Irene was here & she was not bad...

This is not my girl or friend, this is Hurricane Irene ofcourse. People were heavily panicking & all that. Putting tapes & boards on window glass, buying grocery/ration for days/weeks, buying tons of water, infact all the flash lights were sold out at home depot. Stuff closed early Saturday & was closed until today. BUT.. it wasn't that bad, & that's good. I walked out yesterday afternoon & it was windy but not bad. It did rain with wind all saturday night & mild flooding, but all ok. I hear some places lost power, internet, cable etc & flooding etc too but all was fine here in Jersey City and there was no extensive damage. BTW, few people were complaining that they were disappointed with Irene, how it wasn't as bad as they expected. REALLY? So, you wanted it to cause serious damage & devastation  Be thankful that it wasn't as bad & we are all safe & fine. Like Earthquake pretty much.... I honestly ended up having good time at home though - Thank God!!

Jersey City to New York City - PATH vs NYC Subway

Well, I haven't moved back to the city (yet), NO. Just talking about my first day of commute from Journal Square to Downtown Manhattan, FIDI (pronunced as Fie-Die, Financial District) as New Yorkers call it. I walk from my place to Journal Square & then take PATH.  I get off at World Financial Center (not WTC anymore) station & walk to my work at Wall Street (I had to mention that to let you know that I work at mighty Wall Street). It's not bad at all. The commute from Jersey city to NYC could be probably less than even being in Manhattan (If you live above midtown, far from Subway.. & you are close to Path in Jersey CIty coming to FIDI etc), or almost same as other Burroughs. You are not in the "City", but I am just talking commute here, which is cool. And there are benefits to living in Jersey too (gotta convince myself, U know).....

So lets do a quick PATH vs NYC Subway check... PATH's monthly pass is $54, $50 less when compared to NYC Subway Monthly Pass. You have to buy a $5 plastic card  called smartlink card from automated vending machine & then refill or recharge it at another machine. Kinda non-intuitive (I struggled like a dumbo for 10 mins) & lotta work  (I had to be "walked through" the whole process) for first time. But there was someone to tell/help which was good. The PATH looks cleaner & nicer too. There is no food & drinks allowed, which must help. I don't see any trash/garbage cans in PATH stations either, which is weird. People might bring stuff & you gotta have place to throw. Frequency & service is good, almost every 10 mins in peak hours. It runs 24 hrs as well. So, I like PATH. But unlike many people, I liked subway as well. You have to understand that there are so many lines & trains they have to run, with so many stations to manage. PATH just has 4 lines & 13 stations. And subway is so old as well. At least is 24 hrs unlike most of rest of the world I guess. LA, Boston, DC, London, Delhi, none of the places have 24 hrs metro service. It may not be very comfortable but it's absolutely convenient. So my verdict is, both are great public transport... Love NYC, Love JC!!

Moved to Jersey City... I am not a New Yorker??

I left Manhattan yesterday to move to Journal Square, Jersey City. Quite a move.. I got movers to move my stuff which cost me $200 + cab ride of $45. Movers were $55/hr + tip, 2 russian guys. And the cab guys says that as soon as they go out of Manhattan, the cab fare doubles + toll $9, so I didn't tip him. Also to went Newport Mall & did some shopping for curtains, rods, home stuff, fan, brita jar etc. So much to do when you move in to your own place. & SO much to unpack/adjust. I am really stressed I guess. Moving is not as much fun, specially when you have to do so much, all by yourself, & my not that enabled/capable hand. But I do like Journal Square so far. I ma 10 mins walk away from PATH, lots of stores around - 99 cents, C-Town, CH-Martin & Bunch of Indian stores at Indian Sq. Also was able to get chinese food at 11.20 pm on sunday Night. Impressive & happy so far, lets see how it goes. BTW - Got lot of help in this move from Tani, thanks a ton!!... So, until next time, Good Bye & Good Luck!! (Am I still a New Yorker??)

Good Weekend - Journal Square/Harry Potter 8 & Super 8

The week didn't start as nicely with the news of Hand Surgery. This weekend was supposed to be celebration weekend for my 1 year completion in NYC. It was celebrated by me finding a new place in Journal Square, Jersey city to move out of NYC. Ironic.. huh?? I think it's fine. I have kinda finalized on this place which very close to PATH Station, 5-10 min walk south/south-west of it. Let's try Jersey & see how it works out.

Then went for Harry Potter 8 last night, quite an ordeal. We had thankfully tickets in advance & went an hour early but still were way back in line & had to sit on side row. It's because we watched it in IMAX 3D which is $19, so expensive. Sometimes it seems like this whole IMAX & specially 3D is just a scam to mint more money from people. And AMC gave such cheapo glassed which sucked & I was very unhappy. The movie is alright, 6/10. I expected better. I think it's the worst movie in the series. Specially the second half which is so ungrand & unconvincing. They are trying to be funny & cheesy & it just didn't seem to work. Expect poor Snape who did make few 'people' cry. The ordinary & silly way Voldemort died was pathetic. Not the finale I expected.... But still, it's kinda funny to see Harry & friends grow old like this. It's like our kid who were small & young in front of us & now grown up. Goodbye Harry Potter & friends...... I also saw Super 8. You have to see 2 movies to recover the expensive cost of movies I guess. It's a nice (8/10) sci-fi/horror movie, right between E.T.  & Cloverfield. Also watched Tees Maar Khan (4/10) on Netflix and Incredible Hulk (7/10) & Pirates of Carribean 3 (7/10) on T.V.

So... who do you think will be next Harry Potter? Any opinions/suggestion about Journal Square & Jersey City?? I have the hand surgery coming this week, let's see what do I have to report. Until then.... Thanks, Goodbye & Good Luck!!