Now I get it. I get why Americans are excessively arrogant. I've been to almost 20 countries, and I've never seen anything like it. It's so hoogggggeeeeeeee.
No video, picture, or imagination can prepare you for the sheer scale that is Times Square, for example!
The best part about New York for me is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to see all of it in 1 year and talk more of a week. And because I knew I couldn’t see all of it in my time there, it freed me to travel slowly, see as much as I could and trust that I’ll see it again whenever I visit next. NY is definitely a city I’ll visit again cos there’s so much left to see and do.
But that's the TL; DR. Here's the tale of New York.
Unlike Gibraltar, I didn't have the hotel booking kerfuffle, and this flight was leaving in the afternoon, so I could comfortably go from the office. This trip was also with my bestie, Jess, and we were living with her Aunt, who was incredibly kind to accommodate us in her house for a week.
The only thing I had to worry about when we got to JFK was, would my bestie with a British passport get an e-Gate at immigration and thus not have to go through the typical 3-hour queue at immigration that people with weak passports (like me 😣) do? Well, the answer was no. America said middle finger 🖕🏾 to everyone and their daddies who don't have US passports or Green cards, and I LOVE IT!
Other countries like the UK (and Australia) like to form working together with other world powers for synergy, thus giving everyone from these countries
access to e-Gates, which cuts their immigration experience really short. But the US said I am THE world power. I don't have to pander to you, PEASANTS. You will all have to explain to immigration officers why you are here and where you will be staying. And I rate it HEAVY!
On the other hand, it also shows how behind the US is in simple things like immigration. Because if they had an eGate that people from other developed nations could use, it'd have reduced the line for immigration officers. But this is America, right?
So we got through immigration after standing for over 2 hours and made our way out of the airport. I must say, JFK is THE MOST underwhelming airport I've been to, and I've been to Warri Airport. 😂 Like there wasn't a single giant sign or insignia saying "Welcome to New York/to the US".
Not one I saw while entering the country, at least. I saw one at TSA on my way OUT of the country, which makes NO SENSE for the sign to be there!
On the flip side, the airport experience wasn't as bad as I was told to expect. It wasn't the ghetto many people said it would be. It was just terribly mid for a country that claims to be the greatest nation in the world.
Speaking of the TSA, considering the rep they have on Twitter and from Trevor Noah's comedy special, I thought their security checks would be more intense than anyone I've ever experienced! But it was just tame. It's typical to take your shoes off, remove electronics and metals, and then walk through a machine. Nothing too intense. I was terribly disappointed because I was really looking forward to the great TSA check!
Unfortunately, my friend's concealer was stolen at TSA, which wasn't fun. I can't say I've ever experienced or seen anyone's belongings getting stolen at a security check anywhere else. Plus, even a TSA official at the gate said she's had something stolen from her baggage at TSA before. So apparently, be watchful of your valuables as they come out of the X-ray machine so you don't lose anything.
Back to the trip:
I landed in New York on July 3rd, which means the next day, I got to join in the July 4th celebrations 🤩 I was ecstatic! And the display was everything I expected and more.
Instead of going through a day-by-day playback of my time in New York, I think I'd just review the famous places I went and saw and let you know if I think they're under, over or rightly rated. Let's get into it!
4th of July celebrations: UNDERRATED. The barbecue had me cueinggggg! Families who can afford to, really go out and make large delicious meals. The menu was packed with bole, roasted potato, pork ribs, burger patty, chicken, beef, fish, and hot dogs! As a food lover, I was LIVING! Then, to crown the day, we went to watch the fireworks display. I've never seen fireworks done like THIS. My mind was elevated 😃
Times Square: Criminally underrated, but there's no way to rightly communicate the awesomeness that is Times Square, so this underrating is fair. Times Square is HOOGE and very stimulating. There are so many billboards and so many tall buildings. It's a vibe! The only downside is that it's INCREDIBLY crowded! It's a whole market. And from the bus tour I did (which I definitely recommend doing the 2-day option), I learnt that it's always that busy at every time of the day! The only time it wasn't was during COVID. I'd still recommend going to Times Square sha.
While you're in Times Square, definitely go to the Lagos restaurant. I love that there's a popping Nigerian restaurant in one of the most iconic, central locations of a major city in the world! London could never! Plus, the food there bangs! (bombastic side eye to Enish 😒)
The only advice I'd give on Lagos restaurant is that there's no need to order the meat or chicken if you're getting a starter and don't generally eat a lot. The meat/chicken is large enough to be a meal on its own. I made the hefty miscalculation of ordering goat meat pepper soup (which BANGED harder than any I've eaten in the UK) and jollof rice with chicken. The goat meat in the pepper soup was sufficient to meet my protein needs. I thought they were going to serve the food in small portions like the UK. I was treated to proper human portions so jollof rice as main with goat meat pepper soup as starter is sufficient 😊
Food in the US: Rightly rated as horribly unhealthy and unnecessarily huge. Everything is just oversized. This leads very nicely into my KFC rankings update:
The KFC I know and love cannot have originated from the US, please. We need a Mongo Park from Ghana to discover it in Egypt or something because what did I EATTTT!
The day I tried the KFC, I was starving, tired and sweaty. All this to say, the bar was in hell for KFC New York to deliver, and it failed woefully. It was hate at first bite! The chicken did not taste like any KFC I had ever eaten before. It was something different!
Let's even go back to the ordering. I knew I had made a big mistake when I ordered 5 wings, and they gave me a bill of almost $20! But I just chalked it up to the game and paid because I was too tired to cancel and redo my order. Only for the chicken to come out, and one wing was bigger than my head!
The chicken was so big I had to take some home, and it took 2 people and 2 days to finish! What the heck!
The picture doesn't fully show how large it is but damn! It was the hooogest wing I ever did see; it covered my palm.
So, to my ranking, after trying the chicken the second day, I realised it wasn't that bad 🙈 It was just incredibly different. It was one of those debate speeches where the speaker says they either come 1st or foot. It was just unfortunate that at 1st taste, I thought it was horrible. I still wouldn't rank KFC New York last. The last is forever reserved for KFC Victoria Island, Lagos. I rank KFC New York 2nd to last, though. Cos, that chicken is just different and not like any KFC I've ever tasted. If this was the real KFC taste, I don't think I'd love it enough to try it in every country I go to and do a global ranking.
The official rankings: Accra, Cairo, Ikeja, London, Loughborough, Bath, and Athens remain tied at 1st because they all taste similar, and to my mind, they have the original KFC taste (let the US be doing nonsense), then Belfast comes 2nd or 8th (depending on your ranking regime) then New York, and finally lasti lolo VI.
Sidebar: do you know this ranking regime where if 2 people tie for 1st, the next position becomes 3rd? I always found that weird. Cos they make it seem like the 1st position is a person rather than a title (or rather position) that can be occupied by multiple or less than 1 person 🤷🏾♀️😏 This regime especially bugs me because in SS2 2nd term when 2 people came tied 1st. The next person was me; they said I was 3rd instead of 2nd. And that annoyed me. 😅 Not like the semantics matter, but I digress.
Back to the story.
New York Subway: Overrated to be horrible. I thought it was pretty tame. It's even better than London's underground in some areas. E.g. they have airconditioned trains, and I can get mobile network service underground, unlike 98% of underground places in London 😒 The carriages were quite clean, cleaner than the Central line in London. I didn't see any rats when I was there, but I've seen enough videos to know I was just lucky not to see them.
Empire State Building: Rightly rated in its time, but it's now an old building that needs renovating. It's still iconic, though, for nostalgia purposes. I guess it looks better from afar of and in aerial view than up close.
Metropolitan Museum (the Met): Underrated! I was there for 15 mins and OMGGGG! Absolutely refreshing! I would definitely visit again whenever I'm in New York again and spend a whole day going through all the exhibits. Huge shout out to the security guard who gave me and Jess a free pass because we told him we were only there for 15 minutes. Such a nice man!
Statue of Liberty: Criminally OVERRATED! Arrest everybody involved. Lady Liberty looked so much shorter than the media led me to believe, chubby and in need of a paint job! I was incredibly disappointed. I need to speak to management. I have PLENTY of notes!
Even in this picture, she looks fine, but I promise, it's one of those cases where they look OK from far, but up close, she's far from fine 😑
Manhattan and New York Skyline: Stunning! Rightly rated. It's beautiful at day AND night. I love love LOVE the views 😍
American Fairs: Underrated from the movies OMG, I had so much fun! I see why virtually every coming-of-age or young love movie has the couple going to a fair! There were so many couples at the one I went to. There's just so much to do. So many FUN rides to go on and plenty of games to play (and win the stereotypical stuffed animal for your love interest). There's also PLENTY of unhealthy food cos you might as well kill yourself while going on rides that could possibly kill you, right?
JFK: A bit underrated. I feel like people hate on it, but it wasn't that bad. I was led to expect a very disorderly, ugly airport, but it was just mid, which is better than bad. So, I guess it's a bit underrated?
But yea, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the US. I did so much, but there's still sooooo much left to do when I visit again (notice how I didn't say if, cos I know I will be there once again FOH SHO). In this 1 visit, I already did 2 states (New York and New Jersey) of America's 50. It'd be REALLY cool if I could go to all 50 in my lifetime.
Well, till then, That covers it. That was the tale of three cities from Belfast to Gibraltar and finally New York, all in 5 weeks! What a time! By the end of it, I needed a vacation from vacationing 😅 But it was good fun, just a lot of travelling in such a small amount of time 😊
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