New York, New York!

I'd say that this pic pretty much sums up our impressions of New York

So it was quite a commitment going to New York... cause it meant that to avoid spending LOTS of money we had to get a reallllllly early bus. We got up at 5am ergh! to get our cheap China town bus from town. We had spent days trying to give Greyhound our good money to get tickets that would have been twice as expensive but to no avail. So we spend half as much and got there quicker with the Fung Wha. Seriously recommend it. It was comfy and quick... our only issue was with the camp kid behind us who had an unusually loud, brain-piercing and head-ache giving voice. It takes me quite alot to be confrontational, but as I saw Adam creasing his little brow... ear plugs in and still unable to get this kid out of his head I had to say something. The only other issue was that at this time in the morning people were eating egg fried food at every angle. Now I can list several things that I wouldn't want to smell after only a few hours sleep... fried chicken is at the top of that list but ah well.

That is the Statue of Liberty on Adam's shoulder... lets hope she isn't luring him with her promises of freedom

We got to New York sometime before midday... I was still trying to avoid my watch at this point... and went to get the Statton Island ferry. A great way to see the Statue of Liberty it has to be said, especially cause it was FREE! It only took like 20mins each way and we got to see some great views of the city from the water as well as the Statue of Liberty of course! Sleep and caffeine deprived we went in search of Central Manhattan to find a Starbucks (it had to be done).

We looked for the Big Apple for ages but we didn't even see an unusually large one

We passed Ground Zero on the way which was sort of moving. Just to be in that place where such a horrible thing had happened... in real life. And the space was just so big! They really must have been Huge.

Our rather over-sized tourist map made sure we stood

out as practical and well planned people

Walking through central park was just like on tele and in the movies. People jogging, picnicking and reading under the trees. All very cool but we really didn't get a sense of the size of it until later, when we saw it from above. As yet we had not encountered one Starbucks. Which really went against everything we had heard about the coffee fueled citizens of the Big Apple. Walking down 5th Ave (where all the expensive and posh shops are) it was not until we hit the Rockefeller that we found one! Course afterwards we saw them all over the bloody place but thats Sods Law I guess. Adam took pride in ordering a very complicated coffee as fast as he could just to test the efficiency of the staff.

Recharged we went in search of Grand Central Station to get some lunch and watch people buzzing about being city-going Americans. Now i imagined the station to be a but like..well a train station, but as we entered the huge chandliers, arches and amazing painted ceiling (and lack of trains, as these are hidden behind some posh looking doors) made it seem like the entrance to an art gallery or museum. True to our word we grabbed 2 salads and sat watching the world fly by. Adam set up his camera on a slow shutter to try and capture the hussle and bussle of all these people moving around.

Us at the top of the Rockefeller in front of the Empire State

After food we headed to the Crylser building and the UN before walking back up to the Rockefeller center to go up the 70 floor to the top of the rock observation area. Part of the visit incluced a video (an advert for the center) and a photo made to look like the famous one of men sitting having their lunch on a girder 70 floors up. Now everyone else in the que sat nicely and smiled, me and Adam, knowing that we were not going to buy the photo decided to have a more eventful shot, i hung from the girder, whilst Adam stood on it trying to pull me up... tehe!

We tried to wait on the roof until the sun went down and the city got lit up, but after an hour and a half we were just too bored of waiting and decided to go for a cocktail (not that it wasn't an incredible view but there is only so many times you can walk to all 4 sides of the skyscraper.) We had a Manhattan in Manhattan and a Long Island ice tea just for good measure... felt like we were in Sex and the City. So which characters do you think we'd be? ooo, we'll put pics up on Flickr soon... after we have had some more sleep.

Adam rather enjoying the cherry in his Manhattan