Going square with Lego and technology.

Tuesday morning at the apartment was really hot, it was at this point when i opened the window that didn’t have a padlocked shutter i found that this window like the other doesn’t lock properly! I had clocked a hardware store on the next block down so I went and got a big padlock and padlocked the shuttle over this window as well!

After this we headed out and down fifth Avenue towards Sony Wonder lab. En route we came across Fao Schwartz which is a very old toyshop and full of all the different manufacturers anything from Steiff bears to Lego. Naturally I headed for the Lego, this had a statues made from Lego of Batman, Statue of Liberty, Star Wars figurine and one of the original shops guards.
I also discovered that they had the Lego architecture series, including the Sydney Opera House which I had considered buying whilst at the Sydney Opera House. The cost for it is $40 compared to the cost of $80 in Australia the exchange rates be very similar for Australia and America to the pound. I then discovered that there was also many others in the series which I’ve been to including the Brandenburg gate in Berlin and the Rockefellers centre which we will be going to in a couple of days. The cost for the three models here in the US would be around £70 compared to the cost of them brought in the UK at £110.

We left here and headed onto the Sony wonder lab, here we were originally planning to get tickets on Friday to go around the lab however it was not that busy so we decided to do it there and then. This involves you logging into the system and your details being stored on RFID card which you can then use throughout the lab to personalise your experience throughout. This was not an issue till half way through when my card decided to stop working with my credentials. This annoyed me somewhat as you would have thought with all the technology that Sony has at their disposal they could’ve come with a more robust system. The rest of the attractions with in the lab were good and they ranged from creating and modifying your own image through to you controlling robots or doing virtual open heart surgery they were all very interesting. The Sony lab also contained much history of the Sony products as you would naturally expect they were trying to publicise many of their own products including the PlayStation 3 with the wand controllers. On completion and exiting the lab you tapped your RFID card to log out at which point it printed a certificate and listed all of the attractions that you tried. For me however as my card was no longer working I did not get this option, Amanda however was very chuffed with her certificate.

From here we grab a cup of tea and hot chocolate and headed for the shop where Amanda had purchased her gloves the day before as they had broken and she wished to exchange them for another pair.

After faffing for long enough in the shop we finally headed for Grand Central Station to get the subway across to the meatpacking district. Amanda was not aware on how grand the main hall in Grand Central Station is and so found it very interesting when we entered I also enjoyed it as I have seen this in photos. We will be returning for a photo session within the next couple of days.

We arrived in the meatpacking district to do a section called The Highline. This was originally an overhead railway to transport from within the area to the Hudson River. This is now being converted into green space for locals and visitors alike. It was discussed that this would be torn down and removed however after some local persuasion it was cleaned up and they are now turning it into an overhead green space which still has many of the characteristics of the original railway. I’m sure this would be great in the summertime however at the moment it is very cold [-6°C] and with the wind chill factor was making it very unpleasant for myself.

When you read eventually finished walking along we started to head for Penn station and en route found a pizza place, we decided to go in as it was nearing 4pm and we haven’t had lunch yet. It wasn’t until we have sat down with a slice of pizza for myself and Amanda having a broccoli roll that we can then discovered it was one of the top five pizza places in Manhattan.

Feeling much warmer with hot food inside of us we took the Subway to Time Square, on exiting the subway we were astounded by the number of lights and flashing billboards that were all around us. Amanda then spotted Toys “R” Us which she had told me about many times and so we headed for it, it was huge. As you entered the store the first thing you agree to buy is a huge ferris wheel and it is at that point that you discovered this Toys “R” Us is three stories high. After wandering around for a bit we found out it was $5 to go on the ferris wheel and thought that this was not really worth it. We did however find the Lego section again and as as in the other store earlier that day they had huge statues of Lego of many buildings with in New York city. They included the Empire State building and the Woolworth building, but they also had the Hulk in Lego so naturally we had to get a photo.

After finally leaving Toys “R” Us we took some photos before heading on too the M&M’s World. This was a three level store for anything you could possibly think of with the M&Ms logo on it. After here we popped over the street to go to Hershey’s world which is only one level and I don’t like their chocolate.

Finally on the subway and back home to our little apartment where we spent the evening watching Frasier on Netflix.