US2011 - Eileen’s Special Cheesecake

According to New Yorkers, only the great cheesecake makers and the great cheesecake connoisseurs are located in New York. Since cheesecakes were so popular in New York, they tend to claim that a cheesecake isn’t really a cheesecake unless it was baked in New York.

 

 

And one of the longest surviving recipes in New York is Eileen’s.

 

 

Considered the best cream cheesecake in town, Eileen has been offering 33 flavours of cheesecakes for the past 40 years.

 

 

Although New York cheesecakes are suppose to be pure, with no fancy ingredients, I guess, time has changed, and today, one of Eileen’s best-seller is the Chocolate Cheesecake.

 

 

While the $3.50 cupcake-sized cheesecakes aren’t filling and customers had to cram into a tiny store with only a few tables, these sacrifices are well worth it. Besides, what would a trip to NYC be without cheesecakes? 

 

 

Eileen's Special Cheesecake
17, Cleveland Place, New York, NY 10012, USA.
+1 212 966 5585
http://www.eileenscheesecake.com/

US2011 - Bowery’s Whitehouse Hotel

Bowery’s Whitehouse Hotel claims to be the coolest and one of the most affordable hostel in the No-Ho district of Manhattan in New York City.

 

 

While most backpackers accommodation offers cheap dorm beds in a shared room, Whitehouse Hotel takes it up one notch by offering privacy at extremely low rates; i.e. cheap dorm beds and no sharing rooms with strangers.

 

 

Thus, all you get is a long corridor with doors on each side.

 

 

In each room, there’s a small wardrobe and a bed that fills in from end-to-end of the room.

 

 

And since each room is open-air, nothing is sound-proof. Well, its kinda like staying in New York City’s equivalent to Japan’s capsule hotels, but without all the little luxuries!!

 

 

But, I guess, the biggest disappointment would be the poor maintenance of the bathroom facilities. Leaky taps, stains and poor drainage. I am sure they could have done better!!

US2011 - Akdeniz

Going for Turkish cuisine for the very first time, I was recommended to give Akdeniz a try.

 

 

Claim to serve authentic Mediterranean Turkish cuisine, I opted for their Prix Fixe Menu.

 

 

While waiting, a bowl of crispy bread was served.

 

 

I guess, that was to complement my Starter, the Soup of the Day.

 

 

Then came the huge Entree, the Skewered Ground Chicken, which consists of char-grilled chicken seasoned with spicy red bell peppers and parsley garlic, rice and vegetables.

 

 

Although extremely full, luckily there’s always room for Dessert with the Kadayif, baked shredded wheat garnished with pistachios and stuffed with walnuts and honey syrup.

 

 

Lastly, the so-called American coffee was served to ‘tame’ the sweetness of the Kadayif.

 

 

It was definitely an eye-opener to savour something very different in one of the best Turkish restaurants in NYC!!

 

 

Akdeniz Turkish Cuisine
19, West 46th Street, New York, NY 10036, USA.
+1 212 575 2307
http://www.akdenizturkishusa.com/

US2011 - Saigon 48

Guests at the President Hotel can also choose from two on-site restaurants offering Japanese fare and Vietnamese cuisine.

 

 

Since Saigon 48 was offering a higher discount than the Japanese neighbour, I decided to check it out.

 

 

Here, I had the so-called “Vietnamese” House Special Fried Rice …

 

 

… and the Thai Iced Tea.

 

 

Yup, it did sounded a bit weird to have a Chinese-styled fried rice and Thai-styled iced tea in a Vietnamese restaurant.

 

 

Saigon 48
234, West 48th Street, New York, NY 10036, USA.
+1 212 247 8669
http://www.saigon48.com

US2011 - Best Western Plus President Hotel

After a recent 15 million dollar renovation, the Best Western Plus President Hotel at Times Square has completely reinvented itself into a modern classic.

 

 

Located in the heart of the Theatre District and Times Square, this was where I stayed while attending the AIUM Convention.

 

 

Offering affordable, but luxury accommodation and amenities, each guest room comes with a 37 inch flat panel television, an iHome iPod docking station, and free Wi-Fi Internet access.

 

 

The only downside to my stay, extremely noisy nights!! Maybe they should consider fitting their windows with vacuum glasses!!

US2011 - New York Times Square

Back in 1904, Longacre Square was renamed Times Square after the The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly erected Times building, located at 42th and Broadway.

 

 

It was here that the signature Times Square advertising electronic boards was born; a humble start in 1928 with 14800 bulbs wrapped around the building to today’s giant screens that cover the whole tower’s exterior.

 

 

Also known as the Crossroads of the World, Times Square is the world's most visited tourist attraction, bringing in over 39 million visitors annually.

 

 

In addition to the brightly illuminated sign boards, different characters also appear on the streets, depending on the season and the shows.

 

 

Among all the characters, one should not miss the appearance of the Naked Cowboy, a famous fixture of Times Square.

 

 

Performing up and down the street with his guitar, he proves to be a hit with tourists!!

 

 

There’s also a Naked Cowgirl in town, performed by former stripper Sandy Kane. Because the front view may be too rude, here’s her side view!!

 

 

To me, the most unexpected appearance in Times Square is the hawker stalls; …

 

 

… definitely something a world class city shouldn’t have!!