On May 13th, my classmates and I had the day to do whatever we liked in NYC. Before the trip, I struggled to figure out what to fill my day with. I knew there was a lot to do, but what are those things? I already knew I would attend the Literary Magazine Fair, but that would only be an hour of my day, and I was determined to do as much as possible. So with some research, I learned that the biggest Harry Potter store in the world was located in NYC, right across from the Flat Iron building. “Perfect!” I thought, “I can go there after the fair.” That was half my day planned. After scanning the itinerary, I learned of a bookstore called Kinokuniya, with a second floor dedicated to manga, and decided I would end my day there.
I planned my day but then came the real issue — the metro system. I can barely find my way around where I live. How was I going to successfully navigate everywhere I wanted to go? Thankfully, after speaking to my classmates about my plans for the day, two of them agreed to join me. Knowing I would have people with me, I felt reassured and energized for the coming day!
The day of, I woke up a little after 9am and walked to a nearby cafe to enjoy a chai latte and pastry while reading. This become my daily routine since I came to NYC. The pastry of the day was a pan au chocolat, a rectangular croissant with two bars of dark chocolate baked in the middle, and I finished reading my book, Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast. The pastry was delicious, I can’t say the same about the latte, and the book’s ending was heartwarming, so I started my day with a pep in my step. Around 11:30, I returned to the Y and met with Olivia to head to the fair. My plan for the fair was to ask around about possible internships.
Olivia and I arrived at the fair without any issues and even saw a hatched lizard egg on the way. We met with Dr. Sexton at the Five Points’ table, then went our separate way. I visited almost every table, taking note of internship and submission opportunities. Unfortunately, not many publishers there offered remote internships. It makes sense, though, so I wasn’t too discouraged. Being a small organization means a lot of work is hands-on, and employees play many different roles depending on the day. The trip to the fair wasn’t a total bust; I found two publishers offering remote internships and bought a book. I didn’t intend to spend any money at the fair, but Europa Editions had all their books on sale. How could I have called myself a true bookworm if I passed up on a book sale? I purchased a fantasy book called A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos, a French author.
When I finished browsing the fair, I met up with Olivia again at a bubble tea shop and chilled there until it was time to head over to the Harry Potter store. We were meeting Noah at a dim sum restaurant at 2:30pm, but we were finished with the fair around 1:45pm, so we had time to kill. I enjoyed a refreshing matcha milk tea while chatting with Olivia. As we talked, I remembered my roommate Sydney, enjoyed anime, so I invited her to Kunikinya.
After another successful trip on the subway, Olivia and I met up with Noah at Dim Sum Sam. I don’t recommend the place. The staff was a bit rude, and something got confused with my order, so it took twenty minutes for the staff to tell me it was ready. For context, Olivia and Noah ordered after me but received their food before me. Usually, I could forgive those issues if the food was good, but it wasn’t. I ordered two types of dumplings, pork and crabmeat, plus their veggie dumplings they named Buddha’s Delight. The former was good, but I did not like Buddha’s delight. The dough was really gummy, and the filling was bland. I thought maybe something went wrong in the cooking process, but Olivia, who also ordered the Buddha’s Delight, agreed the dough was gummy. So the restaurant was a bust, but at least I had something in my stomach.
After lunch, it was time for the highlight of the day, the Harry Potter store. The second we turned onto Broadway St. and saw the store’s sign, my heart exploded with excitement. When I walked into the store, there was a bunch of merchandise featuring exclusive art from a Japanese artist. To my left was the butterbeer bar; I could’ve been satisfied just having butterbeer and not buying anything else. However, that wasn’t the case; I spent a good chunk of money at that store. Olivia, Noah, and I got separated pretty quickly. The store was packed with people.
It was a fascinating place; there were two levels, and it was divided into themed sections. There was a quidditch section, magical creatures, wands, etc. Basically, any category you can think of from Harry Potter, it was there. They had a life-size cut out of Hagrid that made me feel even shorter than usual. It was still really cool, though. I had to pull myself away from the wand section since I wanted to get my first wand from Universal Studios; I’ve heard it’s a magical experience (no pun intended.) Other than the wand section, I visited each one, carefully contemplating how I would spend my money. It was a difficult decision between a Quidditch sports bra and a Goblet of Fire replica, but ultimately, I chose the Goblet of Fire. It was $5 cheaper, and they didn’t have my size in the sports bra. I also bought a Diagon Alley throw pillow, a Luna Lovegood themed tote bag, a magical creature reusable bag, a five-pack of mini notebooks, a phoenix postcard, and a cup of butterbeer. I had mixed feelings about the butterbeer. I didn’t particularly enjoy the soda part, but the caramel cream on top was delicious. I ended up grabbing a spoon and just eating that. Noah, Olivia, and I found each other at the butterbeer bar and shortly left for Kinokuniya afterward.
Kinokuniya had three floors, each dedicated to a separate category of merchandise. The first floor had regular books and the only bathroom I waited ten to fifteen minutes for; the second floor had manga and anime merchandise, then the basement level had stationary and other miscellaneous items. Since we had plans to visit the Strand Bookstore Tuesday, I didn’t look at the books on the first floor. Not long after I started browsing the second floor, Sydney arrived with Noah, and we all started looking at the manga. Half the time, we tried to find absurd titles and cover art. The most memorable is a manga called Thigh High; its cover art was a bunch of muscular men in schoolgirl uniforms. I settled on two romance mangas, but it was tough coming to that decision. I thought about buying one called Happy Sugar Life, a thriller my friend enjoys, but since I hadn’t bought any romance up to that point in my trip, I decided against it. I also decided against looking at the anime merchandise. Partly because I didn’t have the money for it, I was also tired. Everyone else with me also felt tired, so we went back to the Y.
I ended my day by enjoying RuPaul’s Drag Race and the sequel to Marked and ordering some sushi. Yes, I did have Asian food two times in a row. What can I say? I wanted to redeem the dim sum I had earlier. I didn’t pack my day as I initially intended, but I’m glad I relaxed during the evening. We had been on the go for five days, so I was due some much-needed rest. Plus, I wasn’t down for exploring NYC alone at night. I had a great solo day in NYC. I ate some (mostly) good food, bought books, and explored a Harry Potter store. That’s all I could ask for 🙂