New York Adventure

The reason why I decided to visit my friend Hannah in New York was because the flight from Ottawa to New York was only one hour. And I was moving back to Taiwan in April. So if I hadn't gone there, it would have been even much more efforts for me to go from Asia. On top of that, Hannah offered me free accommodation, so I would have made a huge mistake if I had just passed it.

Being an experienced traveler, I didn't need too much of their attention. So every day the couple just went to work, and I had my own schedule for the city adventure. And the first stop? Times Square, of course.

Wow! The moment I came out of the underground, dazzling neons and TV walls jumped in front of me. How striking!!! Even though I had seen so much New York on TV in sitcoms or movies therefore I knew how it was supposed to be like, it was still astounding while I was standing there in person. Despite that I had been to about twenty different countries, at this point all I could say was “wow, wow, wow” to praise and congratulate the beauty of tech. I was just like an ordinary rube walking into a huge city. My mouth was so widely open so I didn't get any chance to meet attractive guys.

Anyway, I wanted to find brochures of any kind to see what I could do in this city. However, there were about one hundred policemen on duty in the street all over, giving a serious atmosphere here. (It was April of 2003.) I walked over, admiring their looks of being professional and skilled, which gave us an impression that they are capable of catching any bad buys. (Sorry about saying this. I mean, they now looked seriously skillful than some other time or their kinds in some other countries.) And I cleared my throat and asked, “Excuse me. I am a tourist here. Is there a tourism office near by?”

The police seemed to be carrying out some kind of red alarming work. Although the two policemen I asked looked serious, they were actually quite funny. They teased, “You are a terrorist? And you are looking for a terrorism office in thei neighbourhood?”

Haha. Very funny!! I laughed and answered, “Do I look like a terrorist? I don't think I am capable of doing anything close.”

So, basically I have had a great memory due to these New York police. Since I had a cheerful beginning, I bought the city pass and did what tourists should do:

Went through the scrupulous security and board the observatory of Empire State Building……..

and overlooked the New York City


















Visited Guggenheim Museum

Had a great time in Metropolitan Museum.

Oh, and see the splendid Grand Central Station. (Just as later on Marty the zebra in the movie Madagascar said, it's grand, and it's central. That made me laugh.)














And I paid a visit to the headquarter of the United Nations. Here's the outside.


Anyways. Even little corners of the city were so distinctive that I could smell the artistic spirit everywhere. Usually I don't like big cities. But I did enjoy New York a lot!

Then I realized that I was making myself too happy too early. As if I hadn't had enough in Ottawa, an alarm of a huge blizzard was broadcast. The weather report said that it was the biggest for the past seven years.


You must be kidding me! What blizzard? The car outside Hannah's house was just like this. Come on! It wasn't that bad!

So basically the last two days, I was watching outside the window and listening to the news telling us that the John F. Kennedy International Airport was closed due to the storm. I disagreed. It would be just a normal day in Ottawa. I couldn't see why they have to close the airport.

Luckily my flight was in the afternoon, and that morning the airport reopened again. I went back to Ottawa, full of wonderful memories. Thinking about experiencing the biggest blizzard in the past seven years, I thought it was cool. So I was showing off in front of my dear classmates. Somehow, I seemed to have chosen wrong people. My Canadian classmates and professors did not take it. They sniffed, “Oh, come on. It would have been just a normal snowy day in Ottawa. Don't be such a wuss!”

Me: ...............................
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Alas!