Happy Chinese New Year! Since I was stranded in New York for a few extra days due to the snowstorm, I was hoping that I would be able to get a glimpse of the Chinese New Year celebration in Chinatown. Unfortunately, it turned out that I missed the event, but New York’s Chinatown was so much fun anyway because it actually felt like I was in China! Unlike most Chinatowns, it wasn’t cute and kitschy, instead, this one actually felt a place people worked and played in.

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Nine years passed, but I remember September 11, 2001 as if it was yesterday. I was a sophomore in high school, and that particular morning, the radio alarm on my stereo woke me up to a reporter announcing that a hijacked plane flew into the World Trade Center. Huh? Hijacked plane? Twin towers? Fire? I thought surely this was a joke, and almost brushed it aside until I realized – that’s strange – I never set my radio alarm to go off that morning, nor do I even use it at all. The world was trying to tell me something. So instead of finding some way to shut off the obnoxious alarm to get five more precious minutes of sleep, I sat straight up in bed, and listened.

I remember how surreal the rest of the day felt. Even though the attack happened thousands of miles away, it felt as if I lost someone I personally knew. Looking back, I realized that I went through a mild form of the grieving process during the next few months – the denial, the anger, the sadness, but I never got through the acceptance part. I remember scouring the news for stories, photos, anything – to help me understand what happened, and to fill a void that for some reason, I just couldn’t shake off.

Years later, I heard from others who visited Ground Zero that it wasn’t much to see, so I took their word for it and never got around to seeing it in person. But towards the end of our stay in New York, I finally gave into that tugging feeling inside of me that told me to just do it. I wanted to at least try to understand what happened, and to know that it wasn’t just a nightmare. (Image: New York Times)

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Sights, sounds, smells – there’s so much I wanted to capture about New York, but it’s nothing like experiencing it first hand. What can I say, the city just feels so alive. It’s surprisingly quieter than I thought it would be; I was expecting more honking (like in the movies), more people talking on cell phones…but it’s almost quieter than it is back home.

It’s too bad I couldn’t capture the way the city smelled – the air was cold and crisp, but once in a while you would get a whiff of something delicious cooking up in a food cart. It made a cold day in a big city feel so cozy and warm. I’m in love.

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veryone seems to go to New York for shopping, but honestly, I’m not that big on it (well, except online shopping). We did make an exception though, to check out an antiques show and ginormous toy store.

But forget shopping, what we ended up doing most of the time here was eat. We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. Then we would impatiently wait for our food to digest so we could continue our quest for food. To me, New York is not a place for shopping – it’s place for eating.

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rowing up in California, I never saw much snow , and even though I have the opportunity to drive 4 hours to Tahoe to see it every winter, I avoid it at all costs. To be honest, I’m chicken when it comes to cold weather. (Hot, humid and tropical? Count me in.)

But it’s different in a big city. This isn’t Tahoe, where I’ve ended up after being badgered by friends to go, only to find myself shivering in the cold while I watch others ski. It’s eerie to see New York so empty when it snows, but it’s peaceful at the same time. A blizzard is strangely beautiful in NYC, and it makes being inside all the cozier.

What I didn’t expect was the city to completely shut down. I’ve always thought of snow as an extreme version of rain, but it’s much more than that. Apparently, when it snows, no one goes out. Offices and stores close early, and kids cheer when they find school is canceled for the day. We went out for lunch during a blizzard (“Oh, so that’s what a blizzard is like.”) and that was not…the greatest experience.

And surprise, surprise, when it snows, the airports shut down too! For the whole day! We expected our flight to be delayed – but it turned out our flight was canceled. Luckily, we had OXO helping us out again, and they not only booked a flight for us on Sunday, but they booked 4 more days of stay at the Ace Hotel. I don’t even know how to begin to thank them. They’ve been incredible this entire trip, and they went out of their way to make sure we get back home safe. A big thanks to Bena and Emilia at OXO for making sure everything is ok on our trip. OXO truly has compassionate, caring people working there.

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