Soloist in Manhattan : Prologue
January 12th, 2006 -- Posted in story | No Comments »The following accounts were written based on memories of my solo visits to Manhattan from Boston.
The rising sun was low when it woke me, but I knew that it was already late in the morning . It was only hours since I boarded the Amtrak heading towards the Big Apple. Eryka Badu was still singing to me in the walkman as I leered out at the moving trees. Boy was it cold… the low sun and the stale smell from the old central heating within the car reminded me of the midwinter. Ah yes, it was indeed the midwinter break that gave me the opportunity to see the Big Apple… this time on my own.
I had always wanted to do a solo run through the metropolitan commonly known as “The City That Never Sleeps”. Most of my inspiration in songs and art in my younger days were from this very city. It is my Gothom and my Wonderland.
The reason why this was a ‘soloist’ trip was that most other exploration trips I had taken to Manhattan were accompanied by my fellow international students who’d rather venture around what they saw as a ‘fashion city’, heading to more commercialized venues such as 5th Avenue and SoHo. Not that I don’t appreciate the art streets of SoHo, but I just did not appreciate the focus on just shopping areas at the legendary art gallery street of New York City. The other reason for my soloist trip was my desire to digest the essence of the city as it is, rather than to hunt down specific air that suits my sense of smell or place destinated gourmet to suit my taste bud. I wanted to breathe the stench of the subway decay and walk in the cold and damp just to be part of the living city for one day.
When I arrived at Grand Central station, I expected the exit to look and feel just like how it was portrayed so many times in movies and novels. However, the welcome to the city was more realistic than glamorous. Being under renovation, we had to exit the station via the lower decks where more interstate buses were parked. Being on lower ground, there were little exposure of the sky, with an array of old buildings and constructions in progress.
Gloomy.
But that was exactly how I liked it. An old metropolis with wind chill and light rain, and the sky covered mostly by cobalt blue clouds. The sounds I heard as soon as I exited the station was exactly how I anticipated. Sirens and taxi honks. Clattering of footsteps. Standing at any one point around the station and you could almost feel the ground quaver with life.
After a short stroll, I decided that it will take years to walk every inch of the city. So I decided to head towards the next metro station for a subway train towards my destinations.
