Our first week away in October was spent in New York City with our dear friends Aoife and Cian along with big Huss and our favourite travel companion Biggles! We were very lucky to stay with our friends in their apartment in West Village, Manhattan.We pretty much ate our way through the city streets and hit up Laughing Lotus Yoga Studio. One of the best ways to see the city that NYC offers is the CitiBikes which can be rented for $10 a day as long as you swap bikes every 30 minutes. Be warned, you should check the maps first for where the racks are located on your route because there might not be any bikes or you get lost like we did and ride pretty much from 47th all the way to 71st/Central Park and miss going in to the park! We also spent a day at The Museum of Modern Art admiring all the cool things people regard as art these days and staying sheltered from the cold. I was most impressed by a boy who was about 14-15 walking around MOMA with a sketchbook and pencil case. He was practicing his art and replicated different pieces with just a pencil and he was very good!
Our top favourite places to eat-
Frank's Restaurant - best italian recommendation from our now new yorker Mr. Watson
Red Farm - Funky fusion in a cozy setting. Anything from the dim sum menu will be to die for while the rest of the menu I think was okay for asian style fare.
Ready To Eat - Freshly made, delicious take away for breakfast, lunch or dinner! These guys made us a little sample pack of all their roasted winter roots for the price of one small box along with the rest of our order.Best Pizza - NO JOKE. This joint is located just over the bridge in Brooklyn and serves up the hottest slices and subs. While you're there say hello to our friend Danielle and look for our HK Decorated plate on the walls.
Eat At MAD SQ. - If you're lucky enough to be there at the same time we were, eating at Madison Square Park is the way to go! Lots of food stalls from MoMoFuku Milk Bar, Calexico Tacos, to independent eats that haven't made it to a restaurant location just yet. Our favourite would have to be the empanadas and korean tacos.
Next we head off to Toronto to spend some time with the Cheungs and catch up with Irish friends who drove up from Chicago. I also get to sneak off to yoga and bloody caesars with my sister in law while the guys are on babysitting duties. Food in Toronto will always remind me of my up bringing, mom's home made soups, my brother's totally amazing culinary skills and the best japanese and korean food around.It was such a shock to see the Queen St. Food court of the Eaton Centre completely renovated. My parents owned a deli there for nine years while I was growing up and it always brings back so many memories when I go downtown. It's serving up a much healthier array of fast foods and the interactive tables and floors will keep kids busy for a while.
We had a great two weeks celebrating my nephews' birthdays and visited Ripley's Aquarium of Canada that opened up a month before we arrived in the heart of Toronto. It was such a cool place to visit and take my nephews. Lots of interactive things to do and see and worth every penny! While on the topic of animals, I also got to reconnect with my first puppy Shaggy, who is now 12 years old and will be turning 13 on Jan 1st, 2014. She is still the same and I was so happy to have had an evening with her!I also watched my grandmother recover from a fall that paralyzed her left arm and legs for six weeks. It's incredible how the body can heal and I am so grateful to have been there to see her use her legs and her arms and her hands over those fourteen days!
I was able to reconnect with two people who really were my teachers at those critical teenage years when you're defining and learning who you are or want to be as an adult. There was so much gratitude in those lunch dates and they were a reminder of my struggles and my successes!
Toronto will always be my first home, a place of growth, a shelter of love and family.
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