Me, Myself and Irene!!

Last week while shopping around at the outlet malls, I glanced at my phone to see a few messages in from concerned people on my blackberry. Turns out, there had been an earthquake in New York City. "Thank God I was on flat ground and not in my apartment on the 41st floor," I thought to myself, letting my friends know that I didn't feel it at all. I returned home to the city (I was staying with my best friend for a few days) only for the doorman of my building to inform me that we had a hurricane coming our way. "What?!" I said panicked and started researching all the news I could find on what was coming our way. My friends laughed and my best friend joked that I was turning into a typical American and worrying about absolutely everything. As the days went by though, people seemed to take me more seriously as the news carried warnings about Irene and the crazy destruction she was causing in her path. As Irene's arrival grew closer, a lot of friends who had scoffed at me had to vacate their homes as the Mayor caused a forced evacuation of a lot of areas in New York which were in danger of being hit the hardest. It was all very scary.
I decided to tackle Irene much like Indiana Jones- I was prepared for the worst! The first thing I decided to do was to stock up on groceries that were dry and slow to perish on the off chance that the electricity went out. The streets of New York was hectic yet eerily silent and all conversation around me was only about the hurricane. I felt like I was in a Hollywood movie with half the people (myself included) taking every precaution imaginable with the other half making plans on where they wanted to party through the hurricane and trying to find out what was open. It didn't help that all Hollywood movies around doomsday all seem to take place in New York City! I did all my laundry so I would have clean clothes, withdrew extra cash from the ATM in case credit card machines stopped working, did the dishes and bought a huge bag of supplies for a first aid kit that I might need. After I was done, a friend convinced me to go out for dinner after which we went out club hopping. It looked like a regular Friday night in the city and we returned home at 4AM.
The next day, Saturday, was when we expected Irene to hit us in all her glory. She was scheduled to arrive at around 5 PM and I decided to rise early and take a walk around the city and grab myself some coffee. Buses and trains were ordered to stop running post noon and people had shut shop to return home before they got stranded at work. Virtually all the stores were shut with a scary sight of Bloomingdales right across my apartment building being boarded up just in case the winds shattered the glass. A nearby Cafe Metro seemed to be the only place open, which is where I grabbed coffee for myself and bagels for the building staff who were going to be working through the storm. The roads were silent and it was raining slightly. Was very, very scary.

I walked back home and as advised by a neighbor, filled my bathtub with water (in case of loss of electricity we'd lose water too) and had asked for two gallon bottles to be delivered to me in case I needed drinking water. The news had carried warnings of imminent flooding which would cause loss of electricity for sure. I kept checking my phone and was amused by all my friends (the same ones who had partied with me the night before) checking with what the plans were for the day. One suggested Lavo, another suggested Bagatelle while a third friend called me and checked if I wanted to drive up to Montreal and escape the hurricane completely (and pray we don't bump into her on the way). Needless to say, the last one was a definite no! But after all my, "What is wrong with you?! Don't you know we have a hurricane headed our way??" type comments, they arm twisted me into heading to Lavo to grab a drink before heading back home to safety. I know I've mentioned in a previous post that I would do a review on Lavo, and I promise I'll get to that soon. But just to give you an idea on what it's like, it's a place where people go over the weekend for "Brunch" which pretty much turns into a day time nightclub. And not just any ol' fun nightclub.. it gets like New Years Eve in there! So when I head there that day, I assumed we'd be the only few nutjobs that had braved the circumstances to step out of the house. Oh how I was wrong! I entered and was gobsmacked to find New Yorkers jumping wild atop tables partying like their lives depended on it! Large cases of alcohol and magnum bottles of Vodka and champagne kept passing us, and this was all taking place at 5 PM. The exact time Irene was expected. We even had our celebrity sighting for the day when Rod Stewart was spotted leaving Lavo a little while after we got there.

At 7 when Lavo shut in preparation for dinner, we headed on over to Tao (that is right across the road) for some dinner and some more drinks. I had a friend staying with me and we reached home at around 10 I think (because of my insistence that too) while other friends made plans and decided to go over to each others homes. I had another friend come visit and leave at 1 AM in the morning... It was just raining outside but apart from that there was no strong winds. And then, we waited. We waited and waited and expected something to change. We watched the news and watched it pour outside and at one point were very nervous as the full glass windows on my 41st floor apartment started to shake and vibrate. My friend calls me over to the kitchen and makes me listen to a creaking sound that we can hear- was the building actually moving? We braced ourselves for strong winds and I kept my first aid kit plus my handbag with my passport and all my cash by the door in case we needed to dash. Pretty soon the vibrating subsided and it was calm again. We decided to watch a movie and track the storm on our laptops instead. We watched "3 idiots" and the next thing we knew it was 7 AM in the morning. The storm was now scheduled to hit us in around an hour and was supposed to be pretty bad till noon. We decided to get some sleep while we still could. Of course, for those who know what happened with Irene knows what happened next- Absolutely NOTHING. I woke up at around 10:30 only to find that the rain had stopped and whatever storm was supposed to come, just didn't. I switched on the TV only to find a reaction between relief (weather and news guys) and amused (the chat shows) with Irene being the butt of all jokes-
"How sad that everything that goes near Wall Street gets downgraded"
(Irene was to hit the downtown area the hardest. She was also downgraded from a "hurricane" to a "tropical storm" in those few hours I was asleep.)
And another one that I loved- "Typical. You think you're hot shit and then you get to New York City only to find out you're not a big deal."

Well I guess all's well that end's well and it's a good thing nothing happened, although a few friends who lived in the suburbs did lose their electricity for a day or two. At least I know now that I'm pretty good (if not paranoid good!) while preparing for an emergency! I also suspect that on the 21st December 2012, NYC will have the baddest party this world has ever seen. There is something about oncoming death and destruction that really makes these guys go wild! A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and it couldn't have been more apt for the occasion-

My friends bottles of wines are still waiting to be picked up as those were his version of "emergency supplies."
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My walk down memory lane in Boston...

Over the weekend, my best friend Payal and I decided to take a road trip and head over to Boston. It is a place that has so many incredible memories for us since we both went to college there. I was at Boston College (BC) while Payal was at Northeastern and her husband Sameer was at Babson, and I'm pretty sure all of us feel that those were the best years of our lives! I know a lot of people who went to school in America, and aside from Boston, LA and New York seem to have been the favourite cities for most of them to go to University. Having said that, I am so incredibly grateful I didn't opt to study in one of the larger cities as Boston was the perfect mix of large city with the feel of a small one. In fact, I do think it's the perfect mix of European mixed with American too, as the feel of the city is so much cleaner, more conservative and much more preppy than the average American one. I don't know too many people who've been to college in Boston recently so I can't really tell, but the vibe of the student population there seems to be a lot different now than it was in our day- pre-September 11th. The International students ran the town and it wasn't odd to see an eighteen year old back then with a Porsche or Ferrari or other such fancy car (I was not part of that club- I took the tram the 2 years I lived off campus!). The clubs played a mix of international music and were packed with kids who were all definitely under 21 years old, but with the right fake ID and over time, the right connections, were welcomed through the velvet ropes without a problem. Armani Cafe on the posh Newberry street was the place to be at, and kids loved hanging out there in the afternoon, sipping on their wine and polishing off what was left of their Torta Della Nonna- the best chocolate desert, EVER, before heading off to shop at Ricardi, the fashionable multi-brand boutique located on the street. M80 was a nightclub that most of us who graduated from that era look back at being an institution in itself, where we spent our Wednesday and Saturday nights, whereas Thursdays were spent at Avalon, another popular club on Landsdowne street. Boston seemed like a gift that was presented to us from older generations, that we left behind, 4 years later, for the younger ones to inherit. Alas, a few years post September 11th a group of us visited one weekend to reminisce the old times. M80 had shut down in our senior year so we knew that was gone, but to walk into Avalon on a thursday night and find it playing country music was almost too much to bear. The closing of the Emporio Armani and Armani Cafe that has now been replaced by a Zara seemed to be a telling sign of how things had shaped since we left. It was a sad, sad realization that as we'd aged, our beloved city had too.
When Payal and I visited this weekend we, thanks to two previous trips, knew exactly what to expect. We reminisced about old times while walking around and making some new memories. It did help that while out at a shop on Saturday morning we realized we'd accidentally come to Boston on "Tax Free Weekend," a concept we didn't even know existed in America! So all the stores were tax free on those two days and we went a bit nutty shopping. I wanted to go over to BC and walk around the campus like I always do, but I didn't really get a chance to do that neither did I get to take pictures like I wanted. So I'm posting some pics I had taken of my campus and of Boston the last time I was there. While returning to NYC I was messaging a friend and fellow Bostonite currently in India and telling him how happy I was to be there and how it must be something in the air of the city. "I can imagine," he replied, "it makes me so happy just knowing you are there, can you imagine how happy I'd be if I was??!!" Aah... those were the best days of our lives!

Gorgeous city!

Entrance to BC

I lived on campus my first two years of college. This was my dorm my Sophomore year

BC Pride!!

More pictures of our campus

Fulton Hall- the building for the School of Management, where most of my classes were

Missoni-Target tie up! Pictures now available!!!

Remember I'd written about the Missoni-Target tie-up waaay back in May??  Well, pictures are now finally available of the entire collection, and I must say.. WOW. The collection is going to be available from September 13 to October 22 and is almost a 400 plus piece collection! On looking at the pictures I'm really blown away by how similar to the original Missoni line it is! I know they also have the M for Missoni line which sort of carries the same print and same style, but this seems to look like even more like the original than that in a very strange way! I would be curious to see what the quality of these pieces are as they look absolutely amazing in the pictures! My favourite piece? It's a cross between the bicycle and the teacups for sure!! Now if only I knew how to cycle.. or drank tea...

Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's!!

So sometime last week I was chatting with my best friend on the phone while getting ready and she asked me where I was heading to. "Macy's??!!" she repeated after me in a scoffing tone. "And what's wrong with Macy's?!" I snapped back. While Macy's has always been a great place to shop for every day clothing, it's not a place that is looked upon as being trendy or a desirable place to shop. That's all about to change with it's Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's line!
Lagerfeld is looked upon as the High Priest of Fashion and everything he touches, seemingly turns into fashion gold, so it'll be interesting to see how this new tie up pans out. It is a limited edition collection, so expect a stampede on August 31st, the day it launches. Here are some pics of the pieces from the collection. I hope I manage to get some of the t-shirts with an illustration of him on front! Also LOVE some of the dresses!

Restaurant Review- Beauty and Essex

Imagine taken from foodcomas.com

So you're looking at the picture above thinking that I must have made a mistake. The title of this post after all promises a restaurant review, and immediately below shows a picture of a pawn shop! Well, that's exactly what my new favourite restaurant in NYC, Beauty and Essex looks like from the outside.
Every year I come to NY and love to visit my old favourites and have a few new ones thrown in. Since I usually am here around once a year (with maybe a short trip in the winter thrown in that doesn't really count) a lot of times what was my favourite restaurant or club the previous year won't even exist the next. If you've been reading my blog for over a while, you'll remember that last year it was all about Bagatelle. This year, Bagatelle doesn't exist anymore as it is relocating, leaving a huge void in it's place of what I think is the most fun NY restaurant! There are 2 that I've visited so far that honestly make any place I've been to so far (and I mean ever... including Bagatelle) look like child's play- Beauty and Essex and another place called Lavo. But I'll do a separate review on Lavo later and give B&E it's place in the spotlight!
Had my friends not warned me about the entrance of the restaurant, I'd have thought the cab driver that dropped me outside had made a mistake and would've wondered where he brought me. Well, maybe the long line of trendily dressed people waiting to get in might have been another tip off. If you're planning on heading here, book early.. it isn't the easiest of places to get a table at, and like I learned the hard way, don't try extending the table to fill more people who want to head there either- it ain't happening. Once you're in though, and I mean really in.. past the pawn shop, you are caught by surprise about how large the place is, and how gorgeous. In New York some of the best restaurants have absolutely dismal interiors and this is probably the first one that kept up with and even surpassed my extremely high Dubai standards.

Image taken from here

A huge drop down chandelier welcomes you as you walk in, talking you to an upstairs area that I never ventured to, but which apparently has a lounge and the DJ booth. The restaurant is long and like I said, shockingly big, and has a stunning decor that just seems to keep going.

And of course, the main part of any restaurant is the food, and in this area the restaurant doesn't disappoint either. Dishes are supposed to be had sharing style and my friends absolutely loved the Lobster tacos and Meatballs in particular. The only complaint I had was between all the comfort food available, there weren't many healthy options on the menu, which in NYC is really surprising. But then again it just meant that my delicious martini went to my head that much faster! I bumped into friends on the next table that are vegetarian and they said the food was delish as well, so if you are vegetarian be rest assured you won't be going home hungry that night. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me so I wasn't able to take photographs of the food.
My favourite part of the restaurant however has got to be the music! The music was INCREDIBLE and we couldn't stop moving to it from the moment we sat down. Popular songs mixed in with old time classics was what the DJ was going for, and the amazing vibe of the restaurant meant that you just didn't want to leave. But alas, leave we did, and tried going out clubbing after with all of us feeling the same way an hour later- we should've just stuck on and taken the party to the lounge upstairs. Aah well... I'm back this Friday night to continue where I left off from. Yes, THAT'S how much I loved this place!
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NEWS!!! My Gulf News Column!!

A few weeks back I got an offer that I just couldn't refuse- To write a column for Gulf News!! A few of you might have already seen my first column for the magazine published last Saturday, while a few of you may have seen my tweets about it. You guys already know that writing is my passion which is why I maintain this blog and sometimes I have the pleasure absolute thrill of seeing my name in print! Unfortunately this time around I am in New York and haven't been able to see what my column looked like. I got a tweet from someone about the article while I was out at dinner with friends and was so excited that I could FINALLY announce the news that I'd been holding in for so long- I'm a GN columnist! I came home late that night and had my Mother and sister send me photographs of the article in the paper. Silly I know, but I wanted to see where the placement was and what it looked like, etc. I'd handed it in before leaving and had no clue about when they would run it and what it would be called. Honestly, I'm quite fuzzy on the details still and have just been told that it will run on the last Saturday of every month. Look out for that in the main paper, and of course if you miss it you can always read it over here.
Turns out they were impressed with my review of the Blackberry Playbook and wanted to use it as a review for the paper. Since I didn't just want to polish it up for the paper, I wrote it from scratch so if you've read the first one, you may want to re-read this one again. I'm terribly excited about this new opportunity and hope you guys find my articles interesting month on month!
This month's article is entitled, "A true iPad killer on the prowl"

Probably not since the time of Moses have tablets been as talked about as they are today. Apple kick started the trend with the iPad and since then every IT and consumer electronics company seems to be launching what it hopes will be the iPad-killer. While others have tried to make their mark in the smartphone market, it remains one with two clear winners — Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry. It would then only make sense that the two successful players translate their learning for their tablet devices and that is exactly what they have done.
When RIM sent over their BlackBerry PlayBook for me to review a few weeks back, my hands quivered with excitement as I unboxed the device. Would the product be able to live up to its hype? After all, I could not think of another product launch in recent history that had been as hotly anticipated as PlayBook's. I turned on the device and paired the PlayBook with my BlackBerry phone and updated my BBM Status to "On the PlayBook"… within minutes I was bombarded with questions about how the device was, what I thought of it etc., and after each question came the inevitable one — How does it stack up against the iPad? I figured that to do a review of the PlayBook and to not compare it with the iPad would be a futile exercise. Yet, could I successfully compare two products that were as different as, well… Apples and BlackBerries?
Going back to my first point about both companies staying incorporating learnings from their smartphones into their tablet devices, you may remember that when the iPad was first launched it was accused of just being an iPhone with a larger screen. Turns out the killer-feature of the iPhone had not been it's shiny screen at all, but it's ease of use Operating System and it's App Store.
With literally tens of thousands of magazines, journals, games, and music apps available on the iPad App store today, it is no doubt that the killer-feature of the phone has transcended itself into being the killer feature on their tablet as well. When the PlayBook however got launched, the same tech reviewers got a bit thrown off — A BlackBerry tablet without native support for email and BBM?? Yes folks, you heard that right, in case you hadn't already heard it before!
Unless you are using a web-based application for email, you cannot get push email on BlackBerry Messenger to work on your PlayBook without a BlackBerry phone. "But the Killer feature of a BlackBerry is its push email and BBM!" you may scream. Really? Is it?
BlackBerry still remains the number 1 choice of smartphone in the corporate world not because of its safe and reliable looks and ability to have real-time group chats. Privacy has always remained the company's killer feature and keeping that in mind will make you truly appreciate the PlayBook and its design and features. On installing an app called "BlackBerry Bridge" onto your phone and syncing both devices via Bluetooth is a job that takes under two minutes and allows you to access your personal data, including your push email and BBM conversations on the larger PlayBook screen. Leave your phone in the other room? Your Tablet can't hook up to it and you can say bye to your email connectivity too.
The good news? Lose your PlayBook and nobody else can connect to your email without your phone or your contact list on BBM. This may lead you to the conclusion that a PlayBook without a BlackBerry is like having a Porsche without an engine. Not true. With the inclusion of a fantastic browser, an App Store, built-in support for Word, Slide and Presentation to go and two cameras facilitating video chat, the PlayBook is a fabulous device on its own.
Another USP of the BlackBerry smartphone among business travellers is the Global Roaming tie-ups the company has with various service providers the world over. Loving your 3G iPad in your home country? Crazy high roaming rates will render your device useless without Wi-Fi when you're travelling. Heard critics moaning about the PlayBook being Wi-Fi only? Sync it up with your BlackBerry phone and enjoy unlimited global and international use using your existing plan at no extra cost!
The device itself is about half the size of an iPad, and I actually like the keyboard a bit better than that of Apple. The PlayBook also has Flash, which allows you to view a lot of websites that you wouldn't be able to on the iPad.
Overall I find the PlayBook has received a lot of negative reviews with focus being on what it cannot do with little credit given to what it actually can. While the PlayBook remains an excellent device on it's own, if you're a current BlackBerry owner, especially one who travels a lot, my personal advice is this — the PlayBook can't be beaten.
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You can find the article on the Gulf News Website here
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