South-East: Myrtle Beach Wasn’t Moaning, It Was Roaring!

After 4 weeks of sulking and practically doing nothing over the weekends (wait, Captain America and Friends with Benefits were NOT "nothing", ok? lol) I finally decided to burn some time and cash going down south to cross a few more states of the east coast. A little over two weeks ago I found out that a good old friend of mine who I have not met for 14 years is currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina which is about 5 hours’ drive from my place in Maryland. If that is not the perfect excuse, I don't know what is.

So I decided to leave early on Friday from work to beat the traffic around DC and Virginia, as per advised by my occasional when-I-don't-bring-food-from-home lunch buddy cum donuts-and-bagels-guy (there, James, I hope you are happy :-p). Well, apparently leaving at 3pm from Columbia, MD going south was NOT nearly early enough! I still got caught in 10 mph-0 mph-10 mph traffic for about 2.5 hours just outside of DC well into the borders of Virginia on the I-95. I wonder at what time US government officers actually get off work to cause such massive jam that early.

Nevertheless, I got to Raleigh, NC in one piece. My old friend looked just like how I remembered him 14 years ago. I know I didn’t. We did the usual eating and talking. I probably talked more than he did, of course, because that’s just how we were; myself the thrash-talking machine gun and him the quiet shock absorber. His wife was around so I guessed I kinda behaved myself properly. At least I thought so.

For them I brought a precious little gem from the great land of Malaysia, a rarity, a luxury item here in the USA that would cost an arm, a leg and significant effort to acquire: a pack of Maggi instant noodles, the all-time favorite Malaysian junk food.

The next day we went on a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It took about 3 hours to get there from his place. Considering that it was the fasting month of Ramadhan, it probably was not a good idea to go to a beach in the USA where, you know there would be “eye candies” all around -_- . Unfortunately that was about the closest attraction crossing the border to SC and I did not have much time to go anywhere further. Plus, his wife was coming along so it couldn’t be that bad (yeah right, and who was it who wanted to watch the mermaids show??? lol).

Basically there were a few obvious things to do at Myrtle Beach. We started by walking on the Boardwalk along the beach, watching a variety of half-naked people of all shapes and sizes, the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, and window shopping for souvenirs. Apparently it was tax free weekend in SC but I didn’t really find anything of interest other than some fridge magnets and keychains. I did the usual load of photos on my trusty Atrix.

There were a few fun rides near the Boardwalk; a slingshot similar to what we have in Malaysia a few years back, (if I remember correctly was called “Reverse Bungy”) which basically shot 2 riders sky-high on cables and then bouncing them up and down; a big Ferris-wheel, and a roller coaster. All costing money that I didn’t want to spend though the slingshot ride was particularly very tempting. Probably wasn’t a good idea to get on it on empty stomach anyway.

We then went to an open-space shopping mall called the Broadway at the Beach where things got interesting. It started to rain. We took refuge in one of the shops but the downpour just kept on going for quite some time so we decided to just walk in the rain. It wasn’t so bad at first but soon we were drenched to our bones. And I absolutely enjoyed it!

Broadway was a beautiful place with beautiful structures around a lake. Aside for the usual shop lots and restaurants, there were castles, an aquarium, IMAX Theater, Ripley’s museums, and one building called the Wonderworks which was designed to look like it was uprooted upside down. I believe it was a restaurant but I’m not sure. Somehow the rain just made everything more… majestic. It was quite an experience walking in the rain without care like that while trying desperately to keep my Atrix and videocam dry.

We decided to call it a day right after that and drove back to NC wet and all, and arrived in time for dinner.

Yesterday morning, right after Sahur I bid farewell to the happy couple and made my way back to Maryland, to the sanctuary of the cold dark suite (read: cave) I call home for another 60 days.

Things learned from this trip. It’s a long long way to Orlando, Florida but that’s where all the action is. Cheesecake enthusiasts like me should check out the Cheesecake Factory. Delaware is a tax-free state (4 months here and I just discovered that. Damn). Turkmenistan is an actual name of a country. I could cross three more states on the north-east within a few hours from New Haven, CT. Painted shells on hermit crabs are beautiful in a creepy way. I really, really need to work on my drowsy driving problem before I really crash sometime somewhere. My friend had NEVER been to Penang and that is a SIN! Most importantly, even if things change for the better or worse, some things will always stay the same.

If I have one word to describe last weekend, it would be AWESOME!

Home: There and Back Again

Three weeks ago today I was on the way back home to the land of nasi lemak, teh tarik, and everything boleh after spending three months in the land of hamburger, beer and everything… free. I reached home after 30 hours of travelling to the confused face of my daughter. I truly believed that she had almost forgotten who I was!

We headed to McDonald's as soon as I touched down. Ironic.

3 months is a long long time when you have growing children. Before I left, my eldest barely read and write; my second barely talked; and my newborn still fit into size S diapers. Now everything turned upside down.

We had 12 days and I tried as much as I can to make the best of it. I sorted out 3 months of documents and mails that piled up in the back room. I settled bills, debts and summons. I dealt with bureaucracy. I had to send the infamous janda to yet another needed repairs… on a tow truck. I went back to my hometown for a day for my parents and brothers. I witnessed Bersih 2.0; no rewards for guessing where I stand on that matter. I took my family for a vacation in a cheap hotel and spent an entire day at a water park. I went to work but didn't really do any work at all. I went on a date with my wife like good old times, watching the epic ending of Harry Potter; of course I was actually WATCHING and being emotional while the missus barely kept her eyes open. Like good old times indeed. I had good food all the time.

I had 12 days, and 12 days passed soon enough.

Last week I journeyed 42 hours back to Maryland, USA. I’m kinda broke (as if I ever was not) and a little bit low-spirited. I missed my family the moment I stepped into the plane, yet the odd thing was that it also felt like coming back to another home.

Of course it’s easy to say that when you are living on company tab.

Big Apple: Tour de Manhattan... In 12 Hours! Believe It!

Tuesday’s Glee episode was about New York. It felt odd as I was just there last weekend. New York felt like a place I’ve always known but have never been to. How do you get to know a place so well yet never been there a day in your life? Well, Peter Parker lost Gwen Stacy on the George Washington Bridge, an event which changed an entire universe. King Kong ran rampage and swatted airplanes from the top of the Empire State Building. Mac Taylor fished out dead bodies from the bottom of the Hudson River. Barney Stinson picked up girls from JFK airport, what up! Anna announced the arrival of the Visitors on the screens of Times Square. John McLane, Agents J and K were all over the city chasing after bombs, bad guys… and aliens. Ross Geller, Ted Mosby and Jerry Seinfeld all had one same problem: driving and parking in New York. In the fabric of reality, Bon Jovi rocked the Madison Square Garden. David Copperfield made the entire Statue of Liberty vanish into thin air. And of course, the single event of 9/11 which destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center and changed the entire world.

Simply said, I grew up watching and reading New York. The opportunity to live and breathe New York finally came last weekend when my lunch buddy graciously volunteered to show me around town. I thought, well, if rapture was going to happen, I might as well be in New York City when it happened! Yeap, that weekend was rapture weekend but nobody seemed to give a damn. :)

We started off the journey after work on Friday, from Columbia, Maryland to Clinton, New Jersey where my tour guide was from. We had some unexpected detour on the way, fumbling over the roads in Pennsylvania. But it wasn’t a bad detour at all as for the first time I actually saw Amish people living among the modern civilization! Amish people are a group of Christians who virtually use no form of technology at all. They do not use electricity, and they travel around in buggies pulled by ponies and horses. They farm and harvest by hand. They only apple they are interested in are the edible ones. Admirable.

We drove next morning to Jersey City, and parked near Grove Station to take the Path train to New York. Any sane New Yorker would advise against driving in New York for obvious reasons; if you think traffic in Kuala Lumpur is bad, well, wait till you get caught in one in New York City. The Path train led us straight to our first spot, Ground Zero.

The actual Ground Zero was barred and fenced from the public as there were construction works going on there. There were tourists all around and most certainly everyone there were not locals so I fit right in. There was a steel cross built from pieces of the Twin Towers, shrines, flowers, and murals on the walls around the area commemorating those who died and survived 9-11. The mood all around was somber and we did not linger on any more than necessary.

We moved forward to Battery Park where there were ferries for visitors to the Statue of Liberty… IF one were willing to line up at least a mile long and wait at least 2 hours for his/her turn. I wasn’t, so I just picked a spot where I can see the green old lady, snapped some photos and videos, and decided to move on to the next spot.

Wall Street, here the world economy makes and breaks. To the uninitiated layman like me, Wall Street looked just like any other city streets. Of course behind the veil trillions of dollars flowed in and out every day! We passed by Trump building, the Federal Hall and NYSE, and got to Broadway. From Broadway, we walked to City Hall Park, and of course the City Hall where Mayor Michael Bloomberg served the city’s causes.

From that point onwards I got really excited as we head towards the Brooklyn Bridge. I was an avid fan of Spider-Man and had always thought that Brooklyn Bridge was where Norman Osborn killed Gwen Stacy. I discovered only recently that the event actually occurred on the George Washington Bridge! That discovery was like a blow to the integrity of my fandom but who cares, right? But anyway, the bridge was very familiar so it wasn’t a total loss.

From the Brooklyn Bridge we then head to Chinatown and Little Italy to visit my tour guide’s immediate kin. Some pointers to survive Chinatown: if you are not gonna buy it, do not ask about it. Keep your head straight and do not talk to people. Nothing personal, just how business worked there. Just in that short walk along the street I came across two incidences of arguing! It reminded me of the degenerative state of things at Petaling Street the last time I went there. It wasn’t pretty.

Little Italy was full of Italian restaurants on the sidewalks. From Little Italy we headed to Greenwich Village, where New York University is located. The attraction? Pretty, young, possibly partying-type college girls… and of course if you liked F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Central Perk was supposed to be somewhere there.

We had walked roughly 5 miles by then, and it was starting to rain so we took the Path train to Madison Square Garden. Pennsylvania Station was right under Madison Square Garden and from there people can get to JFK airport. I was thinking to go that route to send my family off in two weeks’ time.

Next stop was Times Square, which reminded me somewhat of a bigger and more advanced version of Bukit Bintang, with big screens on the buildings everywhere. In case of breaking news, all the screens there will immediately change and show it. We did not stay to see if rapture was really happening though.

From Times Square we passed by Bryant Park; apparently the pool there would be frozen during winter and people can ice-skate on it. We did not stop by as we were already feeling the exhaustion of walking the entire day and just wanted to get to our final destination: the Empire State Building.

I originally did not want to get on the observation deck on the 86^th floor of the building as it cost USD21 per person, but I thought, well, it was the only attraction that I would be paying for the day anyway so why not? Fans would note that Peter Parker, King Kong and Barney Stinson were native to the building for entirely different reasons. Alas, the line to go up lasted for about an hour! While up, I spent about 10 minutes to snap photos and videos, and then lined up another 15 minutes to get down. For USD21, I certainly do not want to do that again!

By the time we got down from the Empire State Building, it was already getting dark, so we decided to have dinner New York style. Pizza.

We then caught the train back to New Jersey, and by the time we reached home, it was almost midnight. We had walked about and spent an entire day on our feet. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and given the grounds we covered within 12 hours, it certainly earned us the bragging rights!

I would return, next time with my parents, wife and eldest, and there is no way I can walk them around Manhattan the way I did, but at least I would not be entirely clueless. I missed Central Park and the Statue of Liberty, and hopefully I can cover the two spots next time.

My family will be boarding the plane in about 4 hours, and they will be here within 48 hours. I can’t wait!

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