First flew from Mobile to Memphis. Memphis is famous as it was where Elvis was born. That was only about 1 hr plus flight Then from Memphis to Indianapolis. When the plane flew on top of the city, the grass patches were covered with snow. So, it was very nice as most of the city were white..
At Indianapolis airport, we went out of the airport to check out the ice..Then, flew from there to NY LaGuardia airport, which is nearest airport from New York City. By the time we reached, it was close to 6pm. So, it was dark already.
After collecting our luggage, we had to get a shuttle to our hotel. Someone approached us and told us about this bus express service that costs only 12US to go to midtown manhatten which is where our hostel is. It is cheaper than the supershuttle van which we know about, costing US15. So, we went up the bus. There was a major jam in the airport with so many cars and so, it took us a while before we got out of the airport.
The person who sold us the bus tickets told us that we drop at the second stop as we told him the name of our hostel. So, when the bus stopped at Penn Station, which was the first stop. We stayed put until one guy came up of the bus and asked us where were we going...I told him and he said follow me..we followed him blindly as he sounded so confident. I overheard that it was free..so we went ahead.
When the mini bus dropped us at our hostel (Big Apple Hostel), he told us US$5! Sigh..we had to pay cos we were afraid he might do something to us. After that incident, CT and I had a very first bad impression of NY. We entered our hostel and the guy at the reception was so unfriendly and did not smile at all. He handed us our TV remote control to our room and 2 sets of room key. The elevator was not working, so we had to walk 6 flight of stairs to level 6. So tiring..
We had air conditioned in the room and CT wanted to switch it on, but we did not have any remote control. So, CT went down to get it from the guy and came back up to turn it on. But the air con did not on. So, before we left to walk the streets, we told the guy at the reception that we could not switch it on as the mains may not be on. The guy actually scolded CT and said that his aircon works, so how can ours not work. He started pointing the finger at us and made it sound as if we did not know how to turn it on. Sigh...No comments..
CT was very down as the first day in NY already got cheated and scolded..So, it was not a very good impression we had of NY..
Our room was not big. It was just right for a Queen Bed, TV, small round table and 2 chairs. It was a shared bathroom, but glad the bathroom was just next door to our room. So, quite convenient. During Christmas time, we had to put up with such conditions as all the lodgings increase their prices. So, even for this hostel, we had to pay about 95US per night..
We walked to Rockefellar centre to check out the world biggest Christmas tree. Very nice..
Saw buildings where the "Late Night Show with David Letterman" was held, and next to it, was the "Color Purple" musical produced by Oprah Winfrey.
We also walked the streets of broadway where it is so happening with cool computerised billboards and huge billboards. Very lively street which is just outside our hostel.
We came upon a Chinese small eatery place which was cheap. So, we had our dinner there. I ordered fried rice with tofu and veggies, while CT ordered fried half chicken with fried rice. It was huge portions but we ate finish as we did not like to waste food and were hungry from all the travelling. The chefs and owners seem to be from China, speaking a strange sounding dialect which CT and I cannot make out.
By the time we walked and walked, we were quite tired already. It was close to 10pm. So, we went back to our hostel. The only thing good about our hostel is that it is conveniently located. It is in the middle of Manhatten, just next to Broadway. So, I am very thankful for that.
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