My notes

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Day7 & Day8 USA

Day7
Today we spent time with grandparents. Grandma wanted to go to her friend new house in Staten Island. So off we went with GPS.

Cute dog

After some shopping at nearby Macy's we went to Staten island zoo and it was free on that day. The place is clean and if I bring my little Amber surely she will be very happy.

The host did BBQ for us. This is how i eat a good BBQ wings

On the way back we watch the beautiful sunset

Day8

Today hubby wanted to go to Intrepid museum. Boys. Hmph. It's a real war ship that been turn into a museum. There are many air craft on board too.

After spending many hours there we went to Prospect Park for a walk. It's a big park but less maintenance compared to Central Park.

This building in front of a lake look stunning. it must be really nice to organise function like wedding there

Day5 & Day6 USA

Day5

Today we went to Madame Tussuad's Wax House. This is my first time to a Wax House. It's so much fun guessing who is this and that.

The Beatles

Hubby being chased by Incredible Hulk

Around the corner is Ripley's Believe it Or Not, so we went in too. I've been to the one in Genting Highland so to me its similar a bit only that in NY it's bigger.

The world tallest man

We bought the attraction pass which give a free river cruise ride during certain period in summer time only. It's so romantic and nice. One of the best things to do in Manhattan.

That's the taxi boat we are going in

The cruise pass by Statue of Liberty

Manhattan skyline

Forgot what bridge is this already. Total we pass by 3 bridges.

I think this is Brooklyn bridge

Looking at the Statue of Liberty during sunset was such a different experience than going to the island to view it. maybe because of the free champagne they gave.

After that we went to Times Square again. The night atmosphere is so different from the day time too

Of course with Ben & Jerry ice cream. I bought it from the pharmacy in Times Square

Day 6
After a tiring day yesterday today we went out late to sleep in. I was too adventurous on my itinerary. So after some dilly dally at home we went to Grand Central Station first.

Around the corner there is some shop like Coach, so we went to do some shopping too. More like window shopping because Oregon is tax free and my hubby is going there after NY.

Hmm where is the Empire State? .....

Time to go up to Empire State. The queue is rather long and there are many of it ! After first check point queue, need to queue for first lift after that queue for second lift.

From the top view

We stayed till the sunset. It was beautiful, especially with your loved one

We celebrated Grandma 70th birthday today. We spent the day together at Macy's, had lunch and shop around. Get a 10% discount card at Macy's with your passport. We got Grandma an ice cream cake. Grandma even cooked up a great meal for us.

Grandma making a wish

Love the strawberries and cherry season

After that we went to Time Square, they have many shops there like M&Ms, Toys R Us etc. We did our souvenir shopping there too.

Get a Starbucks at Time Square and do people watching again. Hehehe. Time Square should be visited at day time and night time for my opinion as it is totally different atmosphere.

Day4

Today our highlight is to go to American Museum of Natural History

At Lincoln Center

At AMNH. Is this the museum they filmed Night at The Museum? We spent almost a full day there. It's really a very big museum and interesting one.

Central Park

Today we splurge our self with good food, lobster tail with beef steak

Ribs

Horse carriage

Central Park is huge, we did not manage to walk even quarter of it. They do offer bicycle, trishaw, horses with a price. To me it is too pricey. The horse carriage is about USD50 for like 15 mins ride.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Day1 & Day2 USA

Day 1

I was greeted by my hubby and grandma when I touch down at JFK airport. I was so exhausted but Emirates flight was surprisingly good. The only bad point is at Dubai for transit we need to sit buses to the building.

Grandma housing area

At Nathan's hot dog

As it is already past noon and I'm so tired we only went to Coney Island which is nearby grandma house. It's not actually an Island. Nathan's hot dog is very famous but I did not try as I am still jet lag. It's 12 hours different time zone for me! Coney Island is like beach sidewalk with snack/food and some amusement machine. Nothing much actually. It's a good stroll.

Day 2

Metro is so convenient in NY, we took metro the whole time we were there unless we're out with grandparents. Beats the jam and save time. We started our day to Battery Park then to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

This is NY city

Statue of Liberty

To go to the Statue you need to purchase the ticket and will be ferry to the island where the statue is located. Go early to get the ticket or if you have a lot of $$$ you may get the pass to skip queue. There would be a lot of security checking on bags and big bags are not allowed in and you will need to store it in a locker for a fee. There are many many staircase to get on top of it, to go to the crown it's even more steps !!! Inside the Statue they do have a mini museum on some history on it and many small replica to take photos with. :)

Yummy food at the Statue of Liberty Island

Nice view to relax after climbing the MANY MANY STAIRS

Ellis Island

Next is you will have to sit another ferry to go to Ellis Island, both of this thing is 1 ticket only but in 2 different island. I hardly walk inside as it is full of history about the immigrant ... yawn .... it's boring to me. Sorry, blame the many stairs in Statue of Liberty that worn me off and jet lag! I think they know many people need a place to sit therefore there are many benches ! Yay !

Actually we spent half a day already as Statue of Liberty took up a lot of time and the ferries too. Next hop into the metro and to Wall Street, WTC, Century 21 and Chinatown.