New York, the City that Never Sleeps- Day #2

According to the City Pass that I purchased, and the ticket left, the second day of our exploration in Manhattan will surely be a "knowledge trip". But I always believe that a wonderful trip starts by a perfect breakfast, and as I am caffeine-addicted, my friend and I then go to Starbucks, a couple blocks away, for our first breakfast in New York city.

Starbucks near Penn Station

Classic Cranberry Scone with Grande Latte

After enjoyed a decent breakfast in Starbucks, we then headed to American Museum of Natural History at the Upper West of Manhattan. The American Museum of Natural History features collections from astronomy, anthropology, geology, biology to Paleontology. Being as the shooting location of the film Night at the Museum, I am welcomed by countless animal fossils, which can be traced back to as early as Paleozoic era. Those fossils are not strange to me, I can still match some of them with my subtle memory about the movie.

Tyrannosaurus Fossil and the "Rexy" in the Night at the Museum

Oviraptor's Egg Fossil

Except for the diverse collections of animal fossils, the American Museum of Natural History also exhibits the precious dinosaur eggs' fossil. On the left hand side is the collection of Oviraptor's eggs fossil.

I lose almost 10kg on the Moon!!!!

Other than Paleontology, the museum also presented abundant astronomy knowledge about the mysterious outer space and interesting devices for the visitors to try out. For example, the picture on the right is the converter to converse your weight on Earth to the Moon. According to the result shown, I will lose at least 10kg on Moon. That makes sense why all the astronomers at the outer space can float on the air and look so light!!!

Substance on the Moon

The most attractive collection for me in this section is this AMAZING substance!!!!! The substance is originated from the Moon and now carefully protected in the three-layered-thick showcase. It was brought back by Neil Alden Armstrong and his companions from the first manned Moon landing mission on human history.

Talked about the must must AND MUST visit museum in New York, in States or in the WHOLE world, you will definitely not wanna miss The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Certainly deserve a golden yellow). Although it is impossible to visit all the sections for only half of day, my friend and I still try as efficient as we could to take around the museum. The Metropolitan located at the eastern edge of the Central Park. The beautiful vast green is just right in front of the museum but as soon as we saw the front gate of the Metropolitan, the enchanting scenery has been left back of our mind and the only thought remained is to "GET IN RIGHT AWAY"!!!

The Metropolitan Museum!!!

Being as one of the four major museum in the world (Louvre, British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Palace Museum), the Metropolitan also collected more than two millions, yes, you are right two MILLION (!!) of precious pieces of works and covered wide ranges of categories. My friend and I first visited the section of Egyptian Art. There are already 26,000 collections in this single section of the museum, so that you can imagine how long it will take to literally "finished" viewing all of the collections.

The Pharaoh Statue

The first thing that welcomed us as we enter the Egyptian Art is the Statue of Pharaoh (not sure which one) sitting steadily watch everyone who visit his territory. The section of Egyptian Art mainly exhibited the subjects and collections of Pharaoh and his queens, and of course the MUMMIES!!!

Accessories of Pharaoh

The picture on the right is the basic accessories of Pharaoh. Gold in the ancient Egypt was deemed as precious metal and that can only be possessed by almighty Pharaoh who is the son of the God. Wearing those accessories means that you have embraced the power that no one can exceed.

The upper accessories is for fingers and the middle is for toes.

Below is the model of the hairstyle of Cleopatra. The hair is precisely braided into numerous strands, and this kind of style can only be seen from the women in the royal family in the ancient Egypt as the symbol of their sacrosanct identity.

The model of Cleopatra's hair

Egyptian hieroglyphs

How can we visit the Egyptian Art without taking a glimpse at the MUMMIES?!!!!! The museum smartly puts a series of mummies' collections at the very end of the Egyptian Art section. For people who are fascinated about mummies' movies and long attracted by the mysterious ancient Egyptian culture as I do, to see the real one in front will definitely drag your pace for a long while. I stand closely in front of the showcase, read word by word of the explanation of who the mummy is, why is he/she be "made" as a mummy, and where this mummy was dig out. I feel that I can exactly imagine and witness the whole process of making this mummy. It is amazing but scary at the same time, and I just can't stop dreaming the interesting or terrifying stories behind each mummies exhibited there, and their original appearances that can no longer reappear.

The Mummy

After spending a long while in the Egyptian Art, the remaining time is not enough for another section. Therefore, we decide to take the advice on the guide book to visit the last must-see in the Met's. Hippo William is the mascot of the Met's and is also displayed in the Egyptian Art section. It was produced around 1885B.C.-1981B.C. and is the few collections that remain intact till now. The cute Hippo William collection perfectly ended up my first short trip in New York City (basically around Manhattan) but will never halt my enthusiasm of exploring this enchanting metropolitan.

Hippo William in the Egyptian Art section