Day 7 - Shop til we Drop

August 2nd, 2008

Today we slept in a bit after a long and late night. Our plans was to hit a lot of major tourist spots. Our first stop was Union Square and the daily farmers market they have there. Lots of samples of breads, fruits, jams etc. Most of the stuff was a little pricey but we did buy some organic yogurt drinks, really good.

After that our shopping tour began. A store Chelsea saw online was here. So instead of paying for the shipping she had a good idea of the clothes she wanted there. Some really good deals. I even bought some things there. The fitting room line ups were long and I was the only guy in line...

The feet were getting soar so I decided to buy two pairs of shoes. Chelsea decided to get a pedicure and manicure instead. Special price fo you: $25. She was in complete relaxtion.

After a nice break for both of us we headed down to Fifth Ave. The shopping capital of the world... for the rich! We went into Saks Fifth Ave. and saw $1700 purses and a room filled with perfumes and make up. We saw Rockefeller Centre, Empire State, Chrysler Building, the New York Library, the Flatiron and many other humongous buildings.

After a long day we needed a great meal, so after countless times of trying to go, I finally found a Teppanyaki Restaurant, Benihana (the first ever). For those that dont know what it is, it is Japanese style cooking where a chef prepares your food right in front of you. We share a table that surrounds the grill in a semi circle with 6 other people. It was amazing! The meal consisted on Miso soup, salad, chicken fried rice, stirfry, veggies prawns, chicken, steak (for Matt) and noodles (for Chelsea). Ice cream and green tea were for desert.

After dinner we needed to walk it off so we headed to Times Square. While in TS, we went to a comedy show called HA! It was actually funny and only cost us $5. There was a 2 drink minimum but that was fine by me!

We walked a bit more around TS and went home. The day ended with some more shopping where we both found what we had been for all week. Great end to the longest shopping day we had ever experienced.

Day 6 - The Big Apple

August 1st, 2008

Our first full day in New York was a long one. Walking to places isn't so bad. We walked down to the World Trade Center site in about 20 minutes. I was a little disappointed there was no memorial just a bunch of cranes and rubble. All the surrounding buildings were so huge, its amazing those were even 30+ storeys higher! After that we headed to the tip of Manhattan to Battery park and the Staten Island Ferry. The ferry was free and gave us a great view of the New York skyline, Ellis Island (where all the immigrants landed from Europe) and the beuatiful Statue of Liberty. You can take a boat to both of these islands for about $30 and you cant even go to the top of the statue anymore. We saw it for free.

Our next stop was the financial capital of the world, Wall Street. I got my picture with the charging bull. Maybe it might bring us luck in our markets. Then we walked down and had lunch at the Stock Exchange. Now that's my fire hall boys!The largest flag we've seen. We spend a few hours down there also seeing the federal reserve building which houses 90 billion dollars worth of gold!!!

On our way home we shopped though China Town. I grabbed an empanada (pastry filled with chicken and hot sauce), Yummy! I did ask how much for a pop and he looked at me funny so I asked how much for soda instead and got the answer immediately. Our language for the simplist thing are the most different.

Tonight we headed to the Bronx (where Jenny's from) on the subway. There's only one thing in the Bronx and thats the New York Yankees playing the Anahiem Angels. We got down to the stadium, it was packed. We wanted to grab a bite before the game so I got myself a classic deli hero sub and some funions. We were actually allowed to bring our food into the stadium too. Too bad we couldn't bring beer! $9.50 for a 24 oz. Chelsea came back with beer number 2 for $21 (heinekin). The stadium and our seat were amazing. Unfortunatley the Yankees lost 1 - 0 and deserved to. It was a picthers dual. Sidney Ponson was throwing a one hitter going into the 8th when they pulled him. But got to see Mariano Rivera pitch however he actually gave up the winning run. We also saw a three great catches saving home runs from the Yankees outfield.

After the game the streets were packed so we went to the local sports bar, Stan's. couldn't even move. I guess they don't have fire codes here. Great atmosphere even after a loss. We both had Yeungling's Beer which is one of the oldest brewers in the US. Thanks for the suggestion Joe... great beer!

Day 5 - The Falls, the wings, and the city

July 31st, 2008

Today was a travel day but one that still had time to see some sights. My generous brother of mine offered to drive us to Buffalo and fly from there. On the trip down, Joe stopped in Niagara Falls. He said we couldn't go see the falls without a trip on the maid of the mist and I'm glad we listened to him. The falls were unbelievable! Only pictures can describe the sheer height and power of the falls. We would've been soaked if not for our fashionable blue raincoats.

Our next stop was Buffalo, home of the "Buffalo Wing". So why not go to the restaurant that invented them. The Anchor was the name and making wings was there game for over 100 years... beat that Col. Saunders. The wings were huge! Simply a great end to our visit with Joe and the family and our beginning to the remainder of our trip. Thanks Joe!

We arrived on time at the airport and so did our plane but the airport at LGA wouldn't let us leave Buffalo. When we got into LGA (New York), we knew why. They had about 10 planes on the runway ready to leave all lined up. Apparently that happens alot. We were delayed by about 1 hour because of that.

We checked into our apartment and got settled and then headed to the streets for some shopping and browsing. The apartment is located in Chinatown. The streets are fairly dirty as garbage pickup is not a regular thing here. We waled around to get familiar with the area. We managed to find ourselves in Little Italy at night. Really cool. All the restaurants are lit up and more than half the people are dining on the sidewalks. Nice restaurants with good prices too (free bottle of wine with 3 people). Chelsea and I both bought some sunglasses. We are realizing you can barter for items and Chelsea is pretty good at it too.

Early night tonight as we were tired from the traveling. Yankees game and a few special sites tomorrow...