The Big Apple - Times Square and the Empire State Building

I finally went through all of the photos we've taken during our short trip to NYC and sorted them out. You know... the usual weeding out the ones that are overexposed, strange pictures of the ceiling/floor, *accidental* shot of someone's crotch. yeah... yeah... ladies, you know what I mean... *wink wink* Ok, fine! I guess I'm alone here. I think I heard someone say "eww", but really I'm kidding, I prefer upskirt shots! Still kidding! (not really, I'm just saying that, shhh..) Please don't leave..... I promise you there will be some pretty pictures. :)


It took me this long because apparently we took close to 400 pictures in one and a half day, well, what can you say, we're Asians! So after the weeding, resizing, and brightening up the ones that are way too dark, I kept about 300 pictures that we took and will now share some that I cherry picked out for this blog.


Time Square was so crazy! We got there somewhere between 9:30 and 10pm and there were just loads of people there. In Chinese it would be described as 人山人海 (ren san ren hai) which literally means "people mountain, people sea" There were bright lights coming from every corner of the buildings, electronic billboards everywhere, and flashy signs; they pretty much lit up the sky and the short couple blocks of the city felt like it was daytime.

We passed by this Toys"R"Us store and I pretty much just ditched my companions and ran inside cause I saw this:

The store is so huge that they could fit a 60ft ferris wheel inside it! It costs $4.00 to go on the ride. Too bad we didn't have time, otherwise I would so take a ride on it! Doesn't it look so fun?

After Times Square we made our way to the Empire State Building. It was around 10:30pm when we arrived, and I was not expecting the big long line that was there. We read that there's a Express pass ticket you can buy but didn't know where to purchase it, so like everyone else, we stood in line. After half an hour we finally made it through the security check and got in another line for the ticket, and my boyfriend decided it's time to ask someone about the Express Pass ticket.

Apparently we didn't have to be in line for the past 30 minutes! Err! They waved us pass and escorted us to the ticket booth window, and after we got the ticket there were no more waiting for us. Want to take the elevator? Sure! Go through your own special entrance, flash the Express Pass ticket and we're in!

Both of us are big fans of not having to stand in line so it was pretty cool. I think we probably saved ourselves 2-3 hours because of the ticket, but of course we did pay for it, it cost about $45.00/person vs. $18.00 for a normal ticket. However, if you don't have too much time to spare, or you feel that your time can be spent doing better things elsewhere and you don't mind paying the price, I would highly recommend getting the Express Pass ticket. Just don't do what we did in the beginning and grab someone right off the bat and tell them you're going to get the Express ticket.

The view of the city at night was amazing! No wonder our friend told us to come at night.

Since there were way too many pictures, I will post the other ones on the next post.

The Big Apple - a few short reviews

So here is where my advanced apology is going to be useful. Other than the french fries place, I pretty much gobbled down all or most of the food before I could take pictures, so there won't be that many pretty pictures to look at this time, sorry!

First up is Doughnut Plant:

This cozy donut place at the edge of China town had just edged my favorite warm glazed donut from Krispy Kreme down to second place. I've seen this place featured on Food Network and The Travel Channel so I knew it was good, but I was just not prepared for how good these donuts are. Actually these donuts are not good, they are GREAT!

Hazelnut glazed

The donuts are big and fluffy, not to mention delicious! It was so good that I ate about 3 of these babies and I'm a pretty small girl who eats like a bird. They use fresh fruit for the glaze and filling, and believe me, it makes a really big difference! The peach glazed that I ordered had a very subtle peachy flavor that just lingers in your mouth begging you to take one more bite. The Blackout, which is a chocolate cake doughnut with chocolate pudding in the middle, is unlike any cake donuts I have ever had. It tastes just like a chocolate cake and I had to fend off my boyfriend, who doesn't like cake donuts, from taking it from me.

This is a must visit for anyone who travels to New York. The donuts are a little pricier than what you're used to, but it's worth every penny!

Next, Pommes Frites:

This is another place I saw on the Food Network, Pommes Frites is a small little, mostly takeout shop that sells only one thing: pommes frites aka french fries. What makes this place unique is the 25 sauces that you can get with your fries; sauces such as Pomegranate Teriyaki Mayo, Peanut Satay, Sweet Mango Chutney Mayo, and Irish Curry are just a few that caught my attention.

We ordered the regular size with roasted garlic mayo. They filled the fries into a paper cone and if you are able to sit down at one of the few tables they have in the back, you can sit your cone down in one of the holes on the table, which I thought was pretty neat. We also ordered the poutine, which we were really excited about and always wanted to get ever since we saw Jay and Silent Bob mentioned it on an episode of Degrassi.

Poutine

The fries were very thick and crispy, but I don't know if it's because they're double fried or maybe ours were fried a little too long, the inside was a little bit dry. In my opinion, I think the fries that I made at home tasted better, but that can very much just be a personal taste issue. The garlic mayo was different but good, my boyfriend enjoyed it more than I did because he's more of a mayo person than me.

The poutine was quite tasty though. For anyone who doesn't know what poutine is, it is a Canadian comfort food that has french fries topped with fresh cheese curd and brown gravy. The gravy helped with the slightly dried fries, and the cheese curds was somewhat rubbery and squeak against the teeth when bitten into, which was pretty fun for me to eat. I know it's sort of strange that cheese would squeak, but I learned from my Wisconsin trip earlier this year that the squeaking of the curd is a sign that it is fresh and good.

Even though Pommes Frites did not make my definite go back list, I would still recommend my friends to check it out since they are quite unique and is worth a try as my taste could be very different from yours.

And lastly, Gray's Papaya:

We went to the Midtown branch at the corner of Eighth Ave. and 37th St. and ordered the "Recession Special" which consists of two hot dogs and a drink that costs $3.50. For me, Pink's hot dog in L.A. is still my favorite, but you can't beat the price at Gray's Papaya, unless you go to Costco. The hot dogs are smaller and thinner than what I'm used to, but it's full of flavor and snaps when you bite into it. And don't get me started with the papaya drink. I really didn't think I would like the papaya drink, I would eat fresh papaya, but it really wouldn't be my first choice for fruit, however, the papaya drink was so goooood. It was light, refreshing, a little frothy on top, it's no wonder they're famous for it.

If you ever decide to check it out, be advised that this is not a restaurant and you won't be able to sit down to eat your dogs. It is open 24/7 so it's a great place to go for your midnight munchies or after a fun time from partying at the clubs.

Sneak Peek - Two heads are better than one

I feel like taking a break from writing about New York today and will let you guys in on a sneak peek of what I'm working on craft wise which will soon to be in my store.

I think many of us have seen or heard of the Japanese origami crane (if we have not already folded them ourselves). For those that are not familiar with the origami crane, an ancient Japanese legend says each paper crane can live a thousand years, and promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods.

I really like folding paper cranes, they are fun to fold and the end product is very elegant, but I want to do something different, hence, two heads are better than one: twin sister cranes. Siamese style! :P

These two cranes are connected by the wing and no.... they are not glued together. They were folded from one single sheet of paper using the technique: Renzuru, which is an origami technique whereby one folds multiple cranes from a single sheet of paper.

I folded the purple one using a double sided origami paper, it seems to turned out pretty well.

Ok, break time is over for me, got to get folding if I want to get some cranes in my store next week. Hope you all are having a great relaxing weekend!