weaving the rainbow

Sunday, July 1, 2007 ;

3:24 AM

June 30

Sat

Morning: same ritual of taking the motel shuttle to airport, then take skytrain to NJ transit. But this time, there was a train delay. The kids then started dancing, jumping and playing in the wait area. I chatted with an Indian mom whose family has settled down in Maryland for 6 years now.

Her hubby is an IT engineer. Lots of Indians who come here are engineers, or in IT and medical-related fields.

Finally the train came:

Took it to Madison Square Garden. Met up with law there. and we walked around, then had lunch together. We then went our separate ways cos we were going to Toys R Us while he had better and more things to see. :-)

Above left: Madison Sq Gdn

Above right: Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (we saw this in London with our Uni friends last time so did not view it here)

Many sightseeing buses. But these would be quite warm, cos they don't have A/C.

Don't know what incident happened, but as we were walking along, the fire engines zoomed past with their lights flashing and sirens blaring. And then the NYPD were all parked around Times Square too. At least 7 police cars. But everyone still milled around in a leisurely manner, so dh said maybe they're just filming something.

Times Square Ernst and Young and the Empire State Building below.

Above left: Fashion Ave had all these plaques on the pavement, dedicated to various fashion big names. This was in honor of Ralph Lauren.

Along Fashion Ave, there were several very interesting art installations and sculptures too. ds1 climbed up to sew with the guy.

Then it was to what the kids waited for: Toys R Us. This flagship store in NYC is supposedly the largest toy store in USA. The highlight is of course the giant Ferris Wheel. ds2 napped! so I waited while ds1 and dh rode on the Ferris Wheel. It was very crowded on a Sat so I had to carry ds2 while standing and waiting for them. It was entertaining to look at each car going past though, because each car featured different characters. Eg Sesame Street, Toy Story etc.

Then we explored each level. The kids spent a lot of time at all their fav stations. There were lots of demo sets to play with, staff presenting new products and so on.

On the Lego level, there was a huge T Rex, Superman, Spiderman, Empire State Building and so on. The T Rex will roar and move menacingly, so the kids actually watched it for a long time.

We didn't buy much in the end, it was more of an experience. We bought some souvenir New York Taxicabs (for Ron White and others), a notepad for Zoe Crill, some stickers for Anna Hoover, and small plastic soldier for ds.

Then we went Starbucks for a drink while both kids napped. Yes ds2 napped again, because he woke up halfway in Toys R Us.

After that we walked to the United Nations Building (HQ). The kids actually were eager to see it too, thanks to the Little Einsteins. One of the DVDs had the 4 kids on a mission to the UN building to search for something and the kids wanted to see it in person.

Above: pity all the flags were not on the mast at the time we went, otherwise the above pic would be very colorful, with all the nations' flags.

Then we walked to the Trump Tower, where the kids played with the fountain, and then headed to law's hotel.

Law was stuck somewhere though, so we ate an unsatisfying dinner of Macs and Subway (you can guess the adults ate which one) while waiting for him.

We can't get into the hotel, and it had no lobby, so we sat on the steps near the pavement like beggars, to wait for him. One thing, in NYC, many of the eateries and cafes are very small, crowded and stuffy. They also usually are really dirty. Very different from Utah. I actually missed Utah a lot when we were in NYC. Especially when we walked along the streets downtown looking for somewhere child-friendly to stop and have a meal. Oh my, was that difficult.

And when we took the subway, people thronged about and pushed us. They were also very impatient with kids. Unlike in Utah, where people were friendly, said hi to strangers and opened doors for us. They don't mind waiting and generally are very nice to the kids.

We did meet nice people in NYC though, of course. Some cab drivers were very nice, chatty and friendly. Others were silent and rude. Some people helped us retrieve our cell phone from the drain, and went all out of their way to do it too. Those were really kind-hearted people. The grill from the drain could not be lifted, so a black guy, a chef and so on all rallied around to help. The chef finally lent us a ladle which we stuck underneath the grill to scoop the cell phone out. He probably either had to disinfect the ladle for hours or throw it away! That was a nice experience.
Law finally returned and we went up to his room to get a whole luggage bag he brought from Spore from my mom and sis, for us. Like he said, it was a really seedy hotel indeed. He stayed there cos the location was good, central and downtown. Ours was very far, in NJ. But if you want cheap lodging in NYC, it would be in such a place as law's hotel. :-) Not very suitable for kids.

See what we found in his wastepaper basket?

He said his room was dirty and he had to clean it up, and he found those lying around. hmmm...
And then we took a group pic before saying farewell, cos the next morning we'd be driving to boston while he was flying on to Toronto.

It was so nice being able to meet up with old friends from back home. And law is one of my closest friends in hc. More and more are leaving hc already, so I wonder the next time I return, would there be anyone I know who is left?

Besides many "activities" that occur at wee hours at the hotel (according to law), it also had an elevator with a door and gate! Since that kind of elevator is almost extinct, we had to use it! So we pressed the button and waited ages for it to arrive, then open the door, and pull the gate aside to enter. haha. fun.

By the time we reached our own motel while dragging the luggage through all different trains, it was almost midnight. Phew!

rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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