Dreher is a certified private pilot, allowed to fly solo for long distances under certain conditions. As he was interested in logging a few more flight hours and both of us were out, he asked me if I would like to join him for a flight. I’ve told him before when I first met him that I would like to go up in the sky as well, and Dreher isn’t the type of person to forget a friend either.

He took me to Saint Cloud’s airport and picked the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, which is a small single propeller four-seat plane. While he was preparing the plane, he explained the consoles and all the meters there as well. He said that to enjoy a flight as much as possible, it’s always important to know the basics. It helps the experience, which I cannot help but to agree wholeheartedly.

As it was only the two of us, I became his “co-pilot” of sorts. I got a pair of headphones earlier from the Aero Club office just for the flight, and I got the opportunity to listen in on the transmissions between the planes and the Control Tower.

We were heading to Brainerd, which is a small city about 50 miles north of St Cloud. As we were taxiing on the taxi (the strip of pavement beside the take-off strip), Dreher had me learn how to control the plane’s directions using my foot. It was unbelievably exhilarating as I twitched my foot and felt the plane swerve left and right.

I have not been any small Cessna planes before. I’ve heard that they can be terribly bumpy, a very scary ride and I’ve seen my fair share of crash scenes on TV.

However, Dreher’s piloting skills must have been unbelievably good if that was the case because it wasn’t nerve wrecking for me at all. In fact, I enjoyed the take-off tremendously. I was less concerned about this take-off than I am with huge commercial flights (my imagination can run wild).

When we were up in the sky, Dreher had me learn the controls of the plane. He had me learn how to steer the plane and he actually had me “flying” the plane a fair bit too. He probably just said it because he’s my friend, but he said I was exceptionally good at it. If you asked me, I would have just told you that I wanted to stay out of trouble (trouble meaning a crash).

The flight was awesome, to say the very least. I had a “tour” of sorts from the sky. The wind was pretty unstable and strong today though, and the whole ride was generally bumpy. But not at any point in time was I worried. I was very relaxed and at ease in the small Cessna. Piloting the plane felt wonderful as well.

Dreher didn’t land at Brainerd however. All he did was do a touch-n-go there. It was quite an experience too when he did that because before he landed, he lowered the flaps (if I still remember the terms correctly) a notch and there was a sudden drag to it. By the time he lowered it to the third (and lowest) notch it seemed like we were barely staying aloft and the plane seemed to have stalled.

The landing was smooth as well, even though we took off immediately after that.

Unfortunately for me however, I began to feel the effects of vertigo, or air-sickness, on the way back and we had to cut our trip short. At first I was pretty sure I could handle it, but I informed Dreher anyway. He told me that he’s going to cut straight back (We originally planned to go to Milaca for a land as well) because it will only get worse.

True enough, the last ten minutes before I landed I was on the verge of throwing up. I believe it was partly because of the heavy turbulence and also because I flew on a semi-empty stomach filled with sour lemonade. Not a good combination.

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I have met David Coleman, also known as the Dating Doctor. He helped with the script with the movie that Will Smith acted in, Hitch, if I remember correctly. I got a good solid interview with him before his show.

I have also met Reverend Michael Adams from Cape Town, South Africa. He’s part of the social movement to change Cape Town’s still on-going issue with the “Colored” community. He worked with Kiersten Chace of Mondo Films (which I have also met) on the documentary “I’m Not Black, I’m Colored”. The documentary which SCSU students had a private screening of.

Just yesterday I met another very well known individual. An individual which apparently President Barack Obama even spoke to. Yesterday, I met Coach Herman Boone. Coach Boone is the inspiration behind the Walt Disney movie “Remember the Titans”. Denzel Washington took the role of Coach Boone in the movie. I had the opportunity to interview him and shoot a video of him as well.

But being a journalist does not mean you’re meeting famous people all the time. Being a journalist is about finding the heroes in everyday people. Finding that story that pulls at the emotional heartstrings in other people. It is about news, but nobody reads dry news. One thing I have learned is that there is always a way to add that human dimension into news, and that’s the trick in making news become a news story.

Let us look at news, as a Broadway show. The audience is the everyday news consumer. The news that you present is the actors and the story. What role does a Journalist play? A journalist is in the backdrops. They are the makeup artists, the costume designers, the backstage crew members, the stage crew, the director and many more. They play a role in all of it, but neither are they everything of each role.

A news consumer reads the news, but chances are they do not know who it was that reported the story. To many journalists, and me included, it doesn’t matter at all not being known. If I wanted to be known and famous I probably would not have chosen Journalism as the field I wish to pursue. However, the general public does not know that it can be very tough to get news at times. Not every interview goes well, not everyone is forthcoming, not every source is reliable, not every equipment we us is dependable, not every day is going to be bright and sunny.

Journalism is, without a doubt, a very people-based job.

If you quote someone exactly the way they say it, but they feel that it made them look bad. There’s the chance that you, and the company you work for, will get the heat for it. Also because I am currently in the States, “get the heat” basically means you stand a chance of being sued. I’m sure that’s not something you want right?

An advice I got was to save all notes and recordings I’ve made for at least half a year before disposing of it. It is an advice that I have to admit I have yet to be able to follow. But I do keep my notes for as long as I can.

The University Chronicle, the campus paper that I currently write for, may be a campus paper but even then it has been sued multiple times before in the past. It’s quite impressive however, the amount of awards that The Chronicle has won. I feel proud to contribute to it.

Yes. I’m even more unsure. “Why? You’ve been doing it for a semester now!” You may be thinking. Well, I’ll explain all of it in due time. Just be a little bit patient and bare with me for now.

What I do know is that journalism isn’t about writing.

Journalism, is about reporting. Journalism is about delivering as much content as possible in the shortest, easiest manner possible. Short paragraphs, short direct sentences and facts is what journalism is about. Flowery proses and long descriptions have little place in the journalism world. Occasionally, a journalist may have the opportunity to add a little bit of spice into the stories if he/she is writing a feature story. However, most of the time the only spice a journalist can add into stories is the human dimension, a.k.a. interviews.

Interviews play a huge role in journalism. It plays a huge role in reporting. It isn’t just about getting facts and information, because that can be done without resorting to interviews. Interviews add life into the news article. It makes it easier for the reader to relate. You’re less likely to feel that emotional pull if you read about Mr A’s death, than you would be if you read direct quotes of sadness from his immediate family.

Why did I say I know even less about what being a journalist means? I used to think it was about writing. I found out that wasn’t true. I used to think it was about newspapers, I found out that wasn’t true. Here I am shooting videos and learning how to add audio into my stories through flash-based websites. I thought it was about interviewing people, I found out it was about lending a shoulder and telling their stories. I thought it was about finding out about news and letting others know about it, instead I realized they already know news, they want “beyond-news”.

The most important thing a journalist can have is his/her own integrity and the trust that others have in him/her. As simple and corny as it may sound, it is without a doubt these two aspects that make certain journalists successful.

Not too long ago, I interviewed a number of individuals regarding issues related to the GLBT movement.

My first interview went on wonderfully. The person I met was very willing to share his/her opinions and answered my questions very enthusiastically. But at the end of the interview, I was informed that he/she does not want his/her name published on the paper. That person wished to remain anonymous. Here is where an ethical issue arose.

He trusted me, that’s why he was willing to be interviewed by me. Newspapers usually do not take anonymous sources, because where is the credibility in a person that hides behind a mask? I was lucky because I had other interviews to fall back on, and that the event was going on throughout the week. But what if it had been a vital interview? What if it was THE interview I needed?

It may sound like a simple choice to make. I thought so too. But when I was the one conducting the interview, and this person just poured his heart and soul out to me and then told me to keep it to myself… That person had a story to tell. He/She wanted the world to know his/her story. That is why the person was willing to be interviewed and was so enthusiastic. But worried about repercussions, that person decides to hide his/her name. I can’t tell his story anymore. It can sometimes be… very personal.

I interviewed another person later on. She felt strongly about that issue, and had was very direct with what she thought. I informed her that I will be quoting her on it, and so she might want to be more aware of what she says. I told her I will not be held liable for what she says. She said she was aware of it, and we continued our interview in the same manner.

What should a journalist do? Should I include her quotes and risk getting her and the newspaper I work for into trouble? But she said she was aware of it and is willing to be quoted. And of course, these quotes do not represent the journalist or the papers’ opinion.

I cannot ensure that everyone I interview is politically correct or sensitive. Neither should I, because as a reporter I should be reporting and not picking what to report. A reporter is to be unbiased. So… where is the line drawn?

To me, the beauty about journalism is that every day it is different. I talk to someone different, I attend a different event, I learn something I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.

To me, the hardest challenge or horror is also that every day is different. When everything is different everyday, it can get pretty intimidating. I can get assigned onto a story I feel uncomfortable about, interview a person I do not like, tell the story of an issue I am against and who knows what else?

I have yet to receive any hate-mail. Thankfully.

It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I wasn’t about to pass out on. True, some people may argue that with a little bit of planning and determination, one can easily organize such a trip as well. To which I would say that there are many things in this world that can be easily done with planning and determination but often not done due to many reasons or circumstances.

So when life gives you lemons, you try to make orange juice out of it.

Wait, that didn’t seem right. Oh… You’re supposed to make lemonades out of it. But I’m sure you got the idea.

About two week ago I went to a church in Little Falls where they had a Wild Game Feed night. Basically, they cook up whatever the church members have managed to hunt or fish the past season and serve it out to people. It’s what they do to introduce international students to the community and culture. On that day I met some fine people and I had a great time there tasting the different dishes they had.

Though I have to admit I am not much of a carnivore myself, it was the experience that I craved and enjoyed. At least now I can tell people I know what deer meat tastes like.

So when they sent me an email a day after that event telling me that they might be having a snowshoeing and pizza making day coming up during Spring Break, I jumped at the opportunity and quickly signed up for it. How was I to know that it would only get better? I originally felt that it would be a good time killer for Spring Break. Getting out of St Cloud State University would be good for me and pizza making… It’s about time I learned how to make some western dishes eh?

Surprise surprise! A few days ago they sent me another mail telling me that there’s been some changes to the plan. We’ll be having an opportunity to see some bears! Hibernating bears and we’ll even get to touch and cuddle with them!

Waking up today was tough. I was sleepy but I forced my butt off my bed and clambered myself through the usual patterns I go through. Stumbling into the warm winter day (it was only -5c) I was greeted by Marise’s warm smile. I invited her along because I knew she wasn’t going anywhere either. Knowing me, I kept us both laughing most of the time. We even met an Armenian called Arpi and while she had an accent I had to try and decipher she was pretty interesting too.

It was hard for me to imagine when she told me she grew up in Armenia and it’s 94% Armenians there. Growing up in a country where diversity is expected and commonplace… It can sometimes be tough for me to imagine growing up in a country where not only is your ethnicity the dominant one but rather the only existing one.

We were fairly entertained (and hungry) as we waited for some others that were late to arrive. Knowing myself pretty well however, as the van started moving my eyes started drooping and before I knew it I was dozing away.

When we got to the beautiful church we were welcomed in and I met more familiar faces from my last visit there. However I had some problems remembering their names. Our breakfast/lunch was homemade pizzas! Which was really simple but absolutely delicious since we got to pick our own choice toppings. I made mine with lots of tomatoes, chicken, pepperoni, cheese and mushrooms. I saw some others topping their pizzas full but I kept mine moderate so that I won’t have a tough time chewing them down.

Boy oh boy was that good!

But the best part was when we finally went to Camp Ripley. Camp Ripley’s a military camp where many of the nation’s recruits are sent for training. I can’t remember the exact number but if I’m correct it’s about 53 thousand acres large. 27 miles long and 1 or 2 mile wide. To say that it is huge is an understatement. They have a airstrip and everything else you can think of. An area where soldiers can simulate urban warfare, an area for artillery to fire and even an area where they practice having tanks move across the river.

In short? Simply spectacular place.

Why you may ask? No not because of all the training that goes on there. It is because even though it is a military camp it’s a place where you find wildlife everywhere as well. I was lucky enough to have a Mr Marty from the Environment Education Center (least that’s what I think it was called) take us around. He works for the Minnesota National Guard and what he does is he specializes in making sure the environment and the needs of the military are both kept in check.

He ensures animals can still stay there peacefully and that the National Guard can train their cadets as well.

He gave us military-grade boots and had us walk on a frozen lake to experience snowshoeing. The view was simply astounding. Everything was peaceful and there we were a bunch of international students and our guides stumbling on the ice with our snowshoes. It was definitely an experience. We even had a race with our snowshoes on and we were throwing snowballs at each other (at least Marise, Hatim, Zubair and I was).

But the end of the short (it felt short anyway) experience couldn’t come soon enough. What we were waiting for was the bear hugging part! Here’s something interesting. The bears there are actually staying just across the road from the artillery impact zone! Meaning when training is going on the bears are constantly hearing explosions that come from the opposite side of the road. And they’re cool with it!

When I got to the site there were a group of people there doing tests on the bear cubs. They’re yearlings and so they were still pretty small. About the size of my rottweiler or slightly larger. They were people from the Department of Natural Resources and if I’m not mistaken even a professor from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Unfortunately for me I didn’t get to touch the bear because they were running all sorts of tests on them. Doing electrocardiograms and sonograms on the bear while checking its body fat and tagging them. Confusing stuff but absolutely captivating how they handled the bear. It’s obvious the bear is half awake but it just seemed to be so docile! They even accidentally dropped the second cub when they were trying to weigh it! And it just ignored them!

Well yeah they’re sedated and still in the hibernating period but one would expect some reaction right? Apparently not…

I’m glad to say that before I left I did manage to stroke the bears’ fur. I asked the people on site and they allowed me to. So while I finally got an opportunity to feel bear fur I didn’t get to take many pictures with it nor cuddle with it.

That trip was wonderful. It beats being stuck in my room in Lawrence Hall. I heard plans about a canoe trip at Camp Ripley this coming Summer and if it’s possible I’ll definitely be joining. However if it’s happening during July-August I’ll probably be missing it…

I brought back a bunch of posters too!

Oh those bears are so adorable! But a picture’s worth a thousand words so I present to you… The Gallery!

It was a pretty damn exciting match, though from what I’ve been told they severely underperformed today. For the first half of the match both the Bulldogs and the Huskies each scored a single goal. And both of the teams worked their ass off just to score those goals. It was an awesome experience watching them zip around the skating rink and break and twist and god they can’t ever seem to fall down and they get up so unbelievably quickly! Yes I’m rambling, it’s just THAT awesome an experience for me.

The second half of the match was… too long an ordeal for me. Neither team seemed to be able to get an upper hand. They were on top of each other all the time, banging each other into the sides but neither teams managed to score any goals at all. I have to give it up for the goalkeeper of the Huskies though, he made some pretty unbelievable saves during the second half.

I’m still unfamiliar with Ice Hockey. I’ve no idea what the rules are and such, I just know that they have a single puck and it’s supposed to go into one of the goals at each end. I expected the game to end in a draw, and perhaps continue the next day (was told they’ll be playing the same team again tomorrow) but instead there was a third match! When the Huskies finally broke the tie and scored another goal? I automatically just leaped up and started shouting and cheering myself hoarse. The third goal they scored during the second half match was one that I didn’t expect at all. It seemed more like an accidental goal to me, but mainly because I missed it.

I think what they shout is: SAVE! YOU SUCK!

Or something along those lines. I couldn’t really pick it up.

But the best part of the whole night was the final few minutes of the game. The Bulldogs went full force at the Huskies, and I have to admit that they were pretty damn close quite a number of times. Their goalkeeper went back and was replaced by another player and the team just kept pushing at the Huskies. Over and over again they just kept going at it. I was actually expecting them to score something, perhaps even go back into a tie. But as I’ve said earlier, the Husky’s goalkeeper was really good. He smacked those pucks away like he was Neo from Matrix or something.

God, that game was just AWESOME!

For me the whole experience was just unbelievably good. I was surprised by how… direct (?) the fans were. Cheering against the opposing teams and such. It was just different, compared to what I was expecting. Once again, the difference in culture perhaps? It’s hard for me to go into how the Ice Hockey game was a culture lesson for me, because right now everything is just jumbled up in my mind. But rest be assured, I’ll be sleeping on that tonight.

Now, I know I promised pictures and I’ve not delivered them yet, but I just need time to sort things out with my hosting provider. They’ve been very efficient so far, but we’ve just not gotten to the point yet. This time, I’m promising more than just pictures however. I’m promising videos too. Unfortunately for me but fortunately for you, the camera ran out of batteries before I got decent. So the videos you see are my early attempts and LOTS of butt-falling.

Mountain Creek was quite a distance from where I’m staying. And we took a wrong turn again this time somewhere along Parkway or Turnpike. We got to Mountain Creek at about 5pm and we bought th Twilight Ski Pass. It was about 70+ dollars for each of us, including all snowboard gears and the ski lift pass as well. I think we wasted on the ski lift pass because we stayed at the bottom, near the area where newbies learned to get a hang of basic snowboarding or skiing. Didn’t use the lift at all.

Now, if you paid for the classes these are probably things you’re told straight off the bat. Instead of having to fall on your ass countless times before you learn the harsh lessons. So here I am, to save you considerable amount of $$ if you ever decide to go snowboarding. Contrary to popular belief, bending low is NOT a good idea. You have less control and less control means more falling. You might think “Hey! But being low means lower center of gravity so I shouldn’t fall as easy right?”. I’m not going to argue physics here, I’m just telling you my experience. Take it or leave it, really up to you.

Also, keep your dominant leg at the back. So far that’s the technique that’s been giving me the most control. At first I kept it in front of me, with my weaker leg at the back. Didn’t work too well I had less control over everything. So my advice, dominant leg at the back.

Not to mention as well, do NOT lean backwards. While you may be afraid of leaning forward, never ever lean backwards too much. Cause you’re just going to unconsciously lift your snowboard upwards (you won’t even notice it because you’ll be moving down a slope) and before you know it you’re going to spin out of control and land flat on the snow/ice. These advice I’m dishing out are of course, my own personal experience as a newbie. As you get better the rules will most probably (I would even say definitely) change.

It was a very exciting experience for me. Zooming down on the slope was very exciting, though it feels faster than it seems. So imagine those that look as if they’re going fast, they must probably feel as if they’re traveling at the speed of light! What made it funnier was that at the end, I could control going straight without falling but I couldn’t stop! So I had to purposely land on my ass to avoid crashing into passerby. Hahahah!

Oh, one more short advice before I sign off. When I first started on the board I thought the trick to turning was using your legs to swivel the board around on the edge. Well, I found out otherwise. True getting on the edge DOES turn the board but it’s hard to control the board when there’s little to no friction. If you try just moving your leg, it’s just going to slide around. What I found out that helped a lot was twisting the body! Takes less effort and works much better. Twisting your body and getting on the board’s edge helps tremendously!

Goodnight! Just a short post on my snowboarding experience =)

On Christmas eve there was a lot of cooking involved but it was all done by Jozef (my brother-in-law). He started early in the morning and while some of the dishes were cooking we even went out to one of the A&P Fresh Supermarkets to buy more food. Namely, salmon.

The afternoon was spent mostly on rearranging furniture and cleaning up the living room as it got quite messy since I bunk at the living room. We moved the tables around and vacuumed the carpet. By about five in the afternoon we were done cleaning already. We hooked up the newly bought 37inch Toshiba LCD TV while Jozef was adding finishing touches to the kitchen and food.

I was decently surprised when we all had to go change, I really didn’t know it was such a big event in this household. After all of us changed there was a short photo-session before we started having traditional Slovak food.

Before we started on the meal however we had to pray. Jozef did a super fast version of it, and I’ve no idea what he said because he was saying it in Slovak. After that was done we all had one round of drinks first. It was a special traditional drink made with a mixture of Vodka, butter and caramel/sugar/honey. It’s quite sweet but the alcohol content is quite high as well. Served hot and in small amounts. Pictures will be up later.

Our first dish was a type of wafer which we dipped into honey and ate it with fresh garlic. It tasted a little bit unusual at first but the combination is pretty nice after you get used to it. It signifies health if I’m not mistaken, I really can’t remember much about everything that was said yesterday.

After that dish we had the signature Bobalky dish. It’s a type of round bread or flour dipped in poppy seed sauce. It tastes quite nice actually, even though it looks pretty awful at first glance. I think the only off-side to it is that poppy seeds makes you sleepy afterwards. I couldn’t finish mine so I shared mine with my mother.

Following that was sauerkraut soup with mushrooms and polish bacon mixed into it. I am generally not a fan of sauerkraut, but surprisingly I found this soup very delicious. It wasn’t as sour as I imagined, nor as salty either, but it was just nice. At this point I was pretty sure that nothing could beat the soup.

I was sorely mistaken of course. What came next was my absolute favorite. The salmon. I have no idea how he prepared it, and he didn’t give a name to the dish either. But it was delicious. Salmon on its own doesn’t really have much taste but this was cooked together with onion, garlic, mushrooms and later on mixed with a little bit of lime juice. It was a little bit dry because Jozef overcooked it, but nonetheless it was my favorite.

Dinner was short and pleasant. We had more of that alcoholic drink and we talked about my sister’s pregnancy and delivery a lot. After that we relaxed in the living room laughing to Jeff Dunham’s A Very Special Christmas.

It was about 10.30pm by the time Jeff Dunham’s show ended. We had more plans for the night of course. I went out with Vlado in his car first to get to the St Francis church in New York to get some seats while my sister prepared Tien Ya for the trip. It’s not that I’m converting into a Christian, but they had a special Midnight Mass for Christmas and they were going to be singing a lot.

We got there a little bit late as it had already begun. We did manage to find some seats though in that packed Church. The songs were enjoyable, though a tad too traditional for my taste. I did however enjoy the general mood and architecture of the Church (as I had the last time as well). Suffice to say, I was still very surprised when people started turning around and shaking my hand going “Peace be with you”.

When I put it all into words the whole day sounded so simple. But still, it was one helluva Christmas for me.

I can’t upload pictures for now. They’ll come later.

I’ve only been out of the house on a number of occasions, mainly my New York trip and a few other small trips. I’ve been to Garfield, New Jersey to shop for Slovakian and Polish Christmas treats; I’ve been to Freehold Raceway Mall to buy Christmas gifts; I’ve been to Woodbridge Center Mall for a little bit of window shopping and I’ve also been to the various ShopRites, Marshalls, Best Buy and even Babies R Us for various reasons.

So far, each excursion has been quite a unique experience for me. Combating the cold weather is beginning to get fun for example. Jozef (my brother-in-law) bought me a ski jacket and a pair of thick and heavy boots. Each time I’m about to venture out I have to dash in to the toilet to wear more, dash downstairs to get ready my jacket, cap, gloves, socks and shoes. Gone are the days of five second preparations but it’s quite enjoyable as well. It doesn’t really matter what hideous or horribly paired combination I’m wearing beneath because my sweater pretty much covers it all.

The drivers in New Jersey are much more polite compared to the general Malaysian drivers as well. Speeding is less common, tailgating is non-existent, signaling lights are common and people obey the traffic lights and the road signs even if there are no cars nearby. However, I have noticed that many drivers have the tendency to be on the phone when they drive and most of them are not using the hands-free either.

I generally like the architecture of the buildings in New Jersey. Perhaps it’s because I’m in New Jersey, but there are less skyscrapers around and most of the buildings are built with bricks. I’ve found out however that most houses are not built with bricks but rather a type of wood because it saves cost. Nonetheless, the style and design of the houses and buildings in New Jersey are quite nice. Lots of open spaces around everywhere, and the parking area of shopping malls can sometimes rival the size of the parking malls itself.

In Malaysia, pedestrians dodge cars. Because pedestrians know that if they don’t step away from that curb immediately, they’re about to be plastered all over the next day’s newspaper front page. Naturally, I am still unused to the fact that in the States, cars would give pedestrians the right of passage before they do. It’s much more courteous and something I admire, nonetheless I still find myself standing by the curb waiting for the car to pass while the car waits for me. It takes me a few moments before I realize what’s happening and dash across the road.

Christmas is a very much celebrated event here as well. And really, nothing beats a white Christmas. No matter how you attempt to whiten Malaysia up with fake snow spray, it’s just not the same. People here are really generous when it comes to Christmas. They take the “time for giving” part of Christmas very seriously. It’s a very different experience compared to Malaysian Christmas. Just a simple drive around the neighborhood and it’s quite apparent already. Some families really decorate their lawns extensively. Blow-up Santas, cardboard reindeer and even genuine Christmas pine trees.

I’m going to try to keep this post short, so one more thing before I end. Americans are very willing to spend money on things that are important, though sometimes they spend it in not-so-practical ways. When it’s health related, environment related etc, they’re VERY willing to spend good money on it. But other than that, Americans are actually quite thrifty. Unlike their TV or Movie counterparts, most Americans spend as little as possible and sometimes even “cheap”. Now, I don’t say that as an insult but as a compliment. Americans really know how to save.

The trip up to New York was uneventful. I’m not sure which Parkway we took to get to New York City, but I do know that we ended up going through Hoboken (apparently it has quite the night life over there), Weehawken and then we took the Lincoln Tunnel to get to Manhattan.

Call me biased, but I found New York City to be beautiful. What I saw of New York City I loved. Perhaps it’s because it was Manhattan, but well I liked it anyway. When we got out of Lincoln Tunnel I couldn’t help but to think “Wow… I’m in NEW YORK CITY!”.

You see it on TV all the time, you hear people talking about it, news writing about it but today here I am in New York City itself! True, I probably sound very much like a silly tourist but who cares really? I enjoyed the whole unbelievable day.

The original plan was to go to the St Francis Church in New York first, and then we’d spend the remainder of the day traveling around New York on foot. However, we had a horrible time trying to find parking. Paid parkings were unbelievably expensive, ranging around 20 Dollars per hour to 25 Dollars per hour. Free parkings were almost non-existent, as it’s now the holiday season and a lot of people are in New York.

Eventually we found parking on the side of the road on 9th Avenue, 25th Street. I had to quickly get used to the American parking system as we drove around looking for parking because they have a lot of unique rules set for almost every street. Certain parts of the road says “NO Parking/Standing Anytime” meaning you’re not allowed to park there, ever! Unless of course if it says below “Except on…”. Some parkings even have a fixed time where you’re allowed to park. While this may seem common to others, the rarely traveled Malaysian in me was nonetheless surprised by it.

But even as we drove around Manhattan itself I was busy enjoying myself. I really like the overall feel of Manhattan, and this isn’t just because it’s “OMG NEW YORK!” but because I like how most of the buildings look aged.

When I got down of the car the first thing I felt was the cold punch in my face. The temperature wasn’t too bad, only about four to five degrees celsius. However, wind chill is a large factor to how bearable or unbearable a day is and when I first got out of the car the breeze was quite strong. Good thing for me is that this time I came prepared, so after slipping on my gloves and cap it got better. So, a note to travelers, be very prepared to stay warm! Lol.

After we parked, we began our journey in New York. Our first stop was Madison Square Garden for three reasons. Firstly, it’s close by. Secondly, Vlado knows the way from where we parked the car to Madison Square Garden. Lastly but most importantly, Vlado had to use the toilet. Lol. Now, one very important thing I just absolutely have to say is that Vlado is much taller than I am. His strides are much larger and he walks in a faster pace than normal and at a very constant speed as well. So for every step he makes I have to take an extra one step or more. In short I was mostly in a state of half-jog throughout the day.

So he walked (while I jogged) and we got to Madison Square Garden in no time at all. Madison Square Garden’s renowned for a few things. Firstly there’s a large sports stadium there. We didn’t go in, but Vlado was quite a good tour guide filling me in with all sorts of information. It hosts many Ice Hockey and Basketball competitions, and apparently it can switch the floors in merely 30 minutes. Secondly, there’s an exhibition center AND a theatre in the building in front of it. It’s called Madison Square Garden as well (imagine my initial confusion). Apparently the insulation is so good that an exhibition and a concert can be held at the same time without either being interrupted. But like I said we didn’t go in Madison Square Garden. We did however enter the train station in front of it.

The train station we entered was called the Pennsylvania Station. It’s one of the larger hubs, allowing people to switch trains and such. It was quite crowded inside and I was told that it’s already very good yesterday. I was told that at peak times it can turn into a human bumper car stadium. So Vlado rushed into the toilet, and right outside the toilet was a tourist stand where many flyers and brochures are left there for ignorant travelers such as I. When Vlado came out, we found a map for NYC and from there we planned our journey onwards.

Our first stop was Times Square. Times Square anyone? Big flashy lights with all the fancy shows going on? Yeah we walked along Fashion Avenue all the way up to Times Square. Times Square, my friends, was an orgy of bright flashing lights. The buildings there were all plastered with advertisement boards advertising all sorts of shows, services and products. Oh I got so unbelievably excited at that point. I couldn’t find Rent the Musical being advertised there but I did find a host of others that I’ve never heard before (d’oh). There were so many blinking, flashing lights you can’t help but to feel overwhelmed by it. In fact, even the New York Police Department booth had blinking colorful lights. I now regret not taking a picture of that.

Oh, by the way? My favorite ad so far is the Keira Knightley Chanel ad. No flashing lights, no distracting colors, and it’s just at the bus stop! Go google the ad!

Oh one more thing about Times Square? I Am Legend was filmed there!

Vlado was nice enough to get me a cup of hot chocolate and a french culler for me when we were leaving the Times Square area. The change was drastic to say the least. From Times Square we walked to Rockefeller Center. At Rockefeller Center was a large skating and (I was told) THE largest Christmas Tree in New York. Oh it was beautifully decorated but sadly for me I couldn’t get any shots of it. It was so huge! Vlado told me that about two weeks ago, they had a huge celebration there to sort of officiate the holiday season. They turn on the Christmas Tree lights as a sign of officiating the holiday season. And hey, the tree? It has a Swarovski crystal made Star topping it!

From Rockefeller Center we headed north to Central Park. On the way we stopped by St Patrick’s Cathedral and Donald Trump’s Trump Tower. After Trump Tower, I chanced upon Apple’s concept store in New York and just couldn’t resist the temptation and I went in. Oh golly all the Apple goodness! But the price! Oh golly to that too!

The Apple store was just at the side of Central Park so we had a clear view of Central Park when we walked out of the store. Central park isn’t only huge, it’s really beautiful too. A large green park amidst the concrete jungle. We had two surprises before we really started walking around Central Park though. The first was from a group of street performers calling themselves the Breeze Team. I missed most of the performance but what I saw of it was still pretty cool. They’re a group of breakdancers I believe. The funniest part was at the end of it, they cracked pretty hilarious jokes to convince people to donate money to them. I would if I had the money but well unfortunately for them I did not.

Second surprise was a small group of protesters. As protests go, they’re probably the mildest of them all. They just stood at the side of the sidewalk with a really large banner saying “PITY THE HORSES!”. I didn’t stay to ask them questions or anything though. But I guess it worked because I did end up pitying the horses that pulls the carriages in Central Park.

We didn’t walk much of Central Park, only up to the 65th Street. From there we headed west towards… the one and only Juilliard School! For those that do not know, the Juilliard School THE most renowned place to study performing arts. I asked Vlado to bring me there and I had to brief him a little on the significance of the place. Not really surprised that he doesn’t know. The Juilliard School was surprisingly very down to earth. It wasn’t fancy or large or anything like that. Perhaps I missed out other buildings of it but the one I saw was very down to earth. The Irene Diamond building was the one that I saw and took pictures of.

From Juilliard School we started our way down south once more. We walked along Broadway and eventually got back to where we started, Madison Square Garden. We had chinese food for lunch (really expensive my friends… the equivalent of Malaysian economical rice for the price of 9.80USD) and from there we headed east towards the building that two behemoths once climbed in movies (Godzilla and King Kong). We went to the Empire State Building and even though it’s such a well known building, I didn’t see many tourists near it at all. Quite intimidating though.

After the Empire State building, we went to St Francis’s Church. Vlado had to attend mass, and it was my first time attending mass and to be honest I was excited as well. The building was beautifully decorated, the music was nice and I just followed whatever it was that others was doing. The only thing I didn’t do was taking the piece of bread(?) given during communion. It was fairly entertaining, and very short as well. Funny when I think of how intimidated I was when I first decided to go with Vlado.

It was already about six p.m. by the time the Mass was over. But we still had one more place to stop before we started our journey back. We went to Flatiron District and I checked out the renowned Flatiron building. It’s a tall building block shaped like a Flatiron and I immediately recognized it as the place where I crashed and burned in the game Godfather. Amazing how games can sometimes educate people hmm? Hahah.

Anyway, that’s all for today. Pictures coming up soon!

Pictures are not taken by me but by my cousin and this post will later on be updated to include descriptions.