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NY. Day One. 13

Posted by andry
on Sunday, September 28

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.

Notes From Singapore 7

Posted by andry
on Monday, January 21

Riverside

It was my first visit to Singapore during last Thursday-Friday. I’d like to take a note about it.

  • Everything seems so well ordered. Particularly traffic and signs. I love to see that people are willing to wait/queue/lining up to use public facilities.
  • To certain extends, however, Singaporean are like robot.
  • Luxurious. It’s bigger than Klapa Gading and Plaza Indonesia put together. And they have it all over the city CBD.
  • Now I know why we love to spend money in Singapore. I mean, the bookstores are amazing. We bought 9 at Borders, 2 at Kinokuniya, and 3 more at Changi’s. I will have a bigger luggage next week.
  • Remind us to ask for GST coupon.
  • In the contrary cabs are rare. And sucks. Pulogadung’s bajaj drivers easily match Singapore cab drivers’ reckless drive. At lower rate for fuck sake.
  • Having two Heinekens and a cup of red wine in Clarke Quay combine with 3 km walk from Orchard Rd to Dungeorn Rd is a good way to make me dehydrated and exhausted. Never trust GPS-attached Blackberry.

Complains? Objections? Place 20 cents at GTM and start to write down your memos. Bip bip.