Manhattan New York, the big apple and so much more (Part 5: Liberty Island and an iconic Goddess's)

I have lost count on the number of times the Statue of Liberty was used as the backdrop for movies. Flying 10, 000 miles from home, the last thing I would want is to miss arguably the most iconic structure of the United States. Missing the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden was bad enough. Another blow would have been crippling. Hence, the three of us woke up early and grabbed ourselves a quick breakfast before catching the subway to Battery Park, where we will finally take a ferry to Liberty Island. Perhaps I shall digress at this juncture to dedicate a worthy mention to the city plan of Manhattan, which is designed in a grid system, whereby every street runs at right angle to each other. As such, it is a near impossible feat to get lost in Manhattan. To our horror, a long queue had already formed at the ticketing booth which sells the ride when we arrived at Battery Park. Alas, this is a consequence of travelling during vacation, you will inevitably be travelling with people from all over the world (we have been queuing up at every major tourist attraction ever since we arrived in New York). With a cup of hot coffee (it costs me #%$%^* USD$2.00 at Starbucks, welcome to Manhattan), the three of us made our way to the end of the line and began the long wait to Liberty Island.



At Battery Park. The breeze from the sea numbed our fingers and probably our ears if we did not keep our hoods on. I ran to Starbucks immediately after this picture for a cup of coffee, not that I need a dose of caffeine, but something warm to revive senses to my fingers.


Crowds that formed the queue snaking towards the ferry terminal. A basker entertained the crowd with his violin, and when he approached us asking where we came from, he played 'Majulah Singapura' (Singapore's National Athem) on his violin! Utterly thrilled and impressed, I hardly expect to hear the national athem of Singapore 10, 000 miles away from home, and more surprisingly, played by a foreigner! I tipped him almost immediately after he finished with the nationalistic melody, rewarding the basker for a memorable and pleasant surprise.





Onboard the ferry, we took countless pictures of the skyline of Lower Manhattan. The conspicuious absence of the twin towers after the September 11 attack reminded me of that this part of Manhattan will never be the same again.




At last, our ferry berthed at Liberty Island! When this picture was taken, the scene in Godfather 2 came vivdly to my mind: Vito Corleone gazing sadly at the Statue of Liberty. Like so many other immigrants that came in search of better fortunes, he was probably griped with fear and uncertainty at the prospect of starting anew in this country.



This trip would not be complete if we did not pose with the Goddess herself for the camera. Having seen the Statue of Liberty on TV for as many times as I can remember, nothing beats seeing the real deal.

After a whirlwind of photo taking, we roamed around Liberty Island, reading all the interesting facts of the Statue (such as what material the Statue of Liberty was made of, why the material subsequently turned green and a brief biography of the Statue's designer) and bought ourselves some minatures of the Stature of Liberty for souvenirs. Hoping on to the next ferry, we headed to Elis Island (Liberty's sister island, a stone's throw away. Ok, I exaggerate). With the reputation of being one of the most expensive cities to live in, the public transport of this city is incredibly affordable, not to mention efficient. The ferry tickets we bought earlier include a ride to Elis Island for free! No news pleases a cash strapped backpacker more.