Jimmy In New York : Day 1

I had some days of annual leave to use or lose before the end of the month. I wanted to get out of Japan for a while and go somewhere other than back home. The options were Hong Kong, Shanghai or New York.

After checking out airfares I found out it wasn't much more to go to New York. I'd never been to America before, and in my mind New York always captured my imagination as the place to go for the American experience.

I put in my leave request and was happy when it was approved.

We flew into JFK arriving about 3pm and took the Airtrain and a subway connection to Midtown Manhattan. I booked the Pod Hotel (formerly Pickwick Arms). It's a very clean hotel. The location was good and the price was great.

The room was tiny. Only room for one person to walk through at a time. There are four bathrooms on each floor with a light that shows if it's occupied. We never had a problem with not being able to use them when we wanted.

Shortly after we arrived we decided to walk to Times Square. Although we were both quite jet lagged, we decided to buy 50% tickets at TKTS to see "Chicago". It cost $70 each, and we were seated about the 10th row from the front.

I had trouble keeping my eyes open. The show was fantastic. The lead role of Roxie Hart was played by Destiny's Child, Michelle Williams. All the performers were great and I really enjoyed the show.

Once we got back to the hotel I took no time getting to sleep all prepared for the next day's sightseeing.