FROM ONE CITY TO THE NEXT...

On the second day of our NYC tour, we met up with Cindy, Swep and Sara and we continued on our exploration of this city that never sleeps. We started out with the tour of the Madame Tussauds' Wax Museum. And here I am with Paris Hilton. haha. One of the more popular photo taking exhibits. She does look like she needs a bit of oil blotter though. haha.

This is my favourite exhibit. Saw the unveiling of this exhibit on TV and my, they are very very lifelike. I seem a bit out of place here though!

We went on the cruise around the statue of liberty next. But since it's such a well known statue, I decided not to post pictures of it. haha. but I will post this picture of me with Daffy, Swep and Cindy (with Sara behind the camera) cos they're one great bunch of travelling companions. Nevera dull moment with them around!

This is me on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. the view is breath taking at sunset. Though visibility wasn't on our side this time, I really enjoyed looking at the flickering night lights in the distance. A City that never sleeps indeed.

I actually prefer this tower to the Empire State Building. It's the Chrysler Building (hope i spelt that right!) It was competing with the Empire State Building for the highest building, but well, it lost cos the empire state building had an extra portion of the building which it waited till the last min to put on. Sneaky eh?

A Glimpse of the skyscrapers in Manhattan.

One can never miss out on a Broadway Musical when you're in NYC. Me and Daffy woke upat 630am to queue outside the Nederlander Theatre for cheap tickets to see ths show. We were so blessed! To have been able to catch this extremely cheap promotion where the tickets for Broadway Musical, Rent was going for 20 USD (usually, the it would have costed 90!) We had to re-queue again cos we were limited to two tickets per person and we had four other friends who wanted to go. it was all worth it though. There's so much differences in the level of energy of audience and performers and the professionalism seen in the musicians and actors here. Plain Brilliance!

I"m currently now at Vancouver and the feel of this city is so different from the City I just left. Here, you can see the Rockies in the distance as you travel through the city. It's beautiful. It's no wonder they call the province the Beautiful British Columbia.

And that's me at the Rose Garden on the campus of UBC, where Jason studies. This view shows us the mountain ranges in the distance and also the view of the water (Which is supposedly connected to the Pacific Ocean, if it isn't part of the Pacific Ocean itself.) If I were a student here, this would be my favourite hang out place! Too bad the weather wasn't very ideal for us to appreciate the view more.

Till the next post ppl! ;)

FIRST DAY IN NYC...

Left Waterloo officially at 856pm, and left Toronto for NYC at 1132pm. Never expected myself to do alot on my first day of arrival in NYC, but man, I did quite a fair bit! Thanks to the generous hospitality and guidance of Kin :) (At the expense of his studies! Eeks. I hope our presence won't distract you too much!)

I had Malaysian Cuisine for Brunchner (of there's such a word for the sole meal I ate on that day) THings here are crazy expensive! And I still have so much of my trip left ahead of me. SIGHHHH. Must really scrimp and save like mad! That's why me and Daffy have decided to survive on egg sandwiches for the rest of the trip here.

And the stupid ATM machine didn't help. BLEHBLEHBLEH. But all's good. I saw Wall Street today, had my local food craving satisfied (although it gave me such a bad indigestion later I amost puked along the street) and Saw Ground zero, Millenium Hilton, walked along Hudson River, saw the NYU campus (or just the random sprouts we could see along the way we walked) and saw Fifth Ave, where the rich live.

Signs of spring are everywhere!! But I feel kinda sad that there wasn't enough space for me to admire it. But amongst the grey and drabby concrete, the parks with blossoming flowers did serve to lift my already dampened spirits caused by the rain.

Me and daffy at one such Park

The void that remains after 9/11

Kin FOong and Me and Daffy eating Local food!!

Me and a Symbolic representation of the 'bull' of the NY stock exchange

Living in the Moment...

He once told me that one should learn to live in the moment, completely indulge yourself in whatever activity you're engaging in and therein, find the meaning, or rather, make meaning of the situation that you are in.

It's my last day at WCRI, and Waterloo for that matter. My last walk to and from the DC was exceptionally poignant. THe sun was out, there were people chillin' on the benches, tanning in the sun, geese were honking, squirrels scurrying and I was just completely in awe, and feeling nostalgic. It's never gonna be the same again. And that should be the case, no matter what I'm doing. Because we learn every step of the way. I have successfully concluded my stay in WCRI and I live this place knowing that I have grown, and hopefully, for the better.

It's been a while since I've blogged about my stay here, partly because I have been busy with school work, and also busy in maintaining the relationships I have formed here (not that the latter is a chore, although I can't say the same for the former)

I think I have had a taste of what it's like to live in the moment. To submerge myself in the situation, to let go sometimes because it's okay to make mistakes. And perhaps, I have found myself in the process.

A touch of sadness concludes my stay here, even though I know that I'm meeting some of them again in the near future. It's just different. And it has to be i guess. This exchange cannot be traded for anything else I've been through before. At times, i've gotten more than I've bargained for, but out of that, I see myself widening my mind, and understanding, and most of all, learning how to love.

To my dearest friends from WCRI, I give you thanks. To my dearest roomie, who has put up with my ultimate nonsense. To the Mr Romantic, who has always been so real and moved me out of my comfort zone, yet put me at ease unfailingly; and who has accepted me for who I am and touched me infinitely. To my dearest Obba, who has never failed to smile through the darkest moments and been a great friend. To the most competitive guy in WCRI, who has never failed to crack me up and yet still stay firmly rooted to the ground. To my dearest special J, who has never failed to tease me, yet make me feel special as well. To my dearest special girlfriends, Sonya, Ritu, Meghan, and Christina, who have been such great girl company, and have shown me that friendships are the most valuable thing, especially when you're away from home. And also to Nr.Nice Guy, who always helped everyone else buy KFC on Tuesday and drove us around the area. And to the other people who have given me so much enjoyment and fun and laughter and joy during MJ, Settlers, Cranium, MC killer, Handball, RedAss, Go Karting, Toboganning, Snow fighting, Karaoke-ing, partying, drinking, YOU GUYS ROCK. I've never met a more interesting and more loave-able group of people then you guys.