Shopping Heaven - Macy's and Fifth Avenue in New York

My one check-in bag weighed 15kg when I flew off. After all the shopping in Indiana, that one check-in bag weighed 35kg. AND, after all the shopping in New York, I had two check-in bags, 1 which was 29inch and weighed 25kg and the other which was 32inch and weighed 28kg. 53kg minus 15kg = 38kg worth of shopping, and a new Samsonite bag to boot (the 29inch). Go me.

A large part of my purchase consisted of footwear - this is how much footwear I bought in New York (save for 1 pair from Indy) and brought home. The ones in the top row all belong to me - from the left, 2 Ferragamos and 5 Coach. The ones in the bottom row belong to my sister and mum - from the left, 1 Louboutin, 1 Chanel, 2 Coach (these are my gifts to my mum) and 1 Chanel - the cost of my sister's 1 pair of Louboutin shoes is just slightly lesser than the cost of all my shoes. If you count the cost of her 2 Chanel footwear, these are like 30% more than the cost of my shoes so yeah, I had a good time shopping, - "swiping my card" for what items that never would be mine and feeling well, high on spending. Thanks Sis :)

New York is a "shopaholic"'s dream come true - esp if one is into big names and fashion. Just perfect for my little sister who has more branded stuff than any person I know. I was totally floored when her boyfriend got her a pair of Louboutins last month which cost S$1400 - for something that goes on your feet and pound the ground, that's a hell lot of $. However, when I was at Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale's and Sak's shopping for my sister, I saw tons of Louboutins, Prada shoes, Chanel shoes, Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahnik on display or just lying around. The picture below taken at Bergdorf shows all Louboutin shoes at the forefront of the pic and Blahnik's in the middle. Shoes that are in the high hundreds to a few thousands (USD). And the ladies there snapped pairs of these without batting an eyelid twice.

My own shopping was confined largely to Macy's which was just one street away from my hotel along the same avenue. Macy's doesn't carry Ferragamo or Prada, much less Louboutins or Blahnik's. However, they have one of the widest range of Coach shoes and with the visitor card, I'm talking about a 10% savings which really helps given the tax rate in NY for non-clothes item is a whopping 8.875%. Macy's is really huge but the layout is such that the women stuff are found in one building/annex while the men's stuff on another so ladies can have uninterrupted shopping pleasure without having to look at men's stuff. Macy's has clearance racks and items less 30 - 70% so it is possible to find some really good buys (I didn't).

Fifth Avenue in New York is the equivalent of Singapore's Orchard shopping belt. Fifth is the shopping belt and Saks at Fifth Avenue is one of the premium department stores, a class up from the above-mentioned Macy's. No clearance racks of course, and when I asked if the items there ever went on discount, the saleslady gave me The Look and mentioned something about friends and family day - tourists however do not get any discounts whatsoever.

While strolling along Fifth Avenue, I took some pictures of the unique-looking buildings where well-known brands had set up shop and presence, such as Cartier below.

And of course, Trump Tower which was open to the public (up to the fourth level where there is a public garden) and has a store on the entrance level selling all sorts of Trump stuff, like neckties and even a teddy bear with a Trump T-shirt. The bears were seriously cute and only prudence stopped me from bringing one back home with me (Trump is 1 of my heros).

Some other unique buildings along Fifth Avenue such as the one below which has three gold statues as part of its facade - I adore pearls (much less Mikimoto pearls!) and like diamonds, they are a wild extravagance - existing purely to give pleasure through their beauty.

But seeing and day-dreaming costs nothing and I guess that is part of the appeal of window shopping at Fifth Avenue. There is of course the infamous LV - I think this is the flagship store.

And I couldn't help stepping into F.A.O simply because I had seen this famous toy store featured in oh-so-many movies. I think this is a store that cannot be missed if one has children or has brought children to New York - the range of toys that one can find pleasure and amusement in for hours is enchantingly bewildering and the stuffed toys - talk about every size and type! Going into this store almost (just almost) made me wish I had a child of my own!

Bergdorf Goodman must be one of the classy and upmarket departmental stores I've ever come across - nothing like Macy's of course and even more, well, geared to the rich, than Saks is. According to 1 of Bloomingdale's salesman, Bergdorf has the widest range of Louboutins (Bloomie does not carry these even though it has Chanel, Prada and Ferragamo shoes).

While walking along, I also stumbled across The Plaza. I had recently watched Brides War and remembered how it was each girl's dream to be married at this hotel and even from a distance, I could see why. It looks mighty impressive, even when viewed from a distance and although I really would have loved to check it out, I couldn't make myself cross over because my legs were crying out in pain - I'd been walking all the way from 34th, mind! And my ultimate goal was to get to Bloomingdales which was on 59th!

Still, in any case, I made it to the fringe of the famous Central Park - someone told me that this was one of the "must-go" places in NYC and of course I'd heard of it before (given how often it is featured in the detective novels that I like) but I figured that going to Bloomingdale on 59th and Lexington was infinitely more important for a pseudo "shopaholic" like myself. Therefore, right after this picture, I turned my tired feet in the direction of Lexington Avenue...I tell you, I've never walked so much in my entire life in one day (I swear this is quite the truth) and the next day, I couldn't get out of bed till almost 11am!

Phantom of the Opera on Broadway New York

I hadn't planned on doing anything in New York the first day I touched down from Indianapolis except collect the New York Pass which I had purchased, esp since my flight had been delayed by an hour because of the foul weather in NYC. However, because the collection point for the pass was at Madame Tussauds which is at the Times Square area, I ended up at the TKTS booth located at 47th Street, Broadway. There were several short queues of 5-6pp each for each counter about 7.50pm and despite not really knowing what they were standing in line for ( I had a hunch it might be for broadway tickets), I decided to join a queue anyway.

As luck or fate would have it, I was the very last person served at that counter. The server impatiently asked me what show I wanted to watch and I said Phantom because I had watched the movie before and rather liked the dark drama. He told me he had tickets for the 8pm show which was the last show for the day and to quickly pay before it was too late. So even though I had no idea whether USD71 was a reasonable price to pay for a broadway ticket, I gave him the money and he told me to run to the Majestic Theatre on 44th Street as the play would start in 3mins. And as I turned away from the counter with my ticket in hand and the person behind me stepped up at 8pm sharp, the server cried out that there were no more tickets for sale and pulled down the shutters. I only realized later what an excellent deal I had gotten - as per the ticket above, the price I had paid was at a 50% discount and for fourth row seats from the front at that! However, I had to run at full speed from 47th to 44th street to get to the Majestic Theatre on time and less than 2 mins after I had fallen into my seat huffing and puffing, the doors were closed (about 8.10pm). I guess the moral of the story is to buy last-min discounted tickets at a theatre which is near enough to TKTS on 47th street so as to avoid being denied entry (until the interval) or missing the start of the play.

Of course, photography of the play is prohibited and with the LCD screens most cameras have these days, it is easy to be caught taking photos or videos during a performance. So like most people, I took photos of the theater before the play begun. As per my pic below, there are circle and balcony seats on a higher level other than the main floor which was quite fully packed.

The picture below is of course the stage of the theater - the chandelier (top right) plays a rather large part in the play as per the plot but so do the other seemingly unmovable parts. However, these features/effects pale in comparison to the costumes, props (there was even a fake elephant), dancing and acting by the performers on that stage.

The Slog Reviews: 10/10. Awesome. Truly spectacular in every sense of the word. I am not a musical person or one who appreciates or likes plays but Phantom on Broadway had me riveted and converted. The change of each scene was carried out with precision and maximum efficiency without compromising the quality of the setting. And the performers conveyed the different emotions of each of their characters with not just song but by their entire body language.

I haven't watched any other Broadway plays to make a fair comparison of Phantom but I dare say that one should most definitely catch a Broadway play if one is in NYC instead of just shopping and if one isn't sure of which to watch, just remember that Phantom is the longest running musical on Broadway and the Slog here who has nary an artistic bone is raving all about this play. :D

Newark Airport SAS Lounge and Loving Me at the end of this trip

I've got about 2 and a half hrs before the 18hours flight back to SG and rather than exercise my credit card(s) some more at the duty free shop here, I've decided to spend my time in the SAS lounge to write this instead. Below is a pic of the SAS lounge's complimentary internet stations, one of which I am hogging.

The selection of food at this lounge is rather meagre - just a salad bar really, (as compared to Changi Airport T3's lounge which I shall blog about another time), but since I have just USD30 in my wallet and I've also developed a taste for salads, I'm not complaining too much about my free dinner.

You know, there is this scientific finding that people always remember how they feel, and not so much the details of the specific incident/event. I could and will write about the places I've been, but right now I want to write about how I feel at the end of the trip before I get on the plane and watch more movies.

So. My "takeaway feeling" from this trip is that I am actually happy and comfortable being alone. There is no sense of loneliness or wishing that anyone was here with me. Sure, I do wish my sister was here when I see all the louboutin shoes but I don't wish she was here with with me on this trip. Sure, I do think my mother would have liked the awesome view of NYC from the Empire State Building but I didn't miss her when I was on the observatory deck taking photos or asking strangers to take photos. I did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and it was all good. Being by myself didn't stop me from doing things that I wanted to do - such as eating at nice places or doing touristy things - even when everyone else had someone else with them. I only observed that I was the only one alone, but that observation was nothing more than just that - an observation, and then it was me being with me, and loving me.

Maybe it is because shopping is therapeutic, as is eating, and I was doing plenty of both. Or maybe it is because my circumstances are such that solitude and I are destined to be together...and given how futile it is to lament, reconciling myself to what I cannot change is the best and perhaps only way forward. Don't get me wrong that I don't like people or that I am going to do another "runaway" (and I really hope that I won't) But painful experience and my good colleague have taught me better than to pin my happiness and hope on another person.

So while I still hold to my favourite quote by Emily Kimbrough ("Remember we stumble everyone of us. That's why it is a comfort to go hand in hand""), I have learnt how to love me, be friends with me, and depend on me primarily for happiness and pleasure. A