Post 98: NYC
I went to NYC right before Corona Virus was detected. It was supposed to be a celebration for getting a job.
I think this blog will be pretty high level as I started to create a visual journal and am doing some art work on that. It goes into detail on what I saw and how I felt each day in depth. I think, for here, I will put a load of pictures that I absolutely loved day by day with a highlight on where I went. I may end up doing that for the Australia post too. :)
Overall, it was a nice time to be by myself. I just needed a change of scene from California. I would have loved to go to Japan, but the Corona Virus is so strong there. Then I wanted to go to England….Germany would have been nice, but I wanted to relax and not worry about speaking the language. But then I was worried about the Corona Virus, so I opted for NYC. Turns out NYC was going to be a hub for Corona Virus just a week or so after I left. I was extremely cautious the whole trip. I bought portable soap in case there was no soap available and plenty of portable hand sanitizer. I generally stay away from people and this was no different.
I was only in Times Square my first and second day….well, passing through it. On Thursday, it was rainy and they decided to make the Colbert Show to be no audience on Thursday instead of the following Monday. But even shortly after that, they just closed it down and did it from home.
I could really feel the urgency from the city. On Thursday, it was really rainy and hardly anyone out in Central Park. Though on Friday it was nice out and there were A LOT of people. I heard a lot of Russian sounding languages spoken. It was really a melting pot. Though, I wonder how much of the crowd was people from NYC and how many were visiting. I really miss Central Park and spent most of my time walking around there. I promised myself I would not go on the subway at all, and I didn’t. I was too nervous about Corona Virus spread to others including myself. I did not want to risk it.
The government decided to close all international travel to and from Europe except the UK. There was a grace period of a couple days (effective Friday to Saturday at Midnight). I was nervous I would not be able to get back to SF on Saturday…but then I remembered that there was a grace period for the international flights…..so I relaxed.
On the way home, I had a whole row in Comfort + to myself. I was going to upgrade, since less people on the flight, but the guy at the counter told me to save my money as I had a whole row. So, win for that. I asked my husband to pick me up, because I was nervous to take the BART back home….I wanted to keep separated as much as possible.
I still had about 2 weeks before starting the job, and now it was shelter in place….so I can’t do shit. I am actually quite thankful for that. I got to relax, exercise, and do things without guilt….as mentioned in the previous blog.
Ok….so to the pictures:
Day 1 (Monday, March 9): Arrival and Walk around - Times Square and Central Park
Day 2 (Tuesday, March 10): All the way down south of Manhattan to Rockefeller Park. I just wanted to go to Laughing Man Coffee. I ended up buying 4 pairs of shoes at Fluevog and Fly London. I did not want to walk through all that any other day….it was already hard enough finding toilets. Though, in the morning, I ran 4 miles…all in all walked 40,000 steps.
Day 3 (Wednesday, March 11): Hung out with Harold for a bit in the Early afternoon and went to lunch with Harold and his buddy. Then just walked around. After Harold went home to take his aunt to Costco (good luck with that shit-show!) I went to an art store just a little south from Madison Square Garden.
Day 4 (Thursday, March 12): Cold and rainy as fuck. Not a lot of people out. I went up the Upper East Side on Park Ave. I also went into the Apple Store. WAAAAAY too many employees, and not a lot of people at all. I thought Park Ave. would have more stores…but that is Madison Ave (5th). I went through Central Park and then back down on the Upper West Side…..kinda grungy on Broadway….I saw my old apartment. There is a Pho place under it now instead of the Chinese place.
Day 5 (Friday, March 13): Kept close and walked a lot through Central Park. It was a lovely day.
Day 6 (Saturday, March 14): I was eaten by mosquitos or bedbugs or something. My skin was so dry, I went to Sephora to find hand lotion. Holy fuck my skin was cracked. All in all, it was a good break, but I am happy to be home due to the pandemic. I hope everyone is safe.
