New York City in a Nutshell

Too Darn Cute- 1950's Royal Typewriter in Cherry Red

You know whoever thought of the LUXE City Guides is genius, maybe I should start my own Nutshell series.

The 18 plus hours flight to New York was surprisingly bearable. The immigration officer at JFK airport asked me if I were traveling alone and how old I was. When I told him I would be turning 23 in July, he was visibly surprised and said I looked 12.

Dang, I was gunning for 18 for 12’s fine, I guess.

Before I begin my long chant of foodie endeavours, I feel I should take some time out to thank my hosts. New York City was awesome because of them. I think the tough cookie city would have been slightly unbearable on my own. Though most New Yorkers I met were very friendly, it isn’t a city that drew you into its embrace.

Curtain call.


Me, Paulina and Dawn

Robert was last introduced on this blog as "someone over breakfast". Though at time of email request, we were like third or fourth degree friends, he was kind enough to lend me his couch, henceforth making me eternally in his debt (or at least in the next ten years).

Paulina, whom I knew since I was a kid, is my one of my elder sister's oldest friends. I really wasn't expecting to spend much time with her since my younger sister had clued me in on how busy she was. However not only did we manage to meet up every evening for dinner, she took me out for Sunday brunch and shopping around Downtown, thereby sacrificing precious sleep recuperation.


Rob and Ed


Paulina and Dawn


Dawn and I

Then, there was Ed, Robert's housemate, who would seriously work for gelato (as in he walked into Grom and … ); Dawn, who reminded me of Tinkerbelle from Peter Pan and would no doubt look pretty good in a organza-ish mini dress; Philip, who was busy picking Peonies in Philly; and Chervin, who made sure I sought his permission to post his picture and had the correct spelling of his name (by the way, Chervin, Microsoft Word doesn’t recognize your name).

I also met many others over dinner at Noodle Pudding, who helped shape the human side of New York City. I’m really glad we had dinner together every night. Every meal shared was an extra opportunity to get to know each other a little better. There wasn’t even a need for ice breakers (it wasn’t exactly speed-dating); just state name and degree of association and before anyone realized, we were sharing food and picking off each others’ plates.





Walking around mostly on my own really helped open me up to the world of small talk. I know talking to strangers isn’t exactly the must-learn survival tip of the decade but I felt the compulsion to strike up a conversation with strangers, salespersons, fellow shoppers, neighbor diners whoever, whenever, wherever. And guess what, people actually talked back!

In Singapore, there is never any real physical fear. Even with a terrorist on the run, 99.9% of us still go about our daily lives as if caught in a rewind-and-play mode. There is however a perennial fear of judgment and I guess being in a foreign land does help people shed that phobia.







Spring was sprouting in New York City and the weather was great. Though it was a little chilly when I first arrived, by the end of my trip, I was in short sleeves.

Note to self: Skinny jeans after Day 2 - not such a good idea.

Back to Real Time.

The 1000 Journals Project

The 1000 Journals Project is an ongoing collaborative experiment attempting to follow 1000 journals throughout their travels. The goal is to provide a method for interaction and shared creativity among friends and strangers.

One of those things that gave me goosebumps due to the sheer size of the project and how ordinary people like you and I contributed to it because it revealed something within us that was lost of we went about our daily lives.