The Nearest Bagel Shop

From the top, clock wise direction ; Garlic, Everything, Poppy Seed, Blueberry Bagel
I knew a bagel shop near my apartment from their advertisement in our post. It was on Passaic Street where I pass through frequently by car. However I didn't notice it until I saw the advertisement because the shop was so small. Today I tried it. Since I went there in the morning, the bagels were hot! They were not so chewy but elastic and moist!

Colombia Bakery

My Colombian classmate, Sra. E and I, always go to Colombian bakery to take a coffee and "Pan de Bono" during our 15 minute break from ESL class. Pan de Bono is a typical Colombian bakery item made with yucca flour, cornmeal and cheese. This is simple bread and makes me feel like eating it again.

(This picture was taken in October)

Colombia Bakery

on Main street, Hackensack, NJ

American Gangster

I went to see the movie "American Gangster". Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe star in the film. This movie is based on a true story. This is about an African-American gangster, Frank Lucas(Denzel Washington), who establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in 1970s Harlem, Manhattan. You can feel NYC and the world of gangsters in the 1970s. It's worth seeing it.

Black Friday at Macy's

Macy's at Garden State Plaza opened at 7:00 am. A lot of people were waiting in front of Macy's' entrance before the opening. When the store opened, the crowd cheered! Macy's had special discounted items called Morning Specials. Otherwise there wasn't a big difference from usual one day sales. I guess that things will be discounted day by day after Thanksgiving until Christmas.

Regarding Best Buy, it was crazy. Some people were waiting from 3:00 pm on Thanksgiving Day even though the store opened at 6:00 am on the next day.

Black Friday!

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November so Black Friday was today, November 23rd. Retaillers are closed on Thanksgiving so Black Friday is the first shopping day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employers give the day off the same as Thanksgiving Day. Many retailers open very early on Black Friday at 4 or 5 pm! We checked that Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in NY started at midnight and has a big discount, so we left home 11 pm and drove in order to get there at midnight. On our way to the outlet place, we were getting into some heavy traffic. We thought that it was caused by cars which were going home for Thanksgiving. However, every car was going in the same direction as ours. They were all going to the outlet!!! When we arrived near the highway exit to Woodbury Common, it was 00:30 am. We could see from the highway that their parking lots were full and a lot of cars were stuck in traffic before the highway exit. We thought that we might have to wait in the car until dawn to enter the outlet and even though we could enter the outlet, we would not be able to buy anything in the crowd. Then we gave up and made a U-turn to go home. Returning home, we saw a long, long traffic jam over 10 miles!!!

Thanksgiving Day

The fourth Thursday of November is Thanksgiving. There is a special holiday for Americans. Families get together on the day and have a big dinner. They eat turkey, corn, stuffing, beans, sweet potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce. Traditional desserts are apple pie and pumpkin pie...

I recommend Boston Market for Thanksgiving dinner. My American friend invited me to Boston

Market for Thanksgiving dinner 2 years ago, then I knew that we can get almost all the food for Thanksgiving there. It's a very simple and easy way to have dinner there. Above all the food is very good!

Boston Market is a chain of American fast-food restaurants specializing in rotisserie chicken, turkey, meatloaf and roasted sirloin. Also they have a variety of side dishes. Also, we can buy their chilled food at supermarkets. I always have chilled food in the refrigerator.

Nori at Bloomfield, NJ

New Jersey has a good sushi restaurant. We had lunch at Nori in Bloomfield, NJ. We ordered a roll combo and chirashi. They were served beautifully and the fish was fresh. The Shari (sushi rice) was especially very good! It's rare. The working staff seemed to be Korean. The interior was a mix of Japanese and Korean. However the food was really Japanese.

Snow

When I woke up, it was snowing! It slightly snowed yesterday but it snowed strongly in this morning.

Macy's

Macy's had one of their biggest one day sales in a year. Macy's has a one day sale on each holiday. Today's sale seems a big sale before Thanksgiving. It opened at 8:00 am! We woke up earlier than usual and went there at 8:10 am. Surprisingly, there were already a lot of cars in the parking lot and people coming into Macy's one after another.

Polo Ralph Lauren

This is the show window of Polo Ralph Lauren's flagship shop on Madison Ave. in Manhattan. "Polo Ralph Lauren" is written in Japanese Katakana letters. Japanese words were also written on sweaters. I don't feel this cool though...

Knitty City in Manhattan

I found the knitting shop, Knitty City, in Manhattan. Since my friend knits, I stopped by there. As you can see from this picture, there were a lot of people in the shop. Knitting in NYC seems alive and well.

Krispy Kreme at Penn Station

There are two Krispy Kreme in Manhattan. This is one of them at Penn Station. There is no waiting line like Krispy Kreme in Japan...

Statue of Liberty

Today I went to see her.

Sarabeth's At the Whitney

There is Sarabeth's restaurant at Whitney museum in Manhattan. Sarabeth's is famous for Sarabeth's fruit jam. It's location is in the basement of the Museum and also we have to go there through the museum's entrance and down the stairs. So it's not easy to find the restaurant. It's great spot to take a lunch. Even in the basement, the sailing is high and we can see the sky through glass wall. Their food never let you dawn.