New York and the story so far

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I've always enjoyed writing so I'm looking forward to writing this travel blog. I just hope I don't detract from the experience by making sure I keep all of you updated... sorry, but I'm the first priority!

I am currently on my gap year after completing my university studies. I was born in Hong Kong, grew up in South Africa and will soon be looking for employment in London. I spent a week in London prior to coming to New York but I don't consider it part of the adventure, just part of my new life to come...

I arrived in New York on Monday 25 February. I proceeded to check into my hostel and then went for a walk in Times Square. I have been to New York before so I'm not really doing the tourist gig, I'm trying to be more of a New Yorker as such... That evening I met up with Josset and we went to the frat house of Alpha Edilson Pie which is exactly like you see in the movies. 9 guys living in a 4 bedroom apartment and all the "pledges" running around with badges and needing to interview the "brothers". I have been invited to their party on Thursday night and all proceeds are going to Darfur, a noble cause to get drunk for!!!

Yesterday I did my little bit of touring, I went to Battery Park to get the ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands. The nearest tube stop is the World Trade Center which 5 years after my last visit is still a horrific mess! The Statue of Liberty is quite cool, in fact, it was bloody freezing out there!!! The seagulls are definite New Yorkers cause they don't care who you are, don't get in their flight path!!! I don't do early mornings so I didn't have monument access although when I got back to the hostel I was told that the security inside is an absolute pain and thus not worth the hassle...

Ellis Island is a really interesting place! The museum is very well done and really shows America's immigrant culture. They also have a quick search feature to look for your family's immigration records. I searched for my family but didn't get results, most likely because they probably didn't come through Ellis Island.

After that I went for a stroll up Broadway and past the Merril Lynch Bull and went down Wall Street. After that I headed back to Times Square where I went to the Hard Rock cafe' and saw the worlds largest collection of rock memorabilia! It was awesome! They have a wall made out of 300 Gibson guitars! So cool! I then organized my day today which will believe it or not start off at the Ripley's museum followed by a matinée of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein and tonight it's the New York Knicks at Madison Square Gardens!

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