It’s been two weeks since I arrived at New York city. Things have been travelling at the speed of light, yet at times, it’s like you are watching a pin drop and it seems to take forever to hit the ground.

Heh, I’ve been back to Chinatown yesterday and today, having different experiences on both days. Yesterday I dug deeper into the streets to find the Chinese food I was craving for. Saw a lot of medicine shops (as they are called I guess) selling traditional Chinese herbs and stuff. You could also see people drying shrimp and other miscellaneous stuff. It does feel very authentic Chinese, just like what I’ve seen in KL everytime I’m in the city centre. Heh, I’ve not been to Italy, but they have the same kind of decor for their restaurants, sometimes chequered tableclothes, and smart looking waiters. It’s the same for Chinese shops/restaurants at the places I’ve been. Bright fluorescent lights with little care for decor (unless it’s a classy restaurant) and things are mainly functional.

Wandered around a bit and walked into a store that sold meat on rice (the standard Chinese affair of siew yuk, char siew etc.). Heh, what caught my attention was probably the menu stuck outside with prices. I bought a rice pack with siew yuk and some boiled veges, all for $3.95. Portion is slightly more than what you’d get in Melbourne but the price was unbelievable. Heh, and siew yuk like McDonalds, has a standard taste worldwide that doesn’t seem to deviate too far and it’s still recognisable. It was something familiar and it made me happy. Heh, the little things that make me happy now that I’m here.

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Today was a different affair. Vyanne’s cousin is in town. She’s studying at Carnegie Mellon University (which is very famous, but I don’t know it!) and doing an internship nearby in NYC for the summer. Heh, met up with her and her friends and went for yum cha in Chinatown. There was the standard fare you get at yum cha, and I was surprised the bill only came up to be USD$8 a person (including tips) as the amount we ate would normally be AUD$13-15 per person. Heh, was chatting and it’s interesting to note that people from America (around the region I’m at) who went to Melbourne for holiday decided to stay there and look for work, as opposed to people everyelse who’d dream to work in NYC. Seems the grass is always greener for everyone on the other side.

We then left for Times Square to catch a movie. I’ve been staying near this area for nearly two weeks now but never really came out to explore it. It’s around here where all the Broadway shows are and I’d like to catch some, but they are priced kind of steep so I might just have to select the ones I really want to watch. Then they have entire shops devoted to M&Ms and Hershey’s chocolates. Heh, it’s amazing how much merchandise you can create from round coloured chocolates.

Also walked into the local Toy’s ‘R’ Us and there’s a massive amount of toys. For the first time I see the American brands we are so familiar with everywhere else in the world and it’s surprisingly affordable (on TV it was shown that the toy industry for 6-12 year olds and their parents is a multibillion dollar industry).

Heh, can you imagine how massive this toystore is? There is a working ferriswheel and giant size toys all around.

NYC is the consumer’s heaven. There’s too much choice at decent prices. I even oogled at the games and gaming platforms that I was so tempted to buy while I was in Melbourne. Heh, it’s even cheaper here with much, more variety. That’s why it’s odd when these items are brought overseas. Older games go for around USD$20-30 here as there is a larger market and stores aren’t afraid to discount to get rid of stock. Bring these same items over the Melbourne and only the games that nobody wants are discounted cheap, while the popular games will retail for AUD$80-$100 easily without much discount. Bring these same items over to Malaysia, and at a whopping price tag of RM300 a game, you’d have to be either very rich or really like the game very much to pay that kind of premium for a game. In Malaysia there’s no discounts as items aren’t imported in bulk like that (plus piracy provides less incentive for purchasing original games). And we are getting off tangent again.

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Well, got to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and didn’t have to watch it alone, which was good. I like this movie like the previous two. It’s definitely darker than the previous ones (reminds me of a certain Star Wars movie which was also a third instalment). I guess if you leave your expectations at home, the movie is quite enjoyable to watch and it has some of the best CG effects I’ve seen to date. Sure there is some excess in the plotline, but I can forgive that for the extra screentime of the actors. Everything just looks so real, and the cast really shines as pirates. Heh, Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush were superb in their roles as pirates. The movie ended slowly but it’s one of those endings that doesn’t leave me cheated, so that’s always good. Heh.

Anyway, long and arduous post ends here.

Today I dropped by Chinatown, which is at the southern tip of Manhattan island. It wasn’t what I was expecting.

It’s very much like Petaling Street in KL. Overcrowded with people, lots of shops and stalls selling cheap goods. There were pirated DVDs and fake LV/Gucci bags for sale. Was looking around for a grocery store and some restaurants. Only found one of each in between the roads I weaved in and out of. It’s quite a large area so I probably missed a few things. Ended up with McDonalds for lunch (I know, it’s sad!). It’s roughly priced about the same as in Australia and the meal size isn’t too far off either.

Little Italy is just next door and there are many more restaurants down on this end.

Today was kind of warm. It was summery and humid, not very conducive for walking so after an hour and the half, I just decided to head back to my apartment. Heh, it’s just like how working people are, not too keen to move their lazy asses during the weekends so that they can recover from work.

Not feeling terrible expressive today, so I’ll just leave with a few photos of what I saw today.

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Cheap clothing, cheap watches, cheap everything for sale here.

Typical traffic situation in NYC.

Little Italy

Just like in Melbourne, there is outdoor dining.

A little unhappy that I’m typing this now and it’s already Friday morning in Melbourne/Malaysia and I’m just only having dinner on a Thursday night. Dinner is not spectacular, some canned fish (albacore it is, and the first time I saw this word was on WoW) in bottled pasta sauce with some spaghetti. Heh, the average takeaway meal here is around $6, and portions are pretty decent. You still get what you pay for, with Asian food being cheaper in general. The reason being the inputs for Asian food is usually a whole stack of noodles or rice, with some veges and meat dotting the scenery. With other foods like sandwiches and stuff, bread isn’t so cheap, neither is ham or cheese and all the other things. So while it feels more value for money to eat Asian food, you are actually getting more nutrition with more expensive foods.

Anyway, that is off tangent. At work I sit in front of an LCD TV (or plasma, I didn’t check) and it’s always on the business news channel. There’s always a market update and how you can make more money with the current situation. It’s a little sad that people can take advantage of gasoline prices, or natural disasters and benefit from how the stocks for insurance companies etc move. This is the intended target audience however, people who just want to find the trends and make more money.

On a less serious note, the same channel has specific advertisements as well. The ads on this channel are either online trading tools, or food programs for weight loss. Heh, it’s sort of implying that people who live on the edge to make money are also fat!

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This weekend will try and explore Chinatown (which is south of the island). So far I’m sticking to the only subway line I know. NYC is by far the easiest city I know of to navigate and I’m directionally blind. No silly street names (until today, I still get confused with Latrobe and Lonsdale St in the Melbourne CBD cause both streets start with L).

I’ve been stuck on this island for a while now and I still haven’t seen the coastline. Will try and make a trip for that next week once I find any place of interest to go. Also want to visit the B&H Photo Video store here. It’s a massive camera shop with lots and lots of camera stuff to look at. Heh, already picked a lens I’m keen to buy, a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens for low light work. It’s more for indoorsy stuff without flash. Might even have a go at a Nikon D200 and get ‘poisoned’ by it’s feel. Would also like to catch Pirates of the Carribbean: At World’s End at the cinema too. Read reviews where they found the film disappointing, but any chance to see Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow should be reason enough. Heh.

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Room smells fishy from the tuna now. Not a very nice smell.