Gakusei Travels

Next stop: NYC

One week later, we went on yet another spontaneous trip lol. This time, me, Makenna, my roommate, and another friend decided to go to NYC. I guess this trip was a little less impulsive because going to NYC was way more expensive than going to Philadelphia, and plus, there were more people going. So we had to be a little bit more strategic with planning it out. I did most of the arranging and searching for a hotel in Manhattan that wouldn’t break our bank account. We booked our Amtrak tickets and split the cost of the hotel before setting off to the Big Apple.

Like Philly, we left straight from work to Union Station. Our train was a little bit later so we hung around the station for a couple hours. This time around though, there were more just weird people hanging around…it was super uncomfortable. One guy was going around yelling religious stuff. Some woman approached us asking for us a favor and we said no. Then while we were eating, one guy tried to sell us a purse. I just kept saying “no thank you. No thank you.” We were definitely on edge but I always carry mace on me in case. Thankfully, so far, I never had to use it.

Makenna and I since learned from our trip to Philadelphia to be one of the first people in line to board. We were watching the arrival and departure board like hawks and as soon as it showed us what gate our train was at, we all took off. We actually ended up at the front to the line and so when we were able to board, we all got the four-seat section and could sit next to each other like we wanted.

After we got settled and our tickets scanned by the conductor, we were off to the big city. Since the train ride was longer than going to Philly, most of us kind of slept on and off on the train. I alternated between reading and watching anime on my phone. The ride didn’t really feel long until we hit Philadelphia (which is about a halfway point) and were like “wait! We’re only at Philly?!” I didn’t really fathom how far NYC was. The ride was like 3 and a half hours total T^T. The one positive thing was that by the time we got to Philly, most people debarked the train. So since there were so many open seats, we got to spread out across the rows and have more space which was nice.

We finally arrive around 10:30 pm. We took and uber to the hotel and let’s just say, clearly and very obviously New York City from the constant car honking and terrible drivers. But, I loved every bit of it and I was excited to be there.

Now, our hotel was okay. It’s not luxury but not bad. The room was quite small and so were the beds, but I say we’re there for the experience, not the aesthetic. We were just close and personal with the bed and everyone was allotted five minutes to shower lol.

Even though it was late, I really wanted one thing: cheap New York pizza.

There was a place down the street from the hotel, so three of us went out. I know I could’ve waited until the next day but I really wanted it. I just didn’t want to walk by myself. And it was totally worth it. For $1.50, that slice of cheese pizza was so good. I should’ve gotten more than one, but I was sure I’d be getting my fair share of New York style pizza while there. It was best to head back anyway to turn in, because we had a bright and early day awaiting for us.

Day 1

We woke up early on Saturday to get the day started. To save some money, we had the hotel’s complimentary breakfast.

Makenna and I advocated for doing the Big Bus Tour again, and my stepdad, who’s lived in Manhattan, also suggested we do a bus tour of sorts to see as much of the city as possible. The tour we did only went to lower manhattan. I think there was a route that went upper manhattan, but we just agreed that the first option had most of the stops we wanted to see.

Now…I should not be allowed to have the GPS. Idk why everyone kept trusting me with it cause I kept getting turned around throughout the day. When I was in Tokyo, I always used Google maps because it gave the most accurate timing of the trains. For some reason, the location kept getting thrown off and wouldn’t show me my exact location. I had to switch to using Apple Maps after the third time of us getting turned around. We definitely got our steps in for sure.

The bus picked us up in front of M&Ms world in Times Square. This time, the tour we so much more packed than when were in Philly and I think it was due to there being more tourists. Like I’m pretty sure I heard one large group speaking German. We didn’t get on exactly at 9:00 because the first buses filled up quickly.

This tour hit several locations including SoHo, Little Italy, the Financial District, Chinatown, Wall Street, the 9/11 memorial, the Hudson Yards, Pier 57, before taking us back to Times Square. I listened to the tour through the headphones, but I honestly couldn’t remember half of what it said. It was much longer than the one from Philly, but Philadelphia is less spread out than NYC. All the sights were fairly close together whereas Manhattan is so wide. Like I didn’t realize that Chinatown was so far south of upper Manhattan. We also didn’t get to see certain parts as close as we would liked due to the distance. We only got a brief and by brief, I mean a very small and short glance at the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn bridge.

Now, I don’t know why I didn’t think to bring them, but it was freezing on top of the bus and I didn’t have any gloves or hat. The weather app had said it would be in the 50s, but the wind was so fierce. Honestly, near the end of the tour, when we went past the World Trade Center toward Pier 57, I did not care anymore about seeing anything. Lol. Some of us went back under the bus where it was slightly warmer but they could’ve had the heat on or something. Once we arrived back at Time Square, we went to one of the many 1 ❤ NY souvenir shops, and I bought myself a hat and gloves along with my shot glass (lol). I’m mad cause I literally have gloves already, so I’m going to wear them every day once I’m back in D.C. Imma get my money’s worth of wear out of them.

After we were settled, we got back on the next bus and took it to Chinatown. We didn’t even use the metro at all and just used the Big Bus Tour as transportation all day. My roommate was the one that wanted to have lunch in Chinatown but we didn’t really have a plan and kind of wandered around (cause I led us down the wrong direction again T^T).

Chinatown was near this place called Canal Street. Canal street was lowkey annoying. There’s a lot of hagglers. People trying to sell you purses, glasses, wallets and even AirPods. They’re not really pushy. If you tell them no thanks or ignore them, they leave you alone. But they’re on every corner and after so many approach you, it becomes annoying. At one point, the NY police actually came and told them they had to leave and couldn’t sell on Canal Street. I am curious about how they manage to get all these boxes of AirPods. Maknna said they probably are just full of rocks and they likely scam you out of your money lol.

We found a random little noodle restaurant for lunch. The food was pretty good. I got the beef pan fried noodles. I also tried duck for the first time. It’s not terrible but not really my thing. I probably wouldn’t eat a bunch of it on my own. I only tried it cause my roommate offered some of her food. The portion size though was definitely huge and we should’ve shared a plate instead of ordering our own. Probably could’ve saved a little money and wasted less food.

When we went back to the Big Bus Stop to go back to Times Square, it took a while. The first bus that arrived was packed and only a few people got off. We had to wait an additional 15-20 minutes for the next bus to get on. I actually fell asleep on the ride back. I don’t remember even dozing off, but I think I startled myself awake because I started leaning and almost fell off my seat. By the time I woke up we were back in Times Square.

The one thing that sucks about a short weekend trip is you really can’t see everything in the city, and since NYC alone is so big with all the boroughs, with our time frame, we could really only stick to what we wanted to see in just Manhattan. We hit up several stores in the Times Square area. I got my M&Ms, which was all I cared about (lol) and I got some for my mom too. Then we went to Miniso, Disney Store, Nintendo Store and this cool bookstore called McNally Jackson that also sold Japanese stationary and notebooks. Of course, we couldn’t come to NYC without trying authentic NY Style cheesecake, which we got from a place Makenna’s friend recommended called Junior’s Bakery. We also found a the store I was most excited about: Book Off.

So, Book off is a Japanese thrift store. I went ALL the time when I was in Japan. I was there so much I started knowing the layout of the store and where to find things lol. But they sell half priced books, manga, anime figures, video games and electronics. Some of the larger stores sell clothes. In Japan I got a bunch of games for my Nintendo switch for cheap, sometimes between $12-$30 compared to the $60 value in the U.S. I also collected these mini sleeping figures. I believe they were called ねむたん(nemutan) which really just means sleepy. But they are made with so many different anime series, and I think before I left Tokyo I had an army of like 55.

Book off NYC wasn’t as big. They didn’t have as wide of a selection of manga in Japanese or anime figureds But I did find two nemutan I didn’t already have, which I was happy about, and two manga I wouldn’t mind reading. The prices weren’t as cheap as Japan, but still great nonetheless compared to average retail pricing. I spent $20 total, which I was happy about.

By this point, it was well into the afternoon and we headed back to the hotel. We were pretty tired and wanted to sit down for a bit. Makenna and I really wanted to go out for a couple drinks. My stepdad recommended this place called Gardenia Terrace which ended up being really nice. Two of the people in our group were under 21 and didn’t go with us.

Makenna and I decided to split an appetizer and then got two cocktails. The first one I had was really good. It was sweet and I enjoyed it. The second one was an acquired taste. It was called the Campfire and I don’t know how they did it, but the drink tasted like the way a fire pit smelled like. I know that makes no sense but it was a strange experience. I wasn’t a big fan honestly so Makenna traded me the one she got instead.

The place was a bit pricey though. We did split the bill but still, it was about $60 after the automatic gratuity that was tacked on. It’s whatever. It’s NYC. I expected it to be expensive. I actually though nearly had a heart attack cause I almost forgot my debit card.

We took an uber back to our hotel which ended up being a yellow taxi, so I had my first ever NY taxi experience and it was kinda terrible. Like it wasn’t bad. The driver was strange, but I think all New Yorkers just drive fast and narrowly obey traffic laws. We made it back to the hotel though in one piece! After showering off the city grime, we turned in for the night to rest up for our last day.

Day 2

On Sunday we slept in. We didn’t really have any concrete plans for what we wanted to do other than visit Grand Central Station, which is what we did. We checked out at 11 and had them hold our bags until the late afternoon when our train was.

Grand Central Station was right down the street from our hotel, so it didn’t take long to walk to. Ever time I think of Grand Central Station, it makes me think of the movie Madagascar and the scene where Marty is running away to Connecticut. When he arrives at Grand Central he goes, “Grand Central Station. It’s Grand, and it’s Central.” Sadly, only Makenna understood the reference. The terminal was as massive as I remembered it to be with chandeliers and elaborate murals on the ceiling in the main hall. Balconies overlooked the clock in the center. We could go up to the balconies cause there were stores on the upper levels, and many people liked to take pictures there.

Some of the tourists were actually very rude. There was this Hispanic family who were taking up the entire space and taking forever, as if other people weren’t waiting. And when you got too close they’d be like “wait. Move please. Just one more minute.” Which would then turn to 5 more minutes. Then this woman, I think she was German, straight up told us to move out of her picture and we said no. You don’t own the space and you can’t dictate where people stand, especially so rudely. Grand Central is packed so people may be in your photo. Just crop them out. This is why I hate the narrative that American tourists are the worst. There’s terrible tourists from every country. If she had been polite, then I probably would’ve moved without question.

We then walked through the Grand Central Market. There were different stalls selling produce and seafood, chocolate, and pastries. I didn’t get anything since I had bought such a big bag of M&Ms (which I look forward to eating).

After Grand Central, we split up for a bit. Half the group went to get coffee and my roommate and I went to Midtown Comics down the street. I’ve always been a big fan of Marvel Comics and super heroes, but I never really could collect comics. I don’t follow the comics outside of the movies, but I know there are some hardcore collectors who have every edition of the comics since they first release. I really just picked my favorite characters (Black Panther, Loki, and Captain America), and just picked which comic had the coolest cover. I have no idea what the edition is even about lol.

After getting my comics, I was content with all my purchases for the trip. The group met back up to get bagels for a late breakfast early lunch. We can’t come to New York City and not try a bagel. There were several bagel shops and we just chose the closest one. The cream cheese on mine was really good. It was I think a garlic and chives. My roommate got something called a rainbow bagel, and the bread was legit every color. I was a little jealous, cause hers looked so much tastier than mine haha.

After we got our bagels, we still had a few hours to kill before catching our train. We didn’t really want to venture too far since we had to come back for our luggage. We originally planned to kill time at the New York Public Library, but they wouldn’t let us bring outside food or drink, so instead, we sat at Bryant Park and chatted for a bit. I ended up getting a hot dog from Nathan’s, a place my stepdad recommend. It was funny, ten minutes prior to that, he had just texted me about the food carts only for me to run into one right after it.

Bryant Park was nice. I bet in the summer, the place is super packed. We unfortunately, after some time had to say goodbye and go back to the hotel, get our suitcases, and head back to Moynihan Station to go back to D.C.

I definitely had a fun time in NYC, but I do think we kind of rushed during the trip. Everyone got to see and do what they wanted, but we did not even see 10% of NYC. You really can’t in just two days. We didn’t even see everything in Manhattan. I definitely want to come back for at least a week and have my stepdad show me around to all the places he recommended. Overall, the trip was still a very fun experience, and I’m glad I got the trip in before my time at D.C. came to a close.