I Swear It's You That My Heart Beats For

In every relationship, there is always the possibility wherein the fire fizzles out. Someone either falls out of it or gets too comfortable and eventually gets bored. Recently, I’ve been feeling all of the above with New York. It seems as if, my love affair with the city is dying. I’ve been feeling burnt out, restless, and a part of me was starting to wonder if it was still worth it. Ever since my short stint in London last year, I’ve been asking myself if I should have gone somewhere else or if I should move again. Don’t get me wrong. I love New York and the feeling that I get whenever I get back to the city from somewhere is pure joy and maybe that’s where the problem lies. Every summer I usually go out of the country and this is the first summer I’m spending in New York. I most definitely could have gone out of the country again but this time I decided to stay. I was telling a friend about this and she mentioned something about exploring the city and falling in love with it again. When she said that, it got me to rethink what I was feeling.

Other people are so eager to come to the city and here I am so eager to leave. What was wrong with me? I’m so lucky to even be here and I need to bring back the feeling that I had when I first moved here. I definitely needed to do something to get back that spirit and keep the flame alive. What better way to do that than by exploring and the getting to know the city I fell in love with once again. I wanted and needed to go somewhere in the city that I’ve never been, try to eat something I’ve never eaten before....basically just experience something with the city that’s well...different. I’ve never been to Smorgasbord in Williamsburg and I’ve been wanting to go for the longest time. Fortunately my other friends wanted to go there too so finally we decided to not be too lazy to go to another borough actually take the trip down there and check it out and it ended up exactly what I needed.

I haven’t been in Williamsburg for a while and the last time I was there was just to eat in a restaurant and immediately after I left. I’ve never really seen what it had to offer so I decided to go there early and explore on my own. I saw so many new developments such as new apartment buildings and restaurants scattered all over the area. There were so many quaint little cafes, restaurants, boutiques, and thrift stores that it reminded me of the Portobello market in Notting Hill except this one is a bit grimier which I guess just adds more to the neighborhood’s personality. I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the new developments amongst the graffiti-ed walls of the older buildings that I couldn’t help but be trigger happy.

After a while, my friends came and I met up with them at the park where Smorgasbord was and I was glad I didn’t eat before going there because I wanted to try everything it had to offer but there were just too many to choice from. However from what we have at least tried, everything was absolutely delicious with the exception of the teriyaki balls but only because it wasn’t hot. (Ok, so maybe not everything...) From the gourmet lumpia and maple lemonade I got to my friends’ chicken and waffles, lobster roll, and hotdog with mango chutney, everything was simply amazing. Not to mention, the ice cream sandwich we got afterwards was a feast for my senses. I wish I could have finished it but I was too full already and finishing it would make me fall asleep from food coma.

Besides the food and the quaint little cafes, restaurants, boutiques, and thrift stores, Williamsburg also has a sick view of Manhattan to offer. Looking at the New York skyline reminded me of why I was here in the first place. There is really nothing that beats it. I haven't been all over the world but I has been to a few places and among the places I have been to, this is still the most beautiful. From the park, I could see the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Freedom Tower, and of course the Statue of Liberty. I could have sat there the whole day just looking at it. Of course, I couldn't do that because we still had places to go but I will definitely come back, stare at the view again, and try more of the delicacies and things Williamsburg has to offer.

Even though there was a bit of a hiccup with the trip back into the city, I still enjoyed the day and it wasn’t even over yet. Next up was the One Republic concert but that would be in a different post....

P.S. As for my outfit, I was feeling a bit of a hipster since I was going into the heart of hispter-dom. Wearing vintage Levis shorts and a Pink Floyd shirt that I cut up to make into a crop top with an old H&M belt and a fedora that I bought when I first moved into the city.