New York City Day One (part 2)

I figured I could knock out some sight-seeing since I’ve never been in the Financial District before.  I wanted to find the infamous “Charging Bull’, but instead went down a street and found the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall.  It was then when I realized more and more people were coming out of nowhere.  Since it was after 12pm, I started to feel frustrated about my hotel room.  My friend was messaging me on when we could meet up, but I told him the situation I was facing.  I kept on sight-seeing.

I eventually found the Charging Bull and the Fearless Girl statues.  At this point my phone was acting up again.  Since I took some pictures I needed to charge it up again.  I walked back to my hotel, hoping my room would be ready, but again, no luck.  I sat in the lobby charging my phone and then went for a walk again to kill some more time.  I found a Century 21 and did some window shopping but I was getting delirious.  It was now 2pm and my room was still not ready.  My friend was getting impatient, and so was I.  I finally got some relief when the hotel told me over the phone that they had my room ready!  I ran over there as fast as I could!

Once I checked in, I showered up.  I was getting a migraine, and decided to lay down for 15 minutes until the Advil kicked in.  Then I jumped back up and got dressed.  It was now after 3pm and I haven’t started my day!  I told my friend I was on my way to meet him in Times Square and off I went.

By now, New York had a ton of tourists.  It was nearing rush hour and I was getting worried I would have to fight off the crowd to get to where my friend was located.  Unfortunately, his hotel was in Times Square.  Luckily I found the right hotel (apparently there are two of the same chain in Times Square) and we decided to get a bite to eat.  By now I was STARVING.  I knew we weren’t too far from the Moxy Hotel.  A friend had recommended the Magic Hour rooftop, and since the weather was cooperating, we decided to take a chance and check it out.  Since it was barely 5pm, there was a small crowd inside, and we ordered some drinks and appetizers to start our night.  I was still pretty sleepy, but the music was getting me in a good mood.  Once we finished up, my friend confessed to me that he really wanted to go to a jazz club in New York.  I started googling some spots and we chose the Birdland Theater.

We were in luck because a show was about to begin!  Lol  What are the odds?  We went downstairs and they sat us close to the stage.  A very entertaining singer came out and blew our minds away.  She did impersonations as well.  Everyone in the room had a great time.  She was also very funny.

Luckily my friend grew tired from his jet lag the day before.  Me on the other hand?  I was EXHAUSTED!!  I made my way back to my hotel.  We decided to meet up in the morning but I was glad we cut our night short.

New York City Day One (part 1)

As I mentioned earlier, I booked a trip to New York City to see my French friend run the marathon.  It was a last minute thing, but I’m glad I went in the end.  I was pretty nervous about it, too.  The last time I was in New York was 10 years ago.  I remember how tough this city could be.  I also remembered how I would get lost riding the NYC transit.  I was getting stressed out.

Along with Halloween Day being on an unexpected day itself, I really had one day to look over my carry on.  My flight was early in the morning on Friday.  Of course I had thoughts of over sleeping, but it was mostly because leading up to that day, I WASN’T getting much sleep.  My friend made me feel better when he called me Thursday night.  He had arrived from France a day earlier.  For the first time in two weeks, I got a excited about this trip.

I had scheduled an uber pick up around 3:45am-4:10am.  My flight was at 5:57am.  Not exactly 6am, but enough to make you question what time they were boarding.  I wanted to miss the rush hour morning commute so I figured if I arrive at the airport before 5am, I should be fine.  My alarm went off and everything happened so fast after that.  I do not think I ever went into a deep sleep.  I got up and washed up and then changed into my clothes.  I was hoping to sleep on the flight.

My uber showed up right on time.  They even send you a reminder, just in case.  I remember being in the uber and praying that there would be no traffic heading to the airport.  I just wanted this part to be over.

Luckily at the airport, I got through security in no time.  I remembered looking at the other passengers at our terminal.  Some of them looked excited for their trip.  I wished I could feel that way, I thought to myself.

Part of the contribution to my nerves was the weather.  I checked leading up to my trip, and it never changed.  Thunderstorms were in the forecast the entire day.  I grew angry when the pilot warned us early on.  “Well the first half of our flight should be smooth; but the second half won’t be.”  What the hell???  I wish pilots could have a sense of empathy for the ones who are scared shitless of flying!

Well, as it was predicted, the turbulence WAS BAD.  I decided to brave through this and not take anything because it was a short flight.  But I never got any sleep.  It was a long 30-40 minutes of pure hell but in the end, we landed safely.  My body was exhausted from being tensed up.

I loved that I had my carry-on luggage with me.  Once we landed I zoomed out of there.  I didn’t realize how many people were at LaGuardia!  It was a bit frustrating trying to navigate towards the exit.  I was stuck trying to figure out what “bus” line I was supposed to take that will lead me to the subway station at Roosevelt.  A nice gentleman pointed out to me that I was to get a ticket inside the airport before I get on the bus.  I saw the customer service counter with the line forming and got behind someone.  Once I figured out that I was to purchase a metro card I ran outside to see if I could catch my bus.  Not yet!  I still had to obtain some receipt.  Again, someone helped me figure that part out.  I had to insert my metro card in a machine to obtain my receipt.  Luckily the bus was still waiting.  I jumped on and tried to give the driver the receipt but she just told me to “go ahead” and move towards the back.  So much for that.

I arrived at the Roosevelt subway station and checked my Google maps to see where I was going.  So far so good.  I caught my train and felt relieved I was on my way.  Of course once I got off my stop I was lost.  I walked around for a bit and found a Starbucks.  I needed to charge my phone so I went inside and ordered a latte while I waited for my phone to charge.  

Believe it or not, the weather in New York was unseasonably warm.  It neared 70 degrees that day!  I had on layers since it was much colder in Chicago, but by now, I was sweating and getting frustrated I couldn’t find my hotel.  I jumped in a cab.  He drove me up to my hotel (which was a surprise to me).  I finally found it!  What a relief!

Well, not exactly.  Apparently, my room was not ready.  I was thrown off.  I wanted to shower and nap for a bit.  Since I did not have a room yet, they agreed to hold my luggage and encouraged me to come back later.  “So, in about two hours?”, I asked.  “We sold out completely last night.  Hopefully.”  That did not sound promising.