New York Minute

It'll be hard to do today justice just by typing an ordered list of everything I did.  But here goes.

I woke up to an empty Acetarium (the coffee was still hot.  I think I just missed you, Mika/Mako!  sorry), packed my belongings (minus one.  Sorry, Cutie), and went out the door (I left it unlocked.  triple sorry).  I got on the red line subway (my CharlieCard was 20 cents short?  what even is that?) and got off at South Station.

The South Station has separate Train and Bus terminals which nicely segregate the bourgeois and proletariat into their respective modes of transport.  The Bus terminal is then further divided between the recognizable bus lines and the "Chinatown" buses.  Catering to an even lower transportation underclass, the "Chinatown" buses will take you from Boston to New York for 15 dollars-- and one of them (either the Fung Wah or the Lucky Star) leaves every half hour from 8am to 11pm.

I left Boston at 10:30, watched Star Wars IV, read some things about New York on wikitravel.org, and at 3:00 pm I was (once again) wandering around Chinatown looking for a subway terminal.  After a considerable time, I found one, and took the R train to Times Square.  Stand clear of the closing doors, please!

I'm not sure what to make of Times Square.  The first time I was there, I loved it.  Now, I'm not sure what it's trying to prove.  I suppose it proves that even bright lights can't make multinational corporations seem fresh and exciting.  I'm not sure why they feel the need to compete with each other in creating the brightest advertisement.  I think the most eye-catching ad in Times Square would be a plain black rectangle with nothing on it.  Then when you got up close to it, a man dressed in all black handed you printed instructions on how to leave Times Square.

I also went to the top (not really) of the Empire State Building.  It's very tall.  The observation desk is over 80 miles from the ground.

At some point after a walk around midtown and a cup of coffee, I met up with Micah and Biella at their apartment near NYU.  Even though they were busy (they'd warned me ahead of time), they gave me a very warm welcome to their home and their neighborhood.  Micah and I went out for okonomiyaki (okonomy god-i), sake, and (whoops!) falafel.  We cooled off with a walk around the roof of their building.  Then blogging.  Then bedtime.

Goodnight!