New York 2005
For the impatient: Pictures
For the impatient: Pictures and Panoramic Pictures!
Whenever I sit down to write about a great adventure a grin flashes across my face as the some of the highlights flash through my mind. It's that time again!
Over the Labor Day weekend, I traveled to New York and tore through the city with many friends at my side. It was immensely eventful, exciting, and memorable and I feel that chronologically listing the events will do little justice to the experience. However, to write is to remember, and I really, really want to remember this past weekend. But before I jump into it, I must thank each of my rockin' hosts for showing me an amazing time :-)
It all started when I realized I had soon-to-be expired frequent-flyer ticket in my possession. Although I was utterly torn between going to the Bay Area, with its open arms and familiar territory, and making my first visit to the big apple in 15 years, I must say I definitely enjoyed myself every moment I was in New York.
Early Friday morning, I set off on a jet, at a comfortable .79 Mach, landing on Long Island in the late afternoon. Along with a few Phoenicians, who were as lost as me, I joined a crazy man driving a bus and he took us to the train station. On the way, we deftly avoided stop signs by using the horn and we drove at least one car off the road. That last bit was met with a special salute.
In any case, we hopped on the L.I.R.R. and then I took a subway to Queens. There I found Dee Dee walking towards me on Booth Street. Like almost everybody I met in New York, I hadn't seen her in years and it was a welcome reunion. We enjoyed a 'broccoli roll' (a cinnamon roll where the dough is pizza dough, the cinnamon is broccoli, and the frosting is cheese) at Atica's Pizza and then we then we were off on the G into Manhattan. There we met up with my old partner in crime, Surag, as well as Varun and Vivek. We found ourselves at Park, a multi-story place that features decor reminiscent of, well, a park. There we toasted to, among other things, "Practice makes perfect." Earth was next on the agenda; an Indian-owned establishment that was conveniently located right next door.
At four bells, we headed out to Kati Rolls, a place that serves amazing late-night food; specifically rolls of naan blanketing eggs and paneer. What could taste better? While waiting I stepped out of line when I saw more alumni had joined the crowd outside. And while attempting to get back into line, I taught the bouncer about a concept that I call "weak sauce". He was not particularly fond of the phrase and we parted on less than amicable terms. After devouring our well-earned meal at Vivek's, we headed back out to Queens after getting directions from a gentleman of questionable background. My head hit the pillow just after 7 bells and half a sunrise.
By Saturday at noon, we were well on our way back into the thick of things. I believe it was this ride where we saw a subway magician who was able to pull a dove from this bag of tricks. From anybody who didn't have a donation ready, he pulled a quarter out from behind their ear and put it in is collection plate. Dining at my first per-pound buffet taught the importance of reading fine-print and then the five of us were off to visit the Museum of Natural History.
The museum featured striking, and inspiring, exhibits of animals, cities, cultures, minerals, and most notably, massive skeletons of species of ancient history. My favorite exhibit was the one relating relative sizes by stepping through distances of the cosmological scale down to the subatomic by powers of ten. Each frame related the size an object of a particular size to a metallic ball, 30 meters in diameter. The last frame showed the relative size of a hydrogen atom to the proton buried within. In my humble opinion, orders of magnitude are some of the most important, yet difficult to understand, concepts of science.
Dee Dee and Samit left us before our jaunt through the Rambles of Central Park. And after finding a nice, marshy spot to rest our feet, Surag, Varun and I headed to Ground Zero to witness the ruins of the Trade Center. I relived my own experience during 9/11 as I read the timeline of events that was posted on the main fence; but still I cannot begin to fathom the chaos that must have ensued within the city.
I believe at this point, we traveled to Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty from afar and took in the view of the Upper New York Bay. So far, I had been in New York for a mere twenty-four earth-hours; I felt like I had been there for a week. Then it was Surag and Varun's time to turn in; they, after all, had another all-nighter to prepare for. As I continued to explore Battery Park, I saw an unaided man flip-jump over the length six people. I boarded the subway to head to Murray Hill when I heard the next stop was Wall Street. I made the last-second decision explore some more and I am so glad that I did. I wandered from Trinity Church to the New York Stock Exchange and from City Hall to the Brooklyn Bridge.
I turned back after hitting the midpoint of the bridge and on my way back I noticed something odd. A man was standing on a bench trying hard to take a picture of seemingly nothing. I couldn't figure out what he was looking at, until I saw a pink sliver off in the distance. The Empire State Building was being lit up by the setting sun. Framed by shadowed buildings, this pink, orange and silver structure had just become one of best pictures that I have ever taken. I loved that I found this on a whim because of a whimsical decision.
I finally took the 4 up to Grand Central Station and met up with Nivi and Pavan. After doing our best to make up for lost time and enjoying a yet-to-named, but soon-to-be famous, elixir de la Pavan, we headed through Washington Square to Galanga; a restaurant serving the best Thai food outside of the bay area. The Red Lion had a band playing some 90.s rock and the three of us, Gaury, and Alice laughed the night away. In the morning, we warmed up by watching an interview with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Rehnquist who has passed away during the weekend. The man was hilarious. With no subtlety, he noted how there in fact exist people who he does not like and that he felt that the undemocratic method in which the Constitution was written was indeed the best way.
Pavan, Nivi and I set out on a search for brunch at Penelope, which lay on the border of Murray and Curry Hills. On the way back, I was shamed as Pavan ate a man-sized scoop of ice cream while I meekly ate my kid's special. We headed back to their place and they proceeded to wow me with the view of the East River and the skyline from the top of their 44-story building. It is from here that Nivi studies. Here I was thinking the Lane Reading Room was impressive.
Then we began a fateful trek; fateful for our feet anyway. From the United Nations, past the Indian Consulate in Tudor City, around the New York Public Library, through Bryant Park, around the celebrations of Brazil Day, through a street faire, and into Time Square. There we met old Peter Parker trying to make a few bucks. From there we turned around and headed in and out of the Zodiac-themed hall of Grand Central Station, to Rockefeller Center and paused in Madison Square to watch some of the US Open from the tennis-themed bleachers they had set-up. After watching Sharapova defeat Mirza (incidentally nobody told me she was South Asian), we stopped off at a booth that measured how fast you could serve a tennis ball. I'm going to blame my pitiful 80mph on the racquet.
Finally we ended up in Chelsea, not before running into more alumni, where Nivi and Pavan did a tiny bit of shopping. We trekked all the way back to Murray Hill and I prepared to take my leave. Leaving people and not knowing when you.ll see them next always seems to get me. Much like the weather and train schedules that had fortuitously been in my favor, I once again found my trip to Brooklyn as easy as taking the 4 straight to Liz's new place. When the door opened, we were both struck by how little it mattered that so much time had passed. Liz quickly took me to see the one thing I really wanted to take a picture of, the New York skyline at night. From the promenade, we watched the sun set behind the beautifully lit buildings and bridges. We ate goat-cheese-topped dinner at a nice place on Smith Street and then led a group of guests to jump-start Liz and Allison's housewarming party.
Around midnight, we headed to the Ludlow Street on the Lower East side into a place called Pianos; where I found not a single black or white key despite the name. We jumped the line and headed up stairs to do some serious people watching. Then we enjoyed some live reggae music in the back room, not to mention that we cut their rug up pretty badly. Finally we watched a smooth bartender from curvy bar that was again conducive to watching this amazingly eclectically styled crowd. Last stop for the night was Libation, a well-decorated place with surprisingly few patrons. Our conversations all night were pretty thought-provoking and the one on the 4am subway ride home was no exception. The ability to be happy about sleeping on rocks will probably run around my head for a while.
Morning-time meant I had to once again pack up my things and carry them on my back. We headed to the Upper West side for brunch at Fred's and then we headed to Central Park. The Grand Oval of Central Park and Belvedere Castle both made me feel as though I was at Disneyland. I hope the opposite is true the next time I visit Mickey. We, of course, could not have exited without meeting another alumna. This time Indhika came running from inside the oval. I swear that New York is the biggest small world, ever.
Planting my flag on the castle's ramparts was one of my last great deeds in New York. Soon, we rode to Penn station where Liz sent me off on the L.I.R.R. I had given myself a lot of extra time to get back to Macarthur airport, but like everything else on my trip, timings just worked out. I was able to catch and earlier flight home which happened to pass over a lightening storm that I was able to catch on CCD. Like an overzealous AP English student I drew symbolic meaning from the storm to characterize my trip. My trip had amazing amounts of luck (i.e. lightening striking way more than twice), and I stormed between both sites and sights all weekend.
Although I had planned to be devastatingly tired when I landed, I was actually quite energized. I had spent a long weekend seeing people I had wanted to see, and going places I had wanted to go. I gained new perspectives on each and I now had great stories to tell and memories I will keep forever.
Here's to New York City!