Gearing Up -- 7th May (S'pore time)

The trip started out quite normally for me, probably due to the rather last minute packing the night before. It picked up soon after, however, as I met the rest of our team at Changi airport, and discussed on what we would be doing at New York. Dunkin’ Donuts was one, and so was the transit in Hong Kong, a probable trip to the gym at our hotel in Brooklyn, and of course, the conference at UNHQ, which was the main point of our traveling to New York. I got really very excited about the many possibilities that lay ahead of us on our trip, especially over the opportunity to participate in such an event where I could get to exchange opinions with youths from many diverse countries.

We did some exploration of Hong Kong’s International Airport during our stopover, and were soon on our way on the marathon 15-hour journey to New York. But who’s complaining? I got to watch many movies on the trip (not all movies there were censored) and the food served was really very good. The only gripe I had was the sense of “family” I felt ALL around me. There were babies all around, and they were crying ALL throughout. By the time we touched down at JF Kennedy, I had had opportunity to experience the highs and lows of having a baby – literally.

Although we had left Singapore at 11 a.m., it wasn’t until 11 p.m. United States time that we reached JFK airport, and we then took a taxi to the Howard Johnson Hotel in Brooklyn. The hotel is situated in a rather convenient location, with Dunkin’ Donuts just opposite (!!), McDonald’s just a street away, Wendy’s another street down, and Manhattan, New York just 40 min away by subway. After assessing our situation and planning what to do the day after, we called in a night, barely able to contain our excitement for the next day.