I woke up later than normal, since I decided to skip yoga all together today! I was going to do a Jivamukti class at the original Jivamukti center, but it never really materialized. Oh well, I will save that for next time! Instead, I layed in bed for a little while, texted / chatted on the phone with some friends back in Orlando, and eventually made my way into the shower and got ready to go out exploring once more. I really didn't have an agenda today, but there were errands I had to do for my last day in New York...
I needed to do some laundry for starters - but the hotel here only has valet laundry that is UNSIGHTLY EXPENSIVE!! $3.75 for a single pair of socks! $4 for a single undershirt! By the time I would have finished I would have spent like $75 - $90 for LAUNDRY! No way, I decided to find a local laundromat and have them do it for me. Thankfully, those are plentiful in the city, so I chose a small little place near 30th street / 5th ave. I dropped off my 2 bags, weighed them, and everything included - fold, wash, dry, etc. - $7. Yeah totally better!
After that, I wanted another bagel experience. Since I was closer to Murray Hill area of town, I googled and found this cool place called Vic's Bagel Bar ( http://vicsbagelbar.com/ ). They had a variety of options to choose from, and initially I was drawn to the PB&J which was like Peanut Butter, Jelly, strawberries (I think) and whatever else you wanted to add on your choice of bagel. But the girl in front of me ordered a regular egg and cheese on a sesame bagel, and for some reason when I saw the guy behind the counter crack the egg and prepare it fresh for her, I decided I wanted that instead. With Mozzarella Cheese... on a sesame bagel, toasted... with a hot choclate made with almond milk (everywhere I ask, most don't have almond milk, only soy milk as the alternative to regular milk). YAY! Sooooooooooooo good! Here's a picture of the bagel sandwhich:
Then I went to Radio Shack, since it was right next door, and asked if they had a USB cable that could serve as my transfer mechanism to get the pictures off my camera to my computer. They said no, that it was proprietary, and I could check 2 other places for it that were more extensive - B&H on 9th and 34 or J&R music world downtown near city hall. I had never heard of the former, but I've heard of the latter for many years (and have never been there, always wanted to see it though). But I was on the east side of town - which meant I could either take a bus to the west side for B&H or walk. I decided to walk, like I've been doing the entire trip so far, and I enjoyed the sights / sounds of Manhattan along the way...
Turns out B&H is closed on Saturdays - they have strange store hours, I don't understand it. But anyway, I figured I would make my way downtown instead to go to J&R Music world and see if they could help me. As I was walking back east, I realized I was right next to Penn Station, so I decided to go inside and see what that's like (since I've never been to Penn Station any time I've come to New York). Here's a picture of the outside with the Empire State building in the background:
Super busy place! And I realized that the Long Island RailRoad (LIRR) terminates at that location, but also takes you directly to Jamaica station in Queens, for easy transfer to the JFK airtrain. I'm considering doing that route tomorrow for my trek to the airport, but I might not only because of the luggage I have for this trip (my bag is REALLY heavy and I don't want to navigate it through the throng of people there, even if it might be cheaper than a taxi). But I did catch the subway downtown instead, but realized that only the express trains were running and not the local (and the local would have put me directly in front of J&R). Maybe the local was running, I don't know, but I waited 2-3 trains for it and they never showed up. I think the 1 is local, 2&3 are express...
Anyway, I took the express to 14th street and got off there, as I decided to pay a visit to Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. For those not in the know, Greenwhich Village is considered one of the primary gay spots of the city, with a lot of history to it with respect to the gay civil rights movement over the years. Many years ago, I went to a bookstore there, and I was trying to find the same one. But when I arrived, I couldn't locate it (nor did I remember the name, the nearest cross-street, or anything - basically only a faded memory). But there was a nice cafe where I could warm up with some more hot chocolate, so I decided to do that instead...
As I walked out and kept wandering around, I noticed that I was right next to the Stonewall Inn, which is the site of the famous Stonewall Riots ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots ). I even found the Stonewall Inn, and decided to take a picture:
I like historic sites like that, and being a gay man it is cool to connect with history and culture in this way. I would not have the freedom and acceptance that I have today to be who I Truly Am if it weren't for those who stood up for themselves back then, so I have tremendous respect for them and their push for solidarity...
I continued my walk through the Village and into SoHo, making my way downtown. I started to get frustrated with the layout of the city in the downtown area, as it is very old and not nearly as intuitive as the numbered streets and avenues. So basically I got lost! LOL there I said it! I knew approximately where I was going, and my iPhone navigation was of some help, but I still couldn't figure it out to a T (and those who know me know that I am usually very good with orientation and directions, and NYC is supposed to be easy!)...
As I kept walking, I realized I was in front of city hall! It's an enormous complex that is really cool with a huge front-facing facade that reads something like "New Amsterdam Manhattan New York" I thought it was really cool so I took a few pictures:
I walked through that complex and alongside the NYPD headquarters, which is mostly cordoned off. It's nothing special anyway, just a big reddish brown building. I ended up making a circle though, coming all the way around the Park until I realized that J&R Music World was right where I originally was, had I turned the other direction. Not only that, it was getting close to 3pm, the time I had to pick up my laundry. Score! The 4/5/6 trains are right there at city hall, so I could go to J&R, get a pretzel (haven't had one yet) and then hop on the train back uptown...
J&R takes up a whole city block, and is interesting because it's like 9 separate stores, each with their own entrance (ahh that's what "1", "2", "3" mean at the front of each respective entrance!). I eventually found the one that deals with cameras, and asked the guy the same question - how can I get a USB cable that will fit my camera for transferring data off it? He recommended I spend $3 and get a USB / SDHC adapter instead, where I take the memory card out of the camera and put it into the adapter for access that way. No need to fuss with cabels, and a lot cheaper. Yes, that will work nicely - and only $3! Finally something inexpensive in New York!
I buy it, I go outside, eat a pretzel and hop on the local 6 up to 28 street / Park Ave. Very close to the laundromat on 30th. I get to the laundromat, the lady hadn't even STARTED my laundry yet! And here it is 3pm, my designated pickup time! Oh well I guess you get what you pay for sometimes ($7). She assured me it would be ready by 4:30. Fine, I'll go back to the hotel room and relax. Then I got back around 4:35, and she hadn't taken it out of the dryer and folded it yet.... UGH!! "10 minutes please" she says. Ok, I wait there, she folds it, I am now good to go...
For dinner, I decided to get some Asian fare - but wanted soup. Noodle soup would be good for a cold night, surely that can be found here in New York! I settled on a Japanese Noodle shop called Terakawa ramen ( http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/terakawa-ramen/ ). OMG it was fantastic! I had the vegetarian noodle soup, vegan I think, as the broth was soy based and not milk-based like the other broths. Big pieces of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peppers, and the ramen of course. TOTALLY hit the spot! Here's a picture:
Later I met up with a friend of a friend for coffee, spurred by our common interest in yoga. He told me 8pm originally, which turned into 9pm later on. We were to meet at the Ace Hotel on 29th / Broadway ( https://www.acehotel.com/newyork ), a super trendy, hip and BUSY place on a Saturday evening! Packed with young 20/30 somethings. I eventually found a place to sit, waited no less than an HOUR for him to finally show up (he got stuck in traffic, was at work, etc. so it's not entirely his fault, but still I got tired of waiting). The rest of the night went ok, we talked about yoga (he's a Bikram yoga teacher), I had some more hot chocolate, and left around 11:30 back for the hotel...
So that's about it - tomorrow I leave for Korea, so I gotta get to bed. My flight is 15 hours long to Seoul, will be on a brand new Airbus A380 (I'm super excited about that!), and I love Korean Air in general, they are such an awesome airline (I've flown before to Malaysia)...
Namaste and Love from my last night in the Big Apple. Oh yes - I will DEFINITELY return and play somre more in the future... :-D
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