PhotoBlog: A day in Jersey City

I had initially set out to write a blog post panning the Millennium City. However, after my two previous posts panning certain musicians, I secretly wished to write about something positive (mainly due to the fear of being typecast as a Ranting Outrage Uncle).

Thanks then, to the Gods, for ensuring a day of glorious weather. The morning started with an invitation from my uncle to gatecrash a wedding. A pretty nice North Indian - South Indian fusion ABCD wedding it was then. I got to witness a "Baraat" in this part of the world.

Mare-Not Horse

The wedding rituals were mostly South Indian, and one sweet touch was to hand out a small booklet explaining the significance of each ritual in the (abridged) wedding. Given the increasing number of North-South weddings happening in India, it may be a good idea to hand out these booklets in such weddings.

The wedding was held at the Hyatt Regency by the Hudson, and I can affirmatively say that no other place can offer such a breathtaking view both of Midtown and Downtown Manhattan. One of the advantages of living in Jersey City and Hoboken is the view of both the skylines (especially from Exchange Place), which you obviously can't obtain in Manhattan itself. :-)

Midtown Madness

Downtown

Note the 3 tallest buildings in the midtown pic (from left to right) - (a) 1, Bryant Park - Bank of America Tower (b) 432, Park Avenue - One of the tallest residential buildings in the world (c) Empire State Building

Mandatory Boastful Comment: The green building right beside 1, Bryant Park is where I spend most of my waking hours. :D. From the entrance of the building (below), it does look pretty amazing. (Credits for this photo: Souvik Roy).

1095, AoA

I then found this interesting attraction outside the Hyatt Regency. 

Jantar Mantar #6
Location: Amdavad of the Western Hemisphere

This is a sun dial, very similar to the ones at the 5 Jantar Mantars in India. At 3 pm, the dial showed the time as 2 pm, possibly because we are still on Daylight Savings time until next weekend.

There was a "Indian festival of lights" celebration at Exchange Place, hosted by yet another Indian cultural association. While most gigs involved kids dancing to "Barso Re", there was this amazing performance by a fusion band called Mind Mind Motion, which had 4 guys, one each on guitar, sitar, tabla and percussion.

Sitar and Guitar: They rhyme well

On the walk back home, I could see that the hangover of Super Bowl XLVIII still lingers (somewhere at Grove Street)

Still a very Super Bowl

I then came across the JC downtown Halloween bash. This was an interesting fair near Grove Street, because, apart from the usual food stalls, we had dentists, massage parlours, petting zoos etc. set up shop. And, I sighted a Llama.

Location: Not Ecuador

To wrap up things, there was a rock concert at a cemetery / graveyard.

The Dead shall arise (thanks to all the Rock)

No seriously, there was a concert stage near the yellow and blue flags on the pic. In fact, there was this banner outside the cemetery. So much for All Souls day, Souls resting in peace etc etc.

Next Event - Tales from the Crypt: Halloween Walking Tour, Oct 31

Walking tour? Not of the cemetery please. I don't think that's a good way to spend a Friday.

A good day's work then.
Cheers

Disclaimer: Jersey City Improvement Council has not paid me to write this blog post.