Your M&M's dream come true

Personally, I was never much of a fan of M&Ms even though I do like things with peanuts and chocolate, much prefer Asian types of desserts like mochi or festive kuih's (cakes/snacks).

Then again, when you see billboards in Time Square like these, how can you resist? This is definitely one of the largest M&M stores I've been, and definitely a must see. I literally stood there for a minute to watch the colorful M&Ms advert board snapping photos of it in broad daylight. What a tourist :P

And you know you're in NYC when you see this! That's one hell of a sexy version of the statue of liberty :PAnd this is the world's biggest wall of M&M collection, of any color and versions. I've seen white and dark chocolate ones, and even ones with almond and hazelnuts. I was oblivious to other merchandises at the store given this huge array of variety to choose from.

They even have M&M country packs too, with them packaged nicely according to country colors in a nice gift set. Maybe a good idea for rugby/football matches ...


But the only thing that brought down my defense and made me succumb to this M&M mania is this Shrek mix, i.e. 'Ogre sized peanut M&Ms'. Man, that was a great snack before trotting off to watch Bourne Ultimatum :)

The Inner Child In You

Being in NY for a few days kind of dries up your desire for any more fashion sightseeing. Strange you might think, but walking pass so many Ralph Laurens, Abercrombies, Coach and even Zaras, I think I'd seen enough of clothing range to be able to write a 8,367 word essay consisting purely of clothing brands in NY.

Hence, it's time for something new guys :) It's time to feel what's it like to be a kid in NYC, hehe. Definitely a more refreshing perspective after doing too many window shopping in shops that things you admire but know will never buy :D

So what do kids in NYC do? First thought was to visit toy shops, and here is one smack right next to the Apple Store, which we'll come to later. This is FAO Schwartz, a posh looking toy store for kids and serious toy collectors. It has every single popular toy imaginable ... e.g. soft toys of all sizes,

toys for those musically inclined, like this life size key board where kids hop about to the sound of music ...
to Barbie fans ....
Lego mania ...
and some Potter magic! These are life size figures built from Lego sets, pretty neat yea?

Apple Store was next. Definitely a hip and cool place to visit. Apparently the Apple Store is opened 24/7. It's a basement floor building, but I was keen to check out the iPods and of course, the iPhone! Pity I didn't take any photos downstairs, but iPhone is one pretty impressive gadget I must say. The only down side I see is that it's quite difficult to type , and also it's rather ergonomic shape makes it a rather slippery phone to have. Cool but not practical, to me at least.
Another picture of Time Square at night! There's nothing in this world like that place, comes alive at night time with those multicolored bright electronic boards full with adverts, feels like Hong Kong in some ways ...

Back on 5th Ave!

So, I finally passed all my exams yesterday! Woohoo, my life is back (for the moment), before I start work on Wednesday, hehe :)

It's back to the New York story, this time along 5th Ave in continuation of the (mostly window) shopping spree...

Here's the large Disney store along the street, filled with every imaginable kind of stuffed toys you want, yes, there's Mr Donald and Shrek in there too. It's about time I started growing up and out of these, :P

Any of you a 'The Apprentice' fan? Here's the exterior of Mr Trump's Tower. Had lunch inside too on the last day before I left. Definitely an air of sophistication which somehow leaves you in awe as you see the display of jewelry and other merchandises. Music at the bar was great too (it was Frank Sinatra's and other musical-y songs, suits a Sunday brunch for me!), though food wise wasn't that impressive, so let's not waste too much time on that...

More importantly, I managed to meet up with a good pal HH, who is working in Tokyo now, was there was training at the same time too! Yes, Japan! It was cool catching up with him in Little Tokyo, keeping each other updated of what has happened so far in the past 1-2 years since he left uni, and of course, life and work in the land of the samurais.

Dinner in Little Tokyo was even better! The place was near Aston Place on the green line, where Little Tokyo is situated. Humiliatingly, my Japanese reading skills has deteriorated that I can't read the name on the sign board as it's only written in Japanese. Nevertheless, that and the presence of many locals eating there is definitely a positive indication :)

And we were spot on! Can you believe this big mug of Asahi/Japanese beer just costs $3? HH was definitely a happy man munching and drinking away, haha

I had my first try of Oden, which according to Wikipedia, is a "winter dish consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs. daikon radish, konnyaku and processed fish cakes stewed in a light, soy-flavoured dashi broth." The yellow condiment you see by the side of the bowl is Karashi (Japanese mustard).

To me, that's the Japanese version of 'Yong Tau Foo', a common Malaysian dish consisting of various fish cakes or vegetables/tofu stuffed with fish cakes, boiled fish paste dumplings etc, in a flavorful broth. I loved the Japanese version too! It's the ultimate comfort food

And we had few other dishes too! The glutton in us resurfaced especially since everything was relatively cheap in US dollars, effectively 50% off compared to London! Stir fried yakisoba was good as well, not too oily or salty. The beer definitely made me regret stuffing myself silly, happens after the weeks of deprivation of Asian food :S

It was a friend Sasha's birthday a few days later too! Visited the Grand Central Terminal, a majestic looking subway station, which looks best at night with the beautiful chandeliers lighting the large hall, with many restaurants and shops in it too. Amongst them is the ever famous 'Oyster Bar', and (duh) as the name suggest, seemed famous for their seafood and oyster selection. We decided to go upper class, celebrating her birthday with a glass of champagne with a couple of fresh oysters.

Geez, you must be thinking, but its fun acting like a posh snob sometimes! What's life without a bit of fun and giving yourself a little treat?

New York, New York

Phew! Finally had some time to settle down and post up my American trip ... Thanks for being so patient. I've finally got over my jetlag, yet got caught in preparation for some regulation exams, and in fact still have not shifted my stuff fully.

Glad to be back in London, but starting to miss the buzz of NYC whilst training there! And of course, all the new found friends I've made :) I've only been in NY for 9 days in the whole of my trip to US, and hence we definitely made the most out of our short time there. Hehe

First night arrival in NYC after classes in Princeton, headed straight to the Hudson hotel. It's a pretty cool concept for the hotel, which looks and feels like a bar in the first place. The reception was pitch dark with small glimmers of light from the chandeliers, adjoining to the hotel bar/club, and there was no hotel sign outside saying 'Hudson Hotel' even, that I'm surprised the cab driver knew where to take us!

Anyways, by the time we settled down and went out for dinner, it was near midnight, and I've passed my hunger stage such that all I could stomach was this salad:

Taste wise disappointing, though slightly interesting presentation of it. Perhaps it was rather late for the restaurant to have freshly prepared chilled salads with good dressings.

Meanwhile, this is a typical scene taken outside my hotel, near Columbus Circus subway station. It's right next to Central Park, and just thought that a picture of the ubiquitous yellow NYC cabs are interesting :)

After a late Friday night out at the Hudson bar, miraculously I managed to drag myself up at 9am to go shopping with some friends at Century 21, which seems to have pretty good discounts, a place near Ground Zero/Wall Street. Here is a picture of the construction area near Ground Zero, pretty dusty I must say, especially on a humid day.

Macy's was up next, as it's apparently the largest departmental store in the world. Lunch was at the food court there, which has a wide array of selections. Always thought that food courts are the best places to check out what local specialties a place has to offer. As I was browsing through the sections, I saw this Pasta Board, which has Pasta a la Vodka, LOL. Not very appealing after a late night out full of that :P Interesting nevertheless

Dinner was at this place near the hotel called Landmarc, a place for good steak and REALLY NICE atmosphere. It was quite dark, but lit with dreamy yellow lights and candles. Food was great too, but unfortunately the food pics didn't turn out nicely due to dark light conditions. But I managed to get this chicken dish M had as I was trying out my new camera's zoom, and it turns out pretty good except for the odd glass at the left. :P

The next few days we were shifted to The Benjamin Hotel on East 51st Street. Seems like a boutique hotel with little rooms but classy decor. Can you believe that they actually have a 'PILLOW menu' for you to try on?

Time for some touristy stuff, and Rockefeller center was on the main agenda. This picture probably didn't do the architecture justice, as the building is pretty tall, but cut midway in this picture to show the beautiful waterfall and restaurant/bar they had at the basement.

C had a Caesar salad as she was 'detoxifying' after another late night out again, haha. A salad finally up to par I must say. Even the simple tomato basil soup I had was made to perfection, doesn't taste like it's out of a can, accompanied by freshly baked breads and mini madelines.

Food pics are rather scarce during the first few days in NYC as people were hungry and I couldn't snap their food photos in time, and of course, taking pictures of food was so foreign to them that I had to explain several times! More coming up next on my New York escapade!

Ba Back Real Soon!

5 weeks have just absolutely whizzed by, and terribly sorry to all my dear loyal readers for the month's disappearance as training have been absolutely busy. So to speak I just got back from the classroom, and it's nearly 1am now.

Yet, fear not, I've so much to show and so much to tell about this US trip, despite being in Princeton 90% of the time. I certainly did make the most out of the weekend road trips, without, hopefully, jeopardizing the exam performance of this regulation test I have to take by next week.

US is great, but still I can't wait to go back to London to settle down in a new place and finally get used to the new surroundings and worklife. Eeks, I'm feeling old man :P