A Week Long Excursion Part Two: The Garden State and the Greatest Natural International Border I've Ever Seen

I've always wanted to see Niagara Falls and what better time to go than when already on the East Coast? I always thought New York was pretty small and envisioned one could drive from the city to the falls. Yeah, that's not really true if you're pressed for time. Turns out it's a 7 hour drive with a series of toll roads and frustration. Alright, plane it is, but before we left the country, it was time to explore Newark and Jersey City. I wasn't there long enough to confirm or deny the Jersey stereotype, but I will say it's not as bad looking as people claim. Newark is an industrial city - what can you do? Every industrial city looks (and smells) like that. If you ever do venture to NJ via NYC, definitely head down to Ferry Street in the Ironbound District. It feels like you're legitimately in Portugal and you can eat sandes de picadinho and pasteis de nata all day.

This farmacia is actually not in Lisbon, but rather New Jersey

We headed to Ontario via Newark and after a series of intriguing customs questions (Do you plan on visiting a farm while in Canada? Are you bringing any birds to the country?) and not getting the ever so sought after passport stamp in my expedited rip off lame new border rules passport, we made it. Once we were in Niagara, you could already feel the mist of the falls hitting your face from quite a distance away. Awesome! It was already dark by the time we got there so we end up walking around Clifton Hill and getting a quick bite at Wendy's. Yes, the red headed girl from back home whose establishment serves up baked potatoes and spicy chicken nuggets. What were our other options? Starbucks, Burger King, KFC, Domino's, Little Caesar's, and TGI Fridays. Hold up. It was at this point I had a very disappointing revelation: this place looks like America. < / expectations >I don't really know what exactly I was expecting from Canada, but I mean, some sort of culture? Granted, we were literally on the border of the United States and maybe if I ventured further (possibly towards Montreal), it'd be different but from what I saw, man, total let down. I'm assuming they maybe want to cater to all of the tourists, sigh, who knows. At least there was a Tim Horton's - that place rules. We spent the rest of the night at the casino and it was great because the age of majority there is 19 so Sameer was able to partake in the casino fun as well. He came out the biggest winner out of all of us and by big winner, I mean a whopping 20 dollars.

The view from the bridge (Rainbow) you cross between countries

Open the door and you will be home again.

The next blog-worthy event that happened was the morning we decided to weigh in on the Which side of the falls is better? debate. It was time to cross the border back into Niagara Falls, NY. Immediate reaction: the United States kept their side of it very natural. Niagara Falls on the U.S. side is surrounded by a fairly large state park. It's a great place to have a picnic, go for a bike ride, a quick jog, or just relax. It's very serene - a total contrast from the Ontario side. We decided while we were here, might as well take the Maid of the Mist from New York. Now, I always saw people in their crazy ponchos on a boat to get a better view of the falls on TV and what not and I always told myself I'd never do that it's kind of scary. That all changed when I told Michelle a few weeks prior to the trip that we were headed on a trip to the area. I told her I had no plans of going on the boat and she told me that it was an absolute must, because that's the most fun (if not only fun actually) thing to do while you're there and I'd regret it if I didn't. She was supported by about five others in our group who also agreed that it was their favorite thing to do there when they vacationed in Niagara, so I gave in. After reading about it online a little bit, I too was becoming very excited to ride the Maid of the Mist. I couldn't wait. I shall continue this in a later post.

A Week Long Excursion Part One: Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made Of

I shouldn't have used such light colors. Rats.

Here's the entry that I should have posted in September of last year. I have a fair amount to write, so I'll break it up into several posts, each going through one leg of the trip. First stop: New York! So, being the rogues that we are, Sameer and I decided to fly first thing Friday morning to LaGuardia - right through Hurricane Earl. Earl is a big fat poser. We experienced maybe 20 minutes of "turbulence" the entire flight and once we set foot in the city, I was like 70 degrees at 6pm with a slight breeze and brief instances of drizzle. Earl Schmearl. I was relieved we declined the option to accept airline flight waivers. This was my first time ever in NYC and I was beyond excited to finally visit. Once we landed and got out of the airport, oh my goodness the city is more insane than you can imagine. Nobody was lying when they said 1 - it's a concrete jungle and 2- the traffic is absurd. Furthermore, why are these people (New Yorkers) always running? Where are you going, guys? On a Friday night, you clearly are not running to work. What is going on?! Running through intersections, running like mad through subway stations, running to Duane Reade, seriously, just always in a hurry. I stopped to take a picture in front of Madison Square Garden (where our crazy shuttle driver dropped us off) and people were literally confused as to why someone would be stopping on the sidewalk. Sorry guys, I don't run around all day! Lazy Californian supppp? This was the same issue Saturday morning and every other subsequent day. No wonder they're all thin. They don't stand still for a second. Anyway, like just about everyone else, I love NYC!!! I would love to visit again but I would NEVER live there though. I don't understand the hype about that. I love big cities and city life, but this is too much insanity for me. Pass!

First time in the city, gotta see it like a true tourist, right? Of course. That's exactly what we did. The rest of the crew came in Saturday afternoon and we were on our way. Visited the United Nations (awesome), Empire State Building (went to the top - overrated and a waste of time), Central Park (amazing), Rockefeller (nice, but I wanted to see it with the ice skating rink), Time's Square (pretty cool but way too many people, felt like a zoo haha), Brooklyn (hipster paradise), Brooklyn Heights Promenade (awesome), West Village (great area), Staten Island Ferry (fun and nice way to relax for a while), and a bunch of other random areas we ventured into out of curiosity. Remember my attack on Google Maps via iPhone? Google Maps may not know LA, but it knows New York City very well. It got us everywhere we wanted to go without a single glitch! It also was great with public transportation. It knew exactly what time certain trains were coming and always gave us the next three we could take had we missed the first. Bravo, Google Maps, bra-vo!

So, I didn't know this until I got back, but you're supposed to eat at about 20 different "must eat places" when visiting? I ask because friends kept asking me what I ate in NY once I got back. Seriously? You travel 3,000 miles to eat? I'd be lying if I said I never saw or heard about some place and was like, "Oh man I MUST eat there." I do that a lot, especially when I see something crazy on the Food Network, but when people go on vacation and make a list of like 10 places they must eat at, that is just wrong. Considering most of us live(d) in Los Angeles, a food mecca in itself, you cannot possibly go elsewhere and revolve your trip around things to consume. A lot of the things people were suggesting are readily available here! haha. Anyway, let's be real here - I had my own mini list of things I wanted to try. Gray's Papaya - awesome. I love hot dogs that are that thin and cripsy they are my favorite. The chicken and rice halal cart on 53rd and 6th - oh man it was AMAZING. That totally lives up to the hype (and I almost always get let down by over hyped things) and we were lucky enough to get there at a time when the line was fairly short. I wish that cart would be imported to California. Just writing about it is making me hungry again. Cart food rules. I ate a good amount of it. I bet you Bonni is cringing as she reads this - you need to let go of your fear of shady food, Bonni!