I'm still Ani from the block...
Day 1: Wednesday, March 23
Andrew & I landed into Dulles Airport in DC at 4pm as scheduled. With a three hour layover, we were mentally prepared to wait...What we didn't expect was the hour delay of our connecting flight which was dragged out until 10pm and finally cancelled. Of all days to snow in NY, it had to snow on that one. The McDonald's was still open until they sold the rest of their food, but tragically the bastard in front of us in line got the last Filet-O-Fish. Damn him! Because we are cheap, we decided to spend the night at the airport. After scoping out the terminal, we found the best spot where there were minimal people and darker lighting. Unfortunately, the one lady who was sitting in our section decided that she would call everyone and their mother and talk to them all night long. We tossed and turned, eventually moving to a different seating area.
Day 2: Thursday, March 24
With the hopes of catching an earlier flight on standby, we woke up at 5:30 am and went to the desk. But alas, they informed us that if we caught standby, our checked-in baggage would still be on our original flight. So we had some more McDonald's for breakfast and then waited for our departure. Arrived to LaGuardia at 10am, caught a shuttle to our hotel in Manhattan and then took the showers we desperately needed. Andrew was using a new toothbrush for the first time and dropped it in the toilet. Quite the pitiful scene. Caught a subway to 5th Avenue for some shopping at H&M & Zara. I was exhausted so I couldn't shop efficiently. We headed for Rockefeller Center and stopped for a hotdog. Of course, I pick one of the few hotdog stands that didn't have it's prices listed and I order two and a Snapple. What does the guy charge us? Eight-fucking dollars. As we're walking through Central Park, I am stopped by a young male who asks me to buy some bags of peanut M&Ms for his team's fundraiser for new bball jerseys. Being a fan of basketball, I reached in my wallet for some money. He had asked for $3 for two bags. I took out a five and was expecting change, but instead he grabs the five and says "here, since you're so nice you can have 3 bags" and before I know it, I got hustled. I'm not very good at high-pressure math computing. Next we headed to Times Square. I love this place! Must be the bright lights & atmosphere. ESPNZone was packed but we went anyways because the Huskies were playing Louisville and we needed to go to a sportsbar that showed both CBS games simultaneously. Andrew and I were going to have Pop-a-Shot rematch battle because he wants to win back his title (haha, loser) but this place charged too much per game so it wasn't worth it.
Day 3: Friday, March 25
The day (more like afternoon) started with a trip to the Met. I no longer doubt that it is the largest museum in the western hemisphere. There were so many exhibits including Egyptian art, Arms & Armor, American art, European paintings, Greek & Roman art, Asian art, and even musical instruments. My feet got tired and I was forced to rest intermittently. Nearby the Met, there were a bunch of consignment shops so we checked those out. I found a pair of black Prada slingbacks and was going to buy them until I looked at the price and saw that they were still $125. Sad, we didn't find anything. For dinner, we went to Kang Suh in Little Korea for some bbq, delicious but a little on the expensive side as are most things in New York. Later that night, we met up with Charlie & Athena to check out the highly acclaimed nightlife of NYC. We caught the subway down to the meat-packing district. Our first stop was Hiro, a trendy, dark, japanese-esque bar. There were a lot of hot girls, but it was a tad on the boring side because there was a lack of dancing and free seating areas. We went next door to xl ("exile"), a gay bar that was featured on SATC. Again, there was no dancing so we headed over to Glow. There was a $25 cover, so we said fuck it and left. Athena was able to work her charm and get VIP tix from the bouncer, but it turned out that it only gave us a $5 discount anyway. Next, we wandered over to some straight bar called Gaslight. I don't get why people have the word "gas" in the name of a bar. So we got some drinks and the bar was pretty crowded, but Athena found some seating by the bar corner. There was a loner guy who was sitting there and started talking to me. "Wanna see a magic trick?" I said sure, and he did the typical pick a card any card, and then mysteriously retrieved my chosen card. I guess that must be his pick up line because he kept talking to me after that. I tried to hint that I was here w/other people by talking to Athena, Andrew & Charlie, but he kept on talking. When we were leaving, he told me that he'd put a personal on Craig's list and that I would know which one was him and to give him a holla. We took a cab to Splash, but turns out that their cover was also $20. This is the point when Andrew realizes that he can't find his driver's license. Grreeeeeaaat. He and I go back to Gaslight, but the bouncer only lets me in to find it. The guys in NY are pretty aggressive. I was there a whole minute when these two very Italian guys grab my arms and try to spit game. I tell them I am looking for something, they get confused, and stop bothering me. No ID had been turned in, no luck finding it on the ground. What do we do now? Go back to xl and hope that the bouncer will remember us from earlier that night. Andrew was prepared to give a detailed sob story..."I lost my id (takes deep breath)" but before he could go on, the bouncer mumbled something and let him in. The bar had far less people in it so we were able to grab some seating. Charlie's cousin Annalisa, her bf, and her good friend Jaime met us there. Apparently, Jaime was going thru some hard times (just broke up with his bf of 3 years) so he was pretty toasted. He points to Andrew and says, "You're hot! You are yummy with a capital Y-U-M-M-Y!" Oh man, haha. I was introduced next and they informed him that I am Andrew's gf. He responds "Don't get me wrong, but I don't like you." And he continues to refer to me as "Anna" even though everyone kept correcting him. "Anna, is it true Asian guys are bad kissers? Is Andrew a good kisser?" Jaime to Andrew: "I wanna rape you." "Look at that smile" "You're hot!" "You should unbutton that jacket" before reaching over the table and doing it himself. Andrew proceeded to lean behind me and mutter something. I thought he was saying "Jaime, Jaime" but he claims he was calling out "Hide me, hide me." This went on for the rest of the night, til 4 am. I think that was the highlight of the trip for me.
Day 4: Saturday, March 26 :: "Andrew Day"
First we caught the ferry to Staten Island so we could get a better view of the Statue of Liberty. There was a chubby-faced baby on the ferry that made Chewbacca noises (Andrew's favorite part of the trip). Our next destination was Century 21 "NY's best kept secret", a high-end Marshall's if you will. But before we went inside, we stopped by Ground Zero, right across the street. Very surreal. It was hard to imagine that the Twin Towers once stood there. Century 21 on a Saturday? Very crazy & crowded, with only one fitting room for all three stories! Andrew got some nice dress shirts & ties. Onward to Canal St. in Chinatown. Store after store, the streets were littered with knockoffs and counterfeit cheapies. Too bad we didn't really find anything we wanted. Took a subway to Katz's Deli, famous for their pastrami sandwiches. This is the same place where Meg Ryan had her fake orgasm in When Harry Met Sally. A lot of history in that deli, and a lot of salami hanging from the ceiling too. The rest of the night was spent wandering Times Square again. Went to the Jamba Juice there, but be warned, a regular size Orange Dream Machine was $5.25 before tax! Eventually we retired to our hotel and and took an hour nap in preparation for our red-eye 6am flight. No delays or cancellations on the way home, thankfully.
asianpicturetakingwhores
Andrew & I landed into Dulles Airport in DC at 4pm as scheduled. With a three hour layover, we were mentally prepared to wait...What we didn't expect was the hour delay of our connecting flight which was dragged out until 10pm and finally cancelled. Of all days to snow in NY, it had to snow on that one. The McDonald's was still open until they sold the rest of their food, but tragically the bastard in front of us in line got the last Filet-O-Fish. Damn him! Because we are cheap, we decided to spend the night at the airport. After scoping out the terminal, we found the best spot where there were minimal people and darker lighting. Unfortunately, the one lady who was sitting in our section decided that she would call everyone and their mother and talk to them all night long. We tossed and turned, eventually moving to a different seating area.
Day 2: Thursday, March 24
With the hopes of catching an earlier flight on standby, we woke up at 5:30 am and went to the desk. But alas, they informed us that if we caught standby, our checked-in baggage would still be on our original flight. So we had some more McDonald's for breakfast and then waited for our departure. Arrived to LaGuardia at 10am, caught a shuttle to our hotel in Manhattan and then took the showers we desperately needed. Andrew was using a new toothbrush for the first time and dropped it in the toilet. Quite the pitiful scene. Caught a subway to 5th Avenue for some shopping at H&M & Zara. I was exhausted so I couldn't shop efficiently. We headed for Rockefeller Center and stopped for a hotdog. Of course, I pick one of the few hotdog stands that didn't have it's prices listed and I order two and a Snapple. What does the guy charge us? Eight-fucking dollars. As we're walking through Central Park, I am stopped by a young male who asks me to buy some bags of peanut M&Ms for his team's fundraiser for new bball jerseys. Being a fan of basketball, I reached in my wallet for some money. He had asked for $3 for two bags. I took out a five and was expecting change, but instead he grabs the five and says "here, since you're so nice you can have 3 bags" and before I know it, I got hustled. I'm not very good at high-pressure math computing. Next we headed to Times Square. I love this place! Must be the bright lights & atmosphere. ESPNZone was packed but we went anyways because the Huskies were playing Louisville and we needed to go to a sportsbar that showed both CBS games simultaneously. Andrew and I were going to have Pop-a-Shot rematch battle because he wants to win back his title (haha, loser) but this place charged too much per game so it wasn't worth it.
Day 3: Friday, March 25
The day (more like afternoon) started with a trip to the Met. I no longer doubt that it is the largest museum in the western hemisphere. There were so many exhibits including Egyptian art, Arms & Armor, American art, European paintings, Greek & Roman art, Asian art, and even musical instruments. My feet got tired and I was forced to rest intermittently. Nearby the Met, there were a bunch of consignment shops so we checked those out. I found a pair of black Prada slingbacks and was going to buy them until I looked at the price and saw that they were still $125. Sad, we didn't find anything. For dinner, we went to Kang Suh in Little Korea for some bbq, delicious but a little on the expensive side as are most things in New York. Later that night, we met up with Charlie & Athena to check out the highly acclaimed nightlife of NYC. We caught the subway down to the meat-packing district. Our first stop was Hiro, a trendy, dark, japanese-esque bar. There were a lot of hot girls, but it was a tad on the boring side because there was a lack of dancing and free seating areas. We went next door to xl ("exile"), a gay bar that was featured on SATC. Again, there was no dancing so we headed over to Glow. There was a $25 cover, so we said fuck it and left. Athena was able to work her charm and get VIP tix from the bouncer, but it turned out that it only gave us a $5 discount anyway. Next, we wandered over to some straight bar called Gaslight. I don't get why people have the word "gas" in the name of a bar. So we got some drinks and the bar was pretty crowded, but Athena found some seating by the bar corner. There was a loner guy who was sitting there and started talking to me. "Wanna see a magic trick?" I said sure, and he did the typical pick a card any card, and then mysteriously retrieved my chosen card. I guess that must be his pick up line because he kept talking to me after that. I tried to hint that I was here w/other people by talking to Athena, Andrew & Charlie, but he kept on talking. When we were leaving, he told me that he'd put a personal on Craig's list and that I would know which one was him and to give him a holla. We took a cab to Splash, but turns out that their cover was also $20. This is the point when Andrew realizes that he can't find his driver's license. Grreeeeeaaat. He and I go back to Gaslight, but the bouncer only lets me in to find it. The guys in NY are pretty aggressive. I was there a whole minute when these two very Italian guys grab my arms and try to spit game. I tell them I am looking for something, they get confused, and stop bothering me. No ID had been turned in, no luck finding it on the ground. What do we do now? Go back to xl and hope that the bouncer will remember us from earlier that night. Andrew was prepared to give a detailed sob story..."I lost my id (takes deep breath)" but before he could go on, the bouncer mumbled something and let him in. The bar had far less people in it so we were able to grab some seating. Charlie's cousin Annalisa, her bf, and her good friend Jaime met us there. Apparently, Jaime was going thru some hard times (just broke up with his bf of 3 years) so he was pretty toasted. He points to Andrew and says, "You're hot! You are yummy with a capital Y-U-M-M-Y!" Oh man, haha. I was introduced next and they informed him that I am Andrew's gf. He responds "Don't get me wrong, but I don't like you." And he continues to refer to me as "Anna" even though everyone kept correcting him. "Anna, is it true Asian guys are bad kissers? Is Andrew a good kisser?" Jaime to Andrew: "I wanna rape you." "Look at that smile" "You're hot!" "You should unbutton that jacket" before reaching over the table and doing it himself. Andrew proceeded to lean behind me and mutter something. I thought he was saying "Jaime, Jaime" but he claims he was calling out "Hide me, hide me." This went on for the rest of the night, til 4 am. I think that was the highlight of the trip for me.
Day 4: Saturday, March 26 :: "Andrew Day"
First we caught the ferry to Staten Island so we could get a better view of the Statue of Liberty. There was a chubby-faced baby on the ferry that made Chewbacca noises (Andrew's favorite part of the trip). Our next destination was Century 21 "NY's best kept secret", a high-end Marshall's if you will. But before we went inside, we stopped by Ground Zero, right across the street. Very surreal. It was hard to imagine that the Twin Towers once stood there. Century 21 on a Saturday? Very crazy & crowded, with only one fitting room for all three stories! Andrew got some nice dress shirts & ties. Onward to Canal St. in Chinatown. Store after store, the streets were littered with knockoffs and counterfeit cheapies. Too bad we didn't really find anything we wanted. Took a subway to Katz's Deli, famous for their pastrami sandwiches. This is the same place where Meg Ryan had her fake orgasm in When Harry Met Sally. A lot of history in that deli, and a lot of salami hanging from the ceiling too. The rest of the night was spent wandering Times Square again. Went to the Jamba Juice there, but be warned, a regular size Orange Dream Machine was $5.25 before tax! Eventually we retired to our hotel and and took an hour nap in preparation for our red-eye 6am flight. No delays or cancellations on the way home, thankfully.
asianpicturetakingwhores