No Such Luck Tours: July 6th - New York, New York

Finally, it is time to leave the giant theme park that is Niagara Falls, ON and head down to another giant theme park - MANHATTAN!

Our flight from Buffalo to JFK Airport was at 6am so we wake up at 3am (yes. WAKE UP at 3 o'clock in the morning), showerlessly put on our backpacks and walk over the bridge to cross borders from Ontario, Canada to Buffalo, NY.

The walk from our hotel to Buffalo took about 20 minutes so we were early for our prearranged taxi ride. It is cheaper when you don't need to cross boarders on your ride.

The taxi driver we got this time was awesome. Unfortunately we didn't get his name but he was funny, understanding and agreed to take us to the Buffalo airport for $60 - it came to over $80 on the metre.

We get to the airport just in time to check in (another $25 to check our backpack), sit down and have a very average breakfast sandwich before boarding.

Delta... oh how I hate thee... The flight was indeed a full house. The overhead bag storage was also a full house and the seats were tiny. I was pressed against the "window" with no room for my legs (as our carryon luggage were placed there), while Dan was curled up and twisted like the biggest pretzel on earth. A little tip would be to ask for the wing seats for extra room

After about 5 hours we arrive at JFK airport. The subway system was a little difficult to understand so we make a few wrong stops (by "we" I mean Dan) and get to the Central Park at about 10am.

9am in NY July is absolutely disgusting. No breeze, no cold mist, NOTHING. It was HOT, STICKY and absolute TORTURE for us backpakers. No sleep + no proper food + backpacks + scorching heat = angry.

We walked through Central Park to get to our hotel Park 79 for a long wanted shower and AC.

Park79 rooms are tiny. But if you're anything like us, and wouldn't have any time to linger in your room, it'd be perfect. It was clean, cute, charming and in a primo location.

Once we had regained our consciousness it was time for lunch! We walked over to an Asian+American fusion cafe called Canteen 82.

Dan had a Lox bagel sandwich, and I had Penang Noodle Soup with shrimp.

It was finally time to venture around the NYC!

The first thing: American Museum of Natural History.

SO awesome and yet SO big.

Took about 200 photos of the dinosaur skeletons to use as a reference for work. teehee!

But after about 3 hours of being caged in there with thousands of screaming children who should've been left at home, we decided to leave to have another stroll along the Central Park.

It was more a detour AROUND the Central Park more than anything, but if Dan wasn't in charge of directions, I'd still be at the museum trying to escape.

We got to the famouse FAO Schwarz toy store (home to the giant piano featured in Big), which was located on 5th Ave right next to the huge Apple store (we didn't dare to go in. We just stared at a huge pile of teenagers forming a staircase).

Again, like everywhere we had been in NYC so far, it was crowded with angry parents and screaming children. But it was also pretty cool to see some cool displays of toys they had.

(Me and Chewbacca) (The Big Piano)

(The Muppets Corner)

I have a hard time not taking photos of toys, so here are some more:

And THEN (oh yes, it didn't end here), we were released onto 5th Ave again to run wildly into any building that had powerful AC leaking out through the spinning door.

To name a few:

Tiffay & Co.

The Trump Tower

(had to stop for frappuccinos - and look! In Manhattan, they show you the calorie content on the menu!)

The fattening beverages got us hungry, so we got ourselves hotdogs (they call these carts 'Roach Coach' in the states, 'Street Meat' in Canada)

Venturing continues into the NBA store

Check out THEIR spinning doors!

Next stop: Lego store

These guys were taking this big apple down as we approached.

Lots and lots of lego stuff!

A little something for our friend Gabe. I'm looking cross-eyed for excitement

Rockafella Centre (where 30 Rock is filmed!)

Just like in 30 Rock!

We had to stop by the NBC store to purchase some goodies for ourselves.

M&M store

Dan couldn't resist taking a snapshot of this.

Look at all the colourful m&ms

Statue of M&Ms. More candy stores across the road

AND Times Square.

Dan was very happy to be there.

And so was I.

They have bleachers for people to sit on to watch 1000 flashing ads.

Never mind the countless art galleries, museums and historical places you could visit instead.

And holy hell, Times Square was overwhelming. It added to our exhaustion and stress level for being surrounded by crazy taxi drivers and screaming people for 12 hours, we decided to stop the insanity and walk back to the hotel for another well deserved shower.

Dinner that night was sushi! - at Planet Sushi