There are three places in the world where I get that sentimental rush which goes with 'coming home': knowing that the minute you set foot on the ground that everything will be fine and that you don't have to try to be anything more than just who you are. In Japanese, such places are called one's 'furusato' or hometown. I'm lucky to have three. One of these places is, of course, New Zealand. A second is Fukuyama in Hiroshima prefecture, the place where I met DH and where we visit once a year to catch up with family and friends who knew me before I became somebody's mother. This is the closest I have to a Japanese 'furusato'. The third is Buffalo, NY and I didn't know it was number three until we arrived a few days ago on our trip. But now I know for sure that I can count it in.
Buffalo has snow from Halloween to Easter and yes, you get mighty sick of the weather mighty quickly. But it also has beautiful summers and autumns and people with a great sense of humour--after all, you need a sense of humour if you're going to make it in Buffalo! If it isn't jokes about "HOW many times did they lose the NFL Superbowl again?", then it will be old-timers recalling the Big Blizzard of such and such a year (and you aren't a true native if you weren't there). Everyone knows that the infamous OJ Simpson resided in Buffalo for a part of his career, and the guy who blew up the Fred J. Murrah building in Oklahoma was from the region, too. One US friend, not a Buffalonian for obvious reasons, once decribed the place as, "The armpit of the nation." Well, everyone needs their armpits!
Buffalo is the place where I first became a mum and where I found that even if life threw me a curve ball, then I could catch the ball and go with it. Three years in Western NY was never on my agenda (neither were three kids!), and I arrived in early 1991 as a heavily pregnant 'trailing spouse', miserable about giving up my promising career in publishing and my happy life in Tokyo. But by the time we left, I'd made made many wonderful friends, found my feet as a parent of two little kids, travelled extensively, gained a graduate degree in three semesters and rediscovered myself in many ways. Not bad going.
Our 'sentimental journey' back to Buffalo didn't get off to an auspicious start: Instead of messing around with train connections and all our luggage, I ordered a taxi from the Marriott in Secaucus, NJ to take us to Penn Station in NY city. I was told "30 to 40 minutes" to get there, so allowed 90 minutes all up. We left in good time by 9.45, but the traffic was a little heavier than usual, and our amiable taxi driver tried to make up time and got caught by the police for stopping by a pedestian crossing! The unsympathetic policeman was not interested in the fact that we had a train to catch, and that we were now even further behind schedule than ever. I felt bad for the driver, a personable elderly guy who drove carefully and who was five times better than those yellowcabbies who drove at breakneck speed, seemingly intent on having an accident. Then he made some wrong turns near the station and we finally arrived at 10.12 for our 10.20 departure. With the kids and the luggage, that was too close for comfort in my book. We rushed in to find--Empire Service to Buffalo delayed! I heaved a sigh of relief and then again felt guilty over the taxi driver's ticket. But who knew?!
The Amtrak train ended leaving Penn station over an hour late, and like all the other folks waiting round, we were constantly checking the board for updates. None came until it was just about to leave--no reasons given for the delay! This isn't Tokyo. Once we were on board, things went smoothly and we enjoyed the NY state scenery and passig through some of the familiar stations (and some I'd never heard of in my life). It wasn't the bullet train but it was fun! We arrived at the Depew Depot just after 7, then had to taxi on over to the nearby Buffalo airport to get our Hertz rental car.
Driving on the right again after nine years--help! "Here's your car!" said the dispatch guy cheerfully as he sent us on our way. It was Mr. 13 who helped me locate the lights, handbrake and various other necessary parts of the car. A few laps of the parking lot, with right turns only to start with, were neccessary before I felt confident enough to hit the highway. Thank goodness for the Neverlost navigation system--what a godsend it was this trip!
Our 'home' for the three days in Buffalo was the Hampton Inn in the Village of Williamsville, just minutes from our old townhouse. Ironically, this hotel was the most expensvie of our trip, since I couldn't find anything in the area where I could use any of DH's miles. We had a suite, with a king bed for the kids in the bedroom, and me 'roughing it' in on the sleeper sofa in the living area--blissfully alone once the kids were in bed!
Williamsville and the ajacent town of Amherst, my main stimping ground when we lived in the area, have not changed much.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Get on the Bus...and stay on!
We've used a wide variety of transport during our New York stay, and sometimes the choice was bewildering. We took the bus each day from our hotel in Secaucus, NJ to the Port Authority terminal in downtown NY. After a couple of days of relying on taxis for short hops around the city, we then got brave enough to use the subway system. I had forgotten how it works, and had to 'relearn' everything, from how to purchase tickets to changing lines. (Now I know how newbies feel when confronting the Tokyo mass transit system, although I do think it is much more user-friendly than that of New York, even for folks who don't speak Japanese! Sometimes even finding a station employee to help proved futile in NY.)
Another thing that confused me was this: Why do both New York city and New Jersey have hub stations called Penn Station?! We used both during our journey. Aside from the subway, we travelled out by regular train from Grand Central station to see friends in Chappaqua near White Plains (and I almost screwed up by asking for tickets to Chautauqua, which is near Buffalo). And on the evening of the Idols concert, we had to take one system out to Newark and then another one back to the hotel. That was the day we used both Penn. stations, and I almost had a heart attack when I was told I had to go to Penn station for the Idols concert, after setting out for Newark--before realizing the person I was talking to meant the Penn station IN Newark. Overall, the mass transit systems we encountered were clean and efficient, save for Amtrak's Empire Line, but more on that when we get to Buffalo.
The biggest gaffe of our trip so far happened on our first full day in NY and it was with the bus, not the train. We found the NJ transit buses a pleasure to use, quick, clean and comfortable. The riders coming in from Secaucus, NJ were an eclectic mix of workers and tourist like us, who were lured by the reasonable lodging prices and the easy proximity to NY city. After a full day of sightseeing, we made our way back to the Port Authority terminal and joined the queue for our bus at the designated bay at around 5.30 pm. The trip back to the hotel would take roughly 20 to 30 minutes. The kids were all exhausted and still catching up on sleep, so within moments of boarding the bus they were all out for the count. Despite my best intentions to keep vigil, I too fell asleep--waking half an hour later to unfamiliar scenery. I hurriedly asked the guy in front of me if we had passed the Harmon Meadow stop and he said he thought we had, so better ask the driver. I stumbled towards the front only to be told, "Lady, you got on the wrong bus!" Whoops!! The driver gave me the option of being dropped at the next stop (where?) or staying on the bus and going back to New York, so with sleeping kids, that seemed liked the much better option. To cut a long journey short, we indeed rode the bus to the end of the line and then all the way back to New York, getting in around 7.30, so the kids had a nice long sleep. When we arrived back at the Port Authority they were somewhat confused: "Didn't we leave yet?" Our bus was the one next door, and after hearing our sorry tale, the nice lady directing people said there was no need to pay for a second ticket, so we lucked out. We finally made it to back to our hotel after 8 pm!
Another thing that confused me was this: Why do both New York city and New Jersey have hub stations called Penn Station?! We used both during our journey. Aside from the subway, we travelled out by regular train from Grand Central station to see friends in Chappaqua near White Plains (and I almost screwed up by asking for tickets to Chautauqua, which is near Buffalo). And on the evening of the Idols concert, we had to take one system out to Newark and then another one back to the hotel. That was the day we used both Penn. stations, and I almost had a heart attack when I was told I had to go to Penn station for the Idols concert, after setting out for Newark--before realizing the person I was talking to meant the Penn station IN Newark. Overall, the mass transit systems we encountered were clean and efficient, save for Amtrak's Empire Line, but more on that when we get to Buffalo.
The biggest gaffe of our trip so far happened on our first full day in NY and it was with the bus, not the train. We found the NJ transit buses a pleasure to use, quick, clean and comfortable. The riders coming in from Secaucus, NJ were an eclectic mix of workers and tourist like us, who were lured by the reasonable lodging prices and the easy proximity to NY city. After a full day of sightseeing, we made our way back to the Port Authority terminal and joined the queue for our bus at the designated bay at around 5.30 pm. The trip back to the hotel would take roughly 20 to 30 minutes. The kids were all exhausted and still catching up on sleep, so within moments of boarding the bus they were all out for the count. Despite my best intentions to keep vigil, I too fell asleep--waking half an hour later to unfamiliar scenery. I hurriedly asked the guy in front of me if we had passed the Harmon Meadow stop and he said he thought we had, so better ask the driver. I stumbled towards the front only to be told, "Lady, you got on the wrong bus!" Whoops!! The driver gave me the option of being dropped at the next stop (where?) or staying on the bus and going back to New York, so with sleeping kids, that seemed liked the much better option. To cut a long journey short, we indeed rode the bus to the end of the line and then all the way back to New York, getting in around 7.30, so the kids had a nice long sleep. When we arrived back at the Port Authority they were somewhat confused: "Didn't we leave yet?" Our bus was the one next door, and after hearing our sorry tale, the nice lady directing people said there was no need to pay for a second ticket, so we lucked out. We finally made it to back to our hotel after 8 pm!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Idol Thoughts
One of the definite highlights during our NY stay was the American Idol Top 10 concert at the Prudential Center, in Newark, NJ. This past season of Idol was the first we have watched and, by the end, we were thoroughly hooked. The show was screening two weeks behind the US, so by checking on the Internet, I always knew in advance who got kicked off each week. That didn't spoil the fun, though! Watching Idol became a weekend ritual in our household over the past few months--even DH caught the Idol bug. I was pretty proud of myself for scoring tickets to coincide with our US trip.
I didn't tell the kids beforehand, letting them think we were going to see some 'old friends' in Newark, instead. It wasn't until minutes before we arrived at the Prudential Center that Miss 10 cottoned on to the fact that we were surrounded by kids wearing Idol T-shirts. My three were so excited when they finally realized who they were going to see! (Well, the Top 10 did feel like old friends by then.) Our seats were way up in the top tiers of the venue, but the acoustics were fine and we caught close up images of the performers via a giant screen. The performers came out in order, from 10th to 1st on the show, and all I can say is, every single one of them thoroughly deserved to be in the Top 10. Performances in a nutshell:
10) Chakeezie (not 100% sure of the spelling!): Had the unenviable task of starting off the show, but he did it with aplomb. Built a good rapport with the audience, allowing his warm personality to shine through.
9) Ramielle: Seemed much more confident and polished since her time on the TV show, so this has been a real step up for her. My girls loved her, as she is so cute.
8) Michael: After hearing him perform live, I have to echo those people who wonder how he ended up being eliminated at this point. He was in fine voice and is a very talented performer. Should have been Top 5!
7) Kristy Lee: Not a great favourite among my kids, but she knows how to work an audience and is very skilled at picking songs that showcase her talents.
6) Carly: Another one who should have gone Top 5 in my family's collective opinion. She has a wonderful voice, but I didn't really think her songs at the concert were great picks.
5) Brooke: My personal favourite among the Top 10! I love her natural warmth and her sweet personality as much as her gorgeous voice. The kids loved her singing '1234'.
4) Jason: He never came across as much of a conversationalist on the TV and his interaction with the audience was minimal, too. Sounded good, but really, I don't think he should have been Top 5. Cute guy, though!
3) Sayeesha: Another family favourite. Her song choices were spot on and she looked lovely, too.
2) David A: What can I say? He sings like an angel and he looks adorable! No wonder the girls all screamed when he came on! Loved his song choices.
1) David C: Looked every inch the rock star--his win has given him lots of confidence. May I say that all his songs sounded a wee bit too similar, though?
The kids had a great time at the concert, but alas for Miss 7, jet lag caught up with her and she fell asleep halfway through Sayeesha's set. She was the only person to sleep through the two Davids--despite all the screaming that accompanied their performances! When she sleeps she is a dead weight and I didn't fancy my chances of negotiating the steep steps while toting Miss 7. Fortunately, a burly security officer kindly carried her down to the lobby for me, by which time she woke up sufficiently to walk the short distance back to the train station.
I didn't tell the kids beforehand, letting them think we were going to see some 'old friends' in Newark, instead. It wasn't until minutes before we arrived at the Prudential Center that Miss 10 cottoned on to the fact that we were surrounded by kids wearing Idol T-shirts. My three were so excited when they finally realized who they were going to see! (Well, the Top 10 did feel like old friends by then.) Our seats were way up in the top tiers of the venue, but the acoustics were fine and we caught close up images of the performers via a giant screen. The performers came out in order, from 10th to 1st on the show, and all I can say is, every single one of them thoroughly deserved to be in the Top 10. Performances in a nutshell:
10) Chakeezie (not 100% sure of the spelling!): Had the unenviable task of starting off the show, but he did it with aplomb. Built a good rapport with the audience, allowing his warm personality to shine through.
9) Ramielle: Seemed much more confident and polished since her time on the TV show, so this has been a real step up for her. My girls loved her, as she is so cute.
8) Michael: After hearing him perform live, I have to echo those people who wonder how he ended up being eliminated at this point. He was in fine voice and is a very talented performer. Should have been Top 5!
7) Kristy Lee: Not a great favourite among my kids, but she knows how to work an audience and is very skilled at picking songs that showcase her talents.
6) Carly: Another one who should have gone Top 5 in my family's collective opinion. She has a wonderful voice, but I didn't really think her songs at the concert were great picks.
5) Brooke: My personal favourite among the Top 10! I love her natural warmth and her sweet personality as much as her gorgeous voice. The kids loved her singing '1234'.
4) Jason: He never came across as much of a conversationalist on the TV and his interaction with the audience was minimal, too. Sounded good, but really, I don't think he should have been Top 5. Cute guy, though!
3) Sayeesha: Another family favourite. Her song choices were spot on and she looked lovely, too.
2) David A: What can I say? He sings like an angel and he looks adorable! No wonder the girls all screamed when he came on! Loved his song choices.
1) David C: Looked every inch the rock star--his win has given him lots of confidence. May I say that all his songs sounded a wee bit too similar, though?
The kids had a great time at the concert, but alas for Miss 7, jet lag caught up with her and she fell asleep halfway through Sayeesha's set. She was the only person to sleep through the two Davids--despite all the screaming that accompanied their performances! When she sleeps she is a dead weight and I didn't fancy my chances of negotiating the steep steps while toting Miss 7. Fortunately, a burly security officer kindly carried her down to the lobby for me, by which time she woke up sufficiently to walk the short distance back to the train station.
We'll Take Manhattan
When I started out with this blog, I had intended to write about our US trip in 'real time'. However, I underestimated how tired I would be at the end of each very busy day! For someone who is used to very little sleep at night, that was quite surprising--I have literally fallen into bed most nights. Another problem has been getting wireless Internet access on my PC in our room. Every hotel so far has offered wireless connection, but I can't make use of it without some special configuration--a Ethernet port or cable? Don't fully understand it, but some hotels have provided me with various cords and doo-dackies and I could get connected, while others have nothing to lend out and just tell me the whole hotel is 'wireless'. Seems my PC needs some help to recognize this. So, some nights I've been reduced to using the PC in a hotel lobby, but while this is fine for checking email, it isn't a very conducive environment for writing one's blog. But, here we are in Nashville and I have managed to log on and so can do a little blogging...Backtracking:
It has been 11 years since I lasted visited New York City. On that occasion, we came to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with our two-year-old son. The time before that, I had a baby with me, so I can remember a lot of walking with the stroller. With three ambulatory children in tow this time, I was rather surprised at just how spread out the city is! We made use of a lot of taxis to get from A to B. Even if the older members of our party could manage the walking, Miss 7's little legs just couldn't handle it all. There was so much we could have seen and done, but we stuck to the basics. A good start was the Circle Line cruise around the island of Manhattan, with an extremely detailed commentary from our guide. A two-hour semi-circle cruise would probably have sufficed, as the three-hour full cruise was too long for the kids. Once we'd gone past the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, they sort of tuned out and just enjoyed the breeze from the river. I learned a lot, though! We also went up the Empire State Building and around the wonderful Museum of Natural History. The kids clamoured for Madame Tussuad's as well, where the line to get in rivalled that at the Empire State Building. (For my girls, the highlight there was posing with Mylie Cyrus aka Hannah Montana.) Central Park is a must with kids and we did it justice with a full day there. The place is huge and could do with a few more maps and signs around to help people like us avoid getting hopelessly lost! You could walk for miles in that place and still not get to where you want to go. The simple pleasures of the past were not lost on my modern kids--they loved rowing on the lake and climbing all over the Alice in Wonderland sculpture near the model boat pond. The model boats, as featured in the 'Stuart Little' movie, were a big hit with my three. (We did try to hire bicycles as well, but could never get one of the small children's bikes for Miss 7 to ride. According to the surly operators, there are only three small bikes in all, which seems ludicrous in a park which attracts so many families.)
We rounded out our stay with 'Mary Poppins' on Broadway (lots of fun, if slightly different from the beloved movie), and the US Idols Top 10 concert in Newark, NJ (more on that in another posting).
I've heard a number of people say that New York is much safer these days and certainly, I got that impression. The only time I felt unsafe was riding in a taxi with a driver who seemed to have a death wish. (This same guy, before handing me back my change, took the liberty of taking out his own tip in advance. It backfired on him, though, as I would have given him a dollar or two more if he had done things the right way and left the tip up to my discretion.) The people in New York were, by and large, fairly friendly. The rudest folk were other foreigners, particularly those working in Central Park (rowboat attendants, bicycle rental jerks, and various vendors around the place). In comparison, several natives went well out of their way to help us, such as the kind gent on his way home through Central Park, who walked 15 mins with us to make sure we got out of the park OK. Another Good Samaritan was the lady at the Port Authority bus station who directed us to the right exit on our first morning, and gave us a valuable tip: Use the bathrooms at the station before leaving, as they might be the last clean ones you find for awhile. She was right!
It has been 11 years since I lasted visited New York City. On that occasion, we came to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with our two-year-old son. The time before that, I had a baby with me, so I can remember a lot of walking with the stroller. With three ambulatory children in tow this time, I was rather surprised at just how spread out the city is! We made use of a lot of taxis to get from A to B. Even if the older members of our party could manage the walking, Miss 7's little legs just couldn't handle it all. There was so much we could have seen and done, but we stuck to the basics. A good start was the Circle Line cruise around the island of Manhattan, with an extremely detailed commentary from our guide. A two-hour semi-circle cruise would probably have sufficed, as the three-hour full cruise was too long for the kids. Once we'd gone past the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, they sort of tuned out and just enjoyed the breeze from the river. I learned a lot, though! We also went up the Empire State Building and around the wonderful Museum of Natural History. The kids clamoured for Madame Tussuad's as well, where the line to get in rivalled that at the Empire State Building. (For my girls, the highlight there was posing with Mylie Cyrus aka Hannah Montana.) Central Park is a must with kids and we did it justice with a full day there. The place is huge and could do with a few more maps and signs around to help people like us avoid getting hopelessly lost! You could walk for miles in that place and still not get to where you want to go. The simple pleasures of the past were not lost on my modern kids--they loved rowing on the lake and climbing all over the Alice in Wonderland sculpture near the model boat pond. The model boats, as featured in the 'Stuart Little' movie, were a big hit with my three. (We did try to hire bicycles as well, but could never get one of the small children's bikes for Miss 7 to ride. According to the surly operators, there are only three small bikes in all, which seems ludicrous in a park which attracts so many families.)
We rounded out our stay with 'Mary Poppins' on Broadway (lots of fun, if slightly different from the beloved movie), and the US Idols Top 10 concert in Newark, NJ (more on that in another posting).
I've heard a number of people say that New York is much safer these days and certainly, I got that impression. The only time I felt unsafe was riding in a taxi with a driver who seemed to have a death wish. (This same guy, before handing me back my change, took the liberty of taking out his own tip in advance. It backfired on him, though, as I would have given him a dollar or two more if he had done things the right way and left the tip up to my discretion.) The people in New York were, by and large, fairly friendly. The rudest folk were other foreigners, particularly those working in Central Park (rowboat attendants, bicycle rental jerks, and various vendors around the place). In comparison, several natives went well out of their way to help us, such as the kind gent on his way home through Central Park, who walked 15 mins with us to make sure we got out of the park OK. Another Good Samaritan was the lady at the Port Authority bus station who directed us to the right exit on our first morning, and gave us a valuable tip: Use the bathrooms at the station before leaving, as they might be the last clean ones you find for awhile. She was right!
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