I spent two days in New York City to eat and catch up on theater around the city.

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

Ever since I studied abroad in South Korea in the summer of 2024, I’ve been trying to write blog posts for the little things I do, even if it’s going across town for a fun little day. When I was studying abroad in Busan my Korean teacher would show us these Naver (a Korean search engine) blogs random people would make documenting visiting parks or bakeries, and I loved that energy.

I think the Internet is a cluttered place, so even if no one reads this at the end of the day, it’s a cute little time capsule for as long as we have electricity—or my credit card stops paying for this domain. I often go up to New York City, as I went to school there and have some business there sometimes, so I do have a handful of blog posts centered around my various trips there.

This time I came up because I wanted to see Bug on Broadway. I kept getting hit with glowing reviews online, and then the other reviews that said they hated it and were completely and utterly disturbed by what they watched on stage in front of them. Naturally, that intrigued me, so I bought a ticket when TodayTix had a sale and made arrangements to stay with someone I know.

I was only staying for two days this time, and then it got cut slightly short because of the massive blizzard that randomly developed the Sunday I was there. I was so worried that I wasn’t going to be back in home for work on Monday because my original bus back was cancelled, but I somehow found myself on the very last bus of the day to Baltimore before they shut down operations for two days.

Let’s get into what I did! I felt like my two days there were short, but I packed a lot of activities and whatnot into such a short amount of time.

Day 1: Off-Broadway Theater Shows, Shopping, Eating My Way Around Town

I arrived into New York City late Friday night, which was technically my first day, but I didn’t do anything except take a shower. I stunk of weed because the kid next to me on the subway car ended up lighting a joint in the middle of the car, not only making it reek, but it was hard to breathe after a certain point. I could’ve gotten up and moved, but I was only two stops away at that point and accepted my fate.

My official day one began bright and early in Brooklyn. I woke up early and went with the person I was staying with the Grand Army Plaza Union Market, where she grabbed some vegetables. She showed me this dessert stand and I ended up getting a blueberry cheese danish there—it was so incredible I’ve been thinking about it every weekend since.

After that I got ready for the day and headed into Manhattan. I grabbed lunch at the Yang Guo Fu on 34th Street, near Penn Station, as this is my go-to place if I need something to eat in Midtown. I absolutely adore malatang ever since I studied abroad in Korea, and I also like I can control the ingredients as someone who is pickier about what goes into my soups.

I slurped down my malatang happily then headed out to Hudson Yards. I did some shopping at MUJI, picking up a mini tea cup, scissors, and a sweet potato latte, then I was happy to witness a Chinese New Year celebration on the main floor. It’s been interesting to see how mall has evolved, especially as my college dorm was right next to it and I clearly remember the day that the mall opened in general.

I ran over to The Shed after that for a matinee of The Other Place, which transferred from the National Theatre in London. My review of that show is on the blog, but it was certainly an interesting show with thought provoking material throughout its run time. I got on the 7 Train after that and headed to the UNIQLO on 5th Avenue, as I knew I wanted to pick up some clothes.

I bought two shirts there after sorting through the mess of my bus getting cancelled while I was roaming the store. Afterward, I ran to Urban Hawker, the Singaporean food hall on 50th, to grab a Kopi M, or a coffee with milo, as I felt a little sleepy. I ended up inside of a McDonalds with a small fry at that point because I didn’t know where to go and was a little hungry before my next show.

My final show of the night was Chinese Republicans, which I was seeing with a friend. We had different seats, but I really enjoyed that show a lot and I think she did too. We went to Chubby Skewers on 37th Street, a late night Chinese skewer spot, and chowed down on the various meats they have available.

After that I went home and passed out after yapping with the person I was staying with for a while.

Day Two: Bug on Broadway and finding a solid gukbap place in Brooklyn

On day two I woke up to a dreary New York. In Brooklyn it didn’t start snowing until around noon, but I basically sat and talked with the person I was staying with until it was time to go grab lunch. I wanted to eat with her as a way of saying thanks, especially considering last time I stayed with her she declined going out to eat.

We went to a new spot in Park Slope called Andamiro, which specializes in Korean gukbap. It’s not the same price and style as what I used to get while studying in Busan, but I would say this restaurant was still pretty solid. I think I prefer the gukbap place called Woodam in Flushing, but that’s a hike to get to. However, their sogogi gukbap is absolutely fantastic.

Andamiro was still good, but I think I’ve had better when I have the time to venture farther out. Regardless, I enjoyed sitting down to eat and chat, and then my friend and I ended up parting ways as I headed into the city for the matinee of Bug. The snow started coming down good at this point, and I was nervous about getting home and my bus potentially being cancelled.

I didn’t know what to fully expect when I was going into Bug. They sealed our phones because entire scenes are played completely naked by the actors, which is a more than reasonable request—I remember one show had the actors’ nude scenes recorded by a misbehaving patron, which actually violated their contracts. I liked the show, but I would not see it again I think because it can lean disturbing, even if its content is more normalized today.

I had to run after the bows though to catch my bus, and ended up sitting there for four hours, slightly terrified, as we navigated through a blizzard. I had a good time though when I was in the city, and already can’t wait for my next adventure there.

Follow me below on Instagram, Goodreads, and Letterboxd for more.