Happy birthday to me! A day late to all you on the other side of the world. I very much appreciate the birthday wishes. For my exciting day we had to wake up super early to train from Boston back to New York. Our new accommodation is a small apartment in midtown right next to Grand Central Terminal, so great locate. Birthday lunch was KFC – obviously the best of the best. I was pretty keen to see how it compared to NZ esp as country of its birth. The original was better, although a little too salty it was crunchy like hot n spicy but still packed full of original seasoning. The hot wings were super tiny but crunchy yum morsels. They also do delish wedges instead of fries! Spent the arvo doing last min shopping, then went to Nobu for dinner (so sorry neha – our first choice didn’t work out!). You may know it from Sex & the city. It was contemporary Japanese at it’s finest – interesting combinations of flavours that worked so well together! Fave would have to be the miso cod – marinated for 3 days then cooked twice – it literally melted in your mouth and had such an intense sweet and savoury flavour! Other interesting combos was our first cold dish – yellowtail with jalepeno, and the new style sashimi which had a sesame crust and soaked in sesame soya sauce. Nom nom! Walked to the Hudson river line with Tessa after dinner – it was beautiful at night with the New Jersey skyline lit up. We walked East through to Little Italy and China town – which was full of people and street stores and stalls even at midnight.
Fresh yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno
Ceviche South American style with Fresh Lobster
Salmon tartar
New style sashimi
Squid 'pasta' with garlic sauce
Asparagus with egg sauce
Rock shrimp tempura with creamy spicy sauce
Black cod with miso
New Jersey skyline
day 17 july 16
Said goodbye to Mel and Pat today L It was sad to see them go! I am now officially scared. Moved for my last night up above Central Park to Tessa’s friend’s house, next to Columbia Uni and in the ghettooo! Had a wanderous afternoon spent mostly by myself which was great, it’s cool to have alone time here to reflect on everything wondrous around you. Metroed down to Central Park to see the Frick Collection across the other side. I should have known I was incapable, instead of walking across the park I led myself on a detour to the bottom which made the walk very long and HOT. The Frick residence is absolutely beautiful, with several preserved rooms which house a fantastic collection of old Italian art. The main feature at the moment is Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert which has most recently been exposed to new light through extensive investigation of Bellini’s painting process. There was also some Turkish paintings and sculptures commissioned by Marie Antoinette when she was Queen. Then went back to Little Italy/SoHO (Mulberry Street) to find the little boutique stores Tessa had showed me last night. There is a fantastic store called Creature of Comfort which has some great clothing and design brands, including Karen Walker. There’s also Damsel in Distress which stocks Australian brands such as Shakuhachi, Maurie & Eve etc and also a Ksubi store! Came back to the apartment in the evening then went with Tessa to her friend’s place for dinner, Dan, who exchanged to Melb and now goes to Columbia uni. Delish somen noodles with fresh veges, egg and dipping sauce! Fancy that. Had a fantastic last night engaging in some hilarious conversations and Queens poker with him and the flatmates.
Central Park bathers
Sneaky inside the Frick Museum
Mulberry Street - Little Italy
Things I found in my last nights accomodation
day 18 july 17
Last day in the Big Aps! Spent the morning not doing much, had a quick peek into Columbia after being tempted last night on the way home. It is a beautiful green campus with lots of awesome old buildings. Met up with Tessa for sushi lunch then was off to the airport to continue my travels! Pretty horrible flight to Dusseldorf, even more horrible 5 hour wait at Dusseldorf where I was the only Asian and knew not a word of German and all I wanted to do was sleep.
Beautiful Columbia
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