Day 7 - New York & New Jersey

We arrived at JFK New York early in the morning of Thursday, 16th Oct at 6.20 AM.
(We took the RED-eye out from Las Vegas the night before)
Our flight, which was on Delta was MOST uncomfortable. Our seats could NOT recline whatsoever. Not even a wee-bit.
As a result, H was wide-awake throughout the flight. Certainly RED-eyed indeed!!!!
Me? I did catch about forty-winks despite the discomfort.

First thing that we did was to proceed to Budget to pick up our rental car....or should I say van?
It was a 7-seater with ample boot space.
When H saw it, he asked "Waaa..you intend to buy alot of things is it??". Actually, this HUGE vehicle was the cheapest on the list. Even cheaper than those compact economy ones. And cheaper by quite alot too, if I might add. Booked it through CarRentals.com. I have to say that this online site is quite good (NO. I am not doing a paid post). It allows you to see a list of offerings from major rental car companies in your selected pick-up location and hire-dates. You simply pick and choose from the list. 

Why do we need a car in New York City?
Well.....that's because we are going OUT of NYC . 

To be more precise, we are heading for....... Woodbury Common Factory Outlets!
This place is definitely a  MUST-GO for shopaholics! 

Even NON-shopaholics would find loads of goodies here. 

We did get a Garmin GPS from Budget. But somehow, this particular unit that we got was a bit 'fann-ying-chee-tun' (slow reaction) and didn't give the turn-right command on time. And because of that, we missed a turn and had to re-route through a residential area. H was a bit p%ssed with the detour. I on the other hand, thought it was a good detour. Got to see the RICH New Jersey FALL colours of REDS, BROWNS, ORANGE, YELLOWS... and houses all decked out in their Halloween decor. 

Didn't know why I didn't take any photos of this picturesque site.

:-(

On reaching Woodbury, it was still waaaaaaaay too early. Shops were still closed and H was zombiefied from non-sleep the night before. 

So what do two 'sor-lous' (silly man) do?

We parked, reclined our seats and slept in the car!

Hahahahah...

Think we slept about an hour. By then, shops were starting to open....and we were both REFRESHED and ready to go SHOPPING!

What did I buy in this particular outlet? Cannot really remember totally...but I remember another pair of Cole Haan's, a Cole Haan wallet for MIL, a Coach wallet for mom, my Wedgewood India-design coffee pot, 2 x Calvin Klein tops (which costs USD 5/- each!!!) and donno what. Been to so many factory outlets that I donno what I bought from where... will post all purchases (except the wallets...given to mom and MIL already) in a separate post.

Some were having like BIG BIG sales with clothes all over that I donno how to look nor buy. Loads of Emporio Armani stuff starting from USD 10/- but like I said, donno how to rummage. Didn't buy anything from Tods nor Bottega. Didn't have anything I like. :-(

There were other brands like Prada, Gucci, CD, Crate and Barrel, etc etc. The thing that I wanted to buy very much was an Espresso Machine...but H said that it would be 'ma-fann' (troublesome) as the voltage is different. 

:-(

Anyways, we left Woodbury (which is in NY state) in the afternoon and headed back to NYC.....passing through New Jersey again. This time, I did take some photos...but as we were on the highway all the way, couldn't get better pictures of the beautiful foliage.

RED, ORANGE, YELLOWs...at Woodbury's Carpark

FALL Colours from the Highway

En-Route back to NYC

On arrival in NYC, we checked into our hotel, Shelburne Murray Hill on 37th E/ Lexington and left our baggage with the concierge....then immediately headed out to return our rental car on 43rd Street East. The walk back to the hotel was quite leisurely.  The hotel is part of a boutique hotel chain. Rooms were quite nice as they were newly-refurbished with LCD TV and Aveda Toiletries. Though this room is slightly bigger than the one in San Fransisco, the price is like DOUBLED. Room rates in NYC is crazily high! ...that's why we took the RED-eye over so that we can at least save one night's room rate!

Initially, H asked if I wanted to stay at The Plaza. I checked the rates and it was at an exorbitant price of over USD 900! GILA lah. I could buy sooooooooooooooooooo many things with that money man!

Had a shower and abit of a rest before heading out towards Grand Central Station (42nd E/Lexington) and Times Square. We had dinner at Red Lobster ...*BURP*