new york 101

im leaving to nyc in less than a month and i think i pretty much got everything covered.

i think.

hmm..

lets see, visa, got it. the process was relatively easy but so tedious! like seriously, it was enough to put me off travelling to US anytime soon but then happily discovered that the visa is actually for 10 years! so i guess it kinda worth the efffort. for those who are interested to know the process, here's the simple step by step.

step one - make payment at alliance bank for the visa application fee, about rm500 - the price slightly increased now due to the low exchange rate.

step two - go online (just google US visa from malaysia) and follow the step by step instructions to fill up the form. the questions are pretty standard but quite lengthy and detailed. make sure you have yr passport with you, yr parents details, yr work details, yr hotel in nyc details etc.

step three - after about 48hrs of submission and receiving the email of received application, you need to go back online and fill up the step by step procedure to obtain and fix an interview date. i chose 7.40am interview, i figured being the first in queue the faster the process.

or so i thought.

step four - the interview. there seems to be no rhyme or reason or logical sequence to interview number. for example, even though my interview session is the earliest session and should complete in an hour, my interview was only done at 10am! and those who arrives for the 8.40am interview, some actually went ahead before me!! so weird right? luckily my travel partner went for the interview the day before mine so actually warned me of the long wait, so i came prepared with a book in hand. so they only called me at 10am, and its not even in a room, its held over the counter, so everyone, and i mean EVERYONE could hear your interview, because the interviewers uses a loud speaker! and my interview? lasted barely a minute! the basic questions they asked are; purpose of visit, who am going with (they actually check the name in the system), where im staying, my work, what i do, my payslip or letter of employement (i came prepared! they warned about this in the FAQ website) and so on and so forth. relatively easy questions but quite intimidating as the interviews booth is quite high that u have to look up to them through a bullet proof glass and you try to answer calmly while they rapidly fire questions in a boomingly loud voice :p

whew!

next, hotel - everyone i know who's been to nyc and the guide books warned us not to stay in manhattan as the price can be crazily expensive for even the no star hotels, so we decided to stay slightly out of manhattan and managed to find a four star hotel in Queens that meets our budget, yeay! and despite the drama about the queens area (which i think comes from too much US tv :p) i have met people who actually lived in that area and declared that its far from the truth, the area is pretty safe and cool and you get a lot of cultural mix so sounds like my kind of neighbourhood. ive stayed at dodgy looking places before (the tiny little apartment on of those dodgy alley near la rambla in barcelona - scary at first but love it in the end! the small hostel in some back lane near the termini station in rome - discovered the best pizza EVER walking distance to where we stayed so twas worth it!) but ive always trusted my instincts when it comes to hotel bookings and so far, i can safely say my instincts can be trusted :) the best part of this hotel in nyc is that its only 15 minutes into manhattan via subway, 10 minutes from JFK via bus and its cheap, comes with breakfast and free parking! (if, and a BIG if, we decided to rent a car hehe)

we even managed to buy our tickets to watch Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theatre, so thats one thing done as well :) i have googled and read about al the places i need to visit in nyc so thats kinda covered too, and oh, even the shopping places :p

a few other things i need to check;

1. we wanted to have a day visit to Washington DC, so now browsing for transport options, either bus or train, kinda looking forward to check out the white house hehe.

2. got a friend up Boston, so might wanna visit her too, but havent decided on this yet.

3. definetely visiting the famous woodbury factory outlet! they have train and busses to go there, but am thinking of driving there, cos we will be ladened with shopping bags, and its easier to just dump it in the car :p but i need a co driver! i can drive left side, have done it in europe before but i cant drive alone so have yet to convince my travel mates to get their international license as well.

4. have listed down the gorgeous eateries and chic restaurants that we have to check out during our visit there, one of it being "Serendipity" cafe, a cafe ive been dying to visit ever since i saw the movie on it, remember, the one with kate beckinsale and john cusack? have not seen it? go see it! a truly romantic movie, sigh!

i have purchased Frommer's guide book on nyc, havent had a chance to fully read it yet, figured i can read it on the plane as it is a 20 hrs flight! yikes! i get stomach already thinking of the long flight there! but luckily i am travelling with my best friends so i think i will be fully entertained or will entertain them throughout the flight! hehe :p

the best part of visiting nyc in october and the one thing im looking forward too the most is the fact that its gonna be AUTUMN in New York! my favourite season of all seasons!

so i googled some lovely pictures (credits given to the photographers from google image website) of autumn in nyc;

isnt it lovely? i hope i get some good pictures from the park, its certainly worth the trip just to see these gorgeous trees..


side note : looking at these pictures made me wish that 'you' can come with me too..sigh..:(
im so wishing for the day we can take vacations together and visit all these wonderful amazing places just you and me :)



so i think im all set! unless if anyone out there can think of anything else i need to check out, do lemme know!