LOMBARDI'S: AMERICA'S FIRST PIZZA PLACE

         When looking back at the greatest tragic love stories, the following star crossed lovers come to mind:

1. Romeo & Juliet
2. Heathcliff & Catherine
3. Marc Anthony and Cleopatra
4. Kim Kardashian & The NBA/NFL
5. RichieZ and Pizza

     Yes it's true. I love Pizza, but Pizza and I can never truly be together. All great tragic love stories have obstacles.. Something that tears our couple apart.. Ours is my hyper acidity. 

      You see, Tomato is my number one enemy. Anything tomato based wrecks my digestive system. Making stuff like Pasta, Tacos, and yes, even pizza, quite tricky for me to eat. 

     All those worries got thrown out the window the moment I found out that we would be going to Lombardi's in New York. Why? Well, it's not everyday one gets a chance to visit the first pizza parlor in America.

I'M HAVING WHAT SHE'S HAVING AT KATZ'S DELICATESSEN IN NEW YORK

              As I had mentioned before, one of my goals when I left for New York, was to go eat at as many famous places as I could. Places I had seen in my favorite food shows, such as Man V. Food and No Reservations. Well It was already my third day, and I had already been to three phenomenal places that I had seen in different food shows.

         The first was Hop Kee, which I had seen in Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, while the second and third ones, Baohaus and the popular burger chain, Shake Shack, were both restaurants that I had just seen during my plane ride to New York in another Anthony Bourdain Show, "The Layover:New York". 

         Though I have a deep respect for the work of Mr. Bourdain, I wouldn't say that he is my biggest food show idol. I am actually a huge fan of the man that inspired me to start this Blog.. Man V. Food's Adam Richman. After watching one episode of Man V. Food, I felt an epiphany.. A surreal moment of clarity that made me realize, despite my lack of knowledge on food, and legendary pickiness, being a food blogger was my destiny.

        So even before leaving for New York, I re-watched the New York Episode of Man V. Food. After that my mission was clear.. 

        If there is one place every foodie must go to when they're in New York.. It's the iconic Katz's Delicatessen.. The home of the best sandwich I have ever eaten in my entire life. 

THE SHAKE SHACK SHAKEDOWN

            Something I knew I wanted to go for during our trip to New York, was some kick ass American burgers. Even when we were still in Manila, AmbassadOREO Jennifer and I were discussing the places we wanted to eat at. The first thing she yelled out was "Shake Shack!". 

        Knowing that Shake Shack is one of famous restauranteur Danny Meyer's restaurants, there was no way in hell I was going to say no to that. Admittedly, I was torn between Shack Shake or the popular "Five Guys" Burger.. But once again, the great Anthony Bourdain once again made his presence felt, and turned the tide towards Shake Shack. During our flight to New York, I watched the New York Episode of "Anthony Bourdain: The Layover", and Shake Shack was one of the burger places he visited. 

        That's all I needed to know.

THE AMBASSADOREOS TAKE MANHATTAN!

        For our first full day in New York, Oreo scheduled a City Tour for the Philippine AmbassadOREOS. We were treated to a driving tour around the Big Apple, passing by some of the city's most significant landmarks. 

       Honestly, this wasn't my first time in New York. I had been to there before, but only for the day. I have relatives in Delaware, and when we would visit them, my Uncle would drive us up there to check out the sights. He wasn't too sure what building was what, so we never really learned anything about the historical significance of the structures. Since we had a true blue native New Yorker by the name of Sylvia as our tour guide, this was a wonderful opportunity for us to learn more about one of the greatest cities on earth!

A BITE OF THE BIG APPLE: THE AMBASSADOREOS AT PEKING DUCK HOUSE

             Though we had just feasted on a magnificent Breakfast Buffet a couple of hours earlier, we worked up quite a bit of an appetite (Well.. At least I did)  during the first half of our New York City Tour (Coming up in the next post!). We had seen many landmark sites that we had only had seen in our favorite movies and TV shows. But even then we still had an entire City to explore, so it was best to make sure our belly was filled before moving on to the next leg of our tour. 

          Once again, Oreo Philippines, had our back and took us to Peking Duck House in China Town. 

BREAKFAST BUFFET AT HILTON NEW YORK'S MARKETPLACE CAFE!

        If you thought having the Blogger AmbassadOREO title was all fun and games you'd be.. well.. Right. From the start of the trip, Oreo made it clear that apart from documenting the trip of the AmbassOREOS, Jennifer and Jasmin, they wanted us to make sure that Rina and I had fun during the company's scheduled activites. This was clearly a huge event, and Oreo Philippines made sure that we'd be comfortable throughout our trip. Since the action would be happening in the "Hilton New York", along 6th Street or Avenue Of The Americas, it made complete sense for them to book us there. 

       As I mentioned earlier, The Hilton New York is more of a business hotel, so don't expect a poolside deck you can lounge in. Besides, if sunbathing on your vacation is more your thing, then you flew to the wrong state. This is a hotel with a location in the Center of the city, and a short distance from such tourist attractions such as the Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and Central Park. 

     Yet another fantastic perk included in our stay, was the free breakfast buffet every morning at Hilton New York's Marketplace Cafe. 

     God Bless You OREO. 

A BITE OF THE BIG APPLE: IHOP AND BAOHAUS

           I hadn't even been in New York for five hours yet, and I had already dined in a legendary Cantonese restaurant that Anthony Bourdain had featured in his TV Show, "No Reservations". Based on that alone, I was ecstatic that my trip to the Big Apple was off to a smashing start. 

         After filling up my belly with Chinese Style Fried Chicken and Pork Chops, I joined the younger batch of the Oreo contingent, as we set of to The Biergarten at The Standard Hotel to unwind. 

       I had heard of numerous horror stories about roaming charges, I had resolved to use my smart phone in "Flight Mode" throughout the trip, and only turning it on for emergency purposes. I managed to catch a Wifi signal at the Biergarten and found some Facebook messages from my cousin Brian that lives in New York. 

      Since I hadn't seen him in years, so I was ecstatic to find out that he was more than happy to pick me up and go see us. Within minutes, Brian and his wife, Dori came fulfilling our dining plans that had been years in the making. 

     And so continued my first night in New York, which I look back at with much fondness as, "The Night of Three Dinners".

     *Tear*

A BITE OF THE BIG APPLE DAY 1: HOP KEE

             During my first meeting with Jennifer and Jasmin, the Official Philippine AmbassadOREOS, we were talking about the the places I wanted to eat at New York. As you can imagine, a free trip to New York is every person's dream come true (unless of course, you live in New York), so imagine what it felt like to be a food blogger, planning a trip to one of the greatest food cities on the planet.  

    My goal when going to New York was making sure that I would try some of the delicious hot spots I had seen on some of some of my favorite food shows that I had watched in the past. During our conversation, the twins told me, "Oh, please reserve one dinner for us! Our parents are taking us to Hop Kee!".

     The name "Hop Kee" instantly rang a bell, but I couldn't place it. Hey, it was a free meal so I wasn't going to say no to that. It was only after we had eaten did I realize where I heard the name "Hop Kee" before..

     From a little show called "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations".

THE GREAT OREO ADVENTURE: THE AMBASSADOREOS ARE OFF TO NEW YORK!

Imagine waking up from a deep in-flight slumber, 

looking out the window, and seeing this glorious sight. 

       If you visit my blog with any form of frequency, there's a chance that you might have stumbled unto a little tidbit of me winning the title of the Oreo's "Official Blogger AmbassadOREO".

     So what exactly did winning that title mean? 

     Well for starters, it gave me and my wife the opportunity to fly on an all expenses paid to New York (with pocket money) so we could attend the highly anticipated "100 Years of Oreo" event, where Oreo lovers from around the world gathered in a fun filled celebration of everyone's favorite cookie!

     So begins the travel log of what I consider, -next to my wedding and the birth of my daughter- The greatest experience of my life.. Our Great New York Adventure, courtesy of Oreo Philippines!