Manuscripts, More Musicals & Melancholy Goodbyes?

Our final day in New York. We actually managed to get up early to make rope-drop at the Morgan Library & Museum. It’s wild to think this jewel-box of a museum began as J.P. Morgan’s private library (a Gilded Age financier in case you hadn't heard of him). Vaulted ceilings, Renaissance-inspired murals, shelves stacked three stories high with rare books. It was rather annoying though that we had to share the space with groups of students of various sorts...

An example of the many treasures of the collection include the original manuscript of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, complete with his handwritten edits. Truly a must-visit for anyone who loves books, history, beautiful architecture or just a good “rich guy built himself a palace of treasures” moment.

Day 21: Manuscripts, French comfort, and a musical reminder that endings can be beautiful too.

It was so hard to take a good photo that captured the feel of this amazing place

Secret vault

So MANY people!!!

You might think you were in Europe

Pretending to know about Renoirs

Dinner was at Benoit, Alain Ducasse’s Parisian-style bistro complete with warm lighting, polished brass, and that unmistakable old-world French charm. The food was french classic comfort done well. The kind of dishes that don’t need to be reinvented because they were perfect the first time.

To wrap up our last night in America, we headed to Maybe Happy Ending - a gentle and sweet musical about love, timing, and connection. An aptly named finale to this chapter of the Festival of Fifty.

The bar at the front of the restaurant

The dining room

Thank you NYC for a great ending to this chapter!

B is for butter and butter is for me...

Nothing too adventurous

The classiques

but oh so good

Something we would have LOVED to squeeze in

Bad photo. Good musical

Musicals & Michelin Moments

Playing just underneath Wicked (physically!) which also happened to be the last musical that we saw in Broadway way back in 2011!

A lazy but lovely day and honestly, exactly what was needed. With the temperature hovering somewhere between “brisk” and “why is the air attacking me?”, we abandoned any hopeful notions of outdoor pickleball much to Mal's disappointment. Besides, with only two days before we’re strapped into planes for an obscenely long stretch, recovery has become a legitimate travel priority.

So yes… another sleep-in. Zero regrets. We surfaced too late for a proper wander through Chelsea Market, which was mildly tragic. We completely underestimated how much the Galapagos would zap our energy levels.

The day’s real highlight was Just In Time, one of the experiences we’d been most excited about. Both Mal and I adore Jonathan Groff, and he absolutely delivered. The show, a musical tribute to Bobby Darin, debuted on Broadway in April. Jonathan Groff was phenomenal, full of effortless charm and charisma. And yes, we sat far enough back to avoid the infamous Groff Sauce. Safety first. We could see the sprays of both flying through the air...

So excited. Set was simple, intimate and immersive

No gimmicky gadgets or wires...just good content and good music

The man himself

Dinner was at The Modern at MoMA, a restaurant boasting two Michelin stars, and a front-row view of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden. The food was very good, but the service was surprisingly disengaged. Polite, precise, but perfunctory. Overall, our experience at Yoshoku still holds the best-meal crown for this trip.

Day 20: A lazy start, a Broadway heart-throb, and a Michelin meal that left us longing for Yoshoku. 

The moMA has several dining options

Not a bad mocktail

Food was good

This one had a lot of instructions lol but the waitress didn't laugh at our jokes...

The restaurant were made aware that this was part of our Festival of Fifty!

Their famous "egg on egg on egg"

Happy Birthday to us

Very pretty but it was just too sweet and too intense

Maple chocolate, and cherry and earl grey gummy. Again great concepts but was just too sweet to savour the natural flavours

Waldorf Wonders & Winter Woes

We had USD 50 per day to spend on food and beverages as part of our stay, and today we decided to put it toward breakfast at The Lexyard. The staff addressed us by title and name simply by knowing our room number, a small but impressive touch. Service was friendly and polished, and as with every guest-facing employee in this hotel, the entire team looked like they’d stepped straight out of a luxury lifestyle magazine. Each department had its own chic uniform, perfectly tailored and effortlessly elegant.

The latte? Probably the most expensive one I’ll ever drink in my life - USD 12 plus tax plus tip. The Asian in me flinched, then immediately celebrated the fact that it was “free.”

The impressive Peacock Alley

USD18 Brown sugar cinnamon bun with maple cream topping

Even the gym is fancy

Entrance foyer larger than my home

Machines nicely spread out

With towel and water bottle ready at each one

Extensive weights station

With separate areas for bars

The "studio"

Lots of goodies here

Trying to take more photos of the hotel

Yet more sitting areas

In case you forget where you were at night, there's a monogrammed pillowcase to remind you

We’d planned to explore Harlem and visit The Met Cloisters today, but winter decided to make an early appearance in New York. We woke to a frosty 1 °C (real feel: –1) and...surprise...snow. Since it was Veterans Day, we braved the cold and wandered over to 5th Ave to watch the parade. I’ll admit it wasn’t quite the fanfare I’d imagined. Cadet-like groups from various high schools marched by, but most looked like they’d rather be anywhere else. (Don’t come at me!)

Somewhere between Guayaquil and JFK, I seem to have picked up a pesky viral hitchhiker, so we took the rest of the day slow.

Dinner, however, was a highlight at the onsite Japanese restaurant Yoshoku. Easily one of the best meals we’ve had in the states, and service to match. Our sommelier, Logan, took it upon himself to win Mal over to sake. His approach? A pairing that wasn’t technically a pairing - two dishes chosen to showcase two of his favourites. Gratis. Mal’s opinion on sake may be unchanged, but even we had to admit these were leagues above anything we’d tried before.

Day 19: Cold fronts, warm service, and one very expensive latte.

Veteran's parade on 5th Ave

Yoshoku

Very cute towel holders

We got to choose our weapons of eating

Mal's choice

Best toast ever

Matcha mascarpone - divine

Free sake on the house!

Memories, Museums & Missed Sunrises

One of the recreated areas in the apartments

We HAD grand plans to catch the sunrise walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and taking cinematic Instagram worthy photos. But when the alarm went off before 6am, the body said, "No, Ma’am.” So, we traded sweeping skyline views for the far more realistic option of more sleep.

Thankfully, we’d pre-purchased tickets to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, which was the only thing that got our sorry selves out the hotel door. A quick stop at Le Pain Quotidien, a chain of bakery-restaurants conveniently close to the museum, provided our morning fuel. Although everything was just that little bit too sweet and little bit too salty. We did enjoy the eggnog snickerdoodle crookie (croissant-cookie hybrid). And yes it was too sweet but for those few moment before you started feeling ill, it tasted so good...

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is powerful in its simplicity. The twin reflecting pools, set within the footprints of the original towers, are inscribed with the names of the nearly 3,000 victims as a beautiful tribute. Inside, the museum takes you through the events of that day and its aftermath with great care and respect. It’s sobering and deeply moving, but not morbid or overwhelming. We spent about 90 minutes inside, though you could easily spend half a day. There were audio guides available for a free which we opted not to do as we didn't have children with us to force educate.

Reviews seemed decent and it was close to where we had to be

Not bad. And it was warm inside

The dangerous eggnog snickerdoodle crookie

One of the reflecting pools

Inside the memorial

I'll save the photos. We all remember where we were when the news broke out

Ah the USA. They certainly do big very well!

Some quick photos and details of our hotel! Lift buttons were detailed too

Corridors of the rooms were also tastefully decorated

So hard to capture the opulence. One of the floors near the entrance

The lift door

Peacock Alley

Big spaces everywhere

Housekeeping had tidied up our toiletries...

For the afternoon, we switched centuries and stories at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, something we highly recommend if you are in New York. We joined the Tenement Women: 1902 tour, which brings to life the experiences of immigrant women who lived and worked in these cramped apartments. It was followed by a short “tasting” tour that stopped at a local pickle shop, the last kosher one in New York.

Dinner was at Via Carota, a much-hyped Italian trattoria in the West Village with a no-reservations policy and a cult following. We arrived at 5:30pm and were told it would be an hour and a half wait...and that they would message us to come back. Um...where would we go for an hour in the cold? No thank you. We asked if we could sit where the coats and bags were kept. They said yes. Then that question was later extended to having our meal at said same place. The answer was also yes. Score to saving ourselves an hour off the waiting time. The verdict on the food? Solid, but not spectacular. Sydney’s Italian scene could teach it a thing or two about flavor and value. Still, carbs were consumed, and that’s what matters most.

Day 18: Missed the sunrise, found the soul of the city, and replenished the body with carbs.

The Tenement Museum

A short description!

A very impressive collection of relevant books

The pressed metal ceiling 

Stairway and hallway. The banister is OG from the late1800s

One of the empty apartments

This was recreated to reflect what it likely would have looked like based on photos, items found, original furniture and furnishings left behind, as well as descriptions

Up to 12 people could share the small spaces

Sleeping area

Amenities are outside and shared

Orchard St. The outsie

Pickle shop

Where we got to sample some goods

Dinner venue

The warm, rustic room where everyone else ate

The storage nook where we and a couple of Singaporeans chose to ate to save time

Deep fried calories

This was a surprise star. Olives stuffed and fried

Cacio e pepe. OK but way too salty

Octopus, again just ok.