TRVLS & COMIDA

January 2023- New York City 

Bagels, Donuts & Pizza- Our 72 hours in NYC.

After 4 hours flight we arrived. We took a shuttle bus from the airport to the train, to the train to the hotel. As soon as I sat down, I got situated where I landed. This girl seating next to me is talking on the phone with a friend, with a very thick accent and she sounds like she is about to beat somebody.

Her voice was screeching and she was saying that her dumb friend had a baby with this loser and now she is trapped, suffering the consequences. I really wish she was on a speaker so I could heard both sides of the conversation. The girl on the phone was getting more and more aggravated, cussing like she had no mother. I had two realizations at that moment : I had definitely became the aunt and two we had just landed in New York City. 

The city is the definition of chaos. The sound, the pollution, the smell and even the crazies make the city what it is. Concrete jungle the dreams are made of. Would I live there? Absolutely yes. For someone who grew up in Rio, New york feels like home. Expensive and abusive with their people. But so is Denver. At this point I dont think there is a cheap place to live anywhere in the planet. Unless you want to live in places like Oklahoma and Alabama, but in those places you also dont make any money. So might as well live in the center of the world.

“I dont want to live in a palace in KoKomo Indiana, I want to live in Manhattan” 

I saw a TikTok recently about how people barf on New York apartment prices and they usually state that for that amount of price they could be living in a mansion in Kokomo, Indiana. The person proceeded and I agree. I dont want to live in a mansion in Indiana, I want to live in a trendy place in New York City. Having to drive 45 minutes to the nearest Walmart its not my thing. 

New York City is loud. 

So loud I could hear the noises from the 30th floor in my hotel room. People cross the street carelessly, walk without stopping, bikers pass by you like a flash of light. According to a local friend, they know if you live in the city or not by the way you cross the street. Or by the way you ignore people offering you touristic stuff on Times Square. Don’t get scammed into taking pictures with characters. Elmo tend to charge a lot. 

Times Square is also so bright. 

Josh said that if feels like Las Vegas and Chicago had a baby, and New york is their baby.  It was his first time visiting and he loved it. The first thing we did when we dropped out bags on the hotel was walk around to find some place to eat. We found a pizza joint a few blocks from us and its cheaper than I expected. At night, we walked to Times Square to see the billboards and the stores, we walked so much to the point I unexpectedly found the McGee Pub, on 52 Street.

McGee was the pub who inspired the bar on How I met your Mother, where Barney and the gang hang out on every episode of the show. As soon as you walk, it makes you feel like you are in the show. Pictures of the cast on the wall, from the show, newspapers with articles about it and the decoration. Its definitely a place to visit, even if you didn’t watch the show.

Everything in the bar feels familiar and if you did watch the show, you will be quoting Barney and Ted’s catchphrases for the time you are there. The menu has dishes referring to episodes/situations from the show and drink menu are also inspired on it. I drank the Robin Sparkles, which is similar to a cosmopolitan. The menu also had Duck tie and the Pinapple incident. Josh even bought a Legen-Dary shirt as a souvenir to bring home. We took some pictures outside and after so much walking, got back to the hotel. I slept for 12 hours. 

Day 02 

Central Park, Friends Building, Soho, K-town. 

The coolest thing about getting lost in Central Park, is because it always makes you feel like you are in a movie scene. From Made in Manhattan (2003) to Bride Wars (2009), 13 going on 30 (2004)  and Down to you (2000), everything makes you feel like you are a character from a movie.

Carriages, musicians playing the Saxphone, people taking photos and locals exercising. Normal life happening. We walked about 20 minutes and we only got to see ⅓ of what the entire area of Central Park really is. We jumped on the train to Greewhich Village to see the Friends building, a very popular place to take photos. Instead of the show’s Central Perk, they have a small bistro restaurant called Little Ow, that it was being remodeled at that moment.. 

Another train, another neighborhood.

Joe and the juice and their tasteless vegan shake. I tried to be healthy among all the pizza I was eating and I ended up paying a high price for disappointment. Should have just stick to the pizza. The only sweetness from that vegan shake was when I accidentally found pieced of dates. Then I was sad again.

Josh liked his, whic was a strawberry REGULAR shake. We walked around SoHo, visited some stores and head back to the hotel. At night we went to meet our friend Six and Kan, to have hot chocolate at Bryant Park. We walked some more, kept moving to K-town, the Korean neighborhood, with Food Halls and korean restaurants.

New York has everything in a walking distance, and I can prove it.  We had a great time with our friends  and I wish we could stay, so we could have our own sitcom show. Can you imagine? One Brazilian, one Brazilian/Chinese, a Japanese and a guy from Indiana. Living in New York. That would be a show I would write and watch it. 

Day 03 

Brooklyn Bridge and Dumbo. 

The last part of the map to conquer. If you are going to New York, get yourself a good pair of shoes, because you are going to walk miles without even notice. On the last morning in the city, we decided to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. Yes, in January, on a super windy day. The Manhattan skyline from the bridge is amazing. I walked by fast because I hate heights. So even thought it was beautiful to see, I was just rushing throught because it sure freaks me out. 

Once we were out of the bridge, we were confused which way was Dumbo.

Left. After the overpass, take a left. Josh loved Brooklyn and so did I. So the conversation started with “do you want to move here?” the real question was “do you think we can afford to live here?” I would love to, but I honestly don’t think we can afford it. At least not yet. Once the youtube channel takes off and we have some passive income (and our regular jobs) we can definitely do it. 

We walked to Times Rooftop, located in Dumbo, where there is a food hall, with a lot different options of international food, drinks and of course a rooftop, great for instagram pictures.  I was not even hungry, but I decided to have some doughnuts, just for the heck of it. I got hibiscus and Josh got the chocolate one.

surprise on how nice everyone was with us. Like you have their feeling that everyone in New York is just rude all the time, but we got the best of it. I honestly rather have the rudeness of New York than the fakeness of LA. 

To complete our day in Brooklyn, we kept walking and I’m pretty sure I saw Dan Humphrey apartment, from Gossip Girl. Like I said, if you are a big movie fan, you will find yourself feeling familiar with a lot of places in New York. 

I’m entertaining the idea of eventually move there at some point. I just need the youtube channel to get monetized. Which I still have a long way to go. Slowly, but surely.  

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