I quit my last job on the 20 Dec 2002. Two days later, I was on a flight to NY. Karen, my (ex) boss invited me over. The day before the flight, Karen called to give me directions on how to get from JFK airport to midtown Manhattan where she worked and lived. I was scheduled to arrive on the 23rd Dec and it was a working day for her.
I must admit, I didn't mind the long flight to NY, but I was thinking more of the immigration checkpoint. It was 1 year after the 9/11 attacks and getting the Visa done was a headache. I heard that even after you have landed in the States, they (immigration) may ask you to take the next flight back for whatever reasons. So anyway, when I was at the immigration counter getting my passport stamped, my heart was beating real quick. The immigration officer wanted to know where I was staying. I think he couldn't believe that I was staying in the heart of Manhattan. Fortunately, I brought along an email from Karen stating the apartment address.
When I finally saw Karen at the subway entrance of 49th Street/7Ave, I was so relieved. She took me to her apartment, got me comfortable and left for work. I went exploring for a while but had to come back before 4, because it was getting darker.
The next day Eng, my other (ex) colleague and her sister (Seok Ling), came to meet me. We went to Liberty and Ellis Island, then walk from South Manhattan to midtown.So many things to see!!!!
The next day, 25Dec, it snowed on Christmas Day, for the first time since 1969. I looked for a church to go to, but all the churches closed or maybe open at other time. Later in the evening I went to Eng's house and from there we went to visit Xin Min in New Jersey. We stayed overnight there and the next day, we went shopping in Walmart and K-Mart (I think).
I must admit, I didn't mind the long flight to NY, but I was thinking more of the immigration checkpoint. It was 1 year after the 9/11 attacks and getting the Visa done was a headache. I heard that even after you have landed in the States, they (immigration) may ask you to take the next flight back for whatever reasons. So anyway, when I was at the immigration counter getting my passport stamped, my heart was beating real quick. The immigration officer wanted to know where I was staying. I think he couldn't believe that I was staying in the heart of Manhattan. Fortunately, I brought along an email from Karen stating the apartment address.
When I finally saw Karen at the subway entrance of 49th Street/7Ave, I was so relieved. She took me to her apartment, got me comfortable and left for work. I went exploring for a while but had to come back before 4, because it was getting darker.
The next day Eng, my other (ex) colleague and her sister (Seok Ling), came to meet me. We went to Liberty and Ellis Island, then walk from South Manhattan to midtown.So many things to see!!!!
The next day, 25Dec, it snowed on Christmas Day, for the first time since 1969. I looked for a church to go to, but all the churches closed or maybe open at other time. Later in the evening I went to Eng's house and from there we went to visit Xin Min in New Jersey. We stayed overnight there and the next day, we went shopping in Walmart and K-Mart (I think).
Central Park was coated with snow. It looked so beautiful. We rushed from New Jersey just to see snow on Central Park. We had no time to build a snowman, s we just posed with "ready made" snowman. It's was after 3pm and the sun sets at 4-4.30pm during this season.
We (Karen, Eng, Seok Ling and I) were on a skiing tour that took us to upstate NY. Our first stop was Woodbury Common Premium Outlet (Translation - factory outlets lah). I haven't scanned those pictures yet, so please be patient. The pic above is taken in Albany. Capital of New York. We stopped here to visit the museum.
Times Square, NYC, 31 December 2002. Yes, we were in this crazy crowd. We waited from 6.30pm till 12midnight. This was the year after the Sept 11 incident. There were policemen everywhere. Roads were blocked, our bags were checked and it was really a hassle. When the show was over, we took the subway back to Eng's place. The subway runs 24hours in NYC.
