Winter in New York

It's actually partially "Autumn in New York". Yahoo states that the winter season officially starts on December 21. I'll be joining my husband for a brief tour of New Jersey and New York from December 14 to TBA (lol).

This trip is going to be a bittersweet one. The not-so-tiny elephant in the room that is my dad's condition still looms like the recent hurricane in the East Coast. There's also the fact that New York was the city where dad could have gotten a job some three decades back if it had not been for good old "utang na loob". But then, this opportunity to be in the area is something of which we have to take advantage since it's actually a business trip for my husband. So sasabit ako. Sayang naman. :)

Shouldn't it be "Keep Calm and GO to New York"?!!
Oh yeah, I'm not calm!
This is from http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

Now, what to do? As of this typing, my husband is petiks at work, compiling FAQs about the trip while I should have gone down to the condominium gym some hours back (I was watching the Giants parade!). To be addressed too is the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. Here's just to hoping that things are not so bad anymore and that things will never be as bad, God forbid, once we get there...

So let's go back. What do you do and where do you go if and when you have the opportunity to be so close to the Big Apple? Here's what I found so far:

1. Statue of Liberty  -  No one can't miss this opportunity (unless there's another hurricane, again, God forbid) especially now that the Crown of Lady Liberty is once again accessible to the public after a major renovation. I might even forget that I have an extreme fear of heights if mother nature cooperates. :)

2. Times Square  -  For the countless times I've watched Good Morning America (GMA) on TV, I may want to get up really early if it means being behind the glass windows of the set of GMA. Hehe. Or it probably is the magic of being there, in the middle of it all in Times Square that I want to experience.

3. Central Park  -  Central Perk for me! There's been so many times that I've imagined strolling in this park whether alone, with friends or with my loved one. No park on earth, or at least the ones I've been, has come close to what I think I could expect once there. And yes, heaven forbid, robbers and all. But hey! I'm from the Philippines. And I've experienced being chased by drug addicts in Luneta. lol

4. Rockefeller Center  -  I don't skate. I can't skate. But I want to take a photo with that huge and famous skating rink behind me and I want to see that huge and famous Christmas tree. It's the Christmas season, after all!

5. Empire State Building  -  If only to be WITHIN its Observation Deck to drink in the sights of NYC, I'll gladly flush down the toilet my fear of heights.

6. Pizza  -  So I still don't know if we should brave Brooklyn or stick to Manhattan for this. One more concern: I'm a calorie counter. Or maybe I'd just forget Livestrong's MyPlate for that fine winter day when we're going to need all the energy that the carbs in a New York pizza could bring.

7. Ninja Restaurant  -  My former co-trainer, Kitchie, is the one to blame for this! Ever since being told by her of ninja-like food servers jumping from another floor to where customers are, I have not stopped thinking of possibly dining here. But oops. $38 for a 3-course dinner! Maybe I'll just stick to a quaint Japanese resto. 

8. American Museum of Natural History  -  Just for the sake of being there. Okay. Fine. It's the stuff of which Hollywood movie magic is made. I always see it in movies. I. Just. Want. To. Be. There. I wonder if my Bank of America debit card allows free access to this  museum... Yes it does!!!!

9. Broadway - I truly hope we could squeeze this in. I'd love to see "A Christmas Story" if only because it's in the Christmas season when we're going to be there. Or... Oh!!!! The Phantom of the Opera!!!!!!!!! :) :)

10. World Trade Center  -  These days, no trip in New York is complete without paying a visit and paying homage to the Twin Towers that were... or are going to be.