Awww my first real New York apt. I spent the past year living in Brooklyn and finally decided to bite the bullet and move into the city. I spent most of my free time here and in my 4th year of medical school when there is much more free time, I decided to spend it in New York. Sure it comes with a slightly pricier apartment for maybe a quarter of the space that I had in Brooklyn but so far after a week, it’s worth it.

I’m at crossroads between Little Italy/Chinatown/Nolita in my teeny apt. One direction its fish markets, smoking Chinese men playing Chinese checkers and women asking me nonstop if I either want a fake Rolex or a massage. The other direction is Italian guys who consistently greet me with “Ciao Bella!” (I love walking down this street!), who all have some point introduced themselves to me as Giovanni, an apparently popular name on this street. Turn the other way to Nolita with all its interesting little shops, and my favorite coffee shop right now, Housing Works, and an awesome pop-up indoor park.

I really do love it here. It’s bustling, busy, noisy, often stinky and annoyingly crowded… and sometimes just surreal. I feel like I’m at Universal Studios and keep waiting for the set to be cleared.