New York City – Page 2 – ThePassportPrincess

Day 41 – New York City (8)

September 22, 2015November 26, 2015SarahLeave a comment

My final day in my favorite place!
I have been waiting years to get to New York and now that I’ve been I don’t want to leave. 😥

However, from a tourist point of view. You can defintaly get alot done in 1 week.
I saw Central Park more than once, I experienced taking the Subway, I saw the lights in Times Square and spent my money in the stores. I travelled to the Top Of The Rock, ate at the Chelsea Markets, walked the High Line and lay in the sun on Coney Island. Not to mention had dinner out in Brooklyn and went past Jersey on my way to JFK airport. (Which by the way does look exactly like the Jersey shore from MTV)

It’s all been a wonderful 8 days but now it’s time for me to take my Iceland Air flight to London (with a quick stopover in Iceland on the way)

I woke up at a respectable time this morning. The girls in my dorm room always get up early and drippy phone girl makes the most noise! She slams her locker closed, rustles everything really loudly and talks to her mate in NOT a whisper.
It drives me insane.

I got up and washed my hair, did my make up etc… and packed my bag. It kind of ended up looking like this

So not quite closed…
I had breakfast with Alicia this morning at the hostel cafe (bagels again suprise suprise)
Then we walked to the post office together which was thankfully down the road.
After talking to the rude lady at the counter, I bought a box and put what I thought was 6 pounds (3kgs-ish) in from my backpack.
Alicia went to go weigh it and I could tell by her face it was defintaly over 3kgs. It was 6kgs!
I really don’t see how clothes can weigh that much 👿
I did have my old pair of nikes in there though and my small hairdrier and a pair of heels.

I ended up taking the heels and hair drier out and ended up getting a different box from a different lady which made it about $15 cheaper.
I didn’t get to send my magnets back home but currently on their way to NZ are pretty much a bunch of clothes that I really should have just thrown out. I think the postage was worth more than what was in the box now that I think about it.

I have a hard time parting with stuff unless I’m in a I-dont-care kind of mood.
At least I had room in my bag to zip it up! I think when I get to London I’m gonna throw out the travel hair drier I never ended up using. All the places I’ve stayed at have hair driers, plus the voltage is shit and it barely blows out any air. My ugly platform shoes can go as well (Even though they’re incredibly comfortable) they’re just so hideous. And they’re not looking so clean either…

At some point along the way I’ll buy a duffle bag and add it to my luggage but for now I’m not doing too bad…

After the post office experience, Alicia and I headed off to Sephora where I bought another bottle of fake tan. I’ve only just run out woohoo! That big bottle lasted me ages.

By 1pm I thought I better be on my way so me and Alicia said our final goodbyes 😥 and I hopped on the subway to Pennsylvania Station.

Alicia is defintaly one of my favouritest people I’ve met along my travels. We must get along because we’re both from Wellington haha. She’s moving to London though so hopefully we’ll catch up when I’m there!

It was a bit confusing once I got off the subway in Madison square Garden and finding the Pennsylvania Station but I got there eventually after asking like 3 different people.

I had to get off the Amtrak at Jamaica and then take the JFK airport train take terminal 7.
I was super early. I was so early in fact that the Iceland Air counter wasn’t even open 😯
I had like 3 hours to pass, which went by really quickly actually. I ate at subway and wrote a blog. Re-organised my suitcase on the airport floor and took a picture in the bathroom.

Haha!
By 5pm, I checked in and I asked the lady if I could choose my seat. She said no and when I looked at my ticket I saw I’m in seat 32c.
Not just the aisle seat, but the BACK of the plane as well. This is like my nightmare. Back of the plane = lots of turbulance. Aisle means I don’t get to see NYC lit up at night :'(:'( either.
I hate this so much.

And my flight from Iceland to london, I’m in the middle seat. I’m not loving Iceland air so far… Air New Zealand would never do this to me 😐

Also JFK has been a disappointment.
I couldn’t find a MAC store when I came through security into duty free. OR a Victoria secrets store. I asked one of the counter staff and they said all that kind of stuff is over at terminal 4!!!
I wouldn’t even be allowed in there because my flight doesn’t depart from there.
So I saved some American money and purposely didn’t spend any more at Mac so I could buy make up duty free. 😥
Instead I bought a Buttermilk chicken burger meal deal from McDonald’s and a reese’s mcflurball.
What a disappointment.

The mcflurry was good though.

It’s 7.30pm now and I don’t board till 8pm. I’m going to try and upload this blog but to be honest it probably won’t work until I get wi-fi in London. I get like no internet reception at JFK!!

I don’t have a UK SIM card either so will have to get onto a travel SIM or something when I land.

Lots of love,
Your little passport princess x

Day 40 – New York City (7)

September 21, 2015November 26, 2015SarahLeave a comment

It was my second to last day in New York City, so what else is there to do but shop!
With my luggage I don’t think I’m ever going to be over – weight because I literally cannot fit 23kgs in the bag. That’s the only regret I have with getting my backpack, there’s just no room for anything!

I started off my morning with a bagel in the hostel cafe (one of my included breakfasts)and then set off for Times Square.
On the way to the Subway I said goodbye to Miriam (from Germany) as she was leaving that day to go home.
I’ve become a subway pro I swear. I’ve only been in NYC for a week and I can now shut my eyes and listen to my music on the subway without fretting about where my stop is.
#suchalocal

When I got to Times Square, I had a look in the Levi’s store and contemplated getting a nice pair of Levi’s jeans.
I’ve actually never owned a pair of Levi’s in my life.
1. Because I hate how uncomfortable jeans are and
2. Because I’ve never ever found the ‘perfect’ fit of jeans.
They either fit my legs really well but can’t fit round my stomach (so I feel like a hippo) or they’re just too baggy in places.
I did find a pair at the Levi’s store that fit really well. The only problem was the lighting was really dark in the changing rooms so I bought them anyways but I’m really hoping the look okay! 😦

I also went to this store called Aeropostale which sells really cheap clothes that are still nice. I ended up getting a checkered shirt. They’re absolutely everywhere here so I think they’re defintaly going to be the new winter fashion next year.

The only reason I was buying lots of warm stuff is because my next stop is London and apparantly it’s cold and rainy there at the moment 😦 all I had was Summer clothes in my suitcase.

I had a look in H&M but wasn’t really keen on anything after I’d tried on 8 items and got foundation on one of their white tops. Woops.

Victoria Secrets however is a whole different story. I had to walk a few blocks to find it but when I did you couldn’t miss it!
It was 3 stories and apparantly one of their biggest stores in New York. They also had the PINK store in there too. (Which is another brand of VS)
I spent quite awhile in there. I really wanted some Pink tracksuit type pants so got these dark grey – ish ones and a top to semi-match.
I also got 3 x pairs of gym pants and also really yellow fluro top to match. Which I now kind of wish I didn’t buy coz I don’t think it suits me. The material clings in places I don’t want it to cling 😒

When I was finished my shopping for the day, I decided to go to Applebee’s to eat some dinner. I hear about this place in the Empire State Of Mind song and also as just a generic America restaurant so I decided to check it out.
Meh…wasn’t really a fan of their menu so went to TGIFS instead for dinner.
Table for 1 please!!

When you’re by yourself guys are much more confident to flirt with you I swear. My waiter asked if he could sit with me and then at the end asked for my number haha. It must be an american thing!

The food was really good though. I had free re-fills of my mango and passion fruit drink and I had really nice nachos with sour cream, salsa and gaucomole. Yum!

When I was done, I took the subway back to my hostel and tried to re-arrange my bag with my new purchases.

I didn’t really even buy that much stuff. Just clothes really and some conditioner as I’d run out.
Alicia came to my room and watched me as I packed, then we headed off for a final Ben and Jerry’s get together before I flew out the next day!
And yes, we had another 2 scoop sundae with caramel sauce and whipped cream. Aaaahhhh. We’re just as bad as each other when it comes to Ben and Jerry’s. 🍨🍧

Day 39 – New York City (6)

September 21, 2015November 28, 2016SarahLeave a comment

This was one of my favourite days in New York so far!
After having another bit of a sleep in (I know I can’t help it! 😴😴) I finally dragged myself out of bed and headed off to Central Park.

On the way, I remembered to make a phone call to this lady in Washington DC who’s also a kiwi. She’s been a nanny in America for like the past 7 years and loves it. She actually helps girls through an au pair agency get jobs over here but she hasn’t done it in awhile. I inquired at this au pair agency online a few days ago and they contacted her about me. So yeahhh.
We had a chat about what I had to do to work here, what it all kind of involves etc… so she’s going to send me some info and then I’ll decide what to do when I eventually get home. It’s still just kind of an idea at the moment.

After I got off the phone, I walked towards central park and then came across a street of shops I’d never seen before! It had Sephora and Whole Foods and was only like a 5 minute walk away from the hostel. Why did I not know this! 😣
I immediately went to whole foods as it was lunch time by then and I was a bit hungry.
After being very indecisive and looking at all the food like 5 times, I decided I was too poor and not hungry enough so left without buying anything.

(Side note: as I write this, the girl above me in the bunk in my hostel – her phone is going off like every 30 seconds with THE most annoying noise. It’s like the sound of a tap dripping and it’s driving me insane. Not to mention every time she moves her bunk screeches like anything. I want to kick her.)

Carrying on…
After my Whole foods fail, I went across the road to this sports store and looked through all their Nike shoes. I was going to buy 2 pairs but ended up deciding on these ones. For $59

Finally I was on my way to Central Park. There were lots of people there as they were doing a big walk for people who have Down syndrome and their families. They had a big fair set up as well which was pretty cool.
I found a nice spot in the grass and had a bit of a lay down. I listened to my music and rested my eyes which was nice.
I think I’ve pulled a nerve (can you even do that? Maybe I mean pinched a nerve) in my leg from all this walking so I didn’t go for a big central park walk today.

I was messaging NZ Alicia while I was at the park and we decided to meet up at 5pm to go up the top of Rockfeller Centre. By this stage it was after 1pm so I went down the road and had some Subway for lunch and then TOOK the subway to Times Square haha.

I had found this hair extension place online so went in search of it. I have hair extensions and they were nearly at the stage of needing maintenance done (which means they lift them up higher to your scalp again) and luckily this place was able to do them!!
I’m so glad I found them as it’s difficult finding a place that does the same method as what’s currently in my hair. It was more expensive than what I pay back home but at least I got them done and won’t have to worry about them for the rest of my trip.

When I left, it was about 4.20pm and I didn’t realise how far away I was from the rockfeller. It was good I had my running gear on so I half walk/half ran to meet Alicia and Miriam at the Bottom of the rock as they had my ticket.
We had booked it for 5pm so I got there with 3 minutes to spare.
Me being all sweaty, took the lift to the 67th floor with them and it was defintaly worth the $30.

The Rockefeller Center is actually a combination of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st streets in New York City.
It was created by the Rockefeller family, in Midtown Manhattan between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.
The part that we went up is called 30 Rockefeller centre. Also known as 30 Rock. It’s 70 stories high and is home to the Observation deck (Top of the rock)
It doesn’t take long to get to the top in the elevator. But when you do, the views are just incredible. I’d love to see it in the winter time.
I even said to one of the girls, my future husband needs to hire out this entire observation deck and propose to me on a beautiful evening. Hahaha (just incase my future husband is reading this, there’s a hint)
But please, be careful not to drop my Tiffany ring.

There were a few people up there but it wasn’t overly crowded. I think they only let a certain number up at once.
The only thing though was it was a bit windy so my hair was blowing all over the place which didn’t take for a great picture 😯 not to mention I was sweaty from my run and my hair needed a brush haha.

But I did get some great shots of Central Park itself. It’s crazy how big it is! And it’s right in the center of a city. Crazy.

There’s more pictures on my Facebook if you want to check it out.

I think we stayed up there for like 45 minutes, maybe more. Even though you’re only meant to spend 15.
I even put my earphones in and played Empire State Of Mind by jay – Z and Alicia Keys to really get into the zone. Haha.

When we got back to the streets, we decided to go out for dinner to this Indian restaurant that Miriam found on Google maps.
On the way there we took some pictures at the LOVE sign NYC has.

When we found the restaurant, we saw that they had a special for $17.99 where you got an entree each, a main curry, rice and a dessert which we thought was a great deal!
It was really yummy and the Mango Lassi’s were only $2.50 score! I love them

With our massively full bellies, we finished our meals and headed off to take the subway home.
Even though it was a Saturday night, I was so knackered I didn’t even open an alcoholic drink.
Instead it was time to charge my phone and write a blog.

It’s currently Sunday night as I write this and I really must go to sleep. I have to check it of here by 11am tomorrow as I’m off to London! Woohoo.