Not an update about the baby (for once) - some thoughts about NY living so far. It's crazy to think we've already been here for 9 months! Time really flies. Seems like just yesterday we were looking at apartments in the sweltering summer heat. It'll actually be warming up really quick, really soon. Not looking forward to that. OMG.
East coast living is awesome. I think both me and Carlo are still blown away at how we've been able to receive this opportunity o live in New York - and we are glad that it's temporary - 3 years, the length of his assignment. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE it here.. but IDK about living here long-term. We didn't really know how cushy we Californians (specifically San Franciscans) have had it until living out here. That, and our families are back home too. Growing up really close to my family, I want the same for Mya.
Back to how we came to the realization that we've been spoiled being brought up in SF.. IDK. Literally everything in New York is just harder.. especially if you don't have a car.
East coast living is awesome. I think both me and Carlo are still blown away at how we've been able to receive this opportunity o live in New York - and we are glad that it's temporary - 3 years, the length of his assignment. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE it here.. but IDK about living here long-term. We didn't really know how cushy we Californians (specifically San Franciscans) have had it until living out here. That, and our families are back home too. Growing up really close to my family, I want the same for Mya.
Back to how we came to the realization that we've been spoiled being brought up in SF.. IDK. Literally everything in New York is just harder.. especially if you don't have a car.
- Because the city is a much older and established city than San Francisco, all of the housing and set-up of apartments are old and hence, the set-up is not ideal. It's common that your bathroom and bedroom are TINY. You'll most likely not have a real closet and have to buy a garment hanger. Almost always, the fixtures are old. And people here tend to not cook and almost no kitchens have that fan on top of the stove, which I find really weird.
- Running errands is hard! If you live in Manhattan, you don't just DRIVE to the closest chain grocery store to pick up groceries. You're gonna have to walk to get all of your groceries. Either that, or pay for delivery services. Very common here.
- Same for laundry. Most places don't have in-unit washer and dryers so you either have to go out and do laundry (in the extreme weather) or again, opt for some laundering service.
- There's no such thing as an easy Target run. I really miss those. There's only one Target in all of Manhattan and it's in Times Square, and it's horrendous there. And they never have everything you want in stock.
- Rats, cockroaches, and water bugs are DEFINITELY a problem in NY. Never had to deal with this in SF.
- NOISE!! So many people everywhere. Always a police car or firetruck passing by. And impatient people honking a ton. I feel like people rarely use their horn in California?? For some reason, NY'ers seem to be more impatient and more open about yelling at people.. lol
- There are A LOT more smokers out on the east coast. It's hard to stroll around peacefully in Manhattan, where you can't get like half a block without someone smoking.
- Obviously the SF Bay Area having nice temperate weather, and NY with the extremities. THOUGH, me and Carlo have actually found it really nice to have seasons.. the winter here really wasn't that bad for us, especially since we have free central heating provided by the landlord. If anything, it was nice to actually be able to experience the cold weather - it made us feel like, YES, this is REALLY what it's like to live in NY. Summers here though.. I HATE being hot.
- Being in the apartment during the summer though.. there's no central cooling! This is pretty common for a lot of places in NY. We have to buy individual A/C units for each room, and so we only have two - one in the bedroom and one in the living room. If we go out to the kitchen or just sit in a room where there's no A/C, you're just sweating balls.. even if it's nighttime. It just means you take two showers a day. I might make Carlo buy more A/C units -- but it does run up the electricity bill.
- Summer nights. We definitely don't get those in SF.
- Rooftop bars.
- FALL!! Does NOT compare to the Bay Area. So beautiful.
- Being able to explore/travel to other east-coast cities.. everything is so new to us! So far, we've went to Catskills (amazing!), Kennebunkport (in Maine, cutest city PERIOD), and Boston for a few hours. Definitely going to make more day trips once Mya is older.
- AWESOME restaurants everywhere, and tons of them. I don't think you would EVER be able to fully explore the ENTIRE foodie scene in NYC, because there are so many different new and more innovative restaurants popping up constantly, as well as soooo much diverse cuisine. LOVE IT. Even though I consider myself pretty cultured and a big foodie, there's SO much food I've still never tried or seen until we moved out here.
- We live in Astoria and there's so much cuisine/food we haven't tried -- and you don't even really see in the Bay Area! Eastern European, Greek, Mediterranean, all kinds of Middle Eastern.. we walked 40 minutes around the hood last week and pretty much had our own mini international food crawl. Crazy.
- CHEAPER FOOD. SF pricing is ridiculous. I can get food outside on Manhattan for really cheap.. like $6 for a HUGE chicken and rice plate. Or $4 for 12 dumplings. Something ridiculous like that.
- Clothes shopping is much better here. Obviously, NY is just known for being a mecca for fashion and shopping. More artists and creative people. And no tax on clothing items under $150 (even online).
- Diversity!!! I didn't realize how SF has become so homogeneous in so many ways. Not only in ethnicity and culture, but in class, and even fashion/style. It's become mostly white/Asian and middle-high income.. whereas here, I've seen ALL kinds of people across the whole spectrum..
- WAY more activities and a REAL nightlife (aka things not being closed after midnight -_-)
- And - something kind of interesting that I never expected - trying new produce and seeing different kinds of plants/flowers/fauna out here (due to the different weather). Produce here tastes a bit different!! I've definitely had THE BEST tasting apples out here, and the berries have tasted sweeter for some reason too. Have tried some different vegetables that I've never seen in the Bay Area either.
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