I ♥ NY - Again



[Clockwise, L-R: In Wall Street with a strange man in uniform; In front of the New York Stock Exchange; St. Patrick's Cathedral; Times Square at night; A view of NY City at night from the Empire State Bldg; Grand Central station abuzz with people]


NY TRAVEL GUIDE FOR DUMMIES

1. A $120 hotel in OR has a gym and free donuts in the morning. Do not expect such in NY. And yeah, don't be fooled by a nice facade. Expect a hospital-like room and uhm, bathroom tiles the moment you step out of the elevator.
2. Drive less, or drive not. Even if you're an expert Pinoy driver. Your expertise in honking the horn is not in question. You're only going to be in the city for a few days so getting caught in traffic would not be a good way to spend your time..
3. If you plan to visit nearby states after, do rent a car, but park it in a long-term garage. We parked ours right across our hotel at a discounted rate, and we paid $84 for 4 days. Good deal.
4. Compare prices before making any reservations. We rented our car at National, for $135/week.
5. It is a good idea to print driving directions from Mapquest. Again, you don't want downtime, just because you got lost.
6. Spend a few dollars on good maps.. Refer to #5.
7. Familiarize yourself with the vicinity by studying the city map.. The subway stations has a lot of different exits, and it can disorient you when you come up to the streets.. Again, getting lost is no fun.
8. Get a subway map. Knowing how to get to the places you want to go to can save you a lot of time cruising around, or worse, walking around.. Hotels have city guides, and have these nice maps inside.
9. If you want to get good seats to Broadway/Off-broadway musicals at a discounted price (at least 25%), go to the discount booth at Times Square. They open at 3PM.
10. It is a good idea to check out the weather before and during your stay.. Weather channel galore..
11. Bring some good deal of cash.. Although all of the shops accept charge cards, you'll never know when you need it. And most ATMs there charge $1.50 per withdrawal and $1.00 per inquiry.
12. If travelling with friends, spend some time each day before you set out to regroup and plot maps and timelines. A well-planned day makes it more productive.. Again, you don't want to waste time circling in blocks when you're lost.
13. When checking out museums, stay away from guided tours as they tend to last for more than an hour.. Unless you want to get into deeper technical detail on the theory of relativity and the big bang... It's not exactly cool to split from the tour (specially when there are only 6 of you, and the 3 others are your friends), to follow the cute guy checking out the blackhole show ALONE.
14. Do bring comfy walking shoes.. I've always put fashion first before comfort (hehe)... but not this time.. I stopped wearing my boots after the first day because my feet hurt like hell..
15. Do not wear knee high boots at the airport, lest you get chosen for the random security check where you have to remove your coat and shoes..
16. Everyone tends to wear black coats in NY. If you're following a friend, make sure you can identify her from the crowd. We lost one of our companions TWICE. Once, she got left behind while we were crossing the street. We had a hard time spotting her from the CIB (crowd in black). Then she got left behind in the subway.. When we got down our stop, we realized she didn't. And thus, always make a contingency plan.. If you lose someone, pre-plan a meeting point and time where you'll regroup..
17. Upgrade your CF card (or memory sticks or bring lots of film).. You don't want to run out of memory.. Lots of photo ops.. Grabe. Getting an extra battery is good, too.
18. Familiarize yourself with your camera.. A bad picture due to incorrect settings can haunt you for a long time..