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| New York City |
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| United States Capitol |
I had the pleasure to visit New York and Washington DC, United States of America from 29 Apr to 9 May 2017. The dates are inclusive of travelling time between Singapore and US East coast which is one of the longest journey that I had taken. I have travelled by China Southern Airlines and transit in Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou. Flight time alone between Singapore and Guangzhou is about 3 hours 45 minutes and between Guangzhou and New York is 15 hours. Transit time varies between 3 hours and 8 hours. It was really a tiring flight couple with a wholesome 12 hours in time difference between the 2 cities.
During the trip, I had visited the following places:-
New York City
(1) Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Building
(2) Times Square
(3) Wall Street and Museum of American Finance
(4) Chinatown NYC including the Museum of Chinese in America
(5) September 11 site
(6) Brooklyn bridge (ie at the side of it)
(7) Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island
(8) Ellis Island
(9) Chrysler Building and Empire State Building (from the external)
(10) Museum of Modern Art
(11) Grand Central Terminal
(12) Central Park
Washington DC
(1) Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle)
(2) Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
(3) Smithsonian National Museum of American History
(4) Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
(5) Smithsonian National Gallery of Art
(6) United States Capitol (from the external)
(7) Washington Monument
(8) Lincoln Memorial
(9) World War 2 Memorial
(10) Vietnam Veterans Memorial
(11) The White House (from a distance away)
(12) Ford Museum and Petersen House
(13) Chinatown Washington DC
(14) Steven F Udvar Hazy Center
I am impressed with all the museums but found that the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) price of entry (at US$25) too expensive for the number of art pieces.
The security in US museum is high and the highest ever was seen in John F Kennedy Airport. In the Airport, I had to remove all the belongings in my pocket, my shoes, my belt and laptop/tablet had to be taken out of the bag. I went through the 360 degree body scanner. On top of that, security officer performed a body search. My check in luggage lock was removed by TSA Security. All in the name of security, it makes air travelling a bit frustrating and scary. The airport was also filled with armed military personnel. To reduce the inconvenience (not to mention recent bad publicity on US airliners), I opted for Amtrak train between New York and Washington DC. Amtrak Northeast Regional train is one of the most profitable route for Amtrak even though it took 3.5 hours for the ride. The train ride was quiet and smooth. The only complaint I had was in NYC, a traveler would not know which gate to line up until about 15 to 20 minutes before train arrival. After which, a long line would form to get up the train. Everyone was looking patiently at the information board at Penn Station. There wasn't any security check, only a request for ticket which was fair.
Weather was between 10 degree (in NYC) to 20 degree (in Washington DC). One of the memorable event was walking through rain in Washington DC with just a plastic poncho. I was totally drenched with my shoe filled with rain water. Fortunately, it wasn't as cold as New York.
Being first world cities, hotel fares were the highest ever. This makes travelling to NYC and Washington DC expensive. I will share more subsequently.
For Singaporeans travelling to United States, there is a requirement to apply for ESTA permit which costs US$14, even though it is VISA free. Current regulation only allows US$10,000 to be brought into United States. Anything more, traveler must declare at custom.
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