DAY 1:
We took a red eye flight to Newark and ended up getting to New York around 12:30pm. We stayed at the Lexington Hotel off of 48th and Lexington and were able to check in early even though we weren't due to check in until 3pm. We decided to rest for a little bit and then began exploring the surrounding area on our way to Ippudo for ramen. We ended up passing by the Rockefeller Center.
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| sazuraku and sapporo |
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| hirata buns - pork the meat inside was delicious. the sauce a little strange. bun consistency was too hard. |
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| karaka-men |
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| akamaru modern |
for a ramen that isn't spicy, it's extremely delicious!
it has what I dub the "ratatouille effect"
which is the feeling you get when you eat something and it makes you feel like a child
being comforted by the tastiest homecooked meal (as in the end of the Disney movie Ratatuoille).
After dinner we went around Times Square.
We decided to stop for some ice cream in Bryant Park.
We ended up trying to find the Empire State Building to see how long the wait was to go up. It was about an hour so we decided to pass and walked back to our hotel to rest up for our jam-packed full day in New York.
DAY 2:
Started off the day by going to the Top of the Rock. Bought our tickets at the self-serve area but we couldn't get in until 12:30-12:45p so we decided to go grab some bagels at Ess-A-Bagel.
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| this bagel costs 11.75 (it was called some kind of like super nova or something like that lol) |
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| everything bagel with scallion cream cheese |
We headed back to the Top of the Rock to go up to the top. There are 3 separate levels. The first 2 are surrounded by glass and the 3rd has a railing that is about boob height to me. The views are spectacular! I would highly recommend going here. You get such a great view of Central Park and the Empire State Building.
After the Top of the Rock, we went to Central Park. I've been to New York before but it was just a quick stop in Times Square, a boat tour around Manhattan and to the Empire State Building. On our way to Central Park, we stopped to take a photo at this sign. I didn't even know it was in New York!
We went row boating in Central Park. Let me just say be prepared to exercise! Thank goodness Tony was ok to row the entire time. I rowed for 2 seconds and ended up pulling the entire oar out of it's "socket"! Thank goodness I didn't let go of it into the water! On our way around, we saw all these turtles sunbathing!
After an hour of rowing around, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for Matilda! I wanted a chance to see at least one Broadway show when we were in New York and Miss Estee (essiebutton) loved Matilda (even more than Wicked) so I decided that's what we would see. We did stop for some gelato on the Upper East Side on our walk back to the hotel.
After Matilda, we headed to NoHo to a dive bar by the name of Von. Didn't get any pictures from that part of the night. It was quite the fun night! I will end it here for now!
DAY 3:
Day 3 started with checking out of our hotel. We had to head out to New Jersey for the wedding but we had to be checked out of our hotel by noon so we packed our bags and checked them at the hotel and went out in search for food. I wasn't feeling very well from the previous night so getting some food in the tummy was my first priority. Num Pang had a bunch of great reviews and it was close by so we headed over. Their pork belly sandwich... oh man... if I had more of an appetite, I'd have devoured it.
We took our sandwiches to the steps of the New York Public Library and had our lunch there.
After lunch we went on the Circle Line boat tour of New York. If you're pressed for time, I would highly recommend it. We went on the one that goes around the entire island but make sure you try to go when it's low tide. Unfortunately we went when there had just been a storm and it was high tide so we weren't able to go all the way around Manhattan because we wouldn't have been able to go under one of the bridges. I would definitely bring a jacket if you're going when there's no sun out.
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| this view was worth every penny |
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| brooklyn bridge |
After the boat tour, we went to eat Peruvian Chinese food at Pio Pio. The place from the outside looks like a hole in the wall but when you go inside, there's a whole other section downstairs. The downstairs area is super cool. It feels like you're dining in a tree house.
After dinner we walked around Times Square and the heart of New York City, before heading back to our hotel to grab our luggage and then we took the NJ Transit to the Madison Hotel in New Jersey.
DAY 4:
This was the day of the wedding and it was really nice to just be together with everyone. Now that Joe and Maria are in Jersey and everyone else is popping out the kids, there's little time for us all to just hang out without the little ones. The parents got a night out and everyone just got a chance to be without the babies (although the parents did miss their little ones).
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| us with the new mr and mrs |
After brunch, we all headed back to New York. We checked in to the NoMad Hotel and then headed straight for the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. I'm going to say In-n-Out still rules the burger kingdom but Shake Shack would definitely top my list among burger places. Shakes were bomb dot com as well but those of you who are lactose intolerant or even slightly lactose intolerant BEWARE!! Man oh man I had to find a restroom so bad about an hour after having their shake lol. TMI I know.
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| our view at the nomad hotel. the rooms here are luxurious! thanks gilt! |
After getting that burger in our bellies we headed to SoHo for some retail therapy. I got 2 things from Topshop and then we headed back to the hotel to chill for a bit. There's a library at the NoMad hotel so we decided to check it out.
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| it's actually a bar too! |
After that we decided to go bar hopping. We finally decided to stop at the Ace Hotel and get one of these suckers.
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| it was all downhill after this photo was taken lol |
DAY 5:
Had a late start to the day around noon-ish and we headed to the 9/11 Memorial. I would highly recommend going to the memorial. It's a day that will be forever ingrained in our minds. I think we can all remember exactly what we were doing that morning and I definitely had to hold back some tears thinking of all the people that lost their lives that day and all those affected by the events that took place.
We then took the subway to walk the High Line and got some popsicles at La Newyorkina.
After walking the High Line we met up with Tony's parents at Serendipity 3 where we saw Katie Holmes dining with little Suri. It was really weird because I was staring at her the entire time we were eating and kept thinking "Wow that girl looks a lot like Katie Holmes" but I didn't think anything of it because I couldn't see Suri (I kind of forgot that I was in New York City, land of celebrities doing normal people things lol). And then as we walked out Tony's mom gave me the "Did you see her?!" look. Serendipity 3 was nothing special but I did enjoy my entree. It was one of the chicken dishes (which I never get at restaurants because it's always so dry)... it was something with Garden in it lol. But it was delicious.
After dinner we went to Skylark, a rooftop bar for some drinks with the newlyweds. Loved the ambiance of this place.
DAY 6:
Alas, our New York trip had to come to an end. My second trip to New York was definitely better than the first and I definitely want to go back sometime soon! Until we meet again NYC!
Thanks for reading and if you have any New York tips, please leave them below for my future trip!
TGIF!
