New York: 5 Top Experiences (Part II)
Welcome to Part II of my New York blog post! Today, I am going to cover three other top experiences in New York: High Line, Koreatown and Brooklyn Bridge. Each is easy to do and doesn’t cost a thing unless you decide to indulge like me and buy some goodies to take home. So, come along and enjoy the journey!
3. Walk the High Line
After my epic Saturday walk across mid- and lower Manhattan (see Part I), I decided to take Sunday easy. I heard a lot about the High Line, old rail trail turned into an elevated park.
The High Line opened in 1934 carrying goods from St John’s Park Freight Terminal to the Meatpacking District on the West 34th street. Abandoned by 1980, the railway was redesigned into an urban masterpiece in the early 2000’s and was fully completed and opened only a few years ago.
Park pathway begins at the West 34th Street and 11 and 12th Avenues and runs along the Hudson River and providing great views of Midtown’s skyline.
Next, the park’s pathway took me to the Shed, an art and performance space to be completed in 2019.
The park is such a great to see the Lower West Side without the infamous New York traffic, making the walk so much nicer and more relaxing.
The pathway weaves through the residential and industrial buildings and over the busy roads. But like any other park, it has lots of trees and flowers, benches and food courts.
I love how the original railway tracks were left in and beautifully blended with greenery and funky installations like this one.
For a relaxing stopover, I suggest coming down to Chelsea market on West 23rd Street. It’s a great place for getting something to eat and shopping for fresh produce.
I got amazing vegetarian dumplings and sushi at Beyond Sushi and tiny doughnuts rolled in chai spices at Doughnuttery. With food in hands, it was time to get back to the High Line and sit in the amphitheatre overlooking 10th Avenue. The sun was shining and it felt lovely to take a moment to pause. 
And if you are really attentive, you might even get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty from this location. Overall, it’s a wonderful oasis of calm and peace in such a busy city. And if you want to see fewer crowds on a sunny day, come here during the weekday when the majority of New Yorkers are at work.
4. Explore ethnic neighbourhood: Koreatown
Being of mixed ethnic background and an eternal nomad, I am always drawn to explore different cultures. And New York offers this cultural diversity with various neighbourhoods that make this city as great as it is. One of the main discoveries of this trip was Koreatown. My friend who lives in New York offered we go there for dinner.
Just a few blocks away from my hotel (West 32nd Street and Madison Avenue), how could I say No? Although much smaller than Chinatown, there is still plenty to do in Koreatown and you can easily spend an evening here. So, here are three things I did that were fun.
First, I am really curious about East Asian beauty trends and have been wanting to try Korean skincare for a while. There are several beauty stores in Koreatown and you can find almost everything here: from face masks and patches to serums, creams and make-up.
Products were, in my opinion, reasonably priced. For example, a single-use face mask would cost about $2, while moisturisers run for about $20-30. Everything is made to be so appealing: textures are silky, the packaging is either elegant or irresistibly cute and smells are beautiful. I will write a separate review of my purchases and what I think of them once I use them for a while.
Once I stocked on my ‘face food’, it was time to get real food for my hungry tummy. Just across the road, we popped into one of the restaurants. If you are into Korean barbeque, this is a great place to have one. My order of dumpling soup came with traditional side dishes of spinach, dried squid and pickled spicy cabbage. I washed it all down with a pear juice that was also very yummy.
Once we were done with the dinner but wanted to stay around to continue chatting, so we decided to move to Tous Les Jours Bakery. It’s a popular Asian-French bakery that offers plenty of drink, pastry and dessert options. Even though it was later in the evening, the place was buzzing.
Since I was already full, I only got my lychee bubble tea (which was amazing!) but their desserts looked divine. Just look at these cakes and macaroons. And, in the meantime, a couple next to us were devouring a strange but nice looking dessert, which I later found out was green tea shaved ice with green tea ice cream.
5. Visit Brooklyn
One of the last things I promised myself to see before I left New York was iconic Brooklyn Bridge. Remember the scene in Sex and the City in which Miranda and Steve decide to meet in the middle of the bridge if they want to stay together as a couple?!
Since I only had one free evening left, I didn’t get to explore Brooklyn itself but took plenty of photos of the bridge. I did a proper homework before I set out for the visit to get great photos from different locations. First of all, instead of walking from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn via the bridge (which can take up to 45 minutes), I took the train across the river to High Street-Brooklyn Bridge Station and walked back.
When I got to Brooklyn, I headed to D.U.M.B.O., which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The reason why I mention D.U.M.B.O. is not just because it’s a cute neighbourhood with various cafes and boutiques, but it provides nice locations for taking photos of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.
Once you are done in D.U.M.B.O., just walk towards the water via Front Street connecting with Old Fulton Street until you see this little cute house – Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.
This is such a great vantage point with the Brooklyn Bridge on your right and Manhattan skyline ahead of you.
It’s also a great spot for drinks as the waterfront deck has a nice outdoor bar. I can imagine it becomes a very popular spot during summer when the weather is hot and days are longer.
After few snapshots and getting my fix of home-made chocolate ice-cream (which was divine!) from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, I started my walk on the Brooklyn Bridge.
A couple of tips. Tip one: find out the time of sunset before you plan your walk. I couldn’t believe how well my timing worked out. I started the walk while it was still light but by the time I reached Manhattan, it was dark and all the buildings were lit up, creating a magic glow.
Tip two: be careful as you walk. There are lots of cyclists on the bridge, many of whom are rushing home and really don’t want to see you on their designated path. If they do, don’t be surprised to hear aggressive shouting, honking and blinking lights.
By the time, I reached the end of the bridge on the other side, Manhattan, it was dark and cold but I was happy. It is such a beautiful place and is definitely worth a visit.
My week-long business trip came to an end very quickly. I got to see and experience new things and I hope you enjoyed reading about them. I am closing this New York blog with few more photos of New York street art, which I really loved.
Happy travels xx
