Not Your Typical Tourists (#Blogmas: Day 30)

My family is a bit unique. Whenever we go out to travel, we don't exactly plan our trips. We don't make it a point to visit the typical tourist attraction. But today we decided to try and act like typical tourists. So today's agenda was hopping on the Subway to take it all the way down south to see the Statue of Liberty.

A snapshot of the New York City Subway. I feel like I'm in an episode
of How I Met Your Mother. (The conductor is as indecipherable as Lily says)

It was SOOO cold out but we had fun hugging each other for warmth.

Trees in winter tend to have an eerie quality to them

We planned on taking a ferry over to that small little island where the Statue of Liberty stands but once we got there the lines for the tickets was hella long. It was lunch time so we were quite hungry at that point and decided to buy some hotdogs and eat them while we stood in line. We waited for quite a while before we found out that the tickets on sale weren't for that day, and any tickets meant for that day had sold out long before. This is why we should plan our vacations properly.

The ferry we would've boarded if we bought tickets in advance

But oh well. We gave a collective shrug and decided to walk around the area, taking in the sights as they come and find some place to warm ourselves up.



Located by the pier, some globe-like sculpture and a war memorial.

More eerie looking trees.

A restaurant/bar place located by the sea.

There are so many skyscrapers here I can't even tell which ones are iconic.
 

My Sis and Dad (he's wearing a beanie - not quite pulling it off)

Overexposed, cuz even tho it was super cold, the sun was super bright.

 

My sister took control of the camera for a bit.

A rare picture of me not looking like a derp.
The wind was insane and so I put my hoodie up.

Again, proof that my sister knows her angles and takes
better pictures than I do.

We decided to go and check out the 9/11 Memorial because it was relatively nearby, but the line to enter the Museum was also hella long (as much as i like being touristy i hate travelling during holiday season)

 

Part of this long 9/11 mural.

"Dedicated to those who fell, and to those who carry on."

An illustration of the towers being hit.



One of the Infinity Pools that mark the spot where the World Trade towers used to stand.

More building shots.

This reflective building looked pretty cool.

 

Night starts to fall on New York City.

The New York Museum of Natural History (i think) that reminded us of Night in the Museum.

A food truck we stumbled upon that sold the best Belgian waffles.

Although things may not have gone to plan and we failed to be touristy, it was nice to just take our time to soak in the feel of New York City and stumbling on that waffle truck was pretty lucky. It was cold out which made trying to eat them interesting, but they were delicious and a nice end to a really long but enjoyable day. It's our last night in New York City, but looking back on it, we spent the best time together as a family. We braved the cold together, ate some amazing food, and had a lot of laughs and new experiences.

 

 

Now I must turn in early, because we fly back to San Fran tomorrow and then the day after marks the end of my second American adventure as I endure a long-haul flight back to Indonesia. SIGH I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE TO LEAVE. I shall miss being wrapped like a burrito in my brother's tiny apartment.

 

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES NEW YORK. I'll definitely be back soon.

 

--Karin Novelia, Caught Between The Moon and New York City

Braving the Cold [or Fusion Food is Awesome] (#Blogmas: Day 29)

We woke up a bit early (though late is the norm in my family. our internal clocks were probably outta whack) around 7 am and spent the morning lazing around for a bit. Sleeping in the States is so comfortable, because it gets so cold that snuggling under the covers makes for an excellent good night's sleep. In the end, me and my sister and my Dad ventured out into the cold to get some breakfast. We stopped by this little store called Pret A Manger, and they sold the best organically grown sandwiches and stuff. They had this egg and mushroom brioche which was so on point, and even had some pretty decent miso soup.

 

 Have some adorable sculpture of reindeer.

The next few building shots were taken by my sister, Tania.
Gurl knows her angles.

This pic of my bro tying his shoe with my mom and
her high-end bag at the side looks like it belongs in
a fashion spread.

Can I just say this pic my sis took is really on point.

Rustic lamp over in the corner.

  

Eventually, though we were kinda dreading it because of the cold, we decided to put on some layers and get back on the streets of New York. Food trucks are a thing here, and so of course, we just had to try one of the best trucks out there. My brother found a truck called Korilla, which was a truck that sold a fusion between Korean and Mexican food (stay with me here, guys). You could choose between a burrito or a Cho-Sun style rice bowl (which basically means lots of veggies) and the fillings were Korean BBQ, like bulgogi with kimchi.

 

City streets and food trucks.

Heaven on wheels.

 

Though the burrito was easy to eat while walking, the rice bowls were a bit trickier. We decided to find some place to sit down and eat. Unfortunately, any park available to us was a bit of a walk away. We did, however, run into this cute little pavilion instead by the International Center of Photography (so wanted to go in there) and safe to say, we had one of the most unique lunch experience as a family. It was cold outside, so cold that our hands were freezing until we couldn't feel our fingers, not to mention it was so windy. My hair was flying everywhere and we were trying to eat this unique food truck dish (which was amazing btw strongly recommend everyone try it) and failing miserably. We laughed at ourselves and just had a good time over lunch.

 

My sister being a derp face at the pavilion.

 

Then, we spent the rest of the day basically shopping. We went to a department store to buy my Mom some new sneakers (high-tops to be exact, my mom more hip than me) and even came across this video game store. I finally found this game on the 3DS that I've been dying to get my hands on, Virtue's Last Reward. And let's just say I could die at happy at this point.

 

Also went souvenir shopping. It's a bit painful to have to think about this sort of thing, especially since I like to guilt trip myself and feel obligated to buy something for everyone (i.e. the circle of friends that my life currently revolves around, but who may most probably not even be in life much anymore in the next few years). Just save yourself the trouble and don't make any friends, because friendships are honestly so much pain, even more pain than a relationship.

 

Anyways, moving on from my pessimistic/sarcastic mood.

 

The highlight of our little shopping excursion was definitely visiting Nintendo World (yes, that is an actual thing). It's basically this huge Nintendo store in the middle of Manhattan, and they carried all the latest Nintendo consoles and games, and also some really cool official merchandise. They had a bunch of plushies, from Pokemon to Mario. They even had this little Pokémon corner, where they had 3Ds on display with the games Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and they had these prints of Pokémon illustrations printed on canvas (idk they just looked so cool and amazing and gave me all these pokemon feels).

 

Suffice to say, I geeked out pretty badly and bought some stuff, like some gaming swag in the form of a tanktop and a t-shirt. My sis even bought these adorable plushies of baby Mario and baby Luigi.

*squeals happily* I was THIS CLOSE to buying a Pikachu plushie for myself (not sure what stop me tbh)

Nintendo World had this small exhibition showcasing
the evolution of their game consoles over the years,
from the Gameboy Color to the DS. So nostalgic.

Huge Donkey Kong display with the words
"Happy Holidays!" in the sand you can't really see.

Giant-ass Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza.

And yeah, basically my day in a nutshell. I didn't take many pictures to day, because well cold. I couldn't be bothered to take my hands out of my pockets to snap any and being in crowded stores (even as awesome as Nintendo world) makes you a bit hesitant to take photos with so many people around.

 

So far I am loving being in Manhattan and seeing what it has to offer. We're not doing the typical touristy sight-seeing thing, but I am definitely getting a feel of what it might be like to live in New York, with lots of amazing things around you in like walking distance. I kinda got a sense of being back in Singapore, which is pretty the same in the city-life, fast-paced vibe it gives, though New York is indisputably larger and more sprawling of a city.

 

Hopefully, I have many more pics and experiences to share with ya'll tomorrow.

 

'Till the next post then.

 

--Karin Novelia, Glad She Regained Feeling In Her Fingers 

Brights Lights and The Big City (#Blogmas: Day 28)

Today was our last day in D.C., so after waking up a bit earlier than usual, we checked out of the Hilton Hotel over in Washington and got into our rented Kia car, ready to drive back to NYC. I slept through most of the car ride, and before I knew, the low buildings that lined the highway suddenly gave way to taller buildings, and in the distant horizon of the bridge to Manhattan, I could see the skyline, dotted by skyscrapers clawing their way into the clouds. We entered the Holland Tunnel, which leads under the Hudson River, and after quite awhile in there, getting a bit caught up by traffic, we finally emerged into the city.

 





Street-view of the city from the car.



 



It got dark pretty quick, so I attempted
to showcase the nighttime feel of the city

We checked into our hotel, Radio City Apartments down in 49th Street. It was such an adorable little place, and really was more of an apartment than a hotel. We didn't have much of a view on the 4th floor but we did have a fridge, a microwave, a stove and it fully furnished with double-bedded bedroom, a living room sofa, and complimentary toiletries in the bathroom. The kitchen drawers were also stocked with bowls and plates and cutlery. It was small, but also spacious at the same time. If I ever did end up living alone in the city, I would want my apartment to be as cozy and snug as this room was. 

 

Then came the highlight of the night: walking through the streets of New York at night. We saw quite a lot of the city, we walked for hours, stopping by stores and just taking in the sights. New York truly is a different, more vibrant city at the night, and though I kinda disliked the crowd, it just gave me a unique sense of the city's hustle and bustle.

 

A shot of what I think is the Chrysler building,
all lit up in neon lights against the night sky.

Near Times Square (or Billboards, Billboards, Billboards)

Family shot at Times Square

The rents. Also it was so tricky trying to balance out the
camera setting so the people weren't blacked out and
the billboards weren't too bright on film.

Oh yes, Broadway baby! Sadly, we didn't manage
to get any tickets to a show, but seeing all the
theaters and local shows (I saw one that had Tavi Gevinson's
name on it. queen.) brought out my dreamer feels.

A decently lit shot of the city at night.

And have a random shot of these Line characters,
because the Line store is a thing and though
you might be skeptical, they actually carry some
pretty cool and merch. The power of marketing, people.

That's it for today's. Today's pics were pretty cool. I am so tired right now, but also happy and content and looking forward to the rest of this New York trip.

 

So stick around to see what new experiences I find.

 

'Till the next post then, dear imaginary audience :)

 

--Karin Novelia, Playing Taylor Swift's Welcome To New York On Repeat

Snap! [National Mall Area, Washington D.C.] (#Blogmas: Day 27)

As promised, here are some pics of the adventurous day I spent in Washington, D.C.

 

 

 

Slightly random statue outside the Ronald Reagan Building where we parked

 

Though we may not be photogenic, at east our shadows are.

 

The Washington Monument in all its slab stone glory.

 

The White House, from afar.

 

Okay the sun was crazy bright today, and my noob photographer
was showing because I couldn't get the lighting right, but it resulted in
this pretty cool shot. I mean look at that sky. The streaks of white
are from planes or maybe even jet fighters (according to me sis)

 

Siblings and the White House.

 

Doing the classic tourist thing by being excited over American hotdogs.

 

A rare photo of the family photographer, taken by my Dad.
Of course it had to be at least a bit derp face-ish.

 

America loves their flags and also their beautiful architecture.

 

The entrance of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Apparently, the Smithsonian comprises of 6/7 different buildings,
and because time is tight we didn't manage to get to them all.
Really wanted to see the Air and Space Museum :(

 

This beautiful creature greeted us at the entrance.

 

Actual skeleton of a great white shark's jaws.
Excuse the dim lighting, the museum lights made my noob show.

 

Artsy, experimental close-up shot of a Sea Urchin fossil (cool!!)

 

Not sure why they have a Korean Gallery in the Museum
of Natural History, but meh. Not complaining.

 

There was this beautiful illustration of a Korean village
that was stuffedin this tall black ceramic urn thingie
(kinda like a ship in a bottle). It was cool.

 

DINOSAURS!! The Dino exhibit was hella crowded, so have
this crappy shot of a Triceratops. There was a T-rex but I
could not be bothered to brave the massive crowd.

 



This might seem to be a flat 2-D image, but it's actually a
3-D sculpture made of metal bent at weird angles. It was
so trippy to me, I spent a good 10 minutes staring at it.
Found at the Gallery of Art park (or sth like that)
It even had an ice skating rink. I was tempted.



Family shot in front of the Capitol Hill building
(which is rly small cuz we couldn't be bothered
to walk any closer to it lol)

 

Another photo of me!! Not derp face-ish this time, but
sadly that passed onto my brother lol

And there ya go! I was kinda disappointed in myself, because I didn't take as many good photos as I did back in San Fransisco, and idk. I'm such a noob when it comes to photography *facepalm* but I like to think I'm getting the hang of it.

 

Anyways, just a heads-up. I might not be able to post anything for the rest of the trip as it goes on, because my laptop is almost dead and I forgot the plug of the charger doesn't fit into American sokcets. And no adaptor. 

 

I am just such a forward-thinker (not.)

 

Until the next post then, dear imaginary reader. xoxo.

 

--Karin Novelia, Kicking It Up In D.C.