I went to New York City for a nice afternoon solo date.

When I heard that Elle Fanning was going to star in a Broadway show, I knew I wanted to see that immediately, especially considering it was her Broadway debut. Appropriate was something I was locked into seeing, and when the Megabus sent me a coupon for $10 off of a fare, I decided it was time to go back up to NYC in February of 2024.

So I purchased my bus tickets for a Sunday up in the city, as well as my ticket for Appropriate. Because I am under thirty I scored the deal Second Stage has where they have $30 tickets, and made plans with a friend to grab a nice lunch.

Everything seemed perfect until about an hour before showtime. I randomly thought to check my email when I was in a Korean pop store with my friend in the middle of Koreatown, and I saw the show was cancelled. My heart broke, even though I understand that COVID was still a big thing. I knew I wasn’t going to see Fanning in the role.

Months later I did end up booking a ticket to see the show when it transferred theaters, but without Fanning. I had an entire afternoon in the city and no commitments really, so the world truly was my oyster.

Here’s how I made the afternoon mine even with that letdown!

Koreatown has some great options for food and shopping!

I had plans to meet up with a friend, who I was with when I learned the show was cancelled. I’d seen Instagram reels of the restaurant Her Name is Han all over my social media for months, even before it blew up and became more popular, and snagged a 12:45 reservation a week before for their brunch.

We met outside of the restaurant, were asked to wait five minutes for our table, and then were seated. Her Name is Han’s brunch was so busy at that time—there were people waiting to be seated that didn’t have reservations. My first thought is that it was really crowded in here—the tables are close together, so you can hear every part of someone else’s conversation.

I ordered the bulgogi brunch set and my friend the salmon. While the presentation of the food is great overall, we were not impressed honestly with our meals. The salad dressing was oddly bitter, and several of the dishes, including the bulgogi, were overly sweet. I ate all of the kimchi, but my friend ended up bagging half of her food to give to her family because she didn’t like it.

There are some other fantastic options in Koreatown, though! I learned not to fall for the hype here, as I tend to be disappointed by the social media places. Afterwards we walked around, stopping in H Mart to see their new upstairs food court and skincare shop, then the new K-pop store that opened up down the street.

We also stopped in TESO-X, which is where I buy my Chinese Nanci dolls. To make myself feel better about the show being cancelled, I ended up buying two of them right then and there.

Sometimes all you need is a good walk around the perimeter of Times Square.

My friend had to leave me behind after going to TESO-X, and I deliberated what to do for the next five hours I was going to be in the city. What I did first was take a long walk around Times Square, but not the busy central part. I do this every so often when I’m in the city, and it’s how I end up finding new restaurants and places to check out.

Basically, I walk all the way around Hell’s Kitchen and the other surrounding neighborhoods of Times Square, not bothering to look at my phone. Sometimes I find somewhere nice to sit and just people watch—in New York, you kind of see everything at the end of the day and it can be quite entertaining.

I did this for about an hour and a half, then walked over to the theater I work at to see what was going on. Turns out we were about to have a Short Play Lab meeting, as we run a lab and play festival for women writers, and I sat in on that for the next three hours.

I ended up walking around Hudson Yards even more after that just to see how the neighborhood has changed since I was in college. I went to FIT, so I lived in the dorms by Whole Foods for a bit. It’s a completely different area now—that Whole Foods wasn’t even there yet.

Finding joy in the little moments, even when the unexpected happens.

Despite the initial disappointment, I found ways to enjoy my day. First indulgence was the Nanci doll, then, when the lab ended early, I decided to get a dinner at Chirp, a Peruvian spot I tend to frequent on 34th Street. I ordered my usual 1/4 chicken with yucca and black beans, then happily chomped down on my meal.

As I was waiting for the bus, too, I decided to stop in the Xing Fu Tang at Hudson Yards Mall and picked up a brown sugar boba. While the milk tea was simply mediocre, the pearls were fantastic. I might get it again if I was in the mood and had $8 to spend. Chun Yang is still my favorite food in the city though, if we’re being honest.

Then I caught my bus! It was a pretty productive day, if we’re going to be honest.

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