It has been months since my last entry and I apologize, especially to those who have been following my adventure in New York. It was getting harder and harder for me to write about my day in the late hours of the night, in bed, in the dark, on my Blackberry. My trip to New York was amazing and  I enjoyed every minute of it. I’m grateful to my dear friend, Sara and her friend/roommate (my new friend), Becca for being the greatest, most welcoming and hospitable gals in New York. They gave me a bed to sleep on (not to mention, my very own room), took me out after work for drinks/sightseeing, and brought me to delis even though they’re vegetarian/vegan.

I’m happy to have experienced the East Coast/New York/Manhattan culture and draw similarities and differences with the West Coast/California/San Francisco culture. It was a great time taking public transportation and walking around the city as if I lived there (and it seemed that way too after visiting for almost two weeks), as well as tasting the food, seeing the sights, and encountering the people. A lot of stereotypes that I had about Manhattan were invalidated, while a few were reaffirmed. It’s definitely a “concrete jungle”, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s a place of rich, long history in which every street, every building has a story. A place where a rainbow of people live all together. It was a beacon of hope for immigrants, and to this day, is still a place of dreams, aspirations, and disappointments.

It’s only fitting to title this post “The Return” alluding both to the fact that I have returned from NY, but also, in the bigger picture, back to blogging. I can’t promise that I can churn posts out daily, or even weekly, but I hope I can update this blog more frequently. Thanks to those who’ve found their way back.

*Went to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in Midtown

Highlight: Seeing Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, Getting into the Special Exhibit for Tim Burton’s work- sketches, paintings, cartoons, movie props, etc.- because of my CityPASS ticket, seeing artwork I’ve only seen in books, checking out all the cool stuff they had in architecture & design gallery, hanging out in the sculpture garden…loved museum!

*Enjoyed walk around Midtown, super nice area, lots of expensive stores and business people…saw cool old church

*Met up with Sara in Midtown and took 6 together to Union Square, on way home we bought Thai food for dinner(takeout- I ordered spicy panang noodle (like pad thai) with chicken and thai iced tea, pretty good food [will post name of resto later, I forgot]

*Had dinner at apt. and chilled out for a while listened to music and caught up

*Went to Scarab Lounge, hip hookah bar, very nicely decorated, and fairly busy. Had apricot (but tasted like rose) hookah. Very good flavor, downside: very light smoke. Kicked back with a drink each: smirnoff for me. Had some Saraisms, and deep great convo.

*Went to Alphabet City to Musical Lounge to hang out some more and chill out listening to music. Super dim lighting and candles, nicely decorated. Had beer and talked some more.

*Saw a RATon sidewalk on way home! Scurried out of a hole by my feet into another hole. Pretty big.

*MiniMart/Deli for PopChips in BBQ <—current obsession

SLEEPSLEEPSLEEPSLEEP

Sorry this is short. This is an extremely condensed report on my day. But g2g, have a full day tomorrow.

Mixture of laziness, coldness, and tiredness plagued me this morning, so I decided to leave later on in the day. After finishing my blog post, I took a shower and got dressed. Planned to go uptown and check out some places but when I left the apartment I took a wrong turn and was confused as to which way to get back on track. I walked as far as Alphabet City! I walked around for a while, so I decided to walk back towards the apartment.

On the way I encountered two homeless looking people- man and woman. They were squabbling and the man hit the woman. It was a NY fist fight between homeless looking people! The problem was that I was walking on the same sidewalk and they started fighting as I was going to pass them. I just kept walking but their arms were flailing around I didn’t want to get hit. Or worse, they fall on me. I turned around to see what the girl behind me did and she walked on the street to avoid them. Here I was thinking it was more New York to pass it and not care. I quickly followed after the girl and decided to get a late lunch/early dinner and eat it at the apartment. I went to Papaya Dog (hot dog stand) located a block from where Sara lives.

I ordered a spicy hot dog (bun, dog, ketchup, onions in red sauce, sauerkraut); it was ok. The best thing about it was that it’s cheap. I also ordered a knische and aside from the super fried (tough) exterior, the interior- the mashed potato-ish filling, was good. Random Thought: The hot dogs in NY are tiny compared to Cali.

Before dinner, Becca and Sara had told me that we all would be meeting in Upper West Side for the folk dancing class we talked about going to. A little bit after I ate, I walked to the 6 at Union Square and took it to Midtown at the Rockefeller Center. My plan was to walk to the 1 subway (7 and a half blocks away from the 6) station so I could take it all the way up to Upper West Side (dance class), but Sara and Becca were running late and I was walking around getting lost. I happened upon Rockefeller Center (the flags, ice skating rink, expensive shops, Radio City Music Hall, NBC sign). I decided to check out Top of the Rock (Rockefeller building, aka 30 Rock), which has viewing decks high above. The attraction was in my CityPASS booklet. They’re open until midnight; it wasn’t super packed, but there was a good amount of people.

A beautiful Swarovski crystal chandelier hung in the circular staircase, which I climbed to the 2nd floor. From there we went through a security checkpoint and down a hallway next to picture glass windows overlooking Radio City Music Hall across the street.

There was a picture station where one can take a photo sitting on a beam, above the city (a super-sized photograph on the wall). On the floor were little screens simulating how it would look down below from up on the beam. After that, there was a viewing room which played 4-minute videos on the history of the Rockefeller building, the story behind the Swarovski chandelier, and shows that are recorded at 30 Rock.

After the videos, we were led through a door on our left that brought us through an old-looking part of the building towards automatic elevators. When the doors of the elevator closed, the light inside turned off. The ceiling became a see-through TV thing, so images and music played all the while the elevator shaft was lit in blue so one can get an idea of the ascent.

The top of the building has three viewing tiers. The first consists of 2 observation decks, one on each side of the building. The room in between had chairs and cushioned benches- like a group chill room. There were also places to sit by the windows (indoor and outdoor viewing). It was dimly lit up there and the walls had an ice-like feel. It wasn’t too cold on the deck.

The second tier is accessible by an escalator that leads directly out on the viewing platform, in which you can walk 360* around. There were benches to sit down and a small gift shop, as wall as an interactive room that lights up whenever a person walks inside. It assigns each person a color and follows them around the room (mine was green). It was pretty neat.

There were stairs that lead to the third tier. It was one big observation deck. The views from all the tiers are AMAZING! You can see the whole of Manhattan and then some. To name a few, I saw Central Park, The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and Times Square (especially the New Year’s Ball)..

I spent a good amount of time up there. Two Japanese girls asked for a picture and I thought they meant I take a picture of them. They actually meant they wanted to take a picture with me individual. Somewhere in a Japan networking site, like Facebook, are pictures circulating of me.

After finally leaving Top of the Rock (with a big smile on my face), I walked towards the ice skating rink (which is smaller than I expected). I saw the gold statue at the rink and looked up the towering Rockefeller building. There were a lot of people walking around and ice skating. It had a nice atmosphere- the colorful flags surrounding the rink blew in the wind, while people skated around and music blasted through speakers. There was a lounge area surround the rink where I saw people sitting and eating. People were laughing and having a great time.

After the rink, I walked around the area and took pictures. It was a nice night, not cold, and super happening on a Thursday night. The great night ended with my very first taxi cab ride back to the apartment (which only cost me $9.50! I was surprised at how legit the cabs are here- they had an interactive touchscreen TV in the back where you can read news, entertainment, sport, etc. You can also view a map of the location of the cab and where it’s headed. There’s also a credit card machine! That was a surprise! I paid cash though.

Anyway, I got to the apartment and minutes later S and B arrived. Actually my night ended with a yummy leftover piece of artichoke pizza and us helping Sara perfect her outfit for tomorrow.

I was getting ready to blog about my day last night but fell asleep. I blame it on Sara’s cocoon-like bed, my Blackberry (which was loading something at the time), canned beer, and half a sandwich of delectable pastrami on rye.

I woke up just in time Wednesday morning to catch Sara getting ready to go to work, we had talked the night before about going into the subway together so she could point me in the direction of where I wanted to go.

We walked together to the E. 14 Street-Union Square subway entrance (about a 10 min. or less walk), all the while getting attacked by mini snowflakes that had somewhere to be- typical NY. It was exciting to experience that, being a California girl, the only thing that pelts you and comes from above is bird crap or boring rain.

By the time Sara and I got to the subway station we were sporting bedazzled-by-snowflakes fashion. I bought a 7-Day Unlimited (subway and local bus rides) Ride MetroCard and we sardined into a “6″ Express headed uptown. I got to re-live my Paris Metro days and even got to subway surf (when you ride the car without holding on to anything). Sara got off at her stop and I took it to E 86 Street and Lexington Ave in the luxe Upper East Side.

From there I walked 3 blocks west towards the ultra posh Fifth Avenue and the east side of snow covered Central Park and turned left to continue about 4 blocks south on Fifth Ave towards The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Fifth Avenue is exactly like how it is portrayed on TV- umbrella awnings in front of building entrances with nice, doormen in uniforms, black limos and town cars with tinted windows and chauffeurs on stand-by… It seems that most, if not all, of the buildings on Fifth, as well as the smaller town house-like buildings that occupy the streets perpendicular to it for about a block, are residential.
I didn’t have to walk far down Fifth Avenue to see The Metropolitan; the tan building with its signature columns and steps is nestled in Central Park and Fifth Avenue. It was founded in 1870 by a group of artists and philanthropists and has the most comprehensive collection (coming from all continents) in the Western world with works dating from prehistoric times to the present.

I arrived at the museum early and had to wait around 30-45 minutes until they opened, which wasn’t too bad. I just people-watched, eavesdropped on some speaking in a different language (which isn’t really eavesdropping) and observed surroundings, the usual waiting-by-yourself things to do to pass the time. Lol.

I bought a CityPASS before leaving for NY and printed out an e-ticket. A CityPASS is a mini coupon-like booklet that holds tickets for major attractions, basically you pay for the booklet which gives you super discounted skip-the-line tickets, instead of having to wait in long lines and pay full price.

I went to the CityPASS counter at the museum lobby and exchanged my e-ticket for the booklet and was on my way. {Extra Info: The booklets can also be bought at the CityPASS locations within the city you’re visiting.}

Sara and Becca told me to start at the right of the museum to first check out a cool temple, so the first exhibit I went to was Egyptian Art. I got to see a burial tomb, mummies (people and animals), sarcophagus’ (sp?), pottery, jewelry, statues, tools, weapons…you name it, it’s there.

I didn’t have a plan of attack when I got to the museum; I figured I’d spend a minute or less looking at each thing and walk through all the galleries by the time they closed (5:15)- which is impossible!

After 2/2.5 hours, I noticed that I was still in Egyptian Art (and not even close to seeing half of the collection in that gallery), I decided to move upstairs and work my way down to the 1st floor.

I made my way towards the Great Hall staircase and around the GH balcony looking at the Central Asian Art and Asian Art galleries before heading to European Paintings. EP has a big collection; I spent 2.5/3 hours in there. I started off looking at each painting and reading the information cards next to them. As the hours went by, I had to skip reading some of the information cards and just look at the paintings. To name some of the artists in that collection: Vigee Le Brun’s “Madame Grand”, Greuze’s “A Young Peasant Boy”, David’s “The Death of Socrates”, Memling, Christus, van Eyck, Isenbrant, Patinir, van Wassenhove, Reni, van Ruysdeal, Rembrandt’s “Self Portrait”, Vermeer’s “Study of a Young Woman” similar to “Girl with the Pearl Earrings”, Bellini’s “Madonna and Child”…

After seeing how much time had passed and how much there is within one gallery, not to mention walking through the confusing gallery layouts, I was overwhelmed. The thought of not being able to see everything in the museum hit me. I had 3.5/4 hours until closing, so I decided to devote the next few hours to the stuff I couldn’t leave the Metropolitan without seeing.

I strolled through the Drawing, Prints, and Photographs gallery and saw works by Matisse, Warhol, and Lange. From there I went to 19th and Early 20th Century European Paintings and Sculpture. There I saw works by Van Gogh, Seurat, Matisse, Picasso, Klimt, Boldini, Sargent, Mucha, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, Degas, Manet…This was the most confusing gallery layout, especially in a time crunch, so I had to go around a lot to make sure I saw everything. I’ve never seen so much artwork from celebrated artists; I was awe struck.

After that, I headed to the Modern Art gallery where I saw a huge shark in a formaldehyde tank, artwork by Pollock, Warhol, and Rothko, to name a few.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is HUGE and they have a COLOSSAL collection of works and artifacts. It’s definitely a must-see in visiting NY. Walking around, in between galleries, I got to pop in and see parts of other galleries (and also got lost a couple of times; it is a maze in there). Sadly, I never got to see the temple that S and B recommended, but I did get to see all the art work I didn’t want to miss seeing. Overall it was a lot of standing in awe, face inches close to great works of art. Random thought: It was interesting to see the tourguides so ecstatic about the art. I loved that!

At exactly 5:15 PM, all the guards and security hustled us out of the museum. They were strict about closing time; they definitely gave us the bum’s rush- roped off all the galleries and closed the gift shops, yelling, “The museum has now closed. Please proceed to the Great Hall!” There were workers standing in the galleries, hallways, corners, closets making sure they herded you out the doors.

After I left the museum (and took pictures in front of it), I decided to go to the 77 Street and Lexington subway station and take the 6 local back downtown to Union Square. I’m totally getting the hang of it. From there I meandered back to the apartment (our proposed meeting spot before dinner). Becca was already home with Godiva, yum! I didn’t eat the whole day (didn’t want it to cut into my seeing the collections at the museum), so I drank a glass of OJ and had some donut holes for a little bit of energy.

We met up with Sara on our way down the stairs and walked to Katz’s Delicatessen (passed by Coyote Ugly which was not at all how I expected it to look like, Sara said it smells like beer and vomit inside…or was it sweat(?)…well, whatever it is, that’s a nasty combination…) which I learned about through watching “When Harry Met Sally” [when Sally (Meg Ryan) was doing fake orgasms to Harry (Billy Crystal)] when they were eating pastrami on rye and through Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” website. There are pictures on his site and Yelp that are mouth watering, check it out.

The deli has been a fixture in the Lower East Side for over 100 years. It’s diner-like; the food preparation is on one side of the wall behind a counter and the tables are in the middle and the other side of the room. Their menu is on the wall behind the counter and you can order your food to eat there or to go. It was fairly busy. When we were there, they had three ununiformed lines to give your order to the deli guys. They take/make your order (they gave all the people ordering pastrami some slices to occupy their time while they wait for their food) and also give you complimentary pickles (regular or cucumber). You have to hand them the pink stub you got when you entered and they put down the price of your order. When you leave, you pay it at the register by the door.

While Sara and I ordered our food, Becca saved a table for us. After I got my pastrami on rye with mustard and a plate of cucumber pickles (Sara and Becca got knishes [soft dough shells filled with onion/broccoli(?) mashed potatoes and regular pickles]) we all chowed down.

The Pastrami on Rye was SO GOOD! It’s not at all like the pastrami sandwiches I know of in which the meat is thin and processed. The pastrami there was similar to Ham (Honey Bake) or Corned Beef (not canned) is. Again, the serving portion was huge, so I had leftovers. Sara let me try her knishe(sp?) and it was tasty too. It’s kind of like a big gnocci but with flavor. The sour pickles were good, the cucumber one had no taste.

Towards the end of dinner, Sara noticed a round sign above our heads. It said, “Where Harry Met Sally…Hope You Have What She Had! Enjoy!” and a red arrow pointing down at our table. It was definitely a great surprise and it made my experience at Katz’s even more perfect.

After dinner, we walked back to East Village to Scratcher’s, a chill, dimly lit, underground bar that had good music in East Village. It had tres cool atmosphere. I had Pabst Blue Ribbon beer again (PBR, for short…this time in cans, lol, which is different); they’re only $3! It was a great end to a long, busy day, especially after the museum. I was frazzled, Sara called it, “museum coma”. Anyway, we got back to the apt. and passed out.

I slept in today (meaning I didn’t get up at 5:30/6:00 as planned). I woke up around 8, about the time Sara was getting ready to leave for work. I forgot that my cell phone time was wrong and that it’s 3 hours ahead over here, so I thought that she was leaving for work around 5 and that I had plenty of time to get ready to meet up with Lily (my friend, Christine’s friend whom I met on C’s birthday dinner 2 years ago).

Trying to be a good house guest, I decided to wash the dishes, fix my bed, and clean up after myself. After, I planned to take a shower and get dressed (put on make-up, fix my hair, etc.) I even had breakfast of coffee and PopChips (BBQ Flavor). Lol. I was taking my sweet ol’ time until my cell phone rang- it was Lily saying she was in East Village and asking where exactly the apartment was. I had a “Doh!” moment and scrambled to change out of my pjs. I didn’t even have a chance to take a shower.

Becca had given me keys that her and Sara had copied so that I could leave and come back to the apt. whenever (again uber sweet of them). I just ran out of the building, but it turned out Lily had been walking up and down a different block trying to look for the apartment. I met her up a few streets over and saw a Papaya Dog across the way from where Sara lives! Definitely going to try the hot dogs there one of these days (recommended by my friend, Katrina).

Lily and I decided, earlier, to go to Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s a popular pizzaria that cooks their pizza in a coal-brick oven. The line into the joint, apparently, is always long and a lot of famous people frequent the place. Sadly, we didn’t end up going there today because I forgot about the time change and also because she had to tutor kids at 3ish. So she decided to bring me to a few popular, but on the cheap, places in East Village.

The first place she brought me to was Artichoke, a pizzaria with a super small menu offering only about 4 or 5 different pizzas. We ordered two slices of their famous pie: Artichoke Pizza. I’m not a major fan of artichoke; I rarely ever eat it unless I’m eating artichoke spinach dip. The Artichoke slice was 2 things: 1) It was huge(!!!) and 2) It was REALLY GOOD! The amount of artichoke was enough and the warm, gooey cheese (most likely a mixture of diff. cheeses) melted in my mouth causing the dough and toppings to collide together in a warm embrace. Lol. Seriously, it was that good! Even better than Pizza Orgasmica!

The pizzaria is a small restaurant; there are no tables or chairs inside, just a counter to order and a ledge to eat a slice while standing. Outside, wooden planks as benches were the only accommodations. This place definitely caters to people who are on the run. Lily and I sat outside on the benches, directly beside a plastic covered awning and entrance to a vegetarian restaurant next door. After my first lady-like bite of the pizza, I ripped into it like a hungry, adolescent boy, smacking my lips like a ravaged animal. I noticed a lot of people staring at us (or maybe it was our pizzas). A couple of people approached us- one exclaiming that it looked so good, while another one asked if it was good because she always sees a long line outside.

As I sat devouring my pizza I noticed a lady meeting up with a guy (through the plastic awning/entrance belong to the restaurant next door), I didn’t really pay attention until I noticed the guy facing me and when I looked up he was looking at me, then he quickly looked away. Whether it was because he saw how much I was enjoying that slice so freely or the fact that it looked so good, I don’t know. Whatever the case, it doesn’t matter. The guy looked so familiar and I realized it was Will Forte (aka the character, MacGruber) from Saturday Night Live! Lily said a lot of celebs just walk around in public like that. I didn’t get an autograph or picture because I know how annoying it is to get bothered when you’re hungry/about to eat.

Our next stop was a small hole-in-the-wall hot dog joint called, Crif Dogs. It was the winner of NBC’s Golden Local Award of 2009. I was fairly full already because of the massive slice of pizza, not to mention the nachos I had last night. So, Lily and I split a hot dog named, “Spicy Redneck,” which is a house dog (handmade, naturally smoked beef and pork dog), crispy bacon wrapped around it, with chili, cole slaw, and jalapenos. It was pretty good, but by that time, I was beyond full. I still can’t wrap my mind around how they wrapped a crispy bacon around a dog without the bacon breaking. Lol.

One cool fact I learned about the place from Sara, later on, is that the old-style telephone booth in the corner of the room is actually a secret passageway into a restaurant. You go inside, pick up the phone, and tell the person on the line that you have reservations for…, and the wall inside opens. Pretty neat!

The third place we went to is a coffee/brunch, chill eatery called, Mud. Initially, we were going to get our drinks from the Mud Truck (a bright orange truck parked on the street by Astor Place, but all the food I’ve been eating and the major walking we did all morning was starting to take a toll. If you know what I mean. So, we ended up going to the sit-down spot (which was a few or so blocks away). Lily ordered a Chai drink (which is supposedly really good according to a lot of people) and I ordered their famous Mud Mocha, which reminded me of gelato and espresso- a ciocollato affogatto. Their Mud Coffee is also popular; Lily said it has a bit of spice in it. The place was nice, very hip. They had a backyard seating and judging from what I can see through the stained glass window in the bathroom and the sound of chattering, it was poppin’ back there.

Anyway, we spent about 3.5 hours exploring and eating, talking and walking. It was a fun way to try some really amazing (and popular) eateries in the East Village, as well as familiarize myself with the area and the people. Along our tastetasting we passed by other cool restaurants that Lily recommended, as well as a cool bakery with scrumptious, mini cakes displayed at the window, which I took pictures of. We also checked out the Alamo at Astor Place; it is a 15-ft steel cube designed by Bernard Rosenthal that revolves when pushed.

After Mud, Lily and I parted ways (she had to go to her tutoring) and I returned to the apartment. It was fun chatting it up and hanging out (and eating) with her.

At the apt.! I decided to do a mini facial and take a shower. After that I dressed up and organized my stuff in my luggage so that it would be easier to dress up quickly in the morning. By the time I was done, it was around 6. Sara got home and we decided to go to the grocery store (it’s like a Lunardi’s, but tinier) named, Associated Supermarket a couple of blocks over to get some food and supplies. I decided to eat my nachos leftovers from last night and Sara cooked herself some food.

After dinner, we decided to go listen to live music in Alphabet City (used to be a super seedy spot, now has cool bars). Again, we walked there; it was a 10 or so minute walk. I’ll have to ask Sara the name of the place, but it’s a bar/live music scene. The bands that play vary each night; sometimes it’s Punk, other times, Jazz, etc. Tonight it was an older, but hip band playing Beach Boys-ish/Country catchy tunes. Earlier in the night it was a younger band, but we missed it.

We sat at the bar and chatted until the band finished setting up and started playing, in which, we moved to the other room where they were and sat at a PacMan table/arcade game. Sara drank whiskey sodas and I had Pabst Blue Ribbon beers (which, by the way, is run by Jesuits, more importantly, Father LoSchiavo, who is the CEO and lives in Loyola Village at USF). We stayed until the band finished playing (close to 11).

When we walked outside, the temperature had cooled down significantly. It was CCCCOOOLLLD, Sara proposed stopping at a store to warm up, but I wanted to just get the walk over with. We both had coats, jeans, and scarves on. And I had a beanie! Supposedly it’s going to snow tomorrow, so we’ll see. Random to see mounds of snow by the bags of trash on the sidewalk. Just want to mention that without elaborating. I’m sleepy. Here’s another blog I popped out whilst lying in bed in a dark room. Hope the read was fun! Feel free to leave comments.

I fiddled with the Multimedia Player (aka “the screen on the back of the seat”)- mostly watching the plane’s route to New York. I also played a few minutes of “DOOM” and logged unto chat to try to find other travelers on the flight who would want to share a taxi ride into Manhattan, to no avail. Anyway, what was a 5-hour flight seemed to take only 3 hours, and pretty soon our plane was making circles over New Jersey and New York.

Surprisingly, the sun was out (according to weather.com it would be cloudy and windy) and made the patches of snow on the ground glisten. I was able to see the Manhattan skyline, as we circled around numerous times.

We landed in JFK a little before our estimated time of arrival. I made my way towards Baggage Claim and found my bag right away; from there, I headed towards the AirTrain, which I planned to take to a stop where the taxis were located. The terminals and AirTrain(s) were clean. Most of the people riding it were catching a flight.

When I first boarded the AirTrain, I was heading the wrong way. I had to get off at the next terminal and turn around. There were no signs telling me which way the AirTrain was going. But once I got on the other AirTrain going the opposite direction, I thought I was going the wrong way. Repeat.

After finally heading the right way, towards what I thought would be the taxi depot, I was surprised to find no taxis waiting there. I decided to take the AirTrain towards Howard Beach Station and follow the directions Sara gave me to take the subway. When I got to HBS, I noticed there was no “A” (the line she told me to take). The people working there were super nice and helpful, but the way they understand their subway map is different from how I see it- which is, a lot of colorful lines on paper. Each person I asked for help had a different take on how to get to my destination and, in some cases, had their lines and stops confused.

The trek to th subway and through it to get to my destination was definitely long and arduous, no joke. I had to transfer A LOT because I got on the wrong line or someone gave me the wrong direction. Being a newbie in the city and the NY transit, coupled with just coming off a flight with a luggage, a handbag, another small bag, and my pea coat, it was all very confusing and tiring.

The next time I visit New York I plan to take the taxi into the city. It’s hassle-free. Though it costs about $50+, it’ll give me peace of mind.
It was a hard journey, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was a crazy but fearless adventure that I didn’t expect to take. And despite all the hearsay and stereotypes about the subway and the people, I made it out alive and well (also experiencing the subway culture). Even if that means bucking up and carrying a 40-pound luggage up tiny stairs while running up them in quick-style fashion, like a true New Yorker.

{Note: I previously wrote down everything I went through RE: AirTrain/Subway to share with you. But it was SO LONG and it made me tired just reading it. While I would never go on it with luggage again, I can’t wait to familiarize and ride it while I’m here.}

After finally getting on the L and taking the 1st Avenue exit (which consisted of lots of stairs), I found my way to Sara’s apartment. Becca, her roommate and good friend, was home, thankfully! By that time, it was nightfall, which means it was also cold. But I was so hot from the whole subway ordeal that it was nice and cooling. Becca buzzed me in to their apartment (Sara was still at work) and I lugged all my, at this point, CRAP, up to the third floor until Becca (probably wondering what was taking me so long to get to the apt.) came down and helped me up to the fifth floor.

I must have been so red in the cheeks and sweaty because she offered me water and asked if I wanted a window open. So sweet!

Their apartment, while it has no elevator, is pretty nice. I like the layout of the place and how they decorated their rooms. Sara gave me her room to sleep in. She even washed her sheets and had a spare towel for me to use. They definitely made me feel at home and welcomed me with open arms. Oh, not to mention, it’s SO tidy!

Becca and I talked for a bit about New York until Sara called us and told us to meet her at Union Square. It’s a few blocks from where they live and a good walk over. Union Square was pretty cool, though it’s not like SF’s Union Square with designer stores, a lot of shopping goes on there. Standing on US I saw the Empire State Building, which looks so pretty lit up..

When Sara got there we decided to eat at Benny’s in West Village. It’s a Mexican restaurant; the interior of the place is covered with cool artwork and dimly lit reddish light. It was packed, most likely due to their popular $3 margaritas! I got chili nachos (will have to look up exact name) with shredded beef. It was so good, not to mention it was so huge and incredibly cheap.

After dinner, we headed back to the apartment, but took a different way. We went through 5th Avenue (not the ritzy one), it looks like the area where Carrie Bradshaw lives. We also passed by a new NYU building where they kept an old church facade to remember the past.

The atmosphere in NY is so different from SF. The people look more put together and fiercer. They also walk faster and have a place to be. The city looks lived in, but also warm and homey. Every street holds a store of some kind.

It’s around 3 in the morning. I’m super tired and sleepy, but I wanted to finish writing this one out. Hope you enjoy the read!

Good Morning! I’m leaving on an early flight to NY (via Virgin America). Sitting in the groovy (purple lit) plane and can’t help thinking I’m in Miami. The plane is super full, but I guess the upside is that I’m sitting with guys. Anyway, this morning was a crazy rush, rush, rush out the door and to the airport (International Terminal), through the VA line (thankfully I checked in last night so I went through a quicker line), then through a, surprisingly, long line into the gates. Surprising because it’s a) early in the morning and b) I’ve never seen it that busy before.

Anyhoo, safe and sound, on the plane, in my seat…Things are going well considering I pulled an all-nighter packing, etc., not to mention I haven’t had breakfast or even coffee.
They’re doing announcements, so I should cut out. Random thought: everyone keeps saying how great VA is, but I think they’re ok, they charge for everything!!! Gotta go!

I’ll be blogging about my experience while I’m there, so check back here if you want to know what I’m doing, seeing, and eating. I’m not bringing my laptop, so all my blogging will be from my Blackberry (to get even more technical, I’ll be writing my posts through email), which means grammar and spelling may not be up to par. Aside from that, I hope you enjoy the posts!

Below are the two songs I’ve been listening to nonstop (via YouTube). Check it out and get in the NYC mood with me.

“Empire State of Mind” Jay-Z and Alicia Keys [Official Video]

“Top of the World” Pussycat Dolls [Song]

The Attic (2008)

Directed by: Mary Lambert

Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Jason Lewis, John Savage, Catherine Mary Stewart, Tom Malloy

Synopsis:

A young woman and her family move into a house. Soon after, she is haunted by a woman who looks like her- her dead twin sister, whom she believes wants to kill her. She fights to stay alive while trying to prove to her family and others that her sister has come back from the dead. Along the way, she uncovers a deep family secret and a key to unlocking all the answers, in the attic.

I recently watched Mary Lambert’s “The Attic” (2008) on Hulu. Here is the review I posted on there:

“I titled this review, “Watched the whole movie…” because there are too many reviews that rate and review a movie without watching the whole thing. How can one make an educated review by basing it on seeing 5 or 10 minutes of a movie? True, the first 10 minutes of a movie are crucial because it gives you an impression of how the movie will be, but those few minutes isn’t the movie. The film has to be “appreciated” (or not appreciated) in its entirety; it’s the journey that the film takes you on and what you “encounter” while watching it that gives you sources in which to base your review.

That being said, I rated the movie 3-stars.

THE GOOD: Jason Lewis. ;P

All kidding aside, while Jason Lewis was a great added bonus, the story line and characters also held my attention and curiosity to how the movie would unfold and end. The film had a strong, robust beginning, introducing the characters and the background. The acting was up to par. Some reviews mentioned that the acting was bad because the cast were no names. I don’t think the movie would have been any better if Meryl Streep were the lead. The acting is only as good as the story line and characters (and script- dialogue, etc.) provided to them, as well as how the film is executed (shots, settings).

The film’s fervor sizzled soon after the beginning when the time frame in the movie wasn’t established well and the scenes were cut in an unending flow. In some movies, they establish the time frame through a montage- the changing of the seasons, but here it seems that everything happened within days (even though it was 40+ days).

Also, I felt that Emma (the main character) was inconsistent in the way she acted towards the other characters. She seemed to jump back and forth between being nice and level-headed to salacious and manic. Granted she is slowly deconstructing because of things going on, but she didn’t stay consistent with her unraveling. For example, when she first meets Dr. Perry she is not the level-headed, nice girl but the somewhat outspoken naughty girl, then a couple of scenes later she’s back to being level-headed and nice.

The story line had a good base, but with the many twists and turns, it was chaotic and confusing. It would have been great to find out what was really going on with the house, the girl, and the family.

The movie was made for the enjoyment of viewers to be horrified, scared, and/or watch a psychological thriller. It definitely was close to doing that. I don’t think this movie was made in the hopes of winning an Oscar. It’s a film to watch if you’re in that “mood” or you just want to see man candy in the form of Jason Lewis. ;D

Anyway, don’t take my word for it. If you’re at all curious, watch it, form your own opinions, and create a review or discussion. You might see it in a whole different light and it might touch you in a different way.”

WATCH IT and let me know what you think of it.

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