New York City

There are definitely better guides to New York City, since it's been five years since I lived in the Big Apple, but I still have opinions and my favorites.

I absolutely love the City, the energy, the bustle, the tall buildings. IMHO it is an "experiential" city, kind of like Shanghai, where there are key tourist attractions, but the best way to enjoy it is to be like the locals and live, eat, explore, for a few days.

Eat and Drink
I can't pretend to know the best of NYC food and drink anymore. However, I still know it's one of the best food and drink cities in the world (if not the best) and definitely take advantage of every meal you have!!

Chowhound, Zagat and Yelp will be great resources - just keep in mind grain of salt for the "user" generated feedback.

If you are not American, it's time to become acquainted with OpenTable (http://www.opentable.com/). Many high end restaurants in major US cities use this reservation platform to some extent, and it will let you make reservations 24 hours/day way in advance of your trip at the places where you definitely want to eat.

For the two cents that it's worth, here are my NYC Yelp reviews and eat blog posts. Don't have too many, and I definitely think there are better lists.

Grand Central
42nd and Park Ave (Metro North and subways 4-5-6-S)
I think this is the coolest train station ever. I might have a soft place for Grand Central because this was my gateway into Manhattan when I was growing up in Connecticut, and also my way home when I was going to see my parents when I lived in NY. The station has this amazing dome with constellations and light shows during the holidays. I still stop in my tracks and stare up every time I walk in.

I might also love this place because of The Oyster Bar. It's located down the ramps, halfway to the dining area on the bottom floor of GC. When you go in, turn right and sit at the bar, and order a clam chowder, some cherry stone clams, oysters, and glass of chardonnay. The cherry stones are amazing - enormous, meaty and filling (if you don't like the clam genre, this is not for you). Great selection of oysters and you have to try a real New England clam chowder once.

After the Oyster Bar, stop at Campbell Apartment. This is another hidden place within Grand Central. I believe this will be towards the east side of the station - you can get there from the side entrance by Lexington Ave, or winding through the corridors in the station. Big happy hour crowd, but I think it's a great uniquely NY bar.

Other "old school" NY
In the same genre as GC are a few places that I remember feeling super NYer-y and grown up at back in my local days...

• Bemelman's Bar - located in the Carlyle Hotel on 76th and Madison, Bemelman's has fantastic ambiance with a jazz pianist and murals on the wall by the illustrator of the "Madeleine" books. Also where Carrie took Louise in SATC movie :)


• Keen's Steakhouse - I won't even try to get into "best steak in NYC" discussion, but this is my favorite steakhouse as much for the atmosphere as the steak and mutton (which is a must-have). Start with a drink at their classic bar and get at least one order of the mutton with your steaks. 36th between 5th & 6th.


• Yankees Stadium - Ok so I am a little biased, being a Yankee's fan . And the experience is a little less "classic" in the new stadium. But I don't know what can be more New York than a Yankees game, if you are there from April to October. Pick up cheap tickets online and have a beer and hot dog at the game. Take the 4, B, or D subway lines to 161st St/Yankees Stadium.

Central Park
You should definitely spend some time to enjoy Central Park. In the summer, look out for the free concerts, the Philharmonic, and Shakespeare in the Park. Go for a run around the Reservoir (E86-96th) or see the various gardens. Get a deli picnic (and perhaps a bottle of wine) and camp out on the Great Lawn. You'll see the iconic horse drawn buggies at the south end at 59th Street (though you might smell them first)

Also, though not Central Park, Bryant Park at 45th and 6th has a fantastic free film series in the summer and ice skating and other activities through the rest of the year.

The Arts
New York might be the best in the world if you like the arts. I am not super artsy but I love being able to go to a symphony or ballet or jazz or an exhibit any day and with so many options.

Check out Lincoln Center for what's playing there, or Carnegie Hall. Jazz at Lincoln Center is fabulous. They have some great spaces and programs in the Columbus Circle Time Warner Building. The Allen Room space is phenomenal, with the Central Park and NY skyline in the background as the sun sets during the jazz show. Dizzy's is another great space, and you can make reservations on OpenTable (see below).

Obviously the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) and the Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) are two of the world's best, with a great permanent collection as well as special exhibits. So many smaller but fantastic museums and galleries. Definitely check out listings when you get in (see NY mag below).

Don't think it's considered the "arts", but I also love exploring the Natural History Museum on the upper west side. One super cheesy but educational and fun was to enjoy this museum (as well as a bunch of others now) is Watson Adventures' scavenger hunts, two hour whirlwind group competitions to answer clues based on what you can find at each site.

Touristy New York
If you have to do the touristy things in NYC, here's my mom's NYC one-day tour she takes Japanese visitors on.

Start at Battery Park, take photos of Statue of Liberty. Ground Zero site is blocks away, then walk around Wall Street. Head north to Chinatown for dim sum lunch, then up to midtown to see the UN on the east side (42nd-46th and 1st Ave), Empire State Building (34th and 5th Ave), and walk on Fifth Ave. On your way out of the city, relax at the Cloisters.

Etc.
*Buy a New York Magazine first thing when you arrive in the city. Magazine has the week's schedules for shows and exhibits in town, as well as great restaurant lists. The website's Restaurant section might be helpful.

*Use the subway. Super convenient, runs all hours, pretty clean and safe (usual precautions), and as cheap as NYC gets.

*If you are coming from elsewhere on the Eastern seaboard, consider taking Amtrak into Penn Station. LGA and JFK are both outside of Manhattan and can be lengthy cab rides depending on time of day, and the trains don't have the hassle of air travel with similar or cheaper fares.

Expo Pub Crawl

There are many ways to experience World Expo -- see amazing architecture, wait in lines to see the big guns, or visit small countries that you probably wouldn't get to in your lifetime. Another way to enjoy Expo is to eat and drink your way through it. This post is about drinking.

Zone C in Pudong where Europe, America and Africa's country pavilions are located have the largest concentration of brewhouses and good restaurants (click on map below). A handful of contenders are in Puxi as well. Note, this is not the cheapest way to do a pub crawl in Shanghai, as you will pay a 160rmb to enter the park (or 90rmb after 5pm) and the beers are not inexpensive. However they are good and you also get to see a lot of Expo.

Here are some suggested stops for an Expo pub crawl, as well as other places you can eat and drink at Expo.

Zone C beers
The Americas, Europe, and Africa make up the westernmost zone on the Pudong side. Enter at Gate 7 or 8, or you can come from the Puxi side by subway or to ferry dock L4 or L6.

Belgium - clearly you can't do a pub crawl without including the Belgians. For those on the fly, you can get Stella, Hoegaarten and something else (sorry I forget) at the little kiosk bar in front of the pavilion alongside the Belgian fries and waffle huts. If you have a few more rmb and time, go up to the 2nd floor cafe. The entrance is to the right of the pavilion queue, and can you walk right in. I got a Chimay (had Red, should have gone White) which comes with cheese, and I was excited to see they had Delirium Tremens which is one of my fav Belgian pale ales.

Germany - obviously we had to stop at Germany as well, and lucky for us, they're only two doors down from the Belgians. They have a small bar and slightly larger restaurant with outdoor seating located at the front of the pavilion under the arches. Light and dark beer. Note, at the risk of sounding like a total wuss, it's worth splitting the 1/2 liter beers with a friend so you can keep going, here and at other pavilions.

Netherlands - wasn't on the original list, but the daily parade foiled our plan to cross the street to Lithuania, and we discovered that the Netherlands sold 20rmb Heinekens at their kiosks closest to the street and Luxembourg. Also was a good time for fried sticks of meat.

Lithuania - the bar at Lithuania is actually inside of the pavilion - enter and you'll see a few bar counters and seating area in front of you towards the left. They serve serveral kinds of Svyturys, which was fantastic. Our pavilion directors swears this is the best beer at Expo, and it was one of the best we had.

Mexico - we were hungry after four pavilions so head to Mexico, sponsored by Corona and with Mexican fare at their restaurant (and decent accessible bathrooms btw. Belgian cafe is the other nice pit stop). The entrance to the restaurant is at the exit of the pavilion -- walk down the left side of the stairs where everyone is coming out, and you'll see the restaurant on the left.

Malta - our last stop for the evening was at Malta Pavilion, a small pavilion within the Europe Joint Pavilion I, and one of my favorites. The bar is towards the end of the pavilion visit, and they serve Cisk, a Maltese lager named after slang for 'cheque' from the old owner's banking background. They said we need to come back to get the Cisk 'X'. Say "thank you" to them in their native language - sounds like Italian "grazie"

Czech - one pavilion that we missed on the beer tour was Czech where they serve Budvar, the Czech Budweiser.

Zone C wine and spirits
There's also a fine selection of wine and other drinks in this corner of Expo

Argentina - I am itching to try the Argentinian steak house with wine from their 15 sponsor wineries. Argentinian steak... mmm...

Chile - the other great wine from the region comes from Chile. I hear they have a great wine bar where you can pass away the day.

Moldova - the obscure former Soviet republic produced some fantastic wines. There's a Moldovan merlot that I loved, along with a pretty wide selection from what I hear. Moldova Pavilion is part of Europe Joint Pavilion II.

Peru - Peru's national drink is the Pisco Sour, a fantastic concoction of pisco (grape liquor), egg whites, lime/lemon, sugars and bitters. The drink is fantastic, and I'd recommend a refueling stop here for their amazing ceviche, seafood rice, and the potato turnovers.

Cuba - unfortunately Cuba was closed by 9:30pm on Saturday night, but hear they serve great mojitos

Spain - the tapas restaurant on the ground floor of the Spain Pavilion also serves sherry. Enter the restaurant at the right of the queue.

Angola - I am not sure how Angola made the list, except they are supposed to have 38rmb cocktails at their bar...

Puxi options
So the Puxi side is less trafficked but has some hidden gems.

Asashi Beer Garden - hard to walk by without stopping for a beer. Second floor of one of the dining buildings at the border of Zone D and E by the Aurora Pavilion, there's really nothing else around there. Could be your first stop if you come in from Gate 2.

Madrid - Madrid Pavilion has a fantastic tapas restaurant on the 3rd floor, and they also do sangria and churros. Madrid is at the faaaar corner of Zone E Urban Best Practice Area, but really is one of my favorite city pavilions.

Barcelona - stop by at Barcelona's funky neon pavilion and head towards the back to their wine bar. Also in Zone E Urban Best Practices Area.

Japan Business - not so much a bar, but Zone D Japan Business Pavilion food court has awesome green tea ice cream, yakisoba and takoyaki, and cold cans of beer. Nice stop on the way home from work :)

Here's a SmartShanghai article on Expo pub crawling... pictures at the bottom are nice...
http://www.smartshanghai.com/blog/1669/Getting_Pissed_at_the_Expo.html