Reminiscing: NYC then and now

Yesterday I stepped foot inside the Hilton NYC again, eleven years after the first time I went with my grade 11 classmates for Model United Nations. Eleven years ago, it was the first time I visited New York City, and we were staying at the Hilton for the duration of our trip. Everything about that trip was exciting -- being in the one of the biggest cities in the world with your closest friends, boyfriend, and even a teacher or two. I remembering shooting one of my first photo essays in New York on that trip: the requisite Time Square shot, a homeless lady on a park bench, and a pedestrian weaving his way through a sea of cabs. Little bits and pieces of that trip come back to me now and again...getting ramen, hiding people in the bathroom during bed-check, that little black Armani...

Fast forward to today...things have changed in ways I could not have predicted. This time around, I was at the Hilton to attend a tradeshow for work. New York City is no longer a stranger to me. The city, while still exciting, has be become a tangible reality, as opposed to this almost-mythical place appearing only in movies and TV shows. Other than SF and Vancouver, it's probably the next city that I know best. And yet, there's so much more to be discovered. 

I've been to NYC over twenty times since that fateful trip in grade 11. But this current trip will be the longest consecutive stay I've ever had.  There's something almost fateful about that, but that's a whole different post. All I can say is, I <3 NYC. And there will always be a special place in my heart for this city.