Lost in New York City part 1

I am actually on the bus back to Albany now after spending 3 days of "independent" travelling in NYC. It has been a EXPERIENCE believe me, especially for my case.

To begin with, I gotta say that NYC is really quite overrated in some areas. In terms of how great it is for a tourist , and also how bad it is on the streets. I stayed near Rockelfeller centre where all the main shopping areas are, Times Square, Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue....there were MANY shops but it's really just a collection of shops, and in terms of good deals, there aren't much really. Well it's great for shopping if you have some big bucks prepared, but definitely not for those on a tighter budget. It's also a good place for shopping because the area offers a wide variety of shops, mostly boutiques though. So relatively to other shopping countries like Singapore, Hongkong, NYC is really not much greater, unless it's the American brands you are looking for, then it will definitely be a dream come true.

But what's great I feel, is really the theatre scene, and I'm sure you guys have heard how it is a MUST to watch a play or musical in NYC. I haven't watched any, but all those who have watched only sang praises and not one bad comment....yet. And in almost every streeet around the Times Sqaure area are broadway theatres, big billboards, and definitely people promoting tickets on the streets!

Well for food, there's quite a wide variety of it. There's cheaper "zhap cai beng" (mix vegetable rice), sandwiches and American food like pizza, and there's also most expensive restaurants offering seafood to Italian food. One the interesting things is that for the "zhap cai beng" you pack your own food and choose from a buffet-like spread, and they charge according ot the WEIGHT, yes I mean how heavy that pack is! I was quite amazed at this mode of charging too. It was surprising that you really get some chinese dishes in the spread too. They also have their street-side stalls that sells drinks and snack everywhere, but it's not much cheaper either, I bought a bottle of mineral water this morning for USD$2 (a desparate buy because my bus was leaving in 3 minutes and i didn't have time to go fill my bottle).

Another, I feel, myth about NYC is the security. Well there are definitely many "homeboys" in the area, but most of them jsut keep to the other black people, because they know the "5-0" (police) are everywhere. And they are, i'm not sure if it's due to the recent bomb threat, but the police where everywhere in times square, they also had a police stationed in the middle of the area with glass walls giving them a view of the streets. Moreover, most black people you see in NYC are working, either in stores or selling tickets of all sorts on the streets, so they are not those you see loitering in the streets or gathering together and just laughing and cursing. Well it make sense, cause in NYC, it's not so much about surviving in terms of brute, but BUCKS! In fact, I didn't feel threatened or intimidated in NYC by the blacks, and if they are eliminated of the threat pool, then then sense of security is heightened. So much that I became really comfortable, and lost my wallet in one of the biggest cities in the world!

To be continued......because I'm falling asleep on the bus.....