Leon's Boulevard of Unspoken Dreams

Day 76 (Sat) *NYC DAY 1*

The day has finally come for us to say Goodbye to Wildwood...was the 1st to wake up among the leaving quartet of me, ken, naf and JK...apartment 5 will only have left eric who will be leaving to washington DC in a couple of days...JK still has some "unfinished" business left at atlantic city so it has been decided that me, naf and Ken will be going to NYC first andden he will meet us at the hostel...

went off to the kitchenette to prepare my breakfast and to my astonishment saw angie and kelly stoning in the chairs with big puffy eyes...apparently they had stayed overnight in the apartment in our rundown kitchen to send us off...wah lao...i insisted they go back to rest and wash up and come back later but they wanna stay behind...next thing saw a big plate of fried rice next to the sink...it seems that sihui had fried them overnight and left it there at about 4am for our breakfast...wah seriously seriously...this is making things so difficult to leave...arrggghhh...

naf went to book a cab and due to arrive at 7.15am...andden out of nowhere came this sudden downpour...it's funny how we came on the first day admist a shower of drizzle and now we are leaving in this summer rage of huge downpour...the cab came at 7.15am and only to leave 5 minutes later despite me frantically waving to him to wait as the rest are making their way down...these wildwood cab drivers seriously damn attitude...told him to wait for 5 minutes and he simply juz left in my face...naf went back to call and the same cab came to pick us up again...how stupid can he get...turn one circle juz to show attitude also song...

the people who woke up early to send us off at the main door of mag2...angie, jessie, kerrine, kelly, JK (whom we will be seeing in a few hours time provided he lugged his way out of NY Chinatown smoothly with his 3 bags...haha) and eric...it was really a moving departure setting and the heavy downpour in the backdrop did not help matters...gave an emotional hug to the 2 taiwanese gals and shook the hands of others before chionging out in the rain...stuffed my backpack in the boot and left magnolia ave for good...the place i have become so attached to in the short space of 2 months...the place where we all lived, worked, laughed and played for the past 2 months...so long wildwood...

the wildwood buddies who came to send us off despite the early downpour

the departing NYC trio

the farewell cum get-well card i received from angie and jessie early this morning

the contents of the card revealed!! wah lau fan ti zhi...but nan bu dao wo...haha

the rain had simmered somewhat but is still rather heavy by the time we reached the bus terminal...and we were totally taken aback by the bomshell that the bus terminal auntie dropped on us next...the next direct bus to new york would be at 10.17am and we had followed the old schedule which stated that the bus would leave at 7.49am...wah kaoz...really waste time leh like that...could have spent 2 hours more catching up on our sleep and intead we are left stranded here at wildwood bus terminal in the heavy storm...got no choice we decided to wait for the rain to become lighter before we go hunting for some breakfast ahead of the 4 hour bus ride to NYC...had a chocolate frosted doughnut and hot chocolate at a nearby Doughnut store...wah lau perfect combi...and it only take me the last day to realise that such heavenly breakfast exist in wildwood...haha

juz as we were about to board for the bus to NYC...a few familiar faces that we had seen juz a few hours ago popped up again at the bus terminal...haha had juz finished reading the card the gals wrote while waiting andden they appeared once again...they were actually walking JK to the bus terminal to catch the atlantic city bus...and were surprised to see us still at the bus terminal...took a few last-minute pics before saying our farewells once again...haha

me and eric...the discipline master and the one who always wakes us every morning for work...without him i tink apartment 5 would have either collapsed or buried with mountains of dirty dishes and rubbish by now...haha

me & angie...the b'dae gal!! haha

me & jessie...will always remem how she manage to be always so perky and chirpy even in times of crises...always putting in effort to cheer us up when chips were down

amazing race- Next pitstop: New York City

one final group shot before departing

the bus journey to NYC was long and tedious...had to go thru ocean city before stopping over at atlantic city andden finally NYC...along the way also met with a couple of traffic jams...instead of the usual 4 hour bus ride...the whole journey took 5 hours and by the time we reached Port Authority Bus Terminal it was already closing 4pm...asked for directions to go to our hostel located at the junction of 101st street and Broadway and how friendly new yorkers really are compared to the wildwooders...along the way to our hostel...i counted more den 4 people approaching to help us...i mean they approach us even without us asking them for help...caucasians, african-americans, asians and hispanics...all of them helped us with a ready smile...this chinese auntie was talking to us in the subway and somehow found out we are from singapore and i am hokkien andden naturally we juz started dialoguing in hokkien...haha 3 months in the west and my hokkien still quite liew...at least she understand wad i saying and i know wad she saying...finally got to the hostel after a smooth 15 minute subway journey...

the hostel really exceeded our expectations...location is superb with a 24-hour convenience store juz beside it, subway juz 2 streets away, SUBWAY 1 block away, Starbucks rd the corner...and the location is juz good for 20 bucks a nite in upper westside manhattan...we booked a 8-room male room but end up getting a private 4-room with a built-in toilet for the same price...one complaint though...no aircon and limited internet access...

naf and me checking out the room juz after arriving

the toilet...still considered neat and tidy

the view from our room view...a dog and cat hospital opposite our hostel??

JK finally arrived 15 minutes after us...proudly telling us how he navigated thru the complicated streets of Chinatown aith 3 luggages in tow...and juz reaching 15 minutes after us...haha...we all took a shower, unpacked our toiletries, changed and off we go to Downtown Manhattan to do some concrete exploring...haha...really fall in love with this city the moment i stepped in here...u can say it is love at 1st sight...the huzz and buzz of city life after almost 2 months in the suburbs of south jersey...now can confirm i am a hardcore city rat...i really feel so much energised with the horns of the moving traffic, the chattering of voices in the subway and the music of the buskers in the subway stations...it would really be a dream to work here in NYC...no wonder some call it the capital of the world...and i already understand why...even though it is only my 1st day here...haha

Plans for tonite: Recce the neighbourhood...Go to the famous Times Square and experience 1st hand NYC on a Sat nite...

took a shot outside my hostel juz before leaving for downtown

the exact location of our hostel

mama shop nearby...very convenient

Look!! so many 6s...even easier to remem den pizza hut...haha

even the fire escapes here bewilder me so much...the power of Hollywood

At 103 subway station...our "home" station for the next 5 days

JK and me inside the subway on our way to eat subway

Grand Central station and the famous clock that appeared in countless Hollywood blockbusters

Of coz not forgetting a group shot outside such a landmark place of manhattan

Lexington Ave...another famous shopping district in downtown manhattan

Outside the UN Headquarters enroute to Times Square...the whole building is juz a joke...like another commercial building downtown and no single flag hanging on the hundreds...wah kaoz UN HQ leh!!?!

Times Square is really simply awesome...the neon lights, the mega billboards, the broadway theatres and the designer boutiques juz give a lethal combination of old, rustic and new, modern...both blending in harmoniously to ooze that something xtra over our "new kid" orchard road...it's juz that something xtra really which i really can't describe in words...u really have to stand in the middle of Times Square...and all the billboards and lights simply "flow" towards u...and u really can feel the vibrancy and "energy" level of the historic Times Square...wah i really wonder how it feels to be counting down right here...haha...

we went ahead to explore the controversial Church of Scientology which is juz round the corner...some of you prob have heard of it thanks to Mr Hollywood Tom Cruise - the most famour patron of this church...i sat don watched a video on human rights which include the right to trial...anti discrimination messages as such and one very interesting 15-min video on Dianetics...which the Church founder has wrote a book on...he believes that Dianetics is the way to rid our reactive minds of engrams which have been implanted there by painful experiences...and it is these engrams that have caused us to feel down on some days...lose our temper easily or simply crack down under stress...agreed with certain parts but not all of the video...but the fact they are using science to convince people their beliefs is something very unique...coz more often den not...religion and science do not go together...