Exploring West Village

I’ve decided that I’m very particular about which parts of NYC I like; Manhattan is at the same time too industrial, crowded, commercial and touristic. What I really enjoy, is exploring the Village. With Derek’s recommendation, I took the subway to West Village (where the famed the Magnolia Bakery is located) and spent last Saturday afternoon browsing boutiques and grabbing small bites of delicious appetizers.

Some interesting shops on 14^th St. include Bookmarc (Marc Jacobs’ bookstore, lined with fashion coffee table books as well as Marc Jacobs tech accessories and stationary), Comptoir des Cottoniers (a French women’s wear brand that is rare to find in the U.S) and Murray’s – which I am irrevocably in love with. Derek also recommended visiting Rag & Bone and Jack Spade (for men’s wear.) But back to the subject of Murray’s cheese and sausages. As you see below, Murray’s offers a mouth-watering array of cold cut meats and allows customers to sample a variety of cheese and meats without any commitment. The catch is that you have to wait in line for about 20 minutes; it’s completely packed on weekends. It’s well worth the wait, though – and to prove it, I’ll admit to you that I bought a total of eight dried sausages.

For dining, a fellow meat lover recommended to me Buvette on Grover Street – which I visited on my last night in New York. It’s a thoroughly French restaurant, complete with French waiters and waitresses, a tremendously long wine list and incredible coq au vin. Besides, a full meal here only cost me $20. The same woman also told me to visit Traif in Williamsburg. Apparently this word, “traif”, means non-Kosher – fittingly, as the restaurant only serves pork and shellfish. Finally, for a cheap lunch, there’s always the deliciously sinful Five Guys burger on Grove Street, take a look:

A Brief Escape to the Big Apple

I decided to spend a few days in New York for the three-day break and will be chronicling my New Yorker adventures in the next two posts. It's the first time I've traveled alone for pleasure (mostly, I fly to study or intern) so it's been an interesting experience.

A note of utmost importance to anyone planning to travel during college breaks: if you don't have a car, you must book your taxi ride at least three days in advance. I called multiple taxi services the day before I was set to leave for the airport and they were all full at my desired time of 4.30 in the morning! Solution: ask my friend to borrow his car and be very grateful that (the incredible and most loyal) Ben offered to get up at 4 in the morning, hike up to North Campus with me and drive me to the airport. At the very least, we were able to have a nice chat while trekking up to North Campus and spend a bit of time together in spite of our hectic schedules. A few hours later, I arrive at Jetblue's sleek and convenient T5 and hopped into a cab, not having anticipated the long ride into the city during rush hour.

Later that evening, I attended a performance of The Road to Mecca by Athol Fugard - my absolute favourite playwright. I had originally intended on watching The Book of Mormon on Broadway, but got to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in time to see that there was a long queue for the standing section and cancellation tickets were only available for $150 after a 2-hour wait - and off to The Road of Mecca for me!

If you have an iPhone, I highly recommend getting the NYC Subway App and using the regular 'map' app provided with the iPhone to get around. Urban Spoon is also a useful one to find good restaurants, although it did once lead me to a restaurant that had already been shut down. In anticipation of my travels this summer, I also downloaded a couple other public transport apps; TT BAires for Buenos Aires and London Tube.