The Loaf @ Telaga Harbour Park, Langkawi

*This post was originally posted on our main blog on 04/15/2010*

After the Oriental Village, we headed towards Pantai Kok to check out Telaga Harbour Park. Langkawi is well known as a major sailing and yachting destination, so it is no suprise that many marinas can be found all over the island. However, Telaga Harbour is one of the more popular ones and is said to be the most beautiful. From the moment we got there, I can see the reason why. The whole marina is landscaped and designed to resemble a Mediterranean-style harbour town of the French Riviera, with beautiful luxury yachts docked at the harbour. For a split second, I forgot that I was actually in Malaysia! Of course, the amazing view of the Andaman Sea as well as the Mt Matchingcang range reminded me that yes, we are still in Langkawi :D

Perdana Quay is the place to go if you are looking to wine and dine in Telaga Harbour Park. There are many restaurants (mostly high end ones) for you to choose from. Since we were there in the afternoon, there wasn't much activity going on. I can just imagine how it will be like when the sun goes down. With awesome views of the Andaman Sea, you can choose to dine al fresco or inside. I can't remember exactly all the restaurants that is there but I know that there is a Russian (Restaurant USSR), Seafood (Pulau Pulau Seafood) and Italian (Mare Blue) restaurant. Of course, the famous Loaf Bakery & Bistro is also located at Perdana Quay.

I have heard so much about The Loaf that we just had to go check it out. Opened in 2006, this is the original branch of The Loaf (there is now a branch in Pavillion, KL too). Owned by Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir, The Loaf is well known for it's bread and pastries that are baked using traditional Japanese techniques.

Check out the almost full basket of pastries that we picked out (RM4 - RM7 a piece)! I must say that they don't come cheap but they sure taste awesome :P Apart from it being a bakery, The Loaf is also a dine in cafe with a full ala carte menu. If you are ever around the area during breakfast, it is said that you have to try Tun Dr Mahathir's favorite breakfast set (RM22). It consist of a bowl of fragrant mutton curry, two soft boiled eggs and chunky toasted bread. Sounds good to me!

Another 'must have' when you are at The Loaf are their Mini Uhu! Uh!s. Mini what??? What's that? :P Well, let's just say they are little cups of heaven! They are tiny cup cake size cheese cakes, available in many different flavors. I believe there are 20 flavors in total, some with wacky names like Coco Loco and Glitzy Strawberries. There are also some 'Malaysianized' flavors like Splendid Kaya, Refreshing Longan, Enticing Rouge (air bandung) and of course, Durian Obsession. These tiny cheese cakes don't come cheap though. A single cup cost RM3.20, 1/2 a dozen is RM16.50 and a dozen will set you back RM31.90! I guess it's worth it if you are a big cheese cake fan :D I'm glad we stopped by The Loaf to pick up some snacks. The pastries were yummy and even though it's a little bit on the expensive side, I think it's well worth it. Maybe we should have brunch there the next time we are in Langkawi!

The Loaf Bakery & Bistro
Lot No C9 Perdana Quay,
Telaga Harbour Park,
Pantai Kok, 07000 Langkawi,
Kedah, Malaysia
Tel: (604) 959 4866
Fax: (604) 959 4803

South Street Seaport Museum - NYC, NY

*This post was originally posted on our main blog on 10/07/2009*

This is another backdated post. The Smithsonian magazine had their "Museum Day" on September 26, 2009. All we had to do was print out the "Museum Day" admission card from their website and we could enjoy free general admission (for 2 people) to hundreds of museums and cultural venues nationwide. There was quite an extensive list for the NJ/NYC region but we finally decided to go checkout the South Street Seaport Museum. Without the free Smithsonian admission card, it would have cost us $10 per person, just for general admission!

The South Street Seaport is a historical area located where Fulton Street meets the East River, just next to the Financial District. It features some of the oldest architecture in downtown Manhattan and includes the largest concentration of restored early 19th-century commercial buildings in the city. You can find renovated original mercantile buildings, renovated sailing ships, the former Fulton Fish Market, malls, nice restaurants, great nightlife and of course, the famous South Street Seaport Museum here. If you are looking to catch the NY Water Taxi or go on one of the many NY Harbour Cruise, this is the best place to go on one.

The whole South Street Seaport has a great concept. With the streets preserved in cobblestone, almost all buildings and the entire Seaport neighborhood are meant to transport the visitor back in time to New York's mid-1800s, to demonstrate what life in the commercial maritime trade was like. Here is a photo of me in front of the Museums main building as well as the ticket office and gift shop. There are currently two exhibitions going on here at the main building, the "New Amsterdam: Island At The Center Of The World" and "Treasures Of A President: FDR And The Sea". The FDR exhibit just opened 6 days ago, so it was cool to check it out. This row of buildings is called the Schermerhorn Row Galleries. The original intent of the Seaport development was the preservation of this block of buildings, which was threatened with destruction from neglect at a time when the history of New York City's sailing ship industry was not valued.

Opposite the Schermerhorn Row Galleries is the Fulton Market. Apart from housing some very nice restaurants, you can also check out the famous BODIES - The Exhibition. It features over 200 specimens consisting of whole-bodies and individual organs that have been meticulously dissected and preserved through an innovative process. Sounds gross but yet, many people flock to see it. Visiting the exhibition doesn't come cheap though, tickets cost $27.50 a person on weekends.

What I like about the South Street Seaport Museum is the layout. Unlike other museums, it's not constricted to one huge building but it's made up of smaller buildings and piers all over the Seaport area. We are not allowed to take photos inside the exhibits, so I can only show you the buildings from the outside. Here is Kevin outside the Galleries on Water St. This is where you can check out the "Monarchs of the Sea" exhibit. It's permanent exhibition that features plans, models and memorabilia that evoke the majesty and magic of a time when ocean liners were considered luxury travel. Since all the models are made in the same size ratio, it's pretty cool that you can compare the Titanic or the Queen Mary to one of the current day cruise ships, like the ever popular Carnival Cruises.

We also went in to checkout the Bowne & Co. Stationers. New York City was the center of the letterpress printing industry during the 19th century. Printing offices and "job shops" clustered between Park Row and Fulton Street. Bowne & Co. Stationers was one of those shops. Now, it is a part of the South Street Seaport Museum and it still resembles a typical job shop of the late 1870's. It really feels like walking back into time the moment you step into the shop. However, it is not just a museum display. In fact, it is still a working letterpress office and continues to take commissions for cards, announcements and other social stationery. All text is set and composed by hand using Bowne’s historic antique type collection and then printed on original 19th century treadle-powered platen presses. How cool is that?

On our way to Pier 16, we passed by the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse. It is a memorial to the passengers, officers and crew who died as heroes when the steamship Titanic sank after collision with an iceberg on April 15, 1912. It was erected in 1913 and originally stood above the East River on the roof of the old Seamen's Church Institute at the corner of South Street and Coenties Slip. The time ball at the top of the Lighthouse would drop down the pole to signal twelve noon to the ships in the Harbor. This time ball mechanism was activated by a telegraphic signal from the National Observatory in Washington, D.C. How cool is that? When the Seamen's Church Institute moved its headquarters in 1968, the lighthouse was donated to the South Street Seaport Museum. It was erected on this corner at the entrance to the museum complex in May 1976 and continues to stand til today.

After checking out all of the buildings, we headed out of Pier 16 for the highlight of our museum outing - to check out Peking, a steel-hulled four-masted barque and the lightship, Ambrose.

First up, the Peking. It was launched in 1911 in Germany and was used to carry fuel and manufactured goods to the West Coast of South America, around Cape Horn and then return to European ports with nitrate mined in northern Chile.

All aboard! Let's go explore the Peking!

With her four masted bark rig, steel hull & masts and midship bridge deck, the Peking represents the final generation of sailing ships built for world trade. Though a product of the 20th century, she still sailed in the traditional way, with few labor saving devices or safety features. Her crew followed the standard sailing vessel routine of four hours on duty and four hours off duty, alternating around the clock, 7 days a week.

Check out the sailor boy with the giant wheel! Look at the big smile plastered on his face, I guess it brings back some good memories from his sailing days :P

The Peking was retired in 1933, when steamers using the Panama Canal took over what was left of the nitrate trade. She served as a nautical school for boys, moored in a British river until she was acquired by the museum in 1974.

Today, she is docked on Pier 16 as a permanent feature in the South Street Seaport Museum. You can get an awesome view of the Brooklyn Bridge, East River and the skyline of Brooklyn Heights from her stern.

You can also find the Living Harbour Wet Lab on board the Peking. It is a collection of live marine life that can be found in the Harbours of NYC. Small exhibit, but pretty interesting.

From the Peking, we will now head over to the lightship, Ambrose. The Ambrose lightship was built in 1908 to guide ships safely into the broad mouth of lower New York Bay, between Coney Island, NY and Sandy Hook, NJ - an area filled with sand bars and shoals invisible to approaching vessels. While a light house is normally used for this purpose, the water here was too deep and the bottom was too soft, so...this floating alternative was devised.

Up on the gangway we go!

Here am I in the pilot house. It's way smaller than Pekings but the Ambrose was swaying like crazy that day. I felt like I was drunk or something :P

Kevin down at the anchor windlass. Again, its really small and cramp. I would just die if I had to work in there!

What is a lightship without the light? This is the star of the whole tour. A vessel approaching the port would search the horizon for the lightship, identifying it at night by a pattern of light at the top of the mast and in daylight by it's distinctive hull color and name lettered on the side.

In rain or fog, the lightship will announce its location using powerful foghorns.

The Ambrose served as a lightship until 1963 and was given to the museum by the US Coast Guard in 1968. Today, it is docked permanently on Pier 16 and is still one of the best places to go to in Manhattan if you are looking for an awesome view of the skyline of Brooklyn Heights!

Our last stop before we headed out to lunch was the South Street Seaport Museum's Maritime Craft Center. The workshop was erected in 1983 and was made out of two ship containers joined together with the windows and doors cut out. Here wood carvers and model builders demonstrate their skills, showing that they are at home using traditional skills of the past as well as new techniques. With that, it concludes our day out to the South Street Seaport Museum. It's very well laid out and I safely can say that even though you are not really interested in all things related to ships and the maritime (Kevin loves anything to do with ships and the sea, but me...not really :P), you will not be bored and will still have loads of fun exploring this museum! Definitely one of the 'must see' museums if you are planning to visit NYC!

South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton Street,
New York, NY 10038
Tel: (212) 748.8786
Web: http://www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org/

Intrepid - Sea, Air & Space Museum (Final Part)

*This post was originally posted on our main blog on 04/09/2009*

After finishing our Gatorade in the Mess Deck, we headed out to the Pier. The newly renovated Pier looks real good. There are loads of cafe like tables and chairs as well as park benches for museum visitors to take a break or to have a picnic lunch. They even have free WIFI so that you can access the Internet if you need to. From the Pier, we can also check out the USS Intrepid's stern.You can see how the giant spool of thread mooring lines is used to tie it up to the dock.

As we continued to walk towards the end of the Pier, we were greeted by this magnificent British Airways Concorde Alpha Delta G-BOAD. We were pretty excited to see the Concorde up close. This Concorde was built in 1976 and cost $152 million dollars! That was a LOT of money back in 1976, hmmm come to think of it, that is lot of money even for NOW! :P It's the fastest and highest flying airliner in existence, taking less than three hours to fly from New York to London (half the time of regular airliners). Do not be alarmed by the dark black smoke behind the Concorde. The black smoke was coming from a brush fire in New Jersey :D

We were kinda surprise that the Concorde is actually very very slim. It has a max cruise speed of 1,350 mph (mach 2.04) and a cruising altitude of 60,000', high enough for it's passengers to see the curvature of the earth!! It's about 203' in length and a wingspan of 83'. The Concorde is powered by four Rolls Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 engines and is capable of covering 3,900 nautical miles without refueling. An interesting fact that we learned while we were there was the Concorde expands approximately 8 inches during flight due to friction heating. Wow! I didn't know that.

While it was in operation, more than 2.5 million passengers experienced the luxury of the Concorde Alpha Delta. It's so cool that we had a chance to actually go on board to see what it looks like inside. An average transatlantic fare was about $6,000! Wow $6,000! With $6,000, I can get five return tickets to fly home to Malaysia and back!! Another thing I noticed about the Concorde is that the windows are very very very tiny. Look at it. It just slighter larger than a passport. Something like the size of a large PDA. I guess it's so fast you won't have time to look out of the window!! :D

Upon entering the plane, we get to walk through the cabins. The Concorde can hold between 90 to 100 passengers. The seats looks really small and tight. The legroom was alright but the width of the seats were really small. Even the aisle was really tight. I would hate to be sitting in the aisle seat when the food cart is coming by :P Oh, what about if you really really need to go to the toilet and the food cart was there? Man, there is no way to go around it! Hahaha! Talking about the toilets on board, they are really small too!! If you think the regular airline toilets are small, you should checkout the Concorde's toilet.

On the way out of the plane, we had a chance to peek into the cockpit. So many buttons and knobs! The Concorde has a flight crew of two pilots, one flight engineer and six cabin crew. I guess one of the criteria for being a flight crew member, be it pilot or cabin crew is that you must be super skinny. I cannot imagine myself working in that tight and compact environment. No fatties please!

Protest from environmentalists prevented it's supersonic use over the United States and limited airport operations here. A crash upon take off in July 2000 grounded the fleet until 2001. The Concorde flew VIP passengers until 2003 and that's when both British Airways as well as Air France retired their fleets from service. Once we finished walking through the Concorde, we went to check out the little cafe/picnic area under the Concorde. You can just sit UNDER a Concorde for a cup of coffee or a snack. Isn't that wayyyy cool? Where else can you have a cup of coffee under the Concorde as well as enjoy the view of the Hudson River? Very very nice!

From the Concorde, we headed to the other side of the Pier to see the Growler submarine! We read in the museum guide book that we would be able to go aboard this diesel powered nuclear missile submarine. However, our excitement vanish when we saw a big sign saying that it was close for repairs :( Mannn, what a bummer. I read in some article online later on that it was undergoing some repairs because its hull was leaking. The Growler submarine will only be opened to the public in late May. Oh well, it was still cool to see a submarine up close. Here is a photo of the Gowler submarine as well as the 56 ft long Regulus cruise missile.

We headed to the Museum Gift Shop on the way out. There were the usual t-shirts, fridge magnets, key chains, shot glasses, post cards..ect for sale as well as Armed Forces inspired toys and books. They also had some space kits and models of ships and airplanes for children. Guess what we bought from the gift shop? :D

SPACE FOOD STICKS!! We bought one chocolate and one peanut butter flavor ($2.95 each). Yup, that's right. Astronaut food. They were actually developed as high protein energy snacks for early space missions. Kevin told me that he tried astronaut ice cream when he visited the Kennedy Space Center a long time ago when he was a kid. He said that it was yummy so we wanted to try and see if this is good too. The verdict? Boyyy, I have never eaten anything so gross before! We opened the chocolate stick first. It was a weird brown color (looks like poop) and when I tried to break it into two, it wouldn't break! It just bend into half and wouldn't break! I took a tiny bite and I was glad it was a tiny bite! It had this weird powdery texture, had some sort of plastic smell and tasted terrible! Yucks!! The peanut butter stick was even worse. It didn't taste like peanut butter at all!! Just some tasteless plastic smelling stick. Very very bad!!! :P Please remind me never to buy space food ever again. Hahaha!

Overall, we had a greeeaaat time at the Intrepid Museum. It was a very informative and interesting outing. The weather was perfect, with the sun shining brightly and a nice cool breeze was blowing. We had fun and would definitely recommend the Intrepid to anybody who is looking for something fun to do in NYC!

Intrepid - Sea, Air & Space Museum
Pier 86, W 46th St and 12th Ave
New York, NY 10036
Tel: (212)245 0072
Web: http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/

Intrepid - Sea, Air & Space Museum (Part II)

*This post was originally posted on our main blog on 04/08/2009*

Alritey, are we ready to continue on the tour of the USS Intrepid? We have covered the whole flight deck and now we will be entering the Island. From here, Intrepids crew members navigated the aircraft carrier, tracked vessels as well as monitored flight operations. It contained all the equipment that was state of the art for it's day. From the Island, we can also get superb views of the flight deck as well as the Manhattan skyline.

The highest level of the Island is the Flag Bridge. Back in the day, when the Intrepid was designated as the flagship of a battle group, the admiral in charge would occupy the flag bridge and command all the ships as one unit. The Intrepids captain still maintained direct command of his ship but took orders related to battle group activities from the admiral. He would exercise his command from the Navigation Bridge, one level below. Here is Kevin, about to enter Navigation Bridge or Captains Bridge which is below the Flag Bridge. Pretty interesting.

Now we are in the Navigation Bridge, where the captain commanded his ship. From the captains seat, he could observe the flight deck as well as look out to sea. The bridge contains controls for steering and navigation. We also managed to get a good look at the helm (wheel), communication equipment that allows bridge offers to send commands down to the engine room as well as telephones and talk tubes to allow the captain and his staff to communicate with other parts of the ship (maybe it's for when he wants to order up some room service food :P). There was also a room with a tiny bed at the back, I guess it's for the captain to rest when he needs to. The Navigation Bridge also allows excess to the Gallery Deck inside the Intrepid. This is where you can look at the Ready Room - the place pilots receive their last instructions before taking off as well as the Combat Information Center. This is one level below the Flight Deck. I didn't take any photos on this deck because it pretty dark and tight, a maze of small walkways and rooms. I actually felt a little claustrophobic in there :P

From the Gallery Deck, we went down one more level to the Hanger Deck. Ahhhhh better. At least it's not so claustrophobic anymore. This is considered the Main Deck of the Intrepid. There are lots of things to do on this deck. You can follow the decks two separate paths, an exhibition of people who lived and worked on the ship which is on the starboard side and we can also explore the Intrepid's technology exhibition which is on the port side. There are also a lot of hands on things for kids at the Exploreum. They can try to land a plane in the flight stimulator, climb into a life boat, pick up objects while wearing an astronauts glove, sit in an helicopter cockpit and a host of other things. Here is Kevin with the Aurora 7 Capsule replica. The Intrepid participated in the NASA space program as a recovery vessel, picking up astronauts and their capsules after ocean landings.

There are also a few airplanes and helicopters on display in the Hanger Deck. After all, this was where they kept all the airplanes back in the day. It was designed to accommodate 90 aircrafts during WW II. I'm seen here with the A-4B Skyhawk. The Skyhawk weighed half an much as the Skyrider and featured a modified delta wing that did not require folding for carrier hanger storage or transportation to the flight deck. It also set a world speed record of 695 mph in 1954. Senator John McCain had also flown the A-4 off the USS Forrestal during the Vietnam War (he previously had flown Skyriders off the Intrepid). This A-4B is painted to resemble one that flew off the Intrepid during her first Veitnam tour.

Now it's time to move to the bow of the Intrepid to the Fo'c's'le (an abbreviation of forecastle), which traditionally refers to the forward part of the ship. Here is Kevin in the Anchor Chain Room. This is where the massive chains of anchor enters the ship. Look at the size of the chains. Each link of the Intrepid's anchor chain weighs 150lbs! The total weight of each anchor chain is a whooping 30,000lbs!! There are three of that positioned at the bow.

Here am I looking amused at the super huge mooring lines. Looks like a giant spool of thread! All we need now is a giant needle, then I can sew the world's largest shirt or something like that. Who am I kidding, I can't sew for anything! Hahaha. The mooring lines is used to tie up the ship to the dock.

The Fo'c's'le also houses some of the Intrepid's officers. This is an example of a Junior Officers Berthing. While Junior Offers bunked dormitory style, higher ranking officers share two person staterooms. Here are two photos of the super small cabin. Bunk beds on one side with some sort of storage and desk as well as a sink and mirror on the other side of the room. I guess they have nothing to complain about. This looks like the Hilton compared to the Sailors Berthing. It looks terrible...three layers that looks like hammocks or cots and each sailor is assigned one of those and a small locker. I couldn't take any pictures because there were too many people and I kept on getting a reflection from the flash hitting the glass enclosure.

With that, we have completed the Hanger Deck. Now, let us proceed downwards to the Third Deck. The entire third deck is also referred to as the Mess Deck. The cooks prepare food for the crew in two large galleys, equipped with grills, fryers and ovens. I saw the biggest mixer ever in the galley..it was as tall as me!! It must be the King of all Kitchenaid mixers :D We also had a chance to look at the officers mess halls as well as the regular mess halls. For crews who had to stay at their post during mealtimes, the cooks would bring basic cold rations to their post. However, Navy 'chow' was (and some say it's true til today) regarded as the finest in the Armed Forces, offering 'three hot squares' a day. The Intrepid Museum has converted one of the mess halls into a cafeteria where we can purchase drinks and snacks. We were so tired from all the walking (it's really really big!), so we took a break and bought some drinks :P

This concludes the tour from the inside of the USS Intrepid. In the final part of this three part tour of the Intrepid Museum, we will head outside to the Pier to checkout the British Airways Concorde as well as the Growler Submarine. Stick around for the final part!! :D

Intrepid - Sea, Air & Space Museum
Pier 86, W 46th St and 12th Ave
New York, NY 10036
Tel: (212)245 0072
Web: http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/

Intrepid - Sea, Air & Space Museum (Part I)

*This post was originally posted on our main blog on 04/07/2009*

We have always wanted to visit the Intrepid Museum and we had opportunity to do so last Sunday. We received free tickets from Bank of America under the Museums On Us program and we were pretty excited about it. The regular ticket price was $19.50 per adult, so we already saved ourselves $39.00!! It was such a nice spring day.The skies were blue and the weather was just perfect, not too hot and not too cold. The nearest subway stop is the 42nd St station. You can either catch a cab, bus or walk from the subway to the Intrepid. Since it was a such nice day, we didn't mind walking. Checkout some of the daffodils and white cherry blossoms that we saw along the way. Spring is definitely here!

It was already lunch time and we were getting hungry. So, we stopped at one of the Shish Kebab carts to get a Hot Italian Sausage Dog. It's so funny that he stopped cooking to pose for the photo!

This is a close up of the Hot Italian Sausage Dog. He sliced the Hot Italian Sausage and put some ketchup and mustard (which I didn't want) inside. The taste? Truthfully, it was one of the worst dogs ever! Kevin seems to like it but it tasted weird to me. We couldn't even tell if it was beef, pork, chicken or who knows what. Rat maybe? Hahaha. It wasn't cheap either, set us back $12 for two dogs.

Ok ok, you must be thinking, isn't this post supposed to be about the Intrepid? I guess I got carried away. After the dogs, we arrived at the Intrepid at last! It's located on Pier 86, at 12th Avenue and 46th St. The aircraft carrier USS Intrepid was built in 1943 and served tours of duty spanning from WW II through the Vietnam War. During that time, she also survived five kamikaze attacks, several bomb attacks and one torpedo strike!! Not just that, she also served as a NASA astronaut recovery vessel before retiring in 1974. Pretty cool huh? No wonder the line was sooooo long to get it. Once you get in the door, there is still a long line before the ticket booths. Thank God it was a fast moving line. I think it took us only about 15 minutes to get in.

Once we have passed through the Welcome Center, we were ushered out to the Pier. This is where you can choose to go on the USS Intrepid, checkout the Growler Submarine or the British Airways Concorde. We decided to head to the aircraft carrier first, since that's the main attraction. It was recommended that we start from the Flight Deck, the highest level of the aircraft carrier. So, Flight Deck it was....Welcome Aboard!

The Flight Deck is every boys dream (maybe some girls too). It holds the Intrepid Museums aircraft collection, about 30 airplanes and helicopters. It's a mix of US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp, Coast Guard as well as some foreign aircrafts. I must admit that yes, I guess it's pretty exciting to see all those cool aircrafts up close but I really didn't know what they are, who they belong to and which war it was used in. Kevin on the other hand was very excited and he had to answer all my "what's this, where is this from, and who flew it" questions :P Here is Kevin standing in front of the Vought F-8K Crusader. It's a US Navy aircraft and was the first supersonic fighter designed for carrier use. The one next to it is the Grumman A-6F Intruder and the one with the red stripes is the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. The F-14 Tomcat was the Navy's first line fighter from 1972- 2006. This is the same type of aircraft that was featured in the movie Top Gun.

Here is a photo of us standing at the bow of the Intrepid with view of the Manhattan skyline behind us. Remember the movie "I am Legend"? Neville (played by Will Smith) was hitting golf balls off an aircraft carrier? Well, it was on the deck here at the Intrepid.

This is a U.S Coast Guard helicopter. The HH-52 was the first turbo-shaft helicopter, flies at 104mph and it has rescued more people than any other helicopter in the world.

I took a picture of this helicopter because I thought that is was very cute :P Kevin later told me that it's a AH-1 Cobra and it was used during the Vietnam War. It was the first helicopter that was designed especially for the ground attack role and it has a top speed of 219 mph. The pilot flies from the rear of the cockpit and the gunner is in front, controlling the mini gun and grenade launcher. Kinda cool, huh? :D

Here is a fleet of colorful foreign aircrafts. The first three are from the Soviet Union. There are also some from Italy, Israel, Russia, France as well as England. I was trying my best to remember when it was flown and stuff like that but I was slowly losing interest (information overload :P). I think there was a Blackbird and Viper from the Air Force too but I didn't take a photo of it.

After walking through all the interesting aircrafts, we reached the stern of the aircraft carrier. What an amazing sight. This must have been the view of the aircraft carrier that pilots got back in the day when they landed their aircrafts. I must say that I was really impressed with the size of the aircraft carrier. I didn't expect it to be soooo big! If I am not mistaken, it's about 912' in length.

We are done checking out the flight deck. Now, we are going into the Navigation Bridge as well as other decks of the Intrepid. Wanna join us? Stay tuned for the next post....

Intrepid - Sea, Air & Space Museum
Pier 86, W 46th St and 12th Ave
New York, NY 10036
Tel: (212)245 0072
Web: http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/