NYC Trip - The Food

So here's the thing about my trip to New York City - I didn't go see the Empire State Building. 


...or the Empire State Building. 
.........or the Chrysler Building.


I did go see the Statue of Liberty, but it was from a ferry going to & from Staten Island.  Here's a picture showing the closest I got to it:

Objects in picture were actually closer than they appear

The reason I didn't see those things was that I only had a limited amount of time to see "everything" in New York and everyone I met there told me that the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty weren't really worth the time it takes to see them.  (Seeing the Statue of Liberty can take a whole day!)  So I decided to skip them in lieu of seeing everything else.


Like Times Square......



It's like being in the Future. 

 And Union Square.........

And Washington Square...........



They filmed a scene from Ghostbusters 2 here! 


Even Madison Square..........! 

(Sorry, no pictures of Madison Square....!) 

Hey, there are a lot of "Squares" in New York City.....!


Anyway, I heard that what I really needed to do while I was in New York was try the food......so try the food I did!


One of the first places I went to was a place called Dumpling Man in the East Village area of New York.  Like almost every restaurant in New York, it's a small, hole-in-the-wall place to eat that's locally owned....and it was one of the best places I ate at in New York.


Here's a picture of me in front of the (now-famous because I've blogged about it) Restaurant.

And here's a sample of what they have to offer - it was only $5.00!

So good....! 

Another place that I remember with great food was a Cuban place called Cafe Habana.  It was like a fancier version of really great Mexican food - I highly recommend coming here to eat if you ever get the chance to visit New York. 

Good thing New York is such a "pedestrian" city that encourages walking.  I think I would've gotten really fat if I wasn't forced to walk to get everywhere.....!  


There was also some really great coffee in New York.  Take a look at this cup of coffee from the Blue Bottle in Brooklyn, NY! 

This is like....coffee art right here

Tastes good, too.

Although now that I'm back in Los Angeles, everyone's been asking me if I saw the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, so maybe I should've?  Ah well, maybe next time.....!  

MORE PICTURES OF NEW YORK SIGHTS:  

9/11 Memorial Site

Grand Central Terminal

New York Public Library - they filmed "Ghostbusters" here! 

The World Trade Center Site - Construction in progress since 2002. 

@ the Astor Cube

NYC Trip - The sights

Hey everyone, remember when I said I would try and do a better job of posting more?

Well, I obviously failed - but that's okay, because I finally have something to blog about now that I went on my trip to New York City! 

Back in March, I decided that I needed a vacation and asked my friend, Lucas, who lives in Brooklyn, NY, if I could come up to visit him (and crash at his place).  Once he got back to me (and said 'yes') I immediately began searching for deals on when was a good time to visit.  Mid June (10th to the 19th) seemed the cheapest, and a good a date as any, so that's when I asked for my time off.

Now the first thing I want to say about New York is that it's a classy town.  That was the first impression I had once I got off the plane.  Where else can you see a SKYLINE Bar in an Airport terminal?

And the rest of NYC turned out to be just as glamorous....as you can see from some of the pictures I've posted below.

Not the first couple of days, though.....turns out I got there right as the "June gloom" was ending.  

My first day of sightseeing - rained out. 

But as the week went on, the rain cleared up & I got to see what I think I liked best about New York -- the parks.

They're really beautiful and a lot different from some of the ones in Los Angeles.  For one thing, they're a lot *bigger*.   Take a look for yourself! 

So many trees....

 .and oddly enough, pianos!

 The park was so big that we didn't get a chance to see everything (like "Shakespeare in the Park")

But we did get a chance to see some of the musicians that perform there every so often, though!
 
I gotta admit - for a city that's about a tenth the size of Los Angeles, I'm pretty damn envious that NYC has the kind of parks that it does.  I really enjoyed walking through them.  Something about the way they're designed just makes them an excellent place to hang around; all the trees made for great shade and I felt more like I was in some kind of Nature Reserve.

Anyway, yeah.....I really liked the parks in NYC.  

OTHER PICTURES OF PARKS I VISITED:

Me venturing into Battery Park

This was....well, not a park, but it's by the Hudson River area next to New Jersey

The Korean American War Memorial in Battery Park