New York City Jaunts

These are some of the places we went. There is a review for each one in this journal.

* Museum of Radio and Television

* Jing Fong Restaurant

* L'Annam Restaurant

* Morgan's

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

I like walking around NYC, but taxis and the subway are convenient. Don't be afraid to go up and look at the subway maps on the trains or in the stations. Be sure to check for posted changes when you get on at a subway stop, as you might be on the right train but its schedule might have changed.

Ian Schrager once partnered with Steve Rubell to create THE trendy spot of the 1970s, Studio 54. Schrager has gone on to build an empire of trendy boutique hotels in London and major American cities such as New York. Morgans is one of those.

The room we had was indeed stylish. Small, but that's typical for New York (plus we used a Travel-On-Us deal to get the room for a real bargain compared to its regular $255 price tag). It was sleek without being slick. Nice without being snooty.

For such a small room, the designer certainly used what space was available quite efficiently. It contained a king-size bed, desk and chair, large settee, fridge, TV on a short stand with drawers, and a cabinet that opened up to reveal several more drawers, a full-length mirror, and shelf upon shelf of expensive goodies (from M&Ms to champagne, and an intimacy kit for those who don't plan that far in advance).

Marble and all-natural bedding and settee dressings gave the room a very neutral color scheme, with plenty of grays, mottled grays, creams, and some black. Sounds drab, but it wasn't at all. In fact, the natural textiles gave the neutrality a nice warmth.

The bathroom reflected the black-and-white-checker scheme that you can also find in the elevator and hallway carpet. Glass floor-length shower doors sit over what appeared to be a granite floor that extends throughout the small room. Small bottles of shampoo and conditioner sit on a glass shelf for your use, but larger ones also sit there available for purchase.

Our view was three walls and windows of other rooms in the hotel. For an overnight stay, we didn't care. At least we had a window! But the blocked view did contribute to a darkness in the room that even multiple lights couldn't quite dispel. Still, the room was not drab. The style kept the room alive.

Morgans offers guests a complimentary Continental breakfast of cereal, juice, coffee, tea, and chopped fresh fruit in Asia de Cuba, the restaurant next door.

The hotel is located within walking distance of Penn Station. Just up the street is the Pierpont Morgan Library. Great midtown location.

The bottom line: Morgans offers a small but stylish and efficient room well worth more than what we paid. I still can't believe it!

Going to the theater? Then the Belvedere offers a great location for strolling to a show.

Besides location, location, location, the hotel also offers a warm, welcoming decor. Our room, located on the 16th floor, had an Italian theme not unlike The Donatello in San Francisco. The color scheme included pinks, creams, and reds. Amenities included a large desk, entertainment center, dresser, extra bedding and iron in the closet, and a beautiful marble bathroom with tub/shower.

The room, situated on a corner, had windows on two walls. One overlooked the city, and the other had a river view. The views were not what could be called spectacular, but they were interesting enough, and the light from the windows provided an extra touch of brightness and warmth.

The size of the room was a bit of a shocker. One-bedroom hotel rooms in New York City are usually quite small, but this one had a hefty dose of walking room and its own kitchenette.

The mini-kitchen, off to the side as you enter the room, reminded me again of The Donatello's timeshare studio. There was a microwave, larger-than-dorm-style fridge, plenty of cabinet space, and a coffee machine. We didn't use the kitchen, but I don't believe there were any utensils.

Interaction with the staff was limited to check-in, but we received very pleasant service. Upon our departure, we used the express check-out, which also went smoothly.

A block away, the hustle and bustle of the theater district gives way to the more serene surroundings of the Belvedere. All in all, it was a wonderful stay.

This was our second time visiting a Travel-On-Us hotel. I am still amazed that we could spend the night in such a lovely room and lovely hotel for such a lovely price.

The Belvedere is one of seven hotels owned by the Empire Group. For more details, please click here.

On only the second time that I have eaten Vietnamese food, L'Annam provided me with a good experience.

The restaurant's atmosphere is comfortable and casual, but it still manages to have some style. It looked like a contemporary pub/restaurant.

The quality of the food is good. It didn't stand out to me as superior, but it was not in the least bit bad. The portions are on the large side but not overwhelming. The seafood dish we ordered really contained a lot of seafood, not just a bunch of vegetables with one or two pieces of seafood thrown in.

The service was very good. We were seated right away, provided menus and water quickly, and as soon as we placed our menus down our waiter was there ready to take our order.

Our appetizer came quickly. We had ordered the shrimp sui mai. Be forewarned that it's not like Chinese siu mai. Each piece was larger and the stuffing was quite sour, which the accompanying plum sauce helped to hide.

The bottom line: Good food at a good price, but not great enough to make me return. If I lived near the restaurant, I could see myself frequenting it.

We went to Jing Fong on a Saturday afternoon for dim sum. For those who don't know what that is, it is a variety of appetizer-like foods that are pushed around on carts past your table and to which you point when you want to order the food. The waitress marks your ticket, a tracking device placed on your table by your waiter of how much you will pay for whatever foods you chose.

When you first enter Jing Fong, you go up a long escalator and are then escorted to a table (the two of us shared a table with a family of three). The decor was typical of a Chinese restaurant, but the place was huge!

The waitresses did not seem as friendly as I have experienced at other dim sum places, but those restaurants were much smaller and were not in New York City's Chinatown. I imagine that many of the waitresses and patrons at Jing Fong speak only Chinese, and perhaps that was why the service seemed somewhat aloof. Waiters removing dishes and bringing tea were extremely quick and efficient.

One unique thing about Jing Fong, and I don't know if it is typical of other Chinatown restaurants or not but it was a first for me, was that you did not have to wait for a waitress to bring around a cart in order to get some food. You could go up to a centrally located buffet with your ticket and a server would mark your ticket when you picked up a dish.

Jing Fong served typical dim sum foods, but they had a mussel dish that I had never had before. The mussels were excellent. Most of the other foods were also very good.

You cannot beat the prices for the amount and quality of food you get at Jing Fong.

The bottom line: Jing Fong was inexpensive, had good food, and had decent service.

The Museum of Radio and Television offers you the opportunity to view or listen to rare or old television and radio shows. We went to watch two rare one-hour-long episodes of "The Twilight Zone."

When you purchase a ticket for $6 in the lobby, you are assigned a time to go to the library upstairs. Arrive early and you might get to walk in right away. We had to wait about an hour, so we went to watch one of the screenings that was going on to pass the time. It was a showing of an old "Playhouse 90" show that Rod Serling wrote.

The screening was shown in a movie theatre on a lower level. Visit here for more details on what is being screened when you go.

At your designated time, you go upstairs to the library, hand over your ticket, and sit at one of the many computer terminals to search the database for the show you want to view. Then you make your reservation via the computer.

Next you wait for your name to be called at the desk. When you hear your name, they are ready to escort you down one level to a room that contains many televisions with headsets.

You can view your choices without disturbing anyone else and without anyone else disturbing you. You can pause, rewind, and fast forward your show, too.

You are supposedly allowed to stay in there for 2 hours, but it seems to be OK if you stay a little over that. We had arrived about 15 minutes late because we watched the entire screening and stayed about 20 minutes over.

The staff there was extremely cheerful and helpful. They made us feel comfortable and seemed genuinely happy to offer assistance when needed.

The bottom line: this is a fun place and we will go again. If you live in New York, it might be worth it for you to purchase an annual membership, which then gives you free access to all those wonderful shows.