NYC
New York Trip
December 19-23
Hotel:
Park 79 Hotel
117 West 79th Street
New York, NY 10024
Attendees:
Meredith - Highschool friend! Everyone who reads this knows her already.
Lauren - College friend! Everyone who reads this knows her already.
Teresa - Me, You should know me, I'm kind of a big deal.
Carolina - Work friend! She is part of Finance but doesn't work in the same department as I do. She went to college in Arkansas, and her parents are Indonesian. We've become pretty good friends, she started working here about a year after I started. She's very out-going, friendly, and loves all kinds of music and going to concerts, and also just exploring nature and stuff. All things right up my alley.
Charlie - Work friend! He actually went to MSU, but I didn't know him there. His degree was in Engineering .. so while we work at the same company he does something -completely- different. He's chinese from Taiwan .. and wasn't originally part of the trip. He just happened to find some cheap flight tickets and went to NY the same days we did.
The Story - Day 1 "Airport Confusion"
All of us came in on different airplanes and at different times. Charlie and Carolina flew in the night before drama free, so they spent the doing their own thing and met up to go to a museum. Charlie told us about experiencing a miniature blizzard (and later tried to re-create the scene during a game of pictionary).
My first flight was cancelled, so all of my connections were re-arranged and set me arriving later than planned. My last connection from Philadelphia to New York was cancelled due to snow, and they were unable to put me on another flight until 3:00pm the next afternoon. So after some waiting and figuring out that my luggage had not caught up to me, I took a train from Philly to New York. I'm directionally challenged and had no idea how to navigate the subway, so thankfully Charlie and Carolina met me at Penn Station to help me get a metro card - then we were off to Broadway! We were cutting it close to go see The Lion King!
I was totally in awe stepping out of the subway right into the middle of Times Square at night. AMAZING!
Lauren had some flight difficulties too, but still managed to beat us to the theater. Meredith also had flight difficulties, and did not arrive until later that night. We were a little late and missed the first portion of the play but came in right at the "I Just Can't Wait to be King" part.
(image by T!) - The Lion King on Broadway
The Lion King was awesome! The music was great, the story was almost word for word along with the movie - only it kept throwing me off that the vocal inflections of the lines were not the same as the cartoon. There was some mad awesome puppetry, some very muscular GQ dancing hyenas, weird sexual dancing in the sky, and great colors and music.
After it was over, I called Meredith so we could meet up for dinner. She had made it to the hotel, and had a pretty strange/frustrating experience there. First, our suite-style room had flooded or something so we can to use two separate rooms instead. This was actually ok because they were almost next door to each other. But adding to the confusion, the guy at the desk seemed extremely confused and possibly even drunk. He kept giving Meredith keys to the wrong room (read, multiple times in a row) - and he even gave her a key to an already occupied room causing her to walk in on some random guy!
On our way to the hotel to meet up with Mer, we stopped by Footlocker to buy Lauren some shoes. It was snowing, she was wearing flats, and of course her luggage hadn't made it.
We had dinner around 1am at Manhattan Deli - I had a delicious chocolate milk shake. We were all STARVING! It was only a couple of blocks from our hotel.
(image by Meredith) - Manhattan Deli
After dinner we called it a night. Charlie took a cab back to his hotel in Times Square. Back at the hotel, Carolina was the only one with luggage, so we all slept in her clothes.
Day 2 "Dinosaurs! Acupuncture! Swordfish!"
The next morning we woke up and got breakfast from this tiny place across the street, it was like a mini-convenience store that had Indian food as well as bagles. It became my morning tradition to get a bagle with cream cheese and chocolate milk.
(image by Meredith) Teresa getting excited about some bagles
Our hotel was right around the block from the Museum of Natural History - so we spent a large chunk of the day exploring the greatest museum I have ever been to. Growing up, one of my FAVORITE places to visit was the Museum of Natural History in Anniston, AL - and this place just totally blew that away. If I ever visit NY again, I'm definitely going back!
(image by T!) - Museum of Natural History front entrance
I LOVED the dinosaur exhibit. Also parts of the movie "Night at the Museum" was filmed here, you'll probably recognize one of these pictures from the movie.
(image by T!) - Carolina, Lauren, Meredith
(image by T!) - Lauren
(image by T!) Lauren! Meredith! RUNNN!!!!!
(image by T!) Moose Ears
(image by T!) Lauren and a giant whale in the sky
After the museum we met back at the hotel to plan what was next. I really needed to go to the airport and either pick up my luggage or file a claim to have them send it to the hotel. They wouldn't let me do it over the phone so I had to go in person. Charlie left us to go do is own thing and all the girls took a long subway ride to the airport.
(image by T!) - Subway entrance by the Museum of Natural History
(image by T!) Lauren, Meredith, and Carolina waiting for the subway train.
We got to the last leg where you switch from the subway to the airport train, but they were going to charge everyone $5. So Carolina and Meredith decided to stay behind and wait, and I paid for Lauren to come with me b/c I was kind of scared and lost by myself. Because it was taking so long, I told carolina and meredith to go explore canal street and chinatown - we'd meet up with them afterwards. So they went and tried to go get acupuncture, but ended up getting massages by accident! And for some reason Carolina had to take off her shirt while Mer didn't.
Once Lauren and I finally made our way to the airport and found the baggage issues place, we just had to stand in line a while and they gave me my luggage immediately. The sucky part was that they told Lauren that hers was coming in on a plane that just landed so we waited around for it. The plane landed, but there was a bigger plane blocking its gate - and the airport didn't have the proper equipment to move the larger plane out of the way so that was an extra hour or so of sitting around. Basically there were no open gates for the plane to unload so we waited a good 3-4 hours only to find the luggage was not on the plane. After some harsh words, frustrations, and some tears we took a taxi to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner.
Dinner was in Times Square at a restaurant called Sardi's. Part of the movie "The Muppets Take Manhattan" was filmed here - and it's known for all the caricatures of famous people coating the walls. I was carrying a huge suitecase, so they let me check it at the front desk. Carolina, Mer, and Charlie already had their food and they all ordered swordfish - and strongly recommended that we order something different because it wasn't as epic as it sounded. I forget what I got, but it kind of looked like Mexican food. The best part of the meal was definitely dessert.
(image by T!) Carolina at Sardi's
I'm a little fuzzy on the order of things, but I think next we dropped my suitcase off at Charlie's hotel so that we wouldn't have to lug it around - and then went to the store to buy some necessities like toothbrushes, underwear, socks, etc. Mer and Lauren still didn't have their luggage :/ Lauren wasn't feeling so great so she took a taxi to the hotel. The rest of us stayed behind to explore Times Square at night.
First, we went to the largest Toys R Us I've ever seen! It even had a fully operational ferris wheel inside.
Also we all went a little camera crazy taking street pics. It was rainy so they came out shiny and full of lights :D
(image by T!) Charlie and Carolina chillin' in Times Square
(image by T!) Mer taking pics
(image by T!) MacDonalds
We also warmed up inside a fancy MacDonalds that had a replica of Times Square in it. I think by this point it was too late to take the subway, so we took a cab back to the hotel.
Day 3 "Clay Aiken is Gay"
The next morning I woke up in a REALLY good mood b/c it felt like the first real day of my vacation and I was the annoying person who knocked on everyone's door and woke them up by singing badly. We had places to be though - NBC Studio tour day! We got some bagles to go, and maybe we bought a hotdog at this point? -- and took the sub to Rockafeller center. Most of the stores were closed b/c it was early sunday morning. The tour was pretty cool, got to see where Conan is filmed, and Saturday Night Live. We took some cheesy newsdesk pictures which were later lost with my luggage.
(image by .. well it was my camera) Posing with Matt Lauer, host of The Today Show
After that, we walked to the Magnolia Bakery and had cupcakes. According to wiki, this bakery was featured on Sex and the City, in the film Prime, in which one of the characters throws Magnolia pies at his ex-girlfriends, and in The Devil Wears Prada.
(image by T!) CUPCAKES!
(image by T!) slightly disturbing, yet very amusing
I had some winter boots but it turned out they were a size too small for me and hurt my feet really bad, so I let Meredith wear them and I just wore my normal shoes. They were super comfy, but not water resistant at all .. so my feet were soaked all day that day. I didn't really mind though, just part of the experience.
(image by Meredith) T thrilled to be alive
Lauren then wanted to go buy some clothes so the rest of us explored the New York Public Library while she shopped. It was amazing on the inside .. but .. there were no books! I think Carolina had her first "in awe" moment of the trip here.
(image by Meredith) T having a bit of back pain
(image by T!) NY Public Library
Lauren met back up with us and we went to see about getting some discount tickets to a broadway play. On our way back to the ticket place we walked through Bryant Park. The sun was finally shining and it was so pretty there!
(image by T!) Bryant Park
(my camera, Carolina took the pic) This was as close to iceskating as we got
Discount Broadway tickets! We decided on Monty Python's Spam-a-Lot. Charlie had to go back to his hotel to get some cash, so we chilled out in some kind of Broadway information center - which happened to be the building they were storing the New Years Ball in. We got our tickets - about $35 ish apiece not bad considering we spend $150 on the Lion King. Then we decided we needed to experience some New York Pizza. Rather than wander aimlessly, we went to Charlie's hotel to warm up, drop off bags, and get pizza suggestions.
(image by Meredith) Resting in Charlie's hotel
Dinner was at "Little Italy Pizza." It was really good and we chilled there for a long time just goofing off and trying to explain the middle ages to Charlie in preparation for the play. Carolina konked out in the middle of the pizza place.
(image by T!) Carolina savoring some pizza
Next we went to explore Grand Central Station. They were having some kind of Christmas light show and also a special fair with sales booths all set up, so we looked around there.
(image by T!) Grand Central Station Christmas Light Show
(image by T!) Grand Central Station - some kind of Christmas shopping festival thing
Then it was time to head back and see Spam-a-Lot. The play was pretty good, although I think I've seen the Holy GraiI movie so many times that it's not as funny anymore. It was cool getting to see Clay Aiken in person - I voted for him when he was on American Idol. I think I was more entertained by Charlie during the play .. he kept trying to have in depth conversations about Clay Aiken's gayness and his relative lack of hotness compared to the other actors in the play.
(image by T!)
After the play we went to Soho, but it was so late that most of the shops were closed. Instead we went to this one restaurant .. I forget what it was but I had some strange food there. It was a lot of little plates of food brought out family style, and I got to try quail eggs along with various seafood. I've never seen a shrimp with the head still attached before .. like on my plate. We talked about music through most of the meal - favorite bands and stuff.
(image by Lauren) Our food at that place
Day 4 "Modern Art SUCKS! (not really)"
The next morning we got up - carolina packed her stuff b/c she was leaving that day. All she brought was a carry-on bookbag so it wasn't too bad. We got our bagles and took a sub to the Museum of Modern Art. Starry Night was displayed there, but we never got the timed tickets to go see it. Spent forever at the museum, took a lot of pictures. Both Charlie and Carolina were flying out that afternoon and had to leave. So then it was just me, mer, and Lauren.
(image by T!) Mer and Lauren walking by a David Smith piece.
(image by T!) Musical instruments induces flying tendencies
(image by Mer's cam, i took the pic) Picasso - Girl Before a Mirror
(image by Lauren) One of my fav paintings over my shoulder.
(image by T!) Charlie checking out some bird women
On the way out of the museum to the subway, we found the LOVE Statue!
(my camera, Lauren took the pic) I'm attempting to make a heart with my hands
After MoMA, we took a sub to china town. Got a little lost but found it. It was SO COLD that day! We went somewhere very authentic for lunch, like .. there were chickens hanging in the window. They brought us hot tea and my food was sooo good. I had roast duck and wonton soup.
(image by T!) My meal at Sun Say Kai
Then we went across the street to the Dragonland Bakery for dessert. They wouldn't allow us to take pictures, but a snuck a few anyways. mer and I got bee cakes and black bubble milk tea - mer had strawberry flavoring added to hers.
(image by T!) The ceiling of the Dragonland Bakery
(image by Meredith) Bee-cake and Bubblemilk Tea
Then we ventured out to buy stuff. Had some sailormoon sightings, haha. I got a shirt, a magnet, this cell phone holder thing with a cat on it and it says "Cat Know" , a windchime, and a silk scarf that said it was $40 but i got it for $5.
(image by T!) Meredith in Chinatown
By then we were freezing, so we went to Little Italy to this really romantic looking place and split a bottle of wine and an artichoke appetizer. Did some more shopping then back to the hotel.
(image by Lauren) M & T being nerds in a romantic restaurant
Day 5 "Teresa all alone in NYC"
Tuesday morning mer and lauren got up really early to go to the airport. My flight wasn't until 4pm that afternoon. All alone in NY! My only plans were to explore central park since it was in walking distance from the hotel .....
(image by T!) Central Park
(image by T!) Central Park
.. but that didn't take as long as I thought. So I got brave a took a subway by myself to go see FAO Shwarz, the toy store with the piano from the movie BIG.
(image by T!) Kiddos dancing on the piano
(image by T!) FAO Shwarz - one awesome dude
I also checked out the Apple Store b/c it was right next door. Went back to the hotel and checked out then took the subway to the airport. I got a little turned around on the subway .. not lost per - say .. but had to backtrack some a couple of times and it really ate into my time. I made it to the airport 1 hour before my flight was supposed to leave. The wait to check-in bags was very long and they had a policy that all bags must be checked in 45 min before the flight was to depart. So I didn't make it in time, they told me i couldn't check my bag. They looked up other flights for me, but I was going to either have to pay $300 and fly out of another airport the next day, or wait 2 days. So I said screw it and decided to just leave my luggage there. I crammed as much stuff as possible into my purse and bookbag (i happened to be carrying a VERY large purse b/c I was paranoid about damaging my camera .. like the purse is totally not me at all .. but thank God I brought it). I managed to fit most of my clothes. I left behind the snow boots that were too small, some cheap dress shoes, half my underwear, my razor, some lotion, my hairdryer, and the NBC studio tours pics .. and unfortunately my USB cord to my camera (kind of ok though b/c i have an extra).
By this point my flight was getting really close to closing it's doors. The airport lady skipped me to the front of the security checkpoint area .. then I did the crazy lady barefoot dash through the airport. My gate was far away and I didn't have time to put back on my shoes. I am sooo out of shape that i was dieing by the time I got to the gate, but I made it. My carryons were so crammed with clothes that there wasn't room to put them in the overhead compartment, so i just had stuff all over me and hid it with my big coat and pretended to be a fat person.
Flew out, landed in Detroit. My connection was in a few hours. It ended up being delayed. We got on the airplane and sat on it for 2 hours, the plane froze and big machines that looked like something out of star wars came and de-iced the plane. It finally took off and I made it to South Carolina where my mom lives at 2am. It was soooo good to be able to relax!!
If you'd like to see more pictures you can check out our New York Compilation Group on Flickr. I think you have to actually log in to flickr to see it, it's easy to make a free account though.
December 19-23
Hotel:
Park 79 Hotel
117 West 79th Street
New York, NY 10024
Attendees:
Meredith - Highschool friend! Everyone who reads this knows her already.
Lauren - College friend! Everyone who reads this knows her already.
Teresa - Me, You should know me, I'm kind of a big deal.
Carolina - Work friend! She is part of Finance but doesn't work in the same department as I do. She went to college in Arkansas, and her parents are Indonesian. We've become pretty good friends, she started working here about a year after I started. She's very out-going, friendly, and loves all kinds of music and going to concerts, and also just exploring nature and stuff. All things right up my alley.
Charlie - Work friend! He actually went to MSU, but I didn't know him there. His degree was in Engineering .. so while we work at the same company he does something -completely- different. He's chinese from Taiwan .. and wasn't originally part of the trip. He just happened to find some cheap flight tickets and went to NY the same days we did.
The Story - Day 1 "Airport Confusion"
All of us came in on different airplanes and at different times. Charlie and Carolina flew in the night before drama free, so they spent the doing their own thing and met up to go to a museum. Charlie told us about experiencing a miniature blizzard (and later tried to re-create the scene during a game of pictionary).
My first flight was cancelled, so all of my connections were re-arranged and set me arriving later than planned. My last connection from Philadelphia to New York was cancelled due to snow, and they were unable to put me on another flight until 3:00pm the next afternoon. So after some waiting and figuring out that my luggage had not caught up to me, I took a train from Philly to New York. I'm directionally challenged and had no idea how to navigate the subway, so thankfully Charlie and Carolina met me at Penn Station to help me get a metro card - then we were off to Broadway! We were cutting it close to go see The Lion King!
I was totally in awe stepping out of the subway right into the middle of Times Square at night. AMAZING!
Lauren had some flight difficulties too, but still managed to beat us to the theater. Meredith also had flight difficulties, and did not arrive until later that night. We were a little late and missed the first portion of the play but came in right at the "I Just Can't Wait to be King" part.
(image by T!) - The Lion King on Broadway
The Lion King was awesome! The music was great, the story was almost word for word along with the movie - only it kept throwing me off that the vocal inflections of the lines were not the same as the cartoon. There was some mad awesome puppetry, some very muscular GQ dancing hyenas, weird sexual dancing in the sky, and great colors and music.
After it was over, I called Meredith so we could meet up for dinner. She had made it to the hotel, and had a pretty strange/frustrating experience there. First, our suite-style room had flooded or something so we can to use two separate rooms instead. This was actually ok because they were almost next door to each other. But adding to the confusion, the guy at the desk seemed extremely confused and possibly even drunk. He kept giving Meredith keys to the wrong room (read, multiple times in a row) - and he even gave her a key to an already occupied room causing her to walk in on some random guy!
On our way to the hotel to meet up with Mer, we stopped by Footlocker to buy Lauren some shoes. It was snowing, she was wearing flats, and of course her luggage hadn't made it.
We had dinner around 1am at Manhattan Deli - I had a delicious chocolate milk shake. We were all STARVING! It was only a couple of blocks from our hotel.
(image by Meredith) - Manhattan Deli
After dinner we called it a night. Charlie took a cab back to his hotel in Times Square. Back at the hotel, Carolina was the only one with luggage, so we all slept in her clothes.
Day 2 "Dinosaurs! Acupuncture! Swordfish!"
The next morning we woke up and got breakfast from this tiny place across the street, it was like a mini-convenience store that had Indian food as well as bagles. It became my morning tradition to get a bagle with cream cheese and chocolate milk.
(image by Meredith) Teresa getting excited about some bagles
Our hotel was right around the block from the Museum of Natural History - so we spent a large chunk of the day exploring the greatest museum I have ever been to. Growing up, one of my FAVORITE places to visit was the Museum of Natural History in Anniston, AL - and this place just totally blew that away. If I ever visit NY again, I'm definitely going back!
(image by T!) - Museum of Natural History front entrance
I LOVED the dinosaur exhibit. Also parts of the movie "Night at the Museum" was filmed here, you'll probably recognize one of these pictures from the movie.
(image by T!) - Carolina, Lauren, Meredith
(image by T!) - Lauren
(image by T!) Lauren! Meredith! RUNNN!!!!!
(image by T!) Moose Ears
(image by T!) Lauren and a giant whale in the sky
After the museum we met back at the hotel to plan what was next. I really needed to go to the airport and either pick up my luggage or file a claim to have them send it to the hotel. They wouldn't let me do it over the phone so I had to go in person. Charlie left us to go do is own thing and all the girls took a long subway ride to the airport.
(image by T!) - Subway entrance by the Museum of Natural History
(image by T!) Lauren, Meredith, and Carolina waiting for the subway train.
We got to the last leg where you switch from the subway to the airport train, but they were going to charge everyone $5. So Carolina and Meredith decided to stay behind and wait, and I paid for Lauren to come with me b/c I was kind of scared and lost by myself. Because it was taking so long, I told carolina and meredith to go explore canal street and chinatown - we'd meet up with them afterwards. So they went and tried to go get acupuncture, but ended up getting massages by accident! And for some reason Carolina had to take off her shirt while Mer didn't.
Once Lauren and I finally made our way to the airport and found the baggage issues place, we just had to stand in line a while and they gave me my luggage immediately. The sucky part was that they told Lauren that hers was coming in on a plane that just landed so we waited around for it. The plane landed, but there was a bigger plane blocking its gate - and the airport didn't have the proper equipment to move the larger plane out of the way so that was an extra hour or so of sitting around. Basically there were no open gates for the plane to unload so we waited a good 3-4 hours only to find the luggage was not on the plane. After some harsh words, frustrations, and some tears we took a taxi to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner.
Dinner was in Times Square at a restaurant called Sardi's. Part of the movie "The Muppets Take Manhattan" was filmed here - and it's known for all the caricatures of famous people coating the walls. I was carrying a huge suitecase, so they let me check it at the front desk. Carolina, Mer, and Charlie already had their food and they all ordered swordfish - and strongly recommended that we order something different because it wasn't as epic as it sounded. I forget what I got, but it kind of looked like Mexican food. The best part of the meal was definitely dessert.
(image by T!) Carolina at Sardi's
I'm a little fuzzy on the order of things, but I think next we dropped my suitcase off at Charlie's hotel so that we wouldn't have to lug it around - and then went to the store to buy some necessities like toothbrushes, underwear, socks, etc. Mer and Lauren still didn't have their luggage :/ Lauren wasn't feeling so great so she took a taxi to the hotel. The rest of us stayed behind to explore Times Square at night.
First, we went to the largest Toys R Us I've ever seen! It even had a fully operational ferris wheel inside.
Also we all went a little camera crazy taking street pics. It was rainy so they came out shiny and full of lights :D
(image by T!) Charlie and Carolina chillin' in Times Square
(image by T!) Mer taking pics
(image by T!) MacDonalds
We also warmed up inside a fancy MacDonalds that had a replica of Times Square in it. I think by this point it was too late to take the subway, so we took a cab back to the hotel.
Day 3 "Clay Aiken is Gay"
The next morning I woke up in a REALLY good mood b/c it felt like the first real day of my vacation and I was the annoying person who knocked on everyone's door and woke them up by singing badly. We had places to be though - NBC Studio tour day! We got some bagles to go, and maybe we bought a hotdog at this point? -- and took the sub to Rockafeller center. Most of the stores were closed b/c it was early sunday morning. The tour was pretty cool, got to see where Conan is filmed, and Saturday Night Live. We took some cheesy newsdesk pictures which were later lost with my luggage.
(image by .. well it was my camera) Posing with Matt Lauer, host of The Today Show
After that, we walked to the Magnolia Bakery and had cupcakes. According to wiki, this bakery was featured on Sex and the City, in the film Prime, in which one of the characters throws Magnolia pies at his ex-girlfriends, and in The Devil Wears Prada.
(image by T!) CUPCAKES!
(image by T!) slightly disturbing, yet very amusing
I had some winter boots but it turned out they were a size too small for me and hurt my feet really bad, so I let Meredith wear them and I just wore my normal shoes. They were super comfy, but not water resistant at all .. so my feet were soaked all day that day. I didn't really mind though, just part of the experience.
(image by Meredith) T thrilled to be alive
Lauren then wanted to go buy some clothes so the rest of us explored the New York Public Library while she shopped. It was amazing on the inside .. but .. there were no books! I think Carolina had her first "in awe" moment of the trip here.
(image by Meredith) T having a bit of back pain
(image by T!) NY Public Library
Lauren met back up with us and we went to see about getting some discount tickets to a broadway play. On our way back to the ticket place we walked through Bryant Park. The sun was finally shining and it was so pretty there!
(image by T!) Bryant Park
(my camera, Carolina took the pic) This was as close to iceskating as we got
Discount Broadway tickets! We decided on Monty Python's Spam-a-Lot. Charlie had to go back to his hotel to get some cash, so we chilled out in some kind of Broadway information center - which happened to be the building they were storing the New Years Ball in. We got our tickets - about $35 ish apiece not bad considering we spend $150 on the Lion King. Then we decided we needed to experience some New York Pizza. Rather than wander aimlessly, we went to Charlie's hotel to warm up, drop off bags, and get pizza suggestions.
(image by Meredith) Resting in Charlie's hotel
Dinner was at "Little Italy Pizza." It was really good and we chilled there for a long time just goofing off and trying to explain the middle ages to Charlie in preparation for the play. Carolina konked out in the middle of the pizza place.
(image by T!) Carolina savoring some pizza
Next we went to explore Grand Central Station. They were having some kind of Christmas light show and also a special fair with sales booths all set up, so we looked around there.
(image by T!) Grand Central Station Christmas Light Show
(image by T!) Grand Central Station - some kind of Christmas shopping festival thing
Then it was time to head back and see Spam-a-Lot. The play was pretty good, although I think I've seen the Holy GraiI movie so many times that it's not as funny anymore. It was cool getting to see Clay Aiken in person - I voted for him when he was on American Idol. I think I was more entertained by Charlie during the play .. he kept trying to have in depth conversations about Clay Aiken's gayness and his relative lack of hotness compared to the other actors in the play.
(image by T!)
After the play we went to Soho, but it was so late that most of the shops were closed. Instead we went to this one restaurant .. I forget what it was but I had some strange food there. It was a lot of little plates of food brought out family style, and I got to try quail eggs along with various seafood. I've never seen a shrimp with the head still attached before .. like on my plate. We talked about music through most of the meal - favorite bands and stuff.
(image by Lauren) Our food at that place
Day 4 "Modern Art SUCKS! (not really)"
The next morning we got up - carolina packed her stuff b/c she was leaving that day. All she brought was a carry-on bookbag so it wasn't too bad. We got our bagles and took a sub to the Museum of Modern Art. Starry Night was displayed there, but we never got the timed tickets to go see it. Spent forever at the museum, took a lot of pictures. Both Charlie and Carolina were flying out that afternoon and had to leave. So then it was just me, mer, and Lauren.
(image by T!) Mer and Lauren walking by a David Smith piece.
(image by T!) Musical instruments induces flying tendencies
(image by Mer's cam, i took the pic) Picasso - Girl Before a Mirror
(image by Lauren) One of my fav paintings over my shoulder.
(image by T!) Charlie checking out some bird women
On the way out of the museum to the subway, we found the LOVE Statue!
(my camera, Lauren took the pic) I'm attempting to make a heart with my hands
After MoMA, we took a sub to china town. Got a little lost but found it. It was SO COLD that day! We went somewhere very authentic for lunch, like .. there were chickens hanging in the window. They brought us hot tea and my food was sooo good. I had roast duck and wonton soup.
(image by T!) My meal at Sun Say Kai
Then we went across the street to the Dragonland Bakery for dessert. They wouldn't allow us to take pictures, but a snuck a few anyways. mer and I got bee cakes and black bubble milk tea - mer had strawberry flavoring added to hers.
(image by T!) The ceiling of the Dragonland Bakery
(image by Meredith) Bee-cake and Bubblemilk Tea
Then we ventured out to buy stuff. Had some sailormoon sightings, haha. I got a shirt, a magnet, this cell phone holder thing with a cat on it and it says "Cat Know" , a windchime, and a silk scarf that said it was $40 but i got it for $5.
(image by T!) Meredith in Chinatown
By then we were freezing, so we went to Little Italy to this really romantic looking place and split a bottle of wine and an artichoke appetizer. Did some more shopping then back to the hotel.
(image by Lauren) M & T being nerds in a romantic restaurant
Day 5 "Teresa all alone in NYC"
Tuesday morning mer and lauren got up really early to go to the airport. My flight wasn't until 4pm that afternoon. All alone in NY! My only plans were to explore central park since it was in walking distance from the hotel .....
(image by T!) Central Park
(image by T!) Central Park
.. but that didn't take as long as I thought. So I got brave a took a subway by myself to go see FAO Shwarz, the toy store with the piano from the movie BIG.
(image by T!) Kiddos dancing on the piano
(image by T!) FAO Shwarz - one awesome dude
I also checked out the Apple Store b/c it was right next door. Went back to the hotel and checked out then took the subway to the airport. I got a little turned around on the subway .. not lost per - say .. but had to backtrack some a couple of times and it really ate into my time. I made it to the airport 1 hour before my flight was supposed to leave. The wait to check-in bags was very long and they had a policy that all bags must be checked in 45 min before the flight was to depart. So I didn't make it in time, they told me i couldn't check my bag. They looked up other flights for me, but I was going to either have to pay $300 and fly out of another airport the next day, or wait 2 days. So I said screw it and decided to just leave my luggage there. I crammed as much stuff as possible into my purse and bookbag (i happened to be carrying a VERY large purse b/c I was paranoid about damaging my camera .. like the purse is totally not me at all .. but thank God I brought it). I managed to fit most of my clothes. I left behind the snow boots that were too small, some cheap dress shoes, half my underwear, my razor, some lotion, my hairdryer, and the NBC studio tours pics .. and unfortunately my USB cord to my camera (kind of ok though b/c i have an extra).
By this point my flight was getting really close to closing it's doors. The airport lady skipped me to the front of the security checkpoint area .. then I did the crazy lady barefoot dash through the airport. My gate was far away and I didn't have time to put back on my shoes. I am sooo out of shape that i was dieing by the time I got to the gate, but I made it. My carryons were so crammed with clothes that there wasn't room to put them in the overhead compartment, so i just had stuff all over me and hid it with my big coat and pretended to be a fat person.
Flew out, landed in Detroit. My connection was in a few hours. It ended up being delayed. We got on the airplane and sat on it for 2 hours, the plane froze and big machines that looked like something out of star wars came and de-iced the plane. It finally took off and I made it to South Carolina where my mom lives at 2am. It was soooo good to be able to relax!!
If you'd like to see more pictures you can check out our New York Compilation Group on Flickr. I think you have to actually log in to flickr to see it, it's easy to make a free account though.