(warning: long post ahead)

I continue this time with the highlights of my trip to New York, starting at Washington (which I realised was the name of my watch during OBS!)

Washington

I stayed in Washington for two nights - mainly because it was cheaper there than in NY, although I must say Washington is a darned boring place. Tried to visit the White House (you need to make an appointment with your congressman at least two months before... yeah right.), the US Capitol (you have to go early to get tix) and the Pentagon (it was Sunday, and noone was around, not a single soul), but was unsuccessful.

But I did go up the Washington Monument though, which offers a good view of what they call the "Mall", which is basically a long strip of park, flanked by the Smithsonian Museums (which are ALL free), headed by the US Capitol.

Kenny at the US Capitol. Notice that the pool behind me is called the Reflecting Pool. It was frozen when I was there though and became a skating rink for seagulls - it was quite an interesting sight.

The somewhat magnificent view from the top of the Washington Monument. You have to go earlier to get a ticket that tells you what time to come back. But well worth it i think, considering it's free. :) From the top, you get a good view of all the sights in Washington, almost...

The Washington Monument being painted orange by the sunset.

On my first night in Washington, after visiting the Mall, i thought I'd check out Chinatown. After some bashing through the concrete jungle, I finally found it and I also found this strange place that everyone seemed to be headed for. Upon enquiring, I realised it was an NBA match and I could still get tickets. So I bought the cheapest USD40 tix and went in.

It was the match between Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets. I'm not an NBA fan, so I can't say I know too much what to expect. And then I also noticed that there were many chinese people watching the game, for some reason, which I thought was because the arena was in the heart of Chinatown. I will soon find out that this is because the most celebrated sports personality from mainland China - Yao Ming, plays for the Houston Rockets. (Something that makes his fans fork out USD850 just for a ticket by the court! OMG...) I will also find out that this is one of the last few matches that he will play, after a fractured knee that put him out of action (I found this out while having dinner in Hawai'i)

So anyhow, here's a shot of the arena. It's quite cool I must say. Everything I'd imagined watching whatever little NBA on TV.

But it was certainly not the match that was exciting.. I thought it was the time-out entertainment that was the highlight. During timeouts, while players have having their team prep talks, cheerleaders and dancers come out. Also, they have this thing called "Smile Cam", which if you're caught on camera on the big screen, you have to smile. It's quite fun really. Thankfully i was sitting too high up to be caught "on air". They also had the same thing for "Kiss Cam" and "Dance Cam". It's quite amusing really.

New York

When I think of New York, I think Big Apple and the Statue of Liberty, so who could leave New York without seeing her. I had to make 3 trips before I actually made it there - the first time the tickets were sold out cos i went too late, the second time, I realised if I made an advance booking, I could get free passes to see the museum and go up the statue, so i made a booking and went again the next day.

It was certainly well worth the wait, although I think the weather could have been better. And the people who helped me take photos too.
There are a series of 3 shots by this lady I asked to help me take a photo of me AND the statue of liberty. Thrice, this is the photo I got. Somehow, she didn't get quite understand how to take photos.

Finally, after getting about 3 different people to take 5 shots, I finally settled for this shot, which isn't perfect, but it will have to do.

Times Square is yet another MUST-SEE. And it is so amazing, I thought. All the big screens flashing into the square, you wonder if they even need any street lights for the square!

(kenny getting so excited he ended up buying 1 pound of M&Ms) And I think in the US they redefine the word "Merchandise". They've got merchandise for every University I went to, with the logos printed on everything imaginable. Even for food products like M&Ms (check out the new M&Ms world!), or the Hershey's chocolate shop.

And how I can miss Broadway? :)

I made sure to catch Rent as soon I could, for it was a musical that I've waited 7 years to see.

I first heard of Rent when I was working on "Completely Without Character"(CWOC) in Singapore in 1999 and we used songs from "Rent". CWOC was the story of Paddy Chew going public about his AIDS virus - he died the year after. But anyway, since then, I've always wanted to catch Rent. They showed it in Singapore before but I was underage at that time (duhz, anything with the slightest hint of homosexuality in Singapore is deemed inappropriate) and so I told myself that I'm gonna catch it at Broadway one day and I did. :)

Did I like the show? You bet! Although I somewhat didn't like the "happy ending" to it. haha. I loved the songs and I can't wait to see the movie, which I hear is pretty good too. I'd love to stage manage Rent - it's such an easy show to call. It's a static set, although there were some very clever staging too. Rent gets the "Kenny stamp of approval".

I also caught Avenue Q, which I've heard from various sources that it's good too. And sure enough it was, although I can't say everyone else in the theatre managed to catch the Avenue Q humour. If you think Avenue Q is some stupid puppet show, then you're wrong. It's an awesome muppet show. And yes, it's true - the muppets DO have sex on stage, although it's really hilarious. Not much of a storyline though, but just go in and laugh your heads off anyway. The songs are excellent and meaningful in some ways. Check out this one: If I Could Go Back to College or the video below: It Sucks to Me

Check this clip on Youtube. It gives a good summary...(the guy on the left side is an absolute bitch!)

Go catch it! :)