New York City: eating & shopping

Travelling, eating and shopping - my three all time favourite past times. I am tempted to list them as hobbies next time I update my CV or get asked what I like to do outside of work in an interview. And where else can you do the three better than in America? As much as I love Paris, I do concede that the US is better for shopping - it is cheaper, exchange rate is better, more variety. And let's be honest - nobody does a shopping outlet like the Americans do!

After driving all about California, gambling in Las Vegas and exploring Yosemite National Park and Grand Canyon, K and I jumped on a plane and flew to New York City for the last leg of our mammoth US trip. Landing late in the night, we made our way to our rented apartment and discovered that we were pretty hungry - but it was midnight. No problem, this was NYC and since we were only 2 or 3 blocks from Times Square, we went walking and the first thing we ate in the city was - what else? - enormous slices of pizza! Those slices of pizza kick started a fortnight of pure glutton... we ate non stop all day long, I ate cupcakes every day without fail, and there was one memorable night where K ate four dinners...

Due to the number of restaurants visited and items digested, I will be breaking up my New York blog posts into several topics as follows:

1. The Ramen Wars: Ippudo, Totto Ramen & Momofuku Noodle Bar - which reins supreme? 
2. The Cupcake Wars: my mission to find the best red velvet cupcake 
3. The Coastal Burger Wars: East vs West - Shake Shack + In'N'Out
4. The Art of Brunch: The Smith vs Clinton St Bakery
5. Momofuku: bo ssam, pork buns & milkbar
6. Amazing Finds: Kyotofu & Xi'an Famous Foods
7. Les Halles - Anthony Bourdain's former restaurant
8. And The Rest: Pam Real Thai, Lombardi's Pizza, Tad's Steakhouse

I have many happy memories of NYC and miss it already. I miss the vibrancy of the city - the buzz associated with any big bustling city, similar to that found in Hong Kong and I imagine also Tokyo. In New York we shopped, we ate and we spent precious time with some dear friends who generously and wonderfully flew in from all over to see us - the first time we had seen them since our wedding almost 2 years ago.

We were in New York at an amazing time for sports - the Giants won the Superbowl, Linsanity hit town. We were also there during what they considered to be a mild winter so we had blue skies and sun everyday, except for the two where it snowed much to my delight! We hopped on and off the subway like locals, wandered streets aimlessly, watched Broadway and off Broadway shows, visited museums and sat in art galleries and visited Starbucks almost everyday - just to rest our feet and have hot chocolates to thaw us out. We certainly did our bit for the US economy - our visit to Woodbury Common (the most amazing shopping outlet just outside of NYC) paid testament to that!

Writing this whilst sitting at home in Sydney fills me with nostalgia, and a strong urge to search Webjet for flights so that I can go back there as soon as possible. It is an amazing city, and although Paris still remains my one and true love, NYC is up there - a very close second.

Keep your eye out for the next post: The Ramen Wars!

thesuzchef x