NYC Living

Monday, July 25, 2016


Someone once told me, "New York City is like a black hole, once you're here, you are trapped. But there's a better world out there with better quality of living and affordable, you just need to man up and leave" (Although with that said, I don’t know if I could ever leave New York now… once you go pizza for a dollar, you never go back). After endless of Manhattan stories, I’ve written my own observations about NYC…
  • Life in Manhattan is not like the TV show 'Sex and the City'. 
A photo posted by Jessica Sophia Wong (@sillydrunkfish) on

  • Life in New York City is like the TV show 'How I Met Your Mother', whether you live in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens. (thanks to über and lyft)
  • It is perfectly normal for 22 years old to pay the equivalent of $1,500 to live in a shoebox apartment with 3 other people in an unfashionable part of Manhattan with no living room but Manhattan zipcode
  • It is perfectly normal for a family of 5 lives in a one bedroom apartment and receiving welfare with no desire to move.
  • People rent their apartment based on the nearby train station, if there's an express train in the station, the rent will expect to be at least a couple hundred dollars more than those area closer to Manhattan but located near to a local stop.
A photo posted by Jessica Sophia Wong (@sillydrunkfish) on

  • Manhattan is no longer considered a prestigious neighborhood, check DUMBO, Clinton Hill, Greenpoint, Williamsburgh, Long Island City.

  • People respond to, “You alright?”, with sincere answers. 
  • There's more educated, single women in New York City than the population of men in general.
  • Catcalling is like seeing a homeless on the street or on the train, they are everywhere. 
  • Nobody ends a text message with ‘x’. ‘Bar snacks’ are a vast plate of chicken wings or mozzarella sticks, as opposed to a tiny bag of peanuts. 
  • You are never further than 3 feet away from a fashion model or any sort of celebs. 
A photo posted by Jessica Sophia Wong (@sillydrunkfish) on

  • People openly give you the look if you are from Jersey, Staten Island and the Bronx.
  • People unabashedly stare on the subway. ‘Taking the bus’ is not a thing. 
  • People do drugs, but it is hush-hush and frowned upon to ever mention it. 
  • Williamsburgh and Bushwick can separate themselves from NYC completely, it's like Brooklyner hipster can live in their own fairy land.
  • You can’t buy wine or liquor in grocery stores or news agents – all must be purchased at ‘wine and liquor’ stores. 
  • Everybody is busy doing things that seem way more exciting than what you are doing. 
A photo posted by Jessica Sophia Wong (@sillydrunkfish) on

  • Traveling somewhere that takes over 20 minutes to get to feel like a long journey that deserves acknowledgement. 
  • Which subways people take on their commute is a common topic of conversation. 
  • You go to Central Park a lot less often than you think you will. 
  • People don’t really do picnics. 
A photo posted by Jessica Sophia Wong (@sillydrunkfish) on

  • Rather than asking, “Where did you get your shoes?” girls will often say, “Who makes your shoes?” (the assumption being that it’s a famous designer). 
  • A lot of men here do yoga and a lot of vegans too. 
  • New Yorkers hate Times Squares or anything ended with squares like Herald Squares.
  • Seamless will change your life.
A photo posted by Jessica Sophia Wong (@sillydrunkfish) on

  • If you don’t Soul Cycle or have a gym membership, you might as well move to Utah – you are not welcome here. 
  • It is assumed that if you are single, you are casually dating a handful of people. 
  • During the summer, everyone leaves the city on the weekends to go to rented houses in the Hamptons. 
  • Everyone seems to be a lot richer than you are. 

  • Drunk food here is a pizza slice and halal food. Pizza comes with a million garnishes you would never have thought of, including garlic salt. YOU CAN GET A SLICE OF PIZZA FOR $1!


You Might Also Like

0 comments

Quote to Live By

"Not all those who wander are lost."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Carpe Diem

carpe diem

Subscribe