Why I’m Leaving Manhattan And Moving To Queens
June 18, 2013 § 5 Comments
In two weeks, I will be moving out of my East Village apartment all the way to Sunnyside, Queens. Some might wonder why I’d leave such an amazing neighborhood for some bufu land that even many New Yorkers have never heard of, but you’ll understand by the end of this post.
As you might recall from my move-in post, for the past nine months, I’ve been living in a two-bedroom with my roommate Catherine and her daughter C, who just turned 4. People give me weird looks when I tell them I live with a toddler, and I guess it’s for good reason. Who would want to live with someone else’s kid? And perhaps those people are correct. But more on that later.
My main reason for moving out was economical. Rent cost me $1180 per month, which is reasonable for the location, but with the additional $40-ish for utilities and astronomical $60 for cable/Internet (she subscribes to HBO/DVR/etc.), I paid almost $1300 every month. Of course, when I say “I paid,” I mean “my parents paid,” which makes me feel awful for being such a leech. In contrast, my new apartment in Queens is around $900 a month. That’s a $400 difference!! What the what!
That in itself is compelling enough, but there’s more!
Catching A Taping: The Daily Show
June 8, 2013 § 1 Comment
Upon returning to New York from a 3-week hiatus to the Midwest, I had a week and a half to kill before my summer internship started: It was the perfect time to take in all the free entertainment the city had to offer.
First up was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. My cousin Han had gone the previous month and told me all about the multi-step process:
1. Reserve tickets online (there are extra ones listed all the time here); this doesn’t guarantee entry, only the chance to pick up a physical ticket.
2. On the day of, line up outside the building (all the way on 11th Ave. and 51st St.) to get your actual ticket. They start handing them out at 2:30PM, but you should really get there by 1 if you want to ensure you’ll get in.
3. Once you get your ticket, they’ll tell you to come back at 4:30 for the actual taping. (Proceed to wander around Midtown West, where there is nothing to do and little public transportation other than…horse-drawn carriages.)
4. Return at the proper time — at this point, everybody has numbered tickets according to the previous line, so there’s no point in coming back any earlier — and line up in numerical order to file inside.
Last Days Of The Juice Cleanse And Why I Wouldn’t Do It Again
May 17, 2013 § 3 Comments
A lot of the unfortunate things that happened during the final two days of my juice cleanse are undoubtedly my fault, but it’s safe to say that I probably won’t ever do a store-bought cleanse ever again. (Day 1 here)
DAY 2
I woke up on Monday feeling groggy and ill (even after 8 hours of sleep), like I was hungover. It was probably dehydration from not drinking anything the entire night.
The nasty All Greens juice was actually quite refreshing first thing in the morning, though it still took me an hour to finish. I could feel my shriveled insides absorbing the liquid; the constant peeing didn’t start until 1.5 hours after I started juicing. I made sure to have lotion with me, otherwise my hands would’ve gone raw from all the hand-washing.
Liquiteria Juice Cleanse: Day 1
May 6, 2013 § 4 Comments
A juice cleanse isn’t meant to be taken lightly. Not only is it expensive, it’s also not as delicious as one might imagine (though maybe I’m the only one delusional enough to imagine such things). Such is what I learned on the first day of my Liquiteria cleanse.
Sunday started with a trip to the gym, where I biked while watching Bizarre Foods America (I learned that Andrew Zimmern hates oatmeal, of all things). The dishes might’ve been unusual, but it all looked delicious — even elk heart tartare topped with raw turkey egg yolk — and I started missing solid food before I even got any juice inside me.
auradis 