Staten Island Ferry

We had gone back and forth all night long on the ferry.  I always wondered what kind of ferry would let you ride it all night long. Well, it turned out that Staten Island ferry runs all night long. And it's free too. No wonder St. Vincent Millay and friend rode it all night long, very tired yet very merry.

I've been planning on doing this trip since I learned that Staten Island ferry was free. And today was the day. We took 1 train all the way to the end and then the Whitehall ferry terminal was right there to meet us. Once you get in the terminal you just wait for the boat and then stampede through the entrance to embark.  This was 1 PM boat and there were chock-full of people. I wouldn't want to imagine what it would look like during the commute hours. It's a wonder that nobody ever died.

As soon as you exit the subway, you will see peddlers trying to poach hapless tourists, to get them to spend buck on the statue cruise. Ignore and proceed to the ferry terminal. You will get to see the Lady just fine unless you really want to look at it up close on one of the boats that circle the statue like birds over a carcass.

We spent half an hour in St. George terminal licking Sangria and chewing chicken satay before returning. Overpriced eatery, but it sure had the view. The total cost of $27 for the "package tour" for 2 wasn't bad. It was a "pay for food, ride for free" tour, just like St. Vincent Millay's.

Rethinking Park Avenue

So, I plopped myself down at 96th and Park Ave yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the hill that I could've mistaken for SF if it weren't for the wide avenue.  Yes, NYC streets, its avenues in particular, are wider. That and the east-west orientation of streets let sunlight in more than SF does -- sunlight ordinance often used by SF NYMBYs to stop new developments probably is not an issue in NYC.

It's much too inconvenient to get to the UES from UWS, it turned out. All trains run north-south and moving east-west requires bus. Getting to UES is more problematic because the M4 bus has to go through perennially congested 5th Ave. So I may have to give up on the idea of trekking Park Ave in UES. I'll trek it from 60th Ave instead. It's easier to get there on 1 train and then a short ride on a bus.

Park Ave in UES was not particularly interesting place to walk through anyway. It is a bedroom community with lots of strollers, colored nannies and spiffed young moms with kids in tow. There were no shops to speak of or benches I could rest in. Bustling, dissonant Harlem was comparatively more interesting.

Broadway, Finished

The other day, I saw this beautiful palm on sale at Lowe's while walking down my final segment  of Broadway. It was 20% off from $15 regular price. I couldn't resist it. I aborted the walk, bought it and took it home on the bus.  And the apartment now looks more like home for it.

So, that's how my trekking Broadway came to an end. I've covered it from Colombia University to Union Square. And it only took a month! How pathetic is that? I could've easily cover it in a day in my healthy days -- it's only 5 miles. But walking 10 streets at a time just about takes forever.

Broadway actually starts from Battery Park. It then becomes Hwy 9 in Upper Manhattan and goes on endlessly Beyond Yonkers. It's not going to be worthwhile trekking all of it, even if I could. But I should at least trek it to Battery Park. The lower portion is especially historic since the Dutch days. But it takes over 30 minutes on subways for me to get to Union Square, so I'll leave it for another day. For now, there are other interesting Avenues to explore. Next up, Park Avenue.

Above 97th, the train track from Grand Central comes above ground on Park Avenue. And Harlem effectively begins from there, whereas you have to go above Colombia University on the West Side. I've done Harlem, so there is no point doing it again on Park Avenue. So my exploration will start from 97th. It again ends at Union Square and then splits into Broadway and 4th Avenue which becomes Bowery after a few blocks. Bowery is another historic Avenue, so I should trek it too. Eventually. Will I be able to make it before we start our journey back West? We'll see.

Here is a pic from Bethesda Fountain in the central portion of Central Park, BTW. We spent yesterday afternoon there and the cloud after the storm the day before looked particularly beautiful:

American Ballet Theater

Been there, done that. It's been one month since we arrived in NYC and the novelty is fading. My activity has been dropping too, from 60,000 steps a week to 40,000. In other words, I'm back to normal. My crash threshold has dropped as well. Running some errands in the morning and then walking a little over 1 km in the afternoon on 6/9 was enough to cause two day crash. That was only 9000 step day, quite a drop from 5/19 when I walked 16,000 steps and survived the next day.

This phenomenon is not unique to CFS patients. Healthy people can also tolerate higher level of activities while they travel, only to succumb to post-trip blues when they return to routine life. The effect is only more pronounced for CFS patients because their normal activity level is severely curtailed to begin with and, therefore, the marginal increase is proportionally higher relative to the base level. And there is that ever lurking danger of paying much heavier price than healthy people after the trip if you are not mindful of your limit.

The post-trip blues is commonly misunderstood as a mental depression rather than a physical one. They are not taking into account the elevated activities during the trip and its post-trip effect. (Asians got it right -- they call it trip poison 旅毒, not post-trip depression). And this phenomenon is not limited to trips either. After a stressful project is over, it is common for people to suffer from a funk for a few days. I certainly had my share of that in my previous life. This again is caused by the elevated activities, well tolerated while you are stressed, coming home to roost after the stress is over.

The evening out for Swan Lake at Lincoln Center was an antidote for the encroaching ennui. My jaw dropped when the princess Odette walked in in the 2nd act. How is it even possible to move like that? It was truly a stunning display of motional art.  And she was only a substitute -- the principle dancer apparently injured herself and was unavailable.  Maybe she got injured while practicing jumping off the cliff in the final act. The story, on the other hand, is just another second hand children's fable of princes, princesses and the wicked sorcerer.

Shopping for a New Camera

The first thing I did this morning was to turn on the air conditioner. It's going to be a scorcher in the city today. The forecast predicts 93F and it's already over 90 at 10AM. Scaffolding, eyesores that are all over the city, are now providing welcome relief from the sun.

I seemed have recovered from a mini crash after the long walk from 86th to 100th last Friday. It's just hard to resist to keep going when you are feeling better and weather is nice. And I paid the price for it by spending most of time horizontally for the past two days.

So, I walked out of the apartment this morning to check out the Consumer Report in the library. Yeah, it's one thing or the other. Now that I'm done with the apartment search, I'm starting a search for a new camera. My 15 year old Pentax still shoots decent pictures. But it's hopelessly fuzzy when magnified compared to an average cellphone cameras these days. Since I'm on a cross country trip, I can make a good use of a better camera.  And, after a week of search, I'm settling with Panasonic GX-85. It's compact and light, yet versatile enough to shoot full length 4k video. GH4/5 is more capable video shooter, and highest rated in Consumer Report, but it's also much bulkier. I need something I can toss around all the time to shoot whenever I please. I'm just tired of getting in and out of the car with a bulky DSLR hanging on my shoulder. The only real problem with GX85 is that its jpeg pictures look washed out. But they say that shooting in RAW mode remedy that problem. So I'll take a chance with it.

Morningside Library

Every time I walk out I'm reminded that this Morningside is a real nice neighborhood. Uptown from 80s to 90s are more mainstream, it's true. But quieter Morningside has more bookshops and roadside cafes. And libraries too. It has more neighborly character. You only need to trade the distance -- it takes 25 minutes to Pen Station -- for that ambiance.

The rest of the day we spent in the shade in the conservatory garden of Central Park away from the burning concrete.

Night Out in Hell's Kitchen

I stayed home and rested all day yesterday. By evening, I was getting too bored. So we took subway to the 50th station and walked to 9th Ave, despite my plan to rest all day. This is where Hell's Kitchen is famous for: lots of bars and restaurants. We walked around for a while and then settled in a Brazilian restaurant for a drink.  On the way back, we walked through Times Square for the night light and we were home by 11:30PM.  I once again registered 9000 steps.

Type A personality is common among CFS patients, they say. I am no exception.  I feel bad if I stay home all day. I have to get out at least every other day, or I feel terribly dismal. That's why I took chance and kept walking even when I was the sickest back in 2008 and 2009 despite I was keep getting post-exertional sickness. At least till I got completely bedridden in 2009 after the overly-ambitious climb up Coit Tower. I'm not getting sick as often these days only because my tolerance went up, not because I'm more disciplined. And it's easier to be disciplined when you have some room to breathe.

Long Island

NYC seems to go on forever. But once you are out of Queens, it is mostly a suburb. Beyond that, it's almost rural. And Oyster Bay is not that far from the edge of Queens. Neither is Jones Beach from JFK where we stopped to recharge Tesla.

We were gonna make it as far as Montauk, but I gave up after we hit the roadblock on the way to Fire Island from Jones state park. You see it in the map, but the road beyond Western Fire Island was open only to the park officials. To get to the main part of the preserve, we had to turn back, go back up and then drop down to the other side. That was too much work and it was getting past 2 PM, so we left the eastern part of the Long Island for another day. Still the traffic and navigation was a  murder and it was after 8PM once we got back and I returned the car to the garage. That we stopped in Flushing and shopped H-Mart may have something to do with it. Charging in Syosset was terribly slow too.

Jones State Park and Fire Island was part Florida Keys and part Bayou. The low land with lots of water, bridges and white sands. If it weren't for the traffic, it would be a heck of thing to have that  only 40 miles away from Manhattan. But the traffic and $17 toll took a toll on me, literally, that I don't think I will make the trip too often.

Sagamore Hill, on the other hand, wasn't much of anything. It's a historic site, it's true. I'm familiar with it; I've read two different versions of TR biography. If you remove the historic significance though, it's not a striking place to visit. Oyster Bay seems to be an affluent neighborhood though. The road up to it is dotted with mansions and estates.

And, yes, another 10,000 step day. I've already registered 53,000 steps this week and I still have one more day to go. Now I'm regularly breaching 42,000 steps that I set as the safe level. Yet, I'm not getting sick. I'll stick to 42,000 steps though, and strive to stick to it best I can. It's the 50% solution.

All Settled In, Morningside

We went up north this time to Columbia U, Barnard College and Riverside Church. A short walk for sure, but it still was taxing after another 10,000+ steps and moving from the 990 6th Ave dungeon yesterday. It's a good thing that we took a bus from 120th on the way back. I still registered 9,300 for the day and I was totally out after dinner.

It is indeed a really nice hood. A college town with lots of bookstores, cafes and restaurants. And the farmers market too all along Broadway. And yes, we are all settled in, in Morningside Height. (I thought we were in UWS, but UWS ends at 110th Street according to the Google map. And we are at 112th.)