New York was such a great trip last year, I wanted to do it again with Chris. I found megabus had some cheap tickets during our Canadian thanksgiving, about $15 each one way from Buffalo, NY. So it was a perfect opportunity to go with Chris & some friends. I planned to fly back to save time and luckily I found discounted $60 flights from NYC back to Buffalo. So we were all set.

We drove to Buffalo airport after work and took the overnight ride. Since the bus was coming from Toronto, it was packed when we got on and we had to sit separately.

Day 1 – Saturday October 8, 2011

We arrived near Penn station at 6:00am and we made our way to our hotel to freshen up. We were all restless but eager to explore.

We were all starving from the bus ride so we went to our first eating stop; Katz Deli. This place was famous for its pastrami sandwiches but also food network featured the knoblewurst sandwich on Best Things. We got both. Chris loved the knoblewurst sandwich. The pastrami was good but our votes go to Schwartz’s Smoked Meat Sandwich in Montreal.

Last time I came to New York, I really wanted to go to Doughnut Plant but it was closed. So we made way after Katz to have some doughnuts. I had their Peanut Butter & Jelly Doughnut. It was great! It was a peanut butter glazed square doughnut filled with jelly all around inside. It tasted very pure and light (but still sweet).

We made way towards Soho and started shopping. The guys loved the Yellow Rat Bastard shop because of all the cool tees it had. We went to H&M, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Uniqlo and more. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch and we went to the famous Lombardi Pizza. I met up with Jenny here. The pizza was excellent! The sauce and toppings were very fresh and flavourful. Definitely one of the best pizza I’ve had.

We shopped some more after until it was another meal time. Yes this trip was all about food! We went to Momofuku Ssam Bar as I’ve heard lots of raves for their Pork Belly Buns. And boy, was it good. The other dishes we were ordered were good too except one lobster stick rice dish, it was mediocre.

Dessert was next! I made everyone go to Chikalicious… my most favourite eating experience ever. Last year I died a little eating here and I was back for more.

I was a little nervous… what if it wasn’t as special or as good as last time but my worries dissappeared as soon as I had the pineapple sorbet with black peppered gelee. My main was insanely amazing, the brown sugar pannacotta w/ concord grape jelly & roasted pistachos… it was divine and the perfect way to end the night.

Day 2 – Sunday October 9, 2011

Chris and I woke up earlier to make the most of eating time. We headed to a bakery for cupcakes. Two Little Red Hens is famous for their red velvet cupcake but sadly, they didn’t have any so I got the carrot cupcake instead. Another customer behind us recommended the Peanut Butter & Chocolate cupcake to Chris if he likes Reeses. Ahaha, Chris loves Reeses so he instantly got it. It was amazing! I liked the Peanut Butter & Chocolate more than the Carrot but it was still very good –moist and light.

We went to central park to start our bike ride adventure. I wish the leaves were more orange for fall but it was still green. I had made two food stops; Levine bakery for chocolate chip cookies & Jacques Torres for hot chocolate. Levine was dissappointing, the cookie was little bland and dry… even though there were lots of great reviews online. I was not impressed. Then I got the frozen wicked hot chocolate from Jacques Torres and the frozen was NOT as good as the hot version I had last time. It was a little bitter and not sweet enough.

I was hard to bike in boots but I miss biking so I loved it! Chris and I were biking in the park and also along the bike lanes on the road. It was fun.

We returned our bikes and met up with the others at Maze at the London by Gordon Ramsay.  We had brunch here and it was really delicious. They brought out some complimentary pastries which were so fresh and tasty. I enjoyed the lemon poppyseed doughnut. Chris really liked the bread & butter. I ordered the savoury pancakes with apple sausage  & maple syrup. It was such a unique taste as I’ve never had savoury pancakes before… and with maple syrup? It was excellent, such a nice combination of flavours.

We headed to the American Museum of Natural History afterwards. This is where Night at the Museum was filmed. The museum was very intersting and has some impressive exhibits. I liked the animals but wished there would come alive lol.

We went to the High Line park afterwards in the meatpacking district. This was like the Toronto gardiner expressway without cars and instead people walking around. It was very nice and we got to see the sunset.

We enjoyed dinner at Sea Thai Restaurant. The restaurant was popping with people and the decor was very chic. We started with apps, tim tom fritters & chicken wings. The wings were great, asian styled, saucy and crispy. My main was a duck with pineapple curry, the curry was good but I found the duck a little dry.

I saved room for dessert of course! We headed to Spot Dessert Bar, another dessert place I read about online and ended up buying a group buy voucher for. This place was super cute and asian. All the desserts were presented really well and tasted good. Not as good as Chikalicious but still good and unique.

We went to Times Square after to do some quick shopping and see the lights. On the gigantic Forever 21 screen, it zoomed into some guy. Chris ran within camera’s view and started thrusting. It was too funny!

Day 3 – Monday October 9, 2011

Our host where we stayed the night, Danny (our friend’s cousin) made us a oatmeal for champions in the morning. I could barely finish 1/2 of it but it was so good with fresh apples!

We headed to the Korean Spa Castle after to relax and unwind from our two busy days in new york. This place was awesome and just like how I experience the bath house/spa in korea. The bath area was all nude and you enjoy different baths (herbal, cool, warm and ones with jets!). Second level had all the saunas. You need to wear their uniforms here. They were great! Chris & Chauncey enjoyed the iceland sauna the most hehe. The third level was outdoor baths. You must wear your bathing suit now. This was good because it had a lot of different jets for every part of your body. However, the one thing that does suck is it is open to all ages, including kids so you have kids around playing as if they were at a waterpark. Regardless, I loved it and brought back memories of Korea.

Our last meal was at Peter Luger’s steakhouse. We had read some good reviews for their steak and many recommended their bacon. The bacon was excellent and their steak was good but I’ve had better. What did make their steak good was the tangy steak sauce.

We finished up our meal and headed to the airport. Our friend, Jerold drove us but drove us to the wrong airport. Haha, luckily we had enough time to correct the mistake. Then, I had to run after him because Chris left his passport with Chauncey (who was getting off at a different terminal for another flight). Good thing he was stopped at the lights. The airport had Red mango frozen yogurt so I picked some up to end the trip. (I think Red Mango was better in Korea…less tangy and more sweet). We got back to Buffalo and then drove home. What a tummy-filling trip! We’ll most likely be back next year because there is still many places I want to eat at. Hahah. I love New York.