Weekly Consumption

Last weekend I had a variety of food. Specifically, walking from Jackson Heights to Park Slope (yes, walking!), I had one slice of pepperoni pizza and half of a Pupusa. Then in Coney Island (by train), I had Kholodets (or Studen) and Russian rabbit stew. A lot of vodka in the night. Then Hainanese chicken and Asam laksa for brunch.

Before the weekend, I had Japanese rice burger and Taiwanese pork buns. Today, I went to a Mexican restaurant. Now I have a 3am craving for Kimbap.

Saturday Night Threesome

“I am drunk and horny. If you are not joining, I will go alone anyway,” he insisted. I hesitated. He left my room and I heard someone closed the next room’s door.

I sat still on my bed. After some time, I realized it was too late even to change my mind or think about anything at all. More disappointed than angry, alone, I said “fuck you.”

Soon after, I heard a door was opened then I saw the bathroom’s light through the door gap.

New York City thanks to Procrastination

As my friend put it, I should rename my photo albums to “... thanks to Procrastination.” Actually I have worked harder but also played harder.

Last weekend, I went to Skyscraper Museum and South Street Seaport. Both were kind of meh but nice to go once. Earlier this week, I did my art tour in Long Island City, visiting Sculpture Center, 5 Pointz, and the revamped MoMA PS1. They reminded me how much I had missed and needed a dose of creativity and randomness in my life.

Back to the Future

One of the first mathematical miracles I have learned is the fact that any function can be decomposed into the summation of a simple periodic function. I have never thought about it this way: each state of our lives may be the sum of some functions.

This may sound like biorhythm but the difference is that I don’t think there are some predetermined cycles dictating our lives. My proposal is that each person have different cycles and even different basis functions.

Recently I have just got back to my lazy routine i.e. going to sleep around 4 and getting up around noon. I read novels less as I have other materials to read for class and research. I watch movies less too. I have gained a lot of weight to the point that I think I should start exercising again.

I have been at this point before. People call it déjà vu. I think it may be a cycle. It should be fun to plot each state of my life and find a pattern. Welcome back to the past, or the future.

To Appreciate a Novel

Last night I watched Norwegian Wood (2010). Despite many negative comments from my friends, I think the film adaptation keeps the atmosphere of the novel and era straight. Its dreamy visual was shot by no less than a guy who was behind (partly) In the Mood for Love (2000) and Café Lumière (2003). Maybe I like it because the book is not my favorite among the others by Haruki Murakami.

Actually Norwegian Wood was my first Murakami’s. I liked it because of its quite explicit (and rather perverse) sex scenes and the characters’ nonchalant attitude toward sex. After his other novels and a few years older, I felt it was meant to be the author’s recollection of adolescent sexual fantasies. Girls just seemed too easy with the protagonist.

It is not that girls have never been easy on me. Even for an uncool dude like me, some have approached me with varied degrees of flings. Given that I have just spent a sexy afternoon on Valentine’s day, I could not say that the situation in the novel was completely unrealistic. It might be the novel’s suicidal theme. I have never really been surrounded by a real threat or death.

For a consumerist like me, living implies shopping. Now I want many new things from a pair of glasses to household appliances like coffee grinder and air purifier. I should stop buying to understand Norwegian Wood.

Colombian-Japanese-Malaysian Love

Hello Brooklyn

I walked a lot today. It was my first time in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I like Jackson Heights and Queens in general but my neighborhood lacks a bookstore and a big park. I can and may move to downtown Brooklyn as it has almost everything I need especially many subway lines and LIRR. Let’s see; if so, I will miss good Thai and Indian foods.

P.S. I gave up on New York sushi.
P.P.S. My routine has been later and later. Now I am almost back to the non-jetlagged-sleeping-at-4-waking-up-at-noon me.

New Year State of Mind

Human’s ability to adapt always amazes me. After a week, I am now back to the state I was in last month, hanging at home and procrastinating. I have finished everything on Hulu in the past month and almost 100 chapters of Gantz. I still go to bed and get up early though. That is one thing to keep. One thing to lose is 5 kg I have gained in Thailand.

Sunday on Roosevelt Island

First Week in New York (once again)

Jetlag has made me a better person. My current routine is going to bed around 10–11 and getting up around 5–6.

Though I did not cry out loud when I dragged my bags from the airport to my apartment, I felt sad that I really have no place to go to orient myself to the city. When I was in Tokyo, I got into some shops and cafés in Shibuya to get the vibe. In New York, I like anything from West 4 to Soho to Union Square but there are no places I feel really comfortable. Fortunately it is not so cold at this time of the year.

This semester will be busy. Academically I have to take one more class, write a paper, and get ready for research proficiency exam. And I may move to a new place in summer or even go to do research in Korea. Too much uncertainty going on. For now, I have to catch up many things on Hulu.