My second day in NYC was perhaps the most exhausting sightseeing day of all. Started the day with breakfast from H&H bagels then headed to Lower Manhattan to board the ferry to Liberty Island. After Liberty Island, we stopped by Ellis Island, where nearly 12 million immigrants entered the US in the early 20th century. We spent the afternoon strolling around Lower Manhattan, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge by foot, making a quick stop at SoHo and wandering over to the edge of Chinatown. On this day, we took nearly 400 photos, gawked at numerous impressive architecture, and experienced some of our best NYC moments. Welcome to Day 2 of my NYC trip.
H&H Bagels: Like no other bagel in the world, plus man packing for the long weekend, I wonder where his (family's) destination was.
I got the onion bagel, Queen J got the everything bagel. Surely, it was like no other bagel I've tried in SE Asia.
First Presbyterian Church on Broadway and 79th
On our way to ride the ferry to Liberty then Ellis Islands
Lines, lines everywhere
Strict security before boarding the ferry, often described as airport-level security
Under Ms. Liberty was a museum about her history
We found out that as of July, the next available ticket to the crown was for October. Only a limited number of people could go up to the crown daily.
Ms. Liberty from the inside
The closest we could get to her
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
The word boondocks (bundok), whose origin was Tagalog, was included in The Word Tree: Ethnic Americanisms.
One's mental and physical health, availability of funds, and ability to earn a living upon entry were some of the bases for allowing one entry into American soil.
A sample of the temporary dormitory used by immigrants in Ellis Island
Back to Lower Manhattan, starting with the US Customs House
Bowling Green Fountain
The Charging Bull was clearly a popular statue, and I had to wait for my turn to be able to take a photo with it.
Home to Borders and Dean and Deluca
My first D&D experience. I only discovered later on that this peanut butter and raspeberry jam doughnut which definitely tops Krispy Kreme's by 100x was supplied by the Doughnut Plant, which incidentally I spotted at Incheon (S. Korea Int'l Airport) while waiting for my flight back to Manila. I didn't try this in Incheon, I wonder if the taste and quality would be the same as the one from NYC.
Trinity Church
NYSE
Federal Hall
Not the T&Co. from the movie
Site of the former Twin Towers
J&R Music Store
Pace University
City Hall
Resting outside the Municipal Building and waiting for twilight before starting to walk the Brooklyn Bridge
City Hall Oasis: a cute little newsstand outside the City Hall Park
To the right is the Woolworth Building, which was the first department store and at one time was the tallest building. It went bankrupt in 1997 and is now a part of NYU campus.
NYC residents: the squirrel and the pigeon
Art in City Hall Park
Walking to Brooklyn, we actually only went halfway. I have to say this was one of my favorite NYC experiences.
The Municipal Building from the back.
Our first subway shots were taken towards the end of the second day when it was established that the subway was quite safe. Initially, we stowed the camera into our bags whenever we had to ride the subway.
Hello SoHo, passing by current hotspot Balthazar, see the lines of people waiting outside
Familiar brand
On the edge of Chinatown, we didn't go any deeper as it was almost dark. We also didn't come back to explore the place on another day.
Dinner at Excellent Dumpling House, hoping to have some Americanized Chinese food like broccoli in brown sauce and egg rolls. I don't remember seeing these in Excellent's menu, but we would later on discover a Chinese place across our hotel that had just what we were looking for. Plus, Queen J was actually pouring cold water and not hot tea here.
It was only 9pm when we finished dinner, but we were worn out from all the walking and decided to head on home. It was a long trek to the nearest subway that would lead us back to our hotel. We stashed the camera inside the bag before leaving Excellent and wasn't able to take anymore photos after dinner. It was a good idea, too as at one point, we found ourselves the only people on the streets. We passed by Tribeca Film Festival but was only able to take a blurry photo using my iPhone. The anticipation of something going wrong during that walk was an NYC experience I never wish to encounter again. Of course, we did find the subway after consulting our maps and was able to get home without any problems.
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