New York New York.

During the trip in Minneapolis (refer that earlier post), Gorden, Yi Nan and Jin Hong were thinking of going to New York City. I didn't want to coz I thought I couldn't. I have only one week of holidays after summer classes and it didn't quite fit their schedule. A few weeks later, Gorden pulled out, so Jin Hong came to ask me about it again, and it turned out that I could make it, and so we went. 

I don't know bout the other guys, but I wasn't really excited for NYC, at first. After spending some time doing research and arranging the trip, I became the most enthusiastic person! NYC is a big city, but that doesn't mean that it has to be boring like other cities, no no. 

And I enjoy the process of researching before travelling a lot, a lot. 

Grand Central Terminal, crowded with patrons and tourists. As a transit station that is actually working, it is pretty good looking. Maybe it's just me, lol. For me, most of the places in NYC is worth stopping for a moment to take in the scenery, even just by the roadside. Okay, maybe it's just me, not everyone will want to just stand by the roadside. 

The home of the yellow cabs. Why all the cabs? Sources say it is relatively cheaper, and well with people coming to NYC from everywhere, they would need some means of transport that doesn't require them to look up google maps all the time. The second one is what I think. 

Tried more of this kind of post processing, yellowish orangy tone to make the photo really warm and lively. I kind of like it too. Btw I really wish I had a wide angle during this trip! Was thinking of taking pics of whole line of yellow cabs waiting in front of traffic light (Something like this https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/52871_10151143722638073_1894644250_o.jpg) but my lens could only take half of the street, and that was kinda sad. 

Halal food carts are everywhere in NYC. I bought something from this stall, the seller was kind of an asshole, first not giving back my change (and everyone else's too) and then didn't return the whole change. But well, the best part to being a traveller, enjoy every experience, even being conned. But Jin Hong wasn't very happy and complained for quite a bit. lol. 

Horse cart in Central Park in slanted view. I like Central Park as it is, people hangout here, play sports, go for family outings, jog, date, meeting, dealing business. It's a part of this big city that has a really huge role. NYC without Central Park will not be NYC. 

Shot of people crossing the road taken in Chinatown. Chinatown NYC is huge, real huge. Located next to Little Italy, Chinatown has a lot of visitors and thus, kind of commercialized but it felt okay to me. And of course, Malaysian food! Maybe 4 or 5 Malaysian restaurants are located in Chinatown, so why not? 

A very legit Char Kuey Teow at Nyonya Malaysian Restaurant, NYC. 

Statue of Liberty looks really nice in photos and movies, in real? Nowhere close. It looks dull but it is her significance that matters anyway, so nevermind me. The island just reopened after the effects of Hurricane Sandy, and we are lucky. The getting-fire-for-my-cigarette shot was inspired by a page on facebook, so it wasn't my idea, but I taught the other guys to do it and took the pictures for them, so yay. 

Me looking shy in our matching outfits. 

  

Another Chinatown street shot. We went to Chinatown almost everyday for Malaysian food and Chatime. We just couldn't resist. 

Brooklyn Bridge, another really scenic spot. Imagine you actually live in Brooklyn and you have to walk past the bridge everyday twice, so so so so so nice. Just like in movies. Well you can choose not to walk also, drive past the bridge or whichever means you like. 

Did some light trail shots at night, with Manhattan skyline as the background. 

Wall Street guy. Wall Street is visited by lots of tourists, but I'd think that they would only love to get some pictures taken at the signature buildings and the bull and stuffs. It is actually not so much of a difference from any other city street area, just that everything felt more corporate-like, suits on everyone and etc. 

Cute traffic shot taken from top. I was at the High Line, an area which used to be railroads and now converted into a recreational park. Big cities need a lot of parks I guess. It felt pretty romantic up there, because there weren't as many distractions or landmarks as Central Park, but romantic was not gonna work for me walking with three other guys.  

Shadow lines at the High Line

Captain America and I. I'm a fan, but not that huge of a fan, just wanted to show that I am not that short beside Chris Evans hahahahahaha. 

The Halal Guys, a must try for roadside stalls. Food was good, not exceptionally good, but good. Cheap for the portion but the wait? Worth it even though it was just good. That's just me, coz I like it.

This is Times Square during the day. So many tourists! and well with all the tourist walking around, you get a lot of people dressed up as characters everywhere, asking for money in exchange for photos. Most are dressed really badly though. On this day, the other three guys went to the museum on their own, and I walked around the city alone. I liked walking in cities alone more. And well, I'm not a museum person, much more not in NY. And that is why we didn't opt for the citypass which includes 3 museums. 

Men at work. I like the message of this. Right in the heart of the shiny glam of Times Square, you have people working their sweats out, and showing some skin. 

View of buildings upwards. Nice sky btw. LOL

A guy getting a cab, and probably this is why, you don't need to know directions if you can just take the cab. 

At Bryant Park, just another park for people to do all the things that I mentioned in the Central Park caption. This was where we first met with Yi Nan and Zheng Fong. 

Some girls at Times Square. Wish I had the front view of this pic.

Sun flares on the Empire State Observatory. I forgot to take a picture of myself up there, damn. Well, the view was nice, but again I wish I had a wide angle with me lol. 

The widest I could manage, World Trade Center (soon to be tallest building in the US) at the back, and Liberty Island to the right of it. 

Some angled shots. 

Hello NY at night!

Evening sun taken at the High Line. Some grassy, nature photos to balance the city feel.

Man deciding what to eat, Times Square.

Me at Times Square with all the blink blink! That's a wrap for NY trip.

I simply love the diversity of the people, and how intense and relaxed they can be at the same time. Always thought that if given a chance, I wouldn't choose to live there but it turned out to be quite acceptable, if not interesting enough. All the tourist attractions that we visited are just tourist attractions, but managed to still win the hearts of people just because they are that cool. What I didn't like was the tourist flooding everywhere, even worse, those who don't speak english and have no ethics (queue jumping, intolerant, etc). But thanks to all the tourists everywhere, street shooting was so easy as everyone else was also taking pictures, it didn't feel awkward to point your camera at random people.

(Familiar?? Yes, these are excerpt from what I already described in my FB album, but I need to say what I meant and these are what I meant.)