{"id":272,"date":"2010-08-15T18:30:25","date_gmt":"2010-08-16T01:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quesejoda.com\/blog\/?p=272"},"modified":"2010-08-15T18:30:25","modified_gmt":"2010-08-16T01:30:25","slug":"live-from-wall-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quesejoda.com\/blog\/live-from-wall-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Live from Wall Street"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The New York Stock Exchange<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few months ago my boss called and said, “how would you like an all expense paid vacation to Manhattan”? \u00c2\u00a0He obviously knows my weakness for traveling, and you can’t beat free when being frugal. \u00c2\u00a0I decided to bite: “Ok, what’s the catch? \u00c2\u00a0Who do I have to go kill?”<\/p>\n

It turns out what he really meant by vacation was, “why don’t you spend a couple weeks in the financial district while you tackle hard engineering problems for one of our Wall Street clients.” \u00c2\u00a0Yano’s been busy with accreditations, tests, and the like, so I couldn’t bring her along, but I decided to give it a whirl, since the boss asked nicely, and there’s a standing bet amongst my friends of how long I’ll last working 9-5 with no naps in between like the rest of the working population. \u00c2\u00a0So I’ve decided to prove them wrong!<\/p>\n

It’s hard for me to surpass my backpacking frugal habits, so $300\/night posh hotels downtown still don’t sound as exciting as a bunk bed in a hostel. \u00c2\u00a0So I was sure to pack a budget guide to New York City before I embarked this morning (borrowed from the Palm Beach County Library of course).<\/p>\n

This probably being the only day I’ll have to walk around (that whole 9-5 thing again), I decided to follow the guidebook’s walking tour of Lower Manhattan. \u00c2\u00a0I’d never taken the time to properly tourist around the historical sites, so this proved an incredible experience– that is, until I started collapsing with hunger 4 hours later.<\/p>\n

I had been starving since 4pm, but I had decided to push through it, in an effort to see the sites before sunset. \u00c2\u00a0I wanted some authentic cuisine, and despite the fact that I had an ample allowance for a family of eight in just about anywhere else in the world, I decided to eat at a (guidebook) recommended hole in the wall in Chinatown. \u00c2\u00a0Apparently even chefs from Nobu (one of the city’s most celebrated Japanese restaurants), still in their chef’s whites, come to dine here after their shifts are over. \u00c2\u00a0I decided to try my luck, and pushed my way through a crowd of dining Asians. \u00c2\u00a0This was definitely the real thing!<\/p>\n

Not being able to read or understand most of the menu, I opted for the book’s recommendation “sauteed pea shoots”. \u00c2\u00a0After a short wait, I realized that sauteed pea shoots were mild flavored lettuce looking things with a semblance of seasoning. \u00c2\u00a0I quickly scarfed down the entire 2 pounds of lettuce, and ended up hungry. \u00c2\u00a0I looked around at the nearby tables and the scrumptious plates around me. \u00c2\u00a0It seemed I was the only one with a less than spectacular meal. \u00c2\u00a0All right, let’s try this again… this time I ordered something more recognizable: chicken fried rice with onions. \u00c2\u00a0Wrong again! \u00c2\u00a0This other meal was what you cook yourself when there’s nothing in the fridge but left overs. \u00c2\u00a0This is what you cook when there’s no seasoning, the rice is stale, you have no soy sauce, no vegetables, and you only have one egg to spread for 8 cups of rice. \u00c2\u00a0Maybe a little too authentic, or maybe the entire restaurant staff, was secretly laughing at the stupid foreigner ordering the 5 English things on their menu. \u00c2\u00a0Oh well, I wasn’t about to try a third plate, so I politely smiled, paid, and left. \u00c2\u00a0I could hear the laughter as I closed the door.<\/p>\n

Now, I’m all about taking public transport, but it turned out that I was in an uncomfortable corner of Chinatown, in which I was so far from a connecting subway line, that it was a wash between taking a few subway hops and a bus, or just walking back (a taxi would have fared worse with the bumper to bumper traffic). \u00c2\u00a0I started to walk, and as is customary, it started to rain, so before I knew it I was running full speed, pushing small Chinese women out of the way, out-running small children on their bikes, and screaming at tourists for walking too slow. \u00c2\u00a0After a couple miles I started doing some quick mental calculations:<\/p>\n