When Alicia Keys sang the song Empire State Of Mind, you can be sure she knew pretty damn sure what she was singing about. Anyone who’s been to New York will be able to tell you those lyrics make perfect sense.
Ive been to New York once in 2010. Never would I have thought it’d be less than 2 years into the future before I made my second trip. I visited once and immediately fell in love. Now I know what they mean by love at first sight. You can be sure there must be something about New York that makes it one of the most fabulous cities.
The one thing I really enjoyed most about New York the last time I was there was shopping at Victoria’s Secret surprisingly not the shopping. It was the mere pleasure of walking down the street and not being able to predict what unexpected treasure or experience I’d stumble into or who I’d meet. With such a diverse mix of people with their own stories to tell, it was exciting to walk down the bustling sidewalks and perhaps dig deep into the psyche of the person next to you when the opportunity arose. That’s not to say I didn’t have my own exciting tale to share. But in the Big Apple, I could dream as big as I want and the atmosphere always buzzed with the possibility of achieving those dreams.
In my recent trips, Manila restored my faith in humanity because I saw how there were still people who valued sharing; Jakarta taught me to listen to my heart once more and trust it to guide me to do what feels right for me. Now in New York, meeting up with one of my favourite girls from the Miss Earth 2009 pageant all the way across from the other side of the Earth, I’m on the quest to believe that anything can happen. And of course, of all places, in The Big Apple no less. It was with a simple text to her that made this 2 and a half year overdue meeting possible. For sure, anything is possible if you set your mind to it.
Bring it New York because I’ve already lined up a lot more meetings with amazing people here in this buzzing city. My adventure in the City that Never Sleeps has only begun.
