New York, New York

My friend Hannah was going to be in NYC for a business conference over the weekend, so we decided to meet up there and go site-seeing and catch up. I had been to NYC a few times before, but was still eager to see the hustle and bustle again. For the last few years, Hannah has been one of my closest friends and continues to be despite living on the other side of the country, in sunny, warm, perfect weather (I could go on here), Arizona.

I left Saturday via Lucky Star Bus (yeah baby!). The bus ride itself was long and boring, besides the part where the girl next to me threw up into a plastic bag. I'll skip the details. I got into the Big Apple in the early afternoon and spend much of my afternoon just walking around and seeing some new sites as well as some I had seen before in previous trips there.

My Saturday night was an experience. See preceding blog below.

Some random things I observed about the city and of myself:

1. There are alot of Chipotle's restaruants there. My favorite place to eat! I think I could literally eat one of their steak fajita burritos everyday for the rest of my life. If you have never eaten their burritos, I highly suggest them. If you don't love them, you should get your brain checked out.

2. I enjoy people watching. Sure, I love to see the sites and sounds of New York, but just walking the streets and seeing some many different types of people and hearing a myriad of languages being spoke at every street corner was amusing.

3. I'm pretty sure you can get some stuff cheaper in NYC than anywhere else. I stopped into a handful of stores including Gap, Banana Republic, etc. If you shop the sale racks (or the welfare racks as I like to call them) you can get some great deals. And don't be ashamed to buy from the welfare racks - I shop them exclusively. I refuse to pay full price on stuff myself.

4. Street vendors don't wash their hands. My mom would faint.

5. New Yorkers are generally nice people despite all the negativity that surrounds them. I saw a handful of good deeds that even small town America would be proud of.

6. New York is a big city, but still a pretty good walking city.

7. I felt bad not calling my Uncle Craig to let him know I was there. He lives right in Manhattan (I think?) and I don't see him that much.

Here are some pictures (in no particular order) of the rest of the trip:


Me and Hannah as Rockefeller Center. We thought about going ice skating, but Hannah figured she would save herself the embarrassment since she had never been on skates before.


In Time Square.


Before Hannah arrived I took a stroll down to the financial district and then to the water front, where I saw this - the US Airways plane that landed on the Hudson River a few days back. This almost goes without saying, but it was surreal to see a plane right off the pier.


The present day scene at where the World Trade Towers once stood.


I took a tour of the 9/11 memorial. It was a fitting homage to the people who lost their lives that day. Between the videos that were playing, the pictures of those that were lost, and remembrances written by loved ones, you could only feel compassion and humility. This was my first time seeing this memorial. Well worth the visit.


A steel girder from the wreckage of 9/11. This simple piece of architecture seems to tell a little piece of the story by itself.

I happened upon a small film shoot going on in the financial district.

This was a little celebration going on in Chinatown that I stumbled upon. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but I think it was a celebration for a new store opening up.

Time Square

The NYC Public Library.

Self-portrait in my hotel room.