The Backstory – 3

Now, this whole concept of moving off the island is weighty indeed. Carrie from Sex and the City’s snobbish reaction to Miranda moving to Brooklyn is not uncommon. If Miranda had moved to Jersey...horrors! The fact of the matter is that you do get a little house-proud just by dint of living in Manhattan, even if you live in a hovel. I moved to New York City to live in Manhattan, not Brooklyn or Queens and certainly not New Jersey! I’m getting over it though.

I fully expect we’ll go through some degree of culture shock. You get very used to having all sorts of things at your fingertips and the idea of having to suffer the indignity of inconvenience is frightening. I’m getting over it though.

Being a Foodie I know I’m going to be freaked at first. I’m very used to the little circuit of specialty markets I have at hand here in HK. We scouted the neighborhood and were happy to see that Central Avenue, just 4 blocks away, is lined with several farmer’s markets, a few Italian markets, butchers and bakeries, and every sort of Latino shop. I still haven’t found any Asian markets but I’m sure there’s one. Then there’s a huge new ShopRite supermarket just down the elevator in Hoboken. I’ve just learned that most restaurants in the area don’t deliver, or there’s a charge if they do! I don’t know if I’ll get over that one.