Traversing neighbourhoods

One of the many things that I have to learn how to do on my own, now that I am an international student, is budgeting. This is especially important for students in Manhattan because the cost of living here is really high! If one is not careful, you Will bleed money. Without a doubt the thing I spend the most on is transport. The world-famous NY subway (famous especially for being referenced to a lot in pop culture – it is believed that Marvel superheroes once fought upon fast-moving subway trains!!) is the main mode of transport here in NYC and it costs US$2.75 per trip, regardless of the distance. So a round trip between my home and school would cost US$5.50. That’s pretty steep compared to what I pay back home in Singapore. So, yesterday I decided to walk from home to school to see if cutting out transport costs is a possibility. Home is on the 86th st and school is on 122nd st. It took slightly longer than the timing google maps predicted – the walk took about 45 mins. This is fine if I have time to spare or if the weather is good. But if I have early morning classes this is probably a no-go. But I’m glad I walked, I had the chance to see a sleepy NYC slowly awake to a breezy Saturday morning.

The results of placement exams are out and I’m very happy to say that I passed out of all four semesters of keyboard skills and 1 semester each of theory and aural skills. If there are any MSM students who are reading this – please be assured that I’m not a brag, it’s just that this blog is probably the most convenient way for my family and friends in Singapore to know what is happening in my life so I want to be quite informative 🙂

I went to Redeemer Presbyterian church this morning and was pleasantly surprised that Timothy Keller was preaching (picture below to prove it). I say pleasantly surprised because I’m under the impression that Keller is kinda busy in that he shuttles between the three different branches of Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC, so he may not necessarily be preaching at the branch that you are at.

Naruto ramen!! Cool name, I wanna try it someday
Blue skies on Saturday morning

In NYC, Jazz has their own newspaper say what.
Reverend Timothy Keller

FDNY in action

Dining hall of MSM!

Practicing in the organ room

urgh.

My neighbourhood in the evenings.

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. ” James 5:7-8