NYC-2012

"M&M'S World" in March, NYC

2012-03-03T17:37:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Brown is the 2nd Female spokescandy after Green

After the tremendous success of Mrs. Brown in the Super Bowl Halftime Commercials with all the other M&M boys hitting on her Brown Coat, what better than to visit the The M&M's World at NYC in March. BEWARE!! There are going to be a lot of M and M s all around this blog. Are you ready for that !?

The M&M's World is located right between 48th and 49th Street on 1600 Broadway, NYC, NY 10019. If you love exploring Midtown West or strolling around Theater District, I am sure, you would want more creative juices to flow with the HUGE M&M Store and its HUGE chocolaty screens luring you to come inside.

We the "Ghost's" have been to the M&M store almost each time we have been to the city. Once, I happened to be there in the middle of the week and I could see a bunch of school kids coming in as excited as ever - FIELD TRIP !!

All these kids rushed to line up for one feature, which we never had bothered to look at before. It was "What's your mood color?" If you stood underneath the designated area for a certain amount of time, the M&M's machine would analyse and present your mood to you. The next time, I was there again, I tried it and it said my Mood Color was "Peanut Butter Mix - People only say nice things about me!!" Yes, this machine certainly works!!

Apart from the fun features, there are some fun artifacts too that have been specifically designed for the M&M's World store in NYC. Like this custom hand made M&M Bling Jacket worth $3000!! It has been stated that only 100 of these jackets were made and it took 8 days to make each of them. This jacket pictured here has 3000 Swarovski crystals on it!!

Then there is Green posing as the Statue of Liberty. That is super cute. Hahah !! Also, Green poses as the Wicked Witch in the longest running Musical "Wicked". She looks so delectable than wicked, that you wanna eat her right away.

The M&M's World is not just any other candy store, it is specialty store where you will find M&M's dominating every aspect of your NYC life, of course in he form of merchandise. The most common ones are cup-holders, candy dispensers, apparels and souvenirs of different kinds. As you can see below are the 4 main characters and then there is Orange. But did not find the Orange that popular as a character.

"I melt for
no one"

"Everything is
under control"

"Inside everyone there is a little nut"

"Never let them see you melt"

Have fun munching M&M's this March then ;-)

Love in the NYC air

2012-02-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

"The heart reflects what Times Square is made of : people and light

- The more people, the stronger the light." Bjarke Ingels, BIG

400 transparent LED lights glowing at the rate of your own heart heat to express your love for your loved ones at the most renowned urban destination. The concept is pretty AMAZING and such is the installation in the heart of NYC on Duffy Square this February.

The 10 feet long glowing art installation has been made out of acrylic tubes that have been donated by Zumbotel (Austria based lighting company). The Acrylic tubes have been shaped in the form of a cube with the LED lights arranged in the form of a three-dimensional heart which glow upon contact by utilizing the energy from your hands. The more the number the stronger the heart-beats can be seen.

Since the past four years, Times Square Alliance has hosted public art sculptures to celebrate the most loved 'Valentine's Day'. This year's installation was sculpted by BIG design in collaboration with Flatcut, Zumbotel and Local Projects.

The installation will be available for everyone to see from the 6 February, 2012 to 20 February, 2012. Considered as the City Pulse at several places, the glowing heart catches the interests of several lovers, to be lovers and friends and intellectuals.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you and your loved ones!"

"Taxi Taxi" in NYC

2012-01-31T14:11:00.000-05:00

Today, I thought of writing about one notorious character in NYC.....Taxi Taxi. As a matter of fact the "Ghosts", that is us, always took our car to the City before. And as the course would be, we would be able to find parking (read highly paid parking) only miles away from where we wanted to be and hence end up either catching a cab to our destination or walking, if we had the time (lol, we never had the time). So, off late we started taking the Sub (not the sandwich!!) and again, whenever required (read always), we would hop on into the infamous city Taxi Taxi (trust me, saying it once is not enough, cause they never stop when you call out once)

Coming over to my experience of Taxi Taxi, there are many kinds of Taxis in NYC. You will find below an interesting compilation that I have tried my best to provide you with the help of pictures:

"I only wait in a line & I don't go where you want me to go!"

"I HONK at you when you raise your hand to cross at your signal!"

"I want to drive even when it is not my signal to drive!"

"I don't do mornings for just two streets, WALK IT!!"

NYC, 9/11 Memorial

2012-01-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

If you are wondering, why I am writing about a visit to the Memorial as the first thing on my Blog this year. It is because, I see it as THE START. The starting of a new year, leaving behind all that we thought we could never salvage (Salvage meaning "that part of the property that survives the peril and is saved"). What 9/11 Memorial is doing here is "Saving the Hearts".

The 9/11 Museum

We first visited the Museum located at the 9/11. It was unlike any other place I had visited before. There was a lull despite the soothing music that was being played. Although not fully constructed, the bits and pieces from the destruction that I could see through the glass was more than what I even wanted to see. I could feel my footsteps becoming heavier with each step and my heart getting completely torn apart. There is no way, I even remotely thought of taking a picture there because even though, I saw a hundred pictures with people smiling (Wall of Faces). I could see a life they might have lived, which cannot be caught in a picture anymore.

In the center of all these pictures mounted on the walls, I could see boxes of tissues. Indeed that moment, I realized my misty eyes. There was no rage (which I usually feel when 9/11 is mentioned). There was a kind of void. There in front of me, I could see a young girl, being helped by the Museum Staff in locating a picture of her dear one. Once she found him......(I actually feel a loss of words to describe this moment).

Endless Tears

I came out to the parks with the largest man-made waterfalls in America. I could see the power with which the waters gushed through the walls and vanished into a black hole in the center. Inscribed in bronze are 3,000 names of all those who lost their lives here - men, women and children. These 16 acres at the World trade Center is a tribute to the lost lives and a place to build faith for the future lives. But there is another thing that I related to seeing this, the endless tears in the Museum, tears that tried to comfort and fill the void that this tragedy had created.

"Sustain" is what is also conveyed by the memorial. Not only does The Memorial has the ability to sustain all by itself, but it is also capable to provide sustenance to adjacent green spaces - Liberty park, Battery park, City Hall park and the nearby Churchyards. In the park are Swamp White Oak trees selected for their durability and leaf color. Which means all round the year the park will provide comfort with its colors and provide warmth with its shade. Indeed a constant reminder of the lives cherished through the life exhibited by these trees.

The memorial conveyed what the heart felt. Tears that flowed endlessly to fill a void and a void that can never be filled. But the other message that was also conveyed is "The Ability to Rise after a Fall".

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall." ~Confucious

9/11 has unified the countries across the globe. As a citizen of the world, a life free from terror is something that I pledge for our future generations.

NYC, Christmas 2011

2011-12-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

We just moved from the suburbs to....not the City, but way nearer to the City !! I am so thankful that "we" as in the "Ghosts" (prefer to call "us" that for the ease of it), we both love the City. We love to walk around for ages till out legs hurt and then we slop into a restaurant and gorge on food. So that's just a little about us and then coming straight to where I want this blog to pace out to - NYC in December 2011.

Christmas 2011
This was my first time in the City during Christmas and New Year. Of course, we wanted to spend NYE in the City and watch drunk people walk around with crazy lights on their heads and ignore the fact that we might we doing the same thing as well. Ah! We did buy our NYE tickets in advance for club, yes, not for the Ball Drop, cause I cannot even think of standing all evening of the last day of the year in the cold waiting for a Lady Gaga going Gaga, yea talk of LMFAO...then we are talking...biat** !!

So where was I, yea..talking about before NYE, which is Christmas.

Christmas Time is here

Happiness and Cheer

Fun for all that children call

Their favorite time of the year.

I become like a child at Christmas. I make all those around me sing carols, drink egg-nog lattes and without doubt, my kitchen smells of holiday cheer and puddings. Apart from the Christmas Tree, you can find almost about everything :-)

I had been in London for Christmas in 2007 and 2009. The spirits, the lights, the fervor and zeal I had seen there was something that I had always imagined about as a child in a Convent School. I would walk around the neighborhood in the morning and the evening to soak in the the Christmas decorations in the gardens of the most of our neighbors. This year, I felt probably, NYC would be way more happening and I had mixed feelings. You see, I had fallen in love with London. I loved the fact that I could catch the train at 3am in the morning on NYE. I know there are cabs, but there is a certain love to commute by public transport, being among people was what I loved. I loved to observe and I loved to derive reasons without judging anyone. So NYC had to stay awake really late to prove this one to me!

Driving to NYC

We reached the City around 10pm after waiting for nearly one and a half long hours outside the Holland Tunnel. (Lesson#1. Always plan ahead if you are driving, especially if you are picking a Friday night to go to the City). It is not exactly the Toll that I mind paying, but it is "waiting to pay", which is the feeling that makes the whole "waiting" really frustrating.

Then we cruised (not exactly) around for another HOUR before we could find a PAID PARKING spot to park. (Lesson#2. Never take your car to the City. Use my favorite.....Public Transport) By then we were so super hungry that we were literally lightheaded. (Lesson#3. Always have an early dinner before you start out for the City)

Amid all the chaos where my hubby was taking care of all the above, my eyes were cruising (exactly) around the City. It was lit up, there were way more people than I had even imagined. Looked and felt like almost all of America and the other countries were here in NYC just that day and I could start imagining what it would be like on NYE. Yes, people, people and more people, now we are talking!

Chinatown was super crowded with long lines (queues) outside I think, most of the highly rated restaurants (which is almost all that are located there). Rockefeller was the most coveted destination. while we walked around, many (who are new to the City) would ask us directions to "The Tree". It felt strange. As if, Santa had really come down and put out some presents under a tree resulting to that location becoming "THE TREE".

"The Rockefeller Christmas Tree"

I got to know later, that "The Rockefeller Christmas Tree" is a world-wide symbol of Holidays in the NYC. This Christmas tree is a "Norway Spruce", which means that this tree is a specie that is native to Evergreen Spruce trees in Norway (yay, a European Connection). Here on referring to it as "The Tree". The Tree is said to be illuminated by 30,000 lights (environmental friendly and LED) on a five mile wire. Also The Tree is crowned by a Swarovski Crystal (which explains a Swarovski booth that I had seen there and I thought what, now they expect people to buy Swarovski for their trees, apparently they did). No doubt, that people thronged to see this tree in not just hundreds but millions every year for The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony.

The sidewalks of The Tree were guarded and there was an ice-skating rink made just below The Tree. The whole place looked magical and beautiful. It felt good to photograph with The Tree and now I feel worthwhile of making a visit to The Tree despite the bitter cold. It was something in the minuses (double digits), but definitely worth it.