nyc: hit me baby one more time ...

hey phil,

so, its almost your time to have the greatest experience of your life. hows your preparation for your america tour ? here is my final installation on NYC. hopefully my postings will come useful to you.

here we go. nyc one last time ...

museums.
museum of modern art (MOMA)
(Friday 16th November 2007 - Day 64)
go on friday after 4pm - its free ! otherwise its $20
the exhibits were ok and the space in there were ok too. this is where i bumped into eugene. of all places. he arrived in NYC one day before me and will be leaving one week before me. what a shocker.

PS1.
(Thursday 15th November Day 63)
suggested donation $5. if you dont have $5, just give them 10 cents.
cool little gallery for the up and coming artist prior to MOMA. i enjoyed the exhibits and space alot better.


(nyc: dia:beacon + ps1)

DIA:beacon.
(Saturday 24th November 2007 - Day 72)
$8 entry.
ok. 1.5 hour drive up north of NYC to beacon. i think you could catch a train from penn station @ 30th street also. but is definitely worth the trip. its an large and old warehouse converted into a museum. spatially its fantastic and the amount of natural light entering the space is just amazing. plus there is also an outdoor garden. the day we went, the weather was beautiful. that added alot to the whole dia:beacon experience. definitely the best exhibits i've seen in NYC.

chelsea galleries - FREE.
(15, 17, 18th November 2007 - Days 63, 65, 66 )
i spent 3 days walking around chelsea looking at smaller galleries. its so much fun the best part is they are all free. there are just so many of them. i think they boast around about 200+. anyway. one that stood out was this steam room @ sean kelly gallery. it was a 3 x 3 room filled with steam. as soon as u enter the room, the visiblilty drops to 10cm. you kinda feel very claustrophobic and u wonder if you should continue walking into it or leave straight away !!! very surreal !

the day nyc turned white ...
(Sunday 2nd December 207 - Day 80)
so florence and i planned to go up new york state to snowboard on this day but at the last minute, her workload escalated, so that tripped was canned. however, that morning when i woke up, it was snowing. woo hoo. the snow came to us. how cool is that ? its definitely something i would remember for life. and its also the first time i saw snow in the city. i was so excited when i woke, i literally rushed out in my pjs ! haha. also it was that moment when no one was awake yet and the snow was powdery and undisturbed. pure gold.


(nyc: pretty in white)

caught the subway to corney island. gawd that place was deserted. i m sure its really busy during summer and the school holidays. still it was worth it coz its also my first time seeing an entire beach covered with snow.


(nyc: white corney island)


the tree and the rock.
rockefella center.
(Monday 3rd December 2007 - Day 81)
ok. after all the hype i heard about this christmas tree, i went to the rock (the american way of saying rockefella) to take a look. oh boy i was disappointed. i was like that tree is tiny. go figure.


(nyc: the so-called rock)


the ny post.
30th st & 8th ave.
was told that that is the only post office that is open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. now. that is something that works. the ultimate convenience.
i did wanted to post some stuff back becoz my bag was getting quite overloaded. but they dont do sea mail anymore and everything is on priority and it would cost me more to post than the content itself. so i said fuck you all and left.


(nyc: the right way to work)


fast food.
and the winner is .. starbucks ! there are more starbucks than any other fast food chain in nyc. i guess macdonalds is now so 90s. its actually great that they are everywhere becoz thats the place to go when you need to take a leak.
anyway fast food chains are everywhere. u name it, they got it. but i must admit, i am hooked on vanilla filled donuts from dunkin' donuts and i like the taste of wendys. also ... i found white castle !!! woo hoo.


(nyc: fast food galore)


chinatown.
you know you are in chinatown when macdonalds is written in chinese !!!
the soundwalk tour was again a blast.
http://www.soundwalk.com
(Tuesday 13th November - Day 61)
also the cheapest place for food. go to the corner of canal street and center street. this restaurant is on center street. 4 choices with rice and soup - $4.50 ! this place put hunter connection to shame !


(nyc: chinatown - a class of its own !)

little italy is just next to chinatown. if you blink you might miss it. chinatown rules !


east village.
by far my very favorite place to hang in manhattan. most interesting shops and cafes. also the best underground dvd shop is located there - kims underground video @ st. marks pl bet 1st and 2nd ave. i could have taken the entire store home.

here is where i saw a psychic.
(Friday 23th November 2007 - Day 71)
there were psychics everywhere in nyc. out of curiosity, i went to see one. she had the look of a gypsy - exactly like the ones u see on tv. very surreal. her eyes were very piercing. when u looked at her, you would think she was the real thing. but when she gave her readings, i knew she knew nuts. oh well. nyc is afterall one big show.


broadway.
they were on strike the entire time i was there. so i didnt get to watch any. sigh.


greenwich.
lots of restaurants. not my kind of place to hang out. worth taking a look but.



(nyc: east village - one cool place to hang !)


brooklyn.
brooklyn bridge.
(Sunday 2nd December 2007 - Day 80)
catch the subway to dumbo and walk the brooklyn bridge back to manhattan. best time to do it is during sunset. best view walking into manhattan. only problem was when i did it, it was -4C. gawd, i just couldnt take my time. when i reached the middle of the bridge, it was windy and i literally had to run. fuck it was cold.


williamsburg.
here is where i spent most of my time in nyc. i think i visited this place like almost everyday. definitely my favorite place in nyc. great vibe, great food, great cafes, great ppl. great galleries, great everything. simply nice. the people there even dress differently to the ppl in manhattan.
my 2 fav. place: veb cafe and superjore restaurant.
walk west towards manhattan from N7th street and you get to see the view back to manhattan. simply breath taking.


(nyc: will to manhattan from williamsburg)


queens.
(Monday 4th December 2007 - Day 82)
definitely worth taking train no. 7 to queens. very interesting experience. different stops, different cities. you could be in india, korea, mexico etc just by getting off at the right stop. its interesting how the races in nyc leaves in their respective zones and the only time and thing that bring them together is the subway. say if i get off at the mexican stop, i am probably the only non mexican blood there but when i m on the train, i see ppl of every race.


(nyc: queens - the end of train line 7)


the cheynne diner.
corner of W33th st and 9th ave.
the classic american diner look and fill where i go to get my crispy bacon fill. mmm. yum.


(nyc: one cool diner.)


there are so much more to write about but i think i should stop before i get all nostalgic again. it wasnt easy to leave new york. its no consolation but i kept telling myself ... "i am sick of the cold. i need to leave !" on the day that i left, it was snowing and the temperature was -7C. i have never been in a place that cold. ever ! so nyc was definitely an extreme yet one of the greatest experience i ever had.

xxx. j.