I’ve officially been in New York City for one week. Day one was a bit rough, as my flight was canceled, delayed, and rerouted to LGA instead of JFK, leaving me to arrive via taxi to the Big Apple in the dark after 9pm, when I was supposed to be enjoying a sunny afternoon subway ride to Brooklyn. Life happens.
Meeting a friend for sushi the next day, in between our failed selfie photo shoot he got me to try a full piece of raw salmon (I think?). Not necessarily a New York thing but new nonetheless. I rarely say no to new experiences these days. So of course I had to get a cup full of tempura green tea ice cream, although it was about 30 degrees out and we were walking to our next destination. It was totally worth it.
Helping with ‘Art Battles,’ a super cool event hosted and DJ’d by iLLspokinn, we set up massive easels for four incredible artists to battle it out creating live art installments with markers, paint, and eventually spray paint, set to the soundtrack pumping from the Technics. Afterwards we headed over to Arlene’s Grocery for The Lesson, a jam session experience one must have for themselves. I won’t even try to explain.
In other firsts, I was presented and ate a bowl of Ramen, somehow magically missing out on that during my years of undergrad and grad school. I also rode a bus for the first time in the States - the only other place I’ve done that was in the Netherlands, the Hague to be specific, and once. A trip with roommates to a 90s night at a lounge in Midtown turned into a visit to the original Beauty Bar where you can get a manicure while sipping a martini (or in my case, a gin and tonic), again transforming into a J-train ride and slushy hike through snow to an incredibly pretentious party in Williamsburg. Lesson learned.
Add on top of that a Brooklyn brunch and music show taping, Vietnamese cuisine rounded out with Kahlua chocolate cheesecake, the discovery of my favorite Bed Stuy coffeeshop - Kava Shteeble - a chance meeting with an Italian by way of Dubai over $15 burgers (and the best chocolate chip cookies ever), getting lost and running in late to a meeting on the Upper East Side with three people clad in suits while I sat happily underdressed in jeans and a ring in my nose, and plotting a winery launch party in the Hamptons for this summer. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, and definitely more to come.
I like to be uncomfortable. And as cliche as it is - I love NYC. There’s nowhere I’d rather be. For now.