Day number 2! Quite a bit to cover today, so I’ma cut to the chase. (Talking about 70+ photos for this entry. I’m sorry, dial-up readers out there. )
Just like the movies: 
↑ It’s where Jay-Z got his name. ..stop trollin.
On the streets of the New York, you barely see a super market like “Safeway”, “Vons”, or “Lucky’s.” There are the occasional “CVS” and “Walgreens”, but most blocks are occupied by stores with the name of “Duane Reade”:
↑There’s literally one every 3 blocks. It’s like the Starbucks of the convenient stores.
First stop of the day – lunch: 
↑Pretty good Korean restaurant, located on edge of K-town.
Carmut and her friends are also in town! 
↑ This is the first restaurant I know that provides yogurt drinks (my childhood favorite) instead of candy or gum when we finished. This act of generosity just boost it from a 4 star to a 5. In my book.
Right next to us was the “World’s LARGEST Macy’s.” So really not much to see there. 
↑I kid, the building itself was MASSIVE by definition. It stretched across the entire block. It took us about 10 minutes to walk from one end to another.
It’s got the first LV store in Macy’s. (I heard)
Destination #2 – Empire State Building. 
↑Currently the tallest building in town.
..and like a tourist should, we bought tickets to head to the top.
Lobby was epic. 
↑ an additional $15 to go to the 102nd floor. The observatory floor is 86th, which cost us $21. Total ticket price – $36.
↑ ..when reach 102nd floor. Oooh Empire State, what a show off.
Felt grand seeing all the buildings underneath you and part of the adjacent state – New Jersey. 
Central Park.
Taking as many pictures as we can to squeeze the most out of that $15. 
I had to. 
The perspective of the cloud is interesting when you’re so high above the ground. 
The floor space’s really small, it’d fit about 25 people THE MOST. We moved down to the main observatory floor soon after taking in the view and capturing them with photos.
This is what awaited us: 
↑ That pointy thing in the middle of the picture’s the Statue of Liberty.
Going on Vacation can be rather exhausting. People would find any opportunity given to them for a quick nap. Like this girl: 
Group photo! at 1000+ feet above ground. 
View’s spectacular. 
ANOTHER GROUP PHOTO!
Empire State’s got some clever souvenirs. Too bad it’d be a pain in the ass to clean. 
↑ ..what more do I have to say?
↑ probably because I was trolling.
Quick swing by the Madison Square Garden. Enormous. 
Recommended by Kev, one of biggest electronic (photo, video equipments in particular) I’ve been to – B&H photo.
They got conveyor belts on their roof to maneuver orders, returns..etc. Super efficient. 
Ruvi’s the man that helped me out, while I browse through a series of Canon lenses. 
↑Though, just moments from closing, we had a quick talk on his journey to NYC and his experience with film and photography. The guy’s from San Diego! Super chill.
I was able to test out the 24-70L f2.8, 24-105L f4, 70-200L f2.8, and the tilt shift before time ran out. Man, really wish I tried their Leica collection. 
L series lens are so dam sharp. (and so dam expensive.)
p.s. 99% of the photos you see on this NY trip are taken by the 17-55mm f2.8, probably the best travel lens you can get for a cropped camera. (Shout out to Kevin Tam for letting me borrow it.)
↑ The 70-200 f2.8’s such a beauty. Weigh’s like an Peter Griffin, though.
Was told that Tilt-shift’s mainly used for Architecture shots, so we were able to see the full effect with this particular lens. It’s cool to play with though. Manual focus only. 
Kailin’s been hooking us up. 
Meeting up after their work, time for dinner. 
Recommended by Kevin and Raskeezy, we swung by Ninja NY. 
It’s a pretty pricey, but certainly worth it, themed restaurant- About $40 for a prefixed 3 course meal and around $30ish for a la carte:
Waiters were dressed in Ninja uniforms. They’d shout before serving dishes. Pictures don’t serve it justice. The dining area was split into two style – the cave and the village, where cave is open for multiple groups to dine in a common space and the village provides individual booth for each group. I’d suggest “the village” if you get the chance (be sure to make reservation.)
Menu in scroll: 
Dishes marked with a ninja star comes with a show:
↑ Our waiter’s got character. Really entertaining.
Each dish is pretty huge. 
My ribeye steak with garlic. Oh gosh. 
The sauces. “Sauce boss.”
Did I mention “huge”? 
↑Tony’s salmon.
↑Crab cake. Stop drooling.
↑Stew in the stone.
After main course, dessert’s served: 
Unfortunately, I don’t remember most of the names.
↑Tony’s dessert “Ninja Star.”
BAM. 
Cody’s Mango Cheesecake. 
Word. Ninja NY’s created a very remarkable experience.
Long day: 
End of day 2.
’til tomorrow,
Benson|| Twitter || the movement|| The Imaginary Zebra website || Shop of Imagination ||
