My guide to Downtown New York: Tribeca, the Financial District, East Village, SoHo, NoLita, Meatpacking District and more.


DOWNTOWN: THINGS LOOKED UP ONCE WE WERE GOING SOUTH 
NYC Photo Diaries Part 2: Downtown Manhattan

NYC was off to a bit of a patchy start, what with Uptown and Midtown Manhattan living up to the city's fabled reputation for being a tease and a breaker of dreams - "Twenty five hundred dollars for a mouldy, curry-scented closet with my very own stoop crackhead? I'll take it!" - but the trip took a turn for the better once Luxy and I headed Downtown. I stuffed my Sephora haul into my suitcase, hopped into a yellow death trap on wheels manned by yet another De Niro-wannabe, and yelled: "Financial District...and step on it!" (before instantly regretting the last three words) then whizzed toward 14th St, only looking back once to bid farewell to The Chrysler building before embarking on the second and better half of our New York adventure. 

The moment Luxy and I crossed the threshold and faced the blogger-approved marble and copper stairs of The Conrad, we knew that the second half of our NYC trip was going to be as relaxed as the Financial District was pleasantly serene. And for three good reasons - one: after the disappointment of our Times Square hotel, it was such a breath of fresh air to stay somewhere that actually deserved the accolade of luxury hotel, two: Downtown is far less congested with tourists, and three: the edgy Tribeca, Soho, and Meatpacking districts were much more the vibe of this West London girl in Shoreditch. 

And how! I want to regale to you the highlights of NYC Part 2 but that'd imply leaving out the inferior bits, when in fact there wasn't anything about Downtown Manhattan that I didn't love (apart from the sudden downpour on my birthday, but that's not really the city's fault). No moment big nor small was anything less than ERMAHGERD AWESUM - from being surprised with a complimentary glass of champagne at The Balthazar (a tradition reserved for ladies dining solo, apparently) and making friends with two ladies at the next table who then showed up for my birthday the following night at Haus, to the Venusaur I nearly caught in NoLita (it was this big!), the mad taxi-dash club hopping between Haus, Tao Downtown, Sanatorium, Gold Bar (the list goes on...), an amazing dinner at STK Rooftop topped only a much needed 'hangover brunch' at Bubby's in Tribeca, walking the High Line, and of course the industrial-chic vibes of the Meatpacking District. 

In New York City, going Downtown and 'going south' are two very different things, it would seem. Behold.

PHOTOS OF ME BY CATHERINE LUX, AS PER USUAL.

August 31, 2016



Uptown Girls (but they're living in a Midtown World) - NYC Photo Diaries Part 1: Uptown & Midtown Manhattan


No amount of Sex and the City, 2 Broke Girls, nor Gossip Girl* marathons is enough to prepare this Asian native-turned European expat's first time (in adult memory - my only memory from the last time I visited NYC was 7 year old me in Chelsea, declaring to my parents: "I want to be gay!" "Why is that, sweetie?" "Because rainbow flags are gay and I like rainbows!") for the mythical creature that is New York City. One pieces together bits of anecdotes and literature** and builds a tableau vivant almost guaranteed to disappoint, if previous expectations of, well, everything, are anything to go by: Is this concrete jungle truly where dreams are made of? Or will expectations fall flat like a forgotten cream cheese bagel on the subway tracks? 

Yes and No. Midtown was both the hot mess I expected (yet Times Square was not nearly as chaotic as fiction would have you believe - try navigating Piccadilly Circus during rush hour carrying a family-sized box of Cinnabon with your Oyster Card nestled between your chin and neck, then come back and tell me what hectic is), our "luxury" hotel appeared to have spent all their budget on first impressions (edgy, design-led lobby) but couldn't be bothered with the rooms (chipped bathroom mirror, dented furniture, minuscule quarters - and this was a Junior Suite), and the food I tried in Upper and Midtown Manhattan wasn't especially superlative (save for the monstrous ice-creams at Emack & Bolio's). But everything else about New York is a hyperbole and a half: the taxi drivers all think they're Robert de Niro (but the cars have card machines so it's all good), the architecture is so astonishing that the Art Deco landmarks are almost superfluous, and the skyscrapers really are a hall of mirrors that reflect and trap both the sun and the human soul. 

Highlights include: catching many a Bulbasaur in Central Park, watching Good Morning America interview LeBron James in Times Square, hopping from one Sephora to another, singing 'Colours Of The Wind' to tableaus of New World settlers at the American Museum of Natural History,  climbing six floors in heels to the Empire State Building observatory on the 86th floor (the sprawling vista of the island as it glowed in the sunset was worth it - I would climb 500 steps, and I would climb 500 more), and doing my best impression of Kirsten Bell by writing my own Gossip Girl blast - Spotted: Jasiminne Yip lingering on the steps of The Met. I wonder what would Queen B make of this foreign upstart moving in on her territory? Careful, J, you might just start another Anglo-American war. East London and Upper East Side belligerents: now that'd be a battle we haven't seen since 1812. XOXO, Gossip Girl. 


Behold, the Uptown & Midtown Manhattan photo diaries of a bewildered and bemused Anglo-Asian second-timer.

*and now you know my Netflix guilty pleasures. Fire the canons of judgement. **to say nothing of the coy song & dance to obtain a US visa. Shipoopi, shipoopi, shipoopi, the girl who's hard to get.

PHOTOS OF ME BY CATHERINE LUX, NATCH. BE MY INSTAGRAM HUSBAND? LOL JK

August 29, 2016

Celebrating my 30th birthday with brunch at The Standard Grill, New York


3 SERIES: The First Brunch of my 30's at THE STANDARD GRILL, NEW YORK

I'm not one to make a big fuss about my birthday (oh, you managed not to die in the last 365 days? Well done, do you want a cake or something?) but this year was rather more special. You see, a woman is often conditioned to anticipate her thirties with the dread of loss: be that of youth, suppleness, or relevance in this fickle and ageist world. And that is even if she hasn't spent the last 2 years of her twenties feeling increasingly helpless and trapped in a downward spiral she hasn't the strength to climb out of, never mind dare to do anything but put on a brave front and fake a smile throughout. I remember all too clearly the despair and fear I felt on my 29th birthday (I kept the notes I made that day, for posterity) but what a difference a year makes. In the past few months I've rediscovered what it feels like to be free, happy, and loved. So when Luxy invited me to join her in New York City and Orlando, I jumped at the chance to do something for myself and myself only. I said "Yes!", booked my flights, expedited a USA visa application (that dramatic debacle deserves its own blog post), and before I knew it I woke up - still hungover from the 3 bar + 2 club-bender of the night before - in our suite at The Conrad to this adorable birthday surprise.

It was our last full day in NYC, but it was the first day of my thirties, a fresh start, and only the beginning of something brighter, bigger, and better than ever. They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but when in New York do as the New Yorkers do and have brunch. And brunch we did - at the lively, hip, always-packed The Standard Grill in Manhattan's achingly cool Meatpacking District.

THANK YOU LUXY FOR PHOTOS OF ME, AND ALSO FOR TAKING THE REINS OF THIS TRIP. LOVE YOU!

August 27, 2016

Where to eat in Split, Croatia: 5 authentic restaurants to try


Eat Till You SPLIT! Cruisin' for Cuisine: 
My 5 Must-Try Restaurants in Split

I know all about the perils of being a people pleaser. With Malaysian friends I speak the ubiquitous American accent peppered with 'lahs' and 'mahs' but in Britain I oscillate between sounding slightly Transatlantic to being mistaken for an extra on Downton Abbey (upstairs, naturally). It can be exhausting trying to keep up with one's audiences' preferences - you could say I've developed split personalities. I don't know how Croatian cuisine does it: between their Italian influences (the Croats love a good seafood pasta and risotto), meat platters to rival those of Spain, and octopus so fresh you could've picked it off a boat in Greece; never mind the locals, visitors to Croatia are contemplating mid-bite "Where exactly in the Mediterranean am I?" Culinary confusion aside, this hodge-podge of personalities on a plate makes for a dining experience that is diverse and never dull, as my 'souvenir' of a 3kg weight gain (!) from 5 days in Split will attest to. Lo, here are the five restaurants you must try in Split, Croatia...

🌊🌞🇭🇷


10 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD VISIT SPLIT, CROATIA: PART 1 AND PART 2

August 02, 2016

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