Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips. Show all posts

2010

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                I can’t believe I have lived through another decade, it’s amazing how much I have learned and experienced within this span of ten years. I am grateful to God The Almighty for all those times I had and for the things to come. I celebrated the countdown to New Year at Times Square which I must say, it’s a unique experience of its own and one that I do not want to go through again, despite the fun I had.
                Surprisingly I was slightly disappointed with the celebration because there weren’t enough live performances to cater for the crowd that was battling through 9 hours of standing still; they at most had 6 live performances. I was irked because I expected better.
                Acoustics were abysmal, we couldn’t hear Daughtry’s vocals until he performed another round, and the sound system wasn’t loud enough to cater the millions of people packed there. They instead dished out a playlist of songs which can be done at any clubhouse or even in my own apartment, what made it worse was that, THEY REPEATED THE SONGS at least twice. The stage was not facing the majority of the crowd, I think they were focusing on the VIPs, which I find very inconsiderate. Performance-wise, it was a dismay for me.

                                                                        The line going into the human pen


                                                                             See how packed it is?
So here are the things you should know before celebrating New Year at Times Square:
1.       Be there by 3pm. Cops will close all routes to the vicinity (45th-49th street)
2.       Literally millions will be there packed and directed into a human pen.
3.       If you really want to have fun, bring more than 5 people with you.
4.       BE PATIENT!!! YOU HAVE 9 HOURS TO GET INTO THE PEN
5.       You will be standing for 9 hours straight if you want to be at the centre of things located at 46th Street.
6.       If possible don’t drink before coming, dehydrate yourself as much as possible before coming.
7.       Restrooms don’t exist. Restaurants either lock their doors or close their washrooms during the day. Be prepared to bring diapers, cups or bottles to relief yourself during the event.
8.       To relief yourself after the celebration, immediately look for Hilton hotel (should be somewhere around West 57th-59th street)
a.       DON’T ENTER USING THE FRONT ENTRANCE,
b.      Walk around the building and enter from the right.
c.       Beware because it’s an exit only door, so you would have to wait for people to exit.
d.      Hold the door when they do that and get into the building.
e.      The restroom should be on your right, next to the counter.
9.       Umbrellas or raincoats are a must, plus it’s a subtle way to start a conversation with strangers.
10.   Dress adequately, 3 layers of clothes weren’t enough to keep me warm and people know how warm I can get.
11.   If your friends are late, it’s their fault, don’t help them get in using any method, police are efficient and you will be kicked out of Times Square. Happened right in front of my eyes so don’t try.
12.   DON’T PUSH while getting into the human pen, it’s outright rude and will anger people.
13.   Don’t act like you’re tough and all, people are there to have fun, not to fight, EXPECT NO MOVEMENT FOR A FEW EFFING MINUTES and don’t get ticked so easily.
14.   Keep your stuff close to you, pickpockets are bound to be everywhere.
15.   Have FUN!!!




Super packed



Have Fun!!!

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Lessons From The Lone Traveller

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                The last week was  filled with adventures and joy, yet again!!! I managed to travel around NYC (alone, bummer), Pennstate and Philly (it’s my second home now), met up with my good friends from INTEC and had a Thanksgiving dinner. NYC is a good place to walk around during the day and a tad eerie in the night if you’re lugging around a backpack; Walking around with my faithful brown backpack made me felt like I have this big sign that says, “Rob Me!” 
                The heart of NYC is pretty much like KL without the greenery scene plus a stupendous amount of buildings, and it was all too familiar for me which made navigating around so much easier.  Navigating around Chinatown is hard, well, navigating anywhere outside the heart of NYC is hard. Chinatown is the spitting image of Petaling Street, maybe Penang but you get the idea.
                My gravest mistake was not printing a map of NYC. Well, I didn’t plan on walking around NYC in the first place but yeah, a map would have made life easier. But that’s how I am, I have this tendency to jump into an adventure without planning ahead, I like the surprises and randomly spontaneous adventure I come across in my life.
Here’s what I’ve learned from my trip in NYC:
1.       Subways, cops and curators are your bestfriends.
a.       Subways serve as convenient landmarks to where you are, plus, they give out free maps. I didn’t know about the free maps so I took a picture of the maps they put up in the subway. Your camera can be your GPS, which I think is cool.
b.      Cops? Most helpful and knowledgeable people around if you need directions to get to anywhere in NYC. They’re everywhere too which makes locating one pretty easy.
c.       Curators? Same as cops but without the uniform AND they’ll suggest places you should visit. They also work as a mobile encyclopaedia, telling you the history of certain buildings, monuments, landmarks and even the history of NYC.
2.       Hone your map reading skills
a.       Doesn’t really apply to the centre of Manhattan but more of the lower and upper parts of Manhattan.
b.      If you’re on a tight schedule, getting lost in Manhattan is the last thing you would want to do.
c.       The subway map is missing a lot of information because they only show important streets and avenues, which can be very misleading. So what seem like a short distance is actually 4-7 blocks away.
3.       Take lots of pictures as you walk (duhh)
a.       And I’m not talking about self-portrait stuff, take pictures of your surroundings.
b.      This would serve as a pictorial guide for you if you ever get lost, a convenient way to backtrack.
4.       Always, ALWAYS, bring a fully-charged battery for your phone AND camera
a.       Pretty much self-explanatory. Both devices are your lifelines, wouldn’t want them to die on you now would you?
5.       Write down important numbers and always have small change in your pocket
a.       Shit happens, things can get really bad and everything can go wrong at times. Yes, everything.
b.      If your phone died on you, (happens to me all the time) write down the phone number of your parents’, friends’, whomever deemed important to you, and keep it close to you.
c.       No matter how reliable or modern whatever electronic device you have, if it runs out of battery, it’s as good as a paper weight.
d.      This is when the small change matters, thank God for public phones. This enables you to contact whoever you want to, get information from them and resume backpacking. ‘Nuff said.
My next post will be about travelling from Rochester to ANYWHERE. There’ll be review about a few transportation services. So watch out for that!

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