|
 After
being gone for five days... DJShockWave is back in the
mix.
From Aug 20-24 I went on a trip to New York. I didn't
take my friends, my family, or my parents... I went
solo. A lot of you figure that I would be stupid to
go to an area I don't know, especially NY, but I figured
that if I can survive in NY, than I could survive anywhere.
I really wanted to see my friend Jess, someone I've
known for quite some time now and was looking forward
to seeing.
First let me state that you should drop every negative
misconception of New York. Yeah people there are rude
but its not any different than any other area I've been
to.
 Well
the night before I only got about 3 hours of sleep because
I was really excited. I departed at around 6:40 AM from
LAX and was on my way on a 10 hour flight to JFK. I
didn't sleep on the plane because I have this fear when
the plane takes off and lands. I guess the sudden change
in altitude messes me up and if I don't breathe right,
I get the worst head-feeling in the world.
I got to JFK at around 4:45 PM, my first impression
was man was it muggy there. I can deal with straight
hot like Cali, but hot and humid was another thing.
I took the shuttle to my hotel, the Broadway Towers.
It took me about 2 hours to get there because the driver
had to drop off everyone else first. So I got a quick
tour of Manhattan Island.
 I
thought Cali drivers were bad, but let me just say that
NY drivers are a 100 times worst. We were literally
inches from hitting other cars on more than one occasion
and nobody seems to follow or stay in their lanes. In
fact the lanes are so small that an SUV would practically
take up 1 1/4 lanes up. People park and stay in the
middle of the street and double parking is commonplace.
But after a day, everything seemed normal to me.
I got to my hotel pretty late mainly because I couldn't
find it. They had changed their name to the Malibu Broadway
Towers. Now it wasn't the best hotel I've been to but
all I really wanted was a place to hold my stuff and
to sleep and take showers in. I wasn't planning on staying
there. So this hotel was perfect because it was right
on Broadway and there was a subway entrance right outside
it.
 It
was around 9:00 PM and I was dead tired. So rather than
go out to experience NY that night I decided to stay
in and rest so that I could get an early start. I grabbed
a pizza from across the street and went to bed.
I got an early call from
Jess to go meet her
at Grand Central Station at around noon. I didn't think
it would be so far but it took me about 2 hours walking
to get there. Never in my life have I walked so much,
but that's what New Yorkers do. Everyone walks fast
so I was totally messing up walking traffic. I was just
so lost at all the buildings and the atmosphere and
everything.
First I met Cyrus
and we talked for about 45 mins before he had to go.
We had a lot in common and he's a really nice person
to know. And then that moment finally came. I met Jess
for the first time. I knew from that moment on that
it would be something I would never forget. Jess and
I then went to go eat in Chinatown at some Malaysian
restaurant where the food was just plain weird to me.
I order some chicken which totally did not look like
chicken. It kinda grossed me out. One good thing about
it was that it was cheap.
 We
were lost in the subway for about 2 hours. Thanx Jess
for teaching me how to use the MetroCard because I didn't
think I could handle any more walking. Afterwards we
went to the Natural Museum of Art. I love museums, they're
always so quiet and peaceful. Then we went to an arcade
because, like always, I was going on about my gaming
skillz. Sorry Jess but all I gotta say is that I was
dominant
 .
I had so much fun. It was like I was a kid again, even
though I usually am.
We did some shopping at Broadway and that's where
we found Chu Chu at some San Rio-like store. It was
the last of its kind so I decided to buy it for her.
We took Chu Chu everywhere with us. We then ate at Appleby's
which was really good. A little bit more expensive than
what I was used to in Cali but still the same nonetheless.
The we played some Laser-tag where I was the KillMaster
for one of the games. It was just so much fun. It was
already around 11 so I went home. By now I was riding
the subway by myself. I was living the life of a true
New-Yorker.
 Wednesday
I went to the Empire State and did some shopping. I
actually got lost on the bottom 2 floors. I didn't really
feel like going up because I knew I was about to go
to the World Trade Centers. I took the top of the world
tour and it was absolutely the most beautiful sight
in New York. You could see all 5 boroughs of New York.
Completely indescribable! I have about half an hour
of video on the top that I will cherish after discovering
the tragic events of 911.
I met up with Jess later on (I'm really sorry for
the miscommunication). We really wanted go to the Statue
of Liberty and Ellis Island but by the time we got there
it was 6 PM. I figured it was still daylight out so
that there would still be tours but tours stop at 4.
So instead we took the free ferry to Stanton Island.
We watched the sunset over the Statue of Liberty which
was another visually exhilarating experience. I was
actually able to take a snapshot of the New York sunset
over the Statue of Liberty.
 Afterwards
we went to Cafe Lalo. Now the outside was absolutely
beautiful, but looks can be deceiving. The food was
really horrible because it was mostly vegetarian. One
reason I wanted to go and visit it was because it was
in the movie You've Got Mail which is a fave movie of
mine. I decided to take her there because of the symbolism
it offered. Me and Jess actually met on the net. The
place looked exactly like the moive. Other than that
I didn't really like the place.
On Thursday morning Jess and I went to the Bronx
Zoo. The most memorable part of that was the butterfly
zone. Me and her tried to capture some butterflies with
our cameras. And we even took some goofy pics.
We then made our way to the Ed Sullivan theater to
go see the David Letterman show. We waited about 2 hours
in line and it just began to start to rain. Once we
got in we were like 4th row, center. They entertained
us with a comedian and funniest moments from past shows.
Brooke Shields, John McEnroe, and the band Joe Henry
were the guest. That was so much fun.
 Afterwards
we went to go eat my last dinner there. So we went to
Little Italy and ended up at a restaurant called Fratellis
Ristorante. This place was absolutely perfect. It was
candlelit and the food was absolute delicious. I love
Chicken Parmiagiana but Jess wanted it so I had the
shrimp Parmiagiana which was just as good. If I could
recommend any restaurant it would be this. The people
there were also really pleasant.
Friday morning I did some last minute shopping around
Broadway and Times Square. Then me, Jess and Cyrus had
some KFC at Central Park. Afterwards we took my last
ride around the subway to Grand Central and then home.
They than took me to the airport. I really didn't want
to go because this was definitely an experience I didn't
want to end.
 To
Jess and Cyrus: Thank you for everything. You made my
trip more than memorable, you made it unforgettable.
I'm truly lucky to have friends like you. Once again..
Thanks for everything.
The plane ride home wasn't any better than the first
one. But I did get to meet a new bud of mine Chandra,
so a mad shout-out goes to you. And so my trip ended
once I got back to LAX. It's definitely something I
will never forget. For once in my life I ventured into
an unknown world and had some straight up fun. Now its
back to work. Till the next time...
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