NY Summer with Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro

I teamed up with Lenovo, they thought that the new Yoga 2 Pro would fit with my lifestyle (travel, yoga, fashion, blogging). We partnered on a Q & A to discuss how I am setting into my new life in the Big Apple.
Lenovo sent me the Yoga 2 Pro just prior to my move to the Big Apple. I’ve never personally used a tablet before, or owned one myself – it was one of those appliances that I never had a massive use for. I have a Kindle, I don’t play candy crush, and I’m not a jet-setting business person needing to do official looking work on planes. The Yoga 2 Pro, though, is more like a giant transformative laptop/tablet hybrid that lets you bend it in a 360 degree arc, similar to that of the creepy girl in the Exorcist but much more functional. I’ve actually used it quite a fair bit since they’ve sent it to me, with the ‘Stand’ and ‘Tent’ mode great for some of the apps bundled in – like their yoga app when I’m too lazy to haul ass five metres down the street to my studio, or the recipe/cooking app, which I’ve yet to use. I live with a chef who cooks it up at some fancy-pants restaurant in the West Village, and his girlfriend is equally as talented in the culinary stakes. Living in a household of chefs makes me seriously doubt my ability to cook (especially since I only learnt how to fry eggs about a year ago. True story.)
I’ve endeavoured to get better at it, though – especially since eating out in NY is freakin’ expensive. I don’t even care if brunch is two meals combined, because it’s a weird time of day and I end up spending more on Liquiteria smoothies and misc snacks in between meals. The Yoga 2 Pro will hopefully help me out on that front.
The design is also great for the Kindle app – it makes the experience much more visual and glossy, and being able to see it in a shelf format for the store is a whole lot more engaging than my black and white Kindle. Lenovo have asked me to answer a few questions about myself – part one will be on all things about the move and long distance, since I’ve had a few e-mails from you guys. The second part, which I’ll post next month, will be on my general fitness routine and exercise habits.

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro gifted by Lenovo.

1. Lenovo: How was the long-haul plane ride from Sydney, Australia to New York City? Do you have any travel tips you can share?
Terrible. I had misguided perceptions of how great the trip and the food would be – I’m the type of person that loves pre-packaged stale-ish hospital food, so airplane food wasn’t too far off. I burned through an entire season of Hamish and Andy’s Asia Gap Year, but clocked about 0.5 hours sleep in the entire 18 hour flight. Ultimately not too bad, but points taken away for the unfortunately tall dude sitting next to me who’s legs spilled into my personal space for 99% of it.
2. Lenovo: How did you decide to make the move to NYC? Do you have any advice for anyone considering moving abroad?
I was originally going to move to NY in 2015 and take advantage of the J-1 visa that students are eligible for in the first year of graduation. Le boyfriend moved over in February, and I didn’t see anything that was holding me back to speed the move up.
It was hard. I guess I never fully sat down and thought about how important the physical aspect of a relationship is and it didn’t hit me until he was on the plane and there was nobody there to cuddle after a hard day at work. It especially hit hard once my housemate went away on his navy ship and I lived alone for a while. This was equal parts depressing (see: tweets about drinking protein shakes in the nude and listening to rap at high volume) and awesome (see: tweets about drinking protein shakes In the nude and listening to rap at high volume).
In all seriousness, though, it was ultimately a great experience for the relationship. You put in serious work on the communication front, you’re much more considerate and you’re actively looking for ways to be closer despite the distance. You also learn to have a thick skin in the midst of nay-sayers dooming your long distance relationship before it’s even begun.
I am now also an expert on the time zone difference between NY and Sydney, and the ins and outs of Google Hangouts.
3. Lenovo: How have you spent the first few weeks in the city that never sleeps? What are you favourite things to do so far?
This is the first time I’ve been unemployed since legal employment age (14 and 9 months) so it’s been a bit of an adjustment. I’m in an entirely different city in a country I’ve never been to, so I definitely appreciate the time off to explore and meet new people, but I’ve had silly expectations on what’s the acceptable time frame to have found a job. I’ve now found a job that I’m 10000% excited to start and know I will do well at, so I’m happy. Otherwise, spending a lot of money on food, lining up (this city is nuts about lining up for everything), meeting rad New York-ians, and enjoying my endless Summer.
Stay tuned for part 2 of my NYC Q & A coming soon.