I know this has taken long, and I've been horribly MIA from my blog. But here it is, here it is - my NYC update
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"We'll turn Manhattan,
Into and isle of joy."
It was at the end of the first day of our trip. We'd been to the Met in the morning, and had spend the rest of the day enjoying 5th and 6th Avenue. Strolling into Bergdorf Goodman, gushing at Louboutins and the hot hot HOT sales staff from AnF, wearing Harry Potter hats in FAO Schwartz and playing with iPhones in the Apple store. Our feet were tired, but our hearts excited.
Siew had rushed to find another toilet again (after the 2349952107234th time that day) and there I was. By myself, sitting on that stone bench at the Rockefeller Centre. To my left was the Met Gift Shop, to my right was Banana Republic. The fountains were behind me, with children playing and couples relaxing. In front of me was the famed Rockefeller Ice Skating Rink filled with people. Some professionals spraying ice and some first timers wobbling ungracefully on the ice. Couples holding hands and children playing. Ella Fitzgerald was crooning in my ears as I sat there, and there and then it hit me. One hundred percent concentrated happiness.
I don't need to tell you what you already know, I shouldn't have to describe to you what you can already picture in your mind's eye. You can imagine it for yourself - the tall skyscrapers and the streets that are bustling with life, Times Square brightly lit and the Empire State Building and all its grandeur. What I can tell you is what I've learnt from being in the great city of Manhattan.
Wear comfy shoes. For all the streets and sidewalks you want to walk past, for all the avenues you want to cross, wear comfy shoes. Sure, 4-inch stilettos might look gorgeous in the pictures, but really. After sixty blocks of exploring Manhattan on foot, you quickly learn that sometimes the best thing to have is your trusty ballet flats. The flats that will carry your tired aching feet to heaven (read: the shoe department of Bergdorf Goodman) and let you oggle at the gorgeousness that is Louboutin shoes. It had been the perfect pick-me-upper to what had been a very tiring day.
Never stand above subway vents, especially if you're wearing a flare skirt. I had to learn this the hard way. We were in the middle of Times Square for the very first time and I was having my Hiro Nakamura moment when whoooooooshhhh. The air blew my skirt upwards and I had my very first Marilyn Monroe moment. Siew (as well as the rest of the people in Time Square) had a full view of my undies, which brings me to my next point - wearing decent underwear under skirts. Thank God I wasn't in my multicoloured polka dotted undies.
Prepare for the unexpected. NYC might seem larger than life, and it is. Oh, there are many moments you feel like you've stepped onto a movie set. But beyond the glitz and the glamour of 5th Avenue lie a different New York. The city is real, and amazingly ordinary. The people are authentic. And those are the ones that will really surprise you. From the busker at the Subway from 103 St that Siew fell for, to the man at his hotdog stand who made me feel awfully special because he thought my eyes were beautiful.
Look for beauty, it's usually there. The massive works of art that make up the NYC skyline. Standing silently, waiting to be noticed. From the cracks in the pavement, to the little potholes along the roads, from the mass of yellow you see because of all the taxis, to the ancient Subway station zooming by. From the beautiful NY Public Library that looked like the Hogwarts castle (the water fountains were carves lion heads that emerged from the walls), to the beautiful Empire State Building. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to the Statue of Liberty. From the magic of 5th Avenue to the wonder of Central Park. These, these are the things that make NYC such a beautiful place.
Celebrate your differences. The SIFE cultural fair was such an eye opener - 48 countries represented by little tables, with people dressed in their national costumes trying to bring a piece of their lives to the world - I've never felt so different, yet so similar to such a large group of people before. We met Kazakhs dressed in bright blue costumes, Brazilians in yellow and green t-shirts, Japanese in their kimonos and Koreans in their hanboks. It was a beautiful sight, people of different race and skin colour in this lovely big mesh of wonderful racial rojak coming together for the same cause.
Everyone's a little bit racist sometimes.. Oh Broadway. What is NYC without its politically incorrect humour and freedom of speech? Avenue Q was absolutely brilliant and running in the rain along Times Square sans an umbrella was worth it.
SIFE is a brilliant brilliant organization. As I sat and listened to presentation after presentation, I stopped listening to the impressive financials and high media impressions and instead heard passion, squeezed into twenty four short minutes. From the slick and polished presentations (*ahemUSAahem*) to those who obviously had a hard time translating their presentations from their native languages to English, I heard audible passion, and pride at work well done. Each presentation was a labour of love, representative of many hours of hard work put in. From transforming an entire village by introducing tourism, to building a shopping centre specially catered to the physically disabled, I heard students talk about changing their worlds in the belief that one person can indeed make a difference. As cliched as it sounds, as 'un-altruistic' you may think these students are for doing good work for a competition, I still think SIFE can slowly, slowly, change the world. One school at a time, one culture at a time.
So. My second trip to NYC was nothing short of brilliant and really, I've fallen in love with the city all over again. And seriously, I want to live there, study there, breathe the air there......
Well you know what they say - third time's the charm.