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.

Manhattan New York, the big apple and so much more (Part 4: Shopping!)

At the risk of falling into a self-parody for this entry, I am going to say that I hate shopping. Friends who have known me for years will know that drawing reference with me and shopping is tantamount to an oxymoron. Hence, I let off a "DOH!" inspired by Homer Simpson when Jiahao and Allan declared that we were going to spend the rest of the day shopping in Manhattan. Who could blame them? It's the post Christmas sales, and everything was going for prices so cheap that consumers actually have to ruminate on the possibilty of a catch involved in these good deals.



Ah... Brought back memories of Quebec city when we walked pass this outdoor ice-skating rink.


Shoppers thronged the streets of Manhattan.



Aware of over zealous shoppers from Singapore, the NYPD mobilized their best.

Before the onslaught begun, we went to grab tickets for a musical at Broadway. Our preferences were divided between 'The Lion King', 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Les Miserables'. Fortunately for me, the first two musicals were sold out, and I was further elated when the counter staff informed me that we've got the best seats in the house (we were only seated two rows away from the stage). I did not doubt her at all, since we paid an exorbitant amount for our tickets. Grabbing a quick meal at Mcdonald's (we have been living on fast food or chinese food for the entirety of this road trip, since these are the two cheapest options available to us), we promptly took the subway to Madison Square Garden.


Madison Square Garden, probably the most iconic sports center in USA. There were countless epic sports moment in this sports center, with Ali defending his title and WrestleMania taking place within its compound. More importantly, it's home to the New York Knicks and the New York Liberty, the basketball franchise in NBA. Although I am not much of a Knicks fan (and at the risk of getting shot down in flames by New Yorkers, the Knicks suck!), I still went on to purchase a ticket for their game against the Detroit Pistons. Alas, the tickets were all sold out, I could not recall another moment in Manhattan in which I was so disappointed. After comforting my loss, I accompanied Allan and Jiahao to the largest shopping mall in Manhattan at Macy's. Here, all of the designer's label one could thing of is housed under one roof in this gigantic retail outlet.




After Allan got a Coach handbag (for his cousin apparently), we went to the NBA store. This place resembles the cross between a store selling NBA merchandise and Disneyland. From live sized NBA players fashioned out of Lego to autographed jersies, this place caters to the wildest dream of any fan boy. Unfortunately, I wasn't really impressed over despite being a self professed fan. Most of the merchandises smelt distinctively of 'made in china/vietnam' and sold at a rip-the-dorky-tourist-of-his-hard-earned-currency price. I don't need a Detroit Pistons fridge magnet to remind myself that I am a die-hard Detroit fan. Neither do I need to wear a piece of Garnett's over-sized replica jersey to declare my admiration for the talented all rounder. Hence, I left the place pretty much empty-handed safe for the coupons the sales assistant distributed at the entrance.







We reached NYC's very own M & M's world after taking a wrong turn at a junction. When I stepped into this candy wonderland, I almost screamed Charlie and the chocolate factory! Willy Wanker, I mean Wonka will be so proud if he has a branch of this scale right in the middle of Manhattan's prime district. Like all the wide-eyed kids in the store, we rummaged around the 2-storey building in search of our favourite candies, oh my, I can already see the disapproving stares from my dentist. Screw him, dental checks could wait, but I will be eating chocolates to my heart's content for now.


Over burdened with souvenirs and our haversacks, we were suddenly drawn to a luminous sign from afar. Like mesmerized sailors drawn to the songs of sirens, we found ourselves attracted to the 'store-wide discount' banner hung outside a Levi's botique. Immediately flocking into the shop, before the sales assistant could even say, "What the f**k?!" we already made our way out of the stores with bags of Levi's famed jeans. Allan was the winner of that day, he bought 8 pairs of jeans. Jiahao came in a distant second with three pairs. A worthy mention of the day was the service of New York's sales assistants. Polite an without a fault, they went out of their way in offering us useful comments and advises on the merchandise we purchased. If there is a 'best service award', my money and vote will be on New York. Finally making our way back to our rented apartment, with bags of shopping items, we could not help but think about our trip to Liberty Island the next morning.

Manhattan New York, the big apple and so much more (Part 3: Madame Tussad continued)

(pictures continued from the previous post)


I'm not too sure if Mikey's pleased with Jiahao's pose.


With President Roosevelt, perhaps the most influential man of his time.


William and Henry's long-lost brother?! Prince Li?!


Spielberg's apprentice from Singapore.


The wax model of Captain Jack Sparrow's resemblance to Johnny Depp is uncanny! I swear we'll probably be unfazed if it suddenly moves.


This has got to be my favourite picture from Madame Tussad's, running neck to neck with Jesse Owens!






Jiahao's hilarious (and maybe a tad spastic) poses with the wax models.



If you were to look closer, the background of this set does not seem to make any sense. The rest of the cyclists all seem to be cycling in the opposite direction from Lance Armstrong.


Allan's advise to Woods? "How many times do you want me to say?! Use the Force on the next stroke! Forget it, just get this man a Tiger!"


Standing next to an idol.


I'm not sure if the man of steel likes his new sidekick...

The three of us finally left Madame Tussad's after spending close to half a day in the wax museum. We thought of going to the Empire State's building next, but as the next picture will show you, our hopes were dashed.



Much to our frustration and horror, a long line had already formed at the ticket booth of the Empire State building. To avoid wasting any time on the queue, the three of us decide to come back another day instead. We made our way to the ticket office to get Broadway tickets instead. Allan wanted to watch the Phantom of the Opera, Jiahao wants to watch Lion King while I craved for Les Miserables. As luck would have it, I won! Both the Phantom of the Opera and Lion King were either sold out or shown on the day we're leaving Manhattan. Even Les Miserables was perilously close to a sell out. We got ourselves the most expensive tickets and were utterly thrilled about it (although Allan and Jiahao were visibly disappointed to miss their shows). After the spending the entire morning at Madame Tussad's, we decided to find a restraunt to have our lunch, and recharge for the itineraries planned for the rest of the day.

Manhattan New York, the big apple and so much more (Part 2: Madame Tussad)

I slept like a pig the moment we returned to our apartment in mid-town Manhattan. Exhaustion from the bus and plane journey has taken a toll on the three of us, and I slumbered blissfully till the next morning after discussing the itineraries for the next day. Although none of us set the alarm, the three of us woke up automatically at 8 am and after a simple breakfast, we began to hunt for Manhattan city's tourists attraction. The first stop of day 2 in Manhattan is Madame Tussad's wax museum, a wildly popular tourist sport. Jiahao prepared 3 memory cards (each of memory space 128~256 MB), especially for this trip. I kid you not when I say that we took more photos at Madame Tussad's than at Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec combined.



Standing at the entrance to the museum: the Incredible Hulk. The museum shrewdly places him at the entrance and 'assigned' him with the role of a bouncer. Brilliant!


Woohoo! Up close and touchy touchy with Claudia Scheiffer.


Guess who's the special guest on Oprah's?


Diva sighted! Jennifer's latest toyboys from Singapore?


Diva 2, Shakira.


Jennifer Anniston's not smiling for this picture, and I think guess Allan's got something to do with it! *sniggers*


Getting warm and cosy with Paris Hilton. That's hot!


And who is that petite dame in this picture? None other than Madame Tussad of course.


The wax replica of ground zero, worthy of a salute to the heroic New Yorkers who braved the catastrophe that strucked them during the 9-11 incident.


Jiahao's duet with Sir Elton John. This picture was taken with tremendous skill, I had to cover my ears and click away at the camera at the same time. Not an easy feat to say the least.


Spot the difference.


We got more than what we bargained for when the come back of Spice Girls included a fifth member.


Wohoo (2)~! Another touchy touchy shot, this time with Britney. To make it more convincing, the chest (and hence, boobs) of Britney actually moves up and down to give the impression that she is panting/breathing heavily.

{Pictures from Madame Tussad is continued in the next entry}