Activities near you!

I was just online and I saw this cool new website! It's called Vimbly, (Okay, not the coolest name!), but it's a great place to find stuff to do that's pretty cheap in NYC. There are all different categories from Make Me Interesting to Cooking to Martial Arts. You can take a Belly Dancing class, Sake & Sushi or Kung Fu. There's a lot more on the site. Check it out!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Of course everyone knows about the St. Patrick's Day Parade and if you can't be here you can watch it on their web site: http://nyc-st-patrick-day-parade.org. I remember YEARS ago, when it was a drunken free-for-all. Ah, those were the days. ;-) Now, if you're caught with an open container you're toast! (Or, Irish Sodabread toasted?) But what else is there to do? Obviously most of the events revolve around drinking. Duh! So grab and Guinness and go!

Ah, St. Dymphna, the patron saint of those with mental illness. You can start off with a visit to St. Dymphna, a pub in the East Village with a grand Irish Breakfast (Sausage, black pudding, eggs)! http://st.dymphnas.com/

From 1 pm to 11 pm at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Queens it's $15 bucks for unlimited green beer. http://www.bohemianhall.com/

At Loreley (which is actually a German place) it's officially an "Alcoholiday" and $35 from 9pm to 4 pm for unlimited beer and whisky. Don't know if it's green or not.

http://www.loreleynyc.com/

Union Square Wines is having a free tasting of Irish whiskies like Bushmill's, Redbreast and Jameson's as well as cream liqueur makers Coole Swan and Ryan's Irish. http://www.unionsquarewines.com/events

Japan Week in NYC

You all know how I love Japan, and this week in NYC is JAPAN WEEK! Sugoi!! At Grand Central from March 1st to the 3rd there are free food exhibits such as making green tea dressing and pork donburi, koto music, and kimonos. Kool! To round out the week there's a Japan Pavilion at the International Restaurant and Foodservice show at Javits and a Japan booth at the New York Times Travel Show. Viva Japan!

Japan Week

And check out Dine Out For Japan! From March 7th to the 11th you can help support the Japan Tohoku earthquake and tsunami relief efforts by eating at participating restaurants who will donate a portion of their sales to the Japan relief fund.

Dine Out For Japan

New York Fucking City

Just saw these AWESOME NY City notecards with the message: Made in New York Fucking City. I love this town!! UrbanDaddy perks has a special price too, 28 bucks instead of 40 for these nifty note cards by Terrapin Stationers. Still expensivo, but hey, a city this fucking good comes at a hefty price!

http://perks.urbandaddy.com/national/promotions/terrapin-stationers.html

Valentine's Day Tour

There's a theme going on for Valentine's Day! You may have seen my post about the Bronx Zoo offering naming Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches after your loved (or hated) ones for Valentine's Day. Now you can take a tour of Newtwon Creek Wastewater Plant on this day for lover's and...sewage??

There are tours every month but for some bizarre reason there's also a special go-around on Valentine's Day. I guess if you want people to stare when you said you went to the digester eggs in Greenpoint on Valentine's Day, that's a reason to go. In case you're wondering what the heck digester eggs are, 'cause I didn't know... Eggs that digest??? Anyway, they're the sewage plants massive digesters which breaks down detrius into a lovely gas and sludge.

If you're still iffy about taking this tour with that special someone, you do end up at the top of the digester eggs which offers a grand view of the Manhattan skyline. Oh, and if you're still not sure, the plant is giving out Hershey kisses on Valentine's Day. Just hope they didn't take a trip through the digester eggs first!

329 Greenpoint Avenue
Greenpoint, Brooklyn NY, 11222
Enter at the intersection of Greenpoint Avenue and Humboldt Street.

The tour begins at 10 am.

Valentine's Day gift: Name a Roach!

Nothing says luv like a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach! Name one after someone you love...or hate. This gift idea comes to you from the Bronx Zoo comes with a certificate mailed to your loved one announcing that a cockroach has been given his or her name.

You can also give your loved one a Cocoa-Roach. No, they're not chocolate-covered roaches. DARN! (That would be good for someone you HATE!) They're made of 100% dark chocolate by chocolatier Sabrina Berkowitz of The Chocolate Box NYC and they look ALARMINGLY like the real thing.

Check out the video www.bronxzoo.com/roach and place an order. Each name costs ten buck and it's $15 for a Cocoa-Roach, $25 for a romantic pair. All proceeds do go to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Fireworks in Central Park!

Wanted a cheap new year and I gots it!! Buffy and I and some friends headed down to Central Park to see the fireworks at midnight. We got to the bandshell where there was a dance party going on with almost everyone wearing these green, sponge 2012 tiaras. (See photo below.) The sponsors of the event, including four mile run at midnight, (UGH!) were Emerald nuts which were giving out said tiaras, flashing pins (Whose plastic back promptly broke) and some kind of hideous breakfast nut-s'mores treaty things. Hey, it was free, so I guess I can't really complain.

After heading through the dancing masses and people getting ready for the run we made it down to the ball fields where the fireworks were going to go off. Normally they have them at Bethesda fountain but as it's under construction the fireworks were moved. We waited around by the southern part of Sheeps Meadow which was just above the ball fields and it was an excellent place to watch as there was a mess of people down by the ball fields and about twenty-five where we waited. Score!! And then the fireworks started and they were way cool! We were so close they were going off it seemed over our heads. Buffy got a little nervous and was shaking a bit but I had her in her little bag and was hiding her behind John. After it was over she was fine! Don't think I'm going to take her tho to see any fireworks anytime soon! Happy New Year! Best wishes for a fun, fantastic and fruitful 2012!