NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 13)

Went to the SoHo area only because we had to pick up something from Balenciaga for a friend. This is supposedly a seasonal store which opened after Hurricane Sandy damaged its original store. We asked the staff for restaurant recommendations in the neighborhood and were told this mermaid place serves really good oysters. It was unfortunately closed..

Unfazed by the disappointment, we continued our search for food and voila, we found a quiet gem tucked round the corner. S stopped me from ordering this huge cold seafood platter that was calling out to me and instead got us a smaller, more manageable one. Which was good as we were able to choose different types of oysters to try. Nice. I, on the other hand, did not stop her from ordering her fav fried chix! (almost every table had one) Great food with chilled atmosphere. Fully satisfied.

Through more exploration we found that we actually like this neighborhood. Very pleasant streets lined with shopping ranging from boutique shops to high street stores.

Name: The Dutch (website)
Location: 131 Sullivan St  New York, NY 10012, United States
Expenditure: 170usd incl. alcohol 

We chose Ruth's Chris for our Xmas Eve dinner! Perfect place to be; the warm and homely ambiance  made us feel like we were having a cozy family dinner. Portions (especially the steak) were definitely meant to be shared so the meal ended up really value for money. Beef was good...as expected :)

Name: Ruth's Chris Steak House (website)
Location: 148 W 51st St  New York, NY 10019, United States
Expenditure:70usd pp incl. alcohol

We then walked to the Rockefeller Center for the much-anticipated Christmas countdown. Wondered why nobody was up for some ice skating! Great fun nonetheless especially since it was spent with friends we call family ;)

Shanghai Feb/Mar 2014

In 2014 I saw snow in Shanghai twice. Very very short lived though...

Roast chicken with roast veg.

Seafood lunch for vday. Effort for shucking oysters thanks. Oh but also effort for chopping lobster =D

Avril Lavigne concert. High energy but she didn't sing well and also didn't seem to care much.

Peipei came to visit! My first at a live standup comedy (Kungfu Komedy Shanghai).

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 12)

Overwhelmed with the jam-packed schedule so far, we decided to take it easy for the day. Late lunch at an Italian restaurant called Il Corso after reading a few reviews. Pretty good food at reasonable prices. The thing about US is that you always get value for your money. The dollar amount may be high but the portion is so huge we always end up sharing. In fact at this restaurant, 1 starter and 1 pasta did the job :)

Thereafter we met with E & WP to catch a matinée modern dance at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. We were all blown away by the performance. Seriously this is a must-watch. It consists of about 4 or 5 choreography. Some better than the other. There's a combination of different choreography everyday but I'd advise first-timers to go for all-time favorite revelations. We love the dance, and the dancers' bodies!

The group met up in the evening for some light dinner & drinks at TGIF before going to Fuerza Bruta just next door. Credits to AT for getting us the tix ;) This is a totally off-mainstream, alternative, participative, and weird-in-a-good-sense theatre show. Go with an open mind and just let them take you through a whimsical journey. Great fun!

"FUERZA BRUTA is a non-stop collision of dynamic music, visceral emotion, and kinetic aerial imagery.

Featuring mind-blowing visual effects that must be seen to be believed – a man running full throttle through a series of moving walls, women frolicking in a watery world suspended just inches above the audience – FUERZA BRUTA floods the senses. Come witness a 360° heart-pounding theatrical experience!"

 -- www.fuerzabrutanyc.com
 

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 11)

A visit to the 9/11 Memorial is a sombre one but one that is necessary to remind us of the fragility of life. The victims' names are engraved into bronze panels that frame the 2 waterfall pools which measures about an acre each in size. Some inscriptions even had details like 'Engine __ Ladder__ '. The pools feel to me a massive hollowness, like lives being sucked away. In any case, just be there and spend some quiet moments in honour of those who lost their lives. It is very easy to get a free visitor pass from their website here. Book an off-peak time to avoid long queues.

Christmas markets aren't a very American thing but we managed to find a mini one at Columbus Circle (I miss Europe's). Precious find there: truffle salami! Cross over to The Time Warner Center, which is where we spotted this funny statue (there's a female version too). Check out the nice big home & kitchenware store called Williams-Sonoma.

Our much-anticipated lunch at 3-starred Per Se. Went for the chef's tasting menu. Honestly we were abit underwhelmed by the food. No fault in any of them.. all executed nicely. But they were so safe that there wasn't any oomph factor. Nothing really stood out. I love lobsters so the sweetness and freshness really worked for me. Apart from that, not bad but we were expecting more.

Probably won't return as we found somewhere else better! (in upcoming post)

Name: Per Se *** (perseny.com)
Location: Time Warner Center, 10th Columbus Circle (60th st), 4th floor
Expenditure: 295usd pp for the tasting menu. 320usd pp incl. alcohol.

Since it's Christmas - in New York - we had to do something cheesy like watch the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show. To my surprise I actually quite enjoyed it. The Rockettes are quite something. With the incorporation of 3D effects and stuff, the show was nothing but fun.

Ended off with a burger supper at Shake Shack - one of many famous burger joints in the States. I want this in SG.

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 9/10)

Picked up our 2 rental cars early in the morning, loaded our bags, and soon we were on our way back to NYC. But not before some (lots actually) outlet shopping. Took us 3+ hours to get to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets with a stopover lunch at KFC. Arrived at around 3pm and needless to say there wasn't enough time to cover all the shops. No biggie though because we had preempted this! Already booked us a night at the outlet hotel called Hampton Inn Harriman Woodbury. Smartest move ever.Continued part 2 the next day. It's really amazing how our loot is never enough. Our eyes were definitely too big for our pockets. Only when I felt sufficiently satisfied did I let us leave. The others were already on their way but with a marginal 1hr head start :) 6 of us could barely squeeze all our baggage into 2 standard SUVs! Scary mary.Easy drive back to the city. Checked into the hotel and returned the cars. We were all shopped out so we headed to the nearby Dean and Deluca for a light sushi-salad lunch. Then went back to hotel and crashed.

No activities planned for the night (for once) so we decided to walk around Times Square (which is where we stayed) and possibly catch a show. Perfect opportunity to queue up at the TKTS Discount Booth like any good new yorker. AT ST & WP bought tix for War Horse while E went for a movie instead. We chose a play at random - Grace, a "Broadway play about a Christian evangelical couple facing a crisis of faith in Florida", starring Paul Rudd whom we didn't know is kind of a movie star. Not bad at all, especially since we got great seats at really half the price.

After the play we felt like supper at this Jap place called Inakaya S had been eyeing. Disappointed that they were closing already and it was only 10. Fortunately they still allowed takeaway so take away we did. Everything we ordered was awesome, especially the chix wings. Spent 65usd. Tasted heavenly when paired with our duty free whiskey. More on this during visit no. 2.