Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Great Flood of '08!

So, Sunday night was rather interesting... Laura and I have been on a scary movie binge lately, and on Sunday night we decided we would watch Stephen King's "It". Apparently, the movie is in two parts and (as most works of Stephen King) was about three hours long. So, we finished the movie about one in the morning. Laura had to print some sheet music for school so I accompanied her to the basement to do so.

A couple of our housemates were downstairs watching TV and hanging out, so we chatted with them a bit after Laura printed her music. While we were in mid conversation, water started trickling through the basement ceiling- then showered- and then POURED into the basement! It all happened to suddenly, there was almost 2 inches of water on the floor by the time we got out of the basement.

To add to the occasion, the water running through the ceiling triggered the fire alarm. SO at 1:30 am our house had to file out in the freezing cold as we waited for the Fire Department to show up and clear the house. On top of all this, our residence manager is out of own this week- so the RA's had to deal with a flooded house and fire alarm on their first night without the RM.

So, to stop the torrential rains in our basement we had to shut off the water- COMPLETELY. So, I went to Penn Station... to brush my teeth. Quite an adventure.

In other news, Christmas decorations are popping up over the city:







Oh, and by the way- the water is back on!

Until next time! Hopefully it will be a drier post...


Friday, November 21, 2008

Journey to the Frigid North!!

I was lucky enough to get off work a few hours early last Monday- so I decided I would finally explore the northern parts of Central Park. As you may have guessed, given this post's title, it was quite cold in the Big Apple. But I didn't let that deter me from my explorations!


I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to walk through the park!


Weren't the colors great?

A nice shot of the city overlooking the northern end of the reservoir. Ah, I could've just stood right there forever- or at least until I dies of hypothermia.


There was also a very nice pond toward the northern end of the park. I was hoping to go exploring even further, but it started to get dark... I have seen Home Alone 2 enough times to know not to be in Central Park at night! So, hopefully within the next few days/weeks I will venture farther north and have another Central Park blog!

P.S. Amazed that I didn't mention what food I have eaten in this post?

Thursday, November 6, 2008

NYC Election Madness!!



This has really been a great semester in New York. I have been lucky enough to be here during the election. For those of you who have been watching SNL can understand how incredible my time has been!

On Monday (the day before the election) I left work to see that Rockefeller Center had been decorated for the next day's activities. This was where NBC News would be broadcasting its live election coverage. There was a catwalk-like pathway running along he building and red, white and blue lights were lighting up the building.





The next evening, on election Tuesday, Julie and I decided we would go and check out Times Square. I was surprised, at first, that it didn't really seem that crowded. However, there were definitely many heavily crowded pockets of people watching the various screens covering the election results. After a quick stop at the Patriotic McDonald's , we crossed to the center of Times Square to watch the CNN coverage being broadcast. We were crowded in with a bunch of tourists and New Yorkers watching as the electoral votes came in. Whenever Obama took a state, the entire crowd cheered like no other! Obviously, New York voted Obama- although Staten Island voted McCain!




Anyway, it was getting late so Julie and I decided we would go back... naturally, if we had stayed only about ten minutes longer we would have been in Times Square when Obama won the election!! Just missed it by TEN MINUTES!!!... story of my life...








Monday, October 27, 2008

From My Past Zoo Trip

I thought I would upload a video from my last trip to the zoo.

Enjoy!

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Joint WOs HOPping!



So, yesterday, Sunday, Julie and I decided we were going to venture into Chinatown! I had been down there twice before. Once when I went to visit the city in May, and a few weeks ago I went to find somewhere to eat with Laura. Needless to say, we got lost and never found a place to eat.

We left around 3 in the afternoon, becuase we had to recover from the night before, and headed down the yellow line to Canal Street. Luckily Julie had researched our route in the morning, so we got there very efficiently. It was only going to be a matter of time until people realized I really shouldn't be truted with directions. I don't have that great of a track record in that department.

Canal Street was our first target for the day. It was jam-packed with crowded souvenier shops, filled with knock-off purses, pashminas, creepy little dolls singing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" with a heavy Chinese accent, and people yelling at me to buy their "sunglass". Julie did end up buying a pair of black "sunglass", after debating between the lime green and fire-engine red pair.

The problem with Canal Street, aside from being crowded, was that all the shops sold the same items- and you couldn't look at anything without someone trying to squeeze it in your hand while fishing your wallet out of your pocket. So, we decided to explore another street.



After turning off of Canal Street, the crowds suddenly dissipated and it was much quieter and calmer than before. After a quick stop inside a deli to refuel, we discovered two more upscale Chinese stores. The first one we went into had a very interesting assortment of goods. There was a table with various pens, notepads, staplers, holes punchers and the sort. It also had bedding, cd players, memory foam pillows and very androgynous clothing.

The store next door was rather exciting. It remnded me a lot of Ikea- minues the strange Swedish names gien to all the furniture. It was also a lot more colorful than most of the Ikeas I had been to. Their wares looked like they would fit in nicely into a tastfully modern Manhattan apartment.

Julie and I each had some luck in this store. I found a desk that I really liked and one of the saleswomen offered to give me a print out with its information. I'm afraid that the shipping cost to Michigan will be greater than the price of the desk! Julie bought a very colorful plate decorated with the word "Yum", and a glass reading "Drink it up!". Quite amusing.

We were rather pooped after our two hours of walking and decided that we wanted to find somewhere to eat. Speedy, who works with us at SNL, at recommended a Chinese retaurant on Mott Street called "Wo Hop". He told us that it was located in the basement of a building, it's been around since 1938- and that the floors probably haven't been cleaned since then! Sounds rather intriguing, doesn't it?

So, with Julie leading the way, we easily found our way to Wo Hop on 17 Mott Street (this is not to be confused with the Wo Hop at 15 Mott Street, because that one is not nearly as good as number 17). We go to the staircase leading undergorund to find a ten person line waiting to enter this hole-in-the-wall.

As we were waiting in line, I sent a text message to Speedy letting him know where we were. He called me almost immediately afterwards with recommendations of what to get.



Shortly after, we were lead into a small room covered with various headshots of people who have visited the restaurant. Julie and I both ordered wonton soup (one of Speedy's recommendations), Julie had Shrimp Chowfun (another Speedy favorite) and I had Sweet and Pungent Chicken.... I was really hoping that they meant Sweet and Sour Chicken- because, last time I check, "pungent" meant "smelly".

Luckily, it was Sweet and Sour- and it was delicious! Speedy was right. This was GREAT FOOD! (Yes, I do realize all my blogs mention food). The Wonton Soup was excellent too! Julie's Chowfun was great. I'd never had it before. It was a noodle dish, but what was interesting was that the noodles had a texture very similar to crepes! But seriously, Wo Hop was great! Definitely going back there soon!

On our way back to the subway, we stopped by a Chinese cnady shop. There were a ton of brightly colored candies wrapped in bright packaging with fun symbols on them. So we each bought a few to try... Apparently, the Chinese do not use sugar in their candy... and you can tell! We tried these mini-yogurt cups that were filled with what seemed to be jello.... let's just say if I ever had to imagine what pee tasted like.... I would think it would come close to that.....

So goes another day in New York City!

Check back soon!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Weekend with Molly

Molly came and visited me over Fall Break, and we did a whirlwind tour of (some of) Manhattan!

I picked her up a week ago Friday from Laguardia Airport, after quite some trouble getting there... We took a cab into the city and went out for sushi a few blocks away from the house.

Saturday we spent most of the day exploring Times Square and wandering up Fifth Avenue. I think we made it into almost every clothing store there was in Midtown!

We started our day in Macy's, the largest store in the world! Then wandered up to Times Square and along Fifth Avenue.

That night, we had tickets to see Spring Awakening. So we checked out zagat.com to find a restaurant near our show. We ended up at a very nice Italian place, which got high Zagat ratings for their food and service. As soon as we arrived, they asked us if we were trying to make a show and at what time it started. We got in and out with plenty of time to spare!
We go to the theatre, which was about three blocks from our restaurant and found our seats- which were at he very back of the theatre... Luckily, the theatre was not very deep so we still had a great view!
The show was rather different from what I expected. The stage had some seating around the sides and it was decorated in a very urban style. The time period was also somewhat mystical. "Stereos" were mentioned in the show... but in one of the scenes, students wrote on individual chalkboards they kept under their desks..... on top of that, for those who are not very familiar with the show, all of the music was of the rock genre. Though it all fit together superbly. I an definitely see why it won all its Tonys!
On Sunday we moved into the hotel, which was about 15 blocks south, in the heart of Chelsea. We then ventured down to the South Street Seaport. We paroozed a lot of the shops in the area and I was rather successful in the Express store in the shopping mall. I jokingly pointed out a black and white tracksuit, but Molly said she liked the blue and white one.... and so did I. It was a little different than most of the clothes I own- but I really like it.



That nigh, we met up with Laura and Julie and ventured to Pinkberry. Molly had the same creation I tried my first time- and she HATED it.... haha. So, we then tried Red Mango, which was two doors down. While this was better, it wasn't quite ice cream.

On Monday I took Molly to show her where I work. She got to meet Mel and Brian, who were the only ones in the office that morning. We then took a tour of the studio hoping Lenny would be in by the time we came back.

I showed her around our floor, then took her down and showed her the SNL studio. Unfortunately it was VERY empty on a monday, so there wasn't a whole lot to see.

After a quick stop at the NBC Store, we head back up to the office. Sadly, Lenny hasn't come in yet. So, we go down to the concourse with Brian and get some lunch at Cucina.

The rest of the afternoon we spend seeing more of Fifth Avenue and we take a carriage ride through central park. I thought it was kind of funny that our driver was on his cell phone while giving us the tour....

We then went into Saks Fifth Avenue and ended up in the very expensive clothing section... with sweaters for $400....

That night we ate at a great mediterranean restaurant. It was in Chelsea again. We got to sit outside along one of the side streets, which was really nice.

We then met Julie to get some Tasti-D-Lite, which, while not being ice cream, was still very good.

On our last day we walked around Chelsea. We found a great grocery store that was set up inside a great old building. It looked almost like an old bank building.

After a few more hours walking thourgh Chelsea, and a great sushi lunch, it was time to take molly back to the airport. :-( Even though it was only a short time, we still were able to see a lot and we both had a great time!


Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Who wants a souvenir from here?



I snapped this picture while on the bus on the way to the to airport to pick up Molly. I will post soon about our weekend... once I have all the photos on my computer!
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