Something new happen during the breakfast : instead of the sweet bread "pain
perdu" we had yesterday, we had Pan Cakes today with mapple syrup : AWESOME !
Combined with the eggs, bacons, fruit ... This was a good point to full up our
energy, and this day needed a lot of it !
As scheduled, we went to the PNC bank to open our bank account just after
breakfast. Thanksfully, the bank, located just in front of Siemens, is used to
see some intern, so the agents helped us with the different forms etc ...
Finally, it took around 20 minutes per person to finish the process and as a
welcome present, we have a $100 offered when Siemens will do their first
payment.
Just after that, we went to an AT&T store to see what kind of mobile
plan they have. After some discussion with the seller, four of us decided to
take an iPhone with a prepaid "GoPhone" plan plus an unlimited-data option. The
seller explain us briefly how to activate the phones.
As we were near the apartment, we went directly their to see our leasing
agent Karen. We had some forms to fill again and to open our access to gas,
electricity and water ; thanksfully, our agent helped us with all these
processes. Around 45 minutes later, she finally gave us our apartment keys to
visit what we paid for : a 150 m² apartment with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.
The apartment is located on the 2nd floor (1er étage) and has a garage with a
remote-control ! The area is really nice with a Dunkin Donuts which we havn't
tried yet just near the apartment. Their is also a lake, a gym and a
winter-closed swimming-pool.
This duty fulfilled, we went back to the hotel to try to activate our phones
; but the process isn't as simple as it seems and without any Social Security
Number yet, we didn't succeed this. Conclusion, our phones are useless at the
moment, but we will go back to the shop first thing tomorrow.
Having some time to spare, we decided to go and have a look at the Big
Apple, New York City. Our EPITA 2007 friends advised us to drive to Jersey City
and take the PATH (equivalent to the french RER) from here. So, we took the US
1 for about 45 minutes and been directed to Hoboken, a city near Jersey City
and New York City ; having found a PATH station, we tried to look for a free
parking place but it doesn't seem to exist in this town so we went to Jersey
City area. We had more luck other there since we found a place free from 5pm,
it was 6 when we arrived.
So, we took the PATH after buying our New York City Metro Card and arrived
somewhere pretty far from Manhattan. Having spotted some lights, we walked to
this direction to find the World Trade Centers and Ground Zero : impressive !
We walked again up north to find the City Hall. From here, we took the Subway
to Time Square.
We had seen this place many times in many movies or TV Shows, but being
there was really ... AWESOME ! It is hard to describe and I think that this
will be a place we will visit a lot :) . I also had my first New York City Hot
Dog : AWESOME ! I really can't understand why French still do their Hot Dogs
with baguette ... From this point, we walked around at a high pace to have a
quick look of the area ; we will come back later when my love Céline will come
: still 3 days to wait ...
We finally get back to our car at 9:30 to arrive at the hotel around 22:15. We give another try to the iPhone activation without success ... Hope we will have more luck tomorrow !