New York City. That’s when I start to hear Alicia Keys’ “concrete jungle where dreams are made of…”. The song literally played in my head when I first stepped on NYC’s floor and yes, it was like seeing a movie star for the first time. I just couldn’t believe that I was in the same place where Godzilla, King Kong and other weird creatures once put their feet on.
Getting through the "jungle" was never easy. As what New Yorkers and Sinatra say, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" - a quite intimidating statement not only for workers, but also for us first-time wanderers. That being said, I want to share with you the 4 important things we applied during our trip to the city:
PLAN. This actually does not need emphasis. Yes, spontaneity is very much exciting but for a place as swarmed as NYC, a prepared list of places would be a great help. (not unless you’re going to be there for at least half a year to explore). A full week in our case, really needed a lot of planning. So download the subway and bus maps before even getting there, preload your Google Map, make a list of places, talk to someone you know who’d been to NYC, and some other stuff that would save you lots of time. SAVE. Not that you have to allot whole of your earnings for your trip but you can set a certain amount for your baon so as not to overspend during your stay. That’s right, an average wage (or below average hahaha) employee like me could afford to fly to NYC. J When you try to find something over google, make sure to type along “CHEAP” lol. Plane Ticket – Go to a travel fair. So much cheaper than the regular one. Stay – Airbnb!! We got the whole apartment just for the 3 of us. Also, it’s not bad to spend a lot on food because that is what’s so good in here so don’t deprive yourself; eat hotdogs, burgers, pizzas, pretzels, bagels all you want as long as you limit other things like transportation. We bought a 7-day Metro Card for $31 which gives unlimited train and bus rides until midnight, saves me a lot. If places aren’t very far and you brought enough Red Bulls, then just walk. Believe me, with everything that you could possibly eat, you wouldn’t mind walking a mile or two just to shake it all off. Info: small hotdog’s average cost is $3. That’s like what, one full meal here in the Philippines. SELECT.I was in NYC for just a little over a week – not enough to see everything. So I did the stuff that I thought were “must-dos” and crossed out those that I seldom heard about. Well, my sister and husband did a great job picking places so I pretty much did what I wanted to do/ see such as:
Times Square
Broadway show
Yankees game
Statue of Liberty
Wall St.
Ate lots of hotdogs, burgers and pizzas
9/11 memorial and the new One World Trade
Brooklyn Bridge
4th of July Fireworks
Local beers
Empire State
High Line
Battery Park
Central Park
SO MUCH MORE
LASTLY,
ADAPT. In NYC I saw the diversity - neighborhood, food, buildings, and most of all, people. There were loud, quiet, polite, rude, helpful, snub and everything you could think of. Just one thing… Go with the flow! J I have been to quite a lot of places and I would say that being in NYC brought me to a whole new level. I am very glad that I experienced the city’s chaos with Trina and Alvin. Happy to say that we survived New York!
Just remember these -- dream place and great company. Soooo where’s next?
