Oh that never ending comparison between the only two alfa++ cities in the world! [see GaWC world rankings after the jump] As a recent transplant from the west to the east, I have got only complaint - the midnight curfew of London. As the last underground train departs few minutes after 12pm, so does life from the city centre. Unaffordability of cabs does not help either. So one is stuck to hang out around the corner from your apartment flat. The idea of neighbourhoody life is lovely, but what if God forbids my friends live in another neighbourhood. Sleepovers are back in!
Showing posts with label new york. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york. Show all posts
23 January 2010
19 January 2010
new york city
I just got back from New York City. Arriving to New York was an overwhelming and confusing feeling. Twenty months have passed since I left New York. I felt I was coming back home. Things were familiar. Taking out US dollars from Chase ATM took my breath away, good I still remembered my PIN. But then I have already forgotten how coins look and what size means what denomination [I am so lost with coins in the UK, I must have a kilo now in my purse as I pay with notes mostly].
Manhattan, every street brought back memories of my life here. Very few things have changed except for every second person has an iPhone now, and is never lost with maps, never goes hungry with yelp, but still does not pick up the phone.
But then again – I knew I didn't live there anymore. I have never been so homeless in my entire life. ‘Your country of residence’ question on all the official forms makes me wonder every time. I have 5 mailing addresses, none of which is my real home. I have two mutually exclusive feelings about this fact. I am tired and ready to settle, I want my own place where I could store my shit after 2 years of begging people to look after it. But then again I am inspired by the freedom of movement, by the richness of my life, by the things I have witnessed and people I have been blessed to encounter. If happiness is not the destination, but the way – I have had a rather awesome way.
So I am emptying my pockets of random SIM cards and a few leftover boarding passes. I give myself another months and I settle.
Holiday issue of the Economist had a great article about being foreign. It ends it with the following line: But we cannot expect to have it all ways. Life is full of choices, and to choose one thing is to forgo another. The dilemma of foreignness comes down to one of liberty versus fraternity—the pleasures of freedom versus the pleasures of belonging. The homebody chooses the pleasures of belonging. The foreigner chooses the pleasures of freedom, and the pains that go with them."
Manhattan, every street brought back memories of my life here. Very few things have changed except for every second person has an iPhone now, and is never lost with maps, never goes hungry with yelp, but still does not pick up the phone.
But then again – I knew I didn't live there anymore. I have never been so homeless in my entire life. ‘Your country of residence’ question on all the official forms makes me wonder every time. I have 5 mailing addresses, none of which is my real home. I have two mutually exclusive feelings about this fact. I am tired and ready to settle, I want my own place where I could store my shit after 2 years of begging people to look after it. But then again I am inspired by the freedom of movement, by the richness of my life, by the things I have witnessed and people I have been blessed to encounter. If happiness is not the destination, but the way – I have had a rather awesome way.
So I am emptying my pockets of random SIM cards and a few leftover boarding passes. I give myself another months and I settle.
Holiday issue of the Economist had a great article about being foreign. It ends it with the following line: But we cannot expect to have it all ways. Life is full of choices, and to choose one thing is to forgo another. The dilemma of foreignness comes down to one of liberty versus fraternity—the pleasures of freedom versus the pleasures of belonging. The homebody chooses the pleasures of belonging. The foreigner chooses the pleasures of freedom, and the pains that go with them."
24 March 2008
27 February 2008
saw. today
Saw a real paparazzi at work - he was hiding across the street from Mercer Hotel is Soho with a lens half of my arm (not kidding!). I wonder who he was after.
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Saw a number of adorable stilettos in shop windows. They could not be more irrelevant at this point of my life.
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Finally saw the re-installed The Wall by the Forrest Myers on SW Houston/Broadway corner. Love it.
24 February 2008
Improv in New York City
Found this video on Anothercompany blog. New York is so cool for doing something like this! I love it!
22 February 2008
Snow storm in NYC
I was overly optimistic about the upcoming spring in New York City. Right when I safely put my winter coat in storage, we are hit by the first real snow storm this season. Still fighting the flu, dressed in crappy sneakers and a light coat I braved the weather from 8 am on my to yellow fever shot in downtown Manhattan. I could not resist the beauty. I was taking pictures until the camera literally froze giving up on me with a weird error message. My chin and cheeks turned red and my feet were absolutely wet. I wonder if such determination to take pictures makes me a photographer or an idiot.
Results are not as impressive as the snow show in real life. But at least I tried.
My favorite shots are:
A couple more pictures on flickr here.
Results are not as impressive as the snow show in real life. But at least I tried.
My favorite shots are:
A couple more pictures on flickr here.
11 February 2008
cool Chinatown
This week I am couch surfing in Chinatown. It will be a week of cheap dumplings, fruits and diet cokes (deli next door sells a bottle for $1.00 vs. $1.59+tax at Duane Reade).
The longer I live in New York City, the more I love Chinatown. It is unpretentious, it is not trying to be cool like wannabe FiDi (Financial District) and it is not cool like Soho where nobody cool actually hangs after the stores are closed. It is just Chinatown - the real neighborhood in Manhattan with its distinct smell and residents, maybe even the last "real" neighborhood in the city for me.
The longer I live in New York City, the more I love Chinatown. It is unpretentious, it is not trying to be cool like wannabe FiDi (Financial District) and it is not cool like Soho where nobody cool actually hangs after the stores are closed. It is just Chinatown - the real neighborhood in Manhattan with its distinct smell and residents, maybe even the last "real" neighborhood in the city for me.
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