Rockefeller Centre

Last night's rain was gone like a nightmare. It was sunny and warm today. We seized the chance and went to the Rockefeller Centre "Top of the Rock" observation deck. It was quite crowded even on a Thursday morning. Seeing the better deal with the NY City Pass, we went for it. $79 for 6 attractions that are usually over $20 each. Should be good because it also let you bypass some lineups. The admission entry time was limited so we hung out in a Starbucks until our turn was up.

Of course because bin Laden was killed right before our trip, security was up who-knows-how-many-notches. Bag searches and metal detractors, just like at the airport. I don't mind, but the lineup can be annoying. You line up to buy tickets, you line up to security check, you line up to finally enter. There were lineups at every stage. They entertain you with mini exhibits and videos, though. Except for the last elevator ride.

The theme park mentality kicked in. You think anything is cool. Even the signs. But there was one actually very cool thing. The ceiling of the elevators turn transparent with a mini projection show. (The up and down shows are different.)

Finally, you get to the deck. The lower deck has high glass walls but the upper 2 don't. I guess even if you jump off the upper 2, you'll just land on the lower deck. To get full value of our ticket, we stayed up there for quite a while and took huge amount of pictures. Then a visit to the gift shop. A bought some souvenir. I procrastinated because it's just the first day.

Then we had a late lunch at around 2:30? A picked this awesome place called Tri Tip with excellent grilled beef. I, playing it save thanks to my stubborn cold, ate chicken. Beef would have been nice...

After the Rock, we walked around... (I had no idea where to. I was a half-zombie and just following A around.) There was this Saks we took a look. (I know nothing besides it being an expensive department store.) There was a Best Buy that A wanted to look at, which gave me a chance to rest my legs. The street bench right in front of Best Buy seemed to be broken and rocked like a rocking chair.

Then we walked some more. I must have been very numb by then. We walked past the library, and a park. Then A found me the Kinokuniya. It's got 3 floors. Totally no comparison to our Iwase, which has already folded. It was nice to look at manga books. They even have the FMA art book 3! But I didn't feeling like buying it. They also sell a few Pinkys, but very expensive.

Then we walked back to the hotel. There is neither photo nor memory of tonight's dinner, so I think we ate the food we bought from the supermarket in our room.