but it didn't bother me much. There were many signs around in certain areas that threatened a 350 dollar fine if the vehicle owner honked (I guess it helps noise pollution, but what about if someone is about to hit you?). I got out of the shuttle and dragged my bags down the few blocks, checked into my cousin's room and unpacked my stuff. Her room faced the street and didn't have AC, just a small fan. I hadn't had any lunch, but didn't really feel like trying to find food. I ate a cookie out of the bunch I brought her and headed out the door. I was going to explore.
I thought New Yorkers were going to be mean, rude, and not even look at me (this was all advice my dad had imparted with me before I embarked). Well I hadn't been on the street 3 minutes when this business man approached me while I was on the phone and said "Excuse me, I just wanted to let you know your tag is hanging out the back." This was actually going to be the first of many stereotypes I let go of. I wandered all the way to central park and spent the better part of the day wondering around the park, reading, etc. I found the zoo, big rocks, a playground, meadows, and wandered all the way to the east side of the park and made my way back to one trump tower near the entrance on 7th or 8th (I can't remember). I went into the Time Warner center and grabbed a sandwich from Dean and Deluca while eavesdropping on the guy next to me who did something in theater because he was going on about the script he was working with currently.
After the overpriced sammie (8 dollars for something that hard and stale), I headed back to my cousin's place (until she called me and directed me to Bryant Park for jazz in the park). I ended up walking down broadway on my way back, walking through times square and the theater district with crowds of tourists. I learned to spot a tourist and vowed not to look too much like one, because trying to navigate through crowds of tourists was not fun. Tourists stare at the building tops, wait for the little man before crossing the street and walk very slowly while blocking the entire sidewalk. (The best way to navigate your way through the sidewalks in NYC is to walk at a pretty good pace-unless your wearing killer heels, but you will probably wear flip-flops and carry your heels with you if you have to go far. Also don't stop on the sidewalk, or look at the tops of the buildings or around too much in general (its ok to look around a bit, as long as you can keep walking)-just don't stop moving because people will run into you and you will have ruined the perfect rhythm of walking the street. As for crossing the street, most streets are one way, so if the little man is not present and the stop hand is not flashing, you can still cross the street, just check to see if anyone is coming and then cross. If you hear something honking at you though, then pick up the pace and get out of the middle of the street.)
Walking through Times Square I was harassed by a short man who claimed to want my autograph. I said no and kept moving. This guy could only have wanted it for three reasons: 1. he was going to use my signature to try to sign me up for something/steal my identity, or something along those lines. 2. he mistook me for someone famous. or 3. maybe he was trying to flatter me for some reason. I believe 1 or 3 are more likely since I don't really resemble anyone (I once had someone tell me I looked like Cate Blanchett, but I don't see it).
I found my way to the garment district and spent some time walking around before I headed for Bryant Park and found a spot near the jazz performance and sat back waiting for my cousin to get off work. By the time she got off the music was basically over (which was really good and relaxing) and we had to practically run to make dinner at the place she was staying (her meals were included in her rent-breakfast and dinner)-I had to pay for dinner, breakfast was free though. At 6 dollars for a buffet style meal I didn't think it was too bad-b/c all food in NYC is expensive and as previously stated my stale sammie was 8 dollars. After dinner we grabbed a bottle of sav blanc from the wine store down the street, relaxed on the roof, watched part of a movie (A Good Year is terrible btw-very boring, don't do it to yourself), and then passed out in the uncomfortable heat that was a combination of her un-air conditioned room and a few glasses of wine. I drifted off listening to the sounds of traffic outside her window that would range from quiet rumble to full on bouts of honking and sirens.
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