New York is not about outdoors, e.g. mountains and ocean; it's about people.
Oct 21-29, 2023 I went to New York City for the 3rd time, this time I still sometimes didn't know what the fuck I was doing, but definitely way better than the first 2 times
I found
- an extremely good pizzeria in Brooklyn — Ace's Pizza Spot
- an extremely good coffee shop in Hell's Kitchen — The Jolly Goat Coffee Bar
- an extremely good Italian restaurant in Greenwich — Alice | New York Italian Seafood & Lobster Bar; Eleanor (the most elegant and gorgeous 76 yo lady in New York City, more about her later) and I spent $200 USD at it 😝!! Oh and the neighborhood is beautiful
Trust me that I have a good taste (as always) and I am super duper picky 💅🏻; the difference between good food / drink and mediocre food / drink is you can immediately tell a huge difference from the first bite / sip.
I successfully hosted the very first Women @ Runtime session. I didn't make it heavy; I made everyone laugh 😆. As Eleanor said, that's the best way to do it: negativities depress people; make it positive and hopeful. Look forward.
Manhattan is as dense as you can image; with so many people living on such a small island, space between people is missing. In psychology, we say other people function as mirrors to our ego; and in New York it feels like you are forced to stand in front of a mirror all the time. There is nowhere to hide, I guess that's why everyone is more direct — it's just very hard and no place to hide. It can get overwhelming real quick as it seems that everyone is prettier, everyone is more interesting, everyone has more money...if you don't know who you are and you can't face yourself — then it can be triggering.
thus,
- New York really challenges you to not give a fuck and to have a big strong heart
- New York really asks you to be and protect your authentic self, good or bad, with all the strengths and insecurities
- New York really makes you think who you are, besides money, title, all the concrete things, all the material things
- New York really teaches you not to take things personally; if someone is rude, that's probably not your problem
- New York really reminds you to protect the most important things: your personal space and feelings, somehow a lack of space could make you look inward more
My mind got blown by how amazing people are + how amazing they think I am + how much they are willing to show me their appreciation of me:
- Eleanor, she is the most elegant and gorgeous 76 yo lady in New York City: silky button up shirt with uniquely designed pattern and a simple pearl necklace, taking care of people even older than her, still jogging, still dating — this is how i want myself to be when i am at her age. She put down in my contact details on her phone when and where we met each other for the first time: 2022.09.03 Plain of Six Glaciers Trail in Banff National Park. We were both solo hiking. Now every time I visit New York City, I will have a dinner with her and we always have lots of fun. I see her as my "family in New York".
- ... you gotta talk to me in person to know more!!
If someone ever wants to convince me that New York City has more beautiful outdoors than Vancouver or all the other cities on the West Coast, I will laugh at them tremendously: last year the water was so dirty then New York Triathlon became only cycling and running!! The moment I landed in Vancouver, I realized how peaceful, spacious, and clean Vancouver is.
However, New York is not about outdoors, it's about people. Every time before going to New York, there were always people warning me that New Yorkers could be cold and mean (with good intentions); but still, every time people are just sooooo kind to me everywhere, I guess I'm a lucky girl in New York and thank you for that!!
- somehow this time I always end up around West Village, Greenwich, NYU area — the younger area
- I watched Sleep No More | An Immersive Award-winning Theatrical Experience in NYC for the 2nd time. The 1st time was in 2019 — after watching it, I was so excited and went on telling the stuff that I was from China and this was my very first time being in New York, they gave me a lot of merchandises for free!! Again, thank you New York!!
- I stayed in a hotel in Hell's Kitchen, and my room had a bath tub (which is rare in New York)!!
- I went to see a 2 million USD apartment owned by a middle school classmate (good reunion).
- New York got unseasonably warm during my stay that people had to wear short sleeves, and rained heavily the day I left. I took away the sunshine. It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me.
New York is as overwhelming and triggering as it can be — in a good way. It makes me think.
Thank you for being so nice to me and making me feel lucky, New York ❤️. Until next time!!
Nov 2, 2023
Abby at Vancouver, Canada