Times Square

Every year as the clock nears midnight on December 31st, the eyes of the world turn to the dazzling lights and bustling energy of Times Square. One million people squeezed themselves in absolutely freezing wintery conditions in Times Square just to have the privilege of seeing the famous New Year's Eve Ball descends from the flagpole atop One Times Square. One of my friends was at the 2005 countdown and she had to squeeze into Times Square at 4 pm and then stood there like a freezing idiot for 8 straight hours. You cannot leave the square, even if go to the toilet, because if you do, someone will immediately take your standing spot. So freezing your ass off with no food and unable to go to the toilet, just to see the New Year's Eve Ball drop? HELL YEAH.

I am tempted to go NY for the New Year Eve countdown to 2009. But it is something which one should only do with close friends of like-minded travelling companions.



Times Square today is the most energetic square in the world. There is a lot of ceaseless movement here. But the funny thing here is that, you feel that you can simply turn around and talk to a stranger next to you. In all the cities I have been to, this is the only city which I have the feeling. In Sydney, Tokyo, London, Bangkok, Istanbul and Beijing, if you turn around and speak to a stranger, you would probably get stared at and then receive an ass-whopping as a welcome.

Bright lights at Times Square.


And without a doubt, the star attraction at Times Square is the Naked Cowboy.

The Naked Cowboy is an American busker famous for playing his trade in Times Square. His routine consists of playing guitar wearing only cowboy boots, a hat, and a pair of briefs, with the guitar strategically placed to give the illusion of nudity. I was told that sometimes, there used to be a Naked Cowgirl but alas, no luck.

Glad to see a women who is so enthusiastic that she spent the whole time on her knees taking picture of his ass.

Breakfast at Tiffany

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY

So Lord of the Rings in NZ, Harry Potter in London, Da Vinci Code in Paris and Breakfast at Tiffany in New York. Looking for famous fim locations around the world is quite enjoyable actually. New York is the setting for thousands of movies but for me, it has always been associated with the image of Hepburn, in her famous little black dress, eating a croissant outside Tiffany.

Fifth Avenue seems to have changed a lot since wisp-thin Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard walked down it. No more "Don't Walk" signs around.

I am surprised that it took Armani so long to come over to 5th Avenue. Everyone else is here.

Lots of kebab and hotdog joints. They say 3 in 4 people in Manhattan are not New Yorkers but people from other parts of US and the world.

Tiffany is still in the same place as was in 1961 when Holly Golightly decided to eat a crossiant infront of it.













I am suddenly nostalgic of those days in Laos when I can easily sit back in my sofa and watch Audrey Hepburn movies till late night. All this probably mean that I need a holiday.

The actual building is actually very imposing - solid grey walls with impregnable steel door which looks like it is designed to withstand a dinosaur. Or legions of poor tourists. No wonder Holly Golightly merely stood outside and just gazed at the jewellery.

And just opposite Tiffany, with all its neon lights blazing, is the evil empire Louis Vuitton.

Pictures of NYC

Some pictures of the people of NYC. One thing that the movies and TV shows got it right was that there were lots of homeless and mentally imbalanced people in NYC. There are a lot of disabled people on wheelchairs begging for money claiming to be war veterans. There are also many homeless (hobos) around that smelled really bad and pushed trolleys around stuffed with their belongings. The first mad person that accosted me was this guy in blue sweater that walked around with a sign saying "Jesus Christ died for our sins. Repent now." I took a picture of his back as you can understand, it is kind of tough to take a full and frontal picture of a Jesus nut. This was outside the New York Library. Notice everyone giving the nut a wide berth. Sometimes, I wonder how much tragedy it will take to drive a person to walk around all day waving a sign around and being treated as invisible.

And we have a picture of this bag lady who tottered across the road carrying her belongings in her bags.

And the saddest mad person I met is this guy who was literally stumbling around from trash can to trash can, fishing for whatever leftover he can find and eating it straight away. He appeared heavily drunk and walked around in a stupor.

And a picture of rather fat New York cops buying donuts (what else).

On a brighter note, a pic of Iron Man again!

NYC

I woke up in the middle of the night with the sound of the plane's twin engines humming in my ears. The dark economy class cabin was quiet, although if you listened carefully, you could still hear the collective breathing and snores of fifty other passengers. The old man next to me was watching Jumper (which was a pretty nonsensical movie). My dislike for Hayden "Anakin Skywalker" Christianson knows no bound.

For the life of me, I couldn't recall which city I was heading to since much of my April was spent sleeping on planes and going to India. And then I recalled I was in the middle of a 19-hour ride to New York City. All was well.

[On 15 May 2008, I read in the newspaper that SIA had discontinued the economy class for all Singapore-NY direct flights. So from 15 May 2008 onwards, you have to pay $10,000 to get a class in the business class to fly to New York. I considered myself lucky for being one of the last passengers on the economy class. Given my low status, I would probably be asked to fly via Tokyo next time.]

The long ride was enjoyable even welcome. I was so tired that I fell asleep before the plane took off. This took place on every flight nowadays - an indication of how tired I was in the whole of May. And when I woke up, I suddenly have the urge to drink. So I had like three cups (funny shaped glasses) of wine and a screwdriver. I must have slept like 12 hours on the plane, waking up intermittently only to eat. By the way, in the NY direct flight, there was a pantry at the back of the plane which passengers could go grab a bite and just stand around and talk. Cakes, muffins and museli bars were available. You could even buzz the air stewardess to make you instant noodles. Wonderful.

I have never stepped foot in the US before. So what I knew about New York was all gotten from watching movies like Godfather, Godzilla or Matrix. Or playing video games like Grand Theft Auto.

In other words, I am expecting a rampaging 300-foot monster kicking the Empire State Building flanked by trenchcoat wearing black gangsters wielding .38 automatic shooting at grandmothers with car chases round the corner.

Of course, I did not encounter any monsters from Japan. Or gangsters rapping with machine guns. The grandmothers here are damn tough though.

Arriving in the US late at night.

Here is how a US$450 hotel room looks like. Right smack in the middle of classy Manhattan. A world of difference from the phone booth-like room that I slept in London.

I managed to get some hours off after proper work was done. Took the free Staten Island ferry to take a look at the Status of Liberty. If there is one picture to depict New York after 9/11, this picture is it. Freedom guarded by force of arms.

Every major store and franchise can be found on 5th Avenue - the fashion avenue of the world. More on that later. Here is one on DKNY.

When I walked to Madison Square Gardens - home to the New York Knicks, I saw a welcoming sight.

IRON MAN!

And then Indiana Jones.

I always like this building in the postcard. Shape like a iron.

More on NYC later. Now time to nap.

Best Bacon / steak in the Universe

I think I can quit my job now. In the course of my work in the last four months, I have tasted the best beef in the universe in Tokyo and I have now tasted the greatest bacon and steak in the universe. Right there at Peter Lugar in Brooklyn, New York City.

Behold, the best bacon in the universe. No one should even think about arguing with me. Vegetarians should look away.

The sound you hear is that of arteries clogging up everywhere. Too long we think of bacon of just thin slices of pork you sizzle on a plate and throw on your eggs at some cheap hotel breakfast. Bacon is also not those thin slices of meat we get at Burger King. Now, this is how bacon is supposed to look like. Massive like steak, thick like your finger and succulent like only fatty pork can be. When you stick it in you month, the fat exploded with the bits of beef coating the insides of your mouth with warm, delicious oil.

And the best steak in the universe is in the same restaurant. I am not sure what sort of steak they serve else where but the steak at Peter Lugars is cooked to perfection the way you like it. Most restaurants can't really cook medium rare or medium. This one definitely can. And they practically served you the entire flank of a cow to three of us.

See the pool of oil congealing on the plate. OMG. I have said it a thousand times but vegetarians really don't know what they are missing. They should just jump off a tall building now.