Visiting Uncle Sam - 5 - Tanning in Santa Cruz

Cometh the weekend and I start planning on what to do....This time, I was wondering if I should do Stanford University or Half Moon Bay or where ? My lunch partner told me that she went to Santa Cruz one day. That had stuck with me, so I chartered the plan for Santa Cruz on Friday night, got the train timings and bus number and the local taxi numbers, charged the mobile and almost got ready by Friday  night itself :). Remember that I had only one acquaintance cum friend out here...and they had a party of their group of friends and parties are not my cup of chai/coffee so I slept with the idea that I will be in Santa Cruz tomorrow..


Since I had decided that it would be a leisure trip and I am not hard pressed for time, I got up late, had my breakfast and started for the 10.58 am Caltrain to San Jose. It was a one hour journey to San Jose and from there I got out of the Diridion Station and I see a Amtrak 17 highway express bus already ready (they plan it so well so that the visitors dont have to wait for buses or vice versa). The ticket for the caltrain was 6$, and now the bus is 5$. This 17 highway express takes you to Santa Cruz downtown Metro Center. The journey is sort of like crossing a hill to get to the other side and it takes exactly 1 hour. So in a total of two hour journey from Belmont, you can reach Santa Cruz. The uphill had some good scenic views, but there is no stops in between. You get to see the Lexington Reservoir and some thick tall woods (which is called forest in our places) in between.

Got down in Santa Cruz Metro Center by 1 pm. You could walk for 10-15 mins to the Beach Boardwalk, but since it was very very hot (not even sunny..literally hot over here) I decided to keep myself alive and took a taxi to Boardwalk which is almost 8 $ from there (min fare..) It was a very nice place, but it was over crowded. You are greeted by a Casino ( I didnt go there obviously), a bowling place etc.. You pass all these and enter the board walk. It is full of fun rides and games for all levels and lots of eatable shops. You can see the pirate ship, the sky glider (which I went just to feel the thrill of the heights again..this time I wasnt afraid that much..but still got some cold feet , literally) , the zooming rides, the one which takes people to the top and drops them (god I wouldnt go there in that for anything in the world... I could still hear the screams of the people so much.. I guess they like the thrill in that...just like Sky diving), and lots of others..

Luckily for me, there was a competition going on, and it was for the CheerLeaders :) If you have seen some teen english movies on the Cheerleaders competitions you would realize after seeing this show live, how close to truth these movies are. The girls were awesome.. God how much effort do they put for this..and since it was this teen girls competition, there were so many of them around, with parents, with boyfriends, with giggling girl friends...baap re... I really felt very old that day :(. In one of the performances, the audio got stuck, but these girls went on with their counts and completed the dance with elan..It was nice to watch them.. I liked it a lot :)

Then I took the sky ride, had a long view of the beach and the light house and the hot burning sun.. Ennaku dhaan timing miss aayidichu, eppo inga hot aa irukum eppo cold aa irukum nu theriyala.. andha ooru kaarangalazhuku indha weather dhaan saakunu,  tanning panna vandhiduchunga.. Everywhere moms were applying suncreams for kids and were getting ready to get tanned.. I was like "Ada paavigala... naan already wheatish color.. inga innaiku irundha black aayiduvean poala iruke!! " I went in a hurry and got a UV protection cooler glasses. Indha kodumai ellam pathaadhunu, I had taken my jacket too.. Indha oorla eppo kulurum eppo veyilaa irukumnu yaaruku theriyum.. Adhu vera oru extra load.. After my sky ride and a big Icecream (rombha soodu paa..thaanga mudiyala.. water ku badhilaa icecream nalla irundhichu) I went to the beach. The water was so so cold and the waves were too high.. I walked for a long time enjoying the people and the kids playing in the water. I wanted to walk till the light house, but it was too hot to really do that.. it would have taken another half an hour to go there.. I rather stay alive than going to that light house.. By the time I went and checked the rides, saw the competition for some time, came to the beach, started taking snaps, it was already 2 hours there. Time poanadhe theriyala..

Lazed around in the cold water, watched people enjoy (especially a goondu lady who was going to the water and racing the waves back and forth , kids using buckets to dug hole and fill it with water, playing in the water, teen girls giggling and trying to get wet.. they looked great in their bikinis and guys trying to surf in those waves and show off to those college girls who were there..... It was like watching and hearing a live episode of sit com :) sema comedy yaa irundhadhu..) and after three and half hours of my time there I decided that I should probably start back now and see the down town a bit and then head back to Belmont.

So came back in taxi and then for an hour roamed the Pacific Ave (the hyped place to hang out and window shop).. Ippo dhaan story la oru twist...As I was walking leisurely...there was this guy who was playing guitar on the road (he played it really well.. I miss my guitar :(...) and after listening to him for a while, moved a little.. There were some people who were dismantling their stall on the pavement and a lady was sitting in a stool there.. She saw me and smiled.. I smiled back (well here people always smile @ you , so you have no choice to smile back.. smile karne mein kya jaathaa hai.. But if you do it in India..they will say ilicha vaayi.. enna ulagamdaa..) and went ahead..I heard someone calling "Madam Madam" .. I was like yaarudaa idhu.. I turned around ( I normally dont..but I felt that I was being called) and saw that lady calling me (very good..nalla intuition) She asked,  "Are you from India?", I said, "Yes". She said," Oh very nice meeting you.. We are from Hare Rama Hare Krishna  [I was thinking "Rama Rama!!ingeyumaa"] We had a stall here.. we are just wrapping up.. Where are you from ? ", I said, "Bangalore". She said, "Oh.. very nice very nice...Do you go to Iskcon there ?" I answered in positive. Her colleague devotees also joined her..and were happy to see me there.. (idhu nalladhukaa illa ..?) One of them was a American.. He started to talk about Meditation and Krishna and their Prabhu (that means Lord) I heard them and then suddenly they gave me a book of Krishna which has Lord Krishna's stories ( I thought, "No way they are going to sell me this..") and after talking for a while, they said, "please have the book with you as a token of our appreciation (I, for one sec, felt so ashamed..but it didnt last long). you can donate whatever you feel like and you should definitely come to our Ashram in Berkeley." (dho daa.. idhuku dhaan indha buildup aa...) I gave them 5$ and said that was all I had and thank Krishna, by that time, their vehicle had arrived and they left..

I am not commenting anything bad about them or am not opposed to them, but I never felt @ ease when people try to sell religious sentiments (be it Hinduism, Christianity or Islam..what ever) in any form..that is all.. Sorry guys.. I am not that kind of person, even though I look like one. My idea of God and religion is a little different even though its confused.

Then after this small twist, I came back to my loitering in those beautiful avenues, where you see film star type woman in high boots with good makeup and very simple old ladies selling coffee... guys playing guitar and drums, ...it was a nice place.. After an hour and a half or so, came back to Metro center and took my bus No 17 back to San Jose and guess what, on the way saw some forest fire being put out by Fire brigade.. it was that hot that day.... Came back to Belmont by around 7 or so and then walked all the way to hotel, after having my dinner in a Restaurant on the way to hotel (a  little costlier one actually).

Next day, Sunday, I as usual got up late, lazed around, went to Target for some window shopping by around 1 and then by 4, went to my friends place (they picked me up from Target), had good Veg Briyani in their house, saw Magadheera (Telugu) movie in their 42" HD television and came back @ around 10 pm.

One more weekend ended on a good note..

Hope to have more adventurous ones soon..

CSK - the T20 Champions :)

Okie..Its final, its over and its Official.. (Coz no one believed me when I said they were bound to win this time )..

I am very very happy that CSK won the Champions League today :), but I am little sad that I wasnt there to enjoy it :( I guess you cannot get everything for free!! Its ok.. I am so happy that they won a title, again.

You rock CSK... I seriously hope to have the same team again... :D

CSK in Finals finally

The main reason I quit watching cricket games was my inability to handle such tensions. If I was watching this in TV, I would have kept shouting, yelling, jumping, cursing..what not..thank god I had nothing to do of that sort today and had to sit quietly in my office cubicle refreshing the page every now and then !! except for my BP rising now and then, particularly when the rain stopped and then resumed... but atlast it was all for the good.. CSK WON!!! what a relief.. idhe en veeda irundhaa.. oru chinna kuthu dance poatirupean.. psst.. paravaaillai..
It was by D/L method.. and it wasnt a bad score.. but I guess lot of things went against Blr today.. injuries, rain, what not...
Wish I could have watched this match... You rule, my Kings!!!!... Good going and Win the Champions League cup for me please :)

Endhiran and CSK match - Crossed fingers

Oh my god... I just now realized that 24th Sept is very very important because,
a. CSK's big match against RCB
b. Endhiran release

and both are oh so important to me and I want CSK to do very very well and Endhiran too... I seriously hope Endhiran is no where close to Sivaji... Let it be better than that in 1000 ways...

and I want CSK to win very very badly... I hate it when sometimes these kind of things become so personal...but kya karein...

All of CSK and Rajni fans, please pray two times more on this very important day.

Visiting Uncle Sam - 4 - Adventurous me in Picturesque Tahoe

Sometimes somethings happen for a reason and for a good reason. Some people might say that "well, we can say that when the things that has happened have happened for the good, but..." Guess what.. it always happens for a good reason. When my trip was cancelled at the last minute 2 years before, I said to myself and to everyone around me.."Its all for the good" and now when the trip happened @ this time, I again said to myself and to all around me.."Its all for the good" and indeed it is and was.  But now, I got all I wanted :) and in a better way too. I could enjoy it so well and so satisfying that it would last a long time. I know I have blabbered enough..so coming back to the point..Where did I go this weekend ? You wont believe it.. coz even I thought that the chances were very remote, but I went to Lake Tahoe. I was planning on how to go about it, if I had to do it alone etc etc but when I made a call to one of my family friend's son (who is more of a family because both families know each other for more than 2 decades..and he is younger to me and elder to my bro..so he is sort of a younger bro to me too..) and his family (his wife and almost a yr old kid) live in Foster City very near to my hotel and office. I got his number late and called up only on thursday and guess what he said to me.. "if you are free this weekend join us on a trip to Tahoe.. I was about to cancel it owing to poor attendance of my friends or else go with my family alone..but since you are here , why dont you join us and we can have fun.. " and it was "When you want something the whole world conspires to get it for you ;) " type of feeling I had at that moment. I didnt think for a sec and said "yes, I would love to". So there began the journey.

He picked me up from my office @ 4 pm on Friday, we went to his home, got his wife and kid and then "top gearla poyikite irundhoam Tahoe ku". Like his wife said, "here we come Tahoeoooooo". We had to make two stops inbetween to feed the kid and have a bite for ourselves. And since we were heading to South Tahoe, it took a little longer and we reached his friends house in Cold Creek Trail in South Lake Tahoe by around 9 pm approx.

Cold Creek trail

His friends house was very good.. it was edging on the forest property and what to say, it can host a group of 10 people... Seems like his friend got for a pretty decent amount and he rents it out to people over weekends or a week or so and he pays his mortgage only from the rent... Wow! what an investment.. nalla dhaan yosikaraanga... Its actually a pretty nice guest house with everything equipped for you.. So we just called it a day and crashed. Next day we woke up around 8 and then by 10 we headed to the beach after having our breakfast. It was pleasantly sunny. And the water in the lake was soooo cold...

It was freezing when we stand in it for long. The water was so crystal clear you can use it as your mirror :)

and the kid was so happy and she tried her first attempt with lakes this time and she loved it.. she was ready to take a dip :) and there were some ducks quacking around so it made her more happy.. She was quacking the ducks to come near her :). We were enjoying our beach strolls and then after a hour and a half we decided that we can go on some water sports. I wanted to try parasailing for a long time.. but because of my acrophobia I didnt have the guts to do it or even think of it. Now here I had a good company, where both husband and wife are very adventurous and seems like last week they did sky diving in Monterey bay so they were all game for parasailing. So we enquired and decided to go for it. The wind was starting to come on strong and so were the waves. She wanted to do the Waverunners, but the ticket issuing guys rejected that due to the heavy winds and waves. So we three along with a kid and one more chinese couple got into our boat and it roared into the perfect spot to push us up to the heavens ;).

And now we decided that she and myself will go in tandem and then he will go alone. And we had the chinese couple who wanted to go in tandem too.. So they asked us to start first. OH MY GOD.... poradhe periya vishayam.. idhula first verayaa.. kizhinjudhu krishnagiri.. all these thoughts were running in my mind in a few seconds and then I became a little panicky.. Am I doing the right thing.. romba thevaiyaa ? ippo parasailing poalenu yaaru ketaa.. adhu idhunu I was having conflicts within myself about what I am about to do. But then I thought....what the heck... maximum what might happen is I might fall into the water..and even before my body hits the icy cold water I would have been in heaven, so technically I wouldnt feel a thing.. so far so good.. and then I took the courage , prayed my god(s) and then strapped the belt they gave to sit on when shooting up. Andha thukiniyoondu belt la ivlo periya udambu ukaandhu, adhu ennatha weight thaangi engatha poyi.. ennavao poannu ninanchute I went.. Since we both were of almost same weight it was balanced well... And then even without saying 1, 2, 3 that fellow pushed us up.. oru warning kuduka vendaamaa.. padupaavi paya.. my stomach came to my heart and my heart came to my mouth.. just because I was clutching my teeth so hard, it didnt fall out. And I was holding the rope so tightly that it started to ache my hand. I was wearing a slipper, so they asked me to remove it just in case it fell into the lake while going up. So now after going the 1000 ft height my feet became numb due to the cold..and what was I doing.. well :) as you can imagine by now, I was closing my eyes so tightly that I could have gone to sleep.. She was like calling me and talking to me.. "bayandhukaadheenga.. naan irukean..kanna thorandhu paarunga.. evlo nalla iruku.. appadiye vizhundaalum naan ungala kaapaatharean.. naan ippo recent aa dhaan swimming classku poanean" .. What.. you are new swimmer !! kizhunjudhu poa... sutham.. and then slowly and steadily I opened one eye and looked around.. WOW.. Can this be so beautiful.. Am I seeing it for real.. There was no noise (except for the flappings of the parachute up there) and down it was just water (with different shades of blue.. lighter blue near the shores where the depth is less and dark blue in the middle) and surrounded by mountains and a clear blue sky... Oh my God.. It was so awesome.. you cannot describe it in words.. if its so impressive looking @ it with one eye.. what would it be if I used both my eyes.. So I tried...And for a few seconds I tried to see and when I saw where my boat was down, I immediately closed one eye.. I dont want to use both my eyes.. I am so happy using one and enjoying with it. We were there for almost 10 mins and in that 1000 ft it was really heaven.. You have to enjoy it to know it. I cannot do justice to that feeling with words.. There is that postcard picture in my mind from that height..having the full view of Lake Tahoe... Try it once.. you wont regret it.. and then I thought kelambu poadhudhaan appadi oru jerk kuduthaangale.. keela erangumpoadhaavadhu konjam nidhaanamaa irupaanganu..but then suddenly the boat was going so fast almost toward the shore, that we were coming down in full speed.. I thought we will hit water now...ada paavigala.. nambi vandhene nu ninaichean.. then suddenly it went high up again..dai ennadaa comedy panreenga.. ovvoru dhadavaiyum oru minor heart attacke varudhu daa.. edhuvaaga irundhaalum sollitu seiyunga...so there we were again on the top..and then slowly they pulled us down.. appadaa.. mudinjudhu.. while coming down I was little brave..and landed on the boat like a bird ;) eppadi.. .(hmm indha jambathukellam korachal illainu sila per solradhu kekudhu)

Next it was the chinese couple's turn..and they went in bravely and the gentleman was brave enough to go up and take photos too.. Actually, even I thought of doing it, but during my ready-to-go conflicts , I decided to keep my camera alive, so missed out on some beautiful shots.Then he went and enjoyed well. He was even showing off by making signs of flying :) The rest of the day went in going around grabbing a byte..

Taking long walks in the beaches and in the road sides from where you can still enjoy the wonderful water. It became 8 pm by the time we came back. Since the kid was already having some cold and after her tryst with cold water, she started having running nose and was having some trouble breathing..Poor girl she didnt sleep well that night and her parents had to take care of her every half an hour. So on Suday we all got up by around 8 am and then started packing and left the house for our journey back to Foster City by around 11 am. Then he suddenly wanted to take a detour to Sqaw valley to show a village where he would be having his next month company meeting. It was a detour from our normal route but he wanted us to see the meadows and the place where winter olympics are held, especially the Ski areas. It was a wonderful drive, with gigantic mountains and streams on the way :)

and the Sqaw valley village is not exactly a village. Its a resort by name "The Village" :) and that is the only real estate in that area..Its where the ski sports are held and it was very picturesque. After having our brunch and feeding the baby we started off again by around 4 pm and came back to join the route to the North Lake Tahoe. This was much more of a city than South Lake Tahoe. And then we drove through beaches, bays, cliffs what not...

 We stopped in places where we thought we could get a good view point or places like Emerald Bay view point, etc.. Once we crossed the mountains and landed in the plains, it was one straight drive in Freeway 80 direct to SFO. By the time we reached SFO bay bridge it was almost 7.30 pm, thanks to the red traffic in a few points. It became so cold and cloudy and reached their home by 8.30 pm. After dinner @ their home, he dropped me in my hotel around 9 pm.

I never thought I would have such a wonderful, picturesque, awesome, adventurous journey to Lake Tahoe..Things happen always for the good.. you see :) .. always believe in it. And I should really thank my adventurous friend cum bro and his wife, who is more adventurous than him I would say, and their beautiful doll for this memorable journey. Thank you guys.

So far so good - CSK - another win :)

Today I got to track this match as and when it progressed because I was naturally worried after the MI's loss yday. I can atleast accept MI failing... not CSK!! right ? And wow , my boys didn't fail to deliver it. It was a good match. By the time they were in their 15th over I knew we will drive this match home :) I am not sure how good these Wayamba guys are , may be it was like India Vs Bermuda but you never know in a T20 match, do you.. I am just glad we won and are in the top of the table with a good run rate. Way to go boys.. Whistle adinga Win pannunga!!!

Visiting Uncle Sam - 3 -Exploring SFO

Remember I told you that I was invited to my ex-manager cum friend's home for Lunch during Vinayaka Chaturthi...? Yeah.. so now, since I knew how to use the Caltrain, I just took one to travel South of California to Sunnyvale. She picked up and drove me home, gave me a very sumptuous and very tasty lunch (pongal, kozhukattai etc etc..) and we started chatting about everything under the roof.. She is much elder to me.. but I feel so comfortable talking to her about everything..I always have been.... Time flew and by 6 pm I started back home via the Caltrain and took the wonderful 10 min walk back to the hotel from the Belmont Caltrain Station. It was so pleasant walking down the road with the chill wind up on your face and there is practically "no one" on the streets..except for a few cars going up and down.. .Can you imagine that.... Well trust me.. it was such a beautiful evening.



Then I was feeling a little adventurous.. so I thought what can I do for Sunday.. Should I waste my time @ hotel or shud I go somewhere..then I just went through transit.511.org website.. It listed some good options to go to SFO city, particulary the Golden Gate Bridge... and that too along with the map. Even though I wasnt sure if I would really do that... I just saved a few trips and thought of printing it out in the hotel business room. Then I just slept without even deciding on what I will be doing on Sunday.



On Sunday, somehow I got up by 7 am. It wasnt bright.. there was no sun...but something lifted up my mood and I decided to visit San Francisco especially the Golden Gate... So I had my breakfast, got up handbag ready and called the taxi by 9.15 am to drop me off @ Belmont Caltrain Station so that I can catch my 9.48 am train to SFO. And guess what.. the taxi never turned up... Is that a good sign or a bad one ? I really decided not to even think negative about it.. I just wanna go.. So took up the taxi booked by my hotel receptionist and got off in the station by around 10.30 am.. The next train came up by 11 am and off I went to San Francisco. Since I had the plan(s) of my trip printed out (in the mean time I waited for the taxi), I was somehow sure of where I am going. Got down after an hour long trip in SFO and followed the map and got in the 30 number Muni (SFO Municipal Transit) which was supposed to drop me off @ Chestnut and Laguna cross street. Hardly did I know that there would be a long 30 no. bus or a short 30 no. bus and they dropped off @ different locations :). Well I didnt know at that time, so I was enjoying my bus ride in and around SFO City.. Its the proper city.. not anything like Belmont.. Belmont is more a village... you have to book a taxi if you wanna go somewhere.. but here.. taxi's were waiting for you :). The bus went through the Financial streets, the high profile buildings, the China town (doesnt China Town look alike in all places.. I mean I have see China Town in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and they all look the same!! why is that ??? ) and then finally it dropped us off near a school (I dont remember its name now.) The driver informed us to take the short 30 number bus if I want to go to Golden Gate Bridge (here on referred to as GG Bridge). So I boarded the short 30 no. bus to GG Bridge after exactly 5 mins. Well this doesnt take you to GG Bridge directly.. it dropped me in Chestnut and Laguna Cross street and I took the 28 no. bus which drives through the Marina Blvd to GG Bridge parking lot.. How about that :).. Finally after 10 mins of drive.. I was there... in the GG Bridge parking lot.. Oh man.. it was so exciting.. Was I in my dreams.. !!! whatever... I am there and thats what it matters. And my camera started to overwork :) I went about 20-25 mins of walk in the bridge , took as many photos as I could, even asked an elderly couple to take my snap with the bridge as the background... and I was just enjoying the whole picture..

After almost 40 mins of roaming around.. watching the vehicle zoom to and fro the bridge, the Alcatraz Island faraway.. etc and then came to the Gift center .. did some window shopping and got down to the cafe to grab a bite...and sitting on the bench in that windy and cold weather, I was wondering what to do next. I had planned on going to Fisherman's Wharf, if I really did go to SFO...Now the dilemma was should I take the bus (for which I had the route map and the numbers) or should I just a taxi because you have so many taxis lined up for you to choose from there.. I just had my bite and large cup of coffee and thought about it for a while and then just took a taxi... it was already 1 pm.



Till now my fare was 8.25 $ in Caltrain for a day pass to and from SFO, 2$ + 2$ in the Muni bus and now the taxi to Fisherman's Wharf did cost me 17$ (the costliest on on the whole trip to SFO), but what big deal, as long as I am enjoying it :). So I reached Fisherman's Wharf by around 1.30 or 1.40 pm... Wow that was nothing like what I thought it would be.. First of all it was so cold and windy and chill.. I was freezing, literally. I just took my time to walk around the streets, checking out the shops, seeing some of the live shows happening there.. going through the gardens.. watching kids play and went to enjoy the waters.. I could see the Alcatraz island much nearer now. Saw lot of boat cruises and thought.. should I try that too ? But my hungry stomach wanted something for it first.. So went into the Pier 39.. roamed about everywhere inside it and tried finding a better restaurant which was less crowded.. and got into Boudin and had a cheese Pizza :) and then suddenly it dawned on me that I shud go for a ride.. It was already 3.30 pm.. So checked out the Blue and Gold Fleet which was available there and saw that there was a Rocket Bay Cruise for 30 mins for 20 $, but then I saw a 5$ off coupon in the free flier I had taken in the Caltrain station and 3.30 pm was the time already for the cruise and somehow I wanted to do something more... So checked out the next one... It was the SFO Bay Adventure Cruise for 1 hr and would take us down the GG Bride, comes round all the way showing the Angel Island and the Alcatraz (where you get very nearby to it). I wanted this. It was scheduled for 4 pm. So took it and waited in line and when I got in the boat and I was again excited and satisfied that I chose it. It was an amazing cruise and my camera saved me even though it had very less battery.. I love you camera... you stood by me @ the most important time (when the boat was cruising below the GG Bridge).. It was awesome.. We could see so many surfers and one particular fellow was very good even though he was showing off a lot for the photographers around :). The wind was freezing me already...and I was on the top floor of the deck...They went around came near the Alcatraz and explained about it in detail.

In the distance I could see the Bay Bridge just opposite to the GG Bridge. And after an hour, reached Pier 39.... Well it was hell of a trip :) It was 5 pm and I shud catch the Muni Train asap to get my 6.15 pm Caltrain to Belmont. Now to catch the bus I need to walk a little.. and guess what , I held up the map wrongly and walked the other way :) and when I came to the street, I found that I had to retreat and then take the other side.. But luckily, by the time I came to the bus station, there was a fully loaded bus which was about to take off.. I just signalled the driver who did stop and voila I was in the bus to the station :) I reached the station by 6 and the train started back to Belmont exactly by 6.15 and around 7.20 I was in Belmont. Walked again back to hotel with the chilld wind blowing up my face and my hands and feet were already half frozen. But all in all I was very satisfied that I did what I wanted to do.. Explore the place on my own.



I always wanted to do that but somehow never got the guts.. Now here in SFO, where I dont have friends around, I guess it kind of pushed me to do it. I am really glad I did it.. Not only it gave me enough confidence on my own, I could also do it in a very small budget trip :) Well, now that I have done this, I would really love to do it again.. Why not ? I enjoyed myself there.. You never know unless you tried. right ? I tried and now I know :)

I love it :D



Hope to do more exploring and hope you enjoying my trip as much I had (being there and writing it too :) )

Ciao till then...

Cheering CSK

Well Mumbai Indians failed in the first match... well I didnt see the match here in US so I wouldnt know what went wrong. But I hope they do come back in the game with a bang.

And today is CSK's first match.. and after looking @ MI, I seriously hope they deliver it well. Way to go CSK and all the very best Dhoni..

CSK ku oru whistlea poadu!! :)

--Updated after the match :)

Ok.. So my fav team won their first match. I am not sure how it went but am really happy that it went in our favor.. Way to go kids !! keep it up :)

Visiting Uncle Sam - 2

Ok, continuing where I left off..
If you dont drive or you dont have friends or friends of friends or any acquaintance, whom you wouldnt bother asking for a ride or a favor, or you do mind spending the money for cab and reimburse it from the office.. dont come here for longer period of time.. you might be intimidated. And even if you know how to drive, you might have to unlearn and learn it again a few times out here.. yes! Left hand driving..

The day after I arrived and crashed in my suite, I got up around 7 or 8 am and since it was a Sunday, thought of getting some groceries. Checked out with the Receptionist on the nearby place called Safeway and RadioShack for my adapters (Indian to US) to my laptop. Ok, now I need a taxi or a cab to go to that place right? So I walk to the main road (the hotel is little inside from the main road) and to my horror I dont see anything like a taxi anywhere..and it was hot and sunny..(and I was wearing my jacket!! assuming it would become colder) Gosh.. I was like "Where Am I ?" Luckily on my way back to the hotel, I saw two of my colleagues who drove me to Safeway and helped me buy a phone connection (along with a phone... you see those snazzy flip ones they show in the movie ;) ..adhedhaan) and then booked a taxi for me who arrived exactly the time I got my phone connection activated and was put on waiting charge till I got my stuff from Safeway and Radioshack.. My colleagues left by then and by the time I did my shopping and got back to the cab, it showed me 40$ .. OMG... I literally had an heart attack.. I was thinking "ayyo!! approx 40*50=2000 Rs.. enna kodumai sir idhu.." and by the time I got back to my suite, it was like 55$.. I was drowning in guilt by then.. what is this ...I am spending on cab so much..!!! and after that I practically did nothing... Called up my manager and informed that I had arrived and checked out the adaptors, got my laptop to life again and talked to my folks @ night thru GTalk, had taken some snaps , which I uploaded..and guess what , by the time I did that, my SD Card's lock broke and I was unable to take any more snaps.. I was like "Super!!! nalla time work out aagudhu". Then asked my bro to book one online and next day was Labor day and was my relaxing day.. I watched a couple of movies, ordered pizza and relaxed..

Hillsdale Shopping Center

The next day was my first day in my Company HQ. It was a 6-7 min walk from my suite. I am ready to live here for this lovely walk to the office :). There is a pool in the entrance of the Hotel and  then on the way to the office there is a small stream like thing.. I dont know what its called.. We need to cross the bridge to go to the office.. Its really a very scenic view and a breezy early walk. I started walking to and fro from office. I really enjoy those moments. 'This' we dont get it in Blr. :) I have to admit it. God! I love being in nature. And in office, its the usual. You get introduced to those people whom you have known by name. And then your usual work starts. For vegetarians, food is a little bit of an issue unless you cook for yourself or you are ok with trying out what is available for vegetarians (like mexican, chinese...etc) You cannot get indian food everywhere..But you have stores around which sells those readymade stuff. So you can survive...just that you cannot have it always your way :)

Hillsdale Caltrain Station

After 3-4 days of usual work, today my ex-manager cum friend offered me to drive me to Hillsdale Boulevard on her way home ( I wanted to buy a few stuff in a clothing store.. so she said, this was the place to explore..) So there was my first solo exploration :). I was little apprehensive..but thought of trying it out .. just to see how it was.. I had the cab number anyways.. just in case I wanted a ride back home. I spent around a hour and a half in the mall (got a few clothes, had a salad) just window shopping, saw some of those 'yo yo man!' kinda guys around and then came to Hillsdale Caltrain station to take a train back to Belmont :). I had googled it a bit (she had told me about it already) and so walked back to the station, bought the tickets and waited for the train.. Its like the metro kind of train you see in Chennai, except that its high class here :) You have a single seater at the first floor and then comfortable A/c seats. I got in and in a few mins I was back @ Belmont Caltrain Station. Well that wasnt bad, I thought.... Got some ready to make dinner items and since it was hot today, booked a cab back to hotel and walked around for almost an hour taking snaps of the picturesque locale.

A few things which I encountered today while doing my shopping my Ralston Plaza's Namaste Plaza...
a. Saw lot of Indians around that place (ok.. I know that this place Namaste Plaza is a India Supermarket.. but thats not what I am telling you about) but anni telugu vade. ekkaDikakkaDa chooste telugu ne. Otherwise Punjabi's. These were the commonly seen people around here.
b. The cab person was a Punjabi. As soon as the cab arrived, I was entering and he casually started talking in Hindi...And then he was asking me how long have I been here etc etc and started complaining.. "bees saal pehle aayethe yahaan pe.. tab sab kuch acha lag raha tha.. abhi tho mehengaayi itni badgayi hai.. rehene paarahein hain... kya karen..". I was like.." Boss.. everywhere its the same.. If it works to our benefit sab kuch acha lage gaa.."

And tomorrow being Vinayaka Chathurthi, she has invited me home for lunch :) Wow ! the place is slowly growing on me. Tomorrow its going to be a new place that I am going to go.. The Belmont Village Center is the place where these RadioShack, Namaste Plaza, Walgreens, Safeway are all located. And then El Camino Real (what is Unreal then? I wonder!) route where Hillsdale Shopping Center is there. Tomorrow its going to be Sunnywale :)

Hope you enjoy reading my journey :)

Visiting Uncle Sam - 1

I guess sometimes, the first time isnt always the best time :) for some. My Singapore trip happened only the third time and so did my US trip. And there is no one else to blame but myself. There were occassions when I was literally threatened that I would have to give away my job unless I travel for a training to US for 3-4 weeks...and guess what, I offered to change job than travel and all for what !! hmm.. lets leave it there.. no point digging old corpses. As I said at the end of my SG and KL travelogue, whatever happens , happens for the good.. So here I am , being third time lucky :) and what a perfect time (when I really needed a place to hide myself from some of the ghosts that have been haunting me....)




I wasnt even sure till the last second or till the time I actually landed in SFO airport that I am travelling to US :) I didnt have the usual excitement that I find / found in some of my friends. I guess that is how I am .. I can never to be too happy or too sad.. (God!! I know I suck..but that is how I am). If I was happy about one thing to mention, I was happy that my whole family was there to send me off and even though it was the middle of the night they came to see me through the entrance of the BIAL airport.. They werent there for more than 5 mins..but that meant a lot to them and to me. Especially my kutty niece who got up at the right moment to give me a goodbye kiss.. I love her.. After standing the long queue to get the ticket for almost 1.15 hrs, and then getting through the immigration and customs, finally I got only 30 mins before boarding. An old lady who was travelling alone to meet her son in SFO saw me and came and started talking (what is with the old ladies and me .. why do they feel that I am in their league :( .. wait till you hear it all .. you will know what I am saying). Helped her out till we went for boarding. The flight to Dubai which started at around 4 am was uneventful with a small kid and her mom travelling to meet the kids father in Netherlands. The kid was little scared of me I guess.... Landed in Dubai at about 6.15 am their time sharp (almost 3 hrs of flight and they are 1.5 hrs behind Blr time). The next flight from there was at 8 am. It was a huge airport , in par with Singapore Airport. Nice interiors and the I only saw half of it (because we dont go beyond the immigration area). Duty free shops are abound and they sell everything and anything there.. Seems to be a little cheaper..but I didnt have much time to stay and see. I had to walk to my next airline counter which was about 30 mins walk from disembarkation point to boarding point.. By the time I refreshed and searched and came to the place slowly it was already 7 am. And then the boarding formalities started.... I got around 15-20 mins relaxing time and used the public wifi to send an email back home about my arrival in Dubai... Then boarded the SFO flight at 8 am sharp and to my disappointment I got a middle seat (even though I had booked for the aisle one..) To the left was a guy and to the right was a old lady..The lady was more than happy to be near me than that guy.. :D... Then the fun begins.. behind me, in the three seater.. a guy gets sandwiched between two 65 year olds. He begs me literally to shift to his place as it is also a middle seat :).. atleast in my seat he would have a guy near him for company... I changed ... it was no big deal for me.. but little did I know that my responsibilities will increase with my change..



The person on my left was a working woman around 65-67 yrs old. She was working for HCL under Shiv Nadar in Admin and now she is one of the Board of Directors for the Educational Program of HCL. The other lady was a Pakistani who was visiting her new born grandson in CA and this was her first flight to US. She refused to keep her bag below the front seat as told by the hostess as it has Quran in it. She got the window seat so she was more than happy to nap whenever she wanted to. The HCL Lady was on her own, except that she needed help whenever the Pakistani lady had to go to the rest room or when she herself wanted to go.. She has some problem in her left hand which she wasnt able to use. We started watching the on flight entertainment. The pakistani lady , after questioning me about my family, why I am going to US etc etc and telling her own story.. she said she wanted to watch the same program / movie as the guy before me was watching (He was watching Karate Kid..) so I played it for her.. It started playing with the initial Advertisements... she was like.. "no no I want only that movie.. " I said it will come after the commercials.. She wasnt convinced.. she made a face and kept quite.. then I had to explain it to her that it will first play the advertisements and then the movie would start.. only when she saw the kid in the next few scenes she was convinced..God... then she said that the sound wasnt enough and asked me to increase the volume.. then only I realized that she didnt wear the head phones.. she didnt want to wear them .. then how am I supposed to make her listen to it !! some how I convinced her that she can only hear through that.. She again made a face as if I did it on purpose.. Mudiyala.. Idhellam parava illai.. they started serving breakfast..and since we had already chosen the food type while booking.. it came for me and the HCL lady first. Now she got angry that she alone didnt get the food and what wrong she did to get it late.. Thank God I knew hindi.. I was able to convince her that we had already pre selected the meals while booking the flight and hence we got it first..She said "kyon hum log paise nahi dhete hain ?" are baba.. kya bataoon mera dimag kharab ho gaya thaa... then after her breakfast she went to sleep.. and me too.. then after some time she said that she wanted to see Amitabh's movie.. Now where am I supposed to search for it. I wasnt even sure if they had one.. if they didnt have..she will now blame me for that !!! whew!! so I searched and thankfully they had Sholay in the list.. so I asked her if she wanted it.. she said yes.. and She quietly watched Sholay and I got to watch Prince of Persia and the A Team for myself. Time went by ... I slept and watched movie and heard songs and watched the Flight camera while going over oceans or lands. It was a nice watch. Evening around 4pm or so She asked me if they will give Tea ? I wasnt sure.. so I asked the hostess for tea if she had and she took her own sweet time to get it and by the time I already got enough stares and the hostess got scoldings in hindi and urdu :) nalla comedy. They had given us the immigration forms to fill which by default I had to fill it for her. And while doing so I thought I made a mistake and asked the hostess for another form but she said that it was over and left. Then luckily 2 hrs before landing they got forms again.. She wanted to have a copy of the forms just in case for later use.. I told her that she can get it anywhere in the aiport if she wants to.. She was again unconvinced... So I filled the form for her.. And in between the journey while crossing the north pole or before or after that... there was a slight turbulence and after some time the inflight entertainment got switched off for a few hours.. We all got a good nap. There was a girl 2 seats before mine who was all the more active all the time..She hardly slept... Cute kid.



When we were about to land in SFO, the pakistani lady was overwhelmed with gratitude suddenly and started thanking me for taking care of her. I asked her to be careful and left off for the Immigration and Customs..

Immigration took about 1.5 hrs because of the Queue. Then out I came with my baggage to get a taxi.. SFO Airport looked like a small airport to me compared to Dubai... The trip to the hotel also wasnt so impressive in the first look. The driver relying on the GPS went the wrong route and roamed near the hotel for a few dollars more.. then finally called up the hotel and got the directions and dropped me in the hotel at around 3.45 pm PDT. I checked in my suite and was waiting for the night to fall in so that I can just crash on the comfy bed... It was such a long journey..almost 20 hrs of travel.. but I thought it would tire me totally.. somehow I was stable enough... and I slept around 10 pm that day.. after mailing my folks of my safe arrival.



Will keep posting more slowly....Its getting late now.. Ciao