New York, New York

I've been living in Valladolid for two months (round two of my auxiliar de conversación stint) and finally(!) got around to updating my blog. To get me back in the groove, here's a quick post of my New York trip. I'd only been in Spain for two weeks, when I set off. (In fairness, I had this trip planned months ago, and had asked permission from my school to take the week off). My cousin was getting married and Angela had the marvellous idea of all three of us sisters attending, so we did. That was probably the best part of the trip for me - all three of us together again. :) (The last time we were all together was probably a year and a half ago).

Sisters reunited ♥

Naturally, us being together again meant many crazy moments throughout the week.

At the High Line

At the High Line

At the High Line

Walking down the streets

 It was a jam-packed week of good company, good food, and good times. First up was the wedding of my cousin Pilar to Gabe.

Bel, Olivia, Angela, Me, Karina

Pilar and Gabe (with Martin officiating)

 It was a lovely and simple affair, and so nice to have much of the family there. I flew in from Spain; Pilar's family, Bel, and another aunt and uncle flew in from Manila; we had a cousin living in New York; plus cousins from Washington D.C., Virginia, and San Francisco.

Family at the wedding

More family

 Ange and I also got to brunch with an aunt and uncle living in Philadelphia who had come to New York for the day.

T.Pam, T.George, me, Ange

Being with family was pretty much synonymous to one thing: food. We spent the week hitting lots of restaurants with my aunt and uncle. Click through for links to the restaurants' websites, all highly recommended. :)

My first dinner in town - The Smith. I surprised myself by ordering the flounder (I'm not a huge fish fan), but it was because I wanted to try the sides - spaghetti squash and a polenta griddle cake - which did not disappoint!!

The night before the wedding we had dinner with all the family in town at Peking Duck House. Chinese food is always a winner. Plus, we had some drinks before heading to dinner so Karina and I may have been a bit tipsy.

After the wedding, close to midnight, we were starving, so we hit up Smith & Wollensky for some steak. My aunt and uncle frequented the place so many times during the week that the manager insisted on putting our family's name on a plaque and giving us free dessert.

Post-wedding porterhouse steak

Our free dessert! (Crazy eyes me)

 Speaking of steak, one of our best meals had to be at Peter Luger. Steak cooked to perfection.

Excited to eat!

Check out the aptly named Holy Cow Sundae

I know I live in Spain, but I can't resist Spanish food, especially when it's delicious, like this paella from Socarrat. FYI, socarrat is the crust that forms on the bottom of the pan when cooking paella, or as the restaurant likes to call it "the result of a paella cooked to perfection."

They also make a good sangria and have a good selection of tapas

At one point during the week I was craving Japanese and rice (yes, two weeks in Spain and I already miss rice), so we had dinner at Shinbashi. We didn't realize how big the tempura orders were and ordered one each.

For our last diner in New York, we dined at Les Halles. I decided to give my stomach a rest from all the meat I've been eating throughout the week and went with the grilled salmon and fingerling potatoes in a light citrus sauce.

It wasn't all 'fancy' restaurants for us the whole week. My sisters and I checked out some New York favorites such as The Halal Guys (which actually recently opened in Manila)...

...Momofuku for the cereal milk ice cream...

...Artichoke Basille's Pizza (so good. Also, I could eat pizza everyday for a week)...

...and grilled Mexican corn at Café Habana.

I also met up with some good friends Ria and Lew who were on their honeymoon (haha) but made some time to meet up with me.

Lew, Ria, me

We had brunch at Clinton Street (I'm still dreaming of that maple butter syrup),

and popped by Katz's Delicatessen...

...famous not only for its pastrami sandwiches but also for Meg Ryan's famous fake orgasm scene in "When Harry Met Sally."

The sign hanging from the ceiling pinpoints the spot where Sally was sitting

While we did spend much of our time eating happily, we also explored the city. There is just so much to do in New York, which always makes for a good time. We hit up The Met, checking out the European paintings, modern and contemporary art, and the rooftop garden.

Rooftop garden with the Manhattan skyline

The MoMA is another favorite and must. Their temporary collections are always amazing, plus they have some of Monet's water lilies and my favorite painting, Van Gogh's "Starry Night".

Matching with Monet's lilies

We dropped by the Cooper Hewitt museum which had a temporary exhibit on Pixar (on view until August 2016). It was small, but really interesting.

Pixar: The Design of Story

Bel and I also decided to check out the Museum of the Moving Image which is free on Fridays from 4-8pm. It's out in Queens, but worth the trek. Tt was an amazing museum with lots of interesting information plus interactive stations. I definitely recommend it if you're a film fan.

We made our own stop motion film!

No trip to New York is complete without some Broadway. We tried our luck at TKTS, and snagged front row(!) tickets to Fun Home, a Tony Award-winning musical based on Alison Bechdel's memoir.

One afternoon, Bel wanted to take the ferry, so we caught an the free ferry to Staten Island. As we were boarding the ferry, we wondered why everyone was on the right side when the left side was so empty. Not thinking much, we headed to the left side and were able to sit down. Of course, it turns out that the Statue of Liberty is on the right side! Haha. We got off at Staten Island, walked around just a bit, then boarded the ferry back to Manhattan, this time making sure to stay on the correct side. And we were rewarded with this beautiful view of Lady Liberty and the sunset.

New York, I truly love you. Hope to see you again soon.