A Foodie visits New York City! Travel Diary

This will most likely be one motherlode of a post, so here's the short version:

I spent a week in New York! I've uploaded four "Postcard" videos so far on my Youtube channel to give you a small impression. Here are the links:

Postcard 1: Arrival at the Hotel & Limo
Postcard 2: Fashion Night Out in Soho
Postcard 3: Ground Zero on 9/11 & Times Square
Postcard 4: Amazing Sushi and Fuerza Bruta show

I also uploaded loads of pictures of my trip on Facebook, click here to check them out.

Now for the longer version...

My boyfriend and I arrived at Newark on September 7 to sweltering heat and humidity and a painfully long security process at the airport. Security was bumped up because of the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, and it took us about 1 1/2 hours until we finally exited Newark. The wait was worth it - we got picked up in a Limo!! Inside cold beers and cokes were waiting for us, a welcome relief.

We sped off to the W Hotel located right in the centre of Manhattan on Lexington Avenue, it was quite posh! We were on a corner room on the 9th floor so we had a really cool view of the skyscrapers around us. We also got some Bliss products in our bathroom and they smelled so lovely, and I've forgotten how nice it is to have a housekeeper clean your room everyday and make your bed.

You can watch the video I filmed about our arrival, the limo, and a room tour of our hotel:

During our time in New York, I had some of the best food ever. New York is a great place that boasts restaurants of every culinary direction that you could possible imagine. From shops specializing in rice pudding to sushi to hamburgers, there's probably nothing you couldn't eat in New York. I threw my diet to the wind and ate to my heart's desire! (Although with all the walking and sightseeing we did, it balanced out.)

Where to start? From scrumptious breakfasts at our hotel...

...to amazing burgers at Joy Burger Bar in Harlem. This place is great! It's a small retro diner where you can build your burger to your taste - everything from the size of the patty, to the toppings and sauces. There are a lot of varieties to choose from! I chose one with mango chutney, garlic mayo, and sautéed onions along with the usual toppings, with a side of sweet potato fries. The fries were served with maple syrup, it was a bit too sweet for my taste, but the burger was so good!

My boyfriend went for the larges patty but was a bit more traditional on the toppings, but it was still good nonetheless. The fries were home cut and so yummy!

Since I absolutely love Asian cuisine, we gorged ourselves on Japanese and Thai food. First up was sushi at The Loop restaurant. The calamari was mediocre but everything else was delicious! They make a lot of interesting, non-traditional sushi rolls too, which I had never tried before. They do brisk business with delivery and take-out, but have a small but nice restaurant as well.

One of my favorite restaurants we tried was Yakitori Taisho because it was like stepping into a backstreet in Tokyo. Yakitori is Japanese skewered meat prepared fresh before your eyes, and everything we tried was freaking fantastic! The prices were very affordable, although they don't take reservations so you normally have to wait a bit for a table. We ordered a pitcher of Japanese beer for about $12, our bill at the end for 2 came to about $85 (but we seriously pigged out.)

Another great Japanese restaurant we tried was Sakagura, which serves Izakaya (Japanese tapas.) It wasn't as young and lively as Yakitori Taisho, the crowd was a bit older and more conservative, but the food was really good as well. They had a ton of sake varieties available!

One evening I met up with an old friend of mine who now lives in hipsterville Williamsburg, Brooklyn and he showed us around the area. We hit up Sea Thai restaurant, which was a very club-like atmosphere with a DJ, dim lights, great decor, all set within an industrial designed restaurant. The food was pretty good too, I had green papaya salad as a starter, then crispy duck as a main. Didn't like the cocktails so much, they tasted really sweet and chemical.

Another great place to grab a bit to eat in New York is the legendary Katz's Delicatessen in the Lower East Side. This place has been around since 1888 when it was founded by Russian immigrants, and everyone from Bill Clinton to Snoop Dogg has eaten there. The best thing to eat here is hands down the pastrami sandwiches, which don't come cheap starting at $15.75 a pop. They are actually quite huge, so my boyfriend and I shared the Reuben, which also has Sauerkraut and cheese on it. Definitely worth it though, the pastrami is mouth-watering and falls apart in your mouth.

I could probably go on and on about the amazing food in New York, but believe it or not, we actually did a lot of sight seeing as well!

I went to check out Fashion Night Out in Soho, where all the stores have special events going on in celebration of NY Fashion Week - celebrities at the stores, DJs playing club music, and all the display windows are elaborately decorated.

Watch my video to see what I wore for this special night out, and get an insight into the atmosphere!

Another really special trip was our day on 9/11, it was actually the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, so the whole city had special memorial services and events going on, as well as anti-war and anti-racism protests.

We started out on the Brooklyn bridge...

...then walked down to Ground Zero where I did a lot of filming to capture the atmosphere and the demonstrations.

It was a moving experience. Here are a few more pictures from that day.

 

In the evening we went to Times Square where I took this fun picture. There were tons of tourists there of course, but you can't leave NYC without seeing Times Square at night. I also did some shopping at Sephora for the voters giveaway and got some goodies. ;)

Some more pictures from various places.

We had a overpriced drink in Little Italy. What a tourist trap! I wouldn't recommend eating Italian food here, there's probably many better places around the city. The waiter assumed I was a New Yorker and he seemed surprised to see a "local" there. It was just ultra kitch, no real Italian-American flavor left.

Sweating in Central Park! It was so damn hot but what a lovely park in the middle of such a metropolis.

Elmo is my homeboy! Around Broadway area.

The WTC memorial lights made for some spectacular night sky photography...

Nighttime around Lexington Avenue.

Saks on Fifth Avenue:

Flatiron building:

We did a lot of shopping! I have a haul video coming up about that, but in the meanwhile, here I am goofing around at Century 21, a massive department store where you can get designer duds for less. You can get lost in there, there's so many floors!

St. Patrick's Cathedral...the lady in green had awesome hair!

 

 

We also went to see an amazing show in New York called Fuerza Bruta - it rocked! Best show I've seen since Cirque de Soleil. I filmed a lot, so make sure to watch my video to get an impression. I highly recommend you check it out if you're ever in New York, it's a wonderful collage of sensory, visual and acoustic performance. Loved it!

Overall this trip was a whirlwind of impressions, sights and tastes. I would love to go back someday, even if it's just for the amazing food and shopping! Thank you so much to the nail polish company ANNY that gave me this amazing prize, and to my voters who made this possible. I am eternally grateful.

New York Meet-Up Information!

Thanks to all the amazing people who voted for me on the New York contest, I WON!!! Thank you so much to you who voted, I am so amazingly grateful. I won a trip to New York during Fashion Week and will be there for nearly a week. Please watch my video, it is very heartfelt. I can't wait to meet those of you who live in New York, so here's the details on the meet-up.

Date: Saturday, September 10, 2011
Time: 1 pm
Location: Bryant Park, at the Fountain
Nearest Subway: 42 St - Bryant Park

We will be meeting around the Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain which is located at the western entrance of Bryant Park. The location may or may not be crowded so please be sure to look around, I will be standing near there. Be sure to bring a camera if you want to take pictures! I will let you be my guides if you want to go to a nearby Sephora, depending on the number of people who show up - this may be impossible to do with a larger crowd but we'll see! Otherwise we can just hang out at the park and talk. I hope to see you all there. :)

You can RSVP on Facebook if you like

IMPORTANT: WEATHER PERMITTING THE LOCATION MAY CHANGE THE DAY BEFORE IF IT IS POURING RAIN, SO PLEASE CHECK BACK ON FACEBOOK AND/OR TWITTER FOR UPDATES ABOUT THE MEET-UP.


Bryant Park on Google Maps


Thanks again!!!

Essence/Catrice Blogger Event in Berlin

I finally had time to edit the pictures and video I took at the Catrice & Essence blog event on August 27-28, 2011 in Berlin. Over fifty of the top bloggers and Youtubers from the German-speaking realm were invited to participate at the event which was hosted at the posh nHow Design Hotel. The rooms were pink! You can see a full room tour, my outfits and makeup, and more footage from the event in my video. I didn't take that many pictures so definitely take a look:

We were introduced to the upcoming fall and winter collections of both brands, and got to sample the entire stock of their product range including nailpolish, skincare, makeup and more. They also had artists on hand if you wanted to get a make-over or have your nails perfectly manicured.

Lest we should go hungry there was a tasty smorgrasboard of snacks, treats and drinks on hand. The brownies were simply too good to pass up...yum!

The elevators were all different color schemes - this one was pink! How cute.

In the evening we were invited to the panorama suite on the rooftop with a beautiful view over Berlin, where we were treated to more food and an open bar with champagne whilst being serenaded by the piano man.

More food was consumed....

Bloggers get thirsty too...ahem! *hiccup*

It was a relaxing evening and it was so interesting to finally meet all the people behind the names, and to meet new ones that I haven't heard about before. It was quite a busy day and since I had been up since 5am due to catching an early flight to Berlin, I can't tell you how exhausted I was at the end and how well I slept in the gigantic bed.

The next day we had a lovely breakfast buffet but I was hardly able to get any food down somehow. I had planned a public meet-up with some of my viewers in Berlin at the Alexanderplatz, which is a big public meeting point in the centre of town. I handed out make-up to everyone who came, since we received so many goodies at the event and I wanted to share it around a bit. I had so much fun meeting my viewers and was surprised how many came. Thanks so much to all of you, it was really great to have a coffee at Starbucks with you. Now I'm really looking forward to the meet-up in New York!

Finally, here's some pictures hamming it up with Ebru from Ebruza's Beauty Lounge on Youtube. She is the most subscribed German-speaking beauty guru in Germany.

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed the pictures and video and were able to get a small impression of the overall event. Thank you so much to Catrice & Essence for the opportunity! I had a lot of fun. Chikarina also wrote a really great blog post about the event in German, if you want to see more pictures. She also did a much better job than me at swatching all the new products if you're interested.

My weekend hiking trip

This weekend my boyfriend and I had another couple staying over at our house, old friends, and we decided to take advantage of the sunny weather on Saturday to do some hiking near Mount Gurnigel. Here are some views from one of the peaks, it's very scenic. Hiking is also an excellent way to exercise without boring yourself to tears! Pack a lunch and plenty of water, then hit the great outdoors.

It was so hot! Here I am all red-faced and sweaty - but it was worth it for some fresh mountain air.

We also spotted cattle along the way; some were coming down the mountain at the end of the summer season grazing on the alpine pastures...

And some were still happily grazing. I believe these are actually young steer.

This calf was so cute!

This beautiful alp cottage is very characteristic of the region. Farmers live up there in the summer to take care of the animals and make traditional cheese, only to come down at the end of the summer season back to their regular farms. The large bells you see hanging on the cabin are worn by the cows when they are led down from the mountain pastures back into the valley, as it's quite traditional. They make a lot of noise!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! How was your weekend?

Kosmetik Kosmo Binoctium (Chanel Paradoxal Dupe?)

I recently had the opportunity to meet Michaela, better known as Koko on Youtube, at a blogger PR event in Berlin (more on that later.) She gave me some samples of her new cosmetic line Kosmetik Kosmo, and I was really intrigued by one of the nailpolishes from the line, Binoctium. This is supposed to be a dupe of the famous Chanel Paradoxal nailpolish which was released for Fall 2010.

Here I am wearing Binoctium, on my ring finger I also have two brand new yet-to-be-released glitter polishes (Essence Color & Go in Time For Romance and Essence Nail Art Special Effects Topper in It's Purplicious)

I don't have Chanel Paradoxal so I can't make a direct comparison if this is indeed a dead on dupe, but from the pictures I have seen of Paradoxal, I think Binoctium has a slightly weaker purple shine to it and the effect is less intense. But again, that's just my guess. I would describe the color as a gray-aubergine-taupe base (cream finish) with a red-toned purple shimmer effect that shows up more or less depending on the light.

The quality of this polish was medium - it applied a bit streaky and "pulled" the color in some places but after the second coat it was opaque. The bottle is short and stubby (8ml) and was a bit hard to handle, but if you're used to mini polish bottles that shouldn't be an issue. I cannot say anything about the lasting power yet as I haven't worn it long enough, and as I change polish quite frequently this isn't much of an issue for me.

However, if you're looking for an inexpensive alternative to a color close to Chanel Paradoxal, this might be a very good alternative. Binoctium costs 3.99 Euro + delivery and can be purchased at the Kosmetik Kosmo online shop (website in German, limited countries of delivery.)

Sleek Oh So Special & Curacao Palettes

I recently got some new Sleek products to play around with!

Sleek Oh So Special Palette (£9)

Sleek Curacao Palette (£9)

Both of these are mineral based eyeshadow palettes and I really like them so far. They are very pigmented, which is especially surprising since they are so inexpensive! I'm very pleased with the results I've had so far, and I've even taken the Oh So Special palette along for several overnight trips already because it is so small and thin making it very portable for traveling, and perfect for daytime looks. I also like the variety of matte and shimmery shadows that are offered in each palette.

Aruba Blush (£7)

Aruba blush came out with the Caribbean collection (same of the Curacao palette) and it's a vibrant and intense matte orange. It is incredibly pigmented and would work well on darker skin. For fair skin, you have to use a very light hand. I like to use a stippling brush and tap off the excess on the back of my hand before even touching my face with it. This orange blush really warms up the face!

Pout Paints left to right: Cloud, Peek-a-bloo, Pin Up, Peachy Keen, Mauve Over (£7)

The Pout Paints are an intriguing new product that I am very much looking forward to playing around with some more. They are richly pigmented liquid lipsticks, where a pin drop size is enough to cover your entire lips. They go on creamy but dry down a bit after a while to a satin finish. I haven't tried these on my lips yet but I'm very interested to see how they live up to the OCC Lip Tars, of which I own two. The Pout Paints can be mixed together to create a whole variety of new shades, although I noticed right away that Cloud was a bit watery in texture, unlike the others.

Sleek Makeup can be purchased through their online shop, or at Superdrug pharmacies in the UK.