The day started really early. Well 6 am (not that early). Had to shower, finish packing the rest of my stuff and shift out before 7 am. We had already booked an airport shuttle which was $20 (~£13) per person. After being picked up we unfortunately had several other pick ups before we got to the airport and those people were late or we were too early… Not looking good for us trying to get to the airport and aiming to have some breakfast!!

We were stuck in traffic for a good 20 minutes or so and I had this bad feeling that we would be late for the flight. We should have left at 6 am. Who booked that shuttle?! It wasn’t me… Luckily I had already downloaded the United app the night before in case something like this happened or the fact that our flight was going to be cancelled because of the snow that was heading into New York that evening…

Thankfully we hit the high road and our driver sped through to the airport. He got us there just in the nick of time so I tipped the driver 5 bucks. Phew. ^_^ I’m a happy geek.

Got to the baggage check in area, and I had a feeling all of our luggage was over the limit. I think mine was underweight, because no way was mine over 32 kg. In Japan, I remembered mine was quite heavy at 18 kg… And this time it weighed 34 kg. Impossible!! Luckily the guy who was checking our stuff let us pass as we couldn’t pack stuff into the third suitcase as he had already let it go through… In the end we didn’t have to pay any extra by shifting some of Miss Pinky’s / Mr Picky’s luggage.The Americans are really nice… especially the airport staff (well some of them). I think this may be our lucky day throughout the whole trip.

We passed security and really in the nick of time as we had a few minutes to spare to go to the loo and grab something to eat and drink on the flight.

As soon as we bought our things it was already time to board. Wow. This has been the fastest and adventurous trip back to London I have ever been on. No waiting around. Maybe we should do this more often… but I don’t think I would want to stress out everyone around me.

Our captain was a lady and this is probably the first time we’ve had a woman fly us on a big airplane… and we left the airport on time too!!

Lunch was ok… The chicken was very bland, rice was not cooked properly… I hate plane food…

Spent most of the trip reading manga Ranma 1/2 which I have not read in a long time and I also listened to music on my iPad. 

The final snack was a boring cold turkey and cheese roll… it was horrible. They could’ve at least heated it up before serving it. I only ate a bit of it and some of the filling before turning my nose away from it… 😛 Disgusting.

We landed safely in Heathrow Terminal 2 and Miss Pinky enjoyed the flight this time round – she thinks it’s because we had a woman flying us, but I think it’s because we had fewer clouds in the sky. It was a long walk to passport control… I think I like Gatwick a bit more now. I’m also getting used to the terminal staff asking where I’ve just flown from…

Well 3 countries in less than 5 months is a lot for a person like me. ^_^ Have to save up for the next trip although I’m now scared of flying since there’s been a lot of plane crashes in the past year or so. I will find confidence again to fly! Don’t you worry. The geek will fly again!

The Geek’s Question and Answer Time:

Was 7 days enough to spend time in Manhattan, New York? Yes it was but I think if I had two weeks I wouldn’t have stayed near the city, I would have stayed somewhere cheaper and would’ve walked around more places if Miss Pinky wasn’t preggies. 

Was having a third person difficult to spend a holiday with…? Yes, because I didn’t know what Mr Picky was like on holiday. Miss Pinky and I both agree he needs a proper lads holiday and not spend it with two ladies on the go. ^_^ Lol… maybe we’ll all go to Europe instead of somewhere far…

How much money to take with you to New York? I took over £500 but had exchanged all the foreign currency I had remaining to British pounds then to US dollars. So roughly for a week about £600 (I brought roughly the same amount in Dallas and didn’t overspend at all! What a difference). Just remember you need to tip at majority of the diners and restaurants you go to. Not so much at fast food joints which is a relief.

Did I survive? I managed to. ^_^

And did I have fun excluding all the emotional baggage and tantrums, lol? Yes indeed!!

Next trip: Not planned yet… Awaiting for people to contact me to go places… 😀

Well the day started late… I had a good 6 hours sleep then I kept waking up and falling asleep. So tired. I could have done with an extra hours sleep. I was finally getting into the New York time zone. Before going out I had a couple of danishes – one cream cheese and one strawberries & cream. It was something weird I had to try out in New York. I think prefer the European danish. These were out of the ordinary. >,<""

We all left after 11, it was a nice sunny cool day, not as cold as the day before. Had McDonald’s which consisted of two hamburgers, fries and Lime Diet Coke at $6.99 (~£4.70). I personally like the British hamburgers, they’re a little sweeter. The Americans add too much salt! We then made our way to 5th Avenue to look for trainers and souvenirs.

Then next we went into Macy’s. Everything was too expensive and we actually didn’t buy anything but I enjoyed going up and down those old escalators. ^_^ I’m sure it was cheaper in Dallas when we went into Macy’s…

In the end we went to Brooklyn Bridge because we had nothing much to do. So we took the Metro from 34th Street. Got the R train which took forever to come. Had to ask a young lady to see if the R train came on that platform… and we got off at Court St in Brooklyn. 

Brooklyn actually looks nice! Better than the city in terms of peace and quiet, plus there was hardly any beeping horns.

We had to get directions from a lady on how to get onto the Brooklyn Bridge otherwise we would’ve ended up on the traffic side. 😛
I took lots pictures whilst on the walking path. Must point out that the cyclists hate us pedestrians (sorry but we pedestrians hate the cyclists too >.<""). It's difficult to share the same path that's split for cyclists and pedestrians… see this article when a cyclist goes in the pedestrian lane and this article when pedestrians get it wrong. Not nice. The pathway should be pedestrianised during the day between 9 am to 6 pm and cyclists for the evening between 6 pm till 9 am the next day!! 

We took the Metro back from City Hall and unfortunately we topped up our Metro card with a very rude lady who rolled her eyes at Miss Pinky. I think Miss Pinky should’ve have rolled her eyes back and tell her to pee off. Metro staff are just plain rude! The Metro staff member was already in a foul mood with an elderly gentleman but is it right for her to treat us foreigners with such rudeness. I don’t think so. I might be rude but I always help with people who are lost. Always. 

We took the J train to Canal St and then started looking for a trainers store that had sales which we saw during the bus tour… But we couldn’t find the store so we stopped to eat at a Chinese buffet called Lunch Box Buffet. $5 for 5 food items. And it was a dollar for my can of Diet Coke. Mr Picky didn’t have anything but Miss Pinky went ahead.

Address: 199 Centre St, New York, NY 10013 United States (Chinatown)

Next it was time to find that trainers store which we eventually found and I got a pair of Converse for my birthday. Thanks Miss Pinky and Mr Picky! ^_________^

Time to return back and we got the R train. Unfortunately the gates we went through you have to turn once otherwise you easily have to pay extra! That sucks, so I paid an extra $2.50 (£1.68) to get onto the Metro. I thought New York was so much better with their transport system. I guess not. They need to start being European and Asian friendly. We use magnetic cards to get through gates!!!!! I think these gates are mainly to stop people from jumping over the gate though… ¬_¬” Typical. Not user friendly.

Got back to 34th St. Did more shopping and then back to Peter Dillon’s for a beer. I did not get hit on this time. Phew. I don’t like American beer by the way – I already knew that when I was in Dallas. Tastes very watery.

Headed back to the hotel, relaxed and waited on the other two before heading back out.

Our last evening meal ended up eating Indian food in Nirvana NY where our bill came to $120 (~£80)!! Thankfully I did not go over budget throughout the whole trip. And we gratefully tipped. Portion size was too big for all of us. Miss Pinky was getting irritable because Mr Picky was being irritating to her (and to me too)… It was an uncomfortable evening…

Address: 346 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016, United States

Final moments were spent packing the remaining clothes and charging things. Then finally sleep.

End of Day 6.

It was time to do some more touring around New York City since I don’t think we would have time to go everywhere (well, we had a pregnant lady with us). We pre-booked some bus tour tickets from the hotel where there is a helpdesk for tours and whatnots. There are two tours available from the hotel the Big Bus Tour and the Open Loop Tour Bus. We chose the Open Loop Tour as there were three trips and we were able to hop on and hop off. It cost $39 (~£26) for the uptown, downtown and night tours. The ferry to see the Statue of Liberty is a separate fee, but don’t know how much that costs or we could get the free ferry, however it was too cold that day so we didn’t get the ferry.

Our tour started from 42nd Street in front of Bryant Park and it started snowing lightly for a few minutes. There is a bus every half an hour. Whilst we waiting I think I was hit on by a weird Asian man who started talking to me in Chinese and Japanese. Oh dear me! ¬,¬”” I started saying no in Japanese and said I spoke Cantonese… Argggh… Go away weirdo!!! Thankfully the bus arrived, I got on and the weirdo left. Phew!! ¬,¬””

I sat on top for the uptown tour but was practically frozen afterwards. Had to wrap up like a ninja! Miss Pinky said I looked like a raspberry muffin. XD

We passed by Central Park and looked at all the expensive shops. The audio wasn’t working properly so I skipped that and decided to look at all the buildings and scenery.

Just keep scrolling down… lots of pictures ahead…

We shopped around and had a McDonald’s after this. Miss Pinky pointed out that the Americans are better at packaging than the British. ¬,¬”” Well why doesn’t she go to the UK Head office and say that.

Second tour was heading downtown, we had missed the tour bus by a minute so we had to wait for the next one which came in an hour instead of half an hour so we sat around Bryant Park and had a look inside HBO. 

Again I was frozen. It was a longer journey and there was so much traffic. I really hate the New York Grid Plan. There’s no shortcut in between streets, no wonder New Yorkers like to beep their car horn so much. Grid plans do not work for a city like this.

The tour bus stopped here and the guide on the bus was saying to look on our left hand side… What was on our left hand side?

O… a bull. We’re supposed to rub either end good luck. Head for finance and / or the end for fertility (info from a friend in London). ^_^

Didn’t stop for the ferry for the Statue of Liberty… too cooooold!!

We were all trembling when we got off. We needed the loo and we needed food and drinks. We headed back towards 40th Street near our hotel and went into the Asian store near there… I wanted to eat noodles and so we waited for the chef… The Korean chef guy is weird… He demanded us to tip! I think Miss Pinky was in shock. I have never seen someone asking us to tip. I hate tipping. Ban it in the USA and increase the minimum wage! Anyway, I had the shrimp tempura ramen. The shrimp became all soggy as the chef put it at the bottom of the pot.

Miss Pinky had udon noodles. We agreed the food was good but service was bad!!

We went back to the hotel and this time we wrapped up warm for the night tour which started on 51st Street Broadway. I think the rest of the people thought we were weird wrapping up like ninjas – they weren’t on the day tours which made us all cold. I felt warmer thankfully but still cold… New York City is beautiful at night. Love the night lights in Manhatten. ^_^

Mr Picky and Miss Pinky being coooold!

Times Square at night is beautiful!!!

Night lights of Manhattan!! ^_^

We returned back and I had sushi, Pringles and milk for dinner. Not sure what the other two had. 

End of a very cold Day 5… we were told that this type of weather at this time of the year is unusual for NYC…

St Paddy’s Day!!!! And guess what?! There’s a parade for this too!!! This was the main reason why we came to New York… But before this I went to the Empire State Building (don’t worry, I consulted with Miss Pinky before going ahead – before she got mad at me again… emotions do run high during pregnancy I must say!).

I was advised to go early before the queues started growing, so I left the hotel at 7.30 am. I got there in 15 minutes! I’m a pro walker. If you’re trying to the find the entrance which is currently covered with scaffolding, it’s just opposite Wendy’s on 5th Avenue. I asked about the tickets but you just buy them as you go up the escalator and pass the security section.

The security section actually reminded me of going up The Shard. Unfortunately they took my selfie stick away (which I hadn’t used for the entire trip). You are warned, selfie sticks are banned!! So tickets cost $32 (~£21), ok, that’s cheaper than going up The Shard, but that’s just for the observatory deck and not further up. If you want to see more you have to pay for more… 😦 (I like The Shard).

There’s two sets of lifts and in between the lifts there’s a gallery section before you get to the second lift…

When I got up to the deck (it was cold and rainy that morning) I took a lot of pictures… I think I wasn’t that impressed with the whole thing but at least I gave it a go!!

Website: http://www.esbnyc.com/

It was time to go back, but firstly I stopped off at Staples and bought some sticky notes because I couldn’t be bothered to buy them in England… (told Miss Pinky I went in there later in the week because she thought she would have to go stationery shopping with me, lol… she wasn’t impressed – but I knew she wouldn’t want to go in anyway! :p).

I headed back to the hotel, then met up with Miss Pinky and Mr Picky. We had some food first. Mr Picky had to skip as the pizza places weren’t opened yet… so I had sushi first. And Miss Pinky had a noodle soup.

We walked up to 44th and 45th Street but it was all closed off so we had to walk to 49th where we could enter and find a spot to look at the parade as it started at 11 am. We stood in front of Saks Fifth Avenue which was blaring out a horrible tune throughout the parade… I think they could have at least turned it off or toned it down… 

We were there for a good 2 hours looking at the bands, NYPD, the Navy and Army… There were even bagpipes too! Here’s a lot of pictures, well, just some of them, so keep scrolling…

It was too much for us and so we went back, loo break and had food at Cosi on 45th Street where a lot of the bands were awaiting their turn for the parade.

Went back towards the hotel when I decided I wanted to try out Dunkin Donuts. I didn’t know what I wanted so I chose the 6 donut option. Unfortunately I think they ran out of the icing ones so I got all the dull ones… Not great stuff. I liked the chocolate ones, the blueberry one and the funny looking one… My iced latte needed sugar too…

Miss Pinky and Mr Picky had already decided to hit the pubs at this point (before I went to get my donuts) and I took my time getting there – I was tired from the standing around. Went back out and popped into Peter Dillon’s, they were checking our ID on this day… hmmmm… And I had a Guinness in a plastic cup! ¬,¬””

Miss Pinky was tired so we left Mr Picky and went out… We actually ended up a couple of blocks down the road, where we found a Chinese restaurant and we had food in peace and quiet. I couldn’t eat much as I already had 3 and half donuts!!!

They speak a mixture of Cantonese and Mandarin but obviously I spoke in Cantonese.

Can’t remember the total, but it was reasonable (around $40 ~£26 I think). Portions of food were big and the quality was great!! ^_^ I recommend. (Mr Picky was upset we went out and had food… oh dear, don’t ever look him in the eye Miss Pinky told me).

Went back towards the pub, and I think I was hit on by a guy who was blowing kisses outside the pub! Oh dear. Lol! I politely said I was waiting on some – that would be Miss Pinky who was checking up on Mr Picky who got hit on by a girl too… heheh (This does not usually happen to me by the way… New Yorkers really know how to hit on people). ^_^ I think Miss Pinky was the only one who was not hit on that day… ¬,¬”” 

Back to shopping and then to the hotel. There’s a Taco restaurant/bar joined to the hotel and we went and had a drink… The bar is very expensive and they also expect you to tip too! ¬,¬” We’re not going here again… 

Night food consisted of pizza on top of the hotel. 

Took a final picture of the night lights in New York City where the Empire State Building was lit up in green. ^_^

End of an exhausting Day 4.

Since I woke up early (around 7.30 am) I thought I might as well make the most of it and since I knew Miss Pinky was going to be asleep (maybe, since we were in different rooms but I think Mr Picky would have been awake by then) I decided to go out alone. I did some food shopping in the meantime so that I could get some change. 

Then I went out walking with my heavy shopping which I added into my rucksack. I found the Empire State Building which is not far from the hotel at all. About a 15 minute walk (if you walk averagely fast)

Then I found Macy’s. I thought Miss Pinky would be quite happy that I found it – and I didn’t want us to get lost if I didn’t.

Went back to hotel after my morning walk (it was more of a burnout energy session). spotted Mr Picky outside the lifts and went to see Miss Pinky. Unfortunately Miss Pinky was upset I went out alone (my confession and sin for the day) and she that our friends would assume she abandoned me as I would desert the two and do my own thing… She thought I didn’t tell her but I did! She never responded to my text (because she didn’t connect to the Wi-Fi!!). 😛

After half-an-hour we all went out together and Miss Pinky became all emotional (she’s preggies by the way… So it was expected on this journey. Never upset a pregnant woman. Ever. Even if you are the best friend. BIG SIGH). In the end we all had a heart to heart talk/confession which cheered all of us up!

We walked along the United Nations. People were taking pictures as we actually didn’t know what the building was… At this point Miss Pinky became her natural self. Wow. Talk about Jekyll and Hyde moment! XD

From here we made our way to Grand Central Station on 42nd Street and took the Metro to Central Park. 

We got out of the Metro and we had to walk a long distance to get to the park.

Finally we got to Central Park (but we didn’t walk all the way)…

It was time to eat, on the way of finding food Miss Pinky had a pretzel which tasted quite doughy. Mr Picky decided we should go to the pub for food, so we ended up in The Coliseum. It was an Irish pub.

Mr Picky had the slider burgers which he found to be the perfect burgers since we arrived.

Miss Pinky had some seafood stuff and realised she couldn’t have the shrimp (prawns in English terms). We did tell her that she couldn’t eat shrimp but would she listen? Nope. ¬,¬””.

And I had the Manhattan Clam Chowder soup (Miss Pinky also had this) and tagliatelle with cut up beef steak… Ooo, that tasted good! 

This practically threw us off our food budget because we spent almost $100 (~£67) including tips – I originally thought that was expensive, but now looking back at the price, it looks ok! Anyway the food was good.

Address: 312 W 58th St, New York, NY 10019, United States

Walked around and shopped in TJ Maxx where I had to find skinny jeans, size 0 and had to be $10 (~£6)… Tough challenge from my colleague. But I found some! (Unfortunately it didn’t fit her, heheh).

We ended up doing somemore shopping and window shopping but it felt too hot in those shops. 

We returned to the Metro, went back to the hotel and then had food at Sarge’s where Miss Pinky thought they did lasagne which Mr Picky wanted, but that was next door. Miss Pinky finally got her buffalo wings.

I had a big massive salad which was good but I think they shouldn’t add the dressing onto the buffalo chicken pieces because it tasted too vinegary. 

Mr Picky had a hot dog in the end but the fried onions didn’t look like fried onions… the chips were good though!

Can’t remember the total… But we had a good dinner in the end…

Miss Pinky actually confessed that evening that she already had a big massive sandwich because she was hungry… She’s feeding for two, I know (!). That’s it. We’re even now!! 😛

End of Day 3.

¬,¬” Whaaat! Another trip you say! Being spontaneous (but planned really after the Japan trip) in my life. ^_^

Yep that’s what we did, Miss Pinky, Mr Picky and I went to New York and it was Mr Picky’s idea to go around this time – actually I don’t really know whose idea it was really…  But I really, really wanted to go and so we went on the week of St Patrick’s Day. A spontaneous trip within less than 5 months apart (and this is my third international holiday… Oops). I’ve always wanted to go to New York and compare it with Tokyo and now I can tick this off my list of places to go to. Yippee!!

Our trip started after 12 pm and we all met at Waterloo Station and made our way via the Jubilee Line, then changed at Green Park for the Piccadilly line heading towards Heathrow Terminal 2.

We flew with United Airlines (which I had vowed not to take again since the bad experience we had when Miss Pinky and I went to Dallas but we were all on a tight budget) and so basically it was all self check in and do everything yourself with your luggage labels – but I needed assistance in sticking my labels on. 

After checking in Mr Picky went back outside to have his last cigarette, we passed through security (Mr Picky and I got checked… My bag seems to be checked all the time – I think it was the lip balm that I forgot to add to my plastic bag – but they didn’t even see it!)…

Fascinating taxi art work in Heathrow Terminal 2 by Benedict Radcliffe

Then it was time to eat. I had a jerk chicken burger, which I found a bit too dry and needed more spice. Mr Picky had a cheeseburger and Miss Pinky went to Yo! Sushi and had chicken miso ramen.

Chicken Teriyaki Burger

It was Duty Free shopping time then one more drink, toilet and snack shopping. Our gate was 15 minutes away from where we were so we had to walk fast… By the time we got there it seemed that everyone had boarded and I was out of breath! So quick! But it meant we were lucky not to have to queue. Phew.

Our flight was ok. Take off felt terrible and there was a lot of turbulence. The flight attendant even said one of us could move to the back… Miss Pinky decided to leave us and sit by herself for a while – but she regretted it as she should have sat at the back after take off. Food was a little off. I had the pasta dish and it was a bit too salty. The only thing I liked was the brownie.

UNITED plane food

Pasta dish

Before landing I had a cheese roll which was nicely warmed up… I liked it!

Cheese roll

Finally after 8 hours on the flight, we landed but unfortunately we landed too early so we had to wait on board for what seemed like forever… So here’s a few more pictures from the flight…

Flying over Canada

Then it was queuing time at passport control. We thought one of the officers looked quite mean, but he was really funny! They sit in a booth all day long so I guess they look mean and serious. Those type of people I like – people who can really make you laugh by looking serious at the same time. ^_^ Good for that New Yorker!

It was then time to get a taxi to our hotel. I think our taxi driver heard me say 9th street but we were supposed to be on 39th… It cost us $100 (~£67) to get there (an extra 20 bucks)! Expensive trip already!

Finally we checked in, unpacked and then Miss Pinky and I went out to have a quick meal at a nearby diner called Sarge’s. Looked popular from all the pictures that were hanging on the wall. I had a pizza burger, medium rare and no fries.

Sweet coleslaw and pickles

Miss Pinky had a grilled chicken sandwich with fries. So much food!

My pizza burger looked so big and I was able to add my own salad… all the burger needed was a bit of salt otherwise it would have been a perfect burger. I should have also asked for it to be well done… never mind…

Pizza burger

Medium rare

The bill came to around $36 (~£24). So we gave $40 (~£26). Need to remember to tip. It was an expensive sandwich/burger meal but it was the only place we could find at night. If we had went up towards another street we would’ve found a McDonald’s!!

Address: 548 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016, United States

I think I had too much food so I had trouble getting to sleep… Had only 4 hours that night! 😦

End of Day 1.