One night in New York.
From where I am on the 16th floor of the Hilton in this city that does not sleep, I cannot see the night sky.
A concrete jungle, literally. What a cliche.
But, do you know that you can fall in love with this concrete jungle?
And the city does not sleep. 3am and there are people walking about -- I can see them from my window -- and the traffic is somewhat alive.
Since coming to the US, my biorythm (if you believe in biorythm) has been out of whack.
I'm up and awake at 3am - sometimes I just want to go jogging -- and oh-so-sleepy at times when i shouldn't be.
I was in New York 30 years ago. has it changed much? Just got here at 1am just now, so I can't tell. My friend, Ai Lee - who works here -- said, it probably has.
An Amercian lawyer told me the other day that it has, definitely. The streets are safer and cleaner.
I'll find out later.
I'll just be a night in New York.
(picture taken of the street below at 3am from my 16th floor hotel room)
Shoknya ikut PM ke New York!Last year p ke Paris!Lepas ni kemana pulak?Tuah badan!
ReplyDeleteHave a bagel for me, Kak Ena! :)
ReplyDeleteflight tak delay ke?
ReplyDeletehas new york changed much? well, obviously the world trade center is no longer around...
ReplyDeletehalim.
ena,
ReplyDeleteif you didn't have to be at the jfk early, i'd have told you to just put on something warm and go and bathe in the crazy neons of times square just a few blocks south of yr hotel. it's relatively serene at that time of the nite/morning in that crazy square, or rather triangle.
and if i didn't have a stuffed head, i'd have hopped on a downtown train and joined you. after you're done with your repacking, of course.
a couple of hours more and we could have headed to the rocky plaza and watch the taping of the today show live, the only taping with life audience that doesn't require passes. were we to catch the attention of al (roker), our mugs might even show up on channel 4 that am. hehehe!
audience usually starts coming as early as 5am. the live music always features the biggest stars or the current hottest ones. even madonna had been known to turn up for this early gig.
ater that, we could have b'fasted at carnegie deli on the hugest kosher pastrami sandwich you've ever seen in your life and you'd still be on time to check out and meet your limo to jfk at 9. you'd be bleary-eyed of course, but you could sleep at the airport [with the dozens europe-bound passengers stalled by the icelandic ash] or en route to t'onto.
well, maybe next time you're in town, yah?
Enjoy your stay.
ReplyDeletenorzu: actually, I had been hving bagels for breakfast. and thinking of you!
ReplyDeleteadli: tak..kita ke Toronto jumpa anak. tak delay. and then kita fly back lalu pacific (ikut polar rout). so far tak ada announcement of flight delay. yag teruk kean sampai enam hari berturut2 adalah flight to London, Paris, amsterdam and Rome and several northern european cities. kesian yang terkandas di US.
nasib baik kita tak book flights via UK/Europe. thanks, Adli.
anon@10:26PM Halim,
ReplyDeletephyscially looks the same to me...of course WTC ta'de lagi.
the streets look the same. cuma ada new stores from when i was in the city 30 years ago..
and banyak nye gerai2 halal...
dan lebih cosmopolitan...
mekyam,
ReplyDeletedid u know we talked for almost an hour? way past midnight!
if it were not because i had to fly to canada after already setting the date with my son, i'd been able to stay a little while longer in New York. Didnt get enough of new york. but really, who can have wnough of NY. Look at yiou :-).
The next, we do New York like we were supposed to, ok!
until the next time...
thanks much, sweetie!
nuraina,
ReplyDeletegood to know tht yoy were not among the thousands stranded in the US because of cancelled flights to Londong and other European cities.
Safe journey home, Insyallah.
Er, Nuraina, to the anonymous commenter (4.41pm), kalau tuah badan nuraina, tuah badan semua wartawan yang buat liputan lawatan PM ke luar negara.
saya buat siasatan background skit. saya tanya wartawan-wartawan NST yang kenal Nuraina.
Mereka beritahu, liputan luar negara bukan sesuatu yg baru buat Nuraina. Orang lupa yg Nuraina sudah hampir 30 tahun bkerja sebagai wartawan di NST.
Bukan sahaja Dr Mahathir, bahkan Musa Hitam, Anwar Ibrahim dan Abdullah Badawi pernah Nuraina mengikuti ke luar negara.
Sorry, ya, kak... ramai orang yang tah kenal kak.
Salam
Jumpa anak di Toronto? Study di Toronto ke? I am in toronto.
ReplyDeleteJumpa anak di Toronto? I am in Toronto. Is he studying in Toronto? What is your e-mail address?
ReplyDeleteNuraina, hope u r back. Please write on Aminul. A 15yr old boy shot dead by police. This must stop. I recall we all sharing grief with Manja when he lost his son in an accident. I am stranger to Manja and i shed tears coz im a father. Now, Aminul is dead. Reading the mother's grief is making me weep as i write this. The police has the audacity to cast aspersions on the boy.
ReplyDeletehabib,
ReplyDeleteaminul's death is so so tragic. i feel for the parents.
i don't quite know what to write, really, except to say that it was such a tragic death and so sad for his family, and that someone has to pay for putting a bullet thru his head.
Who paid for your trip to Canada ... NST or you?
ReplyDeleteA Chye ( I'm not ah chye lah, or maybe I am, and I'll just deny it .. u never know)
Aminul's death is Malay killing Malay.
ReplyDeleteanon@4:32PM,
ReplyDeleteu expect me to answer that?
hahaa. ah chai is old-timer like me. so he's not stupid to ask that question.
anon@4:34PM,
ReplyDeleteoh come on. if the victim was indian, you'd say it's malay killing indian. if the policemen were indian, you'd say it's indian killing malay.
stop this kind of talk.
his fatal shooting is a tragedy. a terrible terrible tragedy.
You shouldnt call murder a tragey. Its a CRIME, not a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteConcrete jungle where dreams are made of there's nothing you can't do..alicia keys, Let's hear it for NY
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHagigQRKqU&NR=1