Publishing this as I go...
craker win rarSaturday, August 31th
Left the house at 7 a.m. While my sister slept, I got to use her CD player. *huggles Da'vid shito:aL, Dir en grey, and Lareine* ^.^ On the highway, I saw two interesting billboards. Promoting highway safety - "Happiness is never having to see your airbag." And promoting a church - "YOU WILL MEET GOD!" >_>;;;;
Entering the NYC area, traffic was nuts. Just insane. Cars everywhere. But the real insanity started once we hit Times Square. Cars and people everywhere... in NYC, you don't cross the street when the little "Walk" thing shows up. You cross when you won't get run over.
There was this guy standing on a street corner in the middle of Times Square... wearing a white cowboy hat, white boots, and this... white leather metal-studded Speedo. >_>;;;;;;;; He had an acoustic guitar, and the overall effect was that he was wearing nothing but a guitar, hat and boots. But since techincally, he was covered *coughs*, the police didn't bother him. >_>;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
After we dumped the bags at the hotel, we went back to Times Square, and since I wanted to see the Virgin Records megastore, we went. It's big... no jrock, though. :P
Neither my parents nor my sister really wanted to do anything in particular, so I got to drag them all to the Japanese bookstores! :P We visited Kinokuniya first... their manga and CD selection is small and a little expensive. But while I was there, I picked up an Anime Expo New York flier... it was going on right while we were there, so. *_*
OCS was closed (more on that later). We got to Book-Off around 7:45 p.m.... I thought the store closed at 10, but it was really at 8... ^.^ But I didn't find anything I liked. Used old stuff. I wasn't sure if Asahiya was still open or not, and it wasn't, but I got the hours (10-8, seven days a week), so.
Sunday, September 1st
We took a taxi down to Central Park, but since it was rainy, we crossed the street to the American Museum of Natural History. We got there before it opened, which was a good thing because later on huge droves of people showed up, and the ticket line was very long. In the front atrium there were three enormous dinosaur skeletons... spectacular, in my opinion.
To cut a long story short, we wandered through much of the museum, but my feet were really killing me. >.< The fossil collection is much bigger than the Smithsonian one, but I can't say I agree with some of the descriptions - they treat evolution as if it were fact and not theory, and I felt some of it was just plain misleading. Oh well.
After a crowded lunch at the museum, we decided to split up. My mum and sister wanted to... do something which I don't remember, and my dad and I returned to Book-Off. I didn't recognize most of the manga titles, or CDs for that matter. I think that unless you're looking for a classic or cheap stuff, Book-Off won't have it. But quite by accident, I stumbled across the Rurouni Kenshin manga! :P I left with vols. 3, 4, 8, 14, 15, 16, and 17. *Aoshi-samaaa!* They also had a few from the Jinchuu arc, but since my dad volunteered to pay... well, they were $3 a piece. And in more or less excellent condition. ^__^ OCS was closed since it was Sunday, so we went to Asahiya... they had a larger selection of manga and CDs than Kinokuniya, and it was a bit cheaper, too.
That evening, we went to see Les Misérables. My sister wanted to see a musical, and my mum wanted to see Les Mis, so... all I can say is that while the songs are rousing, the story and characters are absolutely two-dimensional. The only one I had any sympathy for was the older Eponine. Javert utterly disgusted me - he wastes his life chasing one man, and then when he realizes it, he kills himself. What a moron. As for his dedication, I considered comparing him to Saitou, but I fear that would be an insult to Saitou-san. :P Valjean is not much better; he reminds me of Kenshin. And then Gavroche... no offense, but I couldn't wait for him to die. A nifty (and irreverant production note)... when Enjolras died, he was rather romantically draped over the fallen flag, but his head was lower than his knees and feet - kudos to the poor fellow for maintaining that position for such a time.
Monday, September 2nd