Man@40s: Travel

Wow, how time flies....It was already 2 weeks since I returned back to "earth". I thought I better quickly finish this assignment before my "RAM" is being swapped out and replaced by recent affairs of life on "earth" again....

Talking about US, I couldn't help but to reference back to some 10 years ago where I first stepped into this “Aliens” ground. That was San Francisco in the state of California. I was there on business trip (actually to attend a symposium in San Jose). I was alone then, sleepless throughout the 18 hours flight journey, kind of jet-lag, and driving in Highway 101 on a 1.3L rented car. Literally floating in the highway under the scotching sun, I finally found my way to my designation, talking to myself to keep myself sane and awake along the hour journey. It must be the most fearful driving experience I ever had, so much so that I almost wanted to leave the car there and took a hitch ride on my return leg. Somehow, I learned to overcome the fear and eventually I left with pretty good and deep impression. That was a short

experience I remembered till today.....

In the recent years, I dreamt of visiting this country again, New York was my target. Then came the NATAS Fair, Cat was okay with the plan, and there we go....Boldly, we made plan on the spot and decided on a 2-weeks F&E programme. Booked the flight tickets, talk (apply leave, etc) later...

We then follow the standard tour package and derive a round-trip from New York to Washington to Negara fall then Toronto then back to Buffalo and then Boston and New York. After some detailed planning, we decided to reduce the scope of traveling and just limit to New York->Boston->Washington->New York. What I would like to share here are mostly some thought and quirky feeling about the 3 cities.

New York

Talking about a truly metropolitan city, my humble guess is no candidate stand out like New York (except for London perhaps). When I was walking on the streets and the avenues, I begin to wonder who are the real New Yorkers....In the midst of highway and byways, I can see the Whites, Latinos, Blacks, Asian, Indians, Middle-Eastern, European and what have you.....and this is in essence, what America stand for: multi-culture & the freedom to live as one nation, one America, amidst the underlying racial diffrence.

The thing that I don't really fancy is the little thing call "the New Yorker's Attitude". Nobody there would pretend to be friendly and to certain extend, it seems to me that there is a little exhibit of "rudeness" in almost every facets of life in New York. I can see that in the shopping mall cashiers, some taxi drivers, sometime on the street, and most prominently in the concert hall. Talking about concert hall, I’m amaze that folks would just stand up before the intermission or concert ends and walk off. Yes, it's mind-boggling, in New York? Take it or leave it, this is perhaps a little harshness the folks living in big city will need to master in order to survive....

Besides the little attitude displayed, in general, the people are mostly honest and professional in their dealing. Of the 5-6 taxi we took, none of them ever try and took advantage of the "green horn" tourist-like people like Cat and myself by bringing us out for a spin-ride to get extra penny. Of cause, we reciprocate back their professionalism with the slightly above market rate tips, and I guess some were a little bit surprise....maybe in their mind, they were wondering, are these really Asians, dude?

We spent all-in-all about 8 nights in New York over 3 different hotels. The hotel where were stayed the longest is Stanford Hotel at 43W, 32nd St. Now, those who have been to New York would know that the city of Manhattan city is divided by Streets on the “latitudes” and Avenues on the “longitudes”. 32^nd street is at almost midst of the midtown and it was just minutes walk to time square and the theatre district. So, it’s extremely convenient with the Herald Square subway station just near the corner.

Besides being a convenient location, 32nd street is also called the “Korea Town”. Pretty obvious, if you happen to be there, you will see many Koreans walking around the streets and the shops, restaurant were mainly catered for the Korean staying in US. One particular restaurant, where we supped most of the time is call Woorijip. You will not miss this outlet, as it’s always packed with people. They have an interesting dining concept whereby you pay by the weight of the plate of food that you choose rather than the “content” of whether they are fish or vegetables. A standard plate reasonably filled up will cost about US$5+ and there is no tax or service charge required. A bowl of spicy ramen with egg would be around US$5 as well. However, one big minus point, Service! Don’t expect much in this “faculty”. During our last day there, we met one young gentleman there and when we just finished our meal, he quickly came over and told us “Many people are waiting”. Gosh, okay, this will be our last day there! (anyway ;) ).

We managed to attend 2 concerts and 1 opera in New York. Avery Fisher Hall and The Metropolitan Opera are just next to the Lincoln Center, at 66^th Street. These are renowned concert halls of its own rights although it doesn't look impressive on the first look. The buildings are pretty normal. Cat reminds me that it’s the acoustic of the concert hall that counts. What impressed me most are the large crowds for all the events. Even though one of the concerts was scheduled at 2pm, it was equally crowed and the seats were filled.

There is something very unique. Most concert goers are the whites, something very obvious when you look out across the hall. The other observation is that it seems the average age of the audience is at least 50s. Yes, this is another clear observation. It seems the youth prefer to be at Broadway or something or else it’s mainly the retirees who have the luxury of time to attend concerts? Either augments, for the 3 events that I had attended, I guess the sampling data is too small to form a conclusion. The 3^rd observation, or rather more like a complaint, is that most audiences do not seem to respect the serenity of the hall when the concert starts. It can be too obvious to hear many people clearing their throats or coughing, to the extent that it becomes a bit irritating. Then came the early exit before the intermission starts and concert ends I mentioned earlier. I guess I can only give a C grade for the total experience.

Boston

In contrast to the big and cosmopolitan city like New York, Boston seems like a little baby. With the land size almost double that of

Singapore

and population of about 6 millions; it seems like a quiet and peaceful city in contrast. Located about 5 hours drive from NYC, Boston is more branded like the Oxbridge of the

United Kingdom

. Herein lies the world renowned institutes of higher learning, the Harvard University and the MIT. The city itself is more tolerance and slow moving. People on the street are generally friendlier and they speak Boston accent. We love one cabby in particular, who talked to us like friends and when he heard that we were from Singapore, the only thing he know is we are governed by leader who is a dictator but eventually he confess, you guys travel much more than I do, I’ve never travel out of Boston, let me overcome my fears of flying first….

Another occasion that strikes me most in Boston is the uncanny meeting of a proud mother who was seating in the open field of Harvard campus. When we decided to take a rest at the empty chairs scattered in the lawn (presumably for students to form discussion), she immediately approached us and asked if we are accompanying our children here for the open house (gosh, do I look like my children is 20 year old). She then started telling us that her husband is the UN rep in

Australia

, while she is a Chinese doctor now practicing in Sydney. Then goes the story of her daughter, telling us that she was the no 1 student in the whole of

Australia

cohort and the University of Sydney wrote on the paper that it’s a pity that they cannot retain her there. Now, it seems like the world is her oyster and all that the renowned universities are trying is to “entice” her to study at their University. What a privilege girl! We wish her daughter all the best.

Boston is also famous for seafood. Before we left for this trip, a friend who has been to Boston a couple of times had advise us that we must try their seafood there, in particular, Legal Seafood. Needless to say, this item formed part of our itinerary as well. We started off one of the day with the visit of New England Aquarium located at Central Wharf. After viewing the beautiful underwater sea creatures and watching the 3D Omni Theater showcasing the deep water sea creatures, the stomach begin to "wala-wala". We then proceed to the well-patronise Legal Seafood restaurant for our well anticipated "seafood dinner"...The restaurant is well decorated with indoor bar counter table or normal dining table or alfresco-style tables outside the restaurant. Being a cold day, we proceed for indoor dining table and were immediately greeted by friendly and processional waiter. When our "prizes" were finally delivered, we were immediately awed by the size of lobster that Cat has ordered. We had never seen a lobster so big and huge! While Cat was wondering where and how to proceed, the waiter volunteered to help. He then came back with his "kajan" and in a matter of few minutes, the lobster was in total salvage stage and what left were a nice shell and a plate of lobster meat! Amazing....We enjoyed the dinner very much and we were equally amazed that the dinner did not cost us a bomb as we thought it might be and so we ended up giving the highest tip ever gave for a restaurant meal! :)

Washington D.C.

In contrast to New York City and Boston, Washington D.C. give me the impression of a city that is no-nonsense, prompt and proper, neat and orderly. The folks there have a little bit of the New Yorker's attitude but the city is compensated by a quieter and broader space of Boston. The road and streets are relatively clean and spacious. The buildings, mostly government buildings, are surprisingly clean and looks very new and I begin to think if they had undergone some makeover recently. To some extent, it somehow, according to Cat's word, lacks certain degree of vibrancy....

There are many museums to visit there but due to time constraint, we have to be selective. We choose to spend one afternoon at the National Space & Air museum, browsing through the artifact of men’s quest for the sky and space.

After Thoughts

This trip has been remarkably relax and gave us plenty of time to indulge into the essence of the

America

life in the big cities. I see plenty of opportunities for people regardless of race and skins colours, so long as they have the means and dreams to fulfill, anybody has equal chance to be there and make a living for themselves. I started to dreams again. I hope to be there again one day.

By a stroke of providence, I was asked to attend a regional meeting in Manila on 4-5 March. There was a little bit of excitement I must admit (secretly). The chance to visit and explore a new place, sailing through uncharted water (from my perspective) is always something that kind of "re-ignite" me.....

Makati, Makati, Makati....... (not to confuse with our MM Lee's famous "Merdeka" incitement, during the pre-independent era) Where on earth is this place? I bet not many Singaporean except those who have traveled to Manila (mostly for work) and some well read people would know that this is one of Metro Manila's famous city that houses the major financial and commercial institutions. I seriously doubt the value conscious Singaporean would want to dig in to their pocket to go and tour Manila (as they believe there are more exciting place with the equivalent dollar spent) though some may want to venture into Cebu outside Manila for it's exotic diving, the beautiful beaches and seaside resorts....

Anyhow, I reached Manila Ninoy Aquino International airport T1 at about 10min to 6pm on 3-Mar. First impression, to be frank, nothing impressive. The place looks like a typical south-east asia airport (except Changi, KLIA). A clamp type of feeling... not overly crowded in the arrival hall at that time. The customs staffs are reasonably friendly and efficient. No language bearer.

After clearing the customs, I was greeted and escorted by hotel transfer staff who then led me to the cabby that was scheduled to drive me to my hotel. It was about half 6 when I reached the city area and the place looked as dark as half 7 in Singapore's equivalent. I then quicky checked-in and spent the next few hours roaming around the vicinity area.

Dusit Thani Hotel (where I stayed) is located very close to the shopping belt, which boast to house the biggest mall in Asia....( well i take that claim with a pinch of salt nowadays ;) ) As I'm not that much into shopping, so my assessment after a quick comb of the area is that, yes, indeed you can find Katong, Queensway, Lot1, People's Park, Takashima all in around the same area, either link by an overhead bridge, underground passage or a short traffic light. As usual, the "People's Park" type of complexes are crowded with shoppers and the higher end mall (I suppose those around GreenBelt area) are less crowded. The disparity is distinctly clear. There are few night-out area with pubs and restaurants mainly around the Greenbelt area that are mainly crowed with lot's of foreigners and the upper class pinoys....

Rather unfortunately, my experiential knowledge of this M city is contained within the limited few hours of care-free roaming on the first day of arrival... Due to work, I am restricted myself to Hotel meeting room, dining area and my temporary hotel room for most of the 3 days stay.

Finally, I took some photo shots on the last day, 2 hours of R&R before I head back to the airport. Below were some shots I took from my phone camera.