Are you really surprised that I made my way to NYC this year? This year’s trip was a bit different though (with some of the same elements per usual). Why was it different? Because I didn’t go by myself. This time, I went with my brother (who had never been) and my bestie from Chicago (who had been once and really, really didn’t like it). And then, there was me, who used to live there and had been many times since moving away.

There were 3+ people on this trip. The other people would be meeting us there. Rachana had a cousin that lived in Long Island and we made a new friend from Chicago who would be there at the same time. Whoo fun times are for sure to be had in NYC. I won’t get to see everyone (so sad), but I’ll get to see some.

Some people say 5 days in NYC is more than enough, but it’s really only like 2.5 days. Our itinerary ran Friday night to Saturday afternoon. Tourist days were really only on Sunday and Monday. So here’s the rundown of the fun times:

Friday – dinner and sleep (some of us worked a half day, some of us were drunk, and some just had a long week). We had dinner at Chimu (my fave Peruvian place and it was in Williamsburg and close to the apartment – bonus points).

Saturday – BBQ with the homies. My NYC crew are part of some of the first people I ever met when I got to NYC. It was fantastic to see all of them to be able to reconnect. We even have had a new member as well as 1 that was on the way. Who knows how many more will join us in the future. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for all of us!

Sunday – Tourist Day #1 started with brunch in Tribeca at the only fully Lao restaurant I know in NYC, Khe-Yo. We even got to say “hi” to Chef Phet and Sue even joined us. After that, we were headed uptown to check out an exhibit and, in general, MOMA. Rachana’s cousin Shasheen joined us for this adventure. I’m still going to go ahead and say it, sometimes modern art really makes no sense to me. After MOMA, we were headed off to Central Park. There’s always so much going on in Central Park, but I love it. Then it was time to head south towards dinner, but first a quick stop for a drink and to kill some time. Dinner was at Izakaya Juraku and it was so good! We weren’t quite ready to turn in so we headed back uptown for a nightcap at Jasper’s Taphouse (froses, soft pretzels and fries were at the ready).

Monday – Tourist Day #2 started off with a “work out”. We took to climbing the stairs at the Vessel before it got too hot out. Also, today was theme day…and the theme was PINEAPPLES! After our workout, food was a necessity. A quick visit to Washington Square Park and then it was off to Nami Nori (one of my fave sushi places). Next stop was the ONE World Observatory…and yes, we were going up. It has good views and it’s a good experience. After place tourist, we took a walk down to Battery Park and then hopped on the Staten Island Ferry for a better view of the Statue of Liberty. Then, it was up to Chinatown for snacks and refreshments before heading up to dinner at Soju Haus, which is where we had more delicious food and even got ourselves a free bottle of soju. Of course, this lead to going out for karaoke and more drinks.

Tuesday – Our last day in town was, more or less, a day of recovery for some. We manage to do some laundry, pack and make it to lunch in the city. Lunch took an unnecessarily long time. And it was good, but we’ve definitely had better.

So, that was our trip to NYC. I can’t wait to get back to see some of the other things that didn’t quite get checked off the list. And of course, I always look forward to seeing and spending time with my friends.