It’s rare that I make travel videos but on this latest trip to NYC, I focused on shooting video. A travel-related conference is what brought me here and I stayed a few extra days to explore and see friends. Here is a New York minute-long inspiration video on my YouTube channel. I hope you like it!

 

A New York Minute video

My New York minute videoSome things that happened during my New York trip:

A big surprise to many people including myself was that I have never eaten at Freemans in the Lower East Side. Why it has eluded me for so long, I’m not sure. My friend Connie from Connvoyage and I decided to meet up and eat here. 

She is also a fellow travel blogger and I’m happy to have finally connected with her in person. Both of us had never eaten at Freemans so it was nice to cross off two birds :) Sadly our seats inside were in a dark, romantic corner (haha) so I don’t have food photos but we did manage to get ones of the restaurant’s popular alley.

 The popular Freemans Alley

Right around the corner from Freemans is one of my favourite places in NYC, Morgenstern’s Ice Cream. Do yourself a favour and go have a scoop or three.

Morgenstern’s with a side of Connie

One of my closest guy friends Leonard lives in NYC (sadly no longer). We have known each other for almost 20 years!! He, his brother Dan, and I worked at a skateboard shop back in Vancouver.  They are like brothers from another mother and I love them very much.

Leo travels more than I do and when we get together, we talk about far-off destinations and dream trips we want to take. We actually met up randomly in Paris while I was on my round the world trip. Hopefully, we can adventure somewhere soon because it’s always handy having a talented photographer along with you :)

Sorry I am a crappy photo taker Leo

The iconic Grand Central Station

When I was in the city there were a handful of travel industry related events. My favourite part about going to them is reconnecting with people who love travel as much as I do. Everyone says they love to travel (anyone who says they don’t is a weirdo) but people who are in the travel industry take it to the next level. They’ve made it their career!

L to R: Erin – 10 Miles Behind Me, The World Wanderer, and Lola Travels at NY Travel Fest

Sunday is always reserved for dim sum in NYC’s Chinatown. We first tried to go to Jin Fong but the wait long so we went to our usual Dim Sum Go Go. I’m happy we went here because we had a Sofia Coppola spotting (eeek, I love her).

Mmm so good! Order the duck dumplings here. They are my new favourite!

After dim sum, I met up with my friend Danielle of The Style and Beauty Doctor blog. We met in Dusseldorf on an Air Berlin (RIP) press trip in February 2015. She was getting ready to go to Trinidad so I was happy she squeezed in a visit.

We call this Ebony x Ivory thug faces

Daniel and I walked Midtown so I was able to snap this bad boy.

I love the Flat Iron Building!

One of the reasons I was in NYC was to attend a travel conference. During the conference, I was hosted at the Hilton Midtown. This sign was across the street. How perfect because I love this city!

The Love Sign at 55th and 6th Avenue/Avenue of the Americas

During my conference, I had dinner at the Benjamin Hotel one night. On the way home I walked by Radio City Music Hall. One of my favourite things about being in NYC is randomly walking by iconic places. 

Radio City Music Hall

The Canadian Tourism Commission organized the travel conference I attended. This was my second time attending the conference. It’s so great to see the destinations and brands that I have worked with in the past as well as meeting new ones. Also, I love Canada very much if you didn’t notice (I’m Canadian).

I took a virtual trip to a BC forest. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was incredibly real and pretty cool.

One event I attended during the conference was the “Women of the Wild West” lunch. It was held at the prestigious James Beard House in the West Village. Alberta Culinary Tourism Alliance put on the lunch along with Tourism Calgary and the Wines of British Columbia. The all-female chef (plus 1 male) team from Calgary prepared the lunch. Calgary has never struck me as a culinary destination but I am definitely interested in eating there now.

Here is just one photo from the lunch but if you’d like to see more, I posted a full album on my Facebook page here. This was the second course by Chef Connie DeSousa of CHARCUT Roast House – Pig head mortadella with Brassica mustard & sourdough. It was paired with Mission Hill Family Estate Perpetua 2012. 

You better believe this was delicious!

After the conference, I was back at Leonard’s place. We walked by this wall in Nolita and I asked him to shoot this photo of me. The mural is by an artist by the name of James Goldcrown and the wall is called “Bleeding Hearts” or “Love Wall”.

I like to say that being in NYC make me feel a certain type of way

My last dinner in NYC was with my friends Leo, Eddie, and Joanne. We went to 99 Favor Taste which is a hot pot restaurant on Grand Street in Chinatown. It was so delicious and I was still full on my flight home to LA.

If you ever have a chance to go, make a reservation beforehand. It’s a two-floor restaurant but the wait can still be long without a reservation. It’s an all you can eat restaurant and I am not usually into AYCE, but this is worth it!

I only dipped into the spicy side. Spice is life!

Added two new coffee shops to my NYC coffee guide. Read more here.

Obsessed with Aussie cafes!

A week in New York is always too short!!! Although I could never live through a winter on the East Coast ever again (living in Montreal and New York City put me off winter forever), I would love to spend a summer there. It’s always inspiring to be in the city and I adore my New Yorker friends. Maybe a summer version of my New York minute video? Who knows!?

I hope you enjoyed my adventures in the Big Apple and my New York minute video!