Monday, March 30, 2009

the entry about new york, new york!

oh man, too much ancient ruins and borderline-impertinent italians with no civil grace have dulled my wits. never mind that they boast fragrant arabica beans or generous servings of gelato. it is the whimsical, capricious megalopolis life that i lust after. a city of lights with the ubiquitous starbucks and the cacophony of honks that orchestrate the pulse of an ever-abuzz borough, oh how i heart thee.

if that's your cup of tea too, then eat your hearts out at new york, famously known as the big apple. i gamely made my way to the district of dizzying lights and rambunctious/fun-loving people and met up with bestie raymond. no more ben (sob), and i am missing him already. aww! shucks!

still, life goes on...

moving on! here's the lowdown on times square, a part of manhattan that is teeming with cars, and even more people.


behold city lights times square!



portrait of wastebin, fast-moving cab and raymond.





a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate to battle the cold.



how apt!


fashion 101: crossing the streets in style.



using the computer terminal to catch up with what's on online.


tipping is common culture for the uninformed. there's no hard and fast rule about how much you should tip, but somewhere in the band of 15% - 20% would be adequate. however, do not, i reiterate, do not dump all your loose change as tips. doing so would only provoke tippee (person who receives tips) to launch into a tirade of the 'f' language. i know so, but don't ask me why so.

manhattan (the borough where we are living in) is all kinds of crazy. the people are a fun-loving and gregarious bunch, contrary to the misconception that new yorkers have no sense of humor and are complacent. 


times square by day.




more of the lovely times square anytime.





i am guessing sesame street's around the corner somewhere.



walking the dog is commonplace, ray demonstrates how.



a marc by marc jacobs outlet in soho.


trotting around since nine in the morning can be quite tiring. i swear the bunions on my feet were dying to grow out of my mules. we stopped track over at empire state building, the city's largest observatory. expect no more than a hazy panorama cluttered with tourists of all shapes and sizes once atop the building.


a bird's eye view of the financial district in soft focus.







by the third day, our sluggish brains then realized that traveling via the subway would have hastened the redundant, time-consuming walks from point to point. way to go, des. extra points for being an slow thinker.

anyhoos, because i've been to new york before, visiting some touristy areas that are out of the way or utilizes precious time like ellis island, statue of liberty and the met museum have been relegated to the bottom of my priorities. i opted for the obvious choice: central park. and of course, some shopping as well. 


stepping out of our hotel, the moderne.



a little camera check before moving out.


stopping by for a cuppa along a walk-by cafe.






the scenic view of central park. 






did you know: almost 25 million people visits the central park annually and central perk from friends, the sitcom, and central park have no direct co-relations whatsoever?




feeling a little pang of hunger.


one more shot before heading back downtown for some food.


a shot of me kissing the stuffed toy,
and a friendly new yorker who chimes in for kicks.


here's raymond's rendition. hilarious much?



en route to watch our first musical, little mermaid.


owing to the fact that the weather was an ass-blistering cold, tranny mess and the heater in our room fulminating only during certain periods, using the hairdryer would have been a brilliant idea. here's a demo:


an outlook of the room from bed's view.







look-it! topman's opening soon in new york, but not soon enough. dang!





on the last day, ray dumped me and went off to meet his *ahem* paramour-meets-friend, so i was pretty much left to my own devices. i brought along my trusty nikon slr and took pictures of downtown life, the manhattan and brooklyn bridges, and a couple of other locales which will be shown more in the next entry. meanwhile, here's a look at some interesting folks, and get a load of my purchases for the curtain call.


close that mouth, it's nasty!


she ain't too happy about him walking out on her.


pretty in pink? stroller lady in background concurs.


walking advertisements in the most literal sense.


yikes! i fear the arrival of my credit card statement.

34 comments:

fufu said...

wow!!! i heart times square, did you watch broadway show?? erm...empire state building i been up there as well =) the uptown.. the park, the lincoln square, etc oh missing manhattan... and did you go to the liberty's statue... omg i love new york XD i will be back soon... invited to a friend's wedding... she was my host when i was there 2yrs ago

huiying said...

WOW, nice. haha. i didn't went to as much places as u do cos of the cold and the travel distance from my uncle's home to manhattan. i miss there so much. =)

Popthemusicdrug said...

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh super envious la!!!!!!!!!!

i wanna go i so wanna go!!!

richard mcnick said...

I LOVE MAMMA MIA! and i love that MAMMA MIA ad at times!

763092 said...

omg. Jaws-dropping photos... The last one included! =P

You've broke your month-old promise to yourself... Hahaha...

abc said...

your friend raymond is so cute, he must be very fun to hang out with.

abc said...

your friend raymond is so cute, he must be very fun to hang out with.

kOoKy pLuM said...

woooo... u must have been on a photo uploading rampage...

and now u can say u've been everywhere! ok well almost but newYork is the city of all cities so yeah almost everywhere... lol..

cheers
KookyPlum

iruffcookiedough said...

(fufu) i heart manhattan thee most. enjoy your new york trip. i am sure it's gonna be a blast. just be mindful of swiping too much purchases!

(huiying) actually, i have kinda been there before, so places like liberty and ellis island were a no-no for me. still, many other places of interests were great and fun places to go to.

(ptmd) let's go japan/hkg/twn!!!!

iruffcookiedough said...

(richard m) i watched little mermaid and shrek the musical this time round. loved both, but shrek was way hilarious!

(763092) heee, my resolution only applies when i am in singapore. there's a fine print disclaimer, >.<

(abc) he's very entertaining, you can say. =]

iruffcookiedough said...

(kp) and not forgetting japan as well. it's really a tie between these two cities. i love both equally much.. but oh well, tokyo triumphs because of their ramen. =]

kOoKy pLuM said...

mmmmm..ramen... ok u made me hungry and craving for ramen.... mmmm...

Anonymous said...

your bestie right? seems like very fun to hang out with him. of course you are the best hehe.

BLADES said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
iruffcookiedough said...

(kp) have you tried marutama ramen, 3rd floor of central, you should have a go at it, it's really good.

(anon2) hee, thanks for the comments.

(blades) i take it as a compliment, thanks for making an effort of the picture. i saw it already, i think it looks great!

kOoKy pLuM said...

Central as in the Clarke Quay place? not in sg la. but when i come i'll go check in out, if its still there.

Lek said...

wait wait wait, this is a bit discombobulating. i mean, you were in Europe, saw you at Taka, then you posted photos of your NYC trip? omnipresence isn't the name of the game, right?

Anonymous said...

glad that u had so much fun with your Europe trip and NY City trip. your posts make me miss Italy and NY City so much. can't wait to go there again. ^o^

btw, you went NY City after your Europe trip? fun but must be tired too.

~no name~

Anonymous said...

Both of your dressing colours coordinate very well. Seem like having lots of fun there!!!

russ said...

awwww....miss u too!new york looks fun and i'll love to visit it real soon.

oh and lotsa fab buys!!

hk/tpe/tokyo soon!

iruffcookiedough said...

(kp) oh yah, kp hails from M right?

(lek) i was in rome, then new york, then i was back in singapore. all these posts are actually backlogged, so there is a delay in their posts as compared to real-time, geddit?

(no name) yup. and could you imagine how lethargic i was on the way home. there were four transit stops from new york to singapore. i had layovers at munich, rome, bangkok, and finally singapore.

nevertheless, it was great fun. you should so go there again!

iruffcookiedough said...

(anon) i did, it wasn't exactly the best trip but it was great fun nevertheless. =]

(conrad a.k.a. ruth) glad that you enjoyed my writings. do come back often and let me know of your tots.

(russ) onz!!!!! june june june.

kOoKy pLuM said...

lol from M? u mean the country across the causeway? no no. i'm from SG, born and bred. lol.

studying Down Under at the moment =D

fufu said...

hk, taipei and tokyo in june?? i will be in tianjin, beijing and inner mongolia =)

Anonymous said...

Des,

Where is my hand gifts from Roma & US? Miss u too kekekee :D

km

Lek said...

OK. Got it (darn, your geddit has a bitchy touch to it!). Haha. Well, the photos made me miss my best friend who's based in the Big Apple.

jnkl said...

nice photos...=). Manhattan is a nice place..

iruffcookiedough said...

(kp) enjoy your time in oz land, i'm sure you must be having the ball of a time there.

(fufu) what job, besides being a flight crew, allows to travel all around the world, i wonder?

(km) i am sorry to disappoint. i didn't get anything for you. my bad. =(

iruffcookiedough said...

(lek) i wouldn't mind going there another time round, just not in the near future. and nah, i wasn't being bitchy at all. promise.

(jnkl) it is not a nice place, it is a great place. =]

Julius said...

great pictures of your travels!!

new york looks super chill and fun.

niceee :)

iruffcookiedough said...

new york is chill in more ways than one. thanks for the comments, julius. ><

Anonymous said...

ah des,

only bad to me, but nice to every1 ya . . . .hmmmmmm :S
hows yr 失目民症? or can go supper ya :D

km

iruffcookiedough said...

km, am feeling much better after i am back from the trip. thanks for your concern. =]

Wubing said...

Very nice blog, esp the photography section you added in. Cool photos.