Strangers in the Big Apple

I've been waiting to write this blog entry for awhile, because I wanted to wait until I got the pictures so I can post them here. Over a month ago, my pseudo-cousin Jessica informed me that her friend-she-met-online Boey is coming to NYC to visit for a week. Since she knew I was unemployed, she thought that perhaps I could hang out with him in the city. I told my sister about this. She said, 'Make sure Jessica has met this guy, he might be psycho for all you know.' My sister is very protective of me. So yes, I made sure that Jessica is indeed friends with him in person. And I am very glad that she introduced us, as it was one of the most interesting and fun experiences of meeting a stranger that I've ever had.

A couple of weeks ago, I get a call from Boey after he got to NYC. Jessica warned me that he was really weird, but then again, I've grown used to being around weird people - still, I prepared myself for the worst. The night before we met up, we chatted for a bit to figure out where to meet and what to do. Since he was the 'tourist', I asked him what he wanted to do. He couldn't decide, and said, 'It's your birthday tomorrow. We'll do whatever you want.' The funny thing is, not only was it nowhere near my birthday, but he was actually in NYC to celebrate HIS birthday. But okay, I went along with it. Then he says, 'Just so you know, we can talk about whatever you want, because after this week is over, I'll be gone and we'll never talk again.' I laughed and thought, wow, Jessica wasn't kidding.

The next day (Tuesday) we meet up after my job interview in midtown, I had no idea what he looked like. But I only had to check 4 corners for an Asian guy, so it wasn't too difficult. Since it was my 'birthday' I decided to go to Menchanko Tei for lunch. I realized later that Boey is a picky eater, lot of pressure for a tour guide. But he liked Menchanko, +1 for me. After lunch, he said, 'This whole thing is going much better than I thought it would.' Uh, thanks, I guess he thought I might have been either crazy or incredibly dull. At this point, I got a call to come in for another round of interviews from the company I met with earlier that day. I suggested that we go to Central Park and walk around or sit since it was such a beautiful sunny day. There was hardly anyone there because it was a weekday - it was REALLY nice. We walked along one of the ponds while Boey took pictures (he is a very talented photographer). It was then that I realized that I've never taken pictures at Central Park before! I always just took it for granted. Apparently, Boey LOVES NYC and says that us New Yorkers don't deserve to be here because we don't appreciate it enough, and perhaps to some extent, he's right.

View from inside Central Park























Isn't this a beautiful picture?

















We found these huge rocks and decided to climb to the top to sit and watch the softball game that was going on and just hang out. It was breezy and sunny, and really relaxing to just sit at the park and chat without any schedule to keep. After a little while, it started getting chilly so we headed down to the East Village where he and his friend were staying. Boey was on his search for a flask, so while he went into the store to buy one, I got a call from a different company telling me that they are extending me a job offer. Boey said that it really was my birthday, I agreed. How Asian, he boiled water in a kettle and made us tea. Then I watched and learned how to pour liquid into a flask without a funnel. You use a match. A brilliant, yet useless piece of information for me.

It's still my birthday, and so we went to my favorite Cuban restaurant in the city. The food was delicious but the sangria was disappointing. It was kind of like diluted juice and took up space in my stomach that could have been used for more steak. No, I do not try to hide the fact that I love food and pig out when I can, even around strangers. I didn't finish the steak, and Boey suggested that we wrap it up and give it to a homeless person. I thought it was a good idea, no one has ever suggested that before. While I went into Chase to get cash, Boey found a homeless person and was chatting with him when I came out. His name was Leif. As I walked up, Leif says to me, 'So I see you've found Mr. Right, he's a keeper.' What?! That caught me a bit off guard. What do you say to that? 'Oh, actually, we just met today.' Then Leif proceeded to tell us jokes before saying goodbye. Now Boey calls himself Mr. Right whenever he's right about something. Thanks Leif.

We were so full from dinner that we decided to walk towards Port Authority until I needed to jump in a taxi to catch my bus home. It was a really nice evening for a walk in the upper west side, we walked to Lincoln Center (although I was disappointed that they were doing construction) and perused through an art exhibit there. It was then that I remembered that I still had not gone to the symphony at Lincoln Center even though I've been wanting to for years. I was starting to see things about New York City that I never fully appreciated - it was like falling in love with someone who's always been around but you just never 'saw' him that way ....