New York Nov2010: Day 1

November 2010 is memorable for me because I got to see the 'city that never sleeps' for the first time.  Hello, New York!

I was hosted by good friend Joel (Thanks, Joel!), and he toured me around all the must-see places in NY.  It's always good to have a local guide.  I saw a little bit of everything in the short but jampacked 2 days I spent there.

I arrived evening of November 19, Friday.  I flew in from Atlanta, after the week-long business trip.  Joel picked me up at JFK and right off the bat, I had a quintessential NY experience - the subway.=)  Joel's apartment is actually in Newark, New Jersey so we had to change trains a few times, then walked ~15 minutes to his apartment.  It was cooold!

November 20, 2010.  We left the apartment past 9AM, walked to the station in NJ and spent some time exploring the area along the Hudson River before catching the train to NY.  We got off at the station close to Ground Zero and had hotdogs for breakfast from one of the stands in a nearby park.


Then we explored the nearby areas -- Wall Street, St. Patrick's Cathedral, NY Stock Exchange, the NYSE bull, and the Trump building.


We took the train to Verdi Park, to do the You've Got Mail sites tour.  We walked in the direction of The Shop Around the Corner but eventually decided against it (long walk, still no shop in sight) so we walked back and got hotdogs at Gray's Papaya for lunch.


At this point, we were just feeling where we wanted to go.  Joel suggested Columbia University so we hopped on another train to get there.  Ah, institutions of higher learning hold a special place in my heart.  I loved the place!



Next stop: Times Square.  We just walked and walked (notice the theme? WALKING), took in the sights and sounds of this iconic area that defines NY.  I also had the customary photo with NY cops.




Then we walked to the Empire State Building, up to the viewing deck to see NY from above.  Spectacular view! It was cold and windy up there though so we didn't stay long. 




Then we decided to check out the famous Grand Central Station and it was (er) grand!  Very high ceiling, marble floors and walls and quite overwhelming to see it for real.  




Then we walked to the Rockefeller Center, and rested on one of the benches... We had dinner at Cafe Duke, then hung out at Times Square, trying to get ourselves in the large Forever 21 screen. =)  




At this point, we were just waiting for the theater doors to open.  On the agenda was Next to Normal, my first ever Broadway play... (no play photos)  It was was ah-mazing!  If you want a good cry, this is the play to watch.  My initiation into Broadway started on a very high note. =) (NTN will be adapted in the Philippines by Atlantis Productions in March 2011. Go watch!)


After the play, we had late snack, cheesecake and coffee at Lindy's (NY's best cheesecake daw) and I have to say, they were really good!  Lindy's has disappointing reviews on Yelp for the entrees but since we were there only for dessert, I guess the prices were reasonable.

On the way back to the train station, we chanced upon a live broadcast on SNY (not familiar with this network).  We stayed by the windows, hoping to appear on tv (haha!), took a few photos, and left...  We passed by Bryant Park (Project Runway!) on the way to the train station.

Very long but fun first day in New York.

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