WELCOME TO NEW YORK

We have arrived in the Philippines and I want to tell you all about it, but first I REALLY need to finish blogging/journaling about our East Coast trip. This is especially important now that I left my journal on the Cathay Pacific flight from LA to HK, meaning I will most likely never see it again:(

Our arrival to New York City was quite eventful. Our flight from Maine was delayed by hours, so we didn't end up arriving at JFK until about 1 AM on Tuesday morning. We were both just ready to lay down and sleep. But, we had to go to our awesome hotel first. Let's just say that Jamaica New York is not the nicest place in the world (sorry to anyone who is from there). We knew this when booking our hotel, but we figured it was only one night so how bad could it be? Well, let's just say that I ended up leaving a not so nice review of the hotel on hotwire. It was pretty ridiculous.
-First thing was the driver for the "complimentary" shuttle picked us up and kept calling me "mommy" and "wifey"....uh, anyone who knows me pretty much knows that does not go over well especially at 1 AM. The next best thing about our driver was that he thought we would love it if he got us to the hotel fast...not safely. He literally blew through like 3 red lights, flew around corners causing me to hit my head on the window and never braking for anyone. It was quite the ride. The last thing that I loved about our "complimentary" shuttle to the hotel from the airport was that our driver was holding a wad of big bills in his hand. To me, he was saying "make sure you tip me"....and all I wanted to do was punch him. So, when we got out of the car I walked in to the hotel to check in while allowing Ben to get the bags. Part of my reasoning for this was that I didn't want to tip the guy and I knew that Ben didn't have any cash. Well, that didn't deter our little buddy. He FOLLOWED Ben into the lobby to get his tip. I about died. Last time I checked, it is my option to tip or not to tip. But, I was tired so I asked if I could get change for a 20 from the desk. They didn't have it...guess who did?....our wonderful driver. So, Ben gave him the $20 bill and waited for change. He handed him $15 back. It is also my choice on how much I am going to tip someone so Ben said, "uh, I need the full $20 back". The guy huffed and gave it to him, and Ben gave him $2. He said outloud, "wow, thanks"! Ya, I was NOT impressed. So, then we checked into our hotel. We got onto the elevator and we were already concerned for the quality of the place. We got to our room and there were so many stains and such on the floor that I didn't even feel comfortable taking off my shoes. People, I really am not usually a snob. Uh...I am living in the Philippines, I am ok with dirtiness, but this was just gross. Let's just say we were glad this was just a one night thing.
-To finish off our awesome hotel experience, in the morning we got up pretty late. We knew that there was a hotel shuttle every 1/2 hour from a sign they had in the room. It was almost 11 and we weren't quite ready, so I called down to the front desk to make sure they would have a shuttle at 11:30. She informed me that the next shuttle would not be until noon. Well, lets just say I had no desire to stay at that place for another hour. We were taking the shuttle back to the airport in order to get on the airtrain and then the subway into Manhatten. Anyway, I decided I would run downstairs and let Ben finish up. That way they would know I wanted to take the shuttle. Anyway, I got downstairs and walked out to the shuttle. The driver was helping people on so I just walked over and asked "this shuttle leaves at 11:00 AM, right?" His answer, "I leave when I am full" said quite curtly. So, I then asked "oh, so then when will you be back for the next one"...again, a curt reply of "I won't be back, I am off and I will be going home"....uh, ok, not really the meaning of my question. I just wanted to know when the next shuttle would be. He just said he didn't know. Then, even though the bus wasn't full and it wasn't 11 AM yet, he started to shut the doors. I said "are you full" and he said "we are leaving".. Ya, I was pissed. So, I then said not so nicely "well, thanks for all of your help.." and started to walk away. So, guess what the friendly bus driver did? Did he get in his drivers seat and drive away with his guests waiting for him? Nope. He proceeded to follow me into the hotel yelling profanities at me and telling me I couldn't treat him that way. I tried to ignore him, but as he was yelling through the lobby I turned to him and said "My experience at this hotel and with your shuttles has been horrible. Your job is customer service..." and then he totally exploded. He was within inches of my face yelling at me "Don't you tell me what my *#$%ing job is" over and over again. Uh, ya...so awesome. Finally, the hotel manager had to come over and break it up. She asked what had happened so I explained both the awesome driver from the night before and my wonderful experience with that driver. She proceeded to arrange a separate bus for us to get to the airport immediately. Boy was I glad to get out of that place.

So, that was our "welcome to New York". I will blog about the rest of day 1 later tonight.