Afternoon getaway- Roosevelt Island and Long Island City

Sometimes it's just nice to get out of the city jungle for a while and put all the worries, work and anything that's bothering you out of your mind and just enjoy a nice, chill afternoon. 

We met some school friends at the upper-east side of Manhattan so we decided since we are already around fifty something street/1st ave, we should go check out Roosevelt Island, which is a tiny little island in between Manhattan and Queens. 

There are a couple different ways of public transportation to get to Roosevelt Island:

1) Tramway (cable car), at the station is at 59th Street & 2nd Avenue Station. You get a very nice view of the East River as well as the Queensboro bridge  from the cable car. The tram ride takes about 4-5 minutes. You can use your subway card to pay for the ride. The tram was built back in 1976, it was an alternative for the residents on the island to get into Manhattan before the subway stop was completed. 

2) Bus: Q102 Queens surface bus

3) Subway: take the F train and get off at Roosevelt Island stop. 

I strongly recommended taking the Tramway. It's a very fun experience to be in the air overlooking the city. The cable car is huge, it's bigger than my room...(it's either the car is just huge or my room is just way to small... 

Roosevelt Island 3km long and 0.24m wide. It's a very "thing" island. There are about 15,000 residents living on the island. The most exciting part of the island is...the view of Manhattan and...Starbucks. Other than that, there are 2 restaurants, a drugstore, some ice cream trucks on the weekends and that's pretty much it. The island is the most residential area I have ever been in NYC. A lot of people ask, "what do you do on the island?" The answer is, nothing!!! You go to Roosevelt Island to relax, walk along the river and just do nothing! Being busy is over-rated anyways! We all need to relax and do nothing from time to time. It's a head and mind cleansing!

After Roosevelt, we headed to Long Island City. You can take the F train to 21st-Greensbridge station and walk a bit south to the Queensboro Plaza to take the 7 train to Vernon Blvd Jackson Ave station. Long Island city may be my favorite place out of Manhattan in New York! 

Vernon Blvd Jackson Ave station is the closet subway station in Queens to Manhattan. As soon as you get out of the station, you will be on Vernon Blvd, there are  a lot of good restaurants. This area is called "Long Island City", which is known as a home to dynamic artistic community. If you have time, make sure to check out 5 Pointz and MoMA PS1. 5 Pointz is a factory that transformed into an outdoor art exhibit space that is covered by graffiti and the inside is made of art studios as well as over artists' apartments. MoMA PS1 is devoted to complementary art. 

 Along the East River, there are a lot of residential high rises with great view of Manhattan skyline and a surprisingly clean river park called Gantry Plaza State Park. The park just completed expansion in 2009. There are nice comfortable chairs, hammocks and beautiful sidewalks along the East River. This area is perfect for young families to raise kids. It's less crowded and has more green spaces for kids to play! 

Since we walked down to the park after dinner (around 7:30pm) the sun was setting from the Manhattan side, all the pictures of Manhattan were back-lit. But it is a great spot to look at the sunset if it's not too cloudy. 

Map of the day-

Roosevelt Island + Long Island City Gantry Plaza State Park (Vernon Blvd Jackson Ave)

Evena English Time- LIKE的用法

Like


 Like 不是只有"喜歡"的意思, like還可以當做是"就像是"的意思來說. 有時候英文單字會意不能言傳...所以這時候就要用舉例的
情境a)
當你在跟你朋友講述你聽到一件事情很驚訝的時候,
你可以說"I am like so shocked"
情境b)
當你想要誇張的說你去了一個你覺得是全世界最好吃的餐廳,
你可以說"It's like the best restaurant in the world"
如果你常常看美劇或美國電影, 你就會常常聽到"LIKE"
e.g. She is like the fattest person I've ever seen.
      He is like the cutest guy at school.
另外一種用法, 可以當做是"我當時的心情是/我心裡想..."來使用. 這裡又很難言傳了...只好用舉例讓你們會意
情境c)
如果你想要說一過去發生的事, 例如, 有個人撞到你很沒禮貌的頭也不回就走了, 你想要和朋友表達當時的心情, 你可以說"I am like, are you blind or what?" (我心裡想, 你是瞎了嗎？）

Like也可以當作是"舉例來說/例如"來使用
情境d)
你問你朋友想吃什麼, 然後你舉了幾個例子
你可以說"What kind of food would you like to eat? There are some good options, like Korean, Italian, Indian, or Mexican.

噢對了, Facebook的"讚", 英文版就是"like", 不過這裡就是最基本的"喜歡"的意思了!

在美國,尤其是西岸的年輕人, 幾乎每句話裡都有個"like", like已經成為一種幾乎沒有意義的用字了. 不過因為大家都在用, 聽起來就好像很道地很美國喔! 不要覺得很複雜啦, 多聽個幾次很快就會學起來了. 我們也常常在學新用詞阿, 像是"淡定"!!

我現在要來淡定的寫信給我老闆請他不要半夜還一直叫我幫他找資料.... (請問這樣用對嗎？）

喜歡的看官也請來LIKE我的文章, 謝謝大家. Evena English Time我們下次見!

七月四號美國國慶日

身為一個非美國人, 我對美國獨立紀念日和美國國慶最早的印像追朔到1996年威爾史密斯的一部電影--ID4星際終結者, 這部電影的英文就是Independence Day (aka ID4). 小時候對美國的認識不多, 想當初我也才十歲阿...但我還記得第一次看那部電影的時候內心默默的嘀咕: "為什麼外星人總是攻擊美國, 而且為什麼外星人都會說英文?" 雖然外星人總是攻擊美國, 最後總是會有一個英雄拯救美國以及全世界, 至少, 電影都是這樣演的!

來美國十一個月了, 終於讓我等到了七月四號美國獨立紀念日, 也就是美國國慶. 1776年的七月二號, 美國議會表決通過讓美國獨立, 兩天後七月四號, 美國正式宣告脫離英國殖民成為一個主權獨立的國家. 美國, 就在1776年的七月四號誕生了!

我個人對於美國文化和英語的認知以及吸收, 幾乎完全來自美國電影和影集. 我個人對美國國慶日的想像就是, 烤肉和煙火. 果然, 我的第一個美國國慶日, 就是在烤肉和煙火中度過!

我和朋友早上吃了brunch, 去買點烤肉的東西(被分配到準備蔬菜, 其實美國人也是很重事營養均衡的!)然後就搭地鐵到了Brooklyn布魯克林的朋友家的後院烤肉. 大家都準備了好多食物,漢堡肉, 熱狗, 洋芋片, 沙拉, 飲料和啤酒. 就和我想像中的美國國慶日烤肉一模一樣!

在曼哈頓的國慶煙火是美國很大連鎖百貨公司Macy's贊助的. 今年是第三十六屆了. 煙火釋放地點是在哈德遜河上, 也就是曼哈頓和紐澤西州中間的河, 釋放區域從43街一直往下到18街. 總共有四個煙火舞台. 有很多地方可以看到這美麗的煙火, 你可以選擇在曼哈頓看,也可以選擇到河得對面, 紐澤西看. 

要享受紐約生活可以很貴, 也可以很便宜. 幾個好的在曼哈頓觀看地點包括哈德遜河河畔地帶的公園(Riverside Park South, Hudson River Park (Pier 84, 54), West Side Highway). 不過不管哪裡, 都一定會有很多人的. 哈德遜河附近的大樓樓頂也會有超級好的view喔(下次一定要打聽誰住的地方的屋頂看的到哈德遜河!). 

如果你口袋比較深又真, 很想看到漂亮的煙火又不想和大家擠, 你也可以買roof-top bar/restaurant的門票上去看. 紐約人很喜歡roof-top bar, 因為這個城市的夜景很美, 到處都是高樓燈火瀰漫, 我自己也很超愛roof-top bar. 很有名的Hudson Terrence 就是一個很好的選擇, 但是國慶那天晚上光是入場就要$89美金, 那裡飲料餐點又超級貴, 所以, 預算不是很高的朋友可能就不是很適合了. 

另外一種看煙火的方式是在船上, 紐約的港口有很多船公司(cruise)提供國慶特別方案, 船會停在哈德遜河上所以會有很好的view看到整個煙火釋放過程. 當然, 價錢也不便宜. 有興趣的朋友可以參考Cruise Line, NY Waterway tours 或者World Yacht Dinner Cruise. 有時候在國慶日幾個禮拜前他們會在Groupon上有賣優惠價, 明年要看煙火的朋友要記得上Groupon看看喔! 

假如你想要有個好的view看煙火又想要看到曼哈頓的天際線, 可以像我和我朋友一樣, 到紐澤西的Hoboken去看煙火. Hoboken就在曼哈頓隔著哈德遜河的對面. 進曼哈頓也超方便的, 只要搭紐澤西-曼哈頓的地鐵 "Path"就可進到城裡來. 而且Path比 NYC Subway乾淨又新多了!我們大概八點半左右到Hoboken, 人潮已經超級多了, 在河邊的好位子老早就被占走了. 不過我們的spot也不算差, 反正煙火是往天空放嘛!

我很貼心的為大家畫了示意圖. 左邊是紐澤西Hoboken, 右邊就是曼哈頓:)

從Hoboken看曼哈頓, 這成是真的很美. 那些船就是可以買票去坐看煙火的船

煙火大概9:35開始, 是比原本公告的9:20晚了點, 大概就是"fashionable late"(像藝人明星一樣要遲到一點好像比較大排)吧! 不過等待是值得的. Macy's的煙火有超過四萬多發的煙火, 持續了大約二十五分鐘, 每一分鐘就有超過1500顆煙或像天空發射超過1000呎高! 除了典型的煙貨款式, 還有配合國慶的紅藍白煙火以搭配美國國旗, 還有像愛心, 笑臉的特色煙火. 

除了煙火秀, 美國國慶就像台灣的國慶一樣, 一定會有大型演唱會. 在曼哈頓就有一個大行的演唱會其中包括Katy Perry 當國慶家賓. Katy Perry 的那首"Fireworks"這時候超應景的!

每次要去看煙火我都超期待的, 雖然我知道煙火都大同小異, 而且看完都會有點失落...但還是超愛看. 這次的美國國慶煙火真的很美, 也讓我很想念台北大稻埕的煙火. 

4th of July- Independence Day of America

As an non-American, my first impression of 4th of July dated back to 1996 when the movie "Independence Day" (ID4) came out. I had very little knowledge about America at that time consider I was only 10...It was a very cool movie as I remembered. I also remember thinking to myself, why does aliens always attack America? Luckily, there is always a hero to save the planet, at least in the movies. 


After 11 months being in the US, it's finally time for 4th of July, the national day of the United States. July 2nd of 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence. 2 days later on July 4th, the nation declared independence from Great Britain, the United of America was then born. 


Since most of my cultural understanding of American and English language come from movies and shows, my impression of 4th of July is: B.B.Q and fireworks. And yes, that was exactly what I got on my very first 4th July in America. 


My friends and I headed down to Brooklyn to have a B.B.Q at friend's backyard. There was tons of food, burgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, chips, drinks, beers. The impression of an American B.B.Q from movies appear to be correct judging by this experience! 

This year is the 36th annual Macy's 4th of July fireworks. The fireworks were on the Hudson River which is the river between New Jersey and Manhattan, between 43rd street and 18th street. There were several locations you can see the fireworks. You can stay in Manhattan by the Hudson river, for example: Riverside Park South, Hudson River Park (Pier 84, 54), West Side Highway..and just anywhere along the Hudson river. But no matter where you go, there would be TONS of people. 

You can PAY to go up to some roof-top bars to see the fireworks. They tend to charge you a lot more to get in, but if you have the money and would like to have a good spot and not get stuck in sweat with thousands of other people, that might be a good option. Place like Hudson Terrence would guarantee you a very nice view of the fireworks. 

Another paid option is to get on cruise/boats on the Hudson River. You can check out Cruise Line, NY Waterway tours or World Yacht Dinner Cruise to see if they have tickets, but again, they are pricey. There was also a Pier 83 Rooftop Fireworks BBQ which costed $79 but tickets were sold out days before the July 4th.

If you would like to to see the fireworks AND the Manhattan skyline, you would need to go to New Jersey like my friends and I did. We chose to go to Hoboken which is right across the Hudson River in New Jersey. We took the Path to Hoboken, it was only a 10 minute ride from 14th street station and the Path was way cleaner and nicer then NYC subway. We got to Hoboken around 8:30pm, it was already packed. All the spots right in front of the river were already taken. Luckily we still got a good spot. 

Fireworks finally started around 9:35pm which was a little later than they announced, 9:20pm. But it was all worth it!!! It was one of the best fireworks I've ever seen. The Macy's fireworks featured more than 40,000 shells exploding at a rate of more than 1,500 per minute and fireworks reaching heights of 1,000 feet in the air. 

At the Manhattan side, there was big concert and celebration going on, Katy Perry was performing. The song "Fireworks" seemed very timely and appropriate for this event. 

The fireworks went on for about 25 minutes, there were the classic gold, red, green blue ones, there were also come combination color for 4th of July, red, blue and white. I really enjoyed the fireworks. 

Fireworks are one of those things you hope they never end but you know they will, at some point. They are also one of those things you know they look pretty much the same every time but you are just so excited about to see them, at least I am!!!