NYC, here I come!

Day 2 of Blogtember: If you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do?

I seriously had too much fun with this topic!  I've been thinking about it ever since the Blogtember topics list came out.  There's just so much I would love to do if I could take time off from my current life: run around the green hillsides of Ireland, stroll the cobblestone streets of Oxford, read a book at a cafe in Paris, ride a gondola in Venice, go bike riding in Amsterdam, wine tasting in Tuscany and eat lots of gelato in Rome.  But, as those dreams bounce around in my head, there's one place that my mind (and heart) just keeps going back to - New York City.

I've always wanted to live in Manhattan.  There is something about the energy of the city that speaks to me.  Then, last year, I stayed in Brooklyn for a week and immediately fell in love.  So, if I could take three months off to do anything in the world, I would go to NYC.  Alternate between living in a Manhattan penthouse apartment and a Brooklyn brownstone.  Where I'll write, write, and write.  Both places stimulate my psyche and imagination in different ways, and when I'm there, I just want to soak up everything, and then, describe it to the world.

Then, when I'm not writing, I want to have dinner parties in the rooftop garden of the fabulous apartment I'll be staying at, listen to live music at a cafe, sit quietly at the Met, and read a book in the center of Washington Square Park.

I want to wake up early in the morning and run across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Or around Battery Park.

Or get lost in the crowd in Central Park.

I want to spend afternoons sitting next to a friend and looking at this view.

Or this.

Or under this massive tree.

And some days, I may just want to escape it all, and take the ferry to Staten Island:

So, that's what I would do (and so much more) if I had three months to do anything in the world - I would live in NYC and fall in love every single day.

What would you do?
 

the travel bug

I know I just came back from a vacation, but I already feel like I need another one.  Since I can't really go on another one for awhile, I decided to just write about them and live in memories of travels past.

Five years ago, I went on a two-week trip to Europe.  One of the cities I visited was Avignon, France.  I had never heard of the place before, but I had always wanted to go to the south of France, and since I liked the sound of Avignon, I chose it as one of our destination spots.

I instantly fell in love with the place.  The people were really friendly and there was this relaxing and peaceful small town feel to it.  I also met a nice (and very cute) French waiter who offered to show me around the town.  After some thought, I took him up on his offer.  We met up at a cafe near my hotel after he got off work, and we spent the afternoon walking, walking, and more walking.  It's not a very big place, so we pretty much walked around in circles.  When we finally sat down to take in the view of the whole town, we talked about poetry, traveling, our dreams and goals.  Although he only spoke some English and I spoke even less French (with all the wrong pronunciations), we were able to communicate pretty well.  It was one of those dreamy, made-for-movie type of afternoon.

(Of course, after my friend watched the movie Taken, she scolded me about wandering off with a stranger.  And, just to let you know, I wouldn't normally walk around a foreign place with a complete stranger, but he seemed harmless.  He was the waiter at this fancy restaurant we went to, so at least I knew where he worked!  I know, excuses, excuses.  So, in case you find yourself traveling in some foreign place and a cute stranger offers to show you around town, do use your discretion and be cautious!  In my case, we had a lovely afternoon.  And I never saw him again.)

But, one day, I hope to see Avignon again.

Avignon, France

May 2008

Carroll Gardens

I've been sitting in front of the computer all morning, trying my very best to write this memorandum that's due on Monday.  But, my mind keeps wandering to some other place I'd rather be.

I've been feeling this longing, a missing of some sort.  A homesick kind of feeling.  For a place far away from the one I call home, but for some reason, felt more like home to me.

I never really believed in love at first sight.  Others who know me may find that hard to believe since I've been branded as hopelessly romantic, but I've always thought that love took time.  Perhaps, it's the cautious person inside of me who doesn't allow myself to be swept away by emotions.  Because I thought emotions were fleeting. I've always been one who was suspicious of men who fell too hard too fast because as experience had taught me, they were also the ones who were gone as soon as newness seamed into familiar.

But, the moment I stepped onto the sidewalk on Smith Street, I thought this is what love at first sight must feel like.  It took only an instant, a millisecond.  And I fell in love with that corner of Brooklyn.  But, it was more than a feeling or an emotion.  I knew.  I love this place.  And I want to be here.

I want to be there.

Carroll Gardens | October 2012

a photograph and its stories

I've always been a fan of photographs.  I can be pretty obsessed with them.  In fact, I tend to think that if I was braver and more daring, I would have skipped on law school and taken photography classes instead.  I guess my love for photographs makes sense since I love stories and a single photograph can tell many stories - from the perspective of the subject, the photographer, and the viewer.  Then, there's the real story.  

I took this picture while I was wandering around the streets of Rome.  Rome is one of my favorite places to take pictures.  There are so much going on at any given time of the day - so much stories to be found and to be told.  The tourist couple who are turning their heads at every angle trying to capture the history that surrounds them.  The woman sitting by a fountain, smiling after each time she licks the ice cream that is quickly melting from the heat and dripping from the cone in her hand.  The group of teenage girls sitting on the steps of an old church, laughing as a teenage boy dances in front of them.  And the lone girl who throws a coin over her head into the Trevi fountain.  What did she wish for?   

And there was this view from the rooftop of the apartment I stayed at during my last visit to Rome.  It was right before sunset, and we were high enough that the street noise were just muffled sounds, and in fact, at that time of day, almost inaudible.  The only sounds that could always be heard clearly were the bells coming from St. Peter's Square.  Every time I look at this picture, I remember why I believed (and still do) that Rome is a place where hearts can be healed and spirits restored.