TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Last week, I had been feeling like I a half-functioning android. Waking up every single morning for the whole week with a heavy load on my head, it was as if someone by chance dumped a sack of amphetamines in my morning coffee. Every ounce of energy in my body has left me. Argh! I was tired, very tired --- I am just so overworked. A week long holiday to recharge myself is what I need. But for now, a long weekend will suffice. I can’t stress this enough but it is true that working with your brains is more taxing than working with your hands. Physical work can get you physically tired but work that requires thinking gets you, not just mentally worn-out but alas, physically too. Writing though is therapeutic. This is primarily the reason why I maintained this blog. I may not write very personal nature about my life in here but keeping this helps release a part of my active mind. That’s why I always say – I blog for myself. Nevertheless, last weekend, we didn’t do much (I was tire...

I did not really went around the Financial District. It was enough to see the tall buildings. And speaking of 911, I went to visit the Ground Zero, which up to this day is a large hole of a construction site. By the WTC Subway entrance stood a 911 wall memorabilia filled with blown up pictures of the tragic event. 5 years has passed and people are still brought back to tears when they see the horrific images. Perhaps these people knew someone in the 2 towers that didn’t survive. I didn’t stay long. It was quite a disheartening scene to see people crying. Across the WTC site is this Century 21 department store selling signature clothes at knock-down prices. They sell past season’s clothes at 50%-70% off from the original price. It’s a massive place. If you are one hell of a shopper, bargain hunter and someone who will take time scouring through garbage-full of items, then this is indeed the place for you. Unfortunately I didn’t see anything there that I really liked. I did buy something...

So my walking tour of Manhattan continues. After the Empire State Building visit I will be following the trail via SoHo – Little Italy – Chinatown and lastly the Financial Centre. I had a quick lunch in a nice restaurant in SoHo (forgot the name) and the only thing I can remember about the lunch was myself calculating what 20% is of the total bill. I am not used to this tipping culture. Back in Europe, we rarely tip and sometimes we just round it off. Service people in Europe are paid well, they have a salary and they have benefits compared here in America, as well as in the UK where they earn mostly from tips. Which is also the reason why service is crap in the Netherlands (and in mainland Europe, unless you go to a very expensive restaurant of course) SoHo fotos here: There was a signature shop that was having a sale in SOHO. The head sales attendant who was a black guy greeted me the usual—‘Hi, how are you’ and I proceeded to look around the shop when I realized that he was trailing...

My second day in the Big Apple was misty and a much chillier day than yesterday but I already made the decision to walk around Manhattan starting from the Times Square all the way down to the Financial District. I brought two boots with me in this trip, high-heel black boots for business (work related trip earlier in Boston) and for the real travel, my road warrior flat knee-cut high black boots. Just like in the South of Europe, the guys in NYC are fresh and extremely forthcoming. They were hitting on me really fast, especially the black and coloured men. You know, just for comparison’s sake, this display of testosterone pride is not done in the Netherlands. Anyway, it must have been my ‘smokin’ hot boots, as one of the black guys who followed me was saying—‘Ooooh girl, those are smokin’ hot boots you got there!’. I am beginning to think that American black men have a high-cut boot fetish? First stop was the New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. It’s a very beautiful terminal that c...