So I know I'm up and down, but I have to say - I love this city. Yes, it is impersonal, and yes everything is crazy and it is excessive with stimuli. But really - it's awesome too. People really know how to deal with people - they aren't rude, they just have to deal with tons of people being packing in a tiny island. And yes they are always rushed, in a hurry - slightly frenzied, so they get a bit mad when you get in their way. But otherwise, they are pretty considerate :-).
But the real reason I love this city is that I can come home by subway at 10:15 pm - travel 6 miles for $2 pretty quickly while reading my Harry Potter book (I saw several subwayers reading it when it came out!) and there are people all over - tons of people walking the streets, on the subway. 10pm is hardly anything here - not late! Love that anything is possible - that you can have any schedule you want. That my new neighborhood ROCKS! So yes, my street is the home of the gay and transvestite crew, but my neighborhood rocks! West Village - oh yeah. I walked up Hudson tonight with my new keys in hand and passed 15 restaurants and bars in like 1 minute - of all different kinds. You can just head out your front door and be minutes from anything - a post office, wonderful bakeries (I'm close to Magnolia Cafe and it's cupcakes - deadly!), a grocery store, a laundromat, tons of good restaurants. So exciting! Love it. Love that this city is awake late like me. It has so much to offer - and it's fun to just have everything. Sure it's given to its excesses, but it's exciting :-).
I've been having fun this week. Besides working hard and cleaning and packing hard every night this week (my apartment looks amazing - feels good to get that done altho tiring), I went out with friends twice. Love friends! Went out with Sharon from my building - she was an intern this summer, but now she is back at Princeton. We finally got to go to sushi together! It was so fun - we talked about boys. Mostly she talked - she's been going on a lot of dates lately, and wants to know why the guy who she has fabulous dates with never actually calls! She's fun. And the sushi was yummy of course. I was just excited to have a "girl's night" so to speak. Neat to connect again - will try to keep up with her, though I am moving!
Tonight went out with Mohammed down by his school again. I love how we can choose a different restaurant every Thursday night within a small radius from his school - so much to choose from. Today we went to a Malaysian/French Cafe - bizarre, but so tasty! I got this Homemade Acar - mixed pickle with tons of veggies. Yum :-). Had to. Then a wonderful chicken curry - Rendang Chicken. So curry spicy and yummy! Love food here. And had a nice chat with Mohammed - I decided I need to stop having an agenda. I'm so exhausted because I am too planny - have too many expectations. I need to mellow out and go with the flow - it'd be so less fretful. I really want to just enjoy life and not worry about the future so much. It's my new "plan" - like the if you decide you are in a good mood, then you have a good day! Good to have a good outlook. Try not to focus on the negatives of being in research for example :-).
Anyway - fun times. And Mom's here tomorrow - can't wait! Happy weekend.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
For the future
This is sort of a reminder to myself - in the future, when I have time (ha!), I really want to go back to both tennis and piano. I miss them and I think they are awesome, timeless (ageless) activities. :-). That is all.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Oh the Places I Go
Can anyone get the reference of the title?
So I'm sorry my last post was negative. It doesn't mean everything is horrible, or I'm super depressed. I was just having a bad day. And this is my outlet. But things are cyclic and they go up and down and I'm fine.
First happy thing - I found a GOOD place to live. I was feeling really stressed about the loft place. Felt like they were very demanding and almost extorting money from me. And they kept calling and asking what was up with the money (they needed a bank check for all 3 months - their time frame not mine - plus 1 month deposit all UP FRONT!). I respect that NY is different than other places, and people can't be trusted - especially these people seem to be used to artists. But I already felt like it was a lot of money for a cubicle living space in a loft. And I felt hassled by them. And if I choose the place because the people seemed cool - well, they didn't seem cool anymore. So I found a different place that I really like! It's in the West Village - really close to my carpool guy (he's happy about that). Cute little place above a Chinese restaurant. It's a 1 bedroom and I'll be sharing it with Paulette, but I get the bedroom. She works from home as a notary public for loans. And she has a really cute bird - Birdette! I lovebird. I love birds - I hope I can play with this one - she seems friendly :-). The place is cute - decorated with Betty Boop. And I actually get the top bunk of a bunk bed! Well, the bottom is actually a futon that she keeps as a couch instead of a bed. But that's cool! So I'm really excited about my new place and new area - I move in a week! I'm a little worried about packing everything up, but this lady seems like such a better deal than the last people - and trustworthy - she printed up an agreement we both signed. So yeah - there are still good people - I just need to find them :-). So yay - a place to move into. Unfortunately it's only available until mid November - will figure that out later.
So that was good news. Then Thursday had a good day at work, and went out to dinner with softball guy again. It was a nice time - we had some good conversation. We found a really cute place that had good beer! I almost got my favorite - Douchess (tastes like sour cherries - you have to like it :-)), but it was only available in a huge bottle. So I got a tasty Delirium Tremens. We shared some calamari for an appetizer, and surprise of surprises - I got NY Strip Steak! With some creamy tarragon sauce that the waiter recommended. It was actually pretty tasty, but I couldn't finish it. And it was sorta pink in the middle - too pink for me. And too thick for me. But something different :-). Cute place. Fun times. I definitely appreciate having a friend in the city - I miss people who know me.
Friday was fun - I worked from home. Slept in a bit, went to my favorite farmer's market right outside for the last time - sniff! Got some goodies. Then went biking in central park - my 10 miles. Was nice! Challenging hills, nice day. Green :-). Happy. Worked all afternoon, then got ready for my adventure - to the OPERA!! So I got a discount ticket in the New York Opera in their Opera For All program - for every performance, they have a limited number of orchestra tickets for only $25. Was so happy to go - I dressed up and went down to Lincoln Center. Beautiful night - we got back up to 80 lately. And I saw La Boheme! I was pleasantly surprised - my ticket ended up being front row center! I couldn't believe my seat - didn't think I totally deserved it! But I could look over the wall at the orchestra - wow. It was a great story - what Rent was based on and that's why I wanted to see it. Of course Rent modernized it, but it was the same story! Very poignant, nicely sung. I had fun - even by myself :-). Then, even with my slightly painful heels, I walked down to a place where my carpool guy (Ramon) recommended the Mexican tacos. Said they were the best he's had oustide of Mexico - they were sold in the back of this tiny Mexican grocery store! I got 1 of spicy pork, and 2 little others of something liek mushrooms and corn (but spice-ized) - all recommended by Ramon. They were tasty - I liked the corn-type filling the best. Felt adventurous! And of course had Jarrito beverage :-).
Then it was Saturday! Tried to sleep in, but don't know if it's my mind, or the sun, but I wake up anyway. Not terribly early, though - 9:30. So got up and biked down to the Hans Christian Anderson statue in Central Park to catch the fairytelling hour! They were telling "The Ugly Duckling" which is a good story. I just love stories. I sat there in this beautiful setting and listened while enjoying my zucchini muffin. A guy told one story first about 2 princesses - a beautiful charming dainty one, and her twin - an ugly haggard, rough-around-the-edges one who liked to ride a wild goat and carry a wooden spoon and dress in rags. He said it was sort of an Ugly Duckling story too, and I really enjoyed it. So had a fun storytelling hour, then thought about sitting in the park and reading, but it started raining! So perfect time to do what else I wanted to do - go to the Natural History Museum! For free with my IBM badge - love these free things :-). And it was magnificent - so huge. Naveen would've loved it. There were exhibits about the Big Bang and stars and planets, and how the Earth was formed, then there were exhibits about all the people and animals on this planet - mammals from each continent, birds, artifacts from ancient people of each continent, ocean animals, oh yeah - and minerals, and how humans became humans from chimps and neanderthals, and then last but not least, dinosaurs :-). Magnificent museum. Too much to see really, and as always with museums - I appreciate it, but am exhausted after an hour or 2 and can't take in more. But it was fun. So I headed home to drop off my bike, then decided to heat to Brooklyn to try the Red Hook Latin American food stands that I heard were fabulous! Yes, I know - I love to do everything. So I subwayed over, and tried El Salvadorian pupusas - corn dough wrapped around your ingredients (I got cheese and jalapeno because it was recommended by NY Times) and fried which were awesome. Then Mexican huaraches - sort of like a big tortilla (which has beans built into it) then I got chorizo as a filling and cheese, though traditionally they don't have cheese), then toppings - lettuce, tomato, salsa. Yum - awesome! So happy :-). And I go the Horchata drink - sort of cinnamony white drink that's Mexican. And got a bag of mango for dessert - and of course they put some lemon-lime and chilli powder in the bag which made it taste very nice! Loved my experience - adventures, right? :-). So awesome food - too much of it. I stopped to watch the soccer for a bit, and an interesting guy came up and talked to me for awhile. A 30 year old born in El Salvador, living in Queens since he was 12. Had a dark beard, tattoes all over his arms, and a chin piercing. But he was nice :-). Random conversation - talking to real people is nice, even if they don't know you. Then we parted and I took the subway home. I laid on the couch watching movies on TV the rest of the night - too tired for anythign else. I could've joined a friend Rishi, but they headed to Brooklyn for drinks at like midnight, and I couldn't make myself go out that late.
Sunday! I woke up after my usual 8 hours, but I forced myself to go back to sleep so I could catch up a bit. And it worked! Felt good when I woke up at 11 :-). Did stuff around the house until I roused myself to leave into the beautiful day! Rode my bike down Riverside Park until I reached the dock. I had grabbed a bagel on the way to eat - yum :-). So I ate that while enjoying the sun sitting on the lawn. Then I found the free kayaking! Got a lift vest, and jumped in the kayak. Went by myself, as I did the rest of the weekend, but as I said it was a beautiful day and it was nice to be on the water and enjoying the views. They really didn't give me instructions after I said I'd been once before. And I took off! Did 4 laps in their little area until my arms got tired, then went back in, but it was nice to just be out on the water, enjoy the summer, and exercise my arms. But my butt was sitting in water the whole time! So had wet butt the rest of the afternoon :-). Then went back to my bike, and rode down to Columbus Circle. Had a fun ice cream :-). Then road to the exact opposite of the park - 106 and 5th Ave! Beautiful day to be out :-). Went to see the Harlem Meer Performance - free again. 4-6 there was a Jazz band playing. The leader was a bass player - Bobby Cunningham I think. He played wonderfully. Then had a piano player and drummer. For some songs they pulled in a lady to sing which was my favorite. Again - beautiful day, sitting in the park next to a beautiful lake with willows dipping down into the water. I felt totally relaxed just hanging out and listening to jazz. Very relaxing stuff. Happy times. And the people there are really nice - friendly folk. Talked to a retired Lit professor for part of intermission. He was super nice - said academia was the way to go - he just got back from an 9 month trip in SE Asia that he said cost him $6500 total! Holy cow - that's the life I want! Love these random conversations with nice people :-). So very relaxing and I let my mind wander over my life.
So I felt very good about taking advantage of being in NY in the last vestages of summer, and doing my last few experiences in the upper west side - really taking advantage of my parks! I feel good about all I've experienced here in New York - there is so much to do here. Adventures make me happy! But I do miss people, miss the shared experience a bit. But I will definitely enjoy that when I get back to Austin! And next weekend when my Mom is visiting - yay! So life is good - I'm enjoying a relaxing night at home tonight - making lamb stew with lamb I got from my farmer's market. Hope it turns out ok :-). Have a good week to all!
So I'm sorry my last post was negative. It doesn't mean everything is horrible, or I'm super depressed. I was just having a bad day. And this is my outlet. But things are cyclic and they go up and down and I'm fine.
First happy thing - I found a GOOD place to live. I was feeling really stressed about the loft place. Felt like they were very demanding and almost extorting money from me. And they kept calling and asking what was up with the money (they needed a bank check for all 3 months - their time frame not mine - plus 1 month deposit all UP FRONT!). I respect that NY is different than other places, and people can't be trusted - especially these people seem to be used to artists. But I already felt like it was a lot of money for a cubicle living space in a loft. And I felt hassled by them. And if I choose the place because the people seemed cool - well, they didn't seem cool anymore. So I found a different place that I really like! It's in the West Village - really close to my carpool guy (he's happy about that). Cute little place above a Chinese restaurant. It's a 1 bedroom and I'll be sharing it with Paulette, but I get the bedroom. She works from home as a notary public for loans. And she has a really cute bird - Birdette! I lovebird. I love birds - I hope I can play with this one - she seems friendly :-). The place is cute - decorated with Betty Boop. And I actually get the top bunk of a bunk bed! Well, the bottom is actually a futon that she keeps as a couch instead of a bed. But that's cool! So I'm really excited about my new place and new area - I move in a week! I'm a little worried about packing everything up, but this lady seems like such a better deal than the last people - and trustworthy - she printed up an agreement we both signed. So yeah - there are still good people - I just need to find them :-). So yay - a place to move into. Unfortunately it's only available until mid November - will figure that out later.
So that was good news. Then Thursday had a good day at work, and went out to dinner with softball guy again. It was a nice time - we had some good conversation. We found a really cute place that had good beer! I almost got my favorite - Douchess (tastes like sour cherries - you have to like it :-)), but it was only available in a huge bottle. So I got a tasty Delirium Tremens. We shared some calamari for an appetizer, and surprise of surprises - I got NY Strip Steak! With some creamy tarragon sauce that the waiter recommended. It was actually pretty tasty, but I couldn't finish it. And it was sorta pink in the middle - too pink for me. And too thick for me. But something different :-). Cute place. Fun times. I definitely appreciate having a friend in the city - I miss people who know me.
Friday was fun - I worked from home. Slept in a bit, went to my favorite farmer's market right outside for the last time - sniff! Got some goodies. Then went biking in central park - my 10 miles. Was nice! Challenging hills, nice day. Green :-). Happy. Worked all afternoon, then got ready for my adventure - to the OPERA!! So I got a discount ticket in the New York Opera in their Opera For All program - for every performance, they have a limited number of orchestra tickets for only $25. Was so happy to go - I dressed up and went down to Lincoln Center. Beautiful night - we got back up to 80 lately. And I saw La Boheme! I was pleasantly surprised - my ticket ended up being front row center! I couldn't believe my seat - didn't think I totally deserved it! But I could look over the wall at the orchestra - wow. It was a great story - what Rent was based on and that's why I wanted to see it. Of course Rent modernized it, but it was the same story! Very poignant, nicely sung. I had fun - even by myself :-). Then, even with my slightly painful heels, I walked down to a place where my carpool guy (Ramon) recommended the Mexican tacos. Said they were the best he's had oustide of Mexico - they were sold in the back of this tiny Mexican grocery store! I got 1 of spicy pork, and 2 little others of something liek mushrooms and corn (but spice-ized) - all recommended by Ramon. They were tasty - I liked the corn-type filling the best. Felt adventurous! And of course had Jarrito beverage :-).
Then it was Saturday! Tried to sleep in, but don't know if it's my mind, or the sun, but I wake up anyway. Not terribly early, though - 9:30. So got up and biked down to the Hans Christian Anderson statue in Central Park to catch the fairytelling hour! They were telling "The Ugly Duckling" which is a good story. I just love stories. I sat there in this beautiful setting and listened while enjoying my zucchini muffin. A guy told one story first about 2 princesses - a beautiful charming dainty one, and her twin - an ugly haggard, rough-around-the-edges one who liked to ride a wild goat and carry a wooden spoon and dress in rags. He said it was sort of an Ugly Duckling story too, and I really enjoyed it. So had a fun storytelling hour, then thought about sitting in the park and reading, but it started raining! So perfect time to do what else I wanted to do - go to the Natural History Museum! For free with my IBM badge - love these free things :-). And it was magnificent - so huge. Naveen would've loved it. There were exhibits about the Big Bang and stars and planets, and how the Earth was formed, then there were exhibits about all the people and animals on this planet - mammals from each continent, birds, artifacts from ancient people of each continent, ocean animals, oh yeah - and minerals, and how humans became humans from chimps and neanderthals, and then last but not least, dinosaurs :-). Magnificent museum. Too much to see really, and as always with museums - I appreciate it, but am exhausted after an hour or 2 and can't take in more. But it was fun. So I headed home to drop off my bike, then decided to heat to Brooklyn to try the Red Hook Latin American food stands that I heard were fabulous! Yes, I know - I love to do everything. So I subwayed over, and tried El Salvadorian pupusas - corn dough wrapped around your ingredients (I got cheese and jalapeno because it was recommended by NY Times) and fried which were awesome. Then Mexican huaraches - sort of like a big tortilla (which has beans built into it) then I got chorizo as a filling and cheese, though traditionally they don't have cheese), then toppings - lettuce, tomato, salsa. Yum - awesome! So happy :-). And I go the Horchata drink - sort of cinnamony white drink that's Mexican. And got a bag of mango for dessert - and of course they put some lemon-lime and chilli powder in the bag which made it taste very nice! Loved my experience - adventures, right? :-). So awesome food - too much of it. I stopped to watch the soccer for a bit, and an interesting guy came up and talked to me for awhile. A 30 year old born in El Salvador, living in Queens since he was 12. Had a dark beard, tattoes all over his arms, and a chin piercing. But he was nice :-). Random conversation - talking to real people is nice, even if they don't know you. Then we parted and I took the subway home. I laid on the couch watching movies on TV the rest of the night - too tired for anythign else. I could've joined a friend Rishi, but they headed to Brooklyn for drinks at like midnight, and I couldn't make myself go out that late.
Sunday! I woke up after my usual 8 hours, but I forced myself to go back to sleep so I could catch up a bit. And it worked! Felt good when I woke up at 11 :-). Did stuff around the house until I roused myself to leave into the beautiful day! Rode my bike down Riverside Park until I reached the dock. I had grabbed a bagel on the way to eat - yum :-). So I ate that while enjoying the sun sitting on the lawn. Then I found the free kayaking! Got a lift vest, and jumped in the kayak. Went by myself, as I did the rest of the weekend, but as I said it was a beautiful day and it was nice to be on the water and enjoying the views. They really didn't give me instructions after I said I'd been once before. And I took off! Did 4 laps in their little area until my arms got tired, then went back in, but it was nice to just be out on the water, enjoy the summer, and exercise my arms. But my butt was sitting in water the whole time! So had wet butt the rest of the afternoon :-). Then went back to my bike, and rode down to Columbus Circle. Had a fun ice cream :-). Then road to the exact opposite of the park - 106 and 5th Ave! Beautiful day to be out :-). Went to see the Harlem Meer Performance - free again. 4-6 there was a Jazz band playing. The leader was a bass player - Bobby Cunningham I think. He played wonderfully. Then had a piano player and drummer. For some songs they pulled in a lady to sing which was my favorite. Again - beautiful day, sitting in the park next to a beautiful lake with willows dipping down into the water. I felt totally relaxed just hanging out and listening to jazz. Very relaxing stuff. Happy times. And the people there are really nice - friendly folk. Talked to a retired Lit professor for part of intermission. He was super nice - said academia was the way to go - he just got back from an 9 month trip in SE Asia that he said cost him $6500 total! Holy cow - that's the life I want! Love these random conversations with nice people :-). So very relaxing and I let my mind wander over my life.
So I felt very good about taking advantage of being in NY in the last vestages of summer, and doing my last few experiences in the upper west side - really taking advantage of my parks! I feel good about all I've experienced here in New York - there is so much to do here. Adventures make me happy! But I do miss people, miss the shared experience a bit. But I will definitely enjoy that when I get back to Austin! And next weekend when my Mom is visiting - yay! So life is good - I'm enjoying a relaxing night at home tonight - making lamb stew with lamb I got from my farmer's market. Hope it turns out ok :-). Have a good week to all!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Defeated
I'm sorry, but I just need to complain for a minute. I feel beaten down, defeated. Maybe by this place. I'm just exhausted by everything right now - the difficulty of finding a place to live here, the fact that everything revolves around money, the fact that I have lost faith in my chosen field (Computer Science), the fact that I don't have close people around me. I'm tried of fighting everything - tired of searching, tired of chores, tired of not relaxing, tiring of going ALL THE TIME. I need a break - please let me crawl into a hole and not be bothered for awhile. I don't want to think about work, or about subletting my Austin apartment again, or about getting my stupid perscriptions from Austin in the future, or laundry, or money, or fitting in everything I want to do in New York (there's more in this list, but I won't go on). I think part of this is definitely pressure on myself - and I am tired. I need a break from being me for a bit...
P.S. Yeah it doesn't help that I can't extend my left arm all the way. I worked biceps on Monday for the first time in awhile and biked yesterday and I think it just kinked the ligaments in my elbow :-(.
P.S. Yeah it doesn't help that I can't extend my left arm all the way. I worked biceps on Monday for the first time in awhile and biked yesterday and I think it just kinked the ligaments in my elbow :-(.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Life: Lucky, Lovely, and Lost
[UPDATED!] Hi all. I very much want to blog, but it's just been crazy lately and I'm not going to be able to finish the post right now. But I'll start and check back later for more.
So, so much has happened! I was very stressed last week, and I'm still stressed - mostly for finding a place to live here the rest of the fall! It's a tortuous process. But sometimes it's fun to visit different apartments up here and see the possibilities. But boy do things go fast and people are flakes! Ugh. Anyway.
Thursday last week was fun - got a ride in with Mohammed (softball guy). We decided to grab dinner downtown (ish) when we drove back to the city at the end of the day. We walked through SoHo to find a random place to eat - found a cute French place! Ate a fabulous goat cheese salad (wish there was more salad). And the sea bass with mushroom risoto was so tasty too! I think I was craving rich food. And had fun going through the conversation about life crisis with Mohammed - the "I'm almost done with school, I don't really know what I want to do or what makes me happy, and I have no clue where I'll be in a year" thing. I've been doing that a lot lately. But it's interesting - it's definitely where I'm at too. Scary and exciting. So good night. Feel bad about Mohammed being so nice to me - taking me to events, paying for things, driving me back home though he is going away from where he lives. But it's nice too.
So then Thursday night I got ready to go to Boston Friday and visit Emina! Was so excited :-). I was slightly anxious about traveling - odd to think I hadn't traveled at all for almost 3 months - unheard of for me, right? So had to pack a bag and all that. Had a nice chat with Naveen before I left too. Boy is he making a lot of effort to change. But still.
So Friday I got up early enough to go for a beautiful (nice temperature too - dropped lower this weekend) run around the reservoir in Central Park. It was a challenge but fun. Love the views. Then stopped at the beautiful Farmers Market outside my door on the way back. Love fresh vegies! Makes me happy :-). Then got ready and took off for my Boston weekend adventure! I took the Chinatown bus - it's awesome. And hey, I'm still a student. $15 for the 4 hour bus ride to Boston, and it goes from Chinatown to Chinatown :-). Still pretty comfy, and same amount of time as the train, but $80 less! I was impressed. I basically read the whole way - papers for work, and dozed a bit :-). That's what I miss about traveling - the naps while on the plane! So I made it successfully to Boston and just took the subway to MIT where I met Emina and Aled!
[Adventures in Cambridge and Boston here. Also NYC and Boston comparisons.]
So I made it to MIT. Met Emina and saw her very weird clown Computer Science building. It really is a circus with crazy colors, angles. We met some of her groupmates, then headed off to dinner at Legal Seafood with Aled. He was nice enough to pay for our dinner! I got (the authentic) clam chowder there, plus a combo crab cake platter - with shrimp and scallops too which was so good. It's so nice to talk to Emina and Aled, too - they are cute. They are in love and engaged, and Aled is so good to her (she's pretty demanding :-)). Plus I can bond with them over where we are in our lives. Had more of the "life crisis" chats of course. Emina is wonderful to me too :-). Good friend. So after dinner we went back to their "flat" and they rolled out a futon mattress for me in the living room. Their place was very cute! And they welcomed me fondly :-). Nice to have people who are that good to you.
Next morning we woke up leisurely. Over coffee and biscotti (love their life style!) while still in pjs (Aled had left for rugby), Emina and I chatted for hours about boys, and life. She's very encouraging. Then we finally showered, and headed out to Harvard area to grab a nice Middle Eastern lunch - a hummus plate with chicken and red and green peppers, and zucchini. We shared and got some good tea too. Then we walked around Harvard square. So I have to pause here and say (maybe because we were mostly in Cambridge) - Boston is full of young, intelligent people! And it's way cleaner than NYC - especially the subways. It was a brisk weekend (it's getting to be fall - NOOOO!), but it was nice to walk around and feel people like me around. And cute shops and bookstores, etc. Love the big college town feel! I can see why so many people love that city. So Emina talked me into buying fabulous boots at The Tannery. I won't say how much they were - but they are beautiful and will be a good staple in my wardrobe. I like it how Emina teaches me fashion - I would love to take her shopping with me all the time! Altho it can be costly :-). Then she knows I like earrings, so we went into a fun shop with tons of earrings. Got a beautiful pair of dangly, slightly fancy turquoise earrings made of the apatite stone. Very fun. Then of course we grabbed ice cream at the fabulous Herrell's. Funny I had been there before on my last trip. Actually a lot of the place looked familiar - I like the smaller town feel. So we came home to drop off shopping and met Aled back from rugby. Altho we were going to head into town for more shopping, we got caught up relaxing at home and watching some recorded UK World Cup rugby matches instead :-). And of course snacking on some lovely snacks from Whole Foods - rosemary flatbread, wasabi peas, and wonderful little mapley thin waffles. We finally roused ourselves to go out to dinner - we walked Newbury Street which is famous there for all the designer shops. It was fun to walk around - I tried out my new boots. But we did a lot of walking that day.... Boston restaurants are crowded on a Sat night, but we ended up at a pretty tasty Indian restaurant. I got a lamb curry - reminded me of Naveen of course. But the food roused me - for some reason I was really hungry and tired before meals this weekend (low blood sugar from all the walking), but food always perked me right up!
So Sunday was another nice lazy day. I swear they slept around 11 or 12 hours! But that was alright with me, although I don't know if it was being in a different place - I wasn't able to sleep in much. And of course I went to bed a bit later than them because I like late nights. But anyway - had our traditional lazy morning - with coffee. Didn't get out of the house until after noon, but they took me to a neat Bosnian restaurant for lunch! Was happy to eat food from Emina's homeland. Altho to hear her talk about it is chilling... Just don't introduce her to any Serbians - yikes. Anyway - I got the traditional Burek - a flaky bun like thing stuffed with beef. It was good, but I almost liked Emina's cheese one better. She said her Grandma made a spinach one that was awesome - would've been my favorite! Aled was still hungry, so we got 2 desserts (the portions were small). Traditional crepes filled with chocolate ganache and hazelnuts - yum. And an apple, pear, and something else strudel with some vanilla gelato and caramel on top. So tasty! Love the finer things in life - living with your taste buds! Sad to say we left (cute waiter), and went to actual Boston - around the Commons and walked around Fannuel Hall and Government Center and the Harbor. It was a nice day, and really fun to just hang out and walk. Finally took some pictures that day - not much to take pictures of while just hanging out and shopping :-). But that's what it was about - just hanging out. No expectations, no agenda. Good time with good friends. And I needed it. And I thoroughly loved it. Although loving this city that I didn't even live in and Emina telling me I should move there didn't help. Felt slightly lonely as I stayed with lovebirds. And as I feel lost...
I had a wonderful (lovely) weekend with them. It is nice to have good friends who are also awesome people. :-). But I have to saw during the weekend I felt a bit lost - drifting. Not sure where I belong or am supposed to be. I fit everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Maybe that's an artifact of going on a mini-vacation from my temporary living situation in NYC, but it's weird. An in general, the nomadic existence makes this problem hard anyway. But in general I consider home to be where the people very closest to me are; so that in itself changes. Home is people, not a place. But when in a city 2 levels of indirection from home (Austin->NYC->Boston), visiting friends I love but have only known for 3 months, I felt like I lost my sense of balance. And the people I am close to are now fewer, and they are spread out. Where am I and where do I fit? What will become of me - especially after grad school? I'm lost. I know I'll find my way, but it's weird. In some sense I was very happy to come home - to recognize NY neighborhoods and subway lines, and climb back into my familiar bed in the Upper West Side. But it was a sad, slightly lonely coming home, too. This is not my HOME either - it's just temporary.
I'll have to explain "lucky" later - it has to do with a phone call to my current landlady, but now I have to go work out and get ready to visit 5 different potential places to live tonight! Check back later for details!
Ok to so finish up the post (I know I write a lot): Really quickly while at Emina's I called my current landlady, even though I didn't want to. I needed to give her notice which I really didn't want to do because I'm leaving 2 weeks early from this place - of course because of Naveen. And I was terrified, but when I told her, she paused, and said "You know, if it was anyone but you, I'd protest and say you had to pay anyway. But it's ok.". Which, besides showing me that I am very lucky, renews my faith in people. It really is true that people are awesome - and if you look them in the eye, and smile at them, and generally have good will and friendliness, they respond to it! And they recognize good people too. So I am a good person, and I'm glad this worked out! I feel like maybe some people - even people on the street - can see the beautiful happy me shining out from within. When I let her shine that is ;-). And then the world is a closer place somehow.
So quick update from all my STRESS about finding a place to live. Maybe I can tell you later about all my visits to apartments (and those that flaked on me), and the various levels of crazy and sane and situations. It's exhausting - let me just tell you that. But I finally found a place! Just today - and I had to leave work midday to come into the city to do it. Sheesh. But I made it and I'm just glad it's over with! I really do need a weekend to do nothing - I just feel like I haven't had a moment's peace in a very long time. So tired. But anyway - found a place - right in Union Square basically which is a perfect location. Close to Whole Foods! Now let me just tell you that in general NYC is so frustrating, and it's a seller's market and places go in about an hour after they become available. So the place I got - I'm excited about it, but I'm paying too much for the space I actually get. You know - limited space, limited privacy for anything affordable in NY. But I'm excited. It's all tradeoffs, and hopefully I made a good one. I'll be living with 3 other people in a loft - a lady photographer, a male musician/filmmaker (who was "discovered" by Norah Jones while Karaoke-ing), and a French lady who works in finance who I haven't met. Part of the reason I agreed to pay what I did (don't ask - it was in my price range) was for the fun roommates - I can totally see myself hanging out with these guys. And the wonderful location - I can walk to where my carpool takes off from too. So happy day! And hopefully I can not be stressed now :-). Yeah - hehe.
One other quick tidbit - I finished Harry Potter 6 and today bought the final book! I'm scared and part of me doesn't want to finish the series because then there won't be more to read! But I have to - I'll let you know how it goes :-). And btw, I went on a fabulous 10-11 mile bikeride down the Hudson today - very nice, but it's getting colder, and darker earlier.
So tomorrow is a new day - hope it's well for you all.
So, so much has happened! I was very stressed last week, and I'm still stressed - mostly for finding a place to live here the rest of the fall! It's a tortuous process. But sometimes it's fun to visit different apartments up here and see the possibilities. But boy do things go fast and people are flakes! Ugh. Anyway.
Thursday last week was fun - got a ride in with Mohammed (softball guy). We decided to grab dinner downtown (ish) when we drove back to the city at the end of the day. We walked through SoHo to find a random place to eat - found a cute French place! Ate a fabulous goat cheese salad (wish there was more salad). And the sea bass with mushroom risoto was so tasty too! I think I was craving rich food. And had fun going through the conversation about life crisis with Mohammed - the "I'm almost done with school, I don't really know what I want to do or what makes me happy, and I have no clue where I'll be in a year" thing. I've been doing that a lot lately. But it's interesting - it's definitely where I'm at too. Scary and exciting. So good night. Feel bad about Mohammed being so nice to me - taking me to events, paying for things, driving me back home though he is going away from where he lives. But it's nice too.
So then Thursday night I got ready to go to Boston Friday and visit Emina! Was so excited :-). I was slightly anxious about traveling - odd to think I hadn't traveled at all for almost 3 months - unheard of for me, right? So had to pack a bag and all that. Had a nice chat with Naveen before I left too. Boy is he making a lot of effort to change. But still.
So Friday I got up early enough to go for a beautiful (nice temperature too - dropped lower this weekend) run around the reservoir in Central Park. It was a challenge but fun. Love the views. Then stopped at the beautiful Farmers Market outside my door on the way back. Love fresh vegies! Makes me happy :-). Then got ready and took off for my Boston weekend adventure! I took the Chinatown bus - it's awesome. And hey, I'm still a student. $15 for the 4 hour bus ride to Boston, and it goes from Chinatown to Chinatown :-). Still pretty comfy, and same amount of time as the train, but $80 less! I was impressed. I basically read the whole way - papers for work, and dozed a bit :-). That's what I miss about traveling - the naps while on the plane! So I made it successfully to Boston and just took the subway to MIT where I met Emina and Aled!
[Adventures in Cambridge and Boston here. Also NYC and Boston comparisons.]
So I made it to MIT. Met Emina and saw her very weird clown Computer Science building. It really is a circus with crazy colors, angles. We met some of her groupmates, then headed off to dinner at Legal Seafood with Aled. He was nice enough to pay for our dinner! I got (the authentic) clam chowder there, plus a combo crab cake platter - with shrimp and scallops too which was so good. It's so nice to talk to Emina and Aled, too - they are cute. They are in love and engaged, and Aled is so good to her (she's pretty demanding :-)). Plus I can bond with them over where we are in our lives. Had more of the "life crisis" chats of course. Emina is wonderful to me too :-). Good friend. So after dinner we went back to their "flat" and they rolled out a futon mattress for me in the living room. Their place was very cute! And they welcomed me fondly :-). Nice to have people who are that good to you.
Next morning we woke up leisurely. Over coffee and biscotti (love their life style!) while still in pjs (Aled had left for rugby), Emina and I chatted for hours about boys, and life. She's very encouraging. Then we finally showered, and headed out to Harvard area to grab a nice Middle Eastern lunch - a hummus plate with chicken and red and green peppers, and zucchini. We shared and got some good tea too. Then we walked around Harvard square. So I have to pause here and say (maybe because we were mostly in Cambridge) - Boston is full of young, intelligent people! And it's way cleaner than NYC - especially the subways. It was a brisk weekend (it's getting to be fall - NOOOO!), but it was nice to walk around and feel people like me around. And cute shops and bookstores, etc. Love the big college town feel! I can see why so many people love that city. So Emina talked me into buying fabulous boots at The Tannery. I won't say how much they were - but they are beautiful and will be a good staple in my wardrobe. I like it how Emina teaches me fashion - I would love to take her shopping with me all the time! Altho it can be costly :-). Then she knows I like earrings, so we went into a fun shop with tons of earrings. Got a beautiful pair of dangly, slightly fancy turquoise earrings made of the apatite stone. Very fun. Then of course we grabbed ice cream at the fabulous Herrell's. Funny I had been there before on my last trip. Actually a lot of the place looked familiar - I like the smaller town feel. So we came home to drop off shopping and met Aled back from rugby. Altho we were going to head into town for more shopping, we got caught up relaxing at home and watching some recorded UK World Cup rugby matches instead :-). And of course snacking on some lovely snacks from Whole Foods - rosemary flatbread, wasabi peas, and wonderful little mapley thin waffles. We finally roused ourselves to go out to dinner - we walked Newbury Street which is famous there for all the designer shops. It was fun to walk around - I tried out my new boots. But we did a lot of walking that day.... Boston restaurants are crowded on a Sat night, but we ended up at a pretty tasty Indian restaurant. I got a lamb curry - reminded me of Naveen of course. But the food roused me - for some reason I was really hungry and tired before meals this weekend (low blood sugar from all the walking), but food always perked me right up!
So Sunday was another nice lazy day. I swear they slept around 11 or 12 hours! But that was alright with me, although I don't know if it was being in a different place - I wasn't able to sleep in much. And of course I went to bed a bit later than them because I like late nights. But anyway - had our traditional lazy morning - with coffee. Didn't get out of the house until after noon, but they took me to a neat Bosnian restaurant for lunch! Was happy to eat food from Emina's homeland. Altho to hear her talk about it is chilling... Just don't introduce her to any Serbians - yikes. Anyway - I got the traditional Burek - a flaky bun like thing stuffed with beef. It was good, but I almost liked Emina's cheese one better. She said her Grandma made a spinach one that was awesome - would've been my favorite! Aled was still hungry, so we got 2 desserts (the portions were small). Traditional crepes filled with chocolate ganache and hazelnuts - yum. And an apple, pear, and something else strudel with some vanilla gelato and caramel on top. So tasty! Love the finer things in life - living with your taste buds! Sad to say we left (cute waiter), and went to actual Boston - around the Commons and walked around Fannuel Hall and Government Center and the Harbor. It was a nice day, and really fun to just hang out and walk. Finally took some pictures that day - not much to take pictures of while just hanging out and shopping :-). But that's what it was about - just hanging out. No expectations, no agenda. Good time with good friends. And I needed it. And I thoroughly loved it. Although loving this city that I didn't even live in and Emina telling me I should move there didn't help. Felt slightly lonely as I stayed with lovebirds. And as I feel lost...
I had a wonderful (lovely) weekend with them. It is nice to have good friends who are also awesome people. :-). But I have to saw during the weekend I felt a bit lost - drifting. Not sure where I belong or am supposed to be. I fit everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Maybe that's an artifact of going on a mini-vacation from my temporary living situation in NYC, but it's weird. An in general, the nomadic existence makes this problem hard anyway. But in general I consider home to be where the people very closest to me are; so that in itself changes. Home is people, not a place. But when in a city 2 levels of indirection from home (Austin->NYC->Boston), visiting friends I love but have only known for 3 months, I felt like I lost my sense of balance. And the people I am close to are now fewer, and they are spread out. Where am I and where do I fit? What will become of me - especially after grad school? I'm lost. I know I'll find my way, but it's weird. In some sense I was very happy to come home - to recognize NY neighborhoods and subway lines, and climb back into my familiar bed in the Upper West Side. But it was a sad, slightly lonely coming home, too. This is not my HOME either - it's just temporary.
I'll have to explain "lucky" later - it has to do with a phone call to my current landlady, but now I have to go work out and get ready to visit 5 different potential places to live tonight! Check back later for details!
Ok to so finish up the post (I know I write a lot): Really quickly while at Emina's I called my current landlady, even though I didn't want to. I needed to give her notice which I really didn't want to do because I'm leaving 2 weeks early from this place - of course because of Naveen. And I was terrified, but when I told her, she paused, and said "You know, if it was anyone but you, I'd protest and say you had to pay anyway. But it's ok.". Which, besides showing me that I am very lucky, renews my faith in people. It really is true that people are awesome - and if you look them in the eye, and smile at them, and generally have good will and friendliness, they respond to it! And they recognize good people too. So I am a good person, and I'm glad this worked out! I feel like maybe some people - even people on the street - can see the beautiful happy me shining out from within. When I let her shine that is ;-). And then the world is a closer place somehow.
So quick update from all my STRESS about finding a place to live. Maybe I can tell you later about all my visits to apartments (and those that flaked on me), and the various levels of crazy and sane and situations. It's exhausting - let me just tell you that. But I finally found a place! Just today - and I had to leave work midday to come into the city to do it. Sheesh. But I made it and I'm just glad it's over with! I really do need a weekend to do nothing - I just feel like I haven't had a moment's peace in a very long time. So tired. But anyway - found a place - right in Union Square basically which is a perfect location. Close to Whole Foods! Now let me just tell you that in general NYC is so frustrating, and it's a seller's market and places go in about an hour after they become available. So the place I got - I'm excited about it, but I'm paying too much for the space I actually get. You know - limited space, limited privacy for anything affordable in NY. But I'm excited. It's all tradeoffs, and hopefully I made a good one. I'll be living with 3 other people in a loft - a lady photographer, a male musician/filmmaker (who was "discovered" by Norah Jones while Karaoke-ing), and a French lady who works in finance who I haven't met. Part of the reason I agreed to pay what I did (don't ask - it was in my price range) was for the fun roommates - I can totally see myself hanging out with these guys. And the wonderful location - I can walk to where my carpool takes off from too. So happy day! And hopefully I can not be stressed now :-). Yeah - hehe.
One other quick tidbit - I finished Harry Potter 6 and today bought the final book! I'm scared and part of me doesn't want to finish the series because then there won't be more to read! But I have to - I'll let you know how it goes :-). And btw, I went on a fabulous 10-11 mile bikeride down the Hudson today - very nice, but it's getting colder, and darker earlier.
So tomorrow is a new day - hope it's well for you all.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tough day
So even though I have a lot of mental will power, I realize that my eating is definitely tied to my mood and stress levels. Let's just say I ate too much last night :-(. Ugh.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Pictures!
Here are my best of NYC pictures - I tried to limit them I promise :-). So if you feel like seeing NYC or what I've been up to - check them out! I'm proud of them! So much fun in 76 pictures :-).
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=492101189474069874/l=302398970/g=50971540/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=492101189474069874/l=302398970/g=50971540/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Christine's visit + NJ
Phew - I'm exhausted. I need a vacation from my life - not from my work :-). But all is well! The fun continues...
Thursday after work I went for a long bike ride and was proud of myself and had fun. Went to Riverside park at 96th street and just went north. Was planning on going to 157th or so, but streets weren't labeled so I just kept going! It was so pretty to ride along the river - I didn't even mind the parts with the freeway right there. Passed a lot of courts and fields, and people BBQing. Very pretty. I went under the George Washington Bridge which is pretty, then kept going (after walking my bike up a hill). Went all the way to Dyckman Street which is almost at the end of Manhattan - right before the toll bridge - about 200th St! Was so impressed with myself - remembered a lot of the route we drove to work. Was over 6 miles! Then I raced back, retracing my tracks so that the sun didn't go down before I got back, which it didn't. Unfortunately the sun is going down earlier now and some nights are cool - no! I don't want summer to be over - I like the warm weather :-). Anyway, it was a fabulous ride and I was proud of myself :-). Then later Christine showed up! With her husband Jeff. Was great to see them and be able to host - they liked the cute apartment :-).
So early Friday we headed out to Flushing Meadows and another day of the US Open! Was happy to be back. Watching tennis all day can't be beat. :-). We were there early, so we watched a bit of wheelchair tennis which was interesting. Sorta cool. Then went to the big Arthur Ashe stadium! We watched the men's doubles final which was pretty neat. Then the 2 women's semifinals. Kuznetsova versus Chakvetadze did go 3 sets, but the Russians were sorta disappointing. I don't know if it was nerves, but it was basically trading unforced errors - whoever was mentally up at the time won. So not as exciting as Venus Williams and Justine Henin playing!! That was a great match! Only 2 sets, and I wish Venus was a bit more mentally tough, but it was a fun match to watch. The crowd was mostly routing for Venus, but you have to admit Henin is just so strong lately. So good for her! We did the rest of it - eating expensive food and trying to stay cool. We had seats high up in the stadium - Christine I think would've liked to be closer, but I still had fun. It was fun, too, to sit with Shan Shan and Martin (now with a ring) and talk to them. Sad to say goodbye for real to them :-(. But they took off from NY to drive back to Oregon! And another person who was supposed to show up for USOpen just didn't! Was really pissed at her - I kept calling. All I have to say is that she still owes me my money! But oh well... So after the awesome matches, Christine wanted to watch more tennis, so we went and watched a really close Junior girls doubles match - was fun - on a grounds court so we were close and both sets went to tiebreak. Was fun to hang out more. By the time we left we were tired - took the train back into the city and undecisively found a place to eat dinner! Sorta Italian - Christine and Jeff had pizza and I had a stuffed chicken which was ok. Then we decided we wanted to walk off dinner, so we walked to the Empire State Building and went up it! It was awesome - I sorta romanticized it from the movies, but it was great at night - all pretty city lights. You could see the large lights symbolizing the World Trade Center downtown. And see uptown too - very neat views :-). I got a couple of pictures, but my camera was low on battery. But I highly recommend going at night - no lines! Though it's expensive of course... And the tower itself was lit up yellow - I heard for the US Open - very cool! So that finally called it a night - we returned home after being gone 14 hours!
So SAturday was another whirlwind day - did you expect any less? We slept in, though - I was so happy to get my needed 10 hours of sleep - phew! Then showered and went to brunch - at Le Pain Quotidien which I love. Got good bread and coffee of course. I got a tartine - sandwich with pesto, mozzarella, sun dried tomato and prosciutto. Yummy. Then we all got little tarts for dessert - mine was apricot. Not too sweet - not as good as the berry crumble last time, but pretty good.
Then we took off for our city adventure - through central park first. We walked through Shakespeare's Garden - very pretty and quiet, then Belvedere Castle - neat views. Then the Great Lawn and up to the Reservoir because Christine wanted to see it. We walked around it too, which of course took awhile, but also had great views! Was fun to just walk and talk and hang out with them. We have great conversations and I found I actually like arguing with Jeff! Christine says I don't let people get away with things easily, which is sorta true. I don't know what it's called that I do - stick up for myself/have gall/brash, but it's fun and handy. And hopefully I don't go over the top. :-).
We caught a subway downtown - an east side express whcih was fun. Got off at City Hall to show Jeff the Law and Order Courthouse. Then walked down to the World Trade Center Site - still a big whole in the ground. And then over to Wall Street. Then we ended up in a little cafe where we watched the end of Federer's semifinal. Sorta nice to sit :-). Federer is just amazing. Then we walked down to Battery Park for awhile - they were getting ready for September 11 with flags and memorabilia. Then we decided to head up to the village for dinner. Amazingly we walked from Battery Park up to the East Village! We did a lot of walking :-). Walked through the hectic China town and busy Mulberry street where Little Italy is very commercialized. Then over to Bowery and up to Houston and over to 2nd AVe where we found a little diner that turned on tennis for us to watch! So we just ate diner food - hamburgers. I got an east side burger - mushrooms, mozzarella, peppers and onions :-). It was fun to just hang out and watch tennis and the waiter was really nice. We were full, but ended up getting dessert - milkshakes! We had been sitting there over 2 hours :-). Then we walked to a subway through the village and home! Another long day, but a good fun, filled one :-). Saw my favorite Chinese guy playing his little Chinese-guitar (forget the name) in Times Square. And wandered by Union Square. You see how this place gets very familiar after awhile?
So Christine and Jeff left on an early train this morning. I had a great time hanging out with them! They are awesome :-). Glad they got to visit. And totally - we are going to Japan or Egypt soon Christine!
So I'm doing my down Sunday, although almost 1/2 the day was spent trying to and playing tennis with softball guy! We tried to find a court down on the east side, but got the "you have to have a permit then wait for 2 hours". That sucks. So Mohammed knew of courts in New Jersey at his old office so we headed there! Of course in New Jersey courts are all over and free because it's the burbs. Manhattan is crazy for stuff like that. Anyway - we made it finally there and played and it was fun! In the spirit of the US Open :-). Although Mohammed wasn't very trained in tennis - didn't know the deuce from the ad side of the court, so we weren't fairly matched. So I beat him 6-0, 6-0 in 2 sets :-). Was proud of myself because I was rusty too. But it was nice to be out there. Hot day though! So that was my first adventure to New Jersey! Go me :-). And then we came back via Hoboken and the Lincoln Tunnel. Hoboken was a really cute little town, but I really don't like the tunnels - they are confining. But a fun early afternoon activity...
And yes, I'm still talking to Naveen every once in awhile. We miss each other and we are talking about some of the issues. It is nice to be friendly. And it's nice not to cut off communication so we can share good news :-). Hopefully we can continue to be friendly.
Hope the next week is more low-key than this one was! More nights at home for sure... Got a 1/2 chicken to each for dinner with salad - yum :-). Happy post-weekend!
Thursday after work I went for a long bike ride and was proud of myself and had fun. Went to Riverside park at 96th street and just went north. Was planning on going to 157th or so, but streets weren't labeled so I just kept going! It was so pretty to ride along the river - I didn't even mind the parts with the freeway right there. Passed a lot of courts and fields, and people BBQing. Very pretty. I went under the George Washington Bridge which is pretty, then kept going (after walking my bike up a hill). Went all the way to Dyckman Street which is almost at the end of Manhattan - right before the toll bridge - about 200th St! Was so impressed with myself - remembered a lot of the route we drove to work. Was over 6 miles! Then I raced back, retracing my tracks so that the sun didn't go down before I got back, which it didn't. Unfortunately the sun is going down earlier now and some nights are cool - no! I don't want summer to be over - I like the warm weather :-). Anyway, it was a fabulous ride and I was proud of myself :-). Then later Christine showed up! With her husband Jeff. Was great to see them and be able to host - they liked the cute apartment :-).
So early Friday we headed out to Flushing Meadows and another day of the US Open! Was happy to be back. Watching tennis all day can't be beat. :-). We were there early, so we watched a bit of wheelchair tennis which was interesting. Sorta cool. Then went to the big Arthur Ashe stadium! We watched the men's doubles final which was pretty neat. Then the 2 women's semifinals. Kuznetsova versus Chakvetadze did go 3 sets, but the Russians were sorta disappointing. I don't know if it was nerves, but it was basically trading unforced errors - whoever was mentally up at the time won. So not as exciting as Venus Williams and Justine Henin playing!! That was a great match! Only 2 sets, and I wish Venus was a bit more mentally tough, but it was a fun match to watch. The crowd was mostly routing for Venus, but you have to admit Henin is just so strong lately. So good for her! We did the rest of it - eating expensive food and trying to stay cool. We had seats high up in the stadium - Christine I think would've liked to be closer, but I still had fun. It was fun, too, to sit with Shan Shan and Martin (now with a ring) and talk to them. Sad to say goodbye for real to them :-(. But they took off from NY to drive back to Oregon! And another person who was supposed to show up for USOpen just didn't! Was really pissed at her - I kept calling. All I have to say is that she still owes me my money! But oh well... So after the awesome matches, Christine wanted to watch more tennis, so we went and watched a really close Junior girls doubles match - was fun - on a grounds court so we were close and both sets went to tiebreak. Was fun to hang out more. By the time we left we were tired - took the train back into the city and undecisively found a place to eat dinner! Sorta Italian - Christine and Jeff had pizza and I had a stuffed chicken which was ok. Then we decided we wanted to walk off dinner, so we walked to the Empire State Building and went up it! It was awesome - I sorta romanticized it from the movies, but it was great at night - all pretty city lights. You could see the large lights symbolizing the World Trade Center downtown. And see uptown too - very neat views :-). I got a couple of pictures, but my camera was low on battery. But I highly recommend going at night - no lines! Though it's expensive of course... And the tower itself was lit up yellow - I heard for the US Open - very cool! So that finally called it a night - we returned home after being gone 14 hours!
So SAturday was another whirlwind day - did you expect any less? We slept in, though - I was so happy to get my needed 10 hours of sleep - phew! Then showered and went to brunch - at Le Pain Quotidien which I love. Got good bread and coffee of course. I got a tartine - sandwich with pesto, mozzarella, sun dried tomato and prosciutto. Yummy. Then we all got little tarts for dessert - mine was apricot. Not too sweet - not as good as the berry crumble last time, but pretty good.
Then we took off for our city adventure - through central park first. We walked through Shakespeare's Garden - very pretty and quiet, then Belvedere Castle - neat views. Then the Great Lawn and up to the Reservoir because Christine wanted to see it. We walked around it too, which of course took awhile, but also had great views! Was fun to just walk and talk and hang out with them. We have great conversations and I found I actually like arguing with Jeff! Christine says I don't let people get away with things easily, which is sorta true. I don't know what it's called that I do - stick up for myself/have gall/brash, but it's fun and handy. And hopefully I don't go over the top. :-).
We caught a subway downtown - an east side express whcih was fun. Got off at City Hall to show Jeff the Law and Order Courthouse. Then walked down to the World Trade Center Site - still a big whole in the ground. And then over to Wall Street. Then we ended up in a little cafe where we watched the end of Federer's semifinal. Sorta nice to sit :-). Federer is just amazing. Then we walked down to Battery Park for awhile - they were getting ready for September 11 with flags and memorabilia. Then we decided to head up to the village for dinner. Amazingly we walked from Battery Park up to the East Village! We did a lot of walking :-). Walked through the hectic China town and busy Mulberry street where Little Italy is very commercialized. Then over to Bowery and up to Houston and over to 2nd AVe where we found a little diner that turned on tennis for us to watch! So we just ate diner food - hamburgers. I got an east side burger - mushrooms, mozzarella, peppers and onions :-). It was fun to just hang out and watch tennis and the waiter was really nice. We were full, but ended up getting dessert - milkshakes! We had been sitting there over 2 hours :-). Then we walked to a subway through the village and home! Another long day, but a good fun, filled one :-). Saw my favorite Chinese guy playing his little Chinese-guitar (forget the name) in Times Square. And wandered by Union Square. You see how this place gets very familiar after awhile?
So Christine and Jeff left on an early train this morning. I had a great time hanging out with them! They are awesome :-). Glad they got to visit. And totally - we are going to Japan or Egypt soon Christine!
So I'm doing my down Sunday, although almost 1/2 the day was spent trying to and playing tennis with softball guy! We tried to find a court down on the east side, but got the "you have to have a permit then wait for 2 hours". That sucks. So Mohammed knew of courts in New Jersey at his old office so we headed there! Of course in New Jersey courts are all over and free because it's the burbs. Manhattan is crazy for stuff like that. Anyway - we made it finally there and played and it was fun! In the spirit of the US Open :-). Although Mohammed wasn't very trained in tennis - didn't know the deuce from the ad side of the court, so we weren't fairly matched. So I beat him 6-0, 6-0 in 2 sets :-). Was proud of myself because I was rusty too. But it was nice to be out there. Hot day though! So that was my first adventure to New Jersey! Go me :-). And then we came back via Hoboken and the Lincoln Tunnel. Hoboken was a really cute little town, but I really don't like the tunnels - they are confining. But a fun early afternoon activity...
And yes, I'm still talking to Naveen every once in awhile. We miss each other and we are talking about some of the issues. It is nice to be friendly. And it's nice not to cut off communication so we can share good news :-). Hopefully we can continue to be friendly.
Hope the next week is more low-key than this one was! More nights at home for sure... Got a 1/2 chicken to each for dinner with salad - yum :-). Happy post-weekend!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Never a dull moment
Ok seriously. I'm finally getting what you all say about me being so busy. I love it - I really do. But I'm running myself ragged a bit :-). I realized today I haven't been home in the evening since last Wednesday. And even then I'll be home in the evening only 3 days between Aug 24 - Sept 9 - over 2 weeks. I guess I am adventurous, eh?!
So to update, and not a humongous update this time: Tuesday and Wednesday. Back to work Tuesday and it was lonely because my labmate Emina went home. Sad, but ok - theoretically I'll get more done, right?! So worked, then left at 5:15 to join the IBM hiking club on their routine Tuesday night hikes. I hadn't gone before because of Naveen, but wanted to try it. Well, it was the wrong time to start. Apparently the longer, more interesting hikes were in the middle of the summer when the sun goes down later. So we drove until about 6:30 to get to the site. Did a very slow, easy hike with minimal hills for an hour. Don't get me wrong - it was pretty and naturey and we saw some neat views over green hills, and hiked through a forest. However, it didn't particularly qualify as exercise to me. Then I got bullied into going to pizza after - which I didn't want to do because 1) it's unhealthy 2) it costs $$, and 3) I'd get back to the city late based on the trains. But I went because it was part of the hiking experience and because I had to go with my ride. The pizza was pretty good - I've gotten into the habit of putting a lot of red pepper on my pizza :-). Then got a ride to the White Plains train station, but just missed a train so I had to wait 40-45 minutes until the next one came. That was ok because I had a wonderful phone conversation catching up with Negin :-). But I took the 10pm train back to Manhattan. I was a little nervous about walking through Harlem at this time of night, so I went to Grand Central and took 2 subways to get home instead. So got 1 hour of hiking between leaving from work at 5:15 and getting home around 11pm. Not the best use of time...
So Wednesday I worked from home. Actually got up and went to Central Park to wait in line for Shakespeare in the park tickets! It's crazy the system for this. You have to get in line for FREE tickets. They give out tickets at 1pm for the 8pm showing everyday. And this thing is popular and legendary because famous actors sometimes do this, or actors became known through this. So anyway, I got there a little before 9:30 to wait in line for 3.5 hours for free tickets. That's just the way this works! People sit there on blankets and read and eat for the morning. So I read work papers. And the line has rules - you can leave to go to the bathroom or go to a hotdog vendor close, but you can't leave for more than 20 minutes. So - because I'm me - I exploit the system. I wanted to work out, so I left for 20 minutes and ran around Central Park. Then I came back for awhile, then left again for another 20 minutes and ran around the Reservoir. It was a beautiful day and I was glad to be exercising and out and about. And I was really proud of myself that I ran around the Reservoir in 14-15 minutes! It was really funny - I took my cell phone with me while running and checked the time constantly to make sure I was back in 20 minutes. But it was fun! That's me - fitting it all in :-). So finally the line started moving and we got tickets! Shan Shan and her guy came with too, so we got 3 seats together to see the play! Then they invited me to go out to Indian food for lunch and I went despite my running attire. It was fun to hang out with them :-). Got some crazy news - Shan Shan is engaged! They are crazy kids. So this is hilarious - Her guy is from the Netherlands. They met at conferences and have been chatting online daily since February. He alwasy liked her. So they met at a conference in Berlin for 2 days last month. Then he decided to visit her now for 3 weeks. So they've actually been together in the same place and been dating all of 6 days, and they got engaged :-). Ah, romance. Happy for them, though.
So I digress... On way home from lunch I stopped to pick up perscriptions to find that my new student health insurance company is f***ing stupid and annoying - they seem to not be able to process perscrips from any pharmacy. Like I'm covered, but they only accept UT's student health center as a place that can actually put my insurance through their system so I can get perscrips. Aack! Hate health insurance inefficiencies and regulations. Anyway...
So - to "Free Love"! That's the Shakespeare in the Park slogan this year because they showed Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream. I saw the latter last night. I wore one of my new dresses I bought last week and felt beautiful :-). And went down there. It was a slightly chilly night - I want summer nights to continue! The stage was actually really cool - they had a tree there that people climbed and all. And the play was really well acted - I got caught up in it. It was really funny! The actors in the internal play were awesome. And of course the 4 star-crossed lovers. The fairies were good too. Awesome story. Very pleasurable to watch. Have to say - it might've been my favorite Shakespeare play this summer. And they have some neat costumes, great coreography, and they even sang some! So very fun performance. Glad I got to see this New York tradition! Went home via a Tasty D'Lite ice cream store, but it was closed sadly. So I had to stop at McDonalds to get a soft serve because I really wanted ice cream :-).
So now - another day at work! And I'm going home tonight and staying there (after exercise). I'm getting ready for good friends Christine and Jeff to visit for the next couple of days so I have to clean. But I'm so excited for their visit! And more US Open tomorrow! I get to see Henin and Venus Williams play in the semis - rock on.
A couple of random tidbits... I found a carpool but I'm still looking for new housing for the rest of the fall. Also what I meant by my ramblings in the last post is that I feel like I really can accomplish anything and that makes me happy. And last thing - this city really is starting to feel familiar! It's weird that way - certain areas I do know well and I smile as if they are "mine". I hate Time Square really, but love the villages and union square. And 9th Ave between 41st and 55th really does have a ton of awesome restaurants! So yay for familiarity.
Ok signing off... :-).
So to update, and not a humongous update this time: Tuesday and Wednesday. Back to work Tuesday and it was lonely because my labmate Emina went home. Sad, but ok - theoretically I'll get more done, right?! So worked, then left at 5:15 to join the IBM hiking club on their routine Tuesday night hikes. I hadn't gone before because of Naveen, but wanted to try it. Well, it was the wrong time to start. Apparently the longer, more interesting hikes were in the middle of the summer when the sun goes down later. So we drove until about 6:30 to get to the site. Did a very slow, easy hike with minimal hills for an hour. Don't get me wrong - it was pretty and naturey and we saw some neat views over green hills, and hiked through a forest. However, it didn't particularly qualify as exercise to me. Then I got bullied into going to pizza after - which I didn't want to do because 1) it's unhealthy 2) it costs $$, and 3) I'd get back to the city late based on the trains. But I went because it was part of the hiking experience and because I had to go with my ride. The pizza was pretty good - I've gotten into the habit of putting a lot of red pepper on my pizza :-). Then got a ride to the White Plains train station, but just missed a train so I had to wait 40-45 minutes until the next one came. That was ok because I had a wonderful phone conversation catching up with Negin :-). But I took the 10pm train back to Manhattan. I was a little nervous about walking through Harlem at this time of night, so I went to Grand Central and took 2 subways to get home instead. So got 1 hour of hiking between leaving from work at 5:15 and getting home around 11pm. Not the best use of time...
So Wednesday I worked from home. Actually got up and went to Central Park to wait in line for Shakespeare in the park tickets! It's crazy the system for this. You have to get in line for FREE tickets. They give out tickets at 1pm for the 8pm showing everyday. And this thing is popular and legendary because famous actors sometimes do this, or actors became known through this. So anyway, I got there a little before 9:30 to wait in line for 3.5 hours for free tickets. That's just the way this works! People sit there on blankets and read and eat for the morning. So I read work papers. And the line has rules - you can leave to go to the bathroom or go to a hotdog vendor close, but you can't leave for more than 20 minutes. So - because I'm me - I exploit the system. I wanted to work out, so I left for 20 minutes and ran around Central Park. Then I came back for awhile, then left again for another 20 minutes and ran around the Reservoir. It was a beautiful day and I was glad to be exercising and out and about. And I was really proud of myself that I ran around the Reservoir in 14-15 minutes! It was really funny - I took my cell phone with me while running and checked the time constantly to make sure I was back in 20 minutes. But it was fun! That's me - fitting it all in :-). So finally the line started moving and we got tickets! Shan Shan and her guy came with too, so we got 3 seats together to see the play! Then they invited me to go out to Indian food for lunch and I went despite my running attire. It was fun to hang out with them :-). Got some crazy news - Shan Shan is engaged! They are crazy kids. So this is hilarious - Her guy is from the Netherlands. They met at conferences and have been chatting online daily since February. He alwasy liked her. So they met at a conference in Berlin for 2 days last month. Then he decided to visit her now for 3 weeks. So they've actually been together in the same place and been dating all of 6 days, and they got engaged :-). Ah, romance. Happy for them, though.
So I digress... On way home from lunch I stopped to pick up perscriptions to find that my new student health insurance company is f***ing stupid and annoying - they seem to not be able to process perscrips from any pharmacy. Like I'm covered, but they only accept UT's student health center as a place that can actually put my insurance through their system so I can get perscrips. Aack! Hate health insurance inefficiencies and regulations. Anyway...
So - to "Free Love"! That's the Shakespeare in the Park slogan this year because they showed Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer Night's Dream. I saw the latter last night. I wore one of my new dresses I bought last week and felt beautiful :-). And went down there. It was a slightly chilly night - I want summer nights to continue! The stage was actually really cool - they had a tree there that people climbed and all. And the play was really well acted - I got caught up in it. It was really funny! The actors in the internal play were awesome. And of course the 4 star-crossed lovers. The fairies were good too. Awesome story. Very pleasurable to watch. Have to say - it might've been my favorite Shakespeare play this summer. And they have some neat costumes, great coreography, and they even sang some! So very fun performance. Glad I got to see this New York tradition! Went home via a Tasty D'Lite ice cream store, but it was closed sadly. So I had to stop at McDonalds to get a soft serve because I really wanted ice cream :-).
So now - another day at work! And I'm going home tonight and staying there (after exercise). I'm getting ready for good friends Christine and Jeff to visit for the next couple of days so I have to clean. But I'm so excited for their visit! And more US Open tomorrow! I get to see Henin and Venus Williams play in the semis - rock on.
A couple of random tidbits... I found a carpool but I'm still looking for new housing for the rest of the fall. Also what I meant by my ramblings in the last post is that I feel like I really can accomplish anything and that makes me happy. And last thing - this city really is starting to feel familiar! It's weird that way - certain areas I do know well and I smile as if they are "mine". I hate Time Square really, but love the villages and union square. And 9th Ave between 41st and 55th really does have a ton of awesome restaurants! So yay for familiarity.
Ok signing off... :-).
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Fabulous Labor Day weekend with US Open + pinkness to prove it
Hi All -
Had some more fabulous adventures this weekend. What can I say? I'm unstoppable and this city just begs to be taken advantage of. Really - I'm now wondering if I have the ability to relax... Hmmm.
Anyway - highlights: biking to Chelsea Piers, seeing Street Festival, going to check out possible place to live, Scandinavian dinner, Coney Island! + Russian food, lots of Harry Potter, and 12 hours of US Open on Monday :-).
So yeah, after I could muster myself Saturday - after hours of watching tennis from the couch (seeing Sharapova lose), I got on my bike and rode. I love having my bike in this city - it really makes me feel free and it's a really easy, fast mode of transportation. Although it's a bit exhilerating/suicidal on certain streets :-). So I went down the Henry Hudson/Riverside Park bikepath that goes for miles so I hear. It's really pretty - right on the Hudson River. Saw lots of people out and neat piers. It's fun to ride down that side of the island. Finally made it down to Chelsea Piers where I wasn't that inthralled. I mean it's neat, I guess. A couple of restaurants, boats for evening cruises, then a really fancy gym, and sports stuff like batting cages, golf range, bowling, gymnastics. Nothing really I wanted to do there, so I kept going. The lady there mentioned Chelsea Market for shopping, so I headed there, but it was mostly food shops. So I kept going and road across town on 14th Street which was a bit scary. I tried the sidewalk for awhile, but people are really annoying. I think I am a NYer - I get impatient with people in my way all the time! People really don't pay attention. But yeah. So I made it over to Union Square, which I love. There were tons of art booths out and I headed over there because I had read about a street festival. I got a gyro there - yum - and walked through the fun booths. Looked at some funky NYC shirts at booths - have to key in on that at some point, plus I want some art from here - maybe photographs of the park or something. I need to figure out where that famous bridge is in the park in all of the pictures and go see it! But anyway - just ended up buying a cool pair of earrings and leaving. Mom - you'd enjoy these festivals! We'll try to find one when you are here... But had to leave and go up to 60th and 3rd Ave to check out a potential neat place to live. Seemed like a really good location and the Eastern European lady living there (she's 30) seems really awesome. And she has a bed for the extra room! So good possibility, but seemed like a lot of people were looking at the room, so we'll see. Fun to think of living in another neighborhood and experiencing that...
So was heading home when a friend of mine said he was at the boathouse hanging out with his cousin and I should stop by. The boathouse is this restaurant on a lake in the middle of Central Park. It's really pretty. Stopped by and chilled for a bit. It really was pretty and relaxing. While I was there we saw 1) ambulances come and look for someone that had fallen in the lake, and 2) a woman exit her gondola ride onto our dock with someone saying "she said yes", and the whole place broke out in a cheer and she held out her new ring for people to see. Very cute :-). So went home after being out on my bike for what seemed like forever (4+ hours). Showered, then went down to the Village/Chelsea area - same area I went Friday night to meet this guy (softball guy) and his cousin for dinner. We ended up at a Scandinavian place - it was very cute! I got Gravlak to try something traditional - sorta like cured salmon with a mustard sauce. Pretty good - I guess it's Norwegian? Then we wandered around to a bar in the Meatpacking District, but that area seems sorta pretentious. I went home not long after, but it was fun to hang out with new people. At least I wasn't at home moping!
Sunday I got up sorta early and went down to meet my friend Shan Shan and her visiting Dutch friend for Dim Sum. I think I've had my fill for awhile, but Shan Shan wanted to go. Back to Chinatown this time - had some good food, but the stuff is all either fried or slimy, so I just get a bit sick of it... But fun times. On the way out of Chinatown I bargained with a Chinese lady for a small weekend duffel - my backpack broke while walking there and I figure I need a weekend duffel to go to Boston anyway. And then I boarded the long train to Coney Island! I'd been wanting to go there to check it out. It turns out this was one of the possibly last weekends it'll exist - someone supposedly is buying it out to turn it into condos or something? It's like a perpetual Carnival down there - lots of rides and games and a freak show and funnel cakes and ice cream and hot dogs - that sort of thing. I walked around, and then had to go on the famous 80 year old rickety wooden roller coaster. Holy God did I think I was going to die. Seriously. It was so jerky - I now have bruises on my legs because I was thrown around my cart so much - up, down, side to side - you name it! Think I won't do it again, but I did survive it! Bought a t-shirt to prove it :-). Then I decided to enjoy the beach! My favorite part - calm, nice sand, and soothing water. Ok, so there were screaming kids and the water was a bit chilly, but the time was very enjoyable! I tuned everything out and just did what I want - swam a bit in the water, laid out in the sun and read... so this is the marathon Harry Potter day. On the (hour long) subway out and back I read Harry Potter the whole way, then I read the book at the beach all afternoon and even while eating dinner by mysefl in a restaurant. I'm an addict :-). Love Harry! Anyway - it was relaxing and I needed that... Very fun. As the sun went lower and I got chilly, I walked the boardwalk to Brighton - apparently sorta "Little Russia". I walked around lokoing for a place to eat dinner. I stopped in a little shop and asked where I could get Russian food. They said "every restaurant is Russian". Literally - people on the street weren't speaking English. Very weird these pockets. But anyway, went into a Cafe and had hot borcsht - yum! And then stuffed peppers and a small order of Variniki or something like that. Basically the stuffed pepppers reminded me of my Mom's - meat and rice cooked in a (red) pepper which was so tasty! And the other was sorta little pasta-like ravioli dumplings filled with stuff - I got chicken. It was good but weird they didn't have any sauce. Although they seemed to give you sour cream with everything. Then I couldn't resist apple crepes for dessert - so tasty! I was so full after.... Very fun experience. So I hopped on the subway back and was very satisfied with my day's adventure!
And Monday - the US Open! Oh my God I was so excited to be there. It was great fun. Went again with softball friend - really nice of him to invite me. And he's lived here forever, but never gone, so he was excited. And we found out Federer (one of the best men's players ever) was playing at night so he immediately went and got night tickets as well when we got there! I wasn't sure, but we did end up staying 12 hours watching tennis - sheesh! Crazy :-). But fun. So we wandered around the grounds a bit, then headed to the Aurthur Ashe stadium. First the women - Azarenka and Kuznetsova played. Didn't really know them. Then we went and grabbed lunch - they had a lot of options! But I got a salad but was disappointed because it was expensive, small, and everything had been frozen so it was weird. Boo. But anyway, went back to watch Roddick play Berdych, but Berdych forfeited in the 2nd set! Boo! Wimpy. We were very disappointed not to see Roddick play more - he's cool. Oh well. So we walked around the grounds a bit before the awesome 5 set match between Blake and Tommy Haas. Very good match. Blake was really strong and powerful, but then lost his mental game over time. Tommy Haas was a bit up and down too, but was really strong in the end. Lots of winners in this match :-). Was great to watch good tennis! It was a warm day, though, and I dressed for it but felt the rays of sun beating down on me. I really don't know what the difference was, but I didn't put on sunscreen at all at the beach and was fine versus I felt like I was burning after an hour watching tennis! So I went and bought some expensive sunscreen to put on. But still, I woke up this morning with pink shoulders :-). But it's proof I was there! Good times :-). So watched some good tennis, hung out, looked at ALL the merchandise there which was fun. I tried to get some pictures - I'll post them later. We sat in the upper deck, so the players are a bit small, but you really can see from everywhere :-). So we hung out a bit before the night matches started. First at night was the women again - Chakvetadze vs. Paszek. I didn't watch too much - didn't know these girls. Went to buy some fun merchandise and come to find out that morning is the time to do it because booths sell out by night! Bummer, but running around to different stores, I found most of what I wanted anyway, so that was good. And I got back to the big stadium before Federer came on to play Lopez! That was great fun, though I felt burned out and sun-blanched. My eyes hurt from the sun - I think I burned them. But yeah - good match. Lopez came out strong with a really good serve and took the first set. We kept wondering when Federer was done warming up and would get in his game, and he did in the 2nd set. Some good tennis, though. I liked it best when they went to net! So after Federed steam rolled through the 3rd set and won that, too, we decided 12 hours was enough tennis and left to get some sleep! Rode the long subway home, and got home a bit after midnight! I need a vacation from my weekend :-). But had a fabulous experience, and I'm excited to go back Friday - maybe I'll see Henin and Venus Williams play! Very cool :-).
Some thoughts on the weekend - I am self-sufficient and driven and enjoy adventure. I can have fun by myself, and of course know how to fill my time. I have told some poeple, but I feel I really hit a pinnacle this summer at my brother's wedding. Felt like I had become the person I always really wanted to be, and was so excited and outwardly exuberant. So confident and happy. Felt great! I'm proud of myself. And looking back, it's not just the weight loss, although that was a big part of it. I've really grown - especially in the last 2 years. And I know Naveen's been a part of that. But I've accomplished a ton of my goals - look at my black belt and getting healthy and losing weight, and doing triathlon training. I'm really secure with who I am. I've built up a great friend network. And I just feel happy and friendly with people, and they respond in kind. I'm still working on some things, but I feel I have so much control over myself, my activities, my happiness. I don't know if that makes sense, but I've guided myself in a wonderful direction. And I've grown through my relationships - loving my friends, even growing more confident and self-reliant and independent (less needy) because of Naveen. I know I am a hard worker, too, and I've proven to myself that I really can put all of myself into my research, but I know that doesn't make me happy per se. I know I am not perfect and I still struggle with things, but I feel I'm better at a lot of things - enjoying things for what they are, flexing, not getting "prickly" as often. And I struggle with Computer Science sometimes, but it's good too. I am a very lucky person! It feels great to be at this place in my life. I'm sure I haven't figured it all out - I never will :-). But I feel a lot more me - the best of me - and that's happy.
Also I think I want to visit Philadelphia. I'm up here, and it's not far away, and I hear it's a cool city. And I'm going to be here until December - aaack! We'll see...
Ok gotta get back to work. There's my saga for today - hope you all had great Labor Day weekends as well! And I have a busy week going this week too (surprise surprise). :-)
Had some more fabulous adventures this weekend. What can I say? I'm unstoppable and this city just begs to be taken advantage of. Really - I'm now wondering if I have the ability to relax... Hmmm.
Anyway - highlights: biking to Chelsea Piers, seeing Street Festival, going to check out possible place to live, Scandinavian dinner, Coney Island! + Russian food, lots of Harry Potter, and 12 hours of US Open on Monday :-).
So yeah, after I could muster myself Saturday - after hours of watching tennis from the couch (seeing Sharapova lose), I got on my bike and rode. I love having my bike in this city - it really makes me feel free and it's a really easy, fast mode of transportation. Although it's a bit exhilerating/suicidal on certain streets :-). So I went down the Henry Hudson/Riverside Park bikepath that goes for miles so I hear. It's really pretty - right on the Hudson River. Saw lots of people out and neat piers. It's fun to ride down that side of the island. Finally made it down to Chelsea Piers where I wasn't that inthralled. I mean it's neat, I guess. A couple of restaurants, boats for evening cruises, then a really fancy gym, and sports stuff like batting cages, golf range, bowling, gymnastics. Nothing really I wanted to do there, so I kept going. The lady there mentioned Chelsea Market for shopping, so I headed there, but it was mostly food shops. So I kept going and road across town on 14th Street which was a bit scary. I tried the sidewalk for awhile, but people are really annoying. I think I am a NYer - I get impatient with people in my way all the time! People really don't pay attention. But yeah. So I made it over to Union Square, which I love. There were tons of art booths out and I headed over there because I had read about a street festival. I got a gyro there - yum - and walked through the fun booths. Looked at some funky NYC shirts at booths - have to key in on that at some point, plus I want some art from here - maybe photographs of the park or something. I need to figure out where that famous bridge is in the park in all of the pictures and go see it! But anyway - just ended up buying a cool pair of earrings and leaving. Mom - you'd enjoy these festivals! We'll try to find one when you are here... But had to leave and go up to 60th and 3rd Ave to check out a potential neat place to live. Seemed like a really good location and the Eastern European lady living there (she's 30) seems really awesome. And she has a bed for the extra room! So good possibility, but seemed like a lot of people were looking at the room, so we'll see. Fun to think of living in another neighborhood and experiencing that...
So was heading home when a friend of mine said he was at the boathouse hanging out with his cousin and I should stop by. The boathouse is this restaurant on a lake in the middle of Central Park. It's really pretty. Stopped by and chilled for a bit. It really was pretty and relaxing. While I was there we saw 1) ambulances come and look for someone that had fallen in the lake, and 2) a woman exit her gondola ride onto our dock with someone saying "she said yes", and the whole place broke out in a cheer and she held out her new ring for people to see. Very cute :-). So went home after being out on my bike for what seemed like forever (4+ hours). Showered, then went down to the Village/Chelsea area - same area I went Friday night to meet this guy (softball guy) and his cousin for dinner. We ended up at a Scandinavian place - it was very cute! I got Gravlak to try something traditional - sorta like cured salmon with a mustard sauce. Pretty good - I guess it's Norwegian? Then we wandered around to a bar in the Meatpacking District, but that area seems sorta pretentious. I went home not long after, but it was fun to hang out with new people. At least I wasn't at home moping!
Sunday I got up sorta early and went down to meet my friend Shan Shan and her visiting Dutch friend for Dim Sum. I think I've had my fill for awhile, but Shan Shan wanted to go. Back to Chinatown this time - had some good food, but the stuff is all either fried or slimy, so I just get a bit sick of it... But fun times. On the way out of Chinatown I bargained with a Chinese lady for a small weekend duffel - my backpack broke while walking there and I figure I need a weekend duffel to go to Boston anyway. And then I boarded the long train to Coney Island! I'd been wanting to go there to check it out. It turns out this was one of the possibly last weekends it'll exist - someone supposedly is buying it out to turn it into condos or something? It's like a perpetual Carnival down there - lots of rides and games and a freak show and funnel cakes and ice cream and hot dogs - that sort of thing. I walked around, and then had to go on the famous 80 year old rickety wooden roller coaster. Holy God did I think I was going to die. Seriously. It was so jerky - I now have bruises on my legs because I was thrown around my cart so much - up, down, side to side - you name it! Think I won't do it again, but I did survive it! Bought a t-shirt to prove it :-). Then I decided to enjoy the beach! My favorite part - calm, nice sand, and soothing water. Ok, so there were screaming kids and the water was a bit chilly, but the time was very enjoyable! I tuned everything out and just did what I want - swam a bit in the water, laid out in the sun and read... so this is the marathon Harry Potter day. On the (hour long) subway out and back I read Harry Potter the whole way, then I read the book at the beach all afternoon and even while eating dinner by mysefl in a restaurant. I'm an addict :-). Love Harry! Anyway - it was relaxing and I needed that... Very fun. As the sun went lower and I got chilly, I walked the boardwalk to Brighton - apparently sorta "Little Russia". I walked around lokoing for a place to eat dinner. I stopped in a little shop and asked where I could get Russian food. They said "every restaurant is Russian". Literally - people on the street weren't speaking English. Very weird these pockets. But anyway, went into a Cafe and had hot borcsht - yum! And then stuffed peppers and a small order of Variniki or something like that. Basically the stuffed pepppers reminded me of my Mom's - meat and rice cooked in a (red) pepper which was so tasty! And the other was sorta little pasta-like ravioli dumplings filled with stuff - I got chicken. It was good but weird they didn't have any sauce. Although they seemed to give you sour cream with everything. Then I couldn't resist apple crepes for dessert - so tasty! I was so full after.... Very fun experience. So I hopped on the subway back and was very satisfied with my day's adventure!
And Monday - the US Open! Oh my God I was so excited to be there. It was great fun. Went again with softball friend - really nice of him to invite me. And he's lived here forever, but never gone, so he was excited. And we found out Federer (one of the best men's players ever) was playing at night so he immediately went and got night tickets as well when we got there! I wasn't sure, but we did end up staying 12 hours watching tennis - sheesh! Crazy :-). But fun. So we wandered around the grounds a bit, then headed to the Aurthur Ashe stadium. First the women - Azarenka and Kuznetsova played. Didn't really know them. Then we went and grabbed lunch - they had a lot of options! But I got a salad but was disappointed because it was expensive, small, and everything had been frozen so it was weird. Boo. But anyway, went back to watch Roddick play Berdych, but Berdych forfeited in the 2nd set! Boo! Wimpy. We were very disappointed not to see Roddick play more - he's cool. Oh well. So we walked around the grounds a bit before the awesome 5 set match between Blake and Tommy Haas. Very good match. Blake was really strong and powerful, but then lost his mental game over time. Tommy Haas was a bit up and down too, but was really strong in the end. Lots of winners in this match :-). Was great to watch good tennis! It was a warm day, though, and I dressed for it but felt the rays of sun beating down on me. I really don't know what the difference was, but I didn't put on sunscreen at all at the beach and was fine versus I felt like I was burning after an hour watching tennis! So I went and bought some expensive sunscreen to put on. But still, I woke up this morning with pink shoulders :-). But it's proof I was there! Good times :-). So watched some good tennis, hung out, looked at ALL the merchandise there which was fun. I tried to get some pictures - I'll post them later. We sat in the upper deck, so the players are a bit small, but you really can see from everywhere :-). So we hung out a bit before the night matches started. First at night was the women again - Chakvetadze vs. Paszek. I didn't watch too much - didn't know these girls. Went to buy some fun merchandise and come to find out that morning is the time to do it because booths sell out by night! Bummer, but running around to different stores, I found most of what I wanted anyway, so that was good. And I got back to the big stadium before Federer came on to play Lopez! That was great fun, though I felt burned out and sun-blanched. My eyes hurt from the sun - I think I burned them. But yeah - good match. Lopez came out strong with a really good serve and took the first set. We kept wondering when Federer was done warming up and would get in his game, and he did in the 2nd set. Some good tennis, though. I liked it best when they went to net! So after Federed steam rolled through the 3rd set and won that, too, we decided 12 hours was enough tennis and left to get some sleep! Rode the long subway home, and got home a bit after midnight! I need a vacation from my weekend :-). But had a fabulous experience, and I'm excited to go back Friday - maybe I'll see Henin and Venus Williams play! Very cool :-).
Some thoughts on the weekend - I am self-sufficient and driven and enjoy adventure. I can have fun by myself, and of course know how to fill my time. I have told some poeple, but I feel I really hit a pinnacle this summer at my brother's wedding. Felt like I had become the person I always really wanted to be, and was so excited and outwardly exuberant. So confident and happy. Felt great! I'm proud of myself. And looking back, it's not just the weight loss, although that was a big part of it. I've really grown - especially in the last 2 years. And I know Naveen's been a part of that. But I've accomplished a ton of my goals - look at my black belt and getting healthy and losing weight, and doing triathlon training. I'm really secure with who I am. I've built up a great friend network. And I just feel happy and friendly with people, and they respond in kind. I'm still working on some things, but I feel I have so much control over myself, my activities, my happiness. I don't know if that makes sense, but I've guided myself in a wonderful direction. And I've grown through my relationships - loving my friends, even growing more confident and self-reliant and independent (less needy) because of Naveen. I know I am a hard worker, too, and I've proven to myself that I really can put all of myself into my research, but I know that doesn't make me happy per se. I know I am not perfect and I still struggle with things, but I feel I'm better at a lot of things - enjoying things for what they are, flexing, not getting "prickly" as often. And I struggle with Computer Science sometimes, but it's good too. I am a very lucky person! It feels great to be at this place in my life. I'm sure I haven't figured it all out - I never will :-). But I feel a lot more me - the best of me - and that's happy.
Also I think I want to visit Philadelphia. I'm up here, and it's not far away, and I hear it's a cool city. And I'm going to be here until December - aaack! We'll see...
Ok gotta get back to work. There's my saga for today - hope you all had great Labor Day weekends as well! And I have a busy week going this week too (surprise surprise). :-)
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