Tuesday, November 23, 2004
New York Trip
Over there, they are pretty generous. Whatever you buy, the portions are huge, the price is small. The exact opposite in Singapore. Closer to home for us teenagers, this is another example. 1 pair of Levis Jeans costs SG$135. Over there, 2 pairs cost US$50. Now, can you see the difference?? Can't take this anymore. Singapore has its good points, but the environment is only good for certain type of people to excel. I don't think i like it very much. Ok, enough ramblings. I visited New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. We only heard of how great the US is in scientific technology. But when i went there, and visited all the museums, i can tell you art lovers will be in paradise, especially in Washington. Singaporean art lovers cried when the government finally relented to bulid the Esplanade. They will just die when they go to US. Sincerely, even i, for one who's never interested in the Arts, sat up and took notice. I saw paintings, sculptures, fossils, whatever you ever dreamt of seeing. You got it. Art lovers will flourish over there. Just for Washington alone, you need at least 6 months just to view all the museums over there. In fact, i didn't even manage to cover a quarter of the museum exhibits even though i spent 2-3 hours in one over there.
First, a bit of US history. I was staring at the mixture of races on the streets, Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians etc, when it suddenly occurred to me, who exactly are the natives. According to my cousin who is a teacher over there, the natives are actually the Red Indians. The British came over, conquered and took over the land. They called it America. Then i realised it was quite comical. So actually the age old rivalry between the English and the Americans is not really as it seems. It is more like the rivalry between the English and the not-so-satisfied English. Isn't it funny how they always purposely defy each other. For instance, the British uses the metric system which we all use. We talk in terms of kilometers, degree celcius and kilograms. The Americans insist on using the Imperial System and refuse to budge, so they end up talking in miles, Farenheit and pounds. The English uses the A and O levels, the Americans use SATs. How strange. But i can't help feeling that the Americans triumph in the end. Glory to the underdog! Something else. Do you know that the in the US population, there are actually more Blacks than Whites? There is quite a surprise, considering that racisim still prevails.
I also learnt that New York is located in Central America. Alaska in North America. South America consists of countries such as Peru, Columbia and i think Mexico?
In New York, i stayed over at Hotel Pennsylvannia. It is located in the heart of New York, just like Singapore's Mandarin Hotel. So imagine our shock when we got our rooms. My aunt and uncle were lucky. Their rooms were ok. Come to mine. I nearly faint. The heater didn't work. That is not a problem. But there were discarded cigarette butts in it and a ton of other rubbish that i forced myself not to see. The walls were peeling and they crumbled towards the floor. So there were actually debris. Yeah, i can't believe it. The bedcover covered some of the debris. I was so disgusted, i peeled the covers right off and abandoned them on the floor. The bathroom is a sickly yellow colour, small and cramped. The ceiling had water stains which reminded me of the horror show, "Dark Waters". Eeks. The only advantages were that the tap of the shower was easy to use, not the mixing kinds (i hate those!), and anytime we wanted to go shop, we just pop out of the hotel. My only regret? I forgot to shoot more pictures of the hotel room. After staying there, we realise that it was a 1 star hotel. Very funny. Even our US relatives can't believe it. And it costs a hefty US$188/day. And you know something? Dogs are allowed in the hotel. They can walk around freely, no need for cages. We visited Chinatown in NY a number of times, to have our reunion dinners and to have a look. I realise that there were really alot of Asians in US. Oh, and i forgot to mention the fact that in NY, evey hour you will hear the wail of sirens and see ambulances, police cars and fire engines racing pass. I took a couple of pictures, you can take a look after i upload everything. It's crazy, really. Very bustling and noisy. The people in NY are also very impatient. There are a ton of cars on the roads, and drivers just keep tooting their horns even though they know it is futile. Traffic still inch slowly. But they horn anyway. Haha. In Singapore, you probably get slapped with a fine for disturbing the peace. Haha. The cars there are extremely cheap, bordering on the edge of insanity. A small car costs only US$1500. No COE, no road tax, nothing. Just an annual fee of US$35 for inspection. Petrol is dirt cheap. My uncle has 3 cars, and his petrol bill comes up to only US$100/mth. We have one car, and already our bills are sky high. My cousin who is 17 this year, already drives a car to school. My brother and i were green with envy. And my cousin drives back home during free periods in school. Can you believe that???
Another thing i noticed is that practically every house has a basketball hoop installed in front of their garage or lawn. Us cousins, only warmed up to one another, after we played a game of basketball. Funny. And their TV? They show really good shows. They don't even subscribe to cable. Just TV, and they have all kinds of movies screening. Programmes such as Scooby-Doo 2, The Passion of Christ, Mean Girls etc. Recent movies all on TV. How cool can you get?? Over here, we simply watch re-runs of Titanic. Very funny. Oh, and they have hosted shows such as Jerry Springer. It is kind of dumb, as the show interviews people who have secrets. And then you can see fights breaking out as each party tries to defend their actions. Haha. When we were over there, the newspapers were screaming about a ridiculous crime committed by teens. Apparently 6 teenagers stole a credit card, used it to buy a 20 pound frozen turkey and hurled it out of the car they were speeding in, on the freeway. The turkey smashed through a motorist's windscreen and slammed into the driver's face. The driver had fractured cheekbones and jaw. She was in a critical condition. It happened on Long Island, a town, a half-hour drive from New York, right where my cousins were living in. Although Long Island is like the different streets of Tampines in Singapore, their streets are pretty huge. Long Island itself only, is already 3 times the size of Singapore. You need 3 hours to drive from one end to the other. You need only half an hour to do that in Singapore.
I also never understood one of the commandments, "Thou shall not kill." Until my uncle related some incident. I thought all murderers will always end up apprehended by the law. Apparently not so, in New York. My uncle was saying how he and his group of friends were travelling in a car. His friend who was driving was annoyed with how another car abruptly cut in front of his path. In his anger, he flashed his middle finger. The other driver and his occupant drove over, yanked out a gun and just shot my uncle's friend, before speeding off onto the sidewalk and away. They were never caught, my uncle's friend died. It happened in broad daylight, in front of my uncle's and the rest of his friends. By the way, the driver and his occupant were a Black and a White. Another incident was when this person bought over a house. He decided to tear down the old house to build a new one. In the process of demolition, they found a corpse buried in the walls. The criminal was never found. Now i understand the commandment. You CAN get away from your crimes.
The buildings in NY are all very nicely built. Not the box-like types you see frequently in Singapore, but these biuldings are really artistically built. Very tasteful, very soothing to the eye. The view was also breath-taking. Revolving doors seem to be a common sight too. Almost every building is installed with them.
In Florida, we went shopping like mad, at all the factory outlets. Before i left, Yinglin told me that 4 days spent at Florida was not enough. My US uncle echoed the same view. I didn't get it, since i thought that Florida only had theme parks. And how many time can you take the same ride man? I found out that the view you had when you are just 9 is totally different when you are 19. There were lots of things to shoot (pictures). The moment we arrived at our hotel, it is like right out of an Enid Blyton fairytale. Hotels were not the kinds you see, but were build in the forms of castles, and even an overturned Disney house! I got a picture of the Castle Hotel but not the upside down one. Sad. Gigantic teddy bears were constructed, it was really fairyland. Before the trip, i told myself to snap pictures of the animated characters, because you can see life-size fairytale characters such as Cinderalla, Snow White, and even Mickey Mouse walking around taking pictures and signing autographs. Alas, there simply wasn't enough time. I only managed to snap Stitch. There was so many pictures to take. It was insane! So many to take, so little time. Your heart can ache man. We took roller coasters which were really not very hair-raising. Some of the parks were also quite different from what i remembered, than my mother told me that my memory was all mixed up. Apparently, i visited 3 Disneylands before. Los Angeles, Florida and Tokyo. I forgot eveything. Haha. My mum lamented it was such a waste of money to take me to such places. Whatever. Anyway, there were numerous factory outlets, Levis, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Timberland, Guess. The list goes on. Prices that can make your eyes pop and your mouth to gape. Naturally, we rushed to get the stuff we wanted. We only managed to visit 3 theme parks, Epcott, Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios. Already, we had no time. I hope i can go back there with friends after i graduate. The photography is endless. Not nice to go with parents or little kids. Not much freedom. Heard that, Kah Ming, Lydia and Yinglin?? Shall we go after we graduate? Hong Kong is opening a 4th Disneyland next year too!
We also made a trip down to Washington DC. Our initial plan to Canada was shelved when it started snowing over there. We didn't bring the right type of winter clothes. Already, we were freezing under 3 layers of thick jackets. We will just die in snow, though i wanted to build snowmen! En route to Washington, we stopped by at Baltimore and Pennsylvania. Both were really nice peaceful areas, a stark contrast from bustling New York. In Baltimore, we went to the port. It is like Coller Quay in Singapore, yet you see people jogging. Imagine jogging in Coller Quay. People will stare, point their fingers and laugh. In US, they are very tolerant and liberal. That is another reason why i didn't want to come back! Oh, and you know that the striptease started in Baltimore before spreading globally? There was a small diner that didn't make money, so the owner thought of a brainchild. He hired waitresses clad in tight clothing and extremely short skirts to serve the customers. Naturally, business bloomed. Such a tranquail country, but a sleazy trade can originate there. Ironic! Also, the first Ice cream and umbrella factories in the US opened in Baltimore. In Baltimore, i also saw for the first time, the Barnes and Noble bookstore. They operate an online bookstore, that i was didn't really know was geunine or not. Now i know better. In Pennsylvania, the view was awesome. In Singapore, the goverment has trishaw riders for tourists, over there they have horse carriages. We took one, and went for a historic tour. No need to mention that the rider of the horse carriage was stunningly handsome. Haha. I saw the house of the Father of American surgery, he was the first to perform an operation successfully. I saw the church which George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (Presidents of the United States) attended. I saw a Jweish Synagogue for the first time, and one with such historic significance too! It was the first synagogue built to look like one. We toured a neighbourhood which was the second most expensive in Pennsylvania. Houses start at a whooping US$1 miliion. I saw the buildings featured on the back of the US 10, 100 and i think, also the 5 dollar bill. Beautiful cities. In case you are wondering, Baltimore, Pennsylvania and Washington are like different areas in US, like Tampines, Pasir Ris and Bedok are different areas in Singapore. The only difference is the travelling time. You take 4hours travelling at around 100km/h from NY to Washington.
Lastly, Washington DC. In case, you are wondering what DC stands for, it means District of Columbia. I do not know why DC is added to the name though. Some nuggets of amazing information. 70% of the population in DC are blacks. And you don't see skyscrapers in DC, because a rule was laid down that the highest structure in DC is the Washington Memorial. No other buildings can be higher. The life in DC, seemed to be straight out of a movie. You see families strolling down the sidewalks, with beautiful autumn trees in the background, you see people walking and playing with their dogs in the park. Damn, i already yearn to go back. Not a good sign. I saw the FBI building and the Pentagon, though i couldn't get any pictures as no one was allowed inside. Tourists used to be able to go in, but after the September 11 attacks, security heightened. Same with the White House but that one at least i could zoom in from a distance. I saw the aviation museum and the museum filled with fossils of dinosaurs. Amazing. So many things, so little time. I want to go back again someday.
This has been a pretty long post. Anything else i forgot, i probably included it as captions under the photos i shot. I am uploading it now. But i doubt it can be completed today. I shot 688 photos in all. I am so happy. Shucks, i really want to migrate. Singapore is so stifling. Stifling system, stifling people, stifling weather. You know how warm and friendly the people are over there? Let me give you an idea. I saw strangers approaching each other, one asking for directions. You know how the other replied? "I am not really sure, baby, maybe you can try..." In Singapore, such a reply would have probably earned you a slap or warrant a stare. Now you know...The only consolation is that i am heading to Melbourne next year for 6 years. I am hoping the pace of life is like America's. I told my mum i will work, get the money and migrate all of us over to US. Haha.
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