Day 273

Check out my teeth!

On our last day, we visited FAO Schwarz and ended up getting Simon a Muppet Whatnot toy. You can choose the body, the hair, the nose, the eyes, and the clothes. All very cute and a fun experience.

Patrick the Pup!

When there was a FAO Schwarz in SF, Ron and I went there together with our friend Kat when we were just friends. We were so young!

After FAO, we came across the Belgian Waffle Cart: Wafels & Dinges. The waffle is smeared with their special spekuloos spread and topped with whipped cream and powdered sugar. Warm and toasty and the spread was like PB but more buttery.

We went to Macy’s to see Santa in Santaland (picture to come later!) then to lunch at Ippudo NY for ramen. For appetizers we had the pork buns, great sauce and nice fatty pork.

Their signature ramen. A thinner noodle.

This bowl had a thicker noodles and a large portion of fresh grated ginger.

Mmm!

The broth was hot and flavorful. I prefer the thicker noodle. The pork was really delicious.

All gone!

After our bellies were nice and full, we went for a bit more walking and shopping. We stopped by Saks Fifth Avenue’s famous shoe department that has their own zip code. There is an express elevator to the 8th floor shoes. It was fun to look at the shoes.

We walked by Rockefeller Center again and visited a few stores but it was actually pretty hard to get around since they were starting to put up the barricades for the tree lighting ceremony in the evening. We eventually just headed back to our hotel and picked up our luggage then headed to the airport by subway and AirTrain. Next time though, I think we will do the shuttle or taxi again. The subway took quite a while and it’s pretty hard to carry luggage and get a stroller down the stairs. Good thing our luggage has strong wheels so withstood all the bumping down the stairs. Also, the AirTrain is a really long walk from the terminals, at least Terminal 5 was really far away from where the AirTrain lets out. It’s inexpensive transport but might not be worth all the hassle if you have an infant. It was a full flight so we ended up getting seated near the back since that was the only place left where we could have two seats together. It all worked out and we made it home safely.

Day 272

Ready for another day.

Napping at the American Museum of Natural History while daddy went to buy tickets. Although it’s not really buying tickets, it’s called “making a suggested donation” of $18 plus any extra money to see any special exhibits.

We took him in to see the Journey to the Stars show in the planetarium. Simon did pretty well watching the show, he only started to fuss near the end. I also realized that I had already seen the exact same show here at the California Academy of Sciences. After the show, we went to check out the rest of the museum before meeting up with William again for lunch. First, my weight on the moon. I weigh about as much as Simon weights now.

Simon and planet Earth.

An origami exhibit. Lots of cool folded ornaments.

Simon with his Chinese zodiac animal.

Simon excited about the dinosaurs.

His hand is so tiny compared to the dino.

Brontosaurus.

Flying pterodactyl.

Going out for lunch.

At the Shake Shack right nearby. Shakey Road shake, cheese fries, regular burger, and the Shake Stack (with a deep fried breaded mushroom with cheese). The mushroom and cheese were the best part of the meal.

The Shakey Road had brownie bits and chopped almonds. It was very rich, I couldn’t finish it.

After lunch, we went back to the museum to check the gem exhibit. They had the Wittelsbach-Graff diamond, a 31-carat blue diamond.

Then went for a walk through Central Park.

The famous fountain. Currently water-less.

I picked up a slice of crepe cake from Lady M Confections for later ($7.50 for a thin slice!). Remember a while back, we tried to make our own? It’ll be interesting to try the real thing.

We headed back to our neighborhood to have dinner at Yakitori Totto. We had many different dishes: chicken knee bones, chicken hearts, chicken liver, beef sirloin, chicken skin, scallop, eggplant, mushroom, and many more that I’ve already forgotten.

Simon having his pears.

We also had a chicken rice bowl. The soft boiled egg is served on the side.

Full after dinner.

Exhausted after another full day, sleeping with his pal Pooh.

Day 271

Today we had a full day of eating planned. We bundled up Simon in this little suit that I bought at Ross. See, a great place for inexpensive and useful things. This was only $15 vs regular price of $50 and cute too!

First stop, lunch at Katz’s Deli. It’s a bit confusing to order though. When you walk in, each adult gets a ticket and you’re supposed to go to the grill and order there. Apparently each person has their own line so just wait at the shortest one. I think each person can do all the things (sandwiches and drinks) but I didn’t know that so had to go back and find someone to make me a drink. After you finish eating, you have to bring your ticket with to pay. The person who helped you will write the price of your item on the back of the ticket. If each guest does not return a ticket, the missing ticket will be charged $50!

Their famous pastrami Reuben sandwich served with lots of pickles, some salty and some too sour. Yes the pastrami was delicious but wow, this is an expensive sandwich! $16!

A new york egg cream (chocolate syrup, milk, and a spritz of seltzer) for $3.50

The foamy top. They also make it with vanilla syrup. It was refreshing but I prefer the Vietnamese egg soda.

After lunch, we took the subway to the Staten Island Ferry. It’s free so you can ride it all the day long if you like. It doesn’t get that close to the Statue of Liberty but close enough. Ron’s brother William met up with us at Katz’s Deli so took over planning the rest of our day.

Hello Lady Liberty!

There wasn’t much to do on Staten Island so we just waited until it returned back to NYC and caught the subway to Chinatown.

We had a bite to eat at Joe’s Shanghai Restaurant.

The place was packed but people were in and out really fast. We sat at a round table where we had to share with another group of three so Simon was able to be sleep in his stroller underneath the table.

Th dumplings were very juicy and nice thin skin. We only shared 2 orders of dumplings (8 each) so that we would have room for additional “lunch”.

As we left the restaurant, we walked by a vendor selling eggettes. Nice and chewy!

Next stop, Lombardi’s Pizza, America’s First Pizzeria.

We had to wait about 25 minutes for a table even though it was like 2pm. We ordered their standard magherita pizza with sausage on top. The sauce was fresh and light. The cheese were slices instead of being shreds.

Simon had his first bite of pizza with some sauce and cheese. He looks like he enjoyed it, doesn’t he?

After pizza, we went back to our hotel to have a nap before going out for dinner. After we woke up, we bundled up again to find the Halal Guys. Here is Ron and Simon at our hotel. It has been a great location to the subways and within walking distance to Times Square, Fifth Avenue, and Rockefeller Square.

All warm and cozy.

The Halal Guys line on the corner of 53rd St and 6th Ave, across the street from the Hilton. There are two other Halal Guys carts that have no lines but we didn’t know for sure until Ron asked the guy at this line. Apparently the other two carts are more for locals since they know it’s the same but tourists aren’t as trusting or else they just want the experience of waiting in line.

We ordered two combination plates and almost finished both! The meats are lamb and chicken plus some rice, fresh veggies, and some pita bread. You add our own hot sauce and white sauce. The hot sauce was hot! It hits you in the back of the throat. The white sauce was sort of like ranch sauce… but different and very yummy. It’s quite addicting so that’s why we couldn’t stop eating. Simon liked the chicken and pita bread.

After dinner, we walked to Rockefeller Center to check out the tree and ice skating rink. The tree lighting would be on Tuesday evening right after we leave.

Near the ice rink, in view of the huge tree.

Back at the hotel, Simon was quite energetic since he had a nap and because of the time difference. There’s not much room for him to move about in the hotel room except for on the bed or inside his crib. We put him inside his crib so he proceeds to stand up and look around for something to do. Here he decides the remote control is what he wants. It makes me laugh to hear him exerting so much energy to try to grab the remote control.

Day 270

Arrival at JFK International Airport.

We were going to take the subway to our hotel but we were all tired so instead took a Super Shuttle. It was only $33 for all of us (2 adults, baby “free”) and ended up being about $40 after tax and tip. A taxi would have been $45 plus tax and toll. The AirTrain and subway would have been $7.25 per person but probably a bit longer. Although our ride also took a while since they had to stop at multiple terminals to pick up people. But we eventually got to where we wanted to go: Wellington Hotel. It was quite the bustling hotel, lots of people checking out this morning so we were able to check-in much earlier than normal. We didn’t get a room with a view or anything but it was clean and ready for us to freshen up and change clothes. They also brought up a baby crib and refrigerator (to store his milk and food) for us at no extra charge.

Simon all bundled up for the New York weather.

We went for some brunch at Ess-a-Bagel, our first real New York bagel. On the way there, we passed by the this piece of art.

Long lines but worth it for the yummy bagel.

Multigrain bagel with lox spread. Look how thick the cream cheese spread is.

Simon enjoyed having some of the bagel.

We were within walking distance of Times Square so went to check out a few of the stores there. Although Simon did sleep through some of them. First stop was Toys R Us.

Then the M&M store. Hello Blue!

Hello Yellow!

Hello Green!

If Simon was going to be one of the M&Ms, he’d be Orange. Check out those furrowed brows.

We also stopped by the Disney Store but then had to get back to our hotel for a nap, to get changed, meet up with Ron’s brother then head to Patrick and Pearlyn’s wedding banquet in Chinatown. Simon’s getting a lot of use out of his tuxedo bib.

He was still really tired though so took a nap during dinner.

It was a beautiful evening for a lovely couple. Lion dancing, wedding games, dancing, and eating. We were so glad to be able to come to celebrate with Patrick and Pearlyn since we missed their Singapore nuptials. Here we are with the cute couple and our friend Shirley.

Day 269

Simon chomping on my iPhone case. He was somehow able to figure out how to pry it off and start chewing on it.

We’re on our way to New York. Simon’s third flight!

We are flying Jet Blue for the first time and so far, so good. When I booked our trip on Travelocity, I was not able to book our seats so when I checked in online, I could only choose middle seats and in different rows. When we got to the airport though, they were able to assign us to the 1st row of three seats and more leg room. Jet Blue lets you check-in 1 bag free which I was also pleasantly surprised about. The only thing that was not pleasant was the person working at the gate at SFO. She called to have persons with disabilities, persons requiring extra time to board, and families to come to the counter. Then only waited less than a minute before calling all other passengers to board. Uh… “extra time” means that these groups also need extra time to get to the gate? It was also a 10:30pm flight so most families also have over-tired children. Ron complained to her about not having enough time and her answer was that families are usually already gathered around but no families were already waiting so she called the rest of passengers to board. She was a bit snippy about it all. Oh well, we won’t let that ruin our trip.

Simon should sleep through most of the flight. Let’s hope we won’t all be too tired to enjoy our first day in New York.