We (Wify and CE) made a road trip to NY during the last week of May. It started as a vacation trip to Atlanta only to visit some old friends. Then it was extended into a NY road trip when I was called to NY for a meeting, capitalizing on the Memorial Day weekend. While I attended to my business over the four days, each day braving the NY crowd during the morning and evening commutes in a PATH train, Wify and CE went on their own to explore NY city, a very first for them in my absence. Through it all they evinced their adventurous self, one that has eluded me when I was acting like a family protector, chaperoning most outdoor trips they have engaged in. And I was pleasantly surprised at how they were able to ask their ways around, and to adhere to safety and security measures that any sensible visitor to NYC would adopt. This pictorial travelogue, and those they follow, are a testimony to them having broken the mold as well as a tribute to their "new-found" confidence in taking on the world in the microcosm that is NYC. However, I would be featured here and there on the road trip as well since I'm the only driver in the family, or one authorized, by me, to drive anyway.
Flower bed in front of SpringHill Suites Edgewood Aberdeen, Bel Air, MD where we put up a night. The leaves with different shades of green seem like painted on.
On the Airtrain at Newark International Airport looking out while getting to the pickup point of the Hotel Shuttle Bus (SpringHill Suites by Marriot Newark Liberty International Airport). I fortuitously took a shot of the MAS plane (only the distinct tail logo is visible) behind one belonging to the Virgin Airline.
A flower pot on the pavement walkway along Broadway Avenue, NY City, just before the array of courthouses the front facades of which are inscribed with some insightful quotations on justice and government.
Upon entering the Museum of Natural History, Washington DC: The Sea of Dinasaurs encircling the Lee Family (you have to look really hard).
The Penang Restaurant tucked away besides the campus of UNC, Chapel Hill where we had authentic Malaysian food for dinner, but no chengdoh lah (the last is Manglish, a Malaysian colloquial equivalent of "man") .
Wify`s dinner order at Penang Restaurant. It`s a popular Malay dish, nasi lemak.
Yes, the Peach State, our immediate neighbor to the north.
A hole in the sky, seemingly about to lock itself over the Washington Monument!
Meeting our Atlanta host at at the shopping mall where the World Journal Bookstore is located.
At Courtyard Marriot, Jersey City, our temporary abode during our NYC trip. Since then, we have always stayed at the Marriot chain of hotels, trying to accumulate points for some free nights' stay in the future.
At the entrance to the PATH WTC terminal station. To the left and cordoned off is the reconstruction site of Ground Zero.
At the World Journal Bookstore on Broadway Avenue, Manhattan. Wify bought several chinese brush painting books by Chung-lin Yi at 20% discount lodged in the brown beg I was carrying.
This is as high as Wify would get to see "eye-to-eye" with a bird perched at the top of Empire State Building.
At the edge of Chinatown, NYC, along Canal Street.
Wify and CE "scaled" the Empire State Building, starting from the ground as shown. The red open-top double-decker bus is the Hop-on-Hop-off, a favorite among tourists while we prefer to explore on foot.
The Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island captured from the top of the Empire State Building.
Honey, I shrunk the Empire State Building!
The Chrysler Building, another iconic structure that dots the NYC skyscape, captured similarly.
The iron grill fencing that surrounds the observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building makes it seem safe even for the weak hearted, whom CE obviously is not.
