Walking down Manhattan

So far today, I walked down Manhattan, passing through several parks went into the big grocery store at Union Square and ended my trip in China town. The day is not over however, and soon another great adventure begins, my trip into Canada.

But in more detail, I woke up after 7hrs of sleep around 8 this morning. After writing the entry of yesterday's adventure I went out on yet another trip. This time I had my heart set on Canal Street and Chinatown. I started walking on Sixth Avenue (Avenue of America), down to Madison Avenue, and had Taco Bell food (as I promised Jess).

It was disgusting (sorry Jess). It had a dreadful taste, and now I feel disgusted about the fact that I ate it. :(

Anyways I continued walking and saw a great deal of buildings. New York truly is amazing in that way, even if it sometimes just looks weird. They have built so many buildings, so close together and each building has its own architectual style. It is really amazing.

When I got to Union Square I needed something to drink (it was really hot today as well) so I went into the store at Union Square (the store to the right, the left one was for you Marika; 3 floors of shoes :P haha). So I bought a gallon of milk and some water.

Then I continued on walking, and ran into a friendly little Greenpeace activist around Washington Square. We talked for a bit, and when I explained that I was from Sweden, things got a lot more interesting. She said that she knew that the US was a bit behind on the environmental issues, but apparently not how much. When I started telling her about Stockholm, our environmental policies, gas prices and all the research on Green Energy our government is financing, she went quiet. I even showed her some pictures I had on my cell phone of what the inner part of Stockholm looks like, and then I think she realized how far behind they are here on those issues.

Washington Square Park is really beautiful. I have to come back here again. You could just sit and relax, as the time flew by. I heard a guy play and sing the song Wonderwall, which is one of my favorites, which was a big plus to have in the background. :)

Then I continued south, and came to Soho, and then Canal Street and Chinatown. That was a more interesting story. After having walked for 5 hrs in strong sunlight, I felt really tired and almost a bit dizzy, and drinking more milk or water didn't seem to help. So I wanted to go home, but the machine at the train station wouldn't take a 20 dollar bill to buy an 8 dollar ticket, so I needed change. Therefore, I walked back up on Canal Street and looked for something small and cheap to buy. Then I saw a green dragon (plastic), that they wanted 4 dollars for. So I pointed at it and said to the man "one fifty". He looked at me, a little bit shocked and said, we don't haggle in here, and this is worth at least 3 dollars. So I said "one sixty" dollar, and then he caught on, and we finally agreed on 2.50 $. :) After that I was walking outside, and just around the corner a little Chinese lady was walking and walked right into me. I said, sorry didn't see you but she muttered something at me and looked pissed. I didn't have the energy for this so I said "pokgai" which is Cantonese and means something like "Fuck off"(thank you Mabel for teaching me that). She looked really shocked that me the White Scandinavian Giant could insult her in Cantonese. Haha. I just turned and walked away. The rest of the Cantonese is basicly "Lay Ho Lang" (you are very beautiful) so I'm glad that conversation didn't continue. :) And now I'm here writing, preparing to go to Canada. :) Awesome! :D