Grand Central Terminal, 9/11 Memorial, Empire State Building

23 Oct 2013 (Wed), partly cloudy, 5-14 deg C.

I had wanted to rent a bike and cycle in Central Park, but it was too cold for me without any jacket.  So, I just wandered around today.  Went around the State Empire Building, but decided to go up only at night for the night view.  Then I went on to Macy's, but nothing really caught my fancy.  I hopped on a bus, but guess what, a few tens of police cars, ambulances and fire-engines went whizzing past the bus I was on.  Traffic almost came to a standstill. I got off and walked down the street. No one was running, everyone was curiously waiting and watching.  Something happened at Penn Station, and service was suspended.  The buzz was that someone fell into the track.  After a while, fire-engines and ambulances started to pull away, and I too continued my way for lunch.

Hoping to get some postal stamps, I walked to the General Post Office.  There is a corner of postal exhibits.   

Just next door is the Grand Central Terminal, and it is grand and elegant as its name! 

Took the subway from the Grand Central Terminal to World Trade Center. I had a bit of frustration and problem finding the place where they issue the ticket and the actual entrance to the 9/11 Memorial, and was literally walking up and down the street a few times before I finally found it.  They were almost closing.  Sombre yet tranquil.  One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) is impressive.

After dinner at Mdm Ruby Foo's, we went up the Empire State Building for the night view of NYC. Luckily, DH had some pullovers and jackets bought from the University store that day; we were so cold out on the rooftop that we just wore them, never mind if they were grossly over-size for me and tags were still hanging! 

Some of the Most Famous Places in New York

21 Oct 2013 (Mon), sunny, 11-18 deg C.

I spent the whole of Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Nina was there as a volunteer to repair books, and she got me in as a guest.  I had a little tour of her workplace and had a soup and salad for lunch with Nina at the staff canteen.  The museum is amazing, all those exhibits!  If I could afford the time, even one week would not be enough to  go through everything!

I tagged along with hubby for some of the meals at restaurants designated by the University.  We got to try different foods from Mexican to Asian fusion.  I couldn't say I really enjoyed the food, most tasted just not quite there compared to what we eat in Singapore, but then, there were some nice surprises too.  

I hardly take fast food even at home so no burger at all for the whole trip, but I simply love salads, and I was overwhelmed by the variety of vegetables and salad dressings available everywhere.  Soups too! 

22 Oct 2013 (Tue), cloudy turned sunny, 9-19 deg C.

This was one busy day.  I went to the Top of the Deck at Rockefeller Center for a bird-eye view of the whole city.  Initially cloudy, but the sky cleared before I left!

Next, it was Ripley's Believe It or Not! at Times Square.  Another place with amazing exhibits.  The most gruesome must be the those shrunk heads, with even a 10-step recipe on how to shrink a head to fist size!  I'm not joking.  Although I'm one brave gal, it did feel a bit eerie to walk on my own in the near empty halls looking at the collections.  I reinforced on myself it was the dim settings and purposely done that way!!

Just nearby was Madame Tussauds.  This was my first to the wax museum.  Pretty exciting to meet some of the most famous, just like real!  I was visiting on my own, so when I spied a lone Japanese visitor, we became happy companions and exchanged cameras to took photos for each other!  

Hey, that wasn't all for the day!  How about a dinner cruise on the Duchess?  Awesome sight along the bank, millions of lights dotted the darkness.  Dinner was fantastic too, every single dish, both presentation and taste!  This was one meal I really enjoyed!

Update on Swaps

Received a whole envelope of beautiful creations from the [Inchies-onexone] swaps earlier in the year which I have yet to show. 

July 2013 swaps
Oriental inchies: Crap from Rae Ann Ohlinger, Gold flower sticker from Lisa Cottrell, 3. Lady & fan from Debbie House, 4. Stamped Japanese cherry blossom from Polly. The folded cranes are done by me. 

Owl  inchies: 1. Blue-green owl from Rae Ann, 2. Black owl from Lisa C, 3. Stamped square owl from Debbie H, 4. Light blue owl from Polly. I did the 5th one with a small tatted flower for this exchange. 

Pink inchies: 1. Wrapped string (unsigned), 2. Quarter of flower from Lisa C, 3. Pink envelope, pen from Debbie H, 4. Pink dragonfly from Lisa C.

Inchie on a Twinchie: 1. Pink paint from Rae Ann, 2. Sunflowers from Lisa C.

Mermaid Moo (1 1/8" x 2 3/4"): 1. Mermaid with orange hair from Lisa C, 2. Blue b/g from Rae Ann.

ATC (any theme): 1. B/w flowers from Rae Ann, 2. Bird from Debbie H.

Aug 2013 swaps

Frog inchies: 1. Frog photo (unsigned), 2. Light green frog from Jamie Sander, 3. Blue frogs from Lisa C, 4. Green frog from Brooke G. I folded the last one, an origami frog. I just love to challenge myself to fold them as small as I can! 

Changing Leaves inchies: 1. Orange leaf from Debbie H, 2. Red-orange leaf from Lisa C, 3. Red, yellow leaves from Jamie Sander, 4. Green, yellow, red leaves from Rae Ann.

Inchies (Any Theme): 1. Hats from Brooke G, 2. Green flower from Debbie H, 3. Textures from Polly, 4. Ballet from Lisa C.

[ATC-ArtDolls] Mar 2014 swaps were a Clover dress and a Carousel Horse.

Mine were mailed to Cindy Whiddon (USA) while Laureta sent the following to me.

[NEEDLESnCRAFTS] A Bookmark Exchange 2014 was hosted by Zarina Zainal Anidin (Malaysia). My 2 tatted bookmarks, plus 2 tatted paperclips, went to Diane in the USA. 

Zarina did a bobbin lace and a crochet bookmarks for me, together with a batik card she made and a skein of her hand-dyed thread.