New York 2

new york. part 2. =)

managed to buy standing tickets for both the musicals we wanted to watch - phantom of the opera and les miserables. it was cool and not so cool. the cool part was the tickets were pretty cheap (like $26.25 each) and we only stood (yes, they had a row for standing way at the back of the orchestra seats) only 20 minutes for phantom when the usher signalled for us to go and sit in the empty seats in the 5th row from the back. =) it was awesome, considering we had 4 rows of people who probably paid (close to?) full price. but, history didn't repeat itself for les mis. we had to stand literally for 2.5 hrs! xiong (difficult)! it didn't help that i had cramps and i missed probably about 3-5minutes of the show coz i had to stoop down and clutch my tummy because i was in great pain (nearly fainting). love's friend (karhao) was a doctor so i was just telling love that if anyth happened, i shld be in good neighbouring hands (literally standing beside me). thankfully, that was towards the last part of the show and i only missed the scene when the good guy jumped off the bridge (i.e. commit suicide). sad! i would say that it was a really interesting musical because a lot of christian values were shown and well, some of the lines include quotes from the bible. =) the songs were also meaningful (we just listened to it last night).

need to share about the usd500/night hotel the interviewing company love was there for, had put us up in. pretty cosy and nice. i wasn't sure if it's really worthed 500 but well, there was almost everyth you need in a hotel. the lobby/lounge was a little different from the conventional ones - they had the entire floor covered with sort of a drinking area. high-class pub-like, minus live music. =p they had a big bathtub (round one which probably could be used for spa purposes) and candles to go with the atmosphere. our flight was delayed by 2.5hrs coz JFK airport was closed due to the bad weather. it was raining when we arrived but from the looks of huge water puddles and drenched safety nets covering walkways in renovation, you could tell they had a major storm of sorts. it was a pity coz we wanted to explore a little around our hotel before the night set in but we only arrived at 11-ish pm w/o dinner.. so we ordered room service. 1 appetiser, 1 main dish and 1 desserts. guess how much the price went up to? $76+. sheesh. breakfast wasn't too much cheaper. $42 for a meal with egg benedict, 2 slices of toast and some juice. well, the good thing was the tabs weren't on us. =p i think the room service guy must be wondering what 2 young-student-looking folks were doing at such a high class hotel! there was enough space for us to sleep separately on the king-sized bed with a blanket each so it was pretty much comfy! =)

the next 2 nights were spent over at karhao's place. he's studying medicine in scotland (didi's RI relief teacher!) and was in NY for a month to do an internship at Columbia hosp. he managed to get a dorm room (after much persistant phone calls to confirm only 2 weeks before his arrival, according to his story) and had gotten us 2 mattress (he asked us to bring bedsheet) to sleep on. he told us that the american docs work much longer hours than those in UK. hardworking him went back to the hosp everyday - we were there for the weekends! he sat in on a department conference on sat (we went to watch phantom in the afternoon while he went home to nap) and went in to watch an operation on sun morning (we left his room keys with the security guard coz our flight back to boston was at 11:30am). it was interesting how the area around wasn't really safe, minus this single road where all the hospitals perimeters were. shady. we didn't even dared to venture out to buy water, or aspirin, when i was feeling sick and puked. =( ah well. didnt spend too much except on musicals (opps!) coz the tax in NY was higher than boston's. probably take to shopping for christmas this weekend (thanksgiving holidays!).. *smiles*

hope all is well for everyone back home. email me..!