nyc 2015

shamefully,

i don't have many pictures to put in this blog.

and it's been a few weeks since I've been back from nyc

so i don't quite remember what i did.

i really should have written this blog earlier.

we only had 5ish days to do what we had to do in nyc.

we had finally conquered being disgustingly jet lagged,

and my dad was still convinced he knew nyc like a local.

we proved him wrong.

HA.

he apparently had only ever travelled around the upper east + west side

and only used the same line of the subway.

dad thinks he's posh so i like to challenge him,

daily.

once we crossed the brooklyn bridge,

my dad could have been in vietnam for all i care

as he was a total

and complete stranger to everything.

(love you dad)

so we pretty much had to take them to most places,
time consuming but at least i didn't lose them.

-

my first impression of new york,

which lasted 2 whole days

is that

I

didn't

like it

at

all.

It's dirty, dodgy & deceitful.

1. dirty = some streets, mainly subway stations absolutely NASTY.

2. dodgy = again mainly subways with their faulty ticket turnstiles

3. deceitful = i almost got kidnapped (more details below)

i don't know if it was because of living in hong kong,

or the countless american movies i've watch that caused me to

have such high hopes and standards for the city.

ps. you can tell a lot about a city by it's underground transport

which is why HK is the love of my life.

i missed the stench of chlorine and bleach,

i missed the constant reminder of sanitation around me.

maybe i was homesick too,

the deafening screams and screeches of the train made me uncomfortable.

cold and distant, i didn't feel anything positive the first few days of being in nyc.

never had i felt the expression 'dog eat dog world' more truly than here.

however, i did get over myself. (lol)

HK had basically just spoiled me rotten, 

with its benefits, sanitation and compulsory compassion.

nyc was the nitty gritty - grubby to say the least 

but i guess it was exactly the whole charm of the city.

so different and dirty yet so alive.

there was a pulse to the city that i don't feel in HK.

wait,

does HK even have a pulse?

in HK,
hopes and dreams are usually stifled then snuffed.

or

~if you want a dream 

you better follow the steps of this government issued leaflet. 

thank you for your co-operation~

but in NYC,
 despite the grubby coldness,
people still tried and did their own thing.

HK = limited

NYC = limitless

does that make sense... to anyone...?

ok now i'm just rabbling and trying to make myself sound poetic.

back to the blog.

This was our hotel just outside of williamsburg

not the most convenient but certainly one of the best service.

they were awesome.

then one day dad dragged us to the empire state building despite our disapproval.

we wanted to go to the one world trade centre but dad wanted to go down memory lane.

note: dad thought ticket prices were the same as 50-60 years ago and only $2 usd each.

he was strongly mistaken.

needless to say dad paid for the tickets.

thanks dad.

me, caro and my mum were a bit underwhelmed...

i mean, it's just buildings... like... we've seen buildings before

and to be honest, i find buildings way more interesting from the ground

than looking down on them from the 86th floor.

dad was happy though.

☝

us young city folk not impressed with said view.

about previously mentioned attempted kidnaping:

we were outside barnes & nobles waiting for our requested uber,

when a severely beaten up black car pulls up to the pavement (sidewalk, if you must).

Me, being the naive-easily-kidnaped type of gal, walks up to said vehicle,

the driver inside then holds up a green, laminated, homemade 'UBER' sign to the window.

If i had a drop of street smarts, 

I obviously would have had alert signals going off in my head and told him to kindly

piss off.

However, I had no such smarts.

I was all prepared to trust in humanity and mother karma 

to not let anything bad happen to me while

optimistically hopping into this strange mans, wannabe Uber car.

Thankfully, 

my girlfriend supervises me in life when i cannot 

and yanked me back before i could make anymore life threatening decisions.

our actual uber eventually came and we got home safely.

life lesson:

always double check the license plate number,

see if they know your name

(cos they should if they have the app)

and see if they can confirm the destination you put in the app.

-

after complying and completing all of my parents shopping + directional needs,

we eventually had free time to just mindlessly wonder around ny.

☝ I met up with the most fab headpiece designer Gloria Yu

then as fate would have it, 

unexpectedly bumped into model friend from hk Ben Cimmerbeck ☝

one of the best parts was meeting up with my high school bff michelle

who(whom?) i hadn't seen in...4-5 years???

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I mean, come onnnn

you can tell nothing but age has changed between us

when you still stand on the same side of each other when you take a picture!!!!!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

all of the above made nyc feel a bit more like home :)

-

i did a lot of skincare product shopping as you would know

if you've watched my latest youtube video.
*hint hint*
i also bought things that were not skin product related which is the first part of the video,
so just watch the first half and close the window when
i start the horribly narrated beauty review.

i will be disappoint if you haven't at least tried to watch the first 3 minutes.
(AT LEAST)..

on our last proper day we went to central park

which was/is glorious and restored my faith in humanity and all that is good in the world.

♥

.

.

.

so yeah,

that's it for the US blogs.

hope you've enjoyed reading them.

i know my story telling/writing methods are unorthodox,

but it's more fun that way.

i'll leave you with the X large version of my parents on a rock in central park

due to the fact my mums enthusiasm is priceless.

x

[A]