New York, New York

I've arrived in New York in time for the first strike by the public transport workers in about 25 years. Talk about apt timing. I mean, they literally strike tonight at midnight (or if I'm "lucky", on Monday instead) - 25 years and I have to be right in the middle of history. Why can't I make history as the guy to strike the most amount in a lottery?

Btw, for those who want to know, I've been told that part of the reason they are striking is to get more money. Apparently they draw something like 55k a year but that's not enough and the proposed wage increase of 24% spread over 3 years seemed a little too miserly. Only in America would we see such ridiculous behaviour!

So anyway, I didn't get any sleep last night, getting ready to say goodbye to the place I called home for the past few months. As I departed this morning for the Amtrak station, my thoughts could have effectively been summarised as "Oh shit, I forgot to throw out the leftovers from last night's Chinese takeaway". Seriously.

Amtrak, the national rail system, is a nationwide monopoly. As any student of economics would know, this makes it a system that helps to generate inefficiencies. I was greeted with the heartening news this morning that the train was running late by only 8 hours. The alternative was to take a bus out to DC, which was naturally provided for by these people. In fact, this is the same treatment that yours truly and the other exchange kids have been receiving for the amazing $10.40 Amtrak ride to DC. Talk about a sale backfiring on you.

So moving from the Amtrak station, yours truly decided to make his way out toward Dulles airport on the public transport system out in the freezing snowy cold of only -6 or -8 or so. Anyway, amidst some waiting at the Dulles airport, yours truly was notified by a friend that he had secured a job offer with a top investment bank - if not THE top investment bank in all of America (and some say the world). And proceeded to spend 1 hour on the phone. Which made the phone very hot. So folks, if you're freezing, don't smoke - use your handphone.

Short flight delay of about 20 minutes (they had to made sure the damn planes weren't frozen before take-off) but otherwise uneventful - more time to sleep, already. Getting from LaGuardia to Manhattan thus required a shuttle service (which I have generally found very comfortable and reasonably priced, both in NY and in DC). This began the ride from hell - over 1 and a half hours to go down some few blocks. Bah.

Got the chance to meet Sean, Xing and Megan (not to be confused with Maggie - she'll hunt you down). Had dinner with the 1st 2. Too tired to blog properly, but so much to look forward to!

A quick list:

1. Ground Zero
2. Watch "Avenue Q"
3. Go to Wall Stret
4. Visit the Met
5. Times Square

Any other ideas?