The trip to New York has been mostly for work and a short transit during our vacation to South America. The city never stops to amaze us. The night life of Manhattan is probably one of the best. Cost wise it is a fairly expensive city but there are tricks to make it pocket friendly.

-There is a stark difference in cost of accommodation between the two sides of the river. Jersey city is not a bad place to stay and it is just 10 mins away from the centre of Manhattan by the subway. Lot of good service apartments are available there.

-Eating from food trucks during the day while you are roaming is a good way to taste a variety of super tasty cuisines. They are all over the city and very easy to locate.

-Do make it a point to splurge on yourself occasionally by going to Olive Garden and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. near the times square.

Here are few things to try out in the city depending on how much time you have in hand.

–Spend a day in central park. This place has a completely different look each season. From the lush green trees in the spring, fallen leaves of the autumn to frozen lakes of the winter. And as in the book Catcher in The Rye, Holden Caulfield asks “You know those ducks in that lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over?”. Unfortunately when I was there during the winters I could not see the lake freezing :). And during our trip in July it was green and lovely.

–An entire afternoon in Times Square. You can see people from all race, colour, nationality and lifestyle if you spend just a few minutes in Times Square. From $5 casuals, expensive fur coats, tattoos/piercings to thousand dollar suites. All of them enjoy this place and love people watching. There is also a camera connected to a big screen where you can try and find yourself amongst the crowd.

–Theatre. Doesn’t matter whether you love theatre or not but going to broadway and watching The Lion King musical is something that you should do.

–Bar hopping. Some of the biggest bands have come from one of these pubs in Manhattan. The music and the electrifying atmosphere keeps you hooked to this city. Stone street and Bleecker street will be the top two choices here.

–Walk along the river. I enjoy walking on the Jersey side of the river as you can have a great view of the Manhattan sky line from here. Most of the time we used to have lunch sitting on one of these benches gazing at Hudson river and New York city.

–Shopping. If you happen to be in the city between November to January then do not miss out on the opportunity to shop with heavy discounts at Macy’s. The one on 34th street is the second largest department store in the world and is 115 years old.

–Food. For New Yorkers it might be very cliched but for others a trip to Olive Garden could be a pretty good experience. And if you are a Forest Gump fan then do visit Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. And of course eat through the day from the numerous food trucks.

–Walk in the streets. To get a feel of the New Yorker life you have to just take a walk on the famous New York streets. Park Avenue, Wall Street, Madison Avenue, Lexington Avenue,.. and so on.

–The tourist places. Empire state building, Museum of Modern Art and Natural History, Rockefeller Centre and statue of liberty.

Even though some streets are dirty, there are homeless people on the streets and the subway is pretty old but this city has a soul. And there is no city like New York city. As Barney Stinson once said “This is the best city in the world.”