USA Grad Trip 2013: New York, New York! (Part 1)

The last time I updated was eons ago. Oops! The past weeks have been rather hectic, with hardly any time sitting in front of my computer. Mostly I've been job-searching, attending interviews and a job fair. And then the second week was spent with Joel, family and friends because....I'm employed! By the grace of God (: As of 1st August, I have already started work. (:

So anyway, shall complete my posts on my USA graduation trip with a two-part post on NYC!

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For my NYC itinerary, I tried to plan each day's activities within one area, so we could easily walk in between destinations. It's pretty convenient to take the Metro, but it's $2.50 per ride no matter how many stations you travel, so New Yorkers prefer to walk from one place to another if it's nearby. Even though I tried hard to plan it well, we ended up traveling up and down anyway lol. So for this post, I decided to group the pictures of the same areas together for easier reference!

CHINATOWN

We spent the first day in Chinatown with Aunty Lily and her family (our host whose home we stayed in for three nights), for most part of the day. 

Accompanied Aunt Lily (in pink) to the supermarket!

Half a day is probably all you need to cover most parts of Chinatown. Or if you have a tight NYC itinerary, you can skip it altogether. We stayed there to accompany Aunty Lily and her daughter while they did their hair at the salon, and ended up eating Chinese food for both lunch and dinner. We ate lunch at this popular restaurant known for its roasted duck. Forgot to take a picture but I managed to find an address:

East Corner Wonton
70 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002
(212)343-9896

We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table, and I had the roasted duck dry noodles. I don't know if it's because my taste buds are accustomed to Singapore's ingredients, but I prefer Crystal Jade's noodle + gravy. Ended the day by bidding farewell to our generous hosts as they made their way back to New Jersey, while both of us headed to our hotel to check in.

Spent the rest of the night watching TV and I must say, I'm really addicted to American television programmes! If I lived in USA, I'll definitely be a full-time coach potato. Heh.

LOWER MANHATTAN

Momofuku Noodle Bar

171 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

http://www.momofuku.com/

Under the recommendation of my friend, we visited Momofuku for some ramen the next day.

The restaurant was simple and fuss free. Wasn't that crowded as we went on a weekday.

Joel had the spicy miso ramen (smoked chicken, swiss chard, sesame) on the left, while I had the momofuku ramen (pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg) on the right. 

Review: honestly, the ramen did not live up to my high expectations as it did not have a "wow" factor. The soup base was somewhat tasty, but I have tasted yummier ones. The ingredients and noodles were quite simple, nothing special. Joel also didn't feel like his spicy ramen was spicy enough. I've read through the reviews on the Yelp forum and the reviews are mixed. Perhaps it's because we didn't try their pork buns which everyone was raving about! 

Washington Square Park

After lunch we took a walk, with the intention of visiting Washington Square Park.

During the 15 minute walk we walked past NYU and as you can tell from the ground and the passer-bys carrying umbrellas that it was raining. ): I hate it when it rains while on holiday.

Squirrel! The squirrels there aren't shy at all. They will just come up to you if you have/pretend to have food!

Washington Square Arch! I didn't have the luxury of time to visit all the small parks in NYC, but I think there are a few ones worth visiting if you are in the vicinity. 

Bleecker Street

Bleecker street is one of the more popular shopping streets in NYC. It is also dotted with cafes and also the famous Magnolia Bakery! We accidentally stumbled upon it while looking for the Marc by Marc Jacobs store. Couldn't resist going in to buy a couple of cupcakes to see what the hype was all about.

Magnolia Bakery

401 Bleecker Street and West 11th Street 

I believe this is Magnolia Bakery's first outlet which would explain why the shop is pretty small and slightly old. 

The staff don't take the cupcakes for you, so you have to do it yourself from a little corner by the window. I feel like it's slightly inefficient cos everyone's huddled to that corner trying to cautiously pick up their cupcakes. Gets kinda squeezey.

Picked only two! Cos there weren't many to choose from in the first place, plus we were full from lunch.

Chose the Red Velvet and the Peanut Butter Buttercream. Joel loved the latter and I have to agree. The red velvet was an utter disappointment cos they used vanilla cream instead of cream cheese! ): It is just not the same.

Bleecker street is also home to the flagship store of my very favorite makeup brand - NARS! And a special collection called NARS 413 BLKR is sold there. The name is actually the address of this flagship store - 413 Bleecker Street. I was more than happy to grab a piece of this collection in the form of a lipstick as a souvenir from NYC (:

Ippudo Ramen

65 4th Avenue, NY 10003

I'm sure this is nothing new for Singaporeans, but being a regular at Ippudo Singapore, I definitely made it a point to visit Ippudo NY the next day. We had to wait about half-an-hour to get seated for lunch.

Review: As expected, the ramen did not disappoint at all. The menu was slightly different than Singapore's, but I ordered my usual Akamaru Ramen (red bowl), while Joel ordered Karaka Men (ramen with hot spices) while also topping up for a set meal (a side of fried chicken and rice, and salad). According to him, the chicken was good and so was the ramen. Ippudo NY is definitely worth the wait and the visit! (:

SOHO (South of Houston Street)

Soho is another must-go shopping street, where you can find most mid-range commercial brands like Zara, Topshop, H&M, Steve Madden, Forever 21, etc. It was definitely a place that we didn't have time to cover entirely, so I suggest that if you are a hardcore shopper, you should dedicate more than half a day for this area alone! But then again, the same shops repeat again everywhere around NYC, except Topshop.

Topshop was huge! But found that the prices were about the same as Singapore's! If you're an F3 member (with the 10% discount), it's definitely more worth buying Topshop clothes in Singapore. It is after all, a UK brand and not American!

MIDTOWN

Times Square

The very famous Times Square! We went back a couple times in the day and night on separate days, cos that's really where all the action is!

Love how bustling it is even though it's so late at night!

I love the ultra-mega Forever 21 at Times Square, it is 4 storeys and each storey is pretty big! I really enjoy shopping overseas cos Joel is much more patient haha. He will automatically get comfortable at the available seating area when we enter a store and lets me take my time. Such an incredibly awesome boyfee (:

View from the top of the famous Time Square steps.

Went up right to the top of the steps so the camera will capture us onto the big screen! Spot us!

After the crowd left, we squeezed our way to the center. hehe

Everyone at Times Square can see us on the giant screen! (:

Super expensive cinnamon-sugar-coated nuts but soooo tasty!

Walked past this sketch artist who was sooo good at sketching this baby. Time Square is full of street artists/peddlers, mascots and funny characters. I even saw two guys dressed up in Alien & Predator costumes, looked super menacing! Quite an interesting place to people-watch.

Shopping

Midtown is where you can find the big departmental stores like Bloomingdales, Macy's, Barney's & Bergdorf Goodman, scattered all over.

I had my heart set on a bag from MBMJ and almost purchased it from Bloomingdales because they had a 10% tourist discount. But Joel (being the very thoughtful spender) urged me to check out the other stores first. The stores are pretty far apart, so we combed all and eventually settled for the one sold at Barney's! Thank you boyfriend for walking all over town with me!

A gorgeous hobo in fuchsia, my favorite color. (: I wanted camel brown initially, because I already have a pink Kate Spade bag bought on the previous trip but decided on this because Barney's had a 30% discount for this color - couldn't refuse a good deal. The color is much prettier in real life!

Wanted to buy a bracelet I've been eyeing from the Tiffany & Co. flagship store so I could have my Audrey Hepburn moment haha. But in the end changed my mind and settled for pictures instead. 

Also along 5th avenue, opposite Tiffany & Co. is Abercrombie & Fitch! And down a few streets is Hollister. Joel definitely went all out with these two. He can practically set up a store or be their spokesperson. 

Cake Boss Cafe

Port Authority Bus Terminal
42th Street & 8th Avenue

During one of our visits to Times Square, we were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon Cake Boss Cafe after exiting the subway station! Popped in to rest our feet as well as fill out tummies (:

I am not a regular follower of the show, but I watch it now and then whenever I switch over to TLC. Kinda interesting to experience for ourselves the hype behind the pastries!

We went with a Lobster Tail (flaky pastry exterior and filled with cream) and a Peanut Butter cupcake. To balance the sweetness I had to have a cup of coffee!

Me looking retarded with life-sized Buddy. Everyone around us was looking at me pose for this picture. lol. 

We went back again the next day because Joel was craving the Lobster Tail, so we had the Chocolate Cannoli recommended by our friends, and the Red Velvet Cake, and enjoyed them in the comfort of our hotel room (while watching American TV of course hehe).

Close up of the Cannoli - Chocolate covered wafer with cream in the middle. The cream was way too sinful. But I liked the chocolate wafer! 

The Halal Guys

53rd Street & 6th Avenue

Now and then on the streets of NYC you'll come across food carts but none as famous as the Halal Guys! Joel introduced me to this because he saw the long queue one day and he decided to join in to see what the hype was about. He was sold!

There are a few who claim they are the real Halal Guys but the cart at 6th and 53rd are the real deal (you can confirm it by the number of locals who form the queue!)

Bought the chicken and gyro (lamb) platter that came with the yummiest rice and pita bread. The white stuff is something like mayo? and the brown sauce was something really super spicy!! I accidentally added some to my platter thinking it was BBQ sauce and in the end I had to exchange mine with Joel's cos I can't take spicy stuff. Even for a chilli-eater like him, it was a killer. I definitely recommend this to anyone visiting NYC,  it is cheap and yummy, & definitely worth the queue!

Cha Pa's Noodles and Grill

314 W 52nd Street

8th Avenue

Opted for Vietnamese food one day for dinner, before our visit to Top of the Rock. Joel loved his chicken curry, while I had tasted yummier beef pho. But for the price, it was a reasonable and fuss-free! 

Theatre District

NYC's theatre district is where you can find the Broadway shows, and it's actually a really large area. When I think of Broadway, I immediately thought of Phantom of the Opera, which is Broadway's longest running musical. Even though I knew that the musical was to be shown in Singapore, nothing could top watching it at in the authentic setting at the Majestic Theatre! If I had a second choice, I would pick Spiderman (because they have the most expensive set) or Wicked, or Chicago.

The queue to enter had already started forming about an hour before the show started, which was weird cos everyone had assigned seats. So I was wondering why there was a need to queue so early!

Collected the tickets and walked around the area to find a quick bite. I bought my tickets from broadwayoffers.com. There's a few sites selling discounted tickets for the shows, most are legit, but be sure to double check that they are verified by Telecharge.

Catching the sunset just as we were about to go in!

Stage props just before the first act.The famous chandelier still on stage.

During intermission, where the chandelier has been restored! You'll have to read the play/watch the musical to the significance behind it. (:

The performance was as good as I had expected. Found myself really appreciating every note that was sung, and chills (the good kind) literally went up my spine! One off the bucket list!

Shall continue with Part 2 soon! 

Have a great August (: