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!

Niagara and Marineland

It was a gloomy day and I couldn't get good shots of the Niagara. Nevertheless, some interesting captures...

Cute miniature tribal dolls at a store


Eyes of an idol (inside a game machine)...What do you think it's saying?







At the Dolphin show in Marineland...This one's a hungry seal!

Dolphin jumping high

Dolphin Pout...Cute!! Aren't they?

Spring Blooms


Water Droplets collected on glass facing Niagara falls....

The naughtiest brat I have ever met...Naani(my friend's son)

Beautiful Elora

Just 1.5 hrs away from Toronto, Elora is a beautiful small village situated on the Grand river. If you are thinking that the name sounds similar to Ellora (Aurangabad)...Well, the village was indeed named after our very own Ellora. A British official inspired by Ellora named it so. (Source: Wikipedia)

We found Elora a perfect getaway, as it's so close to Toronto and the countryside is enchanting and refreshing. The village is so laid-back and people are very friendly. It's a good place to explore especially for people interested in arts/crafts, culture. We also saw tourists taking a ride in carriages driven by huge horses. We are planning to go back to this place again in Autumn for the lovely fall colors.

Apart from the village, the main attraction is camping/ picnic and water activites in Grand River. I was keen on going for tubing as it sounded something new. We reached the conservation area and rented a pair of huge tubes, helmets and life jackets. We had to walk for almost 20 minutes to reach the river. We thought that there would be a guide at the site to tell us how to go about it. But all we found was a bunch of spectators and hobby photographers waiting for us to take a leap into the river! The river looked kinda dangerous with fierce rapids.

The questions that popped in our brains...
What if we fall off the tube? Where is the end point? How to get out once we start off? What if there are huge fish inside ??? (this one was my concern :P)

Anyway, we let down all our inhibitions and ventured into the river slowly. I made S sit on the tube and pushed him through :D.... Off he went along with the flow. I couldn't spot him after some distance. Soon after, I tried maneuvering myself with my hands and feet. I was so bad at it that the tube kept going round and round instead of catching the stream. Absolute entertainment for the watchers! :))

Meanwhile S came back for his next ride down the stream. I was so relieved to see him! This time he helped me around with the tube and soon I was in rough rapids trying not to fall off the tube. It was a super cool ride and I loved it!
I realised that the water was hardly knee deep and we could get off and walk back at any point. This made me go for few more rounds of fun tubing. We were left completely exhausted.





The after Effects of tubing:
> I successfully got my first coat of tan for this summer
> My shoes got a nice, clean wash...:D
> We were so thrilled to jump in that we forgot that S had the digicam in his pocket. Yes...the digicam got soaked in water. It is not working but we are hopeful that it might after it dries inside.

We walked back to return the tube and accessories. S held the tube on his shoulder and carried it. I thought that was a bad idea and advised him to roll the tube along the road effortlessly. Brilliant eh??....actually not :( I was rolling the tube (like we used to when we were kids!) and the tube went "BOOM". It hit a sharp stone on the road and burst. And I stood there speechless...

Jungle Joy

DAY 2

S was happily sleeping and I was struggling to sleep as I had slept right next to the windows! Sheesh..! Apart from the main entrance to the cottage, there was another entrance towards the side which directly opened to the bedroom. Suddenly, I heard that bedroom entrance door knob twist and turn. Somebody was trying to break in. I was in a fix, if it was just my illusion or for real! I hid myself under the sheets and curled up to close my ears and eyes shut tightly. The noise sealed and I heard footsteps as if someone were walking towards my window. The main entrance was beside the window. So, this stranger, whosoever, unlocks the main door and there is no more noise. I was completely in shock and woke S up. He too was awake by now as he had been hearing the noise. He quickly went to the hallway and checked out if anybody had come inside. But there was none! It couldn't get more spooky than this. S advised some words of courage to me and slid back into deep sleep :( You can imagine my plight for the rest of the night!

Only in the morning we got to know that there were 2 more houses in the building with the same entrance. Without recognising the main entrance in the dark, our neighbour had tried to unlock our bedroom door and then somehow figured out the main entrance. This was it! Overnight, I had taken a wild imagination tour beyond bounds trying to guess the reason behind the noise :P

With a deep sigh of relief, I got ready for the next adventure in the woods. This time we had two guides along with us who took us through an exciting journey into the forest. We had to drive a few kilometres into the forest. The guide kept us entertained with a lot of information about the forest, the species and whole lot of things under the Sun. What we didn't know was Haliburton Forests are privately owned by a single person, whose father bought the forests way back in 1960s for about 6-7$ an acre! He has his own set of ecologists, environmentalists to maintain and control the forest equilibrium naturally. There is a mill in the premises which uses the forest wood to generate electricity and lighting for the foresters.

We parked the vehicle at a point and trekked from there to reach a lake. Any water activity, I am always thrilled. We had to paddle through to reach the other end of the lake, which was fun! After canoeing and hiking for a while, we reached the spot for canopy walk.

A tiny suspended bridge at a height of about 70 feet lay in front of us which was less than a foot wide. This bridge linked from tree to tree and spanned for half a kilometre. The delicate bridge could hold 3 people at a time and moved incessantly with every step. We were given a brief training about keeping ourselves connected to the cable running overhead with hooks, just in case we fell off the bridge.



The walk on this bridge was the most amazing experience and we couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate our most important day!

The thick forest canopy underneath was a feast to the eyes and we were bewitched!



The bridge ended in a tree house overlooking a lake. We spent some precious time watching the beautiful sunset. Didn't feel like coming back at all....but we had to, eventually...

We came back to the base camp and bid goodbye to Haliburton soon after.

On the way back to Toronto, Guess where we sneaked into?



No Loss..no gain...!! But FuN UnLiMiTeD....

Off to the woods

We chose to sneak off to the remote forests for celebrating our Wedding Anniversary! An unexpected adventurous outing which had a lot of surprises in store for us...

We set off to the destination on the early hours of Sunday. With our new Merc, the drive was penultimate bliss. After some point, the number of houses and people started deteriorating. It was just plain forest with blind curves and wavy roads going up and down. The GPS had chosen to guide us through a short cut and we ended up in a spooky road off the highway. We couldn't even spot other vehicles in the road. It was just us in the mysterious road. There were huge Rocks, thick trees, ponds on the sides of the narrow road. To fight back the eerie feeling, I tried tuning in some local radio station. There indeed was a channel and a voice came in "Welcome to Haliburton...Canada lives here". Me and S burst into laughter and we are still laughing at the ironic statement!:D

We were finally out of that road (saw the name towards the end...it was BobCagyeon Road!) and we made our way to the Haliburton Forest Reserve. Since summer has just arrived here, we were the first guests for the season. We checked in at around 2 PM and the forest incharge briefed us about the forest and the activities. We were given a map of the forest with all trek routes, driving routes, cycling routes, camping points and lakes. And we were given a pair of keys, one for the cottage and the other one for the toll gates along the driving route deep inside the forest.

First thing, we visited the wolf centre as it was about to close. How much I hated the sight of those wild beasts!



Later, we planned to take a drive in the forest with the map in hand. There were north, east and west roads. We decided to stick to north road lest we miss the route. The roads looked something like this..



The sign boards at every split were over informative :D



We drove along very slowly and concentrated on spotting some animals in the forest. We were told that there were wild bears, packs of wolves and many more animals to look out for. It seems the animals would observe us right when we enter the forest and keep an eye on us until we leave. This was something scary...I had to get off at some points to unlock the toll-gate and swing it parallel to the road. S would drive in and I would lock the gate back and run to the car. As we delved deep into the woods, my locking/ unlocking skills depleted and my heart pounded at the slightest noise around. Being the smarty I am, I promptly passed on the task to S while we drove back..:D

We managed to spot colorful birds, huge squirrels, a turkey and a deer...tuff luck. Well, we did see tons of mosquitoes and flies! We took a break at a lake on the way. We couldn't stop but admire the beauty of the nature at its best.

We drove until we reached the


Right about turn and we drove back to the base camp. It was getting darker and the one and only restaurant in the premises was already closed. We chose to drive to the nearby Haliburton village for our dinner. Luckily one of the chinese restaurants was open and we had a hearty meal.

Back to the cottage and we hit the bed!

A little after 12, I heard something...
- END of DAY 1 -

The "last" names

When someone new is recruited in my department, the manager makes sure that the person is introduced to each colleague personally...and I have noticed that a new member joins when I am having a cold!..it's wierd but true!!

Yesterday, a desi-looking guy was introduced to me. But I least expected that his name would turn out a Thomson...why????? Certainly, I couldn't question him that.

Reminds me of my newbie days. Specifically, the last names that I encountered here and the devil in me flashes with some funny thoughts and I laugh my heart out..:D

Hopkinson (Hopping Pumpkin's son!?)
Chang (Ching..chang...choooooooo)
Killick (click click!!!!)
Tsang (I'm tempted to ask, if this person is a relative of Huen Tsang...but have not asked yet)
Casciato (Sounds so much like casatta icecream!)
Lipinski (Lips and skiing!??!?..)
Saupan (What Pan??)
Largey (is there a smalley?)
Giglio ( I never knew that the second G was silent until I heard someone call..Thank God!...the name is so giggly :P)
Light (is this person so bright?)
Feaver (I'm already sick)
Cummings (goings..:D)
Zoschke (I still don't know how to pronounce that!)
Trezzi (a double zz??? wow!)
Cozier (You can't be so cozy at office!)
Hoyte (This person comes and tells me, everytime I get a call from a new person, I know it because they pronounce it as hoyteeee..which I am not! and the devil sayz so r(he)ight :D )

Wonder what they all think about my tongue twister last name???

Disclaimer: This post contains real last names but fun intended!

Toddling into the Arena of Photography :)

My friends and family are quite familiar with this popular and sometimes annoying trait of mine....my love for photography!

And with an ever supporting DH cum subject cum inspiration cum critic by my side, I could not ask for more. He gifted me with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Camera....wooohooooooo! Thanks Honey ;)

So, I kicked off my pilot project with the annual Ugadi celebrations here at Toronto.

Finding it a bit difficult to hold the camera steady as it's quite heavy with the complicated zoom lens. The pictures are not perfect but not bad for a starter, I think. Moreover, I want you all to drop in your detailed comments, tips and suggestions to hone my skills.

Wish the diya was a little more focused here...


I soon realised that I loved clicking portraits...and I did just that, the entire evening. My positioning has gone wrong in the below pictures. Perhaps, I should concentrate more on that one.


These young girls performed so well! Caught their expressions post-dance.


Though not focused properly, I somehow fell in love with this picture. This girl also played drums..Believe me, it was mindblowing!


And this girl was the most interesting subject for me. She had beautiful, expressive eyes.


Wish I could capture the complete mudra :(


Happy her and a more happy me :D

Virodhi naama Samvathsaram

Hey!

A very Happy Ugadi to you all :)

I remember way back in school days, how Ugadi was celebrated. We used to wake up to the song "yuga yugaadi kaledharu Ugadi marali baruthidhe" on Doordarshan. After a detailed head bath, Mom used to deck us up like little dolls with new clothes and matching bangles, earrings, bindi and what not. Dad used to perform puja in his usual manner after cleaning all the idols and photoframes. By then, inviting smells from the kitchen would have already started and we would make rounds to the kitchen to catch a glimpse of the delicacies! Of course, mom would not let us even touch the food and insist on waiting until naivedhyam.
Meanwhile, Dad used to serve the most- awaited "Ugadi pacchadi", a combination of sweet(jaggery), salty(salt), sour(raw mango pieces), bitter(neem flowers),and hot(chilli powder)tastes. I used to love it so much and I still do...:D

The combination of all the tastes in "Ugadi pacchadi" represents the different emotions/phases in life that we come across and signifies the acceptance of all situations with the same spirit :)

After naivedhyam, we used to have this lavish feast with wide variety of eatables. Besides the food part, it was the "Panchanga Sravanam" which was more exciting. Dad and mom would delve into the new panchangam and read out the famous "aadhayam, vyayam, rajapujyam and avamanam" for each of our birth stars and also the yearly predictions. I still can't figure out how the predictions are so normalized across different age groups, genders etc but for the star sign. No two people have the same destiny. Talking about astrology takes up a new dimension and a different post. We'll do it some other time :D

For now, let's hope that this Ugadi brings in happiness and good luck to all of us...much needed especially during this recession!

This and that

And so, where was I?

Yeah..I was at India for 4 weeks and met over a hundred people that includes just family and friends :) apart from travelling approximately 2000 Kms by bus, car, auto, train and plane. Oh...i did manage to watch about 5 movies as well. Nothing short of a roller coaster ride..eh? Probably, that was the reason why I felt that it was a very short trip!

A few memorable/funny incidents happened during my trip. Let me share them here :)

All this while when I was here, I would send pictures of dishes prepared by me and mom would be surprised. But when I prepared vegetable biryani at home, it turned out to be a complete disaster!
Result: Mom is feeling very sorry for her Son-in-Law and she firmly believes that I still can't cook.

There were all sorts of comments pouring in from friends/family about how I looked/ had changed over the year. One such comment was from one of my mom's aunt (technically, my grandmom). She told me that I had become a bit taller. geee..I wish I could :D

All thanks to Kingfisher Airlines and Bangalore International Airport. My birthday blew up in air, literally. I was supposed to be celebrating my birthday half day at Hyderabad and half a day at Bangalore. Kingfisher screwed my day with some unnecessary stuff (which I don't even want to talk about). The flight was delayed and I reached BIAL very late. And traveling from BIAL to home was another plight...It took much more time than the actual flight duration itself. I was all tired and dead by the time I reached home!

Surprisingly, this time tirupathi darshan was much more relieving. I just love the serenity of this place. There's something about this place that gives me a special feeling of gaiety. The place has changed so much since I last visited. It looks much cleaner, spacious and all the more beautiful.



I happened to visit one of the temples near Warangal. Goes by the name, Ramappa temple. The detailing in the sculpture was fantastic. Posting a few snaps of the temple.









I shopped and shopped and shopped so much that finally, I think I have gotten over the urge to shop :( Feeling sick at the look of sale boards here. Can't believe that this is happening to me! Ok...let's change the topic now :D

Movies...movies...Welcome to my adda :D

A brief HBO rating of the movies that I happened to watch over the last couple of months.

Ghajini : Honestly, Surya was better.. I give a TGW
Billu : Again a TGW, only because of Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta
Delhi 6 : I'm gonna give a YEM coz I didn't enjoy it but I saw a lot many others do!
Luck by Chance : It feels like a dejavu especially after watching 'Fashion'...I give it YEM
Raaz - the mystery continues : What a joke..where is the mystery, infact it's a misery..I give it a SNH

Slumdog Millionaire : BSI (If slumdog could win so many Oscars, I think every good Indian movie should)
Confessions of a shopoholic : Such a cute movie :D I give it a TGW
He's just not that into you : Terrific casting and superb performances. It's a straight BSI
Vicky, Christina, Barcelona : oops, saw this one on my flight back to Toronto. We laughed until we almost choked when we discovered that S watched the same one, when he travelled back. It's SNH. I bet you can never appreciate the movie if you are normal :D
High School Musical: Very very Cute...God, the guy in the lead role is so charming. Watch it for him ;) it's TGW!

For telugu audience,

King: a TGW because of Nagarjuna's unexpected role
Arundhati: YEM I should say as some people enjoy the graphics. Anushka was a total let down in her role.
Sasirekha Parinayam: TGW only because of last performance scene by Tarun. You can skip it, if you want to.
Koncham ishtam koncham kashtam: abbaaa..naakentha duradhrushtam :( A YEM, found it very boring.

Ending my rather lengthy post with belated Valentine's Day wishes!

Posting an interesting picture from my India trip album. This was shot by my sister. She loves to experiment with me and S!

Now, do you spot a resemblance to taj mahal somewhere or is it just my illusion ?

Back to Pavilion!

And now I take a deep breath, relax myself to recover from the most busiest month that just blew off like a whirlwind! Will soon put up a post about the amazing places that I had been to.

Meanwhile, here are a few snaps that I clicked at Tirupathi. These signboards really caught my eye. I truly enjoy the native feeling in it's every sense...where else can we find it :)







Err....a very happy and happening New Year to all you people out there!

The ill-effects of extreme Shopping!

The untimely phone calls just freak the hell out of me. Now, anyone would be when their phone rings at 4 AM in the morning! I got all tensed up when the phone rang this morning and more over it was S's phone. He picked the phone and I almost think, I saw him pick the phone and then there was silence. He had put the phone on silent mode and gone back to sleep..and then the conversion was something like this...

Me: (with eyes half-open and still sleepy) Who...who...who...called?

Him: Some guy in HOLLISTER shirt!

Me: (with eyes wide open) what ??????????

Him:(off to deep sleep) HOLLISTER...

Me: (trying to wake him) Hey, did you just say HOLLISTER???

Him: zzzzzzzzzZZZZZ...

This freaked me out even more and with great difficulty I picked the phone and checked it out myself. I couldn't see a missed call number for some reason, but that person had left a voice message. Good...I thought. I quickly checked the voice mail and this is what I heard from an old lady..

"Oh dear, I think I have called a wrong number...sorry about that. Bye!"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Why would you put a voice mail when you know you have called a wrong number...just to apologize? :(

Anyway, the story goes something like this....S had been bent upon buying this Hollister branded Shirt from a long long time (say a year) and I would talk him out of this, everytime we walk into this ridiculously expensive store. Come'on, I wasn't gonna spend $70 for a single T-shirt!!! We had gone there to see if there were any christmas deals/holiday discount yesterday and we didn't find any, especially when every other store was offering 50/60/70% off. So, naturally we walked out yet again. Didn't know that S wanted it so badly that he start dreaming about it too :O Have to think seriously about this now...Can't blame him because I myself have been dreaming about beautiful draperies, bed spreads, decoratives and what not!

Well...We have been shopping non-stop for over a month now, visiting each and every mall in Toronto. I guess, it's about time to wrap up shopping and start PACKING as our travel dates are soon approaching!!!

INDIA...here we come :)

S is still asleep...I'll make him read this post, once he wakes up. I'm pretty sure, he has no clue about the phone call and his mumbling :D Hez gonna kill meeeee...
Aah...the devil in me..

dhin-thanak-dhin

It was our friends' Sangeet ceremony, last weekend. Preparations for Sangeet were on since almost a month. All girls were practising for a skit with dances inbetween. It was a very well planned skit, targeting the guys and their mannerisms. The guys were taken by a pleasant surprise with this performance. Of course, they enjoyed every bit of it. I was one among the dancers. Well, I can't hold myself from dancing, no matter what. I am not so great at it but my passion lies in dance.

Interestingly, I had pestered S to dance with me. His dancing sense is very limited (as compared to me..:D) but he's been a good sport. He agreed to it, after giving it a thought. We practised over a couple of weekends and there we were ready to perform! Just before our dance S felt a bit nervous, but but but....he did a splendid job :-) Though, he forgot few steps here and there, he covered it up quite conveniently. The cheering that we got made us more confident. S is all geared up now to give a much refined performance in the future events and so am I!

There was a certain 'priceless' moment that I had to incorporate in our dance due to some last minute changes (You know how to cover up the music between lines, when you don't wanna dance!). Being a fervent admirer of the charismatic drama in the movies, I was always fascinated by the-guy-bending-on-his-knee-and-proposing-love-act. Obviously, I stole this opportunity to make one of my secret crazy ideas come true. Yeah, S bent on his knee and popped a rose to me in front of over fifty people (read friends, who know us in and out....!) The crowd broke in oooohs and aaaahs and whistled in loud shrills. I couldn't stop but blush..:)

I simply can't get over the fact that S did the whole thing in a very romantic way, just as I had imagined :P (Right out of Mills-and-Boon). But then S had only one regret that he could not get a diamond....save it for the next time Honey! Are you listening?

And so I strike out an item in my secret wish list....zuck!!!