Good Food & A Reunion

On August 4th, I found myself on a plane approaching JFK International Airport, touching down at 9 AM for what I thought was a short layover. That layover turned out to be 24 hours long and I, along with my brothers and mom, was determined to make the most of the day. From the minute we left the airport, I was hard at work planning out an itinerary trying to incorporate demands from my brothers. We arrived at the hotel and almost immediately were back on the road en route to the Yankee Stadium in Queens. An hour later, I was feeling extremely well versed in the history of the New York Yankees and looking forward to a much needed lunch. Another car ride later, we found ourselves at Din Tai Fung in Manhattan, a meal I was more excited for than learning about Mickey Mantle. An hour and a half later I was feeling weighed down by the volume of food I ate but I didn’t let it stop me. A few turns later I found myself in Times Square, more importantly in the M&M store, where I couldn’t stop myself from customizing M&M’s of my face to snack on, despite my full stomach. 

The most important item on the day’s agenda however, was to reunite with my good friend Kara from CTY summer camp 2023, who I had been joking about visiting for the past few months. As I was leaving the airport that morning I had sent her a quick text, “Are you free today?” After a bit of texting back and forth we figured out a plan and agreed upon a meeting point in Times Square. After so many hugs and exclamations we found ourselves watching a slightly unimpressive yet amusing street show involving 7 men randomly picked from the crowd who were to be jumped over by the performers. We let ourselves linger in the crowd for too long, distracted by the show. In the ever present theme of the day, Kara and I found ourselves at Popeyes where I sipped on her Diet Coke. Lots of overdue catching up later we found ourselves making the walk, once again, to another snack. This time for boba, despite my having 2 glasses at the restaurant earlier in the day. 

More aimless walking later, I said my goodbye’s to Kara, with the sad knowledge that we would most likely not see each other for another 2 years. On the car ride back to the hotel, I caught up with my brothers and my mom and learnt about their adventures through Times Square. Later that night, I looked up at the hotel ceiling and mentally checked off the items on my itinerary, safe to say I ate my way through New York that day.