When we got to Grand Central Station, my dad was super excited because he'd taken the train here when he visited NYC back in like 1980. That's why he was part of a tripod party taking pictures of the place when we got inside.
It looks a bit like Union Station but bigger, more elegant, more shiny, and better lit. Things are made with smoothed marble-like material, instead of the concrete-like stuff in TO. Windows let in the daylight near the ceiling, which was painted with astrological designs and figures. I wanted to sit down on the stairs to wait, except then I noticed a sign that said sitting on the stairs is strictly prohibited. Not that it stopped anybody...
While my dad was taking pictures, my mom and I went downstairs to the "Dining Concourse". It's like a looong hall, with doors along the sides that go down to the train tracks. There are many food vendors to choose from, like a massive food court, and some cool seats to enjoy your food on. It felt like a hotel lobby mixed with a touch of cave, very classy but clearly subterranean.
I was trying on a shirt in an Esprit store, and the guy who opens the doors of the fitting rooms was all like, "So where are you from?"
"Toronto."
"..O_o"
"Er, Canada."
"Oh! Canada, huh, nice...Is it really as cold as they say up there? Y'know, igloos and all that?"
">_> Nope, it's pretty much the same as here."
"Aw, really? *disppointed* Well that's nice."
I thought that was just something that we think they say. I didn't think people actually thought that! In a big city too. I don't think he even knew Toronto.
For dinner, we went to this really cool Japanese restaurant called Sapporo. We had some really good ramen, served to us by Hispanic waiters with the authentic Japanese dude calling out "irasshaimase" at the door. It was pretty cool, even though it was kind of tight on space inside. After dinner we went back out to Times Square, because our hotel is just super close to there. I walked through some stores with my mom while my dad was setting up his long exposure shots for the lights and stuff. We got some M&Ms from the big M&M store around there, and went to rejoin my dad. Because I was eating M&Ms, which is chocolate, I wanted to drink milk with it. Because I'm cool that way. Solution: Walgreen's. I was a little sad that they didn't have some reasonably smallish sized milk cartons, but more milk is good, I suppose. Osteoporosis doesn't sound particularly appealing to me. Anyways that's how I ended up drinking milk and eating M&Ms in Times Square at 10:30 at night.
This morning we walked over to the Rockefeller Center and took some pictures. On the way, we passed by a Magnolia Bakery, which is reputed to have the best cupcakes in the world. We bought one specialty cupcake (pecan and banana with cream cheese icing), and one regular chocolate cupcake (with light green frosting and sprinkles). Then we ate them on a bench near the outdoor ice rink at Rockefeller. They were indeed very yummy, although pretty sweet, and worth the $3 per cupcake xD
It looks a bit like Union Station but bigger, more elegant, more shiny, and better lit. Things are made with smoothed marble-like material, instead of the concrete-like stuff in TO. Windows let in the daylight near the ceiling, which was painted with astrological designs and figures. I wanted to sit down on the stairs to wait, except then I noticed a sign that said sitting on the stairs is strictly prohibited. Not that it stopped anybody...
For dinner, we went to this really cool Japanese restaurant called Sapporo. We had some really good ramen, served to us by Hispanic waiters with the authentic Japanese dude calling out "irasshaimase" at the door. It was pretty cool, even though it was kind of tight on space inside. After dinner we went back out to Times Square, because our hotel is just super close to there. I walked through some stores with my mom while my dad was setting up his long exposure shots for the lights and stuff. We got some M&Ms from the big M&M store around there, and went to rejoin my dad. Because I was eating M&Ms, which is chocolate, I wanted to drink milk with it. Because I'm cool that way. Solution: Walgreen's. I was a little sad that they didn't have some reasonably smallish sized milk cartons, but more milk is good, I suppose. Osteoporosis doesn't sound particularly appealing to me. Anyways that's how I ended up drinking milk and eating M&Ms in Times Square at 10:30 at night.