After this 10 days trip (that included an unfortunate tiny accident at the end as usual), it took me an ENTIRE week to catch my breath and catch up on schoolwork. Now that school is FINALLY coming to an end (2 more SNOWY DAYS ONLY), I better start getting back on my writing spree because there is so much to note down before they slip away from my memory…weeeee 🙂

First part is New York and I think we did a pretty good job covering everything we wanted to see together, Chicago The Musical, MOMA, Time Square, Staten Island (Statue of Liberty), SOHO (which essentially just means GROM!) and NY at night.

Like any other trip, of course the spotlight is straight on food. And this is just what heaven would look like if translated into cake…ok may be that doesn’t make sense, but the cakes at Cheesecake Factory are just so delicious (although really really overpriced too :P) the melted marshmallow clings closely to the chocolate cheesecake and it was so velvety and smooth and sweet and dreamy ahhhhh…

Right, now I shall tick off our checklist one by one:

Chicago – absolutely checked. It was just so exciting and glamours, the band were so professional and the choreography was excellent. It was humorous and very entertaining. However there technically wasn’t a set and don’t expect much from the costumes. The special effects were sparse but spot on. What makes it even better was the rush tickets we bought at 30 bucks. We sat right in the front row center seats on the balcony. SO worth it.

MOMA – yea just.. checked. Yes the atmosphere and the space is really something. But both of us are not very artistic. And the art there, which I’m sure must be pretty darn good because of the famous names (Picasso, Matisse etc.), just made it even HARDER for us to appreciate compared to say Musee d’Orsay or The Louvre. At least those paintings look like SOMETHING (lotus, bridge, sky, woman etc.)

But these? These were just SO abstract: RED painting = art, PINK Plank = art, White background scribbled with words = art, Phallic object chair = art…Anyway, it is probably us, and not you, so it’s okay…I guess we will just stick with food which we are so good at appreciating.

Then of course there is me acting like I completely understood what the artist is trying to do there 😛 and attempting to look artistic..elegant even (everything I’m not XD)

And this, my friend, is art.

Time Square – checked! Of course, how can a girls trip be one without shopping? The giant Toys R Us, Disney store, chocolate stores and F21 etc. are must go. It was so much fun because who doesn’t like some sizzling heat in the chilly winds of New York? 😉

And, no, we are not too old to be taking photos with giant MnM. (With glasses! 😀 although my favorite is probably the short Red one)

Asking strangers to take our photo has proven to be one of the toughest challenge yet. After picking someone whom we think we can outrun (just in case they steal our cameras), we also need to make sure that they are adequate with technology…More often than not, the photo is not the angle we want it to be (I know…it’s a favor…I shouldn’t be too demanding but I just can’t help it :P). Eventually we are just happy that it’s not blurry, it’s a straight photo and at least it is ACTUALLY TAKEN. Sometimes we just stand there for 5 minutes and no photo was captured LOL. This below is actually an A+ capture (y)

Washington Square Park / SOHO – ICE CREAM CRAVING checked. This is a pleasant surprise because the best gelato place we tried in Milan/ Venice actually has a branch right here in Greenwich Village. It was just as good :’) so happy that we thought we will never get to try it again yet ended up running into it so soon. 

I guess this is life sometimes. When you think you lost something, look closer or hang on a little longer because the miracle might be just around the corner. It has happened to me a few times now and yes, the losing part will be devastating, but don’t lose hope because all of that is necessary to get to the rediscovery part. Not one tiny detail, however seemingly insignificant, can be skipped in order to arrive at the exact right place.

 

If you follow the Humans of New York page, you probably will remember this scene 🙂 Another pleasant surprise of running into them in Washington Square Park!

Of course last but not least, this posture must look familiar ❤ yes how lucky and fated this is that this year we get to spend our respective birthdays TOGETHER :’) since she has given me the best meal experience ever (the gorgeous twinkling lights view and good food) I had a high benchmark to follow.

But Cramine’s has lived up to the standard. It has REALLY good food and generous portions for the price we paid. The cherry stones were very fresh, the riggatoni with sausage and broccoli in white sauce smelled so good and was so flavorful that we forgot to take a picture of it. Lastly, the Tiramisu was HUGE and I just loved the chocolate “skin” 😛 We finished it before our musical as dinner as well 😉 kind of.

To be continued…