Five Days in New York

A woman gazing at René Magritte's The Lovers, Museum of Modern Art, NYC

BUT FIRST: Las Vegas.

After our US trip in October 2017, we went back to Vegas this year for our honeymoon and to spend time with Jaykie's family. We had a pretty laidback Vegas stay; meaning, all we did was eat, play with the nephews and niece, play board games, and play at the casinos.

Vegas, baby! 

Steak dinner at The Orleans courtesy of, well, The Orleans? Because I won at one of the slot machines. 

We took a short trip to the East Coast to visit family in New York--and the city promptly greeted us with a freaking heat wave. A heat wave, can you believe it?? As though it knew we would soon be heading to humid Manila, and we might as well get used to it.

Essentials:

• Citymapper. It's a free transport app. Excellent and straightforward. 
•  T-Mobile Tourist Plan ($30). The Tourist plan, which automatically expires after 21 days, includes: Unlimited data, with up to 2 GB 4G LTE data on your smartphone; unlimited domestic and international texting in the US to 140+ countries and destinations; 1,000 minutes of domestic talk within the US; and a free SIM card for your unlocked phone.
• 7-day Unlimited Ride MetroCard ($35). Good for unlimited subway and local bus rides until midnight, 7 days from day of first use. Note: PATH, AirTrain, and Express buses do not accept 7- and 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard.

With these three things, you can go around the city virtually worry-free. Just type in your destination on Citymapper and use your MetroCard to hop on and off the subway.

And it goes without saying: wear sunscreen and comfortable shoes!

We stayed with Tita Carmen and Tito Mauro in their beautiful house in Queens which dates back to the 70s. Doesn't the decor remind you of old houses in the Philippines?

Katz Deli

https://www.katzsdelicatessen.com

205 East Houston Street 

(corner of Ludlow St)

New York City, 10002

• The tables next to the wall are "service" tables, meaning you can sit and wait for a server to get your order, and your orders will be delivered to you. Otherwise, you can get a ticket from the front door and line up at the counters. The guys at the counters will write your orders on your tickets, and you can pay at the cashier after you're done eating. I suggest to just line up at the counters. They can give you free meat samples while they assemble your sandwiches.
• Two friends now based in NYC both said the same thing to me: The only time I finished a whole sandwich at Katz Deli was the night/morning I was drunk. So...either get drunk or just split a sandwich with a friend/your husband. We tried the Reuben and the Pastrami sandwiches. Soooo good.

Washington Square Park/Central Park

It hit 32 deg C at noon, and we just couldn't handle it. We walked around, burned under the sun (ack!), and headed back.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

...or where the Kincaid kids ran away to.

We were there days before The Met Gala, so the museum was busy preparing. Some sections were closed off and you can only enter the museum from the side staircases.

The entrance fee for out-of-towners is $25. You can buy the tickets online so you won't need to line up. NYC residents need only pay a donation fee.

This museum is huge (I can see now how the Kincaids were able to hide for so long; also, read the book! It's really good), so choose which sections you want to visit. You can't visit them all in one day. Fortunately, the entrance fee is valid for three consecutive days, so you can just keep coming back.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

You can get in for free every Friday from 4pm onwards, but watch out for the huge crowd. It might be worth it to just pay the entrance fee if you want a stress-free time inside the museum. ($25)

I had a great time, still. I spent most of it in the Surrealism gallery.

Other Fun Stuff

• Met up with Bianca and Petra--you remember them from the Filipina Elsewhere series? 
• Watched The Book of Mormon. I've always dreamed of going to Broadway and I'm so glad my first show is this wacky show. TIP! The Book of Mormon is showing at the Eugene O'Neill Theater. If you're coming straight from the airport or a trip, you can check your bag for $3 a piece. TIP 2! You can score cheap Broadway tickets through TKTS. We bought ours online through Ticketmaster.
• Stayed overnight on Long Island. Too bad we couldn't stay longer.
• More walking.

Petra's excellent birthday carrot cake

30 Rock

View from our Orchestra seats. We scored some good seats with the generosity of family.

Long Island. View from the window.

SoHo. View from Ground Control coffee shop.

You must try Magnolia Bakery's Hummingbird Cake.

It'd be fun to come back--but maybe when it's colder!