Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Likes and dislikes

I've gotten sucked into the rat race in NYC and have been neglecting my blog. Sorry! I've been here for a month and started compiling a list of likes and dislikes I noticed this time around:

LIKES

1) I love the NYC subway system. It takes me 20 minutes on average to go from Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan... Need I say more?

2) I love the fact that you can return/exchange things in USA without a fuss. I bought a coat online, it didn't fit so I just returned it to the store. I bought a sweater at a store, a few days later it was 50% off, so I got refunded the difference. Comfort & convenience!

3) I love how people randomly smile here. Not in a sleazy pick-up artist way, as one tends to see in Rome, I'm talking about harmless and genuine smiles. It's nice. And people say NYC is a cold city- HAH!

4) I love the banks here... Never mind the financial meltdown, I'm talking about how EASY it is to do any sort of transaction here. It's still a shock for me to see banks open on Saturday.

DISLIKES

1) Since when did they start carding people at Target? I got carded while trying to purchase cough syrup. What the fuck is up with that? They actually scanned my drivers license before allowing me to purchase. And to top it all off, some products (like my beloved Zyrtec D) are actually locked behind a case at the registers. So you have to ask for it and then they card you.

2) I hate tourists in NYC! They don't know how to city-walk: they stop in the middle of sidewalks, linger at subway entrances, stand on corners looking confused... they get in my way.

I'll keep observing and hopefully will post more soon.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Turn it down!

I am back in USA working on a gig and the first thing I noticed when I got to the office was: HOW HOT IT WAS!!! I just don't understand why the heat can't be lowered. Why should people wear T-shirts to work in the middle of winter?! So wasteful...