Sparks Goes to NYC

I spent four days and four nights in NYC last week. Here’s the detailed recap:

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Day 1 – Napped off my redeye sleepiness.

Night 1 – Had a drinking contest with xTian, Le Troisieme, and Our Black Friend. Pulled a respectable tie with Le Trois. Crushed xTian, who actually ordered water at one point. Stayed out past 3am for the first time since…well, since last time I was in NYC.

Day 2 – Fought and won a gallant struggle to prevent my stomach from leaping out of my mouth. Made it in to work at 4pm.

Day 3 – Spent a beautiful NYC Saturday visiting old friends, wandering the Upper West Side, and wondering why KB1 wasn’t returning my calls (ah yes, Ecuador).

Night 3 – Late night at a Koreatown karaoke bar, just days before the NYTimes deemed it cool.

Day 4 – Became a Godfather! Tried to meet up with xTian, who informed me at 4pm that he was too hung over to consider meeting me. Went to a secret cocktail lounge speakeasy that THE VERY NEXT DAY appeared in a NYTimes article about secret cocktail lounge speakeasies.

Not a bad trip, all in all. A few general observations:

1. This is the first time I’ve felt generationally older than most of the people roaming the streets in Manhattan. Everyone is in their mid-20’s, just like Catjjy and I were when we lived there.

2. I spent quality walk-around time in probably 10 distinct neighborhoods. The demographics in every neighborhood were nearly identical: white and Asian people in their mid 20’s. But the styles changed at every subway stop. Columbia was all college gear and Urban Outfitters. UWS was Gap/BR. UES was swimming in Lilly Pulitzer. K-town was keeping LV and Gucci in business. The LES was a large-format American Apparel ad. It was just like The Warriors.

3. I didn’t see Evil once. Hadn’t realized he was back from China. This is all xTian’s fault, since he is the only person who knew we were both in town.

4. NYC doesn’t feel as economically depressed as I thought it would, but I was still able to go do pretty much whatever I wanted to do on short notice.

5. The trip would have been much more fun with Catjjy and The Cha.

6. I probably saw more human beings in four days than I have in the last six months combined. NYC has an incredible energy to it that even other major cities, like San Francisco, cannot match.

7. I used to live in NYC and still love it, but I sure was happy to come home to the Bay Area.