[USA Trip] Day 01 - New York, New York

October 14, 2018

It's been a while since I returned from my Honeymoon this year, but I think it's time to do a write up about it! I last visited New York in 2015, and I loved the experience so much that I decided to re-visit it again for my honeymoon. New York, New York, city so fine they named it twice! We began planning for this trip by keeping a lookout for cheap airfares. Baby did some additional research to visit other nearby cities, and we decided to visit the capital, Washington D.C. In short, he did most of the preparation and planning, which I love him deeply for!

We purchased our air tickets from Cathay Pacific which had a transit stop at Hong Kong. In all, we paid SGD1500 per pax for our return tickets to New York which I felt was pretty reasonable.

After almost 4 hours of flight, we touched down at Hong Kong International Airport, around local time 5-ish in the morning. Our connecting flight was 4 hours later, therefore, we made use of our lay time to do some shopping and to eat some cantonese delights!

My flight journey to JFK Airport was about 15+ hours, and I literally felt that I was spending the whole day flying in the sky. During the US bound flight, we were well taken care of by the flight attendants, and the selection on food and drinks are wider as compared to our earlier flight to Hong Kong. They even served Haagen Dazs and Movenpick ice- cream!

On the entire flight, apart from sleeping, I watched alot of in-flight movies that I had missed out on. These ranged from The Greatest Showman, The Last Recipe, Let me eat your Pancreas, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Ferdinand. I was totally having a movie marathon.

There is a USB port at every passenger's seat, and this made it easier for us to charge our phones before leaving the aircraft. It was lovely indeed! After what seemed like an eternity, my seat-screen finally showed that I was less than 2 hours flight time away from New York! I was so happy to see that!

Pardon us >>> our shagged faces!!

We landed at JFK Airport at about 1230pm local time. Do note New York is 12 hours behind us in Singapore, hence we sort of earned a day there! After clearing the US customs, Baby purchased a monthly Data SIM Card at a vending machine which was located within the airport. The cost was USD60, which I think was okay for the 2 weeks we spent there. I tagged onto Baby's wi-fi via hotspot for the entirely of the trip! Haha!

Baby arranged the return transfer online from the airport which was pleasant and hassle-free. The shuttle bus took an hour to reach Manhattan where our hotel was located.

We made a return visit to Avalon Hotel New York which we had stayed before during our last trip! It is a classic boutique hotel which is centrally located in the heart of Midtown of Manhattan. It's just 2 blocks away from the Empire State Building, and is walking distance to Times Square, Broadway, and even Fifth Avenue!

The Avalon Hotel was our home in New York for the 6 days before we left for Washington DC. I love their Thymes Bath Amenities, and I brought a few sets home!

The temperature is cold (around 1-7C) in New York, and I couldn't believe that it was the beginning of Spring, as it still felt like winter! I headed out shortly for Times Square after checking in at the hotel.

We did some shopping at Macy's and JC Penney, as they were having Easter and up to 70% Clearance Sales.

I picked up a pair of high boots for only USD14.

We had our dinner at a popular food joint at Broadway. YES! We can finally cross out 'Luke's Lobster' from our 'Food To-Eat List! We paid USD53 for 2 Lobster Rolls, a single portion of salad and a regular bowl of Lobster Bisque. The rolls were deliciously good. Oh well, I guess that good food comes with a price tag!