Reasons Why It's Fun To Visit New York City During Thanksgiving Holiday

New York City is one of my favourite cities in the world. There are plenty of things to see, do, try out, and definitely worth coming back for.

Last year, hubby and I had the opportunity to spend the Black Friday Season but have missed the Thanksgiving and the Macy's Parade by 1 day. It was a last minute decision because I thought my vacation leave wouldn't get approved. I am glad I was allowed to go but it had derailed a lot of plans in the process. Still, the last minute decision paid off even if we didn't get a chance to take the flight our of Dubai on Thanksgiving.

Getting around New York City especially at this time of the year when it's getting cold and there are plenty of chance to experience the Thanksgiving time is an experience I lover reliving.

Here are some reasons why I find visiting NYC during Thanksgiving fun:

1. It's Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving is one of the most popular holidays in the US. It has been around since the early 1800s and is considered an official holiday in the US. Experience the hospitality of your family and friend when you visit during this time of the year.

Aside from your relatives and friends' hospitality, you can smell home-cooked goodness from a mile when you're around during the Thanksgiving holiday. What's good about that? A lot! If you have family and friends to visit, you will be entertained endlessly and fed with delight to showcase their home-cooked turkey dishes and other staples during Thanksgiving.


2. Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

This is one parade that I have not watched yet in the flesh. It is in my bucket list to watch the live parade but when we visited last year, we didn't get to watch the parade because flights were full. We could only fly to the US on Black Friday which is another reason why it's nice to visit NYC during Thanksgiving holiday.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade has been around since 1924 and is one of the most watched and attended parade in the whole of US. You can watch plenty of colourful participants walking down the famous thoroughfares of Manhattan.  You can expect to see musical numbers, dancing and singing, colourful costumes and floats,  and the famous and humongous helium-filled balloons that the marchers hold while the walk in the parade.


3.  Visit the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park

Bryant Park is one of our favourite park to hangout when visiting Manhattan. I like the laid back feel of sitting there, watching the birds being fed, enjoying a hot cup of coffee on a cold day, reading my mails in my gadget using the free public wifi available around NYC, and most especially, during this time, check out the Winter Village set there.

The ice-skating rink is open and buzzing with lots of skaters especially towards the afternoon until evening where the place is alight with plenty of Christmas lights.

Aside from the free ice-skating rink, there are more than a hundred shops to visit selling Christmas wares and other crafty stuff and when you get hungry, there are numerous food kiosks to choose from.

The place can get very crowded towards weekend and after school and office hours. So, if you want to enjoy the place sans the crowd, go there during off-peak hours. The shops will be open until first week of January only.


4. Black Friday shopping

Another favourite past time of mine! I love shopping so this will come as no surprise because Black Friday deals are my thing.

If you don't dig going out of town then retailers and shops in Manhattan are open to cater to the discerning tastes of the consumers a.k.a. the savvy shoppers.

Can you guess what's inside those bags?

Enjoy huge discounts during the Black Friday sale but be sure to get ready to work your way through a throng of people just to get a certain item. Hubby and I avoided that scenario so we opted to visit the outlet mall. However, we anticipated the difficulty that we would encounter if we had to head back to Manhattan so booking a hotel for a night nearby was the best decision. Traffic was horrible and it was difficult to grab a cab. Good thing, the hotel was just 10 minutes walk from Jersey Garden. We got it all covered.


Thanksgiving Holiday in the US is one experience I will never forget. You can skip the shopping if you are not into spending money but because the deals were too nice to resist, we took advantage while we were there.

Review - Element Times Square by Westin in Manhattan

Element Times Square by Westin is the second property we have stayed in during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday holiday last November/December 2014.  I liked this hotel in some levels but had to be very objective with my findings.

My husband and I booked a King Room for $358 without taxes for 2 nights via
Booking.com.


The property belongs to the Westin group of hotel chains and it is very chic and modern. However, not all properties are free from any imperfections. This hotel has some flaws too. Read my review below:

What I like:


The very comfortable bed! The firmness is just right and I slept like a baby even when there were revellers in the nearby pub.

The property is chic with modern amenities.
The long vanity desk.
The hi-tech phone and flat screen TV that boasts plenty of channel selections.

It has a fully functional kitchenette complete with microwave, top cooking range, big refrigerator, dishwasher, percolator, kitchen sink with faucet and running water, utensils with wine cork-screw, pots and pans and chinaware.

The bathroom is very spacious and clean.

The big closet complete with pressing board, flat iron, safe and mini-drawers.

The complimentary coffee, tea and water.
The grab-n-go breakfast. They don't have a wide selection but the sandwiches are enough to satisfy your morning hunger pang and they also serve cereals, juices, coffee and tea. You can get many sandwiches as you like too.
The complimentary coffee and tea at the lobby area where guests and visitors can warm off while waiting for their friends or transport.

The friendly, fast and efficient staff. I even borrowed a duct tape from one of the staff because our luggage broke and we had to do a quick fix as we were leaving that day. The nice lady staff searched in their stock room and lent me a full roll quite happily who even assured me that it was okay to be used. I hope I have taken down her name to commend her personally.
Fast check-in and check-out.
The location is fabulous. We were walking distance to the subway station, Times Square, Madison Square Garden, Port Authority, situated in the Garment district of Manhattan.
Pets are allowed upon request.

What I don't like:
I was almost at the point of giving this hotel my highest rating of 5 stars however, towards the last day of our stay, upon checking-out actually, I saw few hotel staff unload "heaps of garbage in huge, clear plastic trash bags" from one of the lift used to serve the guests of the hotel. What's very disturbing was, it was in plain view; it was done during the afternoon (approx. around 4-5 p.m., there were plenty of guests waiting in the lounge for their airport pick-up transportation or just plain lounging and I was one of them). I looked at the other guests' reactions and they were as surprised as I was, perhaps, even shocked because I was thinking, maybe they could have done it discreetly around midnight or wee hours in the morning when there are no people in the lounge. Another thing that put me off was the manner the hotel staff (I think there were 2 of them) handling the thrash bags from the guest elevator were throwing them on the floor and I could hear glass bottles shattering. They were doing it hastily. I was thinking, maybe they wanted to finish fast so the guests wouldn't see much of the fiasco. But too late. Damage had been done. If anything, cleanliness is one of my primary criteria in rating a hotel, hostel, or even a budget accommodation. It doesn't really matter if your property is posh or no-star at all but if it's clean and follows sanitary standards then I can overlook the other flaws of the property.

Another thing I didn't like in this hotel is the extremely slow elevators. We were billetted in the 9th floor. It took my hubby and I around 15-20 minutes to get in a lift. We had to go to the higher floors because there were barely available lifts passing our floor.

Lastly, the noise level of the nearby pubs could be heard even from our 9th floor hotel room. It was loud but I was just too sleepy to mind. Even then, if you stayed in the lower floors, then it would be louder.


Price:  $358 without taxes for 2 nights


Meal plan:
Breakfast on the go


Nearby attractions:
Times Square
Madison Square Garden
NBC Studios
Rockefeller Center
Port Authority
Bryant Park



My recommendation: 4 out of 5

I still give this a 4-stars rating per my recommendation because of the location,  the friendly and very accommodating staff, the comforts of the room amenities and the comfortable bed and the kitchenette that saved us mega bucks from dining out. This hotel is perfect for those who loves to go to the nearby Times Square and business travellers. Families and also those with pets can also enjoy this hotel as they allow pets.



Element Times Square by Westin is located at 311 West 39th Street, Midtown West, New York, NY 10018, U.S.A. If you want to check availability and book this property, please book at Booking.com or search for other hotels in Manhattan below:

Search for hotels and rates here:   Booking.com

Disclosure:
This hotel review is my personal review. I have paid for this stay and in no way sponsored by the property nor Booking.com. I just love to book via Booking.com because I always find a very competitive rate or great deals when compared to other booking sites. My opinion is 100% mine and may vary from yours.

Review - Hotel St. James in 45th St. in Manhattan

We spent the weekend in Manhattan last 7 to 10 February, 2014. I am very happy with the choice of hotel this time because it was smack in the center of Manhattan, near major attractions on foot and groceries and deli shops are everywhere.

Hotel St. James is a rustic hotel in the center of Manhattan and has been in operation since 1972. It is located at 109 W. 45th St. between Broadway and 6th Avenues. It is housed in a pre-war 12-storey building. It has 145 guest rooms and has gone through major renovations.




What I like:

• Location! I can sometimes overlook the price of the rooms per night as long as the location is well within the areas where we will usually frequent like Broadway, Times Square, St. Patrick's Cathedral, The Rockefeller and many more. All of which are walking distance from this hotel. There is a nice delicatessen beside the hotel called Cranberry. Nice place to buy your food or dine without breaking the bank.

• Free wi-fi on all floors and you can connect instantly without the need for password.

• The price is very reasonable as I got a good deal from Hotels.com.

• The staff on duty allowed us to check-in even before 11 a.m. and check-in time is not until 3 p.m. That's good customer service for you!

• The customer service is commendable. The folks at the concierge are very accommodating of my queries and courteous too.

• Our room was big for the three of us and it has 2 full double beds.

• My daughter (15 yrs old at the time of check-in) is still considered a child so no extra fee collected and no need for extra bed.

What I don't like:

• The lifts are very slow considering the age of the hotel. We were given a room on the 11th floor and getting there take a while. The waiting time to get in a lift is slow.

• I didn't see any aircondition duct. I may be wrong but I looked everywhere in the room for an a/c duct. We're glad it was winter when we booked our room and the temperature was -8 Celsius on most nights but what if it was summer?  I only saw a small radiator.

• The carpet was not cleaned properly by the housekeeping. The small pieces of paper we left from the previous night were still on the carpet even if the housekeeper already cleaned the room. On the last day of our stay, the housekeeper even left the bundle of small blankets on the fireplace mantle below the tv. Who ever it was who cleaned the room didn't bother taking them out of the room. The 2 long maroon pillows for each bed were found on the side of the dresser and they housekeeping left them there twice. I had to pull them from the side of the dresser next to the bed. I just don't get it why they have to leave the pillows there. 

• The bed was not properly done. It was just fixed but the blankets were not tucked tight like how other housekeepers do in the other hotels we have stayed at before. I find the housekeeping a bit lousy and yet, we left tips inside the envelope they left on the dresser each time we wanted the room cleaned.

• The window blinds didn't go all the way down. It was not the right size for the window.

Room type: Standard double bedroom with two full beds

Meal plan: No meal plan included  in the room rate

Price: US$ 309.99 with taxes for 3 nights (I saved 49% on this booking via Hotels.com)


Nearby attractions:
Times Square
Broadway
The Rockefeller
Grand Central Station
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Central Park (less than a mile and you can take the subway. There is a nearby subway in this hotel.)


Facilities:
24-hour concierge
Business center
Library
Left-luggage facility
Accessible bathroom
Tours/Theater tickets assistance
Limo or town car service assistance
Climate control / air conditioning (but I didn't see this in our room)
Premium TV channels
Hair dryer
Pressing board and iron
Daily housekeeping



My recommendation and rating: (5 stars being the highest)
I considered 2 important factors in my recommendations and rating for this hotel: location and value for money.

I can overlook the issues with the housekeeping because I can always suggest from the management to improve that aspect but location and price per room per night are important factors I consider when booking a hotel. I do see myself booking in the same hotel when we visit New York in the near future.

Yes. I recommend this hotel for families and business travelers. I'm giving it

 

You can find more information about this property by visiting their website.

Disclaimer:
I was not compensated to do this review. My opinion is 100% mine and may vary from yours.

To book this hotel or other hotels in NYC, check out great deals here: Booking.com

Freezing New York in February 2014

I love the cold season but not the freezing one where the temperature dips to negative. We were in New York from Feb. 7 to 10 for a short winter break. I checked the temperature and knew it was below 0 for all the days that we would be there. I didn't know how cold a -4 to -8 Celsius is until we were there.

We've been to NYC countless of times already but mostly during spring and autumn. This winter was the first time we visited the freezing and cold NYC. I could feel the bitter cold piercing through my down jacket even with my thermal sweater as an additional layer of clothing. I wore my thermal leggings as well underneath my jeans and yet, I could have sworn, at one point, I couldn't feel my buttom already.

One thing I liked though, my daughter and I enjoyed watching the falling snow. It was a first time for us because it wasn't snowing when we visited Niagara. It was just flurries but this time, it was snow and I could touch it for a fleeting second. Too bad, we couldn't make snow angels because it's not possible. But, seeing all these wonders of nature is a dream come true.

Freezing New York is the least of my favorite time to visit it. I still prefer going around on low 5 - 10 Celsius because that kind of cold will be bearable for us. So, are we visiting NYC again during winter time? Maybe but I will bring thicker jacket next time!

Frigid Cold in NYC

Oh no, not another kind of Arctic cold sweeping the US again and our trip to NY is coming very soon. Much as we all want to play with snow, touch it and run around the snowy field, I think we don't like that kind of frigid weather right now. I don't think our winter gear will hold up.

I hope this weird Polar Vortex version 2 will be over soon. We just want to enjoy chilly but not freezing NYC!

NY Snow in February

We wanted to see and touch snow. That is one of the reasons why we're flying to New York in few weeks. We are hoping for snowfall, albeit na blizzard or hale type but snow that we can touch.

snagged from Accuweather.com today

I checked Accuweather.com yesterday and I am so happy to see that on the day of our arrival in NYC, there will be snowfall in the afternoon. And then there will be rain and ice on Feb. 9. I am so curious about the "ice" thing. I hope it's not stormy. We've been traumatized by Hurricane Sandy last year.

I'll be checking the weather forecast every week until we leave for NYC. We just want to make sure that we have enough winter clothing to keep us warm because I have heard that the weather right now is absolutely crazy and cold due to the polar vortex.

NYC This February 2014

I posted my travel goals for 2014 and I mean all that. I know, serious money issues will be taken into consideration. So, all the more I have to work hard in blogging. LOL!

Well, the first trip this year is in one of my favorite cities in the world - New York City! We never get tired going there. Everything is  convenient. You can walk around the block, ride the subway, take a cab or even use a bike. It doesn't matter how you go around the NYC but it's easy.

I have already booked our hotel in 42nd St. in Manhattan near the Port Authority bus area since we will be heading to New Jersey as well on Feb. 7.

My daughter is praying for a nice snowfall (not the blizzard one please!) so she can enjoy the last hoorah of winter. I don't mind. My boots will come in handy!

So, NYC again this time and hopefully, the next trip will be either in Florida or San Francisco by spring. If not, Tokyo, here we come again; just in time for the Sakura festival.

Travel Packages From NYCtrip.com

New York City offers unique attractions that make it a great travel destination any time of year. The only challenge is to have a schedule that allows you to see as much of this great city as possible during your stay.

New York City Vacation Packages has many packages that let you create an itinerary that is ideal for you. NYC travel packages from NYCtrip.com can help you find the best hotels, entertainment and other attractions when you visit. You can plan weekends where you see the New York Yankees, visit the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero or see a popular Broadway show. You can plan a romantic weekend in the city, a shopping tour or a holiday themed getaway. If you want to travel to New York with friends, family or co-workers, you can also set up a group tour with NYCVP. Packages help you save money and ensure that you experience as much as possible during your trip.

A city like New York has so much to offer that it's hard to know what to see first. NYCVP helps you organize your trip so that you don't miss anything that's important to you. Packages include popular destinations such as the Empire State Building, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. New York can be expensive, especially when it comes to hotel rooms. Getting a package deal is the best way to get great value. Rather than having to pay for everything separately, you can get your hotel room included with many of the attractions and amenities New York City is famous for.

An Experience With Hurricane Sandy - Part 3

We drove around town on 31 October to check the nearby areas in Brooklyn and Queens especially the ones battered by the water surge. Some of the areas didn't have power and the gas stations were closed. We had to look for an open gas station to fill up my cousin's distant relative's SUV. It took us half an hour to find an open gas station and thankfully, the line was just about to pile.

We headed to Roosevelt and on our way, we saw plenty of small boats washed in the middle of the parking lot of nearby commercial places.  The sidewalk were lined with fallen trees and debris from the storm. Sand and mud were on the side and even on the middle of the main thoroughfare. The water level was still high 2 days after Hurricane Sandy battered NYC and nearby states.

See that mound? That's sand near the highway going to Roosevelt. It was hard to snap pictures of other areas because we were moving.

Some of the bus operations resumed on the 29th in a limited scale. So, every passing bus we see are filled to the brim.  The subway opened on 31 Oct. in some parts of NYC but not Lower Manhattan due to the flood. Given the current situation around us, we were still left with uncertainties on when we could actually fly out of NYC.

We emailed our bosses about the situation as early as 28 of October because as soon as the flights were cancelled and the closure of airports and mass transit were declared, we knew for sure that we were going to wait the Hurricane out until everything became stable. That would be days!

So, as soon as the airports opened last 31 October, we booked our tickets with Delta Airlines from NYC to SFO. It was going to be a long flight from the East to the West but if it was the only way to get out of NYC then we were left with no choice but to do just that.

We left Brooklyn on 1 November around 4 a.m. The early drive to JFK Airport was a bit eerie. Some open gas stations have long queue of cars waiting to get their supply. JFK Airport was already open and we were glad to see many aircraft on the ground which was a complete contrast of the previous day when we drove around JFK Airport just to check. We only saw one Korean Air Cargo liner parked but no other aircraft was in sight last 31 Oct.

Our ordeal was not yet over. We were holding staff tickets so better pray that we get on board. Otherwise, we would have to wait for the next flight or the flight after that which would make us miss our flight back from SFO to DXB. We were already told in the counter that the flight was over-sold. I told the agent we didn't mind waiting. We would try our luck. So we waited until 6:00 a.m. and checked the board. Blessings of all blessings! We got cleared from the stand-by list so we are definitely flying out of NYC that day.

It was a 6-hours flight from NYC-SFO. I didn't even bother checking the snacks served. I just wanted to sleep and relax and pray that when we get to SFO, we would get a chance to board the SFO-DXB bound Emirates flight. Again, we were holding staff tickets so priority-wise we have the lowest.

We arrived in SFO around 10:05 a.m. few minutes ahead of time. We went to the international terminal as soon as we cleared our bags from the carousel. Everything was a blur from the time we got to the international terminal to the time we waited for our names to be called. Initially, there was a payload so we begged the kind Emirates Airline airport supervisor to request the payload to be lifted because there were available seats. We told him our situation and they knew that some staff stranded in NYC were flying to SFO to get back to Dubai. We were one of them. God is really good because he made some calls and next thing we knew, he told all the standby staff that we were all through in the flight.

Reaching for our  boarding pass was probably the cherry on top of the icing for our long and wearisome journey. I just didn't expect that my much awaited vacation would turn out like this. We were just glad that we were going home. I thought I would never say this but I kind of miss Dubai!

And finally, we arrived on 2 November in hot and humid Dubai but I won't complain about the weather anymore. Whatever weather we have here is fine by me!

So happy to see a patch of blue sky after the storm on the 30th of Oct.

The whole NYC trip we had recently is one in my greatest experience. I grew up in a place where typhoons and other natural calamities are regular occurrence but nothing prepares me in experiencing one of the worst storm/hurricane to hit the East Coast. At the same time, I am very happy that we are all safe and there is no damage to account for. However, the fear and uncertainties brought about by this experience is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

So, are we going back to NYC? Definitely! It's still my favorite go-to place. But, not soon. And next time, we will check the weather forecast around NYC, the nearby states and countries just to be sure.

Thank God we are home.

An Experience With Hurricane Sandy - Part 2

My cousin's place in Brooklyn was several blocks away from the waterfront. However, my cousin who has been in NY for the last 20+ years has never experienced worry and panic. This incoming hurricane was touted as the perfect storm, the one that would wreak havoc and casualties at its wake. True enough, a score of people in Haiti died because of Hurricane Sandy and the East Coast was bracing its tremendous and catastrophic impact on the highly populated NYC. We were already praying really hard that the communication lines and electrical supply would not be disrupted because it would be hard to keep tabs if we lose the power.

Some of my cousin's neighbors already evacuated the evening of 27th. They were probably scared and in search of higher grounds. The wind was furiously blowing. It was very cold with less rain but more of some serious wind punch. The sky was an ominous shade of dark gray even when it was only 6pm. And the streets were empty. My cousin had briefed us on the possibility of mandatory evacuation so we kept our luggages ready just in case we had to leave for higher grounds.

Projection of the travel path of Hurricane Sandy initially showed NYC as part of the entry of landfall. However, towards the end of the day and early morning of 28th, it had moved towards New Jersey's coastline. Gov. Cuomo. of NYC announced the suspension of all mass transit including buses on the 28th at exactly 7p.m.  My husband and daughter were still in Manhattan meeting with distant relatives and shopping for some stuff to bring home, not wary of the looming danger of the approaching hurricane.  Thank goodness they got home around 3 pm before the subway got congested. Another problem presented though, we were stuck in NYC! For how long, we really couldn't tell.

So, come 28 October evening around 8pm, with a gust of 80-mph (from 90-mph clocked earlier), Hurricane Sandy hit Atlantic City in New Jersey. The Frankenstorm whipped surge of water in the Jersey shores and other low-lying and near the water areas in NYC like Lower Manhattan, Battery Park, Long Island Sound.

In NYC, Lower Manhattan got inundated and subway stations were not spared prompting the disruption of electrical power lines in the area.  Some areas in Brooklyn experienced power outage too. Several blocks from my cousin's place were in the dark and I am very thankful that my cousin's block in the 65th St. were spared. Most grocery marts have empty shelves. We were lucky enough to salvage some bread and canned goods in the nearby Walgreens as it was still stocked with water, soda and other ready-to-eat food.

Aside from the storm, a fire broke-out in the neighborhood of Breezy Point in Queens, burning hundreds of properties down to the ground.  Most of the residents have already evacuated so the area turned out to be an empty, smoke-filled community.

Flights were cancelled for both international and domestic. La Guardia, JFK and Newark airports had been shut as runways became flooded. We were stuck in NYC because of Hurricane Sandy and I was not very happy about it.

The storm has passed. We checked out the neighborhood on 30 Oct. and thankful that aside from fallen trees, damaged cars and slight damage to properties; there were no casualties around the vicinity of my cousin's place. We saw part of the clear, blue sky peeping through the clouds on Tuesday morning. I am just happy that the hurdle through the Hurricane Sandy is over. However, people who lost their properties and probably even lost some of their loved ones in the hard-hit areas of New Jersey and other nearby states ravaged by Hurricane Sandy are still reeling up to this time.

(The pictures above were taken near by cousin's house in Brooklyn. We're glad it was just property damage and no report on lost life.)

--- to be continued ---

Stranded in NYC

Who would have thought that this vacation will turn out scary and worrisome. I've checked the weather system few days before we arrived here in NYC last Thursday. We're a bit surprised how Hurricane Sandy turned it direction towards East Coast. We're expecting landfall anytime soon and we're really praying it will not be devastating as what's reported in the news.

We were scheduled to leave on 30 October but decided to cut it short. However, just when we decided to leave a day early, the airline cancelled the flights until 30 October. Now, we're stranded here but thankful that we're staying in my cousin's house in Brooklyn. So far, the wind is gusty and really cold and also praying that the electricity will not be interrupted as this is our lifeline to communicate and get feeds from the storm and travel advisory.

I am hoping and praying this hurricane will come to pass really soon. We all just want to go home now.

Autumn Getaway in NYC

Yes! It's autumn and my family and I will spend 5 days in lovely New York City again this coming 25-31 October. Too bad, we won't be there to experience Halloween but we can purchase some nice goodies to bring home.

I just love cool weather and where else to spend the short holiday break than in my favorite Big Apple! I'll see lovely fall foliage again. It's nice to walk around the park with the cool breeze blowing on your face and the crisp autumn leaves on your foot step.

Ah, fall! We can't wait to feel you again! And hello NYC!