To all those Americans out there, Happy Fourth of July, and if you're like me, a fellow Canadian residing in the States, I hope you had a good time as I sure felt like I missed out on all the celebrating and events back home earlier this week.

I actually didn't partake in much festivities around the city other than fireworks, and that was just from the rooftop of the apartment I'm living in. Burnt out from the previous day of work (hooray to a four day weekend!), and not wanting to join the mass amount of crowds, I slept in, took my (slow) time getting ready, and then decided to go for a walk on Fifth Avenue. I was surprised to see so many stores opened on this national holiday. I guess with the amount of tourists here (all day, everyday), retailers might as well stay open to earn additional profit from all the sales and promotions going on.
In the evening, my friends and I headed to Gyu-Kaku for Japanese BBQ. As it was a holiday, happy hour (usually only offered at lunch from 11:30-3) was all day so we got to savour delicious dishes of meat at great deals! I would definitely recommend this place as service was quick, options were abundant, and it also has an international presence, so hopefully you can find one close to home. I was so estatic to be able to eat Kobe beef again after being left with a remarkable memory on my taste buds here. It wasn't as flavour stimulating as I had it in Osaka, but still worth every mouthful for its special price. For dessert, I had this mille crepe green tea cake with icecream, basically thin "mille" layers of crepe-like layers stacked upon each other. It tasted smooth and creamy like mousse, wasn't too sweet, and had the coolest texture of crisp crepe on the outer edges. C'EST BON!

After dinner we headed home, made drinks (thanks to one of my roomies with her bar-tending knowledge), and headed to the rooftop on the 34th floor for some fireworks. It wasn't the best view with all the buildings in the way since the fireworks were being released from the Hudson River, which is to the west of us, but the atmosphere and little crowding tickled me fancy. Also the works itself weren't that amazing after having a summer worth of fireworks in Montreal last year, but for the sake of celebrating, it served its purpose. Here are some recommendations of viewing for next year, be mindful that some "hot spots" come at a cost as it is NYC.
The Empire State Building in celebrating colours!