NYC: Close Encounter of the First Kind

Yeah! I’m in New York, baby!!

I once read that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the places and moments that take our breath away. Such was the feeling when I had my first glimpse of the Big Apple.

As my plane descended steadily from one of the world's longest non-stop flight routes, I peered through my window and indulged my 19-hour-flight-weary eyes on the vast expanse of lights that is New York at night. The glittering sea was glorious, albeit devoid of its arresting close-ups which heretofore was unbeknownst to me.

This was my first time in NYC, and the city looked pretty much as it has been depicted, thus immortalized, by countless Hollywood blockbusters. I could feel the vibrant energy hanging in the air the moment I stepped out of the airport, and at once reminisced of something my colleague had said about being a single in New York [grinned].

I was arriving on a weekend, but the streets in Manhattan were literally bustling with life and horns were blaring everywhere, the numerous “Don’t Honk” signs on the curb notwithstanding. Sirens howling, and judging by the frequency of encountering NY famous firefighters zooming with their beacons on, you would think that fire accidents were common to New York as ignorance to Jakarta.

All in all, I’m absolutely positively sans doute sure that I’m gonna have one helluva time here…