New York Trip

Coming to the end of my stay in NY, overall experience - pretty miserable, typically caused by the lousy weather all week ever since I landed. New Yorkers whom I spoke to emphasized how bad it is, been this was one hell of a long continuous raining week for a long long time, resulting at even places like SOHO and Chelsea to be flooded! The rain typically prolonged my stay in the room all day, not wanting to go out unless absolutely necessary to meet people. Guess it was just my luck!

On the bright side, did manage to go to a few places worth mentioning. First thing to get when you're in the city is to get the tourist metro card that costs me $24 for a week's unlimited usage on the metro as well as the bus. Each journey costs $2 and basically, the more you take, the more you will save. Its really useful especially after a long walk around the streets and you just want another mode of transportation to get you to your next destination. Times Sq is probably worth a stop to look at the glitzy neon lightings, although I was told this is nothing compared to Tokyo. Take a walk through the streets and head towards the Rockefeller Ctr for some shopping. If you are on a budget like me, H&M is a definite stopover, with good designs at very affordable prices, much better than London for sure! Didn't get a chance to go Central Park but would strongly recommend you to visit this gigantic 100% man-made park smack right in the center of Manhattan. Take a metro down to Union Sq and get off to see the Flatiron building, a triangle shaped building that has plenty of character when you look at it from the Broadway junction directly infront of it. You could get a peek of it again if you rerun your spiderman DVD in your closet.

Take a stroll down to SoHo and window shop the many chic boutiques along the street and end off at the bustling Chinatown for a tea-break. Highly recommended is this small 1950s coffee place called Mei Lai Wah along Bayard St. Coffee only cost 80c and Cha Siew Bao(roast pork bun) is around $1. Must rank as one of the absolute places with character. You can still see the owner behind the cash register collecting money on his ultra-old looking machine, and all the waiters are probably the same age as your grand parents too. If you want to save on meals, get fresh groceries from the numerous fishmongers along E. Broadway or Canal St. Prices can go to as low as $1 for a fish and I certainly enjoyed mine tremendously considering that I hardly have any chance to eat fish in London, and did I mention that they are incredibly FRESH!!!

Next up, walk across to Brooklyn using the Brooklyn Bridge and have a wonderful view of Downtown Manhattan/Wall Street as well as a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. If your legs can continue to carry you further, walk down and head for Dumbo on the Brooklyn end. Its a new stretch of shops, art galleries and cafes in between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. Stop over at this restaurant called Superfine and enjoy a nice Hoegaarden with lemonade-soda, accompanied by live country music performances.

For jazz fans, make sure you check out Smalls(10th St 7 Ave) and Fat Cat(75 Christopher St 7 Ave). You pay $20 for 2 drinks and all night long of live jazz performance, and I must say the folks who performed are really good! Make sure you are there prior to 10pm as that's when the band starts playing.

For hot dog fans, head over to Crif's Dog(113 St Mark's Plc) and order yourself a good dog with lemonade. Make sure you check out the small underground restaurants along the street of St Mark's place as well as there are plenty worth a try.

Managed to squeeze in a visit to MoMA(Museum of Modern Art) before I boarded my flight back. If you like to save a bit on the penny and dun mind big(I really mean BIG!) crowds, go on a Friday evening as its free entry to public. Newly opened and quite a big collection, worth a trip if you like it.