NYC

New York City was so AWESOME that the word "awesome" just had to be put into all caps, bold, and italics. It really was that jammed pack of awesomeness. Now, people might think I'm crazy saying that New York City is that great because I can see how living in that place could be horrendous. I will clarify by saying that New York City is an awesome place to visit. :)

Josh, one of the staff at CityTeam in Philadelphia, was kind enough to take me into the city, and he even got a couple of his friends to come along. That was really good because I don't really do well hanging out with newfound friends if it's just me and him.

Anyway, it was a definite plus that they're all around my age, and we had a blast just walking the streets. The places we hit were Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and we walked Broadway St. to check out all the broadway shows that were playing and whatnots.

I really wanted to taste a New York pizza to see if it was all that "everyone" said, so we went to a hole-in-the-wall (I love hole-in-the-wall places) pizza joint for lunch. It was a really good pizza, but it wasn't amazing. Dinner was at D&B, and that was pretty sweet. I've never been to a D&B, so I thought my first time would be grand if it was in New York. :)

Times Square was probably my most favorite place that we visited. We never got to the Empire State Building mainly because we were told that it was way expensive to get a ticket for a ride to the top. It would have been awesome to get an aerial shot of New York, but I can do without. I wanted to see Ground Zero as well, but that's pretty out of the way.

Pictures will be up on my Flickr account when I get to them. I looked at a couple, and they're pretty cool. I definitely want to go back at some point and take more pictures. I had a small taste of New York and now I want more!

Philly, Wonder Years, New York

I landed in Philly around 8 pm, which was kind of late but not at the same time. I slept the majority of the trip, and my body clock was still set to 5 pm. Nevertheless, I was exhausted. I don't know what it is about long trips, but you always end up being really tired after you reach your destination.

Anyway, so by the time I got to CityTeam, ate some dinner, and got settled in my room, it was around 9:30. Chester, Philadelphia is one rundown town. I don't think I saw one building that looked somewhat new or kept up. It was pretty amazing to me. Even though I've been here before, it just looked worse. Maybe it was because last time I came during winter, and everything always looks pretty awful in sleet and ice.

Before I went to bed, I turned on the TV to see if anything was on. What do I come to find? The Wonder Years, baby! And not just one episode but two back-to-back! I was about to cry, but I kept laughing from the all the brilliant dialogue and terribly awkward moments in the show. It was the old episodes where Kevin was an idiot. He was an innocent idiot...but an idiot nonetheless. Where Paul was athletically challenged, and Winnie was cute and sweet and still waiting for Kevin to come to his senses.

Actually, after watching the first episode, I realized how well-written it was. It wasn't only a story about one boy's experiences during his teenage years, but it was also a commentary on U.S. history during the 1960's. I don't think shows do that anymore. Shows today don't take a teenager's life and intertwine historical events into it to guide him through the decisions he makes. Ultimately, though, it was just about a boy and a girl and their journey together through the most defining years of their lives. Much like Dawson's Creek (also an amazing show for different reasons), but a whole lot better. The Wonder Years...man, they really need to put that show on DVD.

Onto other things: Tomorrow is Good Friday, which means it's a holiday for Christians. That also means that there isn't anything happening here at CityTeam, so I get to spend my holiday here in the East. I expressed my strong interest in New York, so one of the staff here offered to take me there tomorrow. New York, baby! I've always wanted to go, so I'm totally excited. Sorry, Kuya, no picture next to the Rocky statue. A shame...but I'll sacrifice the Rocky statue for Times Square, the Empire State Building, Union Station, and Ground Zero. It's like a photographer's dream, which a lot of photographers already had. But I haven't, and that's what matters!

Alrighty, that's all for now. I can't wait till 10 tonight where I can watch more The Wonder Years. Yeah!

A post...with wings!

Right now I'm thousands of feet up in the air going at the speed of hundreds of miles an hour. I'm traveling to Philadelphia to do some video work for the CityTeam location there, but right now I can't get over how cool it is that I can write a blog entry while in midair. Of course, I'll have to post this on my blog later but whatever.

The trip out is very exciting, though I'm a bit bummed that I'll be missing my first hockey game in the C-league, which is tonight. I'm now on Kuya and Andrew's team, so it'll be fun to play with them. My skills could use a little more work to really keep up with the players, so I hope that the games will help me improve. The D-league, however, is still going and I still have one more game on Monday. We lost in the playoff game, so we'll be playing for third place. That was a huge disappointment for me personally because I played awful. I played such a terrible defensive game, and it really bugged me. We just got pummeled which shouldn't have happened at all. I wouldn't have been so worked up about the loss if the team was exceptionally better than us, but that isn't the case. We could beat those guys, but instead we lost really badly (score was 4-1). Stupid.

I'm going to buy one of these expensive airplane meals because I can write it off as a business expense. Love it.