Trip to New York

We arrived in Detroit early Wednesday morning. Because of the biggest snowstorm, the Northeast they had in years, all flights headed northeast got cancelled. We were to spend all day in the Detroit airport with no way of getting out:).
Here's the picture of the fully automated train that we would ride from one end of the airport to the other:

Once it was clear that we had to face many hours at the airport without the possibility of getting out earlier, we had to decide on where to eat. We settled on eating at Sora -the Sushi & Asian Cuisine restaurant that seemed to be very popular with the travellers. We ate there on the way back as well and both times the place was packed with people. Surprisingly for the airport joint, the restaurant had a regular Sushi place menu.

As one of the main U.S. hubs to Asia - with direct routes to Japan and, by 2009, China - it came to no surprise that there were so many Asian travellers as well as all signs and announcements done in English and Chinese, as opposed to English and Spanish at Sky Harbor. We were craving for ice cream and went to look for Edy's restaurant, but found it to be out of business despite the fact that it was listed on all the signs. It's time to take Edy's name off!

After about 6 hours there we were so exhausted, that decided to explore the "Religious Reflection Room", located in the administrative area of the airport. Besides two of us, there were 4 Muslims that were using it. After spending 11 hours in Detroit, we finally got on the plane to Albany close to 10 P.M.

The landing was absolutely one of the scariest moments of our lives. Besides the bad turbulence on landing, the plane started rocking from side to side up until the moment we touched the ground. The runway was icy and full of snow. No wonder that once we were on the ground, the plane wasn't able to slow down for a while which caused a lot of concern for all of us. We had a pilot sitting next to us who missed his flight due to weather as well, who was holding the seat in front of him during the whole time. He looked pretty scared as well.

Praise to the Lord that we made it safe!

We rented a car around midnight and arrived at Karen and Bob's shortly after. After settling down 2 am in the morning we were finally in bed only to get up 3 hours later at 5 to catch a train to New York City.

It took us over 3.5 hours to get to the City by train because the malfunctioning signal kept halted us for 40 minutes. So we barely made it for our noon lunch meeting with my school friend Erianna. We took a taxi from the Penn station to the La Grenouille restaurant http://www.la-grenouille.com/. Because it is one of the few formal places left in New York, it was required to wear a jacket and more or less decent clothes. All waiters were french and in their 50s which was quite unusual. I ordered Steamed Cod with Anchovies, Capers, Shallot Crust with Lemon Zest and Wayne got veal special.

Erianna arrived shortly after we settled down. I have known her since I was 7 years old - since 1st grade and haven't seen her in 10 years. We went through 10 years of school together and graduated from the same Malasyan college together. She won a green card 5 years ago, received her MBA from Baruch and is working now as Vice President for Lazard in Rockefeller Center, NYC.

We talked more than we ate, then walked to the 30 Rock, took some photos together, saw Erianna off to her work and went up to the top of the Rock observation deck. It wasn't a perfect day for photography, but I was able to get a couple of good shots.

The following photos were taken from the top of the Rockefeller building - Top of the Rock:

There is only so much time you can spend on the roof of the sky scraper. And we've been on top of lots of them: World Trade Center, Chicago's Hancock Building, Sacre Coeur Tower (the highest point in Paris), etc.

Luckily, St. Patrick Cathedral was right next door. It proudly stands in the midst of the Manhattan skyscrapers and is the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York. It was amazing how much it looked like the Cologne Dom in Germany. A great example of the decorated and geometric style of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture. Walking into Saint Patrick's Cathedral and the medieval cathedral of Cologne, you would find a similar atmosphere of beauty and peace.

We also visited one of our favorite cafes in New York, called Manon Cafe http://www.manoncafe.com/. There are three of them in the New York City and two in London. The one we went to was located at 74 Trinity Place(immediately next to the American Stock Exchange and at the rear of Trinity Church). It features two levels of comfortable seating, one of the best cappuccinos and espressos in town, which Wayne orders every time we go there and loves it every time, and of course, a complete selection of Leonidas Belgian Chocolates - my favorites. You also get a free Leonida with a cup of tea and it's a delight to have tea there!

A new place we tried was called Pret a Manger http://www.pret.com/us/. They serve food with only natural ingredients. They make their stuff fresh so they can sell it fresh!

And finally it was time to take a train to Queens to see my college friend Frida. We got off at Woodhaven station in Queens, took a taxi and arrived at the apartment complex where Frida lives.

We had great time with her family and stayed up till 1 A.M. again. Only to get up early at 5 A.M. again to catch a train back to Albany.

Panera bread

Sunday morning, February 1, we stopped at Panera bread in Glenmont, NY and Wayne ordered Baked Egg Souffle. The tasty soft creamy scrambled eggs were packed into crispy flaky buttery puffed pastry with melted cheese on top. I ordered Pineapple Upside Down Mini Bundt Cake which was a tasty mini cake, very moist and full of flavour. But the Egg Souffle was absolutely the best breakfast we had in a long while.