New York! New York!

Just came back from a trip to NYC. I must say I love NYC for the following reasons:
1. its vibrant art scene
2. its transportation system, especially the subway(very efficient)
3. its convenience when it comes to shopping(it has so many supermarkets selling Japanese food products that hubby and I decide to visit NYC once a month in future, just to get our groceries)
4. its numerous restaurants
5. the collegiate feel of Columbia U.

We took a Peter Pan bus(which is, by the way, cleaner and provides more professional service than Greyhound) from Philly's Chinatown to NYC's Port Authority Bus Terminal. We were indeed very lucky to have gotten a good deal at Westin (which is a 5-min walk to the bus terminal) in NYC. This was our second time at NYC's Westin but we still like the hotel very much for its contemporary design and its location in Times Square.

While we were there, we also watched a musical(Hey, this is NYC!) at Broadway. Glad that we didn't watch the usual big productions like Chicago. Instead we went for a smaller one called the Spring Awakening, a 2007 Tony Award's Best Musical.Our friend, TY, who worked in an investment bank in NYC, strongly recommended this musical. The musical contains some adult themes, hence it is restricted to mature audience. There was even a part when the lead actor had to strip and show his buttocks to a live audience! This musical was adapted from a play written by Frank Wedekind, a German playwright, who first wrote the play in 1891. In fact, during those days, the play was considered scandalous and it was censored for it dealt with sensitive topics like puberty, sexual freedom and family violence. Human beings have indeed come a long way when it comes to dealing with such expressionism in the theatre. Anyway, hubby and I enjoyed the play very much and we feel that there is still a long way to go for the arts scene in Singapore. We really appreciate the efforts put in to create such a production. There were so much logistics and planning involved. Even the actors/actresses themselves had to help out on the stage. There are also so many opportunities for anyone who wants to work in the arts industry here, although the competition is also tough, given that there are really very talented people here.

We also visited Columbia U which is getting all the attention now for its decision to invite the Iranian President to give a talk at its campus. While we were at the campus, we saw some posters/flyers put up by students protesting againts this. It will also be interesting to watch the news these few days to see what the UN(which is having its General Assembly on this Tue)has to say.

Last but not least,we had a wonderful dining experience in NYC.The climax of our trip was our gourment dinner at Nobu Next Door. The black cod with miso was so heavenly that it could melt in our month. We were so overwhelmed by the creative use of different textures of food that we were trying to guess the ingredients used in the dishes. Well, we would also love to try out other Japanese restaurants in our future trip to NYC, for we've heard that the Japanese food in NYC is much better than that in Japan.

I think we will be making more trips to NYC in future given that there are so many things to do there. I hope to visit the Guggeinheim Musuem, Madam Tussaud(although it is pricey), MOMA(a place which never fails to amaze me every time I am there), and of course century 21 (It really pains me to give up on shopping there during this trip).