New York City (Part 3)

Day 3 : Midtown East

• Grand Central Terminal (Metro: Grand Central-42^nd St) – You will see many tourists crowding the main concourse ogling at the ceiling but personally I like the old style ticket booths. Click here for a more comprehensive guide. I wish I had known about the Oyster Bar (the oldest business in Grand Central Terminal) or The Campbell Apartment as both look nostalgically cool. Instead I had cheesecake at Junior’s. It’s cheap but nothing special.
  
  
  
  
• Chrysler Building (Metro: Grand Central-42^nd St) – Obviously the Art Déco skyscraper is a beautiful architecture but once you go inside the dimly lit lobby, it’s like stepping back in the 60s. 
  
  
  
• MOMA (Metro: 47th-50th Sts-Rockefeller Center) – Admission to the museum is free for all visitors from 4pm – 8pm on Friday hence expect a long queue or come a bit later. Personally I prefer contemporary art so I really enjoyed my time in here and visiting the museum shop.
  
  
  
  
• Rockefeller Center – Skip the Empire State Building and visit Rockefeller Center instead. As we pre-ordered a ticket to the Top of the Rock on-line so we just showed up at the right time but it was a bit foggy so we couldn’t have a clear view. So probably wiser plan for your visit on a nice day only. 
  
  
   
• Walk around Times Square and see a Broadway Show. Try your luck and you may be able to get last minute discounted tickets online or at the ticket booth for your preferred show. We planned to get tickets to the Late Show with David Letterman but the show was suspended at the period of time so we just walked around Times Square instead before heading back to the East Village for dinner.
  
  
  
  
• The East Village is full of cheap eats/bars and students. The atmosphere is vibrant. We went to a Yakitori Taisho which was rated highly on Yelp. Now this is the only time I was disappointed by reviews. The restaurant was really busy and crammed which I didn’t mind as it reminded me of an authentic bar in Tokyo. We had to wait for awhile but the food sadly was very disappointing. I think the comments on NY Mag are more realistic! So if you are in the same area, here’s a good piece about 10 best recommended restaurants in East Village. Take your pick!
  
  

Day 4 : SOHO – Little Italy

• Shopping in SOHO (Metro: Spring Street) – You will find lots of pop-up stores offering sample sales. Cool boutiques are on Ludlow Street, Spring Street and Elizabeth Street. You will also find high street American labels like American Apparel, Brooklyn Industries and the department store Bloomingdale (love their cosmetics section!).
  
  
• We had lunch in a small café full of young women shoppers in SOHO. Service was lacking and food was so so. That’s why I always believe in the importance of doing your research and plan ahead for your holidays! Originally I planned for a Brazilian lunch at BarBossa on 232 Elizabeth Street, for some reasons which I can’t remember now (perhaps I found Brazilian was a bit too heavy after a greasy yakitori dinner we had the night before), I didn’t go there but I should have stuck with the plan! Well I guess that’s the beauty of life, we live and learn.
  
  
• Chinatown/Little Italy – The area is not exactly really exciting but it’s authentic. Canal Street (Metro Broadway) is very busy, full of tacky shops selling fake handbags and watches. Mulberry Street is a long street full of stalls selling tacky souvenirs and Italian restaurants with outdoor settings. This is the sort of place where you get yourself a I ‘heart’ NY t-shirt! We were however pleasantly surprised finding us a table at a very busy but good Italian restaurant for an early dinner. The rule of thumb is pick a busy restaurant and check their menus too.