Liberty Island and Ellis Island

It was a clear, bright and sunny day! We started at 8am for the subway to Castle Clinton, the place where we were supposed to board the ferry to reach Liberty Island. Liberty Island is the place where the great Statue of Liberty stands high! It is a spectacular monument..! Security is very tight and is just like the airport security. You are allowed to take food items, though not till the crown.
The view from the ferry is brilliant, especially when you go up to the 2nd floor. It’d be colder than in the city, so it’s advisable to wear layered clothing. And, if you are on the 2nd floor, it would be much colder than the rest of the ferry.

Upon reaching the island, we had to go straight to the information centre, since we had crown access tickets. We had to show a photo-id-proof so they could tie a band to the left wrist of the hand, which makes it easier for the rangers (guards) there to figure out that you have crown access. After this, we went through another round of security check and hola - we were inside! The moment we entered, we saw a replica of the torch that the Liberty statue holds.

There is also a museum inside, which gives a lot of information on how the statue of liberty was built and how the design of the beautiful statue came up after so many trials and years of hard work by Bartholdi. It also explains why the statue is green in colour. And, for those who thought the statue was made of concrete/wood/steel etc. just like I thought, it’s none of these - the statue is made of copper!
Its hollow inside, so you can go up to the crown from the inside and have a view of the outside from the crown.
Before you go into the museum, you have to check yourself in to one of the rangers, so that they can fit you into the next available batch of people to be sent to the crown.
They send max 10 people at a time because there is so less space inside the crown, there is hardly enough space for 4-5 people. There are 354 steps that you need to take to reach there. And as you go up, from time to time you'd be able to see how many more steps you need to go.

Once you are through a 100+ steps, the wide steps will disappear, and you'd find series of narrow steps forming a spiral.
There is a lot of space at the side at a regular distance, so if you want to relax or are tired, you can stand there for some time and need not worry about blocking someone's way when you stop for a short break! The spirals have just enough space for one person to climb!

You can be at the crown for as long as you want and can take lot of pictures too! The view from the crown is amazing; you can see Manhattan skyline, Brooklyn Bridge, a part of Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Liberty Island itself down below.

Once you are coming back from the crown, you'd have lot of stops at various levels (height), and you can view the Manhattan skyline and the other islands from various levels. It was very breezy when we reached there, and we just took some snaps and ran off!
You'd eventually come across a 11 pointed star, from where you can capture some nice shots of the statue as well as Manhattan skyline.


Once you are at the pedestal, you can get a full view of the Statue of liberty if you look up to the sky, and you cannot just look at it once! I kept looking at it again and again and was amazed by the beauty of the monument whenever I looked up! I can just say that no words are enough to describe a beauty like that!

We just roamed around the Liberty Island while we waited our ferry towards Ellis Island. The island was covered with snow and it was cold and breezy even though the sun was shining bright up above!

We headed next to the Ellis Island, where we saw the Immigration museum. It’s a grand building and a place where people from outside the country were disembarked (at the time of world war) and then they went through a long immigration process to get into the USA.

The museum has lot of information on the procedure that was followed for accepting or rejecting immigrants coming from various places in the world. It was a tedious process for both the immigrants as well as the officers. There used to be up to 10000 people in a day coming in ships trying to get a place in USA. People were checked for various diseases like trachoma, TB etc., those who were medically unfit were rejected and sent back to their port of embarkation at the cost of the shipping company.
The photo below is of the registry room where people used to wait for their turn.

We also went to see a documentary about the immigration process in one of the theatres inside the museum. The museum is well maintained and contains lot of information like the number of immigrants from various parts of the world, the slave population, the population of white vs. black, the various races in the America; all the states that added up to form what is now the United States of America.

Once we were done, we took the ferry back to Manhattan, where we started our journey. By the time we reached home, it was already 4pm. We had a fun-filled but exhausting day, so as soon we reached home, we just collapsed on the bed!
It was a memorable trip for both me and my husband, and I can say that this is one place everyone must visit; you will fall in love with the calm and beautiful face of the Statue of Liberty the moment you see it! Am sure this is one of the biggest reasons why one should really visit New York atleast once in their lifetime!

Gachibowli to NYC..

Suddenly one day his boss called him up and told him he had to travel to NYC. We were in a fix. Though it was a good thing for his career, we had to think about all that we had with us here like the car, bike, house rent etc. We were in Chennai when the travel got confirmed, and he delayed his travel a bit for paper work, shopping and other things that needed to be taken care off. We decided that he would go first and I would follow 4 days later. How would I sort things alone? - My mom and dad came to the rescue. So, they were there the day he left. It was a last moment thing, so we could not get tickets such that they could meet him...
He travelled... The day he travelled, there was no contact with him. I missed him!
I din't get up from bed the next day until my dad called up to say they arrived - for the fear that I would have to see the house empty.. Without him..
Days passed pretty soon and then it was time for me to travel! I cannot tell how excited I was.. Not for NYC, but to meet him :) This was the longest we were away from each other.. I was eager to meet him.. Though there are endless ways to see each other when you are far away - like skype, gtalk etc etc - but it cannot replace how you feel when the person is actually (not skype-ly or gtalk-ly) sitting next to you..

New York - JFK Airport
While going through immigration, the officer asked me 'Why did your husband come before you.. Dint he want to travel with you..?' I thought this was just a casual remark and laughed it away. He was serious and asked me again. So I had to tel him that this was my first time, and he wanted to set up things before I arrive.
Then was the customs. I was carrying food items with me like rice and wheat. So I was asked a few questions there as well. Security is pretty tight, but staff is very polite. If you dono something, they would tell you without hesitation or irritation. For example, I had lot of luggage but was unable to pull the trolley. So, some staff there told me that you need to put in some dollars and then the trolley would come out of the bunch. He told this to me - once - and then to each and every passenger who came after me - in the same polite tone as he had told me - I wonder how many people would he have helped out before me..

New York City - Manhattan
Finally after 19 hours of journey and all check-ins, check-outs and security checks, I was out... straight in his arms.. and felt so happy to see him. I was happy that he had come because the one hour taxi journey to the apartment would have seemed like 1 day, had he not come.

The city looked beautiful with all sky-scrapers. Our apartment is quite near to Times Square, and we pass by it everytime we have to go somewhere.

You would easily recognize the place - Times Square - even if you are seeing it for the first time. Its the most happening place I guess, and is buzzing with people and activities at all times, with lights flashing everywhere and all sorts of advertisements being displayed.
The city looks brighter during the night than during the day - with all the flashy lights!




It keeps snowing every other day in NYC.
And we experienced a blizzard, just 3 days after I landed. The blizzard had dumped nearly 20 inches of snow on the ground, and it was all over the news. It was after many years that this kind of blizzard was experienced in New York!

But, once the storm was over, the city looked even more fantastic. We went till Central Park and were amazed to see everything covered with snow... so much snow!! We roamed around for sometime. Though the snow looks good to see, its difficult to walk in snow. One has to be careful.
Because of the post-effects of snow-storm, most of the offices were closed. Anyway, people were in a holiday mood.. We started exploring the city slowly and found out places where we could go for shopping, and to eat. We found a Saravana Bhavan and few more Indian restaurants and shops near to it.
We once went walking till the Hudson river, and gasped with joy to see its beauty and serenity. We could also see New Jersey from the banks of the river.

First look from the apartment
Our apartment building is a 46 storey building and we stay in a studio at 31st floor. So, you can already guess how it would be to see outside the window - wow is it? Well, it is fantastic view, but when you look outside, you'd feel as if the 31st floor is the ground floor, since all other buildings are even taller than ours! A part of the hudson river is also seen from our apartment. It is especially beautiful on a sunny day, and at nights with the lights outside..


Food in New York
You'd guess that most people here are meat-eaters. So, every place you go, you'd find a restaurant which serves really mouth-watering dishes - all having chicken, lobsters, shrimps, meat etc. However, there is something for vegetarians too!
Both of us decided to try some American food. We had pancakes, waffles, panini. Those taste good. Panini is similar to sandwich, and contains lot of vegetables.
We once went to a restaurant named Baja Fresh (pronounced as BaHa fresh) - a mexican grill.
Visit Baja Fresh website
We had Burittos, and nachos with Salsa. True that if you are vegetarian, you'd have fewer options, like all we could eat at Baja Fresh is a Veg Buritto even though there are 100 things listed on the menu. But -- there are options..!
We have now decided that till we are in NYC, we are not going to have Indian food outside. If we eat outside, it would be something new, since this place is a mix of all cultures, you get to see a variety of cuisines - mexican, thai, egyptian, chinese, italian etc..

New York Public Library
I knew that I'd be alone for most of the day when he goes to office, so I had to figure out something to do. First thing I did was to join the public library. I usually get some dvds, books and cds from the library every week. The library is very neat and well-equipped. You'd feel like completing an academic course itself here, just after looking at the facilities at the library.
Visit New York Public Library website
There are lot of branches which are well-connected. For example, if you want to borrow a book, you can reserve it online, and mention the branch from which you'd want to take it (say the nearest to where you stay), it would be delivered to the specified branch, and you'd be notified about the same through email, so you can collect it on time! I find the staff very friendly, I go to them for my silliest questions and they are always ready to help, and their ever-smiling faces can certainly make your day!

My experiments with cooking
I used to hate cooking, mainly because I do not have the patience to wait for things to cook :) But now as I have lot of time, I find myself searching for recipes on web and I have started trying out different things just recently. My husband generally adjusts to anything. He doesn't have any preferences towards any type of food, which gives me more room for experiment. I don't create my own recipes yet, I make things that are already tried - but it’s new for me anyway, and considering my sudden interest towards cooking, I may start that as well soon ;). There is no feeling in this world which is as great as when you make something and your husband really likes it.. :) We also made Sakkarai pongal on the pongal eve. However the taste was, we had good time, and I felt happy just for doing it, and we celebrated in as traditional way as we could...


Some places we went..
First, we went to see the empire state building. It is the tallest in New York after the fall of WTC. None of us found it too amusing a place to see, considering the amount of time we spent waiting in the queue. We went upstairs to the 86th floor. It was too cold to enjoy anything and then it was almost dark by the time we crawled through all the queue and security checks, so we couldn't see much from the top.

The view is breath-taking though, if you visit in the morning hours or early afternoon when it’s bright.
NYC celebrates the New Year via a ball-dropping event, which happens to be a very big and famous event. Over 1 million people come every year from all around the world to watch this event and there are some performances as well, this time there were quite a few including a performance by backstreet boys. The crowd starts gathering near Times Square by 3pm even though the programme starts around 6pm! Though the ball dropping itself is not something very great, the excitement within the crowd is worth-seeing.. People welcome the new year with cheerful wishes and music and dance and hugs and kisses.. :)
There is this Wall Street downtown, which is mentioned in almost all the English movies. So, we went to check-out what was so special about it - nothing special, there is a bull which stands right at the center of a broadway.. its a good piece of art..

It was funny watching people take snaps giving creative poses at creative places of the sculpture..!
We then went to the battery park which is quite nearby from there and took the staten island ferry which goes to Staten Island,as the name says. On the way, you can get a spectacular view of the Statue of liberty..!

You can also get a nice view of the Manhattan skyline from the ferry on the way back from Staten Island. Its a free ferry since it is for regular travellers. We went on a Saturday and they had one ferry every 1/2 hr.
We went to see the Liberty island and Ellis island, both the places are extremely good, and one should not miss it! I have written a separate blog for that, here is the link - Liberty and Ellis Island tour
There are some nice shops at the Times Square, which are good to pass time. We started exploring one or two shops per day ;).. so that we can see what is there, and what are the options for shopping while going back to India.. we went to Toys'R'us and found the place pretty decent not just for kids, for adults too!

I had a delicious belgian chocolate shake as well there... yummy!

There are many others like Hershey's, m-n-m etc which are chocolate shops but they have other stuff as well like T-shirts, bags etc, which are nice to look at, though they are costly! There are malls like macy's which always has some or the other sale goin on, and you can get some really good items (from clothes to kitchenware to anything!) for a good price. Visit Macys website

Everything is not goody goody..
The city is so crowded - if you are not careful - you'll be lost. I lost my wallet few days back.. I dint even realise that I had lost it, until I wanted to take it out for buying a coffee.. I searched and searched.. but it was gone already. You cannot much hope to find things back once you've lost it - one, because its so crowded, you dono what kind of people are there all around you, second, because the workers keep collecting trash every 5 mins, you wont know which trash-truck your stuff went in!
I have been longing to join a classical music tutorial here, or a dance class, and am unable to find one still! If you want to do something useful, you need SSN. You need it for almost everything - to study, to get a job, even to apply for job in some cases. To work, you also need an EAD which takes around 3 months...
I am still looking for options in this vast city and I hope to find one soon..!

P.S. Keep checking for more updates, as I will keep updating certain sections of this blog day after day..!

Our Andaman trip - Dec 2009

Day 1: Port Blair-Ross Island
The 6 of us (Me, sister, her husband, dad, mom, grandma) arrived at the Veer Savarkar Airport, Port Blair from Chennai around 7am. We all were in full josh and wanted to explore the island as soon as possible. So, all of us got ready by 8am! We started our city tour by visiting the Corbyn's Cove beach. This place is 7 kms from the main city. On the way, we got to see a glimpse of the phoenix bay jetty, which was awesome. We saw the sea, which was blue-green-black in color. The different shades of the sea made us go WOW! However, the Corbyn's Cove beach in itself was not a very great place. It is a normal beach where people were enjoying sun bathe.

We just took some photographs and came back. From there, we went to see the Cellular jail. On the way, we saw the Rajiv Gandhi water sports complex which looked good.
Cellular jail is a must-see for people visiting Port Blair. It depicts how our freedom-fighters were tortured by the British and the Japanese and creates a sense of patriotism in us! It’s better to take a guide inside who would answer all the questions of what, when and how.....

Next, we headed to the Ross Island, which was the central place for the Britishers to relax. The island looked like a ruined city. It had remains of the buildings which were present during the British Empire. The place had big coconut trees and we were all pleased to have a sip of tender coconut! :) We also saw lot of stags and peacocks that were roading around in open.

After we came back from the Ross Island, we relaxed for sometime at the Rajiv Gandhi complex watching the speed boats, and had evening snacks there. Then, we headed to see the light and sound show at the Cellular jail. It was OK types, as there was no actual action happening and, therefore it didnt create much impression on the spectators.
From there we had a short visit to Gandhi park, which is a good place for children (amusement park). It was dark, and we couldn't enjoy the place much! We headed to the guest house, to rest and prepare ourselves for the next day...

Day 2: Havelock Island
We took the 7am ferry to the Havelock Island. The ferry was called BAMBOOKA (I liked the name.. )
We took lot of snaps on the way from the ferry as the view from the ferry was wonderful! The cool breeze was complementing the picturesque scenary.. We had heard a lot about the beauty of Radhanagar beach in Havelock Island.. and we instantly fell in love with the place!!

We spent around 3 hours there because we dint want to come out of the water.. Really an experience to treasure always.. !! Finally, with a lot of difficulty (:-(), we left the place and went to Elephant beach through a motor boat. This was a 45mins ride in the boat. The beach had white sand, and the trees had only branches and no leaves.. We got to know from the boat riders that there used to be elephants who used to swim in the water before tsunami. After tsunami, most of the things were destroyed, which was quite evident there.

There was no habitat on the island. We saw some corals, star fish and other sea animals there. We left the place at 3.00pm since our ferry was at 4.00pm and that was the last ferry back to Port blair for the day... The boat stopped in the middle of water.. as the motor stopped working!!! :D We were almost mad at the person who took us to elephant beach, since we were not much interested in seeing this place. Finally, after some 15 mins of struggle, the boat started again and we relaxed.. We had to rush to catch the ferry!
We were done for the day, as we reached around 7pm to the guest house, and all of us were badly in need of a hot (clean) water bath after bathing in the salty water of Radhanagar beach..
I would say Radhanagar beach was the best of all and is a must-see for anyone coming to Andaman.. !!

Day 3: Jolly Buoy Island
There are only 3 ferries to this place, with half an hour difference starting from 9.30am. We went in the last one because we had booked very late (2 days before). This island is famous for its corals and the sea animals. People are supposed to take their own food as there is no habitat/stalls etc in the place (There is only a dustbin to throw all waste). No plastics are allowed to be taken, and each one of us with a bag was thoroughly checked before we entered the ferry. Again, the view from the ferry was beautiful and it was a relaxing short journey.. There is no harbour at the island, so from the ferry everyone was shifted to a small boat 5 mins away from the island.
We had fun time in the island. The water was crystal clear and the beach was amazing... We tried our hands on snorkelling, which was absolute fun, though it was for very less time. If we want to spend more time, we have to pay. We thought of seeing the rest of it through the glass boat as it would fit all 6 of us.. The corals here were much richer as those we saw in Elephant beach. Some of the fishes were swimming on the surface of the sea, which was a beautiful and rare scene to look at!

We had a nice lunch there in the beach, and then walked till the end of the beach. From the corner, the look of the entire beach was superb and fulfilling.. We even did some dance and jumping around the place. None of us were in the water for a long time, since the water was much more salty, compared to Radhanagar beach..
We returned to Port Blair by the 2pm ferry. Once we reached Port Blair, we went to Lord Murugan temple, which is well-made. We spent some time there and then decided to go shopping. Some local people told us that in private shops, we will get stuff for a reduced price, however in government shops, it will be the MRP only. We randomly went into few shops and bought some sea shell necklaces, pearls, etc. We also bought a couple of Port-Blair Tee's.
The day ended with the memories of sea-animals and corals :) and we slept early as the next day was going to be long day for all of us!

Day 4: Baratang Island
This is something which I would never forget... not because the place was good, but because of the events that unfolded during the day..!!! We got up at 3.30 am to catch the bus for Baratang Island. We had got a booking done for 1 day package tour to Baratang Island (Incredible India). We were waiting for the bus for almost 15-20 mins, and once we got into it, we saw... the bus was full!! Infact it was overloaded!! There were 30 seats in the bus, however there were already 36 inside. Our seats were already booked and someone else was sitting on it. After a half an hour struggle, some people got ready to adjust and we got seats here and there... Later, we got to know that there were some people travelling the bus without ticket!! (What fun!)
The journey was tiresome. The bus was aweful and though it was AC coach, the AC was almost all the time switched off, and we were feeling very suffocated.. We started eating biscuits to avoid thinking about the feeling of puking, as it was a bumpy ride into the hills and the driver was driving very fast, since the distance to be covered was 135 kms..
The good thing that happened was that we were lucky to see a lot of tribal people on the way.. They were very cute and were smiling and asking for stuff. However, we were told not to give them anything or to take photos. Some (good with due respect) people were still taking photos!! After covering 135kms, we had to go in a boat to a forest. We were told not to touch the water (in the boat), since that was a crocodile prone area..
The forest area looked great... Once we reached the forest, we had to walk 1.5kms inside (it was like trekking.. what ultimate path!) to see what is known as a lime cave. Just some distance from the lime caves were some huts, and everyone decided to have a sip of lemon juice there, which was quite refreshing. We had to wait to go inside the caves, since someone from the high court had come to see the place.. ughhh!! The place was worth walking 1.5 kms :) Felt really good to see the various structures in the cave... which you can assume to be anyone's. Like some people were teling.. some structures looked like a shivalingam, others like fishes etc.. We saw some mica also.

The walk back was fast and we were all very hungry.. BUT... since it was a package tour.. we could eat only when he supplies food :(
There was one more place pending to see.. and we were told that lunch will be served only after we come back from that place.. (It was already 3pm).. The place was a Mud Volcano. It was a super-bumpy ride and since we were already late for lunch, the driver drove super-fast (I think must be 120 or something in that horrible stone-mud road!) There was nothing much to see in that place, as the volcano was already erupted, and only some remains (which looked like 'cement-factory' as told by my sister) were there. We could see some bubbles from the remains..
We quickly went back for having lunch.
Fooo... quite a long day.. again.. while coming back to the bus, someone captured our seat!!! Sad to see such people who travel without ticket.. Shame on them.. and on the management who encourages this..
We somehow managed here and there.. we were really happy to be back to port-blair and more to be out of that bus.. !!
We got down and had some pani-puri.. and then went straight to the guest house. We had a nice dinner (more nice because the breakfast and the lunch was horrible) and as soon as I landed on the bed.. I was fast asleep.. !!

Day 5: PortBlair - Chennai
We all got up relaxedly.. and got ready.. Our flight was at 12.45pm.. We had to do all the settlements. So, just did packing and started for the airport. Andaman is a great place which everyone should see atleast once. The people are very friendly and simple. One more thing good about Port-Blair is that there are hardly any signals on the road lol ;) ...
Almost everyone speaks Hindi there, and there are few people who speak tamil also..
You will have a rocking time if you plan in advance and go.. There is very less scope of getting ferry tickets at the last minute..
We had taken a local car for roaming around, which was quite convenient.
In December, it becomes dark at around 5.30 pm in the evening.. !!
All small bitter things forgotten, it was a wonderful experience...!