Entertainment Book Digital Access Review

Hi everyone, I'm doing a quick review of the Entertainment Book Digital Access.  Before I go on, Entertainment.com provided me free digital access in exchange for this review.  All opinions on this post are my own.

For those who have never seen or used the Entertainment Book - It's basically an archive of coupons relevant for the city you purchased it for.  I'm reviewing the greater New York area book in Digital Access form.  I've read several other online reviews and most people who have reviewed the digital access did not mention too many specific deals that they used.  Personally, I've found numerous deals listed near me but none that applied to my shopping, eating or entertainment habits so far.  I'll update this post when I do.

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On to the specifics.  I tried the app on an iPhone and it found coupons near me based on my location.  You can also browse to different locations in preparation for your travels.  Some coupons are digital and others must be printed.  I suggest taking a look and print any relevant coupons ahead of time.

In general, you'll find some deals, if you happen to be purchasing certain specific items - just like most paper coupons.  It is, in extension, a digital version of the book.  I think the book version may be easier to browse and find relevant items in preparation of your daily shopping journey.  The digital access can get you specific deals near you.

As of this blog post, I don't find the digital access all that helpful.  You won't find too many local restaurants listed. I've mostly found McDonalds, Burger King, and specific sandwiches at Subway chains to be somewhat helpful.  These are for specific sandwiches or drinks, so it will only be relevant if you buy those items.  I tried the app in midtown Manhattan, lower Manhattan and several parts of Queens.

If you are like using coupons and looking for deals, this app will be a helpful addition to your other coupons and deal hunting habits.  I would recommend getting both the paper and Digital Access versions for best results.  You can get both for $35 on their site Entertainment.com

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Thunder Ridge Ski Resort

We've had a good amount of snow this winter in NYC.  Some of you have gone skiing and some may have even taken advantage of the snowfall and went cross country skiing in the streets! If you have never tried skiing or are just a beginner, like myself, you will love this deal. No car necessary!

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Thunder Ridge Ski is just 70 miles north of the city in Patterson, New York. Thunder Ridge Ski Area's scenic slopes are perfect for all levels of skiers and snowboarders, from beginner to expert. There are slow and gentle trails, which I would be on, as well as advanced trails to challenge the adventurous!

You can find a great package from the Metro North One Day Getaway. The Day package includes: Discount round-trip rail fare, all-day/all-night lift ticket, shuttle to/from the train station to the ski area and a $5 discount on rental equipment. If you have kids, this is an even better deal.

Cost:
From Grand Central Terminal or Harlem-125th Street: adults, $51.50; seniors, $35; children 12, $39.50; children 6-11, $19.50; children age 5, $6.50; children under 5, $5. Save an additional 5 percent on rail fare when you purchase this package through WebTicket.

To get there:
Take the Harlem Line to to Patterson Station where a shuttle bus meets designated a.m. trains to take you to the ski area. Later in the day (or the following day for "Ski and Stay" package), a shuttle bus will return you to Patterson Station to meet designated p.m. trains returning to Grand Central Terminal. Check here for an ITINERARY.

I'm thinking of doing the Metro North Package.  Have you been to Thunder Ridge? Did you enjoy your time there? Did you use the Metro North Package? Please share your experience with us in the comments.

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Food, Entertainment and Free Events

Looking for some Free events in NYC for this week?  You'll sure to enjoy at least one of these events.

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1. Enjoy great food at your favorite restaurant during Restaurant Week.  Need another reason to dine out?  If having three courses for the price of one isn't enough; you'll get a $15 statement credit if you dine out three or more times at any participating restaurants during NYC Restaurant Week.  Just pay with your registered American Express Card.
2. Jaliya Kafo, Master kora player and BRIO (Bronx Recognizes Its Own) Award winner, performs at David Rubentein Atrium at Lincoln Center.  Thursday January 28, 2010 at 8:30 pm
3. Marine Mammal Watch: The beach may be empty of all its human swimmers, but don't forget about the seals, whales, and dolphins!  Come learn about local marine mammals and try and catch a glimpse of them.  Saturday, January 30, 2010 11:00 a.m. Coney Island Beach (Boardwalk at West 10th Street)
4. Advanced Hiking: Hike at a vigorous pace through the Inwood forest to Dyckman fields and over to Fort Tryon.  Bring proper footwear and prepare for a challenge.  Inwood Hill Nature Center, Inwood Hill Park (Enter park at West 218th Street and Indian Road)  Manhattan.  Saturday, January 30, 2010 10:00 a.m.
5. Birds of "Paradise": A walk through this diverse habitat to see winter waterfowl, shorebirds, and many forest dwellers.  Binoculars recommended.  Powell's Cove Park, Intersection of 130th Street and 11th Avenue, Queens.  Sunday, January 31, 2010 11:00 a.m.

Know of any other upcoming events coming soon?  Share them with us in the comments.  If you would like to contribute or guest post on FrugalNYC, email or send us a tweet.

Recommended Books:

• 2010 New York City Restaurants (ZAGAT Restaurant Guides)
• Not for Tourists 2010 Guide to New York City (Not for Tourists Guidebook)
• Frommer's NYC Free & Dirt Cheap (Frommer's Free & Dirt Cheap)

If you love Reading, you may be interested in the Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device (9.7" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation).  Largest screen size on a Kindle yet!

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Five Free and Frugal Things To Do This Weekend

Happy Friday everyone. Looking for something free or frugal to do this weekend? Here are five things you may want to check out.

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1. Go to Dylan's Candy Bar, if you have a sweet tooth, this will be your favorite destination. It is quite different from most candy stores.
2. Visit Grand Central and check out the Transit Museum's 8th annual Holiday Train Show! It is available until 1/18/09.
3. While you are at Grand Central, check out the whispering gallery of Grand Central Terminal. Read more about it at NewYorkology.
4. If you like tech and gadgets, go visit the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. This is where I'll be heading to this weekend. You'll enjoy a couple hours of fun for FREE.
5. Take the Roosevelt Island Tram. You'll get a bird's eye view of the East river that you can't get any other way. It costs the same as a subway ride.

What low cost activities can you suggest for this weekend?

Today is the final day to enter the Business Cards Giveaway.

Recommended Books:

• The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.
• Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.
  
• Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing: No-Nonsense Rules from the Ultimate Contrarian and Small Business Guru
  

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Billy Elliot at The Pond

Want to Win FREE Billy Elliot on Broadway Tickets? Read on...

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I've mentioned The Pond, the only FREE winter skating rink in NYC, in several previous posts on FrugalNYC.  If you enjoy outdoor fun in the wintertime, you won't find a better deal!

This Thursday December 17th from 11 am - 1 pm, there is a special event held at The Pond.  You can meet the Ballet Girls from the Broadway hit, Billy Elliot.  You can also skate to the cast recording by Elton John.  The first 50 guests to wear ballet tutus win free skate rentals!

There will be many giveaways including a grand prize of two tickets to see Billy Elliot on Broadway!

The Pond is open daily through January 24th 2010.
Hours:
Sunday - Thursday - 8 am - 10 pm
Friday - Saturday - 8 am - 12 am

Location:
At Bryant park - 6th ave and 42nd Street

Have you been to The Pond?  Why do you enjoy skating at The Pond?


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A Backstage Tour - Metropolitan Opera

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This past Tuesday evening, I had the pleasure of getting a backstage tour of the Met along with a select number of other bloggers.  We were treated to hot chocolate and the tree lighting before the tour began.  I brought my daughter with me and she loved it so much she told me she wanted to go back to the Met the next day.

We (all the bloggers) gathered in the board room and then took a walk down the grand staircases to the orchestra level seats.  The four thousand seat Opera house took about four years to build.  The acoustics are so good that no amplifiers are used by the performers.  When you see the size of the Opera house and then think about this fact, you realize how great a feat this is.

The Met makes great use of technology as well.  Each performance has subtitles, which are located in displays on the back of every seat.  You press a button to change the language.  The planning for productions can take from three to five years.  The Opera productions can take up to seven stage managers and over a hundred stage hands to run.  We saw all the work areas that made all this possible.  For the safety of all who work and perform on the sets no glass is used on the stage, only plastic is used on the sets, even mirrors are made of plastic.  All the sets are built in-house and everything on the sets are built and designed there.  Currently there are twenty eight working productions, eight are new.

Some additional facts we learned during this backstage tour:

• There are 50 trap doors on stage.
• Childrens chorus comprises of 100 children, who either grows out of the outfits or their voices before leaving.
• The 110 musician orchestra is placed on a double decker elevator set
• The Ceiling is 23K gold plated

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia for some further reading.

The Metropolitan Opera is America's largest classical music organization, and annually presents some 220 opera performances. The home of the company, the Metropolitan Opera House, is considered by many to be one of the premier opera stages in the world, and is among the largest in the world. The Met, as it is commonly called, is one of the twelve resident organizations at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The Met's artistic standards are considered to be among the highest in the world. The company's stage facilities and technical staff offer leading directors and designers a state of the art environment in which to create any kind of production. The Met's production designs range from elegant and traditional to highly innovative and avant-garde.

Want to see an Opera for free or cheap?  See our FrugalNYC Metropolitan Opera Giveaway (Ends this evening).  Winner for a pair of Orchestra level seating ($90 value) will be announced tomorrow!

Have you been to the Met?  What do you like or dislike about it?  What's your favorite performance?



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David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center

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Today from noon to 10pm the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center opens. There will be free activities and performances throughout the day, including the first Target Free Thursdays performance at 8:30 PM.

Visitors to the atrium will be able to purchase discounted tickets for shows at the center that day as well as full-price tickets for all other performances. There will also be free weekly performances, a café, restrooms, and free Wi-Fi access among other features.

The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center is located at Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets (not to be confused with Rockefeller Center). You can reach it by subway via the 1, A, B, C and D trains.

Can't make it to the FREE performance today? There will be continuing FREE performances every Thursday!

Hope you enjoyed this post. Share your thoughts or related ideas in the comments. Thanks for reading and following FrugalNYC!

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MetroCard Deals Offers Big Savings, $10 off*, to See the Big Top

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For Select performances and seat locations, you can get the following deal sent to us via MTA.


NEW YORK, Through January 18
New York City Transit’s MetroCard is encouraging visitors to step right up and take advantage of a discount to the Big Apple Circus in Lincoln Center this fall, with a MetroCard Deal. Visitors can receive $10 off tickets to select performances and seat locations, from now through the holidays.

To receive the discount, customers must show their MetroCard at the Big Top box office, or use code “METROCARD10” when ordering tickets online or by phone at (888) 541-3750.

“The Big Apple Circus is always one of the most exciting shows of the fall season,” said Paul J. Fleuranges, Vice President of Corporate Communications at NYC Transit. “And now transit customers will get to experience the show and save money.”

Big Apple Circus assembles some of the world’s finest circus artists under one Big Top performing in a single ring. Plus, its venue at Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center gives viewers an up-close-and-personal view of all the action. This year’s show “Bello is Back,” features the return of Bello Nock, the famous daredevil clown, who wows audiences with his death-defying feats. 

Visit www.mta.info and click on the MetroCard icon for details about this and all MetroCard Deals. Visit www.bigapplecircus.org/metrocard.aspx for a schedule of valid performances and seat locations. Use Trip Planner at www.tripplanner.mta.info for customized subway and bus directions to Lincoln Center.


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Columbus Day Parade

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Discover a New World at the Columbus Day Parade in NYC, on Monday October 12, 2009 .  There probably won't be any geese there.  The parade is held yearly on Fifth Avenue, starting from 44th Street and continuing until 79th Street.  Bring they kids, they love it!

Every year, the Columbus Day Parade takes place on the second Monday in October.  The Columbus Day Parade has been organized in New York since 1929. Over 35,000 people participate in the Columbus Day Parade in New York City each year.

Some facts about Columbus Day

• Columbus sailed with a 90 man crew on three ships (the Santa Maria, the Nina and the Pinta) for two long months filled with sickness, famine and exhaustion.
• The first celebration of Columbus’ landing was officially held in New York City in 1792 with a monument dedicated to his discoveries.
• Colorado was the first state to observe Columbus Day in 1905.
• President Roosevelt deemed that “Columbus Day” would be a federal holiday held on the twelve of October.
• President Nixon’s presidency in 1971 changed the celebration to be observed on the second Monday in October.

Columbus Day Closures: Banks, United States Postal Service, State offices, Government offices, Many schools

Open On Columbus Day: Stock exchange, Most retail stores, Federal Express, United Parcel Service and DHL

Columbus Day Sales - Sales abound on Columbus Day with traditional markdowns and marked savings on the following: Autos, Bicycles, Digital Cameras, Gas Grills, Housewares, Furniture, Clothing, Shoes, Winter Coats.

All facts above came from Suite101.  Enjoy the free entertainment!

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The Boys Are Back - Movie Review

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I enjoy movies, and I usually want to get lost in the story. Entertainment is supposed to help us enjoy the moment, and I did enjoy "The Boys Are Back".

The Boys Are Back depicts the life of a father, Joe Warr (a sports writer), who doesn't spend much time with his son. He saunters from an occasional dad who shows up from time to time, with gifts for his son, to suddenly thrust into single parenthood. As the film progresses, you find out that he did the same thing in his first marriage.

As a single father, Joe learns that parenthood is harder than anything he's faced before. He stumbles often and deals with criticism from certain "moms" about how he is raising his two sons. He establishes certain ground rules and sticks by them. The whole family ends up learning trust and encouragement from each other.

The Boys Are Back is a moving tale of a single parent who rides an emotional roller coaster, and at times breaks down. The family goes through many ups and downs while learning to live life as a family without a female figure in the family. Towards the end of the movie everything starts falling apart, but with determination Joe Warr puts the pieces back together.

The Boys Are Back stars Clive Owen, whom I've only seen in action films such as Shoot 'Em Up, Sin City and King Arthur. This is definitely a change for Clive Owen and I think he did a great job playing the role of Joe Warr. The film is based on a novel by Simon Carr, which is based on a true story.

Artie his young son, played by Nicholas McAnulty, is by far my favorite in the movie. He does a fine job and is a perfect fit for the role. The older son Harry, played by George MacKay, reminds me of Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley of the Harry Potter movies). I really enjoyed the movie and find the lessons it teaches to be very encouraging.

If you enjoy a story with emotion and real life trials, I think you will enjoy The Boys Are Back. You'll have a few laughs and enjoy some drama. This film will be released (limited) in the US on September 25, 2009.

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8 More Free Things To Do In Queens

If you enjoyed 10 Free Things To Do In Queens last week, here are some more free things to do in Queens!

1. World Fair Marina - Take a stroll and watch the boats go by, not to mention airplanes taking off and landing in La Guardia airport.
2. Guided tour of the historic Poppenhusen Institute - Located at 114-04 14th Road, College Point. Wednesdays and Saturdays in June from 11 A.M. - 3 P.M. Visit the first free kindergarten in the US, the old village jail cells and more.
3. Voelker Orth Museum - A bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden. The homestead of three generations of a German immigrant family who settled in Flushing at the end of the 19th Century. located at 149-19 38th Ave. Flushing. Free guided tours for groups every Saturday and Sunday from 1-4 P.M and Wednesday afternoons.
4. NY Hall of Science Farmers Market - Sundays from 10 A.M. - 4 P.M. from June 14-November 15. Located at 111 Street and 48th Avenue
5. NY Hall of Science - Free Admission on Fridays from 2-5 P.M and Sundays from 10-11 A.M. September through June.
6. Fort Totten Park - Go fishing or just sit by the water of the Long Island Sound. Many other activities are available at this great park.
7. Live at the Gantries - Free performing arts. Tuesdays at 7 P.M. June 14 - August 18. At Gantry Plaza State Park, 49th Ave. along the East River in LIC
8. Queens College - Take a stroll or tour through a college campus in a not too urban environment.

Hope you like this list!

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10 Free Things To Do In Queens

I've gotten some good remarks about my previous post 10 Free Places To Visit In NYC Today, so I decided to write one on Queens! This is just the tip of the ice burg so there will be other venues in the future. I've been to all these below venues and have enjoyed my time at each one, I hope you will enjoy your time at these venues as well.

1. Flushing Library - Find Books, movies, comics, video games, free wifi and many other services available free to the public.
2. Flushing Meadows Corona Park - It's not quite Central Park, though you will find many activities at this park - especially during the summer! It's a very large park, that's why I've also included several related venues on this list.
3. Playground For All Children - This playground is located at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park, near the Queens Zoo! It features some unique musical instruments not seen in any other playgrounds I've been to. It truly is a playground for all children - of all ages!
4. Queens Botanical Garden - One of the smaller Botanical Gardens in NYC, you can stroll through most of it in about an hour or two. Worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood, it was recently renovated and includes many environmental friendly features.
5. Astoria Park and Swimming Pool - Astoria Park is one of my favorite water front parks in Queens. The Astoria Pool is a pool that meets Olympic standards! So come by in the summer!
6. Socrates Sculpture Park - From landfill to public exhibition, this is a must see! Many events are featured at this park, including outdoor movies. It is the only site in the New York Metropolitan area specifically dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large-scale work in a unique environment that encourages strong interaction between artists, artworks and the public. This means you are welcome to touch the art!
7. P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center - Located in LIC, and part of MoMA, it was once a public school - thus the name. It's a museum solely devoted to contemporary art! This one isn't exactly free, but like MoMA, it has a "suggested admission" of $5 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. This means you can pay what you want! The suggested price is not much to pay.
8. Flushing Chinatown - take a stroll through this neighborhood and you may think you are in China! This is said to be larger than the "original" Chinatown in lower Manhattan. You'll find some of the best Chinese food in this neighborhood, and it's cheap! A stroll is free!
9. Flushing Townhall - While you're in Flushing, visit the old townhall! It is a landmark and include a 340-seat state of the art concert hall/theater, three museum quality galleries, a classroom, offices, a garden that accommodates up to 500 people for outdoor events, and a visitors' center.
10. Little India - Visit little India in Jackson Heights. You'll find many great Indian restaurants, and its very easy to get there. Take the 7, E, F, G, V or R trains to 74th Street and Roosevelt Ave.
    

That's it for now. Hope you like this list. Let us know how you enjoy these free things to do in Queens.

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Free Games That Children Play

If you enjoyed my post 7 Super Duper Games For Free and you have young children, you'll love this post!

I have seen many children in the Queens Public Library's Flushing branch play many of these games. Each time I visit the library, I see a new game being played by young children. The waiting list for computer use, mostly for these games, can be a long time. In order to play your children must sign up with their own Queens Public Library card, you can apply for it for free if you are a NYC resident.

Below are a list of sites that contain children's games I have found thus far. So instead of waiting to play them in the library, which many kids opt to do, for the company, you can let them play in the comfort of your own home. I will update this post when I come across new sites or if you add comments to this post with them.

• Nick Jr. Games - You’ll find games with characters such as Dora The Explorer, Go Diego Go, Blues Clues, Wonder Pets, Miss Spider, Ni Hao Kai Lan and many other Nick Jr. Characters.
• PBS kids games - You’ll find games featuring famous characters like Big Bird, Clifford, Curious George and many others.
• Qubo games - Qubo is a 24/7 Children's television network. You can find it on channel 31-2 on DTV. On this site, you will find characters such as Vegetales, 3-2-1 Penguins, Babar, The Zula-Patrol and others.
• Sesame Street Games - You’ll find games for some of your favorite Sesame street Characters such as Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert and many others.

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Screenshot from Nick Jr. website

Happy Lunar (Chinese) New Year 2009!

To all who celebrate Chinese New Year, I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year. It is the year of the OX and depending on which records you look at (according to Wikipedia) it could be "Chinese Year" 4707, 4706, or 4646.

There are many Chinese New Year festivities going on today in NYC and you can find a good deal of information for what's going on in Flushing today on about.com. You can also find more festivities in Manhattan. Celebrations in China and many other countries who observe the Holiday is held from the first to the 15th of the Lunar New Year.

If you have online resources you would like to share with us, please leave a comment with the links. Happy Chinese New Year! For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.


Photo from Wikipedia

Winter Jam NYC 2009 - Free Skiing!

This year Winter Jam NYC will be held on Saturday February 7, 2009 from 11 am - 4 pm at East River Park! Last year this event took place in Central Park. This event gives New York City's residents a chance to enjoy winter sports and other activities for FREE! So bring your kids and enjoy a day of free winter sports and other activities!

Activities include:

• Sledding
• A snowboarding competition
• Snowshoeing and cross-country skiing
• A snowman making contest
• Live music and many other activities

You can find out some additional details here.

Directions by Subway:

• Take the F or V to 2nd Avenue – Lower East Side, walk East on Houston, and cross the pedestrian bridge into East River Park.
• Or you can take the F, J, M, Z to Essex Street – Delancey Street, walk North on Essex, walk East on Houston, and cross pedestrian bridge into East River Park.

Hope you see you all there! If you were at last year's event, please share your experience in the comments. For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by Jenny Downing

7 Frugal Ideas For Winter Fun With Kids

New York City has had its share of snow this winter. The cold weather can keep kids indoors most of the winter, and kids can get restless. Below are some ideas to keep your pre-school kids busy during the winter time. I've used most of these to some success and the variety of activities should keep most young children entertained for a little while. Older children may or may not take to these activities, let me know how it works out for you. Spending time with your children can help build their self confidence levels. I hope you are all doing your part in building the confidence in our future generations.

Without further ado, here are the ideas:

1. Crafts - Sock puppets, paper bag puppets, origami, are just the beginning. Kids have wonderful imaginations, just give them a bunch of cups and spoons and they can play restaurant owner for hours!
2. Puzzle books - My daughter has borrowed several puzzle books from the library recently. She loves them! We also have a crafts book that contains lessons in the alphabet and related activities she can work on. These activities include cutting out shapes, gluing, coloring, connect the dots, among others.
3. Baking and Cooking- Recently I decided to try making some noodles from scratch. Of course my daughter wanted to get her hands on some dough as well. Giving her a handful of dough kept her busy while I worked on my noodle making skills :)
4. Snuggling - Kids love to have one and one time with their parents, at least mine do. I have a feeling your young children also likes to have one on one time with you as well. Snuggling, hugging, or any close contact sport with the little ones can keep them happy and engaged. You'll run out of energy before they do, so you may want to use one of the other activities.
5. Watching movies / TV Shows - I have found the best shows for a pre-K child are on PBS. I've had great success with shows like Arthur, Caillou, Clifford, Curious George, Dora, Maya and Miquel, Sasame Street and many others. You can get most of these free over the air, or via your cable. Search for your PBS show times here.
6. Paint, Draw and Color - My daughter loves Dora the Explorer and Nick Jr. has some printable items for free. You can purchase a coloring book for a dollar at your local dollar store or discount store. This is great for kids who love to doodle and draw. A cheaper alternative is to just give your kids your used paper, the blank side makes for great scribbling paper!
7. Blanket Forts (caves) - My daughter loves to get under the sheets and play hide and seek under the sheets. Share some "quality time" with your kids and play with them under the sheets, it may bring out the kid in you as well!

Some ideas came from ABC2News' article by Sara Noel. All these activities require you to spend time with your kids, which I hope all you parents out there are doing. For additional activities, you can check out this blog post on KidCity Blog for free things to do with your Kids this winter! Thanks for contacting me with that tweet @nyc_mom!

What are your favorite indoor activities for kids? Share them with us in the comments. For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by suneko

7 Super Duper Games For Free

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I've always been a video game fan, though I never got into the hardcore gaming world. I'm more of a casual gamer. In the past, I have been known to spend hours in front of a TV screen with an NES or Playstation gaming system, wasting (entertaining?) my days away. I have since, gotten older and "wiser". I don't play much video games on a regular basis anymore, though I do enjoy a quick break from my routine with on the go games or a quick game with the below titles.

These are all "Flash games" that I have come upon in the last several years. They are very creative games and I have enjoyed them for one reason or another.

1. Flow - a very original game when it came out. This is an online version and it can eat up several hours of your time. Play with caution ;)
2. Chronotron - an original puzzle game based on the concept of time travel, one of my current favorites!
3. Portal flash version - Portal was one of last year's surprise hits. This is a 2D version of the game and plays well, though I've gotten stuck in one of the earlier levels.
4. Bloons Tower Defense - There are many Tower defense type games out there. This one is based on the Bloons (yes it's spelled that way) characters.
5. Bloons - Pop the Balloons! Play as a balloon popping monkey! This is addictive and fun! Very much like Puzzle Bobble or Circle Popper from my Blackberry games list.
6. N - This is a great 2D puzzle game with a great Physics engine. Try it, you'll like it! It reminds me of Megaman. You can download a copy for your PC, Mac or Linux computer.
7. Filler - Just found this one recently. Its a rehash of an old game, but done very well.

There are many free Online gaming hubs with similar games. My favorites for now are:

Kongregate
Addicting Games
GamePro Free Games
Y8
Smashing.com

Hope you like this list, please let us know your favorites in the comments section. If you know of additional gaming networks, I'd be happy to update this post with it! This post will be one my favorites, and perhaps yours as well!

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

Photo by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³

An Englishman In New York

This is a guest post by Chris from Lifestyle Project, a blog where he explores Productive Lifestyle Design. He may become a travel writer in the future, he thinks it would be pretty cool. You can subscribe to his feed here. Chris also runs Lists for Life, a blog of lists.

Arriving in to Newark Airport (it's cheaper to fly to Newark than JFK), bleary eyed but excited, I walk from where the plane has parked to collect our bags. Glancing to my left I am surprised to see the awesome New York skyline, which seems very close. New York is such a flat state (as I noticed from the air) that despite Newark being a distance from down town NYC, the skyline is a clear as day from the terminal building. Downstairs in the terminal building we easily locate the stand where we will catch the SuperShuttle. These blue mini-vans are a shared taxi system. At just $18 return per person from the airport to your hotel door, this is far cheaper than a taxi and much easier than navigating the buses or trains after a long flight.

Squashed into the back of the van (hey for that price you can't expect luxury) we head towards the world famous city, a big smile beams across my face. New York has been on my list of places to go for a long time and now that we are here it all seems a bit surreal. It's one of those places that you have seen so many times before in the movies or on TV that when you actually get there it feels as if you have been dropped into a postcard. The buildings tower above you, the bright yellow taxis pepper the streets all around you and the steam really does rise out of the ground (well it is November after all). The journey took about 40 minutes, but this did involve getting stuck in the tunnel for a while.

Four nights is a very short amount of time to visit New York. A very short time. There is so much to do and so many places to see. Our hotel was near to Times Square so once we had got checked in to our hotel we headed outside and in to Time Square. Wow! With its mesmerizing array of lights, sounds and people Time Square can literally take your breath away. Think about it how many places in the world are there with TV screens as big as buildings and dozens of them to boot?

Central Park. Photo by Chris

Just Walk
For the first few days we spent a lot of time just walking around, rather than taking the subway or taxis. I always feel that when I go on a city break that we spend a lot of time walking but it really is an excellent way to see a city. Think about it, where was the last time you took a walk around your local area that deviates from your normal route. Try it, it's amazing what you see when you aren't whizzing passed in a car. We walked from Century 21 (see below - next to the World Trade Center site) back to our hotel in Time Square via Chelsea, Little Italy, Flat Iron etc. I was a long walk but worth it as we saw so much. Cost of walking = $0.


Some Frugal Tips for tourists (and maybe even locals):

Frugal Shopping
One of the main things that my girlfriend wanted to do was some shopping. Frugal Tip - go shopping when there is a massive economic crisis and all the retailers are offering huge discounts! In Macy's if you hold a foreign passport you can go to customer services and get a card that gives you 11% off all purchases. I think they change the offer all of the time but it was 11% when I went. Check out TJ Maxx (which is called TK Maxx in the UK), Filene's Basement and Century 21. These shops offer huge discounts on designer gear. There stock moves fast and is replenished quickly. Be prepared to spend a bit of time rumaging to find some hidden gems.

View from the Top of the Rock. Photo by Chris

Attractions
Check which attractions you are visiting that offer combined tickets. We visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which has lots of Picasso and obviously the odd Andy Warhol, and the Rockafella centre on the same day. MoMA didn't advertised the fact that you could get combined tickets, had we gone to the Rockafella Centre first we would have noticed this and saved $10 each to visit both attractions. I suspect that the Rockafella centre is cheaper than the Empire State Building? We chose the Rock becasue it offers the view of the New York skyline with the most famous building in your sights. If you are standing on top of the Empire State Building you can't see it!

I put a call out on Twitter (and checked out tips on this blog) for free things to do. We visited the Apple Store (I have to I'm a geek) and took a couple of walks in Central Park. These are great things that just make New York a cool place to be.

Eating Out
A sensible tip that I heard (though we didn't do this) was that the many hotels with good restaurants struggle for lunchtime trade so you can get some great offers.

Not So Frugal
We were visiting New York as a birthday present from me to my girlfriend, so there were some extravagances (the whole point of being frugal in my opinion is so that you can have some money to indulge yourself occasionally). We stayed at the Westin Times Square which turned out to be an excellent choice of hotel. It's central location meant that it was great for getting to anywhere in the city, and the room was very spacious and surprisingly for a hotel has the most comfortable bed I have ever stayed in (their trademarked Heavenly Bed concept). Checking out reviews before we went we spotted a tip to request a high corner room, which we did and were pleased to have been allocated. This meant that we had a larger room with windows on two sides. Obviously this tip would apply to a lot of hotels but it is staying here that gave us the idea to ask for this in the future. For my girlfriends birthday we went to Buddha Bar in Meatpacking district. A cool place. Not sure if I was cool enough to be in there, but we had fun. We also saw the lengendary guitar inventor and recording artist Les Paul at Iridium Jazz Club on Time Square. Les Paul is 93 and plays two shows there every Monday. If you are a guitarist, this is a must see gig!

I had a great time in New York, it was just not long enough. I'm sure I'll be back soon!


Tipping (extra notes for Brits)
A few notes on tipping! This is a major leap for Brits, tipping in restaurants and maybe your barber is customary, but in America it's a whole new ball game. Firstly get hold of a load of dollar bills.

Tipping standards (or so I saw):

• Bell Boy - $1 per bag, $1 per taxi hailed.
• Restaurants - 18% apparently (obviously adjust for service quality, and watch out for those restaurants that already include a charge)
• Taxi - 15% is customary.
• Other - If I was supposed to give anyone else cash I must have missed them. I struggled understanding how much to give the concierge to book us a table at a couple of restaurants for example.
  

I was only there for four days so obviously only scratched the surface of all the great stuff New York has to offer. I will be back, what tips can you share in the comments for next time?

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Now for a Frugal Friday tip! If you were using Quickcards for the PATH system, they are no longer available. Get yourself a SmartLink card and you will continue to pay the cheaper $1.35 fare instead of $1.75. For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader
or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.

DTV - The End Of Television As We Know It

Before I get into the title post, I wanted to take a moment and thank my regular readers for your continued readership, comments and encouragement. Whether you do this via Twitter, email, or blog comments, I appreciate your participation and continued support.

I recently wrote about alternate side parking, I hope you have found it useful. I just used the post as a reference yesterday, to check to see if there was a holiday this week, if there was, I would have parked in the spot where the street cleaning took place during the holiday and thus save myself one quick trip. Hope my posts are as useful to you as they are to myself. My aim is to make FrugalNYC a destination for you to find all sorts of resources that help you in your day to day life, in any city. Now on to the post topic.

In September 2008 I wrote a post titled Free DTV, this post is a follow-up and reminder to that post. Starting February 17, 2009, analog television broadcasts in the United States will end. Are you ready for this change? If you still have an old TV like I do, and would like to stretch the life and usefulness of your old TV, you need to purchase a digital converter box. You can buy it at most electronics stores, there are many brands available and they pretty much all do the same thing. I have found the Best Buy Insignia model NS-DXA1-APT (SKU 8854527) to be very good, not to mention the remote can be programmed to control your old TV as well.

If you have cable or satellite, most likely, you are already using the proper hardware that's necessary for the transition. If you receive your TV signal via a rooftop antenna or a set-top antenna you need to purchase a digital to analog converter box. High Definition TV sets get a nice boost with DTV, because the signals are not compressed like many cable providers do. So you may get a better and clearer picture using over the air signals than you do with cable.

A friend of mine requested the $40 dollar coupon after reading my post in September, but he let it expire. Don't let that happen to you. So if you still have one of these coupons, use it soon, and save yourself $40 in the process. If you have not requested the coupon, there is now a waiting list, all coupons alloted have been given out and new ones will only be sent out as old and unused coupons expire. You can request your coupons from DTV2009.

From my tests using a mix of two TVs, two Converter boxes, and two set-top antennas, I have concluded that some converter boxes are better, and the antenna used can make a difference too. The Philips PHDTV1 Silver Sensor UHF/HDTV Digital Indoor TV Antenna is pretty well rated on Amazon. I know of some people who are using the Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception, and have heard good things about it with HDTV reception. I used my existing TV antennas and they received digital SDTV signals crystal clear! You can pick up a $2 antenna like I did for my secondary TV and it will work fine in most neighborhoods.

Here are two DTV related links I have found, the first is Funny, and the from Wisebread is informative and also goes into watching TV via the web. Thanks for reading. For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader.

photo courtesy of videocrab

Our Visit To The Queens Zoo

Photo courtesy of law_keven

Last Saturday, December 6, 2008, started out as usual. I took my wife and older daughter to Chinese school. I made use of the 2-3 hours by reading and doing some excercises, not to mention a bite to eat from Carnation Bakery. I wanted to finish reading The Gargoyle, so I sat in the car to read for the first hour or so. I read up to the final chapter, but decided to stop. It was getting cold, I decided a bit of physical excercise would help. I walked to the nearby track field in front of the school and started doing my 8-lap brisk walk. When I finished all 8 laps, I felt warmer, and class was about to end for my wife and daughter.

My wife wanted to do something, so I suggested we visit the Queens Zoo. Since we were in Flushing, it was not very far away. We picked up some food and then drove to the Queens Zoo. Since it was my first time there, I got a little lost. After about 10 minutes of back and forth on the streets, I found my way down 111th street in Flushing, Queens. We found the parking lot that was adjacent to the zoo and parked there.

Until now, we have visited all the other NYC zoos, except the Queens zoo. We've been to the Bronx zoo, Central Park zoo, Prospect Park zoo, The New York Aquarium (where our 2008 zoo adventures all began), and now the Queens zoo. Its ironic that I've lived most of my life in Queens and this is the first time I have visited the Queens zoo.

Cost

Visiting the Queens zoo is not even that expensive. Adult admission is $6 and children's tickets are only $2. Children under 3 years get in for free, and seniors 65+ get in for $2.25. Admission includes a map of the zoo plus a red decoder card that helps explain what you are seeing at some of the exhibits. Since we are members of the WCS, our admission was free. I have mentioned it before but its worth repeating, I encourage you and your family to join the WCS. Membership will help enable your family visit the NYC zoos more often and also help fund the preservation of animals all around the world.

What You Will Find

So what animals can you find at the Queens zoo? Surprisingly, more than I thought I would find. The first exhibit we saw were the ducks. This stood out for me because I saw many mallard ducks that I'm used to seeing, but among them was one white feathered one. So I did what many people would do, I took a photo snapshot. We moved on to see what I thought was a bobcat, but it turned out to be a lynx. We visited some pumas, then noticed an exhibit about extinct animals, the dodo bird was among them. Next came an aviary that stood out, it was a spiraling path that led up, twisted around like a pretzel and then came back down. You can view many species of birds while walking along this spiraling path, watch out for bird droppings! We also saw pumas, bears, sea lions, among other animals. Then we walked over to the domestic animals section to do some feeding, the animals, not ourselves. We left the zoo happy but cold, which may have been the trigger for my current condition.

Location

The Queens zoo is located at 53-51 111th Street in Flushing, NY 11368. It is open 365 days a year, you can find the hours of operation on this page. As of today, it is open 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Do you love animals? Would you like your children to experience the joy of seeing animals in real life, not just in books and museums? I encourage you to join or contribute to the WCS. If you are a member of other wildlife groups, feel free to chime in and make yourself heard in the comments. I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for visiting, follow me on Twitter for additional links to tips and tricks. If you would like to contribute to Frugal NYC in any way, articles, ideas, posts, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else, feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader.