New York, New York

The flight took us the whole day. My bf and I left PHX at 8:30am but did not reach Newark Airport, New Jersey until 8:30pm. It was very cold. Weather forecast said the temperature was 2 degree Celcius. Oh gosh. My body was shaking even though it was just a short distance to the car.

His brother, Tae fetched us from the airport and straight to his mum's place, where we are going to stay during the vacation. He is very friendly and easy going, which made me felt so much better than what i have expected. U know how nervous it is when u are meeting the other family for the first time.

I heard voices of the kids, shouting "They are here!" as we stepped into the house. I was trembling a lil, i admit. I held John's hand tight, and he said "Don't worry, they are just happy to see us".

Pat, his sister welcomed us with a big smile. Alicia and Jessica (Pat's daughters) are very cute. They were shy at first, but after some warming up sessions, they just cant stop talking. Haha.


Pretty decorations from the neighbour.

New York is the best place to be during Christmas, that is what i was told. Yes, i am lucky to be able to do that. It didnt snow, unfortunately, but there were lotsa dirty snow on the ground - leftovers from the snow the week before. Not a very pretty scene but the feeling of being there was still amazing.

Times Square was very crowded as usual. U see people walking everywhere, in every corner. Americans, Koreans, Japanese, Africans, Mexican - just name it. After a short walk on the street, we watched Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway. Jennifer Garner, Kevin Kline and Daniel Sunjata did a very good job.


I was not kidding about the crowd...


9 days to year 2008.

If u have seen the movie Sleepless in Seattle before, then the Empire State Building shouldnt be a stranger to u. The queue was very long just to get in the building, BUT we accidently (really, i swear!) cut the line and save us an hour, at least. There were 2 observation decks, the major one being at the 86th floor with an outdoor deck. That nite was very cold and the strong wind made it almost unbearable. The 102nd floor is the highest one can get to but it is just a very small indoor area. Nothing to shout about. I like it better in the outdoor deck.


The Empire State Building during the day.


Jane and John.

If u are going to be in NYC during Xmas, you should never miss the Rockefeller Center. There is a huge and nicely decorated Christmas tree which will be displayed every year without fail, a tradition. Dozens of people lining up to get to the ice skating rink, something that you can only do in the winter, i guess. You know, skating is something that i am not so good at so u will not see me lining up. *tongue out*


Rockefeller Center.


You have to fight with people to get good view for pictures.. man!

Before we ended our vacation, we visited the Statue of Liberty. Too bad we didnt get a chance to go into the statue (up to the pedestal only because of security reasons) as we were late and the passes were all distributed out. But i am still happy to be there to see one of the famous landmarks of the world. By the way, did u know that there is a sister statue in Paris? I only got to know this when i watched the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets last week.


On the ferry going towards the island.


We definitely look very tiny here.

That basically sum up my trip to New York. Here is another picture of the kids. I'm going to bed now...


Jessica and Alicia.