27 February 2014

NYC wrap up

Now that the attack of the midterms is over for a brief amount of time, here's to wrap up the New York trip.

Food Highlight
Along with Wild Edibles and the super awesome food truck food on the first day, Sushi Zen was an amazing experience. We went with the omasake menu at the sushi counter (always sit at the counter), which was 12 pieces of sushi along with a roll (6 pieces). Those were glorious.

Sorry no pics cause I was too busy eating, also felt awkward taking pics in front of the chefs.
Black throat was my favourite fish, also happened to be the most expensive. Our chef showed us one fillet of the fish, which they fly in from Japan since it can only be caught there, and said it's roughly $100. Comparatively, sea urchin was like $60 a box? Other favourite fishes were marinated tuna (which I liked more than toro) and swordfish. Overall I prefer creamy to chewy fish, though sea urchin is way too liquid-y.

Also the banana pudding from Magnolia is so good. It's descendant enough without making you feel guilty haha.

Sightseeing
Not much of that happened. It was nice walking along the promenade in Brooklyn and seeing the Manhattan skyline from the other side. Would definitely do more of sightseeing in the summer, disappointed that I couldn't visit the High Line park due to the crappy weather. Times Square was also underwhelming, Dundas Square is similar enough haha.

Shopping
Surprisingly not too much of this either. Bought some basics at UniQlo, and rest was all spent in Brooklyn.
Uniqlo heattech is pretty good considering how thin it is. I think it performs on par with thicker knit leggings, but still not a competition for fleece-lined ones. It also doesn't block the wind, which is the actual problem in Toronto. Would be good pajamas though.
Fifth Avenue was alright, super happy that I found Burberry's lip velvet in Peony Rose at Saks! Also tried on a bunch of unaffordable shoes there. Other shops can all be pretty much found in Canada, and with unfavourable currency exchange rate, mostly just window shopped.

Haul from Brooklyn (&lipstick, love the colour so much):
Baggu pouch & shopping bag / Mast Brothers Chocolate
What's sad is that we went to Williamsburg (the belly of the hype beast as the staff at 3B called it) on President's Day, which is a holiday when some shops are closed. Some shops just happen to include both Baggu and Mast Brother Chocolates. Had to come back on the morning of departure just to buy these.
The chocolates are delicious though. Bought 2 single origin bars as they had samples of them out and each chocolate actually taste distinctive different. One is quite floral-y and the other citrus-y. Same with the fish at Sushi Zen, each piece of fish taste distinctively different, unlike most sushi chains where everything is a single texture and taste.

All in all, this was a rather reasonable trip in terms of spendings. Now when to go back...

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