Thailand, finally: First Days

The flight and waiting was long, but we finally got to Bangkok around 1500 local time on Thursday.
Lars' father Tormod picked us up by car, and not long later we were met by Lars' mother Ellen. Tormod then popped a champagne bottle and apple cake with ice cream was served! A real nice Norwegian(/French) welcome :)

Since Thursday we have already seen and done some stuff. Friday me and Lars bicycled all around Jomtien and Pattaya all day, and also visited a Buddha Hill where you can overlook both towns (if all the trees around were cut). My first impression was that this country is very chaotic and has a lot going on in the streets at the same time. You can probably get a whiplash trying to see everything and everywhere.

Over the weekend we have spent time with Lars' parents. We've eaten good Thai food in various places (pictures of the deliciousnesses will come when I have some) - we have visited crazy Walking St. in Pattaya and seen too much for my eyes and psyche (that being the life of certain ladyboys and prostitutes), getting to know quite a different world than where I'm from, - I have witnessed the differences in the country between the rich and poor, as well as seen a bit of religion (more Chinese than Thai actually), - and we've ridden on elephants!

Other than that I have so far understood that it's much cheaper here than I first anticipated. I do not know what I will spend 10 grand on here, except blowing of some of it on a upcoming scuba-diving licence (which I absolutely can't wait for!)

Oh yes, we also visited a place where a giant golden Buddha was placed on a great mountain wall. Picture says it all.

That's it for now. Three days down and so many to go! This upcoming week we will meet some friends from Trondheim and hang out with them.

So long.

- vic -

The Big Apple Part 2!

Well hello again!

I figured I should tell you the rest about my stay in New York in February, so - in this post you'll get to see a bit from West Village, NY Public Library, Grand Central Station, Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park.

First of - I think we were in West Village a couple of times, and I absolutely fell in love with it! I didn't take so many pictures there, because this place works this way: if you go into a shop, you stay there for at least an hour, and also if you go to eat, you stay there as well for at least an hour. We managed to get stuck at Juicy Couture for two hours I think, because there was a great seller there, hehe.. It was actually really fun to have a personal shopper.

I got out there without buying anything, luckily. My wallet was just screaming "NO, PLEASE NO!!", so I didn't. The other two girls, on the other hand, spent some paper there...

The atmosphere in West Village was so peaceful and lovely.

This café was a little treasure in West Village, placed in Washington st., I believe.

It's a shame I don't have more shots from this part of the city, because it really was a nice place. Loads of cafés, restaurants and unique shops here, and we also found the "Friends" (the TV-series) building here!

The "Friends" building.

While I'm talking about dining a little bit, I just have to mention that we visited amazing TAO in Midtown Centre. The place was beyond amazing, designed, literally, between two stories! So when we were downstairs the ceiling was probably 8-9 m over our heads! Also we met up with one of Eli's friends who lives in New York in TAO!

The food.........was to DIE for. People who know me, know I loove good food, so this place; 

perfect for me.

Standing on second floor, looking down on the Buddha statue.

The Buddha statue is almost 5 metres high.

Here is a photo of the incredible restaurant (where I think Everyone who is going to NY should visit!), from www.insidenewyork.com.

Moving on to the New York Public Library. It was established in 1895 and is the second largest library in the United States. Really amazing inside, as you can see in the photos.

And look at that, an old picture of the Times Square.
I can't believe it actually looked like that before.

Tired girls from all the looking around.

After visiting the library, the three of us took the subway to Grand Central Station. I remember I was extremely excited to see the Station, as I had heard about it and seen so beautiful pictures from it. So when we entered the _huge_ hall, it took my breath away.

The ceiling has astronomical details.

Can you guess how high it is under the ceiling!?

38 METRES!!!

We ended our visit to this fabolous city on Thursday. On this last day we decided to see the two of the "must-see" things to see as a tourist in NYC that we still had left; the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park. Brooklyn Bridge was beautiful. We walked half-way over it, and then turned around to get another skyline view of the city. A great way to say goodbye to New York.

Me and Eli bought souvenirs from this man.
He sold lovely painted pictures of New York.

Another NYC skyline.

Many couples have hung their love locks to symbolize their everlasting love on the bridge, 

and some have also hung memories to symbolize their own visit to the city.

When we got back up to "our" part of the city, we took a stroll in Central Park. We had half an hour or so to see a bit of the huge park.

Horse carriage ready for the romantic couples!

This cute squirrel was lucky to get a peanut!

Then we headed back to our hostel where we checked out a short time after we got back.

The stay in New York City was short in time, but long in activities. It was intense because of all the things we did and saw, and I definitely feel like I need to come back here for a longer stay sometime. Even though I did so many things, there are still loads of things I want to do in NYC, like experience Broadway and Brooklyn. Those are things at the top of my head, because it is hard to think about what to do in a city that has so much to offer. I'd definitely want to do all the things I've done, all over again!

For you who are interested, we stayed at Hostelling International Hostel. This is in the Upper West Side at  891 Amsterdam Avenue. As for transport, we bought a 1-week Subway pass for $29 I think, and it was a great way to get around Manhattan. I think we took a cab once, so I can't say much about those prices.

Any other questions, just ask.


So that's it for New York.
In the end, words can't describe this city.

- vic -