Saturday at 3 p.m. in Union Square, a mass of people wielding stuffed weaponry gathered to wage war. When the clock struck, it was every man/woman for him/herself! Feathers flew. People took cheap shots to the faces, backs, and stomachs of strangers. There were squeals and screeches rivaling that of any pack of sixteen-year-old girls. In short, it was an epic event and pure, ridiculous fun (the best kind, in my opinion).
Apparently this awesomeness occurs annually around the globe. Check out this website and mark your calendars for next year's pillow fight in the city nearest you, or organize your own if you don't see you city on the list!
Oh, and the best part is, when you're done you get to donate your pillow to an animal shelter and give some adorable puppy or kitten a super soft, awesome bed. As you can see, there's just no downside to pillow fighting! (Get it?? Downside? Chuckle chuckle....)
Horrible puns aside, it was really a blast. Check out picks below of the event!
My Dad was in town this weekend and he and Taka took my new roommate and me out for Chinese brunch, otherwise known as the delectable meal "Dim Sum." We went to Jing Fong Restaurant, a place I'm fortunate enough to have two blocks from my apartment.
Although we arrived at 11 a.m., it was already packed. Brunch in New York is more of an after 12 p.m. thing, so it says a lot that it was crazy that early. When they called our number, we went up the escalator and entered a massive room full of large round tables. They sat us with strangers, as usual. With this place, you can't be too picky. You sit where you fit.
Dim Sum is fun because, much like when Japanese chefs cook your food in front of you, it's not just a meal, it's an experience. Chinese women wheel large carts around the room full of mysterious and delicious things. Dim Sum is primarily small plates of different kinds of dumplings (yum!), and there are other types of Chinese dishes as well.
Here's how the system works: You have a card. If one of these women walks by you with something that looks tasty, you gesture for it (because, inevitably, you do not speak the same language). She gives you the food and writes something down on your card and then you get to enjoy your plate. But wait--there's something else that looks good! Get that. Oh, and what's that? Yeah, that too, give us that.
And that.
It's sort of like tapas on steroids. And better, because you get to see what you're getting before you order it. Also, you can order Dim Sum all day, have a million items on your card, and when you go to check out find that your bill is under fifteen dollars. Easily.
It's just a lot of fun. I had a great time catching up with my Dad and Taka over tasty Dim Sum goodness, and loved that they got the chance to meet my new roommate. All in all, Sunday success story, I'd say.
Some of you may remember an older post on my crazy living situation at 47th Street and 7th Avenue (where I lived in a one-bedroom apartment converted into a three-bedroom apartment with 7 different strangers over the course of one year...). Luckily, I escaped this revolving roommate situation last summer when good friend of mine from college moved up here and we found an apartment together--one where I actually signed a copy of a real lease with the owner of the building. In other words, one that was not being sublet illegally to the highest bidders. It's a wonderful thing, legitimacy.
In other parts of the country, I'm pretty certain that people typically don't live with complete strangers, except maybe their freshman year of college--and then it's widely considered pretty unnerving, as exemplified by the premise of the horror flick The Roommate. So, this summer I was pretty excited to have scored a semi-normal living situation (as normal as sharing a studio converted into a two-bedroom in Chinatown can be, anyway). But, suffices to say, it was awesome to actually know the person sharing my bathroom with me!
My roommate and I had a pretty good run for several months and all was hunky-dory, rainbows and butterflies and general mutual respect for each other's own limited space in this spatially-challenged apartment. But, as all good things must (especially living situations with people in their early twenties in a city which encourages constant change), this has, sadly, come to an end.
My roommate is moving in with his long-time boyfriend this weekend. (Damn stable relationships and the havoc they wreak on others!! Kidding. Mostly.)
So, this means April first I will be living with craigslist stranger #8 since I've moved to New York. I'm not at all worried about it. I've met her and she seemed nice enough. She's just moved to the city from California, has already landed a job at a restaurant, and wants to be a pastry chef. I smell delicious food things in my future!!
I just thought I'd write this post to give anyone who cares to read this blog an idea of how different expectations for living situations are here than in the rest of the country. The cost of rent in Manhattan is crazy ridiculous and prohibits all but those with the most lucrative, high-paying jobs from living alone. The result is that people often end up sharing very small spaces with total strangers--which while scary, is also sort of awesome, because it gives you the opportunity to meet different kinds of people and experience the city with a fresh set of perspectives. It also prevents one from going totally nuts, sitting alone at home in an apartment with no one to talk to but oneself...Not that I've ever caught myself talking aloud alone in my room before. That would be pretty weird, right? Hah...ha.
So anyway, April 1st is a new chapter in my life up here. I'm really sure it will be great, but, if you guys don't see a post from me for a while, maybe check in and make sure I haven't been murdered in my sleep? K, thx!
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Also, if you haven't done so already, go here to give money to disaster victims in Japan. Tons of people over there still don't have running water, food, or electricity. And that's just unacceptable.
And, if you haven't seen my newest article for YPG, check it out here. It's about honing amazing networking skillz, definitely a necessity for us twenty-somethings living through this recession thing...
