New York City - the First Day

I originally wrote the backbone for the following in a notebook on the 10th of April.

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If there's one thing you can count on, it's Starbucks. It is the same everywhere, and the standard of the drinks are (more or less) consistent. Consider, as an example, my favourite drink - the mocha. No matter which Starbucks I head to, it is the same frothy mix, with just the right dash of mocha, no cream (I do without whip cream), and that oh-so-sweet aroma.

In any case, Starbucks is about the only thing I have gotten right about my trip to NYC so far. So what is so wrong with my trip then?


Well, I have NO friends here!


But well, it's not all doom and gloom. Grace reminded me that Jesus is everywhere - he sure is, he made me feel right at home in a place away from home. Also, having no one to rely on here does force one to speak up and be counted.

The thing I do miss though is the 'talking' (I can't believe I said that). It is hard being by yourself, and having no one familiar to talk to. Sure, it beats having to talk even when you don't want to (sometimes you're just expected to), but one does sure miss decent conversations. For example, if Grace were around, I will be asking her where we would go. She will be asking me where I think we should go, and I will say 'I don't know, what do you think?'. We never really decide - we push responsibility back and forth until one capitulates (me).

Another thing about me being in NYC - I have too much time on my hands. I'm thinking of just grabbing a book and reading to my heart's content, but that isn't a good way to while away the time, isn't it? (I mean, I'm in NYC for goodness' sake!) Oh, but that is so me - when I'm all alone by myself, I just want to do things I love - reading being one.

In other news, everything I eat here in the Big Apple is BIGGER (see, even NYC's moniker is BIG). I had a sandwich for breakfast and it came in 2 parts - I was burping after chomping down one portion and had some difficulty eating the rest of it. I hate to think what I'm going to eat for dinner. Probably McDonalds. Also, Starbucks doesn't exactly have very cheap breakfast - I need to find someplace cheaper to chow breakfast.

Hmm, I can see Columbia University from here. Where I'm staying is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which is a kind of yuppie neighborhood to the west of Central Park. Occupying much of the space here is Columbia Uni. I had a short walk through the campus earlier and it felt refreshing to see that they're very much like NUS back home (Ok, not so much, but they do have similarities). Apparently, it was election time and there were posters everywhere advertising folks who want to get elected into some council or other. Interesting - back home, we also photostat our ads and put cheesy lines such as 'Elect the Supremes, the folks who convince administration to clear garbage like this every weekend'.

Oh, time to go. The Big Apple awaits.