What's it like to be spending Christmas in the Big Apple? Yes, it's been a month since Christmas but I only managed to post it now. So sorry!
We stayed for 4 nights in New York to catch Christmas and the holiday sales. One reason why I love New York during the holiday season is because you can feel the Christmas ambiance everywhere you go; strangers wish you Merry Christmas while malls/stores play Christmas songs. I was hoping for a white Christmas but somehow the weather wasn't on our side and it rained instead. It was not as cold as 2 years ago when we visited.
Here are some of the pictures we managed to take. Sorry for the bad quality. I am in need of good camera to improve my photo quality.
Places to visit in New York
#1 Rockefeller Center
This is the famous landmark in New York. And when you visit New York during Christmas season, a huge christmas tree can be seen there. Many tourists and locals come here to take pictures with it.
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| The famous Radio City while walking to the Rockefeller Center |
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| Rockefeller Center & its Christmas tree |
One will need to visit Times Square. It is best to visit during night time when all lights are lit up. These lights are up for 24 hours. The crowds are also part of the tourist attraction. When I was there, it was so crowded that we could hardly walk. But the crowd makes times square even more interesting and picturesque. Try taking picture in the middle of the bright light and crazy crowd. Another good thing about here is that shops in Times Square close late at night.
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| Times Square |
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| Times Square |
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| Times Square |
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| Times Square |
There are 2 ways you can get to the Statue of Liberty - through New Jersey (Liberty State Park) or New York (Battery Park). Ticket price from both places are the same - $18 regular ticket to visit Ellis Island without entering the statue of Liberty. If you are going from New York, it is best that you reserve/buy tickets online as tickets in the counter for specific times can get sold out. Another advantage in purchasing online tickets is that that you get to skip the long line of buying tickets from the counter. Once you have visited the island, you can go back to either New York or New Jersey. Getting from New Jersey (Liberty State Park) is more convenient for me as it is less crowded and the lines are not as long as the ones in New York.
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| View from Liberty Park, New Jersey |
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| Manhattan Skyline |
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| Statue of Liberty |
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| Manhattan Skyline from Ellis Island |
#4 Woodbury Factory Outlet
Indonesians LOVE shopping and thus it is no surprise that we rented a car and drove ourselves 52 miles out of New York to this factory outlet. This is one of the better outlets as it has a number of premium stores such as Prada, Tory Burch, Tods, Salvatore Ferragamo, etc. One downside of this outlet is that it is PACKED with tourists. You might have to wait in a long line (30 minutes or longer) if you want to enter the premium stores. We went a day after Christmas (more sales) and there was just lines in almost every premium stores. urghh.
Was it worth it? Well, if you are willing to arrive earlier and leave earlier then you wouldn't be getting most of the crowds. Most people would visit the outlet in the afternoon.
website: http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=7
Food - Halal Guys
The #1 food that people has to try when they are in New York is the food from Halal Guys. You would think that this famous food would be in a restaurant. But know that this is just a cart that sells middle eastern food. They sell falafel and pita sandwiches too, but people wold queue for 30 min just for their chicken and/or lamb platters.. a huge plate only cost USD$7!
Claraaaa <3
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