Recap - Last Day In NYC

The last time I was in NYC in June 2002, it was hot, I was sweaty and for some reason, everything just seemed rushed. I'm sure the fact that I was kinda working throughout my trip added to the feeling of not quite being in NYC.

This time around, it was much nicer and more laidback. The weather was cooler - which I know helped - and I also had my Blackberry with me, which meant that I didn't have to rush back home or to an internet cafe at various points throughout the day to check on work.

On my last day in the city, my friend Stevie and I met with Mitchy (another friend who used to work in HK too and is Stevie's ex-flatmate) for lunch at a uniquely NYC location. It's called the Burger Place, is a tiny diner that's located behind a curtain next to the hotel reception counter. It was a different world from the hotel's genteel and proper-ness. It's the oddest location that I've been to for a burger but it was cheap, fast and yummy and thoroughly charming in a dive-y sorta way.

Lunch over, we walked through Central Park - a first for me, given that I had skipped this iconic location on both my previous visits. The walk through the Park was a great way to work off the burger lunch, and also gave me lots of photo opportunities.

From Last Day In NYC

Later in the evening, we met with Sabina for drinks at a tiny bar for a major catch-up. Sabina is ex-colleague who lives in NYC and through the years that we've lived apart, we've kept in touch through the occasional phone chats and more regularly on Facebook. But I hadn't seen her in almost 3 years, so there was much to to talk about.

I really don't have a very good reason to not visit more regularly. But the airport congestion at JFK really needs to be fixed. 2 hours on a runway is no fun.