Day 5 : Minskoff and Misc Manhattan

16 July 2014

It's real Broadway show day today! And non-admission sightseeing. How exciting!

We began our day at Bryant Park, which of course is technically the backyard of ... the New York Public Library! I'm here to visit two Automatons that were activated by sequence Daedalus Twenty-Three during the Battle of Manhattan (I'm sure everyone knows which recent geekdom I'm alluding to).

It's Patience and Fortitude - the Library Lions - guarding the entrance to the Library!

Apart from Percy Jackson, my first recollection of the Lions was in another fantasy book. I always thought it was Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere but that was set in London, so I could be wrong. And I really cannot recall at the moment. If you remember, do let me know. I vaguely remember a female protagonist and the Lions were guarding the entrance to somewhere (not the Library).

The next Automaton we visited was Hermes at the Grand Central Terminal - popular film location for lovers to meet. Or like in Castle, someone was murdered in one of the phone booths (couldn't find that though). What I wanted to see most was the constellations on the ceiling.

I first read about it in BSC Super Special #6

Coincidentally, Luv and I saw a movie on TV the night before which had a scene in Grand Central with a special moment at the Whispering Wall. Took us a while to find it, and when we did, of course, we had to try it out ... and it sort of worked! 

See, the architecture makes it that when two people stand at diagonally opposite corners of the 'wall', they can have a conversation by one whispering into their corner, and the one at the opposite corner will hear what was said. But here's a tip: it's called Whispering for a very good reason. You have to whisper. Talking softly doesn't work. I couldn't hear what Luv said, but he could hear my random whispering clearly.

There's an Apple Store on the mezzanine floor of the Terminal, but ... it was nothing special. The architecture of the building itself is a lot more spectacular than the Genius Bar. And just like every Apple Store in the world, there are numerous people swiping screens along the long white tables.

Next, we headed back to Broadway for our matinee show. Minskoff Theatre means ... The Lion King! Even with Luv's corporate benefits, the tickets cost us an arm and a leg. And it was so difficult to choose which show to watch. At that time, we were split between seeing the extremely famous Disney Classic, or catch an A-Lister live. If we had more time and money, it might have helped. When I was there, Idina Menzel was starring in If/Then, Daniel Radcliffe in The Cripple of Inishmaan, and Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Ah, tough choices, but The Lion King won and we didn't regret it. Very superb costumes and stage effects. I think my favourite scenes were the opening Circle of Life (of course), the Wildebeest Stampede, and that one Waterfall scene.

Oh, we also saw Naked Cowboy.

The great thing about Summer is the extremely long daylight hours, which meant we could squeeze in more outdoor sightseeing. After a walk through the Theatre District, we took the Subway to Battery Park and then to Wall Street on foot.

Charging Bull (and his b*lls) is a very popular attraction.

We saw an 'invisible' building, can you see it?

The bell goes 'ding' at the NYSE.

From Wall Street, we proceed to what I felt is the saddest place in NYC - the 9/11 Memorial. When I saw the size of the Memorial pools and the number of names engraved around them, I couldn't help tearing up. So many innocent lives wasted.

At the Park, there is a very special callery pear tree which they call the Survivor Tree. The story goes that after the attacks at the World Trade Center, the tree was discovered at Ground Zero. It was severely damaged, with snapped roots and burned, broken branches. The tree was removed from the rubble and placed in the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. After its recovery and rehabilitation, the tree was returned to the Memorial in 2010. Today, the tree stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth.

Survivor Tree supported by cables

Nearby, is the home of the brave heroes of FDNY's Ten House - the only fire station located inside Ground Zero. You can read about their 9/11 chronicles here.

We ended the day with a nod to HIMYM fandom - dinner at McGee's NYC, the pub that inspired McLaren's in How I Met Your Mother.

It's basically an Irish Pub and Restaurant,  whose cocktail menu has a touch of HIMYM. Luv ordered the Slutty Pumpkin :)

The interior walls were decorated with some photos of  HIMYM cast members who have been to the pub. I wonder if my seat was the same seat as Robin Scherbatsky's... Also there is this mural that apparently is also replicated in the TV Show's bar.

Can you see Ted and Robin?

That mural

Later, on our way back, we realised the pub's famous neighbour is none other than Letterman himself!

Up next: perhaps a post that will make your mouth water...

Till then,

Day 3 : The AMNH

14 July 2014

I love museums, and the ones found in the Big Adventure are some of the creme de la creme of museums worldwide. First up is the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. 

It even has its own Subway station

I never imagined I would ever get to visit the place where exhibits come to life after hours, but here I am! Even better, we have complimentary tickets, thanks to Luv's corporate benefits. We spent close to 6 hours in there (would be longer, if they practice later summer closing times) and yet I did not finish everything.

Theodore Roosevelt greets everyone on the front steps of the Museum

Unlike the movie, Rexy doesn't greet you in the main concourse, but Bronty does! Finally, after 6 years since Berlin, I get to see dinosaur (bones) again! 

Since museums are all about showing, let me share with less words, more photos! There are just too many, so I will share my favourites (in no particular order):

Olmec head, cast of original from Vera Cruz

This reminds me of this old show on Nickelodeon aeons ago - Legends of the Hidden Temple. They called the big talking head Olmec.

Tzolkin, the Mayan calendar

I first came across the Tzolkin in ND6 Secret of the Scarlet Hand (SSH). And of course in 2012 this was a big deal, being the "predictor" of the end of days. So cool to see one up close.

More things that I recognize from SSH. Who says computer games are not educational?

Mayan tablet with glyphs

King Pacal
(I think it is him,they all look the same to me)

A replica of a Mayan ruler's tomb

Shrunken heads

Remember the talking heads on the Knight Bus (Prisoner of Azkaban)?

This sacrificial altar

Because I just NEED to show you this.

This big prehistoric mammal

This triceratops skeleton

Hello Rexy!

One wildlife diorama (out of the many)

The Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway at the Rose Center for Earth and Space

Hall of Biodiversity!!!

The Blue Whale in the Hall of Ocean Life

This diorama of turtles and Portuguese Man O' War 'cos just too cool

This showcase of Giant Squid vs Sperm Whale

This beautiful display of a Nautilus in prehistoric seas

'sup, Theodore?

Our initial plan was to walk through Central Park to the east side and get to the Met. For some unknown reason (and bad navigational sense) we ended up several blocks north of AMNH, still on the west side. So instead of the Met, we found The Dakota! 

In Super Special #6, half of the BSC lived here
with the Cummings'

We also stumbled upon the Historical Society Museum, and guess who's there?

Miss Clavel and the girls in two straight lines
(the smallest one was Madeline)

Peek-a-boo with Honest Abe

We ended the day in NYC with some inadvertent romance: dinner on a park bench, sharing an umbrella, in the rain. Yes, we got caught in one of those unpredictable NYC showers, but it was just perfect. When I was in my teens, I imagined one of the most romantic things to do is to walk in the rain with the one you love. So it was just wonderful that I got to do it with Luv in good ol' New York City.

Tomorrow: I stumble upon treasure in a basement! Stay tuned!

♥,

Day 1.3 : The Kestrel Has Landed!

I have a whole lot of long overdue posts of the BIG ADVENTURE and it's been more than a month (oops). I apologise and shall SLOWLY remember, rekindle and put up every single day of the B.A.

12 July 2014

Continuing from my previous post (where I cannot stop raving about my in-flight jakunism), I eventually arrive in JFK. It's funny how if I am sitting at my desk I would be raving and hyperventilating that it is THE JFK, but when I landed all I thought of was "Oh, finally!".

And since I am writing this after (close to) two months, what I remember of JFK was there was an extremely long queue for immigration, there was a King Kong ad, and the immigration dude was exactly as stereotyped: big grumpy white guy. It took so long to get through immigration (because of the long queue) that half of the luggage from my flight was already off the belt and it took me several panicky moments to find my suitcases.

LONG queue and King Kong ad

Emirates being Emirates and their first class service provides complimentary chauffeur service to and from the airport, in selected cities, and within a fixed radius, for their Business and First Class passengers. I thought there would be a guy holding my name on a placard, you know, like in this picture:

Photo from Emirates

In reality it was more like this:

Oh well, maybe because I am not Mr. Rossdale (badumtish) but it was a nice black Cadillac and the chauffeur looks like an FBI agent. So all was well. I can't remember his name now but he is a really nice guy and he pointed out sights to me, asked me about Malaysia, told me about his kids. And when we arrived at Cattano Avenue, there was this dropdead gorgeous hunk standing on the pavement and my heart almost burst with happiness. Mr Chauffeur said to him "I have a present for you" and was tipped $20 by the hunk.

And that's the happy reunion. The end.

Ha. Kidding.

Before the day ended, Luv and I had this geeky thing planned: we were going to get on the NJTransit, head to the Big Apple and catch the last Manhattanhenge of the year (disregarding the fact that I've just traveled across continents and was all wonky). So we were on the 'party train' to NYC on a Saturday evening, and since I was rather tired I wasn't like "OMG OMG OMG I'M GOING TO NYC!!!". We got there and...stupid clouds were in the horizon and just basically ruined any awesome shots of the sun setting along the Manhattan grid. Oh damn.

Manhattanhenge - what we were supposed to see - but didn't.
Photo from New York Daily Photo

So yea. My ABSOLUTE FIRST trip to NYC was like a burst bubble. But the Empire State Building and Times Square kind of made up for it.

Can you believe it?!? I'm in New York freakin' City!!! 

New York, New York!

New York, New York, a helluva town.

The Bronx is up, but the Battery's down.

The people ride in a hole in the groun'.

New York, New York, it's a helluva town!

The city that never sleeps

Up next: kickin' back in the 'burbs.

♥,