tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76608117524666051572026-02-05T18:38:41.901-05:00This blog chronicles my activities around the greatest city in the world, New York City, and my trips across the globe. Follow me as I show you what this great city has to offer in its various seasons and what various corners of this great planet has in store for you.Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-21611844595678781502016-08-18T10:31:00.000-04:002016-08-30T11:51:20.183-04:00

So what do you get when you cross Traditional French rotisserie cuisine with American Southern recipes? I was not sure since until now I hadnt found a Halal restaurant that catered that kind of food. But thanks to Le Bon Choix, now we know what the cross roads of these two cultures, some thousands of miles apart, taste like. DISCLAIMER: I was informed after this post went up that the beef is

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, USA40.6944282 -73.92128579999996440.646271199999994 -74.001966799999963 40.7425852 -73.840604799999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-18436714123187975032016-08-16T23:21:00.001-04:002023-05-04T18:16:54.369-04:00

In the last few years quite a few of my friends have gotten the opportunity to visit the Islamic holy sites of Makkah and Madinah for the pilgrimage we call Hajj. Makkah, Saudi Arabia is the location of the grand mosque called Kaba. This is the black cube building towards which Muslims face when they perform their daily prayer and millions upon millions of people visit every year to perform

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Mecca Saudi Arabia21.3890824 39.85791180000001120.9161179 39.212464800000014 21.8620469 40.503358800000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-35724969044910824252016-04-17T20:01:00.001-04:002016-04-17T20:01:18.900-04:00

Cafes are a dime a dozen in Brooklyn, the hipster capital of America. What makes one cafe different from another? I think that depends on who you ask. Some might think that it's the ambiance of the place, while others might put importance on where the food and ingredients are sourced from, and yet others might place the importance on the overall experience of the restaurant. Cocoa Grinder is

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-23119436226931766342016-03-16T13:02:00.000-04:002016-03-16T13:02:14.490-04:00

"Brooklyn is for lovers" that's the motto of Brooklynites. So it is only right that the new halal spot that I discovered is called BK Jani. Opened by a Pakistani, Sibte Hassan, straight out of the beautiful city of Lahore, this new restaurant combines the best of the Pakistani Love of food with the Brooklyn Love of all cultures. If you havent guessed it yet, Jani is a word for lover in the

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0276 Knickerbocker Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11237, USA40.701991799999988 -73.9243543999999740.701803799999986 -73.924669399999971 40.702179799999989 -73.92403939999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-28584307454183844512016-02-16T22:43:00.000-05:002016-02-16T23:34:10.185-05:00

City Hall Every year the company I work for organizes a conference trip where employees are invited to attend workshops, mingle with our vendors and get to know the rest of the company a little better. This year, our conference trip took us to Philadelphia, PA. I have been to this city a few times before but never actually stayed for more than a day. Most of my trips had been day trips at

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Philadelphia, PA, USA39.9525839 -75.1652215000000339.5633714 -75.810668500000034 40.3417964 -74.519774500000025tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-13472314781081253962015-12-23T22:22:00.000-05:002015-12-23T22:22:30.829-05:00

Thai Authentic Duck Noodle Soup You would think that I have an obsession with Thai food at this rate but can you blame me if many of the new spots that my friends are talking about are Thai? NYU campus area is known for its small quick bite restaurants and hole in the wall kind of places for students to stop by and grab a bite to eat. However, there are many other restaurants in the area

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Greenwich Village, New York, NY, USA40.72976392418127 -73.99959194019777440.726755924181269 -74.004634440197776 40.732771924181272 -73.994549440197773tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-81119500496544122092015-11-08T12:30:00.000-05:002015-12-23T18:25:05.608-05:00

Chocolate Lava Cake w/Green Tea Ice Cream As evident from some of my posts, I have a passion for food, especially unique cuisines. However, a lot of times it is hard to explore when many cuisines are not available with Halal options. That is why whenever I get a chance to eat at a new halal restaurant, I jump at it. Today my family and I were in Queens and we decided to check out this

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com063-32 Woodhaven Blvd, Flushing, NY 11374, USA40.72345 -73.86895190000001340.699382 -73.909292400000012 40.747518 -73.828611400000014tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-9453161871581946612012-09-24T13:42:00.002-04:002015-12-23T18:26:08.425-05:00

As most of NY'ers know, the food scene is all about the street carts. There are the Halal Guys on 53rd st and 6th ave, there is the Samy's Halal carts all over NYC, and then there are various other Halal cart vendors all over the boroughs. Recently, a halal cart vendor opened shop in Staten Island near my parent's house, how crazy is that? Since the success of the halal cart vendors, there

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Water St & Old Slip, New York, NY 10004, USA40.704168 -74.008849640.7026635 -74.0113171 40.705672500000006 -74.00638210000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-51404244077651005192012-05-13T17:55:00.000-04:002012-05-13T17:55:34.567-04:00

Beautiful day for a food festival It is that time of the year again, when food festivals are abound and streets are filled with food trucks that were on hiatus during the chilly days of winter. I am still waiting for my favorite food trucks to hit the streets but until then I will have to settle for the lesser liked but equally tasty food from Madison Square Eats. Madison Square Eats is a

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0952 Broadway, Manhattan, NY 1001040.742705056584121 -73.988993167877240.741201056584124 -73.991460667877192 40.744209056584118 -73.9865256678772tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-70849244057536251792012-04-10T11:00:00.000-04:002012-04-10T11:00:10.241-04:00

This past Saturday, I was invited to go hiking with a few friends of mine. Having done some hiking before, I agreed to go thinking that it would be a lot of fun. Well, the hike turned out to be as much fun as I thought I would have and then some. We left Brooklyn around 8am to head north towards Breakneck Ridge in the Hudson Highlands Park, which is located in Putnam, NY. The

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com1342-428 Breakneck Rd, Beacon, NY 12508, USA41.449160079118975 -73.98107528686523441.437258079118976 -74.000816286865231 41.461062079118975 -73.961334286865238tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-49974400264144988232012-03-03T22:56:00.001-05:002012-03-03T22:56:42.125-05:00

After a good night's rest, we got up early in the morning and left the hotel from Monteverde to drive to Quepos. Our drive took us through some beautiful mountains and clouds. We arrived in Quepos around evening time and settled into our hotel to get some rest. The weather was definitely not on our side. We were greeted with rain in Quepos and from the looks of it, we were not going to

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Quepos, Costa Rica9.4319444 -84.16111119.4006164 -84.2005931 9.463272400000001 -84.121629099999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-58491659318734980542012-02-15T18:00:00.000-05:002012-02-15T18:00:03.932-05:00

Last night I went to watch the movie Red Tails in theater. I was forced into it by a friend who insisted that I would like the movie. I was actually more inclined to go see The Grey or Safe House, but I gave in and went to see this movie. I have to say that the movie was entertaining and attention grabbing from the beginning. It is about a squadron of African-American pilots from World War

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0258 W 42nd St, Manhattan, NY 10036, USA40.756798697850229 -73.989282846450840.756422697850226 -73.989899846450811 40.757174697850232 -73.9886658464508tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-52314305452602809582012-02-08T17:15:00.000-05:002012-02-08T17:19:13.871-05:00

Red Velvet Sundae As restaurant week continues in NYC, so did my exploration of new restaurants. This week, a few friends joined me at the David Burke's Kitchen in SoHo. The restaurant is located on the corner of 6th Ave and Grand st, just one block north of Canal st. We had reservations for 7:30 pm and we were promptly seated once everyone had arrived at the restaurant. The prix fixe menu

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com023 Grand St, New York, NY 10013, USA40.722783 -74.00491240.7212785 -74.0073795 40.7242875 -74.00244450000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-78972430189610186552012-02-02T18:00:00.000-05:002012-02-02T18:00:02.897-05:00

I am always on the lookout for a good app for my android. I think NYers are obsessed with various aspects of taking the public transportation system. From running down the stairs right when the train arrives, to being at the right door to exit closest to the stairs, to being at the exit staircase to come out closest to our ultimate destination, we go out of our way to figure out all these

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0274-286 Broadway, Manhattan, NY 10007, USA40.7143528 -74.005973140.5217853 -74.3218301 40.9069203 -73.690116100000012tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-70189424917058929412012-02-02T13:00:00.000-05:002012-02-02T13:00:06.733-05:00

We woke up early in the morning since we knew that we had a long day ahead of us. Today we would visit the cloud forest of Monteverde. I was hearing a lot from my friends about how amazing cloud forests are and we would enjoy the hike. Once we got to the entrance, we bought our tickets and waited for our tour guide. In the meantime, four other Americans joined us as well. It seemed that the

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Monteverde, Costa Rica10.306982 -84.80973110.2913595 -84.829472 10.322604499999999 -84.78999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-16633364123644207752012-02-01T18:00:00.000-05:002012-02-08T17:17:04.663-05:00

Home Made Tofu was served in this As some of you may know, the restaurant week is well under way in NYC right now. It will run until Feb 10th. Last night, a few friends joined me at EN Japanese Brasserie in SoHo area. The restaurant week menu was limited in its options but it didn't lack in taste. We started off with handmade tofu which was very soft and smooth in texture. It was

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0435 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014, USA40.7304414 -74.006970240.7289374 -74.009437699999992 40.731945399999994 -74.0045027tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-18058809456704112562012-02-01T13:44:00.000-05:002012-02-08T17:17:38.386-05:00

All of us have wished at some point or another that someone else would do our laundry and it would magically appear folded in our closets every time. Well, it wont appear in your closet but SpotlessCity can definitely get it close. The company reminds me of Seamless, which I'm sure every lazy bone is familiar with. For the proud cooks out there, Seamless lets you order food online from

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0White Wave, 25 Jay St # 101, Brooklyn, NY 11201-8315, USA40.70419 -73.986453740.6921525 -74.0061947 40.716227499999995 -73.9667127tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-55100522281012379792012-01-31T22:20:00.001-05:002012-02-08T17:18:07.942-05:00

Today I had the chance to visit the new space that will house the Islamic Center at NYU. This project has been a decade in the making and provides a much needed space for the Muslims and people of other faith in and around NYU. I can go on and on about how much this place was needed but the reality is that we have it now. It is what we do with it that will prove its worth to everyone. You can

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0238 Thompson St, New York, NY 10012, USA40.729849 -73.99818640.728345000000004 -74.0006535 40.731353 -73.995718500000009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-11078467894886248362012-01-31T14:20:00.000-05:002012-01-31T14:20:02.867-05:00

Today we left La Fortuna for Monteverde but before our departure, we realized how amazing the view of the Arenal Volcano was from our hotel. Being photography geeks and all, we pulled out the tripod I had brought along with me and Omar took some great shots with his DSLR and I snapped a few pictures from my cannon as well. After packing up and checking out, we started the drive from La

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Monteverde, Costa Rica10.306982 -84.80973110.2913595 -84.829472 10.322604499999999 -84.78999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-42711010653475594552012-01-30T12:00:00.000-05:002012-01-31T14:21:48.076-05:00

Arenal Volcano November 21st, 2010 We woke up early in the morning knowing that we had lots to do during the day. After eating the tasty breakfast at the hotel, we headed out towards the volcano hike that we had explored the night before. We arrived at the same entrance to the hike and the previous night's tickets were valid for today so we were able to enter quickly. It had been

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0La Fortuna - El Castillo, Arenal Volcano National Park, Costa Rica10.4633333 -84.703333310.4008748 -84.7822973 10.5257918 -84.6243693tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-66213160466460130192012-01-29T17:26:00.000-05:002012-01-31T14:21:37.431-05:00

November 20th, 2010 After our little adventure in Panama City and a near-miss of the flight to Costa Rica, we arrived in San Jose in the late hours of the night. As we landed, our manual driver, aka Omar, became really sick due to lack of sleep from finishing up his work prior to the trip. Once we had our luggage, we made our way to the car rental agencies and asked about prices and car

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0La Fortuna, Costa Rica10.4706779 -84.645296610.4550634 -84.665037599999991 10.4862924 -84.6255556tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-61391992540928919002012-01-28T19:17:00.000-05:002012-01-31T14:21:27.964-05:00

This post is extremely overdue so I apologize ahead of time. Towards the end of 2010 I reached a point where I realized that I had not traveled as much as I had always hoped. I had visited a handful of countries and had not experienced much during those visits due to the people that accompanied me. Fate would have it that my realization came around the same time a college friend was planning a

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0Calle Morse, Panama8.99597416964128 -79.5911407470703128.96460866964128 -79.630622747070319 9.0273396696412789 -79.5516587470703tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-55603449896105009172011-01-13T12:00:00.011-05:002011-01-13T12:00:02.777-05:00

        Every year, MTA runs vintage trains and buses in New York City during the holiday season. This year, the vintage train ran on the F and E line from 2nd ave F train stop into Queens. There is at least one bus route in each borough that has vintage buses running during the off-peak day-time hours. For more info check the MTA website during the next

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-30040114111943568952011-01-12T21:56:00.000-05:002011-01-12T21:56:00.324-05:00

So if you didn't hear that there was a lunar eclipse recently that was visible in parts of the United States, you need to crawl out from under that computer screen and get out a bit more. lol I keed I keed. So the eclipse started around 1:30am EST and lasted for a few hours, reaching its peak at around 3-3:30 am. I was awake for the initial phase and was able to take some clean pictures of it

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7660811752466605157.post-78884792456232867742010-12-16T15:38:00.001-05:002010-12-17T10:25:13.860-05:00

        If you haven’t already heard, Wired has opened a pop-up store over in the NoHo area (Corner of Broadway and 4th st). The concept of the store is to showcase various products that Wired magazine has reviewed in their various issues. So I decided to visit the store a few weeks ago. I got there around 6:30pm on a Tuesday only to find the store closed.

Mohammad Alamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10594893802343027580noreply@blogger.com1