Day 02: Downtown Manhattan and the Hampden

Taking a leaf off RyanA’s advice, I made the decision that us four should explore downtown, walking slowly from the Greenwich Village to the Financial District. Boy, a lucky thing I did because it turned out to be the best day of the four. We rode the subway train from the 103^rd street to a numberless one that is adjacent to the village. The sight of street names came into view such as Waverly Place (Selena Gomez gained her celebrity status because of the Disney production), Fashion Avenue and Gay Street, which piqued much interest in tourists like us. Photos of us knocking on people’s doors, hugging streetlights, and puppies saved into the cameras one after another. Not to mention the multiple attempts at selca (self-camera), some failures and successes compiled to allot for the memory space. I had a sudden interest to see New York University, which was on the way, with its famous arch and fountain. Swati was more interested in scouting for local pooches, and that led to an awesome yet surprising encounter.

This white middle aged man was walking a Shih Tzu towards us as we were trying to cross the street. All it took was Swati’s one comment on the dog, “cute!” and the man turned around to coax her into carrying his dog for a photo-shoot of the park. In the back of my mind, I thought this must be another one of those crazy, over-friendly Americans. Little did I know that the man whose dog we took photos with and of was the president of the university itself. He was a friendly one, and even agreed to be in a picture with us. Pointing toward the direction of an orange building, he gave me directions to SOHO and with a small nod, sent us on our way.

A quick walk around SOHO brought us to Chinatown and Little Italy. By then, the stomach was already in a fit of anger, growling like an angry tiger. I had little choice but to stop for lunch, picking Singapore Mai Fun and Dim Sum (in my opinion, the food wasn't that great) before going for some souvenir shopping. Feeling the dropping temperature, I hustled the trio to the Brooklyn Bridge. YP and Swati wanted to see that at all cost, as it was frequently on the Gossip Girls series. I then took Vee with me to the Financial District where we saw the Trinity Church, the Charging Bull and Wall Street.

The day ended with us at Rector Street subway station where we rode a long ride toward the 103^rd street. YP got off on the 42^nd street to meet up with her China friends. I couldn't care less for I was more interested in getting home for a warm shower and some food. Plus, midtown can wait till the next day, I was sure of that plan. The two Indian girls and I sat at the common area of the hostel, eating and chatting away. 

Cancun burger,
Vonnie S.