new york city
January 3
It is the new year and Cindy and Sam have planned to take an Amtrak into the city of dreams, New York City. Their train departs at 3:15pm but Sam arrives at the train station hauntingly early, around 1pm. He loiters around for hours. Meanwhile, Cindy has a strained time at home and bursts into tears once she is reunited with Sam, for the first time this year. They embrace for a while until Cindy decides she wants a beverage treat. She gets bubble tea before boarding the train. It is revealed that Sam has a pistachio muffin for Cindy.
On the train, the couple is comfortable. They have ample space and luckily sit opposite to the direction of train movement. They collaborate on some NYT games. The highlight of the train is the pistachio muffin Sam has brought, the polaroid Cindy gifts Sam, and the orating of Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. Basic Economics is a Christmas gift from Cindy’s dad to Cindy. It is a 800 pages economics book written by a renowned conservative libertarian. Cindy is not surprised to have received this gift as last year, Cindy’s dad gifted her a 900 page biography on George Washington.
Cindy and Sam take turns reading select pages from this thick book. It is quite entertaining because they find many of his arguments ignorant and lackluster. It makes for insightful discussion that accelerates time.
They arrive at Penn Station at 7pm. Cindy routes to Anna’s apartment, but Sam is overtaken by the glory of the city and has personal motives. His zest for all things New York such as Madison Square Park and Times Square materializes from thin air. He drags Cindy to the bright lights. The couple takes many pictures in Times Square, and they encounter a man dressed as Luigi doing an NPC livestream on TikTok.
Following the detour, they arrive at Anna’s apartment. Upon arrival, they greet Anna and Mars, and consequently, get locked out of Anna’s apartment. Anna and Mars do not have their keys, phones, shoes, or jacket. The situation is dire. Anna’s gears really start turning when it dawns on her that if they do not get in the apartment, Anna will need to wear Cindy’s green running shoes to dinner. Eventually Anna downloads the Latch app on Cindy’s phone, resets her password, and the couples make it back inside. The apartment is very cute and quaint. Anna cosplays as an Airbnb host and leaves Cindy and Sam a welcome note with her business card.
Despite the obstacles, the party perseveres to House of Joy for dim sum just before closing. They order various buns and dumplings and have a well deserved feast. The dimsum is tasty but could use increased variety. There is limited water. They receive free custard buns and dumplings amidst the confusion of ordering. Everyone becomes full.
Back at home, the couples part ways and, as expected, Sam and Cindy’s thoughts land on the idea of dessert. They voyage to a gelato place known as il laboratorio del gelato. The laboratory is sterile and cold. It is akin to a futuristic dystopian factory from Black Mirror. The employees are robots – this is barely a figurative statement. They condescendingly look down upon Cindy and Sam from their gelato perch. There is a disheveled man in the corner silently staring at them the entire time. Cindy and Sam anxiously order their gelato and leave. They immediately discuss impressions after and unanimously feel that it was the worst ice cream experience ever.
January 4
The crew rises to embark on a morning run. Mars is going on one of the first runs of his lifetime. It is notable that it is happening in Anna’s red Sambas. Everyone galivants across the Williamsburg bridge. It’s deceivingly sunny because the air sends crippling chills down Cindy’s body. Sam has an amazing time running across the big bridge and admires Cindy’s beauty while they trot. The four of them run all the way to Apollo bagels, the newly-appraised lox & cream cheese bagel shop. Cindy and Sam uphold their promises to share one bagel sandwich, and additionally splurge on both a coffee and an orange juice. The orange juice is exceptionally fresh, and the lox bagel is delicious. Sam notes the use of dill. Anna gobbles up capers. Anna gets two bagels for herself, and Mars declines sustenance. The four of them take a Lyft back to Anna’s apartment to shower and reset before their next moves.
After showering, Anna and Mars split off as Sam and Cindy prepare for their lunch meetup with Sidney and Flo at Aunts et Uncles. During their preparations, Sam checks Google and discovers that transit will take 45 minutes, making them late to the reservation. Cindy generously stops her hair curling early to begin the journey to Brooklyn, and Sam is regretfully snippy and rude about getting there due to the stress of being late. They end up arriving on time, before Sidney. Sam is deeply regretful of his behavior.
Sidney and Flo arrive at Aunts et Uncle’s, a vegan afro restaurant. Sam and Cindy perused the menu whilst on the subway, but had no idea what to truly expect. Cindy meets Flo for the first time. They order 3 dishes which they decide to share: a green salad consisting of wild rice, okra, and a variety of vegetables, a heirloom lasagna pasta, and an oyster mushroom burger (later Cindy and Sam pee and discover there was asparagus in the salad). They are all shockingly delicious, with the fan favorite being the green bowl followed by the lasagna. Cindy slurps down a Shirley temple and Sam drinks an orange soda. The group discusses work, Seattle, New York, Sam’s roommate situation, and activities. It is overall a very warm and pleasant lunch. Everyone is fulfilled. After wrapping up, they plan to meet Anna in Dumbo to walk and shop.
At Dumbo, the weather is ferocious. The lunch crew reconvenes with Mars, Anna, and special guest Gabby. They walk around the water and take some photos.
The group heads home around 5pm. Cindy can finally take a deep breath and rest easy knowing she can finish curling her hair. They head to their dinner reservation at 6pm at ilili. They meet Shalin, Adam, Kyle and each of their respective girlfriends. Everyone at dinner is coupled up. To age is to eat dinner in pairs, Cindy observes. It’s complicated because the ratio of people you want to catch up with and converse deeply with to people you do want to meet but potentially not as much is skewed towards the latter. We order a lot of dips and each couple orders a few of their own dishes as well. Cindy and Sam are amused by their conversation with Adam about his sweat start up. It’s also nice to meet Kyle’s new love interest. After dinner, Cindy dares Mars to tell Shalin his joke. In paraphrase, his joke is: “These gloves are the best, I guess it’s because they’re named after my favorite thing” (the glove brand is HEAD). This is not the first time Mars has told this joke.
On the way home, suddenly, Anna is giving Mars a piggy back ride. Also, suddenly, Anna begins to squat Mars. Anna does four squats. Interestingly, the reverse is not demonstrated. Anywho, Cindy is awed and notes she would like to try this with Sam later.
Now that dinner is over, the group focuses on the primary activity of the night: finding somewhere to play Codenames and then playing Codenames. While this may sound menial, this is no small feat on the overpopulated island of Manhattan. Anna scrounges the area for a bar with ample table space, finally landing on Pretty Ricky’s. Sam and Cindy hold down the table while Anna and Mars retrieve codenames from the apartment. Sam buys everybody moscow mules and to his horror discovers that they were $22 each. The group rendezvous and begins Codenames, with Cindy and Anna facing up against Sam and Mars.
Sam and Mars are off to a strong start before being thwarted by Cindy and Anna. As the four of them sip their drinks sparingly, Cindy and Anna continue to rack up yet another win as Gabby joins them at the bar. Sam and Mars pull off one miraculous win, and they end with a loss that they recovered after Cindy and Anna let them continue playing (Sam guessed the black word almost immediately). Everyone decides they are done and need to walk around. They attend a churro shop that caught their eyes earlier in the day, and Cindy and Sam order three churros. They are surprisingly delicious, particularly with the Dulce de Leche dip provided by Anna. Unfortunately, Mars makes a misogynist comment towards Anna. After finishing churros, Sam and Cindy say goodbye to the other three and they part ways back to the apartment, or so they thought.
The two immediately dart towards Mr. Purple, the legendary club of 18 and 19 year olds that Cindy has dreamed of entering for years. After entering swiftly and without cover, they are shuttled up to the roof and greeted with loud music and many youths. They navigate the dance floor in full jacket-gloves-hat attire, making note of the memorial for Arjun on their way outside. The roof has a spectacular view of the city but is devastatingly cold. Cindy and Sam take some pictures, enlist a fellow rooftop dweller to take pictures of them, and immediately leave the club. It was an incredible experience.
Feeling energized yet famished from this escapade, they decide to get a slice of pizza at Uncle Sam’s. After a payment mishap where Sam thought Cindy’s slice was being gifted for free, they sit down with a diet coke, a thick slice of pepperoni and a mozzarella slice. The pizza is delicious and, as they eat, a terrifying person stares directly into Sam’s soul with anger and vitriol, coming up to the thin glass separating the inside comfort of the pizza shop with the outside danger of the city. This person is yelling something at Sam, so Cindy and Sam slowly look at one another in fear and shock. The person exits the scene, and Sam and Cindy gulp down their remaining food to quickly escape the radius of the assailant. They scurry home, settle in for bed, and end their eventful day.
January 5
Cindy wakes up to the thought of trying to get out of the run they have planned. Sam wakes up with “excitement” for Cindy. It is easy for Cindy to get out of running because no one wants to run either. Cindy and Sam meet Mars and Anna at a coffee shop. It is a unique coffee shop that leaves baby carrots in customer drinks. Cindy believes all New York stores try antics like this to make a lasting impression on their customers and to distinguish themselves from the other hundred stores in their domain. A clever trick that works well. When they leave the store, it becomes apparent Mars is walking with a limp. It is a reminder of the unprecedented run he accomplished yesterday. Their next stop is Black Seed Bagel. The group eats an amazing BEC. Cindy is wowed.
Next, the group moves on to complete their promenade. They aimlessly follow Anna. They stop in a store, and Cindy purchases sunglasses and Anna a hat. Because the group is food oriented, Cindy and Sam stop by a deli to prepare for their bus ride. Shortly thereafter, they say their goodbyes and Cindy and Sam depart the city, taking with them a lifetime of memories.