Before our Summer 2023 travels (UK Road Trip and Istanbul), our flight to the UK included a rather strange detour to New York City. But New York never disappoints and needless to say, it was a great day out - here are the details.

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I'd been sitting on a large chunk of pre-covid Asia Miles and as we were paying for our flights to and from the UK this particular summer, I decided it was time to use them all up. However, when it came to make the booking, I soon discovered that it was actually not that easy to use them as the flight options were pretty limited. When it came down to it, I was left with the option of going to London via either Mumbai, Bangalore or New York. While I would love to visit India one day, I felt I should hang on and do it properly, likely with the girls in tow. As the New York flight arrived into JFK at 6am with the departure to Gatwick at 8pm it would be perfect for great day out. 

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The flight from Hong Kong to New York was 16 hours but as we were flying Premium Economy, we both managed to get a little sleep - not enough but at least we weren't too wrecked when we arrived into JFK. I had two obvious worries about the trip - firstly whether we were even allowed out of the airport, and secondly whether we would be able to leave our suitcases in a safe and inexpensive location. The first of these worries was put aside as it soon transpired that all arrivals into JFK pass through immigration. Having said that, our immigration guy did ask us a few questions about our plans - he was definitely puzzled, but he eventually waved us through. This should have been it, but we then made it harder on ourselves before we even got out of the airport.

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While waiting for our luggage, my wife realized she had taken an apple from the plane and as with many countries, you can't bring them in with you. Waste not, want not - I decided to eat it there and then and this is when things got tricky. While my wife was in the bathroom, the border security guy and his dog came sniffing around our hand luggage. The guy then noticed me eating my apple and informed me that I couldn't eat in this area and couldn't bring in such fresh produce into the US. I immediately apologized but made my first faux pas when I took another good-sized bite out of the apple - I had got to the good bit and didn't want to miss out. This riled him up and he asked for and subsequently confiscated my passport for collection at Counter 12 after customs. He walked off with my passport and I got it into my head that they must have clocked us due to our strange itinerary and were going to grill us in customs. That was bad enough but it got worse during my subsequent bathroom break - the guy and his dog were back and were sniffing at our bags again. They then discovered more contraband - some sort of bread item which proved to be a ham & cheese sandwich. We were in even more trouble now and I expected the worst as we headed through customs once our bags had come through. As it was though, customs was fine - they didn't even glance in our direction and when we got to Counter 12 we had to declare and hand over my half-eaten apple and the sandwich before getting the passport back. Quite a relief and even more so when we saw the belt to re-check in our bags for the night flight. All's well that ends well.

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Our next challenge was getting into midtown New York. The first part was fairly easy - the AirTrain to Jamaica station as we did in 2015 - however we then had to choose between the Subway or the overland train into Grand Central. In 2015 we took the overland train and in hindsight, that is probably the best option. This time we took the Subway which was both crowded and slow and eventually ground to a halt a few stations short of where we wanted to get off. We played musical chairs with a couple of Subway trains before we eventually made it to Manhattan proper. 

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Once out in the open air, we edged our way towards Central Park and found some seats on 58th and 5th, just on the corner of the park next to the Apple store. Our first task was to get some breakfast and Liberty Bagels on 5th Avenue stood out on google maps and although a little pricey, the bagels and coffees were a great start to the day. We had the whole day ahead of us so took our time and soaked it all in. Once breakfast was done, our plan was to work our way towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art where we knew we could spend a good hour or two, then work our way across Central Park and take it from there.

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Once at the MMA, we joined the queue and waited until opening time at 10am. Once inside the main foyer, we found a bench and discussed our options. In 2015 it was free entry for everyone with just a suggested donation, however this time the donation was no longer a suggestion and it was if fact US$30 entrance fee for each of us. As we had spent a good few hours in the museum last time around we decided to give it a miss and move on. First though, we both managed to smooth talk our way past the guards to use their bathroom facilities and freshen up. 

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Our plan was to walk through Central Park and work our way towards Strawberry Fields and the Dakota Building on the other side. We first passed by the American Museum of Natural History - not really intending to go in, but it was a nice looking building and good selfie spot. We then walked along Central Park West to the Dakota Building, which was as before, quite chilling and not a place to hang around. Heading back into Central Park and past Strawberry Fields which was, as previously, a little too touristy - not really a place for reflection. We moved on through Central Park and emerged back where we started - at the corner of 58th and 5th and continued down 5th Avenue.

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We passed the usual sights before pausing at St. Patrick's Cathedral for a seat on the steps and a good look around. It really is an impressive building and I managed to take a panorama of the ceiling (surely there is a better word for a church ceiling?). The Cathedral is also opposite the Rockefeller Centre which is also pretty impressive. From there we moved towards Bryant Park and the rather grand New York Public Library before I managed a quick lunch in one of my US-favourites - Poke Bowl. This was close to the hotel where we stayed during our 2015 trip although it was sad to see the oft-frequented Deli next door was no more. After that we ticked off the still-overrated Times Square and its Jollibee before finally ending up at Grand Central Station where we took the overland train back to Jamaica Station and the AirTrain to JFK. 

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We flew out of Newark (nothing to write home about) during our previous trip, so this was our first time flying out of JFK. It was pretty busy but we had plenty of time and I actually enjoyed the whole experience. We'd just spent a great day in New York City, I was feeling refreshed and looking forward to an easy Premium Economy BA flight into Gatwick.

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