One of the ways they say to get over the lost feeling of being on the road is to explore your own town. I’m going to be exploring the ‘center of the known universe’ – New York City – in depth over the next few weeks.

This week I took in the Guggenheim Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian and then met with loyal reader Bathabile!

First things first. The National Museum of the American Indian (http://www.nmai.si.edu) is FREE. Located at Bowling Green Station off of the 4 and 5 subway lines, New Yorkers generally pass right by the large building it is housed in and don’t bat an eye.

Outside the National Museum of the American Indian

The major exhibit this week was clothing by Native Americans, for Native Americans. Photographs were not allowed inside but needless to say the intricate care and detail needed to make these clothes is incredible. There were no sewing machines or pre-cut material. A buffalo or other animal had to be hunted and then most everything from the animal was used for food or clothing.

Outside the museum, I had to pose with this panda. I have no idea what he/she was selling, but it looked so lonely by itself so I had to take a pic. And then I noticed the tip jar…

Brian with the famous Raging Bull of Wall Street

The Guggenheim (http://www.guggenheim.org) – world renowned. But art is such a subjective topic. One person’s masterpiece is another person’s complete waste of time. That’s how I felt about the Guggenheim. Exhibits of dots on a white wall? Incomprehensible videos? Maybe I need to take Art Appreciation 101. Entry is $18US.

But there is a way to save on that. There is a NYC CityPass that for $74US gets you admission to ALL of the following attractions:

Empire State Building Observatory
American Museum of Natural History & Rose Center
Guggenheim Museum
The Museum of Modern Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises
OR
Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

You save almost half (45%) of the usual $134US total entry fee if you bought each ticket individually. Worth it if you planned on seeing the landmark attractions.

CityPass is also available for other major US cities and Toronto. Check it out @ http://www.citypass.com

Inside on the ground floor of the Guggenheim

The next night took me to the Upper East Side where I met up with loyal reader Bathabile. Back in Tokyo (http://nodebtworldtravel.com/2008/10/nodebtworldtravelcom-making-dreams-come.html) she asked me to pick up the Japanese only music CDs of her jazz guitar teacher, Brandon Ross. Well I finally delivered the CDs after lugging them around for 3 months and she was as excited as a kid in a candy store. And true to her word, she bought me dinner at Southern Hospitality, a BBQ joint co-owned by Justin Timberlake.

I still haven’t forgiven JT for bailing on Janet Jackson after the Super Bowl fiasco!

Bathabile celebrating the safe arrival of her CDs. These CDs have traveled more than you Bath!

During dinner we made friends with our waitress and aspiring actress, Chan. But really, is there any other type of waitress in New York City?

Cheap Travel Tips for New York City and Presents for a Loyal Reader is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel

Remember a few posts back I said that if you had any requests while I was here in Japan or anyplace else, no matter how seemingly off the wall, to send me a note and I’ll try to help out. This is a letter I got early this week from someone I had never met before…

Hi Brian, I signed up for the blog — and I do hope at some point to have a reason to blog about traveling around the world! I do have a favor to ask of you –if you get this while you are in Japan and you at all have a moment (this is really asking you to go out of your way so if it doesn’t happen I totally understand) I have a favor to ask. I’m going to give you as much information as I can.

My guitar teacher, Brandon Ross (at left), is an avant jazz guitarist who is signed to a record label in Japan called Intoxicate Records. Thus, his CDs are only available in Japan (you can imagine my thoughts on that). I could download the music but I want the liners. Brandon records with Stomu Takeishi and together they are called “For Living Lovers” (They also play with a couple of other guys in an incarnation called “Blazing Beauty”). His discography includes titles like “Puppet” and “Costume”.

If you should happen to be around a place that sells CDs and you should happen to come upon music by Brandon Ross, could you let me know? I’m happy to get money to you to make a purchase. Again, I recognize that this is REALLY out of the ordinary, so if it doesn’t happen, it is absolutely just fine. But, just on the off chance . . . .

Happy journeys, XXXXXXXXXXXX

And you know me…I like a challenge.

I asked around to about 5 different places until I found the CDs.

An aside: Do you know which two phrases I know in Japanese? Do you know which two phrases have carried me my entire time here in Japan?

Hello – Konnichiwa
Thank you very much – Domo arrigato

That is it! The complete sum of my Japanese vocabulary. And I can find rare music titles in obscure Japanese record stores….

The writer is so happy she is going to going to buy me dinner. Did someone say free food? Thank you very much!

Isn’t life about creating win-win situations? This is a perfect example. Lesson for today.

Nodebtworldtravel.com – Making Dreams Come True Since October 2008! is a post from: NoDebtWorldTravel