One reason why I haven’t been updating this blog in so long is that I was no longer in Vietnam. It is a little bit odd to keep the name as “My awesome Vietnam”, so I changed it into “Awesome adventures”. Another reason is that I am now a senior in college (time flies, yeah), and has literally been caught up with thousands of stuffs.
But I got a little time for myself during Fall break (2014) to travel to New York. Don’t ask me why we chose to go there, it’s New York – the city of dream. It was a real good trip, though there was a bad day when it kept turning from raining hard to snowing hard the whole day, and it was so freaking cold!
So I would just walk you through the whole trip, with some tips, as usual. Some things to keep in mind are:
1. We had 9 people. Yep. So it could be much more simple, and also much more complicated if you’re going on your own.
2. We were not familiar to subway and maps. It would be easier if you used to them.
3. We are all Asians. It DOES make a difference.
First thing first, the airport
1. Airports and how to get to/from them to the city.
There are two main airports in NewYork, JFK and LGA. We landed at LGA airport, it was easy to find our way there ’cause it’s a small one. First thing you should do, if you plan to stay in NewYork for quite a few days and are not going to rent a car, is to buy a bus/subway pass. We spent 5 days there, so we chose the 7-day pass for $30. I don’t remember exactly how many options there are, but I think there was a 30-day pass. There are machines everywhere in the airport that you can get your bus pass from.
We caught the M60 to get to our apartment (48th st., Queens). You need to use the pass to get a ticket before getting on the bus. Now, the bus driver will shout out the name of the stop and the next stop for you, so you need to pay close attention.
(More information: http://www.ny.com/transportation/airports/LGA.html)
We was lost (no surprise, I am terrible at maps and directions anyway), but made it to the apartment (I will talk about the apartment when we get to that part).
The last day in NewYork, we departed from JFK airport. From where we stayed in Queens, we took the M train (R train works too) to Jackson Hts – Roosevelt Av stop, then from there caught the E train to Sutphin Blvd stop. From there, we followed the signposts (and also followed the people with lots of suitcases because we believed they were all getting to the airport). There is an Air Train that will take you from there directly to your terminal at JFK. It costs $5 I think, you can deposit $5 to you bus pass and use it. JFK airport is bigger and more confusing, but we did just fine so you would be fine!
2. Travel around the city: Bus, Subway, and (a lot of) walking
My first recommendation for those of you who will use public transportation to get around NewYork is to buy a subway and bus map. Be careful, you will want the latest version, because they change the route quite often, esp. when big holidays are coming (we were there during Thanksgiving and it got super confusing). You can also download the subway app. on your phone. On the train, there might be electronic map that shows you where you are, and what’s the next stop, but we found that very rare. Just be extra careful, and don’t panic if you get off at the wrong stop.
Another thing to remember, always look for the direction. If you are going to Manhattan, Times Square, 5th Avenue, all these places, you need Manhattan bound train. If you are heading to Queens, you need Queens bound train. After getting off the train, look for the yellow signposts that show which gate you need to get out, or need to head to if you are transferring to another route.
When we were there, subway was always crowded. It would be very lucky to get a seat, so I stood almost all the time. Some of the most common are N, Q (stop at Rockefeller center, 5th Avenue, Times Square), M, R (connecting Queens and Manhattan), E, F.
Buses were harder, because the driver would shout out the next stop so we had to pay extra attention.
Most of the time, we walked. Once you entered Downtown Manhattan, walking would be the fastest way to get around. Now this is the point I found NewYork similar to Vietnam: traffic light means absolutely nothing. Just watch out for cars, and carefully cross the street.
3. The apartment
We booked our apartment on Airbnb. You want to be careful, they charged us a fee of $165 (Ouch!). But the owner was really nice, he helped us a lot. It was located in Queens (I would suggest you looking for apartment and hostels far away from downtown, they are much cheaper, and you will get around just fine). Just want to remind you, we travelled in a group of 9 people, so it was cheap for each of us. This was a 3-storey apartment, about 6-7 bedrooms, each can hold up to 4-5 people (2 beds only though). Cost us $1,000/5 nights/9 people, really good price. We had to share the bathroom with other rooms, but it was ok. There was a fridge, a microwave and a small oven as well. It was three blocks from the subway, and there was a 24/7 Rite Aid store 2 blocks away. Safe neighborhood.
4. The trip
Let’s get to the most exciting part: Our NewYork trip!
On our first night in NewYork, we went to Chelsea Market (downtown Manhattan). It was literally a market, and for some reasons there were a lot of Koreans there. It has a famous lobster restaurant, but we didn’t try (well, that lobster sure cost good money). We ended up with Italian pasta and Korean mixed rice (bibimpap).
The next day, we went to Statue of Liberty. You can book ticket online here (http://www.statueoflibertytickets.com). Just make sure you get there early, the line will be long. And if you really do want to take photo from the cruise, get to the top deck and stand near the side. Do not sit, people will eventually all stand up and block your view. The ticket we bought brought us to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You can go and come back any time you want.
NOTICE: There will be a group of kids waiting for you right when you get off the cruise. They will be setting up with radio and speakers, they will dance, perform and do a lot of tricks. DO NOT GET CLOSE TO THEM. You can watch, but maintain a distant, if you don’t want to lose money.
We planned to go to Central Park in the afternoon, so we caught the subway and went to eat there.
Central Park was really, really beautiful. And it was huge. We wandered around, took a lot of pictures and forgot how quick it could get dark, so we finally ended up going only 1/3 of the park. But it was truly beautiful.
We came across the Museum of Natural Resource on our way to the subway, and guess what, it is the place where they filmed “Night at the Museum”. And they are FREE during the last hour (9-10 p.m)
Around the globe 