New York, through the lens of Atilola

Continued from last week

Let's delve straight in, so as to prevent a lengthy post. I started my days in New York by hanging out with a past colleague of mine, who had come from Pennsylvania to see me. I felt like a celeb, lol. Unfortunately, his wife couldn't make it as she was about to put to bed.

We started by going to a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was good, and the dessert was out of this world.

And from there, we proceeded to the number 1 museum in the world, Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've been to the British museum before, but it was nothing compared to what we saw. You have to come for months in and out before you can exhaust their art. There was just so much to see. I took over 100 pictures, but enjoy the few below.

The art frpm Oceania was so beautiful, and very similar to African art.

We moved to the African art section, and it was basically empty. No one there at all, so sad. There were a lot of Nigeria art there.

Ijebu kingdom representing.

Aren't these carved-upon elephant tusks beautiful?

Our Bini chiefs

Apart from a guy and a lady who squeezed their face at some art work in disgust, and ran out quickly, this painter was the only person we saw in the African art section, even though we were there for quite some time.

She was drawing the figure below. Do you think she's getting it? I think she's doing a great job.

And then we moved to the Egyptian section, and I almost felt like crying. The place was packed, as in paaackkked. People queuing to take pictures with the sphynx and Egyptian mummies.

Egyptian mummies.

There's a dead man in there. Are you scared yet? Lol

 We then moved to the European section, featuring several eras of war.

This was the actual war suit of the oga pata pata, lol.

 Swords out, guns in...

The Japanese Samurai gear

If the samurai sword below should hit you ehn, say bye to the world.

After about 4 hours of picture taking, we called it a night. My friend went back to Pennsylvania, and I went to Staten Island.

The next day was Sunday, so I went to Hillsong at Times Square. The church was so chilled and relaxed that I wondered what the fuss was with us in Nigeria. And their worship is on another level. We all know that Hillsong is known for good worship albums from times past, and this legacy cuts across all their churches. After church, which closed by 2.00pm, did some runs at Time Square, and went back home.

The next day, I headed straight to Wall Street.

George Washington

New York Stock Exchange

 And then went to the 9/11 memorial centre. It is basically where the former world trade centres were standing before they were taken down by Al-Qaeda. They now have two gigantc pools there, with the names of the dead carved into the iron barricades around it. Seeing those names really touched me, and caused me to realise that real human beings actually died here, not just statistics.

Some of the dead

Believe it or not, I was trying to take s selfie.

They have rebuilt one of the twin towers just opposite where the former ones stood, and they are in the process of building the second one. This goes to show that no matter how the enemy comes at you, and takes you down to your knees, you can get back up again.

The new world trade centre.

Finally got one selfie, lol

 After some more struggles, I gave my camera to someone, and just asked him to take my picture, which he was very happy to do. Took the pictures, went to 34th street to do some runs, and went back home.

The next day, I was on 34th street again. Buying things makes me very tired and dizzy, and I don't like shopping, but I had to keep going everyday cos our able president put a cap on daily spending outside Nigeria. It was so tiring.

On Wednesay, I had the time of my life watching veteran's day parade. Read my caption below, to see how I was awed by the Veterans Day, and the amount of devotion given to veterans. No wonder these people give their lives for their country.

I love parades o. I can match for any reason. I love them so much that I knew I wasn't going to miss the Veterans Day parade for any reason. I stood for almost 4 hours watching different parade styles. The American style, English style, Chinese style, Japanese style, drumline movie style, Asian meditation style, etc. people of every single age group took part. Military associations, companies, schools and colleges, government bodies, it was a very big deal. I took over 500 pictures and videos, till my phone was full, lol. It was such a beautiful sight and I don't regret standing for so long. The fact that they don't joke with their veterans says a lot. No wonder they can die for their country. #veteransday #veterans #veteran #usarmy #usmilitary #usnavy #usmarines

A video posted by WordsByAtilola.com (@hattylolla001) on Nov 11, 2015 at 8:21pm PST

The veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan were something else. They were the most vibrant, youngest (about mid-twenties to mid-thirties), loudest (they were screaming like mad), and flamboyant. Although they didn't match, they came full force, with their biker gangs, etc. We had so much love for the Vietnam veterans too. They were more sober, due to their age.

American Bombshells paying tribute

Black Cowboys of America

The parades by high schools and universities were the most enjoyable. They came out drumline-style, and with very danceable beats.

The Chinese

The Fencers

I took pictures and videos till my phone got full, and couldn't handle it anymore. After 4 hours of parade watching, it came to an end, and I went back 34th street, did some more runs, and went home.

The next day, I went to Grand Central Terminal, took few pictures, and left. My phone did not do justice to the beauty and grandness of the place.

Grand Central Terminal

 The next day, I was off to Central Park. This is one place I would like to come and hang out with a loved one. It is a sin to go to placed like this alone, lol. It was full of tourists from all over the world. People kept looking at me strangely at the entrance. I don't know if it was because I was alone, or because I was black (I was the only black tourist there). It is the biggest park I have ever been to, and I will still return there in future, by the grace of God.

 I saw crowd gathered at a place, and went there. It was some black entertainers, entertaining for money. They were really funny and skilled at what they do, which is basically comedy, stunts, etc.

If by now, from the previous to this, you haven't realised that I travelled with just one shoe, we need to get you a pair of glasses, lol.

And then I went to 34th street as usual, did some more runs, and took a picture of Empire State Building which I basically pass everyday, but didn't know.

Empire State Building

 Finally, I got a bit good at taking a selfie, lol.

I am about to disappoint you, because the next day was my last major day as a tourist, and I had already booked a show on Broadway. I watched The Phantom of the Opera. It was Ahmaaazzziiinnngg, and I would watch it again, along with Les Miserables. It was great, but expensive sha.

Unfortunately, you cannot use electronic devices while the show is going on, so I don't have pictures of that for you. I took the picture below when we were on break from the show.

And I took this one below when the show was over, and the cast came out, bowed, and talked to us.

Farewell to New York.

The next day, I went to church, Hillsong at Union Square, which was another great experience, then ran home and started getting ready to leave.

In summary, it was great. I am a frequent traveller, and I make sure I travel once a year, in the worst case. Last year alone, I went to 5 countries. I usually just hang out with family and friends, and do basically nothing. But this trip was really great for me because I was FORCED to go out. The downside is that it has been my most expensive.

And this is why I cannot be POOR. When I left Broadway, I just kept telling myself that I needed to be more hardworking. I can't be poor and unexposed. Naaahhh.

Now, it is time for me to keep my head down and work hard. Life, I am coming for you.