Thanksgiving weekend, Kirti off to India, what else but get the hell out of town. That I did, in real quick fashion by snapping off a cheap deal to get to New York/New Jersey to meet Sam and Such.
What if I had to travel from Illinois to Wisconsin and then fly to New York and get to New Jersey to meet these two, it was worth every mile driven, every mile flown, every dollar spent at the toll-booth and every bit as relaxing as I had expected the trip to be. Talk about much ado about nothing, the airport X-ray scanners and full body pat downs, that is: NOTHING. No one seemed to be bothered and no one raised a ruckus about it at Milwaukee or in NY.
Spent the best part of Thursday walking in the cold rain on the streets of Manhattan figuring out our next hot-spot to cover and for a few brain-cramp moments we mistook Bryant Park to be the unmistakable Rockefeller Center, wild enough to think that just because there was an ice rink and people were having a great time that this was it. Even with the landmark that is the NBC Tower not even in the same zip code, that this particular piece of ice was part of the icon. Even signs on the street and the rink such as Bryant Park did not deter us from believing that it was indeed not 30 Rock.
We did however, find out where we wanted to be and spent a good time ogling at what we normally see on the TV. Adults and kids skating on the ice, some effortlessly finding their feet and some struggling to the point of being "internet video-funny". This place was called the Rockefeller Center and standing next to it was 30 Rock. We started to breathe again and all was normal :)
Next stop: Times Square. Just "The Place" to be. Oozes New York, simply New York. Can never get enough of that place. What crowd, what lights, what energy. It was about 5:00 PM and we were just about ready for dinner (skipped lunch, of course). Took a cab to Lexington Avenue for some really awesome Indo-chinese food at a place called Chinese Mirch (beats out Bamboo Inchin in Chicago). If you are in that area, try out the place. Yummy!!
Took the trains back home to Jersey City for some rest as Black Friday loomed just around the turn of the night. Not since 2003 have I ventured out in the cold November Friday for "some deals" but we had this planned since the trip itself was planned. Serpentine queues at Walmart and Best Buy took the life out of us but we chugged along till it was time to go get some much needed sleep. Did not see any awesome, jaw dropping deals but people here are crazy for flat screen TVs. Seemed like the average Thanksgiving revenue (for the past 10 years) of about $445 Billion was very well achievable (even in a bad economy).
For dinner that night, we went to Saravana Bhavan in Edison and it was possibly the best South Indian dinner I have had in the States. Too mouth watering and authentic for the palette. Loved every morsel to the end.
But as all good things come to an end, so did this wonderful trip. Had a great time with these 2, always do. With the weekend winding down and 2011 staring down the barrel, it is time to get the final act for 2010 together and get some work done.
Lets go!!
What if I had to travel from Illinois to Wisconsin and then fly to New York and get to New Jersey to meet these two, it was worth every mile driven, every mile flown, every dollar spent at the toll-booth and every bit as relaxing as I had expected the trip to be. Talk about much ado about nothing, the airport X-ray scanners and full body pat downs, that is: NOTHING. No one seemed to be bothered and no one raised a ruckus about it at Milwaukee or in NY.
Spent the best part of Thursday walking in the cold rain on the streets of Manhattan figuring out our next hot-spot to cover and for a few brain-cramp moments we mistook Bryant Park to be the unmistakable Rockefeller Center, wild enough to think that just because there was an ice rink and people were having a great time that this was it. Even with the landmark that is the NBC Tower not even in the same zip code, that this particular piece of ice was part of the icon. Even signs on the street and the rink such as Bryant Park did not deter us from believing that it was indeed not 30 Rock.
We did however, find out where we wanted to be and spent a good time ogling at what we normally see on the TV. Adults and kids skating on the ice, some effortlessly finding their feet and some struggling to the point of being "internet video-funny". This place was called the Rockefeller Center and standing next to it was 30 Rock. We started to breathe again and all was normal :)
Next stop: Times Square. Just "The Place" to be. Oozes New York, simply New York. Can never get enough of that place. What crowd, what lights, what energy. It was about 5:00 PM and we were just about ready for dinner (skipped lunch, of course). Took a cab to Lexington Avenue for some really awesome Indo-chinese food at a place called Chinese Mirch (beats out Bamboo Inchin in Chicago). If you are in that area, try out the place. Yummy!!
Took the trains back home to Jersey City for some rest as Black Friday loomed just around the turn of the night. Not since 2003 have I ventured out in the cold November Friday for "some deals" but we had this planned since the trip itself was planned. Serpentine queues at Walmart and Best Buy took the life out of us but we chugged along till it was time to go get some much needed sleep. Did not see any awesome, jaw dropping deals but people here are crazy for flat screen TVs. Seemed like the average Thanksgiving revenue (for the past 10 years) of about $445 Billion was very well achievable (even in a bad economy).
For dinner that night, we went to Saravana Bhavan in Edison and it was possibly the best South Indian dinner I have had in the States. Too mouth watering and authentic for the palette. Loved every morsel to the end.
But as all good things come to an end, so did this wonderful trip. Had a great time with these 2, always do. With the weekend winding down and 2011 staring down the barrel, it is time to get the final act for 2010 together and get some work done.
Lets go!!
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