Back from the Big Apple. It was a good, non-touristy type of trip. Did lots of eating though. Arrived Friday morning at JFK and took the subway into Manhattan. Manhattan in the early summer feels very different from early winter. Oh well, it was freaking muggy out there (humidity very similar to singapore), plus the heat. GAH. Very uncomfortable walking up and down the streets. Anyway, got to yr's office, picked up the keys to her place and then went there to take a nap. Hate these 5 hours coast-to-coast overnight flights. It's difficult to sleep for 5 hours.

After some sleep, got up, got out and headed for 5th Avenue for shopping! I figured with the shitty weather, the amt. of clothes i had with me wasn't going to last very long. Bought new berms at H&M (Cheap!) and then wandered off to the new Apple store. The one with the glass cube facade at street-level, and the store is actually recessed into the basement. Really cool. After that, the skies broke. It rained very hard. VERY very hard. Akin to a heavy thunderstorm back home, it went on for about 2 hours, flooding the streets of Manhattan. Shockingly poor drainage. Headed to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), saw a sequence of paintings by Umberto Boccioni: Wiki Entry that i really liked - States of Mind. View the paintings here under 1911 States of Mind: The Farewells, Those Who Go and Those Who Stay.

Dinner was at this moroccan cafe - Cafe Mogador. I had bastilla. Described as layers of crispy pastry leaves with shredded chicken lemon flavored eggs, almonds & cinnamon. Although it tastes like chicken pie with interesting flavours. Then we went to this really quaint place "Sympathy for the Kettle". Essentially a tea shop that has so many types of teas. Small though, with only room for 4 tables. Great place for a post-dinner chat.

Saturday. We got breakfast at the Hungarian Pastry Shop, right by Columbia University. Walked round Columbia, then headed down to SoHo. Chanced upon the building portrayed as Grace's office in Will and Grace (i have photo of it). Then we had dinner at a vietnamese place. Had a bottle of red in a wine bar and then walked into a couple of small bars/clubs, including one that's called the KGB Bar. Rather neat.

Sunday. Grabbed brunch at this sandwich place that sells vietnamese sandwiches - think char siew style meat in a baguette, with sliced carrots, cucumber and coriander. Very asian-french. Yummy and cheap though. Walked round Chinatown and Lower East Side, before grabbing the airport shuttle back to JFK. Where the lovely flight was delayed by around 2 hours. Very exciting huh.

Took just a couple of photos in NYC, which will be posted. Including photos taken at Niagara. Dratty exams starting this friday. So this weekend would be downtime for studying.