New York City – w w w . x e .s . c x

New York City & Washington D.C

Since I got married in January, my wife and I haven’t had the time to go for our honeymoon. When I got the news that the International Trademarks Association (INTA) is having their annual conference at Washington D.C, I decided to head for the conference with my wife.

The journey, through Emirates Airlines, was fine. There were plenty of shows on their inflight entertainment services. But a kid in front of us kept disturbing us. He even took my wife’s shoes and hid it. -_-

Worst part of it is that, his mother did nothing to stop him. Speaking about his mother, she asked me whether the flight goes to New York City when we were about to board the flight at the boarding area. -_-

We stayed in YMCA hostel in New York City. It was terrible place. The room was dirty. I had allergy probably due to dust mites/beg bugs.

Lousy room for around US$100 per night.

I also accidentally cut myself on the forehead. The bunk bed in our room was low and it had metal spring poking out from top. I sat back and somehow bounced slightly. My forehead suffered a deep cut from one of the sharp edges of the metal spring.

The springs

We engaged a New York based photographer, Ulysses Photography, to take our pictures at Central Park. The husband and wife team consisting of Ulysses and Jenni were excellent. They charge by the hour and we only booked them for an hour. However, we were late. Fortunately, Ulysses and Jenni were kind enough to not charge us for being late an even extended our session without charge. I would highly recommend them.

Speaking about photography business in the United States, they have a different model than ours. Photographers charge extra for high resolution photograph and you don’t get all the photographs like Malaysia. One thing I like about Ulysses Photography (other than their awesome personality) is their style guide. They have a guide on how to dress for each theme or season.

Times Square

Freedom Tower! Notice the plane next to it?

My Internation Trademark Association (INTA) conference was held at Washington D.C. This year round, they had over 9000 participants. However, I only managed to meet less than 20 people -_-. I was told that if you attend the conference more, you will meet less people. But I must also blame myself for not going all out to meet people.

We took a bus to Washington D.C. The four hours ride felt short as they had a power plug and Wifi.

Using the online service Air B & B, we rented a room of Mr and Mrs Blinch. Their place was strategically located few minutes away from the conference area. The room was also a far cry from YMCA as we had a queen size bed, own bathroom, walk in closet, cable TV, complimentary drinks and even a bottle of red wine! No dust mites too!

Conference was held in the middle of the town but most meetings were held outside the conference hall. My meetings were held mostly in hotel lobbies. I managed to bump into many friends whom I didn’t fix any meetings.

I took the conference easy. I didn’t have many meetings fixed and even had one day where I spent the entire day sightseeing. Last time I used go for meetings and receptions from 9am to 1am – everyday!

My goal for this conference was quite simple. To tell my contacts that I’ve set up my own firm. Getting new business contacts was my secondary goal. Unfortunately, I was a little lazy and all I had was 4 new namecards. Uhm.

The house where Lincoln died.

Washington D.C has this service where you rent a bike and once you’re done, you can park it at any of their docking stations which are scattered around the city.

On our last day in Capital View hostel because our Air B&B room was pre-booked by someone else. Capital View was bare and the toilet is extremely dirty. I think I will never stay in hostels again!

We returned to New York City on our last day. We managed to meet up with Raymond whom I met with Timothy Tiah and fourfeetnine during our last New York City trip. He participated in the New York Bersih rally and he said it went really well with 300 over participants. Glad to know Malaysians living outside Malaysia still care about Malaysia.

I know its been a while since I wrote something here but I’ve been extremely busy.

Busy finding money thats it. Till the next blogpost!

New York City: Food Guide – Part II

This entry marks the last entry of my New York City 2010 series. Finally!

Cafe Sabarsky

I found this place through the recommendation of Yelp (popular social media website in the US). I was searching for a good place to eat around the Met Museum and this place was highly recommended by some people.

This Viennese café is located inside the Neue Galerie’s museum. The cafe is not visible from outside but you can see it once you enter the museum.

Although the cafe is quite small, the atmosphere was really, really nice.

fourfeetnine and TimothyTiah!

Latte to kick start my meal 😀

Sabarsky Heiße Schokolade (House made Viennese Hot Chocolate with
Whipped Cream) :D~~~~~~~~

Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut & Röstkartoffeln (Roasted Sausage with Riesling Sauerkraut, Roasted Potatoes & Dijon). Izz zoooo zesmalllll

Apple strudel here is highly recommended. Looks awesome. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of cooked fruits. Hence the apple strudel tasted so-so for me.

Address
Neue Gallerie
1048 5th Ave
New York, NY 10028
Website: http://www.cafesabarsky.com/

Map

View Larger Map

Magnolia Bakery

This bakery was featured in numerous movies and sitcoms – recently being Sex in the City.

This bakery has a few outlets around New York City and the one that I went was not the one featured in Sex in the City.

The highlight of this bakery is their cupcakes.

I think it was so-so. It was a little bit too sweet for me. But if you’re a big fan of cupcakes and have a sweet tooth, do try this.

Address
1240 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Website: http://www.magnoliabakery.com/

Map

View Larger Map

Burger Joint @ Le Parker Meridien

On my last night in New York City, Raymond said he will bring me to a place to eat burger. He brought us to an office building and I was wondering where could this burger place be. He then lead us to one small corridor and voila! a burger joint! It is tucked in a small part of Le Parker Meridien!

The interior, of course, was not fantastic. In fact, it was quite messy. The walls were scribbled with writings and there were left over food strewed here and there. We even had to clean the place ourselves.

However,the burgers were awesome! Many thanks again to Raymond for buying us supper!

According to many reviews, Burger Joint serves one of the best burgers in the city. Do try it out when you’re in NYC!

Other reviews
DMANBURGER “Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien Hotel

Website: http://www.parkermeridien.com/eat4.php

Address
119 W 56th St,
New York‎

Map

View Larger Map

Bloom’s Delicatessen & Restaurant

Sarah brought me to this place on my last day in New York City. According to her, this is a “crew joint”. That means a place frequent by steward and stewardesses.

The reason she brought me here was to try out this restaurant’s breakfast set. She said the food is good and huge. I usually have no problem in eating large meals but the breakfast in Brooms brought me down to my knees. It was huge!!

I had this breakfast set called Lumberjack – came with pancakes, eggs and bacon. There were 3 slides of pancakes and the pancakes were as big as capati!!

After my second piece of pancake, I surrendered. My “bottomless stomach” does have its limits. Those who wishes to try this, I would recommend you to share it with a friend unless you’re 130KGs.

Website: http://www.bloomsnewyorkdeli.com/

Address
350 Lexington Avenue,
New York, NY,
United States‎

Map

View Larger Map

That’s all folks!

New York City: Food Guide – Part I

Before my trip to NYC, I was told that I should try the hot dogs on the streets. Well I did and I must say it was great!

American diners were another thing recommended to me. I am glad that I manage to eat there. It’s nothing special but it’s the experience that matters.

Anyway, here are some good places that I went.

Lombardi’s Pizza

This place was recommended by Raymond. It is recognised as the first pizzeria in the United States and was opened in 1905.

We were brought to the upper floor of the restaurant which only has a few tables. We ordered 2 awesome pizzas and I must say that they were awesome!

32 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012-4173, United States
(212) 941-7994
Website: http://www.firstpizza.com/

Open Weekdays 11:30am-11pm; Weekends 11:30am-12am

Map

View Larger Map

Junior’s Cheesecake

On the next day, Raymond brought us to another awesome place for dessert – the famous Junior’s cheesecake. They’ve been around since 1950s and they have few branches all over NYC. Raymond brought us to the one at Times Square. In fact, it was so good that I went to Junior’s twice!

I would highly recommend the plain cheesecake. It’s quite big hence sharing is recommended.

Red velvet is good as well.

Devil’s Food Cheesecake was too rich for me. I was full after half a piece of this thing.

West 45th St. between
Broadway and 8th Ave.
Phone: (212) 302-2000

Hours (EST):
Mon–Thurs: 6:30am–12am
Fri & Sat: 6:30am–1am
Sun: 6:30-11pm

Map

View Larger Map

Sushi Ichimasa

Timothy Tiah, fourfeetnine and I found this place by chance while waiting for our play to start. It is a small Japanese restaurant. Chefs were Japanese and one of them even visited Malaysia!

Food was fresh. Service was good. Price was reasonable. Place was cozy. It was perfect. What else more can you ask for?

I tried ordering my meal through Japanese. It’s been a while since I spoke Japanese. I managed to order my meal but the lady thought I was some second generation Japanese that cant speak proper Japanese -_-

302 W 50th St
(between 8th Ave & 9th Ave)

New York, NY 10019

Map

View Larger Map

New York City: Central Park & Going Home

After rock climbing, we took a stroll around the park. There are couple of baseball fields. I wonder why the pitchers there throw their balls lightly for batters to hit.

Each bench in Central Park has a plague dedicating it to someone or something.

But this is a bit too much -_-

Squirrel!!

A friendly squirrel! p/s no the squirrel didn’t eat the sweet -_-

After our trip at Central Park, we met up with Raymond and his friend for dinner. He brought us to an awesome burger joint. Will blog about it later in my NYC food guide entry.

Night time in NYC

After dinner, Raymond brought us to his office. We had an awesome view of Central Park and the city!

Our day ended after the trip to Raymond’s office.

Since my flight is in the afternoon, I had to wake up early to catch a bus to JFK airport. Sarah brought me to a cafe in the city which serves massive breakfast. Apparently, it’s a “crew joint” (a place where airflight crews usually hang out). Will blog about this massive breakfast later. It was so much that I could feed all the children in an African village.

Walking towards the bus station…

One way ticket to JFK..

Goodbye New York City!

New York City: Central Park – Rock Climbing

The Wikipedia entry of Central Park states that there are rock climbing spots in the park. After weeks of food and no exercise, I was eager to find the place.

We found one of the spots! There was already a climber there 😀

This rock is called the Rat Rock. There’s even a Wikipedia entry on it. According to Wikipedia, this rock is called rat rock because rats swarms the place at night. Euw.

There were not many routes visible at this rock. Some can be seen through the white chalk patches on the wall.

Handholds were most crimps except for a few jugs here and there. Footholds on the other hand were tiny. It was difficult to climb without climbing shoes :/

Other than Rat Rock, there is also Cat Rock. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find that place.

Spotted 2 pairs of legs.

For more information about climbing in Central Park, check out rockclimbing.com’s entry.

New York City: Central Park – Part I

I left Boston a day after my conference ended. Since my flight back to KL departs from NYC, I took a flight to NYC.

The airport was quite near my hotel. A taxi ride there was about 20 minutes.

When I arrived at the airport, most of the flight counters have long, long queues. There was a short queue where you can actually pay 2USD to get on it. I rather pay than wait.

So when it was my turn, I gave the attendant my ticket and waited eagerly. I can wait to leave Boston. The attendant suddenly said, “Sir, it seems that your flight is from NYC to Boston. You have bought the wrong ticket.”

/(*O*)\!!!

FML!!

The attendant added, “You can get a new ticket inside”. There goes my 60USD. -_-

Upon arriving NYC, I met up with Sarah, an old friend of mine. She is one of my blog readers who eventually became a real life friend. She’s a stewardess and coincidentally she had a flight to NYC on the day I was there.

Since we only have a day to spare, we decided to spend it at Central Park. Both of us have not been there hence it was a good choice.

We decided to walk to the Park. Passed by a lot of nice places.

Rockefeller Center

We found Love in NYC!

Found Central Park!

Busker under a bridge

A cafe in the middle of the park. Check on the squirrel 😛

New York City: Avenue Q

Before my trip to NYC, Timothy asked me whether I’m interested to watch a play in NYC. I said yes and he bought me a ticket to watch this play called “Avenue Q”. The ticket costs couple of hundred ringgit.

NYC is well known for its plays and those who wishes to visit NYC should at least watch a play. There are many theaters in the city and tickets can be purchased online.

Back to Avenue Q, the play is played by actors and actresses holding puppets. It’s like the adult version of Sesame Street. There’s singing, swearing, cussing and sex (puppet sex to be precise). It was nice but I didn’t like the lady who played the role of an Asian stereotype who speaks with an Asian accent. I find it degrading to Asians just like how Bruce Lee finds Mr. Tanaka degrading in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. If you’ve seen the 1993 film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, there was a scene where Bruce Lee and his girlfriend Linda Emery was watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s in the theater. Bruce seemed upset with the stereotypical depiction of an Asian man portrayed by Mickey Rooney as Mr. Tanaka.

Anyway, back to the story. Halfway through the play, jet lag kicked in and I zzzzz-edd….until the end of the show. I missed 3 quarter of it!

-_-

New York City: The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Part II

So after the Egyptian section, I wandered around until I reached a room filled with all sorts of armours.

This is the armour of Emperor Ferdinand I of Germany. It’s been around since the 1500s. The interesting bit of this armour is the part below.

They have an armour for his penis!

The Greek section. Boring stuff. I’m not cultured enough to appreciate it.

2 men playing Liubo, a popular ancient Chinese board game during the Han dynasty. The exact rules of the game are unknown, but it is believed that each player had six game pieces that were moved around the points of a square game board that had a distinctive, symmetrical pattern.

This guy looks like George Bush!

Kwoma ceiling.

Gold pendants from Colombia 1 – 7 century. Still shiny after so many years!

A thousand over years old shoe. I did a throughout check on it to see whether there are any trade marks on it. Apparently, trade marks are used since the Roman days for swords. Interesting!

New York City: The Metropolitan Museum of Art – Part I

When I first heard the name The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met for short), my first reaction was, “Why the F should I waste my time looking at paintings???”. However, there were rave reviews about this place hence I kept an open mind to see what’s there.

There’s an entrance fee of US20 for adults and US10 for students. While at the payment counter, the cashier asked me,

Cashier: Are you a student?
Me: No.
Cashier: You want to pay full price?
Me: Sure.
Cashier: Are you sure? It’s US20.
Me: Yeah, sure.

The “ticket” to go in.

I later found out that you can actually just pay US$1 as a token for entrance -_-

Cool looking cloakroom

The museum is HUGE. I was there since 9am until closing time. I couldn’t even finish looking at everything!

The museum is divided into many sections such as the Egyptians, Greek, Indian, Mesopotamia, US, European, Chinese, Japanese and South American sections. The “art” in this museum was more than paintings. There were thousand of artifacts created few decade to few thousand years ago.

My favourite section is the Egyptian section. There’s a small temple called the Temple of Dendur in the museum. The temple was built around 15BC and and part of it was moved to the museum.

You can see some 19th Century graffiti on the walls.

The original temple.

It’s amazing to see the works of people who lived hundred over years ago. The small amulets found in tombs are one of my favourites. If I’m a designer, I would copy of all these designs and reproduce them again!

Thousand of overs ago, Egyptians worship all sorts of Gods and Goddess. Now people have different religions. I wonder in few more thousand years, will people have other type of religions? Will they be worshiping Doraemon?

When we talk about a “heart” amulet now, we would think of the nice heart shape. But in Egyptians’ heart amulet is the real of a real heart!

I was looking hard for similar Egyptian drawing that I saw in the British Museum many years ago.

But I couldn’t find anything like this.

Mummy with Roman-like alphabets on the feet.

This is awesome. Apparently the person looked like this before he died!

A 2000 years old coffin.

Came with a pair of shoes. It seems that the design of modern shoes hasn’t changed much!

Archeologists found this in a hidden chamber. It shows how Egyptians used to live thousand of years ago.

The place that the things were found.

New York City: Woodbury Outlet Stores

Woodbury Outlet Stores is well known for its low prices for designer brands such Adidas, Banana Republic, Burberry, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Coach, Chanel, Dior, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, J.Crew, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada and so on. You can literally stay here for 2 days just to shop at this place.

To get there, you can take a bus from Port Authority Bus Terminal. The costs is around US47 (!!!!). You can ask the Information Counter for the counter to purchase the bus tickets. I sat on the Grayline. It takes about an hour to get to Woodbury.

If you look properly, you can see fourfeetnine doing a V sign.

The stores are spread all over the area. There is no covered walkway. If the weather forecasts say its going to rain, bring an umbrella or wear a hoodie.

If you’re planning to buy a lot of stuff, you can bring a luggage bag. Don’t worry about looking odd as you won’t be the only one.

Our shopping spree started as soon as we stepped into Woodbury. I bought some hand bags and the lady at the counter gave a paper bag to carry my stuff.

Halfway shopping, it started raining heavily and I had to walk under the rain. My paper bag started to tear. I then went back to the same store for a plastic bag but all they had was paper bag. The lady gave me two.

Unfortunately, the two paper bags didn’t last. As we were about to leave, my last paper bag broke and all my stuff dropped out. A passer by was kind enough to give me his paper bag (of a cheaper brand!). The paper bag lasted me throughout the entire journey -_-

Our bus trip back was a bit dramatic. The line into the bus was long. Tim and fourfeetnine managed to squeeze into the bus and got themselves a seat whereas I was stuck behind. The bus had no more seats when I was about to board. Fortunately, Tim persuaded the bus driver to let me in. I told the bus driver that I’m willing to stand for an hour. Bus driver allowed me in!

Tim and fourfeetnine were nice to let me share their seat with them! But the seats were so small that I only had a quarter of my butt on it. -_-