Saturday 26th: Change hostels, eat a mango, Empire State Building, Metropolitan Museum of Art, eat a pizza

I woke up in the morning. I hung around for a while. Every time I was about to take a shower, someone else jumped in. I did some things on the internet. The night before I tried to remove the virus that I discovered. I did some things by removing some registry entries etc. Some entries didn't exist which should have, according to the guide I was using. So I just ignored them. In the end the virus seems to not exist anymore. But things did not work the same anymore. So, I have to use Ubuntu until I get back when I can do a fresh install of the xp install.

I got my stuff packed up and then went to leave. I had to change hostels today.

Here is the hostel I was staying at. It's like an ordinary apartment. Actually I think it pretty much is: when I arrived here, the guy told me that they were inspected by the authorities today and that everyone has to leave immediately, officially. He said I could stay the full length, but if the authorities came back and talked to me, I should tell them that I'm checking out that day. So this hostel basically does not exist anymore. It was quite a nice hostel so it is sad.

I got my stuff ready and then I headed out toward the next hostel. I caught the J across the Williamsburg Bridge, then transferred to the F up to 34th Street, then the N or Q or R one stop to Times Square, then the 1 up the west side to 104th Street. It was an epic journey.

There is another band playing at this stop. I think this is the 34th street stop, or else it is the Times Square stop. Fairly sure it is 34th. The guy in blue is on trombone and is playing very enthusiastically. He kept putting in really bold hits at various nice moments. They were playing some funky tunes. I liked it.

I got to the hostel. I got checked in and it was all okay. I was a bit concerned because it seemed that the bed hadn't been cleaned yet after the people who left this morning. (But I got home later in the day and they'd cleaned it)

Climbing through the stairwell of the hostel. You really don't want to be on the 3rd floor apparently.

I went to a fruit store and bought two mangoes for $2, some cashews, and water. The mangoes were good. England should realise that mangoes should not be dark green. I ate these mangoes with my bare hands and floppy plastic spoon in front of the hostel. Some people walked past and approved of my action. I like mango.

I then went south back down Manhattan, on the subway to try and go up the Empire State Building. The weather was quite good today which is why I had to do it. The previous few days, the weather has been quite foggy, which would have meant that going up would have been a waste.

At the train station on 34th street they had another band. This one had a drummer, partially visible on the right, who was playing some kind of cuban rhythms, with a guy on a drum kit next to him. He took a solo which was really amazing. They also have some great brass instruments. I listened to a couple of songs.

If you're a military person, in uniform, then you get in for free. Patriotic nation.

The line... It was big... I waited for perhaps almost two hours before getting the lift to the 80th level. Then, here at the 80th level, we thought it was all over. No. There was another line.

The windows are blurred at the lower level so that you don't ruin the view before you get through the line and to the top.

In this line were lots of very pushy people. Some kids behind me were skipping over the ropes cutting ahead. They were behind me and were trying to sneak past me. I had been listening to a lot of funk on my mp3 player so that inspired me to give them a big stare down directly at their face implying that their actions would not be tolerated at all. They understood. Later, parents were pushing into my back and so on. It really confuses me that people think it's fine to rub themselves up against you just because you're in a line. I'm fairly sure that doesn't make the line go faster. They got a bit of a stare as well. But I didn't mind the line. I listened to a lot of funk and Meshuggah. Just people pushing into me perplexes me.

This is supposed to be King Kong. Earlier, they found two lost kids who couldn't speak english. They were asking the crowd if anyone here were their parents. No one was. The kids looked fairly upset. People were taking pictures.

Six more levels up and we got to the top. It was cool to see. Not quite a clear day, but it was pretty good.

There are some people in a parade, down there. The state of New York passed a law on the day before making same sex marriage legal. So they're pretty happy about that.

I took the stairs for the six flights down. Then got the lift the rest of the way.

Gift shop.

 I still had a bit of time so I decided to head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's open until 9pm on Saturdays. The subway system in Manhattan isn't as comprehensive as I thought it would be. There is just one line going up the western side of Central Park, and one going up the eastern side. So it would be a few blocks to walk to. So I decided to take the bus, which would be an interesting thing. I was a bit unsure if I was at the right place to catch it, so I asked a guy about it and he helped me. We talked for a while. He lives in Harlem. He thought that I was English at first due to my accent. He said that he thinks Australian people are better than English people, because we have more of a sense of humour and don't take ourselves so seriously. He thinks that English people are a little bit stuck up. I didn't really agree with him that much. I think English people have a pretty good sense of humour and that Australians and English are fairly similar. But I think this guy was a bit down about most things. He was glad to get away from this area of the city, thinks that people drive dangerously, and Harlem is not a nice area anymore because everyone thinks that they are gangsters. He also catches the bus because he thinks that the risk of terrorist attack is significant and that they would probably go for the subway rather than the busses, and even if it was a bus, then he could get out easier from a bus. But this guy was quite friendly and nice. He just wasn't very optimistic about some things.

Got to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think it was Amanda that gave me this tip: you don't always have to pay the full price for things. If it says "recommended price" or "suggested price" then it means that literally, and, you can make up your own price! I asked someone here and they said that it's so that people who don't earn as much can still see these things. The american guys I met in London corroborated this theory. It's nice to see the US embracing some socialism. I felt a bit embarassed, because I really didn't want to pay $20 for this, and therefore planned to offer the lady $1 for the ticket, which seems a bit disrespectful to me. But the people behind me were making nervous sounds as well. I turned around and noticed that they had a $1 note in their hand and were also looking embarassed. That made me feel a bit better. So I showed them my $1 note as well and we laughed.

They had a feature about guitar builders and the guitars they made. I wasn't able to take pictures because it was an exhibition, but this guy's guitars looked really cool.

Some cool American landscapes.

This painting was amazing. It is really huge too.

Here is a small detail on the bottom right from the previous painting.

They had the inside of a Frank Lloyd Wright house. I think this guy gets talked about a whole lot, probably too much, but it was really cool being able to go inside this thing. It had a really great feeling inside as well.

I went through some rooms that were done in American styles.

I left the Museum.

Then I walked up the street for a bit to the Guggenheim art gallery thing. Another Frank Lloyd Wright building I guess.

Then I walked across central park because I'm staying on the west side now.

I thought I might be mugged. But I wasn't. Other people were walking around too.

Then I got a pizza. This one is in the Napoli style. It was quite good. I tipped this person because apparently I'm supposed to. It was $9.7 so I gave them $12. Apparently you're meant to tip 15-20%...

Then I went into the hostel. I went to bed. It was a bit late at this time. 11pm, or 12am. So when I went in, a few people were clearly trying to sleep. But one guy was in there with the light on so that it was really bright, and trying to have a conversation with me right next to the sleeping people! One guy was clearly annoyed. He left, and someone turned the light off. Then he came back later and turned the light on again. I was looking at him with an expression of "woh you shouldn't do that" and he asked me what was wrong. I told him that people are sleeping and probably not enjoying the light being on. Later, an old guy came in and woke up everyone. Then he spent a very long time talking to himself, giving a big commentary on what he was doing and that he couldn't find his car keys, but then did find them, and that that was good. It was ridiculous. People were sitting up and looking around in bewilderment. He was sleeping in the bed below me, so I decided I had to tell him. I tried to get his attention by saying "excuse me..." a few times. I was just a few feet from him, but he made no indication that he heard me or realised that I was talking to him. So I just told him that he should try and keep the noise down. I don't think it registered with him at all. I think he may have not been 100% functional in his thinking ability.