EXILED FROM CHINATOWN: the girls take on the big apple! THE END!!! p.25

[AussieAngel]

Yay, I love the big red buses!!

We've bought tickets for them both times we've visited New York - it's such an easy, fun way to get around the city. Except in December, it was SO cold up the top, even with the hard plastic covering they put over the top! There were definitely people sitting downstairs then... but not us! We braved it! Silly us!! Brrrr!

Also in December, it took us almost 2 hours to get Downtown, because of the NYE crowds! And remember we had that crazy tour guide who kept telling people to stop talking?! Hehehee. Always an experience!!

The Met looks very pretty!! Can't wait to read about Central Park, it's my favourite!! Hope you took lots of pretty photos!!

 

[MA pigletfan]

oK now i REALLY want to go back to NYC!!! I haven't been to the MET since senior year of high school..i am WAY overdue! I think i will def. be planning a weekend trip to visit my friend this fall/winter..after the wedding craziness. I love the rooftop pics..so fun!

 

[troobabiee7]

I love your pics! The Met's one of my very favorite places in all of the city - it's so gorgeous in there. In all the times I've been though, I've never been up to the roof deck! I'll definitely have to check it out next time, the view looks amazing. Thanks for sharing!

 

[passthepixiedust]

Wow.... I just got back from Disneyland on Monday night and am just now catching up. I gotta say, your trip looks like it was amazing. You did so many of the things I have always wanted to do and it is so fun to see it from the POV of someone else who has never done it. Now, if only you had done the Kramer Reality Tour.....

 

[shannon47142]

another great update, Dawn!!! Your trip is making me wish to revisit NYC in a girls weekend soon!!

 

[jwwi]

Great museum pictures, love it.

 

[RachelNinja]

I'm here and reading! I finally caught up from the beginning. I usually read your TRs too, but I don't comment much on DIS anymore since I catch on so late. But I just wanted to say a hello here since you said you don't seem to have as many readers.

I really like your thread! It's fun to see TRs to other places too, especially when there are a ton of pictures! I'm a NY, but you know how it goes ... those who actually live in NY rarely actually visit all those things you've seen. We take it for granted. I've been to all the museums on field trips, but it would definitely be different to go see them now. Now that I'm older and not in school anymore, I would love to visit all the museums! Well, except for the AMNH ... I'm terrified of the dioramas section because there's a display of buffalo or bison. Plus, I'm also scared of the big blue whale (which is funny to me because I recently learned that my grandfather helped design the thingie that holds it up!).

Anyway, I agree with you about Sardi's. It wasn't good at all. My aunt used to take me to see Broadway shows (that's one NYer thing I actually love doing) and we'd go to Sardi's or Carmine's or any of those places. Sardi's wasn't good. It was just expensive! I think Tony's di Napoli was the best. Carmine's is good because of the sauces, but I don't like al dente pasta.

I also watched those clips of Nicole Parker in Wicked. WOW. She was GOOD. I did not expect her to sing so well after knowing her for her Britney Spears and Ashlee Simpson impersonations! I saw it with Idina Menzel (and Joey McIntyre as Fiyero), and I guess I was spoiled because I didn't like anyone else who played Elphaba (from the clips I heard on the radio or on YouTube). But Nicole Parker is definitely up there! It's always interesting to see TV people on Broadway. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, I thought it was amazing to hear Sara Ramirez (Callie on Grey's) be the Lady of the Lake during the Tony Awards. W-O-W. That clip always makes me wish I had a Broadway voice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yRlnSgu-bY).

Anywayyy, haha, all that to say, looking forward to your next installment!

 

[MagicShell]

I love looking at all your pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[ArielSRL]

i guess i've just never paid attention to the crumb things. PF chang's and bonefish are about as expensive as i get on a regular basis though!

I'm fairly certain I have only been to two restaurants that used them and it was one trip to each one. Special occasions both times. I'm with you...I don't go to the expensive places very often. I live on a budget, as does my boyfriend!

 

[MeMom]

Sorry for not keeping up. I don't spend much time on the Community Board, so I forget sometimes that you've got this going. I loved seeing it all, as I doubt I will ever make my way up there. Trent says he's going to take me to NYC in December one of these days to see all the Christmas stuff, but who knows when/if that will ever happen.

You saw a bunch of cool stuff! I do like the unique architecture of so many of the buildings. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

 

[joy13]

The Met is awesome! When I go back to NYC, I definately need to try the bus!

 

[punkin413]

I've never been to Sardi's either. But I LOVE Juniors! Their chocolate mouse cheesecake is one of my favorite things in the universe, it atkes like 4 days to eat but it's good!!!

oh, their cheesecake was soooooo good!

Great update! You are right, Brooke was funny! Its way funny that it took that many pics to get a good one of her and you!

yeah, that's the norm for her. she has my dad's looney gene.

So I have been to the met so many times i know my way around BUT i have never been to the roof. I think a trip is in order next week!

I'm so glad the weather was nice for you!

i'm glad i made you want to go up there - it's really cool! the view is really pretty. hope you get to go soon!

Wow the views in some of those shots are beautiful!! Wowwww is all I can say, so nice. Brooke is too funny cracking her back on the handrails LOL

I've NEVER been to the MET, some NYer I am! It looks so gorgeous but I think it would definitely have to be something to do on a girl's day out because I don't think I could get Chris to spend much time in there, he's got ADD I think! LOL The Asian displays are so nice and Anna's yoga posing is great LOL

brooke doesn't care who is watching or what they think of her. it's great. ray would like the MET for about 10 minutes then he'd be done. so definitely a girls trip kinda thing!

Beautiful pictures of the Met! I am exhausted now just thinking about how much walking you must have done in there!

I think the guy who killed Medusa was Perseus.

thanks! oh, it was so BIG!!!! i honestly did more walking in NYC than in disney, believe it or not. thanks for the clarification! when i was like 14 i was SO into mythology but i have since forgotten a good bit of it!

Yay, I love the big red buses!!

We've bought tickets for them both times we've visited New York - it's such an easy, fun way to get around the city. Except in December, it was SO cold up the top, even with the hard plastic covering they put over the top! There were definitely people sitting downstairs then... but not us! We braved it! Silly us!! Brrrr!

Also in December, it took us almost 2 hours to get Downtown, because of the NYE crowds! And remember we had that crazy tour guide who kept telling people to stop talking?! Hehehee. Always an experience!!

The Met looks very pretty!! Can't wait to read about Central Park, it's my favourite!! Hope you took lots of pretty photos!!

i bet it was cold in december!!!!! brrrrrrr. yeah, i do remember that tour guide. we never had a nazi tour guide like that. both of ours were really friendly. central park should be coming up soon!

oK now i REALLY want to go back to NYC!!! I haven't been to the MET since senior year of high school..i am WAY overdue! I think i will def. be planning a weekend trip to visit my friend this fall/winter..after the wedding craziness. I love the rooftop pics..so fun!

it's a great place to visit but it's so huge - take a whole day to go there! oh, your wedding is coming up, huh? i saw your ticker. hope the planning is going well!

I love your pics! The Met's one of my very favorite places in all of the city - it's so gorgeous in there. In all the times I've been though, I've never been up to the roof deck! I'll definitely have to check it out next time, the view looks amazing. Thanks for sharing!

i can't believe i did something you've never done at the MET! it was kind of my accident that we went up there but i'm glad we did. it was really pretty!

Wow.... I just got back from Disneyland on Monday night and am just now catching up. I gotta say, your trip looks like it was amazing. You did so many of the things I have always wanted to do and it is so fun to see it from the POV of someone else who has never done it. Now, if only you had done the Kramer Reality Tour.....

i can honestly say we only did about a fourth of the stuff i wanted to do. you could live in NYC for a year and never get to do everything! the kramer reality tour? sounds interesting. do you visit the soup nazi??? NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!!!

another great update, Dawn!!! Your trip is making me wish to revisit NYC in a girls weekend soon!!

thanks! it was a blast. hope you get to take a trip soon!

Great museum pictures, love it.

thanks!

I'm here and reading! I finally caught up from the beginning. I usually read your TRs too, but I don't comment much on DIS anymore since I catch on so late. But I just wanted to say a hello here since you said you don't seem to have as many readers.

thanks for saying hi! yeah, i guess people aren't as interested in NYC as they are in disney. i guess that makes sense since we are on a disney board!

I really like your thread! It's fun to see TRs to other places too, especially when there are a ton of pictures! I'm a NY, but you know how it goes ... those who actually live in NY rarely actually visit all those things you've seen. We take it for granted. I've been to all the museums on field trips, but it would definitely be different to go see them now. Now that I'm older and not in school anymore, I would love to visit all the museums! Well, except for the AMNH ... I'm terrified of the dioramas section because there's a display of buffalo or bison. Plus, I'm also scared of the big blue whale (which is funny to me because I recently learned that my grandfather helped design the thingie that holds it up!).

i think every city is like that! i live near atlanta and haven't been to the aquarium yet, even though i hear it's really cool. it's been open for like 3 years now and i still haven't made it! cool that your grandfather helped design the blue whale "holder"!

Anyway, I agree with you about Sardi's. It wasn't good at all. My aunt used to take me to see Broadway shows (that's one NYer thing I actually love doing) and we'd go to Sardi's or Carmine's or any of those places. Sardi's wasn't good. It was just expensive! I think Tony's di Napoli was the best. Carmine's is good because of the sauces, but I don't like al dente pasta.

we had AMAZING italian on our last night, but you'll see that later.

I also watched those clips of Nicole Parker in Wicked. WOW. She was GOOD. I did not expect her to sing so well after knowing her for her Britney Spears and Ashlee Simpson impersonations! I saw it with Idina Menzel (and Joey McIntyre as Fiyero), and I guess I was spoiled because I didn't like anyone else who played Elphaba (from the clips I heard on the radio or on YouTube). But Nicole Parker is definitely up there! It's always interesting to see TV people on Broadway. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, I thought it was amazing to hear Sara Ramirez (Callie on Grey's) be the Lady of the Lake during the Tony Awards. W-O-W. That clip always makes me wish I had a Broadway voice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yRlnSgu-bY).

Anywayyy, haha, all that to say, looking forward to your next installment!

yeah, she was amazing! i was so surprised. i didn't expect her to have that voice. the CD i have is idina menzel and she was unbelievable!

I love looking at all your pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

thanks! glad you're enjoying it.

I'm fairly certain I have only been to two restaurants that used them and it was one trip to each one. Special occasions both times. I'm with you...I don't go to the expensive places very often. I live on a budget, as does my boyfriend!

i will keep my eye out for one of those crumb thingies. i'll probably scare the person using it because i think they're so cool! i'm odd.

Sorry for not keeping up. I don't spend much time on the Community Board, so I forget sometimes that you've got this going. I loved seeing it all, as I doubt I will ever make my way up there. Trent says he's going to take me to NYC in December one of these days to see all the Christmas stuff, but who knows when/if that will ever happen.

You saw a bunch of cool stuff! I do like the unique architecture of so many of the buildings. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

no worries! it's so funny how we all keep up with our threads differently. i never go to the actual boards. i just hit "user CP" to see who's updated their thread since the last time i was on the boards. i hope trent gets to take you one day! my mom said something about going someday so i'm hoping to make a trip with her in the future. the buildings there are SO pretty! i could just walk around all day and look at the architecture!

The Met is awesome! When I go back to NYC, I definately need to try the bus!

yes, it was! so big but so pretty! the buses are great. i'd recommend them to anyone. just hope you can understand your tour guide!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Somehow I missed your update until today. I love your museum pics - how fab to be able to see all those "real" things up close! I would love to go to the "Night at the Museum" place!

 

[punkin413]

after we left the MET we started walking down fifth avenue and i believe we took a right into central park just south of 79th street. if you've never seen a map of manhattan, i'm posting one below just so you can see how big central park is. it's that ginormous green thing in the midle of the city.

as soon as i got into central park i knew i would love it. it's such a pretty place with lots of shade and green, green grass. this was a sunday so there were lots of people walking their dogs, playing with their kids or just sprawled out on the grass getting some sun. it was so nice!

this dog was tiny!

one of the first areas we came to was where the alice in wonderland statue was. i was so happy when i saw it! you guys know how i feel about the story and the movie - it's my 2nd favorite disney movie behind peter pan.

here are some of the plaques that are in the ground around the statue....

i have this as one of my ring tones....

i loved that they had this there! it's the song that the cheshire cat sings to alice. and it makes NO sense......which is the point.

i had to get a picture with it. the mad hatter looks like he's going to eat me.

we then kept walking and came to the conservatory water area, where you can rent little boats....

at some point we saw this street performer. i guess she was supposed to be like a statue (sort of like the ones they used to have at epcot) except she didn't stay still very long. and she'd do an elaborate pose for a couple of seconds then change to a boring one. i wasn't that impressed!

some pictures as we walked along....

we watched this guy perform for a little while. he was really funny with the kids. he basically did tricks with juggling and water. it was cute! the kids were laughing hysterically at him and that always puts a smile on your face.

we passed the children's zoo on the left.....

and then we saw the main central park zoo on the right.....i wonder if the characters from madagascar are still there?

do you see the sea lions? look at the rock on the far right. they are just to the left of that. i wanted to check out the zoo but when we got up to where you buy the tickets the line was really long so we didn't.

oh, and then the highlight of my day. we saw this magnificent specimen....

as we were walking down these stairs anna yelled at us to look back at her for a picture and i felt compelled to do my best "blue steel" from zoolander.

we came upon "the pond" area of south central park and i thought it was so pretty!

i wanted to walk down "the mall" area because so many scenes in movies had been filmed there so we headed back up center drive. there were lots of horses in this area and BOY DID IT STINK!

the typical tourist.....walking with a NYC guide book in my hand!

we came to an area they had for people to play chess. anna quietly went up there and took a picture. i thought that was so cool!

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32460188&postcount=235

 

[punkin413]

finally we made it to the mall. i love this area! i think it's so pretty.

i actually bought a print of some pictures of the mall the day before from a street vendor. she had a deal - 5 for $20. i got two (one of the mall and one of the brooklyn bridge, which you will see later), anna got two and brooke got one. anyway, here's the print i got. i'm gonna frame it and hang it in my office, i think. it's the mall in spring, summer, fall and winter.

i should've done this before i started writing but here is as good of a place as any to include it. during "enchanted" when she sings "how does she know?" there are LOTS of scenes in central park. here's the link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzeFxc8BAfU

some things to look for that you'll see in some of my pictures:

~when they're in the boat there's a big house behind them - that's the boat house restaurant.

~when the brides and grooms are dancing they are at the mall.

~when she's in the play or whatever with the little girl they're in this big arch thing. there's a picture of it below.

~i kept looking for the bridge that prince edward jumps off of and then gets hit by a bike but i never did see it that i know of. (by the way i love james marsen....he's such a cutie!)

~the last scene in the song is the fountain that we will see later. it was SO pretty! it's called the bethesda fountain.

okay....so anyway, back to the trip!

we decided to get ice cream as we walked down the mall. brooke and i got strawberry shortcakes and anna got an ice cream cookie.

after the mall we headed towards the bethesda fountain and we saw the big arch thing i was refereincing above. i think it's called the bandshell.

we saw these guy performing. they were pretty funny and REALLY athletic. when we first walked up they were doing all sorts of gymnastics but i couldn't get pics because people were in front of us.

this guy was all hot and sweaty and i remember when he picked that kid up i was thinking, ewwwwwwww! i wouldn't want him to touch me! that little boy was adorable, by the way.

i took some video of them. please ignore my voice. it was SO hoarse and when i laugh it sounds AWFUL!





the fountain was right behind them so we headed that way after their "show." anna saw a place she thought was pretty to get a picture so she made me pose.

here's the real one.

the fountain was SOOOO pretty! i loved this area.

brooke.....deep in thought.

i think she's channeling elvis maybe?

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32460199&postcount=236

 

[punkin413]

after we went down those stairs we heard music coming from under the bridge to the right. so we went to check it out. then we saw this......

somewhat of an odd-looking pair, wouldn't you say?

and yes, she does have clothes on under that outfit.

when we first saw them we were....intrigued. but after we started listening i was really impressed. he had jingle bells on his ankles and the music was just him stomping and his violin. and her voice was HAUNTING. his, not so much. but it was really cool actually.

here's a video.



the area they were performing in was beautiful!

after that we made our way over to the bethesda fountain.

on a side note, see that little baby to the right of the fountain, the one whose dad is giving us a dirty look. we ended up walking behind them a few minutes later and he was precious! he was just learning to walk and he'd wobble and then take a few steps and then wobble some more. we were all oooohing and awwwwwing over him!

just behind the fountain is an area of "the lake" where people are in boats. and beyond that is the boathouse, which has been in many movies too.

the one that comes to mind is in "27 dresses" when katherine heigle's (i'm sure i spelled that wrong) sister is supposed to get married there. it's such a pretty area.

speaking of "27 dresses" here's the scene where they sing "benny and the jets." again, can i say how cute james marsden is?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDhQ7lMF9zk

coincidence that he's now in TWO of the clips i've posted? i'll let you decide.

back to the trip. sorry....i apparently have ADD today.

it was almost 5:00 so we decided to head to strawberry fields and call it a day. here's the area around the fountain looking back. so pretty!

another band we saw playing on the way.....

i'm sure everyone knows this but strawberry fields is the area of central park dedicated to john lennon. there's supposedly 161 different types of plants donated by the 161 nations in existance when it was designed in 1985 (straight from the guide book!). this area is located across the street from the dakota apartment building, where john lennon was murdered.

when we got up to the "imagine" mosaic there were people everywhere listening to a beatles tribute band sitting nearby.

i didn't think to get a video but they were pretty good.

i found this on youtube. i think it's the same guys, at least some of them are. this was taken at strawberry fields on john lennon's birthday last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ODncEoA7Q

if i could take any part of NYC home with me it would be central park. i just loved it! i can't wait to go back someday with ray. i think he'd really enjoy visiting the park and i highly recommend it to anyone who goes to NYC!

after that we headed for the subway to get back to the hotel. this time we were pretty sure of which train to get on!

being goofy on the subway!

next update: a visit to the top of the city!

 

[Happy Elf]

Great update! I love all your pictures of Central Park! It is such a beautiful place. It's neat to see all the different areas.

 

[troobabiee7]

Aw I loooooved your pictures!!! Central Park's my favorite part of the city, along with Rockefeller Center. Gorgeous. And you saw THOTH!!!!! He's somewhat of a Central Park celebrity... he has his own website and everything, it's hilarious! I'm glad you had a good time walking around the park. You can just get lost in there and escape from the city for hours and hours Can't wait for more!

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Great updates!! I love that fountain in Central Park - I think it was in One Fien Day - one of my fave Clooney films!!!

 

[shannon47142]

loved, loved the Central Park pictures!!!!