New York, New York

Describing New York City was the most exciting yet hardest piece to write. I’d been to New York City 10x or more, and the longest visit I spent was 14 days. Everyone loves New York, literally a concrete jungle, and 24/7 alive and kicking.

My first visit was unplanned; we just woke up one day and decided to come along with Jacky, my housemate who worked in NYC every weekend. Screaming ‘wow’ was the first word the time we went out of the Penn rail station. Huge, tall and old buildings side by side, yellow cabs, walking people of all races, lights, lights, lights, and lights everywhere, even at noontime; the street and subway performers were everywhere. It was a joy to see a quick alternative from Broadway. It was an unbelievably gigantic display of advertisements, lights and artworks. I was surrounded by gigantic UFOs and ETs; one cannot see the whole sky in New York. When we reached Times Square, I melted.

Everything in NYC was incomparably entertaining; the city itself was a real TV. I loved the summer when people took their business suits off and spent the rest of their lunchtime lying down in Bryant Park. Street live fashion show-like being an everyday happening and sighting, especially in 5th Avenue. Central Park was even more romantic and lively when covered in snow. Visual arts, music, libraries and theaters were widely awake from Brooklyn to Jamaica, and Spider-Man was a real person in New York.

It was unexpected to see an old friend from Manila supervising Jolibee in Queens, while queuing for my first ever “stateside” chicken joy. Queens was a little Asian continent in NYC, where immigrants from Asia resided, from the Philippines to Pakistan. Filipinos, were more likely to be seen, where they set up convenient stores, karaoke bars and restaurants. It looked like a clean version of Cubao. Meanwhile, in New York’s Chinatown, I was in disbelief hearing people who had lived in New York for ages and still don’t speak English. Signage in stores is in Chinese; the only American thing I observed was the $ sign.

With New York being a walk-friendly city, expect most people to walk long distances. One time, me and Ludo from Switzerland, a roommate in a hostel, walked from 9 a.m. until we were dead tired at past 5. It was a non-stop 8-mile sightseeing around – we walked the whole of Central Park, and all avenues and streets in Manhattan, from Chinatown to Brooklyn.

It’s just amazing that regardless of the number of times I’ve seen NYCs boroughs, I am always overwhelmed and enchanted by their beauty. One thing I liked about New York was that people were busy doing their own things, yet they still tend to sincerely smile back.

That’s me outside the New York Public Library

Me and my best friends in Times Square

Having fun with the Statue of Liberty

Me and friends at the roof top of stunning Empire State Building

Me and my hostel roommate from France having a lunch break from our walkathon day

Another unexpected reunion of old friends from Manila, after 10 years.

With friends at the famous Coney Island

The snowy Central Park during winter

Laughter moments with Pinoys in Queens

The only consulate in the middle of NYCs high-end 5th Avenue

Enjoying reggae music in Queens

Captured this lovely moment at the Rockefeller Center

A few meters away from NBC New York

The mermaid statue in Rockefeller Center

Statue of Liberties for sale outside Penn rail station

A street vendor selling key chains

A funny posted photo of the President eating Gray’s Papaya’s hotdog

Spider Man casually walking in Times Square at dawn

A scary number of tourists coming down every 30 minutes to see the Statue of Liberty

Kids waiting to see Ellis Island

My friend feeding free birds at the Liberty Island

We were lost!

The 9/11 Memorial in Battery Park

An Italian tourist singing Italian song with one of the many New York’s great street performers

Three lovely ladies in Subway

The Yellow Taxi, of course

This dog knew how to pose

One of the many bird species flying free in Central Park

A smiling Latino kid in Subway

Brooklyn Bridge

Bryant Park

Johnny Depp in Madame Tussauds New York

World Cup craze in New York streets

Rockefeller Center

The Strawberry Fields in Central Park, just across John Lennon’s Dakota Apartments where he had lived and murdered

The uber-famous in Hollywood movies, Bethesda Terrace and the Angel of Water statue  in Central Park

At the American Museum of Natural History

Another famous in Hollywood movie scenes such as Spiderman, the St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York

Central Park with snow