NEW YORK 2013 ~ Full House Cafe @ 97 Bowery Street

It seriously amazes me when I can actually be in New York yet have some really great and authentic Chinese dinner! I mean, this place called Full House Cafe on Bowery Street was really pretty good where they have a good selection of dishes and the place has a very modern look and design and you just feel comfortable eating here. The prices are also very reasonable and its worth a visit for those craving some good Chinese food in New York.

Plate of offal with hot spicy chilli and peppers

Marinated jelly fish. Simple and nice

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Grand Central Station

Well, initially this was not part of the plan but I was made to know that this is another must see attraction in New York City. This is of course the infamous Grand Central Station which I guess is featured in oh so many movies and what not.

I have to say though, architecturally, this place is huge. I sometimes just wonder, how did these people in New York figured so long ago that they will need such a huge station which is still, to this day, well maintained and used by millions of people. 1 word, Amazing.

As I went there at night, the place had a nice yellow glow from the lighting and it really is interesting to see so many people zipping around late at night. The city I guess really never sleeps.

Well, do enjoy the pictures, and it really is a great place just to step foot once. It would have been a great backdrop for wedding portraits, but I wonder if we will need to seek special permission for that!

There it is, Grand Central Station

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Views from the car

These are just random shots from the car while I was at the back seat!

Just unplanned shots for the sake of it

Croods was on the big screen while I was in New York

 Thats the junction of 5th and East 42nd St!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Apple Store 5th Avenue

Frankly, before I went to New York, I didn't really think about which place to visit. It just so happen I bumped into a colleague of mine and he mentioned that I should check out the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. Even though I m somewhat of a fan of the fruit company, in the back of my mind was, whats so special about an Apple Store? I have seen the one in Hong Kong and it wasn't all that special other than the glass stairs.

Well, anyway, I still slogged my way on my very tired feet all the way to 5th Avenue from Times Square, and I was greeted by this transparent glass cube on the ground. First question was, where is the products? Well, the answer lies actually beneath my feet. The store front is actually just like a grand entrance, with the goodies down below in a subterranean level. Kind of interesting design. So should this be on a must visit list of places while in New York? If you are an Apple fan, the a BIG YES! Else, if you are really free, ok, else its just an Apple Store too :)

Cheers, and don't shoot me Apple fans, cause at least I did visit it too!

The all glass cube front where there is the glass staircase or a lift to bring you downstairs

 As I was walking down, this is what greeted me below

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Times Square!

Finally I'm posting about one of the place which I believe is on every visitors lists to New York City and its no other than Times Square! As I approached Times Square, one will feel as if we have been transported into an advertising world of mega proportions and it just looks out of this world! The signboards are over sized and it stretches every inch of the building walls all the way to the tallest of skyscrappers! Words are just hard to describe the experience as your senses feel as if they are on overdrive here. Thus, I do agree that this place is a must visit for any visitor to New York! Do check out the photos!

Before reaching the middle, the sign boards are more static!

As you get closer, they get animated

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Random Street Shots

This post is just about random street shots while I was walking along the streets of New York. Amazing architecture, and the best part, it started snowing!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Trinity Church on Broadway

I saw this magnificent looking church while walking along Broadway somewhere near Bowling Green and was amazed by its architecture that I decided to walk in to have a better look. WOW! Totally amazing and the stained glass really gave it that medieval ambiance. The church also still had tombstones outside on its ground and it would have been the perfect postcard photo had the church not be undergoing renovations. Bit still, amazing looking church!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Statue of Liberty from Battery Park

As the Statue of Liberty was still being renovated due to Hurricane Sandy, I thus did not chose to go there but just went to Battery Park on the South of Manhattan and just snap some photos from there. I was told you can actually see the statue, and I do have proof as the below photos show, but hehe, its really kind of small. I could hardly see it and the photo was taken with a camera at 4x zoom. Thus, for those looking to get a frame filling photo of the Statue of Liberty, my advise, take the cruise and get up close!

 This is how it actually looks like to the eye! Its far!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Bowling Green

I guess besides Wall Street, Bowling Green is probably one of the most popular of tourist spots in lower Manhattan. I'm not talking about going bowling but this is where the famous bull statue is which is so famously photograph the world over. So yes, I became a 100% tourist and also took photos too!

Do check out what the area surrounding this place has to offer.

Me and the bull. So many tourist around I had to share the bull for the photo

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Wall Street

From the port, its time to head to one of the place which I have longed to go to while in New York. The target, Wall Street! It was only about 10 minutes walk away and the weather was slightly cold but at least you do not work up a sweat. I guess its just symbolic that you get to visit one of the biggest financial district in the world and I guess non is as famous as this place!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ South Sea Port

This is the South Sea Port on the Lower South East of Manhattan. Its a very nice place with some big sailing ships. Too bad the ships were not having their mast up else it would really look like pirate ships. You can get cruises around Manhattan, to the Statue of Liberty or just around Manhattan itself. Its just a nice windy place to enjoy the view and the many ferries going pass this place! Enjoy the photos

Thats the big ship!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Strolling to South Seaport from Chinatown

So after breakfast, its time to stroll around and the target destination is Wall Street and the Bull! Thus this is more about the sights which I saw as I started to walk to Wall Street. Enjoy!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Jin Fong Restaurant, Chinatown

On the Saturday morning, we skipped the same old breakfast at the hotel and made our way to New York Chinatown and the first agenda of the day was to grab some good quality breakfast! The place which we visited is called Jin Fong Restaurant and its located 20 Elizabeth St, on the upper floor of the building. Before you even see the dining hall, you will be greeted by one of the longest flight of escalators! I was really surprised but its also a good thing as this meant that the restaurant will have less issues dealing with a large crowd or old folks who would otherwise had to climb a long flight of stairs or use slow elevators which can typically only hold like 15 person at a time.

Anyway, back to the food. This place serve some very authentic Hong Kong style Dim Sum and the variety if really impressive. They have lots of choices from steamed to fried items and there is even a section of popular items such as Curry Fish Ball and beef stripes. Do check out some of the pictures here ya and leave a comment too!

Just a section of what was ordered. Steamed Lotus Leaf wrapped rice (Ho Yip Fan), Loh Mai Kai (Chicken steamed Glutinous rice), Steams Prawn Dumplings (Har Kau), Fung Chau (Phoenix Claws aka Chicken Feet) and Yu Wat Kau (Fish Cake Dumplings) 

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Subways to Chinatown

Being the scrooge, to get into Manhattan, I was informed that the parking would be killing thus I parked at Elmhurst, 73rd Street, and the took the subway from Jackson Heights. Well, apparently the parkings which are at the housing areas are free thus we saved abit from the parking in downtown Manhattan, but that didn't save my legs from the tiring endless walking! Well, but I guess it was interesting, and an advise to all those planning to drive to Manhattan for a day trip, then try to make it a Sunday as all street parking is free on Sunday, thus that will save you a bunch!

Do read on ya

The subway as we reached near Chinatown! Noticed that there are no safety barriers of any sort and most of the subway here are really old. Do watch out especially when there are lots of people as you don't want to end up on the tracks.

 Exited the Subway!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Minni's Shabu Shabu and Habachi

On the Friday night, my buddy and his New Yorker friend decided to have some shabu shabu and I thought that this is probably one of the best times to have this as the weather was so cold and this will definitely warm us up. So he headed to Flushings, at 38th Avenue to this placed called Minni's Shabu Shabu and the first thing when we arrived to see was that there was a long time for people to get seated and you needed to get a number. But to me, a queue is always a sign that there is something good to be had, thus no complaints.

This is one of the best shabu shabu I have had as the ingredients were top notch! Read on to find out more ya

This is the standard bunch of ingredients that every diner gets. Its what else thats special!

NEW YORK 2013 ~ Sakura Japanese Restaurant

Its just kind of a coincidence that I stopped by a number of Japanese places while in New York. Guess some of these food just appeals to me more than burger and fries. So this is some food pictures from Sakura Japanese Restaurant which was a place I found on my GPS device while I was at Riverhead, Long Island. I would say the food is just average and their sashimi are nothing to shout about. 

Just enjoy the pictures and my comments on each on of them.

To start of, this was grilled bacon with scallops which was really nice. I liked the fact that the bacon gave the scallops some fat and at the same time protecting the scallops from getting burned. Nice

NEW YORK 2013 - Haiku Sushi Restaurant, Red Lobster and Smokey Bones

Frankly, I didn't take as many food photos as I thought I would have. Probably was because I was hungry and the cold weather just restrains me from taking off my gloves to compose that perfect shot. But anyway, this post will have a combination of food which I managed to try while I was in New York.

Haiku Sushi Restaurant is located on the E Main St of Riverhead town. Its not exactly Japanese as its actually operated by Chinese though the food there is pretty decent. The place is cozy and food price not overly exorbitant. Do check out the photos!

Sashimi platter

NEW YORK 2013 - Snow and George Washington Bridge

Couldn't believe how much snow was on the ground as I visited Woodbury Premium Outlets in New Jersey. This is one of the biggest and busiest outlets and has practically every brand you can think of. There is lots of visitors and the crowd is huge here. Just do happens that it snowed and I took a photo of it. I didn't take a picture of the outlets as its kinda crowded and didn't want to take out the camera!

Just look at the amount of snow. And this was after 2 days that it snowed! 

NEW YORK 2013 - Manhattan Skyline!

I guess it was by chance that I drove past one of the best place to view Manhattan and this is from Hamilton Park Lookout Point which is along JFK Blvd E. This is actually across the Hudson River from New Jersey. The place is pretty high up and one will get an amazing skyline view of Manhattan. I was there during the morning with the sun above and then later again during the evening! Too bad I didn't manage to stay till the night and have the night skyline view, which I'm told is another sight to behold. Oh well, maybe next time.

Do checkout the photos

This is a panoramic shot which I made from 4 pictures stitched together! The tall tower on the right with the pointy tip I believe is the infamous Empire States Building!

NEW YORK 2013 - Ocean Park Way and Jones Beach

I took a drive from Long Island to New York but the route which I used is via the Ocean Park Way which is to the south of Long Island. This is probably one of the more scenic route as you are basically driving on a stretch of road that has blue waters on both sides of the road. Below are some pictures and I especially liked those of the houses which were sitting on the banks. These are some lucky folks.