{"id":4874,"date":"2023-07-01T04:50:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T04:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-alumn-nus.pantheonsite.io\/alumnus\/?p=4874"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:07:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:07:57","slug":"new-york-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2023\/07\/01\/new-york-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"New York, New York"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The NYC skyline is truly a sight to behold.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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In many ways, New York City is a world away from Singapore \u2014 quite literally, as getting there can entail travelling on the world\u2019s longest flight. But given that both cities are places where one can indulge in a love for food, art, culture and cosmopolitanism, the Big Apple and the Little Red Dot are kindred spirits. Just ask Mr Vikram Sivakumar, who moved to NYC five years ago with his wife, Ms Dhanya Balasubramanian (Engineering \u201913). \u201cMy wife came here to study at Columbia University, and I followed suit,\u201d explains the 34-year-old, who works for a management consulting firm. \u201cI visited the city in 2008 when I was at NUS. Frankly, I didn\u2019t like it very much. Public transportation, for example, felt like a downgrade from Singapore. But my impressions changed when I moved here for work a decade later. I\u2019ve grown to love everything about the city: Its energy, people and diversity. Someone once said, \u2018You can experience the cultures of the world through one city \u2014 that\u2019s NYC.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t agree more.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tucking into good Indian food and dessert in New York City. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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I love starting my mornings<\/strong> at one of the many caf\u00e9s that dot the city. Any one will do, as long as it bakes fresh, aromatic and decadent cinnamon buns. If you\u2019re feeling health-conscious, make a beeline for one of NYC\u2019s famous parks. I love Prospect Park<\/strong> in Brooklyn. It\u2019s massive, green and in the summer, hosts spectacular food trucks. A run in the crisp morning air can take your mind off things and make you forget the hustle and bustle of the big city.<\/p>

Getting a taste of home<\/strong> is quite easy, given NYC\u2019s vibrant and diverse food scene. Our current favourites are Semma<\/strong>, a South Indian spot that just earned a Michelin star. For an affordable spice fix, we head to Lao Ma Spicy<\/strong>, which whips up dry hotpot, or Pure Thai Cookhouse<\/strong> for tangy Thai food.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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In summer, you can jet-ski on the Hudson River.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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A small yet mighty establishment<\/strong> is Eileen\u2019s<\/strong>, which has some of the best cheesecake I\u2019ve ever had. It\u2019s a small outfit but I\u2019ve yet to meet anyone who doesn\u2019t like the cake.\u00a0<\/p>

New Yorkers love to<\/strong> read, and the city caters to this with its many bookstores. I\u2019ve been picking up \u201crare\u201d prints of books (think limited-edition books published in the 1950s, or first editions of books I love). Apart from the traditional bookstore experience (Strand<\/strong> is my favourite), there are plenty of rare bookstores to check out, among them Bauman<\/strong>. But these books don\u2019t come cheap!<\/p>

Soak in the city\u2019s best views at Hudson Yards.<\/strong> It truly has spectacular sweeping views of the city.<\/p>

Shopaholics will enjoy<\/strong> a bargain at Woodbury Commons<\/strong>, home to outlet stores from Givenchy to Kenzo. People come in with an empty suitcase and leave with a big smile.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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THE BEST WAY TO SPEND A DAY IN NEW YORK CITY: \"\"<\/strong><\/p>

  • 8am:<\/strong> Stroll through Central Park, bagel in hand.<\/li>
  • 10am:<\/strong> Get lost in a world-class museum \u2014 the Museum of Modern Art or the American Museum of Natural History are great picks.<\/li>
  • 12pm:<\/strong> Savour a lunchtime pizza slice while walking down 5th Avenue.<\/li>
  • 2pm:<\/strong> Spend some reflective time at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.<\/li>
  • 4pm:<\/strong> Wander along the High Line, a 2.4km elevated park, for stunning city views.<\/li>
  • 6pm:<\/strong> Have an early dinner at one of the city\u2019s famous homestyle Italian restaurants.<\/li>
  • 8pm:<\/strong> Lose yourself in a Broadway show.<\/li>
  • 11pm:<\/strong> Sip cocktails at a speakeasy bar, before wrapping your day at a late-night comedy show at Comedy Cellar.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    See Gotham through the eyes of Mr Vikram Sivakumar (Computing \u201911), who now calls the city home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4874"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6035,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4874\/revisions\/6035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}