I'm leaving NYC in 2 hours; I was here for 2 full days - Mon & Tue. Here's a brief rundown of what new things I did.

Sightseeing
1) Lower Manhattan walk with NYCbyfoot. I've never heard of them before, and found them while I was googling for walking tours. NYCbyfoot is gratuity-based, so you don't pay up front nor are expected to pay a certain $ at the end of the tour. I've taken a lot of city walks in the past, and this Lower Manhattan walk with Renee from NYCbyfoot did not disappoint. I learned a lot about the history - Dutch settlements, Colonial times etc. I highly recommend this to anyone, and I intend to take more of their tours on future visits.

2) NYPL exhibitions - I went to the main branch and saw the THREE FAITHS exhibit, as well as the ReCollection photography exhibit. The Three Faiths is very good, with lots and lots of ancient & rare religious books and manuscripts on view, including the NYPL's copy of the Gutenberg Bible. The ReCollection show is smaller than I thought, but still enjoyable.
http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitio...stianity-islam

I also went to the NYPL Lincoln Center branch to see the On Stage in Fashion exhibit. There are a lot of costumes on display, mostly worn by actresses in movies. They also have on view the costumes worn by singers in the Met Opera production of Attila last season - these costumes were designed by Miuccia Prada.
http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/stage-fashion

3) Metropolitan Museum of Art
I only had 2.5 hours there, so I went to see several current exhibitions (and none of the permanent collection). I spent almost an hour at the Jan Gossart show. I love Flemish paintings and this is quite a rare exhibit, reuniting a majority of his works.

I also quickly saw the John Baldessari show (interesting but I don't quite "get" it), the Stieglitz section of the photography show, the Miro Dutch interiors (also quite fascinating), and the Charles Rohlfs furniture exhibition. I really enjoyed the Rohlfs show - his style was a mixture of American Arts & Crafts + medieval influence.

4) Chelsea galleries
I went to 3 galleries in the Chelsea neighborhood:
2 of the Gagosian galleries; one has a HUGE show on Anselm Kiefer which is really worth checking out. I only wish I had printed out the NYT review with me, because I don't think I got as much out of the show as I would have if I had some "guidance" on hand.

The other Gagosian gallery has a show on Rauschenberg, again quite a big show with about 50 of his works.

The 3rd gallery I visited is the PACE gallery which has a Sugimoto show currently. Most of the "photos" are his "lightning field" series, which aren't really photographs. They are generated by an electrical spark going across the film negative; so the final effect appears like a lightning bolt. On view is also a Tesla machine which discharges electric sparks every 7 minutes or so.

Food
Since I'm staying with friends, I ate most of the meals "home". I had 2 ethnic lunches out which were both wonderful. These are foods that I can't get in Boston.

1) Mandoo Bar in Koreatown
2 West 32nd St., New York, NY 10001 (btw 5th & 6th ave)

This tiny eatery's specialty is mandoo, which is Korean dumplings. At the front of the store, there's a clear glass and workers behind are busily wrapping the dumplings. My friend & I were particularly hungry, so we ordered 2 different types of dumplings - the regular pork + veggie, and the Kimchee dumplings. We also shared a dolsot bibimbap. Nothing can taste better than freshly made dumplings. Lunch was $43 for the 2 of us.

2) Lan Zhou handmade noodles in Chinatown
144 E Broadway (btw Pike & Rutgers)

This place is a total hole-in-the-wall. There's no ambiance and minimal service. Their menu has about 10 different types of noodle soups to choose from, all featuring their own homemade noodles. At the back of the restaurant is a marble slab where the chef kneads the dough and pull it into noodles. Another worker was busy wrapping dumplings. I ordered a lamb noodle soup. Very tasty, and the noodles are great, though perhaps not as chewy (or as much texture) as the Lan Zhou noodles I had 2 weeks ago in London. But it's definitely a satisfying "comfort food" for me, and the noodles is only $5.

Shows
1) Don Carlo premiere at the Metropolitan Opera. This was the main reason I'm in NYC, for the opera. I've said a bit about this performance in 2 other threads, so I won't go into details here.

2) Elling on Broadway. This show just opened a few days ago; reviews have been mediocre. I thought it was better than what the critics said. While Brendan Fraser is probably the star who draws people there, I thought the rest of the cast (all 4 of them) was better than Brendan Fraser. The other actors are Dennis O'Hare, Richard Easton, Jeremy Shamos, and Jennifer Coolidge.

Anyway, even though I bought a discounted ticket, at the end the show, I couldn't help but think I should have spent the money on a Balcony seat for Cosi fan tutte at the Met instead.

Thanks for the info. I also like Mandoo Bar!

Nice report. I am a native New YOrker, who now that I have retired plans to play tourist in the city. How much in general did people tip on these tours?

thanks

Very nice -- but you really should try to take advantage of some of NY's cultural offering next time you're in town. ;^)

For hand-pulled noodles, try the savory cumin lamb noodles at Xi'an Famous Foods, another hole-in-the-wall, at 81 St Mark's Place. Really vibrant flavors of cumin and chili oil setting off the lamb on the wide and chewy noodles.

Elkaz, it was hard to tell how much others were tipping. The website recommends you to email for a reservation (so they have an idea of how many people are showing up for the tour). When I received the email confirmation from nycbyfoot, the email mentioned a suggested $8 donation, which I thought was very reasonable for a 2-hr tour.

Fra-Diavolo, thanks for the tip about Xi'an Famous Foods. I'll try that next time.

I'll try to post some photos in the next day or so.

YK, thanks for the report. Did you see Elling is closing Sunday?

jmct714, I *just* saw that news. I am a bit shocked about that; I mean, the play wasn't that bad! It was supposed to run until March 2011; I'm surprised it is closing so soon.