Yesterday, I visited Alex and Michael in Elmhurst, Queens. Nearly anyone who lives in Brooklyn can agree that getting to the eastern part of Queens (namely any of the major post office facilities to pick up missed packages or LaGuardia Airport) know it’s a trek to get there, and it took me a bus ride and two trains to either get to or from Alex and Michael’s apartment. Still, I call it an adventure. My primary agenda in Queens was to talk to Alex about redesigning her video portfolio site, take shots of their dogs for an upcoming Nico video, and talk about their wedding plans (I’m in charge of organizing and designing the decorations for their wedding venue — I guess I can add wedding planner/interior designer to my resume).
We first ate lunch at a local Dim Sum restaurant, which the three of us would agree that it was pretty shitty compared to the hundreds of other Chinese restaurants in the area. Michael, Alex, and I then shopped around the Asian-centric shops of Elmhurst, where I happened to get some Filipino soy sauce (Datu Puti), stainless steel chopsticks, and metal ramen spoons — all for under 10 dollars. For under 20 dollars, I even managed to get a bottle of Kahlua for a dessert I’m planning to make. At that point, I have to honestly conclude that Queens is a hell of a lot cheaper than anywhere in Brooklyn or Manhattan. I keep thinking of where to be after my current apartment’s lease expires in two years, and if I choose to stay in New York, maybe Queens is the best option. Hell, I can probably even get a massive 1-and-a-half bedroom for about the same price I pay now for a small, 3-bedroom railroad apartment I share with Brian and Morgan.
I ended the day with some Matcha Bubble Tea, corralling Alex’s Tibetan Terriers to stand still in front of a green screen, and then searching for affordable wedding decorations off of Amazon and Oriental Trading Company.
As per usual, here are some photos: