November 7th: Daylight Saving Time ends

The Daylight Saving Time ended last night at 2. The time which was changed on March 14th is back on track again. Earlier it used to happen on the last Sunday of October but this time its on the first Sunday of November and begins on second Sunday of March. With the exception of states of Arizona and Hawaii, which follow standard time all through the year. 

When I woke up in the morning, it was 10:30 but as the daylight savings ended, I turned back the room clock to 9:30, that's nice, an extra weekend hour, who won't like it. So the time right now is 10:30, am already writing this blog. Well, this change in time reminds one of the cold winter ahead and also that spring is four months away. 

Anyways, I changed the time in the room and kitchen clocks, and the laptop and iPhone didn't need any manual change. This change in time effects the day-to-day running in many ways, for eg. Amtrak trains in United States, stop at 2 a.m. and wait for one hour before resuming service; so that the train schedule is not affected. 

As the saying goes, 'Spring Forward, Fall Back'.

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_the_United_States#Daylight_saving_time

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

Billboards: Catching your wandering eyes

Yes ! am talking about Billboards, the flashiest way of advertising and the costliest too. Billboards is the most widely accepted medium of outdoor advertising.

Walking on the streets of New York and of course the Times Square, the eye-popping billboards will definitely catch your eye. And that is what makes the Times Square so lively and lit up. You feel like standing still in a place surrounded by moving images, it is so intimidating. This kind of advertising really has an impact. As people are bound to look at such massive displays and for an advertiser, it does the work effectively.

I call it 'Effective Advertising", as the customers come looking for the brand advertised and that itself is the motive of putting up an advertisement. The huge two-story illuminated display of American Eagle Outfitters in Times Square, is an example of this kind of "Effective Advertising".

Some of the other famous billboards in Times Square includes Toshiba and Nasdaq signs, the curved Coca-Cola sign, huge billboards advertising Broadway shows, all these make the New York City look awesomely spectacular.

Recently, saw a picture of me and my husband on Walgreens billboard and trust me, it gives u a big high !!!

                                                                                               Times Square, NY