How to Almost Not Survive NYC

Well, I had an incredibly busy day. I guess I'll start at the beginning and get to the really exciting part at the end. I slept terribly and was basically up at 5am. Then I dozed,played games, counted the buildings in NYC- I hate jet lag. Anyways we ended up going to the American Museum of Natural History, which was really spectacular. I highly recomend it to anyone who goes to NYC. There is a massive dinosaur and general evolution exhibit, which my dad and I really enjoyed. I loved dinosaurs as a child- apparently I still do. It never fails to shock me- those reptiles were massive! There were also lots of interesting Native People's exhibits, though some were a bit creepy. Native peoples of Asia and America have a bit of a violent streak to them that I always forget about. In addition, the minerals and gem exhibition was really lovely. After the museum we took the tourist bus (Grey Line company I think) on the purple line back to Times Square. It actually went through Harlem, which I don't get the fuss about. Harlem is getting more upscale and is generally safer than what they love showing in the movies. So that was interesting overall. Had dinner in Times Square then walked to the theatre to see Phantom of the Opera. I have to say, it's on the list of "Best Shows I've Ever Seen". It was completely amazing- opera, but not the horrible boring kind. The story was lovely and the costumes were gorgeous! We sat in the second row, so we got to see all the details. That and the set was spectacular. The famous chandelier was directly overhead from me and swung about at least once. Basically, it nearly killed me. ... Okay, not really. It was such a good show! I can still hear the music in my head~ Unfortunately, we couldn't get a taxi after the show. Honestly, how does anyone manage to get one? After walking and getting soaked (did I mention it was windy and rainy?) we ended up taking one of those bicycle rickshaw things. It was really, really expensive but apparently we were desperate enough. My mom was positively whimpering when the guy started weaving around the cars. I don't know, it just felt like being in Asia to me. Actually, when I got into the rickshaw thing I joked, "We're gonna die." I'm really glad it stayed a joke. Though I thought it was fun it was quite scary too. Well, now time to dry off and go to bed. Finally- I'm on NYC time (not)!!