NYC 2019

Always fun! This year we stayed at the Nomad Hotel around 28th St and Broadway. It was artsy, and kind of dark which I generally don't like, but our room was well-lit and pretty which made all the difference! So I did enjoy the hotel.

First night: Joe's Shanghai. We agree that this is the cheapest and most delicious dinners ever. We get scallion/green onion pancake, string beans, and two trays of xiao long baos.

Eileen's Special Cheesecake. We hadn't been here before and cheesecake is my all time favorite dessert. I thought it was decent but not extraordinary. Next time I might try the red velvet flavor and their flavor of the year, which I forgot the name of.

Daily FaceTime. haha.

Bar Pa Tea. Best matcha latte place. Better than Cha Cha Matcha which was next door to our hotel.

Jong-ro in Koreatown on night #2. Always absolutely delicious.

They shake these little rice tins with cover on and then uncover and serve them to you. I like how they're in these metal containers, plus they are delicious. Dae and I had some soju and Hite.

Walking in Koreatown after getting 10 sheet masks for $10.

Greeley Square area by Koreatown

Jessica Seinfeld raved about this new Scandinavian bakery called Fabrique. Cardamom and cinnamon rolls are their claim to fame. They were definitely dense and not like American cinnamon rolls (which are covered and dripping in frosting).  I thought they had interesting taste and weren't too sweet. I didn't mind the denseness. Dae did. :)

This was one of the highlights of the trip....testing out all these awesome pianos at this store! The person was really helpful and let me try out pretty much every single piano in their showroom.  The ones I tried were: Yamaha, Steinway, Fazioli, Bosendorfer. I loved the Bosendorfers....of course the most expensive.....ugh. So Dae and I left the store and immediately started researching used Bosendorfers online while sitting on a park bench at Central Park. haha. 

We got breakfast at our hotel included every morning, so I got the yogurt + granola + berries, Dae got a fruit plate, and splurged on lemon ricotta poppyseed pancakes. Their fresh fruit was so good.

Empire state! The weather was great. 80 degrees and varying levels of sunniness the entire time. We walked and subway-ed our usual amount. Oh and Dae's bandaid! He spur of the moment got in to see a dermatologist in the Flatiron district on Wednesday and the dermatologist lasered the hyperpigmented spot on Dae's cheek and told him to 1) avoid sun exposure and 2) follow up for more laser treatment in Seattle in a few weeks. I am happy to say Dae has been a compliant patient with sun protection.  I think he's very motivated to be done with that stubborn spot.

The Ballet!!! Isabella Boylston as the lead role! She's so good. I was really excited to see her perform.

Dinner on July 4 with James and Gina at Print restaurant and then up to the rooftop bar to see the skyline and some possible fireworks. We didn't see too many fireworks but it sure was pretty up there.

My only clothing purchase of the trip was this Zara dress on sale for $22. I was so happy with this purchase. It's nice and long and comfortable.

Grace Street for shaved snow dessert: black sesame ice cream, red bean, mochi.

ABC Kitchen for night #3 dinner. I had read about ABC Kitchen for a few years. It was pretty good. The sitting area was cute and pretty.

Comedy Cellar! This year, we got an e-mail the day of the show, which we've never gotten before, saying drop-in comedians are always a possibility (and that's what we're always hoping for!). This evening, Michael Che (from SNL) and Judd Apatow (director) were drop-ins among the other stand-up comedians. It was really fun and funny.  My favorite comedian of the night was actually the last comedian, Des Bishop. I'd go see him on tour if he ever comes to Seattle or anywhere close.

At the ballet. As you can tell I really love my dress, and I thought this was a good picture. :)

Other stuff:

1. We saw a huge subway rat running across the actual platform where were standing. It was big and surprisingly fast. It ran past the turnstile and out of our view. We've seen subway rats on the tracks down below but I've never seen one on the platform! Dae said it had spiky fur. haha.
2. We were waiting to cross a street and a guy on a Citibike was in front of us and then turned left in front of us. I looked directly at his face for a couple of seconds and it was Tyler from the Bachelorette (!), which I then confirmed when I stalked his Instagram and saw that he is indeed in NYC. Dae and I beelined toward Central Park where he was headed to see if we could see him again.....no such luck.  I continued to stalk him on Instagram and pepper Dae with his whereabouts throughout our trip but then he went to the Hamptons for the July 4 holiday and I lost interest. hahahaha.
3. There was a SoulCycle like 50 steps from our hotel, which was so dreamy. I love hitting these classes that we don't have in Richland. So I went twice.