New York business trip | The big apple

So as a sequel of my Las Vegas business trip post, let's move forward as promised to this another exciting adventure of the exhibition world. Let me start by saying that I am still nervous about going here as to the pressure of having a notion that people who are in this city are sooo professional (or workaholic should I say) as to what I see in the television.. Well, aside from being the most destroyed city on movies hehe. So I researched a little bit about New York before the trip and the one that got stuck with me was "most people in here are in a hurry so don't get in their way, especially in rush hours.". So I immediately pictured myself slow-jogging most of the time there lol!

This time, aside from having a family trip conflict (which I will be talking about below), now it will only be a 2-man crew with our department manager, Sir Glen.

Wearing my casual clothes going to the convenience store (lol)

The family trip conflict? Our family is scheduled to go to Singapore with our uncle and aunt for the first time and the unfortunate news is that it just overlapped the date of the exhibit. HAHA! What a time right!? Well, of course, you all already knew what I chose as to this post should have a different title then hehe.

So we arrived at the JFK airport, rode a cab and then checked-in at the Quality Inn. The Inn looked pretty decent and all were good as I appreciate things easily. They had a cute breakfast pantry below which you can freely check at their website hehe. The sky rocketing prices compared to the other states were anticipated, so a lot of preparation was evidently done - thanks to our awesome manager sir Glen for pulling this one off as this was also the first-ever company exhibit done in the Big Apple.

Welcome to Manhattan - Quality Inn

We are to attend the Photo Plus Exhibit at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center so we immediately familiarized ourselves with the neighborhood. Because just like in Vegas, the trade show is walking distance away from where our inn is. Since its fall, the temperature varies with the time. But since we always go outside either early mornings and night times.. We always feel cold, especially when the wind blows. Man, I always stop when it breezes as to the temperature really drops every time it does. *As an advance story* We ate in a Chinese/Asian restaurant in one of the given nights and since their servings here are huge, I decided to take my honey chicken meal out then back to our Inn. Our inn was only a few blocks away from it. I immediately opened it again to get a piece of it and the plastic fork broke because the chicken was frozen! Imagine my face when it happened.. Haha!

Other than the giant bridges we went through to get to Manhattan, one of the sights we always see is the one on this photo below. This testifies why the city is also popularly called a "Concrete Jungle".

Empire State Building view from our daily route

It looks near from that view but when we got the time to visit it on our free day.. its actually not that near yet haha surprise, surprise! So going back to work.. After successfully doing the ingress part for the pre-trade show and the main exhibit, we begin (again) the 3-day work goals.

sir Glen at the pre trade show in action (naks)

Generally, it's the same workflow, but in a different setting (in reference to the Vegas experience). Well, now that we are just a 2-man crew it's obvious that it means more work for us but I did not feel that. I was actually too busy/occupied to even think about that and what more with sir Glen (Haha!).

So we man the booth for days of talking, doing demos and gathering of information on the expo.. One of the awkward situations I always experience was finding out if the guests I am talking to were Filipinos. I find it a little bit off on talking to them without using our national language.. Though of course as a sign of courtesy, most of the time I have to wait for them to initiate saying the first Tagalog words before I do. And when they do of course more stories follow.

Where I celebrated my birthday lol

This trip will also be unforgettable as I celebrated my first ever birthday abroad. I remember getting Facebook greetings a day ahead and I was like, "What is up people, my birthday is still tomorrow!" forgetting that New York time is always late of 12 hrs. VS our time there. Sir Glen even treated me dinner that day to this fast-food chain! Haha! Thank you again, Sir Glen! This was the time of life that McDonald's reigned my stomach.. From working locally to here, its all McDo. Haha!

So as we continue on through the following days, it was not that long that we accomplished our tasks one by one (I remember a specific one being a nail biter as it was accomplished in the last minute of the exhibit - haha!). Even though I was always asked by random guests either where the comfort room is or where the other conference rooms are located, "We" always do this proudly carrying not only the name of the company with us, but also the Philippine flag as per knowing that we are the only full Filipino team that regularly participates like this. So Kudos to the whole team in front and behind this.

Innovatronix represents at Jacob Javits Convention Center, Photo Plus - New York City

I was supposed to meet a friend during the exhibit, but unfortunately, our communication was not that convenient at that time so maybe next time (Hi Dane haha!).

And after all of those "nose-bleeding" and attention-filled moments.. Alas! Come after are the tension-free, smooth breathe-able and relaxing times of the free day. Well, we planned the route and here are some of the places we got to see.

sir Glen "King Ko-ing" at the top of the Empire State Building

Of course, we visited who we see daily which is the Empire State Building. I remember looking up before going inside the building as you will really feel dwarfed upon seeing how big and tall this establishment is. You'll hurdle through a number of areas first before arriving at the observatory deck. Well, don't worry about it as to the view up here is really worth it. You'll have a glimpse of everything in here.. The Chrysler Building, Statue of Liberty, Hudson River, Brooklyn bridge.. You name it. We even tried to compass ourselves on the next direction we have to take from here.

A view from the Empire State Building

One of the things I appreciate here is that the streets are properly numbered. It is so easy to navigate things and know how close or far you are from your destination. It gives you an idea of your location and you'll not be confused even if you take different streets or avenues.

The next we visited were the Madison Square Garden, the Flatiron building, Central Park and the Time Square / Central Square..

The Flatiron building

I initially planned to jog in the central park one morning to genuinely feel the vibe there but since our schedule was too tight, our stroll was actually over enough for me to grasp the moment haha! I was even surprised to find out that there is a skating rink inside the park - an outdoor one. So cool. You can even roam the park using a horse carriage too, "Ang lakas maka Baguio vibes at amoy kabayo din haha! ~ malamang".

Inside the Central Park at New York

It was great having trees in the middle of all those giant buildings really. I like that the park is so wide that you can even forget that you are in the middle of a city. The city was strategically planned well, obviously.

When lunchtime came, guess what we had.. Pizza! Now I know why we have pizza parlors named after New York.. And that is because the pizza I tasted in here was one of the best I have ever tasted, Legit! So we ate at an ordinary pizza place in here and guys, I cannot explain it very well in words but it was THAT good. I ordered two slices, but ended up not finishing the second one because the slices were so BIG! But if I am to come back here, I will definitely not miss eating more of it and now maybe finish more than two if I can haha!

The busy Time Square (The man behind says it all)

One word to describe central time square? Busy. The area is surrounded by commercialized LED screens, filled with shops and restaurants, there are even some benches for special events (I suppose) where you can wait for something to happen (lol). At that time we saw a live band playing in full costume. If I remember it right, there are also people performing random acts for tips in selected areas. So if you prefer that kind of vibe, go here.

So, does the city never sleep? Of course, it does! (lol) In fact, from where we were, it was so peaceful. Well, New York got that alias due to many things happening inside the city.. And it really shows. I cannot tell how much more this city can offer, but we just had a glimpse of it. There are so many things still to experience here.. Some of it is to see the Ground Zero (9/11 memorial), watch a Broadway show which is super expensive, ride that ferry and reach the lady liberty's torch (yes, it's possible), be on the specific spots of the Hollywood movie settings that have taken place in the city, and so much more! And on writing this post, I think I am now curious enough to experience an actual snowfall in a well-developed city like New York ~ while in a coffee shop looking outside a glass window.. Man! That is nice. Will I experience it in this exact city where I imagined it? Looking forward to that time.