Columbus Day - public holiday. Really? With supposedly all of the shops closed we were prepared for a day when not much could be done. Even asked at the grocery store last night if they were going to be open. The checkout lady said yes but she didn't even know what time the shop opened. Found that a lot with staff in NY - just there doing their job and not caring about the job.
The Boy and I attended the Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Ave which commenced at 11:30. Pity we were situated between 46th and 47th streets as all of the floats entered from 47th St. The parade was meant to start on 44th St so I thought that we had a good spot.
Saw General Raymond T. Odierno who is current Chief of Staff for the US Army, Miss USA, Miss New York, Senator Schumer, few Italian sports cars and a number of marching bands. Some 35,000 people took par, mostly Italian descendants, and I think it was just an excuse for them not to attend work/school. I saw people texting, talking on phones, chewing gum, etc who obviously didn't seem to want to be there.
Strange thing about the parade - not all of the streets were closed down so the parade stopped quite frequently. Kids weren't allowed to stand on the fences surrounding the trees. There was one older lady next to me saying, "Yay" all the time and, "Yay Newark Police. You're the best coz I know what you go through," and "I met you 20 years ago" to a TV star (Diane of All The Children?) loud enough for us to hear but not the star herself. Just wanted to be heard, I guess.
And guess what? Life in the rest of the city was absolutely normal. Well, as normal as NYC gets anyway. Certainly not the public holiday that we were led to believe. Stopped at Papaya Dog for lunch - Philly Cheese steak, fries and drink, cheeseburger with fries and drink and a knishes. Great tasting food for $12 (including tax!)
Got back to the apartment at 1:30, we didn't stay until the conclusion of the parade, and had our lunch. Had a bit of a rest and decided to head to Roosevelt Island. The missus mentioned that the cable car was free with our NY City Pass but I forgot to bring it. Two bus stops into our ride it began to rain. We didn't have umbrellas either. I was to return for the tickets and umbrellas and meet at 3:30 which was 35 mins later. Walked back from Times Square to the apartment and returned - 30 mins round trip. Whilst I was gone the missus found the Hersheys store which had well priced chocolates.
Couple of buses later and we were on 60th St 3rd Ave which was only one avenue away from the cable car. Lo and behold our Metro card was sufficient and my trip wasn't require. Surprise, surprise. Pleasant little ride to the island. Walked around and saw the Blackwell House. Quite new apartments - must be a reasonably nice and quiet place to live.
Growing to like New York. Can't believe that we are leaving tomorrow. Feel like we're just getting used to everything. Caught another bus down 2nd Ave to 34th St. Then the validation process for the Metro card changed, ticket machine was at the bus stop, so we didn't bother validating the ticket. Walked down to 32nd St, start of Korea Town, to look for food. Ate at Woorijip, literally "Our house", and the food was not bad and quite cheap. Nice to have a familiar meal that wasn't dripping with grease.
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Showing posts with label cable car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cable car. Show all posts
Monday, December 31, 2012
Friday, December 05, 2008
Frugal Bastard's Cruise 2008 - Day 7 - October 10th 2008
We had breakfast in the Ocean Palace Restaurant this morning. It felt a little strange to wear a collared shirt at breakfast. The staff treat you so well that you're not even allowed to carry your own drinks. Yu-Jin had a Danish pastry which must have had nuts in it. We wandered about on shore around the Porto Malai Resort before returning to prepare for our tour to the Langkawi cable car.
Fatso on deck chair at Porto Malai Resort.
Picturesque Porto Malai Resort.
Langkawi Eagle.
Rosalina Ismail was our teacher, er guide, on the bus trip to the Langkawi Cable Car. She was very funny with her, "Aaaah!", and, "Eh?" comments all the time. Taking a tour bus on Langkawi you don't expect the guide to ask you if the anaconda is a reptile or a mammal and then explain to you why your answer is incorrect. She even had maps to teach us from. She was good value though.
The Langkawi Cable Car took us up to 710m above sea level where the view was fantastic. We even saw the clouds rising above us and subsequently dropping a few spots of rain. It was a real pity that the bridge through some of the mountains was undergoing repair as I'd have loved to have walked it. We shared a gondola on the way up with a South African couple.
Langkawi Cable Car.
Mountains on Langkawi.
Walkway on Langkawi at lookout.
View atop Langkawi.
More silly finger gestures.
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Liz (who won everything aboard the ship).
Going down on the Langkawi Cable Car.
There was a bit of shopping at the base station where I was told off for spending too much money. Down the bottom we went to collect our water that wasn't allowed in the gondola and were disappointed to discover that somebody had taken our water. Only later when we caught up with Rosalina did we find out that she had taken it back to the bus.
Next stop was Underwater World in the town but we weren't interested in it as we have one back home. Shopping was on the menu and Miky had her sights on the duty free shops. She bought clothes, shoes and cosmetics. We had lunch at a Korean restaurant we stumbled upon after waiting to be served in a grotty Chinese restaurant which we left after being appalled at the way they cleaned the table with a cloth soaked from a bucket of dirty water. We certainly weren't having any of that.
Toilet sign on Langkawi.
Shop doesn't open for long.
Miky met our Malaysian friends, Mr Ng and Mr Tan, in the duty free shop. They had a rental car so we didn't need to worry about paying for a taxi to return to the ship and could shop for a bit longer. After arriving at the ship I wanted to take a few more photos. The crew called Miky to make sure that I was ok as I hadn't boarded with them. Mr Ng lost his duty free cigarettes on the wharf after unloading them from the rental car.
Long way from home.
Fishing village and resort in background.
Superstar Gemini in port.
We all met for dinner at the Mariners' Buffet and it was Asian night where all the crew dressed up in asian dress. Great seafood, cha cha beef and Malaysian Kueh (cake). The mango sticky rice (sago) was great.
Just had time after talking to get to the Galaxy of the Stars for the Broadway musicals. Spoke with Matt James, who was part of a party of 11, about the trip so far. The musical was great and included Cats, Hair, Chicago, Cabaret among others. Later I collected Yu-Jin from child care for the 9pm pool and pizza party on deck. It rained which dampened the spirits somewhat.
Fatso on deck chair at Porto Malai Resort.
Picturesque Porto Malai Resort.
Langkawi Eagle.Rosalina Ismail was our teacher, er guide, on the bus trip to the Langkawi Cable Car. She was very funny with her, "Aaaah!", and, "Eh?" comments all the time. Taking a tour bus on Langkawi you don't expect the guide to ask you if the anaconda is a reptile or a mammal and then explain to you why your answer is incorrect. She even had maps to teach us from. She was good value though.
The Langkawi Cable Car took us up to 710m above sea level where the view was fantastic. We even saw the clouds rising above us and subsequently dropping a few spots of rain. It was a real pity that the bridge through some of the mountains was undergoing repair as I'd have loved to have walked it. We shared a gondola on the way up with a South African couple.
Langkawi Cable Car.
Mountains on Langkawi.
Walkway on Langkawi at lookout.
View atop Langkawi.
More silly finger gestures..jpg)
Liz (who won everything aboard the ship).
Going down on the Langkawi Cable Car.There was a bit of shopping at the base station where I was told off for spending too much money. Down the bottom we went to collect our water that wasn't allowed in the gondola and were disappointed to discover that somebody had taken our water. Only later when we caught up with Rosalina did we find out that she had taken it back to the bus.
Next stop was Underwater World in the town but we weren't interested in it as we have one back home. Shopping was on the menu and Miky had her sights on the duty free shops. She bought clothes, shoes and cosmetics. We had lunch at a Korean restaurant we stumbled upon after waiting to be served in a grotty Chinese restaurant which we left after being appalled at the way they cleaned the table with a cloth soaked from a bucket of dirty water. We certainly weren't having any of that.
Toilet sign on Langkawi.
Shop doesn't open for long.Miky met our Malaysian friends, Mr Ng and Mr Tan, in the duty free shop. They had a rental car so we didn't need to worry about paying for a taxi to return to the ship and could shop for a bit longer. After arriving at the ship I wanted to take a few more photos. The crew called Miky to make sure that I was ok as I hadn't boarded with them. Mr Ng lost his duty free cigarettes on the wharf after unloading them from the rental car.
Long way from home.
Fishing village and resort in background.
Superstar Gemini in port.We all met for dinner at the Mariners' Buffet and it was Asian night where all the crew dressed up in asian dress. Great seafood, cha cha beef and Malaysian Kueh (cake). The mango sticky rice (sago) was great.
Just had time after talking to get to the Galaxy of the Stars for the Broadway musicals. Spoke with Matt James, who was part of a party of 11, about the trip so far. The musical was great and included Cats, Hair, Chicago, Cabaret among others. Later I collected Yu-Jin from child care for the 9pm pool and pizza party on deck. It rained which dampened the spirits somewhat.
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