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Friday, June 18, 2021

New York Trip Part 1

This trip with Archana was really fun, but it also told me how delicate I've become from spending the past year and half just staying inside lol. I definitely need to exercise more and need to remember to use sunscreen more. 

Anyway, I had to split this post into two because it was getting way too long!

Friday, May 21st:
  • I went over to Archana's place early to eat breakfast and help remind her what to pack since she had only started packing the night before lol
  • We only found out that morning that the AirBnb we rented out had roommates, and our point of contact was a guy named Peter. We were just like, "well, we already screwed up lmao"
  • After much time, we landed in New York
  • Took around an hour via AirTrain and subway to get to our AirBnb in the Financial District
  • Peter was supposed to meet up with us at the Starbucks next door to help us check in, but he couldn't get off work on time, so he sent us a video on how to get to our room
  • We walked around in the opposite direction for a while before figuring out the building was right next to Starbucks lol
  • Followed instructions and found out that we actually had three potential roommates since the apartment had four rooms. One room was empty though
  • We really loved our room though! There were so many windows. We never got tired of the view!
  • Went out to meet Saatvik and Albus, the upcoming groom and his dog, for dinner at the Fish Market
  • Then, walked around and got ice cream at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream. I got the Earl Gray flavor, which was really good!

Saturday, May 22nd: 
  • God, this day felt like at least a whole weekend in itself. We did so much!
  • Don't know why, but for the first week here, I kept on waking up at 5:30 every morning, so I could always catch the sunrise but was tired for the second half of the day lol
  • Had a coffee and quick breakfast from the food truck around the corner of our building
  • Traveled all the way to Central Park before deciding to get cookies from Levain Bakery first since I thought the original store was nearby. It wasn't lol
  • We walked 1.5 miles all the way to Harlem for the nearest bakery before heading back to Central Park to rest for a bit and eat the cookies. I was already tired for the rest of the day lol
  • Took the subway to Saatvik and B's apartment to take Albus on a walk
  • Went to Alice's Tea Cup for a tea break even though we should have went somewhere for lunch first lol
  • Took got lost and ended up taking three buses trying to get to Little Island
  • Archana ordered some food from The Halal Kitchen food truck near a bus stop for lunch later on the island
  • Finally get to the island only to find out that it's only free to go in the morning and that you have to book reservations for anytime after noon. Also, the guys at the front said that the evenings were already booked until June 14th when we got there -__-"
  • Luckily, there were a bunch of benches with views of the boardwalk nearby, so we rested and ate our lunch nearby
  • Walked to the Chelsea Market nearby
  • Explored the stores and had tahini ice cream again
  • Finally went back to the apartment to rest for a few hours
  • Then, went back out and walked to Chinatown 15 minutes away to get vegetarian dim sum for the first time in my life. It wasn't bad. Just too bready
  • Explored Chinatown 
  • Bought fruit tea at some Taiwanese fruit tea shop. Unfortunately, it was the end of the night, and they ran out of mango, so I couldn't order the mango drink I really wanted to try
  • Went home and passed out from exhaustion

Sunday, May 23rd:
  • We learned our lesson from yesterday and tried to take more breaks so we wouldn't be so exhausted throughout the day
  • Took an Uber to Brooklyn to get breakfast at Frankel's Delicatessen & Appetizing, which is famous for it's bagels, so we could save energy for the day
  • Found out that we had to order online, so we walked around the area waiting for our order
  • Ate breakfast at the park nearby and chilled in the grass for a while
  • Went to the Dumbo - Manhattan Bridge View to take tourist pictures of the Manhattan Bridge
  • Walked to the beach nearby and took lots of pictures 
  • Inadvertently found Jane's Carousel and took more pictures in the hot sunlight lol
  • Tried to find some famous graffiti in the tunnels and found a cool flea market instead
  • Walked everywhere trying to find the famous graffiti spots before giving up lol
  • Then, we found one of the graffiti spots!
  • On the way to Grimaldi's Pizza, we found another graffiti spot lmao
  • Found out that Grimaldi was closed during the dead hour and wouldn't be open again until 5pm, so we tried going to Julianna's Pizza which was also equally famous and right next door. Julianna's was also closed and wouldn't be open until 4pm though
  • I was tired and cranky because we had walked all over Brooklyn in the direct sunlight, and my left ankle hurt because the back of my shoe had rubbed it so much that it became an open wound
  • Archana offered to walk to the nearest  CVS and get me bandaids while I sat in the shade nearby
  • Since it was nearing 4, Archana called and said I should line up for Julianna's so that we can sit in the shade and eat when she comes back, so I waited in the bright, hot ass sun for 15 minutes while they start seating people only to find out that they only seat people if the whole party was there. So I waited for nothing!
  • I called Archana and told her the the news. She said she was almost at the checkout. Apparently, a lot of people had lined up before her to get the vaccine, which took a long time. 
  • After lots of struggles, we finally were seated inside the restaurant and ordered a delicious pizza and finished the whole thing because we were determined not to have leftovers lol
  • Walked uphill to somewhere with another great view of ocean and rested for a bit
  • Throughout the day, I noticed that I kept on getting more small, red itchy spots on my legs, so I tried to figure out what it was
  • I think it was heat hives since we've been walking around New York in 80 degree weather for the past two days, and I also didn't wear sunscreen, which probably made it react faster more since my legs don't normally see the light of day often lol. Needless to say, I was ready to go home
  • On the way to the subway, we stopped at Jacques Torres Chocolate store. Archana got a frozen hot chocolate, which we renamed it to Death by Chocolate, since it was so thick and decadent. I got a scoop of cookies and cream ice cream. 
  • It was dinner time, so there weren't anybody in the store with us except the two workers, so we chatted with them for a bit. The guy getting my ice cream was like, You're not from New York, are you?" When we said no, he was like, "I knew it! You're too nice to be from New York" lol
  • After that we finally went home and rested. Although we had pizza pretty late for lunch but early for dinner, we were so full of chocolate and tired that we didn't eat dinner lol
  • Met our final roommate who was a Chinese exchange student who came to NY for job interviews and touristy things with her friend who was coming the next day. She also accidentally locked herself out of her room and spent the night on the couch because Peter couldn't come back that night to unlock her door

Monday, May 24th: 
  • Woke up too early again and saw an amazing sunrise. Also couldn't go back to sleep because I kept on hearing this noise like something hitting a cage, so I thought our roommate might have let their pet out in the living room
  • We worked remotely, so we stayed in for the morning except for when Archana went out to get coffee
  • We walked to the Financial District to get Indian food from a food truck
  • Also got suckered into buying a smoothie on the way back since I felt like I was lacking in fruits since we came to NY lol
  • After work, we went to Saatvik and B's place to meet up with another friend, Suhas
  • Albus took us on a walk to near the Hudson River and learned that he likes to eat poop lol
  • We ordered by CHLOE.'s for delivery for dinner on the way back so I could try their famous vegetarian beet ketchup, but they didn't include it in the order, so everyone else was upset lmao
  • Learned how to play Cover Your Assets and won the first round unexpectedly!

Tuesday, May 25th: 
  • Worked remotely again
  • Walked to Joe's to grab their famous pizza. Archana's neighbor's boyfriend kept on raving about how Joe's pizza was the best pizza, and we happened to walk past it on the way to our AirBnb, so we knew it was nearby. It was delicious lol
  • Stopped by Dunkin Donut's on the way back because Archana wanted coffee, and I wanted to try one of their new drinks
  • Archana wanted to go to the MoMa Design store, so we went over there after work
  • Walked around trying to find this famous cheesecake place called Eileen's Special Cheesecake, and I found out that it was next to Champion Pizza, which was the great pizza place Brian and I were recommended last time we went to NY together!
  • After eating the delicious mini cheesecakes at a park nearby, we walked around trying to find a ramen shop after realizing that we were in Little Italy and not in the mood for Italian food lol
  • We ended up going to Chinatown trying to find this specific ramen shop, but it was combined with another restaurant location and looked empty, so we gave up on eating there. 
  • I found a Chinese hand-pulled noodle place with great reviews nearby instead, so we went their for dinner. It was amazing!
  • Walked around to find the Instagram famous taiyaki ice cream place and shared an ice cream for dessert
  • Walked home and relaxed for the night

Wednesday, May 26th: 
  • Worked remotely for the last day
  • Archana only had one morning call, so she went out to get coffee and breakfast and ran into so many struggles because the coffee cart around the corner wasn't there and the nearby places didn't have anything she wanted
  • Spent the whole day ordering food from Uber Eats to feel better about her frustration lol
  • Archana ordered her hometown's Masala chai and a snack that she grew up eating from Kolkata Chai, Co.
  • Ordered some mochi donuts, Vietnamese coffee cream puffs, and a drink from this place, Alimama Tea, we passed by the night before right when they were closing. Found out that they had glitter in almost all of their food, so we had a galaxy combination lol
  • Went to Saatvik and B's place to meet some more of their friends who taught us how to place the Catan expansion Cities and Knights. Poor Popli spent probably 1.5 hours explaining it to us before we called it a night since it was getting late, so we made plans to play it the next day instead

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