OLD friends ~ NEW york !!!

What a Wonderful Trip! We had such a blast in New York City that I've taken 4 days to recuperate from all the excitement in the Big Apple!

My dear buddy Julie, whom I have known half of my lifetime (since Freshman year at UCSD), has been prodding me to visit her in NY since 1998....and as a good and faithful friend, it took me 12 years to finally keep my word! After adding a hubby (aka *king*), a prince, and a princess to my life since her departure to NY, I finally embarked on the formidable trip across the country to meet my dear Ju Ju! She will be tying the knot with my high school friend (Mr. G) next June in Disneyland, so I figured we better go to NY before she (perhaps) moves back to CA with her new hubby!

The kids enjoyed the snacks and cartoons on the plane, luckily nothing eventful took place. We stayed at our cozy (ok, tiny) hotel room and enjoyed visiting hubby's aunt who lived in Flushing. On Thursday nite, Julie showed us her elegant, huge, private executive office at Citibank where she works as V.P.! (Click here to take a peek!)

She also took us to a special restaurant where the waiters not only serve you delicious food, but also sing to you, stand on tables, and dance incredibly well!

On Friday, we planned on beholding the beauty of Lady Liberty from the waterfront via a 75-minute free Ferry ride, but our plans were curtailed by a meltdown ~ courtesy of Abbie-girl. At the entrance of the port, she managed to irk 500+ people as she wailed and thrashed herself about on the floor, thus we had to grab her and run before port security removed her from our custody. After 35 minutes and much prodding, she admitted she was crying because she was scared of falling off the ferry......

We then managed to find Central Park and walked carefreely around the beautiful patch of green.



Caleb found a new friend who adorned him with crown, flag shawl, and a cool torch! I guess we got to see Lady (well, Mr.?) Libery after all!





I then looked around for daddy and Abbie, who are already boarding a handsome stallion and gestering for me and boy to get on the stagecoach!


That night, Ju Ju got off work and took us to a delicious Korean restaurant! We had to remind ourselves to take pictures BEFORE we ate, so we could show you all the food and the joy on our faces! There was a special "Korean Ice" (similar to Italian ice, I reckon?) and it was delicious!


We also went to a famous pastry shop named "Juniors", and had our fill of various cheesecakes and banana splits! We even visited the Gigantic M&M store and the famous King Kong building ~ Empire State Building!


Caleb was so thrilled that he disappeared before we could board the elevator! Abbie pointed to the closed elevator door and said, "Guh Guh inside, went up!" And we had no choice but to take another elevator 80 stories up, hoping that he'd be there when we arrived. As it turned out, he wasn't there, and hence Caleb's "Lost in Empire State Bldg." Saga continues....this is like "Home Alone" with a twist.



We went around the building several times and found him joking and chatting with a security guard, who motioned to us that "a calm child is here". He didn't even miss us! I guess with all the security stations here, he was safe after all!

The beautiful view from the top of the ES Building was breathtaking! The 360 view of the city, the lights, and the night skies were so impressive! Julie said this is now the tallest building in NYC, ever since World Trade Center was destroyed in 9/11. So it's great that we could visit this building and we pray it stays right where it is!