The Bowery House @ New York

The Bowery house is a new budget hotel in the middle of Manhattan. The hotel location is good for the price that they offer. The hotel is within walking distance of 4 subway stations. You can also walk to the near by Chinatown in the morning if you hungry and you can spent your night time in little Italy, savouring good hot dogs, browsing through night market & people watching. The hotel opened just the at right time that I really need a cheap and good stay in New York. Initially, I only managed to find the cheapest single bedroom for USD130 per night with a proper location, clean and convenience. That was one and a half month before my stay in New York. I had booked the hotel but I still keep looking for cheaper alternative once in a while. Amazingly, 3 weeks before my stay in New York, I spotted this hotel. I do all my checking around the Net to find out more about this hotel. All the review seems favourable to this new hotel and I made my decision to book this hotel at USD75 (all in) per night and cancel my previous hotel booking.

I am aware that this is the smallest room that I ever stay in my life. The room size is just one queen size bed with a single bed inside. I barely have enough space to put my things so I have to put it on the floor (except food of course). But I won't mind as I am away most of the time. The room itself is just a cubicle without ceiling so that the air condition can get into your cubicle :-)

The bathroom is an art by itself. It is beautiful, clean & new. Overall seems like you were in an Italian bathroom. Good body wash, huge sink & powerful shower. But the bathroom is without door and its quite small. But that is ok.

WIFI access in this hotel is good and the staff is quite helpful.

Rating: 8/10. Recommended for backpackers and those who don't spend much time in the room. The greatest plus point is the price, cleanliness, location and with high speed wifi that I can call back home & update my status.
Price: Around USD75 per person per night. The price is really good for single room(cubicle) since the room price in New York is outrageously expensive!


My room in a mess.

That's the door. Believe me? Its one queen size bed size.

Very nice bathroom.

No ceiling.

All the cubicle.

Surroundings was dark.

A place to hangout, socialize and online.

Coordinate/GPS: 40.722006,-73.993545
Address:
220 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212.837.2373

New York Subway

New York subway is the best way to travel New York efficiently and cheap. The train is fast and comfortable. However, the stations is dirty, hot, smelly and if the train arrives, its like going to hit you! Fortunately the frequency of train is good. If not, you will be sweating like no body business. The subway is quite old. The first station was open in 1904. Although the subway is not the oldest in the world but the comfort level is lagged behind other older subway system such as London.

The subway system is a bit different compared to other subway system in the world. On the same track, they have different trains which stops at different stations. User should take proper care when taking the train by looking at the number, not just the colour line. Make sure that the destination station has the number of the train which you planning to take. This express and local train system is good for those people who want to just go straight to their destination without many stops. What makes New York subway even more confusing is the different schedule and stops during the weekend. So do always check the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) website if you were to travel via subway in New York during weekend. The subway station is only a few in the world which runs 24 hours. That's why it need to have scheduled maintenance especially during weekend.


Make sure you get this on the first day of your New York tour. Buy the one week unlimited subway ride if you stay more than 4 days in New York @ USD29. Each trip will cost USD2.50 if you don't use the unlimited ticket.

Iconic New York subway signboard.

Lets look at glimpse of the New York subway map. Its comprehensive and confusing for first timer. You can download full map via http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm


Dark and hot down here. Sometimes there is urine or rubbery smell.

Sometimes the the stairs is located at a hidden area.

The turnstile.

As you can see, the train is medium size. Its crowded during peak hours. The train is comfortable enough.

Station status. Good.

Arrived to my destination. Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Details on New York City subway can be view at http://www.mta.info
Comprehensive map can be view at http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

Famous Ben's Pizza of Soho @ New York

Taste:8/10(Good. I like the broccoli pizza that I had. Taste is good and cheesy, the crust were good).
Price:6/10(Moderate. Each square slice at USD4.00).


My piece of broccoli pizza. Presentation wise, the pizza looks good. I add in some chili flakes for more flavour.

Pizza just out from oven in Ben's Pizza.

Other than pizza, Ben's also have buns and rolls as well. Here you can have spinach and cheese roll, ham and cheese, calzone, broccoli roll & onion sauce bread crump.

Look out for this shop (Famous Ben's Pizza of Soho) for good pizza.

GPS/Coordinate: 40.724900, -74.002430
Address: 177 Spring St, New York, NY 10012, United States.
Public transport: Spring Street station on New York subway via line C or E.

Pasticceria Rocco @ New York

Rocco is a large bakery shop in Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood. You can dine here with a huge selection of cakes, cookies, tarts and drinks.

Taste:9/10(Delicious. I would like to comment on their cookies as that's the only item that I tried in this shop. Their chocolate cookies was amazing and nice).
Price:6/10(Moderate. At that time a piece of cookie cost USD1.50 which is reasonable).


Key lime tart looks amazing. A slice of lime on top of tart.

Many types of cookies to choose from.

More cookies.

Name your cookies. Maybe they have it!

Fruit tarts are available as well.

GPS/Coordinate: 40.730830, -74.002638
Address: 243 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014
Public transport: W 4 St station on New York Subway via line A, B, C, D, E, F & M.

Grand Central Terminal @ New York

Located at the intersection of 42nd Street and Park Avenue of Manhattan, New York. It is the largest train station in the world by the number of platform:44. The Main Concourse is the center of Grand Central. The space is cavernous – 275 ft (84 m) long, 120 ft (37 m) wide and 125 ft (38 m) high[8] – and usually filled with bustling crowds. The view of the main concourse is amazing. Besides subway, this terminal also provide train service to other cities in United States via Amtrak. If you interested about the history on this Grand Central Terminal, there is a free walking tour every friday at 12.30pm. The assembly point is sculpture court at 120 Park Avenue, located at the southwest corner of East 42nd Street and Park Avenue directly across from Grand Central Terminal. I missed this free walking tour though.


Entrance into Grand Central Terminal.

Outside the station, the clock in front of the Grand Central facade facing 42nd Street contains the world's largest example of Tiffany glass and is surrounded by sculptures carved by the John Donnelly Company of Minerva, Hercules, and Mercury and designed by French sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan.

The clock at night.

Modern city but New York still maintain their main train station which is full of history.

This is one of the main attraction in New York. Unique old large windows.

Beautiful main concourse.

Grand Central subway. It serves a 4,5,6,6X,7,7X and S trains.

American flag in Grand Central Terminal.

Me in Grand Central terminal.

Address:
89 East 42nd Street at Park Avenue,
New York City, NY 10017.

Amy's Bread @ New York

Amy's Bread were recommended when I took walking tour for New York. This place is already in my to do list in New York but the guide coincidently stop by this place to have short lunch break. Looks like my list is correct on the places that I should dine and visit! Here is famous for their red velvet cheese cake but I didn't get a chance to try it as I tried their carrot cake.

Taste:8/10(Good. I was having their carrot cake and apple cider. Their cakes was moist and flavourful. The texture was nice and chewy).
Price:6/10(Moderate. My carrot cake at USD4.50 a slice).


Having Amy's Bread carrot cake.

I visited Amy's Bread of Hell's Kitchen outlet. I am having their apple cider as well.

Cupcakes, scones, donuts and cakes.

The price of the cakes here are quite reasonable by New York standard.

Amy's Bread of New York. Artisanal baked goods and cafe fare.

This is how inside Amy's Bread shop look like.

GPS/Coordinate: 40.730958, -74.002987
Address: 250 Bleecker St, Manhattan, NY 10014
Public transport: W 4 St station on New York Subway via line A, B, C, D, E, F & M.

Brooklyn Bridge @ New York

Brooklyn bridge connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. It is the oldest suspension bridge in North America and was completed in 1883. It is now a National Historic Landmark. I would think this bridge is second most easily recognizable bridge in the world after the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. It has six lanes for motor vehicles, with a separate walkway along the centerline for pedestrians and bicycles. Thousand of visitor walk past this bridge everyday to enjoy the fantastic view of Manhattan. Make sure that you able to walk 1.8km to pass this bridge.


The view of Manhattan from the bridge is classic.

Iconic web like pattern. Picture taken from pedestrian walkway.

Watching vehicles pass by the bridge. Nice!

Me with Manhattan as background.

View of Brooklyn bridge from DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

Brooklyn bridge at night.

Coordinate/GPS: 40.711532,-74.003845

New York Public Library (NYPL)

New York Public Library is currently the tenth largest library in the world. The branch has almost 11 million books in collections. This library is huge and it is located quite near to New York Times Square. They have two separate main hall. One of the hall is open to the public where non-flash photography is allowed. While another hall is for students to prepare for exam and research is not allowed to take pictures. The section for exam & research is fully silent. Even taking picture in the public hall is also a challenge for DSLR as the camera produces clicking noise which taking pictures.

The internal library is an art itself. The structure is so beautiful and this attracts millions of visitors to this library every year and it frequently appears in many films.


This is the library.

Garden row outside the library.

Paintings on the celling.

My friend amazed with the celling.

Good place to read books.

Outside of the library is Fifth Avenue. The street between 49th & 57th was once the most expensive street & real estate in the world.

Subway:
5 Av station (7,7X), 42 St-Bryant Park (B,D,F,M) or Grand Central Terminal.

Address:
455 Fifth Avenue (at 40th Street), New York