BABYMOON Part 5 : New York City

Next leg of the trip... NEW YORK CITY!

The flight was less than perfect... it was a small plane and was poorly pressurized so I ended up with a terrible headache and dry air passages. I couldn't sleep AT all on the overnight trip... was sooo glad to arrive at JFK airport...

Then the chaos started...first, get the bags.. noo first, find the carousel that carried our bags, lug them while looking for ground transportation ... then, eventually find the taxi stand, and HIT the COLD !! BURR... and BLUR... no sleep plus jet lag ..BAD combination..

Fortunately we make it to Manhattan... AND THEN THE TRAFFIC CONGESTION... We finally get to the DREAM HOTEL at about 1000 am ... deposit our bags at the hotel... then give JONATHAN LIANG a call... we haven't seen him or Robin for the past few years, but he was really nice to offer to take us around during our stay... he works at Alliance Bernstein which is just a few blocks away from our hotel...

So... NYC... we spent 4 days there.. did the touristy things.... Empire state building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, NYSE and the BULL... the annual Christmas tree had arrived from Oakland and we trouped down to Rockefeller centre to stare at the poor tree... along with plenty of Americans... the ice skating ring had also just been set up.

We were in town for their annual Veteran's Day, and caught a glimpse of the parade down 5th Avenue.. marching bands, veterans, children and pom pom girls all in tow. Watching the veterans did make me sad, thinking of the human casualty that results from war... Robin works with these veterans as a psychologist, and she tells us that many suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and are not able to function in society despite treatment.

Oh we did make it to Magnolia bakery ! The chocolate cup cake was not bad at all, fairly moist and chocolaty although Chris managed to MANGLE the cake before we got to eat it!!! They sold cakes and desserts other than cupcakes too, and seem to be highly popular with locals and tourists alike. The official 'sex and the city' tour takes you past the shop but they don't seem to stop to allow customers to purchase the cupcakes

Jonathon and Robin hosted us to a fantastic Italian dinner at Becco's ... great pasta and service.. We also caught a stand-up comedy by Nick Griffin... besides him, there were 3 or 4 comedians and the bar was PACKED! The only trouble was that you were FORCED to buy 2 drinks each, on top of cover price...as well as leave a tip...USA for you...

BEST PART OF NYC?

I liked Central Park--a fantastic piece of
greenery in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city... there's a skating ring, mini castle, lakes and reservoir and horse carriages that go partly around the park...

Foodwise... well, the highlight would have been the Bouchon bakery cafe at Columbus Circle, also the fantastic muffins and brownies at au bon pain, a chain bakery that was found quite commonly...

WORST PART??

THE Food disaster? Definitely White Castle... to think we MADE the trip to NYC to check out the place! Chris dutifully researched the address, we trooped down after watching basketball at Madison Square Gardens... WHAT A RUDE SHOCK... 53c burgers made with 2mm thick ??foreign looking patties, covered in grease and carcinogens... after 1 bite I insisted on dumping the other burger... no way would it make the passage into our gut or coronary arteries or to Madison..!

Oh yes, we did catch the basketball game : Heats vs Knicks.. quite a low scoring game.. but the atmosphere was phenomenal, the seats were grummy and the popcorn...well , salty.. but Chris got his wish...!