New York, New York!

( Part I )

Think of dazzling New York, dahlings, and you’ll think Broadway shows; superb shops and restos; buying or just breezing along Madison Avenue or Fifth Avenue. You simply can’t miss the good vibes of the city and its fascinating people.

So, palanggas, when an invitation arrived from the world-class Northwest Airlines for a groupie of us journalists to check out several interesting sights in New York, we accepted the invitation without batting an eyelash.

We flew to New York via Detroit where we toured Northwest’s new and colossal midfield terminal at Wayne county’s Detroit Metro Airport.

With beady eyes and sluggish bodies from lack of sleep, we boarded our Northwest 747 Jambo jet, departing five minutes ahead of schedule.

Our first stop was Japan’s Nagoya’s International Airport. Our sleepiness vanished when we were served a sumptuous breakfast prepared by some of the most gracious cabin crew serving on jet-flights.

After a short three-hour-and-a-half flight, we arrived in Nagoya completely refreshed and raring to continue our flight to Detroit. Nine hours and 45 minutes later, after pigging out on the excellent dinner and breakfast prepared by Northwest’s world-class international chefs, our pilot landed in Detroit. It was one of the smoothest landings I have experienced in a long time, dahlings.

Surprisingly, we–meaning our very own Philippine STAR’s Ching Alano, moi fave health writer; Manila Standard’s so nice Arnel Patawaran; young PR gent and TODAY writer Pepper Teehankee; moi third eye and STAR’s very own photobug Alex Van Hagen; popular movie writer Crispina Belen of Manila Bulletin; fun Giselle Kasilag of Business World; plus our two Northwest head turner guardian angels, PR manager Marica Cabrera and brilliant marketing and communications manager, Adin Gonzalez– breezed through US immigrations and customs in only 15 minutes. We were certainly relieved! We didn’t have to go through any of those horror stories one hears about how US immigration officers at ports of entry can harass you, especially if you hold an Asian passport!

Entering Northwest’s world gateway had our jaws dropping and our groupie exclaiming a collective "Wow!" as we looked around the fabi lobby of the Edward McNamara terminal.

Within minutes, Marica C. had contacted our guide, the absolutely well-versed Mark Clifford. This Northwest account executive toured us around the terminal for an hour before we boarded our connecting flight to New York.

This magnificent all-glass and steel terminal is an architectural and engineering masterpiece by the Smith Group. It services 36 million passengers a year, Mark C. explained, pointing to where–hold your breath, dahlings–there are not 70, not 80, but 96 (!) departure and arrival gates. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. We also beheld various shops and restos as Mark continued that there are over 80 of such establishments in the terminal.

Mark then took us to a train at the upper right-hand side of the terminal. He pointed out the parking area that holds 11,500 parking spots (no problem looking for a parking space here, that’s for sure!). We made it to the end of the southern train station in less than a minute. The distance from end to end is nearly a mile which you can traverse in four minutes. Mark added there are 230 men’s restrooms and 245 for women as well as 9,000 seats in gate areas for departing passengers. Staggering, dahlings!

We stopped for a quickie lunch at the popular Mediterranean Grill where orders come with enough French fries to drive any fries-freak wild. Next stop was the mind-blowing underground tunnel with extra-wide moving walkways that connect the terminal to Concourses A, B and C. Very convenient for travelers regardless of their final destination!

This one-of-a-kind tunnel is an acid psychedelic showcase of colors and glass walls with a fabric ceiling and–would you believe–a synchronized gorgeous light and sound show? Wow, again, dahlings!

But the eye-catcher is the dancing water fountain at the center of Concourse A. It is 38 feet in diameter and shoots water up over 10 feet into the air. The "choreographed", illuminated streams of water represent all the connections of the Northwest global traveler.

We thanked Mark Clifford and dashed to our gate where we boarded our connecting flight to the great Big Apple.

Ah, dahlings, New York is definitely the world’s capital. Okay, okay, you may not agree with moi but consider this–New York has the most important financial district; it boasts the biggest publishers; its ports are the finest; and shopping is at its best here.

To be a New Yorker, you don’t have to speak in a certain way, as you’d have to do if you were in Tokyo, London, Paris or Rome. You don‘t even need to dress a certain way or be educated in this or that university. This is why, in New York, you can be anyone from anywhere, and believe me, still be a true New Yorker! It’s that simple! Take New York as it is, let go of all your prejudices and you will definitely possess the spirit that makes New York the world’s most unique and exciting city.

After landing at the JFK Airport, we were whisked to what was to be our home for four fantastic days, the swinging Milford Plaza Ramada Hotel, located smack on 45th street, a skip and hop from the palpitation-inducing Broadway’s Times Square.

A quick change and we were off again for a super dinner hosted for us by Northwest, natch!

We hit the sack by 11:30 p.m. after traveling 13 hours checking out Detroit’s Metro Northwest Gateways Airport and Terminal and having a great dinner at the Big Apple.

The next morning, a few of us had a healthy breakfast. Observing what some of our groupie ordered, however, moi tummy twisted and moi almost shouted for help! Why so? Picture this–a mountain of greasy bacon, two to three sunny side up eggs, butter smothered even thicker than the toast, plus another mountain of hash brownie potatoes, would you believe? All these devoured by the adorable, slimmest persona in our groupie! Thank goodness we had a whole day of sight-seeing to burn down all the sinful calories!

We started by going through the Lincoln Center; then to the West Side. We drove through Central Park and smack down Fifth Avenue where we drooled over the fascinating shops. Some of the most famous stores in the world are found in Manhattan–namedroppables like Tiffany’s; Bloomingdale; Barney’s; Saks; Bvlgari; Lord and Taylor; Macy’s; Versace; Harry Winston; plus, plus. These days, tons of the best shops carry foreign brands. These are found along Madison Avenue which is lined by dozens of chi-chi Italian and French fashion houses and where money is the rule of the fashionable rag trade.

The highlight of this tour was our visit to the Statue of Liberty. We jumped on a ferry and cruised down New York’s harbor to the island. This colossal statue has come to symbolize "the new world" and democracy to many people. Building the statue was discussed in 1865 at the Paris home of Edouard Rene where his dinner guests were Lefebure de Laboulaye and the sculptor who created the statue, Auguste Bartholdi. By 1871 the plan of building the statue and its site was formalized. France only gave one condition to America–the foundation where the statue was to stand had to be financed and built by the young nation. By 1884, the statue was finished and after several hitches due to lack of funds for the foundation, the completed statue and pedestal was dedicated to the liberty and democracy of America on Oct. 28, 1886.

We wanted to reach the statue’s crown but the thought of climbing 22 storeys–plus the lack of time–had Adin Gonzalez promising to return someday to make that climb. Next came a short stop at Ellis Island. Off we went through the financial district where the buildings are so tall, many streets have shadows all year round. (To be concluded)