Rooted On Ground: New York, Neeew Yorrrk!

New York is pretty much what you see in movies. It's alive, exciting and diverse! It is what I think epitomizes a city.

It can be fabulous and happening for most, yet daunting for some. As with every city, people move fast and are more agressive than in the suburbs.

Times Square! Billboards, billboards, billboards.

Broadway is a long long road that runs all the way from the north to the south of Manhattan Island. The area that is famous for musical theatres is between 43rd and 50th Streets, near Times Square. There were so many plays on! Unfortunately, they only ran from Thursdays to Sundays, so we didn't manage to catch one.

Doing as the New Yorkers do - picking up something from a newstand on the way to work. I was lacking the Starbucks cup in my hand.

Typical roadwork sight in the city.

Rockefeller Center. Lots of tourists and locals just chilling by the fountains.

St. Patrick's Cathedral in the heart of the city. New York has a mix of modern and Victorian architecture. Most of the magnificent architecture gets overlooked, though, because of the height of the buildings.

The Trump Tower. It was a must photo-op, eventhough I'm not a fan of The Apprentice. Wasn't lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Mr. Combover Hair.

NBC Studios' Rainbow Room

Before this, I had thought trishaws were an Asian thing. New York proved me wrong.

The Chrysler Building, one of New York's landmarks. It's often mistaken to be the Empire State Building.

Times Square at night. The city that truly never sleeps.

David Letterman's studio. Next time, I'll enquire how much a ticket costs (and how far in advance we need to get one).

In a subway with Jason and Karen. This was the day I wanted to head south to Wall Street, but ended up north in Harlem by mistake. It was educational, though. The scene in the train does change as the it heads out of the city to the ghetto.

Quite key to keep cool and look like you know where you're heading to (i.e. don't whip out your map in the open) when heading towards the neighbourhoods. I took a quick walk and imagined Marissa (Jennifer Lopez) and Tyler from Maid in Manhattan.

Garden-cemetary of Trinity Church, right opposite the NYSE building. Men and women in suits sat here for lunch and some serenity.

Bowling Green, the oldest public park in Lower Manhattan. Men in tall hats enjoyed the day here wih their women once upon a time.

The famous bronze Charging Bull sculpture, just opposite Bowling Green.

Ground Zero. The monument was not in sight. It was all fenced up. They must have started work on rebuilding. There was a guy earning money from tourists by sharing his compilation of photos from the disaster.

Madison Square Garden, where major events are held, including the concert led by Sir Paul McCartney that was held in memory of those who suffered from the 911 tragedy. It was an event to help bring hope back to New Yorkers.

Macy's, known to be the largest departmental store around. The old wing had escalators of wood! I'm sure the mechanism was metal, but the steps and railing were well-polished wood.

Central Park against the bold New York buildings. Karen and I walked for about three hours, but we barely covered one quarter of the park. That's how big it is! Separating the Upper West from the Upper East Side, Central Park at the end of Fifth Avenue and ends all the way up near Harlem.

My first sight of a celebrity! Jane Fonda was filming a walk-in-the-park scene. Here's my paparazzi shot of her.

This fountain was like dejavu from movies. There were also many nannies walking their prams in Central Park, just like in The Nanny Diaries (Scarlett Johansen).

Tulips in full bloom, marking a lovely spring

I imagine countless movies were shot along this stretch. It looked familiar. Scenes from Finding Neverland (Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet) came to mind. But was that park in the UK?