Bronx Zoo Visit: The Last leg

We came to our favorite part of the visit, the Big Bears Exhibit.

Big Bears - The brown ones were the 'Grizzly Bears', there were four of them running here and there in the pool. One of them was relaxing in the pool for a long time, whereas the other three were playing and after some time they ran up the hill. The one which was left behind was eying a duck for a long time and the moment he got a chance he tried to catch it, but the duck flew. Then he ran to the other side and tried again but to no avail, and he tried once more, but the duck was too quick. In the end, he sat defeated in the pool again. It looked so cute, when it was jumping around to catch hold of that duck. Seeing that, now i can't imagine that these cute bears can hurt human beings. And according to facts also, they usually avoid humans and eat mostly berries, quite unlike their grizzly tales. Mostly 6-7 ft tall, they live in the interior parts of North America. 

Polar Bear - The big white furry guy was lying down resting his head on a rock, it looked so dazed. The polar bear was resting alone. They are almost 6 - 8 ft tall and are known as the largest land carnivore and are also considered marine mammals. They are definitely the cutest bears possible. 

                                                                 Polar Bear

Himalayan Highlands - On our way to the next exhibit, the Himalayan Highlands. And there we were, trying to find some space among the crowd to get a glimpse of the Snow Leopard, the graceful cat. They do not roar but do make others sounds. One of the most beautiful animals, I have ever seen. Red panda, was also a part of the Himalayan highlands, coiled up on a tree, it seemed as if it was hiding its face. The cute red panda looked like a stuff toy. They are known to have retractable claws like a housecat's. 

From here, we went straight to the Tiger hill, to see the mighty tigers. Tiger Mountain - Tigers are the largest of the five species of big cats. There were two of them, who were taking rounds of the whole stretch, as if they were looking for something.

Madagascar - The next stop was the Madagascar exhibit, full of never-seen-before animals. Coqueral's Sitaka, with white and brown fur body and a black face, they look distinct from other varieties. And they were jumping and leaping off the trees and were even hanging upside down. Then there was Collared Lemur, Ring Tailed Lemur, Fossa and Red Ruffed Lemur.

                                                                 Ring  Tailed Lemur

Last but not the least, the sea lions, as no show can end without some acrobatic moves by these ever-friendly eared seals. It was a beautiful endnote to our visit to the zoo. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Bronx Zoo visit: Continues

After the Butterfly Garden, we went to the 'Dancing Crane Cafe', had pizza, sandwiches and pina colada slush (yumm!!). The next on the list was the Congo Gorilla Forest. 

Congo Gorilla Forest - The first animal we saw was a 'Mandrill', found in the Tropical rain-forests of  Cameroon, Gabon and it looked very different from the usual baboons, because of its colorful face. And one can easily make out that mandrills are from Africa, by looking at their red-white striped face. There was a mandrill baby named Gertrude also in the exhibit. The next one was a surprisingly unusual animal Okapi, as it had zebra stripes on half of its body and the other half resembled horse. This one definitely seemed like it had come from a fantasy land. It was standing still and looked picture perfect with the surroundings. According to facts, Okapi is found in the rain forests of Congo and belongs to the family of Giraffes and not Zebra. They were almost unknown till 1900 and presently there are only 25000 Okapi in the wild (that's less). 

                                                               Okapi in the Woods

Next was the main attraction of the Congo Exhibit, the 'Gorillas', the largest living primates. There were some 7-10 gorillas, which were visible and most of them were sitting and staring. When we went close to the wall, they also came near to the wall and imitated by waving hands, that was so much fun. Some interesting facts we got to know were - they walk on their knuckles and are very expressive (that we already saw). They live up to the age of 50 or more and are considered very intelligent. They are usually shy and peaceful. We also saw the 'Pygmy Marmosets', world's smallest monkeys. They are 5 inches tall and are found in the Amazon basin in Brazil, Peru and Equador. And interestingly, they produce an ultrasonic cry to express hostility, which humans can't hear.  

World of Reptiles - With Turtles, Frogs, Snakes and Alligators - it was scray. Frogs are exhibited right when one enters the building. The first ones were tiny 'Khiansi Spray Toads', they are almost the size of a penny, almost three-quarters of an inch. They are yellow in colour and extremely tiny, to be visible in the tank. There were so many of them, and looked like ants crawling everywhere. They were discovered in 1996 around Khiansi and Mhalala waterfalls in Tanzania, so the name also comes from there. Moreover, it is now listed as an extinct species in the wild.

Then we saw the Heaviest Snake in the World (any guesses), yes!! the 'Anaconda', it can weigh up to 800 pounds (whopping!!). Its a semi-aquatic reptile and gobbles up enormous preys like caimans and deers; and after large meals they may not have to eat again for weeks. The other big shot reptile we saw, was the 'King Cobra'. Also known as the World's Largest Venomous Snake, it feeds on other snakes including cobra and its strong venom helps in digestion. Usually around 13 feet in length, they are found in India and Southeast Asian countries. There were many other snakes also in the exhibit, the green snake and tiny ones too.

After this we went to see the 'Alligator Snapping Turtle' also known as the Dinosaur of the Turtle World and they have been around for more than 20 million years. It feeds on fishes, frogs, other turtles and small alligators too. It looked really huge in the enclosure. Then there was a Snake Neck Turtle, Radiated Turtle and some tiny turtles which were crawling in and out of the water. The other enclosure had the scariest of them all- the Alligators. The 'American Alligator' and the 'Nile Crocodile', both looked huge and bulky and of course scary too.

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

A visit to the Bronx Zoo

This was our second visit to the Bronx Zoo, to see the animals which we couldn't see during the winters. We were there around 11:30 in the morning and got our tickets. This time we went straight for the monorail ride and had to wait for half an hour in the queue. But the wait was worth it, the 20 mins ride was breathtaking. With Deers, Elephants, Peacocks, Mountain Goats, Tiger, Red Panda, Rhinoceros and that too, all along the Bronx river, it was amazing. The monorail ride covered the 40 acres of natural habitat for these animals, and also provided some beautiful views of the river.

                                                                    Monorail over the Bronx River

'Jungle World' - After the ride, we went to the next exhibit, the 'Jungle World' and the first animal we saw was a 'Beaver', a semi-aquatic rodent, which are known for building dams, for still water to protect themselves against predators. Then there were brown and grey color Monkeys and 'Ebony Langurs' from Indonesia, with long tails and some beautiful birds. And the 'Matschie', a tree kangaroo from New Guinea were so cute. The main attraction of the Jungle World was the 'Panther', black panther sleeping on a tree trunk, it reminded me of Bagira in Mogli. It was sleeping peacefully behind the glass wall. And yes! there were some pretty fishes too.

                                                                              Fishes 
After the Jungle World, we went for a camel ride, but there were such long queues for it, that waiting so long would have been a waste of time. So we decided to go the other exhibit. 

PAC MAN: Game Forever

The very first thing which came to my mind, when I saw this Pacman game as google's logo in the morning was my school days. This reminded me of the computer classes in school - where we used to play Pacman for almost an hour continuosly. Not just Pacman; but games like solitaire, minesweeper and Mario, it used to be so much fun. 

So computer class used to be a delight those days. And even today the moment I saw it, I started playing; this game is too addictive. Cannot believe that this game has been there for 30 years, and still has the same charm. This game and Mario used to be my favorite those days, when evenings used to be about challenging others to compete for various game levels.

The game - Pacman was first released in Japan in 1980, and is popular till date. Its about four monsters running after Pac-man, who has to finish eating all the dots to reach to the next level. Anyways gotta get back to the game, to even my scores before anyone else does !! Pacman Rocks !!

Housefull: Movie Review

Another laugh riot from our very own Bollywood. Yes, am talking about the new movie 'Housefull' directed by Sajid Khan. I saw the movie trailer some days back, and didn't realize that this will also turn out to be so stupidly hilarious. And then a visit to the Newport mall and we got the tickets for the evening show. 

With the cast consisting of Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh and Boman Irani, it couldn't have been better. Akshay Kumar suits comfortably to these kinds of comedy roles and Ritesh Deshmukh has become a must for any comedy movie. And of course, Boman Irani is always outstanding in whatever role he plays. Its a typical slapstick comedy. 

In the first 15 minutes, a tiger is brought as a pet by Akshay Kumar for Ritesh Deshmukh and Lara Dutta, in place of their dead parrot. And the Tiger scene reminds one of Hangover. Then, there are typical scenes of confusion about who is who and of course the funny songs in the movie add to the laughter meter.

Chunkey Pandey as Aakhri Pasta, son of Spaghetti Pasta and Seviyan Pasta; has done a fabulous job of cracking jokes and some pretty funny dialogues. And Ritesh Deshmukh is superb in a not very straight role as always, he is incredibly funny. 

Theres one scene where, Boman Irani asks the name of his grandson and gets four different names, and he without surprise puts all those four names together and calls the baby with that four word name (extremely funny). In the end, theres again the typical scene where all the actors are present and theres lot of confusion; and which always leads to a happy ending.

A complete entertainer, and yes!! as they say - Leave your Brains behind !!

Fortune Cookie: Cookie with a Fortune

Cookie with a Fortune !

I have been seeing a Facebook fortune cookie since long and the funny fortunes which come out of it too. Yesterday, I cracked open a real fortune cookie, Yipee !!

And the fortune was - 'You are a fun-loving person, and you'll have a fun day ahead'. Well, no doubt that was true, especially after eating the chinese lunch from the Panda Express. It was just another Saturday in the Newport Mall and this time we tried the new chinese outlet. The food was awesome, with fried zuchini and mushroom; pepper greens, spring rolls and fried rice and of-course how can I forget - the fortune cookie.

Now, that I have had one, I can say it tastes like a crisp, thin and not a very tasty cookie. Getting down to the facts, shows that fortune cookie was first made famous by some immigrant groups in California in early 20th century, though it is categorized as Chinese these days.

And the recipe of the cookie is also not very difficult to try. Well, but theres always the easy option of buying it from the Panda express.

But fortune cookie soaps came as a big surprise to me, when I saw a video on YouTube and got to know about these cute soaps which come in the shape of fortune cookie and also have a fortune inside it (nothing can be better). Amazing stuff, no doubt.

World of Sea creatures: New York Aquarium - 3

Right after seeing, only the arms of Octopus, we went to the other enclosure to see the Sea Horses and the Jellyfish.

Sea Horses - They are very small in size, almost 2 to 3 inches. Very slimy and looked like tiny harmless creatures. They were of different colors and there were close to 25 of them kept in two separate tanks. They were very different from the idea we had and what we had seen in the movies. They were just hanging still in the water without moving.

                                                                      Sea Horses

Jellyfish - The most beautiful and fascinating creature - Jellyfish. With wall to wall tanks of water with jellyfishes floating in it, it seemed like I was also floating in the middle, with all of them. They looked lifeless, effortlessly floating like a feather. Comprised of various hues of white, orange and even transparent, they were mysterious in so many ways.

We clicked numerous pictures of Jellyfish. And got to know some pretty interesting facts about it too, like Jellyfishes have muscles and nerves but no brain, heart or bones. Their stings can cause a lot of pain and they are known as one of the powerful ocean predators, quite not matching their delicate and harmless appearance. They have been around for more than 650 million years and existed even before the Dinosaur age.

                                                                              Jelly Fish

In all, they looked so peaceful and vulnerable, that I wanted to get one as a pet (....it would have been so nice). After seeing the Jelly fish, we went to the nearby seaside cafe for some refreshments. And that was it,  the clock struck 4 and our visit ended perfectly with something to remember from the souvenir shop.

World of Sea creatures: New York Aquarium - 2

After seeing the Walrus, we went on to see the Sea Lion Show in the Aqua-theater, which is pretty famous. The view from the stands was breathtaking. 

California Sea Lion - They are excellent water athletes, which was visible in the acrobatic show by one of them. The trainer clapped her hands, pointed towards some direction and Sea Lion followed it so diligently, it seemed like as if he understood everything like any other human being. It rotated on its belly, lifted its tail, dived in and out of water, kissed and patted one of the trainers, ate fish all the time and came too close to the stands where we were sitting. It was splendid and this was undoubtedly, the best part of our visit to the Aquarium.

                                                                        Sea Lion Show

Another interesting fact, we got to know was that there's a very slight difference between Sea Lion and Seal, and the difference is that Sea Lions have tiny flaps over their ears unlike Seals. They are almost 6 to 8 feet in length and can weigh up to 800 pounds. It was so delightful to watch the Sea Lion do all those gymnastic moves. 

Black Footed Penguins - After the show, we went to the Penguin enclosure. There were 6 or 7 seven of them near the keeper, who was putting one fish at a time in their mouths. They were gulping the fish and walking away from the keeper. And when all of them were done with eating, they all left ,walking in the most cutest way possible. Because of their webbed feet, they tend to walk like a small baby, who could fall on one side any moment (so cute). There was one penguin who didn't come for the food, so the keeper was trying to persuade it to come where she was sitting.

                                                                       Little Penguins

Finally, it jumped into the water, swam and came to the other side. And then, he got his food, done with that, he dived back into the water and went to the other side. These Penguins are usually 27 inches tall and weigh up to 10 pounds. By far they are the cutest Birds (yes, they are categorized as birds)..... I have ever seen.

Tomato Frog - These frogs are of dull orange color and look very small, almost 4 inches. They can stay still for a long time, as we were looking at them, we didn't see them moving at all (as if they were stuck to the ground). Being orange in color, they looked very different from the usual green frogs we are used to seeing.

Giant Pacific Octopus - It is usually 16 feet long and has 8 arms. When we were there, it was completely coiled up in its enclosure and they had kept it very dark inside. So we could only see its arms coiled, but it looked dangerous for sure. We got to know some interesting facts about octopus; they can taste sweet, sour or bitter and even have problem solving skills and live up to just 3 to 5 years. They spend most of their lives as loners and hunt mostly in the night. And their young ones are the size of a rice grain....(Surprising!!).  

World of Sea creatures: New York Aquarium

A recent visit to NY Aquarium opened a new world of beautiful sea creatures to me. The cute Sea Otter, even cuter Penguins, huge Walrus, awesome Sea Lion, harmless Sharks, beautiful fishes, mysterious jellyfish, small starfish, tiny Sea Horses, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Tomato Frogs, coiled up Octopus, the list doesn't end.

Sea Otter - after taking the tickets, we went straight to see the Sea Otter feeding. We were there right in time, when the keeper was giving it a stick to play. They are so cute, with whiskers n small arms, it was so much fun to see them play around and eat fish. When it was floating on its back, it looked really sweet. As a matter of fact, Sea Otters have the densest fur than any other mammal and they live up to the age of 15 years.

Sea Otter

Sharks - The next was Shark Feeding. Again just in time, they looked huge in the tank. Not just huge but scary too (especially because of the visible sharp teeth). Called the 'Sand Tiger Shark', they were going round and round; and were literally peeling off the fish food from the pipe (used for feeding Sharks). Their looks are definitely deceiving, as this species of Shark is not considered dangerous for humans. With a length of almost 7 feet and weight up to 350 pounds, they are one of the nighttime carnivores.

Shark Feeding

Turtle - The name is 'Loggerhead Sea Turtle', and it looks huge. It usually weighs up to 398 pounds and can live 60 years or more. They were kept in the same tank with the Sharks and during the feeding, they were also grabbing onto the crabs. In all, they looked peaceful and yes! huge (again).

Walrus - The 'Pacific Walrus', the graceful giants, weigh up to 2700 pounds (woohu..!). They keep on diving n swimming in the water, while stopping in between for a minute or two. There were two of them in that enclosure, and I didn't see them relaxing at all, they looked restless. But, they are beautiful swimmers, no doubt.

Walrus deep in the water

Otarian: Low Carbon Restaurant

Well, I have heard of 'Vegetarian', 'Non-Vegetarian', 'Eggitarian' but never heard of 'Otarian' till some days back.

Its a new restaurant named 'Otarian' which opened on April 19th in NY, which is also called 'The Planet's Low-Carbon Restaurant'. This is definitely a right step towards a 'Sustainable Earth', as pointed out by the Otarians. It is owned by an Indian - Radhika Oswal, wife of billionaire Pankaj Oswal.

Completely vegetarian and a look at the menu shows - yummy food with less amount of Carbon emissions than the usual. In the category of soups, theres Roasted Tomato Soup - which saves 0.2 kg of Carbon Emissions. And the Otarian Vegetarian burger saves almost 0.98 kg of carbon emissions. Our very own Vegetable biryani when compared to Lamb biryani saves 2.07 kg of emissions. For the people who can't do without desserts, theres a chocolate cake n chocolate mousse with added sweetness of carbon saving.

The ingredient policy 'sourcing with the lowest environmental impact' makes the Otarian recipes different.

So, with a menu that satisfies, and also help us contribute towards a better Earth, Otarian provides a great option. Am definitely having an Otarian lunch.