echoofthoughts

Of Family and the East Coast

2008-12-16T22:00:30Z

After a lot of thinking and looking for deals, Bhasker finally booked the tickets. I was super kicked about it...not for long. I checked the date we were leaving, September 11 2008. No I cannot travel on that day. No way!!! I tried convincing Bhasker to change it but everything was planned. On 11th, I sat at the airport, a nervous wreck, not able to eat anything and just waiting to get done with the journey. I do not know how I sat through 4 hours. When we landed in Chicago, I was really happy. At the airport, I ate my first meal. I also saw the actress, Marcia Cross, who plays Bree Van De Kamp (now Hodge) in Desparate Housewives.

Our flight to Philli got delayed. We had already boarded and since I was getting bored I picked up the newspaper and that's probably the biggest mistake I made. It was filled with news about 9/11 and there was an account of the incident by the air traffic controller working on that day. That's it. I started getting restless. We were soon shifted to another plane and got going. The journey of 2 hours seemed much longer than the 4 hour leg. When the pilot was hovering above Phili, I looked out and it was beautiful. Soon we landed and I thanked God (don't laugh. Its really scary). Bhasker's cousin, Karthik came to pick us up. Karthik's wife had made awesome Shahi Paneer. I ate to my heart's content. Partly out of relief and partly because I was hungry.

We planned to spend the next day at the mall as it was raining. I had lottsa fun!!! Shopping is always fun :) We had amazing lunch at Cheesecake Factory. We had planned to go to Downtown Phili but since it was raining we just went back home. The next day the four of us had Bagels for breakfast (we had amazing Bagel Sandwiches in Einstein Bakery and then at the Chicago Airport. Now I love Bagel Sandwiches and eat them almost every weekend), and then headed to New York City.

We took the Path that takes us to where the twin towers stood before, where consturction is going on now. We went around to see Ground Zero and people had placed lots of flowers to pay their respects to the people and fire-fighters who had died. We walked around for sometime.

Construction going on where the WTC once stood

Karthik, Anjali, Bachu and me in NYC

Soon we were hungry and went looking for the Katti Roll Company. We had to walk a lot to get there. The rolls were tasty but nothing extraordinary. After lunch, we went to Central Park. In the middle of the City, sits one of the most beautiful parks. Unbelievable!!! We spent sometime there. While we sat there, a group of students came by to sing and dance for some money. They needed the money not to pay tuition fees, not for food but to make a trip to Hawaii. Later when we were walking around, we saw more students running around like this.

On the way to the Katti Roll Company

College kids running around in Central Park, collecting money for a trip to Hawaii

We left Central Park and while we were walking towards Times Square, we spotted a Street Market. We decided to take that street to Times Square. Anjali and I bought Pashmina shawls. Bhasker and I bought some T-shirts. We ate so much. We had Corn and Smoothies and Falafal wraps and Lemonade. It was good fun!!! Finally we got to Times Square. We walked around for sometime. It was so nice!!! Colourful hoardings, people walking in and out of shops, nice restaurants...I just felt like staying there...Just then it started pouring. I love it when it rains. I stood there getting wet while the others took cover in a nearby shop. It was getting late and Karthik had to drive back so we took a taxi and left. We spent sometime near the Path station, getting pictures of the Skyline and left. We stopped for some Indo-Chinese dinner at New Jersey, on the way back home.

Anjali and I

The four of us :)

On the way to Times Square, near the Saturday Street Market

The Saturday Street Market

Times Square

NYC Skyline

On Sunday, the four of us planned to visit the Amish County. We drove down to the place, only to find out that the Amish people mostly go to church and stay at home on Sundays. Shops were closed. We did get to see a few of them dining outside their homes, wearing those long flowing gowns and suits. We also saw a few coming back from church. So we decided to go to Downtown Phili. We got to see the steps Rocky runs up (I know it sounds cliche, but we ran up those stairs too...Hehe), we got to see Liberty Bell, spent sometime walking around and then, decided to go to this wonderful Burmese restaurant in Downtown Phili called Rangoon. The food was just out of this world.

Downtown Philadelphia

We got home that night and booked a car for the next day. Bhasker and I were going to drive down to Washington DC. The next day we got to DC by noon. After lunch we headed to the White House. We got a few pictures and then made our way to the Washington Monument. When we got there we were told that to go to the top, they issue ony limited number of tickets a day and we were too late. So from there we walked across to the War Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. The walk from the War Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial was quite pretty. There was a lake in between the pathways, with ducks swimming in it. The pathways were lined with trees on either side. If we looked back, we could see the Washington Monument and from time to time we would catch a plane flying right above it.

The White House

A Sniper looking out from one of the terraces in the White House

Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial is extremely pretty. Its a huge monument made of marble and right in between the monument, sitting on a big chair is a huge sculpture of Abraham Lincoln. All around, there are famous speeches inscribed on the walls of the monument. Above some of them, murals. We stayed there for sometime and even went to the small musuem. The museum is the work of school kids.

The Lincoln Memorial

We wanted to go to the Jefferson Memorial. So we walked along the river. It was early evening and the sky was a bright orange and blue. It was a long walk and we weren't anywhere close to the Jefferson Memorial. So we asked the locals who told us that the Roosevelt Memorial is closer. So we went there instead and I am glad we did.

The Jefferson Memorial

On the way to the Roosevelt Memorial

The Roosevelt Memorial consists of four outdoor rooms with sculptures of Roosevelt, one with him sitting in a wheelchair, one where he is sitting with his dog sitting close to him etc. Inscribed on the walls are excerpts from his speeches. In all the rooms, there are beautiful waterfalls. Since it is an outdoor memorial, it is better to visit it during the day.

The Roosevelt Memorial

By the time we were done, it was time to leave as we had to drive all the way back to Phili and drive back to Washington the next day. We didn't plan it properly or we could have stayed in Washington.

The next day we went to some of the museums. We went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and the Art Museum. The National History Museum was closed due to renovations and we did not have time to go to The Natural History Museum. We then went to Capitol Hill. We sat there for sometime. After that we went to the downtown and spent some time there. We got out early so that we could get some sleep before the long drive the next day.

Capitol Hill

The next day, after a visit to Budget (they gave us a car with no cruise control so we got it exchanged for the Cobalt Sport :D), the two of us left for Niagara Falls. It was a long drive and we got there early in the evening. We got a room on the 7th floor with a spectacular view of the falls (Holiday Inn, in case your wondering). We left our stuff and went out to see the falls.

The Canadian Side of the Niagara Falls, taken from the US side

We walked along the Niagara river and we could see the buildings on the Canadian side too. We got to the falls just in time to see the colourful lighting. The falls went from red to green to blue to purple etc and then it was lit with all the colours at once. It was awesome!!! We stood there till the lighting went off, trying to get some snaps and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and then danced our way back to the hotel, I mean literally :D.

The Niagara Falls at night

The next day morning we lined up for the Maid of the Mist ride. The ride started near the Rainbow Bridge. We got got to see the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls, where we did feel the mist on our faces, but little did we know what was in store at the Horseshoe Falls. As we got close to the falls, we could hear the mighty roar and before we knew it, we were completely drenched. (The thin polythene raincoats provided little or no protection, exactly what I wanted). We could also hear the strained engines of the boat, we it was streered away from the falls. On experience I will never forget.

Cave of the Winds. You can walk upto one of the smaller falls here and stand really close to it.

On the way to the Falls

I was completely drenched. Bhasker didn't go too close to the falls. He was afraid his camera will get wet o_O

After this we made our way to the Cave of the Winds. We got another ploythene rancoat. I didn't know what to expect as I walked in. We took the elevator 175 feet deep into the Niagara Gorge and walked through a tunnel. When we got out of the tunnel, we got a brilliant view of the falls and the boats which look so tiny in comparison. We walked down a bit and I was thrilled when I saw it. There were stairways going up and down and real close to the Bridalveil falls. The stairs first took us down and when we looked up we could see the falls looming above. As we walked along, we could feel the spray of waterfall, on our face. When we got to the Hurricane deck, we were really close to the falls. I held on to the railings and went as close as I could. The force there was so great, I could barely breathe but I enjoyed standing there so much that I kept going back. I even forced Bhasker to go close (he was carrying his camera bag and was scared that it would get wet). We got to see so many rainbows. I enjoyed this more than the Maid of the Mist.

After this we went back to the hotel, had lunch and left the place. We got to New Jersey late that night. We stayed at the Marriott in New Jersey for two days and commuted to New York City from there.

We got up early the next day and left for the City. We started with Empire State Building because we didn't want to get there late and stand in the queue for the rest of the day. The view from the top was nice. We spent sometime there and then we just walked around the city for sometime. We had lunch and then went to Broadway to see if we could catch a play. We went to the theatre where Wicked was playing and tried out luck with the lottery (tickets were sold out). We didn't get so lucky. So we went to Greenwich Village, walked around for sometime and then went to Chinese Mirch, an Indo-Chinese place for dinner. Loved the food. We walked to Times Square after that, spent sometime there and then headed back to the hotel.

One of the views from the Empire State Building

Times Square

The next day, my co-sister Priya was landing in New York to attend a conference. So we got up and drove down to NY. We stopped at a bakery to buy cake and some chocolates as it was her birthday and we wanted to surprise her. We met her at the hotel and after cutting the cake, we made our way to the Statue of Liberty, stopping on the way at the Fossil store and for lunch. We took the boat ride to Statue of Liberty. The statue was nice, and so was the view from the island. We walked around and then took the boat back. From there we went to Times Square. Anjali and Karthik came down and it was like a family get-together. We walked around in Times Square and had dinner. It was good fun!!! Soon it was time to say bye to Priya and head back to Phili with Karthik and Anjali. When we got home, Anjali gifted me a really cute pair of ear studs :).

At the Statue of Liberty

After a nice dinner with Priya

We had lottsa fun!!! We had a nice stay at Anjali's and Karthik's place and enjoyed their company and we got to meet Priya too!!! :)

Europe 08...The best trip till now!!!

2008-08-02T00:07:59Z

In June, Bhasker got an opportunity to travel to Heidelburg, Germany for a conference. So we decided that I will go along and we will see a few more places. Thus began the planning and the visa process for the most amazing trip!!! In Europe, we decided to use the Eu Rail to travel from one place to another. I just couldn't wait to get on that plane and get off at Frankfurt.

The places we went to

In Germany

Frankfurt: We landed at the Frankfurt airport and had 4-5 hours before we had to take the train to Oberstdorf. So we went to explore the city. Frankfurt has sky-scrapers but there are some old buildings too. We went to the market area, grabbed some food, visited a Cathedral and walked along the River Main and time went by so fast. We wanted to go to the observation deck but we didn't have the time for it and had to do it on the last day of the trip. The Observation Deck is about 55 floors high and the view of the city from up there is amazing!!! Sky scrapers, small houses, buildings with terrace gardens, the river and some of the old buildings is what you get to see. Frankfurt was only the beginning of the trip and if anything the trip only got better.

The view from the Observation Deck

In front of the River Main

Oberstdorf: Not knowing the local language can create havoc sometimes, well most of the times. We sat eating Banana and Nuttella crepe while we waited for the train. There was an announcement about the platform change in German. For 15 minutes, we sat there waiting and then Bhasker said its better we check. We came to know just in time. We ran with a huge suitcase and two backpacks and got into the train just in time. We had to switch 4 trains to get to Oberstdorf and had a 5 hour wait in the cold Kempton station, on the last leg. We got to Oberstdorf at 7 am.

The train ride to Oberstdorf was something I will never forget. It was breath-taking!!! Grasslands on either side with one or two houses in the middle and as we got closer to the town, the Bavarian Alps (the German side of the Alps) became visible through the mist which kept them hidden till then. The 5 hour wait in the cold, in Kempton was so worth it!!! Oberstdorf is a small village, in the Allgau region, right at the base of the Alps.

The view from the train, on the way to Oberstdorf

We had awesome coffee (the milk in Oberstdorf is the best I have tasted till now) and walked to the hotel. Bhasker had booked a room facing the Alps and I just could not wait to see the room. It was a small room, cozy and comfortable and the view from the room was oh-so-romantic. We caught up on some sleep and then set off to take the cable car ride right to the top of one of the mountains called Nablehorn. You have to switch cable cars thrice to get to the top and you can get off at each stop and walk around and see the place.Some people even choose to walk up till the second stop and then take the cable car. The first stop gives you a view of the meadows and its extremely pretty. The second stop gives you a view of the snow-covered mountains. Such a change of scenery, lush green meadows to snow. The next stop is what I call the "Top of the World". The view from there is brilliant!!! Its the peak and the clouds cover most of the mountains and you can get a peek at the snow-covered mountains from time to time when the clouds move away. You can also see the valley below through the clouds. Though we loved it there, we could not stay there for long as it was cold. So we took the cable car ride back to the meadows, had a cup of coffee and decided to walk down to the village. It was a good one and a half hour walk. We got some beautiful views of the village and also of the place where the skiing competition is held every year (it has the name of the person who did the longest jump a few years ago and his record remains till date) and a water-fall. We spent the rest of the day lazing around, sipping on some superb coffee, 4 cups each (Hehe) and in the evening we sat in the patio, letting the awesome view sink in.

The first stop

The second stop

And the "Top of the World"

Bachu and I on "Top of the World"

The next day we went to the Breitachklamm Gorge. It was a good 2.5 kms walk along the gorge and it was so worth it. It was cool there and the water flowed in full force along the gorge and the rock formations were a nice sight. We were so hungry after that walk and took the bus back to the village where we had some awesome German food, Vegetable Balls in herb sauce with friend potatoes and carrots and I tried Bavarian Beer. Soon it was time to leave Oberstdorf. I was extremely sad to leave such a beautiful place!!!

Bachu and I at the Breitachklamm Gorge

Breitachklamm Gorge

Heidelburg: We reached Marriott, Heidelburg in the night, all tired and ready to hit the bed. The next day Bhasker had his conference and I was on my own. I went to this cafe in Downtown Heidelberg and had croissant and coffee there and from then on, even though Starbucks was just around the corner, I went to the same place for breakfast for the 4 days that we were there in Heidelberg. I went to the river, walked along the old bridge, saw the castle. In the evening Bhasker, his friends and I walked to the Downtown Area again where we had some excellent Lebanese food. We then walked to the bridge. The sun was about to set and the effect it had on the water was so magical. The river and the sky was quite a sight. We had ice-cream there too and then headed back to the hotel.

Downtown Heidelburg

Mark, Alfredo, Bachu and I at the social event

A view from the Heidelburg Castle

I took the river cruise on one of the days and then we had a social event in the Heidelburg castle organised by one of the companies. We enjoyed the social event, especially with Alfredo and Mark around. The views we got of the city, from the castle were splendid!!! The food was nice and the desserts were awesome!!! It was indeed a pleasant evening.

In France

Paris: Then came the most awaited part of the trip (after Oberstdorf). We reached the hotel in Paris in the afternoon. The location looked kinda dicey. We walked in and it seemed ok but on the way to the room, we realised what kind of hotel that was. We reached the room and had to enter a security code to enter the room. We walked in only to get disappointed. It had one tiny bed and a bunk bed above it. By the time I got to the room I was already scared and didn't want to stay in that hotel. The people I saw on the way to the room and the security lock scheme did that to me. Bhasker was not happy either and so we went back to the reception, got a re-fund and checked into Holiday Inn and thanks to AAA we got an executive suite.

After that it was 4 days of fun. We walked from one place to the other. We went to Notre dame, The Louvre, The Army Museum, Champs Elysees, La Defense, The Lafayette and the Eiffel Tower of course. Thanks to the long summer days, we could walk around and explore the place. We feasted on crepes, had coffee in the cafes along the road(a must-do I believe), had dinner in a restaurant in Champs Elysees, took a sight-seeing cruise and also took the lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower in the night. They put on these sparking lights every hour and it creates such a magical effect. We enjoyed in Paris and at the end of the day I didn't have to think twice about going back to my room.

In front of Notre Dame

The Louvre

The Mona Lisa smile

The Inverted Pyramid

Avenue des Champs Elysees

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

:)

Soon the lovely vacation came to an end so fast and it was time to fly back to Sunnyvale. I am already looking forward to my next trip to Europe :)

Yosemite...Spring 08

2008-06-05T20:54:13Z

This was my third time to Yosemite. Each time, we went in a different season and this time we went there in May. Its the time of year when most of the snow melts away and the falls are in full force, the time where there is still some snow in places where the sun's rays cannot penetrate through the dense forests, the time of year when tourists flock there and lots of people come to do rock climbing and hiking.

The monolithic granite rock

Observe closely and you can see a rock climber

Tent Cabins at Curry Village were all booked and so we took a tent at the House Keeping Camp. It had walls on three sides, a canvas roof and just a canvas screen for a door and this is a season where bears are active. And on the first night there was a scrapping noise near one of the bear lockers and I totally freaked out and to add to it my mom-in-law was snoring away and to me it sounded like a bear. I got so scared!!! It wasn't a bear though. It was just people from the neighbouring tent putting back the remaining food after dinner.

This time we went to all the major falls there. We went to the Bridalveil falls. It was so pretty, the mist added to the beauty and the wind added to the fun sending showers in all directions and we got completely wet. We also went to the Yosemite falls and it was beautiful too, especially if you stand at the bridge near the lower falls (but my favourite is the Bridalveil falls) We skipped Vernal because we hiked to it the first time we went to Yosemite and also because Bhasker's mom cannot come along. We also went to the famous mirror lake. Its kinda dry now and they are draining the water out to clean the lake. The trail to the lake was beautiful all the way and there was still some water left at the lake, which mirrored the huge granite mountain in front of it. We also went to the Glacier Point and to the Mariposa Grove.

Bridalveil Falls

We got wet but it was so much fun!!!

Yosemite Falls

The two if us at Yosemite Falls

On the way to Glacier Point

View of the valley from Glacier Point

View of the Nevada Falls from Glacier Point

The California Tunnel Tree at the Mariposa Grove

On the way to mirror lake

Mirror Lake

We took the shuttle to get around Yosemite, sometimes just to laze around, hopping in and hopping out aimlessly and at other times just to get to Curry Village and to out camp. Once when we were coming back to the Housekeeping Camp, I saw this huge brown thing in the water and it was moving and I yelled, "Look there is a bear there." We got off at the next stop and ran all the way to the place where I had seen it and...it was just this big rock that appeared to be moving because the bus was moving.

A Mountain Chickadee (I thought its a sparrow until Yathin corrected me) was building its nest

The sky was quite a treat to the eyes. Clear ink-blue, star-filled skies and huge pine trees seemed like they were reaching out for the stars. I just wished that the tents didn't have the canvas roof, just so I could lie on my back and gape at them until I fell asleep.

Before we know it 3 days just went by and it was time to head back to Sunnyvale. We stopped again at the Bridalveil Falls and got one more cool shower before we headed back to the Bay Area.

Home sweet home!!!

2008-03-23T21:21:11Z

I really wanted to go to India in February and Bhasker agreed. It all happened so fast but the week before I left was the longest week of my life. I was going with Bhasker's friends, Raghav and Rohini. Was a long flight, SF to Hong Kong to Bangkok to Bangalore with a 10 hour stop-over in Bangkok. We went to see the place, Bangkok is a small well-organised city with a beautiful airport. The weather is like Chennai. We took a boat ride there to see the temples and then went to the market to do some shopping. We were so tired when we came back to the airport, that we were sitting and sleeping.

We slept through the flight from Bangkok to Bangalore. When we got up we were at Home. I was excited, the excitement you feel when you go home after a long time, the excitement of seeing your family and I just could not wait to see mine. The luggage tested my patience a lot. It took a long time before I got my suitcases and finally got out. Was so nice to see the smiling faces of my parents and my little sister. I went two weeks ahead of Bhasker so that I get to spend a month with my parents.

The next day we went to my Aunt's place. A surprise visit from me. My aunt's family was just inquiring about me when I walked in. Perfect timing!!! They were so taken aback that they could not speak. Their expressions were priceless.

We went around Bangalore almost everyday. Home food and all the pampering was just great. I had a list of things I wanted to eat before I came back to the US and wanted to shop a lot since I had shed a few kilos. So we combined my shopping with Things we had to do for my Parents' 25th Wedding Anniversary. I had lottsa Paani Puri, , troubled my Dad and got tea from his office (I love his office tea), fought with my sister for the computer, met Sudha and Divya. Man it was nice to be back home!!!

Time went by quickly and soon Bhasker was in Bangalore. Then it turned out to be quite hectic, running around for Anniversary arrangements, talking to the MC we had organised for the party, booking the hall, inviting friends and family etc etc.

17th came by too fast. Anna came to Bangalore the previous day. We had a small Puja at home. There were a few hiccups with the food and catering, which got me all tensed and worked up. I was really scared about the evening. Wanted my parents to have something they will remember, pleasant memories I mean.

In the evening, we went ahead to make sure the hall was set up the way we wanted it and arrange the projector and stuff. The MC came on time. (Now that was one more thing that was bugging me. My mother's friend gave us his contact info and apparently he does shows in Central but I have never seen him in action and the crowd that evening consisted of different age groups and I didn't know if he could get them all to play games but there was nothing much I could do then so I went about arranging things and getting the hall setup.)

My parents came in at 6:30 pm and slowly the crowd started drifting in. Soon Asif, the MC started conducting small games. The response initially frightened me and just when I thought the whole thing is gonna be a mess, people started responding to him and started playing the tongue twister games. He then moved on to other games and people volunteered and I relaxed a bit. The games were good fun and the people sitting and watching were having as much fun as the ones who were playing. He made my parents play a game as well. My dad was blindfolded and there was a pot kept somewhere in the hall which will be shown to my mother. My mother has to give my dad directions and he has to go and break the pot while we try and confuse him. Was quite funny to watch them play though dad didn't take a long time to find the pot.

My Parents :)

Find your husband's purse!!! The fattest one is his. Hehe...

My parents had to play a game...

The game goes like this. My dad will be blind-folded and my mom has to give him directions to the pot while we try and confuse him.

He didn't take long to find the pot though

The men versus women game

and the women won...Yay!!!

My friends Sudha and Divya

My cute little sis and me

The balloon game

Playside singing :D

We then had the cake cutting and a surprise video where we got family and friends to talk about my parents and we made them exchange rings as well. It was a lovely evening and ended with yummy food. People kept coming up to me and saying they had a good time. :)

German Black Forest Cake...Awesomeness!!!

Exchanging rings

From left: MC Asif, me, Bachu and Anna

My family :)

My lovely parents

Bachu and I

We had one more week in Bangalore after the Wedding Anniversary. I did some more sho
pping and we went and visited some friends and family. Soon it was time to leave Bangalore. I felt terrible and kept going back to say bye to my parents at the airport.

At Eshani Aunty's place. Had amazing home-made chaat at her place!!!

At my Aunt's place

Just before leaving Bangalore

We flew to Delhi. We had lottsa fun in Delhi too. The street food and the chaats and the markets, Delhi is a Shopper's Delight. I shopped a lot there, so much that Bhasker got tired by the end of the week. We went and visited Bhasker's family there, went and saw his college and I played basketball there after a long long time (with college kids. One guy even asked me which class I was in and I was totally flattered).

Gulatis, Delhi

Playing basketball after a really long time!!! St Stephens

At Bhasker's Aunt's place

At Bhasker's Grandmother's place

One week came to an end so fast and it was time to fly to Mumbai. Bhasker's mom came along. In Mumbai we stayed at home most of the time, playing with our nephews. It was so much fun. We did go out to shop on two days in the entire week. The weekend was fun there. Everyone was at home, Priya was free, Anna was on leave and we all went out together. :) but soon it was time to head back to Sunnyvale.

My nephews: Dhruv and Daksh

I was sad to leave family but Mumbai weather sucks (Anna keeps asking me to stop complaining but I cannot :P) and I was happy to head back to a cooler place. We had a great time in India and I am already looking forward to my next visit.

Something different!!!

2008-01-19T07:41:34Z

We went to this place called California Pizza Kitchen last weekend, for dinner. Its near University Avenue. The food was yummy and I loved it. Bhasker had pizza with toppings like Brinjal, Mini Broccoli, Corn, Cheese etc (was lip-smackingly yummy) and I had Thai style Pasta.

Pizza and Pasta with Fresh Lemonade and Italian Soda

We totally enjoyed the food and I am gonna go back there sometime :)

My Furry Neighbour

2008-01-19T07:28:29Z

When I was sitting and watching TV after cooking on one of the weekdays last week, I heard a scraping sound on my mesh door and guess who I saw!!! He lives in the tree right in front of my patio.

Curiously cute squirrel...hehe!!

Steeping into 2008 with fond memories :)

2008-01-01T06:56:26Z

This evening Bhasker and I went to Starbucks and spent some time there playing games and reading. Then we went to Santana Row for a nice dinner at Pizza Antica. Bhasker had a Personal Pizza and I had a Handmade Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Pesto and Sun-dried Tomato Cream (the snaps were taken from a mobile camera and don't do justice to how yum the food looked, let alone how it tasted). Yummm!!! Awesomeness!!!

We were reminiscing about 2007. Was an exciting year indeed. The Big Move from Bangalore to Sunnyvale was the highlight this year. Lottsa traveling and loads of fun!!! Rishikesh (for river rafting), Delhi, SF, Davenport (for strawberry picking), Santa Cruz, Monterey, Yosemite (went there twice, once for our First Anniversary), Half Moon Bay, San Diego, Big Sur, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe were some of the places we went to this year.

Rishikesh, March 2007

Pier 39, May 2007

Strawberry picking at Davenport, May 2007

Monterey, June 2007

Yosemite, July 2007

San Diego, September 2007

Big Sur, October 2007

Lake Tahoe, December 2007

A memorable year indeed!!! Hope to see a lot more places in 2008.On this note, here's wishing you a Happy New Year!!!

Skiing at Tahoe

2007-12-26T01:54:52Z

It was a cloudy day. The mountains were covered in what seemed like thick white blankets when seen from a distance. As the car moved closer, everything fell in place, much clearer than before. Beautiful snow-capped mountains, tall trees on either side with leaves covered in snow was a combination of green, white and brown, little houses with their roofs covered in snow and lit fire places looked magical. The shroud of fog unveiled, revealing a path that led to the top of the mountains. It seemed surreal, straight out of a fairy tale!!! Just that this fairy tale was true and had me, my hubby and friends as its characters.

This was how Tahoe looked when we drove to it in the morning. There had been a snow-storm two days before we went there and the fresh snow looked so beautiful that I wanted to get off and walk on it. We freshened up, rented skis and boots and drove down to Sierra. We parked and put on our ski boots. Man did they weigh a ton each!!! I walked like a penguin because lifting each leg was an ordeal. We finally reached the slopes and they looked beautiful. There were two kinds of slopes. One was the Advanced Slope for people who could ski and snow board well. That slope looked really scary and I could see tiny specs (people) on the slope moving really fast. The Beginners Slope looked relatively easy to me at that time only until I put on my skis.

All set to ski

The slope with the trees around it is the advanced one

The Beginners Slope

All of us just before skiing

This was my first time and so Bhasker helped me in putting on my skis. Unfortunately, the boots I got, accumulated too much snow and putting them on was proving to be quite a task. My balance on top of that was quite wonked. So each time Bhasker helped me with one ski, I would lose my balance and put my weight on him and after he helped me put on the second one, I would lose my balance and fall. In order for me to get up, Bhasker had to take out the skis and then the whole exercise would begin again. I finally got bugged and told him I will enroll for classes and that he can go ahead and ski without having to worry about me.

The classes were proving to be fun because the instructors knew what they were doing and in no time I could put on my own skis and walk with them. The group I was in had lottsa Indians and I made friends instantly and the guys in the group kept helping me get rid of snow from my boots. I thought I made good progress.....till it was time for me to come down from a small slope. My instructor Mike told us how to form a wedge and come down slowly. When it was my turn, I did everything I was told except for coming down the slope. Mike told me not to lean back when coming down the slope because I would lose my balance and fall but the speed at which I came down frightened me and I would lean back and THUD!!! I would fall.

Coming down the slope can be fun

My instructor Mike and me

I fell so many times

Finally I came down without falling

Bhasker is good at this

Everytime I came down, I fell but I was determined not to give up. I fell in all the weird angles possible and also hurt my knee but that did not stop me from having fun and I finally learned to form a wedge and come down without falling. Time just flew and we had to get out of the ski resort. It was very difficult to walk back to the car, more so now because we were tired after skiing, ah no actually after falling. once the ski boots were off my shins hurt like crazy and by the time we went to the motel, my whole body was hurting. I just fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow but I couldn't sleep for long as we had to go to the casinos.

At the motel

We went to two casinos that evening, Harveys and Harrahs. Well we would've stopped with one casino if Rohini had not been chased out. They suspected that she was under age to be there and her work permit was not accepted as an ID proof. So we were asked to leave and so we went to Harrahs and here we played on the slot machines and also played Poker. Bhasker and I made $2.50 after putting in $1 but we played with the $2.50 and lost it too but it was fun and we sat there for quite sometime.

At the casino

At about 12:30 and after almost 2 to 3 hours in the casino, we called it a day and went to the room and slept. We slept like logs that night and I woke up at 10 the next morning.

That day was allocated to playing and driving up to a view point to see the Lake Tahoe. So after breakfast and a refreshing cup of coffee we went to Lake Tahoe. We walked right down to the lake. It was slippery so I slid all the way down. Soon our snow fights started and Bhasker, Raghav, Rohini and I were laughing (except at the time when Bhasker put snow on my camera) and running around, trying to make snowballs and aiming at the nearest target. We soon got tired and went to help Sudhir and Rashmi with the snowman.

A really cute Husky

The snow ball fights

After lunch at a place near the lake, we drove down to the view point. It was breathtaking!!! Snow covered the rocks on one side of the lake, trees on the other side reflected off the lake, a small island in between added to the beauty of the place. We stood there clicking snaps but no snap can do justice to the beauty of that place.

Steamed veggies with cheese and brown rice and soup of the day, Rice Bowl and Cappuccino

At the view point

It was time to head back after that as it was getting dark. We soon drove down and in no time we were out of the magical place and back to the freeway but the beauty of the place will be etched in my mind and we will go back there next year.

From cakes to parties to a day in the city, the weekend had it all

2007-12-13T03:05:58Z

The weekend started early...8 in the morning is early by my standards. After a long chat session with my parents, I started off with baking a cake for my friend Rohini. Bhasker was reading out the recipe. I thought I started with Chocolate Cake and ended up with Vanilla Cake instead and was very disappointed about it. It was too late now because the barter was all ready to be put in the oven and there was no way to mix cocoa in it. "Well Vanilla Cake it is", so I thought and sat down to watch TV while I waited for half hour to pass.

We removed the cake after half an hour and I was so tempted to taste it. It looked yum but there was no way of making sure of that. Both of us were thinking up ways to steal a piece and then just put away the cake and had lunch instead.

After running a few errands it was time to get ready for the Yahoo! Year End Party. The plan was to take the cake along and give it to her at 12 but Raghav told us that they may be leaving the party early. So we decided we will give it to her that evening itself in advance. I don't know if we surprised her but we made her cut the cake and finally got to taste it and Man!!! It was yum if I should day so myself. The best part about it, Rohini does not like Chocolate Cake. :)

We headed back after that to get ready for the party. When we reached the venue, the way the hall was done up took me by surprise. It was really nice!!! The theme for the party was fire and ice. The whole place was done up in red and white colours and there were dancers near each food stall. There was a small ice skating rink at a corner. Tables were set up in one corner and the rest of the hall was taken up by Poker, Craps, Roulette and Black Jack tables. We were given chips worth 500 each when we entered. In the adjoining hall, there were some Live Bands playing. There were Bars near the food stalls and a room where people could smoke Hookah. We had dinner and sat to play Poker. Initially Bhasker and I lost money big time but as the game progressed we did well, really well!!! We got a triplet once, a straight once. It was fun and we made quite a bit and then exchanged them for raffle tickets. Now this is where we really need luck and we aren't always that lucky. We got 6 raffle tickets but didn't win anything. We then had some desserts. Sudhir and I had a tequila shot and then we went to the other hall to see what was happening there. The music was way too loud but we tried some Darts, played Foosball and after some more Poker games, we decided to leave.

We reached home at 2, tired and sleepy. The next day again we had to get up early as we had to take Tushar to SF and show him around the place. We went to the Golden Gate Bridge and Pier 39. We had awesome Crepes for lunch and went around to see other places. The highlight of the day was the awesome Cable Car ride from Lombard to Market Street. (The last time I went on it I couldn't quite enjoy it because I had a terrible cold and kept coughing throughout the ride.). This was followed by nice dinner and then we came home and crashed.

It was a tiring weekend but it was good fun too!!!

Clear blue skies, cold nights and spellbinding beauty at Yosemite

2007-11-27T07:18:40Z

We went to Yosemite again during the long Thanksgiving weekend…only this time it was with friends and during a different season. We stood in front of Best Buy for almost 7 hours, covered in layers of sweaters and jackets as it was extremely cold, for a laptop which we did not get but I kinda enjoyed the experience. After just 5 hours of sleep we left for Yosemite. We reached in the night. Extremely tired, we ate dinner, took a small walk and went to see the skating rink and sat in front of the fire for sometime, after which we went to the tent cabins to get a good nights sleep, only that we could not sleep. It was freezing cold and the tent cabins were not heated and to add to that the blankets were damp. We kept giggling and making fun of the state we were in but we had a tough time sleeping and I think I slept for a total of 2 hours. So the next day we decided to go and ask for an upgrade to a heated tent cabin and luckily there were two of them available. So after moving the luggage we set out to see Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass.

The drive and the views we got were breath taking. If tall trees swaying to the wind were what greeted us for some parts of the journey, then for some it was half frozen lakes and at others it was frozen streams or ice covered rocks. The constant change of scenery made me enjoy every bit of the drive. We stopped at turnouts to get some nice snaps. There were ice formations on the rocks. The greens of the trees and plants, the greys of the rocks and the whites of the ice formation were a beautiful combination. We walked to the meadows. It was winter and there was nothing there except for spring grass. In summers they are supposedly covered with flowers and in peak winters, snow. We just missed the snow by a month. We then drove to Tioga Pass and further down to a lake. The lake was frozen on top and so we walked on the slippery surface and goofed around for sometime and had fun throwing ice at each other. We then drove to the Sierra Nevada and got an awesome view of a canyon and the highest motorable road in California. A family had gotten their dog there and I made a new friend. For the first time I saw a husky and he was a really handsome guy.

We turned and drove back because it started getting dark. We had an early dinner of awesome home made pizzas and then got ourselves some souvenirs. That night the moon looked awesome. It was a full moon with a circle of white around it which looked like a halo. I haven’t quite seen anything like that in my life before and I loved it. That night all of us slept well because we had heated tent cabins and the exhaustion of two sleepless nights got the better of us.

After breakfast the next morning, we went to see the Ahawanee Hotel and were spellbound by the interiors of the place and its location. We then drove to Glacier Point where we got the most wonderful view of the whole valley below. We also got a nice view of Half Dome from there. After that came the Mariposa Grove. This place has about 500 Giant Sequoia Trees. On the way to the grove we just got a feel of what to expect. Huge trees easily spanning 30-40 floors of a building and I literally had to strain my neck to get a view of the whole tree. On reaching the place we had to walk for about a mile into the grove. The sad bit was that some of them were burned down and the others charred in what looks like a forest fire that took place recently but that did not affect the beauty of the huge trees and the peace and quiet of the place nor did it affect the fresh air. It was something quite different from other trees I have seen before and I loved every minute I spent there though I was reluctant to walk that one mile initially.

It was then time to drive back to Sunnyvale. We had loads of fun on the way back. Making fun of Bhasker’s singing, we reached home, tired, hungry and sleepy but content in a way that we saw some of the most beautiful places in the last 2 days!!!

I baked Chocolate Cake!

2007-11-15T21:22:33Z

My first attempt at baking. Though the crust got over-baked just a wee bit, the cake still tastes nice. The cake is Vegan (no egg and no dairy products), inspired by Sunil and Sagarika.

Yummy Chaat!!!

2007-11-13T19:51:26Z

When we go to a place that serves chaat here and ask for Paani Puri, you get Panni, Puri, Potato and Channa all separately. Thats the most annoying way to eat Paani Puri. Two weeks ago Balu told us about a place in Fremont which serves Paani Puri just the way the street vendors in India do and all of us were listening to him, mouth watering as we imagined yum Paani Puri. So that evening all of us set out to this place. Its called Chatpata Corner. When we reached, the place was closed and there was a note saying that they may be closed for 15 days due to family emergency. I can't describe how disappointed I was. We went and ate in a nice Thai restaurant that day but the description given to me kept echoing in my ears and I had to eat that chaat somehow. So a week later I tried calling them and no answer and I tried many times after that and no response. I gave up finally and just then...Bhasker found out that there is a branch of theirs in Fremont inside a Bazaar. I nearly jumped on hearing this. I called them last Friday and found out that they were open and that evening we set out to eat chaat. It was in a corner of the bazaar and there was a long queue. After a long wait, it was our turn to have Paani Puri.

The Paani Puri was absolute bliss...It tasted like Delhi ka Paani Puri and it was simply awesome. One was not enough and we asked for more and Bhasker and I shared it. It was the most amazing Paani Puri in a long time. We also had Tikki and Masala Puri and it was yummy!!! For people interested in going to this place, its in Fremont on Mowry Avenue inside Dana Bazar. Happy chaatting!!!

Nice and quiet Diwali...

2007-11-09T20:09:19Z

Diwali is usually all about shopping, lights, food, sharing, fun and crackers...This time we had it all except for the crackers...

Shopping
On a Sunday before Diwali we went and got ourselves some clothes and stuff that we needed. My parents had sent us nice tops for me and T-shirts for Bhasker

Lights
We went to Lowes two days before and got some nice lights that we put up on the patio. It was kinda difficult to put them up since we forgot to buy rope to tie around the lights but Bhasker had a brilliant idea. He took the garbage bag neckties and used them to put up the lights. Its holding on pretty well I must say.

Food
I am still learning and experimenting with food. This time I looked up for recipes online and found this one on Badam Halwa. We went and got all the ingredients and the halwa came out pretty well. I also tried making Baby Corn Manchurian. It came out well though it wasn't as crisp as the ones made in restaurants.

Sharing
I sent some sweets with Bhasker for his team and it seems they all loved the sweet. :-)

Food
We went to the Livermore Temple in the evening. It is a beautiful temple and we sat there for sometime. After coming out we realised that they will serve some prasadam in sometime and so we waited. It was so worth it. We had the most awesome food. There was Pongal, Puliodare, Kesari and Curd rice. Man we ate a lot!!!

Fun
After coming back, Rohini made some good coffee and then we went to Ajay and Sumanth's place for a game of Poker and we had loads of fun especially with Ajay getting all animated about his bad luck.

So it was a really nice Diwali altogether. We were supposed to go out on a nice, romantic dinner, me and Bhasker and he has promised to take me this weekend since we didn't go yesterday. So today I have the movie Om Shanti Om to look forward to and tomorrow a nice dinner at a nice place. The weekend already looks nice to me...

Earthquake 2!!!

2007-10-31T23:06:41Z

Just felt another small one about 5 minutes ago when I was sitting on my bed and we ran out. The neighbour said she hadn't felt anything but just when I came back in, thinking my imagination was running wild, my friend pinged me and asked if I felt it too...this is freaking me out. The details are in the link below...

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/nc51189819.php

Earthquake!!!

2007-10-31T04:05:55Z

There was an earthquake at about 8:05 PM. We were in the kitchen about to make rotis and the whole kitchen started shaking and Bhasker stood there rooted, asking me what was happening and I had to yell to make him run out and I ran out too...Neighbours had already come out by then, This was a major one with a 5.6 on a richter scale and the epicenter was 9 miles away, Alum Rock. Was very scary. The phone lines were jammed after this. Some of our friends didn't even feel it though and the others who did started pinging us on messenger. Hope it doesn't happen again!!!

Big Sur

2007-10-24T00:36:47Z

What started with a plan to go camping ended up in a one day trip and what started at 6 people ended up at 4...but that didn't lessen the enthusiasm (except for Rohini getting up late and depriving me of my half hour's beauty sleep). We had breakfast at Subway (aaaargh!!! I swear I won't be eating there for a long time) and packed a sub for lunch as well...had amazing hot chocolate and coffee at Starbucks and then set off towards BIg Sur...it's a national reserve about 100 miles from Sunnyvale and most of the drive is on Highway 1.

It was an amazing drive which took us along beaches and the beautiful blue Pacific. It was a bright and sunny day, with clear blue skies and deep blue waters and from a distance the ocean just looked like a continuation of the sky. We stopped at places to get snaps...We saw some beautiful houses built on rocks with private drives and we stopped at a restaurant just to walk on the huge rock a few feet above the ocean, which gave us an awesome view of the place.

From there we went to the National Reserve and on the way we saw a whole bunch of cyclists...They were racing for a cause, the distance for this race was not 10 miles, not 20 but 600 miles starting from San Francisco to San Diego over 7 days...Man some enthusiasm!!! We reached the reserve had lunch and set off on a 1.7 mile walk to the bluff. The bluff trail was along the ocean and we walked there drinking in the beauty of the hazy ocean and returned. On the way back, the sun shone so brilliantly that the water looked frozen in some parts of the ocean while the rest of the ocean looked calm...and this view looked brilliant from the road. We stopped at Bixby Bridge because Raghav was very particular about taking snap of him on the bridge. The bridge is a huge one and a very old one, built in 1932. We got some snaps and then sat on the rocks looking down at the ocean waves lapping against the shore. By then some guys came there on their Harley Davidson and were clicking snaps. I wanted to ride the bike and asked them and they let me ride it...Man was amazing!!!

We had fun and now it was time to go home...We were so tired that we slept on the way back home except Raghav who had to drive...It was one fun trip and and it ended with Pani Puri for dinner so I couldn't have asked for more!!! ;)

An amazing weekend!!!

2007-10-16T21:58:14Z

Last Saturday we were supposed to go on a trek to Point Reyes. We played cards as usual on Friday and the next morning I wasn't up for it and we dropped out. I met Farida, my school friend that day after 7 years...Ya long time...She came home with her husband and then we went out for lunch. It was for a short time, couple of hours but I kinda enjoyed it.

On Sunday, we went on an amazing drive to Napa. When we reached Napa the whether was just right. Cloudy and foggy, beautiful whether for a drive and for some wine tasting. Ya I tasted almost 11 varieties of wine and to my surprise Bhasker tasted it too. We went to this famous vineyard called the V.Sattui. We had the Chardonnay, Johannisberg, Gamay, Muscat to name a few. We also bought a bottle of the Muscat. Its a desert wine. We had lunch and headed back because it was really hot by then.

We got back home and set off again, this time in a group to BOWL!!! Yes I love bowling and even though I was tired we went for it (Bhasker hates bowling but surprisingly he was ready to go too)...We played 3 games in two hours. My first game was a disaster. I came fifth and lost to Bhasker. Raghav and Sumanth were tied at the first place, Ajay second, Bhasker third and Rohini fifth. The next game favoured me a bit. Ajay put up an amazing score of 145, I came second just missing the 100, Bhasker third, Raghav fourth, Rohini fifth and Sumanth six. In the third game I played well but towards the end got beaten by Sumanth just by one point and felt terrible, not because I lost but because I lost by a point. That game Raghav came first, Sumanth second, me third, Ajay fourth, Bhasker fifth and Rohini sixth. Bhasker you are still two down to me in our personal score and guys I am all set to beat you'll the next time...

Promise of the first rains

2007-09-23T02:10:24Z

I love the rains especially after a dry summer. The first showers soothe the sun-scorched earth as they gently touch it and the smell that it invokes is simply amazing.

Rains bring back a lot of memories from my childhood and school days like purposely leaving behind the raincoat while going to school in spite of multiple reminders from my parents to take it or coming home and asking mom to make some pakoras which we can have with a hot cup of tea or walking home slowly from the bus stop to my house just so that i can play in the rain a bit longer or standing beneath a plant and shaking it so that the rain drops that have collected on the leaves fall on me.

Rain brings with it a lot of happiness. Dry leaves spread out and turn green in celebration, farmers are happy about the crops, kids totally enjoy getting wet, peacocks spread out their beautiful wings and dance in happiness, the parched earth turns a lovely brown, Everyone is happy when it rains.

It rained in the Bay Area yesterday and I am happy about it because the first rain promised many more in the months to come, promised to turn the yellow hills around this place into a brilliant green. I lay in bed listening to the pitter patter of the rain drops and felt like the rains were saying something about more colour and happiness and I smiled to myself before I gradually drifted off to sleep...Pitter Patter Pitter Patter Pitter Patter

Lord Krishna

2007-09-20T20:45:50Z

My Latest sketch of Lord Krishna

San Diego...truly amazing!!!

2007-09-05T03:44:23Z

"Look into the ocean and you will see what you wanna be."

It was a long weekend because of Labor Day. We planned to go see some place for the weekend. After a lot of debate, San Diego was finally agreed upon. Seeing a new place is something I always look forward to and this time was no exception. I was literally counting days to this weekend. Of course some things had to be done at the last minute like booking a car but at 5 in the evening on Friday, 6 of us, Raghav, Rohini, Sumanth, Sudhir, Bhasker and I, set out in two cars.

San Diego is 500 miles from Sunnyvale. We did good time with two breaks and we were there at 3 in the morning.That just gave us 5 hours to catch up on our sleep before we set out to see the place .The motel room was a small but comfortable one and all of us fell asleep the moment our heads hit the pillow.

After breakfast at a Subway in the downtown area, off we went to the zoo. San Diego Zoo is one of the most famous in the US and I was looking forward to seeing the Giant Panda that they have there at the zoo. We took the cable car ride at the entrance and got a nice aerial view of the zoo and in 4 minutes we were at the other end. From there we started walking back, covering all the animal enclosures one by one.The most interesting ones were the polar bears, the giant panda, the giraffe, the elephants, the urangutans and the aviary. The aviary there has 160 birds which belong to 80 different species and we saw parrots and other birds which I have never seen and their names I cannot remember.We took the bus ride around the zoo as we were very tired to walk around any more.The bus ride covered most of the animals but we were even more tired at the end of the ride because we sat on the top and the sun was beating down so hard on us.I had turned all pink in the face.

We then decided we had had enough of the zoo and anyways we had seen most of it and the next important thing to do was HAVE LUNCH.So we went to a nice Indian restaurant in the Downtown area and we hogged like we had never seen food in a long time. After that we were all charged up to go to a beach. We went to two beaches, one was a pebble beach and the other was a sand beach. We played in water for sometime, as the water wasn't that cold compared to the beaches in the Bay Area, and actually felt nice as the gentle waves lapped against our legs, as we stood there watching the sunset. So we decided to go back to the beach again before leaving San Diego which we didn't quite get around to doing.

After a nice dinner and a card game session we are all set to hit the bed as we had to go to Sea World the next day.

We thought Sea World was an amusement park and I was happy about it because it has been quite sometime since I have been to one but when we found out it was not, I was disappointed...not for long though.It is a place where all the sea animals, which we never get to see, are kept and not only that, they perform as well. I was so happy to hear this and was twice as enthusiastic to go there.

We reached there at around 11:30 in the morning and the stars of the first show we went to were KILLER WHALES. We had to wait 45 minutes for the show in the blazing sun but it was all so worth it in the end. A video was played about sea animals and some quiz questions were thrown at the audience and I learned something which I didn't know.Killer whales belong to the dolphin family and that dolphins are smaller whales. Just before the show started there was a beautiful presentation about animals and it ended with this quote which stuck to my mind, "Look into the ocean and you will see what you want to be." And then came the moment I was waiting for, more than 100 odd people in that stadium were waiting for, the show. The trainers came and spoke and as they introduced the performing whales, right on time, the biggest sea mammal made its entrance, a beautiful navy blue and white in colour, a hole on its head, looking majestic as it swam around the brilliant blue water and as though one was not enough for two small eyes, in came 4 more truly amazing whales.They were so well trained that they left the audience breathless with their flips in the air, as they jumped out of the water, as they splashed water on the audience, as they nodded when the trainer asked them a question, as they swam with their trainer balancing on their snout. One of the killer whales they have there, Shamu is a star and you can dine with him if you reserve in advance. A kid was picked from the audience to participate in the show and got to feed the whales and I was so jealous.

After the Killer Whales' stunning performance we went to see the Dolphin Show. The show started with the caretaker singing a few songs and making the audience sing with him and then the dolphins made their entry.They were really cute and their performance was brilliant and it ended with one dolphin making this 16 feet jump to touch the flag.

I wanted to see another show after the Dolphins but the others were hungry and so we grabbed some food before we went to the next show, Pets Rule. Pets Rule was a fun show with animals like dogs, cats, pigs and birds performing on a stage which was designed like a playhouse for them. The show began with the song, Who let the dogs out as dogs ran in from all sides of the stadium on to the stage and then just before the song stopped a pig ran in. It was quite funny to see a pig. The whole show we were laughing as dogs raced, pigs raced to beat the dogs, cats ran up the walls, as dogs wrote letters, prepared for their date. As though this was not enough, there was funny act where dogs ran into something and cats ran out, black cats fell into a milk bottle and came out as white cats, white cats fell into the trash and came out as black and white cats and as a small dog went onto this machine kinda thing and came out as a big dog. I was laughing so hard, my stomach hurt.

After this show, we stayed back as I wanted to meet the dogs from the show and then we went to feed the Dolphins. Bhasker and I went and the others just sat out and watched. We had to buy fish for them and feed them. They were so cute and made noises as they came to the sides of the pool, mouth wide open waiting for the fish to be given. I touched them and fed them. They felt like rubber. Then Bhasker touched and I was so happy about touching them that I forgot to take a snap of Bhasker touching them and I felt quite bad about it. We went to see the penguins and I got to see yet another variety of them, apart from the normal ones and Macaroni Penguins which I had seen in the Edinburgh zoo and after that we went to see the show performed by Gymnasts which was rather boring though Bhasker said he liked it.

After this, we went to watch sea lions and otters perform and truly speaking, I was amazed to see them perform. They had their act right and never made a mistake and they were really funny. It was like a play where the sea lions, otter and the crew (the trainers) of a submarine were working very hard to save the submarine which was in danger. The otter was really cute, running in with Pepsi in its hand, going completely still when a member aimed a gun at it and said "Freeze" and running in again to help the seal shoot the member with a cannon ball. It was a treat to watch them.

We then went on the Sky Ride which gave a splendid view of San Diego and then we set out to the last show of the day, a Spoof Show performed by Sea Lions again. We laughed as the sea lions made fun of all the other shows at Sea World and as they made fun of American Idol and as the otter ran in with the results.

By the time we got out of the show, it was 10 in the night. The day had gone by so fast. We had seen so many shows and each one left us with the feeling that it was better than the previous show. I was amazed by how well these animals were trained and how much of patience and effort must have gone in by the trainers and how intelligent these animals really are to understand instructions and carry them out so well and entertain. It was one day in my life that I will never ever forget.

We left Sea World at 11, had dinner at 12 and played cards and dumb charades till like 5 in the morning, slept for 4 hours and then left San Diego at 11 in the morning. I was so tired that I slept for most part of the journey.

In the evening, we saw one of the most beautiful sunset. The sky was a brilliant orange with patches of grey clouds here and there. It looked like the sun and the grey clouds were fighting, as the sun cast its beautiful orange light across the sky in an attempt to keep away the darkness and looking brilliant as it slowly dipped below the horizon while the darkness fought back.Finally the sun gave in and slowly made its way below the horizon leaving traces of brilliant orange light as though prominsing to come back with a brighter and better tomorrow and I smiled as I thought about it.

We reached home, richer in terms of memories and experiences which we will cherish and talk about. It was indeed a nice trip!!!

Thank God!!!Its only...

2007-08-29T11:58:44Z

Exams are going on in Baldwins. I am nervous because I do not know what is the exam I have the next day (well I am sure you will tell me that I can call a friend. Read on to know why i didn't).The next day I get up, butterflies in my stomach. Everything after that is in slow motion.Mom literally stuffs breakfast down my throat and then I am off to school.

My mouth is dry and my hands are sweaty as I walk up to my friend and ask her what exam we have and to my horror she says,"Its Goegraphy today." Suddenly my legs feel like jelly and I cannot walk.Geography is my weakest subject (well Maths as well) and I have not studied for it and I do not even have the book.So I try to sit with my friend and read a bit but nothing is sinking in.The bell rings and its time to go into the exam hall.Tears sting my eyes as I sit down, blank, desperately trying to recall what the teacher had taught in those numerous classes.

Oh no...I got up all sweaty and realised that my eyes were moist.I was crying for some reason and then it came back to me, clearly. I was dreaming about Geography exam again. Why does this dream keep taunting me. I never ever in my life went to an exam without preparing and always got my timetable right.I never failed in an exam. And the dream does not give me any lifeline,so phone a friend is not an option.

Well I do not know why I keep dreaming about the same thing but I am happy every time I wake up because its only a dream and I breathe a sigh of relief.Thank God!!!Its only a dream...

Obsessed isn't he!!!

2007-08-27T11:04:23Z

Bhasker is building this new game.The first time he told me about the game,I was happy at least that he isn't gonna be sitting in front of the comp for 20 hours playing World Of Warcraft.One Sunday morning I got up and Bhasker came running in all enthusiastic.I was so glad that he had come to say Good Morning in such great spirits only to find out soon that he wanted to update me about the game...but its ok let me listen.Its name is "War of the Cubes".I burst out laughing at this.Come on,it can be war of so many other things like war of trees,war of animals,war of anything but cubes but he told me that the artistic part will be thought about after the game is designed and the cubes will be replaced with whatever else.So I nodded attentively and asked questions.He soon went into the technicalities and everything started bouncing off my head and I looked blank.He told me the whole thing and then said,"I know you don't understand but I am just trying to get my thoughts together'."Well ok I understand you need someone to talk to but hello,I just woke up and now my head feels heavy,Information Overload.

Well this is pretty much the plight with any of his friends who come home.One day a whole bunch of them came to play cards and there while the dealer was shuffling,this boy was happily showing off his game and explaining his latest developments.They appreciated his efforts.Well I know they did but shouldn't he stop at that?No...My parents came online on a Saturday evening for the routine weekly catch up and this boy pulled the webcam from me and showed my parents his game.They could not see anything nor could they understand what he was saying.

He is now integrating physics in his game.At 3 am in the morning,after a few episodes of Indian Idol,I thought it was time to sleep and so I went in.Bhasker was snoring away.The moment I switched on the light he started saying something.I asked him what he was saying."I want to see if the game works the same way in my laptop and my PC."Oh yes!He was dreaming about his game and blabbering about it in his sleep too.

I know its a nice idea and a productive way of using his time but this boy is obsessed with his game now.Oh God!!!Please save him before he goes Bonkers!!!Well but I am a wee bit curious to see how the game turns out... :)

Perfect Sunday for the Beach

2007-08-23T08:46:36Z

Last Sunday Rohini,Raghav,Bhasker and I set out to the beach.It was a bright and sunny afternoon,perfect for the beach.We chose one of the row of beaches in Half Moon Bay.We walked quite a bit to find the entrance to the beach and when we finally reached,out came the sunscreen and off I went to test how cold the water was.I stood there waiting for the wave to come and lap my feet and when it finally did,a shiver ran down me and my feet became numb.Man the water was cold but what fun is it to tell the others.Let them test it and so I told them its nice and warm.So they came and stood there and well Rohini almost screamed when the water lapped her feet and I was laughing.According to Bhasker,water here is always cold because of the cold current from Alaska.Well I would buy anything anyone told me because my geography sucks and I also know by now not to argue with Bhasker because he is right when it comes to geography but who cares about geography when we are having fun.We started throwing water at each other and the running and chasing began and soon we were tired and drenched and sticky and I hated the taste of salty water in my mouth.

The dry beach sand was a welcome change and it felt nice and warm.So I lay down and went to sleep only to be woken up by Bhasker who was covering my feet with sand.We drew stuff on sand and played disk for sometime and lazed around for a bit and then we decided it was time to head back.

While walking back to the car,we saw this old couple taking a pet for a walk and there was a crowd around that place,not because the pet was a cute and friendly dog or a fussy cat but a Tortoise.They were taking a tortoise for a walk.A nice and big one and I was told that it will grow to weigh a 200 pounds.Phew!!!When it does,those walks are going to be the longest for them.

It was a fun-filled Sunday afternoon.Beach,sand,sun and water.Can't get any better!!!

Amitabh Bachan and Stonehenge

2007-08-14T22:24:30Z

On a Friday evening,in the GS office in London,sometime in September or October(well I don't remember exactly) last year my friends and I met up after work to decide where to go the next day…All of us agreed on Stonehenge…

The next day we set off to…I think it’s the Waterloo station though I am not too sure…to buy tickets for the national rail that takes us to Salisbury from where a bus would take us to Stonehenge…After getting the tickets we were walking to the board displaying the timings,when suddenly my friend Jai called out, “Hey look there,Amitabh Bachan”…I looked around frantically wanting to see him and lo…my eyes fell on a circle of dancers and right in the middle,clad in one of the craziest attires I have ever seen him in,was the superstar himself…He was wearing light blue jeans,black boots,a weird coat with all kinds of colours in it and a feathered hat.He was shooting for a movie.Apart from us and a few other people who recognised Amitabh,it was just him and the dancers.No one else even stood by to see what is happening.

Ready…Action…someone yelled and then the music played from some small music system and he started performing.The dancers went sturtting around in a perfect circle while he stood in the middle of the circle moving his hands in sync with the music…a typical Amitabh style dance.

It was nice to see him perform and I stood there rooted,not looking anywhere else.My friend Jai however was busy clicking snaps and recording videos of him.After sometime the person yelled “cut” and Amitabh walked out of the circle and sat on the chair kept there for him.I walked up to him,only to be stopped by two thugs standing right next to him…”I just want his autograph”,I said.”He doesn’t sign when he is working”,one of the two responded but I insisted and they just shook their heads.I thought better than to argue with them.I looked like an ant in front of them and it will not take them long to lift me by the collar and toss me out.I asked him the name of the movie and for that he said,”Jhum Barabar Jhum”.I made a mental note to watch the movie when it releases(but the reviews were so bad that I didn’t go) and then walked back to my friends.We soon left.I was rather disappointed about getting this close and still not being able to get an autograph but my friend had gotten some really nice snaps…

Stonehenge was a complete change of scene compared to the crowded station and the drive to it by bus was amazing.It was a beautiful countryside with cute little houses and fields with sheep grazing.The grass was a brilliant green.We reached the place and went around the stones,carrying a thin cordless-like-player which told us about the history of the place but I wasn’t listening.I didn’t care about which stone the sun rose above in which month,nor did I want to know the names of the stones.I just wanted to take in the beauty of the countryside.

Far away,a family was picnicking.Food was laid out and they were busy munching as the kids ran around them,chased by a dog and this looked like a scene straight out of a movie.

It would be nice to have a home in the countryside,all nice and peaceful.And as I thought so a song kept playing in my head,a song which we used to sing in school,a song that made me imagine this scene everytime I sang it in school,”Home,home on the ranges,where the deer and the antelope play,where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.”

Baldwin Girls High School...Std 6E

2007-08-13T05:07:57Z