Tag: NYC

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today is our last day in New York City, as we are flying home early tomorrow morning. For this final day, we stayed towards the end of Manhattan Island. Our first stop was the 9/11 Memorial and its reflecting pools. These memorials are quite impressive and somber, with the names of the people who lost their lives etched all along the edge.

We sat for quite a while near the memorial, I think partly because of the nature of the space, and also that we just needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the city. So after a quiet hour or so, we then headed to the top of One World Trade Center to the observation deck.

The elevator ride to the top is very interesting because the walls of the elevator are large screens which not only replicate the rising altitude but how the city changed all the way from its founding until the present day. It was an incredible show. Please check out this video, which will give you and idea.

As you might guess, the view from the top of One World Trade Center is stunning. But even though you are at the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, both Bay and I agreed that the view from Top of the Rock was more impressive, mostly because you are outdoors. But I think the observation deck of One World Trade Center is a must see. With this trip, I’ve now been to the top of Rockefeller Center, The Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, and the original WTC.

Next, we visited the 9/11 Museum, which is below ground. You can see the original steel foundation beams and slurry wall and many tributes in the forms of murals and paintings, but the heart of the museum has to be the historical exhibits that chronicle the timeline of September 11, 2001. It was shocking to relive that day, and there were several times when I felt tears welling up.

There was one exhibit/film in particular that describes the timeline of Flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers stormed the cockpit of the hijacked jet. It was heartbreaking to hear the voicemail messages of passengers to their loved ones and families… That was extremely difficult to hear. 😢

I have to admit that I was not really looking forward to visiting this museum, but I am very glad I did. When we exited the museum I gave Bay a little hug. 😥

After the museum, I really needed to get some caffeine so we searched The Oculus building for the Starbucks. Unfortunately, we didn’t find one, but the building itself is really cool:

Luckily there was a Starbucks on the way to Wall Street, so we had a short rest, I got my caffeine fix, we were ready to go. From the coffee shop, it was just a short walk to the Charging Bull statue. It was pretty cool, but I really enjoyed seeing the Fearless Girl. I wasn’t sure if it was a permanent sculpture or would be there, but it was! I admire what this statue stands for. Resiliency and the strength of the underdog, the less-privileged.

A couple blocks away are the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Hall National Memorial. It was cool to be in the same place where George Washington was sworn in as the first president. You can actually see the floor that he stood upon to receive the oath.

After Wall Street, we headed back to SoHo for last-minute gift-shopping and then to our last dinner in NYC. And it had to be… pizza! 😆🍕

One the way back to our Airbnb I snapped a photo of this wall-art. I like to think of it as Bay and I enjoying our travel together. 😀

I hope you had a great day!

またね～

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こんばんは。Today was yet another long but fun day. Actually, we didn’t have anything on the schedule that required us to be at a certain place at a certain time, so it was a nice, stress-free day.

We started late with a breakfast burrito and coffee at Dog Haus…

… then took the subway…

… and started our shopping at the MoMA Design Store. I bought a couple gifts, but I also found a rain-jacket on sale. It’s been rainy and I’ve seen so many people with their waterproof jackets so I thought it would be a good idea to get one too.

Our next stop was Uniqlo where they had some better rain-jackets and I was about to buy one but then I checked the weather forecast, and the rainy week doesn’t look as bad as it did earlier. So, not only didn’t I buy the Uniqlo jacket, but I returned the MoMA jacket as well. Since I live in Texas, I probably won’t need a rain jacket anyways.

Next up was the International Center of Photography Museum, which had a Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibit and an Elliot Erwitt exhibit. I thought both were great! They are two pillars of photography so to see collections of both of their works in one afternoon was fantastic.

In fact, I was so inspired by what I saw that I had to shoot a few more black and white photos today. 😀

Next, we went across the street to the New Museum to check out their contemporary art exhibits. Both Bay and I weren’t too impressed with the art on display, however. The installations were too experimental and not relatable, at least for us. I prefer traditional paintings over installations and mixed media works. Most of the art we saw today showed no indication of craft or skill, which really turns me off.

After that, we decided to check out the New York City Public Library. It was pretty cool to see, but it’s not really a place to browse the stacks. The librarian I talked to said that most of the books are not in the stacks but in the vaults, so patrons will request books and they will be brought to them for their research.

Still, there was a free exhibit highlighting the culture of the 60s in America which was an interesting mix of art and history.

After a quick ramen/udon dinner, we stopped by the Apple Store in Grand Central Station where Bay got to play with the Macbook Pro he wants to get. While he was doing that, I occupied myself with taking some long exposure photos of the crowds on the main floor. It was a lot of fun!

And to end our day, we walked a couple blocks from our Airbnb to Taiyaki NYC to get some ice cream and taiyaki. The most popular menu item is the Unicorn, so of course I had to try that. It was yummy! A great way to end another fun day in New York City. 🦄🍦

I hope you had a nice Wednesday!

おやすみ

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