Part 8: Aidilfitri in Niagara Falls, New York City, Atlantic City and Washington DC

Again, this year I could not celebrate Raya with my family in Kelantan due to Organic Chemistry classes that I had to take this summer (darn!). But since it was the 3rd time I celebrated raya in States, I did not feel that upset. I guess Im already immuned to this kind of stuff (tapi kalau tgk org upload Malaysian food sedap2, terbakor jgk). Plus, this year we got a chance to celebrate Raya at the Embassy of Malaysia in Washington DC!

Niagara Falls

So, few days after Orgo final, we had a looong road trip (about 13 hours) to Niagara Falls with awesome people (Nurul, Min, Alya and Paan). We stayed at a group of Malaysian students' house that are studying at Buffalo Uni (thanks akak!) for one night. She welcomed us very nicely and even cooked delicious sahur for us (terharu dpt makan ayam masak pedas for sahur :'D ).

There's a lot of interesting places to visit around Niagara Falls. We rode a boat (Maid of the Mist boat tour) to get closer view of the the famous falls. These falls - American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Canadian Falls (also known as Horseshoe Falls) are connected together forming one huge, spectacular waterfall!

At the Cave of the Winds - the front of Bridal Veil Falls

The International Bridge - Canada on the other side! 

Portion of Niagara Falls - the American Falls 

I think we paid around $15 for the tour package -> Tram around Goat Island, Cave of the Wind, Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls Aquarium and Memorial. We had to wear these funny ponchos just to stay dry.

Hard Rock Cafe -Niagara Falls : Checked!

Check out this page if you are interested to know more about Niagara Falls! http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/earth/niagarafalls.html

New York City

Done with Niagara Falls, later that day we drove to NYC for second time! We stayed here for two nights at another Malaysian's house that are studying at Stevens Institute of Tecnology, Hoboken, New Jersey. They were very welcoming and the house is very spacious and lovely!

Walked miles for a box of macaroons 

This time, we tried to visit as many places that we did not visit the first time we were in NYC. This trip was focused more on food search (biasalah time puasa smua benda rasa cam nak makan) --> Laduree macaroons, Dylan's Candy Bar chocolates and of course Nyonya, a malay cuisine restaurant. This place is seriously good especially their curry mee and laksa penang (memang da bomb wa x tipu!). We broke our fast (it was Ramadhan) with all the delicious dishes with fully-satisfied expression, not realizing that we actually caught the attention of one American lady. She came to our table and asked what food we were eating because it looked so scrumptious (nampak sgt makan x hengat dunia).

Little Italy in Chinatown

The super delicious mee tomyam! * I dont have any photos of mee curry. I was too hungry and just couldn't wait to eat it. 

Dylans' Candy Bar (FYI, Dylan ni the daughter of Ralph Lauren)

Malaysian Flag spotted at Rockefellar Center! *Imma proud Malaysian :))

Tak lupa jugak makan nasi arab depan Port Authority.
Another Hard Rock Cafe - New York City charm: Checked! 

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Before we continued our journey to Atlantic City, we decided to buy some bakery goods from Carlos' Bake Shop (The Cake Boss Show). We bought some canolis and a cheesecake. And tell you what, the cheesecake was super soft and ughhh there's no word to describe it. Just perfect. Heaven. Marvelous pergh!! Thanks to Min's senior, because of him, we could skip the long line that could take us 2 hours to get in the shop. *He lives in Hoboken (Stevens student), so he has that privileged given by Buddy and the family. Weehooo! 

Then, we drove about 3 hours to Atlantic City to collect more Hard Rock charms. I did not hear much about this place but when we arrived there, it's actually an amazing place! I love the funfair, the buildings, outlets, and the scenery. Finally, I got to see the American beach (there's no sunny beach in Tennessee :( ). Plus, there's a lot of Trump's building here. All are very enormous and beautiful. I guess many people come here for gambling since there's a lot of casinos in this city. 

 Beachside Walk

The Funfair

Another Hard Rock Cafe - Atlantic City charm: Checked!

Washington DC

After spending half day in Atlantic City, we then drove to En. Nazrol's house in Washington DC. En. Nazrol is one of the Pegawai JPA that take care of the Malaysian students  (JPA sponsored) in USA. It felt so good to finally meet the Malaysian family after such a long time. And they are very nice too!

On 1st Syawal, we went to the Embassy for Raya Prayer. There's a lot of people from different places that came to celebrate the holy day together. After prayer, we went to the courtyard to eat Malaysian food! Yeay! 

Pink lace kurung moden for raya outfit 

We spent two nights at En. Nazrol's house, had so much good food and so much fun. Thanks to En. Nazrol's family, other staffs' families and others for giving us such a wonderful raya experience.



 Before we headed back to Vanderbilt, we went to Serendipity 3 --> to try their famous frozen hot chocolate and Georgetown Cupcake --> to enjoy their yummy Red Velvet Cupcakes. We also visited the Reflection Pool and the Abraham Lincoln Monument (we did not visit these places during the first trip because it was raining heavily and we completely forgot about it!). Thank God we had another chance to actually visit Abe.

Serendipity 3 - love the deco!

Serendipity 3 frrrrozen hot chocolate

Georgetown Cupcakes

Abraham Lincoln Statue

Chilling at the side of  Reflecting Pool, eating Red Velvet Cupcakes. Yum!

Complete road trip member. Thank you so much girls!

It was a very long drive but totally worth it!
Photos credit to Paan (thanks for the pretty photos muah3!)
p/s: Another Hard Rock Cafe - Washington DC charm: Checked!