NEW YORK CITY IS SO BIG I can’t finish seeing all of it in one month, let alone in one day. That is why my friend from Tzu Chi University, Yaohua (he prefers Nathan), gave me this nearly impossible challenge that I had to try to carry out. He arrived early morning today, while me, Jack and Edison planned out a ‘Best of New York City’ itinerary for him.

I thought a Broadway show is definitely a must do in New York, so first we went to line up for our cheap budget student rush tickets for a Saturday matinée show of A Chorus Line. After getting our tickets with a breeze, we first toured Times Square, which is well-known among all tourists coming to New York. The M&M’s World is of course one of our major stops as Yaohua has already promised someone a souvenir from this store. He ended up mixing a bag of M&M’s in the colors of the Malaysian flag, red, white, blue and yellow. It is quite expensive because he had to pay $25 for that small bag. Another shop we went into is the Toys R’ Us shop (which we are obviously overaged to enter), and had a great time looking at all the toys. Hershey’s store is also a great place to go for chocolate cravings as they have everything in chocolate over there. We also visited the Apple store near Central Park, where it boasts of an entrance and staircases entirely built from glass. Here is me trying to get a bite out of the Apple of Big Apple (if you get what I mean), but was too short to reach. A Yankees store is also a must visit when in New York, and here they have a whole wall of deep blue Yankees cap that all look the same to me.

We then went to watch ‘A Chorus Line’, the Broadway show about Broadway wannabes as they auditioned for a casting. This show features Mario Lopez as the auditioner, and tells the story behind all the dazzles and glamor of Broadway. I enjoyed the show very much, not as much as Chicago, but good enough to make my $30 worthwhile.

As evening approached, we then took Yaohua to the Rockefeller Center, so that we can go up the Top of The Rock observation deck. The trip costs us $20 per person, but the queue was way shorter than those at Empire State so I guess it should be worth it. As we arrived at the top, the sun was just setting and lit New York with a bright orange hue. We stayed up there, mostly staring at the skyline, taking pictures until when the sun setted completely and the city lights came out. The hour spent on top was one of my most memorable experiences in New York and I’m glad we brought Yaohua along.

After coming down from the Top of the Rock, we decided to bring Yaohua once again to Times Square, to see for himself all the neon lights and crazy crowds of tourists. The night is still young for New York’s standards, and so we all went to a dance club, Webster Hall, at the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Jen (the bald one in the middle), and his two friends named Steve and Steve brought us there. They seem to be an Asian party going on, so most of the people dancing at that floor are Asians. The club is really big, with 3 floors and many dance floors. The different rooms have a different atmosphere and music playing on, but ours is the most crowded of all. I tried hard to dance but barely could because I would keep hitting on people at my sides. Anyways, it was really fun, and we partied until 2am before going back home.

The best of New York in a day itinerary ended with the party, but I was not satisfied at all. There were so many attractions that we did not get the chance to go visit and I hope Yaohua will try to go see in the future.