Useful sites for your travel convenience.

Love it or hate it. New York City is one of the most recognizable cities in the world. It is known as the fashion capital of the world. It's well-known for its international cuisines. It has more Broadway shows play at anytime than any other cities. It is the place movies like 'Spiderman' and 'Batman' call home, and it is 'Sex And The City' that put it in the world map as the place to be for guys and girls with dreams to succeed. With world class museums, galleries, and theaters, it is the most visited tourist destination in the United States, and it is constantly ranked among the top ten cities in the world.

I have lived and worked in New York City for the last eight years. The city that never sleeps is constantly evolving.

Known as the crossroad of the world, Times Square is the official site for the annual New Year's Eve ball drop. It is intensely lit with megawatts of animated neons and signboards. It's made into a traffic free zone a few years back, and most recently, it is also made into a smoke free zone. The Radio City Music Hall is located here. It is home to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular since 1933, which features the women's precision dance team - the world famous Rockettes.

Of course there is Central Park, which receives approximately 25 million visitors annually. Its 843 acres of artificially created lakes and ponds, walking tracks, the Central Park Zoo, a Conservatory Garden, wildlife sanctuary, swimming pool in the summer and ice-skating rink in the winter, is the most visited urban park in the United States. And, not forgetting Strawberry Field: Central Park's dedication to the late John Lennon, is one the most popular tourist destinations in New York City.

Close by is 5th Avenue, which has one of the highest retail space at cost per square foot in the world. It is home to well-known designers' boutiques and high-end departmental stores, and it is constantly ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world. Many of these stores feature spectacular window displays during Christmas Seasons – some of the bests in world.

New York City is the world's 'melting pot'. It has a high population density and is exceptionally diverse with a multitude of different ethnic groups. People come here from all over the world. There are more than 150 languages spoken in the city and today, more than 40% of the city population is foreign-born like myself.

Take a walk down Chinatown in lower Manhattan, and you feel like you are somewhere in Asia. Or take a train to Jackson Heights, Queens and you think you are in Central America. Or further down Williamsburg in Brooklyn you might think you are in a tiny town in Poland. What makes the city so great is that its inhabitants are very tolerant of each other's religion, culture, and race, although every once in awhile you might find someone who is not.

Getting around the city is very easy and inexpensive. The City's Subway System is one of the few in the world that runs 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The subway system is the fourth busiest transit system in the world. Its 'one price fits all' system is one of the cheapest in the world; it does not matter how far or short the distance is, you can go anywhere in the five boroughs for just one price!

Love it or hate it, everything about New York is one of the bests in the world. No matter where you are, if you said you live in New York, it seems like people have a lot of respect to the ones living here cause if you can survive in the Big Apple, you can survive anywhere in the world. And, I'm proud to say I am a New Yorker.