Friday, March 31, 2023

Los Angeles - To Do Enterprise Car Rental March23

Los Angeles - To Do
Los Angeles  - To Eat

 LA - To Do
Car Rental ABAA

(Shared by Chan S Y)

Normally I rent from www.hotwire.com for anywhere in the USA but weekend deals weren't great so I walked down to Enterprise to pickup a car at 8am. Approx 1km from the hotel no prior reservations.

Click here for ABBA location of Enterprise

Remember to bring three items:
- Passport
- Drivers License
- Credit card that's NOT a debit card.

Told them was Crew and the nice guy said they would try and work a deal for me. Unsure what the deal actually was but managed to get a near new car with 800 miles on the odometer.

Paid $80 for the car and another $22 for the insurance with $0 excess (I.e if huge accident or totaled car just return keys and walk away).

Car was nice and clean and could actually drive itself whilst on the highway.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

New York - To Do 23Mar23(Roosevelt Island, Smallbox Memorial Hospital, Central Park, Bethesda Terrace, Natural History Museum, The MET, 911 Memorial & Museum)

New York - To Do
New York - To Eat

NYC - To Do
 Check out our Instagram #abbatravel @ABBATRAVELS
 
Roosevelt Island
(Great 2hrs and fun, picturesque Tramway ride round trip.)
ABBAtip:
- Metro card MUST BE B
OUGHT at the turnstile. 3USD per way. 6USD total for a round trip
. As of visit there wasn't the option of pay wave options at the turnstile. Ride takes just four minutes and rises 250ft above the East River.
A quaint island with a couple of unique stand out stuff to check out. Walking from end to end takes about 30mins or so but we covered only the Southern End where most of the key points of interest were.
Graduate Hotel with its unique interior and one of a kind design.
Catch the Iconic Pepsi Cola Sign across the river, from Pepsi,
From Netflix's "Where's My Jet" (Leonard V.Pepsico) 

 
The Smallbox Hospital, It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and designated a New York City Landmark four years later.
View of the United Nations Building across the river.
Leisurely morning stroll and coffee before heading onward to world famous Central Park.
Central Park
(Bethesda Terrace)


 
Exploring the grounds and making our way to Bethesda Terrace were some iconic scenes from end scenes of Avengers and John Wick 2 were shot. A nice space made more special  with street performers.
Its amazing the simplicity of giant bubble art, which was able to bring wonder and mesmerize everyone around.
Click here for ABBA location of Bethesda Terrace

American Museum Of Natural History
 
Click here for ABBA location of American Museum Of Natural History
ABBATip:
- Non-sanctioned by the MET but was shared by the friendly museum guide, his personal go to picks for any visitor.
Lvl4 (The Titanosaur at 120feet Long)
Lvl3 and Lvl2 (African Mammals)
Lvl1 (Hall of Ocean Life, Blue Whale at 95Ft long, 400,000lbs, N.American Mammals
Lower Lvl (Willamette Meteorite 31,000lbs)
- Free Wifi is available. Start from the Top Floor and work your way down. 
Night At The Museum though based on the American Museum Of Natural History, was filmed on a sound stage in Burnaby, British Columbia. Unlike Night At The Museum 2, some scenes were shot at the British Museum.
 
Really nice that they have the art work at the side with the displays to give an idea of what it may have been when they walked the earth.
Titanosaur at 120ft long!
Their dinosaur bone collection is phenomenal and the way they curate their collection, naturally leads visitors from one section to the next. The collection would give, The Natural History Museum of London, also an incredible curated collection, some serious competition who's done it better.
Fantastic story telling with the posturing and painted scenery.
Their dioramas and story telling of each display were equally mesmerizing and would require return visits to fully appreciate all that is going on.
It was a nice that some dioramas were lit according to how they would-have been seen, in low-light conditions. Absolutely amazing and well worth the cover entry charge for foreigners. Locals have a pay what you feel option.

THE MET
(Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Have a great time exploring the whole museum. One really has to be focused in what you wanna see, cause without a plan, anyone would be easily lost in the countless connecting rooms which leads you from one location to the next.
ABBATip:
- Approach any of the museum staff if you're looking for anything in particular.
- There's free wifi on site and try to have a game plan of what you want to see on your visit. There's just too much for a single day to absorb and appreciate all The Met Has to offer. One will easily get lost with the interconnecting rooms bringing you from one place to another with no clear flow.
The Temple of Dendur. The entire wing of the MET was
built around this stone Egyptian Temple.
American Wing
Collection of British Teapots.
Perseus with the Head of Medusa
Ugolino and His sons. The figure is one of the
greatest sculptural expressions of mental anguish.
There are many world famous art pieces in The Met, some of which included a number of pieces by Vincent Van Gogh and even The Great Wave of Kanagawa which was unfortunately not viewable today. You maybe interested to check out Van Gogh's museum in Amsterdam. Really engaging and detailed look into his life and featuring many iconic works.
The Great Wave of Kanagawa along with William the small Egyptian faience hippopotamus
St Mark's square hasn't changed all these year. Click here for Venice Review.
The unique thing THE MET is that with their individual rooms, they have the flexibility to create a fully immersive space with their well curated pieces. Works are artfully put together and one can enjoy them to their fullest potential.
 
911 Memorial Museum

2,983 individual watercolor squares—each representing a victim of the 2001 and 1993 attacks—and symbolizes the idea of memory
*The Last Column” and became a symbol of loss, remembrance and of the community at ground zero and was ceremoniously removed from the site on May 30, 2002, to mark the end of the recovery effort*

A really somber/surreal experience walking the 911 Memorial Museum. Its overall well put together and memoirs section featured each and everyone of the lives lost. Putting faces and people behind this atrocity.

It was nice that the main heart of it was not to be photographed out of respect and to just be in the moment. There are some sections which may be disturbing and most areas of the exhibitions had tissues available for visitors.

This piece allowed for visitors to feel and have a sense of the force required to bend steel.
An emotive experience for any visitor. There's already been a lot of media out there which covers the lead up, history and even movies made on 911, but the collection here and audio clippings really brings it together in a single location.

The entry price is 4USD more during peak period with regular entry for foreigners at USD28.
You can't miss the free to visit Memorial Pools on the way out.