It’s been 48 hours in New York and I have not posted anything yet. Correction, I have not posted anything apart from stories on Instagram. There was a time when I used to blog everyday when I travelled. I was not able to keep up with it over the years. It required a different level of energy. I began posting on instagram when I travelled. And then reels. The I decided not record videos from our London trip onwards. Can’t let the search for content eat into holiday time. I have learnt to savour the present. To stay away from screens and to soak in the moment…create memories.
I am usually a bit out of sorts when I land at a place and take time to warm up to it. It took us 16 hours of flying time with a 2.5 hour gap at Dubai, to reach here. I have nothing to complain. K wanted me to experience the business class in Emirates and booked us on it. The Dubai New York leg was 13 hours or so. The comfortable seat, lovely service, the endless supply of food and the in flight lounge, made time fly by…and there we were…at the Big Apple.
I was a bit underwhelmed by what I saw. The mosaic floors, harsh white light, toilets which looked as if they were out of a clinic, lack of food options at the arrival area…made JFK seem so 80s. Specially when coming from Mumbai’s T2 airport which is quite snazzy. I am not a big fan of Dubai airport either… but that’s not moot.
I heard Bangla being spoken… two staff members who were trying to manage the immigration queue. I heard of a smattering of Hindi as well.
The lady at the immigration counter let us through reasonably fast. K said that this was probably because she was excited to hear that I was a food writer.
The exit from the airport was underwhelming. The process of going to the Emirates counter for us to get assigned a driver and the waiting area seemed reminiscent of old gen Indian airports.
Locals might protest that it is not. You can ascribe my observations to jet lag if you so feel.
We reached 5th Avenue after an hour long drive, to our hotel, The Langham. The initial room give. seemed a bit underwhelming given what we were paying. We protested and they shifted us to an upper floor from where one could see the Empire State Building. Things changed from there on. And this room had a chair to sit, unlike the earlier one.
K and I stepped out after freshening up. I would have liked to have rested. didn’t sleep much in the flight. K slept through. We went to Bryant Park. It was a largish field, cordoned off with a rope, which tables and chairs in the periphery. That’s all, I asked K. It seemed a bit underwhelming compared to what one would expect from a park.
The plus point? There was a nip in the air though it was supposed to be hot.
Maybe there’s a pattern. Dinner was underwhelming. We had received loads of suggestions on where to go.
I felt too tired to go through them. I suggested walking into a ramen place in front of us. The pork gyoza looked like spring roll. The soba noodles in the no soup ramen had an interesting, chewy texture. The slices of beef in it were smooth. But it had a strange sweetness to it and a MSG under taste.
The roads seemed empty and puny in comparison to the skyscrapers bordering them.
I reminded myself that first nights at a place are usually underwhelming for me. Surely New York would get better.
And it did!
