Day 8, 9 and 10

Start of my 2nd week, I began with a visit to the famous Katz deli. It is so much bigger than I imagined, it has a full counter with breakfast grill, bagels, deserts, drinks and the famous meats. I ordered a Pastrami on Rye which comes with the 2 types of pickles. It is massive and absolutely delicious. It was also the experience of eating in this place that was something else. Along the wall are the countless amount of celebrities that have eaten there themselves.

I then decided cause it was such a nice day to stroll around Central Park. It was definitely bigger than I thought it was. There were people ice skating, strolling observing squirrels building their winter homes. There was even a small wedding happening in the park. The true marvel of Central Park is that there is this massive green space that is surrounded on all fours by the concrete jungle that is Manhattan. Whenever you look up you see the tips of the buildings, fathom more the size of the city is. I walked the mall and saw an awesome street performance show. It was a combination of gymnastics and dance but mainly really funny comedy. I walked along saw Bethseda Fountain, Belvedere Castle and the Alice in wonderland statue. Some of the smaller lakes were frozen as well which made for a cool sight. But the massive appeal to me is the wonder of the park as it is surrounded by the city. Everywhere you go and look up it is always something amazing. I did my lap to the big reservoir and down to exit at the Columbus circle markets. Here I tried the famous waffle and dinges. They were really good but a bit pricey.

After this I walked down 6th avenue to go finally see Rockefeller centre. The center itself is like a shopping mall/office building so that was cool. Obviously the big draw is the Christmas tree and Ice rink. Both were really cool to see, and it was pretty packed. I was gonna do the radio city music spectacular after this but ended up going to eat at the famous XiAn foods. Had their spicy cumin lamb hand pulled noodles. It was really good, spicy but offset from the vegetables. After this i strolled 6th to Bryant Park markets. I found the apple cider everyone talks about. It was good perfect for a cold night, and even better just relaxing with it watching the ice skating and listening to Christmas songs. I then walked down 5th avenue to Empire State Building. I was there at about 8-9pm so there was no line, I took my time looking through the energy conservation exhibit and then went up to the 86th floor. Wow that view was amazing, all around you see its just lights, as far as you go. Then Manhattan itself was amazing too look at during night. The lights of lower versus upper, seeing the Chrysler building lighted up and the light radiating from where time square is.

Day 9
I thought it was going to be a rainy day, so I went to the Met Museum. It was alot more artsy than I thought it was so I didnt really like it that much. I did like the Armor stuff but that was about it. I left pretty quick though cause I didn't fully like it that much. I then excited walked a little around Upper East Side and down 5th avenue, walking past the Plaza, and FAO Schwarz. I then went down to the Burger Joint, a hole in the hotel wall place. Delicious burger, good chips better atmosphere. I sat at the communion table and enjoy my meal even had a chat to a couple of other lone diners.

I then continued walking down 5th Avenue to check out the Union Square Markets. I walked to LA Burdick to get a hot chocolate and then sat at Madison Square Park sipping my hot chocolate whilst people watching and taking in the Flatiron and other buildings. I then caught the train down to the 9/11 memorial. It was definitely surreal standing there where there was once previously two massive buildings. I talked to the security guard who was very nice and just talked abit about it from his perspective. One thing he did mention that around the memorials the white roses in the names signified that it was their birthdays. I then went and walked around the 9/11 memorial museum, taking in the audio tour. It was very informative about the events of the day and what happened at the pentagon and the other plane that crashed. There were parts of the museum about the people who died in the towers that made my eyes abit heavy, it just made it more real that these people were all just living their normal lives and happened to be there.

Day 10
I started my day with ramen at Ippudo, which was delicious and really good. Today I had a federal reserve bank tour at 1pm so I made my way to the financial district to walk around wall street and other places. The tour itself wasn't that good, I thought it was more about the gold. It ended up being more about the federal reserve bank system in New York and America. I still learnt something though, and it was free and something different. After that I continued to walk around, saw the 9/11 memorials in the daylight. After this I went to the South Street Seaport and walked all the way up the East River to the East Village. I was a bit early so most things were still closed, so that ruined my dinner plans. Fortunately I trained to Williamsburg and stuff was open already there. I got a bacon wrapped hot dog with avo and mayo at Crif Dogs which was awesome. I would have had more but I wanted to try Fette Sau BBQ down the road. I went to Fette Sau got a quarter pound of pork belly and pork ribs, and a side of collard greens. Delicious, so flavourful and juicy, and you get small buns with your meal, so you can make mini Pork Belly sliders with their BBQ sauce.