Early August, the fiancé and I went to New York to visit my sister and her boyfriend! We literally were only there for 2 and a half days, so the trip was a whirlwind. Despite that though, I felt recharged and my heart was so full from it.

We left for New York on Friday night after work — our flight got delayed so it wasn’t until around 1AM on our end that we managed to take off. That meant all our plans had to get shifted a few hours, but it was still alright as the morning plans for our first day were loose.

We arrived to my sister’s at 11:30AM ish. Her place was lovely and the lobby was super fancy. The last time I visited New York, we had to stay in New Jersey because hotel costs were so high. Glad we had a place to crash at!

Day 1 started off with us heading to Pop Up Bagel for some freshly made hot bagels! Along the way to the bagel place, we passed by a VC funded grocery store??? It was called Pop Up Grocer and looked cute—which was what initially drew me in. It was so fancy and we left with free stuff that costed more than the stuff we bought?? We bought some fancy tinned fish and these perfect strawberries. And they gave us 2 cups of cold brew and 3 full-sized packs of these Clevr Chai Tea SuperLatte mixes that retail for like $30 each??

Bagels were amazing though. Especially since we dipped them into the cacio e pepe butter that we also got from Pop Up Bagel.

Next up was a stop at Chinatown. My sister insisted I try out the rice rolls from this one cart. It was sooo good. But it was also super hot so we had to gobble it down and then go to a nearby supermarket to cool down. We also went to Canal Street Market to get a snack and a drink as we walked around the small shops inside. I really wanted this pair of sunglasses in a street vendor. It was a pink/blue ombre one and I thought it was so pretty. Upon picking it up though, I realized it was plastered with “GUCCI” on the sides and on the top. I really wish they kept it plain so I could’ve bought it :’ )

Following Chinatown, we went to Crab House for all you can eat! Weirdly enough, this was the most expensive place out of all the places we ate at during our New York trip. And the least…worth it? While you can get all you can eat crab, seafood, and more, the service was super slow and they kept forgetting our orders. Which meant we ended up not getting as much as we’d like. Don’t get me wrong though, we were still amply full. The steak and the scallops were really good! I was a bit lazy with deshelling the crab so I didn’t eat as much as I probably could have.

After stuffing ourselves at Crab House, we headed over to the McKittrick Hotel for Sleep No More. Oh my GOODNESS this was an amazing experience. We bought tickets for the 8PM showing, and it lasts 3 hours. During those 3 hours, guests would run around five floors of the hotel following different characters and plot lines. The whole thing was kind of spooky, but it was live theater like I’ve never experienced. Guests are given out masks to wear and we looked on as the actors played out a retelling of the story of Macbeth. I highly recommend this experience, but also suggest that you at least get a CliffsNotes understanding of Macbeth before going so you can get a better grasp of the show.

After the show ended, we then took an Uber to Junior’s Restaurant for some late night cheesecake. But most importantly, we wanted to debrief our various different experiences at Sleep No More. It ended up with us madly scribbling on a napkin and trying to recount what we saw. All of us saw different things, discovered different secrets, and by piecing together the experiences we were able to get a more holistic view of the story itself. My fiancé and I managed to stick together for much of this. But my sister got separated from her boyfriend almost immediately because the elevator host forced them to get off at different floors for the beginning.

After a long day, we went back to my sister’s place and slept the night through.

Day 2 started off with us visiting a flea market! The market was cute, but it was also mostly outdoors so it was hot. I was very tempted to buy a vintage glass poison bottle, but it was $80 USD and I had to reconsider. Still was very cool though!

After the market, we went to Zabar’s and bought bagels, lox, cheese, and smoke salmon to make our own smoke salmon bagels. These were heavenly and we inhaled it. I’m not sure I ever felt hungry during my entire trip. We had food back-to-back in most cases.

Speaking of which, after bagels, we headed over to Thirteen Water for our omakase meal. The omakase was so delicious! All 4 of us rated it the top meal we ate during this New York visit. While some omakases focus on plain fish, this place wasn’t shying away from garnishes or trying unique things with their sushi. We had torched foie gras, truffle, lime zest and more on the nigiris we were given. I don’t think those ingredients were used to hide subpar fish or anything — in fact, you can still taste the amazing toro or other cuts of fish through all of it. It really made for a fun gastronomical experience.

After lunch, we then went to go… eat more. We hit up From Lucie and Le Phin for some afternoon snacks! We also burned some time walking by a local park, and visited a Japanese stationery store. But soon enough it was time for us to head to our next stop!

We took the subway to Times Square and headed to Al Hirschfeld Theatre to watch Moulin Rouge! I’m not sure how I feel about jukebox musicals, but it was still a fun experience. It was funny when the actors would say some keyword and then burst into a rendition of some Katy Perry or Lady Gaga song — my sister and I gave each other many amused looks. I ended up crying nonetheless as the entire cast came out for their bows.

After the show, we managed to go to Raising Cane’s to try their chicken and fries. I was very curious given all the hype. And I mean, it was good fast food chicken? But also not spectacular? I dunno. Their mascot was so cute though!!

Right after fast food fried chicken, it was time for a little more elevated experience. Michelin starred Korean barbeque at Cote! We got their Butcher’s Feast and had a yummy assortment of meats that they grilled for us at our table. We had American wagyu, and while it was good, it was a far cry from Japanese wagyu. They gave us little jars of salt to take home after which was neat!

The last day of our trip was a Monday and while the fiancé and I had the day off in BC, my sister and her boyfriend did not. We occupied ourselves with activities until lunch. This included us visiting Magnolia Bakery, Times Square again, making a trip to the Nintendo store, and getting skewers from street vendors (I had this amazing shish kebab! And it didn’t give me stomach pains!).

Before heading back to my sister’s, we grabbed some pizza from Joe’s Pizza so we could all have one last lunch together. I had a mishap here where I bought way too much pizza. To the point where the cashier asked me “Mama, are you sure?” But I paid for it and was too pressured by the growing line behind me. We ended up eating a fair amount of the pizza at my sister’s! And they froze the leftovers.

My sister’s boyfriend had to go on a business trip so he left after lunch. She took the fiancé and I on a walk around Central Park. But soon enough it was time for us to head to JFK airport so we could catch our flight.

It was so nice just catching up and being silly. I missed my sister and her boyfriend loads, and really needed a break from work. While the trip was short, it was very special ❤