'The Big Apple'

It's crazy how all these buildings fit into the NYC.  This is a
view from the top of the Empire State Building.
Photo by: Lily Ha

Once the sun goes down the city turns into a whole different scene.
Photo by: Lily Ha

New York City is one of the busiest cities in North American.  Everybody is always on the move.  Last year three of my friends and I decided to take a trip to New York City.  We decided to head to NYC late June so we’ll be there for the 4^th of July.  We started looking around for a hotel in the big city and soon found out that a room in a decent hotel wasn’t cheap.  For this reason we decided to get one room in Manhattan instead of two leaving a little extra money for shopping.  With everything booked and ready the four of us sets out to explore ‘The Big Apple’.  

The rooms aren't very big and with stuff 4 girls brought with
them and bought there isn't to much extra room left on the floor.
Photo by: Lily Ha

Some interesting fact I learned about the city was that in 1626 a Dutch colonial Director-General purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie for a value of 60 guilders (about $1000).  Then the city was known as New Amsterdam and not Manhattan.  It was not till 1664 when Peter Stuyvesant, the Director-General of the colony of New Netherland surrender New Amsterdam to the English and the English renamed the city New York.  For a brief period in history (1789-90) New York was the capital of the United States and it was the state’s capital until 1797.  New York got its nickname ‘The Big Apple' in the 1920s from a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph, John J. Fitz Gerald.  Today’s New York City is the most populous city in the United States.

Photo by: Lily Ha

My friend and I ended up spending a week in NYC and still feel it wasn’t enough time for us to explore the whole city.  No matter what time of day it is there you’ll be able to find something to do.  The four of us didn’t land in NYC till early evening so the first thing we did was look for a place to eat.  The first thing we learned after landing in the city was that jokes about food portion size was not a joke at all.  Also, you are able to get some type of dessert on every corner of downtown Manhattan.  

Photo by: Lily Ha

It the heart of Manhattan during the night no matter which way you turn the buildings all around are lit up with all different colors.  During the day, though there are no lights on the buildings the exterior of the buildings are still very busy.

Some of the stuff we did while in the city was check out the New York Stock Exchange building, tour the NBC studio, tour the Madison Square Garden, Soho district, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, Museum of Modern Arts (MOMA), shopping and Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island.  To go into full detail of each of the places would probably take a lengthy period.  Each of these sites has a lot to see and learn.  Attached are some pictures from each of the place listed above.  If you ever get the chance to check out the city I'm sure most people will fall in love with the city because of how much there is to see and do in this city.  I love this city and enjoy ever visit but I don't think I can ever live in such a busy city.

New York Stock Exchange in the Financial District
Photo by: Lily Ha

Bull of the Bull & Bear Market
Photo by: Lily Ha

Museum of Modern Art - the amount of exhibits in this place
was overwhelming.  If you enjoy art you can probably spend
two full days in this place.
Photo by: Lily Ha

The Great Hall where immigrants were processed after they
landed in NYC.  Here there is so much history that some may
even find their ancestry history.
Photo by: Lily Ha

Rockefeller Center - this is where the Rockefeller building is
also, this is where they raise the Christmas tree in November
in preparation for Christmas.
Photo by: Lily Ha

Soho District - dinner at a very yummy Japanese restaurant in
this district but I can't remember the name any more.  If you
are looking for fashion and artists' lofts and art galleries.
Photo by: Lily Ha

Statue of Liberty
Photo by: Lily Ha

A good looking S.W.A.T officer we meet when checking out
the Statue of Liberty
Photo by: Lily Ha

After a crazy day at the outlet this is everything we walked
away with.  There was so many bags that our arms were
sore from carrying everything.
Photo by: Lily Ha

Madison Square Garden - this is the only place in the world where
below the building is a train station, above that is a theater and
above that is a sports arena.
Photo by: Lily Ha

The Little Mermaid on Broadway.  This was such an awesome
show.  If you're ever in NYC you have to see a Broadway
show for sure.
Photo by: Lily Ha

NBC Studio
Photo by: Lily Ha

There are a lot of flags around the downtown area
Photo by: Lily Ha

For the 4th of July celebration all the flags around was
changed to the United States flag.  This must have taken a
lot of time and man power since the night before it didn't
look like this.
Photo by: Lily Ha