05/25/2025

Chinese name of this day: 你我 爱我 爱你爱我

Song of today: 單依純 - 珠玉

Today was an adventure-filled day in NYC, one of our all-time most memorable days perhaps.

Morning + lunch (9:30am-2:30pm)

I woke up at about 9:30am, went to GP-81 to do about an hour and a half of strength training + some light board climbing. I came back to the apartment around noon and woke up Chyah. We made our plans for the day: go to Jersey City to go furniture shopping at a boutique vintage furniture seller studio, then dinner in Manhattan. That’s all we had planned…it turned into much more. I made lunch/breakfast: sourdough bread with brie, prosciutto, arugula, and dark vinegar + olive oil from Sicily drizzled on top. I did some quick work for my job and merged a PR to the prod version of an app we haven’t released publically yet.

Jersey City: Furniture and Indian Stuff (2:30-6:00)

We got ready and left the house around 2:30, took the L train from Morgan Ave all the way to 6th ave, while listening to 珠玉 on the subway using share audio with our apple air pods. Then we took the New Jersey Path train into Jersey City, getting off at the Journal Square station. In total it took us about an hour and 15 minutes door-to-door to the furniture place in Jersey City, which was on the fifth floor at Mona Contemporary. Pretty cool place, we chatted with the guy a bit and contemplated buying some furniture but nothing was love-at-first-sight so we left empty-handed with the possibility of contacting him for some of the stuff we’re interested in.

One really cool piece tho: this MacTable, the only piece of furniture ever created by Apple.

Also this vintage Ikea wicker chair:

We left the furniture shop around 4pm, and walked slowly back towards the subway. That area near Journal Square in Jersey City has a block called “India Square” which we walked down. It’s a bunch of Indian shops. We stopped in to an Indian grocery store and got a bunch of really nice produce — much better than what we have in Bushwick, and wayyyyyy cheaper. I don’t know what’s wrong with the grocery stores in Bushwick/Williamsburg. They are somehow more expensive than Whole Foods yet they sell convenience-store-level freshness of produce.

We got:

• 2 eggplants (skinny ones like we have in China, not fucked up rubbery fat ones)
• 2 lemons ($0.33 each)
• 1 daikon
• a bunch of okra
• 2 packs of curry mix
• Bottle of bay leaves
• Fresh ginger

Total came to $9.19

Then we continued walking down that street and got refreshments from an Indian street vendor: Spicy Masala (which Chyah really liked) and cane sugar juice. We also got something called “Sweet Pan”, because we were kinda hungry and really wanted a snack.

Holy. Fuck. That thing is intense. It’s an explosion of “fresh”-adjacent spices exploding in your mouth, in a Betel Leaf. So very leafy, freshy, and seedy. Lots of fennel seeds.

Absolutely bonkers concept of a snack.

We made our way back to the Journal Square Path station and got back on the train. As SOON AS we got on the train, I got a message from a colleague letting me know about a bug. I did some debugging on the train and we fixed the bug.

We headed back to Manhattan.

Dinner + Uptown (6:00 - 8:15)

We got off the Path on 9th street and took the E train uptown to 42nd street. We got off in that area right near Times Square/Broadway, and Chyah had the bright idea that we would love to grab some rush tickets/last minute lottery tickets to a broadway show. Ideally Operation Mincemeat since I really want to see that. Turns out it’s not showing today, but anyhow…

For dinner, we walked to our destination: 四四南村 - Four Four South Village . Incredible, incredible taiwanese-style beef noodle. So fucking good. We also got some tripe and other beef stuffs to-go for eating later.

We walked around a bit more near Times Square/Broadway hoping for a cool last-minute deal for a show, but the only thing that had tickets was The Outsider (musical), which we thought seemed like something designed for Elder Millennial women, probably not for us. The tickets were also $230 a piece so we decided, no, not worth it. Let’s find something else to do.

We walk around a bit in mid/uptown, looking at our phones, really seeking some kind of entertainment for the evening. Maybe we should hit Lincoln Center?

Eventually Chyah said: no! We should see a movie! Really good idea. We checked out what’s playing at IFC center, and we decided to see Bonjour Tristesse. We had about 2 hours to kill, though. Also Chyah really had to use the bathroom. We walked aimlessly, and found a hotel: the algonquin.

While Chyah used the restroom, I stood there awkwardly and happened to spot a celebrity mere meters away from me in the hotel lobby: Trey Anastasio from Phish. He was getting coffee with a friend, I watched as he stood up and walked outside. Pretty crazy considering the influence his music has had on my family and my father. I listened to their music a lot as a kid. I always imagined him making music in a cozy barn somewhere in Vermont, crazy to see him in Manhattan.

Chyah came back from the restroom, and we decided to head towards the theater to get a glass of wine with the remaining ~1.5 hours before the movie starts.

We identify a destination: Lelabar in West Village, about a 10 minute walk from the theater.

We hop on the F train and head down there.

Evening: wine + movie + fainting (8:15-10:00)

We get off the train at 4th St Washington Square station and start to walk towards Lelabar. On the way, we notice something even more enticing: a very subtle door on a triangle street corner. Looking closely, we see the name: Little Branch. It was mysterious af, and we decided to ditch Lelabar in favor of Little Branch.

It was not a bad choice. The vibe was very very chill in Little Branch. They played cool wonky jazz. Unfortunately we were too early for the live jazz band, but the atmosphere was really cool. They were playing vinyl. It was very dim lit. They use real fire-burning candles. I got a pinot grigio and Chyah got a prosecco. Every couple we saw we felt like they were cheating on their spouses for some reason.

Anyways, it was chill.

We left at about 9:00 and walked over to IFC for our 9:15 movie. Got there in time, posted up, watched the previews and the movie started.

It was really good: it’s a movie about 3 women who hate each other.

About 10 minutes into the movie, Chyah started to doze off. I continued to watch the movie, totally sucked in, while Chyah slept on my arm.

Then, about 30 minutes into the movie, Chyah started stirring. She switched positions, then she started whispering: “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

Scared, I decided we should probably go. I gather up all our stuff and guided Chyah out of the theater, carefully. As soon as we walked outside of the first door of the theater, Chyah collapsed on the ground. She was like “I need to sleep”. She was also pale as a ghost at this point, and her body was very very hot. She also said her hands were numb.

I took her coat off and tried to get her to sit upright, she was lying with her face touching the disgusting carpet on the ground in IFC. I did my best to put her coat, my bag, the leftover Chinese food, and my bag all on my shoulders, ALSO while carrying a completely limp wife out of the 2nd floor of an IFC movie theater.

I guided her down the stairs which was hard. She was fainting at this point. I’m pretty sure I know what to do: bring her outside for fresh air. IFC is very stuffy, it’s super hot in there, and she didn’t seem like she was breathing very well when she fell asleep. So I think she’s possibly low on oxygen right now, also considering the fact that she turned white as a ghost.

I bring her outside and she’s collapsing on the concrete outside. Not good. Let’s get back inside. Balancing all our things and my limp wife, I decide to put the Chinese food on the ground so I can tap on the glass to get the (very reluctant) IFC movie theater employees to open the door for me. They deliberate internally. We probably seem like we’re on drugs at this point.

They decide to let us in. Chyah immediately plops herself down in the usher’s chair where they check people’s tickets on the way in.

I go and ask the IFC employees if we can have some ice water. Again, reluctant, they are barely willing to give us ice. Fucking jerks, get your movie theater some oxygen for fuck’s sake!

Chyah is slowly coming around at this point. The ice water is helping.

Finally, she comes around. She does want to go back into the theater to finish Bonjour Tristesse, but I convince her no, we should probably go home, you just fainted in public.

Post-fainting preparation to go home (10:00-11:00)

We chill in IFC for a little bit, and Chyah agrees we should go home. We snap this selfie in the basement of IFC.

We walk around in the West Village a bit, buy some dessert + a bottle of wine (for me), then get an Uber back home. In the Uber back home we decide that, hmmm, Chyah just fainted. She should probably see a doctor for her hypothyroidism and/or low blood pressure.

Conclusion

A day that started with innocent plans to furniture shop in Jersey City somehow spiraled into an adventure featuring Indian snacks that defy all snack logic, a celebrity sighting, and the grand finale of Chyah dramatically fainting in a movie theater like she was auditioning for her own Broadway show. Despite the medical emergency, it was the kind of chaotic, unpredictable NYC day that makes for the best stories - complete with reluctant theater employees who acted like providing ice water to a fainting woman was equivalent to donating a kidney.