The full album of photos is on my Picasa page...
After Lenea and I got off the phone I used the washroom, took a shower and then got dressed and prepared to head out. I figured I'd carry my most extreme opposite lenses for the camera and see what I'd see... It didn't seem too cold, so I wore layers with my worn-out green sweatshirt and the "new" green sweater with the massive hole in the back (which would be covered by my backpack all day).
I only had two goals for the day. First, get sushi in the East Village... Second, get some photos of a synagogue on the Upper East Side.
Leaving the apartment I walked up to 59th Street so I could catch the N express train, instead of the R local at my local stop at 53rd Street. The 59th Street platform was more crowded than usual. Just as the R was pulling into the station there was an announcement about the N train, but then the R made so much noise it drowned out the loudspeakers. After the R left, the announcer repeated it, saying that "due to a stalled train at Stillwell Avenue, N service is temporarily suspended. All Manhattan bound passengers should take the R train." Fortunately, a couple of minutes after that announcement an N train rolled in...
It also turned out to be about the most crowded I've seen the N train on a weekend afternoon. It was packed. I squeezed in, though. My nose was slightly stuffed up from the migraine (a normal effect of the migraines) but several people complained about the smell in the train and walked through the doors to the next car to get away from it, though I didn't particularly smell anything. I mean, it wasn't like fresh, outside air, it smelled like the subway... After people moved out I saw there was a dirty, filthy homeless looking guy with his bags of "stuff" on one of the benches not far away, so maybe that's what they were complaining about.
Unfortunately this N train wasn't on the right track to see the light artwork in the tunnel in Brooklyn. I still haven't figured out exactly which train to be on to see it consistently. Mostly I think I've seen it when the N is running local in Brooklyn, but that's unusual during the day. The R definitely doesn't go by it. Maybe the Q? I might have to try switching to a Manhattan bound Q in Atlantic Avenue and see.
In Manhattan I got off the train at 8th Street - NYU in the East Village and walked a bit of a zig-zag path up four blocks and over a few avenues to 2nd, where I stopped in at Shima for a sushi lunch. It was good, as it always has been on my trips there.
Once I'd paid and left I went out and walked up to 15th Street, then turned to head over to Union Square, figuring I'd catch a subway train up towards Grand Central or somewhere, still unsure what I really wanted to do with the day.
On the way over to Union Square I was near a scruffy looking, somewhat older guy who was ranting and raving quite loud, to no one I could see. "What the fuck was she thinking?" and "Fuck her, she wouldn't give me $5 to get home... What the fuck was she thinking?" and variations on those two themes over and over... I happened to glance at him, mostly curious because when I'd first seen him I didn't notice a phone headset wire, and he noticed, then patted me on the shoulder and said "hey, sorry about the language, man." I never said anything to him but "yeah" and "hmm..." and "ahh" while I listened to him tell me parts of story. Someone, I guess, was supposed to give him cash for subway fare to get home or something. He went on, hoping he wouldn't have to beg in Union Square for it, but prepared in case he'd have to, and how he believes "what goes around comes around" and "it's not always about money, you know, I help someone move, but when I ask a favor they always seem unhappy I've turned up..."
Once we got to Union Square he dashed across the street while I waited for a light and went our separate ways.
It looks like the farmers market in Union Square has started up again. It wasn't quite as packed as I've seen it before, but it was there from when I first arrived in NYC in September, all through the winter, until the weekend I took my parents to see it in February, then it wasn't there till this weekend... Some good looking items, honey, breads and things, I'll have to try some stuff out when I get moved...
At Union Square I couldn't squeeze into a 6 train because it was so crowded, but then got the next 4 or 5 (I forgot which) and took that uptown to Grand Central Terminal. Always a good place to stop and use the bathroom... I also looked at the subway map for some inspiration on where to go, but couldn't decide.
So, I went out of the station and walked up along the west side of it. It was bright and sunny, with sunshine gleaming off the skyscrapers all around, so I took out my camera and took a bunch of photos as I walked around. I was using my 11-16mm wide angle lens, which often results in overly dark pictures in the daytime, but it was so sunny I couldn't see the display on the back of the camera to see what the photos looked like, or which direction to adjust the settings, so I hope they came out (haven't offloaded them from the camera yet...).
I worked my way up Lexington, Park and 3rd Avenues from 42nd Street to 58th Street. I stopped to take some photos of the synagogue I had in mind at 55th Street, but from what I could tell on the camera I didn't get any good shots. The sky was bright, but the face of the building was in shadow, so it was really dark, with the sky too bright, and trying to lighten the building ended up with way, way too bright sky... Oh well...
At 58th Street I wasn't sure if I should continue up, or go somewhere else. So, I stopped to look at Leena's Amazon wish list for that Bluetooth headset, figuring that with the Apple Store a few blocks away, between 58th and 59th Streets, I'd pop in and see if they had it.
On the way I passed the ING Direct bank branch. It didn't look much like a bank, actually, except that it was all orange inside with ING signs, their lion logo and bank sorts of product ads on the walls. It was two stories tall, all windows, with a cafe inside and people sitting on orange chairs at orange tables drinking coffee. Unless those were actually the bankers' desks?
When I came up on the back of the Apple Store I got a look at the line going in... There was a steady stream of people backed up about twenty feet from the entrance, with the line snaking inside and down the spiral stairs that go around the glass elevator. I decided not to go in, too much of a line... Then I remembered there's another Apple store a few blocks away on Broadway, at 67th Street (well, "a few blocks by my walking") so instead of waiting two minutes to get into this store, I walked about twenty-five or thirty to the other store...
Across from the Apple Store, at Grand Army Plaza (not to be confused with the one in Brooklyn, which is my Friday "crossroads" decision time, to go to the apartment or anywhere else) I joined a throng of spectators watching a dance troupe performing on the sidewalk for a few minutes. Some of them were fun, but then one dorky guy took his solo and I couldn't understand what he was doing, but whatever it was, it wasn't interesting to watch, so I left.
It was crossing the street there that I got hit by the blast of cold, cold wind that pretty much continued all the rest of the afternoon and evening. East of Central Park was merely chilly, but from the park on westward was downright cold. I should've worn a warmer jacket...
The other Apple Store didn't have any of those Bluetooth headsets at all... But I did take some notes on other products I'm thinking about, a couple of video devices for the Mac so I can probably view video from other things. I was thinking about getting an XBox 360 or Wii, but didn't want to buy a TV just for that, so if I can hook it to the Mac, that'd work... This store has lots of tables of Macs with store workers giving shoppers lessons at almost every one of them how to use some of the software on them. I was listening to one guy teach some people how to do some image manipulation.
Back on the street again, I worked my way in another zig zag path over to Central Park. I walked down Central Park West, along the outside of the park, taking some photos of the inside of the park and people on the sidewalk. Around there I swapped lenses from the wide angle to the 100-300mm zoom, the longest, narrowest one...
At the bottom of the park I stopped and enjoyed the sunshine at Columbus Circles, which had a bit less wind than the rest of the west side of Manhattan. I saw some of the first flowers of spring there. I got startled by one guy who came up behind me while I was paying attention to the camera viewfinder, and asked "do you want a ride in the park?". I think he was a cycle-rickshaw driver, since there didn't seem to be any horse carriages waiting around there...
I walked around Columbus Circle, taking photos of buildings and statues shining bright in the afternoon sunshine. There's one that's all covered in gold that practically glowed in the sunshine.
From there I walked down 9th Avenue a few blocks, taking photos where I saw any interesting architectural things, mostly juxtapositions of old buildings and new buildings in the background, or details on old buildings that appealed to me. Neither of the lenses I carried were well suited to that, though... Lots of things were well lit up by the west-ward moving sun.
And then I wound up at Times Square again... Naturally I made my way up to the red steps at the north end... While standing up there a few different pairs of people gave me their cameras to take their photos, all wanting the hordes of people below in the square as the background. This is the first time anyone's ever handed me a fancy digital SLR, though, to take their photo... Maybe they were confident I wouldn't steal it because I had my own, with an impressive looking lens, around my own neck...
When my hands got cold and numb from holding cameras in the biting wind I took off. I walked over to the Port Authority Bus Terminal to use the bathroom. While deciding what to do next, I figured I might as well go try the Thai grilled chicken salad at the New York Burger Co. that I've been curious about for a couple of months. So, I grabbed the E train at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and got off at 23rd Street, and walked to 10th Avenue.
The guy at the order counter of the restaurant greeted me just like he knew me, a little too familiar than appropriate, so I was confused as to whether I should know him or not, because I certainly didn't recognize him, and I'd only been to this one once before (there's another one of them at 21st Street and 6th Avenue, where I've been twice). This meal was disappointing. I've had better Thai chicken salads before. I think maybe I'l stick to burgers when I go to these places...
Since I was close to the High Line, it seemed like a good idea to go there. And it was, except it was really cold up there. But I enjoyed some photography from there, even if it was too cold and windy to sit down and relax (then again, if it hadn't been, all the places to sit would've been taken). There were lots of other photographers up there, too... I think I got a couple of good shots of the sun setting behind New Jersey.
After it got dark I was walking up 14th Street towards Union Square to get a train home, when I got a whim to go see Prince Street after dark, so I hopped on an A train at a closer station and went down there. It was fun walking around there for a bit, but cold...
Walking along I was listening to some young women very closely behind me talking. They mentioned how the English language is changing, how they don't like some of the changes, and agree with some of their professors from when they were in college.
I was just about turn around and tell them how I've spent ten years overseas in a country where nearly all who speak English speak it as a second (or third) language, and while I've heard some speak it perfectly, mostly I've heard it butchered beyond belief… But as I was about to turn, one of them abruptly changed the conversation, "hey, I need to buy a pair of black tights…"
I listened to them talk of that until I came upon the Oakley store, where I wanted to check out backpacks, so I popped in. There was one I asked to see and the clerk took it down for me then went back to doing some work at the checkout counter. I nearly bought it, but kept standing at the checkout counter and no one there even glanced at me to say "just a moment." Once the impatience set in, I decided I really didn't need it, left it on the counter and walked out. I really didn't need it, so fortunately their rudeness overrode my impulsiveness and saved me some money.
I caught an N train at Prince Street as soon as I got into the station and came home... It was relatively late for me and I didn't get home till close to 8:30pm...
After Lenea and I got off the phone I used the washroom, took a shower and then got dressed and prepared to head out. I figured I'd carry my most extreme opposite lenses for the camera and see what I'd see... It didn't seem too cold, so I wore layers with my worn-out green sweatshirt and the "new" green sweater with the massive hole in the back (which would be covered by my backpack all day).
I only had two goals for the day. First, get sushi in the East Village... Second, get some photos of a synagogue on the Upper East Side.
Leaving the apartment I walked up to 59th Street so I could catch the N express train, instead of the R local at my local stop at 53rd Street. The 59th Street platform was more crowded than usual. Just as the R was pulling into the station there was an announcement about the N train, but then the R made so much noise it drowned out the loudspeakers. After the R left, the announcer repeated it, saying that "due to a stalled train at Stillwell Avenue, N service is temporarily suspended. All Manhattan bound passengers should take the R train." Fortunately, a couple of minutes after that announcement an N train rolled in...
It also turned out to be about the most crowded I've seen the N train on a weekend afternoon. It was packed. I squeezed in, though. My nose was slightly stuffed up from the migraine (a normal effect of the migraines) but several people complained about the smell in the train and walked through the doors to the next car to get away from it, though I didn't particularly smell anything. I mean, it wasn't like fresh, outside air, it smelled like the subway... After people moved out I saw there was a dirty, filthy homeless looking guy with his bags of "stuff" on one of the benches not far away, so maybe that's what they were complaining about.
Unfortunately this N train wasn't on the right track to see the light artwork in the tunnel in Brooklyn. I still haven't figured out exactly which train to be on to see it consistently. Mostly I think I've seen it when the N is running local in Brooklyn, but that's unusual during the day. The R definitely doesn't go by it. Maybe the Q? I might have to try switching to a Manhattan bound Q in Atlantic Avenue and see.
In Manhattan I got off the train at 8th Street - NYU in the East Village and walked a bit of a zig-zag path up four blocks and over a few avenues to 2nd, where I stopped in at Shima for a sushi lunch. It was good, as it always has been on my trips there.
Once I'd paid and left I went out and walked up to 15th Street, then turned to head over to Union Square, figuring I'd catch a subway train up towards Grand Central or somewhere, still unsure what I really wanted to do with the day.
On the way over to Union Square I was near a scruffy looking, somewhat older guy who was ranting and raving quite loud, to no one I could see. "What the fuck was she thinking?" and "Fuck her, she wouldn't give me $5 to get home... What the fuck was she thinking?" and variations on those two themes over and over... I happened to glance at him, mostly curious because when I'd first seen him I didn't notice a phone headset wire, and he noticed, then patted me on the shoulder and said "hey, sorry about the language, man." I never said anything to him but "yeah" and "hmm..." and "ahh" while I listened to him tell me parts of story. Someone, I guess, was supposed to give him cash for subway fare to get home or something. He went on, hoping he wouldn't have to beg in Union Square for it, but prepared in case he'd have to, and how he believes "what goes around comes around" and "it's not always about money, you know, I help someone move, but when I ask a favor they always seem unhappy I've turned up..."
Once we got to Union Square he dashed across the street while I waited for a light and went our separate ways.
It looks like the farmers market in Union Square has started up again. It wasn't quite as packed as I've seen it before, but it was there from when I first arrived in NYC in September, all through the winter, until the weekend I took my parents to see it in February, then it wasn't there till this weekend... Some good looking items, honey, breads and things, I'll have to try some stuff out when I get moved...
At Union Square I couldn't squeeze into a 6 train because it was so crowded, but then got the next 4 or 5 (I forgot which) and took that uptown to Grand Central Terminal. Always a good place to stop and use the bathroom... I also looked at the subway map for some inspiration on where to go, but couldn't decide.
At 58th Street I wasn't sure if I should continue up, or go somewhere else. So, I stopped to look at Leena's Amazon wish list for that Bluetooth headset, figuring that with the Apple Store a few blocks away, between 58th and 59th Streets, I'd pop in and see if they had it.
On the way I passed the ING Direct bank branch. It didn't look much like a bank, actually, except that it was all orange inside with ING signs, their lion logo and bank sorts of product ads on the walls. It was two stories tall, all windows, with a cafe inside and people sitting on orange chairs at orange tables drinking coffee. Unless those were actually the bankers' desks?
Across from the Apple Store, at Grand Army Plaza (not to be confused with the one in Brooklyn, which is my Friday "crossroads" decision time, to go to the apartment or anywhere else) I joined a throng of spectators watching a dance troupe performing on the sidewalk for a few minutes. Some of them were fun, but then one dorky guy took his solo and I couldn't understand what he was doing, but whatever it was, it wasn't interesting to watch, so I left.
The other Apple Store didn't have any of those Bluetooth headsets at all... But I did take some notes on other products I'm thinking about, a couple of video devices for the Mac so I can probably view video from other things. I was thinking about getting an XBox 360 or Wii, but didn't want to buy a TV just for that, so if I can hook it to the Mac, that'd work... This store has lots of tables of Macs with store workers giving shoppers lessons at almost every one of them how to use some of the software on them. I was listening to one guy teach some people how to do some image manipulation.
Back on the street again, I worked my way in another zig zag path over to Central Park. I walked down Central Park West, along the outside of the park, taking some photos of the inside of the park and people on the sidewalk. Around there I swapped lenses from the wide angle to the 100-300mm zoom, the longest, narrowest one...
I walked around Columbus Circle, taking photos of buildings and statues shining bright in the afternoon sunshine. There's one that's all covered in gold that practically glowed in the sunshine.
From there I walked down 9th Avenue a few blocks, taking photos where I saw any interesting architectural things, mostly juxtapositions of old buildings and new buildings in the background, or details on old buildings that appealed to me. Neither of the lenses I carried were well suited to that, though... Lots of things were well lit up by the west-ward moving sun.
When my hands got cold and numb from holding cameras in the biting wind I took off. I walked over to the Port Authority Bus Terminal to use the bathroom. While deciding what to do next, I figured I might as well go try the Thai grilled chicken salad at the New York Burger Co. that I've been curious about for a couple of months. So, I grabbed the E train at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and got off at 23rd Street, and walked to 10th Avenue.
Since I was close to the High Line, it seemed like a good idea to go there. And it was, except it was really cold up there. But I enjoyed some photography from there, even if it was too cold and windy to sit down and relax (then again, if it hadn't been, all the places to sit would've been taken). There were lots of other photographers up there, too... I think I got a couple of good shots of the sun setting behind New Jersey.
After it got dark I was walking up 14th Street towards Union Square to get a train home, when I got a whim to go see Prince Street after dark, so I hopped on an A train at a closer station and went down there. It was fun walking around there for a bit, but cold...
Walking along I was listening to some young women very closely behind me talking. They mentioned how the English language is changing, how they don't like some of the changes, and agree with some of their professors from when they were in college.
I was just about turn around and tell them how I've spent ten years overseas in a country where nearly all who speak English speak it as a second (or third) language, and while I've heard some speak it perfectly, mostly I've heard it butchered beyond belief… But as I was about to turn, one of them abruptly changed the conversation, "hey, I need to buy a pair of black tights…"
I listened to them talk of that until I came upon the Oakley store, where I wanted to check out backpacks, so I popped in. There was one I asked to see and the clerk took it down for me then went back to doing some work at the checkout counter. I nearly bought it, but kept standing at the checkout counter and no one there even glanced at me to say "just a moment." Once the impatience set in, I decided I really didn't need it, left it on the counter and walked out. I really didn't need it, so fortunately their rudeness overrode my impulsiveness and saved me some money.
I caught an N train at Prince Street as soon as I got into the station and came home... It was relatively late for me and I didn't get home till close to 8:30pm...
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