Welcome to Artists, a public journal about my journey building a global artistic venture.
11.11.25, 7:10 p.m
I tend to be very conservative with spending money.
But dumping $900 on a 4-5 day solo trip to NYC to meet startup founders, creatives, and artists? Well, that was a complete no-brainer decision.
Ended up being one of the most transformative trips I’ve ever had.
This is a bit of a longer post. I’ll be sharing a recap of my adventures here, thoughts on the city, and reflections on where my life is heading.
NYC has a special place in my heart.
The last time I was there, 6.5 years ago, I won my first international piano competition, the 2019 Kaufman International.
The hall I performed at was only a few blocks away from the Juilliard School of Music, and I remember how special an experience that was.
I wasn’t even a high school freshman yet, but if there was something I took away from the city, it was how palpable the city’s energy was.
You could feel it, so so viscerally.
And since then, I’ve always wanted to come back. To experience this energy again. But this time, I was coming back in very different circumstances.
Now, deep into the startup world, it made sense to turn some of these Twitter relationships into IRL meetups.
Here were all the areas I’ve walked around:
Journal Square / New Jersey
Flatiron
FiDi and Wall Street
Chinatown
East Village
NoHo / NYU
Greenwich Village
West Village
Chelsea / High Line
Hudson Yards
All of Midtown
Central Park
Lincoln Square
Two Bridges
Brooklyn Dumbo
Here were all the restaurants (+ dessert & drink places) I gave a try in the city:
Luckin Coffee (throwback to China)
DubuHaus (s/o to Andrew Yeung for the rec on Twitter!)
Pure Thai Cookhouse (homemade vibes, not bad)
Amorino Gelato ($9 for a “small” cone, but cool design)
Kong Sikh Tong (great price for a NYC cha chaa tang)
Ten Ren’s Tea Time (a classic, reasonable prices)
Bravo Pizza (imo most pizza places in NYC are great)
Milk & Honey (first Kosher restaurant I’ve tried)
1915 Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodles (brings me back to China)
Chicha San Chen (another classic, though $9 a drink)
Here’s a huge disclaimer: I never lived in NYC.
I spent much of my life growing up in the SF Bay Area, attending college in LA, and abroad for half a year, living in China.
Yet, as someone who likes to process their travels into written form, here are some of my completely raw and honest observations of the city compiled into a tweet:
For a more nuanced observation from someone who’s actually lived there, I highly recommend reading David Perell’s long post about NYC.
If I were to compare the 3 most prominent cities in the U.S:
San Francisco: It’s extremely tech-focused. Conversations often revolve around what startup you’re building or how much you’re raising. If you’re obsessed with the software space, technical to some extent, or hyper-focused on building a giant tech company, SF might be the place for you.
Los Angeles: It’s very media-focused. Traditionally, that was for entertainment (Hollywood), but nowadays, it’s also around creators, influencers, and media celebrities. Some start creator-led companies. People tend to judge you not just by how much $$$ you’ve made, but also by how many followers you have.
New York City: It feels holistic. All industries come here, not just tech or media. Generally speaking, the city tells you to work faster, harder, and more intensely. This level of obsession and “pursuing one’s dreams” isn’t just found in a single industry; it’s the undercurrent and heart of NYC.
If I could only choose 1 out of the 3 to live in, I think I’d pick NYC.
SF tech culture has gone increasingly south (e.g: Gen Z meets Twitter virality), and I’m personally not the biggest fan of the hyper-fixation on AI.
Making your entire life around B2B agentic SaaS? I’ll probably pass on that.
However, when it comes to natural beauty, SF is easily the winner.
In fact, whenever I visit SF, I find myself naturally drawn to its beautiful parks rather than spending my time at a startup office in the financial district.
When it comes to LA, I frankly don’t see myself ever coming back after uni.
The creative and food scene is flourishing here, but everything else feels incredibly stale, superficial, and stagnated.
In addition, unwalkable streets, massive urban sprawl, dysfunctional infrastructure make living here feel more like a dystopian sci-fi movie than a livable, breathable city.
For NYC, well… let’s just say I’ll probably be making more frequent trips there in the near future :).
If there’s one thing that I’ve fallen in love with, it’s the skyline and autumn.
If you’re on the edge to see NYC for yourself, I recommend checking out Andrew Yeung’s essay on “Why You Should Move to NYC.”
Be musinary,
