Broadway Here I Come!

I can say that what I was most excited of about our trip in NYC was visiting BROADWAY! I’ve been dreaming of walking along the street of Broadway and feel overwhelmed by the parade of theater acts being shown at every corner. 

Being a musical theater lover, I was tasked to choose which show to watch. It was actually a no brainer, the obvious choices are always between Wicked or The Lion King, but I have seen both and one of my friends watched Wicked already (and one of them is planning to watch it this December at the West End). 

I checked my “Musical Bucket List” and I narrowed down my choices into these (considering my friends of course): It will either be ONCE, Matilda or Pippin. Musicals like Kinky Boots and The Book of Mormons although these are really good (won the Tony’s and all) but these are too much “out there” for them. 

After a little ‘here and there’ we have all decided that we will be going for ONCE. Yey, I’ve been wanting to watch this ever since I heard that they are doing a musical theater adaptation of the movie.

We got a tip that if we want to get up to 50% off from our tickets, which normally costs $150 we should try to buy it in the TKTS booth. You can buy discounted tickets if you will get a same day show, compared to buying tickets online or in the box office. Buying tickets in TKTS have some risk though, that is why they are asking you to prepare a tleast 2 shows in mind, a show you want to watch and an alternative (in case it is already full). It is located at the heart of Times Square, although the lines are very long it is moving fast. 

We have decided to go in this route. Me and my friend Zheena was task to do the leg work for this. We had a boo boo moment but in the end we were able to get tickets with a 30% off from it’s original price! (Perfect)

Lining up, I felt like someone who’s going to see his crush in school. I can’t contain my excitement! I WILL BE WATCHING A BROADWAY MUSICAL IN BROADWAY!!! (faint)

The casts headed by Arthur Darvill and Joanna Christie were superb! It was a totally different kind of musical. I love that the full set up of the show involved the audience. If you are thinking of watching this, be sure to arrive atleast 15-20min earlier as the casts are jamming up already while the audience were invited to go on the stage and order some drinks (a real operational bar on stage!). 

The show was touching accompanied by a number of heart felt songs. ‘Falling Slowly’ never fails to put a tear on my eye. The night ended with a full standing ovation and the theater was embraced by loud a  applause and shout from musical fans and accidental audiences.

I am happy with my first Broadway experience. I am claiming that I will have more of this coming soon! 

Travel Blog: The Statue of Liberty

Never thought that I will be blogging about this. I still can’t believe that I’ve seen this statue with my naked eyes (and up close). My trip in New York City will never be complete without a visit to the Statue of Liberty. 

We were very fortunate that when we planned our trip to New York, the Statue of Liberty just reopened. It was under a repair for the past months due to the damages done by hurricane Sandy. Last 4th of July (2013) it was again open for the public (YEY). 

But due to the highly anticipated reopening, tickets to the Liberty Island sell like hot cakes, specially that it was (is) the season when tourists heavily visit the big apple.

Eventhough I was dreaming of climbing up to the crown of the statue, we were just able to purchase a ticket inside the pedestal of the statue (just until the seams of her skirt). Access to the crown are very limited and the next available one will be on October (and we were still in July). 

Nonetheless, a pedestal access means you’ll get to go inside the statue and visit the museum. It was awesome!!! Getting to know the history of the BIG LADY was a sure treat! From the planning and commissioning stage to some hiccups in between…and alas.. her highly celebrated inauguration. It was interesting to see their initial plans for the statue and to see how she is now, standing tall as a symbol of freedom not only for Americans, but for all of us.

(made from beaten copper with hollow interiors..this how it should have looked w/o being weathered and oxidized) 

(the climb..the closest we can get to the Lady Liberty)

(inside her skirt…sorry for peaking)

After our climb, not only that we were at the foot of the Liberty, we were also treated with the beautiful view of the New York skyline. A 360 view of New York. you can see Manhattan on one side, the brooklyn bridge on the other.  

Standing tall and watching over the city for more than a hundred of years, visiting the Liberty Island should be part of everyone’s bucket list. One of the most celebrated symbol of freedom, the rich history that surrounds the Statue of Liberty is something that changes not only New York City but also the rest of the world. 

To book your Statue of Liberty visit click this LINK

Food Blog: The Quest For A Cronut

I first read about the cronuts while browsing ‘Yahoo’ one lazy afternoon. I was looking at the latest gossip and headlines from around the world and suddenly this weird doughnut looking pastry just flashed on my screen. 

As I admitted in my previous food blogs, I am a certified sweet tooth (by choice and according to my appetite) the idea of combining these two, a doughnut and a croissant made my ratatouille -like imagination burst into a heavenly fireworks…..therefore, the quest to search for this famous bakery started!!!!!

Along with visiting the Empire State, MET and other well know sites (part of our NY City Pass) going to Dominique Ansel bakery became part of our ever growing list. 

Our fist attempt to get this famous treat was after our jog in  Central Park, it was around 7:30 am and the line was crazy long, so we decided to come back on a Sunday. We thought that the line will be shorter because people will just stay at home and will go out a bit late. 

Sunday came and we woke up at 5:30 am and went straight to the metro to catch the first train going to Spring Street (which is the C train).  To our surprise, there was a problem with the train and being a weekend, they said that the trains are very unpredictable. We still tried our luck and it was not on our side, we ended up waiting for an hour before deciding to got on a different train route (which is the A train).

It was a longer route (with a few connections) and  we arrived around 7:30 am instead of our intended time of arrival which is 6am. The line was just the same as what we saw the other day… it was crazy loooooooong! We were number 143 as per the count of the person next to us. She counted to know if she’ll be able to get a cronut as each person can only buy 2 pieces from the 500 cronuts produced daily. If that is the case, we are safe…all we have to do now is wait! (and while we waited, the staff gave us small treats!!)

ALAS!!! After almost 3 hours in the line we can now taste the famous cronut. As what I mentioned, we can only buy 2 cronuts so I ordered another Dominique Ansel famous treat—- the SMORES. 

Packed in these golden paper boxes, it feels as if you are carrying a real treasure (well, as of the moment a cronut can be considered as one)

A flaky oozing sweetness, that’s how I can describe a cronut. It is perfection. No wonder people are getting crazy about it. The first bite exposed you to its crunchy outer layer while you sink yourself to a soft layered core oozing with a sweet (rasberry) filling. FIREWORKS!!!

I cant believe that I am saying this, but  waking up early and lining up for 3 hours (is crazy) but all worth it!  Our cronut adventure I can say can be considered as one of our memorable (yet not logical) part of our New York adventure and I cant wait to get in line again and grab another one!

Travel and Photography Blog: New York City Photo Walk

Embarking on a quest to see New York City away from all the lights..away from all the hustles and bustles of the big city,since we arrived, I made sure to get up early in the morning and have a stroll around the neighborhood.

As I walked around, I saw a very different NYC, even the smoke coming out from the sewers gave a very peaceful vibe (ok I am stretching it a bit).

Before the manic Monday crowd arrived, I prepared my camera, my journal (and some props) and took a long photo walk project in one of the most celebrated cities around the world.

Here are some of the mix photos I took, from architectural to just simply random street stuff.

Hope you will like it!



What I’ve been carrying around for the whole trip. Surat Journal, camera, map (and at times, a newspaper for a prop).





View from the front of our hotel.



Our hotel. Hotel Pennsylvania.



The Empire State Building is just at the back of our hotel…perfect location!















The Flatiron building. I’ve seen this in a lot of movies and TV shows, so when I accidentally saw it while i was walking downtown, I was jumping for joy.











A sneak peek of the Chrysler Building. When I saw this view, I immediately tried to locate it in my map and told myself, now I know where my next stop will be.



On my way of navigating towards the Chrysler, I passed by the Grand Central Station..Yipeeee!!!











I really love the industrial and old feel of a New York flat (someday I will live in one). The signature look of the fire escapes is one of my inspiration (theme) in one of our architectural projects.











As I finished my morning stroll New Yorkers are starting to fill-up the empty streets and bringing back the NYC that we all know.