.nyc solo trip .10.16.16.

In hind sight, coming to New York after being on night-shift wasn't a great idea. I woke up again completely exhausted but I refuse to snooze my morning away. I packed up my things and got ready for the day. I had to move to my second air bnb that morning.

 Unfortunately there wasn't a train line that would get me there, and as always, the traffic was completely grid-locked. In fact the ETA of walking was actually 5 minutes faster then driving. So I dragged my suitcases down 10 blocks and over another 5 blocks to my new place. Along the way I tried to take some pictures with a self timer, but they all turned out like this --- so I just gave up.

Once I dropped off my things I started to walk towards Central Park. It was pretty chilly out that morning, so I decided to pop into TJ Maxx to see if I could find some leggings. By time I came out of the store it had warmed up significantly! I decided to walk over to Times Square to see if I could get a picture with the "Naked Ladies" who paint themselves and pose for pictures. While I was walking to their usual spot I got distracted by some street performers doing the same act that I had gotten pulled into a few days ago! I stopped to watch the act when two pedestrians approached me. They spoke so softly that I could barely understand what they were saying. The older one asked me if I had a boyfriend, trying to dodge the question I just pretended like I didn't hear him and started clapping for the performers. Unfortunately no one else was clapping.. so my diversion didn't work. The guy reached out and grabbed hold of my hands, he proceeded to ask me again. I told him no, that I don't have a boyfriend. He asked if he could be my boyfriend for the day.... I giggled and said I really should get going. I pulled my hands away from him and walked away quickly. I ducked into a souvenir shop to wait it out. When I was sure the coast was clear I popped out of the store and sat down at a small table. Wouldn't yah know, my pedestrian friends immediately came up and sat down with me. I glanced up, making eye contact with one of the naked girls, she shot me an eye-roll directed at my pedestrian followers. I once again got up to avoid the pedestrians when the naked girl called me over. She complimented my dress and asked if I knew the two guys who had sat with me. She then flirtatiously asked me if I was single, and if I was open to girl-on-girl. I had to control myself from bursting out laughing, people in times square can be so blunt!! I lightly giggled and told the naked lady no, I was not open to girl-on-girl, but I was more than happy to be friends! We exchanged phone numbers and I walked back up the square to break a bill so I would have tip money for my picture. As I was walking away I heard someone yelling my name. I looked around confused wondering who in times square knew me by name! I noticed my pedestrian friend weaving through people on the sidewalk, he was gripping his pants to keep them from falling off as he ran towards me. Turns out that him and his brother needed some money to buy drugs, he asked me if I could spare any cash. I quickly told him no and walked away. After breaking a bill, I walked back to the naked ladies to get a picture. As I posed for my picture with the girl, I was completely surprised when she turned and kissed me!! The square was PACKED with people, and in that moment it felt like they were all watching us; some of them even cheered in the background. I was completely embarrassed!!! I could feel my face immediately begin to go bright red, I fumbled with some change and handed to her. I thanked her for a "memorable" experience and walked away.

As I walked to Central Park multiple street vendors attempted to approach me, by this point I was getting fed up with all the attention I was getting; I'd raise my hand and quickly walk past. It was pretty rude of me but I was getting tired of the meaningless small talk before people would try to sell me something or ask for money.

I strolled through Central park admiring all the people out and about on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. My feet were absolutely killing me at this point so I sat down to give them a rest. As I was sitting on this pretty bench I took some selfies as the lighting was absolutely perfect!!

As you all know, sometimes it takes a lot of tries to get a good selfie. As I was sitting on the bench snapping pictures of myself with my selfie stick, a gentlemen approached me and asked to sit down. (The last picture is the exact moment I smiled and welcomed him to have a seat) He was astonished by my selfie stick and told me that as he was walking by he had a distinct feeling that he was near someone extraordinary. He told me that he sensed it might be me and asked if I didn't mind having a conversation with him. He was so incredibly polite and sweet, I told him I would be thrilled to have a conversation with him. His name was David. He asked me about my life at home, what I did for a living, about my family and my spiritual beliefs, and of course; why I had decided to come to New York alone. David told me stories about his upbringing in Brooklyn and how he had dropped out of school at a very young age. Later in life he began working in the music producing business and had been very successful. He pointed to a very tall apartment building on the edge of Central Park, he lived on the lower penthouse which had a large balcony that wrapped around the building. David also told me about his family and how proud he was of their wonderful individual talents. He told me of the family gatherings they have at his house in the Hampton's during the summer. We were talking about the experiences in our lives that had shaped us into who we were today, when suddenly he proclaimed that I must meet his nephew. Immediately he dialed him up on his "flip" phone and handed the phone over to me. I chatted with his nephew on the phone for a few minutes before giving him my travel phone number so he could reach me on his own. By this time a few hours had passed and my feet were no longer throbbing. I swapped numbers with my new friend and said goodbye, promising to keep in contact.

Since it was Sunday I decided to walk over to see the Manhattan LDS temple 

To my surprise this temple is not like other LDS temples, contained in the same building is a meeting house and a distribution center. Luckily I was just in time to hear the sacrament meeting talks for the Mid-single adults ward! I walked around the lobby listening to the talks while looking at the beautiful art work that hung on the walls.

After sacrament meeting was over I walked back to central park to explore. I FINALLY found a tree that was mostly red!! Immediately I asked a couple if they would like me to take a picture of them together, in return I asked if they wouldn't mind taking my photo as well. 

I pulled up a "Central Park Movie Locations" map on my phone and proceeded to follow it around the park. 

As I walked down the steps to the fountain I was immediately approached by a Chinese man doing massages by the fountain. I was more then happy to get a massage after the amount of gallivanting around the city I was doing, so I happily followed him to his massage chair. BEST $20 I have spent on this trip thus far. I hadn't realized how sore my back was until he started massaging me. I felt completely rejuvenated afterwards and quickly texted my family to tell them about my experience!

I had been thinking about the joke the entire time I was getting my massage, and dad played into it perfectly! 

I continued walking around the park exploring the hidden treasures. Every turn I took uncovered a new and exciting part of the park.

The sun was starting to set and it was time for me to head to Wicked!!

Words cannot describe how much I loved this play!! It was incredible. The actors and actresses were amazingly talented and I adored the story! I sat next to an adorable little 6 year old girl, she sat up in her booster seat intently watching the play. Her mom was so excited for her to be attending this play, she looked over at her sweet little girl with tear-y eyes as she sang along to all the songs. Wicked will forever more be one of my favorite musicals; you could even say that I have been changed for good.

I called Mom to thank her for suggesting I go to the play, we talked about our favorite scenes and songs. As I walked towards Times Square to head back to my airbnb, I called my dad to tease him about his reaction to my joke earlier. I've also noticed that if I am talking on my phone people generally won't approach me. Dad asked me what else I had planned for the rest of my trip when suddenly I remembered, I still had tickets to go up the Empire State building! I immediately hung up on dad so I could find a train station. 

No less then 2 minutes after I hung up the phone I was immediately approached by a gentlemen trying to sell CD's. Without looking up from my phone I told him I didn't have any money to buy his CD, I tried to keep walking but he stepped in my way and asked if he could have a hug instead. At this point I was just frustrated and wanted to get to the Empire State Building. I quickly hugged him and tried to pull away when he grabbed hold of both of my hands, and asked if he could have just one more hug. At this point one of his (much better looking) CD selling friends had also walked up and gave me a slow up and down creepy look. The gentlemen holding my hands quickly lead me away from his friend and asked me for another hug. I told him fine but after that I really needed to go. When I hugged him the second time he hiked me up over his shoulder... I was wearing a dress, and it was windy. I'm sure you can probably figure out what happened when he threw me over his shoulder without me having to type out my embarrassing moment. When he finally put me down I tried to walk away when he grabbed my hands again. He then began asking me if I had ever "been" with a black man, as well as telling me that if I chose to come home with him that I might not be able to walk for a few days... I was completely shocked. This guy was 43.. 20 years older than me. Gross.

The gentlemen had told me that the Empire State Building was close enough to walk to and I didn't need to take the train. I picked the brightest building and started walking towards it. I called K on my way to tell her about my crazy day! I walked into what I thought was the Empire State Building and asked the security guard where the entrance to the observatory deck was. He told me there was no observatory deck and walked away. Turns out I was at the Chrysler Building! Whoops. Luckily the Empire state building was only a few blocks away. My feet were extremely sore so I decided to just take a train.

The views were incredible!!! I stood in awe staring at the bustling city below, I will never grow tired of the glowing lights. Unfortunately it was extremely windy up there, and I was in a dress. I had just mooned hundreds of people in Times Square, and I wasn't about to do it again. I spent close to an hour walking around inside looking out the windows and reading about the construction and history of the incredible building. I loved looking at the lights so much that I didn't want to leave, but I was getting hungry and it was getting late. I walked back towards Times Square to get some Juniors Cheesecake one last time, before leaving. The streets were dark and fairly empty, I was getting rather scared. There was a few scaffolding "hallway's" along the way. 

Luckily I got a phone call from my roommate which distracted me from the scary walk home. I told her all about the "forward men" in New York and how I had never been asked out by a stranger until I came here. Ironically enough as I was telling her this, a man stopped me on the street and asked me out to dinner. I declined and kept walking, laughing with my roommate about the crazy things that had been happening to me. As I was looking up directions to juniors a woman came out of no where and immediately began screaming at me. She called me stupid and pathetic and other things I won't repeat. I stood there completely confused. She thought I was taking pictures of her on the street corner while I waited for the crossing light to change. I apologized and kept walking, she continued walking on the opposite side of the street, still screaming incoherently at me. Unfortunately by time I had got to Juniors it was closed. I walked down the street past the mounds of garbage sitting outside of the stores and restaurants looking for a decent place to get some late night supper. 

I made it to my airbnb unharmed and very cold. I crawled into bed and quickly fell asleep.

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 **** Step Count 29,718 **** 

.nyc solo trip .10.14.16.

I woke up completely exhausted from my restless sleep with the curlformers. Luckily my hair turned out really good! (Don't mind the dirty bathroom mirror, not my house)

 I hit snooze 5 times before finally dragging my self out of bed. Within 20 minutes I was out the door and off to explore some more, first stop -- Starbucks. With my pumpkin spice in hand I made my way to wall street. I was surprised to see how much construction there was on all of the buildings! Almost every one had some type of scaffolding around it, one particular building was actually completely covered in a mesh scaffolding tent. I walked along the street admiring the beautiful architecture and intricate details of the buildings. 

While walking to the Trinity church I came upon a group of Asian men and women raffling off some paintings. They were Chinese characters of words they found empowering and inspiring. They asked people passing on the street to write your name and your favorite number on a sheet of paper. Every hour they would draw a winner who could choose which painting they wanted. I walked up just in time for the draw, 7 or 8 names were called before a winner was chosen! Unfortunately it wasn't me, oh well, next time. 

The trinity church was incredibly beautiful. The door had images carved into it, it resembled a 3D painting and the detail's in the stone work was truly amazing. I reverently walked through the church enjoying the quiet peacefulness and admiring the craftsmanship before heading back to the manic streets. 


Next I was on my way to walk the Brooklyn bridge. New York has this great bike rental service called Citi Bike. There is tons of "bike stations" all around the city, so it's easy to pick up a bike at one station and ride it to where-ever you're going, and then drop it off at another station. As I was walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge entrance I noticed one of these stations across the street in the Brooklyn Bridge City Hall courtyard. Also in the courtyard was a group of street performer's about to start their act, so I had to stop and watch their show. I got a great front row spot -- sometimes being short is a MAJOR perk! The show was absolutely fantastic, catchy music, a hilarious host, and really talented dancers! Well how about I just show you some of the footage I shot of the act! 

I couldn't believe it when they pulled me into the act, I was completely shocked!! I'm seriously so shy when it comes to groups, especially when I am the focal point of the groups attention. That being said, one of the main reasons I wanted to go to New York on my own was to bring myself out of my shell a little more, leave my comfort zone. Being pulled into the street act was so much fun, and definitely a very memorable experience!! Thank you so much to the performers, you guys are great!!


Off to the bridge I went, selfie stick in hand to take some action shots. The bridge was incredibly crowded, luckily it was divided in half for walkers and bikers. It was such a beautiful day so I stopped for a bit to take in the sights while basking in the warm sun. 

Unfortunately the Citi Bike's are rented out at 30 minute intervals, so I peddled into Brooklyn to find a docking station. I stopped to ask for directions to the nearest station from a friendly traffic cop, who also pointed me in the direction of a fantastic pizza place. 

SOOO delicious, and only $1! Perfect lunch!! 

 I walked around Brooklyn for a while chatting on the phone with mom, she suggested I go to a Broadway show for the evening. As I looked up how long the wait time was for the TKTS in time square, I realized that I was walking around right in front of the TKTS booth in Brooklyn; with no wait time!!! I walked straight up to the window and got a ticket to see Paramour the cirque du soleil Broadway, Score!

I walked around Brooklyn for a while watching the people buzz about their normal days, school had just let out so there was tons of kids on their way home from school. The park was full, boys were playing basketball and handball in the fenced courts while the girls stood in circles chatting and playing with each-others braids. It was like a scene out of the movies. I stood and watched for a while before walking back across the Brooklyn bridge. 

Walking took a significant amount of time because it was so crowded. I didn't mind though, I took in the scenes and asked loads of strangers to take pictures for me in exchange for me taking pictures of them. 

Since I still had the citi bike rental for the day I decided to bike over to china town/little Italy. Biking on the busy streets of Manhattan is a little scary, not because of the cars, because of the bike messengers. So far I have yet to see a car move faster then 30km/hr due to the traffic, but the bikes, they fly past you ringing their little bells to alert you they're coming straight for you.

I dropped my bike off in china town and walked around looking for a bathroom. I stumbled across another park filled with spirit. There was old men playing board games and a live band playing soothing music with a woman singing in a language I didn't understand; but it was pretty!

Again, it was like something out of a movie, specifically the pixar short. It's pretty neat to see the parallels of the movies to actually places in Manhattan.

I strolled around the streets window shopping in China town and little Italy. It was strange; one street would be filled with the smell of fish and plastic and the next street the air would be filled with the luxurious smell of pasta and garlic bread. 

I'm not a fish fan so I went straight to little Italy and circled the streets trying to find the perfect Italian restaurant for supper. There was handsome Italian men on the street outside the restaurants flirtatiously calling out to me as I walked by. "Ciao bella, ci divertiremo tanto" they'd call out. Each one more charming then the last. In the end I chose to go the the restaurant without a handsome man beckoning me inside. It was called "Casa Bella". It truly was a cute little Italian hole in the wall. This was my first time in New York actually eating alone at a restaurant. It was a new experience for me, luckily enough I was able to witness a real life Italian reality show! There was a couple sitting at the table adjacent to me, they were outspoken and loud, and it was incredibly entertaining. I even moved my seat to be facing them directly, that way I would get the full "litte italy behind the scenes" experience. They chatted about politics and class action law suits they were involved in, both speaking in heavy Italian accents. I watched them while I ate my dinner quietly trying to mimic their accents under my breath. 

Next I was on the train back to times square to try to get some tickets for Wicked the following night. 

I was cutting it short on time because I stopped to watch a spray paint artist, but the Gershwin theater was only a few blocks away. I ran down the streets zig-zagging through people walking, I barely avoided a door that suddenly opened into the sidewalk. People yelled and shook their fists at me but I was gone in a flash so it didn't matter. Unfortunately I ran right up to a closed ticket window. Apparently I should have checked the hours before running all that way. I turned back and ran back the same way I came, making it just in time for Last Call!

I was in row 9 and dead center! The show was absolutely amazing, I loved the story and they acrobats were incredible!

During the intermission I booked tickets for a haunted house up-town. The Uninvited: Awakening. As soon as my Broadway play was over I hopped on the train and headed straight to the haunted house. When I walked up to the street I realized that the haunted house was in Harlem, and it was 11pm. Great. Turns out this particular haunted house is different then the haunted houses I have previously been too. I had to be there for 11pm on the dot for an hour long attraction. Unfortunately I was about 5 minutes late so they asked e to come back in an hour for the next group. The door man suggested I go to a local pub up the street to wait.. Yeah right.

I walked back towards the train station and picked a well lit Fried Chicken place to spend the hour. 

While I was sitting and enjoying this delicious chicken I got loads of confused looks from people coming in to get their dinner. Apparently I stuck out like a sore thumb in Harlem. Then a mom came in with her 4 boys, all under 7 years old. They immediately ran up to me and climbed up into the chairs surrounding me. The youngest boy crawled up into my lap and almost immediately fell asleep! I looked up to the mom who gave me an apologetic shrug. I sat and visited with the young boys who told me all about their day at school and asked me a million questions. It was so adorable. 

Finally it was time for me to go back to my haunted house. As I left the chicken place there was a group of pedestrians blocking the sidewalk. I put my hood up and head down and walked to the other side of the street trying not to be noticed. When I got to the haunted house they lead me down a dark alley to the back entrance of a warehouse. As I heard the sirens wailing by I started to wonder if this was going to be part of the attraction. I chatted with the other people in line, they all were blown away that I would come to a haunted house alone in the middle of the night.. in Harlem. They all came to call me "Canada" During the attraction.

This haunted house was also different in that they touch you, I had to sign a waiver prior to going in. We walked blindly into a large dark room filled with smoke. I couldn't see at all when suddenly an actor grabbed me and pulled me into a side room. He shoved me into a closet and slammed the doors. I could hear him outside the doors whispering gibberish to himself. I put my ear to the doors to try to hear what he was saying when suddenly something hit the side of the closet, I jumped so hard and immediately began laughing at my self. Then suddenly the doors flew open and the guy threw a sack over my head holding it on tight by wrapping his hands around my neck, he dragged me out into the room. When he removed the sack there was another actor right in front of my face. He grabbed me right away, very similar to the way that the Joker grabs Rachel in the Dark Night. The knife in his hand was a dull butter knife but it was still pretty freaky to be grabbed like that by a complete stranger. He shoved me back into the darkness where I was quickly dragged into another side room attraction. I couldn't stop giggling whenever the actors would make me jump, this only seemed to encourage them to try to scare me even more. It was so much fun, I loved every second of it! 

When the haunted attraction was over, the really scary part of the night began. I walked back to the train station, the pedestrians had moved to a new spot.. directly in front of my train entrance. I timidly walked past them as they're eyes followed my every move. When I got down the stairs to the train entrance there was a (seemingly) homeless man standing alone. He immediately moved to block the entrance to the train and began asking for money. I apologized and told him I only had MasterCard and that I really needed to get home. When I tried to walk around him he stepped in front of me again. Slightly more aggressive now he told me to go to a ATM to get money out. I told him I couldn't because it was a Canadian MasterCard and they didn't allow me to take money out of ATM's. I moved as fast as I could and got around him and scanned through the train station gate. I walked as far as I could down the platform so he couldn't see me anymore. At this point I realized that I was on the wrong side of the platform, and catching a train on this side would only lead me deeper into Harlem. I waited a long time until I was sure the man had moved on, I walked back to the exit. as I pushed my way through the gate the man appeared out of no where once again begging me for money. He was much more aggressive this time and had grabbed onto my arm and was squeezing pretty tight. He snarled at me, calling me names and accusing me of being selfish for not helping him. He complained of not eating for days and that he needed money for food. Seeing no good outcome I told him I would buy him some food. He shoved me towards the stairs letting go of my arm. Part of me wanted to run but I wasn't sure if the group of pedestrians at the top of the stairs were part of the act. I walked slowly up the stairs with the man mumbling nonsence behind me. I turned to him and told him we would go to the chicken place I had been at earlier, he snapped; "No, we're going to my deli". 

At the top of the stairs where the pedestrians were standing was a little convenience store. I walked past them feeling their eyes all over me once again. The man pushed into the store and went up to the counter. 

"Look, she's going to buy me something with her master card and I want to return it for cash."

Blank look from the store cashier who looked over at me with disgust. "No"

I was furious, I angrily snapped at the man. That wasn't what we had said when he was begging for money. I also told him "No" and went to walk out the door when the pedestrians standing outside shifted a little closer to the door. The cashier and the homeless man had gotten into a screaming match behind me, threatening horrid things and boasting about their time in jail. Finally the man gave in, yelling that he would just buy something there and return it at another store. He stormed to the back and started stuffing red-bulls into a plastic bag. I stood solemnly in front of the counter which the cashier glared at me. The man walked back to the counter with a bag full of red-bulls. 10 to be exact. I told him I could only afford 2 and that he would have to put the rest back. He snarled at me calling me names and once again accusing me of being selfish. 

"Look at the way you're dressed, I know you have money you ---" 

He placed 2 cans back on the counter. The cashier then began yelling at him, the death threats coming out once again. They argued and cussed at each other until finally the man had only 2 red-bull cans in his plastic bag. I got myself a bottle of water and some Hershey kisses, paid for the bill and the man stormed out cussing and screaming his whole way out. When He was finally outside of the store he began fighting with the pedestrians outside. The store keeper immediately started yelling at me!!  

"Don't bring crackheads like that in my store you ---" 

 A young boy about 13 was standing in the corner of the store, he was the shopkeepers son. Wanting to escape from this horrid place I had found myself in I walked away from the store keeper who slammed his fists on the counter and walked to the back of the store. While I waited for the man outside to be gone once again I chatted with the young boy asking him about his school and what he was doing out so late. He was the same age as my little brother, and he was a convenience store at 2 am, it was appalling; but I guess some kids just have different circumstances due to their parents.

After some time had passed and I was sure the man was truly gone, I walked out of the store. The pedestrians outside immediately apologized to me, they had "gotten rid" of the man and told me not to worry and that he wouldn't be bothering me again. 

Being afraid of what that could possibly mean I graciously accepted their apology and walked to my train station. After all that fuss the train station was just on the other side of the street....

I walked down the steps and was kindly greeted by the actors from the haunted house!! They were wiping off their make-up from a long day of scarring people, and immediately recognized me. We laughed and chatted about my reaction to their scares while we waited for the train. 

Once I got back to my neighborhood, I went to a drug store to pick up a few items I had forgotten before slowly creeping in the door off my air-bnb at 3am. I collapsed in bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

** Step Count 29,135 **