US IBE- New York Chapter

15^th June 2011:

The journey to New York started at 9 a.m. We were finally going to NYC!! Yay yay yay. The excitement grew as we neared NYC...the infrastructure as we neared NYC changed and the view made us gasp. It looked beautiful. Checked into Novotel at Times Square and after freshening up we headed to find our way to Manhattan. Took a subway to World Trade Centre and then walked around Manhattan...saw the 9/11 memorial, the new WTC in the making, then we walked to Wall Street...Fed Reserve, NYSE...all the big banks... wow...this was the place to be. The only hitch was while taking the subway, we had a tough time getting the tickets...there were again no instructions and no one to show directions. However, the views at Manhattan took away all the irritation. After walking all this long...we did not give up...we even walked across Brooklyn bridge. After a tiring day, returned to the hotel after a filling meal at a Deli at Times Square. Ohh yes...I should mention them, all around there are these 24 hour Delis which serve hot food. Its a buffet and has good variety and awesome taste. There were two right in front of our hotel.

On our way to New York

 16^th June 2011:

The morning was occupied by a session at Barclays Wealth where an alum briefed us about the ‘truth after MBA’!! It was the most truthful and unbiased view I have heard till now. In the evening we went shopping...Times Square shopping. We stayed at Times Square past midnight and it was full of people. It was such a great feeling especially as compared to UK where one does not find such crowds anywhere so late in the night. Finally I did some shopping...!! J

Times Square at midnight

 17^th June 2011:

A late morning, a brief meeting and then shopping. Bought gifts for family. Lots of walking again. In the evening arranged for cake for Rahul for a 12 o’clock celebration and then retired to the hotel to relax a bit. The tiredness was slowly sinking in. In the evening, we again went to Times Square, its a place you can’t resist going to!!! Was supposed to meet an old friend but it had to be cancelled. Then at night we celebrated Rahul’s b’day and then spent some time at the terrace of the hotel. It had rained in the evening and the entire place looked beautiful.

 18^th June 2011:

Our final day in US. A visit to the Statue of Liberty. We were taken aback by the long queue for the ticket and another one for boarding the boat. But we were lucky enough to have our dear friend Sinchan with his famous crutches which helped us get a priority treatment and skip the queues!! The scorching sun itself was a deterrent enough and the long queue would have only spoilt the fun of the visit. The best part of the visit was the view of the NYC skyline from Liberty Island. Had a delicious lunch at Saigon and then we left for the airport for our flight.

The Statue of Liberty

NYC skyline

So now, we are all back to the bubble, still jet lagged and trying to meet the deadlines for report submissions et al.