I EAT: Halloween Dessert Crawl

In addition to wrecking sizable havoc on downtown Manhattan, Sandy's done quite the number on my Halloween week plans. So thankfully, I managed to get a brisk late-night East Village dessert crawl in days before the storm. My adult(ish) Manhattan version of trick-or-treating.

First up, Spot. One of my favorite dessert bars because it manages to simultaneously satisfy my cravings for Asian and Western desserts. I'm talking green tea cupcakes, Thai tea creme brulee, and bubble tea all in one place. Mindblowing. And almost enough to make me not miss Oakland and its amazing late-night Hong Kong dessert cafes. Almost. After that, I made a pit-stop at the infamous Butter Lane Cupcakes to try out their new fall menu. I've got to hand it to Butter Lane; their cupcakes aren't my favorite, but their frosting is unbeatable. And in case you were wondering, that is the gloriously eery and elegant Lincoln Center you see in all the pictures. It's where I wolfed down the last of my Halloween treats and where...well, I'll finish this sentence in tomorrow's blog post. Cheeky me. 

Until then, Happy Halloween everyone. Pictures (and descriptive captions) after the jump!

I GO: Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

It was one of those tourist musts I never got out of the way before swapping my visitor's pass in for residency. So one Saturday, despite the risk of rain, B and I decided to finally make the pilgrimage. Our Brooklyn Bridge adventure started with a lovely dimsum brunch in Chinatown, after which we proceeded to get embarrassingly lost on our way to the Manhattan entrance of the bridge's pedestrian walkway. Look it up anywhere online and you'll read that the Brooklyn-to-Manhattan route is the more scenic. But if like me you're too lazy to trek out to Brooklyn just to walk the bridge back, walking half the bridge's length in the Manhattan-to-Brooklyn direction, turning around, and snapping away works just as well. In the end, it turned out to be more poetic that way.

Living in the thick of it all, with skyscrapers walling either side of any given road, it's hard to zoom out and see the bigger picture. Literally and metaphorically. From the bridge, Manhattan gleams. Wide, proud, majestic. A sea of soaring towers, racing against one another to pierce the limitless sky. Steel and glass symbols for its inhabitants. The countless unrelenting dreamers, each battling for a place at the winner's table. Collectively, a testament to perseverance and hope. Not a bad view to immortalize in film and take home. Home in the thick of it all. 

Enjoy the pictures after the jump!

I WEAR: Settling into Law School (and Life Outside Too)

Well well, it's been a while hasn't it? I suppose I could come up with a creative excuse for my unannounced blogging hiatus, but the ugly truth is that my life in New York thus far can be wholly described by rotating the following three activities: reading for law school, being at law school, and recovering from law school. Not exactly the stuff blog dreams are made of. 

Don't get me wrong. It's been inspiring to learn alongside peers as hungry as oneself and humbling to learn from professors who have accomplished more than most could ever hope. And yet, lately, I've found myself wallowing in the melodrama of 1L blues- despair, insecurity, exhaustion, restlessness. Which brings us to this moment. It seems a bit inappropriate to thank Sandy for cancelling classes, but nestled in bed with a cup of tea and borrowed time, I can't help but feel grateful for the calm. 

When I started this blog, I wanted an expressive outlet. When it became habit, I loved it for compelling me to view the world with curiosity and vigor. And now that it's been forgotten, I can't help but feel it's the solid port in the storm I've been missing. A reminder that whilst the competitive nerd in me may have found nirvana at CLS, I am much more than just a law student. A commitment to never settle for a boring life. A promise to myself (and to you) to always wonder and wander.

Hope everyone affected by Hurricane Sandy stays dry and safe. And, as always, enjoy the pictures after the jump!