i am blogging from Manhatten, New York city!

using the free internet access from the computer terminal provided in the guest house we stay in, which is quite good, because its priced at the same price as a hostel bed, but it gives us 2 beds in a private room. but the bad thing is the showers and toilets are shared with others on the common floor. free breakfast everyday too, though just bread. haha.

New York is like Singapore, because of the humid weather and high-rise buildings, which we seldom see in other cities that we went to previously. it's much more bustling than Singapore though, with huge crowds and dirtier streets.

went to Wall St yesterday, which was cool because you get to see the New York stock exchange, though u cant go in. not forgetting the federal hall where George Washington signed in as the 1st US president. cool. then saw churches like St Paul's cathedral and Trinity church, and also buildings like the Supreme Court.

also went to Ground Zero, which was the old site of World Trade Center. it was kinda sad, seeing such a big piece of empty land right in the middle of Wall St. even sadder that people are earning money from such a disaster from the tours organised around Ground Zero and from entrance fees to the gallery.

then went to Brooklyn Bridge, which was much nicer than the fake one in Las Vegas of course. you could see the skyline of Manhatten and of Brooklyn from the bridge, and can also see the Manhatten bridge that was beside it, Staten Island and Statue Liberty from afar. cool =) could also see Empire State building, which was the tallest building in New York, which is good because its expensive to go up.

went to Chinatown and Little Italy. Chinatown was huge! there were cheap stuff there like keychains and postcards, and there were many vendors selling fruits by the roadside, and other things like dry food. there was this interesting street, i think its called Dawyers street, where they built it crooked to prevent straight flying ghosts from flying through it. cool. had dessert because the weather was just too hot and dinner there. chinese food! yeah. had milk tea with beef and egg dan zai mian. yummy. hehe. there wasnt much in Little Italy, probably just many Italian restaurants. but the streets were decorated, like how Chinatown in Singapore is like during CNY.

then went to SoHo, which was this huge shopping district. went back again today because alot of shops were closing yesterday by the time we went. it stretches across many streets and has really alot of shops. omg. its like another 16th street mall, just that there was no shuttle to bring us around, we have to walk.

today, we went to a part of Central Park and it was really huge. you can see the size of it from the map. did not really stay long because the area near our place had nothing much to see so going back tomorrow morning to explore some other parts by subway. haha. ya. the whole central park stretches along maybe about 7 subway stations.

also went to New York University today. its just like another SMU, with separate buildings across different streets. they also have sth like Holland village nearby, just that its called Washington Village, and had lesser shops. they also have a park nearby, Washington Square Park, which is nice because you can go there to sit and talk during break times. too bad the nearest park in NUS is much further, so by the time u walk there, I think its half the break gone. haha.

last day in NY tomorrow! i muz rbr to try New York cheesecake. =)