Day 5: 24 Hours in New York

If you had 24 hours in New York, how would you spend it?

Nat, JJ, Tami, and their two little cousins Nate and Emma, and I departed around 11 for breakfast. I found out that all of these eateries in New York are hit and misses. Luckily Sarabeth's was a hit because everything in the restaurant looked so elegant, even the food!

We walked over to Central Park and wow that park is absolutely stunning. This is the kind of place I'd take my soul mate to just to walk around and enjoy the view. I didn't even come to New York on its best days but I think photos can speak for themselves.

Since JJ had class at 5, we roamed around Chinatown for souvenirs. I bought 4 "I <3 NY" T-Shirts for my family and Katherine to bring back home. I got to reunite with my favorite milk tea store ever, Kung Fu Milk Tea!!! I wasn't even thirsty or hungry but I bought it anyways just because I knew I can't get it anywhere but here #TouristProblems! We eventually met up with JJ, Tami and John to a Chinese restaurant which had some awesome food. Dumplings, Potstickers, Fish, Fried Pork, there was a huge variety of food.

Tami and John took the kids home while the rest of us continued to explore New York. We ended up walking on St Marx and exploring this hipster section of New York. We stopped for dessert at "The Spot". The menu was extremely creative as it combined different types of treats into one dessert in a great selection. My order came in a burning hot pan but there was vanilla bean ice cream on top with a touch of caramel. This photo says it all.

We went past Soho on the way home and we passed by so many different shopping outlets. I passed by this flea market I specifically remember I went to two years ago to buy my first fedora! A surge of memories came back and my face just lit up just remembering how long ago that experience was.

We decided to drive around New York without any set destination. I came home, packed my luggage, and said my good byes to Tami and John. Tami was absolutely so kind to me, she didn't accept any of my money trying paying for food and offered me to come back whenever I was in town. But I sneakily put $60 in my thank you card and told her not to open it until I left (I'm so clever, I know hehe)

Nat drove around Times Square and just all over New York. We didn't even know where we were going, but we ended up on the Brooklyn bridge and all around the outskirts of different cities. We then traveled to The Magnolia Bakery and Nat introduced me to the most bomb banana pudding ever. It was fluffy and sweet, but the bread crumbs really complimented everything else, it was so absolutely delicious.

We went for a late night snack for Natalie and found out Corner Bistro closed at 4. We walked in and it was actually a bar/restaurant but we stuck to burgers and fries. It felt like such a long day, but the night was still young! Too bad we were all exhausted.... We planned to stay at Nat's other aunt's house to take a 45 minute nap before heading to the airport. It was so funny, we were just talking about Harold and Kumar while driving and we happened to pass by a White Castle. We decided we would HAVE to go there. Bloated from the Bistro, we got medium vanilla and chocolate shakes and they were larger than an original Jamba Juice smoothie. I can now cross the famous White Castle off of my list :)

After sleeping for an hour, JJ drove me to the airport at like 3am and we said our final good byes. It was has been one hell of a day, and I thank them both so much for letting me have this memorable expereience. They are fucking awesome.

TSA wasn't even ready until 4:20am so I was at the  food court on my laptop, half awake, killing time for an hour. My flight was at 5:45am and during the flight home, I was fast asleep. That is the end of my wonderful New York experience.