On this particular visit to New York, I spent most of my time in the suburbs. It's a slower pace and quite pleasant, as long as I didn't have to drive. I spent one afternoon with my friend's father, who's 79 years old and still active, going around town and doing repairs and maintenance. He's a character, like a lot of the people I got exposed to.

The owner of Oceanside Meats is a character of a different era, when people didn't lock their doors. After 50 years in business, he's still active in his store. It's wonderful seeing these people doing their work and enjoying it. It's a different era my generation lives in--high tech, high crime.

Spending even a little bit of time getting to know them is a bit like stepping back in time a little to get to know their background and hear them talk of their pasts. The time of innocence, respect for one another, honesty, and morals was different.

We want our privacy and individuality; we isolate ourselves instead of relating to each other, knowing each other, and being neighborly, perhaps even being friends.

This most recent visit has been a good one, visiting my friend for just a few days. It's relating to people one at a time that's missing in our individual society. It's nice to be able to relate one on one in an otherwise isolating society, with its technology, television, and Internet.

Takashimaya, New York, is the last word on department stores.

Quick Tips:

Get a map of the New York city subway from a station agent and learn how to get around by it. A good time to visit is from late March to early April, with New York's cool climate before the summer heat. NY Times restaurant & bar guide, CityPass

Best Way To Get Around:

It also came with perhaps two cups of french fries, enough to feed a family of four. I told the person behind the counter that they serve way too much french fries, and that a quarter of the amount served would have been enough. He said that he had recently cut the serving amount in half.

The place is relatively small, with several tables near the counter for ordering.

Monday-Thursday 11am-11pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-open late, Sunday 12pm-11pm.

In a few minutes, you get your food from the counter and go back to your table to eat. Afterwards, go back up to the counter, tell them what you had, and pay.

Monday-Saturday 11am-11pm, Sunday 12pm-11pm.

Monday-Thursday 11:30am-3pm and 5pm-10:30pm, Friday 11:30am-10:30pm, Saturday-Sunday 11:30am-9:30pm.

I ordered a half-corned beef, half-pastrami, extra-lean sandwich. Pickles were provided, as well as small bowls of ketchup and deli mustard. The sandwich came piled high with thinly sliced meat on rye bread. They tasted good and very flavorful without the extra fat.

Sunday-Thursday, 11am-9pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-10pm.

Monday-Thursday, 8am-11pm; Friday, 8am-11:30pm; Saturday, 9am-11:30pm; Sunday, 8:30am-11:30pm.

Telephone: (516) 763-0063

Spend a few minutes to chat with Daniel and get to share his past, when there were no locks on the doors and - in a time of innocence for the US - when cooling off meant sleeping on the rooftop because there was no air-conditioning.

Telephone: (516) 766-5252.

Takashimaya New York is a small-scale version of a very large department store in Japan transplanted into New York. Its website is in Japanese. It's a very chic and trendy place.

The first floor has a miniature botanical garden. Each floor has a different theme, selling cosmetics, flowers and garden, gifts and gadgets, kitchenware and tableware, tea and supplies. There's a beautiful antique cabinet for $45,000.

There's a spa on the sixth floor offering a popular Sea Creation facial for $250 that lasts 80 minutes.

I bought a beautiful tin of Cigare Au Thé milk-tea-flavored rolled cookies and something completely frivolous, a decision maker. The tins that enclose these cookies are indeed quite beautiful and the designs are changed every year. My friend buys them as gifts for others.

I felt completely out of place in that department store, but the nicely designed cookie tin is affordable and in the basement floor where the Tea Box Café is located. The tins are quite attractive enough to buy as gifts or to treat yourself with; they are in the mid-$20 range.

They were giving away taste samples of their cake going for $35. You really have to have quite a bit of disposable income to live in or visit NYC, and particularly to shop at this place.

Toll-free: (888) NYC-BLOO, Phone: (212) 350-0100, florist: (212) 350-0111, fax: (212) 587-5729, and the Tea Box Café: (212) 350-0179

Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm, Sunday noon to 5pm
Subway Stops: E, F, N, R to 5th Ave; 6 to 51st St.

The movie shows a relationship developing between a young Jewish teenage with an old Muslim shop owner. Restrooms downstairs.

Phone: (212) 759-1411

I noticed someone going down the aisles as they were talking with someone else on their mobile phone to consult about what was on the shelves and what they should be buying.

Daily 9am-9pm. Phone: (516) 536-9163.

There are ferry departures from Battery Park; New York; or Liberty State Park, New Jersey.

Access to the crown and torch are no longer accessible. A guided time pass is now required.

Take the New York subway to Battery Park: no. 1 or 9 trains to the South Ferry station, no. 4 or 5 trains to the Bowling Green station, or the N/R train to the Whitehall Street station.

Take the New Jersey bus to Liberty State Park: Central Avenue bus from platform A3 at the Journal Square Terminal in Jersey City to Liberty State Park.

Hours: 8:30am to 5pm

There is a limited number of tickets available daily from either the New York or New Jersey ferry ticket office (adult $10). Or book advance tickets with a $1.75 handling fee per ticket.

Reservations: Call (866) 782-8834 or (212) 269-5755 or visit
Statue Reservations

There's genuine community concern over the health and welfare of these birds, as the co-op board of the building attempted to evict these birds by removing their nest and generating a community uproar of protest.

Pale Male and Lola are back.

Subway Green Lines 4, 5, 6
Manhatten Bus 1, 2, 3, 4, 30, 72

Monday-Saturday for 8pm performance, 3pm-8pm
Wednesdays and Saturdays for 2pm matinee, 10am-2pm
Sunday for matinee, 10am-3pm
Sunday for evening performance, 3pm-closing

Phone:(212) 221-0013

Monday to Friday 11am to 6pm, Wednesday matinees are available on Tuesday ONLY.

Saturday 11am to 7pm, Saturday matinees are available on Friday and not on Saturday.

All Sunday performances are sold on Saturday.

Phone: (212) 221-0013

Subway: J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Fulton Street or the A, C to Broadway-Nassau
Bus: M15 travels down Second Avenue to the Seaport

JFK - John F. Kennedy International Airport has nine terminals and covers 5000 acres. Fifteen miles southeast of Manhattan, JFK is one of the nation's top airports. Go to the terminal serving your airline. Restaurants and shops are available at every terminal.

ATMs in all terminals except Terminal 6. Ground transportation includes taxis, buses, shuttles, limousines, and trains.

I wasn't able to meet with my friend right away for pickup, as I was confused by all the work construction outside and a stranger, I think, was trying to pick me up while I was waiting for my friend. I ignored him. A few limo drivers also looked at me as they drove to see if I was their passenger.

Ground transportation includes train, shuttle, bus and taxi. NJ Transit, PATH, and Amtrak are resource links.

Airport information: (973) 961-6000

Police/Medical Emergencies/Lost and Found: (973) 961-6230

Medical Services: (973) 643-8383

There is 24-hour bus and subway service throughout the five boroughs.

Chinatown is accessible by many subway lines: 6, J, M, N, Q, R, W, and Z to the Canal St station; the B to D to the Grand St. station; or F to the East Broadway station.