Certainly, people come here for the plays, the fashion, the stock market, the cuisine. Go out of your way to do something ordinary--like walk into a coffee shop where ’70s hits will greet you together with a gum-cracking waitress who will call you "hon." Have a New York bagel!! I don’t care if you have bagels where you live; a New York bagel is just that.

Choose a street or an avenue, and walk it. Don’t do your aerobic hour on that street; open your eyes, your ears, your nostrils, and walk. Look at the people, the shops, the sidewalk vendors, the insane traffic, the multitude of ethnicities along the way.

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At first, the appearance of the hotel can be a bit unsettling, especially if you are arriving around midnight, and fatigue has gotten the best of you. As we pull up in front, I see gigantic, hornlike protrusions from the wall, which are lit, and are quite suggestive of perhaps a "bordello"? It could be the influence of the Museum of Sex which is right next door. Once in the lobby, I feel much better. It's quite colorful, lots of art, aluminum doors cover the original 100 year old elevators. The reception area is to the right of the registration desk, and there, you can relax on retro couches, or listen to music if you're early enough. There are live performances nightly, and unfortunately, by the time I arrive at the hotel after each show day, I can only think of one thing: my bed.

I do get help with my luggage as I have been travelling now for more than a week, and have yet another week to go. Each floor has separate art installations that feature international painters, photographers, mostly avant-garde. The floors are painted in bright colors, as in red. The room is simple with basic amenities like a telephone, cable TV, a hair dryer in the bathroom, an old fashioned armoire for clothes! And I know all about those extra tall curtains covering those extra tall New York windows! It means that if you open them, you'll be facing a brick wall . . .

Under Picasso, there are two armchairs and a small table which becomes the suitcase station. There is a desk, but I wonder what one can do there . . . no internet access from the room; ah, it's beginning to feel like Europe. You can access your email in a remote part of the lobby where it's about $1 for 5 minutes. Sometimes, the machine is temperamental and refuses your credit card, so you have to feed it dollars, and early in the morning, it takes a great deal of pleasure throwing them up back at you.

There was an in-site café, but during my stay, it was undergoing renovation which was actually great, as I got acquainted again with the typical NY coffee shop experience every morning.

The hotel has location going for it if you are wanting to stay around midtown, or heading for Soho. For the Jacob Javits Center, I would not pick this venue, as it is way too far. And oh, stay away from the limousine service kiosk in the lobby. You can do much better on your own with the yellow pages.

As you enter the place, it’s a bit dark, but you begin to see the bamboo walls and columns and some green foliage. They have a full bar, but we never got that far, as we were seated fairly close to the entrance. At the time we were there, which was lunch, there seemed to be only one man tending bar, tables, and perhaps he might have been the cook as well.

I have learned since that Penang has several locations, and if you are not in Soho, you can try the Malay cuisine of the mother of the family in the East Village, Flushing (which is replete with Asian everything, and in the borough of Queens) or New Jersey.

So how does Malaysian cuisine differ from others? I found incredible similarities to Indonesian food, Thai food, though they say it’s heavily influenced by Chinese, Indian, and Japanese preparations. The menu is quite varied and gives a rather loose translation of the various dishes which are presented in the native tongue. This could either be viewed as more romantic, or more frustrating, depending on which side of the fence you sit. I remembered having the Gado Gado salad in Bali, and once again enjoyed the thinly sliced cucumbers, turnip sticks with cabbage mixed with egg, tofu, and a side dressing of peanut sauce. There are plenty of different dishes to choose from, be it seafood, shell fish, vegetables, meats, curries, noodles (don’t forget to try the coconut rice!), and chicken.

Though we did not have time for dessert, I do recommend you try the fried ice cream, which is nothing short of divine. They also offer a Peanut Pancake, which must be interesting, as it is stuffed with ground peanuts. Their Ice Kachang with ice cream is a concoction of shaved ice, red beans, corn, palm seeds, peanuts, lotus jelly, red rose syrup (this is a definite Middle Eastern influence), milk, and ice cream. Feeling adventurous? Lastly, for dessert is Chendol, which are green pea flour strips (Indian here) and red beans (Japanese here) topped with shaved ice creamy coconut milk. Worth several repeat visits as there is so much to try.

As usual, the restaurant is teeming with patrons, and just when you’re about to give up hope, they find you a table. One of the most alluring thing about Brasserie Centrale is its outdoor dining feature with market umbrellas, and what seems to be now less room between tables than airplane seats in economy class. But, it’s worth the pain. This is one of the few venues that remains open 24 hours a day, serving all 3 meals + brunch on Sundays. It has a definite Parisian feel to it, although the cuisine is nouveau American. Luckily, this was one of the days New York weather decided to smile upon us, after endless rain and grayness, so it was divine to sit outside and watch the city hum.

We shared some of our appetizers and took bites of each other’s entrées. Crisp Calamari, fried of course, and seafood springrolls made their appearance none too soon. We didn’t have the country pate this time, but I’ve had it before, and recommend it if your diet will allow for it.

One of us had the Nicoise, which is a French salad made up principally of potatoes, tuna fish, with other vegetables. Their "Croque Monsieur" is divine; it was perfectly prepared. If you like grilled cheese, this is grilled cheese and ham on a baguette with a ticket to heaven on the side. And our third ordered the salmon; somebody always has to order salmon just to see how it’s cooked. And if nothing else, please don’t forget to get some of their "frites". They are freshly made and are not those mass produced, salty bland sticks you find at fast food places. One plate of frites will make three of you very, very happy indeed.

None of us is a drinker, so we had beverages like soft drinks, teas and water. We also shared one dessert that was a decadent chocolate bread pudding. Very difficult to get off your chair after a meal like that.

As we finished dining, we realized we had been there more than 2 hours, and all signs of fatigue had vanished. The company had been delightful and the meal never disappointing. Of course, it didn’t hurt being smack in the middle of New York City.

If you conjure up Venice and think masks, the walls in this place will deliver to you some of the most ornate and magnificent masks you’ve ever seen. Some will have feathers, others won’t; some will be gilded, others will be porcelain. And of course, there are blown glass pieces, undoubtedly Murano in protected etageres. If you can tear yourself away from all the art, you can sit at a wonderful, crisp linen covered table, and try to have something to drink out of all 4 glasses in front of you.

One of the things I liked least is the huge TV screen on the wall which brings you some direct TV broadcasts; apparently, this keeps the yuppies happy after 5 PM. Mad 28 was affected by the 9/11 experience, as most New York businesses were; fewer tourists meant tighter revenues, and thus the restaurant introduced variety to its menu. Our waiter told us that after 11 pm, they clear most of the tables which sit in front of the brick oven and transform the area into a dance floor. It would have been great to see and hear what that’s all about. By the way, if you are into romantic Italian music, you are going to fall in love here. We wanted to buy the CD that was playing, and our waiter went to find out for us what it was.

Did I mention the food yet?

Let me tell you, if you come here for anything at all, don’t miss this salad. You’d think that living in California would have me spewing salad from every pore, but this is a little different. When they brought it to me, it looked like a painting; it’s a mixture of lentils, calamari, shrimp, avocado, tomatoes seasoned with lemon, olive oil and fresh parsley. I really needed nothing else after that. The menu features 13 different kinds of pizzas, fish, meat, fowl dishes and the requisite pasta mélanges. The cappuccino here is so strong, I almost developed hair on my teeth. I had to ask the waiter to dilute it a bit for me. The "dolci" list looked wonderful, but my waist line would have never tolerated it.

This is a gem of a restaurant.