I spent five days wandering New York City.

The one fun part of running a blog, especially when you write travel diaries here and there, is the fact that you have a documented history of everything you did in a place and what you were thinking in the moment. My blog has been a place where I historically write about movie, book, and theater reviews, but I expanded it into travel when I realized this is an awesome form of a digital archive.

That said, it also helps me keep track of what I did and where I did it at a certain time in my life. I’ve been doing this for almost three years now, and it’s helped me realize that in this moment of time, I’ve spent over thirty trips going back and forth between New York.

I consider New York my second home. I know Manhattan and some parts of Brooklyn like the back of my hand, I lived and went to school here for a few years, and now I come up so often for work or to catch a show that I feel like this is a home of sorts. I don’t know if I’ll actually move here, but I’m enjoying my time while I can.

This trip, I had to come up for a holiday party, then asked the person I usually stay with if I can stay a few extra days. My objective here was to bring my camera and take pictures of all of the Christmas lights, as well as catch a few shows here and there.

So I booked my Peter Pan bus ticket for $85, got myself onto it at 8:30 AM one morning, and spent four wonderful days roaming the city.

Here’s what I did and ate this trip!

Day One: Arriving, Lunch, and a Holiday Party

When I come up to New York, I always catch the morning bus and pick up lunch whenever I get into the city. The first day of being here was pretty uneventful. This Sunday morning the bus got in 30 minutes early, I put my Patagonia travel pack on (it was so heavy because I was transporting quite a few perfumes), then I decided to grab lunch.

I was heading into Hell’s Kitchen for work, so I started walking north and ran into Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles II. I thought it was a different place based on the pictures through Google, but I might’ve been mistaken, and I sat down in this tiny noodle joints. I can understand Mandarin, so I listened to the workers gossip as I decided on a beef stew soup with wide noodles as my lunch, along with a can of coconut juice.

This meal was okay. The broth was warm and inviting on this cold day, but it was also a bit bland. The chili oil helped give it some more flavor, but the noodles were also just kind of okay. The beef was indeed stewed and in chunks, but I found it was the only flavor it gave the soup besides the chili oil.

After that, I paid and headed up to my boss’ apartment to help set up for our holiday party. I was there for almost 10 hours, then headed into Brooklyn when the day was over to relax, take a shower, and prepare for the next day.

Day Two: Work, Flushing, and Jackson Heights

I got to work at 12 PM on this day, after eating a pack of ramen for lunch. My schedule for this day was that I had to be at work by then, and by 3:30 PM I was prepared to head out and go to Flushing. So I did my work, and then headed to Hudson Yards for a bit.

There, I looked at the Christmas decor in the mall for about thirty minutes. Their Christmas decor is always way too extra compared to what I am used to, so it was nice to see, then I hopped on the 7 train for the ~50 minute ride to Main Street Flushing.

I always go to J Mart whenever I’m in this side of town, as I find their groceries are cheaper than anywhere I can find back home. I love Flushing and shopping there from the bottom of my heart, so I also went to TESO Life and Ebisu to see what other kinds of items they had.

Some notable pick ups I got at J Mart were Malaysian teh tarik packets, ingredients to make tea eggs, and some hotpot noodles so I could make some easily at home. These are hard to find where I live, and if they’re around, they’re a lot more expensive than the stores in Flushing.

I was supposed to meet a friend there at 5:30 PM, but her work spilled over and I sat in the Flushing Library until she told me to go and meet her in Jackson Heights.

We met up at the Roosevelt Avenue station then wandered to Lhasa Fast Food, which I thought was so delicious. My friend wasn’t a fan of the potato momos she got, but I liked the food a lot. We then went to Tong to get Bangladeshi fuchka, and I headed home from there.

Day Three: Christmas Decor, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Maybe Happy Ending

This was one of two free days for me, so I had a master plan. First, I woke up and headed to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, getting off at Clark Street and walking along the water. I brought my camera specifically to take pictures of the skyline from the Brooklyn side, and I didn’t want to walk the bridge.

I also wandered to Time Out Market, as I heard their roof view was nice. I wanted to take pictures there, but I thought it was honestly just an okay view overall. After that, I went more into Dumbo and towards the Manhattan Bridge

I headed to Bryant Park from there. It was insanely crowded, and I know this place is overpriced, so I walked through it only and then headed to the library there. I wanted to see the Bohemia exhibit they had going on, and it was free. I thought it was worth checking out if you’re in the area!

My next stop was the store Book Off, as I wanted to see their $1 deals. Nothing in there caught my eye as a book I actually wanted, and I was hungry, so I went to Urban Hawker next because I wanted to try Malaysian food there. I went to Malaysia in January and loved it, so I went to Padi in the back and picked up a beef rendang set.

It was a little pricy, but good! I enjoyed it and a teh tarik from Kopifellas in the front. From here I went and took pictures by the Christmas decor, pushing through the crowds of tourists for the perfect shots. I also stopped by the record store Rough Trade, and I didn’t buy anything because I’m watching my budget.

I did go to McNally Jackson though. I love that bookstore, and spent about 40 minutes in there debating whether I wanted a Middle Eastern or Korean book. I ended up with neither, as I discovered their poetry section and was pretty impressed with the selection. I got two poetry boos for $36, which is a solid deal for me.

I still had some time to burn, so I stopped by my favorite boba shop in Midtown: Modern Tea Shop. I love their drinks, and I sat at a table for another hour with a book until my Broadway show, Maybe Happy Ending, started.

And when I say I loved that show, I loved it! Everyone around me was sobbing, it was cute, and I liked the representation it brought to the table. Full review is going to be on the blog for sure.

Day Four: Cabaret and the Whitney Museum

On Day Four, I headed back up to Midtown to get lunch near Bryant Park. Best Sichuan is a restaurant I’ve been meaning to try, as I wanted a mala drypot and they had it. I was still kind of hungry later in the afternoon though after eating it, so it’s not going to be a meal that fills you up until you’re ready to sleep.

From there, I walked to the line for Romeo + Juliet. That’s right: I had paid $123 for back row seats, waited in line for an hour, then when I sat down I saw Rachel Zegler, who I was only seeing the show for, was out. I immediately got up and got a refund because her name is above the title (you can request a refund if they’re out and above the title).

Usually I’m more than happy to support understudies, but this was the most I’ve ever paid for a Broadway ticket and I only wanted to see Rachel. So I walked out. I went back to my work in Midtown, hung around there for a bit, then walked down the Highline to the Whitney Museum.

I wanted to swing by the Whitney because it was now free for those 25 and under, and I’m 24 at the time of going. I also wanted to see the Alvin Ailey exhibit, as I heard it was fantastic. And it was! I really enjoyed that exhibit and how it centered dance and Black art around this period. I also took some pictures at sunset from the roof of the Whitney.

After that, I walked back up to work and grabbed dinner at Kashmir 9 with my boss. From there, I took the train up to 52nd Street, where the August Wilson Theater is, and joined the line for Cabaret. I had purchased Cabaret tickets when I heard Adam Lambert was in it, and he was fantastic in that role! It was made for him.

From there, I went home and passed out, as I got back at 11:50 PM because Cabaret is a bit longer of a show. It felt like such a long day.

Day 5: A Nice Lunch, Desserts, Work, and Going Home

This was the day I was going home, so I told the person I was staying with to get lunch with me. We decided on SYKO, which is a Korean and Syrian restaurant located right under Park Slope. I was curious about the fusion, but got a shawarma.

I enjoyed the food, but it was a little pricy. I thought the shawarma was tiny on its own, and I ordered french fries. I was full until late that night, while eating it at 12 PM, but if I did not get the fries, I don’t think I would have been full for that long. The french fries were an unexpected highlight—they were delicious!

I then hopped on the nearby F train, took it to Bryant Park, then switched to the 7 to go to work. I spent the rest of the day hanging out with my boss, cranking out some to-dos in time for me to take a holiday break, then said goodbye at 4:45 PM.

I stopped at Angelina Bakery next to the bus terminal, grabbed some bombolones, then was shocked to see how the price had rose. It used to be cheaper!

My bus wasn’t delayed, so I headed right home after that after passing out on the bus. It was crowded for the holidays, which is always nice to see. But this was such a nice trip, even if New York is a lot more crowded during Christmas.

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