This past Thanksgiving, or rather, Pre-Thanksgiving, I was able to take some time out of a brief trip home (from Japan) to create an even briefer sub-trip to New York City. So nested betwixt my NRT-SFO and SFO-SEA-NRT longhaul flights, I squeezed a San Francisco to New York (SFO-JFK-SFO) trip on United p.s. and flew in business (discounted Z fare) on the outbound and on the way back (upgraded from Economy).

So with just two nights at the Embassy Suites on North End (one night booked using HHonors Points and one night booked with cash…and yes, upon check-in you can ask them to link the bookings so you don’t have to change rooms! However, I did get a welcome snack kit each night thanks to my status!), I decided to squeeze in as much as I could:

November 23, 2010:

• 7:05AM to 3:40PM: SFO-JFK on UA 6 (Z) – flight arrived very early!
• Circa 4:00PM: checked into the Embassy Suites
• 5:00PM: Dinner at Salaam Bombay Indian Cuisine (Exquisite cuisine, though a bit expensive, food is not your everyday Indian but rather perfect for special occasions and fine dining. I’d definitely go back there again!)
• Watched Stargate Universe on SyFy (can’t miss my SGU!)
• Late night carrot cake at Pick a Bagel (yum!)

November 24, 2010:

• Embassy Suites breakfast buffet (pretty solid as far as breakfast at American hotels go, though it’s no Waldof=Astoria!)
• Hook and Ladder No. 8 (Ghostbusters Firehouse)
• Empire State Building
• New York Public Library (used in the opening scene of the original Ghostbusters)
• Radio City Music Hall
• Rockefeller Square (and a very naked Christmas tree!)
• Lunch at Crif Dogs (I will say this now: THE BEST CORN DOG…EVER!)
• Rockit Scientist Records (used as Ray’s Occult Books in Ghostbusters II)
• Times Square
• Quick nibble from a Halal cart by News Corp.
• The Pee-Wee Herman Show (At the Stephen  Sondheim Theater, this was a great trip down memory lane. I’m really happy about the Paul Reubens comeback, and this satisfied both the nostalgia in me and the need for some very current entertainment. It was nice to see Pee-Wee even make a few jokes at himself in passing. This is a must-see for anyone in NYC with a sense of humor and it’s gone on January 2nd so act fast!)
• John’s Pizzeria (I’ve been here before and it was just as good as last time…and a nice escape from the FREEZING cold of a Manhattan Thanksgiving’s Eve!)

November 25, 2010:

• 7:11AM to 10:55AM: JFK-SFO on UA 5 (NC) and had a very happy Thanksgiving

Without further ado, here are the pictures:

New York is always a fun place to visit (I head there one or twice a year), and hopefully next time I have a little more than 48 hours to put around! Hope you all had a good holiday, too.

Whilst I am eagerly anticipating my bold prediction of handily clearing my economy to business upgrade for today’s UA NRT-LAX flight (16 hours to go!), I am also planning my soon-to-be Thanksgiving New York trip.

I’m flying out of and into SFO on United’s p.s. flights with New York City’s very bad dog of an airport, JFK. Honestly, p.s. is the only thing that makes domestic flights to/from JFK somewhat bearable…and there is nothing like the legendary row 9 in business class on a p.s. flight, the cream of the crop business seat in United’s entire domestic fleet.

What gets me about JFK is, really, how poorly planned everything is. There are just way too many flights with razor-thin planning, and when one little takeoff or arrival falls behind, there is a brutal domino effect. At beautiful SFO I’ve never once been on a runway 30 minutes or more, but if I can taxi to the gate or takeoff in just 30 minutes at JFK, I consider that a huge success! And yes, I have been stuck on the runway there for hours before. In any case, I’ll be in New York City for a few days this Thanksgiving break, and here is what I’m planning:

• Crif Dogs (menu) corn dog
• The Pee-Wee Herman Show (on Broadway)
• Empire State Building
• New York Public Library (personal tribute to Ghostbusters)
• American Museum of Natural History
• Central Park
• White Castle (but only at 3:00AM)
• Rest playing it by ear!

Should be a fun little trip. Staying at the Embassy Suites thanks to some Hilton HHonors points I have to burn. Can’t wait to be back in the Big Apple.