Rita versus New York City

the met: When I think back to my visit to the met I always have to use definitive articles to describe things. Like:

• “we waited in the line” 
• “we didn’t get to see the alexander mcqueen exhibit” 
• “we tried looking for the armory and got stuck in the american wing”
• “remember the creepy statue?” 

Okay so those four sentences basically sum up me and the best friend (Julie)’s trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Was I sad that I didn’t wait in the three hour long line to go see Savage Beauty, yes. But did Julie and I go get extra large taro bubble teas after the visit to the museum and forget all about it? Yes. 

recap: Did I get to spend yet another weekend with the bestie, Heck yes! Did i go to the MET and creep on statues, CHECK IT! Did I miss the McQueen Exhibit, unfortunately so. Did I cheer up and forget about the debacle once I had some bubble tea in my hand, YES!

Rita: 3

New York: 1

P.S. I do acknowledge that my win is fueled by the fact that often times I use food to placate my disappointment and that perhaps if I did not “eat my feelings” that perhaps this round may have gone to new york… and by perhaps i mean definitely. 

Flashback: It’s the summer of 1999 and you’re walking around in Chinatown. You are overloaded with sensory information; playing on some faraway radio is the thumping beats of the Thong Song, the sun is beating down, the smells of various Asian foods are wafting through the air. Then you see him. An old Chinese man with a large ball of dough. He is pulling it apart, hitting it on the table adding extra flour and bam boom kazaam and he’s holding a bowlfull of hand pulled noodles. 

Fast forward: Upon coming to New York I had a list of foods and restaurants I needed to try, the number one food on that list was hand pulled noodles. So I consulted the ever so trusting Yelp and picked a place with the most nondescript name:Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles. I went with my Chinatown obsessed friend Surveen. I got the wide hand pulled noodles in beef soup ($5) and it was delicious! The wait was a little long, but the whole time I was waiting I could hear the chef slapping the dough on the counter top and pulling apart the noodles, oh boy talk about fresh :)

Also another fave Chinatown eatery of mine is Prosperity Dumpling which is 5 dumplings for $1, and no I am not talking about those teeny tiny quarter sized dumplings. Each dumpling was close to the size of my fist and also they were arguably some of the best dumplings I have ever eaten. Then I had the dumpling soup ($2) and it was game over, I am currently debating whether or not I should go down right now to pick some up. 

recap: Did I just eat an outrageous amount of really authentic and fresh Chinese food for pocket change? yes. Were those soup dumplings made with unspeakable amounts of 味精, probably.

Rita: 2

New York: 1/2

So I am sorry about not updating for a month. I have really lame excuses up my sleeve for all my avid readers (hey mom!). But mostly I was just busy with work. 

What can I say about life in the city? It’s awesome! Sure it’s 100F and there are 500 people per square foot and the smells that awaken me are often that of garbage and mysterious subway fumes… oh wait i can’t remember the good stuff anymore.

Just Kidding! Summer in the city is fabulous! There are always great events going on in the city and a lot of them are free case in point Free Fridays at the MoMA. I went with Rheanna and we had a blast seeing all the installations… for FREE. Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso are some pretty big names but I enjoyed “cuando la fe mueve montanas” and “a story of deception” both by francis alys. “a story of deception” was probably one of the scariest films I have ever seen.

Up next is the Alexander McQueen Exhibit at the MET!

recap: Is New York melt your face off hot, smelly as junk, and packed like a Japanese subway? Yes. Does New York have really great events for cheap/free that I can enjoy with new found friends? Yes

Rita: 1

New York: 3

day 8| After reading a few blog posts, some of you might be wondering things like, “What are you doing in New York? Why do you eat so much food? What kind of conditioner do you use?” And while I will not answer the last two questions in this post, I will answer the first.

I work for a french beauty company called L’Oreal as a marketing intern. The brand i am currently under is called Yves Saint Laurent. I work in a pretty small team, so my first day was really intense and flew by really quick. I got a free breakfast and lunch. I had a bunch of material to read to familiarize myself with the beauty industry, the brand and most specifically fragrances. But best of all, in order to learn about my brand a little more, I got a bagful of makeup to play around with. Yay for free swag! But with great power comes great responsibility. I have almost 150 more pages of reading left to do. Yes kids, homework on the first day. 

recap: i work at a really fashionable company that feeds me and likes to give me free stuff. i also have to read and learn stuff. 

Rita: 1

New York: 1

P.S. my mom reads my blog!!! hi mom!

day 7| Sunday was the Philippine Independence Day Parade/cultural festival. It took place in Midtown and attracted thousands of Filipinos from around New York. There was yummy food, bubble tea, and souvenirs all for sale and all overpriced (didn’t stop me from partaking though!) It was really fun but after awhile Theresa and I got super tired and ended up sitting in Madison Square Park eating fishballs and people watching. Also there were famous people there.  

But before you get too excited I didn’t get to meet any of them because Filipinos get aggressive when it comes to famous people. Little Rita had no chance against Filipino Tito’s and Titas twice her size and their fanny packs. 

recap: Did i get swindled by the familiar smells of overpriced filipino homecooking, yes. Did a 200lb Filipina determined to go see Jericho Rosales attempt to decapitate me with her large purse full of yum yums, yes. 

Rita: 0

New York: 2

day 3-5| I’m sorry I haven’t been updating. I was busy celebrating my 21st birthday! To be honest I was a little scared of what it would be like celebrating my birthday in the city, I didn’t know that many people and I was scared it would just be Rita Party of 1. But to my surprise, I got to spend 2 days with my best friend Julie! Julie and I go waay back since fourth grade (i would post those pics but she would KILL me and probably use her government contacts to make it look like an accident). 

On wednesday (my real birthday) I started off the day with a peanut butter sandwich. Not just any peanut butter sandwich, I got the Elvis from the Peanut Butter Co. I had heard about the Peanut Butter Co from the Food Network and decided to check it out since it was only two blocks away from my dorm. My sandwich had chunky homemade peanut butter, deep fried bananas, and honey and was then panini pressed between two slices of thick whole wheat bread. Yeah I know you are jealous, because you should be and it’s ok. 

For dinner Julie bought me my first legal drink! A nice tall glass of sangria. Then we went to meet up with Theresa and Rouzel at Dallas BBQ in times square. Where we had more drinks (Long Islands and Bacardi 151 shots). Although I had a lot of fun, I have to comment on the fact that liquor in New York is really ridiculously expensive and I can see myself getting very very broke in the very very near future if I carry my drinking habits from Ann Arbor to New York. 

On Thursday I spent the day walking through the park. There are always people milling around and musicians in almost every corner of the park playing morning to night. While it’s beautiful, being involuntarily woken up everyday at 6 am by jazz music (especially when you are a little bit hungover) can get annoying. I then spent the night with Julie and went to a rooftop party with some of her friends from the magazine/journalism field. It was gorgeous and I’m sad i forgot to take any pictures (tumblr fail it won’t happen again). 

Friday I got sick. So I basically stayed in bed all day then went out to go celebrate my friend Josh’s Birthday with FASA alums Lisa and Ashley and made new friends! All I have to say about that night is that we drank and reminisced and laughed a lot. Oh and also we were ON A BOAT. Gangsters. 

recap: will i be trying out more peanut butter sandwiches from Peanut Butter and Co, definitely yes. will i be hanging out with Julie more this summer, HECK YEaH! will i try to get myself invited to more rooftop/boat events, Heck yeah! will I go broke buying liquor in New York, sadly probably yes. will i be involuntarily waking up at 6 am because of jazz music, probably yes. did i have a really great birthday, yes (from what I can remember). 

Rita: 4

New York: 2

day two | i started off the day with oatmeal with fruits and a huge buttery croissant, which i  ate so fast that i forgot to take a picture of. then the Baguyo sisters {who are both awesome and ridiculous} brought me over some Jollibee(!) for lunch. We wandered around manhattan for nine hours (not an exaggeration actually nine hours) and stopped by the M&M store (three stories of M&Ms!) and passed by many halal carts. which began a long conversation on what halal is.

Between the three of us (+louie), we never actually figured out what actually made something halal. But we did eat some halal food yesterday (at the halal cart on 53rd and 6th) which was delicious covered with yogurt sauce and hot sauce. if you don’t believe me, check out the 1710 reviews on yelp and the line! it was 10 at night and the line was so unbelievably long. 

recap: Will I be hanging out with the Baguyo sisters (+louie) more in the future, definitely yes! Will I be stalking halal carts all over New York like an addict, probably yes. Will i go shopping during the craziness that is Memorial day and lose my mind waiting in long lines in 85F weather and swipe my credit card so much it no longer reads, probably not. 

rita: 2 

new york: 1