USA Trip Day 24 - 27 Sep 2014 - Outlet Mall Shopping in New York

Now that I look back on our two days with New York Pass, it was crazily packed!  We squeezed in several sights in those two short days but we didn't regret it one bit though. It's such an exciting city. But after 4 days of sightseeing, we wanted something different so we boarded the bus to Woodbury Common Premium Outlet.  

https://woodburybybus.com/Woodbury/Home

It is located just an hour drive from NYC Port Authority and return bus ticket cost us US$37 each. There were a huge assortment of shops ranging from Adidas, Burberry, Coach, DKNY, Gap, Kate Spade, MK, NIke, Nine West to Tory Burch. I honestly don't think you would regret it if your bucket list of the United States holiday include a shopping spree.  

Plus points
1) Great assortment of brands
2) Better designs
3) Beautiful surrounding
4) Easy to get there from NYC

You should go if you won't get a chance to visit other outlet malls.

Downside

The bargains are not as great as in Vegas or Palm Springs.  If you are visiting those places and are hunting for the best deals, then skip this Woodbury Common. 

USA Trip Day 23 - 26 Sep 2014 - Touristy NYC (4)

We reached Madison Square Garden and decided to check with the ticket counter on tour timings. They asked us to quickly join the group as 2:30pm tour had just started 5 minutes ago! Lucky us didn't have to wait for another departure.  We were nonetheless praying for our tummies to behave and not to embarrass us with rumbling sounds though :D 

It was intriguing to learn the milestones this iconic venue has witnessed such as Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday to the then-President Kennedy. 

Not a single pillar in sight

USA Trip Day 23 - 26 Sep 2014 - Touristy NYC (3)

Today is the second day of our NY Pass and these are the attractions we visited today. We actually scheduled NY Skyride for Day 1 but it was closed by the time we reached yesterday so we added it to today.  However, I wouldn't recommend NY Skyride as it was utterly underwhelming.

Day 2 Overview

1/ Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum

2/ 9-11 Memorial & Tribute Centre

3/ Madison Square Garden All Access Tour

4/ American Museum of Natural History

5/ The Metropolitan Museum of Art

6/ NY Skyride

USA Trip Day 22 - 25 Sep 2014 - Touristy NYC (2)

It was 2:15pm. The drizzling rain has taken a break. The elusive Sun was taking a sneak peak into our world. We took a short bus ride towards the southern tip of Manhattan.  

An hour later, we found ourselves in front of this massive ship

USA Trip Day 22 - 25 Sep 2014 - Touristy NYC (1)

We bought 2-day unlimited use New York Pass for US$ 129.99 and today would be our first day of use. New York Pass allows you to see as many attractions as you like from the list of over 80 eligible places during 2 days. If you are not into partaking in activities meant for tourists and are more of a "explore local neighborhoods and people-watch" kind of person, this pass is not for you.

https://www.newyorkpass.com/En/new-york-attractions/

Of course, we gotta factor in all the travel time so we had to prioritize the few attractions we would see with our two-day pass. We visited 12 places in total. I honestly think the pass is an amazing deal though. We had already recovered our pass cost of US$ 129.99 on our first day alone!

Day 1 Overview

1/ Top Of The Rock 

2/ Rockefeller Centre Tour

3/ Radio City Music Hall Tour

4/ The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

5/ Circle Line: Harbor Lights Sunset Cruise (2 hours)

6/ Empire State Building Observation Deck

USA Trip Day 21 - 24 Sep 2014 - Free and Easy in the Big Apple

My kind friend is bringing us around the Big Apple today and highlight was food :D

We first started off with Dim Sum brunch in Elmhurst, Queens  area before ending up in Central Park around 1pm.  The funny thing was I needed to use the toilet urgently and the first thing we looked for was huge shopping malls like in Singapore. But my friend was like there was no such thing in NYC as many stores were stand-alone! Plaza Hotel saved me from embarrassing myself though hahaha Also, the hotel's basement has food court in case you are looking for one in the area.   

Charismatic horse carriages at your service to make you feel like a princess! 

USA Trip Day 20 - 23 Sep 2014 - NYC's Broadway

Today, we are taking a 9:30am Amtrak train from Boston to the Big Apple! So, around 8:30am, we headed out of our Airbnb, walked for about 10 minutes to the Tufts Medical Center Station to take SL4 for 2 stops to the South Station. 

Time Check: 9am at the Boston South Station