New York Day 6: Staten Island

📍On the ferry to Liberty Island

Breakfast this morning was cereal with cranberries because we wanted to take a break from all the heavy food we have been eating!

And also because I didn't research on any food plans for today. So, win-win. 😅

We paid USD18 for a ticket to Liberty Island!

The funny thing is the moment we reached... Our first question was:
"I'm hungry... Where's the food?", not even anything about the Statue of Liberty. 😂

The guys and J shared this... A and I shared a pretzel! The trick to eating those cheap salty pretzels is to scrape off the salt and dip it into a sauce.

We discovered honey mustard and BLUE CHEESE SAUCE and spent the rest of lunch gorging on sauce.

We spent some time taking photos at the harbour. The sun was merciless. I think I got burnt, my arms are very red and dark right now 😭

I loved looking at the seagulls surfing on the wind; the way they spread their wings wide and were buffeted about by the strong currents.

J: They look so relaxed.
Me: I wish I could be like that... 
One of the guys: You want to be a seagull?

This one stood patiently for me while I snapped a photo (or many) - it was the only one who seemed unafraid.

I spent too long chasing birds on this island.

Caught a photo of the Star Spangled Banner fluttering in the wind.

And, of course, the Lady of Liberty.

The view from the boat as we left NYC to Liberty Island.

There's just something about crashing, foamy waves that captivates me. I could stare at the way the sunlight glistens off the surface in little speckles of light all day long.

We managed to snap a selfie with the Lady! It was really difficult because the wind wouldn't let down and most of our photos include faces full of hair.

Then we headed to this place because one of the guys wanted to try the cookies here.

Yum, fresh baked goods. We got 4 items for USD15.50.

Our second time getting Chinese food from Dong Dong Chinese near our place. The portions are huge and the food is pretty decent. We paid about USD7 each for dinner.

They have old school gumball machines!

The bakes that we bought! Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, Double Chocolate Chip Cookie, Cinnamon Brioche, Sticky Bun.

Our favourite Metro because it had air conditioner and escalators. We proclaimed it a dream come true.

A few things I've learnt about NY Metro, in case any of you haven't been there before:

- There are no train arrival timings nor any way to tell what the next station is when you're in the train. Be prepared to wait 10 minutes or more for your train.

- There are no safety barriers and the trains are really loud, so keep behind the yellow lines.

- There are mostly no escalators.

- In Singapore, a station that has many trains separates all the trains. For example in Dhoby, you have to go to different platforms for the trains. In NY, you still have to go to different platforms, but within each platform there are many different lines to take that don't necessarily stop at the same stops. This makes it a complete headache when changing trains or trying to figure out which train to take.

- Be prepared to get frustrated when taking it.

It's the end of our stay in NY (we leave for Boston tomorrow) and I must say that I feel very thankful to our "tour guide" for the trip. I don't know how we would have navigated without him. Actually it's dangerous to say this here because he has Dayre (I think?) and I'm too embarrassed to say thank you to his face, but I really am. If I had been given the job of navigating, this trip might have just blown up in my face. I just have no sense of direction or awareness.

I came into this trip expecting to be pissed off most of the time or frustrated and angry, but it's actually been really fun.

We played bridge just now and I had so much fun. I love playing bridge but can never find anyone to play it with me. 💕 I'm a happy girl now! 

I shall end off here and sleep because we have an early bus to catch tomorrow. Thank you NY for everything, and I hope Boston will be just as good, if not better.

Oh I forgot - I bought a pin to add to my pin collection!

I don't buy too many souvenirs any more but I can't resist pins.

Ok I shall brush my teeth now. Good night NY.

#hazelnutinNY #hazelnutonExchange