After 2 days of non-stop adventure and fun in NY, it was time for some relaxing and that's exactly what we got on Day 9.
Day 9:
The day started by getting up late. It was very relaxing since there weren't many things planned for today. First we went to a Jain temple in Queens which is made in an apartment complex building. The temple has about 4 stories where 1st floor has registration desk,
2nd floor has Shwetambar temple, 3rd floor has Digambar temple, and 4th
floor has dadawadi and Ashtapad tirth along with kitchen. The temple also had another puja going on simultaneously so we got to see that as well. This temple is also built very beautifully but it's not as big as the other one we saw in NJ. After temple visit, we went to have lunch outside in an Indian
restaurant called copper wok which had mix of indo-chinese cuisine which
was delicious and spicy!! We got home, I took a short nap and then in
the evening my brother-in-law took my dad and I out to manhattan
again. My dad couldn't come with us on the tour so he had not seen the
Manhattan but thanks to my brother-in-law, he was able to see the Times Square and the Empire state building at night which is really
worth watching at night since it's got a different feeling :). We got back around 10 pm and then had quick dinner and then packed our bags. It was already time for us to leave next day...can't believe it's already been 10 days!!
Day 10:
Time to go home!! We got ready and had nice lunch at around 9:45 am since we had to leave by 10:15. Our flight was at 1 pm but since we didn't know how bad the traffic was going to be, we didn't want to take chances. We left around 10:20 am to head to Laguardia airport and got there within half an hour. We went to check in our bags (very short line) and got done in about
10-15 minutes and then headed to our gate in concourse B. The walk was
short and we got to the gate very quickly. It's very confusing to get to the terminals at laguardia so you have to pay attention to the signs when you enter the airport. The gate we got to was so crowded since there weren't enough seats to
sit down and there were 2 gates in the same area so you can imagine the
crowd. The plane was late and we took off 1 hour late at 2 pm. Even though we took off late, we landed around the same time around 3:40 pm....Yay! We got out by 4:10 pm after getting our bags and then my friend came to pick us up and we were at home by 5 pm :). Home sweet home!!
Overall, this was a great vacation where we got to see a lot of families, my mom got to meet her college friend after such a long time, we got to visit bunch of temples and also try our luck in Atlantic city :). Thanks to all the families for having us and showing us around New Jersey and New York!!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 6
Day 8: NY Adventure continues....
After a really tiring day yesterday, the main attraction that was left to cover was Statue of Liberty and that was the plan for the 2nd day of NY!! We started the day bit late by catching a the train for 9:45 am to go to Penn station and reached there by 10:30 am. Since we already had the Gray Line tickets, we didn't have to go all the way to the visitor center and instead we could catch any of the Gray Line buses from one of its stops. The closest stop to the Penn station was the Macy's stop, so we just had to cross the street to get to the stop. The bus came within 5-10 minutes. Since the top floor was crowded, we had to sit in the bottom floor which didn't have any Air conditioning. Unlike yesterday when it was cloudy and bit cooler temperature, today's temperature was completely opposite with sunny and hot weather, so it was bit hard to sit without air conditioning. But I am glad we didn't sit on the top floor either because it was too hot to sit outside in the sun!! We just opened all the windows on the main floor so it was alright and anyways we had already seen all the attractions, so there was no point in sitting on the top floor again.We got to the Battery park within 45 minutes and headed inside to catch the Statue of Liberty ferry. You don't need to stand in regular line to get the tickets, instead you need to find one of the Gray Line agents and they would exchange the vouchers for tickets to the ferry. The view from Battery park was also nice!
We got through the ferry line and security (again, airport-like security) within 15-20 minutes and caught the ferry around 12:10 and reached the liberty island at 12:30 pm. As you enter the island, there is a very nice sitting area with lots of benches and chairs next to the restaurant, so the first thing we did was to eat lunch there. After lunch, we went around the liberty island making various stops to
take zillion pictures with the downtown view, and the lady liberty :)
We roamed around and after taking zillion pictures headed back to catch the ferry to Ellis island. Again we had a wait of about 10-15 minutes and then got to the Ellis island. For those who don't want to get off here at Ellis island can head straight back to battery park, because you will not miss much at all. It wasn't really at all of what I was expecting but it's ok, we visited it and then got out in about 15 minutes to catch the ferry back to the battery park. Good thing we didn't have to wait for the ferry since it was already parked and taking passengers. We got back to battery park and the whole statue of liberty and Ellis island trip took about 3 hours which was expected. I knew it was going to take long time, so that's why I kept it for 2nd day since it took half of our day and it was around 3 or so when we got done with it. We were really tired at that point and mainly because of the heat and the sun in the afternoon, we caught the downtown tour bus from battery park to go to Central park and again we sat on the bottom floor since it was super hot outside to sit on the top open floor. It was so crazy traffic that day that it took more than an hour to get to Rockefeller center and the tour guide said that it would take another half an hour to get to central park. So we got off at Rockefeller center and decided to skip central park. Instead we went to see this famous "LOVE" sign on 55th st. and 6th ave.
We clicked few pics and then started walking towards 53rd and 7th ave. hoping to catch one of gray line tour buses. Luckily we caught one and this time it was an air conditioning bus so we sat on the bottom floor and got off at times square. We then walked to the Toys'R'Us store that has a Ferris wheel inside the store. It's pretty cool. Apparently, this is the biggest Toys'R'Us store in US. After that we just headed straight to Penn station and caught the next available train to Hicksville. We got home by 7 pm and it was nice to be back early so we could relax and hang out with the family. We had delicious dinner that day with Paratha, Chili paneer, dal fry, and rice!! Yummmy!! We finally slept around midnight after chitchatting!!
This marks the end of our NY exploration! We had great time but it was just very tiring due to all the walking and sight seeing, but worth it one time! Not to worry though, the next day was going to be relaxing and not doing much so was looking forward to it :). Until my next post, see ya :)
After a really tiring day yesterday, the main attraction that was left to cover was Statue of Liberty and that was the plan for the 2nd day of NY!! We started the day bit late by catching a the train for 9:45 am to go to Penn station and reached there by 10:30 am. Since we already had the Gray Line tickets, we didn't have to go all the way to the visitor center and instead we could catch any of the Gray Line buses from one of its stops. The closest stop to the Penn station was the Macy's stop, so we just had to cross the street to get to the stop. The bus came within 5-10 minutes. Since the top floor was crowded, we had to sit in the bottom floor which didn't have any Air conditioning. Unlike yesterday when it was cloudy and bit cooler temperature, today's temperature was completely opposite with sunny and hot weather, so it was bit hard to sit without air conditioning. But I am glad we didn't sit on the top floor either because it was too hot to sit outside in the sun!! We just opened all the windows on the main floor so it was alright and anyways we had already seen all the attractions, so there was no point in sitting on the top floor again.We got to the Battery park within 45 minutes and headed inside to catch the Statue of Liberty ferry. You don't need to stand in regular line to get the tickets, instead you need to find one of the Gray Line agents and they would exchange the vouchers for tickets to the ferry. The view from Battery park was also nice!
 |
| View from Battery Park |
We roamed around and after taking zillion pictures headed back to catch the ferry to Ellis island. Again we had a wait of about 10-15 minutes and then got to the Ellis island. For those who don't want to get off here at Ellis island can head straight back to battery park, because you will not miss much at all. It wasn't really at all of what I was expecting but it's ok, we visited it and then got out in about 15 minutes to catch the ferry back to the battery park. Good thing we didn't have to wait for the ferry since it was already parked and taking passengers. We got back to battery park and the whole statue of liberty and Ellis island trip took about 3 hours which was expected. I knew it was going to take long time, so that's why I kept it for 2nd day since it took half of our day and it was around 3 or so when we got done with it. We were really tired at that point and mainly because of the heat and the sun in the afternoon, we caught the downtown tour bus from battery park to go to Central park and again we sat on the bottom floor since it was super hot outside to sit on the top open floor. It was so crazy traffic that day that it took more than an hour to get to Rockefeller center and the tour guide said that it would take another half an hour to get to central park. So we got off at Rockefeller center and decided to skip central park. Instead we went to see this famous "LOVE" sign on 55th st. and 6th ave.
We clicked few pics and then started walking towards 53rd and 7th ave. hoping to catch one of gray line tour buses. Luckily we caught one and this time it was an air conditioning bus so we sat on the bottom floor and got off at times square. We then walked to the Toys'R'Us store that has a Ferris wheel inside the store. It's pretty cool. Apparently, this is the biggest Toys'R'Us store in US. After that we just headed straight to Penn station and caught the next available train to Hicksville. We got home by 7 pm and it was nice to be back early so we could relax and hang out with the family. We had delicious dinner that day with Paratha, Chili paneer, dal fry, and rice!! Yummmy!! We finally slept around midnight after chitchatting!!
This marks the end of our NY exploration! We had great time but it was just very tiring due to all the walking and sight seeing, but worth it one time! Not to worry though, the next day was going to be relaxing and not doing much so was looking forward to it :). Until my next post, see ya :)
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 5
What do you think about when someone says New York!!! Hold that
thought and read on my post to see if you witness all the phrases you
had thought about :).
Day 7: New York Adventure!!!
We started our New York adventure from Hicksville around 9 am and caught a 9:15 am LIRR train to Penn station. We reached there by 10:05 and got out of station around 10:30 am (w/ restroom break in between). Btw, don't underestimate Penn station by any means because it's huge!! And it stretches from 7th ave. to 8th ave. and to at least 3 or 4 streets!! We got out of the station towards 7th ave. and started walking towards the Gray Line visitor center to pick up our tickets. It was about 15-20 minutes walk but the best thing you encounter on the way is Times Square. So lively, so crowded, and of course, so yellow...:P...haha. You don't believe me....here is a proof!
We reached the Gray Line center and got our tickets within few minutes (maybe 5 minutes) and first tour we wanted to take was downtown tour. The downtown tour was going to leave from just across the street from the center at the corner of 8th ave. and 47th street. The bus came in about 10-15 minutes and it was empty so we got good seats on the top. Actually, you have to sit on the top to see otherwise there is no point in taking double-decker bus. Note that the downtown tour has about 20-22 stops that you can get off or hop on from.
The tour started around 11:15 am and reached the ground zero site in an hour and 5-10 minutes. We got off at the ground zero/world trade center stop which was about 10th stop on the way. Before world trade center, there were stops like Madison square garden, China town, SOHO (South of "Houseton"...trust me..that's how they pronounce it), etc. but we didn't really want to go to any of those places, so that's why we made our first stop to be ground zero site. We started walking towards the new freedom center that's currently being built. On the way we stopped at the 9/11 memorial service center where we realized that we need passes to actually visit the ground zero site. They are free, and the passes are timed, so you have to go at/after the time listed on your pass. After getting the passes, we had to walk down 5 blocks and across 2 blocks to actually get to the site where the line began to visit the ground zero. Even though you could see the freedom center straight from the 9/11 service center, you had go all around to get to the entrance due to all the construction that was going on and of course due to tight security they had at the entrance. There was still some time before we could visit the ground zero, so we decided to have lunch in between at one of the places around 12:35 pm and then head to the location.
We come to the entrance where they have airport-like security where you have to put your stuff through scanner (except shoes), walk through the scanner and get your pass checked at like 3 different places on the way. All this security must have taken about 15-20 minutes and to get to site. Once we get to the site, we see these 2 beautiful fountains where the twin towers used to stand.
We walked around and spent about 15-20 minutes there. After that we started walking to go towards Wall street where the famous "Bull" is located (after exchange street). That Bull was crowded with people, so if you want to get a picture with it, be quick and sharp because no one is going to invite you to take the picture!! People just come to the bull one after another so you have to know when you just get in and get your pic clicked. We took pictures of the bull, with the bull, and then headed towards the Battery park where the Brooklyn tour was taking off.
The Brooklyn tour bus was standing at a place which wasn't a regular stop, so it was hard to spot it at first but we caught it just in time before it left around 2:10 pm. This was a non-stop 2 hour tour so you just sit in the bus and enjoy the tour. This tour was fine but our tour guide was terrible!! He was loud and I mean really loud which would explode your ears out if you were wearing headphones sitting on the first floor of the bus!! And strangely for one of the other reason, he would either bring up his wife or his mother-in-law in whatever attraction he was talking about!! We came back from the tour around 4:10 pm and got on another downtown tour bus to continue on the remaining stops of the downtown tour. There were a lot of people in front of us waiting for the downtown bus but since there wasn't another bus coming and the brooklyn bus that we were just on was all empty decided to take us on to the downtown tour....lucky us that we get the same tour guide as the brooklyn tour and we get to hear his loud and clear voice all over again!!!! Not Fair!! Ok, now I was starting to get a headache from his high pitch and screaming volume that I wish someone would have just told him to calm down!! The guide was from Brooklyn, so he kept bringing up brooklyn in the downtown tour...seriously!!! Why??? It was unbearable! We finally got off at Rockefeller center which is stop #18 on the downtown tour and went to the Top of the Rock.
We got there around 5:30/35 pm and exchanged our Gray Line tickets for top of the rock. we got to the top and it was beautiful!!! They have 3 decks that you can go through and they have all glass walls so that you get 360 degree view of the downtown. Very pretty!!
We got down and started heading towards 7th ave. and 47th street to catch the night tour bus. Before that we stopped by M&M store and checked out few flavors and then headed for night tour. The night tour is also a non-stop 2 hour tour which basically shows you the night life of New York, so you can just sit back and enjoy. Unfortunately night tour covers some of the Brooklyn tour places so we had to go back to Brooklyn on the same route that we had gone on earlier in the afternoon which was boring and waste of time! The main night tour should be within the Times Square area and around it because the rest of the stuff was not worth watching and nothing important, so I was kind of disappointed with it!! Nevertheless, We had started night tour at 7:30 pm and got done around 9:15 pm. Once we got off the bus, we made a run to the Penn station to catch our 9:42 pm train so we had to walk from 47th street to 34th street on 7th ave. (it feels like long walk after you had such a tiring day). We got to the Penn station in time to catch the train and took about 50 minutes to get to Hicksville, and by the time we got home, we were really tired, really sleepy, no energy at all!! But we freshened up and ate some homemade indian food and finally headed to bed around midnight hoping to finish the rest of the adventure the next day :)
Phew!!! I just revisited the entire route with you again while writing this post :) and it was tiring!!! So I am going to take a break and write the Day 8 adventure in the next post!!
Day 7: New York Adventure!!!
We started our New York adventure from Hicksville around 9 am and caught a 9:15 am LIRR train to Penn station. We reached there by 10:05 and got out of station around 10:30 am (w/ restroom break in between). Btw, don't underestimate Penn station by any means because it's huge!! And it stretches from 7th ave. to 8th ave. and to at least 3 or 4 streets!! We got out of the station towards 7th ave. and started walking towards the Gray Line visitor center to pick up our tickets. It was about 15-20 minutes walk but the best thing you encounter on the way is Times Square. So lively, so crowded, and of course, so yellow...:P...haha. You don't believe me....here is a proof!
 |
| See what I mean by ..."So yellow"...Over 90% of Manhattan is covered in Yellow :P |
The tour started around 11:15 am and reached the ground zero site in an hour and 5-10 minutes. We got off at the ground zero/world trade center stop which was about 10th stop on the way. Before world trade center, there were stops like Madison square garden, China town, SOHO (South of "Houseton"...trust me..that's how they pronounce it), etc. but we didn't really want to go to any of those places, so that's why we made our first stop to be ground zero site. We started walking towards the new freedom center that's currently being built. On the way we stopped at the 9/11 memorial service center where we realized that we need passes to actually visit the ground zero site. They are free, and the passes are timed, so you have to go at/after the time listed on your pass. After getting the passes, we had to walk down 5 blocks and across 2 blocks to actually get to the site where the line began to visit the ground zero. Even though you could see the freedom center straight from the 9/11 service center, you had go all around to get to the entrance due to all the construction that was going on and of course due to tight security they had at the entrance. There was still some time before we could visit the ground zero, so we decided to have lunch in between at one of the places around 12:35 pm and then head to the location.
We come to the entrance where they have airport-like security where you have to put your stuff through scanner (except shoes), walk through the scanner and get your pass checked at like 3 different places on the way. All this security must have taken about 15-20 minutes and to get to site. Once we get to the site, we see these 2 beautiful fountains where the twin towers used to stand.
We walked around and spent about 15-20 minutes there. After that we started walking to go towards Wall street where the famous "Bull" is located (after exchange street). That Bull was crowded with people, so if you want to get a picture with it, be quick and sharp because no one is going to invite you to take the picture!! People just come to the bull one after another so you have to know when you just get in and get your pic clicked. We took pictures of the bull, with the bull, and then headed towards the Battery park where the Brooklyn tour was taking off.
The Brooklyn tour bus was standing at a place which wasn't a regular stop, so it was hard to spot it at first but we caught it just in time before it left around 2:10 pm. This was a non-stop 2 hour tour so you just sit in the bus and enjoy the tour. This tour was fine but our tour guide was terrible!! He was loud and I mean really loud which would explode your ears out if you were wearing headphones sitting on the first floor of the bus!! And strangely for one of the other reason, he would either bring up his wife or his mother-in-law in whatever attraction he was talking about!! We came back from the tour around 4:10 pm and got on another downtown tour bus to continue on the remaining stops of the downtown tour. There were a lot of people in front of us waiting for the downtown bus but since there wasn't another bus coming and the brooklyn bus that we were just on was all empty decided to take us on to the downtown tour....lucky us that we get the same tour guide as the brooklyn tour and we get to hear his loud and clear voice all over again!!!! Not Fair!! Ok, now I was starting to get a headache from his high pitch and screaming volume that I wish someone would have just told him to calm down!! The guide was from Brooklyn, so he kept bringing up brooklyn in the downtown tour...seriously!!! Why??? It was unbearable! We finally got off at Rockefeller center which is stop #18 on the downtown tour and went to the Top of the Rock.
We got there around 5:30/35 pm and exchanged our Gray Line tickets for top of the rock. we got to the top and it was beautiful!!! They have 3 decks that you can go through and they have all glass walls so that you get 360 degree view of the downtown. Very pretty!!
 |
| View from Top of the Rock |
Phew!!! I just revisited the entire route with you again while writing this post :) and it was tiring!!! So I am going to take a break and write the Day 8 adventure in the next post!!
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 4
Gray Line Double-Decker Bus Tour:
In my earlier post (New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 3), I mentioned to you about Gray Line bus tour, so let me give you little info on what it is. Before booking my tickets to NJ/NY trip, I had researched a little bit on what kind of tours does NY have that we can use. My main purpose of this tour was to have a kind of transportation that would take us around NY and show us the famous spots without us being on foot a lot. The main reason for this is that my dad has a knee problem and due to that he can not walk long distances or for long period of time. So I came across Gray Line double-decker bus tours after googling around little bit. Now, Gray Line isn't the only bus tour that is out there in NY. There is also another bus called City Sights tour and some other companies, but the reason I chose Gray Line is because with the time and days we had on our hand to cover the things we wanted, they had the best price option per person. I looked at all their tours, and the one that attracted me the most was their Classic all loops tour (48 hours) which included downtown loop, uptown loop, Brooklyn tour, and night tour along with a ticket to either Statue of liberty ferry or citysights 60 minute cruise, either Empire state building or Top of the Rock, and South street seaport museum. They give you the option to cover all these things in 48 hours plus they give you little extra time (1 or 2 days) to cover the other things like museum or empire state building. Each of the classic all-loops 48 hour tour was about $95/person but I had called them up and one of the agents had told me that he could get us 10% discount on the tickets if we get it from him, so it was going to come up to $85/person. After all this research I finalized Gray Line double-decker tour to be our guide for NY.
Now, moving on to the trip details. I had not booked the tickets until the day before we were going to go, meaning until Day 6 I had not booked them. Initially, my dad was going to come with us to the tour but due to all the walking on Penn station and from Hicksville station, he was having knee pain and decided to skip the tour. So with that, it leaves 3 of us to go on the tour and I book our tickets the night before we go. If you ever need to book Gray Line through phone, ask to speak with Jared who gave us the 10% discount. I don't know if every agent you talk to gives you discount. I had talked to couple of different agents when I had questions but only Jared told me that he could get me 10% discount if I book it through him. Anyways, they just give you a confirmation number after you book it online and send you an email confirmation as well. The only negative comment I have for Gray Line is that no matter where or how you book your tickets (whether phone or online), you have to go to their visitor center on 8th ave. and 47th street to pick up all the tickets!! That's waste of time I think for everyone because that takes up extra time. I got the confirmation on the phone and went to bed hoping to get up early and start my NY adventure :).
Day 7 is packed with bunch of sight seeing and activities, so you better get some rest as well before reading my next post :)
Have fun!!
In my earlier post (New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 3), I mentioned to you about Gray Line bus tour, so let me give you little info on what it is. Before booking my tickets to NJ/NY trip, I had researched a little bit on what kind of tours does NY have that we can use. My main purpose of this tour was to have a kind of transportation that would take us around NY and show us the famous spots without us being on foot a lot. The main reason for this is that my dad has a knee problem and due to that he can not walk long distances or for long period of time. So I came across Gray Line double-decker bus tours after googling around little bit. Now, Gray Line isn't the only bus tour that is out there in NY. There is also another bus called City Sights tour and some other companies, but the reason I chose Gray Line is because with the time and days we had on our hand to cover the things we wanted, they had the best price option per person. I looked at all their tours, and the one that attracted me the most was their Classic all loops tour (48 hours) which included downtown loop, uptown loop, Brooklyn tour, and night tour along with a ticket to either Statue of liberty ferry or citysights 60 minute cruise, either Empire state building or Top of the Rock, and South street seaport museum. They give you the option to cover all these things in 48 hours plus they give you little extra time (1 or 2 days) to cover the other things like museum or empire state building. Each of the classic all-loops 48 hour tour was about $95/person but I had called them up and one of the agents had told me that he could get us 10% discount on the tickets if we get it from him, so it was going to come up to $85/person. After all this research I finalized Gray Line double-decker tour to be our guide for NY.
Now, moving on to the trip details. I had not booked the tickets until the day before we were going to go, meaning until Day 6 I had not booked them. Initially, my dad was going to come with us to the tour but due to all the walking on Penn station and from Hicksville station, he was having knee pain and decided to skip the tour. So with that, it leaves 3 of us to go on the tour and I book our tickets the night before we go. If you ever need to book Gray Line through phone, ask to speak with Jared who gave us the 10% discount. I don't know if every agent you talk to gives you discount. I had talked to couple of different agents when I had questions but only Jared told me that he could get me 10% discount if I book it through him. Anyways, they just give you a confirmation number after you book it online and send you an email confirmation as well. The only negative comment I have for Gray Line is that no matter where or how you book your tickets (whether phone or online), you have to go to their visitor center on 8th ave. and 47th street to pick up all the tickets!! That's waste of time I think for everyone because that takes up extra time. I got the confirmation on the phone and went to bed hoping to get up early and start my NY adventure :).
Day 7 is packed with bunch of sight seeing and activities, so you better get some rest as well before reading my next post :)
Have fun!!
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 3
.......Continuing the trip from previous post (New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 2)
Day 5:
Today we were going to leave from my cousin's place to go to one of my dad's cousin's home. Before that, they were going to come pick us up and take us to this place called "Siddhachalam" which is a Jain temple built in a hill station type location and is situated in over 120 acre land. When they came to pick us up, we bid farewell to my mom's cousin's family and left their place around 10:30 in the morning. Again, this was first time that my brother and I met my dad's cousin. In fact, my dad met them after long time (maybe after 12 to 13 years). We reached Siddhachalam around 12:00 pm and we prayed there and had lunch at the "Dharamshala (temple kitchen)". The food was too delicious. This place is managed by 2 families who live at the location and they care of the temple and also cook food for the people visiting the temple. The temple was also recently renovated to build "Shikharji" which is basically a lot of "deris (small temples)" which contains the footprints of all the Gods. These small temples are scattered around the 120 acre land.
This place is so beautiful and peaceful that you can just come here for a weekend to get away from all the noise and crowd of the city and have a peaceful and pleasant time with your family. After all the Darshan (praying), we started heading to my dad's cousin's place around 2:45 pm and reached home about 4:30 pm. We relaxed a bit and then had dinner together. The rest of the evening concluded with the democrat convention speeches and some Indian soap opera :).
Day 6:
Today we were going to leave from New Jersey to go to New York to one of my other cousin's place who lived in Hicksville, NY. The morning was pretty relaxing as we didn't have anywhere to go except to get up and get ready. We had nice family lunch and then we headed to the Matawan station to catch the NJ Transit to NY Penn Station. We said good bye to the family and headed to the station. Again, the NJ Transit train from Matawan to Penn station was very nice since the ride was smooth, had nice and comfy seats, and not crowded. I wish I could say the same for Penn Station. We got off at Penn station and it was completely different story. I felt like I have come to a bus stop in India where people are rushing, pushing, going crazy to get out of the train and catch their next bus/train whatever. Penn station was packed with people!!! It was insane.....and on top of that, we had to catch another train to go to Hicksville....that too on a different train!! So first we had to find where the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) track is so we can figure out where the trains take off from. Then once we figured that out, we needed to know which track the train takes off from for Hicksville. Unfortunately, they don't list the track numbers until 7-10 minutes before the train time, so we had to wait for the track number to be listed. Luckily, my cousin's husband was coming early from work that day and decided to take the train with us so he could help us out. And I was soooooo glad he came with us!! The LIRR train was packed with people, and can you imagine 4 of us trying to find a seat with 4 carry-on bags + 2 personal items :(. It was a disaster!! We all found 4 different seats and my brother-in-law stood all the way in the train (he said he was used to it). After all this chaos, you would think that we would have a smooth ride....no way! This train was worse that the NJ Transit train....the seats were small, there was no overhead compartment to put our luggage, and it was packed with people....seats were not comfortable and the train had too much turbulence that I felt like sitting in one of those roller coaster rides (except it didn't go upside down). We were happy to get off at the Hicksville station after 45 minutes, but we still had to walk a little to get to the elevator and then to the parking garage where my brother-in-law's car was parked. Thankfully, their home wasn't far from the station so we could only relax after getting to home. My cousin came from work early and we met her after almost 13 years!! It was good to see her and her daughter. We freshened up and then had dinner together. I felt being very tired from just from the LIRR train ride, but we had to get up early next day to start our Gray Line tour. More on that in the next post....
For now, I think you have had enough to read about my experiences of the NY already without even starting our tour of NY :P...haha.
Note: I didn't mention anything about the train tickets earlier, but since now I have finished talking about Day 6 it would be a good time to bring it up. NJ Transit train tickets are very expensive for a one-way ride depending on where you start from and where you need to go, but from my previous 2 experiences it cost us about $59 and $55 one-way for 4 people to get from Jersey City (Secaucus station) to Princeton Junction and from Matawan to Penn station. NJ Transit does not have any kind of discounted tickets for peak or off-peak times, but LIRR trains do!! LIRR train rides aren't cheap either, but they have cheaper ticket prices during off-peak time (which is anytime excpet 6-10 am in the morning and 4-8 pm in the evening). So it would have cost us $11.50 for one-way to go from Penn station to Hicksville but if we go in off-peak time, it would cost $8.25. Even better, if you know you are going to take more than 5 off-peak rides then you can buy the Ten-Trip tickets which is about 15% cheaper than the regular off-peak ticket which is what I did. We knew that we were going to come back to NY for our Gray Line bus tour, so we decided to buy the off-peak ten-trip ticket which saved us some $$.
Day 5:
Today we were going to leave from my cousin's place to go to one of my dad's cousin's home. Before that, they were going to come pick us up and take us to this place called "Siddhachalam" which is a Jain temple built in a hill station type location and is situated in over 120 acre land. When they came to pick us up, we bid farewell to my mom's cousin's family and left their place around 10:30 in the morning. Again, this was first time that my brother and I met my dad's cousin. In fact, my dad met them after long time (maybe after 12 to 13 years). We reached Siddhachalam around 12:00 pm and we prayed there and had lunch at the "Dharamshala (temple kitchen)". The food was too delicious. This place is managed by 2 families who live at the location and they care of the temple and also cook food for the people visiting the temple. The temple was also recently renovated to build "Shikharji" which is basically a lot of "deris (small temples)" which contains the footprints of all the Gods. These small temples are scattered around the 120 acre land.
This place is so beautiful and peaceful that you can just come here for a weekend to get away from all the noise and crowd of the city and have a peaceful and pleasant time with your family. After all the Darshan (praying), we started heading to my dad's cousin's place around 2:45 pm and reached home about 4:30 pm. We relaxed a bit and then had dinner together. The rest of the evening concluded with the democrat convention speeches and some Indian soap opera :).
Day 6:
Today we were going to leave from New Jersey to go to New York to one of my other cousin's place who lived in Hicksville, NY. The morning was pretty relaxing as we didn't have anywhere to go except to get up and get ready. We had nice family lunch and then we headed to the Matawan station to catch the NJ Transit to NY Penn Station. We said good bye to the family and headed to the station. Again, the NJ Transit train from Matawan to Penn station was very nice since the ride was smooth, had nice and comfy seats, and not crowded. I wish I could say the same for Penn Station. We got off at Penn station and it was completely different story. I felt like I have come to a bus stop in India where people are rushing, pushing, going crazy to get out of the train and catch their next bus/train whatever. Penn station was packed with people!!! It was insane.....and on top of that, we had to catch another train to go to Hicksville....that too on a different train!! So first we had to find where the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) track is so we can figure out where the trains take off from. Then once we figured that out, we needed to know which track the train takes off from for Hicksville. Unfortunately, they don't list the track numbers until 7-10 minutes before the train time, so we had to wait for the track number to be listed. Luckily, my cousin's husband was coming early from work that day and decided to take the train with us so he could help us out. And I was soooooo glad he came with us!! The LIRR train was packed with people, and can you imagine 4 of us trying to find a seat with 4 carry-on bags + 2 personal items :(. It was a disaster!! We all found 4 different seats and my brother-in-law stood all the way in the train (he said he was used to it). After all this chaos, you would think that we would have a smooth ride....no way! This train was worse that the NJ Transit train....the seats were small, there was no overhead compartment to put our luggage, and it was packed with people....seats were not comfortable and the train had too much turbulence that I felt like sitting in one of those roller coaster rides (except it didn't go upside down). We were happy to get off at the Hicksville station after 45 minutes, but we still had to walk a little to get to the elevator and then to the parking garage where my brother-in-law's car was parked. Thankfully, their home wasn't far from the station so we could only relax after getting to home. My cousin came from work early and we met her after almost 13 years!! It was good to see her and her daughter. We freshened up and then had dinner together. I felt being very tired from just from the LIRR train ride, but we had to get up early next day to start our Gray Line tour. More on that in the next post....
For now, I think you have had enough to read about my experiences of the NY already without even starting our tour of NY :P...haha.
Note: I didn't mention anything about the train tickets earlier, but since now I have finished talking about Day 6 it would be a good time to bring it up. NJ Transit train tickets are very expensive for a one-way ride depending on where you start from and where you need to go, but from my previous 2 experiences it cost us about $59 and $55 one-way for 4 people to get from Jersey City (Secaucus station) to Princeton Junction and from Matawan to Penn station. NJ Transit does not have any kind of discounted tickets for peak or off-peak times, but LIRR trains do!! LIRR train rides aren't cheap either, but they have cheaper ticket prices during off-peak time (which is anytime excpet 6-10 am in the morning and 4-8 pm in the evening). So it would have cost us $11.50 for one-way to go from Penn station to Hicksville but if we go in off-peak time, it would cost $8.25. Even better, if you know you are going to take more than 5 off-peak rides then you can buy the Ten-Trip tickets which is about 15% cheaper than the regular off-peak ticket which is what I did. We knew that we were going to come back to NY for our Gray Line bus tour, so we decided to buy the off-peak ten-trip ticket which saved us some $$.
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 2
....Continuing on from my previous New Jersey post (New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 1)
Day 3:
I was really tired from yesterday, so started the day late by waking up at 9 and getting ready by 11. New Jersey recently had a big Pratishtha (ceremony) to inaugurate a new Jain Temple in July, so we really wanted to visit that temple. Since my parents wanted to go do puja at the Jain temple, my parents & my brother headed to temple earlier with my cousin and then I went afterwards with my sister in law and nephew. The temple was beautiful from inside and very nicely built. After we left from temple, we went to Iselin, specifically Oak street which is supposed to be like mini India with bunch of Indian shops, restaurants, etc., to have lunch at Khasiyat....and boy the food was delicious!!!! I think we all overate it. We were all so sleepy after we had lunch but it was all good!! After lunch, we went to see one of our friends who also lived in Iselin. This friend had lived in Denver for couple of months and that's how my parents had met them. What was funny was that they had also prepared some snacks for us, so I ate some more snacks + one glass of juice which basically filled me to the edge!! I survived and then we all came back home and relaxed a bit. From the lunch + additional snacks, I knew I had to skip dinner. To sum up the day, I ended the day by eating a really nice desert (cake!!).
Day 4:
- It was Monday and holiday, so quiet morning. My parents went with my aunt and uncle to do some grocery shopping while my brother and I went with my cousin to stroll through Princeton downtown and Princeton University. The downtown and university are very close to one another and in walking distance, so we were on foot to explore both. I really loved the university. I loved where it's situated, the architecture of its buildings, and the whole campus atmosphere!! The buildings are built like old castles and my cousin even told me that the new dorms and buildings that are being built on campus, they are building it with the same old style to keep the feeling consistent and the architecture alike. Here is a snap from the university...
We came back home and had nice family lunch. After lunch we decided to head to Atlantic city around 4 pm and got there around 5:15/5:30 pm. It was raining, so went to the casinos instead (Caesars and Bally's), played machine roulette and then once the rain stopped for a while, we went to the beach for short while. This was the first time that we played machine roulette and my cousin taught us how to play it and how there are so many things you can bed on for each play. Obviously this was first time for us, so my brother played safe and started with $5 and my cousin started with $20. At the end, my brother won $10 and my cousin won $100 :)...it was great to see him win because each time he would bet all the money hoping he would loose so we can leave but each time he kept winning and so the money kept doubling, so finally he stopped at $100 and then we left. Around 8 pm, we had pizza in one of the casino's pizza place and then headed home around 8:30 or 9 pm. We got home around 10:45 pm and had malai kulfi :). We chatted and then went to bed around 12:30 am. Overall, it was really nice day.
This trip isn't over yet....more to come in the next post...stay tuned!!
Day 3:
I was really tired from yesterday, so started the day late by waking up at 9 and getting ready by 11. New Jersey recently had a big Pratishtha (ceremony) to inaugurate a new Jain Temple in July, so we really wanted to visit that temple. Since my parents wanted to go do puja at the Jain temple, my parents & my brother headed to temple earlier with my cousin and then I went afterwards with my sister in law and nephew. The temple was beautiful from inside and very nicely built. After we left from temple, we went to Iselin, specifically Oak street which is supposed to be like mini India with bunch of Indian shops, restaurants, etc., to have lunch at Khasiyat....and boy the food was delicious!!!! I think we all overate it. We were all so sleepy after we had lunch but it was all good!! After lunch, we went to see one of our friends who also lived in Iselin. This friend had lived in Denver for couple of months and that's how my parents had met them. What was funny was that they had also prepared some snacks for us, so I ate some more snacks + one glass of juice which basically filled me to the edge!! I survived and then we all came back home and relaxed a bit. From the lunch + additional snacks, I knew I had to skip dinner. To sum up the day, I ended the day by eating a really nice desert (cake!!).
Day 4:
- It was Monday and holiday, so quiet morning. My parents went with my aunt and uncle to do some grocery shopping while my brother and I went with my cousin to stroll through Princeton downtown and Princeton University. The downtown and university are very close to one another and in walking distance, so we were on foot to explore both. I really loved the university. I loved where it's situated, the architecture of its buildings, and the whole campus atmosphere!! The buildings are built like old castles and my cousin even told me that the new dorms and buildings that are being built on campus, they are building it with the same old style to keep the feeling consistent and the architecture alike. Here is a snap from the university...
We came back home and had nice family lunch. After lunch we decided to head to Atlantic city around 4 pm and got there around 5:15/5:30 pm. It was raining, so went to the casinos instead (Caesars and Bally's), played machine roulette and then once the rain stopped for a while, we went to the beach for short while. This was the first time that we played machine roulette and my cousin taught us how to play it and how there are so many things you can bed on for each play. Obviously this was first time for us, so my brother played safe and started with $5 and my cousin started with $20. At the end, my brother won $10 and my cousin won $100 :)...it was great to see him win because each time he would bet all the money hoping he would loose so we can leave but each time he kept winning and so the money kept doubling, so finally he stopped at $100 and then we left. Around 8 pm, we had pizza in one of the casino's pizza place and then headed home around 8:30 or 9 pm. We got home around 10:45 pm and had malai kulfi :). We chatted and then went to bed around 12:30 am. Overall, it was really nice day.
This trip isn't over yet....more to come in the next post...stay tuned!!
New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 1
Hello Friends,
Here I am with the post of my 2nd trip (after St. Louis) to New Jersey & New York. This was a family vacation as opposed to the individual vacation that I took to St. Louis. It had been looooong time since we have had any family vacation together, so I was really looking forward to it :). This was a 10 day trip planned with first 5 days in NJ and last 5 days in NY. My parents had families in both the states so we were looking forward to meeting them as well. So here it goes....
Day 1:
The trip was from August 31 to September 9th and we head to airport early Friday morning to catch our 10:30 am flight. Even though it was labor day weekend, there wasn't much crowd and we got through security in less than 15 minutes. We boarded the flight to Newark on time, but apparently we were on the runway for over half an hour. So I guess the labor day weekend traffic was on the runway and not at the airport :P...hehe. Anyways, the flight took off after little over half an hour and luckily that didn't effect our landing time, so we landed on time in Newark. Surprisingly where we got off the gate at Newark (whichever terminal that was for southwest airlines), there wasn't much walk to the baggage claim. It was short distance so once we got to the baggage claim, we were greeted by my uncle and cousin. This was a first time for me and my brother to meet them and it was great to see them. We headed home which was about 45 minutes drive and we had a surprise waiting for us at home!! My cousin's son (about 2 and half years old) came running outside as soon as we got in the driveway and welcomed us with a big smile!! The rest of the day included meeting my bhabhi (my cousin's wife), and my masi (aunt), having a family dinner, chatting with them, celebrating my aunt's birthday with some yummy pastries and then finally going to bed around midnight.
Day 2:
Today's main agenda was to go to meet one of my mom's college friends whom my mom had not seen in over 15 years. She lived in Jersey city which was little over an hour away from where we were (Princeton) but they had decided to meet since we were in town, so my mom's friend's husband came to pick us up around 11 am and then we went to her place. Ohh...it was joy to see my mom meet her college friend after such a long time and it was great for us to meet her as well since she had seen us when we were kids. We had nice lunch together and then we decided to take the NJ Transit back to Princeton since we didn't want her husband to drive back all the way. They lived so close to the NY that the Hudson river is the only gap between them and Manhattan, NY. He took us to the JFK East side where you can see the entire Manhattan downtown which was beautiful!!
We stopped at one or two spots and then headed for the Secaucus train station to catch our 3:24 pm train. The ride was smooth and nice since the NJ transit train had really nice and comfy seats and it didn't have any crowd at all. The train also had small compartments at the top if you want to put your bags or any kind of luggage. We got to Princeton junction in 1 hour where my cousin was already waiting for us. Before we went home, we stopped by a Durga Mandir which was very close to their home. The Mandir was so beautiful and peaceful from inside. It had Durga Murti in the center along with Ram, Sita and Laxman, Shiv-Parvati, Krishn-Radha, Ganpati, Santoshi mata, Sarasvati mata, and some other Gods as well. We got home and then had nice dinner and then sat down to watch the movie Bol Bacchan. I don't remember but I fell a sleep around midnight when the movie was about 2 hours done..but honestly I wasn't a big fan of it!! For those who don't know, this is a Rohit Shetty movie and his movies are adaption to the old classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies. Bol Bacchan was adoption of Golmaal and it failed badly!! Of course, bollywood is running out of ideas, so that's why they have to adopt the concepts of old movies and torture it, or remake the old movies!!! In either case, I fell asleep during the movie and didn't care to finish the movie :)
To make sure that my posts are not super long and that they don't feel like essays, I am going to stop right here and continue the remaining New Jersey experience on to the next post.....
Hope you enjoyed reading and continue to do so :)
Here I am with the post of my 2nd trip (after St. Louis) to New Jersey & New York. This was a family vacation as opposed to the individual vacation that I took to St. Louis. It had been looooong time since we have had any family vacation together, so I was really looking forward to it :). This was a 10 day trip planned with first 5 days in NJ and last 5 days in NY. My parents had families in both the states so we were looking forward to meeting them as well. So here it goes....
Day 1:
The trip was from August 31 to September 9th and we head to airport early Friday morning to catch our 10:30 am flight. Even though it was labor day weekend, there wasn't much crowd and we got through security in less than 15 minutes. We boarded the flight to Newark on time, but apparently we were on the runway for over half an hour. So I guess the labor day weekend traffic was on the runway and not at the airport :P...hehe. Anyways, the flight took off after little over half an hour and luckily that didn't effect our landing time, so we landed on time in Newark. Surprisingly where we got off the gate at Newark (whichever terminal that was for southwest airlines), there wasn't much walk to the baggage claim. It was short distance so once we got to the baggage claim, we were greeted by my uncle and cousin. This was a first time for me and my brother to meet them and it was great to see them. We headed home which was about 45 minutes drive and we had a surprise waiting for us at home!! My cousin's son (about 2 and half years old) came running outside as soon as we got in the driveway and welcomed us with a big smile!! The rest of the day included meeting my bhabhi (my cousin's wife), and my masi (aunt), having a family dinner, chatting with them, celebrating my aunt's birthday with some yummy pastries and then finally going to bed around midnight.
Day 2:
Today's main agenda was to go to meet one of my mom's college friends whom my mom had not seen in over 15 years. She lived in Jersey city which was little over an hour away from where we were (Princeton) but they had decided to meet since we were in town, so my mom's friend's husband came to pick us up around 11 am and then we went to her place. Ohh...it was joy to see my mom meet her college friend after such a long time and it was great for us to meet her as well since she had seen us when we were kids. We had nice lunch together and then we decided to take the NJ Transit back to Princeton since we didn't want her husband to drive back all the way. They lived so close to the NY that the Hudson river is the only gap between them and Manhattan, NY. He took us to the JFK East side where you can see the entire Manhattan downtown which was beautiful!!
We stopped at one or two spots and then headed for the Secaucus train station to catch our 3:24 pm train. The ride was smooth and nice since the NJ transit train had really nice and comfy seats and it didn't have any crowd at all. The train also had small compartments at the top if you want to put your bags or any kind of luggage. We got to Princeton junction in 1 hour where my cousin was already waiting for us. Before we went home, we stopped by a Durga Mandir which was very close to their home. The Mandir was so beautiful and peaceful from inside. It had Durga Murti in the center along with Ram, Sita and Laxman, Shiv-Parvati, Krishn-Radha, Ganpati, Santoshi mata, Sarasvati mata, and some other Gods as well. We got home and then had nice dinner and then sat down to watch the movie Bol Bacchan. I don't remember but I fell a sleep around midnight when the movie was about 2 hours done..but honestly I wasn't a big fan of it!! For those who don't know, this is a Rohit Shetty movie and his movies are adaption to the old classic Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies. Bol Bacchan was adoption of Golmaal and it failed badly!! Of course, bollywood is running out of ideas, so that's why they have to adopt the concepts of old movies and torture it, or remake the old movies!!! In either case, I fell asleep during the movie and didn't care to finish the movie :)
To make sure that my posts are not super long and that they don't feel like essays, I am going to stop right here and continue the remaining New Jersey experience on to the next post.....
Hope you enjoyed reading and continue to do so :)
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