Tagged: my new york trip
My New York Trip Day #9: The Journey Home
Since I counted the first day of my New York trip as the one where I left home, I think it’s only fair to count the day’s journey back home as well. It was certainly an interesting one.
My flight to Toronto was scheduled at 6:05am at La Guardia airport. First, the cab driver didn’t know what ‘WestJet’ was or which terminal the airline was out of so we spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for it because he wouldn’t accept that it wasn’t in Terminal B. (For the record, it’s located out of Terminal D because they’ve partnered with Delta.) Once there, I looked around and saw a lot of people sitting around with no WestJet employees in sight. Westjet’s service is generally seen as superior to Air Canada (who are comically terrible) but man, I really was not happy with the service. No employees were there so I went to the desk to check the little sign which said that employees are there from 3:00am until 12:00am or something. It was 3:00am by the time I got there because for international flights you have to check your baggage in 90 minutes ahead of time. Fast forward half an hour later and three employees finally show up, taking their sweet time getting organized, with absolutely no sense of urgency.
That pretty much sums up the rest of my experience at La Guardia airport.
After the late employees finally decided they would graciously allow us to check our baggage, I went to where everyone was supposed to go through security only to find out…security doesn’t ‘open’ until 4:30am! Isn’t that just great? At an international airport (an INTERNATIONAL airport), things are not done on a 24 hour schedule. La Guardia is officially worse than most gas stations and convenience stores, which are open 24/7 in most major cities. Of course the TSA was there at 4:00am but didn’t start with passengers until exactly 4:30am. Not a minute early because that would require ambition. They were the usual amount of rude and decided to pat down a woman whose clothes were so tight that she definitely wasn’t hiding anything they couldn’t detect on the full body scanner that everyone was forced to go through. It was very hard not to roll my eyes but I didn’t exactly want to get extra special attention from the creepy lady doing the pat downs so I resisted the urge.
Also, why does nothing open at La Guardia until 5:00am? This is an international airport, is it not? Even Edmonton International Airport, a relatively small airport, is much better at keeping at least some food kiosks open than La Guardia. In New York City. I just cannot comprehend why an airport this large is not open on a 24/7 schedule.
So once I finally, finally landed in Edmonton I was faced with the ridiculous parking fees (which were definitely higher than what was posted). When I finally got out I was faced with the four hour drive home, which was a cakewalk compared to dealing with the perpetually rude staff at both La Guardia and Pearson airports.
Needless to say, I am not impressed with WestJet. The sad thing is? Air Canada is worse. Canadians have pretty much no choice when they fly anywhere and the two main companies have a stranglehold on the market. I think it’s time for some more competition in the market. Or at least another airline that attempts to treat its paying customers like human beings.
My New York Trip Day #8: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver!
So on my last full day in New York I decided to see if I could get into a live taping of John Oliver’s show, Last Week Tonight. I mean, why not? I didn’t get tickets because they’re almost impossible to get even if you apply the second they open but I heard there was a standby line. So although they really don’t start putting people through security until 5:30 I showed up at 3:30 and chatted with people in the standby line until the awesome lady who manages tickets came out and took our names. Then, when the surprise monsoon started we all waited in Starbucks down the block until she texted us to come. So I got in and one of the ladies told us there was one seat left. Since the other people in line were couples who didn’t want to be separated I volunteered for it and she led me to the stage. And there I found out that it was a front row seat, not more than 15 feet away from the desk! It was amazing and John Oliver’s long form FIFA piece was a thing of beauty (even more so in person).
But other than that, on my last day I went to the Museum of Natural History and saw a few exhibits, most notably the dinosaur one above. I obviously didn’t get to see all of it because I was only there for a few hours and that place is massive, but a little taste of it was great. I walked to the museum through Central Park and saw Belvedere Castle and the obelisk that stands there so I counted it as a great day. Despite the absolute monsoon later on in the day, I barely got rained on and I think my last day was one of the best there.
Seeing John Oliver live was definitely one of the highlights of my trip, though. It was amazing!
My New York Trip Day #7: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Again)
Today I decided to go back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and see everything I didn’t see the first day that I still wanted to see. Which was mainly (of course) the Egyptian exhibit.
The Egyptian exhibit, for those of you that hven’t been there, is massive. It’s truly enormous and the thing is that there’s so much stuff packed into it. In the Roman and Greek exhibits at least most stuff is spread out but in the Egyptian one there’s stuff crammed into every single corner. There are study galleries everywhere and even the main exhibits have so many things in them. Everywhere you look, there are commemorative scarabs, beads, combs, cosmetic boxes and every sort of little trinket you could imagine. Continue reading
My New York Trip Day #6: Last Day of Book Expo America 2015
As pretty much everyone who writes on the topic of Book Expo will inform you, the last day of the expo is the craziest. There are the most people with the most books and they’re all there to get as many books signed as possible. Line ups are crazy and it’s a little disorganized but things usually work out okay in the end.
I know this because I went to go get a book by Scott Westerfeld signed and ended up in line for almost an hour. That wasn’t all that bad because who should be behind me but Kellie Sheridan, the co-founder of Patchwork Press and author of Mortality, a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Talking to her was awesome while waiting for Scott Westerfeld (who was, in the brief time we met, incredibly nice).
The only other book I stood in line for was Fairest by Marissa Meyer. It was a good thing I showed up early to get in line because apparently they were limiting the line to 100 people or something. It wasn’t one of the ticketed signings but I think a lot of people really wanted the book so I’m glad I ended up getting it. Marissa Meyer is one of those authors I never expected to stumble across but have absolutely loved her books in the Cinder series. Reading Fairest will be a nice little treat while waiting for her next full length book.
I wanted to meet up with two people but only actually met up with one, which was fine. I can’t talk much about who I met and what we discussed because so far it’s just in the works but I think it’s something a lot of book reviewers like me could benefit from in the future.
On this last day I didn’t really stick around long because I’d seen pretty much everything I wanted to see and talked to almost everyone I wanted to talk to. I had a great time at the Expo and would recommend it to anyone who has wanted to go in the past. The bloggers conference isn’t really worth your time but the main expo definitely is.
My New York Trip Day #5: Book Expo America 2015
Since I scouted out the convention centre instead of going to the blogger social after the Bloggers Conference I sort of knew where I was going this morning. I didn’t have to hurry in to register right away because the exhibit hall wasn’t officially open until 9:00 and I was already registered from the Bloggers Conference. So I came in around 8:30 and accidentally stumbled onto a galley drop over at Scott Westerfeld’s publisher for his new collaborative work, Zero. I wasn’t expecting it but I enjoy Westerfeld’s work so I’m actually quite eager to get started on it.
Again I was very selective about only picking books I have the full intention of reviewing but there are just so many books out there. Even if you’re as selective as I am, you’ll end up with 20+ books. Part of the reason is because there are so many YA galley drops and signings. The publishers know their audience for the Expo and they aren’t stupid; they do cater quite a bit to the blogging community.
The only thing I really planned on seeing today was the Tor/Forge panel because John Scalzi was moderating/interrogating for it. I discovered some amazing new authors like Seth Dickinson and Ilana C. Myer from the panel. John Scalzi really is a great interviewer because he makes things funny without making them seem contrived or forced. I was up front so I noticed poor Ilana Myer was shaking she was so nervous at first but Scalzi put her at ease and pretty soon her personality was shining through. The real star of the panel seemed to be Seth Dickinson, whose book The Traitor Baru Cormorant sounds amazing. He was hilarious and it’s clear that he’s really thought the political aspect of his world through. When I learned that he and Ilana Myer were signing I actually stood in line for autographs and got books from both of them. In the process I learned that this was poor Ilana’s first panel! Sticking her in front of a full audience at Book Expo America of all places was an interesting decision on Tor/Forge’s part but John Scalzi luckily made her right at home.
After the panel everyone crowded around the authors so I went off to explore the expo more. By the time I came back John Scalzi was finishing up with a group so I awkwardly asked him for a picture, which is above. He was really cool about it and I was so excited I could barely form a proper sentence. So thanks for the awesome picture, John Scalzi! It really made my day to meet one of my favourite authors/bloggers.
So that was my second day at the expo and my fifth day in New York. So far, things have been amazing and I’m not looking forward to going home.