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.

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.

Christmas at Tahoe

We spent Christmas at Tahoe with a bunch of friends. We rented a very nice house in the Tahoe Keys resort area. The plan was to hang out, cook, go on the mountain and generally relax. And we did exactly that. The menu varied from Chhole to Omelets to Mexican food. We went to the Heavenly mountain, skied for some time. The kids had a great time too! We ate at a great restaurant in Sacramento called Bombay Grill and headed back home. Renting a Ford Explorer helped of course!

Thanksgiving in Kauai

This was our fourth trip to Hawaii, to the fourth island. We rented a 2 bedroom house near Poipu Beach. Poipu has two nice beaches, Brenecke's and Poipu beach. We went there multiple times. Adi enjoyed a lot at Poipu beach which has shallow water and very gentle waves. We also took him to the Kauai Plantation Railway that takes you along the tropical Kauai Plantation and on the way allows for pig feeding. Adi enjoyed feeding the pigs and said to them "Eat your food, else you will all go to the bathroom!". We drove across the entire island, first going west to Waimea Canyon, followed by east to Princeville and Hanalei. Anu cooked great meals at home. On the flip side, I lost my swimming goggles to one of the waves.

On the activity side, I went Ziplining with Kauai Backcountry which was an exhilarating experience. I also went on helicopter tour of Kauai with Safari helicopters. The tour went through all the interesting and inaccessible spots of Kauai, covering rainforests, innumerable waterfalls and the beaches. I got a great view as I had a window seat. I also went snorkeling at Poipu beach which has a nice coral reef. Overall, it was a wonderful trip!

Trip to India

Quick trip to India to meet parents and sister. Traveled by Cathay Pacific for the first time, and it turned out to be pretty good.

Monterey bay aquarium and cherry picking

On two weekends, we took our in laws to Monterey Bay aquarium and next week to cherry picking in Brentwood. Adi really enjoyed the different types of fish in Monterey. The cherries we picked were also really sweet, and the drive from Brentwood was nice too.

Universal Studios and Seaworld

We took our in-laws to the classic west coast trip to LA and SD. We rented a Kia Sedona and it was spacious since there were only six of us including Adi. On the first day, we went to Universal studios. The new ride I checked out was the simpsons ride and I was pretty impressed. We did the other regular rides and Adi and in-laws had great fun. In the evening, we went to Santa Monica beach and got a couple of names hand-drawn by a local artist, "Aditya" and "Welcome". Next day we went to SeaWorld and were a bit disappointed to find that the dolphin show was not playing. But we had fun with the other rides. On our way back, we stopped at an Indian restaurant on I-5 for lunch; we would never have expected that! All in all, a fun trip.

Battling a snowstorm in Kirkwood

Raj and I decided to go skiing for a day in Kirkwood. And what a day we choose! It was very stormy which made for pretty white-wash skiing conditions. The snow was fluffy so that was good but visibility was poor. It was fun all the same. I also saw some really adventurous guys doing pond skimming on that day. That was really fun to watch, as was the snowstorm itself from a nice rustic restaurant at the base. On the way back, we saw a couple of movies and were home in no time.

Big Island

Our trips to Hawaii have always been exciting, and we always end up getting some unexpected perks. This time, I booked a ticket on Alaska Airlines' inaugural flight going from San Jose to Kona. At the airport, just outside the gate, they greeted us with breakfast and cultural Hawaiian programs. We were given fancy memento bags and had games on the flight. Before we realized, we were in Kona, which is a big thing to say considering we had a 2-yr old with us. I won one of the games and got two tickets to the Luau at Royal Kona Resort. Good start, I thought!

Day 1:
The hotel was really nice, and we had an ocean view room. We stayed at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort. We went up to the beach to see green sea turtles coming up to the coast. The beach was a bit rocky, was great for snorkeling but not kid friendly. In the evening, we went for our the Luau. I cant say I fancied the food considering that we are vegetarians, but the show was great. Adi was mesmerized by the dancers. The setting was beautiful, on the beach and watching the sunset.

Day 2:
Kona coffee is famous, so we decided to visit Greenwell farms, one of the most famous industrial coffee plants in Kona. They showed us how coffee is made from the two seeds in the fruit of the coffee plant. The process is pretty interesting; they dry the beans, peel two layers and ship the green bean and it is roasted at the destination. Next, we headed up north to the Kohala coast to Hapuna beach. It was beautiful with blue waters and a gentle slope and Adi absolutely loved it. We stayed in the water for a couple of hours before heading back.

Day 3:
We headed up to the Hawaii volcanoes national park. The drive was absolutely beautiful, with landscape and weather changing every 30-40 miles. We went up to the steam vents, saw the lava tubes and the large craters in the national park. On the way back, we stopped at Punaluu beach which has black sand on the beach, thanks to the volcanic landscape. We cooked lunch at the beach, ate and headed back. We made a quick stop at the Magic Sands beach where I took Adi in the water again but he got scared by the big waves. Anu and Adi rested on the beach, while I relaxed in the water for some time.

Day 4:
With a short trip coming to an end, we headed back to the airport. Adi really enjoyed the small open Kona airport where all the plans were in clear view. We upgraded to first class for a 100 bucks each, our first experience north of coach. We got really good service for the upgrade, so we were smiling on our way back.

Tahoe trip with my team

We went to Tahoe on a company trip to Squaw valley. It was beautiful as always. We stayed at the Resort at Squaw which has a chair lift to the mountain which was very convenient. We rented our gear and headed up the lift. In the evening, we had a nice pizza dinner followed by a game of poker. This was followed by another day of skiing before we headed back. Fun trip!

The India Trip

This time we had a month long trip to India. We went to Assam to visit my maternal grandparents. We had great fun visiting Kaziranga National Park where we saw Rhinos and Elephants. Adi loved the elephant ride in the elephant festival. Our cousins took us to a nice resort where we ate their signature Crispy Chilly Baby Corn followed by a trip to Rhino park. We also had fun flying Kingfisher which had much better food than Korean Air which we took while coming to India.

Later, I went to Surat and met up with relatives as also with friends in Mumbai. And as always, I ate at all of my favorite joints. Priti took me to this new Sandwich place in Goregaon which turned out to be a branch of our favorite Sandwich joint in Santa Cruz. I also attended the Hridayesh festival including a morning flute concert at 6:15 am (thats right!) by Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia. It was unreal!! With Dad, I went to a relative's farmhouse close to Virar and had fun. We also went to the Brijreshwari temple.

On a free morning, I went to school and ate at our mess hall after 15 years. Although the school has changed a lot, the taste of channa and garlic chutney were the same, with kids scampering to get the garlic chutney. I guess some things never change!

Anu went to Mahabaleshwar, Pune and Ahmednagar and had a good time too. Adi enjoyed every bit of each trip he made! At the end though, Adi fell on edge of a table and had 3 stitches causing us to delay our return by 3 days... oh well!

Ropes course in Santa Cruz mountains

As part of the leadership workshop, we went to the ropes course in Santa Cruz. We climbed ropes, solved problems and had a fun time. My team was called The Simpsons, thanks to an idea from one of our team members. The place is in Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz, really far away from the freeway. It was pretty cold in the morning, but once we started climbing, no one felt cold! This was the first time I was doing a ropes course, and reminded me of how unfit I have become... I thought of the upcoming ski season and that I should exercise if I have to make sense of it!

Gilroy Gardens

It was Anu's idea to go to Sea World last week and this week she decided to take us to Gilroy Gardens. Its a great place for kids and Adi thoroughly enjoyed the place. We adults enjoyed the rides too, which were mostly family rides.

SeaWorld in San Diego

Priti was visiting from India, and we decided to go to Sea World. I booked a hotel very close to Sea World. We saw Shamu's "Believe" show three times. Priti was really excited to be drenched by Shamu (something I would have expected from Adi!!). In fact, Adi started crying inconsolably when he got drenched, which we should have anticipated. He had a great time in Sea World. We were there for two days, and covered all of it. I liked Journey to Atlantis a lot. On the second day, we also went up to Mexico's border (at Raj's request) and to Coronado beach. The water at the beach was surprisingly cold, but we had a great time. Overall, it was a great trip. Adi even enjoyed looking at planes on the airport.

Lunch Cruise on SF bay

We had a celebration cruise on SF bay which involved a luxury yacht. Lunch was on the yacht and was really good. We hiked on Angel Island, with amazing views of both the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge from various parts of the hike. There was dessert on the way back on the Yacht. All in all, a fun filled weekday.

Offsites in various parks

We went to two offsites, one in Cuesta Park and the other in Flood Park, both with the Adwords API team. Cuesta Park was marked by great Mediterranean food, Vegas showdown (which I won) and Croquet. Flood Park was marked with arranged games, and I won the crumpled soda can throwing game!