hunger games - NYC apartment edition

hi, katniss here - feeling like I just overthrown district 13 after finally finding an apartment + roommate that I feel comfortable with. prior to this, I did some research of apartment searching in NYC. you can go the broker way, or the be-your-own-broker type of dealio. guess which way I took, yup - be your own broker and do all the research. the various sites I used to help with finding an apartment are;

roomi

streeteasy

nakedapartment

and to name a few more - nooklyn, and I even signed back into facebook to join those facebook groups to find a room, deactivated it again.

and good 'ol craigslist (I was skeptical of craigslist, didn't want to get scammed, but used it about twice)

ultimately, the roomi app was the most favored. I liked it cause it would offer a little bio of the potential roommate vs a complete stranger to meet up with. was easy to navigate and go through the listings.

these are the couple places I looked at;

moving in september 2nd, into an unfurnished room so if you have any interior design ideas and furniture suggestions, please send it my way! I am working with a blank room here! 

xoxo,

j

another weekend - rockaway beach

in

took a weekend away from the city to rockaway beach. just about an hour away from brooklyn or about 1.5 hour from manhattan. coming from brooklyn, I hopped onto the L train to broadway-junction and transferred to the A train to rockaway park station - beach 116 street (last stop). just about 3 blocks away from the airbnb I am staying at. I love it here! being just 50 steps away from the beach, I've gone to the beach basically everyday since i've been here. reading eat, pray, love by elizabeth gilbert and snacking away while sitting on the sands and listening to the constant crash of the atlantic waves. I definitely suggest and would recommend rockaway beach as a get-a-away from the city. what other beaches within the NY area do you know of and suggest? brighton beach? manhattan beach? let a california beach girl know! 

places to eat at;

things to do;

  • rockaway! - art installation by MOMA PS1, free but donations welcomed

  • go to the beach, keep going to the beach

  • walk along the boardwalk! so many kitschy beach stores, but I love it. wish I was able to find a postcard at these stores to send to friends back home.

will definitely be back, try staying the weekend if time permits, but if not - a day trip away from the city works also! 

xoxo, j

another coffee in NYC

getting coffee around the city. two things I love most, coffee and exploring the city en route to coffee shops. stay tuned for more coffee spots, shown below are; devocion, sey coffee, inteligencia @ the high line hotel

coffee cheers! j

east bay to the east coast

dear oakland, 

my beloved little town that's grown so much over my lifetime of living here (some years over 20). i've watched lake merritt start from a awful-smelling stagnant lake to this beautiful and lush, now-flowing body of water. i'll miss you, lake merritt and it's surroundings dearly, both the new and old - haddon hill cafe, arizmendi pizza, indigo blue (for great gifts) and always bumping into people I know at the trader joes there. although I will not miss the search for a parking spot at that lakeshore location.. i've had many life experiences here in oakland, the good, the bad, things in between. new friendships were made, breakups happened, and life kept going. i'm about to embark on a new journey to the east coast where i'll experience a true four seasons and so much more. i'll proudly rep you when asked where i'm from - you also kind of just automatically get some street cred. i'll be back for my usual run along the lake, until next time, cheers!

xoxo, j

japan diaries - fukuoka edition

in

second time I've visited japan and it's just as magical and amazing as the first. I visited a couple new cities, fukuoka being one of them here. it's a much quieter city comparatively to tokyo, but just as lively in its own way. the two days was actually not enough for the amount of activities I wanted to check off my list! fukuoka is most definitely a city I would want to come back to explore more of.     

logistics

  • flight from taipei, taiwan (TAOYUAN - TPE) to fukuoka, japan (FUKUOKA - FUK) $88 one way flight in may 2018
  • we took a complimentary shuttle bus from fuk airport to hakata station (main station) and simply walked to our airbnb location in the nearby area of canal city/hakata. it was already quite late at night (9PM), I did not feel any danger walking through the streets.
  • a pocket wifi is a must have in my opinion, some airbnbs throughout japan are kind enough to offer, but I liked having one with me at all times, in between airbnb accommodations. I got mine here with japan rail pass, the customer service is quite exceptional! (I had some issues with pickup but it was easily resolved with a email to customer service)

10 must see and do in fukuoka (only in fukuoka)

  1. having traditional hakata style ramen at a night stand (yatai)
  2. visit ACROS and enjoy a breakfast picnic or lunch in the park
  3. check out the rooftop garden of hakata station, I read that the 9th floor of the station is also home to a food court with a beautiful tiling! I am a sucker for artsy tiles
  4. watch a water/anime show at canal city hakata - similar to the world of color at disneyland 
  5. have coffee at manu coffee for views of the canal, specifically the yanagibashi location
  6. visit daimyo shopping district
  7. explore fukuoka castle and find a high point to see the city skylines
  8. visit the fukuoka asian art museum 
  9. tenjin underground mall for souvenirs! 
  10. walk, walk everywhere - through small streets, on big streets etc!

want to hear more about fukuoka? ask away in the comments below! happy to share my adventures! stay tuned for japan diaries, naoshima, osaka, kyoto/nara, and tokyo edition.

xoxo, j