Train ride
So, here I am on my way back to New York. My flight back to San Francisco is at 4pm so hopefully I have enough time to get on board and no more running like crazy because I nearly missed my flight. It's been an excellent trip, though short, and of course, what are trips for if not for thoughts, realizations and comments?
Just to while away the hours before we get to Penn Station. Hurrah for AmTrak's wifi!
So, here we go...!
- The Statue of Liberty is less impressive in reality. I guess I thought it would be.... Bigger? Or maybe I'm just saying this because the tickets to the crown were fully booked or because I am incapable (leg-wise) to climb the crown. Either way, I guess it was slightly cool. But then I was tired and severely dehydrated from the heat wave. Wrong season I tell you, wrong season.
- Buildings in New York are TALL. I mean REALLY TALL. The "tallness" is even more apparent when I got to Boston. Where everything else feels really tiny.
- Why can't there be wifi everywhere in the Philippines? Trains, Planes. Yeabah.
- In total, I was asked three times for directions or if I lived around the area. Apparently, holding a camera on one hand doesn't give one a "tourist-y" vibe. So, either 1) I can actually blend in with the locals or 2) obesity is indeed the number one health concern in the US.
- Talking deep, emo stuff with M at The Met led to equally deep thoughts:
...if you won't play the game, how will you win? You can't just wait around for something to happen.
And...
...i'm willing to play the game if there was actually someone to play with
- Is it really THAT hard to establish a decent train system in our country? Or can we really not fix our own plumbing? And Japan is hit by earthquakes all the time!
- I feel more culture shocked here, where I can speak the language than in Japan where I don't know squat. Speaking English got me nothing but "huh?"'s while speaking with a nasal twang and a lot of "like...wut... coz.. ain't"s got me complimented that I spoke very well for a foreigner and how great it is that I did not have an accent. ...Ow-kaaaay.
- Once you've seen the Kaiyukan at Japan, the New England aquarium doesn't seem so impressive. Except for the giant turtles. <3
- IMAX theaters are NOTa good idea to a person with really bad eyes. ...like ME.
- I generally hate fixed tours. I prefer using local trains, mixing with locals, eating where they eat, trying weird stuff. Lessons learned from that experience: never order a regular hotdog if the rest of the customers are eating giant german sausages... Chances are, the hotdogs are really small. .....which is surprising, for the US ..... Don't buy water inside central park or during broadway plays.... If the huge guy before you ordered a "small" clam chowder cup, don't be stupid and order "large" just because you're hungry,... You CAN'T finish it! .... It may save your life to to pat your pepperoni pizza slice with a tissue ..if you want your arteries to still flow freely, that is.... Chinese food will be of great comfort for less than 10$.... Why buy from a restaurant when you can pretend to be a local and buy from food trucks and eat at the park? .... Lean, young people gathering at a food truck called "clover" are likely to be vegetarians.... And no, the BBQ seitan has no meat in it.... Pepperoni jerky tastes like paper. Dangerously addicting paper.
- Why isn't the tax included in the price tag? Just when I thought I was buying a 4$ something burger meal, I end up paying 5$. It's just so confusing!
- Dresses are not a great buy here. Shoes and some accessories are.
- Their raw sugar is not equivalent to muscovado. Weird.
I still have a lot of thoughts on my mind, but I'm starting to develop a headache and we're only at Connecticut. Sa totoo lang eh ambaho talaga ng katabi ko pre. Holy kamoteng hilaw, ibang level.
Laterz dudez.