Author: Dyan

We went to see Statue of Liberty on this day! Since we didn’t purchase the New York pass, i searched for my own tour package and found it over at Viator. Got ourselves a Statue of Liberty Express Cruise by Zephyr at US$17.99 per pax.

It was pretty straightforward. We took the subway to South Street station and then walk to South Street Seaport. They have different departure timings per day so u choose which you prefer but i would recommend going there at least 1 hour before departure time to exchange your paper confirmation for an actual ticket.

We dropped by a Supermarket at South Street before heading to the Pier to get lunch! Love the supermarkets there cos they sell these quick takeaways cos the New Yorkers are always on the go! So we grabbed some sandwiches, Mac & Cheese, drinks & just hang around the pier till it’s time to get onboard.

Our nasib a bit kentang on that day cos the weather went up to 28 degs unexpectedly! After days of enjoying cooling weather, 28 degs macam lemau sikit. Tak sedar diri, padahal negeri sendiri weather 30degs upwards hari2. hahaha.

We were quite lucky cos we saw the queue forming up and then quickly join in cos the queue behind us was snaking long! If we didn’t queue up early, i don’t think we can get the good seats we got! So yes, part ni bagus ada trait singaporean kiasu.

We took the seats outside cos boleh enjoy sea breeze and unobstructed views cos no windows and all!

The Cruise covers the Manhattan skyline, Ellis Island, Liberty Island, Empire State Building & Brooklyn Bridge. A bit menyesal tak explore Brooklyn Bridge but honestly that day macam hari malas pulak nak jalan jauh2. Should have just went ahead with it, tapi takpe lah. Dah balik singapore pun.

The much awaited Statue of Liberty. Kecik jugak seh the statue. Is it just me or i expected it to be really huge? We didn’t opt for the option to drop off at the Liberty island also cos malas nak rempuh the crowd. So yeah, this was good enough!

If you ask me if it’s worth travelling  down to South Street, i say Yes! Even if you don’t like Liberty, the cruise itself was quite nice, worth the $ and the trip downtown!

On a roll, baby. On a rollllll.

We did more touristy stuff on this day, visited some of New York’s popular landmarks. Not sure if i’ve mentioned this but we did not get the New York Pass and did not regret it at all cos we are not particularly interested in museums etc and also cos we really took our time to explore places, it would be such a waste of money since we would not be able to complete most of the attractions offered by the New York Pass anyway.

Off we go to Rockefeller Centre. Since we didn’t have the New York Pass, i only wanted to spend money on either Rockefeller Centre or the Empire State Building to get the New York view and after reading so many reviews, i decided on Rockefeller Centre.

Mainly cos of the top to floor glass windows and the view of the Empire State Building itself! We arrived Rockefeller Centre, bought the tickets at the Online-Kiosk and pay via CC. If you prefer to pay by Cash, there’s also a counter to do that but because the queue is longer, i chose the online kiosk. You can also purchase the ticket online before you go lah actually. We arrived there at about 2.00pm but the next available slot is 3.15 – 3.30pm so we thought we’ll grab a bite 1st while waiting. I actually like the whole time slot idea cos the queue to go up the Viewing area is short and also it’s not maha crowded cos they control the no of guests at the viewing area so you don’t have to jostle with anyone for a spot to amik gambar and all.

So while waiting, of course carik chance to go Magnolia Bakery cos they have an outlet at Rockefeller Plaza itself. Bought the huge tub of Banana Pudding for us to share and we sat at the fountain area across Rockefeller Plaza and melantak. IT IS SO SEDAP! I’m not kidding. You have to try it when you’re there. It’s creamy and tak sweet potong kaki sangat! We wanted to pack & bring home another tub home but cos we’ll be out the whole day, confirm dia dah tak serupa banana pudding when we get back to the apartment.

We jalan-jalan around Rockefeller Plaza, had sushi at this sushi joint run by a few Indonesians! So cute lah. We were eating our sushi and we heard the counter staff speaking in Bahasa so i talked to them and asked how long they’ve been in NY and all!

At 3.15pm, we went up the lift to the viewing area, the staff are so nice to put us in priority queue since we have a stroller with us. Took us less than 10mins to be done with security checks etc and we’re up!

The weather was about 28 deg that day so we had a clear view. So pretty! Blue skies and all. ❤

We lepak-lepak at the viewing area, people watch, took lotsa pictures of Nadya. HAHAHAHA

We left the place by 4+ cos nak cepat go Grand Central Terminal before the peak hours.
It was about 10minutes walk from Rockefeller Centre. I initially wanted to singgah Ess-A-Bagel cos a reader recommended that to me but boleh terlupa pulak! Urgggh. I love Bagels seh. So sayang!

Grand Central Terminal! That place left me in awe! How can a train station be that nice & majestic! Aku kalau boleh twirl in the middle of Grand Central, i would have done so! Nevermind it is so busy & crowded and everybody jalan cepat gila sampai susah nak amik gambar but it’s really such a nice place and so iconic you definitely must go!

We walked a bit more and head towards one of the New York attraction that made me wanna go New York when i was a small kid. Lol

Ni semua gara-gara Ghostbusters lah ni! I saw the movie when i was young and was in awe when i saw the scene yang dorang nak tangkap hantu kat sini. I love the library when i was young so naturally when i saw this huge-ass library as a kid, it was an instant “i wanna go there one day!“. Then bila dah besar, i was obsessed with Gossip Girls and that perasaan nak go New York makin membuak-buak. HAHAHAH. Diam lah.

I really wanted to step in & take a look but it was peak hours by then and we got to move quick cos it was starting to get crowded everywhere and cos we were hungryyyy! Nak makan nasi padahal baru 4th day there. Perangai melayu.

We walked all the way to 8th avenue, sempat masuk Sephora, tengok street performances and all before arriving One Thai Chef!

We ordered the Tom Kha Gai Soup and ordered the Basil Chicken Fried Rice for myself.
I wouldn’t say the food is fantastic but it was not bad lah. But the portion was besar gila, we requested to pack some home!

We headed home after that, with aching legs. Did so much walking today or so we thought. Lol. We didn’t know we’ll be doing even more walking the next few days!

We went out quite late again on this day cos Monday blues. Hahaha.
After the previous night’s adventure at Times Square yang ribut, we thought it’ll be great to see Times Square on a weekday afternoon and see it in a different light.

So glad we did cos it was so much more manageable! It was crowded still but not as crowded as the night before. The weather however dah start naik to 24 degs so dah start ah ni bahang2 and we weren’t prepared for it! Lol.

Since we were at Times Square, we went over to City Kitchen at Row NYC. It’s like an atas food court area but I only had my eyes set on Luke’s Lobster! I wanted to try it during our Japan trip tapi tak kesampaian so we tried it here instead and omg so sedap! We got the meal with Lobster Bisque (US$23.00) which is so sedap jugak cos there were chunks of lobsters inside. Sighhhh. Also tried the Choc Caramel Doughnut from Dough. I wasn’t that impressed though. I think it was quite dry? It was huge though so after a while macam jelak pulak.

We jalan2 some more at Times Square and then took the subway to Upper West Side to go to Crave Fishbar. Prior to the trip i googled for places to enjoy Oysters Happy Hours cos apparently it’s quite common in New York and we opted for Crave Fishbar cos of the good reviews and accessibility.

All the oysters were at $1.00 each and i told the waiter to surprise us cos they have a wide selection. We took a dozen so he gave us 6 different types each! I love one of them. It was so meaty and sedap lah but i forgot the name! Really love Crave Fishbar cos the waiters were attentive to everyone’s needs. You can see them going around asking diners if their meal is fine. There were kids meals available too so we chose the pan-fried salmon & potatoes for Nadya which we end up finishing cos the portion was too huge for her. Niat di hati nak drop by Momofuku after that but it was getting dark and dah penat kehu kehilir with Nadya in the carrier so we left the place by 7.00pm, jalan2 a bit at Upper West Side before making our way back to the apartment.

I actually took more pictures at Times Square but somehow it went missing from my SD Card. So sedih.

You know in my Itinerary, aku dengan semangatnya letak that we’ll be out of the house by 9.00am everyday. Haraaaaammmm.

Seriously i don’t know why i think it’s ok to put 9.00am when me & Nadya don’t even wake up earlier than 10.00am on most days. Apa lagi with jetlags & all. We kinda woke up at 3.00am and terkebil-kebil till 7.00am and we finally went out of the house close to 1.00pm butthat’s ok since kita memang nak keep this trip slow & steady.

We went ahead without a stroller today. Put Nadya in the carrier so she can sleep whenever she feels tired. Tapi end up aku yang penat. Lol.

Initially wanted to go to the Smorgasburg Flea on that day and indulge in yummeh food. But entah kenapa tergerak hati nak check their IG and guess whaaattt.. They were closed on that particular sunday cos there was a private event going on for that venue. Nasib aku selalu kentang part2 gini. At this point, i knew tu itinerary buang pun cantik. Just go with the flow je. So we decided to head out to Chelsea Market & The High Line instead since it’s further downtown from where we’re staying.

 I love Chelsea! Although it still looks like every other part of Manhattan, it does not seem too cluttered. It was about 20mins train ride from where we are and we had to walk 7-9mins from the train station but it was quite straightforward and the weather was good!

My only regret is, we came on Sunday so Chelsea Market was busy busy busy with locals & tourists so we didn’t really get to cafe-hop etc cos everywhere was full house! Can i also mention on the day we went Chelsea, i found out from Yuna’s snapchat ( LOVE THAT WOMAN) that she’s in Chelsea too and somehow deep inside i really really wanted to terserempak ngan dia ke apa. Step macam lah Chelsea tu kecik. But alas, she was doing some photoshoot with Covergirl ke Revlon ke apa tah and she was still not done when we left Chelsea. yes i stalk snapchat dia for that moment because who knowwwws lah kannn.

Bought Sushi from The Lobster Place & ate scones at Sarabeth. In fact i think we ate lotsa sushi during this trip. Even though the sushi very mehhh there but it was convenient to just pick up Sushi on the go.

The High Line was better than i expected. A park in the midst of tall buildings. Why not. Too bad i didn’t take a lot of pictures cos sibuk snapchat & running after Nadya.

It was 12 degress but sunny. So there were lotsa people just chillaxing on the sunbed konon suntan. I get it that it’s sunny. But it’s 12 degs korangs. Apa kejadahnya.

Does not stop me from getting the Shaved Ice though. Lol. #hypocrite.

We left Chelsea at about 5.00pm and head up to Times Square!
Ah tu pun masalah gak.. Times Square on Sunday night is worst than Orchard Road on weekends. Ribut seh! Mana dengan orang queue nak masuk Broadway theatres, orang queue nak makan and all. It was so lively and bustling with activity. But so susah nak bergerak also. Luckily we used the carrier cos there’s no way we can push the stroller through the crowd and our stroller is not even big to begin with. The picture of Time Square below is actually nearby 6th Avenue. All the actions mostly kat 8th Avenue though!

Amidst all the mayhem, i managed to singgah Forever 21. That was when i passed Nadya & my bag to Rusly. Left him at the Kids area where there were seats available and skipped my way to the plus size section! Wooots! In Rusly’s words, “Run free, my dear!” hahahaha

Got several stuff for myself and real cheap! We shopped around for a while more and head over to 6th Avenue to grab dinner from The Halal Guys! Got our takeaway and Uber-ed our way home.

Now that was our 1st & last time we took the Uber there. Our 10mins ride was US$23.65 and the driver was cranky nak mampus and drove at 110km/h. I  used my Snapchat filter to check the speed! Lol. But orang dorang memang drive macam samseng ah kat sana. Kecut perut seh.

Now…. The Halal Guys.
Can i say that it’s hands down Rusly’s favourite food there! hahahaha.
I asked him apa dia suka about New York and the 1st thing dia jawab “The Halal Guys“. Apa ni? We tried the Chicken & Beef Platter. Bought two platters but only finished one so we kept the other platter for breakfast. The white sauce is so nice and the hot sauce is kurangajar pedas. Tak nampak tu aku cuma dot dot macam polka dot je tu. Hahaha.
But i find the rice itself so-so je lah..

That’s the end of our Day 2! We washed up after dinner lepas tu Netflix & Lepak anak beranak. ❤