New York, USA – Day 4 to 7

Coming to my third post about my first few days of 2015 before setting off to San Fran, I feel that time really flies. May is already over and that only means my New Zealand working holiday trip is about to start very soon! I might not be able to finish my entry on my San Jose/SFO trip before I set off tomorrow, so here I go to round up my NYC trip:

We headed to lower Manhattan and took a walking trail along Wall Street on 1^st Jan, the center of New York’s financial district, before heading on board the Statue of Liberty cruise. Various short stops we had along Wall Street include viewing the exhibits inside the Federal Hall and photo with the Charging Bull.

Having a free and comfortable ferry ride on The Staten Island Ferry (schedules by clicking on the hyperlink); we had decent views of the statue of liberty but didn’t get close enough for a very good shot with our phone/digital camera. The ferry departs from the Whitehall Terminal at South Ferry in Lower Manhattan, next to Battery Park. There are subway stations nearby like South Ferry, Bowling Green, Broad Street and Whitehall Street station. I figure going on a weekday would have lesser crowds and a perfect time to set off would be the late afternoon nearing sunset. In this way, you can catch the beautiful transition views of the liberty and the skyline from before to after sunset. The ferry will stop at Staten Island at the St. George Ferry Terminal, so you would hop off and wander around the terminal for a little bit before taking the ride back.

Useful link I found online for other ways to catch the views of the Statue of Liberty: http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles/travel/us/20131227-9-options-for-seeing-the-statue-of-liberty.ece

For dinner, we had a lovely dinner at this nearby Mexican restaurant. I would update this after I check with GS on the name of the restaurant as my pictures look somewhat similar to Dos Caminos. The price is a little steep but good, they got nice spicy margaritas to go with as well.

The next day, I tried skiing for the first time, super anxious and excited for this. We woke up at 4 plus in the morning to head to Hunter Mountain (coach bus ride with tickets by Urban Shepherd). They have several pickup points at United square/Times square etc which were pretty convenient. I had a beginner session to learn the basics before trying my baby slope and moving on to a slightly medium one. I didn’t manage to really control my speed and turning very well yet, hence had quite a few tumbles or falls. I figured later on that a good adventurous way to handle this without falling easily would be to hold a squatting stance and zoomed all the way down slope without making drastic turns hahaha!

After the tiring but exhilarating ski trip, we put down our stuff back home and headed out for Omakase at Yakitori Tori Shin, a Michelin star Japanese restaurant. The bill came up to around 90 bucks each after exchange rate to SGD. It’s an overall interesting experience as I had never tried Omakase before. Some of the dishes were slightly oily but the ingredients are definitely fresh and well plated, along with excellent service (pictures in the video for this entry). The place could be a little more spacious though.

Day 6 was a very fulfilling and eventful one. We had French at this restaurant called Babbo. The pasta and atmosphere were pretty good but the service of this particular front door lady could have been better. She offered us the bar when there were a few empty tables right near the entrance. Later on her manager came and offered us the table near where we were standing.

After brunch we headed right over to the 9/11 memorial ground zero and museum. It was pouring pretty heavily by then, with a snow and rain mix coming down while we were queuing up to enter the premises. As fitting as the weather is for the atmosphere of the memorial ground, it becomes more solemn after attending the video presentation and going through the AV exhibits in the museum.

The evening was a more cheerful one for balance; we built up our evening Broadway mood before watching Les Misérables by dining at Ellen stardust. It was an entertaining and refreshing dining experience, definitely a must-go if you have the chance. The food is not bad either, I totally love the milkshakes!

On my last day at New York, we covered the American Natural History museum, we had to go back in the early afternoon to pack up and leave for the airport hence I would definitely not mind visiting again in future. As I had mentioned in the previous entry, we went in the lobby of the Empire State but decided not to head up due to heavy clouds. Anyway, you can definitely spend practically the whole day or more if you wish to explore the most out of this grand museum and I had only a few hours that day. Pardon the numerous dinosaur fossil pictures in the video but would you not agree all the exhibits will look even awesome with your own eyes? We had a quick lunch at ‘Loft’ at JFK airport before taking a domestic flight via JetBlue to San Jose, which I will cover in another entry.

I do hope I can have the time to update about my New Zealand working holiday as and when during my time there. Please do support my blog and hope the information helps for those planning on a trip to NYC. Cheers!

New York, USA – Day 2 and 3

Firstly, thanks to those who have liked my first article!  😀

My 2^nd day in NYC was a leisure sightseeing walk and shopping trip around mid-Manhattan, spanning from Park Avenue to Times Square.

We dropped by a bagel shop for breakfast before walking to the nearby Lexington subway. I got the recommended ‘everything bagel with cream cheese’. Superbly delicious especially in the cold weather! But the first time I tried it turned cold too fast, probably a better idea to eat under shelter if your mouth isn’t big enough to gobble it down in seconds, haha…

Picture of a ‘must-try’ everything bagel with cream cheese:

everything bagel with cream cheese

Bagel Works

1229 1st Ave (between 66th & 67th Street) NEW YORK, NY 10065. Opens 6:00 am – 9:00 pm

There is another famous one but further down at either 83^rd/ 86^th street called Tal bagels: http://talbagelsny.com/

Shopping:

We hit the Superdry stores during this trip as they were having sales. I almost went out of control after I stepped in, just like I did with Abercrombie & Fitch during my last trip to California few years ago.

Superdry Store outlets:

Below 4 are the Manhattan stores:

• 716 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022, United States
• Times Square, 729 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019
• 718 Broadway, New York, 10003
• Store 10 South St., 22 Fulton Street, Seaport, New York, NY 10038

Do visit Niketown while you are in the area, amazing five storey megastore, it’s like a Nike museum:

Niketown

6 EAST 57TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10022

MON-SAT 10AM-8PM SUN 11AM-7PM

I didn’t have breakfast at Tiffany’s flagship store at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57^th St but had a takeaway coffee from Starbucks while taking a zoomed shot of the captivating store exterior from across the street, admiring the beautiful decor of the building.

Tiffany & Co flagship store in NY

We visited Grand Central Terminal before having lunch at Shake Shack there. Do look up and admire the lovely constellation ceiling art. We then exit via Metlife building to roam down the streets from there.

After our shopping and sightseeing, we had a casual decent soup and wrap at I believe was the bread factory cafe judging from the wrap’s paper:

Walking by 667 Madison Avenue by chance we came across the famous replica of the original Statue of Liberty outside the building and take shots with it too. Do pass by there to take a look if you have the chance.

Dec 31^st 2014:

It’s the last day of the year 2014 and we went to Dominique Ansel bakery for breakfast! GS told us that it usually has very long queues and we were lucky the queue was still alright that morning.

Dominique Ansel Bakery

189 Spring St New York, NY 10012

We had Key lime pie, DKA (“Dominique’s Kouign Amann”), Madeleines, Cannelé de Bordeux (as shown in video). Initially I had jetlag and was having a headache but it got cured miraculously after eating these yummy treats along with a hot mocha.

We went up to Rockefeller centre (Top of the Rock) and it was so windy and chilly and we were struggling to take off gloves, take shots and put our frozen hands back into our coat jackets/gloves. Undoubtedly, you can view the whole of Manhattan including the famous Empire State Building. We decided not to head up to Empire State on our last day in NYC since it would just be about the same. Although you would be taking shots of the Rockefeller centre instead of Empire State, we were advised by the guards that it’s very cloudy the morning when we attempted to go up. I would think the night view would be nicer if I had the chance to go up Empire State in future.

We headed to Central Park for countdown after joining GS and her friends to eat Korean at Pocha 32. Along the way to the Korean place, we passed by the New York Public Library and take a shot outside. There are a few must-tries at Pocha 32 including their watermelon soju and squid with pork belly (I find the squid could be a little too tough that night), one thing to note is you had to wait downstairs or hang around the vicinity before getting called up for your turn and the wait could be more than half an hour.

Pocha 32

15 W 32nd St #2, New York, NY 10001, United States
+1 212-279-1876

The fireworks and atmosphere were splendid; never regretted heading there instead of trying to squeeze into the crowds early at Times Square. Ideally, we had to sacrifice the whole afternoon to head there to wait and catch the countdown at Times Square. By around dinner time, the whole perimeter of Times Square had started to be rounded up by police traffic control. We also saw some police on horses moving out to Times Square for patrol while trying to get near to take a little glimpse of the magnificent ‘ball’. When heading back from Central Park after countdown, it’s easier to find a bus to take/subway than waiting for a cab at that hour. Below is a video of all that I had described in this entry. Enjoy and pardon some of the blur shots.

New York, USA – Day 1

I decided to make New York my opening post for two main reasons:

Making a somewhat rash and impromptu decision to head over to New York to experience countdown and have a different new year to 2015, this trip happened because of a chance to have travel mates and able to bunk in with this friend who has been working at New York for a period of time. Great amount of thanks to these two awesome people, I shall keep their names as MS and GS for their privacy. :):):)

Secondly, this is one of my most unforgettable new years that I have experienced: Simply because this is my first time to New York and first time spending my new year at a foreign country other than the one where I am born and live in – Singapore!

Lastly, this was my last holiday trip before my decision to head to New Zealand for a working holiday this coming June!

I had a slight bump at the head-start of my trip and had dreaded that it was not a good sign. I flew via Singapore Airlines touching down at John F. Kennedy International Airport with my luggage missing for about 45 minutes before it finally appeared at the designated conveyor belt. From what I could remember, about 20 over passengers are affected (mainly those who flew from Singapore and transited at Frankfurt airport). MS commented that it was a pity I could not start my shopping trip right away at the airport for my necessities (roll eyes).

With this delay, GS kindly helped to takeaway this nice spicy chicken bowl and Mexican quesadillas from nearby (can’t recall where – will update if I asked GS again) while we got settled at her awesome apartment in Manhattan. We took a metered cab (around USD 50-60) to Manhattan from the airport.

As shown in the shots: Taking subway metro to Times Square as our first stop. You may use a printed subway map to help you with the lines and directions to take or simply use maps online if you have data. E.g. If you are coming from Lexington Avenue 59^th Street, take the uptown Q line to 49^th Street and walk ~2 minutes to reach the must-see attraction: Times Square. Video clip of some of the shot from departure to end of my first day in NYC:

The food from the video (dried stingray fin, spicy rayu ramen and miso ramen) are from Totto Ramen for my dinner, a very delightful one from the winter chill outside:

Totto Ramen

366 W 52nd Street (Bet. 8th & 9th Ave) New York, NY 10019 (212) 582-0052

Opening Hours: Mon – Sat: 12:00pm – 4:30pm; 5:30pm – 12:00am. Sun: 4:00pm – 11:00pm