Homeward Bound
Saturday June 16, 2012
So it's finally time to go home. Though O'Hare Airport doesn't have free wifi, I'm writing this in anticipation of a connection at LAX then I can just hit submit and it will post to my blog.
Yesterday we took it easy; Kheng Yong went up the Willis Tower while Mat and I relaxed at the hotel. When he returned, we walked through Millennium Park and took more photos of the Cloud Gate - the previous ones didn't turn out as well as I had hoped since the sky was overcast on the day we were there. We continued on to Navy Pier where we booked a Segway Tour (Mat's idea...).
Segways are weird. They're balanced controlled so you lean forward to go forward, and lean back to go back (or stop). The sensation is different to anything you'd expect but I personally was not as enthralled with it as Mat was. The tour was good though, we explored North Beach and Lincoln Park, and despite my general apathy towards the Segway, I was glad that we weren't walking all that distance.
We had another round of Chicago Deep Dish Pizza to commemorate our last night in the US. Again, it was delicious. We finished the night at the Buckingham Fountain, enjoying the lights dancing to Beethoven's 1812 Overture.
It's been a wonderful month away and I have thoroughly enjoyed the sights, the sounds, the people, the food and the experiences. I've been away for a long time but it's time to come home to the frozen temperatures of a New Zealand winter. Yay.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:04am on Saturday June 16, 2012 :: 4 comments :: 
Chicago
Thursday June 14, 2012
Chicago's a great city, very picturesque and despite being the "windy city", it definitely isn't as windy as Wellington. The wind does provide a nice breeze on a hot day, though yesterday it was overcast and actually rather pleasant to walk around.
We have covered the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Millennium Park, Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) and the John Hancock Observatory. The view from the Willis Tower was stunning and Lake Michigan provides a scenic contrast to the urban sprawl around Chicago. We also managed to catch a beautiful sunset from the John Hancock Observatory, but despite my best efforts, I was unable to see the green flash.
We managed to fit in a bit of shopping on the Magnificent Mile, try the famous deep dish pizza and got $20 swindled off us by some twat who volunteered to give us directions then demanded money (it sounded like he had gang connections...).
We went our separate ways yesterday since I didn't really want to go to the Art Institute and Mat didn't really want to go to the Planetarium. Most of the stuff there was nothing new to me but there was a cool presentation with a 3D visualisation of the sun. I also walked to Navy Pier for a quick squizz around, but there wasn't really anything that interesting. The views of the city were nice though and I could have gone on the Ferris Wheel for only $6 for a better view, but since I was by myself it seemed a bit Forever Alone to go solo.
We met up with Kheng Yong in the evening and caught the Navy Pier fireworks from the steps by the Adler Planetarium. The shows are twice weekly during summer and they are way better than the useless fireworks you get from the Sky Tower at New Years Eve. They must have loads of money to burn...
Last full day in the US. It's gone by so quickly!
Posted by Jeremy at 2:24pm on Thursday June 14, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Cedar Point
Monday June 11, 2012
We arrived in Cleveland, Ohio just before 11am and we had a few hours to kill before we could check into the condo at Sandusky, so Matt took us to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, via Cleveland's famous Free Stamp Sculpture. It was a quick run through of the premises before we hit the road west. We did not see Lady Gaga's meat dress.
We picked up the keys to the condo from some dodgy lady at the toll plaza, probably some ex KGB agent, and picked up Todd before finally arriving around 5pm at the condo. Sandusky Bikers Week was in full force, with leather-clad men and women on bikes everywhere. This is the real American experience! We chilled out for the night, playing some video games and drinking a few drinks before turning in for the big day ahead.
And what a day it was. Despite some awful nauseating experiences and deathly heat, the best rides were the award winning Millennium Force and the Dragster (check out the videos on YouTube!). It was an incredible weekend to spend with amazing people and though I wasn't feeling great the whole day, overall I had heaps of fun. Thank you to you awesome people for making this happen!
I suppose the other highlight to the day was finding a fabled Walmart and seeing exactly what the buzz about it was. They have everything there, even $200 guns, and the store was pretty busy at 11pm. It's madness. It's also huge. Though we did not see obese people in thongs or pajamas, we did catch a couple of anime convention goers in full costume. Oh America.
So currently in Chicago, the hotel doesn't have free wifi and Mat is egging me to finish blogging. It's only one more week until I'm back in New Zealand so it's time to cram all the fun into the final few days!
Posted by Jeremy at 2:58pm on Monday June 11, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
DC in Two Days
Friday June 8, 2012
Day One:
Arrive at Union Station. Metro towards the waterfront. Drag my suitcase and all the candy two blocks to the hotel. Sweating buckets. Arrive at hotel. Too early to check in. Offload candy into suitcase and head to the National Mall. Visited the Capitol Building, the National Air and Space Museum, Washington Memorial, the White House (did not see Obama), the Lincoln Memorial (the famous Forrest Gump scene is being renovated), the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, the Roosevelt Memorial, MLK Memorial, Jefferson Memorial... then passed out back at the hotel.
Day Two:
Early start. Off to the Pentagon and its accompanying September 11 Memorial, then to Arlington Cemetry, the Iwo Jima Memorial, the National Museum of Natural History, the American Art Museum for a special exhibition on the Art of Video Games (Shatter was nominated for this but didn't quite make it!), the National Building Museum for a Lego exhibition and finally the Zoo.
Sheesh.
So there are memorials all over the place, famous sites and amazing buildings here. Everything seems to be under construction or is undergoing some maintenance. The weather has been overwhelmingly hot but tolerable and still better than the bone-chilling winds of Wellington.
The city is also overrun with school children. I sound old for saying this, but they are horribly obnoxious, loud, rude, and have absolutely no respect for the places they are visiting. You expect a place like Arlington to be peaceful and there are even signs around the place saying please be silent as respect for the dead, but no these kids are still yelling at the top of their lungs and talking about whatever, like, ohmahgawd, girlfriend puh-please. These memorials have a lot of history behind them and they are more than just tourist attractions. They remind us of the difficult times people have overcome or the tragic loss of life.
Another early start tomorrow to get to the airport, and it's off to Ohio!
Posted by Jeremy at 3:06am on Friday June 8, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Train to DC
Wednesday June 6, 2012
Man, even the train has free wifi.
Yesterday we started the day at the Museum of Natural History near Central Park, only a few blocks from the hotel. The place is massive, with four floors taking me a total of three and a half hours to explore. There's plenty of exhibits on space, geology, extinct animals, cultures of the world and dinosaurs.
I did a huge candy run. So much candy. I'd say I have around five kilograms of the stuff and it was tough carting all of it to the train station this morning. Sadly I won't be eating all of it... It's mostly gifts for friends and family.
But the best part of my day was being able to witness, firsthand, the historical Transit of Venus, which will not happen for another 115 years. My luck with viewing astronomical events has never been good, and with rain and clouds forecasted for the day, it looked like it was going to be rather iffy at stages. But shortly after 6pm, the clouds parted for a brief glimpse into the heavens and the several telescopes that had been set up at the Pier 1 Cafe on Manhattan's west all caught the intense black spot nestled on the sun's rim. My thanks again to the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York for organising this event and I am totally stoked to be out of stormy Wellington for this!
The Amtrak train is cool. In the two hours I've been on the train, we've been from Penn Station in NYC to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and now in Delaware, with Maryland and finally DC to go.
Posted by Jeremy at 1:08pm on Wednesday June 6, 2012 :: 2 comments ::
Rain
Tuesday June 5, 2012
For the first time on this trip, the rain has actually inconvenienced us. It was a wet walk from the Grand Central railway station to the UN Buildings, but since the tour is completely indoors, we weren't really affected that much in the end.
The UN tour was awesome. We were lucky to view the General Assembly Hall and the Security Council meeting rooms since they were empty and not in session, so we were able to take some good photos of those areas. They look just like they do on TV! There were also some great displays about peace and the Millennium Goals, as well as information about how the UN works and its structure and purpose. We didn't see Helen Clark though.
But the highlight of today was Avenue Q. Absolutely brilliant, an excellent performance by the cast and hilariously enjoyable, I was laughing so hard, I was actually in tears. Would recommend to anyone with a good sense of humour and who isn't offended easily!
Posted by Jeremy at 4:16am on Tuesday June 5, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
My Feet Hurt
Monday June 4, 2012
Yesterday we did the International tour of NYC: Chinatown, Little Italy and, if you've seen my Facebook photo, various set locations from Flight of the Conchords including their apartment, the New Zealand Consulate and Dave's Pawn Shop! For lunch we had the famous New York style 18" pizza from Lombardi's in Little Italy.
We made our way over to Brooklyn to visit the Superhero Supply store, as well as a Kiwi-owned restaurant called Kiwiana. Mat got his first flat white in two weeks (I wanted some L&P but they didn't have any) and we each ordered a pavlova. Ah the taste of home.
Today we wandered around Central Park. It reminds me of the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, being quite an expansive area in such a busy city. It's nice and relaxing, and there's plenty of places to just chill out and doze off in the sun. Unfortunately for a tourist, time is of the essence and we had to power through all the landmarks we could - hence the title of this post. We covered the zoo (Red pandas! Penguins! Seals! Snow leopard! Polar bear!), the Turtle Pond, Belvedere Castle, Strawberry Fields and the Conservatory Garden before heading back to the hotel for a breather.
Another full day tomorrow... phew!
Posted by Jeremy at 12:23am on Monday June 4, 2012 :: 0 comments ::
Memorials, Bulls, Statues and Bridges
Saturday June 2, 2012
We started the day off at Ground Zero, where the reconstruction of the World Trade Center buildings are underway, and where two memorial pools serve as a sign of respect and remembrance to all those who perished on September 11, 2001. The place is surprisingly busy and noisy, mostly from construction workers and equipment, which is in stark contrast to what I expected it to be. The memorials are simple yet beautiful water features, square in shape with water flowing into a large hollowed drain in the center. Around the perimeter are the names of those killed on that day, from the flights, the towers, the rescuers and the other landmarks that were affected.
The 9/11 Memorials hold much emotion and you can sense both the grief of the event and the hope of the rebuilding. Various videos from the visitor centers tell stories of people who have lost family and friends in this disaster. A giant American flag with names of the dead printed in red and blue hangs solemnly on the wall. I can't help but think back to what that day was like; a phone call at 6am from William urged me to check the news. I still remember the haunting images of the planes colliding with the towers and their eventual collapsing. It was all abuzz at school (5th form) but being so far from the action, I can't help but wonder what the feelings were like in New York, around that exact site where I was standing earlier today.
We moved on to Wall Street and the famous Charging Bull statue, a symbol of the aggressive financial optimism and prosperity that institutions around that area draw much needed inspiration from. We continued south and decided to take a ferry to Liberty Island for a quick tour of the statue; the statue itself is undergoing renovations so there is no entry to the observation levels inside. Back at the Battery Park, we made our way over to Brooklyn via the famous Brooklyn Bridge. We caught some magnificent sights of the Manhattan skyline from both the ferry and the bridge!
Day has been seized.
Posted by Jeremy at 1:08am on Saturday June 2, 2012 :: 1 comment ::
The Big Apple
Friday June 1, 2012
The subway system in New York is rather confusing. Each line has many trains running on them. A train may or may not stop at every subway station on the line. So it ended up taking us two hours to get to the hotel from JKF airport. Sigh.
But we made it and that's the important thing. We explored the Rockefeller Center today and saw the fantastic daytime views of the city from the top. We also visited the Lego store, Nintendo World, M&Ms World, Toys R Us and Macy's. All these places are massive and multistoried, full of merchandise and bargains and amazing things. I purchased a Mew plushie from Nintendo World, as a shout out to my favourite Pokemon website, Psypoke, since Mew is one of our official mascots. I spent quite a bit of time there playing a Kirby game on one of the several Wiis there too - so cute!
We also caught the amazing nighttime views of the city from the Empire State Building. Totally breathtaking, being able to see the entire city from where we were, and on such a clear day as well!
Posted by Jeremy at 3:59am on Friday June 1, 2012 :: 0 comments ::