Visiting my birthplace after 16 years

We had taken Adi when he was 1 year old or so to my birthplace for his Mundan ceremony. Since then, I have been to Jaipur related to work and could not go back to Kuchaman City where I was born. This time my nephew's marriage gave us the perfect excuse!

Before the marriage, I spent a few days in Bangalore visiting my team for the first time. Work was very productive! On the fun side, we did one dinner at Gladia which was this amazing Greek themed Indian fusion restaurant. I don't think we find such elaborate architecture even in the US that often (except places like Las Vegas). I was super impressed. I also ate at Rameshwaram cafe meeting my cousin sister which was super interesting as well!

Now to the Rajasthan part of the trip. We spent a full day in Kuchaman City. Seeing the large Gaushala was humbling. Both my parents grew up in this place so they know a bunch of folks in the city. I met a many aunts on my Mom's side and finally went to my birth home that we rented when I was born. The new owners were gracious enough to allow us into the home and take videos. Understanding where you came from is such a human experience. 

The marriage was nothing short of spectacular, especially meeting all my cousins and the amazing food. It was a blast. We also went to the marble flats of Kishangarh where you see thousands of acres of marble dust formations that you can walk on. You could easily mistake it for Pamukkale in Turkey. I got my shoe stuck in marble dust muck which took quite some time to take off! I directly took off from Delhi back to SFO.

Around the bay with Parents

With parents visiting across two visits in the summer, we did a bunch of day trips. Highlights were going to Santa Cruz with extended family and the Ritz Carlton, associated beach in Half Moon Bay and Muir Woods. We had many picnics with family as well as did Ganpati together at home. It is worth noting that Anu and Surabhi spent a few days in London on their way to India where they had a lot of fun with the sights, shopping and food. They also did a waterfall hike in India that looked interesting.

Toronto, Niagara falls and New York

Adi and I took my parents back from the bay to visit my sister and spent some time there. The trip was brief but not without our pigrimmage to Niagara Falls. This time I made it a point to wake up early to see the falls without the crowds and it did not disappoint! I also had work both in Toronto and New york. Then we headed to New York for work, where I did my well, work and Adi and his penpal from NY spent the days traveling in downtown. He told me to visit St Patrick Cathedral the next time I am there and I took note. It was also humbling to see the 9/11 memorial. Uber's office is right next to that, so we also got an exclusive top down view of the memorial. It was memorable trip.

A quick trip to India

 While Anu and Surabhi planned to be in India for 2 months, Adi and I made a quick trip to meet my ailing father-in-law. We just went to Surat and Mumbai. Adi got to meet with a lot of extended family and understood our family history directly narrated by my dad to him. Unfortunately, my aunt (dad's sister) and uncle tragically passed away during the same time, so all in all, I came back with a heavy heart. 

Tennis at Indian Wells

 Given the success of the last trip, I couldn't help but plan it again for 2025. It is so easy to fly in and watch world class tennis that if I can help it, I will try to make it a yearly habit. This time, I flew directly in Palm Springs instead of outskirts of LA and spent 3 days with my friend Abhijit and his daughter just watching tennis. The schedule was simple - breakfast at a diner, followed by tennis all day and go to sleep! We saw matches of Sabalenka, Alcaraz and a bunch of really interesting singles and doubles games. Hoping we go again in 2026.

Big Island - Lava edition

I love going to Hawaii even if the kids are now older and don't align all the time. But this time around, the "new" thing was ability to see Lava flows. Lava eruptions are uncertain, so I wasn't sure if luck would favor us or not, but even without that, I felt that kids are big enough now to do the Caldera (Kilauea Iki) hike which we missed the last couple times due to various reasons. Last time we did see the smoldering Lava but not the flows. 

As usual, we spent a 3 days on the Kona side and 3 days on the Hilo side. On the Kona side, this time we stayed at the Hilton Wailokoa Village for a few days and kids had a blast. The highlight was kayaking into an artificial waterfall which we all enjoyed. We also loved the dolphin show, ate some great food an saw turtles and beautiful fish at the lagoon. 

Once in Hilo, we went to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We did the Caldera Hike and it was breathtaking! From there we went for late lunch and then were contemplating whether we would see lava flows in the night when some visitors told us that lava was erupting and we could easily see it from one of the view points. We rushed to that view point and the scene was breathtaking, we were in the midst of vapors from the lava flow and once we got to a point where those vapors were a bit away, we saw a clear eruption of lava in the caldera. It was breathtaking and even though it was getting cold, we watched for roughly 45 mins. 

The final day we went back to Kona where I snorkeled in King Kamehameha beach with beautiful fish around. But the highlight was parasailing undoubtedly! The kids loved it! Surabhi got to go twice because the group was uneven and while bringing us down, we could dip our feet in the water.

Work trip to Paris

After 8 years, I was back in Paris for a business trip. Outside of work, I went to the Eiffel tower and watched the sunset. That was a unique experience! Getting an advance ticket was really important as it was still very crowded even in late Oct on a weekday. I also went to Fontainebleau to see the beautiful palace. The paintings and sculptures inside the palace were nothing short of spectacular. And one of my colleagues took us to a live performance by local artists as well as a rooftop bar with views of the Eiffel tower. It was a productive and fun trip!

Boys trip to Napa

With a close friend visiting from India, a bunch of us spent a couple of days in Napa. The highlight was playing pickleball for hours and going to the Black Stallion Estate Winery where we hung out among the vineyards in beautiful weather! The dinner in Napa downtown was nice as well!

Glacier National Park

I have visited many popular national parks like Yosemite, YellowStone, Zion, Great Canyon and Rainier, and Glacier was top of the list but somehow a trip never worked out. This time, after saying goodbye to our cousin in Calgary, we drove down to USA entering Glacier from the east side. We were wowed by the natural beauty and going to the sun road is totally worth the hype! We stayed inside the park at the Rising Sun Motor Inns and Cabins, which had a non-luxorious but beautiful setting with a view of huge mountains. We covered the entire park from there. We can't pick a favorite part of the park. The boat rides from Many Glacier took on Swift current Lake and then on Lake Josephine after a 0.2 mile hike were surrounded with beautiful vistas. From Lake Josephine, we hiked to Grinnell Lake which is about a mile out. We saw a huge deer literally 20 feet from us and a moose in the distance. We also went on a guided hike to the beaver pond loop where we saw meadows with beautiful wildflowers. On the last day, we went to Two Medicine which was another beautiful lake with mountains around it, straight out of a postcard!

Calgary, Banff and Yoho National Park

The larger area around Banff is one of my favorites in the world and yet we have explored so little of it. This time, we decided to explore Yoho National Park starting with Emerald Lake, then Takakkaw falls followed by a stay 20 miles from the town of Golden in the woods by a river. The next day, we did the Wapta falls main trail and the hike to falls as well as the view from the bottom was stunning! We again went to Emerald Lake for lunch as we clearly hadn't gotten enough of it. On the way back we went to Peyto Lake and Bow Lake each with their tremendous beauty and turquoise waters. We skipped rocks in Bow Lake which was fun for the kids. The icing on the cake was that my cousin who has moved to Calgary was with us with their family. Driving their big GM Escalade was also a lot of fun!

London, Cotswolds and Seven Sisters

I have been to London just once when my sister was studying for work. At the time, we really enjoyed visiting Cambridge and Burton on the water in Cotswolds. I fell in love with the quaint English picturesque villages. So this time, we decided to make Cotswolds as the base for part of the trip. We stayed in Cirencester at the Old Brew House which stood the test of time from the 1700s when horse carriages were prevalent. Then we went to Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare and visited his parents house. They enact plays there and I got to play the bystander that gets stabbed :). On the way back we visited Stow on the Wold and Bourton on the water, both really picturesque towns. The next day we headed to Stonehenge and Bath, each with their own historical significance. You almost felt like living through different times in history. On the 4th day we checked out and visited Bibury, another beautiful Cotswolds town. From there, we headed to Oxford. Support for Palestine was high with flags and they had fully occupied Radcliffe Camera. The campus is beautiful and the school was in session so we got to see the real deal with lots of students around. Then, we headed to Cambridge where we did punting on the river and saw the various colleges with their significance. It was quite the experience seeing Kings College and a bunch of other colleges. 

We went to London for the last few days. First day, we went to Seven Sisters National Park in Eastbourne. The pebble beach with white cliffs is really unique and I haven't seen anything like it! The town of Eastbourne is a beautiful quaint town and the train ride was a lot of fun as well. We saw all the key sights in London like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge with opening and it was great. The only thing that was stressful was the Change of Guard ceremony with the crazy crowds. The shopping at Oxford Street was great for the family with Govindas being a highlight for vegetarian satvik food. I attended a Kirtan in the temple while the family shopped and it was really soothing. We also ate at Chokhi Dhani and Dishoom which was good too!

There was one major coincidence that I must talk about and that is meeting my sister in East London University when we were going to meet her the next day. It was really serendipitous and great to see her university.

Here is the itinerary for the whole trip.

June 1 - Drive to Cotswolds + rest day

June 2 - Cotswolds/Stratford upon Avon

June 3 - Stonehenge + Bath

June 4 - Go to Oxford + Cambridge

June 5 - Come to London from Cambridge

June 6 - Seven Sisters Eastbourne

June 7 - London

June 8 - London

June 9 - Fly back

Tennis at Indian Wells

Until this time, I had only seen Tennis live once, and that too a charity match for Africa where we saw Federer and Bill Gates in 2018. It had been a long desire since to go watch a tournament live. Six years later, the stars aligned for us to go watch the Indian Wells Open. It was a blast! We watched 7 full games and many parts of games. The games that stood out were Sabalenka nearly losing to Stearns in a hard fought match and Monfils beating Norrie.

Here are the full games we saw live

Mar 9

Sabalenka vs P Stearns

Medvedev vs $ Carballes Baena

Mar 10

Tsitsipas vs Tiafoe

A Kalinskaya vs J Paolini

A Kerber vs V Kudermetova

Zverev vs Griekspoor

Haddad Maia vs Pavlyuchenkova

The added bonus on this trip was spending half a day in the Palm Springs Air Museum which had planes from WW2 to the more recent B2 stealth bomber. It was amazing to see so many planes of yore and the museum is right next to PSP airport allowing you to see planes landing and taking off from a short distance.

India Trip

We hadn't been to India in the winter vacation for the longest time as it would end up being short, but we bit the bullet this time. The agenda was mainly to meet family but also do a trip to Ashtavinayak together. The itinerary including visiting 8 Ganesh temples as per the Maharashtrian tradition and we also added Tuljapur which is sacred to my wife's family. We rented a 17 seater with my parents and sister and there were 7 of us in what can be best described as a mini bus. Here was our plan

Dec 28

• Leave for Pune

• Lunch - Anu Jiji house

• 5pm - Morgaon

• 8pm - Siddhatek

• Spent the night at Hotel Swamiraj Executive on Pune Solapur highway

Dec 29

• 1pm TuljaBhavani temple in Tuljapur

• Drive to Pune to Hotel Majestique Pune near Theur Phata

Dec 30

• 10 am Theur

• 12 noon Ranjangaon

• 3pm Ozar

• 5 pm Lenyadri - This was one of the most beautiful hikes to the temple with monkeys on the side

• Hotel Orritel in Talegaon

• Special mention to Mayuresh restaurant was very good for veg maharastrian food

Dec 31

• 1 pm Mahad

• 4 pm Balleshwar

• 8 pm Back to Mumbai

I spent the rest of the time in Surat meeting family. One special mention for box cricket and a party at the farmhouse where we all cousins got together! Overall, it was a short trip but packed with action.

 

Thanksgiving in Pismo Beach

We have tried to make it a tradition for friends to spend time together during Thanksgiving. This was the second time we spent Thanksgiving in Pismo Beach with 4 families. We rented an entire B&B near the beach.  Both the older kids and the younger kids had their own bedroom as there was no dearth of space and each room was themed and retro in feel with wallpapers and all. The house has an entire room for dining which was nice so everyone could sit together.

We spent our time playing volleyball on Pismo beach for 2 straight days. We played bocceball in the house and a lot of catching up with friends. In the mix was lots of great food and cooking as well.

Business trip to New York

The business trip to New York was very productive work wise but I really enjoyed going to the Comedy Cellar. You had to stand in line to get into the Comedy Cellar and it was my lucky day to see Ronny Chieng perform live with a bunch of other standup artists. I absolutely loved the vibe of the underground cellar. I also met friends after a really long time!

With family in Canada and USA

This was the second time I spent a good time with my family in Toronto in my sister's house. This time, my wife and kids were also with us making it a full house. We went to the Center Island in Toronto where Anu hit a play structure while playing Tag and we had to take three ambulances - first one from the island to the ferry, then by ferry to main land and then from mainland to the UHN hospital in Toronto. The doctor assured us it was a minor concussion and should get better on its own. What an eventful start to a vacation! Then, as per tradition, we spent a weekend in Niagara Falls. Even with the crowds, I can't stop marveling the falls and the force of nature it represents.

Back in the USA, we went to Tahoe and booked a room on the water. Watching the views during the day and at night was quite an amazing experience. We had amazing Pizza at the local place called Jiffy's pizza. We checked out the Northstar Ski Resort as well and it was beautiful. Just before Ganesh Chaturthi, we heard the sad news that my dear uncle had passed away and parents had to cut the trip short.

Cannes and the french riviera

 This was my second time attending Cannes Lions, but this time the non-work part was a bit, shall we say, adventurous! I landed in Zurich to go with a colleague on a private flight to Cannes. My heart sank after landing in Zurich as it was a rare time when lights went off at ZRH airport and the line through immigration was long, but given my situation, they allowed me to go ahead so I could catch the private flight.

I took the train from ZRH airport to Bad Ragaz where my colleague was waiting for me. He took me to the airport which is just a couple of minutes drive from there and in 10 mins, we were airborne. We still had time to land on glaciers, so we did that a couple of times - a really out of world experience. Then we flew through plains of Italy finally crossing into France from the sea. The headwinds were much greater which used up more time and fuel and we went into reserve before landing in Cannes airport.

The rest of the trip was great, with business meetings and good food. I stayed in an ocean facing apartment which did not disappoint at all! In free time, I visited many of the towns along the Cannes to Monaco corridor by train. 

Arches and Canyonlands National Park

Surabhi, Priti and I met up in Salt Lake City for Spring Break to visit Arches and Canyonlands National Park. We stayed in Moab which is 20 mins from Arches and an hour'ish from each of the two Canyonlands entrances. Both national parks are breathtaking - we spent 2 days in each. Arches had a bunch of trails but most notable was the hike to delicate arch. It was windy with sand blowing in our eyes, but it was a sight to behold. We went right beneath the arch at the edge of the cliff at the other end. The landscape arch hike was really good as well. For Canyonlands we saw both the view from the top - island in the sky as well as the view from the bottom i.e. the needles area. On the way back, we climbed up to the Wilson arch which is a standalone arch outside the parks. We took sandwiches to go from Subway for 4 days in a row. On the way back, we went to the Hare Krishna temple in Spanish fork which is 40 miles form SLC. It was a gem of a temple, and very surprisingly had Llamas that eat cut apples. Surabhi went crazy feeding the Llamas. We also saw peacocks doing their signature dance. Plus it was so peaceful in the temple premises! All in all, a great trip!

Lata's marriage in India

I hadn't been to India since Covid struck (last trip in 2019) and I was dying to go. My cousin Lata was getting married and that created the perfect conditions to go to India. The marriage was in Mahabaleshwar. We took train and a bus to get there and it was the perfect event possible. On landing, Amu and I went to see the famous Sunrise point. Surprisingly, I had seen a thousand sunsets but very few sunrises, and this was the best! Then ensued two days of food, dancing and chatting with so many relatives that I hadnt seen in a long time. The bride and groom seemed perfect for each other, and the ceremonies were all beautiful. One night we had a DJ and danced till 4 am in the morning. The memories were just awesome.

Thanksgiving cruise with friends

This was our second cruise but this time it was during Thanksgiving. We took the cruise from SFO to Ensenada and it was really relaxing at sea with a very active port day! We were three families so the kids had a blast, and older ones literally checked in and out of the room at will :). We saw some great shows, one of which was pretty high production quality musical called "The Secret Silk". We played cards, ping pong or hung out in the swimming pools and jacuzzi. And of course, we had the entire range of casual to fancy meals. On port day, we did horseback riding on the beach, reminding me of childhood days in Mumbai and had the best tacos in downtown Ensenada. 

Day trip to Strasbourg

In Sep 2022, during a work trip to Zurich, I added a day in Strasbourg, France. Its a sleepy little picturesque town with views right out of fairy tales. I had never crossed countries on train, so that was a first too!

Canada with Parents and Sister

 I had not seen my parents since before covid and met up with them and my sister in Canada. We took three trips. The first one was to Kingston with just my parents. We went to Fort Henry which preserves the 19th century military life with uniforms and all. They also have demonstrations on how the old tanks worked which was super interesting. We took a ferry to Wolfe Island with our car and drove around, visiting a beach which had waves from the lake. It was really beautiful.

The second trip was to Niagara Falls, which is one of my favorite things from Toronto. This time we did ziplining with a view of the falls and of course spent a bunch of time at the horseshoe falls just staring at the immensity of the water falling down.

The third trip was to Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise. I had been to Banff and Lake Louise 11 years back, and Lake Louise and Lake Moraine are my favorite lakes in the world. I retraced my paths of yore, doing the hike to the Tea House and having a snack at the tea house where we were lucky to find a place overlooking the beautiful lake and mountains. Lake Moraine was as beautiful as ever with its unique azure blue water. We were really lucky to have a sunny day there. We spent a bunch of time in Banff doing the Gondola ride as well as the Bow falls. We did the Columbia Icefield adventure, walking on the glacier and filling up glacial water to drink. In my adventures, I slipped with my leg in the icy cold water which made it even more of an adventure. But the best of the trip was for last, and that was Jasper. I had never been there and we saw deer and bears with some regularity. The boat trip on Lake Maligne is probably the best boat trip of my life with unreal views and a tour of Spirit Island. Even the pyramid lake in the Jasper area is awesome. 

I had not remembered spending such quality time with Sister and Parents since I left from India, so this was a super special trip!

Work and play in the French Riviera

The Cannes Lions is an annual conference for creativity and as the creative PM for Youtube, work took me to Cannes! I stayed a couple of towns away in a place named Juan les Pins to save my company money :), but it also allowed me to experience the non-touristy local beach life. In the mornings, I would go to a local beach with elderly locals who were really kind. There was a lot of fish with great snorkeling at the local beaches. The rest of the day was spent at the Google area which was walking distance from the famous red carpet. All big companies threw parties at night, and one worth mentioning was on a Yacht by Accenture. On the last day, I took a train to Grasse to visit the historic parfumerie where we learned how perfume was made. The city of Grasse is also beautiful with its cobbled streets and pink umbrellas. All in all, a great trip!

Father Daughter Trip to Disneyland

 I did a father son trip with Adi when he was roughly the same age to visit Universal Studios and LA. This time, I decided to do the same with a similar itinerary but replaced Universal Studios with Disneyland. We stayed at my cousin's place who I met after nearly 2 decades and that was really good!!  We spent 2 days at the disney parks and absolutely loved our time there. Surabhi got scared after the Incredicoaster goes upside down but absolutely loved Guardians of the Galaxy, and of course Soaring was one of our favorites! Then we spent a couple of days in Hollywood. We went to the Getty Center and enjoying all the art there and had a really nice dinner with beautiful views. We also went to the Griffith Observatory and planetarium which was a lot of fun! All in all a great trip! 

Skiing in the Swiss Alps

As part of our work trip to Zurich, I was at an offsite at Kleine Scheidegg in the Swiss Alps. I have never sledged in my life so this was the first time (more on that later). I stayed at the Bellevue Des Alpes that was built in 1840 and they had preserved the rooms and service to match the days of yore. It was quite an experience to be served by really pleasant staff following the ways of old world hospitality. The big adventure thing I did was of course skiing with the view of towering alps, but sledging in the night with just headlights to show the way. And the work part was great too - very productive :).

Maui for Christmas

This was our first trip to Hawaii post-covid, so we wanted to keep it low key and relatively less adventurous. We picked a family friendly beach (Kamaole Beach Park) and spent most of our time in a resort there. We played tennis in the morning, and boogie boarded on the beach. We also went to Iao State park, which has always been a favorite. We had surprisingly good Indian food next to the water at Monsoon Bar and Grill and of course all the tropical fruits. 

Thanksgiving in Pismo Beach

Three families went to Pismo beach for Thanksgiving break. We hung out at the beach, played sports, cards and had an amazing home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. The weather really cooperated with us and we were really grateful for the time spent with friends.

Sonoma with friends

Lake Sonoma is just 2 hours from where we live but I have never been there. It is not the most scenic lake, but with a fast boat and the chilly but inviting water, you can have a lot of fun. It was just 5 of us that went for a night to celebrate my friend's birthdays, but it was so much fun. We went to a nice winery, had an amazing Italian dinner and an equally great breakfast. All in all, a fun trip

July 4 in Pacific NorthWest

Post-pandemic, I took my first flight to the Seattle-Portland area. Anu was in India and I decided to take my second solo trip ever, after a decade. The first one was to Zion National Park. I met up with my niece Sweety in Portland after spending the day in the Mt Hood area. Kayaking in Trillium lake with a view of Mt Hood was really special, as was hanging out at the historic Timberline Lodge. Then we went to local attractions near Portland including local water falls, the famous Multnomah falls and Portland Vista House. I ate the best grape leaves and Muhammara at a Hoda's restaurant in Portland.

Next stop was Mt Rainier. Last time I was there was more than a decade ago and it was snowed out. But this time, the weather couldn't be better. I did a long arduous 5 mile hike to above Panorama point which was breathtaking every minute of the way. Another unique thing was that my lodge had no internet. So I was forced to just be one with nature, which was a very unique experience. Then I met some old friends in Seattle and headed back to the bay.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon on Memorial day

This was our first time to Sequoia and Kings Canyon and it did not disappoint! Beautiful trails, huge trees and yes, a bear sighting in its natural surroundings! 

We stayed at the John Muir Lodge which is right in the middle of the action! We saw 7-8 deers in the morning from the room window itself. This was our first time staying at a hotel post-pandemic so we were extra careful.

The day we landed, we did General Grant tree thats next to the lodge and it did not disappoint. We hadn't seen a tree this big. The trail was beautiful, but there were lots of tourists. 

Next day, we went to General Sherman tree and the Big trees trail. Sherman tree is the biggest tree in the world, and it is pretty majestic. But we loved the big trees trail, especially because we saw a bear right in the middle of the loop. The bear came up to the trail, literally 20 feet from us and that was breathtaking. 

The final day, we went to Grizzly Falls and drove through Kings Canyon. Serendipitously, we found Boyden Cavern on the way and that was an unexpected surprise. We took a tour of the cavern and walked back in shallow water in the cavern. One of the things they do in the cavern is turn off the lights for a complete blackout experience. It was the first time in years that I experienced such a blackout. Grizzly falls were beautiful and I was just looking at the waterfall for half an hour. 

All in all, a great trip!

Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara

We have only been to Santa Barbara once and it was a drive through, so we really did not get a real feel of the place. When scouting for local places to go in COVID, Santa Barbara struck a cord.

We rented a house with a bunch of fruit trees and a chicken coop and a hot tub. It was beautiful! We would do day trips for a few hours, go home and rest and then go back for sunset. In the evenings, we enjoyed the hot tub and cooked meals. It was a joy to get out of the house after nearly 9 months for an overnight trip.

The beaches do not have wind blowing unlike bay area beaches, which makes the beach experience totally different. Luckily, there was no rain at all so the sunsets were beautiful! Special mention for the hike we did near the botanical gardens which was a lot of fun. 

We also spent a day in Solvang which was special. Even more special was the time spent at the Ostrich and Emu park where we fed them and I was beaked by an Ostrich in the process. I have never seen so many Ostriches and Emus together in my life.

In the night, we watched a bunch of TV and started series that we would continue back at home such as Handmaid's Tale and Seinfeld (rewatchin the whole series).

Skiing at Boreal Ski resort

Normally, this would not merit a mention on the blog, but it needs one since it was our last big outing before the lockdown. A fun day of skiing

New years in Costa Rica

Four families, eight kids, all friends, decided to go to Costa Rica for the weather, animals, and waterfalls.

Day 1:
We landed in Costa Rica. Took a 3 hour drive to Manuel Antonio.

Day 2:
We went to Manuel Antonio National Park, which is known for its forest, beautiful animals, and white sand beach. We took a tour through the forest and saw many animals such as monkeys, sloths, and crabs.

Day 3:
We took a 6 mile hike to the Nauyaca Waterfall. At the bottom of the waterfall, there was a pond, where we swam. A lot of the kids were scared to go in the water because a woman had been bitten by a scorpion. Then we hiked some more, and ate some locally grown pineapples and watermelons. Then, we did a little swimming back at the hotel and ate. It was also the first time that I jumped from a small 10 foot cliff, so that was exciting.

Day 4:
We took the 3 hour trip to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.

Day 5:
We went to La Paz Waterfall and Zoo tour. The zoo had many unique animals including toucans, monkeys, sloths, butterflies, snakes, and jaguars.

Day 6:
We took the 2 hour drive to Arenal, where we rented a scooters to go to Arenal Lake. The kids stayed in the hot springs and pool.

Day 7:
Me and most of the kids when zip lining through the forests of Arenal. We were almost 1000 feet above the air and in the clouds with drizzling rain overlooking a nice canyon and lake.

Day 8:

We took a sloth territory hike in the Arenal area. There were sloths of course, but also lots of touch-me-not plants to keep us entertained 

Day 9:

We returned back from San Jose.

Thanksgiving in Hurricane, Utah

We spent Thanksgiving with friends in Utah in Hurricane, around an hour from Zion National Park. We rented a big 4000 sq ft penthouse with 6 bedrooms for the six families. We flew to Las Vegas and drove from there.

We explored the beautiful area in a nearby lake and hung out at home with friends, playing games and eating great food. We also spent a day in Zion National Park. It was really beautiful to see Zion in the snow. We went to the narrows and a bunch of other vista points.

Business trip to Tokyo

This was my first trip to Japan. Very productive work wise, but also some great food. Its tough as a vegetarian but we had one meal with my colleagues where they made tofu in front of our eyes. They also served avocado tofu, which I am surprised has not caught up in the Bay Area yet!

Apart from work, I spent one day in Hakone and a half day in Kamakura. I was both floored by all the temples, but also by how helpful and respectful the people were. The small bamboo forest in one of the small Kamakura temples with tea ceremony was awesome. Hakone needs a special mention on its own. We did the famous boat ride and went over Owakudani which is surreal with the volcanic ashes coming out of it. But the best part was Yunessun park where there there are natural and artificial onsens. There is a wine, coffee, sake and green tea onsen which were all pretty unique!

In the evenings, I walked all across town - Shibuya, Akihabara and Shinjuku and also saw saw some of the local sights in Tokyo.

Offsite to Tahoe

The yearly work trip to Tahoe was great fun! Unlike last time where everything was smoky thanks to the fires, the air was crisp - which Tahoe is known for. This time, I rafted on the Truckee river. The water was cold, but refreshing. The rapids were beginning/intermediate but just being on the river for half a day was a treat!

India Trip

This time we mixed work with leisure and did a whirwind trip of 5 cities and one hill station.We were in Mumbai, Surat, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Saputara.

I attended my cousin's marriage in Kolkata and experienced the city after a couple of decades. It brought back a lot of old memories, like going in the metro and tram and eating Jhaal Muri! We tried the street food including Jhaal Muri and Toast Muri as well as all the Bengali sweets in the marriage.

Then we went to Bengaluru, where we had a great time staying with another cousin. We ate the best south indian food at small restaurants and of course MTR! Surat and Mumbai are the usual suspects where family lives and Delhi was work related.

The highlight was a trip to Saputara which is a hill station on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border and it was a blast with 15+ cousins! We were awake almost all night and had lots of chatting/singing/dancing! We also went to some beautiful spots in Saputara at a Sunset point overlooking the valley where everyone was eating Maggi. We also ziplined in the hills near Saputara.

Ski week in Hawaii

To round out seeing almost everything in Hawaii, we went to Oahu for a third time. There were a few key things on the list which we hadn't done.

1. Pearl Harbor - Kids are old enough to understand its significance now
2. Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay - Somehow conditions were not right in the last couple of trips 
3. Disney Aulani which we felt the kids would love.

At Pearl Harbor, there was a light drizzle. There is so much history there, and we decided to take a submarine tour of the USS Bowfin.

Hanauma Bay was as beautiful as we expected. It was a perfect day and we saw so many fishes. It was the first time Surabhi snorkeled, with my help of course.

I also did a bunch of snorkeling at the Disney Aulani where the water was chilly but we could see the fish in all their glory. Kids absolutely loved the place with its private beach, slides, pool and activities.

Food wise, Govinda's at the ISKCON temple was a highlight. Getting Satvik food in Hawaii was a treat!

Cancun for new years

Last New Year, we were sleeping in Hilo when the clock struck midnight, only to have an epic new year's day. This year, we went to Cancun with 4 families. 8 adults and 8 kids so it was a blast.

We were supposed to stay at the Moon Palace in Cancun for 6 days, but we upgraded to the Grand for last 2 of those days, which was totally worth it. Both places were beautifully kept and the hospitality was perfect.

The highlights of the trip were:

• A boat ride to a reef where I saw an eagle ray, totally unexpected given the reef was not great. The eagle ray was digging into the sandy bottom for something. I thought it was a sting ray but only after some research, I found that it was way bigger than sting rays with a long straight tail. Also, I realized I was too close to it after reading stories about ray stings. Seeing a majestic animal like this was out of this world. Surabhi's first snorkeling day was great, she was tentative but also very happy when she saw a fish.
• The boat ride was on a speed boat which 2 people drove. I was with Surabhi and Anu was with Adi. We were pretty tentative about riding the boats but it turned out to be awesome
• Ziplining with kids. Adi still can't get over his fear of heights while Surabhi totally loves it!
• A day at the Beach Palace where the beach waters were turquoise and warm. It was not great for boogie boarding but the waves and water were amazing
• Trying the flowrider at Moon Palace which is an artificial boogie boarding machine
• A magic show on Saturday night by David Magee the magician and mentalist in the Grand's theater
• Couples massage at the grand. Both the massage and the swimming pool inside the massage place were out of this world
• The water park in the Grand where the kids had a lot of fun

This time, we were wide awake at midnight on new years, with food, DJ and friends, which was great. But I would rather sleep if the next day would be the one like in Big Island a year ago!

Business trip to Delhi

Had a quick business trip to Delhi, but this time felt more choked in the Delhi air than ever before. If you did not know better, just from smelling the air, you would conclude that everything was on fire. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza which smelled of paint and veneer. I fell sick with a sore throat within 12 hours.

After that, I went to visit my parents in Surat and then my inlaws in Mumbai. Those were the highlights of the trip. Especially attending Ahaan's first birthday party was a blast.

P.S. Met Arshad Warsi on the Bom-Paris leg. Felt coy about taking a selfie, for which I got an earful from my wife. Selfie or it didn't happen!

Thanksgiving in LA, Palm Springs

Day 1 and 2
Adi and I have been to Universal Studios Hollywood on a dad-son trip, but Surabhi had not ever been. Adi loved Harry Potter and so did Surabhi. Adi is still scared of roller coasters but this was the trip where Surabhi overcame her fear. We both loved Flight of the Hippogriff. Surabhi got scared in the Studio tour, especially King Kong 3D. We all loved Water World. I think kids will be happy to go again to Universal Studios or Disneyland any time!

Day 3
We went up the aerial tramway to Mt. San Jacinto. It was cold and crowded. There was a huge line, but we got our tickets from a lady who decided not to go, at a 20% premium :). That saved us a couple of hours, but it was my first time in the US buying tickets in "black". The hike at the top of hte mountain was cold but beautiful

Day 4
The last day, we went to Joshua Tree National Park. The Cholla Cactus Garden and the Hidden Valley hike were highlights. I have never seen Cactii so beautiful in my life.

We also met up with Raj and Priyanka in Palm Springs with their friends, which was fun!

Company Trip to Big Island

We won an incentive trip to Big Island for the very first time! It was a great setting to mingle with work folks. We stayed at the Fairmont Orchid which was really nice! It is not set on a sandy beach but has a nice cove for snorkeling. I saw many fish, an eel and a couple of turtles in that setting.

For our activity, we went kayaking from a small cove to Captain Cook Monument and it did not disappoint. We not only saw dolphins literally a few feet from the Kayak. We also had a wonderful time snorkeling in the area where there is a nice reef with tons of colorful fish! On the way back it started pouring heavily leading to a surreal experience where it was low visibility and finding the cove was pretty difficult. Being in a group was comforting but barely helped since we could hardly see anyone. For some time, we were questioning whether we would find the little cove we started out from. Toward the end, we saw another turtle just lying above the water. I think it was the most adventurous snorkeling trip in my life.

We went out to get chocolate from the original Donkey Balls store where we picked a few chocolates. Overall, a memorable trip!

Las Vegas with friends

Thats it!

Offsite to Tahoe

We stayed in a really nice place - the resort at Squaw Creek, but the air quality was bad due to fires. Tahoe is always paradise for me, but I have never gone swimming in the lake mostly because I have only visited Tahoe in late summer once and I always felt it might be too cold for me. But this time, it was really hot and the water was inviting. This time I decided to go kayaking in Lake Tahoe and took a nice dip in the absolutely dark blue lake. We had dinner at the golf course which was nice too!

Cruise to Mexico

We were a group of four families who took a Carnival cruise to Mexico. It was a blast!! The ship had a water park which was the highlight. The food, beautiful sunsets, mini-golf and shows all added to the experience. We also a dozens of dolphins playing next to the front of the ship as we cruised into the sunset. The port of Ensenada was fun to get out to, but there wasn't much to do, except get a glimpse of Mexico.

Italy

This was our first family trip to Europe and we covered Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Lake Garda and Verona!

Rome was beautiful with so much history that I was amazed at how well they have sustained these structures for so long, each with its rich history. We did the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palantine Hill, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and each had its own beauty. We ate the best gelato near Trevi fountain. I have never had Kumquat gelato and it was really awesome! We also went to Vatican City museum and Sistine Chapel. St Peter's basilica is the best church I have seen from inside!

Florence is probably the most beautiful city with its beautiful sunsets and all the art. We did Michelangelo Square, where Surabhi fell trying to climb the statue and slit her chin. That night we went to the hospital and got it glued back. That would be the only tense few hours on the trip. We did Uffizi with a guide and it was awesome. I also hiked to Boboli gardens and of course the beautiful Ponte Vecchio.

We did a one day trip to Pisa and it was really beautiful. Climbing to the top, we felt the tilt. Before that we had Pizza watching the Soccer WC in Italy!

Next stop was Venice. We probably walked the entire city in 2 days, going to various touristy and non-touristy areas (well, almost all of Venice is touristy, so...). Highlights were a nice gondola ride, an amazing restaurant that made ketchup from scratch for our kids and an amazing Polenta meal on the canal!

Next stop was off the beaten path to Lake Garda which is a tourist spot but more frequented by locals. Its a beautiful alpine lake where we had dinners on the lake. It was just beautiful. We took the cable car to Monte Baldo which had unbelievable vistas. There were Alpacas on the top which made my day.

Finally, we came to Verona, the home of the real characters that inspired Shakespeare to write Romeo and Juliet. We saw the first century arena which still houses concerts. It was really surreal to see something operational that is from the 1st century!

We never rented a car, but used trains all over Italy. I loved the trains! They were fast, clean and fun!

Emergency trip to India

Grandma passed away, so visited India for a week. She was the last of my grandparents, and while she was really ailing, we will always miss her! It was good to see the extended family after a long time.

Spring Break in Arizona

Almost a decade ago, we had visited Grand Canyon's west rim, when the skywalk had not been created. But we have never seen the more touristy and beautiful South Rim. This Spring Break, we took a trip to Arizona and stayed at the El Tovar on the South Rim. We loved the place with Elk grazing outside the hotel in the morning and deer on the trails. We did a good bit of the Rim to River trail and the views were breathtaking. We then had the finest lunch at the Bright Angel Lodge, especially their Tortilla Soup is the best I have had.

Then we headed over to Page to see lower antelope canyon. We were in sandstorm and had to cover our entire faces which made the experience very interesting, especially the drive to the canyon. In the canyon, the scenes were unreal. I just could not believe what I was seeing. The sun's rays coming down the canyon and the beautiful shades of brown are something I have never seen. Then we went to Horseshoe Bend to battle another sand storm. We also saw the Glen Canyon dam and checked out Antelope Canyon by boat. The driver was nice to allow the kids to drive the boat with around 25 folks on board!

Final stop was Sedona. It was way more beautiful than I had imagined. We stayed at the Poco Diablo Resort which I would totally recommend. We hiked on top of Cathedral rock, saw the most beautiful Church up there and had great food!

All in all, a great trip!

Business Trip to India

I had gone to India on a business trip, spending 4 days in Jaipur and one day in Delhi. We went to a bunch of areas in Jaipur. Hawa Mahal and especially Amer fort were pretty good! We had the best food, period! We stayed at ITC Rajputana and went to both LMB for their massive thali with dal bati choorma as well as Rawat for their Pyaaz Kachori.

New Year's in Big Island

The last time I was in Big Island was in 2010 and we covered Kona and south of Big Island in that trip. This time, we decided to do the rest of Big Island. Last time, we had covered Kona and the south of big island. So this time we decided to spend three days in Hilo and 3 days in Waikoloa. Hilo was all about the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. On 30th December we visited during the day and saw all the points, including the Thurston lava tube the Jaggar Museum Overlook and the sulfur vents. It was just amazing, but this was just the beginning. On 31st December, Aditya and I took a helicopter tour to see the lava in the caldera. We saw burning lava which was great.

But what took the cake was the second trip to the National Park at night. Adi and Anu serendipitously met a friend who said that we must see the glow of the volcano at night. I was really tired that night, and we decided to skip it. But having slept early, I woke up at 4 am and woke up my wife to ask if she was up for going. She readily agreed. The kids grumbled when we woke them up, but the next few hours were the best on the island. It was a full moon day. We reached the Jaggar Museum overlook just in time for the full moon to set. The glow from the Halemaumau crater was a sight to behold. We saw the sun rise and came back to check-out of the hotel. 

We drove to Hapuna Beach where we would spend the next 3 days. On 1st of Jan, we saw the moon set, sun rise over the Halemaumau crater and sun set at Hapuna Beach.

Every day for the next 3 days, we would hit balls at the golf range, followed by two visits to the beach and evening in the hot tub. Hapuna beach is great for Boogie Boarding. Adi and I literally bruised our stomachs boogie boarding. Finally, Virgin America was overbooked so they gave us $1600 to fly to OAK instead of SFO, setting us up for the next trip!

Thanksgiving in Disneyland

Anu, her parents, her brother's family and I went to Disneyland for Thanksgiving. Surabhi loves Disneyland! She could not get enough of the princesses and the rides well, the not too scary ones! This time again, we saw Frozen in Disneyland's California Adventure. But this time, we got nice orchestra seats in the fourth row thanks to Anu. The show was so much better when you saw it from up close. You could feel the emotions of the artists.

Adi and I did the rushin' river ride multiple times and got really wet, especially the second time. We saw the fireworks and water show as usual. All in all, it was a great trip.

Summer in India

Work stuff and kids' vacation fell into place allowing us to go to India for 7 weeks. I took a one week trip from India to Zurich for work.

Zurich
Besides work, I drove an electric bike throughout the city. Its a beautiful city. On the weekend, I went to Lucerne by train and from there to Mt. Pilatus on one day on cogweel railway. Its the steepest cogwheel that took us through the clouds. The view from up there is breathtaking! The next day, I went to Rigi Kulm which was equally beautiful and scenic.

India

India was all about meeting people and having great food, as well as work trips to Lucknow and Delhi. The kids spent extended time with their grandparents which was great. Adi used to go swimming and learn the guitar in Surat. It was one refreshing change from the usual for us.

Christmas in Mexico

We had only been to Puerto Vallarta and this time, we decided to go to Cabo. The flight was short and smooth but the immigration line was really long. We decided to stay 4 days at Cabo San Lucas and 2 Days in San Jose Del Cabo.

The first 4 days, we stayed at the Bahia hotel a block from the beach. We went to Lands End and the Arch and saw sea lions that the kids loved! We then went to a glass blowing factory where Adi, Surabhi and I actually blew glass. Having never been there, all of us loved it. The rest of the time, we were either in the ocean, the pool or the hot tub. The ocean was pretty nice but overrun with businesses and swimming areas were pretty small. There was always a backdrop of some cruise ship behind you.

The next 2 days, we stayed at Cabo Azul and that was awesome. Their pools, beach activity and food were awesome. You could not get into the ocean, but it was great nonetheless.

Thanksgiving trip to Vegas

We had planned a trip to Las Vegas with my in laws but they had to leave early, so we went without them. Adi had complained that he wanted to see the Eiffel tower, and why I went to Paris without him. So we decided to stay at the Paris so he could get a pseudo feel!

We obviously went to the top of the Eiffel tower, which had a nice view of Bellagio. Paris is pretty nice. Kids loved the crepes and we liked their sandwiches. We also found a nice Indian joint called Rani's which had really home cooked Indian meals.

We went to a bunch of other casinos and checked out the water fountains, the circus show and so on. The best part of the trip though was the day trip to Death Valley National Park. I was visiting after a decade and I have always loved that place! We went to Badwater, hiked on Artists Palette and loved Zabriskie Pt. Plus, kids loved hiking on the yellow mountains at a random point on the way!

All in all, a great trip!

Father Son trip to Harry Potter Land

Adi and I took our first father son trip to Universal Studios to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Adi had just completed 8 books and had watched 6 movies by this time so it was perfect timing.

We flew down to LA and spent 3 days in Universal Studios. It was so much fun! We bought the interactive wand at Ollivanders, although Adi didn't get picked by the wand maker. We went in the Forbidden Journey ride, like 10 times. Adi just loved it. Once he even sat alone without me (I was in the next coach), but the ride got suspended for a few mins mid-way scaring him. He would not sit in the Flight of the Hippogriff after going on Jurassic Park since he was scared.

I commend him on going to Jurassic Park and Mummy rides once. He also loved Transformers, Simpsons and Shrek. The show he loved most was Water World. We saw it 5 times and just could not get enough of it!

The first evening, we went to the planetarium at the Griffith Observatory and watched two shows there. We found parking far back so hiked half a mile to get there. Adi loved the shows!

After a fun trip, we came back, bringing great memories.

Business Trip to Paris

I made a quick business trip to the Paris office. I stayed at the Villathena, which is a regular hotel walkable from the Google office. In the evenings, I would take a walk to various tourist spots including Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. But what impressed me most were The Louvre and the saturday trip to Versailles Palace.

The Louvre is huge and full of beautiful artifacts, but the oldest sculpture Ain Ghazal which is 9000 years old is fascinating. As is the medieval region section which literally makes you feel like you have gone back to the medieval era.

The train ride to Versailles was fun. More than the Versailles Palace, I loved their gardens. The fountains were beautiful even though it was a somewhat rainy day. Also loved the exhibits in the Petit and Grand Trianon on Marie Antoinette's estate.

I upgraded to business class on my way back which made for a comfortable ride home.

Disneyland and Pismo Beach

We took a week of to take kids to Disneyland and Pismo Beach. We had another family joining us for the kids and so the kids had company! We met them at Newport beach where the kids had a blast.

We spent the first day in Disneyland where we did rides during the day and shows at night. Adi loved the Indiana Jones ride so much that he went 3 times! We also loved the Star Tours ride! Adi has traditionally been scared of roller coasters, but he somehow got rid of his fear in these roller coasters which was great. Surabhi loved the Astro Blasters ride! In the night we saw the paint the night parade and fireworks. The former mesmerized Surabhi and she saw all her favorite princesses.

We spent the second day at CA adventure. It was Surabhi's dream to be a princess and meet Elsa and Anna. And what better place than Disneyland to do that. We did a meet and greet with the princesses and saw the Frozen musical. The musical had really high production values and could stand out on its own as an attraction. We had nice orchestra seats which only enhanced that experience. Surabhi sat through every moment of the musical and asked to see it again at the end of it.

This is where we parted with our friends and went to Pismo beach, but not before an amazing lunch in Artesia at Rajdhani. Pismo beach was relaxing, but the beach itself was a bit disappointing with seaweeds and flies around those that totally irritated the kids. The sand was nice and soft, but the beach itself wasn't great. We played ticket to ride for the first time and Adi was able to get a hang of the game which was great!

Overall, it was a great trip with friends and memories for life.

India, Karan Johar, Mangoes

Sometimes, the experiences that come as part of your job can surprise you. This was one of those trips to India which happened unexpectedly when a media event was scheduled in Mumbai and I had to represent Bollywood Music as part of my portfolio.

I traveled on Lufthansa and A380 for the first time, and while the plane was fascinating, I have to say their business class does not compare well with other airlines. There is much less privacy and space compared to other airlines.

The event was hosted by Karan Johar at the Taj in Bandra. It was a well organized event to promote Google Search for Movies and Music in India. This was the second time I felt like a visitor in a town I grew up!

I had a chance to meet my parents/friends and eat lots of alphonso mangoes, which are my favorite! Overall, it was a great work trip!

Trip to Korea

It was mostly a work trip, and I have to say that both colleagues and other folks I met in Korea were really nice.

In the evenings, I went and checked out a few places. One was the Gyeongbokgung palace which is just off the seoul metro station. It is absolutely huge and beautiful with lots of history behind it. Another evening I had a nice dinner in Seoul at Han Miri where my colleagues graciously picked out the best vegetarian options - the food was great. I also visited Gangnam which is their shoppers and diners paradise. It was very interesting. Finally, as icing on the cake, I literally stumbled upon the French Open trophy tour, where I saw the actual trophy presented on the French open.

Finally, the most exciting piece - I took a day off to go to the North Korean border. We went in a trip to Panmunjom, the place on the border where you can cross over to the North Korean side. The history of North Korea since the Korean war is both fascinating and painful. We saw North Korean soldiers on the other side and we had UN guest passes as a sign that we are non combat civilians. The military complex there had both South Korean and American soldiers side by side which brought realism to what we hear in the US about thousands of soldiers stationed in South Korea still. On the trip, I had the best Bibimbap during lunch.

Overall, it was a great trip. Flying business class on Singapore Air was a great experience as well! The only struggle was the combination of food and language barrier sometimes, which was generally not an issue since I had someone else helping me out!

Second trip to Maui

Having loved Maui in the first go around, we couldn't wait to go back. We stayed in Kihei again, mainly because of the family friendly beaches there!

But on this trip, in addition to beach activities, we touched the clouds while going to Haleakala national park and the ocean floor in a submarine, both great experiences! We also did a bunch of boogie boarding (first time that Adi felt comfortable with it) and plain hanging out at the beach. 

Jakarta, Hong Kong and India

I went to Jakarta, Hong Kong and India on a business trip from Oct 28 to Nov. 13.

This was my first trip to Indonesia and south of the equator for that matter. We stayed at the Fairmont which was really nice. The hospitality, rooms and breakfast were all excellent with a special mention of the rain showers they had in the rooms. It literally felt like bathing in a waterfall! It is a country of contrasts and we met and saw people from all socio-economic levels! The only thing that was difficult was getting vegetarian food - much more difficult than I had imagined. Barring really fancy places, it was even difficult to explain what vegetarian means (Indian-style).

This is my second time in Hong Kong and I did the central mid levels escalator for the first time. Hong Kong is a developed country for all practical purposes, and vegetarian food was much easier, if you had someone that talked the local language.

Finally, we landed in Mumbai. This was my first time in my native city as a tourist which made it interesting. We stayed at the Trident which is a nice hotel. The food was really amazing, which shouldn't be much of a surprise.

After completing the work stuff, I headed over to Surat to spend Diwali with parents which was nice!

Summer trip to Tahoe

We went on a company trip to Tahoe, a departure from the winter trips we used to have. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Incline Village. Having injured my back in Badminton, I decided to go Sailing as an activity. Being on the lake was so amazing and serene. They pampered us with food and drinks. We did the tunnel creek hike and climbed some rocks to get amazing views of the lake.

In the night, we had a nice dinner, but the most fun was a karaoke session with fellow Googlers. My PM friends and I sang "Wonderwall" by Oasis. We also had a nice dance party for which we had to change venue multiple times for various reasons. 

All in all, it was a great trip from Google as always!

Monsoon in India

We went to India in summer this time to accommodate for the kids schedule. It was hot, humid, rainy but also a lot of fun. It had been years since I saw the Mumbai in monsoon. Since my parents are now in Surat, the stops in Mumbai were brief, but enough to eat at the best joints and meet old friends.

Bulk of my time was spent in Surat. We went to Lonavla with cousins and setup the program last minute! It was a great meetup in Lonavla and we did a nice hike close to Aamby Valley. We also did Zorbing and ATV rides on a bumpy dirt road in 19 Degree North opposite to Aamby Valley which is their adventure sports place. I had never done Zorbing so did not know what to expect. It was on land and not as much fun as I had hoped for. ATV ride was a lot of fun though.

In Surat, we celebrated Papaji's 60th birthday, where we got a nice cake and did a potluck where family folks brought a lot of food from Idly to Pasta to Pav Bhaji. It was such a great time with the entire family. I also went to Bardoli near Surat to scout a temple for a future event, and the dhoklas there were out of the world.

Overall it was a fun trip to meet friends and family, and best of all, the kids did not fall sick.

Business trip to Israel

We travelled to Israel for a work related summit, and it was an eye opening trip about a country I know so little about. First, on the not so bright side, no direct flights from SFO to TLV. Had to take a stop, but thanks to inflight entertainment, the inward journey was a breeze.

I stayed at the Savoy, less than half a block from the beach. The office was a 40 mins walk, but the weather was so awesome that I walked on many days. On Saturday I went to city of Jaffa by bike - yes the hotel gives out bikes to travel along the beach, which was awfully nice of them.

On Sunday, a working day in Israel, we planned a trip to Jerusalem. It was amazing how that one place is so sacred to Jews, Arabs and Christians at the same time. We went to the wailing wall, the church of the Holy Seuplchre where Christ was put to rest post crucifixion and resurrected thereafter. Never before have a I seen a single place of such religious importance to three religions at the same time. We did not visit the Armenian quarter.

The work was awesome, but so was the Google office! The food was amazing. A great assortment of Israeli and middle eastern food. They also had fresh squeezed orange juice which was awesome. Dinners in the evening were another thing worth mentioning. We went to one of Port Said's hotels, where the dishes are very innovative, yet tasty. There were a bunch of new dishes that I tried - Matbucha, Shakshuka, Mujaddara and the original versions of falafel, hummus and tahini.

On the way back, I got upgraded to business class which was awesome. It was a 12 hour flight on a 787 and the upgrade really helped to get some sleep and catch up on movies.

All in all, an amazing trip!

Tahoe for Christmas and Skiing

This is our umpteenth Tahoe trip, but the special thing about this one was of course friends, but that it was the first time Adi would learn to Ski. He and a couple of his friends had ski lessons for 4 months and he picked up skiing pretty well.

We stayed at this beautiful home with expansive views of the lake. Anu and I divided up the skiing for 1 day each while the other one was with Surabhi. The snow was good but not amazing, but fun nevertheless.

Trip to Kauai

My parents have never been to Hawaii. When they were visiting this Thanksgiving, we decided to change that.

We have been to Kauai before and loved the South Shore at Poipu as its great for kids, good snorkeling and easy to cover the rest of Kauai. We landed in Kauai on Nov. 26, and went to our condo a block from Poipu Beach Park. We bought groceries as we were going to cook a lot on the beach.

Everyday, we would take a morning walk or jog on the beach, followed by one trip to one part of the island, followed by snorkeling on Poipu beach again. With two of the greatest cooks I know with us, there was no day that the food was short of excellent.

Nov 27, we did the Kilohana Plantation Train that Adi had enjoyed 4 years earlier. This time it was Surabhi's turn to feed the pigs! She could not get enough of the pigs and the rest of the trip she wanted to pet piglets.

Nov 28, we went to Waimea Canyon, and the beautiful canyon lookout. Parents absolutely loved the breathtaking views. We followed that with at a trip to Wailua falls, which is very beautiful .. one day I want to go to the bottom of the falls.

Nov 29, we went to a farmers market and spent the entire day on Kalapaki Beach. It is great for beginning boogie boarders with a very nice beach. I was in the water for hours. We had Pav Bhaji just steps from the ocean water and the experience was surreal.

Nov 30, we went to Hanalei Bay. But before that on our usual time at the beach we spotted a few sea turtles. The kids were mesmerized with the sea turtles, and one of them came ashore. Snorkeling with turtles was not something I planned at all, but it was an amazing experience. Hanalei Bay is beautiful with a great beach, and amazing views of the mountains.

Kalapaki Beach will go down in history where Adi did boogie boarding for the first time, and he did snorkeling for the first time on Poipu beach. We ate lots of ice cream, coconut water at a farmers market and shaved ice as usual.

Overall, the sixth trip to Hawaii was amazing.

Puerto Vallarta!

We spent our Christmas with friends in Puerto Vallarta. We were staying in an all inclusive resort called Riu Pacifico Palace, which had a nice Greek Santorini feeling to it! We stayed there for 5 nights and had a wonderful time in the resort. Our room was nothing short of spectacular, with sweeping views of the Pacific! We just chilled out on the beach and in the pool. This was the first time that I got a hang of Boogie Boarding. We also attended a MJ concert which was pretty good. The food was great initially, but became repetitive towards the end. Overall, a really fun trip!

Priti's Marriage in India

We went for Priti's marriage in India in Dec. It was the most hectic trip ever with 2 kids. We were there for just 5 days in which we went from SFO to BLR to Surat and back to BLR for the marriage. It was important to go meet Bai, so we had to make this really hectic arrangement. The marriage was in Iskcon temple and it was small but fun, and the food was great!

Quick India Trip to meet Bai

Naniji expired all of a sudden and also Bai had her operation in Oct, so I went over to go meet her. It was good to be with her during the operation. I also went to Assam to meet with Nanaji and rest of the family on the maternal side. It was a quick but important trip which gave me closure of going and meeting folks important in my life.

Parents visiting in the USA

Parents and Priti visited the USA in Aug - Sep. We went to Yosemite National Park, where it was insanely hot! We also went to Del Valle Regional park in Livermore, where I kayaked with Mom for the first time! I also swam in the Lake which was somewhat dirty but a cool experience! Other weekends we just stayed at home.

Las Vegas with the Wish team

We went to Las Vegas with the entire Wish team, and it was something. We brainstormed the product but in the night, we ate at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, one of the premier Michelin star restaurants in Las Vegas. I haven't eaten breads better than this place.

It was a short trip and mostly work related, but I also managed to go swimming in the morning in the hotel.

Annual ski trip to Squaw

I hadn't ski'ed in almost 2 years thanks to my knee injury, surgery and the arrival of Surabhi. This was going to be a big test of the knees. Squaw is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but would I be able to comfortably ski again? Over the years, skiing has become more of a sightseeing activity than a sport for me. I have chosen not to go any more aggressive while skiing, which means that I want to ski so that I can enjoy the views from the top of the mountain.

In this trip, that mission was definitely accomplished. The views from the top of Siberia Express were as breathtaking as ever. I ski'ed for a couple of hours and started feeling a bit of discomfort so I decided to stop. I had a great lunch at the top of the mountain where the Tram stops and had a great party last evening. Overall, it was a fun trip.

Hawaii, for the 5th time

After visiting Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Big Island, we decided to come back to Oahu for our 5th Hawaii trip! With 2 kids, this trip was going to be more of a relaxing trip than doing a bunch of activities. We went twice in the water every day, and Adi just had a blast on the beach!

We took the kids to the Dole Plantation where they had so much fun. First, we took the Pineapple Express to view the pineapple plantation. Then we fed the fishes at a nearby lake. Finally, we sat down for a great lunch at the plantation.

Adi loved the hot tub on top of the hotel. He did not still know how to swim. Overall, it was a great trip.

Work trip to New York

This was a quick work trip to New York, to meet the Apps Script team and go to SMX East. I spoke about AdWords Scripts at the conference to about 40 attendees. This was probably my first time giving a talk in such a conference. It went pretty smoothly I think. I also met up with Ankita in the evenings. Overall, it was a great trip.

Shekhar's marriage in India

After almost 6 weeks of being a bachelor in the USA, I went to India to attend Shekhar's marriage. The highlight of this trip was of course the marriage, but also all the great food. I went to Surat and met up with a bunch of relatives which was so much fun. Shekhar's marriage was fairly hectic but a lot of fun. The last few days, Anu and I ate at all the street corners I was crazy about as a kid.

Las Vegas

From London, I directly flew in to Las Vegas with my PM offsite. And boy, was it an activity filled offsite. In just 36 hours we managed the following:

Shooting in machine gun vegas
We shot 3 kinds of gun. A pistol, a rifle and a fully automatic rifle. I hardly shoot guns, and am very poor at it too. But it was still a lot of fun.

Dinner at Tao
It was a fancy dinner alright! Great vegetarian options too.

O
After dinner at Tao, we went to see O. This cirque du soleil show is definitely worth watching. The way the set turns into a swimming pool and then land is pretty amazing. So are all the acrobats.

Tao Nightclub
This is the fanciest nightclub I have seen in my life. The atmosphere was just electric out there.

Go Karting
The next morning, we went go karting. It was a lot of fun.

Tao Beach
Just before catching our flight back, we were at Tao beach. Its a nice pool area with all the amenities you would expect. There was even this girl who would clean your glasses after being in the pool!

London Trip

I was in London on a work trip. Google has very nice office, right in the heart of London. Traveling by bus or tube to office was great fun. I stayed right opposite Green Park in Hotel Athenaeum, great hotel with a great location.

I also spent a lot of quality time with Priti. Every evening and the weekend, we were together and had a lot of fun.

Evenings:
Every evening we would go do one thing. One day, we went to the London Eye. We saw the 4D show, did one round in the eye which was a lot of fun. Then we took the ferry on the Thames river which covered a bunch of landmarks around the river. One day we visited UEL. They did not allow us inside UEL which was disappointing. One day we did O2 arena and cable car. We also did London Bridge and Mayor's office. Buckingham Palace was walking distance from the hotel. These short sightseeing trips were really fun.

Weekend:
On Saturday, we went for the tour of Cotswolds, which takes you through beautiful quaint English towns, untouched architecturally by modern civilization. It was all very beautiful. Especially bourton-on-the-water was a beautiful place. Each town is so serene and its very easy to imagine the 1800s in the UK. The English countryside is beautiful. We also went to the Blenheim Palace which feels like a palace from the days long gone. It is very well preserved as well.

On Sunday, we went to Cambridge by train. Traveling by train makes you realize how British rail inspired Indian Rail. It had to, given the british started it. The two are very similar in the manner in which the tracks are laid, the electric poles and so on. The university itself feels like you are living in a part of history. Each and every college is just architecturally amazing and beautiful.

Overall, London has great public transport, much better than any place I have visited. Buses, tube, long distance rail just make everything convenient. The food was great as well. Indian food is much closer to India in taste. Especially Govindas is a great place to eat simple vegetarian food.

New York

Was in new york for work this time. Met up with Ankita and Gopal one of the evenings and had a blast. We had two dinners, one home-cooked and one outside. I have yet to eat better chaat in the US than Khasiyat.

Ankita's marriage

This time I was in India for Ankita's marriage. It turned out to be somewhat hectic and sad with mom and grandma falling ill. Grandma fell and had a tough time getting up and sitting down. Mom got malaria and was in the hospital for a few days.

Ankita's marriage was the only bright spot. We had a lot of fun in Indore in the sangeet, phere and reception. I got a chance to meet up with a lot of people I had not met in a long time. And of course, the food was great!

Zion National Park

With Anu and Adi in India, I went to Zion National Park alone, doing this for the first time in my life!! And it turned out to be a great experience, much better than being bored at home without family.

I flew to Las Vegas on Friday evening, stayed at Luxor for the night (and a quick poker game which I lost). In the morning, I drove to Springdale, UT at the gates of Zion National Park. The weather was hot and the landscapes were amazing. On Saturday, I took the Canyon Overlook hike which is a beautiful hike that ends in a breathtaking view of the canyon. I spent the rest of the evening stopping at random points on Mt Carmel Hwy. It was just beautiful!

Next day, I took the Zion Shuttle and headed along all the points of the shuttle. I did the Emerald Pool hike, and walked to the Narrows. The narrows is a water trail where you just go into the water into the canyon. The water was freezing, but the views were breathtaking. Never done this kind of hike. I hiked almost a mile where the water became chest deep and I decided to head back.

I stayed Sunday night at Stratosphere, played another poker game before heading home.
When you are alone, you get barraged by all kinds of weird thoughts, like "What if my car broke down in the middle of nowhere". I also ate at this nice restaurant called Flying Monkey and at breakfast at Oscars, both of which were great.

Toronto and Waterloo on work

It was mostly a work trip, but really enjoyed Toronto downtown where I stayed. Waterloo/Kitchener is a fairly laid back place.

O Canada

We headed over to the Canadian Rockies on July 4th weekend. The traffic was surprisingly light and we spent 2 days in Banff and 2 days in the Lake Louise area. The landscape out there is just beautiful. In Banff, we went to Sulphur Mountain, took a boat ride on Lake Minnewanka, and really enjoyed the Rocky Ridge Resort perched on a hilltop next to Banff from where the views are just beautiful. We would go to the hot tub every evening and stare at the mountains. They gave us popsicles after the hot tub every day, a divine experience. Lake Minnewanka cruise was great as well. We saw a bald eagle and a deer crossing the road in Banff.

Next, we went to Lake Louise and it is by far the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. We stayed at the Fairmont overlooking the lake and the lake has different beauty almost every hour. We also went to Lake Moraine, another beautiful lake nestled in the mountains. I took a 3.6 km hike to Mirror Lake and Lake Agnes and they were beautiful as well. Lake Agnes has a tea house on top of the mountain and a waterfall too. Views of Lake Louise from the top of the mountain are beautiful.

Everything seems expensive in Canada after the US dollar has lost 25% against the Canadian Dollar. All in all, it turned out a great trip.

Trip to Beijing

In general, I have never been in a place where I know so little about the culture, language and civilization than China. I have never had my “Namaste” experience. This was it!

It was a business trip with lots of agenda items, but I made it a point to use each evening to learn more about the new place. Many things struck me about Beijing on my way to the hotel from the airport.
• This is a much more developed city than any big city in India and compares well with the US as far as their infrastructure of the cities goes. I hear that rural China is not as developed, but from what I see I am impressed.
• Beijing seems to be dotted with banks and massage/spa places. Almost every block has a bank and a massage parlor
• The people are very friendly and respectful.

We (my engg director and myself) reached on Sunday afternoon, and were greeted promptly at the Shangri-La. An excellent hotel with everyone trying to help you out in whatever way possible. Weekdays was going to be all work except for a team offsite on Friday and I had kept Saturday for some sightseeing.

There was an Indian restaurant right across from the Google office and having eaten there 4 times in 7 days, I can say that it is easily the best Indian food I have eaten outside India. I have always wondered what’s so difficult about replicating food from India that no place in the US seems to be able to make the same curries as in India. Hell, they do not even seem to have the entire gamut of curries here. Not this place, this was as authentic as you would eat at your neighborhood restaurant in Mumbai.

On some evenings, I would walk around the hotel and explore out the residential areas nearby. There is the street food and street vendors, old people outside the buildings, neighborhood shops which was very reminiscent of India. They seem to love their food, and their massages! One evening, I joined my colleagues to go to the night market in Wangfujing. There they sell the weirdest food you may have ever seen. The food is not for the faint of heart, even the smell of the food is not for the faint of heart! They have scorpions, sheep kidney, starfishes, snakes and many other unspeakable animals/insects fried on a stick. From there, we headed to the shopping street, and you would not be able to distinguish it from a high class shopping place in the USA. Then we walked near Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and the National Theater, which is surrounded by man made water façade on all sides. The only way to go inside is through a tunnel below the water. Very nice architecture.

On Friday, we took a boat trip to the Summer Palace. It has nice architecture with a lake surrounding it. Next, we took the subway to the Cashbox KTV Karaoke place. What struck me was that the lobby looked like a 5-star hotel. Add Karaoke to the list of things Chinese people are passionate about. There we sang English and Chinese songs, with my Chinese counterparts doing much better than me. I was very impressed by their singing abilities and passion! They also tried to teach me Sanguosha which is their signature strategy card game, which I would have loved to master if I understood Chinese characters. Looks like a fairly complex game.

On Saturday, I took a one-day Beijing tour to see the Great Wall (Badaling), Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The square is an expansive place with a couple of huge screens in the middle. People thronged the place. Then we crossed over the road to the Forbidden City. This place was ruled by the Qing and Ming Dynasties from 1368 to 1911. Lots of interesting architecture and stories here. Presuambly, this entire city was not open to the general public till the Emperor ruled. Only officials, concubines and eunuchs which served the Emperor were allowed. The king used to have hundreds of concubines and hardly anyone knew which concubine the Emperor was with on any given night. This protected him from a stealth attack at night. The concubines sometimes conspired by asking the eunuchs to bring babies from outside and claim it was the Emperor’s baby in hopes of becoming the Empress. There was a concubine selection process every 3 years. To become an official in the City, you had to pass a series of local, regional and provincial tests. Next we went to the Jade factory to see how Jade was carved from the stone.

Next, we went to visit the Great Wall. We took a cable car to the top. It was so crowded it almost seemed like walking on a crowded street in Kalbadevi. The views of the wall and the mountain are breathtaking. More than 20% of the population was building the wall at one time (1M+ out of a population of 5M). We climbed to the highest point of the wall. I never thought I would see the Great Wall of China before seeing the Taj Mahal but that’s what life is all about.

We ended the day with a tea ceremony. We tasted four types of tea and were told how each type is made, its medicinal value and how you should drink it. I loved the Jasmine and Lychee tea that they had. I bought some cups that change picture on them when hot water is poured and headed back.

As I look back at my experience, its interesting how two civilizations of two neighboring countries got to be so dissimilar from each other, almost not talking to each other (except Buddhism in the Tibet area) and how commonalities are now emerging again thanks to the westernization of both!

Trip to India.. again!

This time, we went to Jaipur and Kuchaman for my cousin sister's daughter's marriage. It was preceded by a huge city function arranged by my cousin brother. That function was themed after folk Rajasthan. So you had folk dancers, camel rides, bangles, fortune tellers, magicians.. the whole enchilada! Both functions were great and the food of course was excellent. We had booked multiple AC bogies on the way up and way back so it was trip full of fun and frolic.

In Mumbai, I did the usual.. eat at my favorite joints and meet a bunch of people. We also went to a buffet restaurant in Thane with my in-laws and had some great food there. All in all, a great trip.