Sunday, January 20, 2008

Scenes from the Other Side of the Hudson River

Driving around Jersey City reminds me of the opening segment of the Sopranos, or is it vise versa... I don't watch the Sopranos, but when I'm flipping through the channels and it's on, I usually stick around to watch the opening segment just to see the Jersey sights.... So let me share some scenes from the other side of the Hudson River....

First, let's get on the Holland Tunnel which runs under the Hudson River connecting Manhattan and New Jersey....
Here it is on the Jersey side....I didn't realized that you had to pay to use it if you were going from Jersey to Manhattan. I had gotten on on the Manhattan side, and it was free. The traffic to get on was horrible.... just imagine 6 or 7 lanes trying to merge into 2 lanes.... Needless to say I had to kick in with the city driving skills.... Luckily, I've driven in Manila.... driving in New York City is still relatively civilized though....

Why are there so many bridges around here?.... Speaking of bridges, I had to cross two bridges and ended up paying $10 just to get to Queens.... I thought at first that it was just my stupid GPS taking me through unnecessary routes, but apparently there was no other way to get there.... d'oh! wrong way, this is headed back to Manhattan....On the way to my cousin's house in Bloomfield, you'll pass by.....that's Pizzaland from the Sopranos' opening segment....

Anyways, after lunch with the cousins, I asked to take a walk to see the New York skyline.... So here it is, from across the Hudson River....

Still can't imagine how the WTC could be gone.... I remember growing up, we would take turns with my cousins Jing and Teng visiting each other over the summer.... alternating between Toronto and Jersey.... I remember how I dreaded those long drives to New Jersey.... it was always the site of those twin towers off in the distance, through the car window, that told me that the long drive was almost over.... it meant that the dream of finally being able to stretch my butt and legs, would soon be realized.... and we'd soon be hanging out with the cousins too...

Driving to Jersey again in 2002 was a bit disorienting.... my childhood landmark/beacon of butt and leg stretching was gone.... it didn't really look like New York City, and it felt like a part of my childhood was missing somehow?.... anyways, I came across a "Poetry In Motion" that I thought was appropriate.... doubly appropriate because it was written by a child....

Here's a 9-11 memorial.... you can imagine where the twin towers used to stand off in the distance there.....There's the Empire State Building.....And there's Lady Liberty off in the distance.... It's been a while since I last visited her too..... this time I'd like to climb up to her crown.... if we're allowed up there again....But of course, my favourite "scenery" on the other side of the Hudson River would have to be my cousins Jing....and Teng, Andrew and Paolo.... and Udz, sorry man, Jing didn't take your picture with my camera.... here he is holding some red thing at Teng's wedding back in November....Thanks for letting me crash at your place guys.... New Year's eve was a blast, especially with Te-Teng in the trunk, the homo-erotic shenanigans going on in the front, and poor ninang, Andrew, and tito pom just confused in the middle.... we must get wasted again soon, hey, it's tradition .... If you guys are actually reading this, here's that pic of Teng drinking that Indian wine two years ago.... little did we know! Cheers!

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10 comments:

Unknown said...

yay!i am first!!first?we will see :D

Unknown said...

i wonder how you do that,Angelo!driving and taking pics,haha!me,i cant even hold my cell phone.

too bad that the scene lost the sight of the twin towers.the poem written by a child has a point. it still looks lovely for me,though.

your cousin Jing is very beautiful!and your cousin Teng and Udz are hunks!Udz looked like Indian?you have an Indian blood,Angelo?oh,sorry,I ask too much,just curious :)

too complicating to drive over the places you`re not familiar with,right?good that you have the GPS.

thanx for sharing the pics,Angelo.my mind traveled again. :)

Happy Monday!Goodluck to everything and I hope that you won`t disappear again. :)

hugs to Nermal,
ghee

Anonymous said...

I miss our summer family vacations too :)

I'm glad you spent New Years with us this year!!

tina said...

its actually sad to not see something familiar one day... like finding a landmark you are used to.

nice pictures.. hehe. napapa imagine mo na ako.. haha :) take care!

Anonymous said...

I like the Manhattan skyline the most. The exposure and the sharpness is A-ok!

Anonymous said...

hello. so love the pics! too bad I cna;t relate 'cause i;m not in the states... :P

Cielo said...

wow this is so galing, ur shots make us feel as if we are there. Para na rin kaming nakarating sa US.

x said...

your adventures are cool, kuya angelo. and beautiful relatives you have! :)

haze said...

Infraction for you Angelo ! taking pictures while driving ? :D Hoping that there are no radars catching you in action and the mobile police...Great series of pictures and "Jersey Side" makes me think of the film Madagascar. When Alex the Lion was angry to his best friend Marty the Zebra and the line telling "That you're on the Jersey side of the river. That side stinks" !

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

A virtual walkthrough for all of us to see. Thanx for sharing us your experience from that side of the world... :)