NYC: Day 1
airport
We ended up taking an American Airlines flight to at 7 am from SFO. Driving in, we saw a model Golden Gate Bridge made out of lights-- cute! We went through security like that. The guys who were searching through our bags were either super tired or really just didn't give a damn because I realized afterwards that I didn't even take out my bag of liquids. I swear everybody we came across hated being there and just wanted it to end. Anyway, we had time to kill at the airport, and I looked at the weird music exhibition they have at one of the terminals. And sat in the funky seating SFO has-- these red leather chairs with the wide top so that you feel like some kind of evil genius.
flight
I don't have a lot of flying experience under my belt-- I've only flown on the tiny little Virgin America planes-- so by comparison, this AA plane was HUGE! We just kept going down rows and rows and cabins and cabins of seats until we got to ours. It was one of those classic old planes that you see in 80s movies with the 4-seater in the middle (who wants to be in the middle of that?). I swear we were delayed about ten minutes because nobody's standard carry-on luggage would fit into any of the overhead storage. The bags all ended up being either too wide, long, or short, so only one bag would fit into something that should hold two bags. A big drama that ended with some people having to check their carry-on luggage.
The TV was awful, and the movie playing had a really terrible premise (thank goodness 30 Rock came on after). I tried to read my book, but was pretty tired, so I got some zs. Got some orange juice and tea and ate some of our snacks. Saw the most awesome sunrise over some tiny puffs of clouds. This is also when my sister's witticisms started, and she told me she likes turbulence because it's like a chair massage.
JFK
We arrived in the right terminal because we see a decked out Christmas tree, and a huge cartoon mural of famous landmarks. As we were exiting the terminal and stepped under the "Welcome to New York" sign, I definitely felt it.
airtrain & subway-- or my very long love letter to NY transit
We literally follow dozens of signs leading us to the Airtrain, and I'm almost positive we went in a huge circle because we went up and down several escalators (the signs aren't always clear-cut). We finally get to our destination, and it's simple enough. As we sat and waited for the Jamaica Station stop, this is when I start thinking, I must pretend I live in New York. Meanwhile, I probably looked super vigilant and scared, gripping my stuff. At one point my luggage falls over while the train is completely silent. "Whoops," I say aloud. Still silence. I watched the grimy, residential look of Queens outside, and later notice the train seats have an awesome, retro design to them.
Scared to take the subway my first night in NY, but still too Asian-cheap to spend double the amount on any other sort of transportation, I was pretty surprised by how easy to follow the train signs were. As long as you know what the train and end location is, you're set (and once you're in Manhattan, whether you're going uptown or downtown). And I always felt safe because there were usually loads of people on the train or waiting for the train, even at 1 am on a Monday. And I don't mean crazy college kids, like middle-aged women just getting off their cleaning shift or something. Actually, I think there are more people on the train at night and less mid-morning (after rush hours, of course).
We got on the E and experienced one of the brand-new trains. It's decently clean (as are most of the trains), has a digitized voice that announces every stop, as well as a light display that tells you the next two stops. I already have a predilection for public transportation, so this was pretty much love at first sight. The train near our hostel was a main line, so it came by every 8 minutes and got us to midtown in 10 minutes. Buses came by every 15 minutes or so most times, and it didn't take that long on off times. Transfers were easy, especially since we had an unlimited pass. I honestly don't know why other cities don't have their ish figured out.
The stripper pole is not that useful on full cars.
The E is technically a long hourish ride, but it passed by like that for fresh eyes like mine. I loved the blurred multi-colored lights in the tunnels. And I was particularly entranced when our train rode by another train for about 5-minutes, slowly passing by cars and giving me scenes of a sleeping man or person reading a newspaper. (I'm positive some movie has used this; I just needed a score to accompany it.)
Once we couldn't find the entrance for the train going in a certain direction, and I tried to ask a guy for help. He just said, "Sorry, late for a train" after he had spent 5 minutes in front of the map. But aside from him, most people are generally people nice and really helpful.
Another time, we were waiting for a train when I saw a RAT scurrying on the rails!!! I don't know how it can survive there, and I'm trying not to imagine the families in the tunnels or squashed individuals in other places...
Hosteling International - New York, or HINY
After transferring to another train, we finally get to our stop, and climb out of the subway station into dark, POURING RAIN. Luckily, we knew ahead of time about the weather, so I was fully protected in rain boots that looked ridiculous on the plane ride over. My sister looked fashionably cute our entire trip-- while I always looked ugly and practical-- and she was wearing her stylish leather boots that ended up getting soaked by the end of the day. At 5 pm starting from the creepy, deserted side of Central Park, we walked a good ten minutes with our umbrellas to our hostel in the Upper West Side. A very nice guy opened the door for us and helped form my loving opinion of the hostel, which I'll get into later. I was a little surprised that we had to pay our ENTIRE bill at check-in, but I guess they've been taken advantage of. We unloaded our luggage into the huge lockers at our room and headed out into the city.
FOOD: Freda's Caribbean and Soul Cuisine
I'm a big Yelper, and a lot of people liked this restaurant that was conveniently located near our hostel, so I had to check it out, especially since I haven't tried too much soul food. We walked in and found it surprisingly empty. The upside should have been that we would have had fast service, but that wasn't really the case. The one person in the restaurant was polite, but the food took a while to cook, and our check/to-go boxes took equally as long. I got the jerk chicken with collard greens, fried plantains, peas and rice. My sister got the fried shrimp with a side of curry potatoes and chickpeas and candied yams, I think? I definitely liked her sides better, but both of our meats were cooked a little dry, as was the rice. The jerk chicken was SPICY, and while dry, had a good flavor, especially combined with the collard greens and rice. The plantains were dry. It was an expensive meal (over $30 total), but hey, we had plenty of leftovers that lasted about 3 days! And we got refuge from the pouring rain and cold outside.
Columbia University
Freda's decently close to Columbia, and neither of us have visited an East Coast college. On our walk we passed by the biggest BEAST of a church I'd ever seen in my life. The Cathedral of St John's Divine is an elaborately designed, Gothic revival church that is extremely haunting and monster-like when seen at night. Maybe my sleep deprivation added to it, but I have nightmares to this day of the many shadows that make up its facade. Next door is a park with an enormous statue of a bird on some other thing. I don't know-- this area just freaks me out in the dark.
Luckily, buildings got more normal sized but still retained that pristine, elaborate style. Lots of cute cafes that were below ground-level, bars, and even cuter, PUBS.
Finally, we got to the main university campus, and I was impressed by the elaborate gate that leads onto College Walk, which was lined by lit trees.
Low Memorial Library, probably one of the most famous buildings on campus, is another gigantic beast of a building. Its size really astonished me, especially since Earl Hall looked like a quaint cottage in comparison. In brief, my sister and I were impressed with the splendor and utter wealth that I'm sure any Ivy League campus exudes. Buildings were beautifully ornate and had diverse architectural styles. Inside, classrooms, hallways, and dining commons were full of dark wood-- benches, chairs, walls, etc. It was cute and comfy, until we got to the white marble and stained glass, which was a little excessive. I mean, this is the Dean's Office:
The dining area was small, but always had enough seating whenever we needed it. Here are one of the many murals around the place. I really loved the artsy feel they add to the place, especially a copy of Warhol's Marilyn at the front desk.
The TV was awful, and the movie playing had a really terrible premise (thank goodness 30 Rock came on after). I tried to read my book, but was pretty tired, so I got some zs. Got some orange juice and tea and ate some of our snacks. Saw the most awesome sunrise over some tiny puffs of clouds. This is also when my sister's witticisms started, and she told me she likes turbulence because it's like a chair massage.
JFK
We arrived in the right terminal because we see a decked out Christmas tree, and a huge cartoon mural of famous landmarks. As we were exiting the terminal and stepped under the "Welcome to New York" sign, I definitely felt it.
airtrain & subway-- or my very long love letter to NY transit
We literally follow dozens of signs leading us to the Airtrain, and I'm almost positive we went in a huge circle because we went up and down several escalators (the signs aren't always clear-cut). We finally get to our destination, and it's simple enough. As we sat and waited for the Jamaica Station stop, this is when I start thinking, I must pretend I live in New York. Meanwhile, I probably looked super vigilant and scared, gripping my stuff. At one point my luggage falls over while the train is completely silent. "Whoops," I say aloud. Still silence. I watched the grimy, residential look of Queens outside, and later notice the train seats have an awesome, retro design to them.
We got off the AirTrain, and it was a mad rush to buy tickets. I had no clue what I was doing but was pretty confident I'd figure it out. Wroong. I ended up asking an official MTA guy how to buy a 7-day unlimited Metro Pass along with a one-time AirTrain ticket and had to ask about the unlimited pass at the subway station, too-- so much for fitting in! (FYI, turns out you have to buy the AirTrain ticket when exiting, and then buy the 7-day unlimited Metro Pass near the subway turnstile downstairs... but don't load using the same ticket... they're different!).
Scared to take the subway my first night in NY, but still too Asian-cheap to spend double the amount on any other sort of transportation, I was pretty surprised by how easy to follow the train signs were. As long as you know what the train and end location is, you're set (and once you're in Manhattan, whether you're going uptown or downtown). And I always felt safe because there were usually loads of people on the train or waiting for the train, even at 1 am on a Monday. And I don't mean crazy college kids, like middle-aged women just getting off their cleaning shift or something. Actually, I think there are more people on the train at night and less mid-morning (after rush hours, of course).
We got on the E and experienced one of the brand-new trains. It's decently clean (as are most of the trains), has a digitized voice that announces every stop, as well as a light display that tells you the next two stops. I already have a predilection for public transportation, so this was pretty much love at first sight. The train near our hostel was a main line, so it came by every 8 minutes and got us to midtown in 10 minutes. Buses came by every 15 minutes or so most times, and it didn't take that long on off times. Transfers were easy, especially since we had an unlimited pass. I honestly don't know why other cities don't have their ish figured out.
Not one of the new trains, but still looking good!
The E is technically a long hourish ride, but it passed by like that for fresh eyes like mine. I loved the blurred multi-colored lights in the tunnels. And I was particularly entranced when our train rode by another train for about 5-minutes, slowly passing by cars and giving me scenes of a sleeping man or person reading a newspaper. (I'm positive some movie has used this; I just needed a score to accompany it.)
Once we couldn't find the entrance for the train going in a certain direction, and I tried to ask a guy for help. He just said, "Sorry, late for a train" after he had spent 5 minutes in front of the map. But aside from him, most people are generally people nice and really helpful.
Another time, we were waiting for a train when I saw a RAT scurrying on the rails!!! I don't know how it can survive there, and I'm trying not to imagine the families in the tunnels or squashed individuals in other places...
Hosteling International - New York, or HINY
After transferring to another train, we finally get to our stop, and climb out of the subway station into dark, POURING RAIN. Luckily, we knew ahead of time about the weather, so I was fully protected in rain boots that looked ridiculous on the plane ride over. My sister looked fashionably cute our entire trip-- while I always looked ugly and practical-- and she was wearing her stylish leather boots that ended up getting soaked by the end of the day. At 5 pm starting from the creepy, deserted side of Central Park, we walked a good ten minutes with our umbrellas to our hostel in the Upper West Side. A very nice guy opened the door for us and helped form my loving opinion of the hostel, which I'll get into later. I was a little surprised that we had to pay our ENTIRE bill at check-in, but I guess they've been taken advantage of. We unloaded our luggage into the huge lockers at our room and headed out into the city.
FOOD: Freda's Caribbean and Soul Cuisine
I'm a big Yelper, and a lot of people liked this restaurant that was conveniently located near our hostel, so I had to check it out, especially since I haven't tried too much soul food. We walked in and found it surprisingly empty. The upside should have been that we would have had fast service, but that wasn't really the case. The one person in the restaurant was polite, but the food took a while to cook, and our check/to-go boxes took equally as long. I got the jerk chicken with collard greens, fried plantains, peas and rice. My sister got the fried shrimp with a side of curry potatoes and chickpeas and candied yams, I think? I definitely liked her sides better, but both of our meats were cooked a little dry, as was the rice. The jerk chicken was SPICY, and while dry, had a good flavor, especially combined with the collard greens and rice. The plantains were dry. It was an expensive meal (over $30 total), but hey, we had plenty of leftovers that lasted about 3 days! And we got refuge from the pouring rain and cold outside.
Columbia University
Freda's decently close to Columbia, and neither of us have visited an East Coast college. On our walk we passed by the biggest BEAST of a church I'd ever seen in my life. The Cathedral of St John's Divine is an elaborately designed, Gothic revival church that is extremely haunting and monster-like when seen at night. Maybe my sleep deprivation added to it, but I have nightmares to this day of the many shadows that make up its facade. Next door is a park with an enormous statue of a bird on some other thing. I don't know-- this area just freaks me out in the dark.
Luckily, buildings got more normal sized but still retained that pristine, elaborate style. Lots of cute cafes that were below ground-level, bars, and even cuter, PUBS.
Finally, we got to the main university campus, and I was impressed by the elaborate gate that leads onto College Walk, which was lined by lit trees.
Columbia's crown emblem is well-deserved.
back to the hostel
When we finally got back "home," we had a chance to explore the various common rooms.
The kitchen was fully stocked with all the basic appliances and materials, clean, and well-kept. There were TWO industrial fridges that were incredibly full. They recycled, but unfortunately did not compost (which was weird for my sister). One day, an older woman started chatting with me, and she told me about some apples that somebody leftover before he checked out (her words were somewhere along the lines of, "We have to share the good secrets."). It was sweet, and I took them. She also clued me in on a cheap Chinese restaurant across the street from hostel that sold wonton soup for exceedingly cheap (I think it was two dollars?). I'm still sad I never checked the place out, but I'll remember it.
The dining area was small, but always had enough seating whenever we needed it. Here are one of the many murals around the place. I really loved the artsy feel they add to the place, especially a copy of Warhol's Marilyn at the front desk.
My favorite mural.
A lot of these pictures were taken the day we left and very late at night, so there weren't many people around, but the very first day we got there, there was a lively atmosphere. The rooms were crammed with people, laughing and talking in different languages. I very badly wanted to play pool, but there were always these French teens dominating the space.
Some of the decor was a little bizarre. Note the fake fire place and gnome stand.
Whenever we got back from a tiring day, we'd retire to the TV room, in hopes that everybody was watching what we wanted. Most of the time it was Two And a Half Men, some old episode of Nikita, or worse, sports. I'm really not sure when SNL was on, but this was rare for the room.
There were also a lot of lounge rooms. This is by far my favorite one in terms of decoration (chalk!).
There were a lot of books leftover from previous guests, including some travel guides that I never had time to look at.
There was also this funky chair that had newspaper glued over it. Very cute, and again, added to the artsy vibe.
I always felt safe and comfortable staying here. We used the lockers, but I was never afraid anything would get stolen. One of our roommates literally had all her stuff piled on the floor in front of her bed (and she was near the front door). For the most part, people were in their 20s and very polite (it really felt like living in the dorms all over again). A sweet British girl slept in the bunk next to ours, and my sister loved how she called everything "gorgeous." She was later replaced by a kinda bratty British girl that wanted to go to the restaurant from Seinfield just so she could take a picture (because supposedly the food is bad). I also inadvertently slept and unpacked in a German girl's bunk my first night, which she quietly called to my attention when she got in. I felt terrible that I had to make her officially switch bunks with me (and she had to put up with a VERY jerky front desker), but again, she was really nice about it, and we ended up getting help from chiller staff. She also ended up getting locked out of our room, and one of the staff members let her in after he saw her on the cameras standing in the hallway (yeah, it could be creepy that people watch you all the time, but I thought it was comforting).
Without fail, when somebody finds out I'm from California, they tell me they prefer San Francisco a zillion times more than Los Angeles. And I absolutely agree with them.
There were a lot of group tours or nights out that we didn't take part in since we had a full schedule, but they seemed cool. I think one time they really needed people to go clubbing, so this guy kept persisting in asking me to go, and for some reason, I had to keep walking in the front room where everybody gathered.
I also heard that there was a basketball team staying there... I mean, it obviously wasn't a FAMOUS team if they're staying at a hostel, especially since I heard their guide tell them to shop at the grocery store to save money. They looked like some young college team, and it was easy to spot them, since they spoke English and were insanely tall.
I stole lots of maps and guides to the city, and I loved the cool attractions/events they posted near the elevators.
They cleaned the bathrooms every night.
The hostel also has an in-house cafe. My sister got a bagel crammed with breakfast food from there for a surprisingly affordable $3.
The only thing I couldn't get used to were the constant people coming in and out during all hours of the night. The first day, I introduced myself to people, but then after they left, I couldn't be bothered with all these random new people that were still friendly nodding acquaintances.
As for the neighborhood, it felt a little shady at night, but I still felt generally safe because there were usually people around or other guests returning to their rooms. One time, we were coming back from a long day, and I suddenly saw a rat slithering down a crack near a tree. I freaked out and ran into the guy walking next to me. I quickly apologized, and he was polite about my freak-out and then laughed, saying, "Don't worry, they all come out after 12." To this day, I do not know if he was kidding or not, but I vowed never to stand near holes in the ground late at night. My sister also SWEARS he looked and sounded like Ryan Gosling, while I could have SWORN he was a black guy. I'm siding with my sister just because 1) I'm blind, and 2) I may have just assumed since residents in that neighborhood tend to be black.
It was an amazing experience, and a good place to call home. And now hostels are my preferred accommodations!
Standing in front of our red-brick hostel (one of hundreds of red-brick buildings in the area). Pretty, right?
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