Today I had planned to go to Staten Island with the free ferry. It was packed so unsurprisingly I didn't get a good position to look at the Manhattan skyline. When we arrived to Staten Island I wanted to walk around and see a little bit of the island. I was recommended a Sri Lankan place about 20 mins walk from the terminal. It gave me a good chance to see what Staten Island was. In my mind I imagined it as a suburban white neighbourhood, but in reality it's like any other New York neighbourhood. There were run down buildings, empty shops, and some homeless people. I got to the Sri Lankan place and I was the only one there. The place itself is like a museum of Sri Lankan art and other objects. Really cool decor and I was lucky I had the place to myself. I ordered something similar to a Nasi lemak, rice with mutton and other things. It was delicious, one of the best meals I had on my trip. The real highlight was that they had eggplant in there, which I hate, but I loved how they cooked it.
After this I took a slow walk back to the ferry terminal where there was a 9/11 memorial close by. It was shaped to view inbetween two statues where the towers were standing. It wa also a great viewing point to see New Jersey, Manhattan and Brooklyn all together.
On the trip home was able to get a good view of the Manhattan as we headed in. What a spectacular skyline it truly is.
After this I went to st marks place to find some food. Decided on yakitori taisho, which was on my list of foods. Really good yakitori, got chicken skin, beef tongue and pork belly all great.
After that I went home cause I wanted to rest up for the big day to come.
New Years Eve (Day 24)
The big day was here, NYE in Times Square. I had dehydrated myself from the night before cause I knew I that once I got in I was stuck there til the end. So I wrapped up, got my choclates (18 snack size pieces) and headed out. I grabbed some pizza to eat before, nothing too big but I still had to eat something. I planned to get there around 12.30-1 so early but not too early. I ended up getting there 11.30, so an hour earlier than I planned. That being said I got a great spot so I was happy.
It was fairly uneventful for the first few hours, but at about 2pm Taylor swift and some of the other acts started rehearsals and warming up so that entertained everyone. The tv coverages started at 6 so from then there was music and stuff to watch. Every hour was a countdown to another new year in a different country. Theoughout this time there were fiveaways like some balloons to wave, foam hats and planet fitness gloves. They performances started at 8pm so there was more entertainment. By then it was getting very cold, my thought just to keep moving to the music to try stay warm. Other people were struggling sitting down, some lying in a ball. The main act was Taylor swift, with her song welcome to New York. It led up to the ball drop. The ball drop and the countdown is what everyone goes to see. I was in a great spot to see te screen and ball and to hear the whole crowd as well. Down to 1 the confetti started flowing down, the music was playing and the Times Square tower had some fireworks. It was truly an awesome experience, standing in the middle of it. Just a surreal experience to be in the middle of it all, something you've seen on TV so often. Side note on my way out I was like 10m away from terry crews.
Day 25
First day of 2015 I was still so happy from the day before. I woke up a bit later so went straight to lunch. I thought today was as good a day to try out shake shack. I tried the double with cheese fries and a salted caramel shake.
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