A Perfect Summer Day in the City

This was a fantastic weekend. We really had it all; great company, good food and nice weather! On Saturday we headed to the city with one of our dear friends who was visiting us before heading off to greener (not literally because she is moving to AZ) pastures after completing grad school. Our first stop was in Chinatown for dim sum at Oriental Garden. Nelson had picked it based on its online reviews and it was right next to Jing Fong, one of the larger dim sum restaurants that we had been to last summer. There was a great selection of seafood dishes and I was introduced to taro, a new dish that I liked very much. The picture menu with descriptions in English was very helpful. Dim sum is such a reasonable dining option as all we eat cost us only around $20 per person. Then we walked downtown through Wall Street towards South Street Seaport on a sight seeing mission.

The South Street Seaport is a very busy place in the summer There seem to be several event or promotions going on at all times. We went up to the food court for a brief rest and snack as we enjoyed beautiful views of the river. The many cruise boats caught our eye and I made a mental note to take one over to the Statue if Liberty & Ellis island before the end of the summer.Water Taxi around Manhattan and had a great time. Last year we took the It is a fun way to go around with its all day hop on-hop package. However, you're not guaranteed a nice spot on the deck as they are pretty crowded on weekends. We had a nice conductor who let us hang out in the open area in the back take some pictures. Also if you may be in trouble if you miss one ride as it is on an hourly schedule. It happened to us at this very spot last year and we ended up taking a long walk to Battery park. We were down the same path again as we headed to see the Charging Bull at the Bowling Green park.

In the late evening, we headed uptown to walk around Central Park. It is always a great place to take a walk and the scenery makes me want to capture it every single time.For dinner, we headed to Union Square for Thai food. Spice is a branch of a trendy Thai restaurant brand in NYC, with contemporary decor and very affordable, Americanized dishes. Most dishes which are in the $7-15 range are generous portions of good food. This was our second time eating here and our positive views were reaffirmed. Though initially, we thinking of extending the night, we decided to head back as we didn't want our friend to travel too late in the night all by herself.