I'm in New York!

08 August 2008; 1105hrs New York, New York (USA)

I’m finally in NY! The flight from Salt Lake was delayed for 20 minutes and arrived at JFK even later. It was already 0100hrs when I left. And I was supposed to arrive at 2330hrs! The difference is too great! On top of that my luggage refused to appear, it was only after 30 minutes of waiting before I caught a glimpse of it. What could be worse?

My luggage tag was broken. The bag was scratched. What the…

I was way too tired to think then. So when some man asked if I were looking for a taxi, I said yes. He wasn’t the yellow cab driver that I knew. And I was cheated! He charged more than I would have been charged. Oh well… I was tired. I didn’t mind being charged US$10 more. What I minded was the conversation. My driver was a heavily bearded Muslim who kept talking about religion. I certainly didn’t dare to reveal mine. Who knew what would happen if he found out? He kept asking about the Little Red Dot, and if we were predominantly Buddhists, Christians, etc. And about Malaysia, our relations, relationship between the Dot and China, our economy, our army, and all that. It was way too scary! Of course, I didn’t dare to reveal anything. He sounded too much like a Muslim extremist. When asked about our army, I simply said we are the best in the region hopefully to scare him off.

He even asked about our punishments. If people had their hands chopped off for stealing and if adultery was an offense. My goodness! It was ‘Sharia Law’ screaming in my head. All throughout the journey, I was praying that I would be able to get to the hostel safely and not be mugged or anything.

But the driver was kind enough to wait for me to check that the hostel was open before driving off. Perhaps it was simply paranoia on my part? Results of the 'Be Vigilant' drive?

I finally reached the hostel at 0200hrs! Oh man… that was tiring. I reserved a bed in a 12-man bunk. Ah… my first time sleeping in a room with so many guys, and in such cramped conditions. Even my BMT situation was better. Oh well, at least I got the top bunk and it seemed pretty clean. I really wonder how the other hostels would be like though.

But it’s cheap! And it comes with complimentary breakfast! And I managed to ‘ta bao’ a bagel for lunch as well. Ha… saving money. I’d spent too much. And I thing I’m going to have to send the text book, notes and conference proceedings back home via mail, instead of lugging them all around. Carrying my luggage up to the fourth floor wasn’t fun at all.

It’s really funny though…. Both here and in my dorm at MSU, I heard some guy in the shower… well… engaging in some do-it-yourself. Ha… the sounds that emitted from the showers. Funny! In such close quarters, surely they could have controlled themselves or made less noise?

I’m now at Central Park. It’s really close to the hostel, so that’s nice. Just sitting here, enjoying the breeze, and watching people fish, jog, stroll, and so on. People watching is fun. It’s summer vacation and I saw many groups of predominantly black kids here on an out of school/after school program. Their chaperons brought them here to fish, I presume, to occupy their time so they wouldn’t stray. I heard the drop-out rate amongst the blacks is really high. It’s nice to see this cultural mix here. Unlike the area (Harlem) where my hostel is located, one gets to see so many different people, different cultures at Central Park.

I wish I remembered to take my America guidebook with me from home. There are maps in there. Maps that I could use. Now I’m surviving on a very rudimentary map of a small part of New York. I hope I’ll be able to get by with it. I hope either of the girls will have maps with them, or that I can get some free at the airport.