wallkingnyc

🌊 Jersey Shore

You might have heard of Jersey Shore from a dumb TV series but it should be known for far more than that! This past weekend we drove south NJ to discover this amazing coastal region.

We stayed in Monmouth County and checked out Ocean Grove with the lovely houses I’ve been spamming you with recently and Asbury Park which has a more hipster feeling. Both cities have lovely sandy beaches.

It was fun to walk from one city to another as the gap between them is huge. Ocean Grove feels like it is owned and run by church - looks very clean and rich. There is this huge church centrally located with a sea view and everything is built around it. In addition, it is a dry city, you won’t be able to buy there alcohol. Whereas when you cross the border of the two cities, the first thing you see is a falling apart building that used to be once a casino. Asbury Park once aspired to be a premier resort town but it has lost to Atlantic City. Who knows, maybe the church stopped them from winning this contest? 🤔
@ Monmouth County, New Jersey

🏞📍Salt Lake City, Utah

Last week we spent snowboarding in Utah. 5hrs long flight, 2hrs of time difference and I made it to the West Coast for the first time!

First thing that surprised me in downtown SLC was the huge temple square with church owned buildings. It looked very impressive and rich (churches...🤯). Later I learnt that SLC is the world headquarters to the Mormon Church, so it’s kind of the Vatican City.

When it comes to the ski conditions, Utah claims to have “the greatest snow on earth”. Apparently the Wasatch Front has a perfect combination of temperature, humidity (or lack thereof), which results in perfectly fluffy powder. ❄️ We can’t prove this theory as we didn’t have snow storm, but the powder here and there was indeed great and the overall conditions were good!

Now, regarding the saltiness of the Great Salt Lake 🧂🤔I didn’t let Thomas to taste the water, so can’t give you the firsthand report. However, the saltiness of the Great Lake reaches its peak at 28% comparing the Dead Sea at 31%, so it’s pretty salty!
@ The Great Salt Lake

🏡Feeling at home

I want to mark this day as today I finally started to feel that I am in a right place. I must admit that it took me a while. Rather than adapting to the culture I am in now, I would point out things that I didn’t like and create a negative feeling about it.

It is also hard for me to make friends. Everyone here is busy and live their settled lives and although my husband disagrees, I consider myself as an introverted person which doesn’t really help in making friends. With the New Year’s I even downloaded an app for looking for friends (don’t judge) and well it failed...
But I pushed myself to be open (ok, my husband made me do it), to ask people out and out of a sudden I have friends to hang out with and found other connections through them. Some of them came up to be very surprising and it feels like it is a puzzle game, but this time the puzzles match🧩
Also from a huge excitement about looking for a new job, my attitude changed by 180 degrees after I learned that the work permit process was delayed from 3 months to 7.5 months wait time... I got completely demotivated and frustrated and those dozens of recruiters who reached out to me on LinkedIn telling me how amazed they are with my profile without even reading it... let me just tell you that this is very annoying and upsetting. And now I got my motivation back because I found a role that excites me and that is a great feeling!

This is an emotional post for me. It has nothing to do with discovering NYC. Rather discovering yourself in NYC or any new place you move to. Just keep trying and pushing yourself! And as cliche as it sounds, get yourself out from your comfort zone. And keep doing it over and over again. Hopefully you have a supportive partner as I do! ❤️

🛤The High Line

As for me, this is a must see when visiting NYC. The High Line is almost a 2.5 km-long public park built on a historic, elevated rail line. It’s an easy way to hide from the city, walk above the streets and avoid traffic.

This place has an amazing history. The elevated railroad was built in response to hundreds of deaths on the street-level tracks. The 10th Avenue became known as “Death Avenue”💀 The purpose of the line was to ship goods to factories, and one of them is today’s Chelsea Market. After car trucks became more and popular, the elevated railroad was closed after less than 50 years of functioning and calls for its demolition soon followed. Luckily, the community pushed to repurpose the place and by doing so they inspired other cities to transform unused industrial zones into public spaces. 🏭 There were 720 ideas from over 36 countries for ways the space can be repurposed! 💡
@ The High Line

🦕 Dinosaurs, dinosaurs...

American Museum of Natural History - just one tip here: as the museum is huge, start with the floor with the dinosaurs. The museum is quite outdated to be honest and it is difficult to catch up with everything, but the dinosaurs are fun!

Pay-what-you-wish admission is available at ticket counters, so you can save some bucks ;)

If you haven’t heard the adorable song “Dinosars in love” by a 3 year old girl yet, you need to look it up!

“Dinosaurs eating people
Dinosaurs in love
Dinosaurs having a party
They eat fruit and cucumber
They fell in love
They say 'thank you'
A big bang came
And they died

Dinosaurs dinosaurs fell in love”
🦖❤️🦕

PS swipe left to see me with horns 😁
@ American Museum of Natural History