Monday, September 11, 2006
Monday, September 04, 2006
New York - Day 1
It's Labor Day. For most people that means a three day weekend and a chance to sleep in late on a Monday...and perhaps start up the grill for some good eats for lunch or dinner. For me, however, it turned out to be an extremely early start since I was up at 5 AM to catch a flight to NY. I tried to change my flight to an afternoon flight but the Airline Nazis wanted to charge me $800 for the change. Given that the ticket was about $200 to begin with, I consider that robbery. On the bright side, that meant no lines at the security check point, or traffic from LaGuardia to midtown Manhattan.
Since this is my first time in NYC, I didn't know quite what to expect. I've only seen NYC through the eyes of Hollywood film makers but knowing how they like to exaggerate and how full of shit they are sometimes, I didn't really take any of it into consideration.
Surprisingly, I felt quite at home. It felt a lot like walking the streets of Seoul, Korea with all the walking, a whiff of rotting garbage here, and a whiff of serious body odor there. Furthermore, you see a lot of people who dress like clowns and think they're starting the new "thing" in fashion when they look so freakin' retarded. It reminded me of the time I was walking in Seoul and saw a kid with corn rows...have you ever seen an Asian kid with corn rows? It looks freakin' retarded. Nevertheless, it was quite a charming experience and surprisingly, I felt nostalgia for Seoul.
I walked most of midtown down 7th avenue and Broadway just seeing all of the little shops and businesses, including some nomadic ones selling designer bags and beautiful watches. Tempting... Then I decided to get acquainted with the subway system and took a ride down to Wall St. where I enjoyed lunch from a hot dog vendor, looking at where the World Trade Center used to be, and fighting off the diseased, bold pigeons (I'm used to birds being scared of humans but these pigeons have balls. At one point, I waved my hand to scare one off and actually hit the little fucker and it just sat there and looked at me with a "What the fuck was that for?" expression. I didn't want it to call its fellow clan members and attack me so I gave him/her a piece of bread. Then all hell broke loose because all the other nasty ass pigeons came flying in so I had to get the hell out of there. I probably looked really ridiculous but it was fun. I wonder if I need any vaccination…) Then it was back to the hotel to do some work for a couple of hours and after that, I headed north to check out Central Park after dinner. Aside from the smell of horse shit once in a while, it was a pleasant walk. It was definitely cool to be able to go from skyscrapers to a wooded setting in a couple of minutes...almost like warping to a different state.
Since this is my first time in NYC, I didn't know quite what to expect. I've only seen NYC through the eyes of Hollywood film makers but knowing how they like to exaggerate and how full of shit they are sometimes, I didn't really take any of it into consideration.
Surprisingly, I felt quite at home. It felt a lot like walking the streets of Seoul, Korea with all the walking, a whiff of rotting garbage here, and a whiff of serious body odor there. Furthermore, you see a lot of people who dress like clowns and think they're starting the new "thing" in fashion when they look so freakin' retarded. It reminded me of the time I was walking in Seoul and saw a kid with corn rows...have you ever seen an Asian kid with corn rows? It looks freakin' retarded. Nevertheless, it was quite a charming experience and surprisingly, I felt nostalgia for Seoul.
I walked most of midtown down 7th avenue and Broadway just seeing all of the little shops and businesses, including some nomadic ones selling designer bags and beautiful watches. Tempting... Then I decided to get acquainted with the subway system and took a ride down to Wall St. where I enjoyed lunch from a hot dog vendor, looking at where the World Trade Center used to be, and fighting off the diseased, bold pigeons (I'm used to birds being scared of humans but these pigeons have balls. At one point, I waved my hand to scare one off and actually hit the little fucker and it just sat there and looked at me with a "What the fuck was that for?" expression. I didn't want it to call its fellow clan members and attack me so I gave him/her a piece of bread. Then all hell broke loose because all the other nasty ass pigeons came flying in so I had to get the hell out of there. I probably looked really ridiculous but it was fun. I wonder if I need any vaccination…) Then it was back to the hotel to do some work for a couple of hours and after that, I headed north to check out Central Park after dinner. Aside from the smell of horse shit once in a while, it was a pleasant walk. It was definitely cool to be able to go from skyscrapers to a wooded setting in a couple of minutes...almost like warping to a different state.
The following are some thoughts I had during my walks today:
- Wow that woman must be anorexic.
- Look, there's another one.
- I think that one's bulimic.
- There's a lot of Asians here...and I'm not even in Chinatown. Definitely a different scenery from all the rednecks that I'm used to.
- No sweet tea?!? Get the fuck outta here...
- What the hell is that smell? Did I piss myself?
- That dude needs a shower....BAD.
- Oh...she's kind of cute. OH MY GOD, it's a DUDE. Happy thoughts...happy thoughts...bunnies, pumpkin pie, puppies... I need to go take a shower.
- There's a lot more smokers than I expected. I should buy a pack. $8 for a pack? WTF?
- [While waiting for a train]I wonder if that guy is just sleeping or if he's dead. I should poke him and find out.
On another note, I actually got 4 requests to take a picture and one couple actually asked me for directions. I'm not sure if that means I look like a local but I definitely had no problem fitting in. Like I mentioned before, it felt like home.
Tomorrow is the start of the main reason I'm here. Work. I'm not sure if I'll have much time to explore NY as much as I did today but I'm sure I'll experience a whole lot of cool things in the next 5 months. I just need to watch how much I drink here so I don't end up with a tranny.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
