Our First Night in NYC 🇺🇸 Junior’s, Central Perk Coffee, Adel’s Halal & Times Square Midnight Moment

Check the rest of my US trip here!    • USA 2026: New York, Chicago, San Diego, Lo...   ______________________________________________ Our first day in New York City was packed with travel surprises, iconic food, and a magical midnight moment in Times Square. We flew United Airlines from Manila to San Francisco, then continued to Newark Liberty International Airport before making our way to Manhattan. Instead of taking a taxi, we used the NJ Transit train from Newark Airport to Pennsylvania Station. NJ Transit is one of the largest statewide public transportation systems in the United States, carrying hundreds of thousands of passengers daily across New Jersey and into New York City. In this vlog, we also show how to buy NJ Transit tickets, which is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to reach Manhattan from Newark Airport. Our hotel booking didn’t go as planned, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We ended up staying in a hotel right in the middle of the action, making it easy to explore the city on foot. For lunch, we visited Junior's Restaurant, famous for its classic New York deli dishes and legendary cheesecake. The restaurant opened in Brooklyn in 1950 and has become one of the city’s most iconic diners. We finally tried two classic Jewish-American comfort foods: Pastrami sandwich Matzoh ball soup Later, we experienced the electric atmosphere of Times Square, often called “The Crossroads of the World.” Times Square attracts roughly 50 million visitors every year, making it one of the most visited tourist attractions on the planet. We also stopped by Central Perk Coffee Co., inspired by the café from the hit TV series Friends, and took photos on the famous orange couch. After checking into our hotel (room tour included!), we took a much-needed rest after the travel chaos earlier in the day. For dinner, we grabbed food from Adel's Famous Halal Food, one of the most popular halal carts in Midtown known for its massive combo platters and long nightly queues. To end the night, we witnessed the Midnight Moment in Times Square — the world’s largest coordinated digital art exhibition where the massive billboards synchronize every night at 11:57 PM for a three-minute public art display. Jet lag, iconic food, and the lights of Times Square — the perfect way to start our New York adventure. 📍 Locations featured: Newark Liberty Airport NJ Transit Train Junior’s Restaurant Times Square Central Perk Coffee Co. Adel’s Famous Halal Food #NewYorkCity #NYCVlog #ExploreNYC #NYCTravel #TimesSquare #MidnightMoment #CentralPerk #NYCFood #NYCEats #FoodieFinds #AdelsHalalFood #JuniorsNYC #FirstNightInNYC #TravelDiaries