0
0
Soo finally I visited new york this year in August right after my trip from Disney World and as someone who lives in a big city as well, it was quite an interesting yet fun experience.
Before arriving to New York, I felt like the adventures had already started because instead of flying to New York from Orlando, Florida, me and my boyfriend decided to take a train ride!
This was something that is just so unlike us but we wanted to experience something new. Plus my boyfriend hates plane rides because of how uncomfortable there are but with Amtrak you can purchase a room where you can sleep comfortably for your entire journey and since our journey to New York was going to take 24hrs, a room was necessary! You may think a 24hr ride to New York is way too long when a plane can get you there much faster but like I said it was all for the experience and because of how comfortable we were on this train ride, the hours flew by so so fast. I can go on and on about my fun train ride to New York and my experience travelling with Amtrak but that’s all for another post.
Although our train ride to New York was extremely fun and relaxing, unfortunately we experienced a 6 hour delay on the train because of an accident on the tracks. Therefore, instead of me and my boyfriend arriving in New York at 7pm we arrived at 2:30 in the morning instead. It wasn’t a big issue since we weren’t in any sort of rush but it did take some time away for our first night in New York. Right after arriving we immediately took an uber to our hotel room.
Good thing we planned conveniently and booked a hotel room thats only a 10 min walk from the train station because we knew that we would be arriving quite late in the evening. Little did we know we arrived way way later and we were so relieved to only experience a 5 min drive to the hotel so late in the evening when we were quite sleepy and hungry.
The hotel we stayed at for 3 nights was “The Pod Hotel”. It was one of the cheapest hotel rooms we found for our 4 day stay. I don’t want to say I was shocked when I was looking at the hotel prices in New York since I live in a big city too and I know how expensive it can be but damn I was still a little taken back (not going to lie). A lot of the hotel rooms were quite expensive (about 200+ a night). The pod hotel was about $170 a night but as you can judge from the name of the hotel, the rooms are pod like and are very small. However, me and my boyfriend didn’t really mind since we were only going to be there for a short period of time.
When we got to the hotel we were actually quite pleased on how nice and clean it was. It seemed like a fairly new building. What’s funny is that I was quite confused after first entering the building because once you enter, all you see is elevators. Once I looked to the left I saw two security guards blocking a door that seemed to be a club or maybe a special event but I was like damn are we checking into a hotel or a club??
But anyways the security then told us that the front desk to check in was upstairs and we had to take the elavator to get there. Once we checked in, we of course went up to our hotel room where there was a separate elavator to take.
When we saw our hotel room we immediately said “Yup, it is a pod indeed” because of how small the room is but again it was perfect for our 4 day stay. I would definitely stay at a bigger hotel room if I was staying for longer because these rooms don’t have a fridge. A side from the room size, the room was very clean and the best part was that we had an amazing view of the city. I was honestly expecting a view of a brick wall or a parking lot but no we had a pretty amazing view. I think the view honestly made it worth it for me.
In the room there was also a nice shower and bathroom with AMAZING lighting. The shower is quite transparent and so this is something to consider if you are looking stay in the hotel with another person. In the room there was a decent sized t.v, hooks, storage space and a desk. There were also a decent amount of outlets to charge your devices.
The best part with booking at The Pod Hotel is that it is literally a 5 min walk from times square. The hotel is close to everything! Me and my boyfriend legit walked to every place we wanted to visit and if we wanted to go out and get some food there were so much places you can go to. There was many fast food places to go to for something quick to eat such as dunkin donoughts, mcdonalds, Starbucks, burger king, 7/11 and subway. There were also some restaurants like a Chinese restaurant across the street and denny’s that was a block away and this is just places that are 5 mins away. If you keep walking a little further you will see even more places to go to.
So definitely if you aren’t planning to stay long in New York and are looking for something affordable that is walking distance from everywhere, The Pod Hotel is the way to go! The rooms are clean and the customer service is lovely. The rooms also have a great view and are quiet from any kind of noise!
Our first full day in New York consisted of only having a 4 hour sleep from our late arrival but that didn’t stop us from getting up early to start our day! After getting up we immediately got ready to grab some breakfast and to just simply walk around. We didn’t really have an agenda for our first day so we just explored.
Honestly you’re going to judge me for this but out of all the places for me to go eat, I went to mcdonalds and got myself a Mcchicken with fries because that’s honestly what I wanted. After eating we simply walked around times square and as I was walking around I couldn’t help but think how similar it is to home.
To be honest, if I didn’t live in a city back home, I feel like I would be much more amazed and mesmerized by the city life in New York because I imagine it to be a exciting experience for me if I was someone more from the country side. However, New York was still something that was beautiful for me to see and something special for me because all my favourite movies and shows are filmed in New York and it’s a place I always wanted to visit.
One of my all time favourite movies is Home Alone. I have watched this movie every Christmas for almost my entire 23 years of life and so seeing some of the places I’ve recognized in the movie was special to me. On this walk we seen radio city music hall, rocker-feller centre, central park and of course times square.
Not to mention my favourite t.v shows such as Gossip Girl and Friends were also based off of New York city and so I coudn’t help but think of those shows while I walked everywhere.
On our second day in New York which was our final full day (since we were leaving early in the morning the next day), we planned to visit the American Museum of Natural History. One of my all time favourite movies as well is “Night At The Museum” and so I told my boyfriend that this museum is something we HAVE to visit. If you didn’t know the Museum of Natural History is what the movie used for it’s exterior shots. If you have watched the movie, something exciting as well is that in the museum you can also find the famous “dumb dumb” statue.
Most importantly, I can not forget to mention this but before heading to the museum I went to dunkin doughnuts for the first time because in Canada we don’t have this beautiful place and so I made sure I was going to go get some famous dunkin doughnuts iced coffee before I leave the states because I didn’t get the chance to get any in Florida. At dunkin I ordered a small iced coffee with a glazed doughnut. After my first sip, I just got hit with a mouthful of sugary coffee that was not mixed throughly however after mixing it a few times, I did enjoy the iced coffee a lot. Very delicious. 10/10. Love it. I would’ve gotten a large iced coffee but my boyfriend is right, I can never finish my drinks…
( I didn’t end up finishing my small iced coffee)
After dunkin we made our way to the museum. Me and my boyfriend actually walked to the museum from our hotel. It was about a 30-40 min walk. Upon arriving to the museum we saw that upon entering we need to purchase tickets online. Once we purchased the tickets on our phone from outside the museum, we made our way inside.
Now me and my boyfriend are not people who would ever go to the museum for a date. We’re more “let’s watch a movie at home and order uber eats or let’s go to the arcade” kind of people but this trip just made us be more adventurous (I guess). It’s safe to say that me and my boyfriend will do more of these activities at home now. Anyways, since me and my boyfriend don’t do museums it was not surprising that we walked the museum in a non-organized way. We just honestly walked wherever we wanted to walk but just made sure we seen everything at the same time. We probably walked in the museum for about 4 hours. There was lot’s to see and of course I was able to see the “dumb dumb” statue (which I was very excited to see). At the museum we were also dying from starvation so we decided to eat at the cafe in the museum which actually had a lot of food options. We knew it was going to be expensive but damn we spent $50 for two small waters, two small sandwiches and a plate of rice ( I may have teared up just a bit) but it’s okay.
So important tip, make sure under any circumstances, eat before walking in this museum! I don’t care if you are not hungry, EAT! (But if you don’t mind dropping $50 on food then thats okay too).
After walking the museum for hours, we weren’t exactly satisfied from our lunch at the museum and so we looked for a place to eat. We ended up finding a Korean bbq restaurant and I was super hyped because I had been craving Korean bbq for months. Funny thing is when we saw the restaurant from the outside we noticed that there was nobody eating inside. We thought to ourselves “oh no, does nobody like this place?” but actually the dining area was downstairs.
Me and my boyfriend ordered some bbq for the both of us and it definitely satisfied the cravings. The customer service was also so lovely.
After dinner we made our way to Madame Tussauds which is a wax figure museum. It was actually just a less than a 10 min walk from our hotel and so before going home we said why not and went inside. We went inside and purchased tickets. I am pretty sure it was about $40 for each person. It seemed a little too much if I am being real but we were looking for something fun to do so why not?
When we finally entered the museum I was actually shocked on how nice it looked. There was actually way more wax figures then I thought and so I think it was worth it for me. It was about four floors of wax figures. Don’t worry I am not going to spoil it and tell you which wax figures are there because I feel like what made it fun for me and my boyfriend is that we weren’t sure who’s wax figures were going to be there! But in the end, I feel like it was actually such a fun thing to do before ending our day in New York and I was so happy we did it.
Well, that pretty much sums up our short New York trip! I just realized that it was more of a 2 day trip since our first night was in New York was taken away and our last day in New York doesn’t count because we leave at 6am in the morning. Regardless, New York was fun and a special moment for me to see the places I would see all the time in my favourite movies and shows! I am also happy that I didn’t see any rats that are the size of cats because I am absolutely terrified of rats!
