Thank you, New York. Many things you were, but boring you were not. I will miss you. x
Finished typing this list as I was standing in line at JFK — it’s surreal how fast these two months passed (although there were patches when the days felt meandering and Mondays when I could not get up), but there’s something intensely liberating and restless about living in Manhattan by yourself, a certain je ne sais quoi.
A list of anecdotes.
***
1. (Walking down Times Square with two finance girls behind me talking about Type A guys.)
If some guy is going to reject me just because I make less than $200K a year, then I’m out, one of them says.
Well, that’s what all guys are thinking, her friend says, some are just better at articulating.
2. Everyone, after meeting me, asks within three sentences: Where are you from?
3. When she hands the Phantom his mask, I say solemnly to Z, she is handing him his dignity.
4. I’m walking down the street and some guy keeps yelling behind me, Jesus is coming for you with a sword!
What kind of sword? a man passing by shouts back.
5. A friend and I have an in-depth discussion about the statistical possibility of true love on dating apps. We conclude that it’s very low.
But the next day I meet E, who used to teach me physics. She has moved in with her boyfriend and it’s getting serious.
You and your boyfriend are so cute, I say, how did you guys meet?
She tells me with a shoulder shrug, Coffee Meets Bagel.
6. I believe God has a plan for all of us. And I believe that plan involves me getting my own planet, croons Elder Price.
7. People seem to think entertainment should be paid for, but that news should be free, we discuss at the bar over meatballs.
Do you have a Spotify subscription but still refuse to pay for the New York Times?
… You’re right.
8. The stock markets are going to crash in 2021, the man tells me on a cab, silhouetted against the streetlamp light outside the car window.
That’s the year I graduate, I murmur.
9. Climate change. Climate crisis.
10. But first, here’s my take, says Fareed Zakaria.
11. The girl walks out of her room in a bright pink bathrobe and closes in on me, asking while she holds out her phone, Have you seriously never listened to a BTS song?
12. The one and only day I had to wear a suit, he said, gesturing wildly, happened to be Pride Day. And here I am, standing on the subway with my suit and tie, and everyone else is in suspenders or wearing nothing or in every single color ever invented. Goddammit!
13. (I actually talk to a neighbor. Surprisingly rare in a sprawling apartment in Midtown of Manhattan.)
We stand in awkward silence in the elevator.
Do you happen to know if it’s raining outside? the neighbor suddenly turns to me and asks.
I checked the weather app and it shouldn’t be. And I didn’t bring my umbrella, I answer truthfully.
Yeah, it’s a hassle sometimes.
Exactly, I’m going grocery shopping so… I make a gesture of carrying heavy bags with two hands (belatedly, I realize as I’m motioning that it makes me look like a 🦍).
He laughs. If it rains, he says, you can always take an Uber.
That’s the plan!
You mean, Uber there and Uber back?
I shake my head. I walk there, I emphasize the word ‘walk’, and Uber back.
Oh, Trader Joe’s pretty far.
A beat. Yes! I’m going to Trader Joe’s!
The elevator door opens. We amble.
Wish there was a Trader Joe’s closer to us, he says.
Well, I just finished dinner so it’s good to walk.
As I speak, he is wrapping up his umbrella like peeling lettuce. It’s done. He hands it to me.
You want it? he asks.
I’m strangely moved but I say, No, but thank you, thank you.
14. We’ve been looking a lot at China — Do they want to be a superpower? What’s on their agenda? — but we should also look at us. Regardless of China’s ambitions, they will become rich and powerful. So the question we need to ask ourselves is: are we comfortable with another country being rich and powerful, and one day as rich and powerful as us?
I find myself nodding.
15. I tried to be famous on Twitter, but it was too much effort, he said, thick brows furrowed.
How long did you try? I mumbled, chewing a matcha beignet.
Quite a while, he said, almost begrudgingly, like two weeks.
16. There is another kind of math that kids in the US study – Singapore math, he said, chewing a fry.
Oh, I said, Wait. WHAT.
17. My stomach is colonized by cookies.
18. I feel like we are all collectively held captive by the MTA, she said into my ear.
***
Goodbye, my New York summer! You’ve been good to me. ❤️🗽🌉🍕👩🏻💻✨🎧🚕
Lots of love from Singapore,
