i must admit....

I must admit that I miss New York... I miss the noise, the crazy subway system that I'll never get, the dirty streets but still full of character, hearing the NYPD and NYFD's siren blaring from a block away, I miss everything...

image source; Tumblr

{mikaela}

summer songs

I discovered lots of new songs while spending my spring/summer in the States. And this is why I love my cousin, Kristen...

Bleach Blonde - This Century

Riverside - Agnes Obel

Avenue - Agnes Obel

Starships - Nicki Minaj 

This is my FAVORITE song ohmy, it reminds me of 

the fun i had in Cali and the East Coast. :( oh 

how I miss it there.... 

{mikaela}

m&m world

Ever since I was 10, I fell in love with the M&M World in Times Square. From clothes, to slippers, to figurines, they have everything M&M there! Well, duh, you're in M&M World but... Yeah! Talk about happiness!

You can make your own M&M mix by choosing from those. And no, they're only about 1/4 of what you are going to see when you're there! 

I got my own M&M mixes. (From L-R) My own M&M mix, the coconut flavored M&M's (which is not available in the Philippines) and then the NYC special Spring mix! Colorful lovelies.. 

1600 Broadway, 

New York City, NY

United States 

{Mikaela}

mcdonald's

I know this is just the plain old McD but I like the Mcdonald's in the US waaay more than the one here in Manila. They have more choices, more kinds of Mcflurry, most importantly. :)

See that?! Mmm! 

They still have the M&M Mcflurry and white meat chicken nuggets! Let me tell you, the white meat chicken nuggets is even softer than the normal chicken nuggets. And the M&M Mcflurry... They used to have that here in the Philippines and now, it's nowhere to be found here. What happened?! 

{Mikaela}

magnolia bakery

I can finally cross something off my bucket list! And that is... "Eat cupcakes and cakes from Magnolia Bakery"! Happy girl I am! Enough talking, I can't wait to show you guys the cupcakes!

We bought the red velvet cupcake, red velvet cheesecake cupcake, vanilla buttercream and chocolate cupcake. 

Believe it or not, I tried and ate almost everything. LOL! The red velvet cupcake was just perfect. I am speechless. The vanilla buttercream was a bit too sweet and the chocolate cupcake was also perfect! It wasn't too sweet, the frosting wasn't too sweet either! 

1240 6th Avenue, 

New York, NY 

{Mikaela}

shake shack

We spent two days in New York City. For our lunch in day 1, we had it at.... SHAKE SHACK! 
Ohmyword! I can live inside Shake Shack! Here's what I got in my tray...

I got the Cheese Fries, Cheeseburger and Sprite for drinks. I can actually live inside Shack Shack! 

Ohmy, everything was perfect! The only thing missing in my tray was the frozen custard. I regret not trying the coconut cake frozen custard. The only reason why I didn't get that was because the flavor sounded awkward. :( 

691 8th Avenue, 

Southwest corner of 8th Avenue & 44th Street 

New York City, NY 

{Mikaela}

nyc

I have to be honest with you, I don't like the lifestyle in New York. I don't like how people there are always in a hurry, I don't like how the NYPD's and NYFD's sirens are always blaring when all you want is just a peaceful afternoon in the Central Park. But let's not talk about the negative stuff anymore, let's talk about the good things in NYC cause who knows, maybe there are LOTS of good things that I haven't discovered yet. :)

This is the St. Patrick's Cathedral. I think I want to go to church here. It looks so gothic and old! I'm happy that the church is for Roman Catholics because the nice churches in the United States are for the Presbyterians and Episcopal. :( One more reason why I like the church is because it is just in 5th Avenue. Talk about convenience! 

Abercrombie and Fitch is also one of the main reasons why I love New York. The flagship store is in the 5th Avenue! Ohgosh, just a block away from St. Patrick's Cathedral! 

Sadly, I can't help but talk about something that made my head explode.. The Subway stations. 

So confusing! So many signs, so many words. I wish they could just keep it simple. :( 

{Mikaela}

conquering the east coast

Last May 11, my mom and I met up with my dad at the SFO domestic airport to fly out to JFK (read: New York City). We took the red eye flight, which i hate the most cause if you don't sleep in the plane, you won't survive the whole day in the place you're going to. Especially if you'll be seating in the economy seats of Virgin America, how will YOU be able to sleep? Anyhow, we arrived New York at 7:10 am and my godfather was already waiting for us. We headed straight to New Jersey, had breakfast at IHOP, went home and took a quick bath. For lunch, we had it at Mitsuwa, a Japanese market/food court in Edgewater, NJ. I ordered their jumbo shrimp tempura and had a soft served ice cream afterwards. :) 

I didn't get to take any pictures cause the table was crowded and I was hungry. So, please forgive me for that. LOL! 

After lunch, my godfather drove further in the town of Edgewater and Weehawken to take pictures of the NY skyline. The sky was so blue which made the skyline beyond beautiful.. 

See what I'm talking about? Oh gosh, I miss New York even though I endlessly told my parents how I hated the noise and fast-paced lifestyle the state has. 

At night, this is how the skyline looks like... 

          Gorgeous. 

{Mikaela}