NYC!!

We arrived at the airport in time. Aliya had her very own boarding pass. Security was no problem so with time to spare we bought breakfast and were making our way to the gate. I was official time keeper and according to my watch we still had over 20 minutes to take off as we approached the gate. All of a sudden we hear over the intercom last call for Rawji and Kent party. We look at the gate and the ticket taker was urging us to hurry up! I thought to myself, what’s the rush. We boarded the plane and sat right down, since dad had upgraded us to first class. When we sat down I realized that my watch was running slow and we had less than 5 minutes to take off when we boarded so in typical Rawji fashion we were late even though we were on time! Mom and Dad sat in seats 1A and B and I was in 2F with Aliya. I was sitting next to a very nice elderly gentleman whose face read “Oh, Crap I got stuck next to a baby!” He was very kind throughout the whole flight and Aliya was a doll. No one would have guessed there was a baby on the plane she was so quite. She slept for 20 minutes and just sat in my lap peacefully the rest of the time. I even changed her diaper on my lap, a little nerve racking but an uneventful event.

When we arrived in Newark NJ airport we got a cab to our hotel, The Westin in Jersey City. We dropped of our luggage and headed to the path station, the subway from Jersey to New York. We finally figured out how to buy tickets and 15 minutes later we were in New York at 33rd and 5th. We wanted to buy tickets for the Double Decker bus tour. The Red guys and the Blue guys were battling it out for our business. The blue guy was so annoying he would not leave us alone to make a decision. He followed us all around and seriously I thought I was going to kill him but persistence pays and we bought our tickets from him. He told us he would split his profits which were $15 but we let him keep it all.

We took the downtown tour. We hopped off at China town, The Staten Island Ferry Stop where we saw beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty and then Time Square. After our bus tour we went for dinner at Teds Steak house. Dad told us he passed by Ted’s everyday when he lived in NY as a teen and always wanted to eat there but was never able to afford it. I have to say my Filet was really good. After Teds we headed to the Empire State Building. 2 elevators later we landed on the 86th floor. Aliya was starving by this point so I nursed her on the top of the empire state building, how many people can say that! The views were, of course, awesome! Aliya only took two 20 minute naps all day. I was so impressed with her. She wanted to take everything in. Her first flight, first cab ride, first train ride, first time in NY, first time on the top of the Empire State Building, and first hotel stay! She finally went to bed at 11 when we arrived back at the hotel. What a big day for such a little girl!

Friday, dad headed to his seminar and mom, Aliya and I headed to the city. We first went to Macy’s 9 floors of shopping heaven. This Macys has 4 Starbucks, 2 restaurants, 9 floors, 8 elevators and so many things to buy. We spent most of our time on the 7th floor – baby dept! Mom had some business to take care of on the phone so we hunkered down in the dressing room where it was quite and she had a good signal. After moms work was done we jumped on the tour bus for the uptown tour. We saw central park, the MET, and Harlem. Mom was tired and Aliya was asleep so we didn’t hop off the bus and ended up right where we started. We debated taking the night tour but it was getting cold and mom and Aliya were tired so we headed back to the hotel. On our way walking in downtown toward the path station we used 8th instead of 6th and found Grays Papaya hotdog stand. Dad had been craving one since we landed in NY. We picked him up a “recession special.” 2 hotdogs and a cup of papaya juice $4. 95. I saw a really good bakery on the way as well and picked up a fruit covered cheesecake for mom, since it was her birthday. It was suppose to be a surprise so I asked her to wait outside but a minute late she snuck in and said she wanted to see the bakery too, So much for that surprise. We meet up with dad for dinner at Raaz, an Indian restaurant near the hotel and then ate the best NY cheesecake I have ever had. I wish I knew the name of the bakery because the cheesecake was so scrumptious. It was light and fluffy and decadent. It was honestly the best cheesecake I have ever eaten. Dad surprised mom with a dozen long stemmed red roses. Mom and Aliya headed to bed and Dad and I hit the Jacuzzi. After another night of earplugs, noise cancelling headphones and music I fell asleep.

Saturday, dad went to his seminar, Mom, Aliya and I woke up late and headed back to the city again. As we headed out of the hotel we saw a bridal party walk in and the bride was all made up with her dress in tow getting ready to have a memorable day. We decided to take the downtown tour again. We stopped at Bleeker Street to eat at Bleeker Street pizzeria. They were voted best pizza in NY 3 years in a row by food network. It was good but to be honest it tasted just like Sbarros pizza that you get at the mall. We went to an apothecary store and bought Rob and Adam tea. This store was so cool it looked like a witch’s store closet with glass vials and bottles filled with all sorts of spices and herbs. She, the owner, even had 2 cats roaming around the store, Olivia and Sophia. There was a street fair going on outside so we moseyed about checking everything out. It was so much fun. We jumped back on the tour bus and got off near time square. There were so many street vendors selling purses, perfume and other knick knacks. One guy had a huge sale where all his purses were $1! Mom asked if I wanted to buy any but I wasn’t about to fight the mob attacking his station. There were at least 40 women jumping over each other to get to the purses, something you would only see in NY! Instead of heading back to the hotel we decided to meet dad at the journal square station in NJ and head to India Town on Newark St. I fed Aliya at the station and she so sweetly pulled of the hooter hider and flashed me for all of NJ so see. Thanks Aliya!

We walked to Newark St and were hit with hundreds of Indians all around us! Mom took me to a mandir, a Hindu temple, it happened to be the kali maa temple, Kali maa is the black mother, a very powerful god who is known as the destroyer. It was very interesting to see the Hindu temple next to a halal meat store next to a vegetarian restaurant and all people living so peacefully and nicely together. We ate at the Dosa House. It was crazy busy but the food was aweseome. We had green peas dosa, dal, samosa, puri and mango lasi. Next door was the pun store. Mom and Dad said it was some of the best pun they have ever had. We picked up some more for maa and bapa. We ate pista kulfi, 2 for $1 and got some kara gulab jambo to take back to the hotel. We stopped in the grocery store and some clothing stores just to get a feel for the whole place. As Mom and I walked out of one particular clothing store we saw dad who liked to wait outside instead of coming in to the shops. But there was no Aliya! Oh S***!! Where was my daughter! Dad said we had taken her in with us but I swore he was going to watch her. I am in total panic mode now, not sure what to do next or where to go and out comes Aliya sitting peacefully in her stroller from behind the corner where dad had hidden her to scare me and mom. It worked! The last store we came upon there was a young girl and her brother selling bracelets and henna tattoos outside. I asked her how much one of the tattoos was and she said $2.50. I asked her how much she would sell me 4 of them for, thinking I would get a deal and she punched some things into the calculator and said 4 for $12.50! Not such a great deal! We went into the store and looked around when we came out dad was telling us he had been observing them. The girl had sold the tattoos for $1.50 to some other patrons. He like to watch her and her brother fighting about prices and sales. Mom had a liking for this girl and wanted to buy something from her so we decided on 2 of the tattoos. Mom had a $5 bill in her hand. When she told the girl the 2 that she wanted the girl instinctually said “okay 2 for $3” but changed her mind really quick when she saw the $5 bill and said “no, I mean $5.” Mom, dad and I had such a good laugh it was worth the extra $2 bucks! We got back to the hotel and went to bed.

Sunday, our last day and Eid, was a calm day we woke up and packed. In the morning Aliya was having tummy time on the bed and crawled to mom. I use the word crawled lightly, it was more like scooted a tiny bit. Aliya was so close to rolling over the whole trip as well but never quite made it all the way onto her tummy.

Mom didn’t know what to do with her beautiful roses so we took them with us and as were checking out in the lobby mom and Aliya saw the bride from the day before and gave her the roses. She was so happy she gave mom and Aliya hugs and kisses and thanked them for “making her day!” We walked around Jersey City and had a peaceful lunch. We walked around the mall and then took a limo to the airport. First class again for us! Seats 1A, B and E all next to each other in a row. I was so looking forward to another peaceful flight with Aliya but she had the devil come out in her. She screamed, not cried, but screamed for 20 minutes straight! I know everyone was thinking this was going to be the worst flight they have ever taken, including me! Nothing would calm her down! Finally she fell asleep, right before takeoff and was pretty quite the rest of the flight. We watched a movie on the plane, and mom was laughing so hard at one point she woke Aliya up so we had about 5 more minutes of crying.
Aliya’s first New York trip was awesome. She is awesome. I really want to thank Mom and Dad for taking us on the trip. I had a fantastic time. We love you so much! Thanks!
Aliya is a great traveler and I think she had an immense experience. She had a lot of firsts on this trip and I can’t wait to take her on a second trip!