I ♥ New York (Day 1)

After watching Miss Universe 2010 replay last weekend, I had a major, major inkling to reminisce about my work-related trip to Uncle Sam last year. One of the highlights of that trip is a side trip to The Big Apple.

Date of my personal bite of The Big Apple: May 9-10, 2009
 

Brooklyn Bridge: The bridge that reaffirmed my bubble thought that I'm in New York!

So how did Miss Universe 2010 come in to my reminiscing, you may ask. It's a prevailing fact that Donald Trump is the myth behind the most prestigious beauty contest ever known. So when the cameras showed Donald Trump in the audience, a vivid flashback of The Big Apple came into play. I do remember my excitement when I stood before the Trump Tower in 5th Avenue last year and took a quick picture of it. Oh man, I was giddy with happiness when I saw where The Apprentice was filmed.

Our group took an early morning flight via U.S. Airways from Richmond, VA to LaGuardia Airport but the plane could not land in La Guardia airport due to poor visibility (damn thick clouds) hovering over the whole New York. The only recourse is to land in Lehigh Valley International Aiport in Pennsylvania, so after major, major delay, the airline gave us a free land trip from Lehigh to Fairfield Inn Marriott in LaGuardia where we made room reservation.

Behold the evidentiary support of my own personal bite of The Big Apple.

 

A popular way of touring New York City is by classic double-decker, hop-on, hop-off guided bus tour. But nothing beats exploring the city on foot.

Miss Liberty wannabes in Battery Park

WWII memorial in Battery Park which faces the New York harbour

My empire state of mind: wacky! 

On a serious note, that giant eagle marker has this:

Erected by the United States of America in proud and grateful remembrance of her sons who gave their lives in her service and who sleep in the American coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Into Thy Hands, O Lord.

The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally U.S. Custom House) - now the home of the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian as well as the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

26 Broadway (a.k.a. the Standard Oil Building) is a New York City Designated Landmark at the southern tip of Manhattan at Bowling Green.

Arturo DiModica's 7,000-pound bronze Charging Bull, a reference to the bulls (optimists) and bears (pessimists) at the stock market

I'm in Corporate America a.k.a Wall Street!

They say that in order to complete your personal bite of the Big Apple, one has to ride the subway.  We did and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Trinity Church is a historic, full-service parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is located at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway in downtown Manhattan.

Isamu Noguchi's Red Cube, a prominent landmark in front of Marine Midland Building (also HSBC
 Bank Building)

Interesting statue of a corporate man in a park near the Ground Zero

Solemn look in an almost solemn site -World Trade Center site (Ground Zero)

Even though I was a continent away when the 9/11 attack happened, the effect still reverberates when I took pictures of the site.

Time to drop our Century 21's shopping loot at the hotel. LOL!

To put to test that NYC is the city that never sleeps, we went to Times Square via, of course, a yellow cab! I have never imagined that I would set foot in the world-famous site of the annual ball drop during New Year's Eve. Also known as "The Crossroads of the World" and "The Great White Way", Times Square has achieved the status of an iconic world landmark and is a symbol of New York City and Uncle Sam in general.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Times Square

The city that never sleeps

Plus, we had a $120-worth of light dinner at the TGIF resto in Times Square. My first day at The Big Apple was almost surreal I even likened it to a childhood dream that finally came true. It came in an unexpected way which left me flushed with happiness up to this day. So, that was my Day 1. Stand by for my Day 2 entry. :)