NYC Advice and Tips

Getting Around: Use Public Transportation
Before we left for New York we looked into possibly buying a 7 day pass for a hop-on-hop-off style bus. We have them all over San Francisco and it seems like the easiest way to get around in the city without getting lost. However due to the higher cost we decided against it and went with the 7 day unlimited metro card for $30 each.
We found that getting around in New York was very easy with the aid of our friend Google Maps. We did a lot of walking which is made relatively easy due to their grid like numbered streets and avenues. And with the help of Google Maps we always knew which subway or bus we needed to take to get to where we wanted.

Attractions: Buy Online and Go Early
We considered buying one of the many city passes available for New York. However, after careful consideration of the attractions we actually wanted to go to it was cheaper for us to pay the individual entry fees instead (especially when you take into account that many museums offer discounted/free entry days, student discounts, or are donation based).
We purchased most of our attraction tickets online a day ahead of time which meant we didn't need to stand in line at the attractions to buy tickets. This ended up saving us a lot of time. We also tried to go to the attractions earlier in the day. We went to the Top of Rockefeller Center as soon as they opened and because we bought our tickets online ahead of time we had no lines to wait in to get up. Not to mention that it was so nice and peaceful up there since there were only a few other people at the top while we were there.

Tapings: Only if You Have an Extended Stay in NYC
The tapings we went to were great and definitely a ton of fun. But if you're only in NYC for a few days don't waste your time. Going to the tapings was a huge time investment between standing in line to pick up tickets and then standing in line to get into the studio. Attending the live tapings we went to took up a good 5-6 hours of our day. If you have a short stay in New York don't waste it all by standing in line. There's so much more New York has to offer.

Broadway/Off-Broadway: TKTS for Deep Discounts
Tickets for almost every Broadway and off-Broadway show are available at the TKTS booth in Times Square. There are only a handful of extremely popular shows you won't be able to get there (ie: Wicked and Book of Mormon). I think it'd also be safe to assume that if a show has won any Tony awards this year (especially best musical or best play) you'll need to buy your tickets ahead of time.

While I'm no travel expert hopefully those of you who may be visiting New York for the first time will find these little tidbits helpful.

Our Favorite NYC Eats [picture heavy post]

Since we ate a lot of good food in New York I thought it'd be a good idea to compile some of our favorite eats from our trip.

On Sunday morning we brunched at Good Enough to Eat which was highly recommended by one of my high school classmates who lives in New York. Although the food was good it wasn't out of this world. But it was all worth it experience the quintessential brunch staple of the Upper West Side, strawberry butter. It boggles my mind to think of the genius who thought this delicious concoction up. Slathered on their warm biscuits or or all over fresh waffles it was absolutely magical. 

I'm literally drooling on my keyboard right now

That night we made our way to a Momofuku Milk Bar to try the legendary crack pie. When we got back to our hotel room with our pies we were a little weary of the fact that butter is the first ingredient listed...what had we gotten ourselves into??? After our first bite of buttery, sweet, chewy goodness I was in love. We went back to get crack pie to finish off our day almost every night we were in New York. There's definitely no denying why they call it crack pie. 

Oh butter, you've never done me wrong!

Unwrapped and in all it's crack pie glory

While researching places to eat in New York we happened across the BuzzFeed Donut Crawl. Although the author doesn't make the latter half of the donut crawl sound enjoyable by any means they did mention a creme brulee donut at Doughnut Plant which we knew we just had to try. Not only was the creme brulee donut to die for but their cake donuts all have fillings which make them extra moist and extra delicious. So good we had to do a repeat visit on our last day in New York.

top R to L: coffee cake donut and creme brulee donut
bottom R to L: creme brulee donut and tres leches cake donut

Coffee cake donut filled with creamy goodness

Later that day we went to Eataly and had lunch at Rosticceria where we shared to most delicious prime rib sandwich my mouth has ever had the pleasure of meeting. The bread was just the right amount of crusty (crunchy without tearing up the inside of your mouth) and the meat was seasoned to absolute perfection. So glad we stumbled upon this gem.

Ah-maze-ing!

The next day we ate dinner at a New York staple, Shake Shack. I remember standing in line for HOUUURSSSS in Madison Square with my parents in 2010 just to get a taste of Shake Shack goodness. Luckily now there are many more chains open and we were able to get our grub on in a reasonable amount of time. While the burgers ain't no In-N-Out their shakes are undeniably good.

nom-nom-nom-nom-nom

I love a good pastrami sandwich so we had to make a trip to the famed, Carnegie Deli. Their pastrami is so flavorful and tender without being overly fatty. Not to mention their monstrous portions are legendary. Even after sharing a sandwich we were so full we had to take our cheesecake to go.

Almost every night we came back to our hotel from the theater we would pass by a street cart with a huge line of people. We finally looked into it and found out that The Halal Guys is basically a New York City institution. Once we knew that we just HAD to give it a try. After reviewing yelp we decided on chicken and rice. The plate was so big that the two of us were able to fill up on just one plate. Needless to say yelp didn't lead us astray and the food was delicious.

so simple yet so delicious

Last up on our list of favorite eats was Gotham Pizza...you didn't think we'd have a list of NYC eats without pizza did you??? We ate a lot of good pizza but the grandma square pizza at Gotham was the best. The homemade marinara sauce and the drizzling of olive oil on the thin crispy crust was a perfect combo.

what New York trip would be complete without pizza?

And that concludes the series on our New York trip. I'm glad I  got to wrap up this final post just in time for us to get ready for out trip back in November!

NYC Sightseeing [picture heavy post]

Hubs and I will be sharing our birthday presents and taking another trip to NYC in November. Earlier we heard rumblings that one of my favorite actresses, Emma Stone, might be taking a role along side Alan Cumming in Cabaret on Broadway. Once the rumors were confirmed we knew we had to go back. With our next trip to New York booked I figured I better get on with finishing up my original NYC posts.

In the week we were in New York we tried to get in as much sightseeing as possible without overly exhausting ourselves. In the end I think we saw pretty much everything on our list of NYC sights.

We didn't do much sightseeing on our first day in New York. We mostly familiarized ourselves with the subway system and caught a matinee of Cinderella.

We hit the ground running on our second day in New York by going to the top of Rockefeller Center as soon as they opened. It was a nice clear day and we were early enough to beat the crowds allowing us to really enjoy the breathtaking views of the city.

L to R: city view and central park view from Rockefeller Center

Then we were off to a boat tour around half of the island of Manhattan with Circle Line Cruise. A friend of mine who lives in New York highly recommended doing a boat tour which gave us a pretty nice overview and some history behind some of the sights we planned to see later in the week.

top L to R: Lady Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, and Empire State Building from Circle Line Cruise
bottom L to R: Staten Island Ferry and lower Manhattan skyline

After the boat tour was over we rushed over for our Daily Show taping. After that we were off to see Avenue Q off-Broadway.
Before the end of the night we stopped by the Rockefeller Center one more time to take in the view with the city lights on. Again we were lucky to go late enough that there wasn't much of a crowd and we could enjoy the view without all the hassle of waiting in line or having people photobomb our pictures.

L to R: night view of Central Park and the city from Rockefeller Center

The next day we spent window shopping in SoHo. We also went to check out Eataly, an Italian-style market in the Flatiron District. So many people had mentioned we should check it out when we were getting suggestions for our New York trip. I thought it was so strange that people would recommend visiting a market, but once we entered I totally understood why it was so highly recommended. It really was a sight to see unto itself.

L: flat iron building
R top to bottom: handmade pasta and huge cheese selection in Eataly

That evening we went to our Tonight Show taping.

The following morning we spent in downtown. We started with our trip to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We spent some time at the Statue of Liberty where we were able to go up to the pedestal and visit the museum. But we just briefly got off the ferry to snap some quick photos of Ellis Island...since none of our relatives would've immigrated through there it wasn't really a point of interest for us.

L to R: Lady Liberty up close and personal, windy stairs up to the crown, replica of the torch

Once the ferry brought us back we headed to Wall Street to check out the financial hub of the United States.

L to R: rubbing the bulls balls for good luck, New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street,
and Trinity Church at the end of Wall Street

We then made our way to the 9/11 Memorial. Unfortunately for us we weren't able to go to the museum since it was scheduled to open a couple weeks after our trip. Although we were really disappointed that we couldn't go to the museum I'm glad we were able to pay our respects at the memorial. It's such a beautiful and peaceful place with such a tragic history behind it. I definitely got a little teary eyed being there.

L to R: 9/11 memorial pools and Freedom Tower

Then we made the long track across the Brooklyn bridge which provided a pretty awesome view of the Hudson River.

walking across the Brooklyn Bridge

We finished the day off with A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

We spent Thursday morning wandering around Central Park. Even though it was a gloomy morning it was impossible for me to day dream about how lovely it must be to live close enough to stroll the park every day. We even had a Gossip Girl moment as we sat on the Met steps.
That afternoon we strolled around in Grand Central Station. It's amazing to think how many trains stop there and go through New York everyday.

top L to R: hanging out in Central Park on a rainy day, Bethesda Fountain, and spotted on the Met steps
bottom L to R: outside and inside Grand Central

We ended the day with Rocky.

On our last day in New York we walked along the High Line which is a park built on a historic freight rail line above the Lower West Side of Manhattan. We took one last walk through Central Park and then made our way to FAO Schwartz for some window shopping. Our last stop on our trip in New York was MOMA where we learned that we aren't huge fans of modern art. But since we got in free for Uniqlo's Free Friday Nights so we couldn't really complain.

L to R: strolling along the High Line, of course we had to check out the Lego displays in FAO Schwartz,
and enjoying Van Gogh's Starry Night

We sure had a ton of fun playing all over the city. Next up I'll be sharing some of our favorite eats from the trip.

NYC Musicals: Rocky

On the Thusday we were in New York we planned to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neal Patrick Harris. It was the musical that hubs bought tickets for as soon as we knew we'd be in New York because we love NPH. Needless to say we were super excited to see that show. However, it wasn't until we were on our way to pick up our tickets from will call that we realized we'd made a terrible mistake. Apparently we put Hedwig on  the wrong day in our calendar and booked A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder for the same day. We completely missed Hedwig without even knowing it! We hurried over to the box office to see if there was anything we could do to get tickets, but they informed us that tickets were sold out over a month in advanced are escorted Heartbreaking to say the least.

We sadly walked toward Times Square where I proceeded to get separated from hubs in the hoards of people when he crossed a street before I was able to. Thank goodness for cell phones! After being reunited we made our way over to the TKS booth to see if there was anything we wanted to see. Hubs had been pointing out the Rocky billboards everywhere we went in New York but I was less than excited to see a musical based on a movie I'd never seen. But since hubs was so forlorn about messing up our Hedwig tickets I suggested we see Rocky in hopes of cheering him up. The musical is up for a few Tony awards including best actor in a musical and best scenic design so I figured it couldn't be so bad.

Since I haven't seen the movie I can't attest to how true the musical is to the movie, but hubs says that they did a pretty good job. To me the story seems pretty depressing up until the big fight at the end, but again apparently that's how it's supposed to be. The actor who played Rocky definitely had the Sylvester Stallone voice down, but strangely had a very distinct country twang whenever he sang. I honestly wasn't very impressed with the lyrics throughout the musical. For some reason they seemed forced. But maybe that's just what happens when you're trying turn a non-musical movie into a musical.

Even though I wasn't blown away by the story or lyrics of Rocky I'm glad we saw it for it's production value alone. If this play doesn't win best scenic design I will be shocked. The stage design of this show is absolutely incredible. From the little things like the rain that trickles down the windows in scenes where it's raining to the cameras they use to put up live images so it looks like we're really watching the news coverage of Rocky training for the big fight. But most impressive is the boxing ring that moves seemlessly around the stage throughout the show. In fact for the fight scene between Rocky and Apollo Creed a regulation sized boxing ring slides out into the audience and a jumbo tron drops from the ceiling just like you'd see at a real boxing match. The audience members sitting in the center of the first 10-15 rows are escorted on stage to sit in bleachers to watch the big fight. It really makes you feel like you've been transported into the movie. I can't imagine how they would possibly take such a large production on the road so if you liked the movie I'd reccomend seeing the musical in New York just for the sheer amazingness of the set.

NYC Musicals: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

About 1-2 weeks before we left for New York the list of Tony nominations were released. Upon reviewing the list of nominees, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder clearly stoodout amongst the crowd with a whopping 10 nominations including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Hubs insisted that we try to get tickets for this musical while I tried to convince him that if this musical was as good as it seemed that it would probably be in next years line up for us as SHN season ticket holders. As usual hubs won after arguing that the people nominated from the musical for best actor in a musical and best featured actress in a musical wouldn't be performing in the traveling version. We just lucked out and got some of the last tickets available for the week we were in New York.

The musical is a comedy about a gentleman who finds out that his late mother was from a very prestigious family, but was disowned after marrying her less than prestigious husband for love. He learns that he is actually 9th in line to inherit earldom. With that knowledge in handhe sets forth to eliminate the 9 relatives (all which are played by a single actor) ahead of him in order to earn his rightful spot as an earl.

I am sooo glad hubs convinced me that it was absolutely imperative that we see this musical while in New York. The musical was spectacular and absolutely hilarious. Jefferson Mays, who plays all 9 of the relatives who are eventually off'd was absolutely brilliant. In fact the entire cast is quite sensational. I'm so happy that we had an opportunity to see this musical and I hope to see it in line up for next years SHN season.

NYC Tapings: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

A few months before Jimmy Fallon took over the Tonight Show we became pretty avid Late Night fans after seeing a couple hilarious skits that were popular around the interwebs. Once we started DVR-ing Late Night we were instantly hooked. Some of my favorite skits were Ew with Lindsey Lohan, the worlds most epic lip sync battle, #hastags with Justin Timberlake, and this amazing rendition of "Your Body" with Christina Aguilera . I mean how can you not love a guy who has a serious bromance with JT? Needless to say, we were back to excited when Jimmy Fallon got upgraded to the Tonight Show and even more excited at the opportunity to see a live taping of the show.

Similarly to picking up tickets for the Daily Show our email confirmation said that we needed to pick up our tickets at the NBC Experience Store by 3:40. However, just like the Daily Show they overbook the tapings so we started milling around (aka: stalking the NBC Experience store) around 1:30. We were told to come back at around 2:30. So we basked in the sun and people watched near Rockefeller Center and checked back in around 2:15 when they let us upstairs to wait for them to hand out our official tickets. By that point there were about 10 people ahead of us.

Before they started handing out tickets they let us know that everyone's tickets would have either a number or a letter written on it. They assured us that the system was arbitrary and not to fret over which you got it because it just meant that you would be lining up to get into the studio at a different time. We were also told that there would be no food or drinks allowed in the studio and that once inside we couldn't use our phones or cameras and wouldn't be allowed to leave to go to the restroom. They started handing out tickets around 3 or 3:30. We were given alphabet tickets and were told to meet back in the lobby of the Rockefeller Center at 4:45.

We arrived just at 4:45 and were quickly ushered through airport-like security. After clearing security we were lined up alphabetically in one of the hallways in Rockefeller Center. While standing in our line we noticed a very distinct difference between our line (the alphabet line) and the other line (the numbers line). Even though the producers had told us that the selection of alphabet versus line tickets were arbitrary, the alphabet line had a significantly lower average age than the numbers line. They let us into the taping studio one group at a time we were seated in the second row front and center...I thought I was going to die of excitement. Once we were seated we looked around, interested to see how the alphabets and numbers would be arranged in the studio. By the end it was clear that the alphabets were seated up front and center...god forbid we see old people in any audience shots (JK!) The nice thing about the Tonight Show is that they show highlights from previous shows to keep the audience entertained since they don't let you use your phones inside the studio.

Similar to the Daily Show they have a comic come out and warm up the audience. The guy reminds us that we are the "laugh track" so we should laugh heartily at anything remotely funny that Jimmy or the guests say. Then the Roots came out and played a few songs before they bring Jimmy out to do the show. Once the show got started we realized that being so close to front and center wasn't all that great since the cameras were constantly moving around and blocking a lot of our view...boo. Just like the Daily Show, once the show gets started the entire taping runs pretty quickly.

The guests that night were Seth Rogan, Matt Bomer (plays Neal Caffery in one of our favorite TV shows, White Colllar), and Coldplay. Like I mentioned in a previous post we signed up for tickets for a couple of different days so that we could choose the day that had the best guests. Even though our view was always a littlee obstructed it was a great show.

Once the show was over Jimmy Fallon did a run up and down the aisles to high five the audience members and I even saw him sign an autograph or two. After that he dug out pretty quickly and the warm up comic came back out keep us company as they escorted us out from the back of the studio to the front.

After getting out from the taping we were starving! All that cheering and laughing really works up an appetite. We grabbed some yummy ramen and headed back to our room to rest up for our next day.

NYC Musicals: Avenue Q

While in New York we went to see Avenue Q at an off-Broadway theater. I had heard great things about Avenue Q and it won Tony's in 2004 for best musical, best book, and best original score so I figured why not. I'd say this is like a very grown up version of Sesame Street with muppets and everything. The play is essentially about a typical Gen Y yuppie  who's fresh out of college with a BA in English and trying to muddle through the beginnings of true adulthood. It's a story that I think really resonates with my generation and their desire to find a meaningful and fulfilling job that gives their life a purpose. This musical is full of hilarious grown up topics ranging from racisim to using the internet for porn.

I really didn't know what to expect in terms of the caliber of the performance for an off-Broadway show so being the true pessimist I am I braced myself for the worst. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised at how awesome the actors were. There are several actors who play multiple characters absolutely seamlessly and the singing was fantastic.  I think the most impressive part for me was how well animated the actors made their muppets. It's really easy to let them fade to the background and just focus on the muppets. While this musical might not be for everyone, I'd definitely recommend it for the lighthearted who (spoiler alert) aren't easily offended by things like simulated muppet sex.

NYC Tapings: The Daily Show with John Stewart

On ourfirst full day in New York we went to The Daily Show with John Stewart. They start handing out tickets to people who've already reserved tickets at 2:30. We showed up at about 1:30 and there was already quite a line ofF ople which made me pretty nervous. As I mentioned in my previous post, they overbooked these tapings, so I was a little worried that we might not get tickets. Luckily, the line of people behind us started to grow and made  me feel a little more at ease. A little after 2:30 they started handing out tickets and we were probably in the last group of 10-15 people they had tickets for. *whew*

After successfully obtaining our tickets we were told to return to the studio by 4:30. We took that time to hightail it to the TKTS booth in Times Square to try to snag some show tickets for after the taping. We were in luck, and were able to get tickets to an off-Broadway production of Avenue Q (more on that later).

We headed back to The Daily Show studio and were lined up in order of our ticket numbers. Before letting us into the studio a hipster looking girl made a few announcements about what we should expect as we headed in. We were to use the restrooms before entering the studio as once we were seated we would not be allowed to get up. Once we had relieved ourselves we were to proceed through security which was comprised of a bag check and metal detector. We were told that food, drinks, cameras, and mace/pepper spray wouldn't be allowed into the studio and would need to be left with security and picked up after the show. Hipster girl went on to say that before the show John would come out and answer a few audience questions. We were specifically told not to ask for autographs/pictures or ask creepy questions (ie: will you marry me?)

Once inside the studio we were allowed to take pictures of the studio with our phones. Of course we took an obligatory selfie with the Daily Show desk in the background. After what seems like hours but is probably more like 45 minutes a comedian came out to warm the audience up. He taught us how to cheer and laugh loudly which is very important for us to do since "there is no laugh track" and we were it. We were then instructed to put our phones away and keep them there for the remainder of the taping.

As hipster girl promised, John came out be for the show started and answered a few audience questions...none of which were interesting enough for me to remember. He then took his seat behind his desk and they started the show. Everything runs amazingly smoothly and quickly with very minimal pauses for the commercial breaks. Our guest was NY Yankee, Mariano Rivera which made for some fun banter between the two of them since John is a NY Mets fan.

Once the taping was over we were told to keep our phones away and were quickly ushered out of the studio. We were out of there by about 5:30 or 6. Just enough time for us to grab a quick bite to eat and hurry over to Avenue Q.

Check out my blog on our NYC preparations to see how we got in on this taping.

NYC Musicals: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

On our first day in NYC hubs and I started our day with a traditional upper west side brunch at Good Enough to Eat. After we'd had our fill we made our way back to Times Square so we could check out what was available for a matinee at the TKTS booth. Hubs was so excited to see that tickets were available for Cinderella since it's featuring Carly Rae Jepsen and Fran Drescher for a limited time. I, on the other hand, was a bit apprehensive about sa musical with Carly Rae Jepsen as the primary actress.  Don't get me wrong, I get all teeny bopper when Call Me Maybe comes on the radio, I was just a little concerned with how her singing would be sans studio post-production and even more concerned with her acting abilities. Never the less, tickets were 50% off original matinee prices so I figured even if it was terrible at least it'd be cheap.

 I've never actually read the original Cinderella story and only know Disney's Cinderella story from the movie so I'm not sure how close the musical was too the original story, but it was quite different from Disney's version. Because the plot was so different from what I know the story to be it was a lot more interesting to me.  As much as I've enjoyed Disney's adaptations of Beauty and the Beast or Mary Poppins as musicals there's always a little bit of excitement missing for me since I already know what's going to happen.

Unfortunately, Fran Drescher wasn't performing at our show. Even though the actress playing the evil stepmother was great I think that it would've been awesome to see Fran Drescher do it. But I must say I was surprised at how good Carly Rae Jepsen's performance as Cinderella was. She did a great job singing and her acting didn't induce cringing like I thought it would. I must say I have a lot more respect for her as s singer now... if only she would sing some songs with substance in them.

Overall,  I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this musical and would definitely recommend it to people who were looking to see something fun and light to watch.

NYC Preparations

Hello from NYC, loves! Hubs and I are waiting in line for a table for dinner right now. If you follow me on fb or instagram you've seen all the fun we've been up to the past couple of days. I've been getting a lot of questions about how to get in on the show tapings we've been to so far so I thought it'd be a good idea to blog about all the hard prep work hubs did to get our trip to NYC full of fun times.

Attractions:
Yesterday we took a great boat tour around half of Manhattan Island with Circle Line Sightseeing. We booked that a day ahead with no problems. We went on a weekday, so I'm not sure if that would change for the weekends.
We also went to the top of Rockefeller Center yesterday morning and night. We bought our tickets online the day before. This is not necessary, but it ensured that we got to skip the line to buy tickets and get right in line to get up to the top of the Rock.
We haven't been there yet but before heading to NYC we looked into seeing the Statue of Liberty. Depending on how high up you want to get up in Lady Liberty determines how early you need to get tickets. If you want to get up to the torch...sorry bub, you're SOL. No one has been up there in like a hundred years. If you want to get up to her crown you should look into getting tickets 2-3 months in advanced. Unfortunately for us we hadn't even decided to go to New York early enough to even feasible get tickets for that. We got our tickets to the pedestal about a week before leaving for our trip. However, hubs mentioned that when he looked tickets were still available for the following day; so buying tickets the day before should probably be okay for this too.
We also haven't been to the 9/11 Memorial yet either, but we made our reservations about a week before we left for New York. Making reservations ahead of time is most likely not necessary, but it should save us some time from having to stand in line the day of.
Check out my post on all the spots we visited

Tapings:
Yesterday we went to a taping of the Daily Show with John Stewart. Hubs doesn't quite remember how we came across these...we think mostly by sheer luck we looked at the website and sign up for tickets was available. For really good detailed info about how to get in on the Daily Show you should check out this super helpful website (the article is almost a year old, but still relevant).
Today we went to a taping of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Signing up for this taping was significantly more difficult. Hubs ended up coding a program to text and email the both of us when tickets became available. If this isn't an option for you I'd suggest liking the Tonight Show facebook page because they make announcements on when tickets become available on there. In general we found that they released tickets a month at a time at the beginning of the prior month. For example if you want to go anytime in August you should be getting ready to sign up for your tickets in the beginning of July. You have to be on your A game here since we found that sign ups filled up within about the first 5-10 minutes.
A couple of notes on signing up for these tapings before we move on. First off, just because you've signed up for the taping it does not...I repeat, DOES NOT...guarantee you a seat at the taping. These tapings are all overbooked to make sure there's a full audience so pay attention to what time you need to be where to claim your actual tickets to the tapings. Secondly, when you sign up for these tapings you never know who the guests are going to be. Since we didn't know who the guests were going to be or what our schedule was going to be like we signed up for a couple of days for each show. They don't let you sign up for more then one taping per show, but we made reservations under hub's name one day and my name the next day. I'm sure this is probably frowned upon, but it gave us a little loop hole to have some extra flexibility during our trip.
Check out my Daily Show and Tonight Show experiences.

Broadway/Off-Broadway:
At least a month before leaving we purchased our tickets for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. While in New York we've been able to score discount tickets to Cinderella and Avenue Q. If you want to see popular shows (ie: Wicked or the two shows we purchased tickets in advanced for) best buy your tickets at full price ahead of time. Those shows rarely make it to the TKTS discount ticket booth...in fact I overheard them saying that they NEVER get Wicked tickets. Otherwise it has been easy for us to get good seats from TKTS to the shows we've wanted without even having to stand in line before the booth opens.
Check out my reviews on Cinderella, Avenue Q, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Rocky

Anyway, I hope this was helpful for all of you guys planning upcoming trips to NYC.

New Year in Hawaii

First post of the new year almost half way through the January...please excuse my absence. As anyone in my field knows things can get pretty crazy around the holiday season and when I'd get home all I wanted to do was feed my face and fall into bed. Thank goodness we had a trip to Hawaii planned right after Christmas...I definitely needed a break from all the craziness at work.

The cost of flights to Hawaii were seriously out of control when we bought our tickets. So in an attempt to save a little bit of money we made the switch from Hawaiian Airlines to Alaska Airlines. But after 2 flights with poor service by the cabin crew of Alaska we decided that we'll be sticking with Hawaiian. On the flight to Hawaii my entire row was skipped over and wasn't offered any drinks. When I noticed they had skipped me I politely turned around to ask for a drink and was greeted with a completely annoyed stewardess. And while we were experiencing a relatively long duration of light turbulence quite a few people were hitting their call buttons...they were answered by an irritated announcement over the speaker system telling people to stop pressing the call buttons unless it was an emergency. On our flight back to California it seemed like the entire cabin crew staff had a stick up their ass or a major case of "resting bitch face." I even overheard the passengers behind us complain about the cabin crew member who rudely removed the digi-player from the passengers hand as she tried to turn it off before handing it over. Needless to say we definitely missed the warm aloha spirit of Hawaiian and will not be returning to Alaska any time soon. end rant.

group photo of the c/o 2003

Conveniently we were in Hawaii during the same time as my high school 10 year reunion...damn I'm getting old. The reunion was held at Stage Restaurant with good people and pretty good food. It was a nice chance to get together and catch up with a lot of people that I hadn't really kept in touch with. It's amazing to see how people have and haven't changed in 10 years.

The next day we hiked Pill Boxes with someone I used to ice skate with and her little brother. I am nothing close to an outdoorsy girl so it was the first time I hiked anything besides Diamond Head in Hawaii. It was a pretty easy hike even for a newb like me. Probably the toughest part of the hike is going back down since there's a lot of loose gravel which makes for a slipper trip.

my favorite ladies

That night we met up with the usual suspects at MW Restaurant. Of course the food was delicious, our culinary friends were the ones who chose the place. I'm pretty sure we should always let them choose our dinner spot since they always know someone in the kitchen and we get extra special service. Even though we had just seen them the night before at the reunion it was so nice to get to catch up in a more intimate setting. With one of them newly engaged and the other with a wedding coming up in summer there was definitely a lot to talk about. It makes me so happy to see that my friends have found such good guys to spend the rest of their lives with.

The main reason for our trip to Hawaii was to ring in the New Year with my family...especially since it was my parent's year to host the big New Year celebration at their house. It was really nice getting to see a lot of my family and celebrate with them since we don't get to see them too often. After growing up on an island with my family so close, living on the mainland and being so far away is a little bit tough for me especially during the holidays. I'm so glad we got to spend New Years in Hawaii with my family this year.

Before we left Hawaii and returned to our lives in California we made a trip to North Shore to check out the winter swells and to eat our favorite garlic shrimp at Giovanni's. Lastly we met up with a couple of friends from pharmacy school for dinner at Shokudo. It was great to catch up with them over some delicious honey toast.

Although our trip was short it was great to get away and see some of my family and friends that we don't get to see very often. Already looking forward to our next trip back for my friend's wedding.

Birth Month Getaway

Hubs and I took off for a weekend getaway with another of our couple friends to Las Vegas to celebrate the 3 out of 4 of our birthdays that take place in October. All of us wanted to take a quick vacay, but unfortunately none of us could swing getting away from work for more than just the weekend. So we settled for a quickie weekend trip to my favorite vacation destination.

We got in late on Friday and went to Holstein's in the Cosmopolitan for a late dinner. Last time we were in Vegas our friends introduced us to this place. They have great burgers with interesting twits and original spiked milkshakes. It makes for a perfect go-to for a late night bite. (For a place that's known for it's night life we had a really difficult time finding places to get late dinners). After dinner we walked along the strip and made our way to Aria where we took a quick bathroom break. In the few minutes we were in the restroom hubs sat down at a slot machine with $20 and ended up with $200! Luckily this set the tone for the rest of our weekend.

L to R: Nom Nom Burger (kobe beef, cheddar cheese, and potato chips - minus 1000 island dressing) with
Black Cow Float (Coca-Cola, vanilla ice cream, cherry pop rocks, 3 olives cherry vodka),  Major slot
machine winnings

We spent Saturday afternoon doing some damage in the malls and then went to see the new Cirque du Soleil show, Michael Jackson: One. Hubs and I have been dying to see this show since it opened. As huge Michael Jackson fans and huge Cirque du Soleil fans we had high hopes for this show. The show exceeded any all expectations I had for the show. It was a great combination of dance and acrobatics. Definitely a must see for any Michael Jackson fans. I can't wait to see it again!

On Sunday we had to end our vacation and head back to the real world. But not before hubs and I hit up the new craps machines that we'd seen around the casinos. I inherited a love of gambling from my Dad who inherited it from my Grandpa. I love playing craps, but sometimes the dealers are a little intimidating; which makes the craps machines perfect for me. Jason's good luck from Friday night kept up on Sunday morning as we walked away from the craps machines up about $200. WOOT!

The weekend was too short, but still fun nonetheless. It was great to be able getaway and spend some time with some great friends. Hopefully we can do it again sometime soon.

Cruising: Oasis of the Seas

At the end of August hubs and I took some time off from work and Lulu to for some much needed R&R. We did a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Royal Caribbean boat, Oasis of the Seas. Hubs is a huge fan of cruising while I usually run luke warm on the idea...mostly because I get sea sick pretty easily. Hubs was constantly reassuring me that since the Oasis of the Seas is the largest cruise ship out there that I would be fine, but true to me of course I doubted him. Turns out like most things, he was right. I made sure that I had my transderm-scop patch, but for the most part I couldn't even tell the boat was moving.

We left for Florida on a Friday night after a crazy busy day at work followed by a crazy evening of packing Lulu up and dropping her off at the dog-sitter and a frenzied/panicked packing session by the both of us. In retrospect that was incredibly poor planning which led to a lot of overpacking. NEVER.AGAIN.

The first stop on our cruise was the island of Nassau where we checked off one of my biggest bucket list items and swam with dolphins the Atlantis resort. Okay, we didn't exactly go swimming with the dolphins, but we did stand in the shallow area and play with the dolphins. Too bad they didn't let us take any pictures with our personal camera. Instead they charged a million dollars for their pictures, which means we didn't get any. Boo. While we were at Atlantis we got to go their water park and play. They have this really long lazy river with some spots with some "rapids" which was nice so that floating along didn't get too boring. We also rode this water slide that shoots you into a clear tube in one of their shark tanks. Lots of fun.

L to R: getting ready to play with the dolphins, hanging on to each others inner tubes as we float down the river like sea otters, floating through the shark tank

Our next stop was St. Thomas. We spent a little time shopping around in the downtown area which was heavily dominated by jewelry stores. We spent some time browsing the jewelry stores, but it wasn't really anything to write home about. We mostly stopped in them to get a brief reprieve from the outrageous heat. After about half an hour of window shopping we were over it and ready to head back to the boat.

The last stop on the cruise was St. Maarten, where we did a Sea Trek and I checked another item of my bucket list. At first it made me a little anxious because the helmet they put on you feels really heavy and as you go deeper and deeper into the ocean you have to continuously pop your ears due to the increased pressure. It feel really weird at first too since the water comes up just below the helmet and it's negative pressure that keeps the water out of your helmet. The tour guides help guide you along a little roped off pathway on the ocean floor. They even give you fish food so you can feed the fish...which seems really cool but is not so cool when it actually happens since the fish have sharp little teeth. I was really excited that we got to do this since I never thought I'd be able to see the fishies so close up since I'm such a weak swimmer.

All in all the cruise was a lot more fun than I had anticipated. Between all the different shows and the excursions we did there was still lots of time for lounging by the pool and napping in our room. I think we napped every single day we were on the cruise. It was so relaxing and I'm really glad that hubs planned this trip for us.

L to R: unlimited soda cups = best accessory on the boat, obligatory towel animal 

Spring Breakers: Hawaii (Part Deux)

Here we are folks! The final post in the Spring Breakers series. *WHEW* (Bet you guys didn't think I'd get through it all, huh?) Our last stop on our trip was back in Hawaii. We flew back to Hawaii from Japan so that we could have 2 precious days to spend catching up with some of my friends before we headed back home.Not to mention it really helped ease us back into pacific standard time.

We spent sometime catching up with some of my pharmacy school friends over milk teas at Taste Tea. The milk tea was just meh...but I may have a strong prejudice due to my nostalgic attachment to the tea place I frequented during pharmacy school. Regardless, it was great to have a chance to catch up with friends.

look at all that buttery, garlic-y goodness!

The next day we met up with one of my friends I used to ice skate with. We made our way to Haleiwa for the best garlic shrimp truck, Giovanni's. This place is always on our list of places we must go to while in Hawaii so I was glad we could check it off our list.

On our last night in Hawaii we had a spectacular dinner at Roy's in Waikiki with my friends from highschool and their sig others. The only thing that topped the delicious food and awesome service was the great company. We hadn't seen these friends since our wedding so there was so much to catch up on. We were so caught up in conversation that we didn't realize we were the last people there. You know you're having a good time when you shut a place down.

It's always great when we are lucky enough to meet up with friends from so many different stages in my life. I love catching up and seeing what's going on in their lives. But most of all I love that no matter how much time has passed since the last time we've seen eachother when we do finally get a chance to get together it's as if no time has passed at all.

That finally wraps up the Spring Breakers series. Thanks for bearing through all the long posts that have been far and few between. I promise I'll try to step up my blogging game.

Check out all the stops from the Spring Breakers series... Hawaii, Singapore, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nara/Hakone, and Tokyo.

Spring Breakers: Tokyo

Oh boy! It's taken me soooo long to get through this vacation post that we're just about to get ready for our next trip. Blogger FAIL. Many apologizies and thanks for sticking around. Anyway...on with our last stop in Japan, Tokyo.

After spending the night in Hakone we took the looongest bus ride ever to Tokyo. On the way there we stopped by the Mt. Fuji visitor center in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mt. Fuji herself. Unfortunately it was a very gloomy and overcast morning so we didn't get to see her and all her glory. We also made a quick pit stop along the way to get some lunch at a rest stop. I wish the food at American rest stops was this good. YUMS!

By the time we finally made it to Tokyo we visited the Edo-Tokyo museum. They had all kinds of exibits about pre-war Tokyo. Everything was very interesting especially with our tour guides explanations of things as we walked through. One of the most amazing things there was seeing all of these intricate miniature models that were created to show what life was like back then. We also enjoyed learning how much work goes into making a traditional Japanese wood block print. So much so that we ended up buying a print for ourselves.

The next day we had a free day to spend wandering the different parts of Tokyo. Our tour guides provided us with a pre-loaded suika card so that we could get around on the JR trains and subways. At first we thought it would be relatively easy to navigate their subway system since hubs and I have used subways in other countries with ease. But the Japanese subway system proved to be a lot more complicated then we anticipated so we stuck to the JR trains instead.

As you'd probably expect, we spent our free day shopping in the many different districts of Tokyo. We started in Harajuku, but since it was a week day we missed out on seeing all the colorfully dressed teenagers roaming the streets. After shopping around Harajuku we moved on to Shibuya and then Akihabara. Lastly we made our way to the department store filled Ginza district.

On our last day our tour guide took us to Asakusa where we walked up and down the many streets lined with vendors selling yummy goods and cute knick knacks. After hubs and I shared our lunch of karaage chicken and yakisoba our guide recommended that we take a stroll the Sumida River while we waited for the other tour members to finish their shopping. We were so happy that she shared this insider tip with us as we strolled along the river lined with sakura trees in full bloom. Whenever the wind would blow we were showered with the delicate blossoms falling from the trees above. It was nothing short of magical.

With that, our tour of Japan came to a close and we flew back to Hawaii for the final leg of our epic vacation.

Missed out on the other parts of this series? Check it out our posts about Hawaii, Singapore, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Nara/Hakone.

Spring Breakers: Nara and Hakone

So sorry this vacation recap is taking me forever to finish up. Little Lulu has been quite the handful. As some of you may have seen via fb or instagram, hubs broke his leg in an attempt to avoid stepping on Lulu while he was running down the stairs. Chalk ER and doctor visit bills to the growing list of expenses she's costing us. It's a good thing she's so cute! Luckily it looks like she's doing a lot better with the potty training (knock on wood).

Anyway, when we last left off we were done with Kyoto and on our way to Nara. While in Nara we visited the famous Nara deer park. This place is so full of deer it's crazy - like everywhere you turn there's deer. They even sell special senbei for tourists to feed the deer. But take caution, these deer aren't the same as the docile deer we saw at Miyajima island. The deer in Nara are super pushy and agressive. As soon as you buy your senbei be prepared to be swarmed be deer pushing and shoving their way to the front. My mom even got a nip in the butt for ignoring the deer behind her. I was so amazed to see our tour guide bravely feed a deer a senbei from her own mouth! (Man I wish I'd taken a video of that). Either way it was still fun to get to feed the deer and pet them.

While at the deer park we visited Todai-ji, a buddhist temple known for housing the daibutsu, the largest bronze statue of Buddha. There is a supporting post inside the temple with a hole in it that's the same size as the statue's nostril. It's saod that if you're able to pass through you'll ne granted enlightenment in the next life. There was quite a line of people waiting to gain enlightenment so we watched in amusement as a large white guy struggled to get through with the help of some bystanders. And then a cute little girl who quickly and easily passed through right after. I guess enlightenment is grasped easier for children than adults...food for thought, huh?

After the deer park we took a bullet train to Mishima where we had 20 minutes to stuff ourselves silly with fresh strawberries we picked with our very own hands. Strawberries in Japan are absolutely on another level compared to strawberries here in the US. The strawberries are outrageously sweet and juicy. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

With our bellies full we made our way to Hakone. On the way to our hotel we stopped by the Hakone Sekisho Checkpoint. This was a checkpoint that travelers were required to stop through on their way to Tokyo during the Edo era. It was set up to mimic the what it would have looked like during that time.
We spent the night in Hakone and partook in traditional Japanese hot springs. It was very interesting how comfortable people in Japan are with walking around and hanging out together stark naked for such a modest country. Kind of reminds me of those times I've been in the locker rooms at the gym with the asian ladies that just walk around so casually with all their goods hanging out.

After our night in Hakone we headed to our last stop in Japan, Tokyo.

Already forgot all the other stuff we did during our epic spring break vacay? Check out our posts on Hawaii, Singapore, Hiroshima, and Kyoto.

Spring Breakers: Kyoto

Sorry for the delay in posting the next in the Spring Breakers series. We've had our hands full here with the newest addition to our family. Let's just say it's been less than a month since we brought Lulu home and we've gone through almost 2 whole bottles of Natures Miracle: Stain and Odor Remover (aka: best investment when bringing home a new puppy). Not to mention the fact that after the first week we spent over $100 and have yet to find a pen that can keep her contained while we're away at work.

After taking the bullet train to Kyoto we met up with our JTB tour group from Hawaii. We had a pretty small group of just barely 15 people including us and my parents which was nice since we got to know each other and get pretty chummy over the duration of the trip.

Our first stop in Kyoto was Kinkaku-ji, the 3 story pavillion that's covered with gold leafing. It was so pretty with the calm lake reflecting the golden pavillion. The gardens there are so beautiful and imaculately taken care of. There's even a very old tree that's pruned to perfection to look like a boat. It actually used to be a bonsai tree at one point.

top row: beautiful kimonos at Nishijin textile factory
bottom row L to R: what we started with, our finished products (hub's on the left and mine on the right)

Next we visited Nishijin textile factory where they make some fo the finest silk kimonos in Kyoto. While we were there we got to see a fashion show with some of the different kimonos they make. Then we tried our hand at making traditional Japanese sweets. We cut and roll out our mochi before filling them with different flavored sweet beans. It was a lot harder to do then I had anticipated, but it was a lot of fun to see the outcomes of everyone's efforts.

We then headed to Kiyomizu-dera which is a buddhist temple known for their huge veranda with a panoramic view of the area. At one time people used to jump off the veranda, and it was said that if you survived the fall you'd be blessed. Also located at this temple are three fountains that you can drink from. They say that depending on which fountain you choose to drink from you'll be granted health, longevity, or sucess. Unfortunately the line was pretty long so we didn't get a chance to take a sip...boo.

L to R: sakura tree in full bloom on Sannen Zaka, Inoda's ice coffee

Near the temple is the famous shopping street, Sannen Zaka. They had all kinds of delightful candy and sweets shops and stores selling all kinds of nicknacks. While we were there I stopped by the popular coffee shop, Inoda Coffee Co. for a super yummy ice coffee that was as strong and sweet as Vietnamese ice coffee. I wish we had more time to spend there, it looked like they had a nice restaurant area over looking a beautiful garden.

L to R: beautiful cherry blossom tree in the rock garden, reflecting pond, bamboo grove

Later that night we went to Kodai-ji, which is a buddhist temple that stays open after dark during spring. They illuminate several different area throughout the temple and the scenery is nothing short of breathtaking. Our photos don't even come close to doing the scene justice. It was absolutely awe inspiring.

The next day our tour guide surprised us with an impromptu stop at Fushimi Inari-taisha. Remember that scene in Memoirs of a Geisha where the little girl is running through hundreds of torii gates? (Yeah,  me neither. We had to promptly rewatch that movie when we got home). That's what this shrine is famous for...hundreds upon hundreds of torii gates all lined up through the mountains. We only had time to go through the first set, but it was enough to get a taste and snap some great pictures.

counterclockwise from the top: sake barrels, Kyoto water perfect for making sake,
cheers for free sake tasting

From there, we headed to a sake brewery. The guide told us that Kyoto was known for their good water, which is it was an ideal location for making sake. We even got to taste 3 different types of sake. Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not much of a drinker so I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the sake.

Then we were off to Nara and Hakone. I'll save those details for another post.

Missed out on the earlier Spring Breakers posts? Check out our stops in Hawaii, Singapore, and Hiroshima