Crowne Plaza - St. Louis Airport

During my month-long stay in St. Louis I was billeted in Crowne Plaza - St. Louis Airport, in Bridgeton, MO. The hotel is located less than a mile from the Lambert International Airport, and is accessible from I-70.

Amenities include a gym, pool and jacuzzi at the lower ground level, free WiFi access on the lobby and in the rooms, a business center, same-day laundry and executive lounge.

A TGIF restaurant is also located inside the hotel, and stores such as Schnuck's, Walmart and Target are located within 3 miles of the hotel. You may request the hotel's shuttle to ferry you to any destination within five mile radius for free (just tip the driver)

Useful info: website and contact no: (314) 291.6700; daily rates starts at about $100

Street Food

Carts such as this are a common sight in the Big Apple, providing cheap and fast meal to New Yorkers and tourists alike. A hotdog typically costs $2 each. They also sell pretzels and knish.

Fruity

The flagship Apple Store in Fifth Avenue New York is a destination in itself. The iconic store has a glass cube for a façade that opens to a glass staircase and elevator that whisks customers to the below-ground shop, where they can try the latest electronic gizmos, such as the iPad and iPhone.

Icy Desolace

Flying back to Manila from Detroit, my plane passed over this icy landscape. The stewardess says we were flying somewhere over Anchorage, Alaska (a friend who's from Alaska says the mountains in the bottom pic are called Chugach Mountains).

Crossroads of the World

Times Square, nicknamed "the crossroads of the world," is a major commercial area in New York. Setting foot in the area - located at the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue - for the first time is an overwhelming experience - with the senses being overloaded with a cacophony of sounds and countless lights and advertisements.

Aside from hosting a number of stores - Macy's is the biggest in the area (and biggest store in the world) - Times Square is also home to the theaters of Broadway.

Times Square is also the location where the New Year's Ball is drop during the New Year celebration.

Prometheus

The statue of Greek legend Prometheus, in Rockefeller Center, New York. The bronze statue, located behind a sunken plaza that turns into a skating rink, was made by sculptor Paul Manship

A granite slab behind it has the inscription "Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends."

Top of the World

Being in the city that epitomized skyscrapers, it would be hard to resist not to go up in any of the countless high rise buildings dotting New York. And as it became a tradition for me to visit the highest building of the city I am in, it's a low-brainer for me not to go up New York's tallest - the 102-story Empire State Building.

Like I did with the MoMA ticket, I purchased one online too to avoid the long line. After going through security checks worthy of TSA, it took me about 30 minutes to get to the elevators, which whisk passengers 80 floors up in seconds.

Upon reaching the 80th floor we took another elevator to the observation deck at the 86th floor, which is open air. A throng of people were milling around, taking snapshots of the New York skyline. Walking around the perimeter of the observation deck affords one a 360-degree view of the city.

Empire State was completed in 1931 and was the world's tallest building until 1972. It became New York's tallest building again when the World Trade Center was destroyed in 2001. ESB is 15th tallest in the world today.

How to Get There: Empire State Building is located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street in Manhattan. If taking the subway, you may get off 33rd Street station then walk from there.

Empire State Building website: esbnyc.com

pics, from top: Empire State Building from the ground, two views of the skyline at night, the pinnacle, the lobby

Museum of Modern Art

One of the first places I visited in New York last weekend was the Museum of Modern Art. The museum, located in midtown Manhattan, collects modernist art, and is home to influential pieces by artists as diverse as Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse and Paul Gaugin.

The museum also collects drawings, photography, film and design and architecture works.

Before heading to MoMA, I bought my ticket online ($20) which save me a lot of time, as it afforded me to skip the line. Upon entering I head directly to the fourth and fifth floors, where the goodies are - the works of van Gogh, Matisse, Gaugin, and Salvador Dali, among others.

The third floor holds the industrial design works, including pieces such as the Vespa, a Pininfarina-designed sports car, and even a flight information display system.

How to Get There: MoMA is located at West 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan, between 5th and 6th Avenues.

website: moma.org; entrance fee is $20

pics, from top: Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night, Pablo Picasso's Demoiselles d’Avignon, a flight information display system, the Pininfarina-designed Cisitalia 202 GT, outside the courtyard

Delmar Loop

Delmar Loop is an entertainment and shopping district of St. Louis - a gentrified section encompassing six blocks straddling an upscale neighborhood.

Named as one of the 10 best streets of America, Delmar Loop is home to an eclectic mix of shops, music lounges and bars. There's the Tivoli Theater, which shows art-house films, Blueberry Hill, a music lounge where the legendary Chuck Berry still plays, plenty of tattoo parlors and record bars, and even a Ben & Jerry's.

The St. Louis Walk of Fame - which honors famous people from St. Louis - can also be found in Delmar Loop. The celebrities include singer Tina Turner, Olympian Jackie-Joyner Kersee, the pilot Charles Lindberg Jr., and rapper Nelly, among others.

My visit to Delmar even had a few surprises. While visiting the Vintage Vinyl record bar, I get to hear singer Lynne Fiddmont perform live inside the store, and while eating at a Chinese restaurant with my friends from the office, we met a group of Filipinas who befriended us.

Picnic

Picnic-goers enjoyed the nice weather and scenery at Forest Park, St. Louis. The 1,293-acre park, opened in 1876, was the venue of the 1904 World's Fair (also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition).

Cardinals vs. Astros

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Houston Astros, May 12, 2010 at Busch Stadium.

Seventh-Inning Stretch at Busch Stadium

A tradition during baseball games, the seventh-inning stretch happens between the halves of the 7th inning, when the game stops and people would stand up and stretch - and sing the song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

This video was taken last Tuesday, May 12, during the St Louis Cardinals-Houston Astros game.

Skyscraper

This is the One AT&T Center, the second-tallest building in St. Louis (third highest structure if counting the Gateway Arch). The building is 588 feet high, and was constructed in 1986.

One of the first modern skyscrapers - the 10-storey Wainwright Building - was constructed in St. Louis in 1890.

Mall Rat

Malling is one of my favorite past times in Manila, and it's not different while I'm in here in St. Louis. This Friday me and my colleagues went to Chesterfield, a suburb 25 miles east of St. Louis to do a bit of shopping.

Chesterfield is the the location of the longest outdoor strip mall in the United States - which spans the Chesterfield Airport Road (Chesterfield is also home of the Spirit of Saint Louis Airport). The strip mall is anchored by stores such as Best Buy and Target.

Five minutes away from the strip mall is the Chesterfield Mall, a high end mall with about 150 stores, including Dillard's, Macy's and Abercrombie & Fitch.

How to Get there: if taking public transportation, take the Metrolink to Clayton. From there, take the Bus 258 to Chesterfield Mall Loop. By car, Chesterfield is in the intersection of Interstate 64 and Clarkson Road.

Gateway to the West

I visited the Gateway Arch, the most prominent landmark of St. Louis, today. The arch - dubbed the Gateway to the West - is 630 feet in height, making it United States' tallest man-made monument.

The steel and concrete arch, designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947, was built starting in 1963 to commemorate the role of St. Louis to the westward expansion in the 19th century. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987

Going to the top involves taking a tram, which feels like a stop-and-go ferris wheel ride inside a cramped capsule that fits five people. But, when you reach the pinnacle and the observation deck, it was all worth it.

Peering down the windows allow magnificent views of downtown St. Louis on one side, and the Mississipi River and Illinois on the other.

How to Get There: If taking the MetroLink, get off at Laclede's Landing station and cross the street to the park. Entrance fee to the observation deck starts at $10 for adults.

[pics, from top: the Gateway Arch, 19th century artifacts, downtown St. Louis with the old Courthouse at the center, Busch Stadium as seen from the observation deck, a barge plying the Mississippi]

The Little Red Train

A little red train - part of the zooline railroad ride of the St. Louis zoo - zips past a crossing.

Admission is $5, open from 9:30a-5:00pm

[May 2, 2010]

Downtown St. Louis

From Busch Stadium, with a view of the Gateway Arch

Jesse James's Lair

more pictures from Meramec Caverns

Meramec Caverns

Sunday was spent exploring the Meramec Caverns in Stanton, Missouri. The caverns - located below the hills of Meramac Valley and discovered in 1720 - were once used as a hideout by the notorious bank and train robber Jesse James.

The caves also figured in the American Civil War, as saltpeter - primary ingredient for gunpowder - was mined from the caves in the 19th century, and a Union gunpowder facility was destroyed by Confederate guerillas led by Jesse James.

The cave system contains 26 miles of underground passages with some caves stretching seven stories high. It also contains thousands of stalactites and stalagmites, and even one rare structure, called Wine Table, that only forms underwater.

The most spectacular part of the caverns is the Stage Curtain, a mineral deposit 70 feet high, 60 feet wide and 35 ft thick (top photo). Stage Curtain is used as a backdrop for a light and sound presentation shown at the end of the tour.

The caves were opened to the public in 1933.

How to Get There: from St. Louis take I-44 west, drive for about 60 miles to Exit 230 (Stanton, MO), then take a left passing over the railroad tracks and continue for 3 miles.

Rates: adults ($19), children 5-11 ($9.50), below 5, free. Website here

pics, from top: the Stage Curtain, the entrance to the caverns, Civil War-era guns found in the caves, the Wine Table formation

Chainsaw Sculptures

We passed this interesting store on our way to Meramec Caverns which sells wood carvings carved solely using chainsaws, some of which have pretty complicated and detailed designs and are fairly massive.

contact info: Creative Chainsaw Carvings & Rustic Decor, Exit 230 Off Highway I-44, Stanton MO. Tel 573.927.2140