A week on the East Coast

Washington DC

This was a pretty cool place to spend a few days, and the best thing is that most of the things to do around the city are free because if you're not aware DC is the nations Capital. With a pretty good subway system (and an awesome map) I was able to get around a pretty decent portion of the city (well the North-West anyway) in three days. Arriving at 6am on Sunday morning I went to the Eastern Market on Sunday and had a Philly Cheese Sub (well I was as close as I was going to get to Philadelphia...) and wandered around Georgetown and along the Potonac River.


My final two days were spent covering almost everything in Downtown DC; the National Mall, Chinatown, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Air and Space Museum. Got to catch up with April (a mate from my first semester in Tokyo) while I was in DC too, we hadnt seen each other for two years so that was awesome. Feasted on yummy home cooked food and got to meet her new kitten Molly - what a cutie!

New Haven, Conneticut
Spent the day travelling by bus to New York and then train to New Haven to have dinner with Chris (she was doing some work in NZ and staying at Sam's when I was there in 2nd yr) so it was great to catch up after three years. Had the most delicious white pizza (no marinara sauce) with mashed potato, bacon and mozarella cheese all washed down with some locally brewed beer and gelato for dessert. Got to have a look around the city, seems really cute, and the Yale campus - very flash. Thanks for the tour Chris :)

New York, New York
Wow cant believe Im at my final stop in the US already! I arrived on Thursday morning and was flying out to England on Saturday night so didnt have a lot of time but was determined to make the most of it, despite the fact that it rained for the first two days! I really enjoyed NYC (although I didnt venture much further than Manhattan) more than I thought I would, it kind of reminded me of Tokyo; busy, with a great public transport system.

I felt safer here than I had in downtown LA - even catching the subway at 5am to make it to a free Black Eyed Peas concert (despite my next stop being London...it was awesome!) at the filming of the Today Show at the NBC studio at Rockefeller Centre. There was a Nesquik "Lactose Tolernace" campaign on so I got free strawberry milk while standing in line and more later (as well as a teeshirt) when I visited their campaign headquarters. Also got to go to a free taping of a sports talk show called "Quite Frankly" and they even fed us pizza, soda, popocorn and candy floss beforehand!

I did all the regular touristy things there too although some were dampened a little by the weather, caught the free Staten Island ferry and took some pictures of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Skyline, didnt go up the Empire State building because it was zero visibility but looked up at it :) Saw Times Square, Broadway, the Rockefeller Centre, Trump Tower, 5th Avenue Shops, bought cheap "IheartNY" souvinears in Chinatown, caught a street festival in Little Italy, played on the giant piano at FAO Schwartz Toy Store.

Then of course I spent some time in Central Park (with a heap of people out and active on the beautiful Saturday morning) and visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art - which was huge and amazing and the only museum Ive been to where I dont have to be sneaky about taking pictures (thanks for the recommendation Chris!!) Also caught a Germany/US Celebration parade before heading out to the airport to queue for an hour to checkin, losing my earing at security checks and having my flight delayed an hour and 45minutes before finally heading of for London, England. (Sorry for some reason it wouldnt let me upload my pics from NY on here :( but will hopefully have them on my photo page in a week or so)

Looking back on it my time in the States and Canada has been absolutely amazing. I never could have imagined that things could have worked out this well and there are a lot of people to thank for that, thanks to my family and friends back home for supporting me to this and keeping in touch - it means a lot and also wanted to say a huge hi and a even bigger thank you to all the amazing people Ive met and who've helped me along the way, it wouldnt have been the same without you - big hug.