New York!

So here's my long over-due post on my trip to New York.

I went with Janeen and Regina over Memorial Day weekend for 5 days to visit Lily. I think that's quite a trip. It's just longer than a 3-day weekend trip and it's about enough for working ppl/college kids to cram in all the major sites before starting to get sick of each other.

So the first major stop on our second day (since we arrived in the evening of Thursday) was Grand Central Terminal (no longer called "station" apparently, but I like the sound of "station" more).

- this is me in Grand Central Terminal -

Then we walked to the New York Public Library, passed by Bryant Park and made our way to Times Square. After that we made our way to Chelsea where Lily's work was. The Flat Iron Building was right there and for some reason, I've always wanted to see that since I was little. That was one of my iconic things of New York. 

- this is me showing off the Flat Iron Building -

Lily had to go to work so we were left on our own to explore and get lost. Thanks to Regina though, we never got lost. She was on top of it! She had her phone out the entire time with a map and subway map and told us exactly where to go. We walked the High Line, saw the Empire State Building, got some delicious macarons, walked around St. Patrick's Cathedral, and saw Times Square at night before meeting up with Lily again to head back to Astoria to have dinner at the oldest beer garden. Click to read the rest as it will be picture heavy...

The next day started with breakfast at the Family Corner, which basically lives up to its name. Friendliest service ever and the most delicious sweet potato pancakes. This day was focused around Central Park and things on Park Ave and 5th Ave. We stopped by the 5th Ave Apple Store and went into FAO Schwartz which is where the Big Piano is! 

- we actually tried playing a song but stupid little kids were just running back and forth on it -

- i love this picture and its authentic candidness! -

We made a stop at Momofuku and I got a cereal milkshake before we headed into Central Park.

- just chillin and having a picnic in Central Park. no biggie -

After getting caught in a sudden downpour, we went to Serendipity to check the wait time and because we had our Ms. Kim K (aka Janeen) with us that day, we bypassed the 1 1/2 hour wait and were seated immediately. I guess the food wasn't too great for them, but I think I was hungry or something because I thought my chicken cream crepe was so good that I actually cleaned my plate. For dessert we ordered the most delicious frozen mint hot chocolate!

- but it was huge! so perfect for the four of us -

We did some browsing and shopping at Dylan's Candy Bar before going home to have a chill night at home with a game of Whoonu?, wine and self-timer pictures. 

- one of the few nice shots of the night -

We had a very lazy start the next day and our first meal was a late brunch/early lunch at dim sum in Chinatown. The place was HUGE! It has nothing on Sea Empress in Gardena. Then we walked through Little Italy and I swear, not two hours later we were eating again at Rice to Riches, a rice pudding place. Their "solo" portions are huge and I was still full from dim sum so it looked like I barely touched mine. We definitely walked it off because I did some light shopping at Topshop and then we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

- it was pretty cool -

And then, of course, where do we end up once we get off? In line for another food place. Grimaldi's Pizza. This time we couldn't bypass the 1 1/2 hour line. The pizza was pretty darn good though. We shared a canoli for dessert since we couldn't pass one up while in NY. After pizza we walked a short way to...more food! Second dessert was ice cream under the Brooklyn Bridge.

- the lit skyline was incredible - 

Our last day out started lazily again and we had lunch at Igloo. We went all the way to the Staten Island Ferry terminal to take the free ferry across to Staten Island and get a view of the Statue of Liberty. A cheaper option to see it since because of construction, we can't even go up to the highest pedestal. After we came right back, we walked to the 9/11 Memorial. It was a little bit overwhelming. I can't even watch videos or look at pictures for too long without tearing up and almost crying. So just standing at the fountains where the towers used to be was a bit intense. We had to lighten the mood after all that so we tried our luck at going to the Top of the Rock again since on our first try, visibility was zero. Visibility was great and I wasn't about to experience this opportunity without my best friend so I bought Lily a ticket and made her go up with us. The view was breathtaking. And since we were at the top of the Rockefeller Center, we actually saw the Empire State Building instead of being in it. My only gripe was that the stupid Metlife building was in the way of a perfect view of the Chrysler Building, my other NY icon.

 

- 68 floors up -

We went up right around sunset so we saw this orange-red sun going down. Then the lights slowly starting turning on. It was simply beautiful.

 

- the Empire State Building in red, white, blue and a long way down -

We were meeting Mara for dinner but after being a little late, we couldn't eat at the planned place and walked a couple blocks to another little place that happened to be open later. I wasn't super hungry so I got some nachos, but they weren't that great.

The next morning a bit brutal. I decided to try and stay up all night because I just can't pack everything and sleep when I have to wake up so early. Well, I was up until about 5am maybe, when I finally decided to close my eyes for a little bit. We had a snag with calling a cab but figured it all out and made it to the airport on time. I was exhausted and the cramped spaces of coach didn't help. What was worse was I had to go straight to work. But it was definitely a wonderful and fun trip. I do want to go back. Maybe in the spring or fall. Summer is brutal and winter would just require twice as much luggage space. 

Okay, thanks for reading...bye! ♥