New York City


Have you ever woken up at 4 am, taken a subway to one freaky neighbourhood, walked down to Times Square, into a bar, danced your way back home the next morning?...Well, all the above is possible in perhaps only one city in this world...New York. Ok, it's one thing to actually be living there and get stressed due to the traffic and pollution, and another to make frequent weekend getaways to the big Apple. I chose the latter :)

New York, has always fascinated me and the first thing I EVER wanted to do in the US was visit NYC. I still remember peeping out of the window as the friendly driver was trying to strike meaningful conversation with me and being awed by the first skyline of NYC with the missing twin towers. Oh, and from that time, till I boarded the bus again, I swear my pulse was a degree higher than what it normally should have been..

It is one city where you walk down China town, into Little Italy, order exotic stuff in restaurants, hear scary stories about dark alleys and run into people selling coke. Well, the first time on my subway, I encountered a super-serious fight between a black guy and a white man, and I (ironically) smiled, at what people have told me about NYC and I whispered to my scared Chinese friend,. :It's New york dude..

We went on, did a little bit of shopping in Macy's and we got down on Broadway. That was where I remember Ina spotting a bright glow at the end of the road, and she was like, There's something there, let's go..And so we went, walked a good ten blocks to witness live cameras, bright billboards, limos, tourists and open shops in the famed Times Square. OMG, I was so in awe and I felt the place I came from was a literal village in comparison. I walked on to see bright billboards of Yahoo and Hershey's and Virgin Records, A topless girl posed in the middle of times square asking for charity money, and people rushed around me, pushed me and shouted names. Life on earth is not in the rainforests, but right here in Times Square,..all this at 10 pm..We went into the Hard Rock Cafe, and other bars around. Bar hopping in NYC is so much fun, especially if you got one at the end of every street.

Sunday, we guys decided to go to a broadway show, I was so confused which musical to pick and settled down for Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The line was a 2 hour wait, and the ticket a good 70 dollars before I actually settled down to see the show. The show was beautiful, fire crackers lit up the stage, props moved in and out, actors and actresses danced their ways and sang to the glory of music. I almost cried at "A tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme...", and realized what a hopeless romantic I was.

Parties, bars, clubs, violence. The nights in NY are really well known for the above. You can get shot in the head, robbed of money, mugged, or end as a prostitute. Ok the last one was just a little over dramatic, but NY is true hardcore. My friend tells me, "You cannot be a pussy and live in NYC, it just doesnt isnt Texas."

Central park can be haven to most drug dealers too, but all I witnessed was a hip-hop style, black dancing right in the middle of the park.

Well, NYC still has me gasping, and I plan on going there almost once a month...It is more than just the big apple...:)