New York, New York

I have just come to realise that New York is the city in which I have spent the second longest period of time in over the last eight years.

May 2000 - First visit with my ex; my wallet got pickpocketed on Broadway on a busy Friday night; we did all the tourists sights including the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State building; I add to my magnet collection one of the Twin Towers

Sep 2002 - Last-minute change-of-plans to come to America for the rest of my summer holiday after having broken up with my Ex; I hang out with friends in Columbia and spend most of my time uptown; I receive marriage proposals after having cooked for some starving homesick Singaporean students

Jul 2003 - 3 weeks in NY for "training" where the UK kids ended up colluding on our final project; I watch a Yankee game and decide that baseball isn't my thing; we stayed at the Waldorf-Astoria and got a real kick from telling cab drivers our address

Nov 2003 - I visit my ex (another one) and the trip culminates in us deciding to break up; my first Thanksgiving in the States and I brought pumpkin pie to the party; I get picked up by a 50-something Austrian-Italian model while sampling apples at Union Sq farmers' market

Oct 2004 - I pop over to visit my best friend; I remember cinnamon-scented coffee at brunch at Florent's; on the flight back, I meet the guy who is going to plague me for the next 3 years

Apr 2005 - I pop over for my best friend again; it snows the first day I arrive, surprising given the time of the year; I went up to the Cloisters as my first NY touristy activity in 5 years; I remember brunch at Florent's again

2006 - there are no NY trips this year as I focus on moving to SF

Feb 2007 - I come to NY with Ming and CY; we stay at Chris' ridiculous $10k a month corporate apartment on Times Sq; we go to a Fashion Week show and an afterparty at Soho Grand; we also go to Jersey for dinner and admire the NY western skyline from there

May 2007 - Mar 2008 - I live in an amazing one-bedroom apartment in the West Village with lovely doormen; I shop more and end up with more pretty dresses than I can wear; I fall in love with Waverly Inn; I go on more dates than I ever did in London, with not much success; I battle the advances of my boss at work; I learn to cope without my friends and also to spend time with myself; I get a huge-ass fire-engine red Kitchenaid mixer; I attain Flying Club Gold after making too many trans-Atlantic flights; I finally rid myself of a ghost (see Oct 2004 trip)

Nov 2008 - I am recharging batteries after a pretty draining month; I revisit my haunts in NY and remember all the little things I miss about it; and since I am still here now, the rest of the story still needs to be written...

Appropriate footwear

Today was an exceptionally soggy day in London. Usually London rain comes in the form of a light drizzle, which whilst irritating, still allows people to go about most of their daily business without requiring a brollie. But today, the rain decided to fall hard enough to create puddles everywhere. By the time I got into work, my feet were almost soaked. Wet feet are possibly one of these worst ways to start your day (short of the horror of finding a long queue at the coffee store)

Anyway, if this was New York, everyone would be in their wellies. Stylish girls would be in their pastel coloured Hunters or Marc Jacobs wellies. And even the not-so-stylish girls would be in appropriate footwear. (I didn't stay long in NY enough to acquire a pair of these myself, but I certainly had my eye on a pair of baby blue Hunters.)

Now, London being a city which experiences more annual rainfall than NY, why don't people wear appropriate footwear around? Is it because Londoners inherently don't like making life easier for themselves, preferring to have the pleasure of moaning about wet feet instead?

It does seem as though the English pride themselves on a stoicism which on the one hand, represents great tolerance and endurance. However, this pride also allows for self-indulgence in the form of constant moaning about things not working, instead of them getting off their arses to get it done.

People tend to take on the character of the city they live in, or vice versa. Before I left London, I was definitely feeling defeated even before having tried and was ever so weary. This time around, I am feeling revived and energetic and ready to take on this city all over again. But it will be change in small steps and I will pick my battles this time, wearing the appropriate footwear of course!

NYLON. I meant New York - London rather than the synthetic fibre. It is a relatively easy crossing to make. From NY, leave in Fri evening, arrive Sat morning, leave Sunday evening and arrive Sunday evening, in time for work the next day. From London, leave Fri evening, arrive Fri evening, leave Sunday evening and arrive Monday morning in time for work. And because you're going for such a short period, you don't need more than a cabin bag's worth of clothing/stuff so you're out of the airport as quickly as customs will permit it.

It does get a little absurd though when you've done your fourth NYLON crossing in nine months. And in the case of the last crossing, I only told less than 5 people because I feared friends were getting a little sick of seeing me back in London again. I was afraid people would figure out that I wasn't all that happy in NY and that's why I keep going back to London to seek refuge.

It does sound a little crazy for one to say that they are not enjoying NY. I mean, what is there not to enjoy about it? The fact that my dry-cleaning gets picked up and dropped off at my building without me ever having to go to the dry-cleaners? The fact that I can get any food I want delivered to my doorstep? The fact that cabs are cheap and plentiful? The fact that I have been on more dates in the last nine months than I did in four years in London? The fact that I have an amazing apartment with an amazing location?

I *have* enjoyed NY. But I have also come to realize that my heart is in London. I have become far closer to some of my friends in London over the past 9 months in NY. And I miss them terribly. I also miss the stoic English sensibility. And I feel superficial and uncultured over here. People seem to be too busy chasing the next better thing. Oh and I also shop waaaaay too much over here - combination of convenient Internet shopping and proliferation of pretty things around. Oh and the boys in London - well, that's for another entry...

I am not sure how many more NYLON crossings I will be doing or where I will end up, but I just wanted to put this down for now.

p.s. yes, I am alive!

Friday November 16th

Rejection is a bitter pill to swallow as I have learnt this week.

I went on a date on Monday night with someone who never called me back. I even swallowed my pride and text-ed him on Wed to say what a good time I had. Big blow to the ego because I thought I had that one in the bag. Admittedly I was a little harsh on him. (I am really not an easy girl to date, but more about that in another post.)

And that's after what I thought was a date on Sunday night turned to be not a date. He just sees me as a friend and is comfortable enough with me to tell me almost his entire dating history. I don't want guys to be comfortable with me, I want them to be slightly nervous in my presence coz they want to win me over. I want both of us to be slightly nervous initially coz we both want so much for the other one to be fond of them.

Anyway, by the end of the week, my ego was feeling rather fragile and I was feeling like a worthless human being.

But God works in funny ways. On my way to pilates, some guy came up to me and pulled the cheesiest pick-up line ever. "Excuse miss, do you work in fashion? Are you interested in fashion? You look like a very stylish type who must be somehow connected to fashion." It was painfully cheesy but it did the trick. It made me smile for the first time in the day. A girl just needs a compliment every now and then. :)

So this guy, just to add to the cheesiness of the encounter, is an aspiring writer. He is supposed to email me some of his writing for me to critique. Heh.

Thank you, God or whoever out there, for havin some humour.

Sunday October 7th

So I have not gotten around to baking and using my souffle cups yet. I have had friends from London in town. Plus I am also down with a cold and feeling rather sorry for myself at the moment. *cue for buckets of sympathy pour in*

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Last night I was riding the subway on the way to a dinner party when a fight broke out between two guys. It wasn't clear what the fight had been about. It looked as though it could have been one of those fights which broke out coz one guy gave the other guy the wrong look or something minor like that. But it did get pretty heated.

It took a while before people intervened. I suppose everyone was a little cautious and were waiting to understand the circumstances before getting involved. And I think they also waited for a critical mass to gather -strength in numbers. At first, I didn't understand why it took so long for civic intervention. Upon reflection, I realised we are all human and we are all afraid to some extent.

But I didn't feel fear last night as I watched the fight unfold in front of my eyes. I watched, indifferent but entertained as though I was watching another episode of Law and Order. (Incidentally, I have watched about 6 hours of L&W:Criminal Intent already too. Blessed be the TV executives who came up of the idea of TV marathons.)

To some extent, I had faith that my fellow passengers would be able to restrain the fighters. And maybe the fact that they were fighting one-on-one also reassured me that they wouldn't intentionally harm other passengers. And maybe also I don't fear injury or death? I feel that I've lived my life fully and would not have too many regrets.

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My local Korean restaurant wasn't picking up the phone tonight, so no spicy sundubu for me. :( For the uniniatited, sundubu is a comforting spicy soup/stew of tofu and seafood. That would have hit the spot tonight.

Instead, I made myself a big pot of chicken soup with all the ingredients I had to hand which I know my mom would have put into soup. Chicken bones, onion, corn, goji berries and dried scallops. Of course, mom would have had a lot more such ingredients to hand and the soup would have tasted richer, redolent of a mother's love.

7 years away from home...

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6 hours of L&O:CI. Maybe it's time to change the channel?

Thursday 27th September

I now have 1000 paper souffle cups in 4 different sizes being sent to me. Not to mention the other 125 plastic souffle cups on the same order. (Yes, I have been really really really bored in the office.) And those souffle cups will go towards fulfilling my Stepford Wife ambitions. They are going to be so perfect for turning out cute little muffins/babycakes and maybe even souffles if I get ambitious enough.

I have effectively not been working for the past 9 months. I show up in the office, look pretty, surf the internet lots, give my gimps work, plan my social life, check my gimps' work, plan my vacations and of course, write my blog. This lifestyle is great for a while, but now my brain has turned into mush and I have lost all career ambition.

As one of my bosses put it, with this job, you're only happy when you're busy, but when you're busy, you're also pissed off about being so busy.

But it worries me that I no longer want to do any work. My first thoughts whenever I am given any work is: is this going to get in the way of my social engagements? is this going to screw my weekend? I miss feeling excited about my work. I miss feeling engaged.

Not having worked in a cut-throat "male" situation for a while, I am starting to soften and feel myself becoming more stereotypically "female" in my career aspirations. I used to want to quit this to become a corporate bigwig. Now I am thinking maybe I should do something relatively easy but lucrative like say hedge fund investor relations. All I will need to do is look pretty and flirt with clients, definitely playing to my strengths there. And of course, this would give me more time to bake and cook.

Oh yes, my brain is definitely turning to mush. As a reminder, I have 1000 paper souffle cups and 125 plastic souffle cups in the mail to me. Maybe I should join Bimbos Anonymous?

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Only in NYC. I was at the fruit juice stand earlier today. The lady ahead of me had ordered apple juice and when she received it, she complained. "Are you sure this is apple juice? But it doesn't look like it does in the store." If you have ever seen freshly squeezed apple juice from the juicer, you will know that it is at first murky, but slowly settles to be clear golden-coloured juice with a foamy top. But in this metropolitan city like NYC, who juices their own juice anymore? Juice comes in a bottle from the store. Just like how vegetables come pre-cut for stirfries and chicken comes as breast/thigh/drumstick rather than as a whole chicken. Convenience culture, only in NYC.

Wednesday August 22nd

I was interviewing for jobs during the last downturn in 2002. That and my state of depression for not having found a job made it very difficult to find a job. During that period, I considered alternative non-banking, non-consulting careers including becoming a Singapore Girl ("Coffee, tea or me?") and becoming a bartender (they just looked too cool). Fortunately or unfortunately, I eventually found a job in i-wanking.

But there's always been a part of me which wondered how it would have been like if I'd pursued alternative careers. Which is why I particularly enjoyed reading "Cosmopolitan" by Toby Cecchini. He is a a bloody good bartender who also writes bloody well.



And last night, I met the guy! :) I felt like a teenage groupie when I walked up to the bar and asked, "You don't happen to be the guy who wrote the book right?" Anythin that came out of my mouth to him the rest of them night just sounded so juvenile and lame. I was in the presence of one of my heroes. *gush*

FYI, he bartends at his Chelsea bar, Passerby, on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

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I was at Passerby to attend networking drinks for the Slow Food Convivum of NYC. I met some pretty interesting people there, including the guy who heads it and his wife. This blog did start as a documentary of my efforts to make new friends in NYC, after all. Anyway, I will be trying to get involved with the Slow Food movement in future. It's a cause I can actually identify with and potentially feel passionate about.

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So shall we grab that drink tomorrow?

Grabbing drinks with Porsche Guy tonight. I'm nervous, more nervous than I have been for other recent dates. There was just something during the conversation we had on the ride back to London, something that makes me want to find out more about him. Fingers crossed.

Thursday 9th August

I nearly got into a bar fight last night. You heard it here first. Actually I might even have had a choice of bar fights last night.

We had some work drinks last night and one of the analysts punched some random short fat guy who had the misfortune of being from Greenwich. There was blood and the police came. But this was after I'd left. We were at a cheesy karaoke joint and the beer and bad singing were a sign of times to come. In my usual avoid-trouble-before-it-hits manner, I made an early exit to meet the Bulgarian.

The Bulgarian was having drinks with his friend in the Lower East Side. I would be lying if I said I didn't hope for some developments with the Bulgarian, but I think we are probably long past that by now. A shame because I usually have fun when I am out with him.

Anyway, he was spoiling for a fight last night and deliberately provoked the guys next to us at the bar. At one point, there was some pushing ad shoving. But the Bulgarian is experienced in provoking fights, and he not only managed not to get into an actual fight, but he also convinced the bouncers that the other guys were the aggressors and got us free drinks.

I guess my opening sentence wasn't entirely true, I was just hoping to shock you.

New Friend tally: none, only office colleagues and an old friend

Drinks tally: 2 rum-based long drinks, half a martini (ironically named Detox Delight) and 3 glasses of champagne

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I find nightfall to be a witching time, somewhat hyper-real and somewhat surreal. It is the time when people are most honest, but it is also the time when things said need have no correspondence with things to be said in the day. What should you believe?

Friday 3rd August

So how did I get to eating greasy pizza after having 1.5 glasses of wine and between 3-4 vodka tonics?

The night started in the West Village where I met up with 2 guys from ASW who also live in the hood for drinks. As expected, both were non-Americans. Why expected? Well, coz natives don't tend to go out to meet strangers and make new friends. Why should they? They already have their own social groupings. More musings on being an expat to follow in later post.

I headed down to a cheesy lounge in the Lower East Side as it was the farewell drinks for the 1st year analysts who were in NY for training. To keep up with the crowd and maybe also to appear cool, I had to keep up with the kids in drinking.

So, sorry to disappoint but there were no scandalous stories from my evening. As I said in my previous post, I am good at takin myself home before I get into trouble.

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Only in New York - FlexPetz!!

"a new membership service coming this fall that lets you reserve doggy time to fit your schedule. New Yorkers can pre-register now to select a fully trained rescue pup — like Pirate the Boston terrier or Jackpot the Lab — and fetch him for a few hours (or a few days) of playtime."

The four-legged friends come with beds, water bowls, and GPS-equipped collars, not to mention custom leashes for walks, so you can continue to keep your place spotless.

Someone once commented that many New Yorkers have pets because they are such lonely individuals. Which makes a lot of sense except most New Yorkers live in tiny cramped apartments with little space for themselves, let alone a pet. And most New Yorkers are at work most of the day, with limited time to spend with their pets. So from a purely pragmatic point of view, this pet rental service is a great business idea. But pet rental??!!!

Only in New York.