The 6th Borough

Hoboken is often referred to as the 6th borough because of its proximity to Manhattan and because so many Manhattan workers live in Hoboken to save money on rent.

I decided to visit and see what the area was actually like.  I haven't spent much time in New Jersey and the areas I have visited have been pretty unflattering.  So, off to Hoboken to see if New Jersey can break its streak.

Since the subway doesn't leave New York and it's freezing outside (so the ferry isn't so nice), the PATH train was my transportation provider of choice.

Much nicer station than the average subway.

Much nicer railcar too!

So far, New Jersey is doing OK.  Granted, the Port Authority is actually a pairing of New York and New Jersey, so NJ can't really claim this as a solo victory.

I stepped out of the station and saw...

A post office.

An old train station.

A giant park on a pier.

So far so good.  The day is gloomy and cold, but it's gloomy and cold across the river too.  I decided to explore the pier park.

New York across the Hudson.

Looking back west.

A nice W hotel.

A fisherman...???

He's fishing in the Hudson?!  He's more likely to catch a dead body than a fish.  Even if he does catch a fish, it'll be some sort of mutant fish that's highly toxic.  I really hope he doesn't work for a sushi restaurant.

Cobblestones!

The very first Blimpie!  Somehow, not that exciting.

Hoboken residential area seems fine.

The main shopping area is clean and looks sort of trendy.

City Hall.

A quaint CVS.

Not wanting to be shown up, Walgreen's looks like a bank.

Hoboken is seeming like a pretty nice place.  It looks nothing like the terrifying parts of Jersey City I walked through at night.

The Texas-Arizona bar and grill.  I should visit sometime.

The tunnel home.

OK, so maybe not everything here is nice.

I did save one last picture for last.  Hoboken does have a great view of the skyline facing east.  The more traditional picture faces west.

New York City over the Hudson.

 I headed home.

H does not stand for Hogwarts.

Young entrepreneur.

I didn't buy any cotton candy from him, but lots of others did.  I'm sure this is illegal, but at least he has an honest job.

I found Hoboken to be much better than I expected.  I'll have to plan a return visit when the weather is warmer so I can have a more lengthy walking tour.  I stayed pretty close to the waterfront and rents there appear to start at $2500 a month.  That's better than lower Manhattan, but still pretty pricey.  I guess you pay for the view.

Edible or not edible?

I haven't posted about food in a while, so let's play a game.  I'll post a picture and you decide whether it's edible (or at least whether or not you would eat it.)

Congealed soupy thing.

Up first is a Chinese-style gelatinous mixture of vegetables and shrimp.  Any takers?

Lentils, rice, falafel, salad, pita bread.

Nothing too scary here, assuming you like falafels.  Oh, tahini sauce is the dressing.  Probably more hands up now.

A black strawberry.

I should have taken a picture of a normal colored one for comparison purposes, but I trust everyone knows what a normal strawberry looks like.  As you can see, this one looks dark red at the bottom and black in the center.  In turns out, the entire carton was black-ish strawberries.  I ate them and yes, they tasted weird.  It wasn't mold though.  Maybe some sort of burn?

Deep-fried imitation crab sticks with sauce.

I don't think I really need to describe this.  You can deep fry anything and it'll probably taste OK.  That said, I wouldn't recommend this item.  It may look colorful, but it's actually kind of gross.

This concludes the New York food lesson for this week.  In case you are wondering, I do eat quite a bit of American food as well.  Columbia is especially fond of giving out free pizza and sandwiches.  After eating that for lunch all week long, I like to branch out for dinner.

Happy Subway Man

I see performers all the time, but I normally don't stop to take videos.  This guy however, was incredibly happy.  I don't think the video captures just how big his smile was for most of the time.

It's (almost) always nice to have something to watch while waiting for the train.  Sometimes the "music" is pretty questionable.  Screeching is not something I would consider music, but apparently it's performance art.

Here and There

I have a few more random photos sitting around that don't really fit into anything, but might be interesting.

Turkish and Russian baths?

Sounds interesting.  I can't say I have ever seen public baths before.

Passing through Grand Central.

We found some really old luggage.

There is a special museum right now celebrating the 100th anniversary of Grand Central.  We had to go to the subway stop underneath, but had some time to kill.  It's my favorite building in NYC, so I made sure to read everything.

McDonalds near Times Square.

I was walking through a rainstorm one night without an umbrella.  In most cities, it would be dark and dreary.  I just had to take a picture of this McDonald's because it was such a happy-looking contrast.  It's pouring rain, yet the McDonald's and it's lights are trying to convince you to come in.  Notice that others are walking through the rain too.  I suppose when no one owns a car, getting wet is just something you deal with.

Fancy Bowling

I don't remember having a bowling alley like this in Texas.  First, there was a red carpet entrance with a bouncer and velvet ropes.  21+ only.  Then you walked down a narrow hallway to an elevator.  Upon exiting the elevator, you find yourself staring at the main desk.

Looks sort of like a spa or club.

I didn't have to pay, but I remember the prices were expensive.  It was sort of a bar, and sort of a club, and sort of a bowling alley.  There was loud music and huge TVs playing music videos.  The bar took up most of the non-bowling space.

Pick any pair you like.

At least they have a much better shoe selection process.  You walk in and grab shoes from whatever brightly colored box you like.  You return them in the white cube.  That makes way more sense than telling someone your size while he or she goes to the back room to retrieve a pair.

Cool place, although drunk people wielding 16 pounds balls are dangerous, especially while dancing.

I bowled 161 and only took second.  How often does that happen?

Blizzard Nemo

I'm pretty excited to say that I have now survived a tornado, an earthquake, a hurricane, a flood, and a blizzard.  I went to a live volcano in Costa Rica, but it stopped erupting a few months before I got there.  Maybe I'll do tsunami next.

I woke up in the morning to find an interesting scene.

Snowmobiles! (haha)

Notice that during the night the sidewalks were salted and cleared, along with the streets.  I'm glad our tax dollars go somewhere.  NYC has pretty unbelievable taxes, but I'll admit that public services are pretty good.

I was really curious how these people got in their cars.  The plow pushed all the snow against the driver's door.  The answer: they don't.  Those cars stayed there a long time.  Even if you can get inside the car, you can't drive because of the snow all around the tires.  I don't recommend owning a car and driving it somewhere before a blizzard.

A few days later I was on campus, so I took some additional photos.

King Frosty?

An ice fort and some other admirers.

The "door"

Notice that I was facing the library in the first shot and that I was pretty far away.  The man saw me taking a picture and you notice that he is staring at me.  In the second picture, I walked to the other side of the fort to get a picture from the other direction.  He saw me taking a second picture and decided to walk his son into the middle of it.  They were not the builders.  Weird guy.

Six days afterwards in a rainstorm.  Luckily, he had an umbrella.

Ice Skating

I think I went ice skating outdoors for the first time ever.  Unless I did it in Minneapolis when I worked there, it was a first.  Texas isn't the best place for outdoor ice skating.

Bryant Park is a great place to skate.  Rockefeller Center might be more famous, but it's also more crowded.

She wasn't actually this happy about being there.

View of the rink.

It's pretty fun skating around where there is normally a giant lawn.  It's also weird to be surrounded by tall buildings.  I had a good time, although Erin doesn't count ice skating on her list of favorite things to do.  It probably has something to do with being a winter activity and that one time that I knocked her down and left her with bruises.  (I was just trying to get her to skate faster!)