Living in NYC for Three Weeks

At the beginning of this summer, I made a checklist of things I wanted to do before the school year rolled around again-- a bucket list, per se. The last thing on this list (written in blue pen, adorned with a heart), and perhaps the most important one to me, was to “be spontaneous”. I never really defined this for myself; I just wanted to live every little part of my summer unthinkingly, impulsively, while I still could. This didn’t mean being stupid and running across highways at night. But if I was out hiking with some friends and saw a lake, heck yea I would jump in, fully-clothed and no consequences regarded. I wanted to be able to look back on this summer in the future and feel nostalgic for something real. Earlier in the year, I had applied for the Three-Week Immersion High School Summer Program at Columbia University. A long time ago, I made a promise to myself to always do at least one productive thing every summer, and this year, spending three weeks at an Ivy League pre-college program was just that. In all honesty, I expected this to be a hindrance to my bucket list endeavor. I would be taking a course on Psychology, receiving a recommendation from the professor, and there’s no spontaneity in that. What ensued, as you might have guessed, was so much better. On arrival, I was nervous, excited, and resolute on not letting my 60 pounds of luggage dampen my mood. Immediately, I found my roommate and the surrounding girls in our “suite” to be friendly and hilarious, and was struck with an instant feeling of community. Throughout the following three weeks, we were inseparable. Every day after classes was a new adventure. Unsurprisingly, most of our trips surrounded eating food; and New York, being a hub of culinary expertise, did not disappoint. What follows is some of my personal favorites that offered great food and even greater memories. 1. Dekalb Market Hall - Brooklyn This massive market of booths from several various food places across New York reminded me a lot of a Chelsea Market with less people. The dim hall was lit cinematically by neon, fluorescent signs advertising international and ethnic-emphasized food. From Chinese to Mexican, every booth churned out delicious dishes and desserts. I had the Fried Chicken Scallion Pancake from Wilma Jean-- fried chicken wrapped in an Asian-style fried scallion pancake topped with a spicy, mayo-like sauce. When I took a bite of this, I quite literally felt my soul transcend our material dimension; it was so good. I was willfully ignoring the fact that I was holding a dense mass of fat and calories in my hand. In fact, as our whole table bit into our food, the chatter was quickly replaced by silence and bliss. Two of my friends had ordered the Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup at Hana Noodle Station, also vouching for how phenomenal their food was.

Naturally following was dessert. In all honesty, it took us longer to pick out our food than to actually eat it. After scouring the booths one more time, we landed on donuts and key lime pie. First, we ordered seven caramel and seven cinnamon donuts from Cuzin’s Duzin. Perhaps my favorite part about this was watching the machinery behind the glass pump out, flip, and fry mini-donuts, completely automated. Biting into these was heavenly, the dough still warm and soft.

My friends Natalie, Julia, and I were HYPED for this key lime pie, having read about it online. When it finally arrived, we all agreed that it was a beaut and promptly began to fight over equal slices. However, we were so excited that I forgot to take a picture until after we had happily devoured it.

2. Drunken Dumpling

My favorite moment of all the three weeks I spent in NYC has to be the time we waited outside Drunken Dumpling for ten minutes because we thought the restaurant hadn’t opened for the night yet. Turns out, we had been furiously trying to pull open the push door.

We ordered the pork soup dumplings, the XL soup dumpling, and the bacon and orange-rind potstickers. Everything was fantastic, and our personal favorite was the pork soup dumplings-- the four of us had to order a second round. The XL was a ton of fun to take down with my friends; they gave us straws to pierce the dumpling dough and suck out the soup. The only problem was that it was a little expensive for four broke teenage girls, although the price was completely justified through their exquisite, hand-made dumplings. We left the restaurant with full, happy grins.

3. Milk & Cream Cereal Bar

Throughout the course of the trip, my friends and I ate an embarrassing amount of ice cream. Two places definitely came out on top in our hearts, both in terms of taste and presentation: Milk & Cream Cereal Bar and Taiyaki NYC. The former invented the genius idea of blending cereal into their ice cream. The innovative shop allows customers to build their own ice cream concoction starting with a base of vanilla or cookies and cream ice cream, choosing a cereal of their choice, adding toppings and drizzles, and picking a flavored and colored cone. The line to this place wasn’t long for nothing; the ice cream was superb. If you have a sweet tooth, this one is absolutely for you.

4. Taiyaki NYC This ice cream store sells delectable ice cream in fish-shaped waffle cones. What more is there to say? From red bean to unicorn, the flavors at the shop are stunningly delicious. Not to mention, their fluffy waffle cones are a dessert in and of themselves. We stumbled into the shop after laughing and half-running through a sketchy part of Chinatown. I would highly recommend this place for an adventurous palette.

5. Queens International Night Market This festival in Queens opens for a few weeks every year and entertains every Saturday night, rain or shine. Unfortunately, it was pouring when we stepped off the subway. We decided to explore the market nonetheless. A band played covers of songs as crowds of people bustled to try to experience everything. Everything, including spectacular food, sold for under $10. I first stopped at The Malaysian Project booth, where I picked up some “kaya toast.” As it happens, this was an incredible decision. Imagine a grilled cheese, but instead of the cheesy interior, the inside is buttery, brown-sugary, caramel-tasting goodness. This is kaya toast. Do not be offput by the green color-- this is infinitely better than avocado toast!

Next, Twisted Potato. Not much to say except that the potatoes were super fun and tasted great. I tried the cajun option while my friend opted for the parmesan garlic.

Lastly, we took a trip to the fried ice cream stand. I didn’t know what to expect at first, but biting into my scoop, I knew it was destiny. The fried exterior had the texture similar to a cake, which was warm and sensational next to the cold cookies n’ cream ice cream. Again, perfect for those with a sweet tooth.

After standing in lines for our food in the pouring rain all day, the torrent finally stopped as we sat down. When we looked up, a double rainbow stood in the place of dark storm clouds. It was as if the sky knew just how we felt.

At the end of my trip, I realized that being spontaneous meant more than just doing something impulsive and spur-of-the-moment. It meant putting yourself out there and opening yourself up to new experiences. From cute, hipster dumpling shops to ordering pizza at 1 a.m., being spontaneous was inherent in the relationships I formed with my friends. Yes, it’s completely true we could’ve gone to the dining hall every night and saved a ton of money. But maybe if we’d done that, I wouldn’t have felt such a deep sense of happiness during my weeks there. Maybe I wouldn’t have cried on the last morning while hugging my friends for the last time. Because if I learned anything from being in New York for three weeks, it is to be spontaneous.

By Julia Chang

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