America Day 1 - New York

Wally chilling out at Sydney airport before LA flight

Wow... I feel like I am in a dream. Not only because I have dreamed of this holiday for so long and now I am finally here but because everything is soooooo different! Although, I still think I am a little delirious from the all the flying.

LA flight was really good actually. I think I managed to catch a few hours sleep but at least I was comfortable. Me and another lady had three seats between us so we put the arms up and had a little extra room each. It was more comfortable. Then the flight landed late, my bag took ages to come out, I had to get through customs, recheck my bag and go through security again all to catch the flight with American Airlines.

That wasn't the best flight. I slept most of the way so it went fast which was good. On a 6 hour flight though they didn't provide a meal and when I went to buy something they had sold out of everything. The seat where really uncomfortable too. On the plus side the staff were really nice! 

Again, when I got to New York I was so tired I couldn't stress out even though I hadn't planned transport into Manhattan. This was good though cause it was quite easy. I caught a shuttle service in and it turns out I was the first stop so it was cheaper then a taxi and would have been just as fast. I gave him my first tip in America too. Yay... it wasn't as hard as I thought. He was a crazy driver though and I thought I was going to die on a few occasions. 

I feel a lot safer in New York then I thought I would. People are really friendly and there are so many tourists just like me so its reassuring! My hotel is literally no more then 50 meters from Times Square. I didn't go past it when I first got dropped at the hotel though. I got dropped at the other end of 45th street and walked about 100 metres so the driver wouldn't get stuck. 

My room is so extremely small. I had to find room on the floor just to open my suitcase! It's cute though and the front desk staff are nice and you cannot beat the location!

My (now messy) little room only 50 metres from times square

The old (but clean) small bathroom

I took both of these photos from the one spot so that really is the extent of the space I have! Like I said though... you can't beat the location.

I took a walk to get some food and it took me literally less then 2 minutes and I looked up and there was the famous images of Times Square! That's when realisation set in. I am in America! I am in New York! I nearly cried at that point because it all set in that I am actually here! After that long long wait... I made it!!! It's so amazing!

I went to get food but got distracted by the amazement of it all. Everything was still open! I walked around a little bit but HAD to go into the Disney Store and M&M's World. Both of these were three storey shops. I could have spent ages in there but was getting head spins from not eating and lack of sleep so talked myself into leaving to go back to the hotel. Not before I got Wally his first US badge though...

Wally's first badge from M&M World New York

I decided to get Macca's for dinner because I didn't think I could manage figuring out tipping at this stage. I ordered a medium nuggets meal and a cheeseburger (I hadn't eaten in over 12 hours at this point so I was really hungry). It cost me $9.99. Oh my god, they actually use 1c coins here. I think they are penny's. Not really sure what all the coins are... besides the quarter cause that's just obvious. Anyway, $9.99 is still way cheaper then what that would cost me in Australia and I didn't have to tip. Then not only was it heaps cheaper, you get a whole lot more then I expected. A medium American size is a large Australian size. And nuggets meals here have 10 not 6! Needless to say I was stuffed. I had so much food. No wonder American's have weight problems. It is just too cheap to get fat on Macca's.

Finally, I thought I would never get to sleep because it was like 10.30 and I was still so excited. Turns out I was extremely tired without being completely aware of it. I fell asleep while writing this post and woke up about 4 hours later with the TV and light still on. I turned everything off and tried to get back to sleep which I finally did. Then slept until my allarm went off at 7.30 this morning. 

I'm not sure if I am adjusted to the time difference already or if the jet lag just hasn't hit me yet. Let's hope it is not the latter. Well, it's 8.30 here now so I am going to get up, shower, get dressed and go explore!!!! Yay!