Shankar's Blog

Samosas

2006-08-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got some 40 samosas and a mail was sent to the group to drop in and say hi to us and have samosas. Lots of people came and nothing was left. Lots of chit chat happened as people relished the samosas. It was different way of getting to know people.

The Grand Lunch

2006-08-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the best till now in East coast. Gopa and myself were invited by Radhika to have left overs of what she cooked the previous dayas she did not like wasting food. Since both of us were longing for homemade food we agreed to go there. It was in some village called Malborough. When we reached home we were warmly greeted by Radhika (who had grown really really really fat) and her housemate Namy oops Namratha. We had nice food which was Morkovambu, Rasam, Curry, Rice, Curd, Payasam. I ate madly. It was really yummy =P~. Ideally I will not have praised Radhika's any efforts but let me be true once atleast ;-). Apart from the insults which she subjected me to, everything else was good.

Then we had nice chit chat for long time. Then we planned to either go to Malborough downtown or somewhere else. Ultimately we went to Hopkinton National Park and there was a nice waterbody there. It was good. We also went for conoeing. Gopa and Radhika were hell bent onoverturning the boat and getting thrill of my fear for water. After a hour of conoeing (most of the steering and rowing was done by Radhika) we came back.

Then we went to Boston and roamed around the Boylston and Newbury Streets. She was acting as our guide and showed us the Trinity Church and many other places. Had dinner at Kashmere, Indian Cuisine.

We roamed for quite sometime. By the time we started back it was 12.30a.m. After 6 attempts to come out of boston in 1 hourwe were successful to take the road back to home. Dropped her at home at 2.15 a.m and reach back our house around 2.45 a.m. I was dead asleep with my eyelids closing twice while driving. I hit the bed.

Radhika's observations (courtesy Radhika):
--------------------------------------------

a) Never knew Gopkumar and Lshangan were so camera shy - I must say thats a very feminine trait.
b) Gopkumar was given a lesson in crossing roads
c) We discovered Gopkumar's other side of personality
d) We learnt a lesson that we should never tell Shankar to cross the road on impulse. He will promptly do so without loooking left or right and give everyone a scare
e) We went looking for restrooms and bought something in every small place we went.
f) We circled the same roads for about 4-5 times before we discovered the road next to the divider.

Nice guy

2006-07-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

I was turning right on the red signal with Zero speed. Suddenly Gopa shouted "Watch out". I pressed the brakes. I saw there was a guy in front of the car raising his hands and saying sorry. He had come out of nowhere, atleast I didnot see him. Regardless, pedestrians have right of way. He was too nice to say "sorry, my fault". There are nice people everywhere afterall.

The Speech

2006-07-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday, hmm. I went to a colleague's house to listen to a speech my former Central Indian Law Minister "Subramanium Swamy" on a topic. I was happy to meet lots and lots of people there. Then in the evening, gopa and myself went around the Waltham downtown, had nice dinneraround 7.00, watched a park dance and stage show, talked to a american female in the park (actually she approached us and started talking to Gopa), watched "Pirates of the Carribean (Dead man's chest)" (I didnot like the movie) and cameback.

Friday Night

2006-07-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I slept early and around 3 a.m again was woken up by the crumpling plastic sound. I looked towards the window. Suddenly I heard Payal (anklet) outside my window. I sat down on my bed and suddenly I saw a red light passing my window and a girl running past with the payal sound. I screamed and called Gopa. Gopa came running and when i narrated what happened, he told me I might have been dreaming. I jumped out of the bed sweating to find no one around.

Frightful Night

2006-07-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night was very frightful. I woke up at 1.00 in the night to have dinner (maggie) prepared by gopa, thanks to the jet lag we were suffering from. At 3.00 a.m I was just about to sleep when I heard a noise of plastic paper crumpled in my room. I got a shock and jumped out of my bed. I wore my specs and looked around. Everything was normal. Just when I was going to sleep again same thing happened. Since the name or our apartment and road is "Bear Hill" it was there in the subconsious mind. I thought there is a Bear outside the window. I looked outside nothing. I slept ....

Thunderstorm

2006-07-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

There was a thunderstorm warning in the t.v. Still me and gopa planned to go out. Within 5 minutes it was pouring heavily. Lightening, heavy downpour. With lots of trees around and overhead electrcity cables we decided bad decision and returned home.

What made it worse the stories which we heard from our collegues here that the weather can change in matter or minutes and you canbe stuck in 7 feet snow in highway or thunder storm or no electricity for a week or so. So we can back. The moment we reached backthe sky cleared. Now I want to have Indian food. I have been starving for the last 2 days without having anything.

Toyota Corolla (28th July, 2006)

2006-07-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

Second day we took a cab and got dropped by a colleague.

Today we got a car. It is Toyota Corolla and the hertz guy came to pick us up and gave the car. The hertz is just a satellite place. I don't thinkthere are many car's there. I was more than happy to get some car with neverlost. But I am still disappointed with the car. It's no where comparable to my "5PET456". That was my "Hyundai Sonata v6" in SJ.

The first evening walk (27th July, 2006)

2006-07-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

We walked a lot trying to find a car rental place. Luckily we found lots of Indian restraunts and ended up carrying huge amount of groceries home.We were dragging as we could not find a car rental and we were dead tired. I was asking way to people on the road and again Gopa was paranoid. He was saying "Don't ask, they might shoot you.". I was like "Come on. Nothing will happen".

Boston Tea Party :-) (26th July, 2006)

2006-07-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hmm, my blogging has started again. It kind of reminds me of memories owing to poor memory which I have. Anyway this time it is East Coast,Boxborough is the destination. I was quite excited not only by the fact that I am going to a different place, but also because of the fact that the work is going to be challenging and exciting.

My flight was from Bangalore to Boston via Frankfurt. Flight was ok. Nothing interesting about the flight. Did not get a window seat till frankfurt.But the window seat till boston wasn't of any help either. The sun was shining on my side and I had to keep the shades down. And ofcourse I didnot want to sit with someone new as I can have a conversation.

One thing what I observed was the content showed on the flight. I didnot find it suitable for children. Even when I roamed around the shops in Frankfurt airport, I felt the same. Maybe that shows the huge difference between India and the west.

Anyway, that apart, out flight from frankfurt till boston was filled with kids of aged 16. 100 of them nearly, all wearing the similar t-shirt. They were coming back from a jewish camp in Isreal. Every year children from 11th grade go to Isreal for the 4 1/2 weeks camp. They kept the plane noisy and the flight crew had a tough time with them.

Once in Boston we hired a cab to Boxborough office where we had to pick the keys. I must say about Gopa because that is what I foundmore interesting. He was already becoming paranoid. He said no Indians seen. I was like come on. We have hardly spent 30 minutes here.Then we got the keys and went to Waltham in search of the house. After much searching we found the house. By this time the cab driver had made Gopa paranoid that the distance is too much. How can you commute so long each day? Gopawas uncontrollable and sad and kept saying let's move closer to office and there is no one here.

House was good. I liked it. Bigger than the SJ apartment and it had a cable modem and a set top box. Huge bathroom and hugggeeeee Cabinet. The parking lot is far away :-(.

Places visited in US after LA

2006-03-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

I had been to Santa Cruz on Grey Hound and then biked there.

I went to Mystery Spot and broadwalk in Santa Cruz.

Went to Muir Woods.

Went for lots of movies, went to IMAX also.

Went to San Francisco.

Went to Alcatraz Prison and did pub hopping.

Peralata Adobe and Falcon House, San Jose.

I found myself not having time to visit many more places.

Life is not fair

2006-02-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

It has never been fair to me. My stay in U.S is now getting over. I have to be catch a flight on Monday. I will miss the people and the friends whom I developed here. The most I will miss will be my car, my relationship with it is now more than 5200 kms.

More Dove...

2006-02-13T17:03:00.000-08:00

What I didnot tell last time was that I got a dove soap which was in a big box as big as tiffin box. I was planning to use that instead of bath gel. However didnot open it till today. I opened it today and pulled out the soap. It was suprisingly light and when I opened it it was just tissue papers. I was shocked. That day I had no intentions of buying gel and thinking that I would have to have bath with lots of tissue paper, yuck. I will not have bath at all rather.

Dove

2006-02-11T23:05:00.000-08:00

Whenever I want to bath, I will go and get soap. That's what was in my mind when I went to buy soap early morning because I found no soap when I was about to start my bath. Got liquid dove bath gel. I had never used it before. So ended up using lots of soap. When I came out soap was still coming out of the body. Had to bath again to get rid of the soap. By the way, the good part was the whole house was smelling of dove lavender :-).

More incidents

2006-02-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

The other day I slept for a split of a second while driving. Today I was standing at the intersection for the light to turn green. The VTA train was next to me standing for the green light. As soon as the light turned green I started. The train came right in front of me. For a second I was shocked and moved the car. It took me a second to realise that the road is curving and so are the train tracks and I am moving towards the train tracks and hence the train.

Managed to break my bathroom door. So either I have to squeeze through this door or run the full length of the house to reach the other door.

Fused the philips bulb which was there.

Today's Menu

2006-02-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

Rice, Tomato Rasam and Aaloo sabji.

Tomorrow planning to have Bindi sabji with curd rice. Let's see.

Current thought: Blank
Current Mood: I don't know.

Listening to the song: http://www.musicindiaonline.com/p/x/f4XwKltus9.As1NMvHdW/?done_detect

Watching TBS as usual.

Fire Alarm

2006-02-05T19:58:00.000-08:00

This happened during my first cooking of aalo sabji. I didnot know that so much of smoke will come it you put oil mustard etc. I happily started cooking. Suddenly smoke filled in the house house. The fire alarm went off. I immediately put the exhaust. Opened the door. Still the alarm was on. It remained on for 5 minutes of so. I was wondering if the fire engine and police will come. Nobody came. Nothing happened. Only aaloo came out fine. Bit burnt but then there is always first time for everything. The only thing that happened was that the house was smelling of aaloo for the next few days.

Clean House

2006-02-05T19:12:00.001-08:00

Keeping the house spotless clean has become a part of my daily routine since all others left. Maybe not because I cannot live in the without having a clean surrounding but maybe because I found it a nice way to kill time. Washing utensils by myself than using dishwasher. Now I have gone to the extent of cleaning toilets also :P. Maybe that is a alternative job I can think of :P. Also I am now doing full time cooking with rice, curry, dal. The other day I didnot want to go out. Immediately I cooked rice and ate with curd and pickle. Never felt it could be so easy. One day I will plan to call my friends and cook for them if they are free :-) .

Busy week

2006-02-05T18:08:00.000-08:00

Everyone became busy with work after the LA trip. On Friday I went to drop Sunil to SFO. We started at 8.30a.m and he had to be in the airport at 10.30a.m. When we reached 101-North to my surprise it was Jam packed. Luckily we were able to carpool and reach the airport in time. Coming back I took El-camino Real and was a long drive except for the scenic parts in between. Reached office late.

Los Angeles trip (14th-15th Jan, 2006

2006-02-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

LA trip was good. We had to start early in the morning and as usual I was late getting up. I was the one who was excited the most I guess. Reason? I had to drive a "Land Rover" to LA. I was bit worried also. It was huge. Bigger than my Hyundai Sonata v6, 2006. So I asked Sanjay to drive first so that I can observe him. I told him that I will be uncomfortable driving it. He said I will learn quickly. It was true. I was able to drive pretty quickly.

It was a huge powerful 7 seater. The seats had capability of heating. We put all the luggage in the back seat. Lots of space. Good leg space and I think everyone was comfortable. Sanjay drove along 101-South and then on I-5. At I-5 I took over as the driver. There were warning of gusty winds and hence drive slowly.

I-5 was one major disappointment. I was so sad after coming to I-5. I kept cribbing all the while to Sanjay about I-5. I wonder how many times I would have repeated the statement. "But Sanjay, I-5 is disappointing. I thought it will be a 10 lane road and speed limits of 85mph. This is just a 4 lane road with speed limit of 70mph. This is really disappointing. Everyone who told me about I-5 fooled me.". Those were the exact statements I must have repeated like a broken record countless number of times.

As we reached LA it started raining and the traffic was terrible. It was crawling and I was bit concerned also since I have not driven Land Rover in traffic. Not that I made any mistakes but then Sanjay asked me to pull over somewhere so that he can take over. I pulled over at some place and then we exchanged. It was kindof relief because after hours of driving I was able to look around.

DisneyLand:
We reached LA and directly went to Disneyland. After some confusion it was decided that we will go to California Adventures. Go there and see for yourself. I won't talk about it. We were lucky in the sense since it was raining so the wait times for the rides was 0 minutes for nearly all the rides. We were able to complete all the rides.

I liked the "Jelly fish jumping ride" particularly because it was very nice and "california driving". There were 4-D shows (sense of touch). I missed the fun of "Allaudin" because I was too tired sleeping. "Tower of terror" was good fun.

I yes, we drew "Goofy".

Manish and others had amazing sense of direction. They knew where to go and all. I was as usual lost in my own world and blindly following them.

Stay in LA:
Sunil, Sanjay and Manish went in search for a accomodation when we waited in the car. The room was very comfortable and I slept as soon as I hit the bed. After sometime I was woken up for dinner. When we came back we had a nice boyish discussion and laughing loud. Later my colleague told me that she was able to hear us laughing and talking. Damn, these wooden walls....

Universal Studious:
We woke up in a sunny morning next day and went to the Universal Studious. Again due to some reason we were very lucky. We were able to do all the rides with 0 minutes wait time for more. Again come and see yourself.

One was the 4-D shows was "Shrek". I liked "Shrek" in that. Especially when there will be instances where someone sneezes what will fall on you, someone farts smelly gas will come and then the seats will move and insects will move around you.

"Mummy" ride was good. We went for the studio tour which was ok.

The best I had fun was "Van Heiselgal". My colleague was freaking out. Literally freaking out. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and very afraid. The magnitude of her fear could be judged from the fact that she never let go my Jacket and was pulling me all the while to get out of that fast. And I think I took the best ever "picture" of her as soon as we came out.

Few funny incidents happened. We were trying to take a snap as the flintstone. Manish and my colleague stood as the flintstone husband and wife. I didnot want to stand as the female. So I was standing near the male side waiting for my chance. When my turn came, Sanjay was smart enough and came rushing in and occupied that position. I waited for another turn as no way I wanted to stand in the female position.

Then we went to watch "Fear Factor Live". There they said you are late and one female directed us to another guy to get us seat and he directed us back to her and she directed back to him. It took me sometime before I realised that we were being fooled.

In fear factor they made people drinking disgusting stuff and put scorpians on one female's head. Then suddenly they threw a torantula on the crowd. The girls there fell down here and there. Later they told it was fake. But few of them were already freaked out.

Another thing was a sound recording studio where Manish volunteered to shout. He had to shout when the light glows. But then it never glew and they said he was not good enough and sent him to a room behind. We then saw him being attacked my a monster and he running. It was his shadow. Later he denied doing anything like that. But I still think it was his shadow and wonder how they faked it.

Return was fine. Again Sanjay was driving for sometime and as I was not feeling great, sleepy and slight headache I slept. Later we exchanged the seat and I drove continuosly for 300kms.

The fun part was the lateral thinking but I guess I slept and missed major part of it.

Dinner at Macroni Grill

2006-02-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

I donot like junk food at all. However I like being in company of people. So everyone decided to go to "Macaroni Grill". As usual others were telling me what to order. I decided I will ask myself what is there for me to eat. So I called up the waiter and told him

"I was vegetarian food, no meat, no fish, no beef, no pork, no seafood, no chicken, no lamb, no egg, no mushroom and no cheese (no brinjal ofcourse)."

He said, "Oh then I can get you some coriander leaves with ketchup".

Birthday Party

2006-02-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

My colleague's 4 year old son's bday was there. We all went to his house. It was good fun with everyone trying to play about with the kid. One I remember. My colleauge was telling his son how he will be boiled in oil by GOD incase he lies. Immediately Sanjay stepped in and said "Look your father is dark in colour.".

We went to a South Indian restraunt and it was my day for selecting the menu, maybe for the first time I was suggesting people what to order.

Abhi Abhi syndrome

2006-02-05T17:06:00.000-08:00

The "Abhi Abhi" syndrome is not leaving me in U.S also. We go to "Banana Leaf" and I order "Malay Ice Coffee, abhi abhi" and it never comes.

P.S:- There is a long story behind this. It won't be funny unless you are already know the history behind it.

The Beach (Bigsur trip)

2006-02-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

We wanted to touch the water (The Pacific) on our way back in the Bigsur trip. We stopped at a nice place and then walked down trying to reach the beach. The wooden steps were washed off my the rains and sea. So we had to climb down the rocks. There was this sandy part which Manish and Rohan slided down which was interesting.

We took a much easier route down. But we still had to jump since there was no steps.

The beach was good, it was sunset time. It was very clean. We dared to remove our shoes and enter the Pacific freezing water. The huge waves.

The best part was we wanted to take a snap on a rock in the water. We stood on top of the rock. We waited for the photo to be click and as soon as the picture was taken a huge wave came and crashed on us :-) . Rest of the time was spent shivering.

We spent quite sometime on the beach. Way back up was more difficult assuming that I had to carry my shoes, the soft drink can to be disposed and I don't know if there was something else also.

With so many people around I felt home.

Wrong side of the Road

2006-02-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

Many have entered the wrong side of the road, and I have heard stories about the same. However luckily I have programmed my mind so much that I didnot ever did that in nearly 1.5 months of my driving in U.S. However following incidents did happen.

Actually I have been ticketed in India for entering a one way on my bike. I was fined and given a ticket.

Manish was driving. I said till he is inside the apartment complex I will stay with him. However he entered the road even though I kept saying "NO". And to my shock he was entering the wrong side of the road. I shouted and asked him no to enter. He just stopped in time. Then he took a U turn and entered the apartment complex again. Good that it was a small road with less traffic. But at 35mph the results could have been deadly.

Another time we had to pick up someone and me, manish and my colleague were in the car. I was thinking something and the signal was red and I wanted to take a right turn. I was wondering why I am stopped though you can take a right turn on red. As soon as it became green I went right into the wrong side of the road. Later when Manish and my colleague screamed I realised my mistake. Luckily we were still on the other side of the road. I immediately backed and proceeded. Good that this time also there was no traffic on the road.

SF and Bigsur (7th-8th Jan, 2006)

2006-02-05T00:21:00.000-08:00

I can't recall when we went to SFO and which date we went to Bigsur.

San Francisco:
SF we started and went to golden gate vista point. From there we went to another vista point at the top of a mountain. Then to Sausalito. Something really happened there.

I was backing the car and forgot to put the car on drive. Since it was a downhill the car started going down. Then I realised the drive was not on and put it on drive. But then something really scary happened. The brakes failed. I simply failed. The roads were turning and there were cars parked in front of me. The steering failed to move. It was locked. I used all my strength to turn the steering and apply the brakes. Somehow the car stopped after all these. Then I put on the parking lights and switched off the car. Restarted it and then slowly started it. I was moving the car slowly testing the brakes. Warned everyone that I will be putting sudden brakes and hard brakes to test it. It was fine.

Before this happened we were in Sausalito. It was good. My collegue's wife showed that there was a person making few rocks stand on top of each other. I laughed saying that they are glued. But then I saw the person making the rocks on top of each other. Hmm.. Forget about what happened after that.

We went to Lombard, Union Square, went on a cable car ride. We then went to a Indian-Pakistani restraunt Shalimar. That is another story. We relied on the GPS and ended up taking 14 miles tocover a distance of 0.2 miles. Had a nice dinner and came back home late.

Bigsur:
Bigsur trip was good. Nice ride. Nice forest. Good trek. On the way back we went to a beach. And at time the superb card game 29. We were on a winning spree ;-). You can ask people who were involved in the game. Something happened on this trip too.

I parked the car in such a way that the tyre was coming on the pavement. My steering wheel got stuck. I was not able to turn on the ignition. Then ultimately me, manish, my colleague and his 4 year old son pushed the car enough to get it started. That was one experience :-).

Nothing much happening (3rd-6th Jan, 2006)

2006-02-05T00:20:00.000-08:00

Rest of the days was nothing much. Daily work and we used to meet sometimes for dinner. Being in different building we had to plan while going for lunches. I went to a movie on 7th I guess. Everyone else was busy so I went alone. The theatre was good and I was one of the 5-6 people in the theatre. It was as if I have booked the whole theatre and watching the movie :P. The movie was great, it was "Munich".

Half Moon Bay(2nd Feb)

2006-02-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

This was another day where everyone was planning to go for shopping. Considering that I love shopping too much I decided not go for that because I will end up buying a lot of things.

I instead asked everyone and then headed for Monterey bay. One more reason why others decided not to go on a trip was because there were storm warnings. I didnot want to stay at home. I started to Half Moon Bay.

Once I started it started pouring heavily. I had not driven in so much of rains before. It was a new experience for me. I set my GPS and kept to the slow moving lanes. Anyway the traffic was also moving at a speed of 40 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone. Suprisingly back glass of my car was clear thanks to the technology of car. I drove like that till Half Moon Bay when pouring stopped to drizzling. The drive became through the woods which was really nice. I stopped by a Gas station and then I asked her the places to visit. She told me a nice beach which people visit. Went to the beach and took a walk along the beach. I was scenic and pleasant. Water was freezing cold. It was drizzling all the while and the waves were huge.

I walked for quite sometime and reached a place which seemed to be a wooden bridge. I walked across it. It was scary because I was the only person there. The bridge was surrounded with lots of plants and water was gushing beneath. I kept walking to the other side. Then after walking for quite sometime I decided to return and see some other place. I had this plastic in my hand to dispose. I was searching for a dustbin. Surprisingly I didnot find any. I saw one box but with wildlife animal on it. I thought people keep injured birds or animals in it. When walking back on the wooden bridge I saw few people taking the garbage out. I then went and gave them the disposable and told them that there might have been some animal in it. They were amused :-)) .
There was a flock of birds near the beach. I tried slowly walking towards them. They will move bit far. I will move bit more closer making sure not to make them fly. They will move a bit more far. It was funny. Started back to other beaches but then I saw that all of them had $6 ticket and didnot seem asgood as the beach I had been to. So I started back home. Wanted to reach home before it was dark. But didnot want to take the same route. So I told the GPS least use for freeways. But again thanks to my bad sense of direction I took two wrong turns and ended up on CA-35.

I must say, it was awesome, just awesome. I wished only if others were with me to see. Milesinto the forest and only me. It was foggy and there were flood warning signs everywhere. Butthe view was awesome. I was driving 25mph at a 40-50mph zone. Didnot matter as I was the only one on the road. After long time I reached CA-84. That was another superb drive. UnfortunatelyI donot have right words to tell how good it was.

Atlast reached home and then I think we went to downtown. I don't remember if this was the day when we did ICE SKATING. I think it was this day only. Anyway I have already mentioned it above.

I don't have a camera so couldn't take the snaps.

New Year 2006 (Dec 31st, 2005)

2006-02-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

Everyone is suffering from jet lag. Plan was to go to SFO and spend the New year there seeing the fireworks. Started to SFO. But the plan was to not to take car since there will be too much crowd. We went to SJ station to take the caltrain. Just missed it by 3 minutes or so. Went to *$s grabbed a coffee and came back to catch the 5.00 p.m Caltrain. I was surprised it was a double decker train. I wanted to sit in the top and everyone agreed. It was a slow long boring journey. Most of us slept, few because of jet lag and other because of fatigue. We walked to Pier 39 and roamed around that place. As New year arrived we moved closer to the bay bridge and to see the fireworks.

And yes I showed everyone the Milky Way :-) .

We saw the fireworks and were there till 12.30 a.m or so. The last train to SJ was at 2.00a.m. We wanted to catch the 1.00 a.m train as otherwise it will be too late. We had little time left and nearly 3 miles to cover. Others thought it might have been 6-8 miles. I still disagree. Running at a good speed (5.5 miles/hr) for 30 miles you can cover only 2.5 miles. And we were running for only 30 minutes or so. Anyway that's not a point here. It was fun. We saw police everywhere. Infact it seem more police than people. Everyone around was drunk and shouting "HAPPY NEW YEAR". Atlast after much running we reached the station. As usual i was the last person. Not because of stamina but because I am bad in directions, very bad. So was following everyone. Actually it was lots of fun running. We had a great time. My best New Year I ever remember (mymemories are short lived so this had to be the best).

Sunil and myself were the last in the group to then the Caltrain station. It was 12.55 a.m. As we ran into the Caltrain station the police stopped me and said, "NO speeding sir, you have caught the train." It was funny. Sunil was with me that time :P.

On the train we waited for 30 minutes more before the train started it's slow journey back. The lively part was different people shouting and passing comments. One of the guy was talking about the matching Cap he buys of the dress and other said I buy matching shoes. I found it amusing. We reached SJ around 3.00 and then went to a colleagues house to celebrate more. We put a movie "The shawshank redemption". Me and my colleague slept in the beginning of the movie. I think other's survived the whole of the night.

We started back home at 7.00 a.m in the morning and I slept till 11.00 a.m. Evening of 1st Jan was nothing great. Went to a Mall with others doing the shopping.

P.S:- There might be more things which might have happened. Unless I am able to recall them I will not be able to write them up. If anyone remembers they can tell me.

Colleagues coming to U.S.(Dec 30th, 2005)

2006-02-04T23:26:00.000-08:00

So much free time but still no time to blog. Anyway taking time now and starting again. I was quite excited. My colleagues were coming. That too 4 of them. I went with another of my colleague to pick them up from SFO. We kept circling the airport some 10-15 times before we found them. Good that my colleague's wife was with us. She was going and checking if the flight has arrived. Drive back was good. Came back home. But then I didnot know where the other two colleagues were staying. When I went and checked with the apartment agency they denied giving me the address telling me that it is a safety breach. I tried convincing them a lot but they didnot budge. Ultimately I gave my number incase they were trying to reach me.

It was funny because incase their laptops are down then there is no way to meet them for the next two days unless they login and contact me from somewhere. Anyway ultimately contacted the colleague who dropped me and got the numbers.

Everyone got ready and then we just went to the downtown to roam around. This was the first time I went to downtown. Previous two occasions I have tried going there but then once I reached a railway track and another time I reached a prison.

We saw lots of christmas tree. I think we went for Ice skating also. I cannot recall whether we went on that day or some other day. But Ice skating was good fun. That too Manish fell lots of times. Another of my colleague, she didnot dare to leave the railing and was the only person who never fell down. People were skating so well. Some of themwere skating backwards also. Whatever, everyone enjoyed.

San Francisco with Radhika and Gopal

2006-01-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

This was a real good trip to SFO. I went to pick Radhika and Gopal around 11.00 from Radhika's cousins house. She had mentioned that it is a really nice place. Anyway everything in US in nice. So I didnot believe her first. But as I neared that place it was really very scenic. So scenic that I later went there for a drive once or twice I guess.

We had lunch at Tandoor and then started to SFO at around 1.00 p.m. 20 miles in 101 North I realised that there was no gas in my car for long time now. For a second I panicked because the idea of stopping in a freeway is not exactly a pleasing. I took a freeway exit and Radhika helped navigate and search for the nearest gas station.

We then proceeded to SFO. There was heavy traffic near SFO. I had never seen lombard street so I asked Radhika if she wants to see it. She was excited knowing that it is the most crookedest street in the world. She was the navigator and thanks to her we made few wrong turns and landed on Bay Bridge. It was really exciting since we never expected to be on Bay Bridge. On Bay Bridge she wanted to open the car roof and stand there outside the car. But then I requested her to spare me from getting a ticket. I asked her to do it later in a smaller road.

Then we tried coming back to lombard. Gopal was good in predicting directions. But once again since I trusted Radhika I ended up missing lombard but then we went to Pier 39. I never knew it was famous. But these unpredicted surprises made the SFO trip really really good. We roamed around pier 39 for sometime and then started our quest for Lombard street. We saw a floating boat and wanted to have dinner there. We initially thought it was a island. Later Radhika called and found out that it is closed for the day. We were amazed when we saw that it was a floating boat. We saw lots of Sea Lions.

This time I relied on Gopal. I still suspect Radhika giving wrong directions for going to Sacremento. All the turns she asked me to take lead to Sacremento. She wanted to go there to meet her cousin. Thanks to Gopal we reached the end of the Lombard street. We then walked down the street in lanes. It was real scenic scenes. We could see whole of SFO. I don't think people try out walking there because I have always heard people talking about the crookedest part only. We walked a lot. It was fun. Actually I should thank Radhika as surprisingly unlike previous occasions she was showing lots of interest and enthusiasm.

She was game for everything. We then walked near the tower and we saw the places via telescope. We were disappointed that we couldnot see it crooked enough. We kept going back on Lombard street and then we saw the portion. That was one achievement. I think it took us 5-6 hours to find it. But all that time was worth it.

We went over Lombard many times in car thanks to Radhika showing her enthusiasm and Gopal was game for multiple rides. That time Radhika seeing me drive in Lombard stamped me a good driver.

We then headed to the Golden gate along a quiet road. It was a nice drive along the bay. There as only our car on the road. We reached vista point and then spent sometime there. Then I asked both of them if they are game for going down the bridge. They were game again. We went underneath the bridge. It was a nice feeling. Then something funny happened. Radhika looked at some posters and a nice building in vista point and said let's go to the museum. Both Gopal and me said ok. When we neared it, it was the rest rooms :-)) .

We started back to San Jose around 9.30 p.m and reached San Jose around 10.30. Had dinner at Taco Bell and good that I was able to get the Veg Buritos (Rice/Roti/Beans, Mexican food). She only suggested.

Then we started back to her cousin's house and I dropped them back around 12.15 in the night. Was tired of whole day driving and reached back home at 12.45 a.m.

It was one of the best experiences because we went there and took all wrong directions but ended up in the right spots that too which we never knew of. We were really lucky.

Narrow Escape

2005-12-27T01:42:00.000-08:00

Today I nearly crashed into the car. I had to turn left and the other car was going straight. My mistake. Applied all the brakes to avoid crashing into the car.

Earlier in the day I was driving when suddenly out of nowhere there was a box lying on the road. The speed limit on the road was 50 miles/hr. Slowed down but still ran over the box.

Cops day Out

2005-12-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

Today went for few drives. I saw so many cops car's everywhere than I have seen till my stay here. I saw 6 cops cars in total. Sometimes I following a cops car, sometimes they following me. It's not a good experience, I must say.

Sounds

2005-12-26T02:19:00.000-08:00

It's 2.20 a.m here. I don't like the sounds coming from my window pane. I went and looked outside the window. It seems fine. But the sound is eerie. It's not letting me sleep. I have now checked outside around 4 times and everything seems normal.

Christmas in U.S.

2005-12-25T10:38:00.000-08:00

This was my first Chirstmas in U.S. Went to one of my American colleauges house. Saw a real Christmas tree. It was beautiful and lots of fun. His kid has got lots of gifts from his relatives and his wife's relatives. We watched "The Italian Job". They ordered Indian food because I was coming and they gave me Christmas presents. One of them was something which I said I couldn't find in a Indian restraunt even after searching for much time the previous day.

Aquarium in Monterey

2005-12-23T21:34:00.000-08:00

Morning I went with my colleagues family to Monterey Aquarium. We talked a lot about the differences between India and USA on aspects of education, religion, marriage, bringup, roads, costs and many other things. In the aquarium there were Sharks, Squids, Tunas, Jelly Fishes, Sea Snakes etc of various sizes. There were areas where water will flow over you as a wave above the glass. What I saw cannot be put into words and explained. So many colours, designs, etc of fishes and sea animals.

There were sections where you can touch the sea animals. I touched Star fish, Bat Ray and many more things. Star fish was bit coarse. Sea weeds were soft. Bat Ray was silky. It liked being touched. Initially I was afraid but then seeing that small kids were touching without fear I also got courage. The touch I will never forget.

Happy Cows

2005-12-23T08:34:00.000-08:00

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband! The following add proves it.

Go to http://www.realcaliforniacheese.com/

In that go to "Happy Cows" section.

Inside that go to "Happy Cow TV". "Fence is better and Photograph".

This is one of the Advertisements which come on TV.

Poor Memory

2005-12-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

I have a really poor memory. I cannot recall things I have done in the past and sometimes even few minutes or hours back. Today I got up and was getting ready when I had a doubt whether I have brushed my teeth. Ultimately decided that it won't be worth putting in thoughts from my previous experiences. I went and brushed my teeth.

Sometimes I feel as if I have done things when really I wouldn't have and vice-versa.

Cooked Rice today

2005-12-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

Atlast I was able to cook amazing rice. My friend helped me a lot. It was yummy :D. Had it with curd.

Lunch

2005-12-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

Went on Lunch. He first came to my house. He was amazed. He was so happy to see the house. He wanted a apartment like this for 1 week from company. We had a nice time talking a lot.

Please don't call again

2005-12-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to go out on lunch with one of my colleague and give him a call at 11.00 a.m to find the details. I called twice, 11.05 and 11.30. He didnot pick up his cell. Some female picked up (as far as I know he is alone now as his wife has gone out). She said no "wrong number". I called again. She said "look mister , this is wrong number and please don't call again". I realised i didnot know how to dial phone numbers here. I was afraid to dial again because she might dial 911 for harassment.

Few days earlier, I was again calling few numbers. One said it was a non-existant number andanother time a female picked up. She was nice and was laughing that I dialed a wrong number. So contrast experiences.

Not a single time I have been able to make a proper call. Last time I made a call it went to some flirting talk with girls (no more details).

Cleaning Utensil

2005-12-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

Took me an hour and half to clean the untensil in which the maggie disaster happened.

Add's

2005-12-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

The add's of Chrysler 300C (Car) and Wendy burger have catchy music.

POT LUCK

2005-12-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Thursday 15th Dec:
I have been invited to the BU party here. Everyone has to bring their own food. But they asked me not to as I am a guest there. Eagerly waiting for it as I will be able to meet lots of people and it will be nice fun.

Friday 16th Dec.:
It was great fun. So many varieties of food. I ate lots of good Indian made food. There was arange of veg and non-veg food. Amazing number of sweets and drinks. I tried everything. It was fun. Then we sang some carols.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer : Lyrics
------------------------------------------
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.

All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph
join in any reindeer games.

Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Rudolph with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down in history!

Another carol was:
-------------------

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some;
We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Then there was a game. I was laughing throught the game. 17 People had got gifts to be exchangedplayed the game. The game has the following rules.
1) All the gifts are wrapped.
2) Those who have got gifts can only participate.
3) Chits will be picked up so that the players will be sorted.
4) The 1st players will select the gift and will open it.
5) The next player has a option to take either the other people's gift or take a new gift and open it.
6) The person who has lost the gift can take a new gift of from one of the remaining persons.
7) The person cannot take the same gift back.
8) Once the gift has changed hands 3 times it cannot be taken anymore.

The whole game was funny with people snatching gifts from one another =)) . I had a great time. Everyone got a Umbrella candy later :D.

Milk

2005-12-20T07:43:00.000-08:00

Never I realised that Milk also gets spoilt. I was using a pack of milk for quite some days. I wanted to make cornflakes and started Boiling the milk. Suddenly I saw that the whole water and white portion got separated. I was surprised for a moment and then realised milk has gone bad. Or maybe turned into curd :P.

Truck

2005-12-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

Some people like to put truck tyres to their car. Yesterday I parked my car near a car like that. My car was looking like a toy in front of that car. It was a Cheverolet brand.

Mangoes

2005-12-20T07:39:00.000-08:00

In India we always say all export quality mangoes are exported to foreign countries. So I thought of checking it out by buying Mangoes. The fruit here look big. I mean really BIG. I got two mangoes for Rs.300. Can you believe that. I had too much expectations. It didnot taste good at all. Now I am sure "looks only matters".

Below the poverty line in U.S.

2005-12-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

I said to my friend that in India we get a salary of say $10,000 per annum. He was shocked. He said that is below poverty line here. Here the poverty line is $23,000 USD. :-(.

Whale watching and ICE Hockey

2005-12-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

One of my friends said that he will take me to Whale watching and ICE hockey if he get's tickets and if he is free. Waiting eagerly as these are something new and I have never done anything like this before.

BIA

2005-12-20T07:36:00.000-08:00

I always used to wonder what bia stands for. Asked Teena. She said it is "Greek Godess of power".

Shower

2005-12-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

After much struggling inside the bathroom I was able to find how to operate the shower, but notwithout wetting the bathroom floor. I had to dry it as it might get damaged :P.

Swimming

2005-12-20T07:31:00.000-08:00

Two days I have been trying to swim. I keep drowning. When I try to move my legs my hands won't move and vice versa. But I was determined to continue. Come what may. The chill atmosphereor my not able to swim is not gonna stop me. I was still in the 3.5 feet water only. My aim was to start swimming properly across the pool. The scary part is I do it with no one around. But it's okay. I was confident of myself.

However I have kind of given up because the cold water is upsetting my stomach badly. Also without company I find it very odd and boring.

Women's phychology

2005-12-14T00:41:00.000-08:00

This was Teena's response to the the "Slap" blog's comments.

"hey! nice responses, though i dont think u'll learn anything from gopa"

"his idea of women's psychology is "crap""

Cooking disaster

2005-12-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

Wanted to eat some cooked food today. Since there was no help, so I thought let me do it on my own. Took a big maggie packet. Took out all the pieces of maggie and masala. Put it in a big bowl. Then added 6 big cups of water at the rate of 1.5 cups per maggie piece. Had absolutely no idea how to start. The bowl was filled till the brim. I started heating it. It started boiling in around 10 minutes. What happened next was a complete mess.

The water started falling on the stove. I had no idea that water will boil and start overflowing. The whole stove was gone. Then the quantity of maggie I saw was amazing. It would satisfy 4 people. I realised everything was going wrong and pinged one of my colleagues. She helped me calm down and adviced me how to rectify the mistake. But by that time i could smell burnt smell. Ultimately she asked me to throw the maggie as it was already burnt and bad from what I described her.

I am feeling so bad throwing so much of food which would have satisfied 4 people. Anyway I have decided to ask someone before cooking atleast next time.

Another Car Accident

2005-12-12T16:08:00.000-08:00

This time it was pretty nastier than the first one. I had stopped well before the signal line trying to decide which way to go. From behind a car even though seeing I have stopped came right and banged into me. I got scared. I saw that my car's dicky was totally damaged. I have to change the car. That guy took my photograph also and was asking me to sign, though it was his fault. I took down his number. I wanted to check the car really. But I was not able to get up. My eyes won't open. I was trying to come to consiousness praying "OH GOD, please tell me this is not real. Not again.". I was struggling with my pillow which was holding me down.

The Man and the machines

2005-12-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

I always have problem operating all these machines.

Everytime I want a chocolate or something to eat I have to put a 1 $ bill. Now I donot know which way to put it. Every single time I put it in a wrong way and it spits it out. Then I change the direction and it succeeds.

Once in a AMEX ATM counter in San Jose I was taking my time getting used to it. I was happily pressing all the buttons trying to get cash out of the machine. Each press I was taking about 15 seconds. By the time I turned around I saw atleast 6 people waiting for me with a interesting look on their faces.

This other time I was in a petrol pump and wanted to fill petrol in my car. I didnot know how to use it. So with full confidence I took the nozzle and pressed it keeping in front of Sudeep. Sudeep paniced. He was shocked by my act. He immediately screamed. "Donot press the button. Petrol will flow out". He got a relief only after I immediately gave him the pump. He must have got the shock of his life :-)).

Transcontinental Laugh

2005-12-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

I was calling up one of my friends yesterday and we talked for quite sometime. The funny part of the conversation was that when I used to say something and she used to laugh I will hear it few seconds later. It felt as if she is laughing without any reason. Transcontinental delay. Funny.

When Harry met Sally ...

2005-12-12T01:22:00.000-08:00

That's a movie which I watched partly. It was really good. Want to watch the full movie someday. Meg Ryan was looking very good.

Winchester Mansion

2005-12-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

This is supposedly a haunted Mansion in which construction kept going on for 38 years or so. Sudeep and myself had a great time. We went for two tours. "The Mansion tour" and the "Behind the Scene" tour. It was great fun. I don't think it will be fun writing it down here. I will rather tell it directly or on chat. The best part was I liked the girl who was presenting the "Behind the Scene" tour. She was damn cute.

Where is the tea??

2005-12-11T21:27:00.000-08:00

Today we (Sudeep and myself) went to Winchester Mansion. After one tour I told Sudeep I want a cup of tea. We went to the shop and I ordered a "Hot Tea". I paid the bill. Then the female came with a cup of something which looked like hot water to me. I practically bend down to see whether it was tea. Then I asked the female on the counter "This doesnot look like tea". She started laughing and said "It is hot water. You have to take the tea bags and creamer from there". We all (Sudeep, the girl and myself) were laughing loudly. Apparently Sudeep also was wondering where the tea was :P.

Bath Tub

2005-12-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

I always use the bathtub, prolly because I don't know how to operate the shower yet. As usual I filled it to hot water and got it. To my shock the water was boiling hot. I somehow managed to crawl out of the bath tub. My skin was burnt and red it colour.

Another incident was when we went to a 3 (or 5) star hotel in Delhi. My friend instead of putting the foam in the water, she used it as a soap. For the next 1 hour she was bathing only trying to remove the foam =)).

My Dream

2005-12-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was dead tired. Ended up seeing a really nice dream. Then chatted with Gopa for sometime and felt better.

I have got a rank of 115 in CAT and was going to IIM. Siddarth (my cisco roommate) was very happy. I told few other friends of mine and few of my relatives came to know. Everyone was congratualting me. I was really happy. Then I got up and was trying to recall when I gave CAT this year.

Pacific Drive

2005-12-11T01:41:00.000-08:00

Pacific Ocean. Touched it for the first time. The water was chill. My feet were very numb. But I was too much excited to miss the pleasure of the scenic beauty which lay in front of me. The waves were huge. The sun had set. There were still few surfers daring against the gigantic waves.

As usual we started late and decided against going to the Haunted Mansion. We were going to the CA 1 Drive. I decided to drive as I had to get used to it. Drove some 200 miles (320 kms) in total. Covered it in 3 hours with 1 hour nearly in the 17 mile drive. The drive was very smooth on the freeways where I touched nearly 87 miles per hour. That is nearly 140 km/hr. Not that I wanted to touch. But if I don't stay with the traffic then someone will come and bang me from the back.

Once we reached the 17 mile drive along the pacific it was beautiful scenery. I missed most part of it as I was concentrating on driving in the windy roads (with occasional commentary which I overheard). Otherwise we all (Sudeep, Rahul and myself) need not enjoy the Pacific. We will be in the Pacific. We stopped at few stops where we amdired the gigantic waves and natural beauty. The 1st place we stopped I removed my shoes and ran to get my feet wet. I was ice cold water. Also the waves were so powerful and huge that not at all advisable to go into the sea unless you are an expert swimmer.

We started back. Quite a lot of things happened which I think I will skip. One of them was we were giving a call to Gopa from a Pay phone. Anyway.

We started back and I took a wrong turn. Then another wrong turn. I ended up taking the CA 17 highway. The roads were so curvy like a roller coaster twisting and turning. There was no shoulder in many places. I was within the speed limits but the roads were really scary. I managed to hold on to the steering and driving with the crowd.

Pacific ...

Candy

2005-12-10T00:06:00.000-08:00

I was roaming in a electronic shopping mall. As usual I got bored in sometime and was searching for something interesting. I saw a machine which has something like candy, dolls etc. I wanted Candy but didnot know how to take it. No one was around. I kept roaming near it practically for 10 minutes without knowing what to do. Then I saw someone taking a candy. I clearly observed what he did to take the candy out. I went to the machine with a quater and took out the candy I wanted. It was just smaller than a table tennis ball which made me wonder for a moment whether it is really candy. Still I put it in my mouth and tried biting it. To my shock it was rock solid. I realised it is a playing ball and was laughing in the store loudly. Was about to take it from my mouth when I felt a bit sweet taste. Still couldn't chew it down. Later I showed it to Sudeep and he confirmed it was indeed Candy. I couldn't stop laughing.

Chemical Hazard

2005-12-09T22:38:00.000-08:00

"This area contains chemicals known to the State of california to cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive damage."

That is what is written in the front of my complex :-s.

Honked at

2005-12-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

Here is U.S people donot use horn unless they think the other person is making a mistake and they are into trouble. Today twice I got honked at. For minor reasons though. I was coming out of the parking lot and was bit to the left. I saw one car wanted to come in. So started reversing without seeing back. Just as I started I got honked and stopped the car. Next as I got out of the parking lot I was talking to Sudeep and the signal turned green and still after 2 seconds I was sitting and happily chatting with Sudeep. I got honked again. Two honks in a matter of 2 minutes. So it was "honking day" for me.

Mobile

2005-12-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Many girls have threatened to hit me. But in this case I really got kicked. I was with Teena and saw that she had a mobile phone. The funny part was that it was in a small girlish purse inside her another purse. When I asked her separately why two purses for a small mobile she said she kept it so that her mobile can use it as a mobile cover. When I tried to make it public I got a nice kick from her. I dared not to speak anything about it after that :-).

Slap

2005-12-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

I went with one of my friend (Gopa) and his friend (Teena) and few other people for lunch. During the discussion as usual I started talking that girls should be at home and they should not work, etc, etc. That was the first time I was meeting her. She was smiling all along and I felt better. Later my friend asked me if I want to join them for ice-cream. I said ok. Then only 3 of us were there.

He told me that he pacified her that I was joking otherwise she was planning to throw the chowmein she was eating at me and give me a tight slap. I was shocked. Just imagine what can be worse than drowning in chowmein and getting slapped by a girl.

I will never understand girls :-(.

You need some help Sir?

2005-12-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was roaming around just like that in Best Buy (a big electronic store). I was not interested in purchasing anything. Sudeep wanted to buy something. As I particularly don't like shopping so I started roaming around seeing what all is kept. Suddenly a customer support guy comes and says "You need some help Sir?". I said "No". And started walking. Again he comes to me and says "You need some help Sir?". I looked at him and his stare told me don't loiter around. I told him. "You know what, my friend is the person who might need help" and took him to Sudeep to get rid of him.

Importance of Water

2005-12-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

Water is a real important part of our life. Atleast a Indian's life. However that doesn't seem to be the case in the developed countries (though they have lots and lots of water and no water shortage at all). Same thing holds true for Five star hotels in India also. If you havenot guessed it by now I am talking about water in the toilets. Yes I believe every Indian wants a wet toilet. Every place here has only tissue papers. Using tissue papers for ... doesnot appeal to me at all. And I know quite a few other Indians also.

So in pressure situation were you are between the life and death situation a Indian takes his car keys and rushes home. Think I am bluffing? Ask anyone who has been in abroad. So are the toilets in home wet toilets?? Noway. Atleast in my house my tissue paper dustbin is a the water bucket and I took a mug all the way from India.

It's a real art controlling yourself for 48 hours all the way from India through Frankfurt till San Jose #:-s. People gone through this will understand the trauma one has to go through. I mean it's not jet lag which hits you. It's something else.

Shades

2005-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

I always wanted to wear shades. But because of power couldnot wear one. This time I was decided to get shades for myself no matter what. Waiting eagerly for it's arrival when someone brings it to San Jose. It's a nice rimless plastic dark glasses with power sitting safely with one of my friends.

Burnt and raw

2005-12-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

For the first time I thought of having a different breakfast than corn flakes. I got bread and saw the toaster machine. After much effort I managed to push 4 bread slices into the toaster. Was wondering when it will come out. When it came what I saw was I had overheated it and outer sides were burnt and the inner sides were raw. Had to eat it with milk :-( . Toaster experimentation gone wild.

Dish Washer

2005-12-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

Atlast I had to open it to get the untensils. All of them were filled with water. I didn't know I have to keep the untensils upside down.

CUT

2005-12-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Never think of something else while shaving. Got a nasty cut on the lips. Bleeding has atlast stopped after quite sometime.

I must say

2005-12-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

I was sitting with my colleauge for evening snacks. It was nice of her giving me company as she was already there giving four other people company, one by one. After we ran out of what to discuss I looked around and found another girl across the table. She was a singer. To strike a conversation with her I said "So are you singing when John (CEO) is coming to India". She gave me a hard stare and said "I must say that was a very stupid question". Both of us (me and my colleague) were shocked. Few minutes later we silently deserted that table.

Golden Gate

2005-12-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

Started for Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco and covered 50 miles in an hour. I was driving. San Francisco was unlike San Jose. Much more cramped. Lesser space. Golden gate was huge and majestic. It was crimson red in colour. I was trying to see a golden gate somewhere. To my disappointment none was there. We took some snaps and then proceed uphill. From the top we could see the full view of golden gate. As darkness fell we went downhill towards a unknown path. I was okay for adventour. Later we found out we were somewhere in Silcilati, a posh village town named for it's scenic beauty. Stopped there for some time near a lonely area. Tried going down for some distance but then we were afraid of getting mugged. So returned fast. Actually we were suspicious of every car and bike going and were cautious. We (Sudeep and myself) had spent around 2 hours in SFO (San Francisco). Came back in an hour. For the first time I saw the Freeway traffic crawling on Sunday night.

Burning tyres

2005-12-06T00:57:00.000-08:00

That day Sudeep was driving the car. When I started back home the car wasn't moving. I somehow accelerated and got it home. It was smelling burning tyres. Later I found out he put the hand brakes on. I never have the habit of putting the hand brakes.

The FOAM

2005-12-06T00:52:00.000-08:00

Ever used a dishwasher. Atleast first time for me. I put all the glasses and dishes thanks to me having breakfast everyday. Now I put little bit of detergent in the dishwasher. Started it and went to have MTR ready made meals. Some time later I hear Sudeep's scream from the Kitchen. Ran to the kitchen. Saw it was full of foam. Next 30 minutes I was on the floor cleaning the foam and the water. I used all the possible methods (tissues, towel, vaccum cleaner) to dry the floor as the water can cause permanent damage. Now I don't dare to open the dishwasher as I don't know how much foam is inside it.

My First Car

2005-12-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

Hyundai Sonata 2006 V6

It has 5 star crash safety rating.

I find it pretty much convinient to drive.

http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicle/sonata/sonata.aspx

The Phone

2005-12-04T00:44:00.000-08:00

I generally keep my television on. Most of the times in the channel there will be a door bell ring, telephone ring or police siren. I get confused if the phone in my villa is ringing or my door bell is ringing. Atleast a dozen times I have picked up my phone to see the dial tone and half a dozen times I have opened my door to see the door of the nearby villa and no one on the door step. So now I mute the television before opening the door or picking the phone.

Tschuess

2005-12-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

When I was getting off the German Carrier in San Francisco Airport the air hostess were saying "bye" to everyone. When my turn came she said "Tschuess" (Bye in German). I was thinking in which angle I was German. Actually I was flattered.

My Villa in San Jose

2005-12-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

I walked into to my house in San Jose for the first time. My jaws dropped. It was a huge front room with a attached kitchen. A small dining room near the main door. A big bedroom with a queen size bed. It has a clothes closet. A attached bathroom with two doors. One towards the living room and another sliding door towards the bedroom.

It's a fully furnished house with washing machine, kitchen utensils, electric stove, microwave oven, fridge, television, video disc player, clothes drier, vacuum cleaner, dish washer, bed, pillow, huge dressing table with a big mirror, sofa sets, dining table, chairs. It's a ground floor house. For people who are wondering this is a Company rented house and K&M relocation angency keeps all these stuff for people who are staying in their complexes and charges the company. Phone and high speed internet is provided.

I was happy. I knew there will be a parking place. I got a car the next day itself. Hyundai Sonata. I checked my parking place. To my surprise I can access it from my house itself. I can got to it from my washing machine room. I was feeling great.

Lick Observatory

2005-12-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday went to Lick Observatory with one colleague and another with his family. It was my first day after I landed in U.S. I was kind of happy that Jet Lag didnot hit me. By the time we started it was 2.30p.m. I became adventerous and grabbed a cheese sandwitch to eat. Ate in a running car. The wind was chill and the sun was shining hot. Once we reached the windy road of the 30 mile drive I started feeling sick. Jet Lag hit me severely. Puked. But it was a real bad experience.

The observatory was very good. The telescope was huge. The mechanics were too good. The whole platform which will be around 2000 sq foot raises to the telescope. The air inside the observatory was chill. They seem to maintain the temperature same as outside to protect the lenses. The whole roof can open up to see the sky. The telescope itself was around 25-30 metres in length. It was a 120 inch telescope (that's what i remember, which is the diameter of the lens). The telescope was not accessible. It's only accessible in few months to the public.

The view was breath taking. I wonder how much fun the people looking at the stars from the telescope will be having. The body of Lick who built the telescope lies buried underneath the telescope.

Car Accident in San Jose

2005-12-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a real bad day. Lots of things happened. I was using the dishwasher and ended up putting detergent in the milk in the morning. But it was a accident.

While coming to office I was going at the speed limit. I had to change lanes. I changed it properly. There were 3 cars in front of me. The first one stopped suddenly. That effect cascaded and I had to brake. That made the car behind me come and hit me. I was in absolute state of shock for the whole day. My whole day got spent in running to the rental car, calling them up and finding the details. One thing which you should always do is note down the car number, license number of the driver, the insurance number and contact number. If possible report to the police. Today I had slight back ache. Not sure if it was because of the car accident :-(.

In the night I ended up putting detergant in the cloth drier. This was also a accident. The 1st and the 3rd accident made me laugh. But the car thing was real bad. Will get over it soon I guess.

Air Travel

2005-12-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

I was going to United States. I have seen lots of people being crazy about states, but somehow countries like Germany, New Zealand, Spain, Europe and Canada facinates me more. I hope I get a chance to visit all those countries also.

Lufthansa was my flight. German carrier. (I am facinated by Germany. Reason I will give some other time.) The best part of the flight is the turbulance when hit. The first time I experienced it I was afriad that the plane is going to crash. But then I was not worried because there were 300 more people who will go down with me and I won't be alone. I will have company :P . It was on my way back from Japan. Without turbulance the flight becomes boring. You should sit near the window seat and see the wings moving when it is hit. It feels as if they are going to fall apart. Kind of becomes exciting and makes the flight bit more fun.

ICELAND was full or ICE. 11kms up from the air it seems beautiful. Greendland was full of mountains. The mountains bathing in Gold Sunlight. The view was breathtaking. Canadian and American land were also good when looking from such a great height.

But the best of all was Frankfurt. The whole place was bathed in snow. It was exactly similar to the game commandos which I used to play. The houses, the pines were all covered with snow. The images still are in my memories and will always be.

My First post

2005-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

Life's interesting. Kindof getting used to U.S. I was thinking whether to blog what I think and my experiences. One of my friend (Manish http://www.emanish.blogspot.com) said why not. So thought of trying it out.

Sounds are coming from the kitchen. It's quite scary sitting here alone in the big house. That too when I am watching a movie "Close encounters of the Third kind". The sounds are actually coming from my washing machine which is trying to dry my clothes.