New York City Trip [image heavy]

**Super wordy and image heavy post ahead!!**
The past Tuesday was my convocation, and now I finally have my degree!! *_* I want to share some photos, mostly because I rather liked how my hair turned out (for once, it co-operated!!) but I didn't bring my camera and I think the photos are with my parents, who have left the country T_T sigh..ah well. My uncle came over also to celebrate with me and also suggested we go to New York City again since last year ever since that crazy bus tour to the US where we only spent half a day in NYC, I really wanted to go back!!


I got my own room at the POD hotel in midtown east, Manhattan. :D (Sorry, not sure why this photo is so blurry ><) We also flew to NY this time instead of taking a 10hr bus ride. Despite it being more expensive and the hassle of going through customs and everything at the air port (and my dislike of small planes) I greatly preferred flying because it only takes about 1hr 30min! It was much needed because this was a short trip because my uncle had work, and plus it's quite costly to stay in NYC.. D;


I liked this hotel at lot, the design is modern and it's so clean~~ lol it's not small at all compared to where I stayed in Tokyo T_T! It felt a little boxy because the toilets and sink is right in front of you, but then again I liked how close everything was *is lazy* ... The location was good too, only about 10-15min walk to Times Square. The only drawback was the people on our floor were so loud and kept slamming their doors and kept coming back really late and made a racket..


Quickly walked to Times Square and had dinner. We rode some sketchy SuperShuttle from the air port to the hotel and unfortunately it was rush hour, so it was getting quite late already!


The McDonald's in Times Square had this display on the second floor o.o


Little cars!! I saw something like these at a hobby shop in Japan, was so tempted to buy but they were like 15 bucks for a pack of 4 little cars >__<


The ceiling~


I really wanted some night shots of Times Square since the last time I came here, it was during the day. It is so much more interesting to look at when everything is lit up.


I wanted to see a musical but we didn't have time (and I didn't have the funds lol ;;)


It was really, really bright. My cameras couldn't handle it lol x_x


Lots of cabbies. Didn't ride in one!

Went to the M&M's World store! It was pretty much the same as the one I went to in Orlando, but this one had 3 floors! @__@


There were a lot of these stuffed characters walking around in front of the Toys R Us store. I was stupid and didn't know that we had to pay tips in order to have a photo taken with them, because I didn't realize that the bags they carried around were for collecting money... I didn't even WANT my photo taken but one of them grabbed me and I agreed anyway since I had my camera out. I swear the person inside the costume was some creepy pervert also >___> and hell, I even used my own camera to take the photo, so sadly that was $1 wasted...ick. I would have rather given that $1 to a homeless person...u__u


Surface, Microsoft's tablet pc. I thought this store was the Apple store at first orz... the inside design and even the employee uniforms are like Apple's... o.o


Next day we went to the American Museum of Natural History. This huge orb is called the Hayden Sphere and you can go inside to see a special show :) No photos were allowed inside the Sphere but the show was really neat!


One of those foxes/coyotes = the fur trim on the hood of Canada Goose jackets...lol


Some ducks on display... o_O There were really a lot of specimens on display in this museum...totally underestimated its size!


There were so many glass displays with stuffed animals inside. Really felt like I was in a zoo!
The African animals collection had two floors, there was also a floor devoted to birds only. The ocean life collection was closed though, I really wanted to see that one T_T


The dinosaur collection was also huge!! I went to the dinosaur museum in Drumheller in Alberta before and that had a big collection... but now I'm not so sure (mostly cause I don't remember much since it was more than 10 years ago lol orz..)


Scary things on the ceiling D; Ended up spending the whole day at this museum lol OTL....it was that big. I'm sure we went through 90% of the exhibits but I'm pretty sure we skipped a few. There was just so much to see!!


My uncle wanted to go to Katz's Delicatessen for dinner. They are famous for their pastrami sandwiches...basically it's two thin slices of rye bread stuffed full of beef! x_x We ate at the Katz's in Toronto but it was a really different style. The meat in the Toronto one was sliced thinner, had a bit more fat, was a lot less salty and tasted better in my opinion!!


They have a lot of history; walls are covered with photographs with famous people and the like.


Apparently my uncle came here before and said that this photo is what the place is like when it's "dead" and usually there is a line up right outside the door! o_O


Next day~! Breakfast at place near the hotel this time.


I had some buckwheat pancakes. Some fresh fruit or ice cream would have been nice, sadly it came with neither lol
We went to Century21 next, which is a huge department store that sells marked down brand name items. It got super crowded later in the day when we left so I suggest going there early when it opens! @_@ It's a popular place among tourists it seems. I got some things for family but it was hard to find things that I liked, felt like the clothes there are more suited towards an older crowd. Plus it kinda felt like a Winner's to me, only the clothes were neatly organized by brand.
After a quick lunch at Pret A Manger, I wanted to check out the Museum of Modern Art. Mainly because I studied the contemporary art movement in my grade 12 art class and I really enjoyed learning about it (plus I had an awesome teacher!) The MOMA was free on Fridays after 4pm. We got there at around 3:45ish and the line went around the block, it was insane! @__@ But luckily it moved really quickly and we were inside in probably 5 minutes!


I love looking at images like these XD


Up close they are stick people symbols! :D


I thought the MOMA would be bigger but the galleries are quite small. I didn't know Van Gogh's Starry Night would be there...but I was not surprised that it was this painting that had the large crowd around it!


Came upon another crowd!! Waiting patiently to get a photo lol


No surprises that it would be The Scream ;) Don't know why I love this so much either XD I was actually disappointed the MOMA didn't have more well-known contemporary works by artists that I would recognize..D; I was kinda glad the admission was free, as I don't think I would have paid the full price of $25...


Ate at TGI Fridays after the MOMA. I ordered a chicken bruschetta pasta. It was alright, a little too tomatoey!


Back to Times Square for some more browsing/shopping~~


Last day in NY! I wanted to bring some macarons home with me on the plane so I saved the best for last! I've heard so much of Ladurée and when I saw that they had a shop in NY I simply had to visit and see for myself. There are rumors that Ladurée may soon have a place in Toronto.. *_*


We went to Shake Shack for lunch, at their original location in the FlatIron district. This is the FlatIron building, and indeed it's very narrow and...flat.


It was located in a nice park


I nearly missed the sign because of the trees! I thought the place would be a lot bigger since it's so popular...


(Please excuse the shadow, we ate outside ><) We each got a ShackBurger (hamburger with lettuce, tomato, cheese and special sauce) and I got a strawberry shake. The shake was so-so, it tasted like a normal artificial tasting strawberry shake, but it was quite thick and hard to suck up through the straw lol. We shared some wrinkle cut fries, which were so crispy on the outside and soft on the inside...super delicious fries!! The burger was yummy also but nothing too surprising--my uncle said Shake Shack was "overrated" but I liked it enough. :)


We went to SoHo to browse for a bit before heading back to the hotel. Turns out a few blocks were sectioned off for a street festival of some sort..? o.O


VERY random statue of a mouse ...
We also went to the skating rink at the Rockefeller centre but I didn't take any photos of that. Overall the weather was perfect, chilly but not too cold. I definitely prefer this to 30+degree weather lol! NY is a lot dirtier than Toronto and the traffic is just insane. I would never recommend driving in downtown NY! We took the MTA and used a metro card (a similar concept to Japan's rechargeable Suica card) only the machines are kinda fail and the whole subway system is really old and is on a lower level than the ones in Japan and Toronto.

One thing I will never understand is the tipping... on the way back, we took the shame shuttle service but we were charged $5 tip per person. I think it was a complete ripoff. We got dropped off at the air port 2 hours early--I thought this was reasonable at first because the shuttle had to pick up people along the way and with the rush hour, we needed extra time. But because we were so early, we managed to get on the earlier flight back to Toronto...so I guess it was a good thing? o.O


I brought these with me as carry-on but I was still worried they would be smushed. For the most part they looked fine! The girl at the counter was so friendly and careful with them, too. The box was sturdy, unlike the flimsy plastic thing that held the macarons I got from Moroco. These macaron shells are also thick and have just the right amount of filling inside.
I already ate some before I took this photo, couldn't resist lol. >_< I got a box of 12 different flavours to try, and skipped over some of the flavours that had less interesting names (like 'purple'?). They are apparently flown in from Paris every day, and compared to what macarons I've eaten thus far (not very many lol) they tasted simply divine. I'm working my way through them but I particularly liked the black currant, green apple, praline, and salted caramel ones!
One thing I can say is that the macarons from Ruelo taste nothing like this. The Ruelo ones have very overpowering and pasty fillings, some of which taste very artificial. The macarons from Ladurée are a surprise of textures and flavours that complement and go well with each other. Overall, worth every penny! *_*

Well, that was my short trip (though it feels like a lot more time has passed than it really did--I often get this feeling after coming home from trips. Must mean I'm so unproductive at home.. >__<"") Thanks for reading!! ♥