A Warm Spring Day in New York City

Posted by Stuart at 08:54 PM on April 27, 2006

On a warm Spring day, New York City is one of the most amazing places in the world.

That was the thought running through my head as I walked the streets of Manhattan today. New York itself is not a terribly beautiful city, but on a day like today, I was struck by the beauty of the historical buildings, and by the energy and diversity of their inhabitants.

I walked through a few different parks: Union Square, City Hall Park, and Washington Square. And every park bench in every park was full of people enjoying the warm sunny weather. I wonder how many languages I heard today. Certainly Spanish and English were the top two, but I am sure there were many others.

Thai Airways' non-stop flight from Bangkok to New York arrives before 7 AM, so after a quick taxi ride to my hotel in Flushing to drop off my bags (it was too early to check in) and a taxi over to a friend's house in Queens, and a bus and subway ride, I found myself on the streets of Manhattan.

My main task for today was to buy a new laptop to replace my Sony Vaio which seems to have permenantly died. I first visited the amazingly sleek Apple Store in Soho, which I realized was a serious mistake because when I went to Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples (3 of them), some other random computer shop, and finally J&R Electronics, every single other store made me physically ill to be inside.

Why is it so hard to create a store that provides an enjoyable shopping experience? How difficult is it to hire intelligent, knowlegable, enthusiastic staff? Is designing a store layout that allows you to easily compare and try the products a monumental task? Apparently, all of these things are next to impossible, since of the 6 chain stores I went to, only Apple pulled it off.

In some ways, I feel like I am voting with my money when I buy something. So, to make a long story short, I am now in my hotel room typing on my brand new iBook. It wasn't my cheapest option, by far, but I am so happy that I made this decision.

Good Bargain Hotels in Flushing, Queens, New York

Posted by Stuart at 09:07 AM on April 28, 2006

As I mentioned in my last entry, I spent my first night in America in Flushing, NY. Before my trip I checked out hotel room prices in New York City and was shocked at what I found. There was no way I was going to spend $250-$300 for a hotel room in Manhattan. That's the same as one month of rent in a nice apartment in Bangkok!

So I took a chance and booked a room at the Comfort Inn in Flushing. All I knew was that Orbitz said it was near LaGuardia Airport, and that the price was $120 a night. I was a little bit worried at what $120 would get me, but it has turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.

Before I left the hotel yesterday morning, I didn't get a chance to look at the neighborhood. The guys at the front desk said that I was only 5 blocks from the subway, but who knows what those five blocks held. So as I was riding the subway back out, with my new iBook in hand, I was a little bit nervous. If people get mugged in New York for their iPods, what will they do for a new iBook that's still in the box?

Well, it turns out that I had nothing to fear. In fact, I feel quite at home, for I wasn't expecting to travel all the way around the world to be surrounded by Chinese people. But judging by what I saw on those five blocks to the hotel, the population in this neighborhood much be at least 85% Chinese (With 5% white, 5% African-American, and 5% other, such as hispanic and Indian).

So... it has turned out to be a great deal: $120 for a clean room, 5 blocks from the subway (it's the last stop on the 7 Line), relatively close to both JFK and LGA, good neighborhood, free DSL in the room, free breakfast, and a super efficient front desk staff. I'll probably stay here every time I go to New York from now on.

Lunch with a High School Friend

Posted by Stuart at 02:18 PM on April 28, 2006

I graduated from high school almost two decades ago. And, as with many people Im sure, I've changed quite a bit between my late teens to mid-thirties. Since I left my parent's home for the last time when I was 18, my life has had several main chapters: college, graduate school, working life, losing everything in the last half of 2001 and rebuilding a completely new life in the new millennium.

I bring all of this up because I am feeling a big pensive about the past two decades, simply because I just had lunch with my friend Betsy, who I haven't seen since 1988. As we shared our "powerpoint bullet points" of the last 20 years, we realized that our story arcs have been quite similar: college ending with master's degrees, riding the dot com wave, losing it all at the end of 2001, and rebuilding a new life that has some remnants of our pasts, but in other ways forays in completely new directions.

Two main themes came from our discussion over omelets and bacon this morning: angst in the past and plans for the future. In these themes, however, we were very different. Betsy claimed that she lived an angst-free past and meticulously plans her future. I on the other hand, seemed to have a relatively angst-full educational experience and have a distinct inability to make a definitive 5- 10- or 20-year plan for my life.

So, enough navel gazing for now. All I know is that my time in Thailand has been mostly angst-free. And that is why I have never left. But what about my future? I still have no concrete plans, but I just have a vague goal of wanting to look back over my life at the end and see a pattern, a path. I want all the experiences I've had to lead to something, to mean something, to create something worthwhile.

What those somethings are remain to be seen...

Annual Faculty Meeting and My Academic Future

Posted by Stuart at 05:57 PM on April 30, 2006

I have been spending the weekend in Nashua, New Hampshire, at a Regional Faculty meeting for the online university I have been working for. It's always great to see my work colleagues face-to-face. In fact, there were two of them who I have been emailing quite a bit, who I finally met for the first time. It's always nice to finally be able to put a face to a name.

But perhaps more importantly, as with every time I go to an academic function, I wonder if I should spend more time on my teaching career. Perhaps I should really get started on that PhD I've been threatening for years.

Oh well, we'll see where that leads once I get back to Bangkok. But on a more superficial note, after the meeting was over I did the exact same thing I did after last year's meeting: I found an Outback Steakhouse and had one of the best steaks of my life. I do miss having a truly great steak every now and then.