It's only been one week since Elliot and I were in New York, and even though it already feels like it was eons ago, I can't wait to get back.
The last time I was in New York was in 2010 - I went on a Kiehl's press trip just as the Vancouver 2010 Olympics were kicking off, which was a bit weird… I remember feeling like I was leaving the city just as the whole world (or so it seemed) was arriving.
During our visit, we stayed in Fort Greene / Clinton Hill in Brooklyn, which was new to me but really nice. As a tourist, it's probably nicer to bunk up in Manhattan, but our place belonged to a friend of Elliot's and you can't beat free accommodation. It was also an amazing, HUGE apartment (especially by London standards!), but Elliot has forbid me to post photos. Sorry.
We pretty much ate, shopped, and walked our way around the city, with a few art stops in between (but inevitably we'd end up shopping and/or eating again).
First up: brunch at The General Greene on Dekalb Avenue, which was basically out the front door and a few steps down the street from the apartment.
Love: the casual, cafe-diner feel of the place (I didn't realize this, but I'm sick of London places that try and recreate that old-time American diner feeling; I now believe it can only feel authentic in the States).
Also love: cheddar grits. Who would've thought?! They went perfect with my over-easy eggs.
Side note: I like that "over-easy" requires absolutely NO explanation in the States. To be fair, most Brit servers will get it, too, but they'll often say "oh, fried" in response to you in a snarky tone. And forget about ordering your eggs "over well"!
Random, I know, but I decided that I'd try and take snapshots of things I forgot about and felt a sudden sense of "aww, look!" about.
Brown packets of Sugar in the Raw was one of those things.
Whee, hi! We look a little weary here but actually had a great time. This is, of course, us on the High Line, a public park elevated above Manhattan that runs from the Meatpacking to West 34th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. It was built on an old rail line that was saved from demolition.
I had seen it under construction in 2009 but this was my first time actually ON its pathways. I can imagine how beautiful this must be in the summer.
Note to self: come back to New York in the summer.
From the High Line, we wove our way through Chelsea and ended up stopping by this super-techy shop called Tekserve, where Elliot had bought his last Mac. We bought our Apple stuff at the actual Apple store this time, although we did get some accessories here.
It was a bit too geeky for me, but I did spy a random 13-year-old boy practising his Justin Bieber moves while watching music videos on an iPad. I also liked these archival walls.
Remember these Macs (Macintosh, I believe their sticker said)? I remember sitting in a classroom at school with about 20 of these computers, with all of us students logged onto the BBS (bulletin board system) and thinking it was SO COOL to be chatting online... to each other.
We then took some obligatory New York photos (but not too many). Here is the iconic Flatiron building at the intersection of 5th Ave., Broadway and E. 22nd St., in the Flatiron district.
Next stop: Num Pang, which was featured in this list of cheap and cheerful lunch spots that was handily published on Refinery29 a few days before we left. I had a noodle bowl with grilled beef; Elliot had a healthy brown rice bowl with the market fish (I forget what it was).
It wasn't drop-everything-and-go cheap (our bill came to around $20), but it was definitely reasonable, a perfect spot for a casual walk-up lunch, and super delicious.
Throughout our trip, I was surprised to find that a lot of things haven't changed much in the last three years. For instance, some of my favourite restaurants - La Esquina, Freeman's - are still relevant and 'cool', and I could still remember where certain shops were (such as the APC store in Soho).
Of course, some things had changed a LOT. Such as this.
This is the nearly completed One World Trade Centre, a.k.a. Freedom Tower.
Freedom Tower stands where the original World Trade Center stood. Last time I visited New York, the site was a flat construction site. I can't remember checking out the area much the few times I was in the city before that, but I did fly to New York in April 2012, just 7 months after 9/11, and witnessing hundreds of people and thousands (millions?) of memorial plaques, bouquets, teddy bears and other trinkets lining the barricades around the building. The air also felt dusty, from all the debris that was still strewn everywhere.
At 104 stories, the new Freedom Tower will be the tallest building in the western hemisphere - and in fact, even unfinished, it has already claimed the title for tallest building in New York for nearly a year. What a way to commemorate the tens of thousands lost in the attack—and say fuck you to terrorism.
Another view of Freedom Tower...
and some other very tall buildings downtown.
After our little adventure downtown, we headed to the Lower East Side and lined up for "Americanized Oriental Food" (pulled directly from their site, thank you) at Mission Chinese Food.
(By the way, I hate the word "oriental", but let's save that for another day.)
In the line, we spotted Padma Lakshmi, model, presenter of Top Chef... and ex-wife of Salman Rushdie. She was coming out of the restaurant with a small entourage; apparently she really likes the place. A normal-looking 40-something guy swooned when he saw her, waved, then shouted, "Seeing you just made my life!" Whoa.
Anyway, here's Mission:
tiny and very 'American Chinese-y'
We had the mapo tofu, Chongqing chicken wings (both of which were scary yummy spicy), plus a few smaller dishes from the other side (lamb meatballs, smashed cucumbers).
I need to go back with a bigger group so we can order 10 dishes and I can try them ALL!
We were lucky to get in as they close between lunch and dinner.
mapo tofu
So, interlude...
Here's another thing I spotted in a store that I realized I hadn't seen in ages! Full-scap, three-hole punched, 8.5" x 11" (a.k.a. letter size), VERY NORMAL lined paper!
As it turns out, apparently the US and Canada are actually the exception when it comes to paper. While we use this very sensible-looking paper (three holes just make so much more sense than 2), nearly every other country in the world uses A4, which is slightly longer. I just learned that here.
A pack of paper photographed backwards. You get the idea.
Now back to food. This is the view from our perch at the bar at Momofuku Noodle, one of those legendary places that I have probably tried to visit every time I've been to New York, but only got around to (that is, had time to wait in line for) on this trip.
It was well worth the wait, and the food is well, WELL worth all the hype. We started with kimchi, which was served with a tiny, cute bottle of hot sauce.
And then, of course, we had ramen.
Yum!
More New York highlights coming soon.
