Today is my last day in NYC… I’ll be leaving for Las Vegas in a few hours’ time.

NYC is a pretty fun and exciting place, with lots to see and do… however, one would need a substantial budget to go for nice meals, watch broadway shows and go for all the tours and attractions. On a low budget, there wouldn’t be much to see or do, because all the museums have admission charges of $10 – $20.

I bought a 3 day New York Pass (www.newyorkpass.com) for $100 and it gave me admission to ‘over 40 attractions’, but in actual fact only a handful of them are the better ones – having said that, it’s already worth the money, as I managed to use $100 worth of value on the first day alone.

I visited the Museum of Natural History, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Madame Tussaurds’ Wax Museum; went up the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island Immigration Museum, the Bodies Exhibition, and had a 2 hour evening ‘cruise’ on a ferry.

In terms of food, NYC wasn’t as expensive as I expected it to be – one can spend a fortune on food if he likes, but for people like me, $1.25 can get a breakfast of coffee and a chocolate eclair (I think the price was only for a coffee and donut but they gave it to me when I asked =)). That’s an impossible price to get in Canada (except for Macdonald’s $1.50 coffee and muffin).

I don’t have a very good first impression of NYC – I find that people here are pretty stressed out, always rushing for time (just like in Singapore), and pretty much unfriendly and not helpful – except for some street side food vendors who always seem to be cheerful and friendly. It’s certainly a nice place to visit for the shopping, shows and attractions, but it’ll never be on my list of places to work and live in.

Last night I was at a subway station and there were two transvestites dancing and taking off their shirts on the platform, either oblivious to the attention they were getting, or actually enjoying the attention. It was so funny and crazy, and I was telling my friend (whom I met for dinner) we don’t need to pay to go for cabaret or comedy shows… can just get a free show on the subway.

Another funny thing about subways here is that, on every single subway ride that I took (about 6 times), there would be some homeless people who’d hop on the train and start to tell their sob stories and asking for money. Homeless people here are very creative (well, some of their stories could be true, but I am skeptical), compared to those in Canada who just sit on the ground and hold out their hands! Here are some of the ones I remember:

* “Between XXX and XXX stations, somebody stole my wallet. I have no money to go home now, and I need $8.50 to get back. I have $1.85 now, and if somebody can spare me a quarter or any amount at all, it would be great”
* “I am HIV positive and have no ID. The hospitals would not treat me because I do not have an ID. I need money for food and for my treatment”
* The most ultimate one that I’ve encountered… and I gave some coins to… were 2 elderly men who got on the train I was on last night, and shouted “How are you, New York City?! It’s gospel time!”… and started to sing a catchy jingle (I couldn’t make out the lyrics cos I was listening to my MP3), dancing and jiggling across the train. I was impressed! I gave them some coins and one of the chaps gave me a hi-five and said, “you’re an artist”. LOL!

I think they deserved it – they were homeless but still able to ‘work’ for money, appearing cheerful and trying to entertain people… not like the stereotypical homeless people who’d just tell their sob stories and hold out their hands. The latter doesn’t work for me – I (and probably many other people) would think they are just making up stories half the time.

Alrighty, tonight I will stuff myself with a buffet in Las Vegas and finish the evening with a soak in the bathtub – a nice change from the bunk bed I was in for the past 5 nights.

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