Free Travel Journal: New York City (Part 4)

Day 5 : Brooklyn

NYC offers a lot of free tours. Walking is the best way to explore a place and see its culture, but if you are not a walker and do not have much time during your visit. Take a red double-decker tour which gets on and off at different sites.
Brooklyn Tabernacle (Metro: Downtown Brooklyn-Fulton Street Mall) – For a truly powerful gospel experience, visit Brooklyn Tabernacle for their Sunday service at noon (need to arrive an hour before the service).
Walk along Brooklyn Bridge to DUMBO and have a delicious ice-cream in Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory on Fulton Ferry Pier.
Lunch at Cubana Café (272 Smith Street) – Décor in this café is bright and happy. Food was equally good. A great place for brunch and mojito. Funnily enough, we have lots of different cuisines in Hong Kong but not Cuban. Entrepreneurs alert -- It’s a great business opportunity!
Visit Williamsburg – Apart from LES, Williamsburg is another favourite suburb in the city. Full of individualists, funky fashion boutiques, restaurants and bars. Make sure to spare at least half a day to wander around in the area. Shopping streets include Bedford Ave, Court & Smith Sts, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill.
Dinner in Peter Ludger Steaks (178 Broadway) – Peter Ludger is rated No.1 steakhouse for 24 consecutive years in the city, so why on earth hadn’t I been there when I was in Brooklyn?? It was definitely on my original agenda but after a whole day in Williamsburg. We just couldn’t be bothered to find the restaurant so believe me or not, we had Thai food instead.

Day 6 : NOHO – East Village – Lower Manhattan – Chelsea

Coffee in Café Reggio (119 MacDougal St) – In Hong Kong, everything is about location, location and location. How funny it is though as Hong Kong is such a small place, yet we are so intolerable with long distance travel (ahem that’s anywhere takes more than 45 minutes within reach!).

So again I have to stress about how happy I was having had found a good location where is so close to shops, supermarkets and restaurants in NYC without paying big bucks! If I had stayed somewhere else, I wouldn’t have travelled back to Greenwich Village just for a cup of coffee even though this café has been around for decadessss. Every nice neighbourhood should have a good café where you can relax, just enjoy the world goes by and Café Reggio ticked all the boxes. Both atmosphere and décor are chic Parisian, coffee is strong, like how a true cup of coffee should taste like. Sorry I just don’t get Americano. Apart from Montes, this is my favourite place on MacDougal Street.
I should mention that there is a really cool shop sells movie and old commercial posters on MacDougal Street.
Visiting Lower Manhattan (Metro: World Trade Centre) – The only reason to visit Lower Manhattan is because of the two landmarks (of the world?) - Ground Zero, and Wall Street. Don’t think I need to tell you why you have to go to Ground Zero. The reason is definitely not because there’s a Century 21 which sells off-season clothing opposite it! As for Wall Street, it’s the heart of America so you just can’t miss it. It’s quite cool seeing the Stock Exchange as I think it’s the ‘CBD of the world’!
Statue of Liberty – We always see famous landmarks around the world on posters and on TV, but it’s nothing compares to ogling the real thing and comment on how small or how big it is in real. The cheapest way to see Statue of Liberty is to take the ferry from Staten Island Ferry Terminal (Metro: South Ferry). The ride is 25 mins. and you can indeed see the statue from a distance. However, it’s very small though. Nevertheless, I did what a tourist had to do. I took a picture with the statue in it. If I had come closer to the statue, I imagine I would have got goose bumps. After all, it represents a basic right all mankind should deserve. Think about it, we haven’t evolved that much even after thousands of years!
Have a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery – I believe this is where the cupcakes were (re)born! Magnolia has a few branches in NYC. Just click on the URL and you will see why they are so successful in the US. I think it’s the icing on the cake that did the miracles!
Dinner at Blaue Grans (139 Duane St) – When I was young, my favourite movie was Back to the Future and I always wanted to visit one of the traditional Deli where you can drink milkshakes while sitting on a thickly-padded high bar stools. I have been to the US twice and failed to find the deli both times. So if you also want to visit a classic deli, here’s your one and only homework - you will have to do your own research. Alternatively, if you are like me who gets bored with the same food easily (mind you I am from Hong Kong so it’s normal!). Try this German-Austrian restaurant in Tribeca.
Again it was on my itinerary (I tend to overplan) but due to jetlag or ‘old age (!?)’, I decided to save this together with the classic deli for my next visit. For all true music lover, if you are only going to visit one club. You must visit the legendary Cielo in the Meatpacking District where my favourite DJs Francois K and Louie Vega spin.

Day 7 : Chelsea – Meatpacking District

Chelsea Market (Metro: 8^th Ave-14^th St) – Once housed the National Biscuit Company back in the 18^th century, the premises was turned into Chelsea Market in 1990s. It’s now full of gourmet and home ware stores. This is a great place for photo opportunities as lights reflected nicely down from the long lines of windows on the top of all walls. It’s my favourite converted project in NYC.
Shopping in Chelsea (Metro: 18^th St) – a couple of notable shops in this area are Barney’s Co-op and Housing Works Thrift Shop.
Lunch in Pastis (9 Ninth Ave) – Our last lunch in NYC was had in this 1930s-inspired French bistro located in Meatpacking District (Metro: 8^th Ave-14^th St) is packed with office staff during a work day when we were there. Apparently this place is even busier in the evening and they don’t take reservations for their outdoor dining area. My steak sandwich was delicious and it’s the kind of place to see and to be seen. Put this on your list!
After lunch, walk around MDP, it’s an interesting area with a few designer fashion boutiques but I found the industrial and dilapidated look of the area more interesting.