New York, part 2

“I brought a couple packs of instant ramen if we get hungry at night,” my cousin Ifly said. As mentioned in my last post, she was going to New York for Fashion Week, and I was just along for the ride.

Isn’t it funny how family members are often those who simultaneously knows you the best, and also the least?

If we get hungry at night? I wasn’t sure whether I should have been amused or offended. For those who don’t know me, I am serious about eating, especially on vacation.

On my most recent trip to LA, we were literally having lunch when I decided to order takeout sushi from a restaurant down the street for a second lunch; obviously I needed something to snack on while watching beach volleyball afterwards. My only regret was not ordering more food, as it was delicious. (Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa FTW.)

For our New York trip, I was making dinner reservations at 5 pm so we could have room for a second dinner afterwards. Unfortunately those second dinners never panned out, as I had a very aggressive eating schedule that kept our stomachs full for most of the day.

Moreover, whenever I’d visit Taiwan my cousin would always take me to great places to eat…that is, after all, part and parcel of the Taiwanese culture. Which is why I was perplexed she thought she might need ramen in New York with me as her tour guide. I learned afterwards that she typically brings ramen when she travels, just in case she gets hungry at night. Plus, she had a bad experience the last time she visited New York: her host family didn’t do a good job feeding her (I was appalled as that’s a criminal offense in my book). In any case, we more than made up for that visit in what we ate.

This may sound silly, but to be honest I wasn’t sure what else you should do in New York other than eat. I’m not a huge fan of museums, but we did go to the Natural History Museum (it was fine). I’ve seen Broadway shows in the past, but didn’t feel compelled to see anything this time (also didn’t know what was good). We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, checked out the High Line, went to Hudson Yards and Chelsea Market, and it was great, but we didn’t need 10 days for all of that.

The one thing I will recommend is to go on a boat tour around Manhattan, as it offers a unique perspective of the city as well as the Statue of Liberty. I took a boat cruise on my last trip to New York, and this time I went out on a friend’s boat for a longer, more leisurely evening tour on the Hudson and East River. It was also awesome to catch up with my friend and meet his friends, as it was the first time we had met up since the pandemic.

Are there other activities I should have done in New York? Maybe I didn’t do enough research to see what the possibilities were, as I would have benefited from more calorie-burning outdoor activities. In recent years I’ve been planning less and less for my vacations, as I enjoy being spontaneous and assessing the situation in real-time versus scheduling everything out beforehand. Which isn’t to say there isn’t value in planning some things in advance, as popular restaurants or activities might be booked by the time you find out about them. That was the case with Cote, a popular Korean BBQ restaurant that I wasn’t able to dine at, and must return to try.

As with most things in life, I approach trips such as this one as an opportunity to learn more about myself: what I like, what I don’t like, and what I can do differently in the future. And to that end, New York taught me that yes, there is such a thing as eating too much good food, and I need to do more than just “walk it off” next time.