• Starbucks. Or your favorite coffee place. Suitable for groups of two, three, four… or just one. These are established exclusively for you to sit and read or do other solo work. And of course to drink some coffee while you’re at it. +Controlled room temperature: perfect for those too-hot summer days or too-cold winter days. +Selection of snacks and drinks – besides the coffee. +Bathrooms? Nearly always available, which is essential for a long stay, depending on your activity. -Lack of seating, sometimes. Oh, crowds! -Speaking of which, lack of privacy, sometimes.
• Public libraries. Suitable if you need to get away from other chaotic New Yorkers or tourists to a place where peace and quiet is strictly enforced. Or to study. +The peace and quiet. +Relative privacy. +Bathrooms should be available. -No food allowed. Or drinks. -Too quiet. You miss the noise.
• Parks. Nature is good. Depending on which park, it could be a serene experience, a good get-away from the rushed city life. I recommend Central Park or Prospect Park, whichever is closer to you. If you take the 2 or the 3, you can hit up both! +The peace and sometimes quiet. +You’re in nature! What a change. +Relatively private. This doesn’t mean people aren’t around – they just don’t pay as much attention to you. -Weather. When it’s bad, I mean. -Bathrooms. You really get spoiled by the cafes and libraries. Here, the bathrooms close early. Or are dirty. Or are both. Wait, that doesn’t make it a bad thing anymore. Anyway.

Yes, I’ve only got three. After you’ve tried the three, you might as well go home anyway. Home is the best place of all. All +’s from me. Whatever you do, do not go to a bar by yourself in the City. Bad, bad news.

“What is that upstairs, an Asian singles party?” – a woman commenting on the crowd at the Sosauce social last night at Piano’s (LES, NYC).

“Hey miss…” After turning around to face this man in a large jersey, he continues, “You’re beautiful…. but you have an ugly personality.” Before I can react, he’s nearly out of eyesight and goes, “You’re not my type anyway!”

Summer travelers, beware! Suspiciously, fees are being applied at around the same time – during this month of May. ( See: “You’re charging me for what?!” by Kate Hamman – SmarterTravel.com)

I remember feeling appalled last year when I made the move to New York from California after learning that Virgin America charges extra ($10) for a second baggage. Weren’t travelers always allowed two complementary baggage spaces? For someone who is moving across the country, being limited to one is considerably restrictive. Thinking back, I could have shelled out extra (after all, it was only $10) and saved my new roommate and me a lot of sweat and pain lugging that 60-pound piece up 4 flights of stairs – if only I knew the trend, the standard, now: extra fees for that second bag. According to SmarterTravel.com, major airlines including United, American, Continental and Delta are charging up to $25. Virgin America is also hiking it up to $25. At least JetBlue’s fees are only $20?

Personally, I figure as long as the air fares are not dramatically increased, second-baggage fees are no big deal. Yet, we find out that airlines are not making profit due to sky-high fuel prices, except Southwest. We can certainly expect fuel surcharges like Delta’s. A month ago, I was weeping over high fares for New York/California flights. Now I feel that I should be content that I nabbed a round-trip for $339 via Priceline on American (for late June-July). But, compare that to my round-trip to Sweden for merely $514 in mid-February. I might as well give myself another vacation abroad.

1. Central Park, Manhattan
   The only time I would probably go here is after work; it’s only a few subway stops from the SoSauce office. Otherwise, it’s a bit out of the way for a large constructed piece of nature in the middle of upper Manhattan. While vast and clean, it’s clearly superficial– half of it is fenced off for “preservation”, and the other public parts– especially the Meadow, is too populated. It’s spring, so people still have a chance to nab a lucky spot in the shade! I sound bitter, but when you don’t want to leave the City, it’s still a nice place to grab a pretzel and lie down and enjoy the landscape… towering buildings poking out from the trees.
2. Prospect Park, Brooklyn
   I’m madly in love. You can go fishing here. I could count more than a few lakes/ponds and fields and other scenic nature components. It’s big enough (yet small enough) that you can get lost without really being lost. Several turns could make you end up in front of an ice rink near a lake or have you across the street from McDonald’s. But when you lie in the middle of a meadow, you can’t see buildings poking out and maybe you can pretend you’re not in New York. I’ve gone 3 times this month though it’s hell to get there… I’d either have to take a train to the City and transfer back to Brooklyn, or walk for about an hour to get there.
3. Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn
   The landscape reminds me of Dolores Park, San Francisco, except it has a fort, Ft Greene. It’s hilly, with proper amount of trees and open spaces. I say it’s a great community-sized park, decent for picnics, although not big enough if real isolation is needed.