Eat Pray Love
Book written by Elizabeth Gilbert
When i read the back cover of the book...i thought...oh no .... not another "journey through life book"....but now i am going around recommending it to everyone i know.
I loved the book as the author mirrors my thoughts on learning about life through traveling. The author shares her experience of traveling and living in Italy, India and Indonesia, how she learns and re-discovers herself by exploring a new country, meeting new people and living in a new culture. Somewhere it touched my vagabond spirit and made me think about my own experiences of living across six cities in India through different phases in life...so think about living in different countries.
While she lives in Italy she learns a new language, visits the lesser known cities in the country and being a real food lover experiences the city "gastrono-micaly" (did i just create that word!!!).Then she comes to India to discover the spiritual aspect to her personality and lives in an ashram. Her experiences of meditation are so close to mine (which i dare not share) that i bonded with the book right then. One small island of Indonesia is the final leg of her journey and since i am a sucker for a happy ending....i loved it the most ( you have to read it to know more). And it is written with the right mix of humor, facts, intelligence and close to life feeling...that makes it amazing
Another interesting aspect of the book is on she starts her journey with a completely planned itinerary in Italy, then deviates a bit in India and then lands in Indonesia with absolutely no plan....so when they say that the best surprises in life when you are not planning...they actually do...and for a "project planner" like me (what my hubby likes to call me) the real take away from the book was "LET GO AND LIFE WILL TAKE YOU ON A SPIN"
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Denver weekend - Cinco De Mayo festival
May 4-6, 2007
Vishy had to attend this official thing in Denver and the company did not mind if u bring ur spouse and of course vishy's spouse did not mind as long as she was getting to see a new place....so i got a weekend in Denver.
Well the trip started all wrong where we got bumped off our flights coz we were late...so now we have missed a flight in the US also....i thought what a negative way to start the trip but then i laid my hands on this tabloid which was talking about the possible break up of Angelina Jolie and brad pitt....that was positive.....whats the connection....well its one of the celebrity stories that i am addicted to and i obviously don't like them together...anyways...we finally reached Denver....
so the first picture that u see in our set may seem like light at the end of the tunnel but it was more like...baggage at the end of the tunnel...this was the first airport i had seen where we had to actually take a ten-fifteen minute train ride to reach the baggage claim....so if u are ever taking a flight to-from Denver plan for this extra fifteen minutes.
Downtown Denver is one of the prettiest downtown i have ever seen. The city is surrounded by the rocky mountains and that's ur view anywhere u stand in downtown Denver. There is this huge strip of shopping outlets which is also the main road which is called the 16th st mall...and the only vehicle that runs on that strip is the free shuttle. And the middle strip has trees, flowers and benches. You will see it in one of the pictures where we are all trying to give a pose of a happy desi family in the US of A.
So while vishy and the rest of the TW gang was at work i decided to take one of the mountain park tours and our first destination was red rocks amphitheater. "Red Rocks is a geologically formed, open-air Amphitheater that is not duplicated anywhere in the world. With nature as the architect, the design of the Amphitheater consists of two, three hundred-foot monoliths (Ship Rock and Creation Rock) that provide acoustic perfection for any performance". See the pictures and try to imagine the grandeur. And imagine listening to concerts sitting there with Rocky Mountains as the backdrop. Red rocks got its name from the co lour of the rock which is due to high content of iron. Another interesting piece of info....Colorado was named after the Spanish word "Colorado" which means "reddish colored" that refer to the red sandstone formations in the area and reddish brown color of the Colorado River. If you want to read more about red rock amphitheater it http://www.redrocksonline.com/pages/visiting/hist_geo.html
The other interesting thing which was there as a backdrop and u will see parts of it in my pictures was the Continental divide.
The divide runs along the crest of the Rockies, from British Columbia, through the United States, and continues southward into Mexico and Central America. It divides the continent's principal drainage into that flowing eastward (to the Hudson Bay in Canada or to the Mississippi River) and that flowing westward (to the Pacific Ocean). I am sure there is a better way of defining the same but this is how i understand it best.
Well we passed through several other places like buffalo bill bill museum, golden downtown, coors brewery, dinosaur ridge area where they have dinosaur fossils...but do not have too many fotos to talk about in depth. And yes its started to hail and snow in these areas when there was sunshine in downtown Denver.
Few hours before our flight we went to Civic Center Park that ties together the threads of Capitol Hill, and features a neo-classical amphitheater as well as flower gardens in the summer. The park was hosting the Cinco de Mayo festival during the weekend we were there. From the park, you can see the State Capitol to the East, the Denver Art Museum to the South, and the County Courthouse to the West. The North side of the park faces the Denver Rocky Mountain News building and other office buildings downtown. Well we did not have time to visit any of these places but yes took some pcitures.
Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) - the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. It commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.The festival in Denver is supposed to be one of the biggest of all the cinco de mayo festivals across various states in United states. The festival had an amazing spread of spanish food, music, dances, advertising of Mexican products and services and free giveaways. Unfortunately we did not have enough time.
You will see some pictures of garden of gods in the set which is from my earlier trip to Colorado springs ( not too far from denver) in 2005. Garden of gods is a huge park with about 20 sandstone rock formations.
So here i come to the end of my Denver trip....a state which i definitely want to re visit and go to the rocky mountain national park.
check out the fotos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157600190259928/
May 4-6, 2007
Vishy had to attend this official thing in Denver and the company did not mind if u bring ur spouse and of course vishy's spouse did not mind as long as she was getting to see a new place....so i got a weekend in Denver.
Well the trip started all wrong where we got bumped off our flights coz we were late...so now we have missed a flight in the US also....i thought what a negative way to start the trip but then i laid my hands on this tabloid which was talking about the possible break up of Angelina Jolie and brad pitt....that was positive.....whats the connection....well its one of the celebrity stories that i am addicted to and i obviously don't like them together...anyways...we finally reached Denver....
so the first picture that u see in our set may seem like light at the end of the tunnel but it was more like...baggage at the end of the tunnel...this was the first airport i had seen where we had to actually take a ten-fifteen minute train ride to reach the baggage claim....so if u are ever taking a flight to-from Denver plan for this extra fifteen minutes.
Downtown Denver is one of the prettiest downtown i have ever seen. The city is surrounded by the rocky mountains and that's ur view anywhere u stand in downtown Denver. There is this huge strip of shopping outlets which is also the main road which is called the 16th st mall...and the only vehicle that runs on that strip is the free shuttle. And the middle strip has trees, flowers and benches. You will see it in one of the pictures where we are all trying to give a pose of a happy desi family in the US of A.
So while vishy and the rest of the TW gang was at work i decided to take one of the mountain park tours and our first destination was red rocks amphitheater. "Red Rocks is a geologically formed, open-air Amphitheater that is not duplicated anywhere in the world. With nature as the architect, the design of the Amphitheater consists of two, three hundred-foot monoliths (Ship Rock and Creation Rock) that provide acoustic perfection for any performance". See the pictures and try to imagine the grandeur. And imagine listening to concerts sitting there with Rocky Mountains as the backdrop. Red rocks got its name from the co lour of the rock which is due to high content of iron. Another interesting piece of info....Colorado was named after the Spanish word "Colorado" which means "reddish colored" that refer to the red sandstone formations in the area and reddish brown color of the Colorado River. If you want to read more about red rock amphitheater it http://www.redrocksonline.com/pages/visiting/hist_geo.html
The other interesting thing which was there as a backdrop and u will see parts of it in my pictures was the Continental divide.
The divide runs along the crest of the Rockies, from British Columbia, through the United States, and continues southward into Mexico and Central America. It divides the continent's principal drainage into that flowing eastward (to the Hudson Bay in Canada or to the Mississippi River) and that flowing westward (to the Pacific Ocean). I am sure there is a better way of defining the same but this is how i understand it best.
Well we passed through several other places like buffalo bill bill museum, golden downtown, coors brewery, dinosaur ridge area where they have dinosaur fossils...but do not have too many fotos to talk about in depth. And yes its started to hail and snow in these areas when there was sunshine in downtown Denver.
Few hours before our flight we went to Civic Center Park that ties together the threads of Capitol Hill, and features a neo-classical amphitheater as well as flower gardens in the summer. The park was hosting the Cinco de Mayo festival during the weekend we were there. From the park, you can see the State Capitol to the East, the Denver Art Museum to the South, and the County Courthouse to the West. The North side of the park faces the Denver Rocky Mountain News building and other office buildings downtown. Well we did not have time to visit any of these places but yes took some pcitures.
Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) - the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. It commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.The festival in Denver is supposed to be one of the biggest of all the cinco de mayo festivals across various states in United states. The festival had an amazing spread of spanish food, music, dances, advertising of Mexican products and services and free giveaways. Unfortunately we did not have enough time.
You will see some pictures of garden of gods in the set which is from my earlier trip to Colorado springs ( not too far from denver) in 2005. Garden of gods is a huge park with about 20 sandstone rock formations.
So here i come to the end of my Denver trip....a state which i definitely want to re visit and go to the rocky mountain national park.
check out the fotos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157600190259928/
New Orleans Jazzed me up - French Quarter Music festival
April 13-15, 2007
had this absolutely amazing holiday for a week in new Orleans.....where do i start about this city..... We had gone for the the french quarter music festival ...a music festival sponsored by the government to promote and encourage the local talent of Louisiana...and it was one hell of a expereince...french quarter is one of the most vibrant neighborhoods of new Orleans and home to the famous mardi gras in the month of February....this part of the city has European architecture with narrow alleys...huge french windows and the spirit of the city reminds me of Goa...absolutely chilled out and everyone in a holiday mood...and lots of singing, dancing, music, beer and festive spirit around you. The whole day we used to laze in the parks by the Mississippi listen to various bands playing jazz, blues and zydeco ...well for everyone who thought that i was not into music...well now i am..."new Orleans jazzed me up"....and of course beer and the amazing Cajun food....i could not get enough of the jambalaya. In the evenings we used to roam around bourbon streets and the vicinity.....well bourbon street is where the mardi gras parade passes...i have heard that participants of the parade are most exotically dressed with masks and feathers and beads...and as the parade passes the crowd cheers the participants by throwing beads...i just got a glimpse of what it wud be like during mardi gras as there were few places where there were people in the balconies throwing beads...but still want to exp the real mardi gras. First city where i saw martinis and hurricanes and beers being served To Go...yes u could just take a drink and roam the streets.... i did have one of those hurricanes...the famous drink of new Orleans and the hurricane had me in 5 minutes.... Jackson square is where all the artists converged for these three days...and absolutely amazing display of art work...its a shame we could not afford to buy even one of the pictures and could not take pictures as respect for the artists...but the cheater in me...still sneaked in to take one picture as a token of the beautiful display we saw. we also made a trip to the swamps...... though tourists are not allowed into the thick of the swamps and are restricted to the outskirts but it was just nice....however it was quite cool so did not see too many alligators... well actually saw only two. I am now convinced that every such forest reserve or these touristy rides...be it Corbett or nagerhole or periyar or new Orleans swamps....all these guides tell u that its too cool for wildlife spotting and they show u these one off things...which i think are placed by them in advance....anyways...we saw alligators, turtles, catfish and different fishes and our guide was absolutely obsessed with the various dishes that could be made out of all these creatures....so much for a protected forest reserve trip. Our enterprising taxi fellow took us around the neighborhoods which were affected by Katrina. Obviously no disaster is a nice sight and cannot be compared with another but what is common and amazing is the spirit of people to fight back...whether it is new Orleans or the tsunami hit sri lanka or tamil nadu...new Orleans is really fighting back and tourism is their biggest industry. it was overwhelming when right from the taxi driver to the pizza vendor on the street to the musician on the stage thanks you for visiting new Orleans and helping the city re build. And of course....80% of the souvenir shops are owned by Pakistanis and Indians. i got a moral lecture from one of the shopkeepers on how mardi gras is not for people from the Indian/Pakistani origin....well i went and had a hurricane right after that.
definitely enlarge the last two pictures and read the crazy t shirts that were for sale
check out our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157600118269338/
April 13-15, 2007
had this absolutely amazing holiday for a week in new Orleans.....where do i start about this city..... We had gone for the the french quarter music festival ...a music festival sponsored by the government to promote and encourage the local talent of Louisiana...and it was one hell of a expereince...french quarter is one of the most vibrant neighborhoods of new Orleans and home to the famous mardi gras in the month of February....this part of the city has European architecture with narrow alleys...huge french windows and the spirit of the city reminds me of Goa...absolutely chilled out and everyone in a holiday mood...and lots of singing, dancing, music, beer and festive spirit around you. The whole day we used to laze in the parks by the Mississippi listen to various bands playing jazz, blues and zydeco ...well for everyone who thought that i was not into music...well now i am..."new Orleans jazzed me up"....and of course beer and the amazing Cajun food....i could not get enough of the jambalaya. In the evenings we used to roam around bourbon streets and the vicinity.....well bourbon street is where the mardi gras parade passes...i have heard that participants of the parade are most exotically dressed with masks and feathers and beads...and as the parade passes the crowd cheers the participants by throwing beads...i just got a glimpse of what it wud be like during mardi gras as there were few places where there were people in the balconies throwing beads...but still want to exp the real mardi gras. First city where i saw martinis and hurricanes and beers being served To Go...yes u could just take a drink and roam the streets.... i did have one of those hurricanes...the famous drink of new Orleans and the hurricane had me in 5 minutes.... Jackson square is where all the artists converged for these three days...and absolutely amazing display of art work...its a shame we could not afford to buy even one of the pictures and could not take pictures as respect for the artists...but the cheater in me...still sneaked in to take one picture as a token of the beautiful display we saw. we also made a trip to the swamps...... though tourists are not allowed into the thick of the swamps and are restricted to the outskirts but it was just nice....however it was quite cool so did not see too many alligators... well actually saw only two. I am now convinced that every such forest reserve or these touristy rides...be it Corbett or nagerhole or periyar or new Orleans swamps....all these guides tell u that its too cool for wildlife spotting and they show u these one off things...which i think are placed by them in advance....anyways...we saw alligators, turtles, catfish and different fishes and our guide was absolutely obsessed with the various dishes that could be made out of all these creatures....so much for a protected forest reserve trip. Our enterprising taxi fellow took us around the neighborhoods which were affected by Katrina. Obviously no disaster is a nice sight and cannot be compared with another but what is common and amazing is the spirit of people to fight back...whether it is new Orleans or the tsunami hit sri lanka or tamil nadu...new Orleans is really fighting back and tourism is their biggest industry. it was overwhelming when right from the taxi driver to the pizza vendor on the street to the musician on the stage thanks you for visiting new Orleans and helping the city re build. And of course....80% of the souvenir shops are owned by Pakistanis and Indians. i got a moral lecture from one of the shopkeepers on how mardi gras is not for people from the Indian/Pakistani origin....well i went and had a hurricane right after that.
definitely enlarge the last two pictures and read the crazy t shirts that were for sale
check out our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157600118269338/
St Patricks Day in Chicago
March 17, 2007
They say everyone is Irish on St patricks Day in Chicago and yes i was lucky to experience it...i celebrating St Patricks day in chicago ....the city celebrates the festival for almost two weeks. St Patricks was a saint in ireland . This day is celebrated for him
we started with the south side irish parade which happened last weekend...check out fotos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157594583694843/
it was the most amazing displays of floats, irish step dancing , bagpipes and lots of irish music.....and everyone was wearing something green...some people had even green hair and green beard...we almost felt out of place...not wearing green. ...and of course there was lot of drinking...yes green beer
yesterday we went for irish step dancing and music performances at the irish american heritage center.........just took my breath away.....
and then this morning...the unique chicago tradition of dyeing the chicago river green....though i saw the entire thing from my bedroom window but it was most amazing...check out the fotos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157600005757038/
some more info about the river dyeing....
If you were watching this for the first time you would think this is a mistake or a bad joke. You see the dye is orange and its initial color on the surface of the river is orange and you would think to yourself what heathen would do something like this. After a moment or two you then see the true color magically appear.
Two miracles appear that day, the river turns a perfect shade of green something that many other cities have tried but have not been successful at doing, and the second miracle by starting with the color orange giving the impression that river will be orange only to convert the river to that true Irish green.
next year if i am in chicago or if any of u are in chicago on St Patricks day.. ........dont forget to wear green......
even though i missed the downtown parade...but like they say in chicago " everyone is an irish on st patricks day "...and beleive me i felt the same for this whole week...
some interesting stuff i found on the net ....
Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland . Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland , and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston .
Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick's Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.
March 17, 2007
They say everyone is Irish on St patricks Day in Chicago and yes i was lucky to experience it...i celebrating St Patricks day in chicago ....the city celebrates the festival for almost two weeks. St Patricks was a saint in ireland . This day is celebrated for him
we started with the south side irish parade which happened last weekend...check out fotos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157594583694843/
it was the most amazing displays of floats, irish step dancing , bagpipes and lots of irish music.....and everyone was wearing something green...some people had even green hair and green beard...we almost felt out of place...not wearing green. ...and of course there was lot of drinking...yes green beer
yesterday we went for irish step dancing and music performances at the irish american heritage center.........just took my breath away.....
and then this morning...the unique chicago tradition of dyeing the chicago river green....though i saw the entire thing from my bedroom window but it was most amazing...check out the fotos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157600005757038/
some more info about the river dyeing....
If you were watching this for the first time you would think this is a mistake or a bad joke. You see the dye is orange and its initial color on the surface of the river is orange and you would think to yourself what heathen would do something like this. After a moment or two you then see the true color magically appear.
Two miracles appear that day, the river turns a perfect shade of green something that many other cities have tried but have not been successful at doing, and the second miracle by starting with the color orange giving the impression that river will be orange only to convert the river to that true Irish green.
next year if i am in chicago or if any of u are in chicago on St Patricks day.. ........dont forget to wear green......
even though i missed the downtown parade...but like they say in chicago " everyone is an irish on st patricks day "...and beleive me i felt the same for this whole week...
some interesting stuff i found on the net ....
Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland . Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland , and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston .
Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick's Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.
Thanksgiving in Weston...A South Florida vacation
Nov 23-27, 2006
Florida was great fun...had a very non conventional vacation...since the guys who had booked our hotel put us up in a suburb of fort lauderdale called Weston. And if u are not driving which we are still not then u are pretty much stuck in weston. So i had gone all prepared with my swimming costume to soak in the sun on beaches in fort lauderdale and was stuck in a posh suburb called weston. But then life is full of surprises.....this small town had a charm of its own. We went to the local club of weston and had a full course thanksgiving lunch...my very first thanksgiving lunch with turkey and cranberry sauce and all...it was amazing even though i hated the taste of turkey...but the experience was awesome. All rich oldies were aorund us in their best of clothing and talking about gossip of the town. And by the way that wa s the only eating place open in weston that day so pretty much everyone who wanted to be out was there. So u had families with kids, the lonely casanova by the bar table, the golfers, and girlfreinds being introduced to the family and the pretty bartender girl who the casanova was trying to hit on.....and they were all spanish....oh i forgot to tell u it was a posh spanish dominated suburb.....i tried to evesdrop on the conversations around me to catch on some gossip> but i realised very soon that the reason i could not hear clearly was because they were talking in> spanish. So that was my thanksgiving in a very local style. the next day was pretty much spent in the vacation village. We had to go through this presentation (another con job we did not know about) ...u know> how these timeshare presentations are. The good part about it was that the guy drove us around weston and showed us the houses of rich and famous and boy they were beautiful...one was even oprah's ...not sure if it was true...But then we checked out soon as we told him that we really cannot afford to buy a timeshare in a place like this and we are here only for 12 months.... Evening we went down to the town center of Weston which was another surprise...it was straight out of those archie comics town centers where u have this courtyard with ten fifteen shops,a huge clock tower, the sheriff car was waiting around, kids on skate boards, dating and probbaly family approved dating happening, the corner icecream and corn stalls....it> was very cute....like a movie set or something. The next day we decided to check out and go to> downtown fort lauderdale even if it meant wasting some money. And we checked into a days inn...which was owned by none other than our desi bhai...b**** patel...and guess what we got a desi discount on the tariff. aint that cool. And we finally reached the beach and touched the waters of the atlantic ocean. Had lunch at the hooters...i was quite curious about it ....we went to this really interetsing pirate store which had skulls all around...vishy was quite enthu about buying a skull which i let him but with a promise that it will not stay in the house. Forgot to tell u that fort lauderdale is also called venice of america ...not sure by whom but it was written> all around...i guess because they have water ways all around town..so most houses can be either> accessed through road or by ur boat or if u are richer than by a yatch. So we took this cruise on> these waterways and saw some more houses of the rich> and famous....all in the range of 10-50 million dollars...and nobody lives in these houses coz mostly these guys come> here once a year or something. The shopping area of fort lauderdale was again very exclusive with all> expensive stores. We ate at a spaish restaurant by the beach which had live music and dancing. Everything was very posh. So that was my first vacation in the US and please dont even compare it with the miami's of the world coz this was an exclusive South Florida Vacation .
check out our fotos at>http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157594396967513/
Nov 23-27, 2006
Florida was great fun...had a very non conventional vacation...since the guys who had booked our hotel put us up in a suburb of fort lauderdale called Weston. And if u are not driving which we are still not then u are pretty much stuck in weston. So i had gone all prepared with my swimming costume to soak in the sun on beaches in fort lauderdale and was stuck in a posh suburb called weston. But then life is full of surprises.....this small town had a charm of its own. We went to the local club of weston and had a full course thanksgiving lunch...my very first thanksgiving lunch with turkey and cranberry sauce and all...it was amazing even though i hated the taste of turkey...but the experience was awesome. All rich oldies were aorund us in their best of clothing and talking about gossip of the town. And by the way that wa s the only eating place open in weston that day so pretty much everyone who wanted to be out was there. So u had families with kids, the lonely casanova by the bar table, the golfers, and girlfreinds being introduced to the family and the pretty bartender girl who the casanova was trying to hit on.....and they were all spanish....oh i forgot to tell u it was a posh spanish dominated suburb.....i tried to evesdrop on the conversations around me to catch on some gossip> but i realised very soon that the reason i could not hear clearly was because they were talking in> spanish. So that was my thanksgiving in a very local style. the next day was pretty much spent in the vacation village. We had to go through this presentation (another con job we did not know about) ...u know> how these timeshare presentations are. The good part about it was that the guy drove us around weston and showed us the houses of rich and famous and boy they were beautiful...one was even oprah's ...not sure if it was true...But then we checked out soon as we told him that we really cannot afford to buy a timeshare in a place like this and we are here only for 12 months.... Evening we went down to the town center of Weston which was another surprise...it was straight out of those archie comics town centers where u have this courtyard with ten fifteen shops,a huge clock tower, the sheriff car was waiting around, kids on skate boards, dating and probbaly family approved dating happening, the corner icecream and corn stalls....it> was very cute....like a movie set or something. The next day we decided to check out and go to> downtown fort lauderdale even if it meant wasting some money. And we checked into a days inn...which was owned by none other than our desi bhai...b**** patel...and guess what we got a desi discount on the tariff. aint that cool. And we finally reached the beach and touched the waters of the atlantic ocean. Had lunch at the hooters...i was quite curious about it ....we went to this really interetsing pirate store which had skulls all around...vishy was quite enthu about buying a skull which i let him but with a promise that it will not stay in the house. Forgot to tell u that fort lauderdale is also called venice of america ...not sure by whom but it was written> all around...i guess because they have water ways all around town..so most houses can be either> accessed through road or by ur boat or if u are richer than by a yatch. So we took this cruise on> these waterways and saw some more houses of the rich> and famous....all in the range of 10-50 million dollars...and nobody lives in these houses coz mostly these guys come> here once a year or something. The shopping area of fort lauderdale was again very exclusive with all> expensive stores. We ate at a spaish restaurant by the beach which had live music and dancing. Everything was very posh. So that was my first vacation in the US and please dont even compare it with the miami's of the world coz this was an exclusive South Florida Vacation .
check out our fotos at>http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157594396967513/
JULEH from Ladakh
July 16 -18, 2006
JULEH.....thats what we are supposed to say....for hello/bye/thank u/ or anything...I went on this 4 day trip to ladakh....will not say that it was the ideal thing to do as generally everyone says one week is recommended....but believe me it was real fun...especially when it was just three women.Uploaded some of our snaps...i am sure u guys have seen enough pictures of beautiful ladakh...so if u get bored u can see our faces and the many others that we clicked....just to ensure that we add a human touch to our pictures. Needless to say that the landscape was breathtaking...but man the heat was killing...thanks to a friends advice i kept drinking water...and it was fine....the high point of the trip was khardungla pass not only because it is the highest motorable road in the world but also because we met this most amazing army dude....believe me flirting at 13500 ft is a totally different experience.....when u head goes on a tizzy u are not sure whether its the rarefied air or the dude...
we spent each night at a different place...leh/ likhir/nubra/leh (diff hotel)....it was fun...most interesting experience was the homestay we did with this family inlikhir...u will see the pictures...but they actually told us how plantingtrees in theri village has increased oxygen supply and reduced theirheadaches ...Man...and nothing to beat the ladakhi dry toilets....do not want toexplainabout it in depth in a public email...but they were really something....and of course...shopping...how can it not happen when there are three women......lesson learnt.....if u are going to nepal before ladakh..finish your shopping in nepal as everything is ladakh is "made in nepal" so u end up paying three times the cost....and patriotic me went to nepal first,bargained with nepal shopkeepers and then even told them that i will get it cheaper in ladakh....now i know why the were grinning at me...ok another interesting thing about ladakh were these small shops which were run to help tourists with their daily needs like water refills/ buy plastic bottles / rent cloth bags/ get your laundry washed ...it is a great effort to reduce plastic and paper waste in the region...we actually bought only10bottles in the entire trip when we must have drunk ten gallons or something....but only because we kept re-filling....excellent initiative...ok...let me know if u guys want to know anything in particular ...
Check out our photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157594211084692/
July 16 -18, 2006
JULEH.....thats what we are supposed to say....for hello/bye/thank u/ or anything...I went on this 4 day trip to ladakh....will not say that it was the ideal thing to do as generally everyone says one week is recommended....but believe me it was real fun...especially when it was just three women.Uploaded some of our snaps...i am sure u guys have seen enough pictures of beautiful ladakh...so if u get bored u can see our faces and the many others that we clicked....just to ensure that we add a human touch to our pictures. Needless to say that the landscape was breathtaking...but man the heat was killing...thanks to a friends advice i kept drinking water...and it was fine....the high point of the trip was khardungla pass not only because it is the highest motorable road in the world but also because we met this most amazing army dude....believe me flirting at 13500 ft is a totally different experience.....when u head goes on a tizzy u are not sure whether its the rarefied air or the dude...
we spent each night at a different place...leh/ likhir/nubra/leh (diff hotel)....it was fun...most interesting experience was the homestay we did with this family inlikhir...u will see the pictures...but they actually told us how plantingtrees in theri village has increased oxygen supply and reduced theirheadaches ...Man...and nothing to beat the ladakhi dry toilets....do not want toexplainabout it in depth in a public email...but they were really something....and of course...shopping...how can it not happen when there are three women......lesson learnt.....if u are going to nepal before ladakh..finish your shopping in nepal as everything is ladakh is "made in nepal" so u end up paying three times the cost....and patriotic me went to nepal first,bargained with nepal shopkeepers and then even told them that i will get it cheaper in ladakh....now i know why the were grinning at me...ok another interesting thing about ladakh were these small shops which were run to help tourists with their daily needs like water refills/ buy plastic bottles / rent cloth bags/ get your laundry washed ...it is a great effort to reduce plastic and paper waste in the region...we actually bought only10bottles in the entire trip when we must have drunk ten gallons or something....but only because we kept re-filling....excellent initiative...ok...let me know if u guys want to know anything in particular ...
Check out our photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gazalphotos/sets/72157594211084692/
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Am i star struck ?
People who know me, know that i am a die hard fan of Shahrukh Khan and somebody very close tells me that he is one man who can make me smile anytime. But....its not the man Shahrukh who brings smile to my face but his attitude to life that brings smile to my face. Its about living life to the fullest and understanding that you have just one life to enjoy. When you do something do it with passion....whether its about chasing your girl friend, playing your favourite video game or making films. Its about making everyone around you happy and touching people's lives even in the smallest interaction you have with them. Its about being a little selfish in life and seeing that you are content in life....coz only if you are happy can you make others happy. But there is one thing which i have not been able to understand ....how can he get up at 5 am everyday ( with just 5 hours of sleep) and still be so active.
People who know me, know that i am a die hard fan of Shahrukh Khan and somebody very close tells me that he is one man who can make me smile anytime. But....its not the man Shahrukh who brings smile to my face but his attitude to life that brings smile to my face. Its about living life to the fullest and understanding that you have just one life to enjoy. When you do something do it with passion....whether its about chasing your girl friend, playing your favourite video game or making films. Its about making everyone around you happy and touching people's lives even in the smallest interaction you have with them. Its about being a little selfish in life and seeing that you are content in life....coz only if you are happy can you make others happy. But there is one thing which i have not been able to understand ....how can he get up at 5 am everyday ( with just 5 hours of sleep) and still be so active.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Living your dreams
Sometimes life brings you to a point and you wonder if you ever wanted to reach here. You think about it and say, yes, this is where I wanted to reach when I started. But that start point was more than a decade back. Life brought you different experiences, when you sailed through them you enjoyed some, cribbed about some and hated some, but, you believed you will reach where you wanted to reach. You do not realize that, during this time, your current realities become so much a part of you that you are no longer what you were ten years back. Somebody told me once that you should learn to live for the moment and now I understand what that means. Passion is not about one dream you have seen all your life but passionately living your dream through each moment of your current reality.
Sometimes life brings you to a point and you wonder if you ever wanted to reach here. You think about it and say, yes, this is where I wanted to reach when I started. But that start point was more than a decade back. Life brought you different experiences, when you sailed through them you enjoyed some, cribbed about some and hated some, but, you believed you will reach where you wanted to reach. You do not realize that, during this time, your current realities become so much a part of you that you are no longer what you were ten years back. Somebody told me once that you should learn to live for the moment and now I understand what that means. Passion is not about one dream you have seen all your life but passionately living your dream through each moment of your current reality.
Entering the blogging world
I had heard so much about blogging and asked a friend who is a regular blogger -“ Can you tutor me on blogging” , all he had to say was go to www.blogger.com and use the wizard. I was like – Is that it ? and yes there is really nothing more to it. After naming and re-naming my blog titles (coz the wizard could not explain to me…or may be I did not understand) I am finally here…writing my first blog. It reminds me of writing about things I strongly felt in sheets of paper and then tearing them apart…feeling good about getting it out. I was a teenager then. Being in this part of the country has brought back those memories of being a teenager.
I had heard so much about blogging and asked a friend who is a regular blogger -“ Can you tutor me on blogging” , all he had to say was go to www.blogger.com and use the wizard. I was like – Is that it ? and yes there is really nothing more to it. After naming and re-naming my blog titles (coz the wizard could not explain to me…or may be I did not understand) I am finally here…writing my first blog. It reminds me of writing about things I strongly felt in sheets of paper and then tearing them apart…feeling good about getting it out. I was a teenager then. Being in this part of the country has brought back those memories of being a teenager.
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