this year, i spent my spring break in nyc and it was absolutelyyy amazing! i ate a lot, saw a lot, did a lot, and (of course) took a lot of pictures, so i thought i’d share some of my favorite pictures/experiences from break!
friday, march 15
this was my last day of class before spring break officially started! i had chinese in the morning, then went downtown to meet someone. since i was in koreatown, i decided to treat myself and try the matcha/taro soft serve from besfren! honestly, 70% of the reason i got it was just for the gram (i mean, look how pretty it is!!), but i actually really liked it, so i have no regrets hahaha
for dinner, i went to xian famous foods with my friends. i highly recommend their chrysanthemum tea – it’s nice and sweet and not too expensive, and it’s just a really refreshing drink!
i ended the night by toning my mostly faded purple hair in an attempt to get rid of some of the weird yellow-ish parts, but (to my surprise) it ended up removing all the remaining purple….. at least it kinda got rid of the brassiness too hahah
saturday, march 16
my friend and i both have march birthdays, so we decided to celebrate together by going to flushing (aka where all the good cheap asian food is)! it’s a pretty long train ride, but definitely worth it if you have the time :))
she brought her friend, and we all went to nan xiang xiao long bao, a shanghainese restaurant. we ordered several different dishes, and my favorites were definitely the xiao long bao and the pan fried buns! we also found a dessert place, where i tried durian for the first time (i didn’t like it hahaha), and then also went to a boba shop called teas me dear. my friends said the milk tea there was reallyyyy good, but i couldn’t get any :((( this has definitely been the hardest part of giving up boba for lent haha
finally, we went to queens botanical garden, which was nice even though there weren’t any flowers – we’ll definitely have to go back in the spring. when we got back to campus, i bumped into a friend, and we ended up chatting for a few hours, which was unexpected but really great!
sunday, march 17
on sunday, i went to church as usual, then grabbed lunch with the same friend i met saturday night. we went to bangklyn (a small, quirky thai restaurant in east harlem), stopped by goodwill, got ice cream from van leeuwen (sooo good), browsed ulta for a bit, then took the bus back. it was a really nice and chill time, and i’m really happy that we got to spend time together and get to know each other better!
when i got back to school, i finally finished mr. sunshine, the kdrama i’d been watching. this drama is set in the last 19th-early 20th century, aka the time during which korea was fighting for independence, so there was a lot of war, fighting, and death happening in the drama. it was super intense and honestly, the ending kind of broke my heart – i was super angry about the way it ended, but at least it was realistic :’)
after that, i decided to start a new drama called romance is a bonus book. it’s a much more lighthearted rom-com, which i really needed after mr. sunshine, and it stars lee jong suk (one of my favorite actors)! i watched the whole thing over break, and although parts of it were definitely cheesy, it’s super cute and i’d definitely recommend it!
monday, march 18
on monday, i went downtown and (!!) got my ears pierced at village tattoo nyc! i actually got them pierced several years ago, but i think the holes didn’t form properly, so i just let them close. my experience this time with piercing went pretty smoothly, and my ears are now pierced!! it was a bit more pricey than i had expected, but i don’t regret doing it (at least for now….), and i’m glad i decided to do it at a piercing parlor instead of claire’s! afterwards, i met up with a friend for all you can eat kbbq (the best!!) and bingsoo, checked out the glossier store, then went back to campus for some kdrama and chill time :))
tuesday, march 19 (my birthday!)
i woke up relatively early and met up with my friend jane so we could get rush tickets for a broadway show! for those of you who aren’t familiar with the rush ticket system, you can get discounted tickets by going to the box office the morning of the show. we arrived at the box office around an hour before it opened and bought tickets for a new-ish show called be more chill.
we met up with a few more friends for lunch at 99 favor taste, a restaurant that gives you free hotpot on your birthday. honestly, i felt a bit bad because it was so expensive for my friends, but it was still nice to celebrate with them! we also went to snowdays for dessert, which was nice 🙂
after that, jane and i took the subway to brooklyn. we walked around a bit and couldn’t find the iconic dumbo spot, but still got really nice pictures of the manhattan and brooklyn bridges. we also walked across the brooklyn bridge and took tons of pictures of each other!
when we got back to manhattan, we stopped by vanessa’s dumpling house for a quick dinner, then headed uptown for the show. be more chill was, as i kinda expected, a bit weird but good! it’s definitely not your traditional broadway show – it’s a bit eccentric, but pretty funny and very entertaining. and of course, all of the cast was amazing! after the show, we grabbed some cheesecake from junior’s (my favorite cheesecake) and went home. it was a super long day, so we were both exhausted, but in the best way possible <3
wednesday, march 20
on wednesday, i chilled a bit in the morning, then met xan (!!) downtown for a late-ish lunch at dumpling man. their dumplings are HUGE, which i really appreciated hahaha. i got the seared chicken dumplings, and xan got the steamed veggie dumplings. we also tried their pumpkin and banana dumplings – banana was weird (xan rated it a 2/10), but the pumpkin was pretty good!
we stopped by space194 – way overpriced and overrated, but very pretty :’)) (do it for the gram) – before hitting up some thrift shops! i almost never go thrift shopping because it’s not a huge thing back in the bay area, but it was really fun! at the last store we went to, i found a really cute light pink denim jacket. i’ve never had a denim jacket, but i’m kinda trying to ~reinvent my style~ so i just bought it! we then hit up van leeuwen and shared an earl grey ice cream, which did not disappoint. everything i’ve tried from them so far is really good, and i seriously need to try allll their flavors!
this was the last time i’ll see xan for a while, but it was super great hanging out over the last month! xan, if you’re reading this, please come back to new york soon <333
thursday, march 21
i went to an udon restaurant with my nyu friend, which was really good since i haven’t had udon in such a long time! we also went to amorino for gelato, and it was pretty good, but i only realized afterward that il laboratorio del gelato was RIGHT across the street, and i’ve been wanting to go since the beginning of the school year :((( it’s kind of a nostalgic thing for me, since my mom and i went to il laboratorio del gelato several times when we visited nyc back in 2016. i’ll definitely go back… soon……
friday, march 22
on friday i actually went to the library and did work (wow who is she??). instead of waiting until the last day of break, i did myself a favor and actually finished my chinese homework a few days early, and i felt sooo much less stressed over the weekend.
i wanted to make the most of the last day of my unlimited metrocard, so i went downtown after doing homework. pro tip (not that i’m a pro hahah): if you’re in new york for vacation or break and you’re going to be going out a lot, get yourself an unlimited metrocard!! not only do you save money, but you also liberate yourself from stressing over spending $2.75 for each subway trip. you can take the subway just to get coffee or ice cream (which i literally did on friday hahah) and not feel bad if your destination is only 6 blocks away because the swipes are already paid for anyway. it’s like having the golden mushroom in mario kart – use it as much as you can!
i first went down to hudson yards to see the vessel, but i didn’t get to go into the actual structure because i didn’t get tickets beforehand. i ended up just snapping a few pics of the vessel and walking around the shopping center. i also went downtown to try kith treats (recommended by xan!). i got ice cream swirled with oreo crumbs and kitkat, and it was good, but essentially a glorified mcflurry, so….. not super worth it imo.
saturday, march 23
saturday was definitely one of the best days i’ve had in a while! i did a lot of fun things this week, but walking through manhattan with my friend was definitely one of the most memorable.
we met at the barnard gates (117th street and broadway), then started making our way downtown. we stopped at absolute bagels (108th street) for breakfast and again at bibble and sip (51st) for a snack! i finally got to try their earl grey banana bread, which was really good, and also picked up a brown sugar tea latte, one of my favorites. we shopped a bit around times square, and i got a cute jacket from forever 21 – on sale! we passed by the flatiron building (23rd) and completely by chance found a flying tiger store (21st). i honestly had no idea that they had stores in nyc, so of course we HAD to go in! everything there was super super cute and inexpensive, and i could easily spend way too much money there.
we stopped at vanessa’s dumpling house (14th) for a late lunch, then continued walking down. we actually passed 1st street without realizing, so we had to go back and take a picture haha! for dessert, we visited taiyaki nyc, then walked through chinatown and past the world trade center, all the way to battery park! making it all the way to battery park (about 10 miles) felt so so good, and i can’t wait to do it again. since we were at the tip, we decided to take the staten island ferry and back, just for fun! we were both super tired by the end of the day, but it was suchhh a good day.
and that’s a wrap on my spring break in new york! i’m really happy that i was able to spend time in the city without worrying about school and other responsibilities, and i’m excited to continue exploring nyc. seriously, living in nyc is such an amazing opportunity, and i’m so grateful to go to school here <3
what did you do over spring break? let me know in the comments!
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