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So it was a normal Saturday that just passed. A friend from the West Coast was in town so a few of us met up and did some touristy things.
Afterwards, we went to City Island for dinner. You could get some good seafood for very reasonable prices. We enjoyed a lovely feast of Garlic crabs and lobster and were having difficulties getting out of our seats by the end of it.
Anyway, so we finished dinner and it was almost 10:30pm. As soon as we got outside of the restuarant we noticed there was a bit of commotion on the street and to our right, we discovered smoke and fire!!
It turned out that a motorcycle had just crashed into a car parked on the side of the street and fuel must have leaked out because man, that was some fire (follow by a few explosions in the minutes to come).
So those of us with cameras quickly made our way up towards the wreckage and well, started shooting! I believe we must be the first "press" people on the site - even before the police and fire trucks arrived.
The owner of the vehicle in front of the unfortunate car that got hit must have been going out of his mind because he knew his car was next. So what did he tried do? He was brave (and stupid) enough to want to get into his car so he could save it! Needless to say, he got yelled at and chased away by the Police (and other more sane on-lookers).
Not long after, the fire trucks came and the firemen did their thing - hose the fire down and cut open the doors of the burnt car, making sure no one was trapped in side (who would have been burnt to a crisp by then). 
The motorcyclist apparently made it away from the crash relatively unharm and then tried to flee on foot. He was apprehended by Police and some local resident. We are not sure of the details, but it sounded like there is like a bike gang around there and they ride through town at stupid speed and one of them must have lost control and crashed.
Well that was all very exciting for a dinner, right?!!
Last Tuesday was July 4th and USA celebrated Independence Day. The day started out slow and sticky hot. I went into Manhattan to a street festival with a friend. There were hotdog stand, french crepe stalls, homemade lemonade, gyros, knock-off sunglasses, T-shirts, jewelry, books, shoes, anything else you can think of. There were lots of people about, but then again, when is NY not full of people.
Thunderstorm rolled in late afternoon, resulting to my friend and I going indoors for a bit of window shopping at the South Street Seaport. But by 6 o'clock, the sun was out again and the air noticeably crisp and breezy. There was already a crowd gathered around the pier and in the South Street Seaport building, stating their claim of a prime spot for the Firework shows at night.
I was originally not planning on seeing the fireworks in town as there was going to be a huge crowd in Manhattan and going home will be quite a feat. However, who knows how many July 4th I get to see in the US, so my friend and I went to the promenade in Brooklyn, which is right across the river from the lower east side of Manhattan. There were already people everywhere. Some brought along picnic rugs and chairs and have probably camped out there since lunch time for the prime spots. We settled in ourselves. And it turned out we picked the right spot. The barge carrying the fireworks was directly in front of us.
The fireworks begain shortly after 9pm starting in New Jersey. Then the main event began. The crowd was treated to 25 minutes of pyrotechnics extravaganza. I thought it was well worth the wait. I found the most interest these jelly-fish like fireworks. They don't follow the normal projectile path that fireworks follow, but seem to float up just like jelly-fish swimming in the ocean!!
I cannot believe how long I have not updated this blog. It has been a mad June for me. Work has taken me to the state of Missouri, which is located in the "Mid-West" of America. I am somewhat puzzled by this because geographically speaking, Missouri is kind of in the middle but on the East side of North America. Anyway...
I didn't get much time to explore the city, even though I spent a large part of June there. It has been very full on at work. However, when I did get a weekend there, I drove around to see more of St Louis than the airport, the hotel and the office.
First of all, there is the Gateway Arch. Its official name is actually the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It marks the start of Lewis and Clark's Expedition to the then uncharted areas of the West (of North America). The arch is a massive ribbon of steel that sits right on the edge of the Mississippi River. That's pretty much the first thing you see coming into the city itself. There is a tram service (think enclosed ferris wheel capsule) that goes all the way up to the top of the Arch. At the top, it is a narrow bridge way with windows on both sides where you can get a glimpse of St Louis below.
The other highlight of my weekend was to go to the Chihuly Glass exhabition at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I read about this exhabition on the plane actually, about the a similar exhabition in another city and though, oh well, I don't have a project there otherwise it would be interesting. Well hey guess what? The Missouri Botanical Garden happened to have an exhabition!! It was a very weird and wonderful display of glass sculptures amongst tropical ferns and plants and giant glass bulbs floating on ponds and water features in the part. The Botanical Garden itself was well worth seeing anyway. I spent a whole day there in the end.
Aside from that, well I managed to go to a Dave Matthew's band concert (1st day at St Louis too I must add and it was very exciting because my colleague and I got bargain orchestra row tickets last minute for $45). And yes, I managed to find a shopping outlet within 2 miles of where I am staying (just goes to show that I am not staying around the city and am usually in the outskirt of suburbs somewhere close to an airport... hmmm).
So I have been busy, but I managed to have some fun.
So it was a normal Saturday that just passed. A friend from the West Coast was in town so a few of us met up and did some touristy things.
