BREAKFAST

Clinton St. Baking Co.

Voted NY Times Best Breakfast and Best Pancakes back-to-back year. My friend swore by it. I wanted to try many things as they all look really good and the place smells so delicious. I ended up ordering both the Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwich (with Bacon) and of course the award winning Pancakes with warm maple syrup and chocolate chunks!

It was totally worth the rain and the cold feet I endured to get there. Fortunately, I didn’t have to be in line and can leisurely enjoy my food, as it was a midday of a weekday. The waiting can take a long (like really long) time during weekend breakfast. The refillable coffee was fantastic! It’s the best one in New York City!

Address: 4 Clinton Street (btw. East Houston & Stanton)New York, NY 10002

Tom’s Restaurant, Brooklyn

Many swore by it as having the best breakfast in New York. The battle is on. I love the friendly atmosphere and the interior is something to witness specially during holidays. I was there on Halloween. I had blueberry pancakes (I always have pancakes). It was huge but I didn’t leave any crumb for the ants. We had to wait in line, luckily it wasn’t raining. Coffee is average.

Address: 782 Washington Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Bagel Smith

Smoked salmon with cream cheese in a bagel with everything — I’m glad somebody made the decision for me because there are so many choice. It’s more of a take out place but there are a couple of stools and a small counter. The place is very busy but they work fast so the line is quick. Coffee is bad.

Address: 189 Bedford Ave (between 6th St & 7th St) Brooklyn, NY 11211

LUNCH -DINNER

Oh! Taisho

You know the food is good if they packed 3 people on a table for 2 and 7 on a table for 4. Everyone was raving about it and I was missing white rice, so we went for it. It’s a yakitori place but serves a variety of Japanese eats. The waiters are very friendly and the whole place has a nice mood. Food were very good and it was quite cheap.

Address: 9 Saint Marks Place New York, NY 10003

Uncle Nick’s Greek Restaurant

I didn’t go to Greece but I was here at Uncle Nick’s. I suppose inspired by the Nick’s in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Pick from the day’s special where the seafoods are really good. Baklava is okay. I had the Greek coffee and Eli read my coffee cup after. Good ambiance and service.

Address: 747 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Ali Baba’s Terrace

Supposedly the best in town and they have several locations around Manhattan but this one is the fancier one. The ambiance is nice and my Kuzu Sis (Lamb Shish) was unforgettable. Because I was with a big group, I get to try a lot of different food and they were all great.

Address:‎ 862 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10017

Star of Siam Thai Kitchen

I’m happy to get my Thai Food fix at Star of Siam Thai Kitchen as it’s one of my all time favorite dish! The food were so good that my friend actually dreamt of Bangkok that night. The ambiance was good and the service excellent.

Address:103-18 Metropolitan Ave, New York, NY 11375

DESSERT

Cafe Lalo

It was made internationally famous by the move You’ve Got Mail where Meg Ryan got stood up by Tom Hanks. Is the food worthy of the hype? For me, yes. There are billion of choices in the cake ref but I took one look at that layered crepe dessert and knew it would be spectacular. You don’t need to go to Belgium for the waffles, this one is fantastic. The coffee though was bland.

Address: 201 West 83rd St. New York, NY 10024

Eileen’s Special Cheesecake

I love cheesecake and have traveled the world for the best cheesecake! And I declare Eilee’s Special to be the one. Junior’s used to be my favorite but this time in NY, I tried both, and Eileen’s is hand’s down the winner. It’s light and just enough sweet. The servers are friendly. They only have 1 shop, so I guess they are able to maintain their excellent quality.

Address: 7 Cleveland Place, New York, NY 10012

Billy’s Bakery

Maybe I’m not a cupcake person but I didn’t think Billy’s cupcake was spectacular, but my friends swore by it. So I thought you should give it a try. Maybe I ordered the wrong cupcake but I was wondering how can one go wrong with chocolate and mint? Oh well.

Address: Chelsea at 184 Ninth Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets), in Tribeca at 75 Franklin Street (between Broadway and Church Streets), and in Nolita at 268 Elizabeth Street (between Houston and Prince).

I have a few more on my list, and may add it later. Which are your favorites in New York? Feel free to add to the list so that I can try it too when I come back.

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No Pressure

Because I have been a tourist here before, there is no longer the pressure of doing the touristy stuff. Although I did visit museums, parks, squares, and see Lady Liberty. It is the perfect place for me to chill out and enjoy the city.

Long term travel is not exactly a holiday. It may be a “fun” problem to decide where to go next, but it is a problem that can cost you some nights sleep. There are many decisions to be made as this has become your daily life. It can actually be more challenging than the usual daily life with set routines and basically operate on autopilot.

Pinoy Network

I was a bit bored when I first arrived NY, but since I met up with Fiona and got pulled into her network of friends, it had been a blast. I ate at a bajillion of restaurants, ice skated at Bryant Park, had stamp of my face made, had non-tourist access to the UN, modeled for an ICP student, etc.

It continues to hold true for me that the most memorable part of your trip will always be associated with the people you meet. I have been truly blessed with amazing encounters throughout my trip. NYC was not an exception. Thanks to these girls.

Met Old Friends

Joy and Brian are my good friends who moved to the US years ago, and whom I’ve not seen for 6 years. I didn’t know Virginia is a stone throw away from Washington DC (I cannot know everything!) and that they’re both working there. So I missed them in 2009 and when they went home earlier this year, I already left for my trip. So in coming here, I got to visit them and spent thanks giving weekend with them. It was real good times catching up.

Recharged!

Despite the cold temperature, I felt so at home in the US that it was like living daily life rather than traveling. It was an important break for me after continuously traveling for over 5 months, being in so many cities, seeing so many monuments, and meeting so many people. I needed the still moment to let it all settle in.

So this morning, rolling my bag to Penn Station en route to JFK, I felt the familiar butterflies in my stomach that usually accompanies me when I take off for a trip. It was absent for a while in the later part of this long journey. Going to a new city had become very natural. I had a feeling that I’m just leaving for my big trip. It’s a Great feeling. So this must be some kind of second wind in travel?

Pura Vida!

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I would say that it’s a successful event based on the number of attendees and sponsors. Regular tickets cost 800 pesos. 500 pesos if you buy in advance (available online). VIP table is priced at 15,000 pesos good for 20pax. This is according to Vangie. I didn’t inquire from the event organizer. But had I known that a lot of friends were interested to come to the event (as i ran into them there), I would have organized for a VIP table. I’ve attended these BigFISH parties and I know how painful it is without table, specially if one is wearing a 3.5inch heels!!

We made quite an effort in dressing up. Not that we have costumes made, although we easily could. All of us wore dresses we already own. Shopping for accessories and creative makeup transformed us into our chosen characters. Thanks to SM, none of us spent over 200 pesos. ;-)

Halloween celebration wasn’t big when I was growing up. We only see them on television and movies. I was in fact quite envious of the trick-or-treating children on tv. But the last few years we see the Filipinos adopting and embracing this western holiday. Each year the stores are getting more prolific with the selection of masks, costumes, and various toys for props. Now while we’re no longer kids, who is to stop us from being part of this festivity??? ;-) Check out some of the photos taken during the Cream Halloween Ball!

However, this is not the first time I took part in the Halloween merry making. Last year I was in New York with a couple of good friends and we decided to bring costumes with us. I dressed as the “Resident Evil” and actually had the outfit made for the occasion! I love Ging’s “Kill Bill” in cool yellow sport suit. Vangie didn’t bring one so we went to a clothing store specializing in halloween effects. Thinking about it now… New York was amazing!

Since it was my first Halloween, I was so overwhelmed with the whole experience. People were really into it this part of the world! it was specially fun during the evening when we came out in our costumes and it was totally normal, I love it! We didn’t even attempt to join the official NY Village Parade because we were sure it’s going to be jam-packed. Instead we head over to the East Village and walk the street. Saw kids, teens, and adults roam around with capes, fangs, and sword pierced through their chests. I said hello to Smurf, the Mario Brothers, and Flash Gordon. It was festive enough for me without the pushing and inevitable crushing!

Here enjoy a montage of pictures from my last year’s New York Halloween that I never get to blog. :)

So how is it at your end of the globe? Did you take part in any of the hulabaloo this year? Is Halloween part of your culture as a kid?

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we had our really late lunch at a diner. the minute i had my hot soup, i felt better. i’m so happy. i swear to never drink again! i mean, drink so much.so we decided to just hang around 5th avenue lest we were late again.

at 5:15 p.m. sharp, we started walking towards the Ginger Man. it’s a german pub and it’s October fest! that’s the thing with meeting friends while traveling, they always bring you to drink. i was very surprised to find the pub super full at 5:45 p.m. that we couldn’t find table, not immediately, but we hung around long enough to find one later.

being from manila, it’s truly terrifying to drink in the US. a bottle of beer costs $6 (at least) and $1 dollar tip to the dude who opens your bottle. that is 2 bucket worth of SML (10 bottles) in dencios. but surprisingly in this trip, i wasn’t currency converting too much so for different reason, i held on to 1 bottle of beer the whole night (at the pub).

because they started early, the group was getting bit drunk by 10 p.m. chris then invited all of us to his brother’s house party. it’s a small gathering of his roommates and us. so it’s actually a pot session. the smoke was so thick in the room that i’m getting high just remembering. lol. there was a rolling competition and we were to be the judge. i decided i’m just going to take a couple of puff and not get doped.

i don’t know if it’s the US air, the jet lag, or maybe the weeds, lol, but on to my 2nd puff, i started feeling stuffy. i stood and went to get a drink of water and very, very curiously i felt the water going down my throat in slow motion.. like 5 minutes and the water still there, rolling down but not getting there. i took another gulp to push it down and again, it wouldn’t. it’s really funny now, but at that time it wasn’t so funny. lol. i was alarmed a bit and sat at the corner of the room near the door, to get a little farther from the smoke.. though it’s really a small room. then i started hallucinating the room expanding and contracting… hoo-ha! the voices of people were slow and echoing.. and while i was nearer to the crowd in the living room, i heard the voices of chris and greg louder and they were in the other room. it’s freaking crazy! haha

though i don’t smoke weed regularly in manila, it’s definitely not my first time. the effect on me here is different, totally! i called vangie’s attention. i try to act as normal as i can and relay my situation to her. i was aware of my paranoia antics and tried to control it so as not to alarm her.. i didn’t succeed! she looked really worried so i said i just needed some air, normal air. so we went to the toilet and hid there for a few minutes. chris was really sweet and came over to explain that it will go away and that unlike alcohol, it doesn’t cause hang over.

by midnight, we all walked to a diner to eat breakfast food. i was better, the effect was gone, but some of the guys were super stoned and were in dazed and another one talking with no voice and acting like a pantomime.. crazy new york! LOL

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for one i couldn’t even lift it off the baggage carousel. fortunately, a chinese guy helped me out. it’s a wheeled bag so shouldn’t be a problem even if i had to make a lot of detour to use elevator and escalator, the problem is it wasn’t stable and kept falling on one side. so i couldn’t even leave it alone for a bit even while waiting for the train. so at one point, i put the camera bag on top of the luggage while waiting for a ride, they both fell. damn.

i was told that i could take the shuttle for $2.5 from JFK to the center. I was to meet Vangie at 3p.m. but was running really late because the immigration took a long time, and also took a while for me to figure out the airport, bus, subway, sky train, and LIRR. and when we finally met, we were so full of bags that we couldn’t really move! we ended up sitting outside the post office near Madison Sq. for a long time. Although it was alright for I got to shipped all the stuff I’m supposed to make my bag lighter… although not any more stable.

so as i finally start to take in the city and admiring it, while still on the post office step, my shutter bug caught on and i took out my camera.

LO and BEHOLD! I found broken glass inside my bag! My polarizing filter was broken into a billion pieces! My stomach turned and I felt sick! Flashback to my camera bag fell with the luggage earlier at the sky train platform! I couldn’t see if the lens is broken or scratched or broken. gulp.

!@#$%^&*()_|!@#$%^&*(){}!@#$%^&*()

It was a good few minutes when i saw a man walking with a shiny new Nikon plastic bag. I wanted to run and asked him but Vangie was out buying water and i was the manning our billion of bags at the steps. so finally vangie arrived and she went to asked the guy.

we walked toward the direction of the camera shop. we saw more and more people with this nikon shopping bag and we asked one of them. then we saw it. B&H Camera. Halleluja! It’s a huge building of Camera stuff, much like BIC Camera in Japan. We walked directly to the DSLR help. I showed the guy my camera and told him of my sad tale. The thing is, i couldn’t get the broken filter out of the lens (Nikkor 18-200 @ $800). He couldn’t too. He then offered to have the technician do it, BUT no guarantee – do you understand? No Guarantee on the Lens, ok??

“ok” i replied meekly.. what can i do?

After 15 minutes, felt like 15 hours, he came out with my lens sans the broken filter! I checked the lens, good as new! BIG SIGH OF RELIEF! they didn’t even charge me for service or anything. he just directed me to where i can get my new filter.

Later that night, we met up with our host Brian for dinner at Hell’s Kitchen – this part of town so called due to the massive concrete buildings around and during summer, it gets hot as hell. Now, it became a quaint little place with plenty of nice restaurants and bistrol We were at HK, one of those little nice places. I guess I was so happy that my lens didn’t break that we ended with $200 bill of martinis!

Needless to say, with over 15 hours flight, 12 hours time difference, no sleep, fatigue… martinis just doesn’t mix well. the next day i woke up with a f@#$%^ hang over. Dammit!

Welcome to NYC.

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