First Impressions of Manila

Manila hasn't changed much since the day I left. Last night when I arrived, the airport terminal is exactly the same. The immigration queues are too long, but nobody is complaining. The people at the counters chat among themselves as they check your documents as if you don't exist. One improvement I've noticed is that there are no more lines at the customs area. I went straight through customs, and the lady at the checkout didn't even give me a sideways glance. Before, they would stop you and ask you to open your bags for inspection. Before they let you go, they'll hem and haw, and give you the nod-nod-wink-wink. If you still don't get it, then you're in trouble. There are fewer "standbys" at the arrival area. A few years ago, you'd have strangers come up to you offering to carry your bags or get you a taxi. I tell you, they're scary.

I flew in on a Sunday night, and even then traffic is heavy along Roxas Blvd. The front passengers have to put on seatbelts, but there is no such requirement for the backseat passengers. Remember to always lock your car doors because you wouldn't want to be robbed inside your car while caught in traffic. Most of the streets don't come with lane markings. There's a good reason for this. Take any two-lane street in Sydney, bring it to Manila, take away the lane markings, and it becomes a three-lane avenue. Once the traffic starts moving, people just switch from lane to lane, trying to get ahead, *without* using any turn signals. Everybody honk their horns every few minutes. No offense meant. How I used to do that I can only reminisce.

This morning we had breakfast at Jollibee at Holiday Plaza. (How appropriate.) For those who has never heard of Jollibee, it's McDonald's biggest competitor. Jollibee started out as a small operation in Cubao. Then it got smart. It copied everything on McDonald's menu and made them better, more suited to the local taste, meaning sweeter. Nowadays, you can come to Jollibee every day of the week, and still have something new on your plate: Yumburger, ChickenJoy, Champ, Jolly Spaghetti, The Champ, Jolly Hotdog, Palabok Fiesta, Burger Steak, Amazing Aloha, local dishes like tocino, longganisa, aroz caldo, beef tapa, corned beef, plus the staples like sundaes, fries, pies, pancakes, etc.

With every order of mango pie, you get a free copy of Philippine Star. Actually, order anything and you still get your daily paper. They're practically giving them away. Is this the reason why the Philippine Star seems to be doing better than the Philippine Daily Inquirer? That marketing gimmick seems to be working. That's the thing with most Filipinos - the herd mentality here is very strong. If everyone is reading the Phil. Star, it must be good. So given a choice, I'd also go for it. (Background info: PDI came to prominence during the decline of the Marcos era. With its slogan of "Balanced News Fearless Views", it dared to openly criticize the Marcos regime. During the EDSA revolution, it cast its lot with Aquino, won big time, and never looked back. As a result, it dethroned Manila Bulletin as the nation's leading newspaper.)

Spent most of the day visiting our old neighbors. The surrounding area has changed a bit, but our neighbors are exactly the same as I last saw them three years ago. It's uncanny.

Like before, people are very much obsessed with their mobile phones. Rich or poor, everyone has one. When you meet the friendly neighborhood thief, he doesn't inquire about your wallet anymore; he wants your phone. You may have only 20 pesos in your wallet, but at the very minimum, your mobile is worth thousands on the market. One columnist theorizes that even the poorest of the poor in Manila has a mobile phone because it gives them an identity. They might not have a house with a street address, but with a mobile (with SIM card), they get an MSISDN (mobile number) that they can call their own. And that gives them a (wireless) connection to their friends and the society at large. I see people fussing with their phones every chance they get - sending "texts" (as they are called here), reading messages, changing wallpapers, downloading ringtones (the meowing cat is most popular at the moment). And since phone-snatching is so rampant, the ladies do SMS inside their bags. (That's what backlights are for.) The guys put their phones in small pouches and stuff them in their pockets.

There's a new coin in circulation. The P2 coin is out and the P10 coin is in. Given that the basic jeepney ride now costs P7, your stack of coins won't last long. Man, I can still remember when you can ride a jeepney for only 75 cents. We also have a new P200 bill, positioned nicely between P100 and P500.

Not one to waste time, I got down to business and visited my dentist in the afternoon. An hour and two tooth fillings later, I was short of P2000. That's peanuts in Sydney, but here in Manila, it's big money.

Badminton is still going on strong among the populace. It started to pick up when I left, and now it looks like everyone's into it. Just outside our place is a warehouse, now converted into a 6-court badminton place called Toss and Play. With no cable TV, no free-to-air reception, no Internet access, and no WiFi, I spent the night watching people play. I knew I should've bought my badminton racquet instead of the tennis one.

KrisWorld Movie Marathon

The best way to pass time on a plane is still to watch lots and lots of movies. Just watch three movies straight, or intersperse them with a few CDs in between, and you'll get to your destination by the time you're done. You don't even have to make small talk with your seatmate. Who knows, you might be sitting next to Tyler Durden.

First movie I watched is Daniel Craig's first outing as Agent 007 in Casino Royale. I must say I liked this one. Not because I think Daniel Craig is the most wonderful British actor there is. Or maybe I'm just bored with the dashing Pierce Brosnan already. did is so ruthless. It's just not right to take advantage of a man when he's at his most vulnerable. I mean, 007 just got his license to kill, yet he's willing to leave everything on the table, and start a new life with Ms. Mr. Craig brings a breath of fresh air and drive to the role. The opening scene is not as extravagant and techie as the earlier ones, but wow, you should see the action. Just like Jackie Chan when he was just starting in the business. I'm not going to bore you with all the plot details, as I'm sure everyone has seen the movie already. I just want to say that what Ms. LyndLynd. Yet she betrayed him. In usual Bond fashion, 007 was able to catch the bad guy. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to save the damsel in distress. He became a colder man that day Ms. Lynd drowned in the depths of Venice.

Best bit of conversation in the movie:
Ms. Lynd: You know, James. I just want you to know that if all that was left of you was your smile and your little finger, you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever met.
Mr. Bond: That's because you know what I can do with my little finger.
Ms. Lynd: You're not going to let me in there, are you? You've got your amor back on. That's that.
Mr. Bond: I have no armor left. You've stripped it from me. Whatever is left of me, whatever is left of me, whatever I am, I'm yours.

To help clear the somber mood, I watched a comedy from Stephen Chow next. The movie is called Love on Delivery and also stars the luscious Christy Chung and his long-time sidekick Ng Man Tat. Stephen Chow also directs. Having watched Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, I'm deeply disappointed with this one. The movie feels like it's shot over a weekend, and Stephen Chow is probably having a hangover when he directed. The jokes are tired and banal and the plot virtually non-existent. Delivery boy Chow meets pretty student Chung. (She's even prettier with less clothes on.) After being humiliated by Chung's judo-teacher suitor, Chow gets some kung-fu lessons from an dodge convenience store owner, and get duped out of his savings in the process. Incredibly, Chow actually learned something and managed to defeat the judo teacher AND his teacher's nemesis in a tournament.

As I didn't get my comedy fix, I chose a Japanese movie next. Japanese are usually over-the-top and unpredictable, and that makes funny. Movie is called Kintaro, the White-Collar Worker (Sarariiman Kintarô). I'm sure the title sounds better in Nihongo. Anyway, movie started out all right. Story is about a young idealistic employee working in the construction business. Unfortunately, public works is a dirty business, full of insider dealing and rigged biddings. He didn't like the look of things, so he decided to fight the system. The whole company backed his cause in an effort to remain afloat. Things went downhill from there. His boss got bombed, his family got hurt, and he got mad. Mad enough to call on his former biker friends and start a gang war. Faced with a police barricade, he tried to go it alone and was jailed for 6 months. (What?! Not life?) Anyway, the day he came out of prison, there's a big crowd to welcome him and what he represents. Cheesy, I know, but you have to remember this is based on a cartoon series. As he walked to his waiting wife and son, the crowd parted like the Red Sea. The end.

What have I done to deserve movies like these? I switched to audio mode and listened to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (by Tafelmusik and Jeanne Lamon). Now, you can't go wrong with that!

Mr. Iron Chef Final (1995) - The Continuation

There's a very good reason why last week's Iron Chef episode was cut short without any notice with 15 minutes to go. My first thought was that maybe they ran out of time, or maybe Rockwiz was running longer than usual, or maybe a technical glitch. Had SBS made any sort of announcement, then people might start thinking. Hmm, maybe the Iron Chef final ran longer than usual...a tie maybe...

Yup, apparently, that's what happened. I didn't get to see the continuation, and my sister, who was at home, wasn't interested in the outcome. As far as I can pick up from the forums, there was a tie. That means Chen Kenichi and Michiba have to cook for an extra half hour. Michiba is definitely not pleased. Not sure why - maybe it's because he has already written out the intended menu in beautiful calligraphy, as is his custom, and he doesn't like editing it. The forums didn't say, but my guess is that Michiba won in the final battle. Makes for a nice birthday/retirement present, don't you think?

I Remember Tiffany

We had an awesome lightning storm last night (more than 60 strikes per minute), and the rains continued till this morning. The AM stations ran out of news to report, so I switched to my favourite classical station. The crawling morning traffic, the pitter-patter of rain on the car roof and windshield, classical music on the radio; suddenly I'm transported back to Manila. I'm driving along Ayala Avenue. It's the morning rush hour, and traffic is bumper-to-bumper. I'm listening to 98.7 dzFE FM - The Master's Touch, and any moment now, Tiffany will be on with her soothing voice and perfect diction, dispensing nuggets of knowledge and trivia about the pieces she's about to play.

Ah, those were the days. I've since lost touch with the guys at dzFE, and last I heard, they're not doing too well. Since they're a non-profit station, funds are hard to come by and they had to cut down drastically on broadcast hours to reduce operating expenses. Their lease is almost up, so the office and the transmitter atop a building in Makati have to move very soon. I'm not even sure if they're currently in operation or not.

Mr. Iron Chef Final (1995)

Surprising that a geek who does minimal cooking enjoys watching Iron Chef every Saturday night on SBS. Then again, Iron Chef is not just cooking. The reality-TV ambiance, the over-the-top host, the hilarious commentators - Allez cuisine!

Tonight episode is quite special. It's the 1995 Mr. Iron Chef Final between Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba and Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi. The event is made all the more special because it's Michiba's birthday AND it's the last time he's competing in the Kitchen Stadium. At 65, he reckons it's time to retire. On a side note, Chen Kenichi's also celebrating his 40th birthday a few days later.

For today's battle, Chairman of the Gourmet Academy Takeshi Kaga picked beef to be the secret ingredient. A small smile plays on Michiba's lips as beef is one of his more familiar ingredient. Chen Kenichi would probably prefer pork, but I'm sure he'll manage. Both chefs are gunning for four dishes each. The preparation and cooking are fast and furious. At 15 minutes to go, the end credits started rolling. What's going on?! No explanation, no nothing. Just like that. Hmm, will just have to wait for next week's fix.

My Kind of Rat, Flushed Away

I have watched quite a number of animated films, and I have to say Aardman's creations are one of the best out there, in terms of plot. Wallace & Grommit, Chicken Run, and now Flushed Away - I love them all.

The movie tells the story of this uptown rat by the name of Roddy (Hugh Jackman) who was flushed down the toilet by no-good sewer rat Sid. In rat town down the sewers, he meets red-head Rita (Kate Winslet) and convinces her to bring him up top to Kensington. For her troubles, he'll give her a real ruby (from his master's jewelry box) to replace the one he broke. While on their way on the Jammy Dodger, they were chased by The Toad's (Ian McKellen) rat henchmen Whitey (Bill Nighy) and Spike (Andy Serkis), assisted by Le Frog (Jean Reno) and his French ninja frogs. Rita and Roddy eventually reaches his Kensington home. As agreed, he gave her a ruby, plus an emerald for a Jammy Dodger II.

Back at the sewer, The Toad and Le Frog finally captures Rita and retrieves the master cable of the floodgate control system, which Rita has been using as her belt. While watching the World Cup finals with Sid (England vs. Germany), Roddy realizes The Toad's diabolical plan - to open the floodgates at half-time when everyone is using the loo and flush away all the rats in the sewers, then repopulate the underground city with his tadpoles he's keeping in the ref.

Naturally, our intrepid and dashing Roddy goes down the toilet again, reunites with Rita, foils The Toad's plan, and saves the day (and the rats). The slugs were so happy they were singing praises. As for Sid, he decides to stay up top permanently. Last scene shows the owners coming back from vacation, and Roddy's owner Tabitha brought along a new pet - a cat.

For some weird reason, I find Rita strangely attractive. (Is it the low-slung jeans?) She has the face of a rat, but what a personality! Decisive, aggressive, sensitive, vulnerable, smart - she's my kind of rat. Ginger in Chicken Run isn't too bad, either.

Not Happy, Swatch!

My Swatch Jelly isn't even a year old, yet it's plastic strap fastener broke already. I've just about had enough of Swatch and its flimsy plastic parts! First Swatch I bought, it had to be returned to the store three times for replacement because the plastic tabs holding the battery case kept breaking off each time. Next Swatch I bought is an Irony, so that is still holding up well. The next Autoquarz Labirinto is fully-encased in plastic, so there's nothing to break. Now, this Jelly is one thick chuck of a watch. Who would've thought that it's the plastic clasp that will give way?!

I hope the local Swatch shop will fix it, or else I'll be forced to fly to the Duty-Free shop in Changi Airport.

Borat in Moonlight Cinema

Had my first taste of Moonlight Cinema, although given a choice, I still would've preferred Movies in the Overflow. For one, the Overflow has bigger space to accommodate more people. It also has less trees obstructing your view. Transport-wise, I would say Olympic Park is still more accessible.

Tonight's film is Borat a.k.a. Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat Sagdiyev, a native of Kazakhstan, who's travelling across USA to document the American way of life. Halfway through the documentary, he discovers Baywatch, and goes off in search of C.J. Abandoned by his producer, he travels alone to California to marry his love, the virgin Pamela Anderson. (Yeah, right.)

The plot is not that important here because the whole anti-Jew movie is just a string of hilarious outrageous skits in the tradition of Jackass. It's like these scriptwriters sat down, contributed one segment each, and another guy strung them all up, and so Borat the movie is born. The skits?

• Borat gets a lesson in American humour a.k.a. How to make "Not!" jokes - Not!
• Borat meets with the feminists a.k.a. Why feminists are always in a foul mood
• Borat learns how to drive a.k.a. Women should be allowed to drive, too
• Borat buys a car from a dealership a.k.a. Gypsy-killing Hummers don't come with pu$$y magnets
• Borat joins a gay pride parade a.k.a. A guy with a rubber fist dildo is most probably a homosexual
• Borat goes on news TV a.k.a. Don't mess with the weatherman
• Borat performs at a rodeo show a.k.a. Kazakhstan is no. 1 exporter of potassium
• Borat mingles with the boyz in da hood a.k.a. What's up wit it, nigg@?
• Borat takes refuge in a Jewish B&B a.k.a. Sleeping with the enemy
• Borat visits a gun store a.k.a. Protection against the J3ws
• Borat gets a lesson in dinner etiquette a.k.a. Don't show family pictures when teenage son is nude
• Borat enjoys Southern dinner a.k.a. How to use the toilet properly
• Borat hires a prostitute a.k.a. Alabamans don't like African-American prostitutes
• Borat goes shopping in antique store a.k.a. Pubic hair is not legal tender in America
• Borat hitches ride with frat boys a.k.a. Tommy Lee was here
• Borat attends a Pentecostal prayer meeting a.k.a. Jesus loves all, amen!
• Borat proposes to Pamela a.k.a. Pamela doesn't like being kept in the dark...in a sack

To its credit though, Borat made me laugh out loud, which you probably couldn't do in a proper cinema. There's way too many funny quotes to list here, and even then I'm not gonna list them as most of them are not appropriate for kids' ears.

Almost Six Months Delayed

My blog, that is. What's the point of keeping a blog if you can't keep it updated? Normal days are ok, but when I come back from an overseas trip, it takes me months before I can put in a week's worth of travel blog entries. It gets worse if I do frequent travelling. I just don't know how the other bloggers do it. They must be employing ghost writers or something. Updating a blog is easy, but making it interesting and relevant and full of nice pictures is not.

Anyway, my second-to-the-last entry is still stuck at my US vacation last September 2006, and since then I've been to Jakarta, read a few books and watched tens of movies. So today, I've decided to start fresh. To h3ll with continuity. It's not like hundreds of people will flame me for the time warp. Heck, not even all my sibling read my blog. I'll just have to work my way backwards until the gap is filled (whenever that might be).

Top Gear and Left Bank 2

Through the years, Monday nights have always been SBS nights for me. Gone are Pizza, Mythbusters, John Safran, etc., but in their stead we have Top Gear, South Park, and Drawn Together.

Talking about Top Gear, today's Supercars episode has the Bugatti Veyron with a mated dual v8 engine (making it a W16 engine), 4 turbochargers, 10 radiators and 1000 brake horsepower competing with a Cessna 182 to deliver truffles from Italy to London. Guess who won. Anyway, one of the background music played during the segment is a melodic, chirpy, happy tune, which struck me as immediately familiar, but for the life of me, I can't remember where I heard that music. Closed captioning tells me that the title is Left Bank 2. My brain is associating it with a movie I've seen, and since it gave me a happy positive feeling, I'm sure it's a good movie. Twenty-four hours later I'm still racking my brains for a clue. Then it hit me - it was the introductory music played by the theater at the Art Gallery of NSW. At the start of every film screening, that music would come on, and the screen would show messages like, "Please turn off mobile phones and pagers", "Please do not ruffle your belongings", "Please do not talk during performances", etc. Ah, another one of life's little mysteries solved.

Chorizo Recipe

A few weeks ago, jolly ol' Jamie Oliver was on TV cooking up some lovely chorizo dish. I watched him, and I go, "I can do that." Easier said than done for a guy whose kitchen repertoire consists of fried eggs and mashed potatoes, maybe some French fries. How hard can it be? A quick check with Google, and this is the (modified) recipe I came up with:

• one big potato, boiled, peeled, and cut into chunks
• half an onion, cut into strips
• green bell pepper, cut into strips
• one stick of chorizo, cut into thick slices

Heat olive oil in skillet over high heat. Saute potato chunks with salt. Fry until browned on all sides. Transfer potatoes to a bowl.

Put pepper, onion, and chorizo into skillet and cook until vegetables have softened. Season with salt and pepper. Add a little white wine. (I can't find any open bottle of white wine, so I put in some Chinese rice wine. Hey, wine's wine, right?) Add vegetable/chorizo mixture to potatoes, and toss well.

Beautiful!

Lunchtime Fishing at Gordon's Bay

Right about lunchtime, a colleague who's crazy about fishing wanted to check out this new fishing spot he discovered during the weekend, and if we wanted to come along. Sure thing, man. Any excuse to get out of the office. Gordon's Bay is in the Randwick area, which is not too far, so it shouldn't take us long. He was saying that he was there snorkelling last Sunday, and he saw this Japanese catch four black fish in under 15 minutes. Considering he's been getting only one or two after hours of fishing, he reckons today is our lucky day.

Fifteen minutes to get there, 15 minutes to prepare his gear, 15 minutes of fishing, 15 minutes back to the office. One hour of lunch break should be enough. Yeah, right. After an hour, he's only managed to catch one black fish. Lots of bites (and getting wet), but no fish. My other colleague was unwilling to leave unless he catches his own fish. By 3pm, we all gave up and went back to the office. By 5pm, we were playing table tennis. Ah, that's the life!

Katherine Jenkins Living a Dream Tour

Scored two free tickets to Katherine Jenkins' Living a Dream Tour concert at the State Theatre. Got my sister to come along with me. This is the first time I've entered the State Theatre and the place is pretty nice. A bit old, but the art deco interiors and furnishings are still magnificent.

Kane Alexander opened the concert with a few songs by Josh Groban and Seal, backed by a string quartet. There was a long lull after the opening act. The orchestra kept the audience happy with some classical pieces, then Katherine Jenkins burst on stage with a blindingly white costume. What I noticed is that she sings with a full operatic voice, but when she speaks, her voice is like a little girl's. If I remembered correctly, she did four sets (based on the number of costume changes she had). A lot of the songs came from her new Serenade album: the Italian version of (Everything I Do) I Do for You, Chanson Boheme, then O Mio Babbino Caro, Granada, etc.

While it's a good concert, I still think it's expensive at $99.

New York Tour - Day 1

Today we start our official tour of New York. After returning the Pontiac G6 to Alamo, we got ourselves an all-day Metro pass. First thing I wanted to visit is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yeah, that's me all right. Dad and I went in the museum, while my brother waited for his friend at the steps. Now, the Met is one of those museums where you can easily spend a whole day in. Unfortunately, I have only two hours, and I'm not paying 20 bucks "suggested admission fee" for only two hours to see two million works of art across two million square feet of exhibition space. I was told by a little bird that if you're too cheapo to pay full price, you can opt to make a "donation" to the musuem, and you still get the entry sticker. Yup, that's me again. The Met has quite a bit of history. It first opened in 1820 along Fifth Avenue, then moved to West 14th Street in 1873. It later acquired some land on the east side of Central Park, and that became its home till the present. The museum's permanent collection ranges from paintings and sculptures from European masters and American artists alike, special sections for Greek and Roman art, Asian art, Islamic art, medieval art, Egyptian art, extensive collection of arms and armour, musical instruments, etc. Currently on special exhibit is Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument - the "roof" being the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. Personally, I think Chinese artists in general are getting quite a bit of exposure these days simply because of the novelty of it all. Anyway, the installation consists of four works:

• Clear Sky Black Cloud - This seems to be the highlight of the exhibit. Every day at noon (except Mondays), a suite of three black-smoke shells are fired off, creating a black cloud in the city sky.
• Transparent Monument - This one's my favourite. The work is simply a 15-foot-tall unframed glass pane, at the base of which lie some dead pigeons, obviously hitting the clear glass in mid-flight and causing their own deaths. Well, the only thing real about them are the feathers.
• Move Along, Nothing to See Here - This pair of open-mouthed crocodiles are obviously fakes, too. The life-sized crocs are skewered and propped up by bamboo poles, and their whole bodies bristling with hundred of sharp, dangerous items allegedly confiscated from airport security checkpoints - knives, screwdrivers, forks, switchblades, etc.
• Nontransparent Monument - This is a 32-foot-long limestone relief with vignettes depicting life after 9/11, including scenes of bird flu, international festivals, same-sex marriage, terrorist hits, etc.

From Central Park, we took the subway to Grand Central Terminal (not to be confused with Chicago's Grand Central Station), where we had lunch at the food court (dining concourse) downstairs. Reminds me of the lunch we had recently at the food court of the Washington Union Station. The GCT is a tourist destination in itself. The main concourse is just cavernous - 120 feet wide, 375 feet long and 125 feet high. Those of you who have seen the movies Madagascar and Hackers would know how big it is. The ceiling is so high they were able to fit in a Redstone missle (vertically) in 1957. In erecting that missile, they had to cut a hole near Pisces, and that hole remained there ever since. If you're confused by the reference to Pisces, that was because I forgot to mention that on the ceiling of the main concourse is a mural of the New York sky with gilded stars and constellations. It was originally painted by French artist Paul César Helleu in 1912, and recently restored by cleaning away the years of grime and soot and smoke and plaster that accumulated. The cleaners apparently didn't do a good job because there's still an uncleaned patch above Michael Jordan's Steak House. Kidding aside, that's to remind people how bad the grime was.

More trivia for you: if you look at the constellations, you'll notice that they're painted backwards. It's possible that the painter's no good at reading sketches. A more plausible explanation is that the painting is based on a medieval manuscript that shows the sky as seen from outer space. Near the Oyster Bar & Restaurant at the dining concourse is the "whispering gallery". Due to the physics/acoustics of the low arched ceilings, people at either ends of the gallery entryway can hear each other perfectly, even if they're only whispering. It is also rumoured that underneath the GCT is a network of underground tunnels and tracks. By entering a secret entrance you gain access to a train platform and an elevator that goes straight up to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Our next subway stop takes us to the Wall Street area. Along Broad Street, we find the the neoclassical New York Stock Exchange building. Atop the six Corinthian columns is the pediment with John Quincy Adams Ward's sculpture called “Integrity Protecting the Works of Man”. Draped across the columns is a giant American flag. Along Wall Street, we find the Federal Hall National Monument with the bronze statue of Washington in front. The classical structure with its Doric columns and domed ceiling started life as New York City Hall in 1700. In 1789, it became the First Capitol of the United States. It later served as US' first Customs House, then a Federal Reserve Bank. In 1939, it was designated as Federal Hall Memorial, currently operating as a museum. Incidentally, this is where Washington was inaugurated as the first President.

At the end of Wall Street is the Trinity Church. Too bad I didn't even get the chance to take a glimpse of its interior, as our guide is walking quickly down Broadway. Down at the Bowling Green Park is the famous Charging Bull a.k.a. the Wall Street Bull. One caress of its bronze horns and you're sure to make a killing at the stock market. (That's not the only part of the bull that has become shiny with too much caressing, but we won't go into that.) Story goes that Arturo Di Modica created the 7000-lb. sculpture after the 1987 crash (at his own expense) and left it at the doors of NYSE building as a Christmas gift. The police wasn't happy with his "littering" and impounded the bull. The public wasn't happy with the police impounding the bull and raised a ruckus. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation had no choice but to re-install it at the Bowling Green Park. But now, time for more trivia. Turning right at Battery Place at the end of Broadway, you'll see a short, nondescript building along Greenwich Street. On the face of the building it says "BROOKLYN BATTERY TUNNEL - TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE & TUNNEL AUTHORITY". It's supposed to be the ventilation building for the tunnel, but (sotto voce) it's actually the MIB headquarters.

Going through the 21-acre (8.5 ha) Battery Park, we pass by Fritz Koenig's The Sphere. The metallic sculpture used to be located in the Austin Tobin Plaza between the World Trade Center towers. After the Sept. 11 attacks, it was recovered relatively unscathed, and now temporarily relocated along Eisenhower Mall in the northern section of The Battery. Just beside it is an eternal flame to commemmorate the victims of 9/11. Further on, we reach Castle Clinton where ferry tickets to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are sold. (For those who are interested to know, Castle Clinton is a low, circular sandstone fort built prior to the War of 1812 to protect the harbour from attacks.) The queue to the ferry dock is long and winding, but I'm not about to miss my date with Lady Liberty. After the requisite full security check, we're on our way to Liberty Island.

So this is how the immigrants felt when they first saw the Statue of Liberty looming closer in the distance. (I seriously have to go NOW! :-)) The moment we docked, everybody spilled out and rushed over to the statue to take pictures. Commonly known as the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Enlightening the World is a gift from the Paris-based Union Franco-Américaine (Franco-American Union) in 1886. Visitors to the island have a choice of a museum tour at the base of the monument or an observatory tour for the best views of the NY harbour. I did neither because half an hour later, I was already on the ferry to Ellis Island. Main attraction of the island is the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. If you've seen the movie Hitch, this is where the man took the girl after a day of jetskiing for some ancestor-hunting. Outside the building is an "American Immigrant Wall of Honor". You would think this is where they list all the immigrants that passed through Ellis Island. Wrong, because for as little as $150, you could put your family name on the wall as well.

Back at Battery Park, it's a short walk to the World Trade Center Ground Zero. Five years after the event, I'm a bit saddened to see people walking around the site holding placards, still looking for their missing loved ones. Attached to the metal fences surrounding the contruction area are flags, flowers, pictures, baseball caps, and other memorabilia. At the entrance of the WTC PATH Subway Station is a photo exhibit chronicling the events on that fateful day. There's even a guy there giving a very detailed narrative of what happened, complete with facts and figures. That guy sure knows how to tell a good story - everyone was bunched around him, hanging to his every word. Pressed for time, we moved on to St. Paul's Chapel, which is just across the east side of the World Trade Center. The little chapel's claim to fame is that it didn't suffer any damage during the 9/11 attack, not even a broken window. (Some say it's a miracle.) Due to its proximity to the disaster site, the chapel became a place of rest for the recovery crew, who were working shifts non-stop. Volunteers also used the place as a relief center, working 12-hour shifts to make beds, serve meals, offer prayers and counseling, etc. The chapel is now back to its regular religious duties, although it's now also a tourist attraction. It still retains most of the memorial banners and memorabilia people left behind. There's an extensive audio/video history of the inspiring event, and even a huge roll of paper where visitors could write down their dedication. I spied a few people sobbing quietly in the pews, and I knew it was time to leave.

Taking the subway to Times Square, we spent most of the late afternoon gawking at the billboards ads of upcoming TV shows and theater plays and scrolling displays of text ads and stock quotes. I don't mind having a bit of art and culture, but I really don't have time to watch a Broadway hit even if it's at half-price. Too bad. Dinner is at Ollie's Noodle Shop. Despite the prime location and trendy interiors, I can assure you this is an authentic Chinese restaurant. For one, the staff doesn't care about customer service. You sit down at the table, and the waitress slams plates, chopsticks, and teacup in front of you, without much of an excuse me. Just the way I like it. Table too big? No problem. Before you can say yes, please do join us, there's already another party of four seated across the table. For our after-dinner entertainment, we walked over to the Rockefeller Center. The Rockefeller Plaza is such a nice place to simply hang out. Sitting on the steps of the plaza, you can see the outdoor dining area at the Lower Plaza. There's the colorful water fountains with Paul Manship's sculpture of Prometheus. Behind him is the white 70-storey 266-meter GE Building rising all the way up to the night sky. At the plaza is a stone plaque with this long quote, which my brother liked a lot:

• I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
• I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty
• I believe that the law was made for man and not man for the law; that government is the servant of the people and not their master.
• I believe in the Dignity of labour, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a liking but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.
• I believe that thrift is essential to well ordered living and that economy is a prime requisite of a sound financial structure, whether in government, business or personal affairs.
• I believe that truth and justice are fundamental to an enduring social order.
• I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a mans word should be as good as his bond; that character not wealth or power or position - is of supreme worth.
• I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and that only in the purifying fire of sacrifice is the dross of selfishness consumed and the greatness of the human soul set free.
• I believe in an all-wise and all-loving God, named by whatever name, and that the individuals highest fulfilment, greatest happiness, and widest usefulness are to be found in living in harmony with His Will.
• I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.

After digesting our food, we walked back to Times Square. Passed by Toys "R" Us, and we just had to go in and take a look. This flagship store is the biggest toy store in the whole world (multi-level, 110,000 square feet). Highlights include a 60-ft working indoor Ferris wheel and a 20-ft high, 34-ft long animatronic T-Rex. With that, we end the day.