HOTEL W HOBOKEN

I recently spent a weekend in Hoboken, one of the best little cities in existence.  I decided to stay in town, and that meant that I was at the somewhat pricey W Hoboken.  Since I am normally at a Holiday Inn (I've belonged to their loyalty program for decades), I thought I'd give my thoughts as a point of contrast.  The W is about $100 more than the Holiday Inn in Manhattan, and it is nice.  The room was spacious, and had a variety of mood lighting choices.  I particularly liked their choice for the obligatory side chair, as I do like to sit with my feet up..

Of course, it is big enough for two, but I had to make do by myself. 

Another cute touch was a small metal cylinder on the desk, which puzzled me until I called down to the desk for an explanation .  It turned out to be a kaleidoscope.  Such an odd touch!  And there was another in the mini-bar: a so-called 'intimacy kit' consisting of a condom and some lubricants.  Sadly, I hadn't an occasion to use that item.  The mini-bar wasn't the only way to spend money in the room, though.  Placed around the room were three bottles of water.  One was complimentary, the other two were so-called 'smart water' and were $5.  But as they were marked in a soft grey font the price could easily be overlooked.  Bit sneaky, if you ask me.

The building is designed as a V pointed at Manhattan, so that the rooms on either side all have NYC views.  I was on the south side and this was mine - the Freedom Tower.

Of course, if the building next door gets any higher, some of the W's rooms will drop in value.

And speaking of views, there was a full-length mirror in the shower, which has to be the oddest place for a mirror imaginable.  After all, I have often joked that there is a picture of my naked body in Webster's under O, for obscene.  Thankfully, it got steamed over!  Unfortunately, although the water was hot enough, the pressure was anemic.  This is one of my pet peeves with hotel managements, and I hardly expected this issue at this pricey a place.  On the other hand, they did provide robes, which is a nice touch, although I was once again able to prove that 'one size fits all' doesn't.

Two final quibbles.  Their cable service didn't include the NBC Sports Channel, which meant I had to watch the Olympic events on tape delay, rather than live.  And they charge for Internet access, which seems very chintzy. 

SMELLS

I told a friend recently that I was staying a few nights at the W Hoboken, and she astounded me by saying: "wow, I really like how that place smells!"  And I thought: "hotels have smells?"

Those who know me well know that I have anosmia, which means I have no sense of smell.  None at all.  As far as I remember I've always been this way.  Most people equate my condition with how they feel when they have a bad head cold, but it's really different.  First of all, even with a cold, some percentage of your sense of smell is still operating, and secondly, you already know what things smell like, and so can 'fill in the blanks', as it were, from the hints your stuffed-up nose is providing.  Me, I get nothing.

So back to the hotel.  There's both a restaurant and a bar on site, but I wouldn't expect that to be unusual.  So I'm guessing it's the shop that's just off the lobby where they sell full-sized bottles of the soaps and lotions which are provided in the room.  According to the bottles, most of the items in the room were sage and lemon, although one was chamomile, rose hips, and passion flower.  A whole shop selling that stuff would undoubtedly provide quite a signature.

Now here's my dilemma.  When I use this stuff, how do I smell when I walk out on the street?   Since I have no basis for comparison, I wear an aftershave Cynthia selected for me, liking how I smelled to her.  How does this mix with the hotel soaps?  I'm often surprised by how sensitive people's noses can be.  Well, nobody seemed to notice anything wrong.  Of course, since I spent much of my time in bars, I suppose such subtleties get lost.

HOBOKEN

This is just a short post to share my amazement with the little town of Hoboken, NJ.  Like much of northeast Jersey, it's crowded!  As perspective, there are 34,000 people in my home town of Willingboro, which is nearly 8 square miles.  Hoboken packs 55,000 people into only one square mile!  But I've also heard it said that there are more bars per person than anywhere else.  If I were to move, this sounds like my place! (Willingboro is dry).

The vibe is outstanding, as you might imagine.  The place I was (Louise & Jerry's) closed at 3am Saturday morning, which is later (earlier?) than I'm used to in south Jersey.  But the neat thing happened once I was on my way to the station.  Not only was I able to get something to eat, but I had a choice of a half dozen places - at 4am!  Absolutely outstanding!

GUNG HEI FAT CHOY

I spent another delightful day Friday in New York for the start of the Lunar New Year celebration.  It was a lot of fun watching the lion dancers go up and down the street bestowing good fortune on the merchants.  Now you'd expect them to dance into restaurants and gift shops, but it kind of tickled me to see them in the Chase branch on Most Street.  It was an interesting juxtaposition between the sleek modern bank lobby and the ancient beauty of the costumes, music and dancing.  These groups are made up of mostly young volunteers.  Here is a shot of one of these groups staging up.  You really had to feel for them, as it was pretty cold and sort of dampish.

There were various celebrations around the area.  We visited a small fair nearby where we found this fellow, who I understand is in the garb of one of the gods of the New Year.  People were lining up to get their picture taken with him.

But the real treat came at the place my friend selected for lunch, where we had dumplings which were absolutely to die for!  I know there a lot of great restaurants in the district, but this is her favorite, and I can certainly see why.  The staff does speak some English, but having a Chinese-speaking dining partner will make it easier to navigate.  But I definitely and wholeheartedly recommend the place.  The name is Shanghai Helping on 104 Mott St.  They are on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shanghai-Heping-Restaurant/354325664598797

I had the opportunity for a little additional sightseeing on my way to the Path station.  It's an odd contrast that St. Paul's, one of the oldest buildings in the city

Is directly across from the newest

The Freedom Tower.

Oh, and I couldn't resist visiting one of the few exterior locations for the Castle TV show that's actually in New York (the show is filmed in and around Los Angeles).  This building is shown as Castle's loft.