Day 3, New York - China town / Canal St
I should note that on my way to Canal St as I was passing the US Federal Building, we came across a squad of police cars leaving the area complete with caution tape everywhere. So I'm wondering what the hell is going on, and I happen to see a van parked outside the Federal Building complete with a bomb squad, multiple teams of officers, police dogs, and all of them are literally tearing the van to peices in fear that it was a truck bomb. So with that in mind, remember guys, if you park in a 'No Parking' designated area in New York, you may very well come back to some hubcaps and a towbar on the ground. but this sort of thing is not a rarity in New York, as I'd frequently see security scanning the bottom of trucks and using mirrors to pick up bombs when vehicles entered underground parking garages, what a world we live in! Anyhow, back to Canal St.
It's gritty, it's grimey, it's everything you can think of if someone says the words "the wrong side of the tracks" this is no 5th avenue, and Tiffany's is shut today I'm afraid, well at least down this side of town. But don't be scared, because Canal St is as safe as New York City (nearly) is to walk around during the daytime. The best comparison I could make is imagine Chinatown in the Brisbane's Valley at it's peak time during the Chinese New Year celebrations, and this is the type of crowd you'll find in New Yorks Chinatown on an average day.
The rule of thumb with Canal St, is to barter with the dealers, and keep pushing them , if you show any weakness, they'll know that you're nothing and harass you for more money, DO NOT GIVE IN TO THEM! So, I saw an asian lady selling pictures of the World Trade Center that looked very nice, I asked her how much? The conversation went something like this:
Chinese lady: You like picture nice man? Me: Yes, how much? Chinese lady: $25 for you (she smiles) Me: How bout $5? Chinese lady: No, it's $25 for this picture, just today Me: Nah, forget it, $5 or nothing Chinese lady: Ok $20 for you Me: $5 for me! (I'm smiling) Chinese lady: No, it's $20 (she's not smiling so much now) Me: $5 or I walk Chinese lady's husband: Ok $5 plus $15 hehe (chuckles, thinks he's funny) Me: $5 pal Chinese lady: Hey asshole, it's $20, you need fucking punch in the head! Me: Adios! (I politely smile and leave with a two fingered salute)
I walked around Canal St and China town for so long, I didn't think it was possible for my feet to get any sorer, but like the way your body finds a way to fight the pain and find more energy, I just kept walking into more and more shops, and seeing more and more things. The crazy part about all of this was that I was so exhausted that I mentally lost track of how long we'd been walking around and you can feel when your trip is soon coming to and end, ours was still anoth 4 hours off finishing, it was an unbelieveabley long day that I will never forget.
What's even crazier was I would go to the subway, catch a train to Times Square, then transfer to Uptown and dump off all my crap, and then head straight back out of the Beacon and back down to Canal St, I did this aabout 3 times that day. You see, Canal st isn't just like the corner store that you can visit anytime to get what you need. Canal St is one of the most vibrant multicultural places on the planet that should be savoured once one gets the opportunity. On one side of the street you have stalls with people selling I love NY t-shirts and NYC snow globes, the whol nine yards, and on the other side is a run down bunch of apartments, and I don't mean Britney Spear's although I did see her place, and I couldn't see that it was worth the $6m USD she was asking, no wonder Matthew Perry walked declined to buy it. Anyhow, there are the fire escapes up the sides of the buildings you see in the movies, because the movies film the real life place that it is. Down one alley I saw a bunch of very suspicious looking asian guys standing over the trunk of a car peering inside at god knows what, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there was a shady deal doing down.
posted at 8:06 pm
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