Rohi's Blaag

Back after a long time with varied updates

2007-02-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok, I know it is nearly 50 days since I last blogged. I didnt realise it at all, thought it was maybe a month or so. I have been wanting to write a blog atleast from the last 10 days, but there were so many topics I wanted to write on - that I somehow did not get the much required 30 mins of spare time to think clearly on what I wanted to write immediately.

The last one month has been real busy with buying a car and the required work for it ( registration, insurance, etc).. come to think of it, it didn't take so much of my time, maybe around a week's effort. I have also been spending a lot of time in the kitchen learning the basics of cooking from my dear wife ( and enjoying the lessons learnt) and cleaning...:) and of course the usual work at office kept me busy, But, there are so many topics to write now, I thought let me list them down, so that I can write on them one by one in different blogs later on.
San Diego trip. ( The thanksgiving long weekend trip + Anniversary celebration trip in Nov end)
One year in our apartment.
Our new IBM laptop Z61 - review.
Different websites offering digital photo prints and their review after ordering prints.
Thai restaurant - BlueMango review.
Addiction to Orkut (website) and its help in tracking some old friends.
Mediterrian food review - House of falafel restaurant.
Visit to Indian restaurants - Sitara, Saravana Bhavan, mayuri.
Change in our eating habits in the last one year.
Cooking - my experiments in the kitchen.
Visit to TJ Maxx, Ross, Aaron brothers stores and my thoughts on these stores.
Used car buying tips - and car buying process.
Thoughts on latest movies watched - Guru, Don and Dhoom2.

This looks like a real long list of stuff to write about. I don't know when I will write about all of these, but will surely write about them gradually over this month.

NRI parents blame India when it is their fault

2006-12-22T18:22:00.000-08:00

Saw this in the news yesterday.

http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/20george.htm?q=tp&file=.htm

It is hard to digest that the parents forgot to take the required documents (visa) with them and trying to blame "India" for that. The person on the counter was doing his job and as per rule "he did what was the law" and he is being blamed.

We point fingers at India when Indians do not follow rules and we point fingers at India when they do follow rules. Won't we check our passports many times after we start planning for a trip to USA and how can you expect to enter USA when you do not have any documents on you. Same applies here.

If Paris officials did not check the documents , that does not mean what they did was right. And if that family was not leaving the French airport, I don't think it will even matter to French authorities that whether all documents are perfect.

Any US official would have done the same and if any of us did not have the required visa to enter, we would be deported and no one would have said anything. Why can't we stop blaming India for our mistakes.

The parents are telling their son, that even if we forgot the papers, Indian Immigration authorities should have let us go. What proof did they have that the kids are their own. I am sure, if somebody tries to smuggle kids using this technique then we will surely blame the authorities, why did they let the kids enter India without all the documents. I feel sorry that the kids had to suffer but it way parents fault not India's.

This is the parents side of the story, which may not be 100% true. In general going on a foreign travel without travel document is a big mistake. Deportation is a general procedure in any country in such situations.

In terms of why they weren't given an additional amount of time, this is possibly related to the next available flight back to Paris. Its very likely that had they not been deported when they were, the authorities would have had to find some place to put them up in for the night (assuming the next available Air France flight to Paris was in 24 hours). Since they were not allowed into the country, this would have had to be in the airport or a jail cell connected to the airport, neither of which are very attractive options. This probably drove part of the decision to send them back when they did.

Way to go - immigration officials. You folks did the right thing.

Magnets on our fridge's freezer door

2006-12-20T23:56:00.000-08:00

Since the time we started traveling, we wanted to get some momento from each place we visited as a token of remembrance. We kind of felt - magnets will be a good choice as they are available at all the places and easy to display them at home.
Here is a look at how our house's fridge (freezer) door is studded with magnets collected from our trips all over the USA.

Looking at the photo, to the extreme left are magnets from Niagara falls, Las vegas, disneyland and Ski resort at Tahoe Lake. Then the 2nd column on the left, has magnets related to Washington DC ( has all the presidents of US), then Disneyland, Yosemite falls and Lake tahoe. The 3rd column on the left has Pentagon, San Diego Sea world, Santa Cruz.

The 4th column from the left and more of in the center has Yosemite National Park, Napa Valley wine bottle, San Diego Zoo and the Red wood forest. The next row has a dolphin, Arizona (road runner bird), Crater Lake, San Diego Safari park and Oregon caves. One more magnet row to the right has a "las vegas" style beer mug, shots of Las Vegas at day and night.

Enjoy the view.

One year in US - still going strong

2006-11-06T00:51:00.000-08:00

It has been a year since I landed here in USA. I came here last Oct 10th (2005).
Time really flies fast.When I came, I was told it will be for 3 -6 months. Then, the project kept getting renewed every 3 months and now after four quarters, I have finished a year and still going strong.

If I look back over the past 1 year, I am happy that we have covered lots of the "Must See" places out here in US. Here is the complete list of places we have seen in the past 1 year.

Dec 25 (2005) - Monterey Bay.

All below dates are in 2006.

Jan 15 - Golden Gate bridge, parts of SFO.
Jan 29 - Santa Cruz beach, Mystery Spot, Felton Roaring camp of Redwood forest.
Feb 18 - Stanford University - shopping center.
Feb 19 - Livermore temple
Mar 19 - HalfMoon bay beach
Apr 2,3,4 - Mexico Trip with Phoenix, Arizona.
May 14 - SFO trip
May 27 - Universal studios, Hollywood.
May 28 - San Diego Sea World.
July 1, 2, 3, 4 - East Coast trip covering New York, new jersey, Niagara falls, Philadelphia, Maryland, Baltimore. Washinton DC
July 22 - Yosemite National Park
Aug 5 - Gilroy Shopping Mall
Aug 6 - Napa Valley Wines
Aug 18, 19, 20 - Disneyland
Sept 1, 2, 3, 4 Las Vegas, Hoover Dam
Sept 16, 17, 18 - Lassen Vocanic Park, Mount Shastha, Shastha dam, Oregon caves, Crater lake National Park, Redwood Forest, Avenue of Giants, Drive-thru redwood tree.
Oct 7, 8 - Lake Tahoe
Oct 15, - San Jose downtown - Tech Museum, I Max theatre.

Of course, each one of these trips are memorable and require a separate blog entry with all the finer details, but that is another time...

Gone are the days - School memories

2006-11-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

Gone are the days!!!

When the school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and benches!
When we queued up in book depot,
And got our new books and notes!

When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays,
Yet managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.

We learnt writing with slates and pencils,
And progressed to fountain pens and ball pens and then micro tips!

When we began drawing with crayons
And evolved to color pencils and finally sketch pens!

When we started calculating first with tables
And then with Clarke's tables and advanced to calculators and computers!

When we chased one another in the corridors in Intervals,
And returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat!

When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds, under the trees and even in cycle sheds!

When all the colors in the world,
Decorated the campus on the Second Saturdays!

When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table,
Was awaited more eagerly than the monsoons!

When cricket was played with writing pads as bats,
And Neckties and socks rolled into balls!

When few played "kabaddi" and "Kho-Kho" in scorching sun,
While others simply played "book cricket" in the confines of classroom!

Of fights but no conspiracies, Of Competitions but seldom jealousy!

When we used to watch Live Cricket telecast,
In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks!

When few rushed at 5:00 to "Conquer" window seats in our School bus!
While few others had "Big Fun", "peppermint" and "kulfi" at 5 o Clock!

Gone are the days of Sports Day, and the annual School Day ,
And the one-month long preparations for them.

Gone are the days Of the stressful Quarterly, Half Yearly And Annual Exams,
And the most enjoyed holidays after them!

Gone are the days Of tenth and twelfth standards,
When we spent almost the whole year writing revision tests!

We learnt, We enjoyed, We played, We won,
We lost, We laughed, We cried, We fought, We thought.

With so much fun in them, so many friends,So much experience, all this and more!

Gone are the days

When we used to talk for hours with our friends!
Now we don't have time to say a 'Hi'!

Gone are the days

When we sat to chat with Friends on grounds!
Now we chat in chat rooms.....!

Gone are the days

Where we studied just to pass!
Now we study to save our job!

Gone are the days

Where we had no money in our pockets and still fun filled on our hearts!!
Now we have the atm as well as credit card but with an empty heart!!

Gone are the days

Where we shouted on the road!
Now we don't shout even at home

Gone are the days

Where we got lectures from all!
Now we give lectures to all... like the one being done now....!!

Gone are the days

But not the memories, which will be Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever .....

Al-Gebra instead of Al -Qaeda ?

2006-10-16T01:02:00.000-07:00

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, set square, a slide rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of MATH instruction.

"Al-gebra is a problem for us," Gonzales said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the President.

Mastercard Ad !

2006-09-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

This is related to the last week trip we had here to North California and Oregon.

1419 miles of drive, 77 hours of hectic travel, 610$ money spent,

A photo of us with the car through the famous Redwood forest drive thru tree - PRICELESS

Of course, rest of the places seen - Oregon caves, Crater lake, Lassen Volcanic park, Redwood forest - were all priceless. I will write a separate detailed blog on that trip later this week.

Desi joke - No foreigners

2006-09-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

There is this new desi joke going around in our apartment complex. I thought I will share out here.
Our apartment complex is almost desi complex due to the fact that this apartment complex (address) lies in a good school district (Cupertino). Invariably, all Indians for the sake of good schools, stay in this apartment complex, even though they have been here in the US for a long time. The fact that APPLE (Ipod and MAC) office is close by is another factor.
Out of the 240 apartments here, atleast 200 are occupied by Indians, few chinese and very few americans.
Recently, an American was searching for a particular "Mr Smith" who is suppose to stay in the apartment complex. He was a little lost and he needed to check in which block that person lived. He knocked on one of the doors and to his tough luck, an Indian desi's parent (60+ year old) man opened the door.

American : " Do you know in which building Mr. Smith leaves?"
Indian parent (after a long pause) : "There are NO foreigners in this apartment complex"
American : Confused look on his face mumbled a thanks and walked away muttering #@$%$#@$%$

SHIRTS from around the world !!

2006-09-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Recently went to this neighbourhood shopping place to buy some shirts and t-shirts. It was the first time I was shopping for clothes after landing here in US. Since it was more than 8 months, thought it was time to buy some clothes and also as Ganesha festival was nearing.

We went to local "Kohl's" shopping mall. I bought 2 shirts and 4 t-shirts. the emphasis was more on getting the correct size shirts as the sizes here are usually XL,XXL, XXXL. It is difficult to get S, M sizes for me. I Managed to get some good looking and quality shirts.

I did not look much into them when I bought. When I wore the first of these shirts, while removing the tag, I noticed the label, "Made in Bangladesh". I became curious and looked at all the 6 shirts I had bought and guess what,each of them were made in a different country and none were made in USA.Truely global... :-)
For the curious, here are the 6 countries.

Bangladesh, India, Taiwan, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, (Central American countries).

Here is a photo with the Indian t-shirt on - at Crater Lake.

Napa Valley - Wine tasting

2006-08-14T00:29:00.000-07:00

Want Wine ? eh ...:-)

Sunday Aug 6th,

We decided we would be going to Napa valley to do some Wine tasting and watch a hot water geyser nearby at Calistoga.

I took about 1 hour to get the driving directions and went over the maps to see how we were going. I also looked around for the best Wine Tour and tasting experience. Based on what I read from the reviews, the suggestion was to go with "Robert Mondavi Wine Tour"

We left around 11.30 AM and went over CA85, 237, I 880, I 680, I 780, I 80 and finally CA 12 and CA29N, covered about 100 miles in around 110 mins. We reached the place around 1.30pm and directly went to Robert Mondavi" Wine Tour center. I had called ahead to do the reservation. 888-766-6328 is the number to call to make advance reservations.
The tour is offered daily year round from 10 am to 4pm and cost 25 $ (expensive ? )

Check this link for more details.
http://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/inside.asp

I had reserved for the 1.45 pm tour. We were off at 1.45 pm straight to the wine yard where the grapes were being grown. Barbara was our guide. She was very knowledgable and knew what she was talking. But, she did not give us enough time to take photos. She appeared to be in a hurry to take us around.

She did give a history of the place, why the area is suited for growing grapes, how the soil and the weather is good and a brief history of the Mondavi family as well. She took us into the wine cellar and explained how wine is made, the difference between white and red, the reason oak is used. It was about 45 mins tour.

Then, it was wine tasting time. We sampled 4 different types of Wines - 2 white wines, 1 red wine and 1 yellow wine. The first one was a white wine called Sauvignon Blanc - this was a strong wine and had a lemongrass flavour, didn't like the taste, it was suppose to be tasted with seafood, next on the list was a Chardonnay Reserve white wine, had a kind of fruity flavour, much better than the first one, but still was more like a tonic than wine.

Then, we were given a red wine called Cabernet Sauvignon, this was better than the first two and was decent. i had a real tough time remembering these names, :-)
Of course for a person, who has never had wines before, it was a new experience and the way people smell, taste and drink water inbetween and then taste another one to get the full taste of wines was a learning experience.

We are fuzzy after tasting wine.

Last, we were given a wine with a sweet taste - it was a yellow wine and I forget the name, it was the best of the lot I drank. Atleast tasted sweet and was felt nice drinking it.
After wine tasting, we look around in the Winery area - took some photos around the place. They have lots of different flavours of wine for sale.

Shubha was feeling a bit dizzy after drinking these 4 types of wines, so was in the same place for sometime. We left around 4pm and wanted to have something for lunch as we had not had lunch till then.

Other Wine yards tour recommended based on my internet search:

Sterling Wine tastingDomain Chandon champagne tour

I haven't tried them, but the reviews rated these popular. There is also a wine train which takes a tour of the Wine Country side.
Check http://www.winetrain.com/

We wanted to go to a Subway, which we had seen on the way. We went searching for it thinking it was nearby - but even after 10 miles, we could not find it.
So, we decided to go back to Calistoga to see the "Old faithful Geyser"

Entrance to the Geyser place

Refer http://napalinks.com/calistoga/frame/at_old_faithful_geyser.htm for details about the place.
We reached the geyser spot around 5.30pm, we took the admission tickets (8$) and waited for the Geyser to erupt. It erupts every 40 mins and by the time we took the tickets and went, it was only 5 mins left for it to erupt. It erupted and it rose to around 40-50 ft and lasted about 4-5 mins. It wasn't all that spectacular as I had expected but still was a natural phenomenon. We waited for another 40 mins, before we had another round of water eruption. This time, we got some good photos, as there was a rainbow in the background.

With the Geyser and rainbow

We left around 6.30pm and decided to go to the "Petrified Forest" area. Refer http://www.petrifiedforest.org/ to check more details about it.
It was almost closing time when we went there and we decided not to go in, we look around in the gift shop and left. Mt Helena which is nearby is a dormant volcano and it eruption long ago has caused this petrified forest. :-)

We were really hungry as we had not had our lunch still. I decided to come via US 101 S so that I could cross the Golden Gate bridge in the night. We stopped at Novato downtown and went into a Pizza place. (Red Boys Pizza).
We had a good veggie pizza and left Novato around 8.30pm. We wanted to park at the Golden Gate area and take some photos of the bridge at night. But, there was no exit available to take to go the stop-over area. We crossed the bridge and were lost for a while in SFO - went towards South and finally got onto I280 S and then US 101 S and drove the 45 miles in quick time and was home by 10 pm.

We had a good time tasting wine, watching the faithful geyser and was a happy Sunday.

Yosemite National Park trip

2006-07-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

Different views of Yosemite falls

It is time I wrote the full details of our Yosemite trip, Shubha and I went last weekend (July 22nd, 23rd 2006).

We were not sure till Friday evening where we wanted to go, whether it was Lake Tahoe or Yosemite. We looked at the weather reports and decided Yosemite as it was suppose to be cooler during theweekend. How wrong were we about it. You can read about how wrong we were during the course of this write up. :-)

So, Yosemite it was - during the July 22nd 23rd weekend. We were again not sure if we want to go for only 1 day or both the days, finally decided for 2 days we were going all the way of 200 miles, might as well stay for 2 days, see everything and come back. Friday night, I went over some websites via google and got all the basic information I needed as to what are the "must see" and "must do" stuff in Yosemite. You can see those links at the bottom of this write-up.

I also booked a hotel in Mariposa, which is about 40 miles from the main Yosemite valley area, as there were no lodging available within the National Park. This was another mistake I did (booking accommodation in Mariposa), which I will explain later.

I had booked a car from dollar car rental from Friday morning to Monday morning, so car was not an issue. Sat morning, we set off from home around 8.20 am in the morning, wanted to leave by around 7am, but since I slept late looking around for lodging, we left around 8.20am. It was an uneventful drive, via I 280, I880, I680, I 580, I 205, I5 CA 99, CA 120. We stopped around 10.30 at Oakdale to pick up Subway sandwiches for lunch, then went full speed till we reached the entrance of the park. There we were held up for nearly 30 mins due to huge trafficnear the entrance.

Finally, we were in the park by 1 pm, we stopped at the junction of CA 120 and CA 140 for sometime, to get the first view of the Yosemite valley and the Merced river. We could view the Bridal veil fallsfrom a distance and it was a enchanting site.

Now to the mistakes I made.

The temperature was super hot and we felt it throughout both the days, but did not realize how hot it was till I saw the weather reports later in the day - the temperature had reached 112 F which isapproximately 44 C, which I have never experienced before. So much for the previous weatherreports which indicated it will cooler in Yosemite, than in the bay area. Never trust these weather channels or the weather reporting websites.112 F is burning hot...we had a tough time trying to cool ourselves, we did drink lots of water, but112 F was too much.
Then the other one was CA 140 highway was closed due a landslide and the place where we had bookedour lodging was 40 miles from Yosemite via CA 140, but 70 miles via CA 41. So, we had no choice, but to go 70 miles each way to reach the lodging place in the night and come back on Sunday morning.

Well !!! - can't help it, some more driving miles and more driving experience.

It was 2 pm when we reached the park, we managed to find a parking space, immediately went to the visitor center, checkedthe timings of the "2 hour Valley ride in a trolley". It was at 3pm, we took the tickets and went over there from the parking lot to the Yosemite Lodge area via a shuttle bus.( where the trip starts). We had apples quickly and got into the trolley trip. The trip was a nice ride around the valley, the tour guide was well aware of the history of the placeand gave good details of all places we went. We stopped at the El Captian peak, the Half Dome peak, the Bridal veil falls, the Merced river,the Yosemite falls. It was an entertaining ride. But the heat was unbearable as it was nearly 110 F even at 5pm. We finished this tour by 5pm, tooklots of photos along the way. We then decided to have our sandwiches and some more apples. We ate this around 5.30 and then went to see the Yosemite falls. It was a breathtaking site to seethe water falling from such a huge height. It has been separated into lower Yosemite and upper Yosemite falls. We went right under where the water was falling, got to feel the spray.

Then - it was time to go back to the visitor's center to figure out a way to reach Mariposa asthe usual route to it was closed due to a landslide. The lady there was helpful in telling us the exact way to reach Mariposa, it was an extra 30 miles, but we had to do it. We left around 7 pm and hoped to reach around 9.30. The drive again was uneventful, went in CA 41, thenCA 99 and managed to reach safely around 9.15. We found the hotel ( Mariposa Lodge) immediatelywithout any issues. We got a good room with King size bed. We freshened up, thenwent out for a walk, went to Burger King, picked up Milkshakes and Onion Rings, ate it along withthe subway Sandwiches. We decided we will get up early and leave, but it was not to be....

Sunday July 23rd

We got up around 7am, got ready and left around 8.45, filled the gas tank full, then left to Yosemite, via Oakhurst. On the way picked up Burritos at TacoBell, drove at full speed to reach Yosemite Park entrance. Before that on the way, we saw a place, calledYosemite Mountain Sugar Pine which had a train ride. It was an old rail track which used to transport logs from the Yosemitemountains to the valley below. But they did have rides into the forests to tell you about thehistory of that place, we decided to skip it as we had a similar experience in Felton (steamtrain into the Redwood Forest). Not many folks are aware of this and would suggest this if anyonewants to have a different experience.

Photo : Inside one of trees in mariposa grove

Then we entered the park and had decided previous day evening itself, we will go to Mariposa Groves. It is home to some of the world's tallest trees - and is worth a visit. Again - we did not see many folks out here compared to the Yosemite valley area. I suppose most of the them come to the Yosemite valley area and then do not come south towards thisarea. But, this is really worth visiting. It has this huge Sequoia trees which are all taller than 250 ft and having huge tree base.There are three famous trees inside this Mariposa groves.

We decided we will hike on our own into the Mariposa grove forest rather than take the trolley tour. It was a 2.5 mile trek each way with an elevation of 1000+ ft as we moved form 5600 ft to 6650 ft.

It was a good trek of 5 miles in total with 1000 ft elevation and of course the temperature was 110 F.:-)Shubha was always ahead of me and seemed keen to finish it ahead of me. We covered the Grizzly Giant tree, then the California Tunnel Tree and went all the way upto to the Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree. The Grizzly Giant tree is one of the largest and oldest trees in the Mariposa grove with an estimated age of 2000 yrs. Coming to Tunnel tree, it has a huge tunnel at the base of the tree (tunnel was made in 1895)to allow stage coaches to pass through it. Similarly the Fallen Wawona Tunnel tree had a tunnel and many many cars have passed under it, but fell down in 1969 due to excess snow.

http://yosemiteexplorer.com/mariposa-grove
This above link will give an idea about the trees.

Photo : View from the Glacier point

We managed to reach the top of the trail by around 1pm, taking lots of photos on the way. The hikewas good, but it was really hot. We came down quickly and reached Wawona via shuttle bus where we had our car parkedfor some much needed water and food. We had choco bar icecream. then decided to drive to Glacier Point. We did again stop at 2-3 vista points and got some photos. The view from the Glacier point is too awesome and cannot be described, only photos can explain the beauty of that place. We were there for about 1 hour and clicked all kinds of photos and videos. We decided to leave around 5.45 and drove back to the valley, then left the valley around 6.45pm. We stopped once on the way at Oakdale for some Milkshake, then was back home by 11pm. We had a good time and the whole trip was well worth it.

Yosemite national park rocks....

Refer these links for more information and for planning your trip.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/trip/todo.htm
http://www.yosemite.national-park.com/
http://jrabold.net/yosemite/faqs.htm

My First Blog

2006-07-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Yoo hoo !!! I am pretty excited, this is my first blog. Been wanting to get onto this blog writing bandwagon from a long long time, but somehow was lazy and never seriously gave it a thought. Today, was idling at home, decided to give it a shot. So, here it is .... my first blog.

In the next few days, I hope to atleast write about all the trips I have undertaken in the last 7-8 months out here in USA.

Other than that, it will include the usual random thoughts I have ... Watch this space ...