USA: Chapter 10 - Cosmopolitan Redefined

Isaac Asimov, science fiction author extraordinaire, created Trantor. The Capital Planet of the Galactic Empire, and seat of the Imperial Throne.

That above sentence might be [white noise] to most people reading this account, and I shall ignore it.

What is significant is that New York City so reminded me of the Trantor described in Prelude to the Foundation, where psychohistorian Hari Seldon realised that Trantor is so diverse that you could extrapolate the behaviour of the whole universe from it. And this is where NYC comes in.

NYC is a melting pot in every sense of the word. If it were a dish, it would be rojak. All sorts of people from every corner of the world just thrown into one functional (for the most part) city.

But we all know that human beings are not completely soluble in each other; and hence in this melting pot there is nucleation. Nucleation of ethnic communities. In Singapore, we have Chinatown, Little India, and Geylang as these nuclei of ethnicity. But NYC takes the game to another level.

*

But that's all a side story. I reached NYC bright and early as I had promised earlier; but adventure awaited as I made my way to the hostel. Lo and behold, the hostel was, once more, in Brooklyn. What else could I possibly have expected, come to think of it, considering that I paid even less for it.

However, when I walked to the address given by the website, it was all closed down and boarded up. I walked around the block a couple of times to look for alternative entrances to this elusive hotel, but I probably would have better luck looking for Diagon Alley. All the while wondering what had gone wrong with the booking. Worsening the situation was the fact that this was actually the first time I was using hostelbookers.com rather than hostelworld.com.

Before I decided to try running between the walls of the two neighbouring blocks, a guy with a car recognises me for a lost tourist searching for the hostel. Which meant the hostel must be there; at least it should have been.

Turns out that the hostel was under renovation and they were at another location for the time being. Also in Brooklyn, but in another part. Of course I was hesitant to get into the car with this strange guy, but he seemed to have my name and details so it appeared legit.

The temporary hostel was located even further south of Little Puerto Rico, in a residential area that was probably even more dodgy than the industrial area that the NY Loft Hostel was in. Oh well, the trade off coming from the extra cost.

Anyway, it was an apartment with a few room-mates; so it was way better than nothing.

After dumping my bags in my room, it was off to explore New York. Again. Of course, by now, I was completely aware that there was nothing in Brooklyn. So it was straight off to Manhattan.

*

NYC is the cultural melting pot of the world. So today, I decided to visit the centres of a few of the communities that make up this city which redefines cosmopolitan. First, uptown i.e. Harlem.

Yes, Harlem.

Now that that shiver has gone up your spine, it is obvious why this place should be the first place to visit. No way in hell was I going to be caught in Harlem after dark.

Let me explain. Harlem makes Brooklyn look safe. Enough said.

To be fair, things have improved a lot over the past few years; crime has actually gone down quite a fair bit in Harlem. But still, dodgy place.

Or so reputation had it.

There was one main reason to see Harlem. It has a few relics of Malcolm X's movement back in the day. And purely because that moview was such an awesome movie, I had to go see these remnants of his anti-racism (well sorta) movement.



The second photo, I'm not sure whether it is what I think it is; but if it is, it is one of the Mosques associated with Malcolm X aka El Hajj Shabazz. Anyway I didn't really dare ask anyone about it; nor did I dare take too many pictures (recall Buffalo and the dodgy Puerto Rican Guy?).


As mentioned Harlem is located uptown. So walking down for a bit till the edge of Harlem I came to Central Park. I hadn't dared go too far into Harlem purely out of stereotype; and in retrospect I regret that since I missed out on visiting the Jazz Museum which I know would have been interesting. I mean, Harlem is more than just a dodgy place. Its got something that Brooklyn doesn't - a rich culture. It is the capital of Black America. But fear is a good paralysis drug; so there I was exiting Harlem before I managed to really see it.

Central Park has a whole new dimension in the North.


Harlem Meer is one of the larger water bodies in Central Park. There's a history to this place, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. There's the issue about writing the account too long afterwards. Something to do with the Dutch.

Anyway History Schmistory; next to the Meer is the Lasker Rink. Well, it is the Lasker Rink in the Winter; in Summer it is the Lasker Pool.


And that was the first time this trip I wish I had swimming trunks. The second would be in Chicago; mind you, so don't wait up too long for it.

(By now, you should have an inkling of just HOW late this account is being written.)

Oh yes, the pool. Awesome fact: its free. Should go once before it freezes up to become an ice-skating rink. And once after it freezes up to become an ice-skating rink.

And on I walked.

Till I came to an opening in the bushes. It was just way too enticing. So I walked in.


Well, it was no Niagara Gorge Hike. Wasn't even a Bukit Timah Hike. Maybe a McRitchie Walk. But still, a walk in the forest is a walk in the forest, and we have to appreciate that. In retrospect, its quite easy to appreciate that - just expand your self-awareness to realise you're in the middle of a forest; completely surrounded by one of the biggest cities in the world.

There. Cool, right?

Unfortunately, at that time, the rain had finally decided that America had suffered its terrible heatwave long enough and decided to (finally) pour down on the US. Recall, the last time it rained on me was in the 3 hours I was in Canada.

Unfortunately, being caught in the rain when you're in the middle of the forest - even a forest that is completely surrounded by one of the biggest cities in the world - is not a pleasant thought. Almost as bad as being caught in a cornfield in a middle of a thunderstorm.

Anyway, thankfully there was some refuge to hide in


where I could wait out the storm.

It soon became apparent that this was New York, not Singapore; the rain may never stop (spoiler alert: it didn't for the next 6 hours at least). I did have my Raincoat that I had salvaged from Niagara Falls.

Now as I write this the words of Jeremiah Francisco Luke comes to me: "If one person does something stupid alone it looks stupid; but if many people do it together, its man." (Miah, 2011). He went on to give the example of Scottish men wearing skirts.

But the point is that it didn't feel stupid wearing the Niagara Falls poncho in Niagara Falls when everybody else was wearing it. Besides, if we ever felt silly we could have just looked across the river (i.e. the Border).

Ooooch! (Canadian for "Ouch!")

Anyway the point is that it felt really silly wearing this poncho that clearly stated "Niagara Falls, Maid of the Mist Tour"; basically proudly exclaiming to the world "Hey, I'm Indian and I'm so Cheap!".

Which is true, but hey, why exclaim it to the world? I'm in a country where one can always take out a loan so there's no need to be cheap. Have to fit in just a bit; I already refuse to speak their language (recall Petrol >> Gas?)

Anyway, as best as I can do I cover the "Niagara Falls, Maid of the Mist Tour" and brave the drizzle. By the way, I'm more concerned with my phone, camera and my iPad sitting in my bag getting wet than I am with myself getting wet. If not for the electronics, I think the hot weather over the past few days would make anyone happily walk in the rain. Which quite a few people actually were.

Anyway, I took a subway downtown, still hoping the rain would stop sometime soon, till I reached Chinatown. Part two of the exploration of Trantor.


Rumour had it that Chinatown was a slight misnomer; Hongkongtown would be a better name. I can't really tell if rumour was right or wrong, but I think people were speaking Cantonese more than Mandarin. But I can't be sure. Anyway, walking along in Chinatown was the complete opposite of walking in Harlem. Being in Singapore for so long has made me so comfortable around Chinese people that I think I would not have been so comfortable in India-town.

Indiatown, apparently, is a slight distance away from Manhattan. Where land is cheaper.

Of course.

And there are even more Indians in New Jersey. (Hi Ted Mosby, enough about New Jersey, okay?)

Anyway, there wasn't much to do in Chinatown except walk around and see all the Chinese Food; which is so much cheaper than the food outside. About $4 buys you dinner. Half the price of everywhere else. Anyway, I was quite full so all I had was a Pork Bao. I thought it would be Charsiew Bao, but I was disappointed there.

Little Italy was supposed to be somewhere around there; but mainly due to the weather and some misleading directions and an unclear map, I wasn't able to find it. I mean, by the time I realised that I was nowhere near Little Italy, I was already in Korea Town, at the base of the Empire State Building.



There were really cheap souvenir shops lining Korea town, once again demonstrating the infallibility of the cardinal laws of souvenir shopping. Always go to an Asian shop.

To be fair, the prices were that low because apparently it was a closing down sale as they had lost their lease.

*

By that time, it was about time to start walking up to meet Joy for dinner. So probably its time to explain a little about that story.

Joy (my friend from way back in secondary school) had been on a work and travel programme in New Jersey. However, I hadn't known about this until after I had made all my plans to travel to New York with Pammie. Furthermore, it was easier to contact Santa than it was to contact Joy when she was at New Jersey. Also, I had also thought that New Jersey was a stone's throw away from New York. Half true; because while Jersey City is a stone's throw away form New York City (i.e. across the river) New Jersey and New York were actually very large states. Well, large relative to the city. So it turned out that where Joy was working (Wildwood) was actually quite far away from New York. It would be almost like saying that Niagara Falls (which is in New York State, by the way) is near New Jersey. Which it isn't.

Anyway, purely coincidentally - recall I had never intended to return to New York - it so happened that I would return to New York City on the same day that she would come to visit New York, albeit slightly earlier. She and her friend, YY, were coming in from Miami, her first stop on her after work-and-travel travels.

So I had offered to meet them in Times Square. However, their flight was delayed, so I ended up waiting for them for some time in Times Square. Their flight turned out to be delayed quite a fair bit; so that meant that I took my dinner first. And waited on the tables in the middle of Times Square.

Just for fun I was reading Time Magazine; because that seemed to be a proper thing to do in Times Square. And I actually got bored sitting in Times Square; so I walked around. And came to a giant Toys R' Us store.


Of course, I went in. There were some toys that definitely weren't around when I was growing up - this little toy furry worm that seemed to be able to respond to humans. I really need to know how that works.


Joy was uncontactable again. Then again, she was in the New York Subway, so I couldn't have expected any more. Recall that the New York Subway was impervious to microwaves and hence there could be no signal on your handphone while you are in the system? Yup, so that was what was the case with Joy again - no signal on her phone.

It was already 11.30pm when I decided it was too late to keep on waiting - I had to get all the way back to Brooklyn, after all. And Brookyln is not the best place to walk around at night. Even if its no Harlem. Just the other day there was a small column in the newspaper saying a kid had been shot dead outside his school somewhere in Brooklyn. So better to go back early.

Whilst on the Subway I realised that the bane of construction work on the Subway had struck again, and it was quite complicated to get home. Worse still, I realised that the route I had given to Joy to come down from JFK was among the routes compromised by the shutdowns. That explained very well why she didn't show. And also suggested that she and YY were probably lost somewhere in the maze of the New York Subway, without a map. Poor things.

Anyway, these things happen; so I messaged them when I reached home wishing them luck. Even though I knew for a fact that by the time they got the message, they would probably have reached their destination (Times Square). But the time was already 12.30am and I was dead tired. So having survived the walk from the subway to the front door of the apartment, I turned in for the day.

USA: Chapter 9 - The Buffalo Wings

I was only in Buffalo for one night, but my trip out of Buffalo back to NYC was only at 11.45pm in the evening. Just a quick update; originally I had planned to go to Philadelphia from Buffalo, and then on to DC. But there was no hostels in Philadelphia, so I decided to just go back to NYC. After all, it is the greatest city in the world. And strangely enough I managed to get a hostel there for less money, using a different website.

Anyway, that's tomorrow's story. Today I just checked out and stowed away my luggage in the luggage storage of the hostel. The condition was, of course, to return during desk hours to collect it.

Then, I walked out to look for something to eat. That was the primary objective. And that was when I stepped into the truly dead-town that was Buffalo on a Sunday morning.

It seemed like a street from one of those zombie movies like I Am Legend, during the day. Everything - literally everything, by the way, was closed. Even Subway was closed.


I walked further down Main Street and there was no change as yet; only perhaps now a few souls were wandering the streets, and a few church bells were ringing. Adding to the scene was the fact that there was classical music being played, for some reason, from every tram station along Main Street. Hence Main Street's only sound was the classical music.

And in my head, the sound of swirling winds. And papers flying around. I've watched too many Zombie Movies perhaps.

Well, actually, the swirling winds would have been quite welcome - the weather was still relatively hot. I walked further south.

*

Another thing about Buffalo is that they do have a tourist information office.

However, that's only open on weekdays. And today was Sunday. So that left me stranded for a bit. However a little research earlier on when there was wifi had led me to the knowledge that there was a free walking tour going on later today, at noon, around the Canal.

Further down south and I was starting to get really hungry. But it was already 11.40 so I couldn't afford to go for lunch. I saw a couple munching on Macs in a parked car, so I stopped and asked them for directions to the nearest food outlet. I thought it would be Macs, since they were happily munching on Macs.

In retrospect, they were in a car, and they could have come from the Macs in Cleveland for all I knew. Anyway, they said there was no fast food nearby and the only place was this Pearl's Restaurant a few blocks up. They assured me it was open for lunch on Sundays; so that just meant that I must have missed it on the way down to the lakeside (I was already down near the lakeside by now).

No time to go grab lunch; so I thought I'd have to delay lunch today as well. So I asked for directions to the Truss Bridge. Apparently that was REALLY nearby, so I walked there first.

As evidence that there has been divine intervention on my travels so far, there was a burger stand on the way. The prices weren't cheap, but hey, I was really hungry. So I bought a cheeseburger and went over to the Truss Bridge to wait for the guide.

*

It turned out that Buffalo isn't - at least at the time of writing - in any sense, a mainstream tourist destination. To be honest, I have no idea why it appeared on my itinerary. Perhaps the main attraction was the Buffalo Wings. But Buffalo Wings are for later. Now I was waiting for the whole tour group to gather. And it seemed that I was the only foreigner. The rest seemed to be locals of Buffalo or perhaps the region around it, looking to learn a bit about their own county's/region's history.

For Buffalo is full of history. So, as always, with free walking tours, it was all about a story. The story of Buffalo.

This walking tour was, by no means very entertaining. It was more educational. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that this guide didn't expect to be tipped; like the other free walking tours I've been on in Europe etc.

But Buffalo used to be a major city - mainly because it was on the end of the Erie Canal. What is that, you ask? Well, it's this super cool canal that actually connected New York to the Great Lakes. And for the first time, I saw how great the Great Lakes really were.

As a Singaporean, you don't actually think about the massiveness of the Great Lakes at all. I mean, yes, I did know they were very large. But the fact is they acted as an inland sea; trade could actually happen between the cities along the Great Lakes' shores - including Chicago, Detroit and others. Toronto is also on the Great Lakes but I don't think it was very feasible to get stuff there since one would have to pass through Niagara Falls just to get to Lake Ontario.

Plus the Great Lakes were a source of freshwater. Added bonus, indeed.

Anyway, the issue with the Great Lakes was that it wasn't connected to the Northern Atlantic Ocean. I mean, if you wanted to transport grain to New York, you could sail down the (megalong) Mississippi to get to the Atlantic Ocean, and then all the way back up to New York. Takes quite a lot of time. And money.

Plus, going by road to New York involved climbing the Appalachians. Not easy. Hence the Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo to the Hudson River and hence New York, allowed Buffalo to become a major port city along the Great Lakes; in fact becoming one of the richest cities in America in the day.


Which made me wonder what on earth happened. Because right now, Buffalo was quite a poor city; one of the poorest cities in the US in fact.

Anyway, it was one of the richest cities in America but it also had one of the largest rich-poor divides. So our guide was reiterating the point that even if a little uptown you'd find some of the best mansions in the country, this canal area, with all its coolies, would have been quite an ugly sight, dominated by crime and poverty.

Another illustration of the importance of the Erie Canal - almost 80% of the population of the state of New York live within a few miles from the Erie Canal.

*

Anyway, after the tour, I stayed by the lakefront for awhile; but there was nothing much there. Buffalo's tourism industry was still in its infancy stage and there really wasn't much to do save for getting baked by the sun.


So I walked back up north towards the city centre towards the bus terminus to see what else I could do. On the way I passed by some stadium of the local team - the Buffalo Bisons - and peered in. The tickets were about $8; a little too much for a sport I don't understand at all.

I considered the fact that I might be standing outside the equivalent of Anfield or Old Trafford in baseball terms; so I took a few pictures.


It turns out that it was no Anfield or Old Trafford. Maybe Selhurst Park (homeground of Crystal Palace).

Honestly, the price of $8 to get in should have been an indication - it would be about $80 to get into Old Trafford. At least.

There were a few interesting sights that I could have seen - namely, the Buffalo Zoo, which is one of the oldest zoos in America; and the Botanic Gardens which supposedly (according to tripadvisor.com) was worth going to.

However, the buses to these places were non-operational on Sundays; making it even more obvious that driving in America is a necessity. The only tourist place that was reachable by public transport conveniently today was Elmwood Street. Buffalo's equivalent of Orchard Road or Arab Street, I think.

The shops here were actually open, unlike the case in downtown Buffalo. I usually think that on days where I don't have any plans to do I'll have not much to write about; but this is not always the case. A lot of times, when I don't go looking for a story, the story comes to find me. So here's a little story of what happened on Elmwood Street.

I took the bus all the way up to the beginning of Elmwood Street; I mean, thats the best way I'd see most of the shops along Elmwood Street and then I can walk down all the way. I stopped by at a petrol kiosk, and went inside to go look for a drink. I don't have to mention it again, but it was really hot. And I didn't have my water bottle with me.

At the kiosk, apart from insanely cheap Ben & Jerry's ice cream, there was also the drink that Mat introduced me to on that day I met him. 99c for about 600ml. Quite worth it.

I forgot what flavour he recommended, though. So I bought what looked tasty - Kiwi and Strawberry always go well together. Or so I thought.


While taking this picture of the drink, a guy who was sitting down on the curb side called out to me. I tried to ignore him but he kept calling; so I thought it was impolite to keep walking so I responded.

Then he asked me if I was taking the picture to send back to India.

Idiot.

I said no, I live in Malaysia.

Then he started talking about how difficult it is to find a job here, coming from Puerto Rico.

And in my head I was thinking at least you have welfare; you should come to Singapore if you really want to find a job. But I just kept quiet. Well, actually I said I didn't have a job either.

Then he said his daughter was waiting in his car and his girlfriend wasn't picking up the phone and he needed some money for gas.

I said I'm sorry I can't help out as I have no small change. Which was partially true (I didn't have small change but I wouldn't have helped him even if I did), so I wished him luck and walked off.

I mean, perhaps if he didn't way I was from India; or if he said "wife" instead of "girlfriend" (still from a conservative society here); or said petrol instead of gas (English, not American) I'd have been fine.

Whatever.


There was nothing else to do along Elmwood Street; it was more of a shopping area with bars and I didn't feel like shopping or drinking so I just took the bus back to the city centre.

I wanted to visit City Hall, because apparently Buffalo's City Hall was worth visiting. I'm not sure why.

Well, for one, it is a huge building. With slightly strange architecture.



Something's a little odd about that photo; let me zoom in to the base for you to see clearly...


Yes. A protest.

So what was this protest about? It was about the legislation to legalise gay marriage in the state of New York. I was very curious so I walked in. Good thing I walked in on the side of the protesters, rather than the counter-protesters.

Oh yes, there were a few counter protestors, insisting that the protestors were being insensitive. "Remember those days when inter-racial marriages were illegal?"

Personally I have no issue with gay people. True, being from such a conservative country in a conservative course, I might be somewhat uncomfortable around them, if they are overly expressive of their sexuality. But to me, its not an issue of gay people's rights. More so an issue of the changing definition of marriage.

But the church should not interfere in state affairs; that would cause quite terrible state of affairs. Cross reference the Treaty of Westphalia, even if that was more European in nature.

Anyway, I'm just thankful that I live in a conservative state.

I didn't really want to stay too long in the protest, because there were some Catholics who were there who were so passionate about the cause it felt quite uneasy. Again, church and state shouldn't mix.

So I walked a bit away and took refuge under some trees a few blocks from City Hall.

*

When the sun had gone down just a little bit; I decided to walk to the Lakefront so as to watch the sunset over the lake. It wasn't too difficult to find the lakefront; even if there was plenty of walking to do.



That was about all there was - no place to sit down. And about 4 hours before the sun actually went down. So I decided to walk back.

On the way back I passed by this interesting building.


I was wondering why there was someone about to jump off the railings (see the lower right corner).


Yes, they were dummies.

Anyway, this was actually the Pearl's Street Restaurant which the lady earlier on had directed me to; so I decided to go in. It was nearly 5.30pm and about time for dinner anyway. Especially if you consider that I had such a light brunch.

I promised myself that I would have Buffalo Wings for dinner, so I ensured that they did indeed serve that dish.


It was not bad; but after eating 3/4 of the dish I was relatively jelak. I mean, I think that dish was meant as an appetiser for 2 or 3 people to share, rather than as a main course for one person to have. But I needed to have Buffalo Wings.

After dinner I resumed my quest for a park by the waterfront so that I can sit down and watch the sun set. Using the google map that I had on my iPad I walked towards what promised to be a park.

However, halfway through not finding the park (it was well concealed and I couldn't find a path to it) I started to question the wisdom in walking back after dark. The road that I was walking on seemed quite dodgy, even during the day. And it kept getting dodgier by the metre.

And like Luke Skywalker hearing Obiwan's voice going "Use the Force, Luke" I heard Agnieska's advice against walking around too much in Buffalo since people would mistake me for a son of a rich Indian and rob me. And the experience with the Puerto Rican man who thought I was from India didn't help.

So I walked back towards the hostel.

It was way too early to start heading to the bus station; so I just sat in the lobby of the hostel. After all, there was free WiFi.

I ended up talking to some lady from South Africa who was here to take the NY bar exam. She wasn't the first person living in the hostel who I met who was here for that exam, actually. There were quite a few of my dorm-mates who were here for that reason; which would explain why the dorm was well booked this period.

Anyway, around 10pm I took the tram down towards the bus station, and boarded the NYC-bound bus. On board the tram, some guy, seeing me as Indian, asked me if I knew Russell Peters.

Of course, I said. Who doesn't?

He said he used to open for Russell. And that Russell wasn't that big a deal in America. He said he didn't know what a big deal Russell Peters was until he googled the name.

Cool shit.

We talked a bit, but sooner rather than later I was at my stop and got off to go to the bus station to wait for my bus at 11.45pm.

The bus was full, so they ended up ordering a separate bus for us in Buffalo to go back to NYC - this bus went express to New York. Which would mean that I would arrive in New York earlier than expected. Awesome.

USA: Chapter 8 - Some Rest, on the 8th Day

I didn't wake up early today, but still in time for breakfast. Wanderfalls isn't really run like a typical hostel, more so like a guest house. So there wasn't any official check out time I had to adhere to. Besides, the weekend being over, I think there wasn't anyone checking into the hostel, so Amanda wasn't very stressed out either.

I took my time with breakfast slowly, trying to figure out the best way to Buffalo. Recall yesterday I had mentioned the cheap public bus that departed from somewhere near the Greyhound Bus Terminus?

In fact, this bus (bus #40) starts its journey just a few blocks from Wanderfalls. Which means that I didn't have to make the long trip down to the Greyhound Bus Stop. Its amazing how sometimes these things fall into place.

However, not everything fell into place that well. By the time I checked out, and got this information (from Amanda), I had JUST missed the bus. She, however, allowed me to just hang out in the living room while I waited for the next bus, rather than go to the bus terminus and wait. Where there would be no WiFi.

About 10min before the bus was scheduled to depart, I finally left the hostel and walked the 3 blocks to the bus terminus; and boarded the bus. 45 min and $1.75 later, I was in Buffalo Main Bus Terminal. Where, tomorrow, I would be boarding the Greyhound back to NYC.

While there, I stopped by the Greyhound counter to pick up my tickets. Since I was there. Shun Bian.

So now we start off with Buffalo proper.

While sitting and stoning in Wanderfalls I had come up with this master plan - check into the hostel, or at least leave the bags there, walk around buffalo, and then go for the 5.15 sunset mass at the nearby church. A few things damaged this well thought out master plan.

1. The hostel desk has opening hours (5.30pm - 10.30pm for evenings). And the time I was there, 2pm, was not considered opening hours. So that left me stranded with my relatively large bag outside the hostel.
2. Buffalo is a dead town on Saturday afternoons.

So I sat outside under the shade of a tram station while thinking of my next move. Fortunately my tummy had the answers - wait it out at a makan-place!

Although 90% of Buffalo (at least the region around which I was staying at) was closed, there was one place which was still open, T.G.I.Fridays. Seeking refuge from the heat I went in. And I decided to just fill my stomach there with their lunch special - a free flow of soft drink, breadsticks, soup and salad. I mean, considering I had lots of time to kill before 5.30, it was the ideal way to while away the time.


In the end I only asked for refills on my cola. Mainly because I was already quite full and its easy to get sick of clam chowder, Caesar's salad, and breadsticks. Even if they taste nice. So I just whiled away the time in the air-conditioned comfort of the restaurant while waiting for 5pm.

After a while I realised that I could actually still attend mass at 5.15pm; just that perhaps I'd have to lug my luggage along with me for mass. It turned out not to be such a big deal, because, as with general American churches in non-hispanic populated regions, the main demographic of the church goers had white hair. And there weren't too many of them at that. The strange thing was there was one lady with dark hair; and I kept thinking she was out of place.

Lucky I was sitting at the back so not many people would have seen this (i.e. me) out of place person sitting with his luggage and black hair.

After mass I crossed the road and walked into my hostel. The hostel is literally opposite the road from the church. Convenient.

After checking in I didn't leave the hostel. Mainly because I was tired, but also because Buffalo was a dead town on Saturday afternoons. Little did I know its worse on Sundays.

Though, in hindsight, perhaps it should have been quite obvious.

USA: Chapter 7 - The Great(er) Niagara Hike

For someone who is supposedly travelling alone, I hadn't, prior to today, actually spent that much time alone. Niagara was supposed to be alone and relaxing, but a quick glance at yesterday tells you so far, not so good. At least, if I wanted quiet and alone time.

But today, it was going to finally be own time own target; setting my own pace for the day.

But it turned out that I'm not very good at that. Because today, by the time it's through, would be just about as tiring as yesterday. Even if today was cheaper.

My plan, as of breakfast - sour pancakes that we (Yu Fang and I) had to make ourself, was to walk somewhere and stone by the falls. So after throwing away most of the pancakes - I think it might have been bad - we left.

First up, though was a visit to the Gorge Discovery Center. Only because we had the tickets from yesterday's discovery pass. To me, it was a bit like a science center, with all sorts of toys that one can play with. Including one I'm sure all my civil engineer friends would love - building an arch bridge with blocks.

Yu Fang didn't share the same enthusiasm and went outside to take pictures.

After that we went back to the hostel and she checked out, and we walked down towards the bus stop where we had been dropped off. Finding the bus stop was another long story. The Greyhound Bus doesn't actually stop at a place that resembles a bus terminus whatsoever; it drops off at the daredevil museum. Of all places.

Fortunately, guided by a map and a few helpful passers-by, we reached the makeshift bus terminus 15 min before the scheduled departure time. After checking out the bus schedules for tomorrow - apparently there is a 'public' bus departing from somewhere near the bus terminus that is 1/3 the price - we say goodbye.

And so starts what would soon be an amazing day of bucket loads of walking.

Or so I thought. Well, a little way down the road from the Daredevil Museum cum Makeshift Bus Terminal, I heard bells ringing from a church one block away. Drawn by the bells, and the nice facade of the church, I walked towards it. Perhaps a Catholic Church where I can attend mass tomorrow, I thought.

Definitely a Catholic Church - the flag of the Vatican was flying outside the church. It turned out that mass was at 12:10pm; the time on my watch was 12.07pm. I think the call to attend that weekday mass couldn't have possibly been clearer, so I oblige.

After mass, I walked across to the upper Niagara River, i.e. the portion of the river that flows into the Niagara Falls. The Upper Niagara River - at least that's what I think it is - is nothing like one would expect. Almost serene, in fact.


But walking along the river's edge towards the falls, the river slowly and steadily becomes faster, and whiter. Due to it become rapids. It's an interestingly slow process that I cannot actually describe accurately without being overly verbose. But to summarise, this is what it becomes.



After about a 15 minute walk downstream.

I don't know what it is about these rapids and the sheer power of these waters that is so fascinating. Maybe it's awe of the wondrous power of nature, or the sheer respect of her superiority over us. So I sat there just in front of these rapids (the American Rapids, by the way) and finally opened my cookie bag which I had brought all the way from Little Puerto Rico in New York.

As I was slowly munching on these cookies in front of the majestic power of the rapids, an American family came to stand nearby to my observation point. The little boy came and sat on the bench on the other side.

I looked at him and smiled, cos that's what you have to do if you're travelling alone sometimes.

He looked back at me, then at my chocolate coated fingers - yummy, by the way - and then stared greedily at my cookies, and then looked back up at me, forgetting to wipe the greedy look off his face.

So I offered the cookies to him, and he took one. Not sure how the law on 'don't take sweets from strangers' applies here, but he definitely took a cookie from me. Then his sister came by, also around his age, about 8, and stared jealously at him, and then at me. So I offered one to him. And then their other brother.

Then their parents came and said stop taking cookies from that man. I said there was no issue cos I had way too many for myself.

After finishing half my cookies with the help of some American kids, I walked down a little further towards Goat Island, and then to Sisters Islands. Yesterday we heard it was quite pretty, but time constraints suggested we give it a miss. But today, no such constraints. Or so I thought at least.

From Sister's Islands, you can actually play with the upper niagara river and dip your feet in it. Of course, considering it crashes down into the awesome Horseshoe Falls in about 50m from Sister's Island, I decide to keep my feet out of the water. Some people actually did go in to touch the water - a lady had her toddler on a leash and let her touch the water too.


The islands are interesting too because if you look in one direction you see the American Rapids; and in the other, you see the mist rising from the water crashing down from the Horseshoe Falls.


The sun bearing down mercilessly, I tried to find as shaded as possible a route back down south to Terrapin Point, the point on the American side of Horseshoe Falls closest to the falls.



I doubt many people out there would find this interesting, but hey, I do. There was a man made barrier diverting the water's flow a little away from Terrapin Point. As usual I try to figure out why. I reckon its an issue of safety in case some clown actually climbs over the railings and falls into the water.

An empty plastic bottle was stuck in the dry-ish portion created by this diversion of water flow. Unlike the other loose debris floating in the gushing waters which were instantaneously swept over the falls, this bottle managed to stay up in the dry-ish portion - the portion into which the clown who climbs over the railing, falls - for some time. Before it, too, was swept over.


Luna Island was just about as spectacular - it separates the Bridal Veil Falls and the American Falls, so top-down views of both are possible.

*

The second part of today was downstream of the Niagara River. The hiking trail started from the discovery center, where we were at in the morning. After considering the hiking options, I decided to take trail #2 - leading to whirlpool natural park. Where, surprise surprise, you can see the whirlpool formed by the rushing currents of the Niagara River.

The hike itself was about an hour long, with nice views along the way; but considering I had been walking quite a fair distance just to get to the starting point of the hike, it felt like much longer. It was an easy hike though, quite unlike the Lund hike last year. No boulder hopping etc.




However, considering the sweltering heat, something inside me started to get paranoid regarding heat injury. Would have been funny, looking at it in retrospect, that I survived parades under the hot Singapore sun, only to be beaten by the Niagara sun, by the Niagara gorge. But still, I made a point to try to stay in the shade as long as possible. I was walking alone after all, and there were no hikers besides me walking that trail.

It also means that I decided not to do the harder hike - the one that led down the gorge walls right up next to the river. No one knew where I was, and should something happen, there'd be no escape. So just a walk to Whirlpool State Park and back.

Finally I reached the park and looked over the cliff walls to the gorge - couldn't really see the whirlpool. But the curious thing about this whirlpool is that it defies the Coriolis Effect - it spins anti clockwise despite bring in the northern hemisphere. Even more curiously, it changes direction sometimes.


Well, that's just because sometimes they decide to tap more water from the river, thus reducing the water's flow speed, which then causes the direction to change. So, what is the critical flow speed for defying the Coriolis Effect?

Well.

*

Now, I had budgeted my energy to reach the Whirlpool State Park, but I think I forgot to budget for the journey back. I tried to go to the information counter at the park and ask if there was a local bus service that leads back to town - but he said, the nearest bus stop is at the Discovery Center. Which, as you might know, is the starting point of the hike. Bah.

The sun was still blazing in the sky, so I decided to sit down for awhile and rest in the shade at the park, before making my journey back home.

About an hour later, late enough for me to be sure that the sun would be relatively kind, and early enough for me to be sure that I would get home before the sun set, I got off my bench.

Still, my sense of adventure and disregard for the journey home got the better of me.

"Let's just go down the staircase to the bottom of the gorge, and come straight back up. That can't take too long, can it?"

So I listened to that little voice and went to look for the staircase. The whole hike would have been dangerous to do alone, plus it was getting quite late.

The quest for the hidden staircase then took a miraculous turn.

On the trail ahead of me, I saw a girl walking. No, this is not the sort of story where I say she was an angel and there was an instant attraction. Not that sort of miracle.

Anyway, back to the story.

The sun was going down and the staircase wasn't materialising so I quickened my pace, and passed her. As always in America, I smiled and said Hi as I did so. She said Hi back and asked if I needed anything. Apparently I looked lost. I asked her where the staircase was, and she said she was going there and she'd show me.

Turns out she is an avid hiker in these parts and she offered to show me the trail. The difficult one I was avoiding. Well, now there was someone around, it was slightly safer. She said there was a wonderful and beautiful spot that she'd show me.

The trail there was tough, as warned, but nowhere near the insane rock climbing experience in Sweden. Agnieska - that's her name, by the way - said there used to be a rope-guided rock climb there, but they closed it down after someone fell into the river and drowned. Apparently it's quite easy to drown if you actually do fall into the river, even if the river, in truth, looks relatively calm. Very strong undercurrents.

Agnieska works at the International Visitors Center back in the main town of Niagara Falls, in charge of designing the signboards there, such as is one.


She was originally from Poland and still has much of the accent, but she studied Communications and New Media in the US at Buffalo before her job, so in total has been in this region for about 6 years.

She was telling me about Buffalo and its dangers; she said it's actually quite dangerous at the wrong part of town because people are relatively poor. She also told a few stories about Niagara Falls itself, including one as recent as 5 days ago, when a tourist, hiking the very trail we were on, slipped into the water. Now, normally, you slip into the water, it's the end, because of the undercurrents. In fact, the undercurrents are so strong that only one boat - with an engine powerful enough - is even allowed to be in the water here. And that boat comes by perhaps once in half an hour or so.

So, it was definitely a miracle that the tourist survived; firstly because she happened to slip into the water at the right time, when that boat was actually plying its route and so could fish her out of the water, and secondly because the water didn't pull her under. And I was wondering to myself, that could have so easily been me.

Anyway, we finally reached the shale base we were aiming for - a part of the river that used to be submerged but emerged when water first started to be channeled away from the falls to be used to generate electricity. However, today the water level was much higher than usual so some of the rocks, including the best observation point of the spot, was submerged. So, sadly, we had to be content with what were already fantastic views of the whirlpool.

*

So, the miracle? Well, on walking up the stairway, Agnieska offered to send me home to the hostel. She was shocked that I had walked all the way from Niagara Falls. And since she was going back there anyway (she lives in downtown Niagara Falls) she offered me a lift to my hostel. And that's the miracle. Why? Because, by then, I had already walked a grand total of 14.2km. She saved me another 3.5km.


I did, however walk the 2km down to the falls to try to catch the sunset - but the presence of the previously much welcome clouds hindered the view. But I got good pictures yesterday anyway. And besides, I think sunrise would be better. Even if for a fact I know I can't wake up for it.

Ultimately after not catching the sunset I went into the International Visitors Center for dinner at the food court. The queue for the Indian food there was very long, unsurprisingly since the amount of Indians here is actually quite high. Agnieska explained it: lots of Indians study at Buffalo University, and during the summer, their parents come and visit them. So this is the summer Indian crowd. Apparently some of the many Indian restaurants close during the winter. The Indian food was far from appetising so I just went over to the other stall selling American food - a grilled chicken burger - for dinner. Nothing fantastic. In hindsight, probably I'd have had a better deal had I gone to the Indian buffet restaurants down the street.

But then again, I was in a hurry; there was scheduled to be fireworks over the falls at 10pm. The crowd around the falls was thus larger than usual, obviously. But I managed to find a nice spot to catch the fireworks show.




The owner of Wanderfalls, Amanda had summarised earlier - Canada puts up the show, so naturally America has the better view. It kind of makes up for the fact that Canada has the better view of the Falls.

Ok not really.