We had a whirlwind of a trip to NYC this past week but we still managed to fit in a lot of fun – eating yummy food, hanging out with good friends, exploring new (to us) corners of the city, and building connections with many inspiring people.
We had a little award gala to attend (more on that in another post) and Ta’u was tight on time off from work, squeezing this trip in between his Octoberganza of work travel. Did we mention he’s been to New Mexico, California, Washington, and Hawaii (not to mention New York) over this four week period? And with a trip to Florida next week, he will have hit all four corners of the country + Hawaii within a month. Craziness. Someone’s racking up the miles. And boy are we getting excited dreaming about how to use them — you’ve got to look for the positives in a month (mostly) apart, right?
So, NYC. Well, Manhattan really. We stayed in Midtown a block from Grand Central and my favorite, the Chrysler building.
We stayed in a cute, old hotel called the Fitzpatrick Grand Central. We were put up there by the foundation putting on the award ceremony, so we didn’t pick it ourselves, but we enjoyed our stay there. The lobby was tiny, and felt very much like a family hotel. The elevator and rooms were small, but what isn’t in NYC, right? It reminded me a bit of staying in Paris (although not that small!). 
We’ve spent quite a bit of time in NYC over the years, so we didn’t have a lot on our agenda this trip. Going to the top of the Empire State Building, or out to the Statue of Liberty, spending hours in the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium, MoMA, or the Met, or wandering around Central Park are all some of my NYC favorites, but since we only had 48 hours, we decided to keep it simple. Here are a few of the things we loved on our short little trip. 
Colorful wigs for sale at every corner store, in preparation for Halloween. 
Eating ramen at Momofuku Noodle Bar. 
Walking the High Line trail – an old railway made into a beautiful raised park on the west side of Manhattan. Bright flowers and native prairie grasses were growing out of grooves in the cement pathway. Many creative benches lined the path, including recliners that slid apart (or together) on the old rail tracks. I would highly recommend taking an hour to stroll along the High Line, especially on a bright sunny day. They also have many events and art performances that take place on the trail, so look up the events before you go. Being up there transports you to another world, and even though you can see the city all around and below you, you feel like you are observing it from a wild and natural field, far far away.
We enjoyed a nice long chat while sitting on a beautiful bench looking out over the Hudson River. 
That night, Ta’u had to go and meet the other awardees, while I got to eat some of the best kimchee tofu soup in K-town at Seoul Garden with some of our friends who live in the city. Sadly, this went entirely undocumented because the food and company were just that good. 
The next morning, we had a yummy breakfast of Pumpkin waffles with an old friend of Ta’u’s at Penelope at 30th and Lexington. There was half an hour wait (even on a Wednesday morning!) but it was well worth it. Our friend showed us an epic video of Ta’u dancing a “choreographed” dance with a group of friends at a birthday party during his high school years. Ha! I’ve got to get a copy of that for our kids one day…..Then we walked back to our friend’s office in Midtown and got to take a peak at her incredible view toward Lower Manhattan where we could see the almost finished Freedom Tower or One World Trade Center. Perks of being a lawyer in NYC.
That afternoon I dragged Ta’u to the Momofuku Milk Bar for some cookies. We also got a slice of the crack pie, and tried a sample of the cereal milk soft serve. The winner, for us, was the compost cookie. 
We strolled around a bit through Midtown, finding a yummy little pizza place near the Milk bar, where we sat and watched a FedEx truck get ticketed while the guy was unloading his deliveries from the back. 
We walked back past Rockefeller Center. They already had the ice skating rink up! But we didn’t have time, or money, for a skate. 
But, if we are really being honest, despite seeing quite a lot, much of our time in the city was spent writing a grant in the hotel room (we had two big grant deadlines the day we were traveling home). 
And then I did some of this. 
And Ta’u got dressed like this. 
And we headed off to the Princess Grace Foundation USA Awards Gala where Ta’u was being honored for receiving funds to help launch our documentary, Eating Up Easter, into its first phase of production. More on the award ceremony and all the amazing and inspiring people we met tomorrow. We are getting so exciting to make this film a reality. 
