US Graduation Trip - Part 1

Booyah! We're all (my friends I mean) graduating this July! It's cliche, but it really does feel like just yesterday when I was a little fresher at the LSE. 

Anyway, my graduation trip was to the USA - in particular New York (yes, again) and Miami. Just because I took quite a number of pictures, I'll be splitting up my posts into 3 parts. 

At the airport

So we arrived into New York in good time. We rested for a while, then went out at night to watch Chicago. I've actually already watched this musical back in London, but since Tiff hasn't, and our host already bought the tickets for us, I went to watch it again. What's the harm? Especially since I'd then be able to compare Broadway Musicals with West End Musicals. 

And if you ask me, West End Musicals win hands down. The actors in Chicago were pretty good, don't get me wrong, but it's the articulation of their words, the expressiveness, and the portrayal of the characters that do not shine through in the Broadway ones. They slur through their lines, songs come out slurred as well, and they do not give proper effect to body language and to expressing emotions. They were like robots, almost. So we gave up halfway and went home (I was feeling really sick from the plane ride anyway).

The very next day we took a road trip to upstate New York. Our first destination was Lake George. But before we went to visit the lake, we went to check out Wal-Mart. 

Let me just tell you that we bought so much stuff (food) from there, that it wasn't even funny. Lol.

We then made our way to the lake area. It was really pretty, I must say. But to be honest, my attention was captured by all the biker dudes that were there. It just so happens that there was a Harley Davidson convention going on.

  

All I can say is, check out the bikes man!

And the biker dudes

After that, we headed out to look for dinner. We went to this very nice French restaurant in the area called Le Roux. We kinda got lost while looking for it, and in the process, stumbled across a little farm that had Llamas (random right??) and goats in a pen. We took pictures of that and drove on to find our restaurant.

EVERYTHING we ate and drank were really good!

The very next day, we drove on to Catskill Mountain. The very there was fantastic. We couldn't do much over there because we weren't equipped for hiking. Apparently, to see the really good sights, we have to go trekking into the mountain.

Prettyyyyy

And then we made out way back to the City. 

For the next few days we just walked around the city. There were a few times when we split up- this was because Tiff hasn't been to NYC before (and I have), and we both wanted to see different things. But these are some of the things that we did look at:

Washington Square. Random Pianist in the middle of the park

Occupy Wall Street

Wall Street

9/11 Memorial

Brooklyn Heights

There were a lot of things that we went to see and do. We went to Macy's, had coffee at Greenwich Village, went to Union Square a lot, walked around SoHo and etc. But what I do recommend, in this half of the trip, would be to go to go to the 9/11 memorial. It is worth going to both the museum and to the memorial itself. Very powerful place to be in. What really hit me while I was in the museum was the display of an airplane ticket from the doomed plane... 

As for restaurants, I'd truly recommend this place that Jamie brought us to (it was nice meeting up with that kid again). 

Gyu-kaku

The barbecued meat there is really good. That, and the salads (the Avocado one!). It may sound gross, but try the cow's tongue when you order meats to barbecue. It's really quite delicious. 

And in Brooklyn, PETER LUGERS. I'd warn you, you'd love this place to bits. The steak practically MELTS in your mouth! Holy. Oh, and the bread and flavoured butter there is to DIE FOR. I know they are just starters, but honestly, Tiff and I could eat just the bread and butter for our meal itself. 

The bread

The steak. LOOK AT THAT. 

The only problem though, with Peter Lugers, is that you'd probably have to make a reservation beforehand. If not, there's no way that you'd be able to get into this place for dinner (or lunch, for that matter).

For a quick fix, who can deny the loveliness of SHAKE SHACK! oh man. I'm hungry just recollecting those moments where I bite into my burger... and having those (damn) fantastic milkshakes. 

Not forgetting Serendipity 3 (yep, that place out of the movie, Serendipity) for dessert. I could die for these. I think this is what heaven's desserts would taste like. 

Pecan Pie Sundae!

Frozen hot chocolate

 Yum. I'm salivating already... But in any case, Part 2 will be about Miami!

The HighLine

In the last post I was talking about visiting the High Line in New York, and indeed, that's a very nice place to visit (and you should!). The only problem with that place is that there are no actual restaurants at the place itself, so it'd do you some good to eat before you go. There is a coffee stall (which I will talk about later), and an ice cream stall and one mini cafe that just sells cakes and sandwiches, but nothing substantial. 

We went to this Diner which is really close to the HighLine. I do recommend this place. It's really good, the portions are big, and the service is great too. The waiters are really friendly, and it's a A-listed restaurant. 

I promise you that this place, Star on 18, won't let you down. 

Now, the other thing that we did when we walked down the Highline was to stop by at the coffee stall. The name of the stall is Blue Bottle Coffee. Yes, it's the same one brewing at Brooklyn!

Their hot chocolate is really unique. It seems like you can really taste the dark chocolate (so in that manner, it's slightly bitter). It's not exactly very thick, but the consistency is just about right. It has right amount of milk, and just a whole mouthful of sinful melted chocolate. Sounds good no? 

Also, another thing which I find pretty funny about the American coffee places is that you usually have to ask for a double shot of espresso. I guess I'm too used to the ones in the UK. In that same manner, I keep forgetting to order double shots! And thus my coffee has less of a kick. Shame, because I can tell that the coffee is brewed really well. That's my fault. 

Ahhh.. Food and beverages. Who doesn't live for them? It should only be right that we live to eat and not eat to live. 

New York

And so I was in New York!

Some say that it is the city of...

It can also be a great place to chill out. Take Central Park for example. We also caught Shakespeare in the Park (T'was a bit strange though. We caught "All's Well That End's Well". So British, yet, spoken with the American twang. :S )

And you don't even have to travel all the way to Central Park. You could go to the Highline. Pretty place. It's a suspended park, built where there used to be suspended train tracks. Places to sit and chill, some nice ice-cream shops and a coffee cart and a restaurant (the restaurant is not really worth it though, if you ask me). Flowers blooming, butterflies flying. :)

New York is also the place where immigrants used to arrive with the hopes of a new and fresh start. Arriving in a boat from places far away to cry at the promise of freedom and democracy.

And for the artsy kids too. There's really something for everyone. This picture below is of the MOMA. 

And there are lots of other things to do too! The Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the Met.

There's the Meatpacking District. Greenwich Village with all the quaint little coffee shops and some nice bars and pubs around, Washington Square, Flushing. 

And for the shoppers? Macy's, Bloomingdale, 5th Avenue (the list goes on!)

(My favourite place was Greenwich Village). I didn't really get to roam around Brooklyn and Queens though. 

More about some New York shops later. There's a good coffee place and a good diner that I want to talk about. But as this is a post on New York, I'd like to sum it up. 

New York is a great place. Lots of things to do. Lots of sights to see. But when I listen to the song 'Empire State of Mind', where it goes:

"New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of"

And I can't help but think that there definitely is a charm to this big ol' city. 

But it's hardly a place where my dreams are made of. 

For me it's London. I just feel that there is no way that this American city can compare to Little Britain. It's the only place I want to be right now.

Can't wait to get back.