Being Nerdy in NYC

The sticky note art challenge continues! With 17 more days to go, I'm almost half way to drawing a little sketch everyday for a month.

I wish I had more days to spend in New York City, but I don't. It was fun, and I really enjoyed it. While I was there, I made sure to do some things that satisfied my nerdy interests and hobbies.

Kinokuniya

If I had time to visit only one store in NYC, this would be it. Not only is it a book store, but the top floor is manga only and the sub-level floor is full of journals, inkpens, some artist supplies, Japanese office products, and all kinds of kawaii stuff. I could have easily spent a whole day there. And the whole bank account.

They also have a huge section of Japanese only books and manga, so for Japanese speakers and learners, this store will hit the spot.

Tokyo Rebel/Baby, The Stars Shine Bright

I don't dress or cosplay in lolita style, but I love looking at it, and I like certain items in that style. The girl who ran the store was dressed in lolita gear from head to toe. She looked like a super cute doll.  I'm feeling the warm and fuzzies just writing this. I became attached to a pair of shoes while I was there, but I was disappointed to learn that the cost of them was outside of the budget my husband and I had set for this trip. Sigh...

Toy Tokyo

This is a store full of cartoon/anime related collectable items. Kinokunya had some of the same items, but this store has more variety.

Sakagura

This is a restaurant with a very traditional Japanese feel to it. The food was awesome and satisfying. The waitresses were all like, "Arigatoo!" when my husband and I were leaving. Sakagura is a little hard to find, but it's worth the extra effort.

Also their bathrooms are equipped with those mind-boggling multifunction toilets. I almost didn't know which button to push to flush...I felt like a tourist in Japan for a moment.

Other

The Uncommons

I'm not a board gaming geek--my husband is. But I enjoyed this board game café. For a fee, we could play as many games as we wanted for as long as we wanted for that day. We could even leave the café and come back later to play more games without having to pay again. I really appreciated the environment there. There's a game store in our area where we can go to test out games, but it's usually full of teenage boys and men.

This café attracted not only guys, but women and children too. And the kids were too busy playing board games to be distracting. I liked the variety of people there, and it made the experience enjoyable instead of awkward.


I'm happy that I was able to discover some great places during my stay in New York City, and I'm going to be looking back on this trip with a huge smile on my face for a long time.