Our first trip to the City

Well, not exactly. Last night, Kristal took the train into NYC to pick up Kebra (Kristal's sister) who is out with us. Other than that, we "boys" have not been to the city since we moved here. Today's outing was a mission: go to Katz's Deli for lunch, then make a trek through Chinatown -- I have always wanted to go through Chinatown. We also made it a stretch-goal to take a jaunt up to Times Square to the huge, four story Toys-R-Us so the boys could use a gift card. The place actually has a ferris wheel INSIDE.

We started out, and damion was less than enthusiastic about all the walking ahead of us:


But once we hit the road, the train ride from Hoboken to the city was fun, and when we sat down at Katz's, the the boys warmed right up to it. Just as some context, Katz's is one of the most famous deli's in NYC, and was featured in the movie When Harry Met Sally. Many, many famous people have dined there, including three presidents. The pastrami is TO DIE FOR. It has been featured as the best in the nation.

Clearly we had a good time:






After way too much pastrami and corned beef, we taxi'ed to Canal and Centre streets, to Chinatown. We had a great time walking around. We hit the Chinese Ice Cream Factory (a small ice cream shop) that features flavors such as Red Bean, Wasabi, Ginger, and Green Tea ice cream. Even though it was about 40 degrees outside, we couldn't pass up some ice cream. The boys both go Mango, Kris got Green Tea, Kebs got Chocolate, and I got Ginger. They were out of wasabi. :-(

Somehow Damion got into this picture when he wasn't supposed to:


Few general pics of Chinatown. Doesn't do it justice, though. The sheer density of this area of New York is amazing. I read that it's nearly impossible to find an apartment in this area of town because generations of chinese simply pass on their apartments and rooms to friends or family. People immigrate to this area of New York literally every day, and locals can go years without speaking a word of English.



Not sure who thought this was a good idea for the name of a restaurant:


The famous McDonald's in Chinatown:


We then cabbed it up to Times Square so the boys could rock Toys R Us:


Clearly Damion is happy with his purchase:


And on the walk back to the train, Kris spotted this sign. This place scares me:


And that more or less concluded our trip!