Year and a half in a jiffy

Bunty completed 18 months recently!

He is at the peak of his naughtiness, stubbornness, cuteness, innocence and whole lot of other things. We are running out of words and out of energy trying to keep up with him! It's been an absolutely fantastic journey with our little star.

Here are some funny things that he said/did during the last few months:

=> He hid the car keys in kitchen draw! We had to manage with duplicate keys for a couple of days until we caught him putting something else in the same spot :D And all this while, we kept asking Bunty "keys edi?" and he would say "keys" and bend down and see through his legs!

=> I was caught by surprise when he started pulling the laddu in Ganesh idol's hand calling it a ball. He also managed to give a hi-fi to Ganeshji's blessing hand. Kudos to his alternate perception.

=> One day I opened the fridge and found a comb in there. No prizes for guessing who did that!

=> I was giving Bunty bath the other day and he observed my hand and yelled Pulgu (he meant purugu, insect) suddenly. What do you think he was looking at? My mole :))

=> S often complains that we keep losing all the DVDs that we buy. He has no idea that our Bunty has stacked up quite a few DVDs under his toy car seat!

=> S's phone had gone for a toss and the home button wasn't working. Poor Bunty tried switching on the phone pressing the home button and said "battery ayipoindi" !!!

=> There was this one crazy weekend where I had to work from home and was totally busy. Bunty grabbed my VPN token (which is about half the size of a finger) and ran away. We searched the entire floor for it 3 days in a row and guess where it was? In his train chute! God save us :)

=> We did a fun survey of the number of words that he speaks (and understands). He knows about 120 words (30% Telugu, rest English + a few names)! And he is framing simple sentences these days.

Bunty loves to sing rhymes. His favorite rhymes are twinkle twinkle, wheels on the bus, Old McDonald, Five little monkeys etc. And he loves to dance with moosic. He grooves tirelessly until the music plays!

Bunty loves to cuddle up with mommy and play silly games. He loves it when his Pappa pampers him and reads colorful books to him. He brings the roof down with his hysterical laughter, tireless jumping, running around and endless expressions.

He has changed our world beyond imagination....loving every bit of it :)

Fun Trip to Mexico - 2

It took me almost an year to finish this write up! We went to another grand trip after this and preparing ourselves for this year end vacation...It's funny how life gets busier.

Simply put, this whole place was paradise. The room was lavish with modern furniture. The pool was right outside the room. And the beach few yards away. The whole place was super designed with all beach activities, hammocks and lounges. And the resort had a sports lounge, art centre, unlimited food/beverages at any time of the day, spa, entertainment shows in the evenings and lots more!

My favorite and most memorable time was when I spent my mornings alone at the coffee bar, sipping my cappuccino away, looking at the waves in peace. Pure Bliss!

I had planned outdoor activities on alternate days so that we could laze around rest of the days, which worked out perfect for us. I had plenty of time to click pictures and take care of Bunty while we also managed to do so much during that week.

On my birthday, we went to the Dolphin park. We took turns to play with the dolphins. I wasn't sure if my body was ready for a dolphin ride, but the thrill factor pushed me. So, I simply floated on water, waiting for the dolphins to pick me up! No sooner, two baby dolphins lifted me up in the air with their beaks (supporting me underneath my foot) and took me for a super fast ride before dumping me in a big splash. I thought I sprained my back after the fall but all was well, when I got out of the water! I'll remember this super ride for the rest of my life.

On a super hot day, we chose to visit the Chichen Itza. It was a guided tour and we ended up missing from the group, for atleast 4-5 times. They had to come back searching for us. Bunty hated the weather and he was all cranked up. Poor thing was not ready to bear the heat. We took our own sweet time to explore the surroundings and luckily got back to the bus on time. That was the only strenuous day in the entire trip and we were glad that it was over.

My favorite outing was to Isla Mujeres, a beautiful tiny island off Cancun. We rented a golf cart and covered the island in about 3 hrs. Driving along the sea coast is a beautiful experience. The boat ride to and from the island was breathtaking as we got to see the blue, green, turquoise colors of the sea and the gorgeous caribbean sunset. Exactly the moments why I crave for vacations :)

Rest of the days, we lazed in the pool or played on the beach and binged on food like there was no tomorrow. The fruits were the yum part. Bunty thoroughly enjoyed playing in the pool! We got some great pictures of him in this trip. We also got few family portraits clicked.

When S and Bunty were fast asleep, I used to take off to spend some ME time. Visiting the spa refreshed me unbelievably. I also got a chance to paint again, which I had long forgotten. Love, love, loved it.

This trip is special of sorts because S tried Bungee jumping. I had goosebumps the moment he jumped. A sense of anxiety mixed with excitement. So proud of him for giving it a shot. While he jumped, I went on a joy ride over the caribbean sea, parasailing. It was a dream ride with gorgeous sights all around.

But after having a baby, our mindsets for sure have changed. Realised it when S was prepping himself for this feat. We are definitely not in a frame of mind to dare such stunts without thinking through a million times. Parenthood, I say!

Towards the end of the trip, we were so pampered and royally spoilt at the resort that I almost cried while leaving the place. The Mexico trip was a super hit and we got so confident traveling with Bunty that we went on a Europe tour for 3 weeks with him in September this year. I must say, he is one little happy traveller...touchwood!

More about the Europe tour in future posts, when I get free again!

Fun Trip to Mexico - 1

After having enjoyed the baby phase down and under, S and I were eyeing on a little holiday….a tiny break from the routine, especially with my birthday around the corner. But the thought of taking the baby out of comfort zone, exposing him to the big dangerous world of germs out there was holding us back. Adding to it, I also had the difficult task of packing baby stuff.

Bearing all of this in mind, our plans started with a simple 2/3 day outing, somewhere closer. Since it was winter, we had limited options. In fact, just one option….indoor water parks with lodging. Really??? Pity on us parents with infants. The options are cut down drastically! It was definitely not like before…when we could just hop off randomly without having to worry about food, accommodation with kitchen, weather, infant-friendly and stroller-friendly locations, clean washrooms with diaper changing facilities, abundant time blahh …hell, yeah. It donned upon us that we were past the golden phase of easy travelling. It never was going to be the same. But, our spirits were the same….we were not to give up so easily.

I had to look for a place where we could relax, have plenty of time on hands to take care of the baby and see the places around. That’s when I bumped upon the all-inclusive packages in one of the travel sites. All-inclusive….the name itself was appealing and that too at Mexico, where the weather was moderate. Half my problems were solved. After weighing all the options, I finally narrowed down to a 5-star resort for a 7-day vacation. The resort was in Cancun, by the beach. It had plenty of swimming pools and indoor entertainment. The food, beverages were all free 24/7. I read the reviews and double checked if it was infant-friendly. It was all too good to be true! We went ahead and booked it without a second thought.

I started packing way ahead to avoid last minute rush. The little one’s stuff filled up 1 big suitcase! I wasn’t taking any chances…I packed up everything right from baby medicines, plenty of baby food, swim diapers to dishwashing liquid, microwaveable containers, flask etc etc. The list goes on and on. S was saying, “why don’t we just carry our home there?” :D It all came down to 2 big check-in bags, 1 cabin bag, a stroller along with the car seat and the baby, of course :D Oops...we also had the rock-heavy diaper bag!

Because it was New Year’s eve, the airport was bustling with people. We would have almost missed the flight, thanks to the long line for check-in.  It was a 4 hr flight and so, there were no bassinets for babies. We had to settle for regular seats with baby on lap. It was Bunty's first flight trip and we were pretty nervous about him crying during take-off and landing. But he surprised us like he always does. He not just enjoyed the flight, but had fun watching out of the window. During take-off and landing, I put him to sleep and he was alright. The journey was much better than expected.

After we got off the flight, we waited for a while at the airport for the hotel transport to pick us up. No sooner, we were on our way to the Cancun Strip and were dropped off outside the resort.

The moment we entered the resort, we were blown away by the interiors. The christmas decorations were still fresh. The lobby was huge. The interior decor was modern and chic. There was a coffee bar towards the end of the lobby overlooking the beach through glass walls. We could see the blue waters and white sand. It was like a dreamland!

The resort staff were very polite and friendly. They upgraded our package and gave us a villa accommodation! We were given a grey band. We were to wear it on our wrists all the time to avail the premium facilities at the resort. Our vacation had started with a bang!

Days at NICU - 2

As the days progressed, the little peanut started showing signs of improvement. He was latching better and had started bottlefeeds once/twice in a day. At around 2 weeks, the nurses were confident that he would go home soon.

The NICU bustled with new borns, caring nurses and new mommies! By now, we had become familiar to the environment. Bunty's immediate neighbours were twin boys on one side and a little girl on the other side. One baby would start crying and wake up all the other babies! Sometimes, the babies would pull off the nodes and set the monitors to beep.  Bunty once pulled the feeding tube out of his nose and startled us!
I had mastered the art of disconnecting all the nodes from the baby, feeding him, changing his diapers, dress, putting him to sleep and connecting back all the nodes.

At around Day 18, Bunty baby was off the tube feeds completely. He had switched to bottle/breast feeds. He had passed his first test yayy!

The next test was he had to stay in his car seat for 90 minutes after a feed without any discomfort. His stats had to be normal a;; the while. He was so tiny when we tucked him up with all the belts in the carseat...like a doll. We left him to sleep and left to home. Called back later to find out that he passed the carseat test too :)

So, the final test was for us basically. On the night of Day 19, we had to stay overnight at the hospital with the baby. We had to take care of him without any help from the nurses. We were given a family room with all amenities. Of course, now it feels it was so easy to carry off. But we were real nervous that day! We were on the spotlight and we were on our own to take care of the baby. So, it was a big thing then. S and I took turns and woke up every 3 hours to tend to the baby. Little Bunty didn't trouble us much. The nurse checked on us a couple of times to see if we were doing okay. Next morning, we got a big thumbs up from NICU to take Bunty baby home!!! We almost jumped in joy!

On Day 20, we dressed up Bunty in a cute red welcome home dress. Took pictures with the nurses. Left them a Thank you card and treats. Afterall, we couldn't have done it without them.

And so, we were on our way home :) S and the grandparents had decorated our home for the baby's welcome!

The moment was so heart warming to have our little bundle of joy enter our abode. Little Bunty was finally HOME!  

What is your name?

We had pondered over the name game right after we knew the gender of the baby. It wasn't as tedious as we had expected it to be. We didn't make any lists, in fact. I casually bumped on this name in one of the websites and liked it. S liked it too. And so did everyone in the family. It's hard to find a name accepted unanimously by everybody in the family! We had found one. This name also sounded like a combination of my name and S's name.

Next step was to make it unique by appending a middle name. I think, S and I came up with the idea of appending our gothram name as middle name. I was against making the name any longer, I still am. But, we thought it was only appropriate because the baby is the eldest son of the eldest son of the eldest son of S household!

The combination sounded so right, everyone loved it. Especially S's paternal grandmom. She was on cloud 9 and beaming with pride ever since she knew that it was a boy! These old people, I say...

I also double checked with angrez people (my colleagues), if they could pronounce it with ease. They got it perfectly. They can really kill beautiful names!

Now....on the contrary, some of the fellow indians are not able to pronounce the name properly. That's another story.

There's always a downside to finding a name as no name is perfect. Some people like it, some don't. I mean, there's this huge responsibility of gifting your baby his identity for life and all that. But I have come to the realization that it's the person who builds the character around his/her name, that makes it unique/lovable. Afterall, it's the upbringing that needs attention more than the name.

And so, we had the name. But we were still open for better names, if any.

Finally my son arrived like a thunderbolt and we were given a deadline to register the name. That's when we took a step back to rethink if it was THE name. My stay in hospital was spent productively looking for more names, but none came close. After beating around the bush for a while, we gave up. Looking out for other names only made it worse. Perhaps the destiny, we went ahead and registered the name we originally had in mind right from the beginning.

I hope we have made the right decision and I hope my son will like his name :)

Oh by the way, his name is SAHARSH ATHREYA. True to his name, he has brought boundless happiness into our lives...

We lovingly call him Bunty :) I love the sparkle in his eyes and his toothy grin whenever we call him Bunty!

Days at NICU - 1

I was discharged from the hospital a couple of days after the delivery. But my little one had to stay back at NICU. The wait was indefinite as coming out solely depended on him passing some tests! Barely stepped into the world, my baby had to prove himself fit to go home...insane world! Sometimes I felt it was good for him to be there as the nurses at NICU took wonderful care of him in a sterile environment. It was bad for me, to have delivered and not have the baby by my side. I just wanted to breeze through the days and have him home.

The 2 days I was at the hospital, the baby was just a block away. I used to drop by as frequently as possible. Though he didn't have any major issues, he had these 4-5 nodes attached for monitoring his heart rate and other stuff. And was being tube-fed as he was yet to learn to latch. He had his own cozy cubicle and a bassinet. He was so tiny that the nurses used to call him a little peanut!

After I was home, I started pumping breastmilk(BM) and carried tiny bottles to NICU for the baby. We were visiting him twice a day. The hospital was 5 minutes away, meaning we could be there at the drop of a hat. We were so occupied with the new adjustments that we forgot to get him some clothes until there was a note on his cubicle board "Mommy, can you bring me some clothes?" And so, the baby wore his first dress on Day 5, which was also our 5th anniversary! The cute blue onesie had wordings "Mommy loves me" :) A month ago, I had ordered t-shirts for our anniversary that read "Mom-to-be 2012" for me and "Proud Dad-to-be 2012" for S! Well, we did wear the T-shirts, striking out the "to-be" part :)

He was weighed every day. Initially he lost weight and got back to his birth weight by Day 8 which most of the babies normally do. The weight gain was in terms of 5-10 gms per day. And there we were cheering for every single gram gain :)

NICU stay was a learning phase for me as well. I had to learn to breastfeed him and he had to learn to latch on. It was only the beginning and we had to face quite a hardship. His first test was to bottlefeed/breastfeed for straight 36 hrs and not lose weight. We were taking teeny tiny babysteps in that direction. Breastfeeding can be tiring for the babies as they need to put some effort to it.

The nurses used to give bath to the baby every alternate day. The first time I saw him take bath was on Day 6. The nurse effortlessly held him in one hand, moved him from one hand to another, flipped him over while giving him a bath! To this day, the video amazes me. God, was he really so tiny? I was soon to try giving him a bath with the help of the nurse. I almost trembled with fear, trying to handle the baby. That was not easy!

Day 7 was Mother's Day! The previous night we stayed back at NICU and celebrated by cutting a cake at around 12. S gifted me and MIL with some cute teddies and photoframes. The next day, when we visited the baby, there was this little card on the table that had my son's footprint. Another cute moment :) My joy was boundless. The nurses had made it special for sure...my first Mother's Day gift. Another priceless gift, the little one peed on us while changing :D

Day 8 was special because I saw my son smile for the first time. We also tried bottlefeeding him for the first time and he drank about 15 ml. Another yay moment!

During our visits, I did a lot of skin to skin with the baby. The nurses were particular about it. I realized that it gave a lot of warmth and a sense of security to the baby. And I felt super good too, in the warm embrace. I had my personal bonding moments with the baby that way. As per several studies, skin-to-skin is believed to be very beneficial for the baby. Glad to have tried it.

Oh the name! Shall save it for the next post :)

PS: I had scribbled notes everyday, while at NICU. That's how I remember what happened each day.

Birth Story of my little fellow - 3

Over to the Birthing Suite at 8:40 PM.

I had to go through the tormentous process of getting up from the wheel chair and sleeping on the bed. By now, my screams were in high pitch, whenever the contractions hit. I remember glimpses of staff peeping inside to see who was screaming. S and my MIL were by my side constantly, trying to calm me down. S says even today that it wasn't me screaming, must be some bhoot or chandramukhi :D

The nurses weren't helping me get over the pain either. I remember begging one of the nurses to do something, to give me epidural, to get me out of pain. Unfortunately, she said "There's no way out Honey. You have to push". They checked my dilation and I was already 10 cm dilated! No wonder, the pains were monsterous. I had passed the window when I could get the pain medication. It was too late. I continued screaming to the top of my voice and wriggling in bed. The nurses were trying to tell me something but I was in no mood to listen.

Inbetween the contractions, I could relax a bit. That's when a nurse yelled at me, saying I was wasting my energy screaming. Instead I had to divert my energy to push. That made complete sense to me. The very next contraction, I channelized the pain in a better way. Everyone around me was surprised. I had got the technique! phew!

From then on, I wasn't screaming. I started pushing hard. When I was close to delivering, the delivery team walked in. The doctor with his assistants, helped me further. My MIL couldn't see me suffering, and S asked her to leave inbetween. We couldn't put her health in jeopardy. I was so exhausted during the process, I had no energy left. But the thought of seeing my baby kept me going. And S was by my side supporting me all this while.

At 9:44 PM, I heard a tiny squeal! Our little bundle of joy had arrived. S and me were living the moment we were dreaming of since ages. That was the most precious and beautiful thing I was holding in my arms, my baby :) A miracle, I feel at times. Without the divine intervention, it would not have been possible. There were countless times, when things weren't happening the right way. But one perfect moment made up for all the pain endured. Touchwood!

Sailing through the magical moments, I did not realize that my pain was long gone. They had to take the baby to NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit)as he was born early. He had to be monitored for any irregularities. The post - delivery process was so fast that I was wheeled back to mother and baby care unit as early as 10:10 PM. On the way back, I peeked into NICU to catch a glimpse of my new love. Later, our family got together to celebrate the little one's arrival :)

All's well that ends well. And so the beautiful day passed by unfolding tons of surprises and life-long memories to cherish.

Birth Story of my little fellow - 2

The maternity ward was transparent with glass doors. The nurses would drop in from time to time to check my blood pressure and temperature, also to check if the baby's heartrate was okay. S and my in-laws took turns to go home and freshen up. Meanwhile, I had my lunch at around 12:00 PM. The mood lightened in the room and we relaxed a bit knowing the baby was doing good. I still had no pains.

I had my ultrasound appointment at 1:40 PM. S wheeled me downstairs to the ultrasound room. To my luck, the lady who was to take my ultrasound was probably an intern. She would see something on screen and rush to her seniors for advice. She did this forever! We kept asking her if there was something we should know. She would give us a smirk and tell us that the doctor will look into the report and talk to us. As far as she knew, it all looked fine. After a gruelling long session, we got back to the room at around 3:30 PM. I was tired and took a nap.

The nurses kept dropping by inbetween. One of the nurses told us that the doctor reviewed the ultrasound report. He did not see any issues and so, that's it for today. He was to check back on me tomorrow. He didn't even pay a visit. Expecting an uneventful night, we were still discussing about S dropping my in-laws back home. They wanted to hang around for some more time. I had called my parents while I was in labor assessment room. I tried to sound as casual as possible and told them that there was nothing to worry about. I kept calling them from time to time to inform them of the updates. They were worried.

My dinner arrived at 6:00 PM. And just when I finished it, I felt a steep pain. It didn't last long. After about 5 minutes, the pain came back. I held the bed railings hard. The pain went away again. This continued for 30 minutes and we informed it to the nurse. The nurse asked us to get back to her, if the contractions got severe and 4 minutes apart. The contractions got really severe and I was finding it hard to control. I don't even remember when I started screaming! The pains got worse at around 7:45 PM. I had been recording my contractions in my phone all this while. 7:45 PM was the last contraction that I recorded, after which I just threw my phone out and struggled in bed with the immense pain! S on one side of the bed and my MIL on the other side tried to pacify me but to no vain. The pain only got worse. This continued till after 8:00 PM when the nurse arrived. She must have heard my screams :D She checked me and made arrangements to take me to birthing suite!

She asked me to get up and sit on the wheel chair. WTH? I was going mad and crazy with pains. S and my MIL helped me somehow with the move and we were on the run the very next second. My pains were getting unbearable.

Birth Story of my little fellow - 1

My world changed when my little one arrived on May 7th last year. He chose to arrive quite early (6 weeks before expected date!) We had no time to think or react to the happenings. I had read a lot of birth stories before. Mine was different.

My in-laws were visiting us then. They wanted to be around when the baby arrived. My parents were planning to visit just before the delivery. Thinking there was still a lot of time, we were putting off the baby shopping. Finally, one fine weekend S made some time. We headed all the way to Buffalo to buy baby stuff. The shopping was never ending. I picked up anything and everything that I liked! We stopped by Niagara falls and the casino, while on the way back. After a eventful saturday, sunday was relaxing. In the evening S and me took a long walk, talking about how our lives would be changing because of a little someone. Little did we know, that we would meet this special one the very next day! After the walk, I retired to bed early as I had to go to office the next day.

Sleeping gets difficult during late months. Turning and changing sides used to be so hard. At around 4:30 AM, I tried changing sides and felt something. I froze for a while to realize what was happening. My water broke. I didn't know what to do. Panic hit me. It was not even close to my EDD. I finally mustered some strength and put my hand on S to wake him up. All I could say was 'water'! S thought I was asking for water to drink! He woke up casually and started walking out to get some water. I yelled at him and said that my water broke! He switched on the lights and took a while to grasp the situation. He ran to my MIL and brought her in. She asked me not to panic and held my hand. Let alone the hospital bag, I didn't even have the emergency phone number handy! My mind was blank and so was S's. He finally got hold of the number and called them. The hospital staff asked us to come in right away. I was scared to even stand. Somehow managed to walk down the stairs and to the car. My MIL and FIL quickly got in. S drove the car to the hospital which was 5 minutes away.

He dropped us outside the hospital and went to park the car. I was wheeled in to the labor assessment area. The lady at the counter failed to notice my worried face. She must have been dealing with such cases everyday, I suppose. She coolly asked me for my health card. Darn! I wasn't carrying it with me. So, S had to go back home again and get my wallet.

Meanwhile, they put me in a room and started monitoring the baby's heartrate. The baby was fine and kicking much to our relief. They confirmed that the water had broken. We waited for the doctor to show up which took a good 3 hours. The nurses kept dropping by inbetween assuring us that it was going to be okay. One of the nurses really motivated us a lot. I can't remember her name but she made us feel safe. Thanks to her. She mentioned that they had delivered babies as early as 27 weeks and that the babies are all hale and healthy.

The doctor arrived at around 8 AM and examined all the reports. The baby was doing fine. I wasn't even having any pain or anything. She said that there was no going home now. She was optimistic that we could wait atleast 2-3 days before the labor kicked in. She asked me to go for an ultrasound. She said something that greatly relieved me of my guilt. That the baby decides to come out whenever it wants to. Physical activities like walking seldom induce a labor. All the while, I was blaming myself that I over strained myself and so my water broke :(

I was moved to the maternity ward at around 8:20 AM and given a private room. The ultrasound was scheduled in the afternoon. They did not check my dilation as they feared infection. So, I was put on IV and left to relax in the room.

Welcome 2012 :)

A year gone by since I wrote a post on this blog! Better late than never, a very Happy New Year to one and all...

2011 has been a roller coaster ride with lot of happenings in the personal front, both good and bad. Lost two of my uncles (maternal and paternal). Adding to the grief, S lost his Grandpa. We hardly went on any vacation nor did we celebrate any festival in 2011.

Fortunately, the last quarter managed to turn the cards and it's been better since :) Arrival of my nephew (Lucky) in October was a very joyous moment in the family!

2012!!!

This time I celebrated my birthday with friends and family. Thought it could turn out to be boring but was very special. I actually enjoyed cutting the cake and rocked at the New Year Party! (I don't really like cutting cakes, end up doing it only for the sake of S)

After 3 long years, we have planned a trip to India! It's a long vacation of 2 months (Feb and Mar). Looking forward to spoil myself and get pampered by family!

Hoping 2012 would keep me in good spirits. I surely will have a lot to write in my blog this year, especially after I come back from India :)

For now, waiting eagerly for the vacation to begin :D

Welcome 2011 :)

And so the New Year has begun with a lot of excitement. I couldn't have asked for a better start than a full fledged vacation to Hawaii. To be specific, I snorkeled my way into 2011! Thanks to S, everytime I end up saying that this is my best birthday ever....:D

2010 was fabulous in it's own way with perks like parents visit to our home, plenty of travel/vacation, not to forget the much relieving Canadian PR, US visitor visa for 10 yrs and the likes. I explored and pushed myself to do new things like Tennis, Swimming, Grooming myself (if that counts) etc. A pleasant surprise is that S has indulged himself into blogging and has gathered quite a following in a very short time! All I wish is that the same zeal continue through 2011 and rub on me too :)

And here goes my wishlist for 2011!

Cook more, Eat more, Pray more, Travel more, Learn more, Exercise more, Watch more movies, Party more, Love more, Enjoy more! Yeh Dil maange more..;) I also want to add more Confidence, Discipline and Organization at home and at work.

Finally, I wish for best of health, wealth, spirit and happiness. Wish you all the same guys! Happy New Year :)

2010 Travels - 6

Remember the song from Roja movie ? "ye haseen wadhiyaan..ye khula aasmaan". The same song kept ringing in my ears throughout our trip. Epitome of beauty, out of the world experience etc etc are too mild expressions for what I had seen and cherished at Calgary and Banff!

Of all our trips through the year, this was the most well planned and executed vacation. All credit to S. We managed to see quite a lot of places within 3 days. I made all the bookings way ahead and we were quite excited about the trip.

The day we landed in Calgary, we picked up the rental car and drove into the city. The downtown, Chinatown, a walk along the lake occupied a part of our day. We visited the Telus World of Science Museum which was hosting a special show about Einstein and Darwin. Museums are generally boring but this one was different. A peek into the lives of these famous scientists was definitely interesting. They had displayed the personal notes of these scientists along with a lot of other information. We also watched a movie about Australia continent. The movie was not 3D but more like a planetarium setup with the screen enlarged vertically above our heads and horizontally wide to cover our view completely. It felt as though we were right there in Australia. Loved the unique movie concept.

In the evening we visited the famous Anagha Dutta Temple at Calgary. Though it was not the visiting hour the incharge was kind enough to let us in. Mom and dad were so glad to be visiting Goddess Anagha especially during Navratri.

Later on we headed to the Calgary tower and enjoyed the city view in the dusk. The glass floor was fundoo and it felt scary everytime I stepped on it. What if it breaks?

All of us were dead tired and a little jet lagged but we walked all the way back to the hotel. Moms are moms. She prepared dinner after we reached the room! We had food and hit the sack soon after. We were travelling to Edmonton the next day via Drumheller. Lots of stories on the way. Later...

Oh by the way,I bought this good luck bracelet made of goldstone beads at Calgary. Things seem to have worked well in my favor then onwards and I have been wearing the bracelet ever since! Talk about superstitions :D

Well, for now...
Albert Einstein's Marks sheet


Einstein with Mom n Dad


Calgary Tower


Calgary City View from the tower


The glass floor

2010 Travels - 5

Let's talk about beautiful Ottawa today!

Ottawa, the Capital City of Canada is rich in culture and architecture. The city is a perfect blend of ancient history and modern outlook. The famous Rideau Canal connects the Ottawa city to Kingston city. The Parliament building nested on a hill besides Ottawa river makes an awesome view. We went up the clock tower of Parliament building and enjoyed the exquisite view of the city.

Another seasonal attraction of the place is the tulip festival. Though not as huge as the ones in Keukenhof, Germany, this makes up a considerably good rendezvous with different colored Tulips...

Below are some of the glimpses of the city!

Front view of Parliament Building



Old Church Building



Fairmont Chateau Hotel



Annual Tulip Festival

2010 Travels - 4

CAMPING AT SAUGEEN:

Our friends group here in Toronto go on camping every summer. Consistently since the last 3 years, this camping has been a huge hit with all the folks and nobody would miss it at any cost. Even to the extent that we had 2 pregnant ladies (over 7 months!), 3 senior couples and 3 babies in the group who made it inspite of all inconveniences!

S volunteered to scout for a good location and book the cottage this year. He really struggled a lot to put things together for the gang, the results of which we were yet to see.

With all planning, finally we set out to the camping site on a late Thursday evening. It was already getting darker and no sooner we took a detour from the highway into smaller roads. As we moved along, the roads got narrower and so the human population. We could only see the signboards posted. Pretty soon the road ended and we were on a muddy path. After about a mile, we figured that we had to move further up to reach our cottage. After few deviations, we finally saw the cottage. The cottage looked huge from outside. From inside, it was the most creepiest building I had ever seen. The building was 2 floors with a kitchen (cutlery included), library (??), living room, biggggg dining table, backyard deck and plenty of bedrooms and a huge dorm in the basement. TV, tt table, play toys for kids were other attractions! The rooms were all hidden in all possible corners and it took a good 30 mins to discover the entire cottage. Not bad at all! We thought, for a gang of 35 + kids. The owners had tried to make the interiors as spooky as possible with all ghost, demon books. The cottage was amidst the woods and the only building in the locality for atleast a mile's radius, all for us for 3 days! Sooper :)

The fun began as we ran to choose the beds. Me and S chose to sleep in the dorm, which was cool as we had a boisterous company! It was decided that each family would cook twice in the 3 days, so that everyone gets a chance to cook and to relax, rather than having a single cooking team. It was amusing to watch everyone take part in cooking, not to forget the yummy dishes that turned out!

The guys were hell bent on enhancing the spooky factor...so they set out on a late night trek into the woods. The girls made a plan and sent me along with 2 other girls to go along with them. The purpose was to keep a watch on their activities and bring them back home soon. We girls barged right in middle of the group and wanted them to escort us as they walked along. There were absolutely no lights and the guys were coming up with all weird ideas just to scare us! Ultimately we all ended up having a lot of fun on the trek.

In the mornings, we played a lot of games outside in the ground. We also managed to visit a falls nearby. Boy-oh-boy! The trek down to the falls was so exhilarating. I was surprised to see Mom coming all the way down to the falls! Love her spirit, absolutely.

There is no dearth of lakes in Canada. We went to one of the beaches and chilled. The second day we headed to another lake again but for a different experience, the kayaking and canoeing. I was so excited about the kayaking thing that I got on the boat and asked my friends to push me into the waters. I was stupid enough, not to ask them how to maneuver the kayak to change directions. Hence, I kept moving forward and forward until I was far off from the shore. Now I got really scared and didn't know what to do. I tried turning the kayak slightly, but it would start toppling. Thankfully, one of the guys came to my rescue and taught me the knack. The irony was, he fell off his kayak while going back :)) In no time, I was on myself and did quite a bit of adventure over the water. Later on, picked some canoeing with others too. Had a blast that evening! One of the canoes had actually capsized putting all family in water....but it was only at the shore! :) Dad was so thrilled to kayak and Canoe. He enjoyed it a lot.

Back to the cottage, we had an awesome camp fire. We all sang and danced the night out! There were birthday celebrations too!

On the last day, everyone was so sad that they had to leave the place and head back. The parting ceremony itself took so long because everyone kept hugging :))

That's our group with the cottage behind!

And so the camping was a great success this year.

2010 Travels - 3

Just an hour away from home is the world famous Niagara Falls. I have lost count of the number of times I have visited this place in the last 3 years. But the bewitching beauty of the falls never seizes to amaze you. My in-laws and parents rated Niagara Falls experience as the best during their trip! Especially the boat ride to the horseshoe falls. The boat zooms so close to the falls that we can't even open the eyes due to the heavy showers. The enormity of the falls is simply amazing. The Canadian view is more elaborate as against the USA view. Having seen the falls from both ends, I vote for Canada anyday!

Apart from the boat ride, the journey behind the falls is mind boggling. Thanks to technology. You can take a walk behind the falls and feel the power of the falls up close. I have trouble watching the falls from behind. The turbulence and the harsh sound bothers me somehow. Nevertheless, everyone enjoyed it to the core.

The emerald colored waters and the rainbow is a sight to see.



The Niagara city is colorful with fun activities and large casinos. My MIL is an ardent fan of slot machines! We really had fun playing at the Casino :)

THE AFRICAN LION SAFARI

As the website boasts, it's us the visitors caged in the car, while the animals roam around us freely, including lions. The best moment of the drive was when a lion and a cheetah brushed against our car. Thankfully, the monkeys spared us! It was fun to watch the Ostrich beat the window glasses with its beak. I still can't forget the way the Giraffe bent to eat the carrot we offered. I find Giraffes very cute :)And so are elephants! The Elephant show was superb with all the elephants performing various tasks. One of the elephants 'Maggie' painted a T shirt with different colors! There was also this bird show where the parrots spoke words like hello, how do you do! Super fun....

There were peacocks roaming about freely within the premises. One of the peacocks, unfurled it's feathers right in front of our eyes, displaying it's rich beauty. We couldn't ask for more when the peacock did it several times!


The Safari has always been our favorite hang out, our close encounter with wildlife.

2010 Travels - 2

Las Vegas is a man made heaven on Earth. The lavishness and extravaganza of the place appeals to you quickly. There is a sense of celebration and excitement in the air, anytime of the day and year.

We were there for 4 days and we couldn't see the entire strip of just 6 KM! Can you believe that? We only made it to half of the strip. We would probably rent a room on the other side of the strip this time, so that we cover the rest.

The word CASINO brings back n number of memories to me...the ringing slot machines, black jacks, wheels of fortune, poker what not. Gambling being the prime activity, we indulged so much so that I alone had lost $300 at the end of the trip but fun unlimited!

Besides gambling, the spectacular interiors of each casino left me spellbound. Each Casino is unique and stylized beautifully. There's an entire New york city including the Statue of Liberty and Brookyln Bridge. There's also the world's second largest hotel MGM. True to their symbol, they have real lions in there for people to see! There's a pyramid (Luxor) too. It seems the flood light on the tip of the Pyramid is visible from the moon. We stayed at Excalibur which was a castle! Paris paris has mind blowing interiors with sky and buildings. It really feels as if we are in Paris streets. There's a ride up Eiffel tower (yes! There's one Eiffel tower too) from where we can spot "The Bellagio Fountain Show" in the night. The dancing fountains took my heart away :)

Sad that we didn't take any roller coaster rides as it was too chilly and we did miss Grand Canyons.

That's about Vegas and West Coast!

Moving on to East Coast, we visited the Capital City Washington DC in March. On the banks of Potomac River, the city stands in pride with all white government buildings and plenty of museums. Smithsonian Museums - We saw the Hope Diamond, which origins from India. The big blue diamond is one of the largest in the World. We also saw a 3D movie about Ocean bed which was super cool. The art gallery carried paintings and sketches by Pablo Picasso!

The white house looked grand and I believe I saw the US president, Mr. Obama in the fleet of black cars that entered the White House (It could be my illusion though!) It was World Women's Day and there were celebrations at White House. Many privileged women waited at the entrance to meet Mr. Obama. It was a sight to see...

The Capitol Building looks so much like our Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. It was even more elegant in the evening with all the lights.

The Washington Monument stood tall, shaped like an Egyptian obelisk. I am yet to figure out the significance of this monument.

Pittsburg City - We often visit the famous Balaji Temple in Pittsburg. The temple is on top of a hill. It's a bliss to be in the temple and pray the Almighty. Makes a huge impact on me everytime I visit this temple. Divine.

Our travel series continue in Canada from here. The gorgeous Niagara, the fun African Lion Safari, Ottawa City, ultimate camping experience at Saugeen Country, the breathtaking locales at Calgary and many more to follow. Stay tuned!

2010 Travels - 1

2010 has been the year of travels. We were literally on wheels. Especially with both the sets of parents dropping in at Shagun, we couldn't ask for more.

The year started with a bang as I celebrated my birthday amidst thousands of people on streets at Vegas. The best birthday I could ever imagine. Vegas left me spellbound and made it's way right into my favorites list. But of course, so was the entire west coast of USA. Los Angeles, San Fransisco were no less. Amazing places! Even before I boarded my flight back home, I was damn sure that I would be going back there again.

Each city carries it's own unique identity. Let me tell you all about it...

Los Angeles is all about HOLLYWOOD. Every street, shop is named after Hollywood. The moment we walked out of the airport, the tall palm trees caught my eye. They stood on the sides of the roads as if they were welcoming us. They were everywhere! And there stood the HOLLYWOOD sign proudly on Santa Monica mountains, boasting of it's glitz and glamour. We visited the Hollywood studios and Disney Land. Disney Land is every child's dream! If only we had enough time, we would have enjoyed more at these places. We also went to SFMM (Six Flags Magic Mountain), a theme park with high intensity rides. For the first time in my life, I actually got scared in one of the rides 'Dejavu'. One heck of a roller coaster that was!

Hollywood walk of fame has this innumerable number of stars on ground with signatures from Hollywood celebrities. We ran like little kids all over, trying to find our favorite stars and pose for pictures. The Kodak Theatre guided tour was splendid, the place where the Oscars happen every year.

Apart from all this vibrance, the city also has a calmer side to it, i.e., the beaches. We headed to Malibu on one of the days and had fun playing in the Pacific Ocean. Malibu hindu temple was a surprise add on! Fabulous temple that is.

Apparently, "City of Angels" is too mild a name for the bright and beautiful Los Angeles!

As we drove from Los Angeles to San Fransisco, the route was spectacular with hills and nature. The moment we entered San Fransisco, I had already fallen in love with the place. Till date S teases me that I can't list many places in San Fransisco, that made me fall for it. But a strange connection did happen. I had a sense of familiarity with the place. Probably one of the reasons could be that I had grown up watching the golden gate bridge in "Full House", if you know what I mean.



The pacific ocean was too enchanting in deep blue. The ride on crooked street took the cake as we swayed in the car everytime the car took turns. The city itself is on hills and hence, the roads go up and down. The fisherman's wharf was bustling with activity and we missed taking a cruise on Pacific as we were late. Luckily we took the city tour bus and enjoyed the sight of San Fransisco in the dusk. The city skyline looks mesmerizing from the other side of Golden Gate. I still regret not being able to see the bridge in clouds, which I would one day! hmmmm....

Wait for my next when I tell you about Las Vegas and a lot more places!

Train fun

When we moved to Toronto, we used to stay in downtown in a small cozy apartment which was hardly 15 mins away from my office. Later on we shifted to Toronto suburbs.

Now, I take 2 trains to reach office. One is the double decker train that travels above ground and the other one is a subway that travels underneath. Together an hour journey. Of course, the same way back home too. That makes it 2 hrs per day.

Initially, I was petrified by the amount of time spent on travelling to office. But now after about an year, I have got into the groove. And the travel amuses me with a variety of experiences each day. And of course, I sleep through half the journey. I'm so sleep-trained by now, that I open my eyes just before I get down at my station. The other half I entertain myself with a wide variety of things starting from reading newspaper, solving sudoku or chanting vishnusahasranamams.

I have come to realize that this personal 'Me' time is so relaxing for the day, where I don't have to think about my work at office or my chores at home :)

Well, there is a flip side too!

The double decker train travels to downtown only in the mornings and back to suburbs only in the evenings. That limits the travel to only office hrs. I cannot leave early. Also, I got to be on time otherwise the next train is only after 20 mins!

Thankfully, the subways are more frequent (2-4 mins). But, the main problem is with the operations. You never know. They would dump you in the middle of nowhere and say that there are no more trains enroute! Or they would drag you through the route in such a slow pace, that a snail would have reached the destination by then. And then you miss the next train....phew!

My train tales are galore...

The other day me and S were still in the car when we saw the train arriving in the station. The traffic to the station is always at it's peak. Everyone wants to catch the train. S drops me and I run without looking back. There is no easy path to the train. I need to cross a fleet of stairs down and up before I make it. I ran like I was competing in a marathon! The driver had already announced that the doors were closing. In a snap, I jumped into the train and the doors closed right behind me. There was a great sense of accomplishment in me as I had missed my train on several occasions in similar situations. The onlookers had this 'You made it!' expression on their faces! They had completely got my feeling :)

On one such cases, I came running to the station, but the train was gone. It took time for me to realize that the train was on the otherside of the platform :( Sigh! By the time I saw that, the doors were closing.

On the contrary, the day is perfect. I come to the station on time and all. But the train is late :( And especially in winter, it's impossible to stand for a couple of minutes in the biting cold.

And then there are days when I forget my pass. One of my friends taught me to request at the booth that I shall show the pass the next day. I tried the same trick. But the person won't agree. He asked me to pay. Being the smarty that I am, I told him that I had the pass in my purse and I forgot my purse at home. He had no choice but to buy my reason :D

Zillion thanks to S, he gifted me an iPhone recently. I'm already an addict. The journey to office has started to seem shorter. There's so much to do with my iPhone...

And I'm not complaining at all....;)

Phew !!!

No...I did not make any new year resolution to blog regularly! (I know, it's March already) Everytime I make a promise, I've been breaking it. So, I don't intend to make any promises.

As I revamped my blog, I just realised that I enjoy reading blogs rather than writing! The list of blogs that I follow seems to just grow and grow. I've been so busy reading all the blogs that my writing has taken a backseat :) Seriously, all you bloggers out there, you are doing an absolutely amazing job. I love your blogs! Keep up the good work and keep inspiring the lazy blogger in me.

On the contrary, I feel special about myself, as I am the only one of my kind!...I am feeling better now :D

House to a home

It's been a month now at our new nest "Shagun". Fun to set things up right from scratch :) Lovin it...totally!