Day 23, NYE and 25

Day 23 

Today I had planned to go to Staten Island with the free ferry. It was packed so unsurprisingly I didn't get a good position to look at the Manhattan skyline. When we arrived to Staten Island I wanted to walk around and see a little bit of the island. I was recommended a Sri Lankan place about 20 mins walk from the terminal. It gave me a good chance to see what Staten Island was. In my mind I imagined it as a suburban white neighbourhood, but in reality it's like any other New York neighbourhood. There were run down buildings, empty shops, and some homeless people. I got to the Sri Lankan place and I was the only one there. The place itself is like a museum of Sri Lankan art and other objects. Really cool decor and I was lucky I had the place to myself. I ordered something similar to a Nasi lemak, rice with mutton and other things. It was delicious, one of the best meals I had on my trip. The real highlight was that they had eggplant in there, which I hate, but I loved how they cooked it. 

After this I took a slow walk back to the ferry terminal where there was a 9/11 memorial close by. It was shaped to view inbetween two statues where the towers were standing. It wa also a great viewing point to see New Jersey, Manhattan and Brooklyn all together.

On the trip home was able to get a good view of the Manhattan as we headed in. What a spectacular skyline it truly is. 

After this I went to st marks place to find some food. Decided on yakitori taisho, which was on my list of foods. Really good yakitori, got chicken skin, beef tongue and pork belly all great. 

After that I went home cause I wanted to rest up for the big day to come. 

New Years Eve (Day 24)

The big day was here, NYE in Times Square. I had dehydrated myself from the night before cause I knew I that once I got in I was stuck there til the end. So I wrapped up, got my choclates (18 snack size pieces) and headed out. I grabbed some pizza to eat before, nothing too big but I still had to eat something. I planned to get there around 12.30-1 so early but not too early. I ended up getting there 11.30, so an hour earlier than I planned. That being said I got a great spot so I was happy. 

It was fairly uneventful for the first few hours, but at about 2pm Taylor swift and some of the other acts started rehearsals and warming up so that entertained everyone. The tv coverages started at 6 so from then there was music and stuff to watch. Every hour was a countdown to another new year in a different country. Theoughout this time there were fiveaways like some balloons to wave, foam hats and planet fitness gloves. They performances started at 8pm so there was more entertainment. By then it was getting very cold, my thought just to keep moving to the music to try stay warm. Other people were struggling sitting down, some lying in a ball. The main act was Taylor swift, with her song welcome to New York. It led up to the ball drop. The ball drop and the countdown is what everyone goes to see. I was in a great spot to see te screen and ball and to hear the whole crowd as well. Down to 1 the confetti started flowing down, the music was playing and the Times Square tower had some fireworks. It was truly an awesome experience, standing in the middle of it. Just a surreal experience to be in the middle of it all, something you've seen on TV so often. Side note on my way out I was like 10m away from terry crews.

Day 25 

First day of 2015 I was still so happy from the day before. I woke up a bit later so went straight to lunch. I thought today was as good a day to try out shake shack. I tried the double with cheese fries and a salted caramel shake. 

It was pretty good for something that's suppose to be a chain. That shake was very good and was super surprised how it good it was. After lunch I walked around, chilled at Bryant park again just enjoying a nice sunny day. Around 3 pm the sun was starting to set so I decided to head off to Standings again. Today was the day of the bowl games, so there was a lot of football to be watched and heaps of fans around to watch with. I got there at the end of the Oregon vs FsU game which everyone was happy with the result. There were quite a few buckeye supporters there ready for the game. It made the game more fun everyone cheering and chanting O-H I-O. Once again Standings is the best sports bar I've ever been too, and that night was no different. 

Day 20, 21 and 22

The Day 20

Today was a very relaxed day, I just planned to go walk around and eat. So off to the East Village I headed, I walked past Rush and Bones which I was gonna eat their fried chicken and waffles at but decided it seemed to busy. I went further on to Oda House which is a Georgian restaurant. I ordered some beef and onion pastry dish, that resembled a meat pie but flat. It was good and the restaurant had a great interior full of Georgian antiques and art. I then walked up 1st towards the UN building, swinging inwards to see the Chrysler building close up. I then went back to walk around Grand Central and then went back home. That night I had planned to go out to a few bars and places around the city. First stop was BarBacon, a bar and restaurant where there is bacon in everything. I got the bacon and beer tasting combo. 4 small beers matched to 4 types of bacon smoked. The bacon was probably the most delicious bacon, you could taste each smoke type and it was cooked so perfectly. 

After the beer and bacon tasting I went to the Press Lounge, which is a rooftop bar. I was originally gonna just go up and have a look, but the view was magnificent so I stayed for a drink. I just sat outside taking in that view, it was so magnificent I could've sat there forever. All the time people are just as in awe taking in pictures of the skyline. I ended up staying there for an hour, had a good chat with a few of the people there as well. After that I really couldn't be bothered going to the other pubs I had in mind, so with that I went to chinatown, grabbed a sesame pancake and 8 dumplings for $5.50. 

Day 21

I woke up a little bit later, so I could go straight to lunch. I chose the Mile End Deli to eat their burger deluxe combo. It was so good, the medium cooked burger, delicious fries and pickles. I was so full after it I could barely walk, but I did try to slowly walk around NOHO. I was then going to Standings a sports bar I found only to watch the last day of the regular season football. Standings is an awesome place to watch any sports, college or pro. theres 8 tvs around, the sports package with everything and good craft beers. The owner and bartender there are also real friendly along with some of the regulars, and it just made the experience so awesome. I had a great time there, stayed to dinner then went and got some dumplings from Prosperity Dumplings and called it a night. 

Day 22

So today was a Monday and I decided to explore more of brooklyn today. I started by walking to Williamsburg to see the hipsterfication of the neighbourhood. It was evident the warehouses were being converted to lofts and what looked like graffiti run down shop fronts actually hipster coffee shops, or natural organic shops. I ate at robertas which was too a shabby exterior but inside was very nice. I ate a garlic pizza which was very good simple ingredients and good size. 

From here I went down to prospect park to have a walk around here. Similar to Central Park it is located in the middle of the prospect heights and park slopes. It was quieter, but in the middle was a good sized hill that gave you a view of the surrounding area. From there I took the train down to Brighton beach. This neighbourhood I knew was a Russian influence and you could see it from the shops to the language on the signs to the people walking the street. I was still full so I didn't get to eat the Russian food like I had planned but that was alright. I walked down to the Brighton beach walk. It was beautiful even though it was cold and there wasn't too many people. The beach was bigger than I thought, very long. As you walk down you see the beach on one side and on the other was the apartments, sports courts or other attractions. One of these was the aquarium which was being upgraded, which would be good to check out next time. Then you walk down further and you see the reason Coney Island is famous, Luna park. Although it was all closed it was still cool to see how big it was and how many stalls and rides and other things there was. I walked down towards the pier where everyone was fishing and managed to get a decent picture of the park.

From here I had to try the world famous Nathan's at its original location. I had one dog cause I still had more to eat later. It was smaller than I expected but was a good dog and the experience was what I was after. From here I went up to about Bensonhurst to L&B Spumoni gardens. The neighbourhood around it was Italian and thus this was a good stop to eat Italian square pizza. This pizza slice was slightly different cause they put the cheese on then the sauce. After this I went to the brooklyn bridge to see it at night. I had previously done it during the day but the night is something else. The sun was setting on the southern end of Manhattan. It was dark enough so all the buildings were lit up. It was truly magnificent too see and I'm happy I went at night. Here it was that I saw one of the sights of my trip so far. In the sky there are all the planes and helicopters with their lights, looking like fireflies. And the great sight of this was to the brooklyn side you see the planes as they approach NY and they all form a row that goes as far as you can see. A row of lights in the sky just absolutely spectacular.

 I finished off the great day heading into the city to eat at kobeyaki. It's like Japanese fast food chain, but slightly better. I got sushi and a burger, both pretty good definitely a better option to other fast food places.

Day 17, 18 and 19

Day 17
Christmas eve, and it was raining slightly so I went to the Native American Indian museum near Battery Park. It was more of an art museum rather than their cultural and old school life. But it was still good to go to, the most impressive was the old photo exhibit done by a native american photographer. After that I decided to go St Marks for lunch cause there is a load of places there. Sadly I think I chose the only place that wasn't that good, a really average meal which was disappointing but it wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten. After that I went home to rest up and relax, whilst it was raining outside. That night I was meeting some people off a forum, where a bunch of us solo travellers were meeting up for an Xmas eve dinner. We ended up going to some place in Chinatown to eat, something simple to accommodate everyone. After that went for a few drinks in the East Village just a quiet place. It was a really good night, cool to meet new people over the holidays.

Day 18
Christmas day was not snowing unfortunately, however the sun was out so it was a great day for walking. I took the L to Union Square at 14th, and walked up fifth and sixth seeing the slightly emptier streets and the odd store open. Once I got past 42nd there was a lot more people around, especially around Rockefeller and Radio City Music Hall. I got some Halal Guys at 55th and took it up to eat it at Central Park. Central Park was packed, so many people walking it and skating, I couldn't believe all these people were out (assuming most were tourists). After that I just walked all around Upper West Side, through the streets and avenues up to Columbia University at 114th Street. It was really cool to see the buildings that are so recognizable from tv and movies. The campus it self was very cool, lots of old buildings and some really big sculptures as well.

Day 19
So they don't do boxing day in the US but I decided this was another day to explore more of Queens. I took the 7 out to Flushing, the local china town which was crowded with asians. I walked around a bit, until I found a Yum Cha place and had a bite to eat there, not a big meal. I then walked around the town and towards the Flushing Meadows Park. This parks is really big, has loads of soccer fields, a ice skating rink, the Queens Museum, the home of the Mets and US open and the famous unisphere and alien ships from Men in Black. Even on a cold day there was a lot of people out and about. I then went back on the 7 towards Astoria, this neighbourhood was more russian and greek focused. So I had a massive greek meal, gyro and fetta cheese on chips. I walked around a bit more down towards the Museum of Moving Imagery, which had free admission on Fridays 6pm onwards. The museum is really cool, loads of movie props and other behind the scenes stuff. There tvs and rooms purposely there too show clips and short movies. One of the cooler exhibits was how they did live tv, and a baseball screening.

Later that night I had a chance to try the famed BaoHaus in the East Village. Their pork belly is really soft and flavourful and their fried chicken is moist so its really good to eat.

Day 14, 15 and 16

Day 14
One of my most anticipated days, JETS vs PATRIOTS game day. Game was at 1pm so I left for a 11.30pm arrival. Metlife stadium is in nowhere New Jersey, so its a bit of a journey to get there, but with the crowds its easy to navigate. Once you get off the train at Meadowlands, you really get into the atmosphere of the whole day. Tailgating is one of the coolest things ever, drinking, eating and playing games before the game gets you in a good mood. I went to a public tailgate I found online in L7 where there was heaps of Jets fans and a beer pong table and other people. It was cool to see the whole tailgate experience. The game itself, was awesome, freezing cold but awesome. I was on the 2nd tier in the 1st row so I had a great view. All the chanting and cheering really made the game awesome, and even though we lost by 1 it was a great experience.

Day 15
Today I wanted to explore the Bronx, and see what the differences were. I made my way up to the top of the Bronx, near the Botanical Gardens. I then walked to Arthur Avenue to get some food, some of those places had massive lines but the place I went too wasn't too bad. I then decided spur of the moment to go to the Bronx Zoo. It was actually quite a good zoo, very big with a load of different animals. I think the only bad thing about the zoo is there is quite a difference of resources between some of the animal enclosures, but nonetheless it was a good choice to visit. After the zoo I walked back to the train station, the walk itself was a bit nerve racking. I was definitely out of my comfort zone in that neighborhood but I wanted to break that stereotype that I had associated in my mind.

That night I ended up walking around midtown and found an awesome korean spot to get a great Bi Bi Bab. Wasn't on my list but what a great find.

Day 16
Today I went to eat another excellent sisig dish in the East Village, it was with garlic rice, so good. I then went to eat some dessert at Ray's Candy Store, deep fried oreos with a small cup of vanilla ice cream. It was one of the best desserts ever, and what made it even better the place is super small and I had a chance to talk to the guy running it and some other customers. After this I decided to go to Roosevelt Island, so I went up to Upper East Side to get the tram across. I ended up walking pretty much the whole island and in the middle. So much bigger than I thought, a very residential island with schools and shops and everything.

That night I went to Dyker Heights in Brooklyn to see the famous christmas lights of that suburb. What I did to make it even more christmassy was playing christmas carols and listening to it whilst I walked around. It was so cool to see so much of a neighborhood all put out christmas lights. Most people put it up themselves with some really cool displays. Some of the richer and bigger properties had people put up their displays for them which was also very cool to see. One house had their own Santa there as part of the festivities. Another place had put up loads of inflatable characters and had another Santa out front and was giving toys to kids walking around. After this I was gonna go eat at Pok Pok in Brooklyn but it was too busy, so I ended up going to Popeyes for my first takeout food of the trip. The biscuits were cool, they really are different to what I was expecting, they were flavourful and not bland.

Day 11, 12 and 13

Day 11
Today I started off with one of the most Christmassy things to do in New York, the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. I got tickets right up at the back for the 11am show, but the seats were fine and I even got into a nice chat with a couple from DC. The show itself was awesome, so much xmas fitted into it. The Rockettes are very talented, considering some of the dances they were doing, I was very impressed. The last act the bring out live animals for the nativity scene which I thought was very cool. My favourite part was the toy soldier one, which Im sure was the same with most other people.

I had a food eating tour with Ziggy at 3.40 that afternoon, so I stayed close by after and decided to do Top of The Rock. Lines were very quick for a midday planned viewing time. The thing with TOTR is that you get three viewing points (all consecutive levels) with more inside spaces at the bottom and total outside on the top. The view is certainly amazing, I mean you see all of Central Park and you see everything else during the day. Compared to when I went to ESB at night, you could spot different neighbourhoods in Manhattan and see everything else in all directions. I had a blast just sitting at the top level looking North and South, it was just amazing that I was seeing it all in person. The size of Central Park, the Upper East and West sides, a large cloud covering Harlem, it was all just amazing to take in. Then the South you can see Lower East Side and the East Village and how it is so small compared to the towering Financial District at the southern end of Manhattan. I think that the debate of ESB vs TOTR is pointless, both are amazing and if you have the time do both (just do times when it isnt so busy so you don't waste time lining up).

After a long time up there, I made my way to Hells Kitchen where I would meet Ziggy and some others for the food tour. I wasn't sure what to expect except trying some amazing foods and meeting some food like minded people. I was wrong, Ziggy and the rest were all so nice and knew so much about the town and the great food to try. We tried an amazing pastry with sundried tomato and goats cheese in it, with some home made hummus, absolutely amazing. Then we went to a small thai place where we ordered up some appetizers, ribs, curry puffs and fried tofu. All really good, my favourite being the ribs, in a thick delicious sauce. The entrees we ordered was a something pork and a special thai fried rice. The pork was so tender and had these small circular vegetables cut up (I recall them being called japanese eggplants but I could be wrong), but the best part of the dish was they put in bamboo sprouts but made them absolutely delicious. We then went to a small taco place, where I got beef tongue and pig skin tacos. The tongue cooked to such tenderness, if you didn't know what they were you would have thought them to be a high quality cut. The skin so flavourful and a very different texture, which made them delicious. We finished off at a bakery to get some deserts. After this we did walk to the Press lounge but there was a function so we couldn't go up; then over to Gotham Street Markets to check the place out, but too full to eat (I subsequently revisited press lounge on another night and ate at the Cannibal one of the vendors at the markets, at a later date). It was an amazing night, I was so happy I had a chance to do this. If anyone is in New York look up eating with ziggy for some great food advice in Hells Kitchen.

Day 12
On this fine day I decided to visit the neighbouring state of New Jersey. Firstly I went to Hoboken, home of the Cake Boss because I had too. This was one of the big reasons I wanted to come to New York. The place looked exactly as I imagined, not too crowded so that helped. I got a cannoli and lobster tail and a red velvet cupcake. I at the cannoli and lobster tail outside opposite the bakery at the city hall. Each pastry was so good, flaky filled with delicious cream, it made for a perfect brunch eat. I saved the cupcake for later on to eat in the day. I walked down Hoboken taking in the difference in the neighbourhood, so vastly quiet and smaller than what I was use too. I went to the edge of where there was the old housing and the new high rise apartments on the waterfront. I sat and took in mid and upper Manhattan from across the shore. I walked along the Hudson back towards the Bakery, eating some food along the way (nothing worth noting). I then walked across towards Newport. Along the way I saw the differences from New York, there was so much more space, it felt more homely more of a suburb. I saw some of the big shopping centres and supermarkets I was expecting to see in the US. Once in Newport I went to walk along the Hudson again, taking in the magnificent views of lower Manhattan with not that many people again. Took my time and ate my cupcake, which was so good.

After this I went back to the city, as per usual was hungry but didnt know what to eat. I remembered that I was supposed to try the Pig Heads Cuban that I didnt get to try the night before, so off I went to the Cannibal. The cuban was amazing, you could taste the pig head meat and its texture and how it was different to ham. The sauce was amazing and went so well with it. I just sat and ate and had a lager to accompany it, all whilst there were a couple afternoon flicks playing, what more could you ask for. After this I wondered up to the New York Public Library (the famous one with lions out front). It was really half library, half museum, the place had exhibits and the architecture itself was amazing. A really cool place to check out, but sadly the main reading hall was closed so I couldn't see that part made so famous in movies and tv.

Day 13
Today was a day to visit Queens, in particular the lower part so Queensboro and Long Island City. I took the train up walked to Queensboro Park to get some views of the Manhattan. From there I walked down through the Industrial Area to I got to the Long Island City area. From there I walked to Gantry Park, got more pics of Manhattan and the giant Pepsi sign. Walking around there is definitely a difference between LIC and Queensboro. Lunch was planned for M. Wells Dinette at MoMa PS1. This is a modern arts museum that has a restaurant in it, the restaurant being a former classroom which they converted. The menu has traditional things and the more adventurous items, which was what I was there for. I got the pre fix menu, and choose beef tartare (which I really liked) and blood pudding (was not my most favourite meal). I was happy I tried it out, expanded my horizons and ventured out of the box.

After that I took the opportunity to walk around Greenpoint and some of Williamsburg, taking in the gentrification of those areas. It really is astonishing to see how industrial and family surburban areas can change so drastically. That night I had Apollo Theatre tickets, so I went slightly early to get some soul food up in Harlem. I ended up going to a buffet where I got fried chicken, jerk chicken, ribs, ham, mac n cheese and collard greens. It was so good, and the coolest part was that you pile it on and it gets weighed so you pay for how much you want to eat. The Apollo Theatre is iconic so it was very cool to get a chance to witness what goes on in it. I was there for a christmas event with all the past children winners. They were all very talented, the most impressive was a blind 13 year old kid who stunned everyone with his piano skills.