During my spring break, I went to New York City for three days.

Originally, I had no expectations to go back to New York City after being there two weeks prior to this visit. But duty came calling, and my boss wanted me to come up and have a meeting with the rest of the staff, so I booked my $20 Megabus tickets and prepared to venture to the city one last time.

Little did I know that this was going to be my last visit in a hot minute, as I would win a Fulbright to India right after booking these bus tickets. That meant I was going to be spending the summer in South Korea, coming home, getting my visa for India, and then departing for a year to live in Kolkata.

And so I kind of went out with a bang during this trip. I didn’t get to hit up some up my old haunts, like the MoMA, but I certainly still did have a lot of fun when I was out and about in the city.

Here’s what I did during those three days.

Appropriate and Mother Play on Broadway were both excellent choices.

Every time I go to the city, I try to go and see a show. Whether it’s Broadway or an Off-Off Broadway venue, I’ve tried my hardest to see the vibrant diversity of the city through theatrical endeavors. It also helps that I’m a seasoned professional at getting these tickets for cheap—it’s become a talent.

This time, I had purchased tickets for Appropriate in advance because the last time I tried to see the show, it was cancelled an hour before showtime due to COVID-19. I was so excited to see the show this time, and although I had gripes about the last row of the balcony seat (it was disruptive with the ushers going back and forth), I thought the show was fantastic.

Mother Play is something I didn’t plan on seeing, but I was invited to go with someone. I’ve one to never turn down a show, so I ended up getting a cute little balcony seat. I liked this one less than Appropriate, but I thought it definitely had an emotional impact throughout its run time.

Queens is one of my favorite boroughs.

Queens is somewhere I always make a point of visiting, and this visit was no different. Turns out an old friend was in town, and I hadn’t seen her in six years, so I ventured out to Flushing with her and her boyfriend.

We first wandered around the New World Mall, looking at the options at the food court. We then decided to head out to Haidilao, as my friend really wanted to try it. Haidilao is pretty much an expensive version of hotpot, especially considering we ended up paying around $60 a person for the meal we had.

It wad worth it though! The quality was there, and the service was fantastic. After hanging out with my friend in Flushing, I ventured over to Jackson Heights for my friend’s Iftar dinner. Little did I know the 7 Train wasn’t going to Manhattan, forcing me to Uber home later in the day.

Meeting with old friends and coworkers is always a blast in New York.

As you could gather from the previous section, some of my favorite parts of coming back to New York is because all of my friends are there. I always love enjoy visiting the theater I work at, chatting with my boss, and getting to meet the interns we have in person.

Regardless, I make sure to have time to visit my dearest friends and gather a meal. After my friend’s family’s iftar dinner, I met so many other lovely girls that were Palestinian and Desi, and it was inspiring listening to them talk about their goals and future.

I also made time to meet that same friend from the iftar dinner the next day for coffee, and we said our goodbyes, as she knew I was going to be gone for an entire year. I’m going to miss coming to the city mainly because of the people who have made it special after all of these years.

There were lots of good food opportunities throughout my NYC trip!

A lot of people say they come to New York City just to eat, and I’m someone who certainly spends a lot of time in the city finding my next meal! This trip, I had quite a few solid restaurants that I went to.

Chi Restaurant. This is a new addition to the Hudson Yards area, and it’s right by my work. I ordered a takeout dish of zha jiang mian, as I’d never had the Chinese version of the dish. I thought it was more salty than the Korean version, and that the portion was just barely enough to fill me up for lunch. It was good though!
Rice x Beans. I’d been here before when it was Nelore Grill, and I knew their feijoada was good. I took my boss out to dinner here, and we split a feijoada dish, some pao de queijo, Guarana, mango juice, and a flan. All of it was so good, and for $100 we were stuffed and ready to roll back home with leftovers.
Haidilao. We ventured into Flushing for this meal, and as I mentioned before, it was expensive, but worth it. The meat quality was really good, and they also had classics like youtiao available to order. The tomato soup hurt my stomach though in the end, which sucks.
Famous Famiglia Pizza. I was going to eat somewhere nice on my last day in the city, but then ended up craving pizza before I caught a movie at the Times Square AMC. Famous Famiglia is my go-to spot, and those slices aren’t the best, but they slap the most when you need them.
Junior’s. My boss brought me back a slice of cheesecake from Junior’s, as she knew I had never been here before. This cheesecake ending up being my breakfast one morning, and it was so good.

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