It's Hurricane 'Sandy' this year !

Last year it was hurricane 'Irene' and this year its 'Sandy'. All the attention has been shifted from elections and the news channels have been on it since yesterday i.e. 28th of October, 2012. Its a category 1 hurricane and is been called frankenstorm due to its size and the devastating effect it may have. 

Everyone has been rushing to get food supplies and we did the same as well. Quite similar to last year, this time also we have a stocked refrigerator and luckily, we were able to get some last packets of bread and a flash light left in the store. And also got the car tank filled up. The phones are on charging and have enough batteries for other things.

The winds are very strong right now with gusts of upto 50 mph and it has been raining consistently since yesterday. And the hurricane is expected to be on land by evening.

Got a call from the mayor last evening for details about the emergency shelters and the phone numbers of emergency care. Today again, there was a call in the morning for evacuation for people living up to the south of 3rd street. We are on the 4th street quite close to water, hopefully we won't have to move. And there's also a citywide curfew from 6 p.m. today, so no moving around unless essential.

Hoping for the best !

Definitely didn't expect it to be this bad. There were crazy winds and heavy rains and to top it all, there was power outage too.

2nd November, 2012 -  Stayed without power for almost five days. We lost power on Monday (29th October) around  8:30 p.m. It was restored by friday (2nd November, 2012) afternoon. Quite a different experience it was, I could imagine how our ancestors must have lived when there was no concept of electricity. 

Beautiful: Hudson Waterfront

Came back from the Waterfront an hour ago, had a wonderful time. And thoroughly, enjoyed a beautiful summer afternoon by the Hudson River. The place has some of the most stunning views, with high rise buildings on both sides and in between lies the calm Hudson River. 

                                                              Hudson Waterfront

And of-course some credit goes to the weather too, with the cool breezes on a sunny day and the sound of the waves, it was just perfect.

Though the waterfront remains quite busy, due to its location in the business district; it still has the calming serenity. And another thing I noticed, which was very surprising was, that sitting there one could see all modes of transportation possible; right from the water ferry to helicopter and planes to bicycles, cars and trains, quite amazing and accessible.

It was the time well spent, relaxing and soaking in the beauty of the place.

Plainfield: On a rainy day!!

We visited Plainfield and Bridgewater Commons, this Saturday. Though it rained all day, we had a great time. The mall was fantastic and the food was delicious - Henn Burger for breakfast was heavenly and Burrito for lunch was just awesome. So I thought of posting a Photo blog this time. 

                                                                Bridgewater Mall

                                                     Through the window

                                                             Plainfield

                                                               Snow-laced

                                                             Plainfield

The pictures came out pretty good, in spite of the rains. 

Stunning: Atlantic City

We planned a trip to Atlantic City during the Memorial day weekend. And we were there around 7 in the evening. This was our second trip to the casino city of the East and we were looking forward to having a great time again. We went to the beach, as it was just walking distance from 'Ceasers Casino'. The view was stunning- sun was going down, beautiful hues in the sky, sandy beach, kids playing with their little shovels, glittering casinos, loud music and everyone just splattering around in water. Nothing could be better.

                                                                Atlantic Ocean Shore

And it was time for us also to get in the water. We had a great time running on the shore and facing the waves. Clicked some beautiful pictures too. Then we went to the open air cafe and enjoyed the live music, but couldn't find a place to sit, as it was over-crowded. So, we went to the Trump Rain forest Cafe, with awe-inspiring decor, this place was best for dinner. After the cafe, we went for a walk on the famous 'Broadwalk', which was built in 1870 to keep the sand away from the beach-front hotels. It now offers the most breathtaking sights, with shops, casinos lined on one side and the ocean on the other.

From there, we went to the Pier Shops at Ceasers, with shops and oceanfront balconies; which provide the most perfect views of ocean beyond. We clicked some unforgettable pictures and enjoyed sitting in a beach chair with our feet in the sand on the second floor of the Pier and with the view of glittering Atlantic city.

Now was the time to head towards the Casino, Got our cards done and yes!! time for some slot machines. We tried our luck, it worked only some times but as always we ended up loosing more. Well, as they say, Better luck next time...!!

Around 1:30, we again came out for a walk and the broad walk was still buzzing with people, singing and dancing. We headed towards the Bally's cafe, and it took us almost an hour to get our order done. While enjoying the cool breeze, we finished the food and went back in. Tried some more luck but to no avail.

Finally it was time to head back to New York, and no doubt, this trip became one of the most memorable ones. Must say, Stunning Atlantic City !!!

                                                                         The Pier Shops, Ceasers
                                                                     

Bronx Zoo Visit: continues

African Plains - There were peacocks everywhere. It was as if, all the peacocks were dancing with their feathers open, it was splendid. Even in India, I never saw such a thing. And then we went to the other side to see the Lion Island. 

Lion Island - Lionesses with their three cubs- Nala, Adamma and Shani, were frolicking around the trees. The cubs looked so cute, all three of the same height and were jumping up and down the rocks, while one of the lioness was trying to put them down from the rock. They looked so adorable. And the Lion was sitting far away form all this and looked angry. It made a beautiful picture. 

                                                                               Three Cubs Playing

The next was Baboon Reserve- It is also called the 'Gelada Hillside'. The Geladas are a close relative of Baboons, originally from Ethiopia. They are the only grazing Primates known and they have a very distinctive feature i.e. the red skin visible on their heart which makes it look like the upper skin is cut in a triangular shape. They looked calm and quite.

African Plains - Continuing with the African Plains, we went further to see the giraffes -  the tallest living terrestrial animal. And as usual they were eating, and according to facts also- they eat a lot, spending almost 20 hours eating in a day (that's a lot of food). Typically shy, they were mostly unaware of their surroundings. There were 'Ostriches' too, roaming all over the place. The World's largest Bird, Ostrich is usually 7-9 ft tall and are considered strong runners and can even kill a human being or a lion by kicking.

Wild Dogs, were also a part of the African Plains. Also known as, Painted Dogs, they stay in packs and can run as fast as 41 mph. They looked kind of cute and another interesting fact we got to know is that they have elaborate greeting ceremonies like tail waging, squeaking.

Butterfly Garden - The next was the Butterfly Garden, a conservatory. The moment we stepped in, we  could see so many pretty butterflies flying around us. And with the background music playing, it felt like a fairytale; flowers and butterflies. We managed to click some awesome pictures and also got to see a real butterfly coming out of a Pupa/Chrysalis, it was awesome, as half of it was butterfly and half of it was still pupa. And a funny incident also happened, as one butterfly stuck to a lady's feet and we all started clicking pictures. It was extremely funny, as no one was allowed to touch butterflies inside but here a butterfly was touching that lady's feet. And before stepping out, there was a mirror to see if a butterfly was hitching a ride on us or not.

                                        Beautiful Butterfly perched on a flower