Wow. Where do I even start when it comes to recounting this incredible trip? Usually, the “begin and the beginning” is where I’d be… so let’s start there. The idea of going to New York probably started almost 10 years ago, though back then I wasn’t sure what I actually wanted to do there, so it was a very faint idea. It wasn’t until I became an actual coffee and food enthusiast that New York began to look really appealing, and there were restaurant names that started to appear, like Per Se (#6 in 2012), that I noticed once I started paying attention to the World’s 50 Best awards. Eleven Madison Park made my list shortly after too (at #4 in 2016). After having travelled for the past several years, and getting a taste for a super hipster lifestyle, my dream holiday to New York was budgeted at a cool $50k, for three months’ stay in an apartment overlooking Central Park, and working as a part-time barista to help pay for food.

Well, that didn’t quite work out the way I wanted, but I got close! The other title I wanted to call this blog was “The 20k holiday” but I wanted New York in the title. I’m pretty sure that’s how much my holiday ended up costing, from start to finish, and it was worth every dollar. Except for maybe my final taxi ride since I bribed a cabbie to take me to their airport lol.

While there wasn’t a specific reason to finally go, there were a number of factors that added together that made it worthwhile:

• Singapore airlines just released the world’s longest flight from Singapore to New York.
• This flight was fitted with only business and premium economy seats.
• This was my last opportunity to use my existing passport, as the first entry in it was also to USA, so I wanted to bookend my passport with American stamps.
• EMP finally hit #1 a couple of years ago so I really needed to go!
• It’s as safe as it ever will be I guess XD
• If I didn’t go now, I might never end up going!

And thus, I ended up with my dream holiday. Business class there, on the world’s longest flight (SQ22), living in Manhattan for 3 weeks, and splurging on restaurants! Let’s get started with recounting my trip!

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