Happy Halloweeeeen!

28th October 2007

Our next stop is Salem where it's well known for the Salem Witch Trials. After going for a talk on Salem Witch Trial which took place just on the previous Tuesday, I was really keen on visiting the place myself. That explains why our NY trip was so short.. haha didn't realise that the two clash!

Anyway it was definitely worth the sacrifice cos the Salem is the place to go for Halloween. Actually Salem Witch Trials is not related to Halloween at all. Just that the history of Salem fits in to the whole atmosphere of Halloween. Salem Witch Trials were basically a series of hearings conducted in the Salem Village to prosecute people, mainly women, accused of witchcraft in the 1960s. Those who "confessed" and showed redemption were spared while those who kept quiet were hanged. A total of 19 of them were hanged. The outbreak of accusations started when girls contracted peculiar diseases which were beyong explanation and "outstanding" women who didn't fit into the norm became obvious targets of such witchcraft accusations. Well, the truth was that there were no witch and these women obviously did not practise wtichcraft. Gotta say that the women who persevered were really strong. And the helpless feeling of having fingers pointed at them and yet not able to do anything about it must be really terrible.

Well well, enough of the sad stories and history.. As scary as the place may sound, it wasn't at all! Enjoyed myself at Salem.. going for haunted houses, the wax museum and the witching hour!

The kids were really adorable

The Witching Hour!

The Witching Hour was ok... turned out that the witch just walked round and round the fireplace.. chant and chant and chant. was expecting her to scream and say something totally alien..and POOF! the fireplace would burst into flames or sth.. hahah nahhh none of that happened.. too much imagination. haha

It was really funny in the haunted houses. Gotta admit that I was kinda scared..haha in the first haunted house at the Frankenstien's, Marta was walking right in front of our group but after getting frightened by frankenstiens several times, she started pushing me to the front. haha and yeah of course I was frightened when they jumped out in the dark. Reminds me of fright night. haha the haunted houses were pretty good, totally dark inside and the flashing white light throughout the whole walk just blinded us totally. haha. No need for Old Changi Hospital or Dragon Trail at Sentosa, just a house will do! Besides the Frankenstien's, we also went for the Witch Haunted House. Well I was scared, gotta admit that. haha but it was hilarious too cos Marta mistook a witch/ghost in the haunted house for me! I guess the lil witch/ghost was around the same height as me so she went to grab his/her arm and yeah the end result was of course another screaming experience. haha I think that witch enjoyed scaring Marta and he/she/it started chasing her in the haunted house.

Marta and her lil witch/ghost

We realised it's a "He"..he came out and talked to us after scaring us.. haha

Quite a friendly guy!

In the wax museum..

Woohoo.. happy halloweeeen!

The end result..!

During the trip itself, Oana, the person-in-charge of this trip, was kind enough to buy us Candy Apples! Apparently, people eat it for halloween. well, Apple coated with caramel.. hmm thought it would be really sweet but turned out not bad.. kinda balanced out with the slightly sour taste of the apple :)

haha I love Halloween..cos we got candies and chocs chocs chocs! from our Professors..Sama like Children's Day! haha This was one of them.. cute huh? At first I was still thinking if I should eat it.. wahaha

Trip to BIG APPLE!

27th October 2007

We're going/went to New York at 2.30am in the morning! Whatt? that's crazy! yeah.. that's the response I've been getting when I told people about our NY trip and I can't deny that it was really crazy.. crazily fun! haha. Although it was a short short trip to NY, I enjoyed myself a lot just walking ard NY. It seriously has never crossed my mind that I'll be in NY!!!:)

We arrived at around 6 plus 7 in the morning after a 4 hours bus ride from South Station, Boston. That's one good thing I like about going to NY, we don't havta take a flight there! Really saved a lot on transportation. Just 15 USD, a 4 hours long bus ride and we'll be in the BIG APPLE! Grin. The day didn't start off well cos it was pouring really heavily. really like mad. We had to stay in the Port Authority Bus Terminal for breakfast. Luckily I brought coffee with me, had my daily dosage of it and I was all ready to go!

At South Station, waiting for the bus to NY




In the Port Authority Bus Terminal


This was how I look like brushing my teeth at 6am in the morning!

The rain kinda subsided when we got out of the bus terminal which was pretty good for us! It was still drizzling but was good enough :) Basically we visited places of interest recommended on the map and they include the New York Public Library, Grand Central Station, Chrylser Building, United nations, Rockefeller Centre and Times Square! I was really glad that the rain didn't dampen our mood and we had fun posing in the rain..Nobody grumbled or whined or..nothing. The company was simply great. so Thanks Marta, Vi, Zita and of course my son, Martin!

Empire State Building

Museum of Sexxxxx






Grand Central Terminal

Lincoln Building

Rockefeller Centre

Times Square!


I love the M&M's!

And Hershey's!

We wanted so much to catch a Broadway show that evening itself but sadly the student rush tickets were all sold out! Well, the student rush tickets are really much much cheaper than usual, it's like 27 USD! Compared to the normal prices, I seriously had nothing to complain about. Well, I guess we've gotta try our luck the next time round in NY..probably a few weeks later? haha. I'm definitely gonna visit NY again, at least to see Statue of Liberty under the bright and cheery sun!

After a long 8 hours of going around NY, fatigue of walking started to kick in and it was also about time to check in to our hostel. We took the subway uptown to West Central Park, where we had already made reservations at Jazz on the Park hostel. The hostel was ok..sufficient. haha just a basic bed and the necessary facilities like bathroom and stuff. We were staying on the second level while Bernd and gang, who arrived in NY one day before us, stayed on the third.

Halloweeen!!!

Rest rest rest... that was what I was supposed to do after arriving at the hostel, which I did...for like half an hour. haha. Although my feet were kinda sore and my ankle was giving me trouble, I really wanted to get out of the hostel and go to Central Park and..basically not spend my time in the hostel. I mean I'm in NY!!! haha so I woke Martin up, the only one who had energy left to entertain me. We took a walk in Central Park and wow it's really HUGE. only managed to cover the top part, visited the North Meadow and had a great view of New York City at night. Basically that but good enough for me.

Martin and I returned to the hostel and went out for dinner at a Indian Restaurant with the rest. The food at the Indian Restaurant totally sucked! I miss Thomson Prata House and of course not to forget Jalan Seruling :) haha. the waiter was also pretty rude to me and that almost made me throw the stupid pratha (yeah that's how they spell that on the menu) at him. hahahahaha.

Prata on a chinese looking plate in an Indian restaurant.. hmm..

interesting.

Later in the eveinng, Zita, Martin and I joined Bernd, his girlfren Sabina, Pia and Marrion at a pub in Greenwich Village. It was really happening at night since it was the Halloween weekend and people were all dressed up. Scooby Doo, Snow white, Pocahontas, vampires, witches, wizards, nurses, policewomen, female referees, clowns..the list just goes on! It was just fun watching them. The pub itself was nice, great atmosphere and company.

My group of friends in the Pub

From left: Marrion from France, Sabin from Austria, Pia from Austria, Bernd from Austria,

Martin from Hongkong, Zita from Shanghai

"Are you hungry?"

That's what he said to me when the whole group of us were waiting outside the pizza shop for Bernd to get his food. He came from behind me and stuck his face right before me when I turned. haha of course I got a shock but I gave him a shock too when I touched his "tongue". I was more interested in seeing if it's real than getting scared. haha.

28th October 2007
We had breakfast which came with the hostel rooms at Jazz on the Park and left for Chinatown. Caught a quick glimpse of it before boarding the Feng Wah bus back to Boston at around 9 plus 10. Back to Boston..and Salem here we come!