Human vs Machine

Frightened and excited at same time.

It’s my first time in US and I’m all alone. I got stuck for an hour or so in US CBP on JFK but fortunately it’s only for first timer registration.

Took me almost 27 hours from Jakarta to New York, included 4 hours transit in Hong Kong. Jetlag, of course, but I really don’t care since I never sleep anyway.

Yesterday, I decide to walk in famous Broadway, from 48th Street down to Financial District. It’s an enjoyable 10.5 km walk that took me almost 7 hours. Building architectures are magnificient. I imagined they would be modern and boring like in Singapore, but I was wrong. I stop on several places to catch my breath or just plain sightseeing including Herald Park (next to Times Square), Bryan Park, Madison Square, Strand Bookstore, Union Square, Washington Square, Canal St, Tribeca, Ground Zero, NYSE, and Raging Bull on Bowling Green.

See my route on Google Maps.

I left my map and city guide in hotel. On purpose. Sightseeing is sightseeing. It’s not constantly bounce back between camera, city guide, and map. To assist me with direction, however, Google Map mobile on my GPS-capable BB 8310 is truly life saver. I use Telkomsux Simpati and they don’t charge me with data roaming. Yay!

(Indosux IM3 is no use here nor in Hong Kong. It don’t roam. Stop using it)

Wifi is abundant here. A lot of them are free and fast. Just make sure you always use secure connection each time you log in and have firewall ready; and you’re all set.
You’ll find internet research proofs very useful. I use these:

• Wikitravel New York for general information and a lot of useful tips.
• Goplanit to locate interesting place
• Yelp to read compare places/restaurants/events based on reviews

Overall, it’s a wonderful city. ‘Frightened’ part is no more.

That’s it for now. It’s 4 AM in the morning and I have to take a walk toward uptown and central park, probably make it through Harlem, this morning.

See ya.