As a bicycle lover, I was really pleased and a little surprise to see a long bicycle lanes and greenway in NYC on my trip to the city last month. After we checked in at our hotel on E. 28th. Street in Midtown, we freshened up a bit and left the hotel around 5;00 PM.
We walked and window-shopped along E28th. Street until we got to a junction where E28th. Street meets Broadway. And I think strolling along Broadway was the fun part. We stopped a few times, snapped some photos, got us a cup of coffee in green-way space where the cyclists, runners, strollers and walkers are safe from motorists.
Another part that surprised me was the visible presence of Bangladeshi. Once we got to Uptown around Broadway, almost every store we passed by or we walked into employed or managed by Bangladeshi.
On Saturday morning after we had breakfast, we stopped at Taz Aroma on Broadway. I wanted to get some body oils fragrance and Rohana was looking for a sport watch. Standing on the sidewalk outside the stores, it seemed Taz Aroma had both items we were looking for. Three of six sales clerks greeted us as we stepped into the store, even they were serving the customers. Two of them seated cash registers.
The ones behind the cash registers were older than the rest. Those two behind the cash registers reminded me of the "taukeh" figures in any Indian stores in Malaysia. When you see them, you know right away they either own or manager the store. They way they dress, they way they carry themselves - full of confident. The air of authority air float around them you can almost smell it.
One of the sales person asked Rohana where she came from.
As soon as they heard Malaysia, I heard the word, "Selamat Datang." I spun around, "Who said that?" Without us asking him, the man told us he was in Kuala Lumpur for about a year. Small world. Back int Pokok Asam, my niece and Adik teased me when I said I missed riding my bicycle.
They said, "Kat sini Bangla dengan orang tua saja naik basikal." Hah.....
And in Manhattan, they are visible in many electronic stores, fabric stores and what surprised me most when they are about a dozen stores in Canal Street (Chinatown) that used to be strictly owned by Chinese are now run by Bangladeshis.
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