USA (New York City) Itinerary - Day 1: Grand Central Terminal, St Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller and the Print Restaurant

I made a trip to USA with Zg, Stef and King in April this year. We spent a couple of days in New York, flew to Orlando for our amazing adventure in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios and Disney's Magic Kingdom, sailed to Bahamas on a Royal Caribbean Cruise before ending our trip in exciting New York City. 

It was very much an adventure; one of the longest trips I had taken so far with some of the best travelling buddies ever. Stef and King did much of the planning while Zg and I tagged along happily. I have to say I have the lowest utility out of the four since I can neither drive (I have a licence but it is seriously just a card) nor navigate. My biggest achievement was possibly instagramming the most during the trip which is... not the most useful skill. So, thank you for being patient, kind, adventurous, and so much fun to be around for 2 weeks despite the cold, the rain and the lack of sleep.

So here we go with Day 1!

We walked from our apartment at Kips Bay to mid town.

Chipotle for lunch. Burritos!

Grand Central Terminal. I love the architecture in this place. Intricate carvings, high ceiling, cavernous corridors, antiquated ticketing counters, chandeliers. The terminal basks in a warm orange glow with a sprawling Apple shop overlooking the hustle and bustle in the central atrium. Everybody is on the move here, striding purposefully in all directions, which makes one feel almost guilty to stop.

Rockefeller. Flags from all countries unfurled and fluttering in the wind. The weather was generally gloomy and foggy when we were in New York with only one day of bright sunny weather. We tried to get tickets to Top of the Rock on that day but the queue was frighteningly long! Lesson learnt. Despite all that was said online about it being unnecessary to book tickets to the Rock in advance, please do. 

St Patrick's Cathedral along Fifth Avenue. Despite the large number of tourists inside the cathedral, it was remarkably quiet and the tourists generally do not enter the pews. 

Dinner at Print Restaurant in the Ink48 Hotel in Hell's Kitchen. Lovely neighborhood which is close to all the crazy action in the city, but quiet enough for you to think. Stef made a reservation online and we were ushered to our table quickly. I ordered the Grilled Black Sea Bass which came with leeks, potatoes, shrimp, manila clams, roasted tomatoes, chorizo, saffron broth and cilantro. The grilled black sea bass was very fresh and well-grilled and I love the succulent and juicy prawns and clams. The broth was yummy too. That said, the food was not mind-blowing. Print Restaurant came highly recommended online with several websites claiming that it was one of the best restaurants in New York City. Perhaps because we were starting to feel the exhaustion from our 24 hour flight and all that walking around mid-town in the day, the food, whilst good, did not live up to the hype. 

We had drinks at The Press Lounge (rooftop bar at Ink 48 Hotel) which I would not recommend.

Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15 are up!