A couple of weeks ago, I contacted CityPass asking if they would be kind enough to sponsor a couple of CityPasses to New York that I could give away to…

This is my last posting on the series on New York. I actually had only five full days in the city but did managed to squeeze in quite a lot within that short span of time. And to think of it, this had resulted in 27 individual blog entries. Frankly, I had as much time blogging about it and sharing my vacation with you as I did on the vacation.

My route back to Vancouver was not without drama. Since I was traveling on staff pass, I had very little choice when it comes to the routing. I had to fly from Newark to Houston to Vancouver. That will take me the entire day traveling alone.

I knew it would be a challenge getting on a standby flight. So, without taking any chances, I attempted to get on a 2PM flight from Newark to Houston. I figured that if I could not get on this flight, there are two other hourly flights.

Guess what … the flight was full and it appears that there are more people trying to get on standby than I could imagine. There were 45 names on the standby list … and me being on what they call a SA5 (space available priority 5), that means that, well, my name is #43 on the list. Moreover, they only have 20 seats available for this flight … that sounds like real trouble to me.

I waited for the flight the next hour, and it was not much better … there were over 30 names on the standby list and as a SA5, I am always at the bottom. My last option was the 4PM flight. If I could not get on the flight, I would miss the connecting flight to Vancouver. I went to customer service for help and as much as they tried all possibilities, it appears that my only real option is to try to get on the 4PM flight and land in Houston with only SEVEN minutes to get to the connecting flight gate!

Well, I guess, I might as well take the chance since the worst thing that could happen is that I either stay one more day in New York or one more day on Houston.

I finally got on to a half empty fight from Newark to Houston … it’s weird to think that just two flights earlier, the flights were absolutely full.

While on the flight, I took the time to do some research for “Plan B” … a day trip in Houston in case I missed the connecting flight.

The inflight meals is good … much better than most other American domestic flights I had ever been to. (more…)

Hey All: Hope you've enjoyed the series on my trip to New York City. I am not quite done yet but wanted to ask you to stay tuned for the…

There is this something special about a building called The Dakota. If not because of an event that happened here 27 years ago, The Dakota would not have been that famous. The Dakota is a luxury apartment building and is over 120 years old. As a matter of fact, The Dakota is the first luxury apartment ever built in NYC.

The Dakota had attracted the rich and famous over the century. Famous residents have included Judy Garland, Roberta Flack, Rudolf Nureyev, Neil Sedaka, Leonard Bernstein, Lauren Bacall, Carson McCullers, Boris Karloff, Connie Chung, and Paul Simon.

But I guess the most famous tenant of all was … John Lennon.

It happened almost 30 years ago … even to this day, this apartment building remains a place of pilgrimage to many.

John Lennon was just 40 years old when he was shot and killed … at this entrance below. John and Yoko Ono had just returned from the studio one winter night … they got off their limousine and while walking into the gated apartment, four shots rang out and hit John. John Lennon, along with the dreams of a Beatles reunion, died that day.

I was just barely into my teens when John Lennon died. Even at that age, I was a fan of the Beatles. My dad was a fan of the Beatles too because I very distinctively remember that his favourite LP was the Beatles (which he refused to let me touch!).

I remembered too the moment when I found out that John Lennon was killed. I was in a church youth camp in Port Dickson. I woke up early and read about it just before breakfast.

The Dakota is located just across the street from Central Park. John and Yoko enjoyed the walks in this park and their walks had been quite documented.

This section of Central Park is called Strawberry Fields. It is dedicated to the memory of John Lennon and is named after his song … “Strawberry Fields Forever”. (more…)

I got myself a role as an extra in a movie while I was in Central Park. I can’t believe my luck! I was walking in a section call the Literary Walk. The Literary Walk is sort of like the formal side of the park where there are rows of tall elm trees which provides a cathedral like ceiling high over the wide walkway.

I was walking around that area and came across a group of people milling around two large white reflector screens. I knew it was some movie going on and decided to walk closer and have a look.

I hung around just next to the screens for a few minutes. I think they were checking and re-checking the lightings. No one bothered with me. I don’t know … perhaps they think that I am a pro-photographer … he he he. They allowed me to get real close.

Then I saw “him” … Ricky Gervais. That was Ricky Gervais, isn’t it … the guy in the brown jacket?

At that time I did not know what was really going on. (more…)

A large part of my day was spent mainly in Central Park. It was a lot of ground to cover. The entire Central park covers a rectangular area of 2.5 miles by 1/2 mile. Compared to Vancouver’s Stanley Park (which to me is the most beautiful urban park in the world), it is just slightly smaller. For all intents and purposes, the Central Park is the backyard of New York City.

The area around Central Park is known for it’s expensive real estate.

I started off from the Central Park South and 5th Ave. From this entrance to the park, I saw that Apple Store … the famous glass cube store on 5th Ave. I remember seeing this store on the TV when Apple launched the iPhone. Not an Apple user myself, I decided to walk over and check it out.

The store was very busy with a lot of people. What I enjoyed was all the various Apple equipments put out in the open for people to try. I spent sometime with the iPhone (or was it iPod Touch?), never having handled one before. I like it … flipping over pictures with a flick of the finger and pinching to resize it. Nice. I felt like just buying one … but sanity prevailed … I think I’ll get bored with flicking and pinching once the novelty wears off in a couple of days.

I like the cylindrical elevator they had that takes the visitors to the underground store. It is so basic and bare. Pay attention to where the door is or else you might just walk into the glass.

The entrance to the Central Park from this south east corner is really busy and colourful. This seems to be like the official entrance to the park.

There are a lot … and I mean A LOT … (more…)

Another item high on my must-do list is to catch the Late Show with David Letterman. I guess I must have been really lucky … it is because just a few days after I left New York, the Writer’s Guild strike was in full swing and all shows including David Letterman’s was affected.

A few weeks before I left for New York, I did go to cbs.com and try to get myself a ticket through online request. I had a feeling that the chances of me getting it was next to nil, simply from the standpoint that I am in requesting from Canada and they have no way of really knowing if I am gonna turn up or not.

So, the first thing I actually did when I was in New York was to visit the Times Square Visitor Info Center and get more info about David Letterman’s show. I was given the long list of TV shows that is shooting in NYC. To me it was only the Late Show with David Letterman I am determined to catch.

I was told that I could either call or show up at the Ed Sullivan Theater. I decided that I show up and not take the chance by calling.

It was just a short walk from Times Square. The Ed Sullivan Theater looked really rundown and smallish for a famous show like the Late Show. It is located on 53rd and Broadway.

Getting on the show is such a big-big hassle. The entire saga started from 9AM until taping starting at 4PM. No, you don’t have to be there all the time but you need to be flexible enough to get to the Theater pronto when they call you.

There were 2 tapings that day … one at 4PM and another at 7PM.

Oh, remember one thing especially when you decide to make a In-Person Request … (more…)