“Love, Hawaii” from Starbucks
I almost walked past this Starbucks collection, exclusive to Hawaii.
How could I have missed these bright yellow colors?!
This pineapple shaped tumbler has to be the best of the bunch.
NYDC16 Day 10: 9/11, Brooklyn Bridge, and Sushi
Day 10 had a somber start at the 9/11 Memorial.The magnitude of the Twin Towers memorial site is moving in itself, but the museum is another experience. It truly is difficult to make your way through the museum’s exhibits. If you lived through 9/11, the range of emotions returns and resurfaces. When you hear the stories and see the collection of footage and wreckage items, it all gets too much. Plan to spend several hours at the museum…if you can handle it.
Regrouping from the morning, it was something more light hearted – walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.
But first, pizza! Brooklyn’s Grimaldi’s is legendary, but nextdoor Juliana’s was our pick. Shorter line, fast service, and great pizza.
Just don’t come in the late afternoon when they close to stoke their coal oven.
Up the street is the stairway entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge and off we go.
Repping the VH07V in New York.
Be sure to be cognizant of the pedestrian and biking lanes and stay out of the bicycle lane.
If you want a bike, there are many to rent.
Instead of love locks, earbuds are the thing. Not sure why. No, I didn’t trade up.
After walking the bridge, a quick spin around Union Square and Dylan’s Candy Bar.
Missed out going to the Starbucks next to Foot Locker or is that Foot Locker next to Starbucks?
For dinner, sushi and Japanese food in New York is different than Hawaii. Teriyaki chicken? The sauce is provided separately in a container for dipping. Comes with asparagus and eggplant. Don’t think I’ll find this on the Zippy’s menu. Sorry, I have no pics. Was too bewildered that I forgot about the pictures.
Anyways, the day’s end with the illuminated Empire State Building.
NYDC Day 9: Dim Sum, Art, Cheesecake, Shooting Stars
Can you guess where Day 9 of NYDC16 started?
Yep, it’s Chinatown for dim sum at Jing Fong (no matter where, local Chinatowns have a distinctive scent #justsaying).Word to the wise, don’t try to take the stairs up to the restaurant. You’ll either end up in the kitchen and yelled at, or you’ll come in from the back entrance getting funny looks.
If you want international variety, Little Italy is one neighborhood over with cannoli.
Nearby that is one of the few NikeLab locations. But be sure to check their hours. Otherwise sadness.
After a morning of eating, it was time for artistic culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This place is a maze and amazing. For a short while for me anyways. I couldn’t handle all the art of the world. 😉
Makes me feel funny
Now that it’s 4:30pm, you haven’t eaten anything since dim sum, and you’re hungry, what do you do? You go to Juniors at Times Square for dinner and cheesecake (and complimentary pickles).
To cap the day is a trip back to Trader Joe’s on a Sunday night. I guess patrons love the 80’s music playing since the place was packed. Found some snacks to bring back to the 808 including these explosive cookies.
I ain’t lying about these cookies being explosive.
I ain’t exaggerating about being crowded either. The line to check out must have been 50 deep even with the 30+ registers going.
Good night Empire State!
NYDC16 Day 8: Rock, FF8, NBA, Grand Central, Body Painting
Headed out to Times Square in the morning to see how many people never sleep in New York. Yes, it was crowded. Got discounted Broadway tickets from the already packed TKTS booth.
Needing to get above the crowds of people, we walked to Rockefeller Center to ascend to the Top of the Rock. Overall, a much more enjoyable experience than the Empire State Building. Yes, the Empire is iconic, but the Rock is better planned. Scheduled arrivals make the crowds of visitors more manageable and distributed. Even the elevator ride is better with a see through ceiling that you can watch the animated ascent. At midday, everything went quickly, and we were atop the Rock in a matter of minutes. The views are much better with the less intrusive safety glass surrounding the observation deck.
The only negative I could nitpick is the mobile connectivity. Although 800 feet up and all these rooftop antennas, I was still getting one bar of AT&T 4G service. Kinda hard to Instagram the awesome scenic pics with only one bar of service.
After touring the top, down below has many options for dining and entertainment. From hot and humid on previous days, the weather became overcast and cool so a nice warmup came in the form of a mocha from Blue Bottle.
With limited time to look around, we stopped by the Lego Store and saw the New York inspired skyline and the Flatiron building.
But I also liked the White House.
Our party separated to watch different Broadway plays while I went exploring amongst all the other people. My first destination was the NBA Store. Right outside its doors, I spied these tricked out cars.
Yup, you guessed it. Fast and Furious 8 was filming somewhere in the area. No actors were around, just the rides.
Inside the three-floor store, there were more people, oh, and all things NBA. I was going for a Derrick Rose Knicks tee, but despite being one day old, this new release was sold out of larges. Even mediums and XL were scarce.
There were items from the 2016 Championship including a tee depicting LeBron’s rim defense.
Dwyane Wade’s Li Ning kicks pack was there for $330.
I got a chuckle from Kevin Durant’s clearance gear from Oklahoma City. His OKC jersey was down to $65 from $110, but I still passed. Unfortunately, KD’s Golden State gear hadn’t yet arrived so you could only custom make items at a higher cost.
After the NBA and FF8 experience, Grand Central Station was my next stop. Yes, more people and armed guards strolling around.
There’s an Apple Store inside of Grand Central but rid all your knowledge and experiences of other Apple Stores. Because even when you see this…
You get this…over two city blocks of fruited goodness. This is not a small enclosed store. The expanse is the Grand Central Station. It’s actually integrated with the station.
I made a Genius Bar appointment to check out my Apple Watch but had 30 minutes to wait. Headed downstairs to check out the dining concourse. Said no to Shake Shack.
But yes to cheesecake from Magnolia Bakery.
Back at the Genius Bar, I was told to reset my Watch and redo the pairing process to fix my software glitch. Satisfied with the simple fix, I had to make my way to Koreatown for dinner. Walking there, I saw more of New York. There were bridesmaids crossing the street.
And nakedness at the public library for national body painting day.
Dinner brought endless ban chan and this curious sign.
And the day wasn’t done with a trip to the largest Macy’s.
Followed by a quick jaunt to Eataly.
The Flatiron building is right outside.
And that’s more than enough for one day. Good night!
NYDC16 Day 7: the Empire State
No better way to start the day than 86 stories above this bustling city. Also, there’s much less of a line at the Empire State Building before 9:00 am.
The views were clear, just obstructed by the safety bars. Here are pictures taken in between the bars.
Just try not to make it a day up at the observation decks and get too comfy. There’s more people coming, so they want you to keep moving.
After the views from the Empire State Building, we came across Gotham Poke on the way to the subway. Unfortunately, they didn’t open until bumbye.
No, I didn’t see new Knick, Derrick Rose, at Madison Square Garden, just caught the subway at the subterranean Penn Station.
From there, our next stop was the American Museum of Natural History. Had fun interacting with butterflies but the most fascinating had to have been the display of dinosaurs.
An extremely late lunch brought us to Shake Shake. Yes, the fries are better than In-n-Out.
Another day of walking the streets, and we were done. Back to home base.
Cross Country Pastries
Lugging these baked goodies across the country and across the Pacific Ocean from New York to Texas to California to Hawaii.
They better be good.
Delayed in Transit
Hopefully only a slight hiccup in travel with unplanned airplane maintenance. Guess I’m stuck with this guy.
There were a few people hanging out around “W” so I’m not sure if this was some kind of Pokemon stop or just an out of the way place to chill.
Next Stop…
Sorry Zippys, but in Washington DC, my next stop is Shake Shack.
Tried their burgers, fries, a shake, a concrete, and a cold brew…oh and picked up a shirt too. Not bad, not bad at all.
Crowded but the turnover was brisk. The bacon cheeseburger was a little gooey for me. I wasn’t a fan of the Chicken Shack. The crisscut fries were okay. The bottled cold brew coffee was alright but didn’t match my meal. The highlights were definitely the shake and the concrete.
The burgers were good, kinda like In-n-Out but with a variety of combos. I like the fries from Five Guys out of the three. Best overall value still goes to In-n-Out though.
NYDC16: Day 6 New York
Arrived at New York Penn Station via a 3+ hour Amtrak rail ride.
Not as nice looking as the DC Union Station though.
Checked into our home base for the next few days. What a view of New York City and New Jersey!
After settling in and confirming Yelp and Foursquare (which I’ve had good results with while on travel), we headed to TripAdvisor’s #2 dessert place of New York City, Levain Bakery. We almost walked by its small entryway were it not for patrons stuffing their faces on the sidewalk. There was a short line that was much longer by the time we left. These cookies are the main attraction, even at $4 each.
We bought one of each cookie along with banana bread, brioche, and a mocha. Maybe we were the cause of the line backlog?
After paying with Apple Pay, we dug into a warm cookie.
Crispy texture on the outside but soft and moist on the inside and the explosion of flavor! No wonder this place is packed and highly rated. We can’t go back for more, can we?
We had passed a Trader Joe’s on the way to Levain and headed there next. A relatively small storefront opened into two stories of Joe’s goodies along with masses of shoppers.
Passed on these items – Ghost Pepper chips and cold brew coffee.
Not enough days to finish the Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate.
We did go for these – previously confiscated Cookie and Cocoa Swirl and Mango Babka.
Don’t know if you can tell, but there are 30 active checkout counters, and a line to get to them.
The first day in New York ended with a brilliant sunset and a Starry night.
Five Guys in DC Is Not New
Unlike Hawaii that got its first Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Mililani this week, a location in Washington DC showed much less crowds. Maybe because it was a Saturday evening or maybe because Five Guys in DC is just not new.
Almost Paradise
My eyes did not deceive. That is a Foot Locker right next door to a Starbucks. Right next door!
That’s almost paradise. Almost because I couldn’t go to either since we were in a hurry.
Sadness Is…
Reaching the NikeLab store at 11:30 when it opens at 12:00, and you’re on a time schedule.
That is sadness.