New York

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

@kylagurl: New York is a name of city and a state. The City of New York is made up of five boroughs/counties: Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens (Queens County), The Bronx (Bronx County), Staten Island (Richmond County), and Manhattan (New York County). People don't really use the county names though unless they're filling out some sort of government form. Actually..., I think that's the reason why Manhattan is written New York, New York in addresses. But then why don't I write Kings, NY for my return address? Hmm....

@jest2: When Domino's Pizza had those Brooklyn style pizza commercials on tv, my out-of-state friends would ask me if it tasted anything like real Brooklyn pizza. It does *NOT*. Maybe you should try the real deal if you're ever around Brooklyn. Pizzerias vary from restaurant to restaurant though.

If the Empire State Building's in your itinerary, feel free to hit up Koreatown to grab a bite to eat, which is like one or two blocks away. Don't expect anything like Chinatown though. Our Koreatown is only one block long. LoL. Korea town is a block away from Manhattan Mall if you're in the mood to shop.

Over around the Fashion District, there's a Japanese Curry restaurant chain called Go!Go!Curry.

Definitely check out Chinatown if you're interested. Unlike the other Chinatowns in the world that are sorta... "dressed up"(?).... I dunno. I see it like Waikiki is the closest thing to being in Japan without being there, and NYC Chinatown being the closest thing to China without being there. Crowded as hell in the daytime (If you got kids be sure to hold on to their hands!). Lots of fobs. Dirty and smelly. Lots of bootlegged stuff (Check out the "designer" t-shirts with the Fruit of the Loom tag =P) I love CT, but that's just how it is. I haven't been to Elizabeth Center in the longest, but downstairs is where the kids usually hang cuz there's anime/game stores down there.

There's Madison Square Garden, but our Knicks suck. Even if you rode on over to Jersey the Nets suck also.

If you go over to the East Village, you'll find a lot of Japanese restaurants and 2 conbinis (JASMart, Sunrise Mart). Over on East 8th or East 9th street you can find an authentic Takoyaki/Okonomiyaki/Yakisoba shop. It's hella small, but that's actually quite normal in Japan.

There's a Japanese used bookstore chain called Book Off in Midtown on E 41st between 5th Ave and Madison Ave. Japan has a lot of these stores in Tokyo although the New York one doesn't sell video games like they do in Japan. They do carry an extensive library of movies and CDs which is all dedicated to the main floor. The top floor is all manga and the basement has the novels and non-fiction books. The best thing about Book Off is since they're used, they're sold at very cheap prices. It might be a good alternative to ebay or importing in general. For Japanese manga, it's the best. $3-5 for used manga that often doesn't even look used. Either way, you get to check out its condition firsthand before you decide to buy. Some people read it right there like a library -__-;;

1 loooong block away from Book Off (gotta walk past the library and Bryant Park) is Kinokuniya Books, another bookstore chain based in Japan with a NY branch. All their stuff is new though, but recently last year, a very famous mangaka, Inoue Takehiko, handpainted a mural of one of his manga series "Vagabond" on their walls. I wish he had done Slam Dunk! Doh >_<

About Bryant Park... they offer free wifi there, so if you want to go on the net and you're around there area, skip the Starbucks (or go there and take your latte with you) and make yourself comfortable to one of their many public tables and chairs there. Problem is it might be cold there this time of year.

East Midtown also has a lot of Japanese restaurants too but they're a lot harder to find and some tend to be too pricey. I guess they're more catered for the Japanese business people that work around there, especially since several Japanese tv station branches are located there. FujiTV is somewhere around hmm... E 52nd, 53rd or something. But it's not like you can get a tour around there or anything like in Japan. Strictly business. Hideki Matsui lives at the Trump World Tower during the Yankees regular season (as does Derek Jeter).

Check out the NBA Store over at 52nd St and 5th Ave if you're into basketball.
If you're into baseball and wanna buy Yankees or Mets stuff, try to AVOID buying stuff from the Yankees Clubhouse or Mets Clubhouse stores. They're tourist traps. You can find a lot of the same stuff at cheaper prices at a sporting goods store like Modell's.

Whenever you're thirsty in Manhattan and wanna grab a soda or something like that, *try* to find a nearest Pharmacy/convenience store like Duane Reade, Rite Aid or CVS before going to a corner grocery store. Grocery store prices are sometimes double the convenience store chains. It's also one of the cheapest places to buy cold beer in Manhattan lol... Great place to stock up on a trip that might need a lot of long waits on lines.

Soho is walking distance from Chinatown if you wanna shop at trendy stores. There's even a Uniqlo there which is a Japanese clothing store comparable to Gap and a store environment like H&M.

If you plan on using public transportation, definitely consider buying an unlimited ride version of the Metrocard (not pay-per-ride). That way you can ride as often as you want to without spending too much.

Half an hour away from NYC is a tiny Japanese mall chain called Mitsuwa in Edgewater NJ. There's an authentic Taiyaki shop there so that's pretty cool. Those microwaveable taiyakis are nothing like the real thing. They redid the whole place a few years back so now there's specialty restaurants there too like a Ramen shop (complete with the wax food window menu like in Japan lol and natto if you want it), Korean BBQ, etc.

There's a Yoshinoya (japanese gyudon restuarant chain) around Times Square across the street from the Empire 25 movie theater and Port Authority. Try to stay away from the McDonald's in Times Square cuz they're overpriced. The Hell's Kitchen area is around there too along 9th Ave. It's a nice place to find a place to eat because there's so many choices.

A friend recommended me this seafood restaurant that he went to with his wife one time called One Fish Two Fish (website:http://www.onefishtwofish.com/) but I keep forgetting to check it out since it's always been out of my way (Upper Eastside, where rich folks live). Supposedly, it's really good.

Hmm... there's Ground Zero you can check out -__-;; But right by there is a popular discount clothing store called Century 21. Walking distance from there is a popular Electronics store called J&R Music and Computer World. If you've always ordered stuff from them online, you can check out there store in person.

There's an Official Nintendo Store by Rockefeller Center, along with the NBC Studio store... LoL... if you're one of *those* tourists, you can get your camera-whore on when they film the Today show. Make a sign that says you're from D-Addicts o__O;; hopefully NYPD won't find you suspicious of being a drug addict... or a terrorist -__-; (every little weird thing here associates itself with terrorism one way or another ever since 9/11)

Gah... what else... I dunno.. maybe I'll stop right here. I've typed way too much already anyways.

Oh!!! Try not to attract too much attention with gadgets and stuff (especially PSPs, and ipods) during the late night hours (like midnight and later), especially if it's a place with not a lot of people like an empty subway car. You might get mugged. Some lines, like the Q, N, and R lines are pretty safe at all hours of the night, but still it's better safe than sorry. I'd personally avoid the Bronx too because it's kind of ghetto. Bronx Zoo and Yankee Stadium are the only things I can think of worth seeing, but the Yanks don't play at home til April.

Try to avoid rush hour on trains cuz it's dreadful riding with school kids. Some of them just don't know how to act!!

Have fun in New York!!

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:23 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:12 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:01 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:46 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

kusmog :
That's a comprehensive post.
Really appreciate it.

I'm taking some notes and preparing.
Your advice is great!

One small question . . . (might seem silly) . . . but planning to travel light on clothing.
That means might have to do some laundry.
Hotels will be extraordinarily expensive but is there any place to get clothes clean?

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:50 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0

jest2: as i have done some business traveling, some hotels (especially extended stay places) have free laundry service. other hotels have a cleaning service where they contract out to a laundry service - you put your clothes in a bag, they take care of it and charge it to your hotel bill. and other hotels have at least coin laundry machines in the hotel.

it yours does not, the cheapest option would be to find a coin laundromat near to your hotel. don't be afraid to call the front desk and ask for options.

Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:29 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

for anyone near the nyc area (boston, dc, philadelphia, etc), there is a current price war between the various bus companies that travel to these cities. you can find $1 prices to ride some of these buses. some companies with discounted prices are: boltbus, buszoo, etc. a friend of mine let me know, and i thought i'd share the info.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

it really amuses me as to how many people think that new york city is all of new york, considering how tiny it is geographically compared to the rest of the state....also the fact that it isn't the state's capital, yet everyone thinks it is.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:39 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

angel: i don't know how i missed your post. Crazy

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:03 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

NYCer here. I live in Queens and go to school in Manhattan. My area of Queens is nice and quite for the most part. There are some accidents at times, since I live right off a major blvd. From my house to Manhattan, it takes about 1 hr by bus+subway. That is, if they're running regularly.

Like many people have said, Manhattan is like any other city. There's the upper class section, the cool/hip section, and then you've got Chinatown and Little Italy and so on and so forth.

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:08 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0