Photo Love {Inspiration}: Finding your way in NYC Chinatown via ELLE Taiwan October 2012

I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’ the universe when it’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.
Woody Allen

ELLE Taiwan October 2012

Though I never lived in downtown NYC, I have always had a special connection to it. I spent a few of my not so rebellious teenage years in a nerdy school (part of the reason I wasn’t very rebellious!) practically at the tip of Manhattan. I also remember tagging along with my father or brother on dark nights when we would pick up my mother from her workplace close to Chinatown (also downtown). Chinatown itself was always bustling and the scents of fresh baked goods from street carts and sights of shoppers with their carts en masse meant that a visit downtown always required mental preparation. At that time, the streets were a little darker and narrower and storefronts were just beginning to bloom there.

There was and always will be a cool vibe downtown. Perhaps not everyone is an artist or designer, though there is no lack of the artistically minded there. But everyone is finding their way and making their marks on the world as I did when I spent most of my time there.

I am so happy to be going back there today. I’ll be doing some light shopping as well as eating at a new pizzeria there (has anyone else been to Pulino’s) and finally meeting Monica. While I don’t spend as much time there and am still finding my way, it is nice to find my way somewhere I can call home.

Have a lovely week!