Times Square: First Impressions and a Wish

They say it doesn’t sleep. Though we didn’t stay long enough to find out but from what I have seen, heard, smelled and tripped on, it’s probably true.

Disappointed. It wasn’t a total letdown if that’s how it sounded. There’s a lot for the senses to take in just a few hours. Remember, I don’t belong to any of the single-letter generations. My mental and emotional reflexes could be haywired by an overload of lights and sounds. Rowdy remains rowdy to me. Still, the streets made me feel brand new. The lights inspired me.

Dirty. I wasn’t expecting a Singapore vibe but I just thought it could do better with all the money it gets 24/7 especially from first-time suckers like me.

The smell of skunk literally at every corner, not because of the presence of wildlife in the area but because of burning cannabis. From sidewalk dwellers to dudes giving out leaflets to tourists who couldn’t get enough of it, they’re a-smokin’ lot. Masks covering our faces provided no resistance to the strength of its odor. 

EXPENSIVE food. So expensive. Did I say expensive already? I am a Filipino so I multiply by 55 and compare every meal versus a Jollibee combo meal. My math skills came in handy but I found it a bit difficult to swallow each bite. 

Do I want to come back? You bet I do. There’s still a lot to see, to experience, to learn from and to be dismayed at. My wish: a New York with the discipline of Tokyo sans its Friday night drink-spree. It may not happen in my lifetime but I can dream, can’t I?

Afterall, it’s in this concrete jungles where dreams are made of.

To you NYC, I raise my cup.

Cheers!

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Different Place, Same Prayer

I came to NYC bringing the same prayer I found myself doing when I embraced the world in Chicago –see part 1 here. This is the exact place where that Chicago Tribune Tower rock fragment was taken from.

Wild thoughts crossed my mind as I looked at the names permanently engraved on this memorial. The images of a man/woman jumping off one of the towers played again in my mind -still a vivid memory stored in my head, nearly 21 years ago while watching on TV over 13,000 kms away. 

I read some names from where I stood believing that one of those names belongs to that person I saw on TV. I prayed silently.

The memorial is now a happy place, always full of people, happy people. New buildings surround it. Everything appears so delightful to the eyes, nothing that suggests tons of rubbles from two 110-storey towers covered the ground, and dust thickened the air. 

Life went on for many. It didn’t for some.

To those who did and to those who still try to, I raise my coffee cup.

Cheers!

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The Day I Embraced the World

“What do we know, dad?”

This is a line from a movie I recently watched on Netflix, A Family Man. These were the words of a sick child, Ryan, to his dad asking about some of the famous landmarks of Chicago. One of them is the Chicago Tribune where over “100 rock fragments from famous sites around the world are embedded into the walls of the Tower.” 

In the movie, Ryan, followed by his dad, appeared to embrace the wall after hearing about the story of the “one from that building in New York,” referring to the wall fragment from World Trade Center.

I came to Chicago downtown to do the same and on the same spot shown in the movie, I embraced the world. For a good minute, I prayed for the victims of violence, of wars. And for a few seconds in that minute, I also remembered those in my country -victims of injustice, of martial law, dead and living and those who suffered and are no longer remembered.

This Windy City has given me more insights than vision. 

Chicago, I will not forget. Everytime a cool wind gives me a chill somewhere and sometime in the future, I will remember what I remembered that day I embraced the world.

I raise my coffee cup to you, Chi-town. Cheers!

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First Flight -The New Normal

This was how I looked like inside the airplane. Beneath all the mandatory wraps is my warm flesh. Old and maybe tough (as opposed to tender) but still warm. After nearly three years of being grounded, we are flying way higher than the birds in the sky. And this selfie was taken inside the plane’s toilet, 10kms above sea level -first time ever in my life I’ve done such a thing.

A mix of excitement and apprehension rose in equal measure as we counted the days until it finally happened. Then a good thing -while we were loading our luggage into my brother’s car, our parish priest who was visiting our village, just happened to walk by. Upon knowing that we will be driven off to the airport, he prayed over us. Such a blessing indeed, of being assured of God’s protection.

And so confident of a safe travel, I took this pic. I am really not a selfie person, but seeing my reflection in the mirror prompted it. I wanted to not forget this significant day in my life, no matter how good or how dreadful I looked. For my headgear and outfit, I’d like to thank Muji for the neck cushion that came with a hood, Kleenex for the mandatory face mask, H&M for the hoodie and Asian Eye for my eyewear. The rest of what appears to be plaster is my old skin. I thank God for the 62 years.

So yeah. The story of my flight.

We landed in the Windy City with so little fanfare. I was blown away.

Cheers!

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