By: Gabriela Yareliz
On a day with no school, it is time to explore the city. That is exactly what my friend and I did Monday, when we hit the train stations and the streets of Queens to see the ecclectic and ethnic neighborhoods of Jackson Heights and Flushing. Here is a bit of our journey through pictures.
Instructions: FOLLOW THE CAPTIONS, PLEASE 🙂
This is what you see when you emerge into the sunlight from the train. Restaurants and jewelers. Welcome to Little India.
Someday, I will wear one of these. They are so gorgeous.
When you cross the street there is an Indian supermarket. when you walk in you are engulfed by the smell of incense. They have a wealth of variety of food and hair products (yes, even amla serums) and the cutest eggplants I have ever seen. It seems to keep busy. The guys who stock were very nice and one smiled at me when I caught his eye.
After walking by more jewelers than I could count (amazing how they all compete side by side and have card and flier wars on the sidewalk), I saw this. Hyperventilation. OH YEAH!!!
I even saw Hrithik Roshan- I know what you are thinking. He is sexy. The guy at the shop probably thought I was insane when I went in only to have a look at this. He drew me in with his gaze, you know?
TRANSITION-ROUTE 7 TO FLUSHING
POOF! We are gone to Chinatown. This Chinatown turned out to be more legit than the Manhattan one. No offense, dear Chinese friends in Manhattan, but FLUSHING OWNS!
WE ARE HERE!!!!
We visited posh Chinese boutiques that had boots for $100, necklaces that looked like belts with buckles and fur and fabulous jewelry. Think Aisha, except the Chinese and not Indian-Sonam Kapoor version. POSH!
Even five-star hotels… This place was incredibly gorgeous. I recommend it. 😉 Sheraton Hotel in Flushing Mall. A-MA-ZING.
I make friends quickly… my flight attendant friends. You know I think they wrote a beauty book or something. I once heard Asian flight attendants are the most glamourous. I believe it..
After eating a yummy meal (vegetable fried rice) and stopping at the Flushing Library, which is great–I decided to go blonde (thank you to ELVABEAUTY in Flushing for your kindness in letting us have our hair changed on a whim…)
For more on ELVA BEAUTY, click here for her Twitter. This woman is really great. 🙂
We ended the day with CoCo (a place that does smoothies and tea).
Word to the wise: Carry cash with you; Most places only accept cash.
Go into all of the malls and supermarkets, it is amazing.
I learned a lot that day. I learned a lot about features and feeling different almost like an outsider. Usually, I can blend and go unnoticed with many cultures and ethnicities, but in Chinatown, that was not the case. It puts things into perspective. It was pretty awesome. We had a fab day, and I thank all of the lovely people in Queens who made our day possible and God, who made our day safe (and we didn’t wait on one train, smooth rides) 🙂
Queens was everything I wanted it to be.
Too cute. 🙂 At the candy shop.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 
Nice post, glad t see you after long. Your pic with white hairs is hilarious 😀
The hair, hahaha. yes. I am not blond for a reason. LOL. I can’t wait to be in Florida!!
Are you coming to FL for thanks giving or home coming?