The road for Las Vegas took us through desert mountains, even after travelling hundreds of miles, all you can see is more mountains. It was like "Road to Nowhere". The good thing is you can travel at a speed of 80 miles per hour on most of the roads and sometimes reach 100 miles per hour, so you feel that you are covering distance fast and swiftly.
When we reached hotel Stratosphere, we rested for about an hour or two in our room on the 21st floor. Now something about the hotel. The hotel has "Top of the World" Restaurant on the top floor which rotates 360 degree every 80 minutes.The hotel has the tallest free-standing observation tower in the US and has some extreme rides on the top floor. See the video below of one of the rides. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbehfUGx6Rs
To go to the observation tower located on the 109th floor, you need to buy a ticket and there is ofcourse additional charges for taking one,two or all the three scary rides.
We bought tickets for the observation tower and went to the top. From the top, you can enjoy the 360 degree view of the city below. All the famous hotels- Trump, MGM,Bellagio,Treasure Island etc. on the Las Vegas Strip look small from the tower. We took some photos and as we had only one night stay in the city, we decided to go and see the famous Las Vegas strip and the hotels that line the street.
A lot of people come visit the city every weekend and this being a long weekend (holiday on Monday due to Labor Day), the rush was much more than normal weekends. As you walk on the street, you can see the big screens put up by each hotel to showcase the shows being played in their theatre halls as well as publicise their cool bars and restaurants. Some of the most famous personalities and groups come and perform in these hotels, to see these shows you need to pay for the tickets which may cost anywhere being 65 and 120 dollars, depending on the popularity.
In MGM, David Copperfield, the magician was performing this week while Tador, the winner of America's got Talent, was going to perform in Mirage hotel.
Each hotel had big casinos on the ground floor, the largest I saw was in MGM Hotel.
Some hotels had city or country themes like the New York New York hotel, Paris Hotel and The Venetian Hotel. New York-New York had replica of Statue of Liberty near its entrance and from the inside, it looks like you are roaming on the streets of New York. Paris Hotel had a huge Eiffel Tower starting from its entrance while The Venetian had Venice,Italy written all over the hotel design.
We had to walk so much from one hotel to another that time just passed by.
At around 10 pm, we went and ate buffet at Tamba restaurant which served Indian cuisine exclusively.
Casinos of some hotels were full with people. Some were gambling on horserace or playing BlackJack, poker or other games. I played BlackJack at one of the slot machines. The game was pretty easy to play and as expected I lost the 2$ in the bargain.
We tried to cover as many hotels as possible but could cover only a few - Treasure Island, MGM Grand, New York-New York, Excalibur.
By 1 am, we were pretty tired and called it a day. Our legs were aching with about five hours of walking. We went to our hotel room and slept.
In the morning, we had a nice breakfast at Lucky's restaurant inside the hotel. We checked out
at 11 am and started on our journey back to Santa Clara.
That was the end of our Vegas trip but I know that I am going to return to this place and Do Vegas Right. Adios !! Chirrio !!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
last trips of US visit.. part 1
The weekend just gone by was special for us in more than one way. First of all, this was my last weekend here in US before me and my parents fly back to India. Secondly, I got to visit places I had only heard before of how incredible they are and never really imagined that I will get to see them in my lifetime. What I am referring to are the most visited place in US - disneyland and Las Vegas.
Our hotel booking in LA and Vegas was done in advance. In LA, we booked a room in Radisson Suites Hotel and in Vegas, Stratosphere Hotel and Casino. We packed our bags and headed south towards Los Angeles - Orange County on friday afternoon. The road trip took us about six and a half hours in traversing a distance of about 400 miles. On the go, we listened to latest hindi songs on youtube as well as hummed to the tunes of oldies like Kishore Kumar album on the CD player.
We reached the hotel at around 9 pm. The location of hotel was great given that disneyland was located at a 10 min drive from the hotel. Our room on the fourth floor was awesome too. Our room had infact two rooms - one with beds, almirah and all and the other with sofas and dinner table. Both the rooms had big LCD TVs. Moreover, our room faced the front side of swimming pool. We made reservations for the shuttle service to disneyland provided by the hotel. We had to be ready by 8:30 in the morning so that night, I watched some TV and went to sleep.
In the morning, we got ready and went for breakfast in the hall. I ate muffin, some fruits, bread with butter and jam and drank orange juice. After the breakfast, we took the shuttle service to Disneyland.Disneyland has two parks- Disney's California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park. We bought tickets for the disneyland park. The tickets were expensive - 72$$ per person for one park. There was a big rush of visitors waiting in lines. The park opened at 9 am and after some waiting, we went inside the park. The theme park entrance lead onto a path after which one could take any of the many routes for roaming and seeing things around. Entrance to a castle was visible from a distance but we decided to check out the map first. The park had more than 60 attractions and plenty of places to dine. The map had areas marked into categories- Main Street,USA; New Orleans Square; Adventureland; Fantasyland; Tomorrowland and so on.Each area had its own attractions given properly in the map. We went into the Adventureland first which lay on our left. We took the Jungle Cruise in which the visitors set sail on a large boat and taken through the jungle waters. All kinds of animals like elephant , chimpanzee , lion etc could be seen doing some stuff or the other. Of course, the animals were artificial but if seen in a flash, they look really real. The person who took us through this ride made us laugh throughout with his jokes and tricks. We felt really good as this was our first experience of disneyland attraction and had turned out to be awesome. We moved on and saw many more attractions of the park but I will point out those which really stood out. These were "Pirates of the Carribean", "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage", "Indiana Jones adventure", "Innoventions","Splash Mountain", "Honey,I Shrunk the Audience" and "Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters". In "Finding Nemo...." we travelled in a submarine, in "Pirates ...." we went on a boat and in "Buzz Lightyear .." we travelled on a spaceship, on a journey similar to that in Star Wars movie. We went on a roller coaster ride on the mountain in "Splash Mountain" and had 4-D experience in "Honey,I shrunk the Audience". In Innoventions, we saw some amazing gadgets and played some cool virtual games. The parade with dance, music and cartoon characters in "Celebrate! A Street Party" was real fun too. The fireworks show in front of the castle was to begin at 9:25 pm. We had our last ride "Indiana Jones Adventure" at around 8:15 pm after which we went straight for our dinner at one of the diners. The crowd for the show had gathered, approximately 10000 people waited on the road for the show to begin. The show began on time and was a real entertainer with amazing fireworks on display in full throttle and synchronised with the music played in full volume.
After the show, we went to our hotel with memories of how wonderful the day had gone by.
We checked out of the hotel the next morning and departed for our next and last spot, Las Vegas.
Our hotel booking in LA and Vegas was done in advance. In LA, we booked a room in Radisson Suites Hotel and in Vegas, Stratosphere Hotel and Casino. We packed our bags and headed south towards Los Angeles - Orange County on friday afternoon. The road trip took us about six and a half hours in traversing a distance of about 400 miles. On the go, we listened to latest hindi songs on youtube as well as hummed to the tunes of oldies like Kishore Kumar album on the CD player.
We reached the hotel at around 9 pm. The location of hotel was great given that disneyland was located at a 10 min drive from the hotel. Our room on the fourth floor was awesome too. Our room had infact two rooms - one with beds, almirah and all and the other with sofas and dinner table. Both the rooms had big LCD TVs. Moreover, our room faced the front side of swimming pool. We made reservations for the shuttle service to disneyland provided by the hotel. We had to be ready by 8:30 in the morning so that night, I watched some TV and went to sleep.
In the morning, we got ready and went for breakfast in the hall. I ate muffin, some fruits, bread with butter and jam and drank orange juice. After the breakfast, we took the shuttle service to Disneyland.Disneyland has two parks- Disney's California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park. We bought tickets for the disneyland park. The tickets were expensive - 72$$ per person for one park. There was a big rush of visitors waiting in lines. The park opened at 9 am and after some waiting, we went inside the park. The theme park entrance lead onto a path after which one could take any of the many routes for roaming and seeing things around. Entrance to a castle was visible from a distance but we decided to check out the map first. The park had more than 60 attractions and plenty of places to dine. The map had areas marked into categories- Main Street,USA; New Orleans Square; Adventureland; Fantasyland; Tomorrowland and so on.Each area had its own attractions given properly in the map. We went into the Adventureland first which lay on our left. We took the Jungle Cruise in which the visitors set sail on a large boat and taken through the jungle waters. All kinds of animals like elephant , chimpanzee , lion etc could be seen doing some stuff or the other. Of course, the animals were artificial but if seen in a flash, they look really real. The person who took us through this ride made us laugh throughout with his jokes and tricks. We felt really good as this was our first experience of disneyland attraction and had turned out to be awesome. We moved on and saw many more attractions of the park but I will point out those which really stood out. These were "Pirates of the Carribean", "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage", "Indiana Jones adventure", "Innoventions","Splash Mountain", "Honey,I Shrunk the Audience" and "Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters". In "Finding Nemo...." we travelled in a submarine, in "Pirates ...." we went on a boat and in "Buzz Lightyear .." we travelled on a spaceship, on a journey similar to that in Star Wars movie. We went on a roller coaster ride on the mountain in "Splash Mountain" and had 4-D experience in "Honey,I shrunk the Audience". In Innoventions, we saw some amazing gadgets and played some cool virtual games. The parade with dance, music and cartoon characters in "Celebrate! A Street Party" was real fun too. The fireworks show in front of the castle was to begin at 9:25 pm. We had our last ride "Indiana Jones Adventure" at around 8:15 pm after which we went straight for our dinner at one of the diners. The crowd for the show had gathered, approximately 10000 people waited on the road for the show to begin. The show began on time and was a real entertainer with amazing fireworks on display in full throttle and synchronised with the music played in full volume.
After the show, we went to our hotel with memories of how wonderful the day had gone by.
We checked out of the hotel the next morning and departed for our next and last spot, Las Vegas.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
random post
Recently I have done some random things, things that I did for no reason. I created my own bucket list - i could put some 35 items on it in less than an hour. I had to think hard and wide, about things that I have secretly wished to happen but was not conscious enough to know about. The experience was good and goes on to show just how much you can know about yourself when you write something related to yourself.
Today also I had a lot of spare time, so I googled for "5 things to do in 5 minutes" and got this link - http://www.search-this.com/2007/10/05/5-things-to-do-in-5-minutes/ and registered on all the sites it mentioned - technorati, MyBlogLog, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon!, Digg. Though the site says that these could be done in 5 minutes but it took me over an hour to go to these sites, learn what these sites are for and register on the site. One thing that pisses me off during this process is the rejection of the username that you want to have because someone before had already registered with that name on that site. So I have to take
a username which is not to my liking and that makes the registration part quite irritating.
I have registered on these sites but I am not sure how much I am going to surf through them.
That part is reserved for the later blog(s) !
Today also I had a lot of spare time, so I googled for "5 things to do in 5 minutes" and got this link - http://www.search-this.com/2007/10/05/5-things-to-do-in-5-minutes/ and registered on all the sites it mentioned - technorati, MyBlogLog, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon!, Digg. Though the site says that these could be done in 5 minutes but it took me over an hour to go to these sites, learn what these sites are for and register on the site. One thing that pisses me off during this process is the rejection of the username that you want to have because someone before had already registered with that name on that site. So I have to take
a username which is not to my liking and that makes the registration part quite irritating.
I have registered on these sites but I am not sure how much I am going to surf through them.
That part is reserved for the later blog(s) !
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
raging forest fire in southern California + updates of my trip
Huge fire is raging in Southern California, almost four times the size of San Francisco is burning. In three days, only 5% fire has been contained, so it will take a little while before the area is cleared and fire extinguished. We saw live telecast of the fire which has claimed lives of 2 fire extinguishers and gutted more than 50 homes. Due to this fire, our trip to Los Angeles stands cancelled, as the smell of the fire has spread to Universal Studios where we were planning to visit this weekend.
Last weekend we went to Yosemite National Park and there too forest fires could be seen from afar. The park has tremendous scenic beauty owing to the lovely waterfalls, mountains, Merced River and some nice spots like Glacier Point. Half dome,a mountain top with the shape of a dolphin, stands out among the mountains visible from Glacier Point. Both the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls are visible from the same point. Glacier point is so called, because the whole area below it was a glacier some 14000 years ago which had formed several V-shaped valleys in its path. We went to Bridalveil Fall for which we had to traverse some rocks on foot. The fall was mighty and the water below was icy-cold.
On Sunday, we went to San Francisco to visit downtown area. It has some world-famous shopping area like Union Square and Fifth Avenue. We visited one of the finest malls, Bloomingsdale. The mall is exquisite and worth-visiting.
That's all for now !! Hope to give more updates on the trip later !!
Last weekend we went to Yosemite National Park and there too forest fires could be seen from afar. The park has tremendous scenic beauty owing to the lovely waterfalls, mountains, Merced River and some nice spots like Glacier Point. Half dome,a mountain top with the shape of a dolphin, stands out among the mountains visible from Glacier Point. Both the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls are visible from the same point. Glacier point is so called, because the whole area below it was a glacier some 14000 years ago which had formed several V-shaped valleys in its path. We went to Bridalveil Fall for which we had to traverse some rocks on foot. The fall was mighty and the water below was icy-cold.
On Sunday, we went to San Francisco to visit downtown area. It has some world-famous shopping area like Union Square and Fifth Avenue. We visited one of the finest malls, Bloomingsdale. The mall is exquisite and worth-visiting.
That's all for now !! Hope to give more updates on the trip later !!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
shopping for dslr camera...bought one finally
My P & S nikon camera was not able to capture the images the way I wanted it to.So we decided to upgrade to a dslr camera. There is so much of a good deal of dslr cameras manufactured by Sony, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic etc that it really becomes difficult to find a camera that suits your needs and is affordable too, which in our case meant a price range of 500-800 dollars. Since my knowledge of dslr's was minimal, so I started with youtube videos to know what features are important in a dslr and also compare cameras of different manufacturers. Also I looked at the price range of cameras from amazon.com, from where we eventually bought our camera delivered right at our doorstep within 3 days of ordering it online. I found some good sites for camera comparisons like reviews.cnet.com and dpreview.com which provided extensive user reviews of cameras they bought. One site, i think it was dpreview.com, offered side-by-side
comparison between any number of cameras that you select from the available list of cameras
available in the market for all manufacturers.
The choices of manufacturers was narrowed down to Nikon and Canon, given their lead over others in technological advancement. In Nikon, I liked the D3, D50 and D5000 models but
they all cost over 1000$$ while in Canon, I liked the Canon EOS 50D and higher models which
were again out of the price range we set.
The basic features that I wanted in camera were Megapixels > 6, frames per second > 3 with a
good buffer, good dynamic range, easy-to-use, lightweight, ISO range > 700, CMOS type sensor (consumes less battery than CCD type), atleast 3.5" screen and good picture quality in low light conditions. Canon EOS Rebel XSi fulfilled all these conditions and was rated high in all the websites I visited. We then decided to go check in Best Buy store and compare between the dslrs. The picture quality of canon was excellent and was quite light compared to Nikon D40. The marked price of camera in the store was 750$$ while we got it for 640$$ for amazon.com including the shipping charges. The price of the same camera one and a half years before was 950$$ so we think we have a good camera at a reasonable price.
I hope to use the camera soon in our next trip to Yosemite National Park and then in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
comparison between any number of cameras that you select from the available list of cameras
available in the market for all manufacturers.
The choices of manufacturers was narrowed down to Nikon and Canon, given their lead over others in technological advancement. In Nikon, I liked the D3, D50 and D5000 models but
they all cost over 1000$$ while in Canon, I liked the Canon EOS 50D and higher models which
were again out of the price range we set.
The basic features that I wanted in camera were Megapixels > 6, frames per second > 3 with a
good buffer, good dynamic range, easy-to-use, lightweight, ISO range > 700, CMOS type sensor (consumes less battery than CCD type), atleast 3.5" screen and good picture quality in low light conditions. Canon EOS Rebel XSi fulfilled all these conditions and was rated high in all the websites I visited. We then decided to go check in Best Buy store and compare between the dslrs. The picture quality of canon was excellent and was quite light compared to Nikon D40. The marked price of camera in the store was 750$$ while we got it for 640$$ for amazon.com including the shipping charges. The price of the same camera one and a half years before was 950$$ so we think we have a good camera at a reasonable price.
I hope to use the camera soon in our next trip to Yosemite National Park and then in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Road trip to Big Sur
The day after our San Francisco visit, we headed for our next destination - Big Sur. The main attraction of the place is the long drive along the Pacific Ocean which gives spectacular views of the ocean, the mountains and the turning, twisting roads adjoining the ocean.
We had a heavy breakfast and carried lunch before starting on the trip.
The road lead us through the farm-lands on either side of road to our first stoppage point which was where the drive along the ocean started. We stopped at many more vista points ( place where you can stop your car and take some pics) along the way, each point giving a new perspective on the beauty of the place. A lot of campers and adventure enthusiasts visit this
place. A number of camping grounds could be seen from the road, some people could be seen cycling on the road, which they brought along in their car.
At around 5 pm, we stopped, had our lunch, drank some coffee and moved on.
Our last stop was at a beach along the highway and that too at the time of sunset. The view and the air were refreshing, to say the least.
On our back journey, we could see a rainbow towering above the mountains, some of which reflected red color maybe due to the sunset.We could not have asked for a more beautiful view in that moment.
The whole drive back and forth lasted 10 hours, and till the end of it, we had enjoyed every moment. I had never seen such beautiful sights in my whole life as I have seen in the last few days.
The trip is still on, the next tentative destination being Yosemite National Park. It is located on the east-side of California and offers Glacier Point, Waterfall and hiking as the main attractions.
Lodging is going to be expensive as we plan to go on a weekend when the rush is heavy and most hotels are booked. Pray that we get a nice affordable lodging at the place or else !!
We had a heavy breakfast and carried lunch before starting on the trip.
The road lead us through the farm-lands on either side of road to our first stoppage point which was where the drive along the ocean started. We stopped at many more vista points ( place where you can stop your car and take some pics) along the way, each point giving a new perspective on the beauty of the place. A lot of campers and adventure enthusiasts visit this
place. A number of camping grounds could be seen from the road, some people could be seen cycling on the road, which they brought along in their car.
At around 5 pm, we stopped, had our lunch, drank some coffee and moved on.
Our last stop was at a beach along the highway and that too at the time of sunset. The view and the air were refreshing, to say the least.
On our back journey, we could see a rainbow towering above the mountains, some of which reflected red color maybe due to the sunset.We could not have asked for a more beautiful view in that moment.
The whole drive back and forth lasted 10 hours, and till the end of it, we had enjoyed every moment. I had never seen such beautiful sights in my whole life as I have seen in the last few days.
The trip is still on, the next tentative destination being Yosemite National Park. It is located on the east-side of California and offers Glacier Point, Waterfall and hiking as the main attractions.
Lodging is going to be expensive as we plan to go on a weekend when the rush is heavy and most hotels are booked. Pray that we get a nice affordable lodging at the place or else !!
Friday, August 21, 2009
San Francisco Visit
In our first long-distance trip in US, we went to San Francisco City today. It started with an hour long drive from Santa Clara to the Golden Gate Bridge located in the city. The drive took us through the roads neatly carved out from the beautiful mountains sitting pretty near the S 101 highway and then lead us through the streets of San Francisco with houses, shops and hotels dotting the sideways. The drive through the bridge gave a glimpse of the clouds passing through it as if they were passing through the mountains. We stopped over in the parking area, put our jackets or sweaters on, took some pics, had a skyline view of San Francisco city through the telescopes all the time reminded of the force with which the wind was crashing against us.
The wind was so strong that at times it was literally becoming difficult for me to touch my whole feet down on the surface.
After a brief stay near the bridge, we went to Pier 39 also known as fisherman's wharf, whatever that means. It is one of the most visited places in US and the second most popular tourist destination in the US after disneyland. When we had reached the place and parked our car, we could see a crowd gathered in a circle as if some show was going on. Infact some black guys and a latino were going to do some crazy dancing with one of them entertaining the crowd, cracking some jokes and all. Their dance was really awesome some of which I captured in my camera.
Then we moved on and could hear some great music being played by two guys, the crowd sipping on their beer while enjoying the music. The place had shops lined all around, with a big store for breadmaker Boudin, a big crab restaurant and some other smaller non-veg restaurants, a shop/space for seeing some incredible stuff of Ripley's Believe It or Not etc..
All in all the place was beautiful and worth visiting atleast once in a lifetime.
By the time, we started on our journey back home, the stars had filled the sky. In the darkness of the night, the roads were well-lit and the city glowed in its arms. The Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge looked very beautiful from the view we had in our car.
The trip is special to me for various reasons, one because my whole family is together and second, because this is my first visit to US and a first visit to a major city in the country.
Through this trip, I realised the importance of Google Maps. In my view it is absolutely essential to have your navigator with you when going out on a trip in US so that you find your destination without much hassle.
That is enough for today, going to sleep now !!
The wind was so strong that at times it was literally becoming difficult for me to touch my whole feet down on the surface.
After a brief stay near the bridge, we went to Pier 39 also known as fisherman's wharf, whatever that means. It is one of the most visited places in US and the second most popular tourist destination in the US after disneyland. When we had reached the place and parked our car, we could see a crowd gathered in a circle as if some show was going on. Infact some black guys and a latino were going to do some crazy dancing with one of them entertaining the crowd, cracking some jokes and all. Their dance was really awesome some of which I captured in my camera.
Then we moved on and could hear some great music being played by two guys, the crowd sipping on their beer while enjoying the music. The place had shops lined all around, with a big store for breadmaker Boudin, a big crab restaurant and some other smaller non-veg restaurants, a shop/space for seeing some incredible stuff of Ripley's Believe It or Not etc..
All in all the place was beautiful and worth visiting atleast once in a lifetime.
By the time, we started on our journey back home, the stars had filled the sky. In the darkness of the night, the roads were well-lit and the city glowed in its arms. The Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge looked very beautiful from the view we had in our car.
The trip is special to me for various reasons, one because my whole family is together and second, because this is my first visit to US and a first visit to a major city in the country.
Through this trip, I realised the importance of Google Maps. In my view it is absolutely essential to have your navigator with you when going out on a trip in US so that you find your destination without much hassle.
That is enough for today, going to sleep now !!
Stanford University
Yesterday I saw Stanford University with my own eyes, not in some photos on the net but indeed with my own eyes. The sight and the feeling was unbelievable. Here I was standing looking at one of the best places to be in the whole world and how lucky I felt. The drive to the university was great too with the Palm Drive providing open invitation to the world for making a visit to the remarkable university. We were welcomed by a cool breeze making the experience all the more enjoyable and worth-remembering. We took some pictures and just roamed about the place looking at the architectural marvels that thronged the place. Stanford University has approx 19 libraries, which may sound surprising but once you get to see the place, it does not seem very surprising. I can only guess how much blessed the people studying in this university
must be feeling. But seeing it in my lifetime is in itself a big achievement. God bless the souls who conceptualised and created this wonderful university !!
must be feeling. But seeing it in my lifetime is in itself a big achievement. God bless the souls who conceptualised and created this wonderful university !!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Westfield Valley Fair Mall
We visited Westfield Valley Fair Mall, arguably, the best mall in Bay Area.
Being a weekend, the parking was full in the shed area, so we had to contend parking our Honda Civic on the open top floor.
It is the best mall I have seen uptil now. It has excellent high-end clothing stores - ranging from Gap, Armani Exchange,Nordstrom to normal stores like Louis Vuitton. Personally I found the Armani Exchange collection the best I have ever seen. Trying their jackets, shirts and T-shirts was in itself an exhilarating experience. Gap had an exclusive store for kids on the ground floor and kept the men & women clothing collection on the first floor.
It also had an excellent food court with Mongolian B.B.Q, Japanese eating joint, Panda Express and other food joints catering to Mexican, Japanese and American tastes. Each of us had a sixteen size smoothies made up of strawberries, raspberries, blue berries etc. It was quite yummy and thirst-quenching.
It even had exclusive shops for caps and teas.
We roamed around for 4 hours, still could cover only one floor of the two-floored mall.
In the end, we did do some shopping - a Polo jeans for me, two Gap T-shirts each for me and my brother and other minor stuff.
Overall the experience was good, hope I get another chance to visit it again.
Being a weekend, the parking was full in the shed area, so we had to contend parking our Honda Civic on the open top floor.
It is the best mall I have seen uptil now. It has excellent high-end clothing stores - ranging from Gap, Armani Exchange,Nordstrom to normal stores like Louis Vuitton. Personally I found the Armani Exchange collection the best I have ever seen. Trying their jackets, shirts and T-shirts was in itself an exhilarating experience. Gap had an exclusive store for kids on the ground floor and kept the men & women clothing collection on the first floor.
It also had an excellent food court with Mongolian B.B.Q, Japanese eating joint, Panda Express and other food joints catering to Mexican, Japanese and American tastes. Each of us had a sixteen size smoothies made up of strawberries, raspberries, blue berries etc. It was quite yummy and thirst-quenching.
It even had exclusive shops for caps and teas.
We roamed around for 4 hours, still could cover only one floor of the two-floored mall.
In the end, we did do some shopping - a Polo jeans for me, two Gap T-shirts each for me and my brother and other minor stuff.
Overall the experience was good, hope I get another chance to visit it again.
Friday, August 14, 2009
My current address... Saratoga Avenue, Santa Clara, CA
Along with my parents,I am on my first visit to US and so far the experience has been great. We boarded Cathay Pacific Airlines on 11 Aug 2009 and landed in Hong Kong 5 hours later. I found the Hong Kong airport much better than the Chattrapati Shivaji Airport of Mumbai (it turned out to be much better than I expected), Changi Airport of Singapore and San Fransisco airport. Hong Kong airport looked majestic standing among the mountains from all sides. We had 5 hours of time to kill in Hong Kong which we did by roaming around in the airport itself. The airport had a lot of eateries, apparel stores (had some of the most expensive brands of France, US, Italy and even Kashmir), WiFi stations, book stores etc. We were a little apprehensive about the swine flu scare and its possible repercussions but we did not face any such problem in our entire journey.
We then boarded our next flight from Hong Kong to San Fransisco in Cathay Pacific. Video screens were fitted on the backside of seats and I got to watch some good movies from the huge collection of entertainment stuff available. I started with "I am just not that into you" but got bored in a little while. Then I watched the new X-men release of "X-men origins : Wolverine" having some incredible action. After that I watched an episode of Scrubs - Season 8 which was as usual fun to watch. In between, lunch and dinner was served and I dozed off a little too. Then I watched "I love you, man " and "The revenge of Chun-Li" back to back. A couple of hours were left before we were to reach our destination so I thought I should catch a little sleep to invigorate myself.
When I woke up, we were 20 minutes away from San-Fransisco and flying low enough for me to get a bird's eye view of the region below. I could see a maze of highways below, mighty mountains and sea adjoining the San-Fransisco airport. The buildings were fairly spread out with no sign of clutter as well as nice parking space for vehicles around the residential places.
We landed on the airport and went through customs and luggage recovery before we came out all ready to meet my brother in the waiting area.
That is how our visit to US commenced.
We then boarded our next flight from Hong Kong to San Fransisco in Cathay Pacific. Video screens were fitted on the backside of seats and I got to watch some good movies from the huge collection of entertainment stuff available. I started with "I am just not that into you" but got bored in a little while. Then I watched the new X-men release of "X-men origins : Wolverine" having some incredible action. After that I watched an episode of Scrubs - Season 8 which was as usual fun to watch. In between, lunch and dinner was served and I dozed off a little too. Then I watched "I love you, man " and "The revenge of Chun-Li" back to back. A couple of hours were left before we were to reach our destination so I thought I should catch a little sleep to invigorate myself.
When I woke up, we were 20 minutes away from San-Fransisco and flying low enough for me to get a bird's eye view of the region below. I could see a maze of highways below, mighty mountains and sea adjoining the San-Fransisco airport. The buildings were fairly spread out with no sign of clutter as well as nice parking space for vehicles around the residential places.
We landed on the airport and went through customs and luggage recovery before we came out all ready to meet my brother in the waiting area.
That is how our visit to US commenced.
Friday, June 12, 2009
A day at Work
My day starts with a visit to JRD stadium where I run a couple of rounds in the ground, then do some stretching exercises after which I go to Gym and do 50 sit-ups in addition to exercises of shoulders, arms and legs.
After this I come back and read the newspaper for about 15-20 minutes. Then I take a bath and get ready for breakfast. After having breakfast in hostel, I depart for office where my first task is do monitor daily management activities of my group.
From then on till about 10:30 am, I work on a short-term project which maybe either coding in Oracle D2K or doing some data analysis.
Then I take a break for about half an hour and have my tea and a little chitchat with colleagues.
After that, I work till 1:00 pm on most of the days. Then I have my lunch in GT Hostel-4. After lunch, I watch TV or read magazines or have a little nap on the sofa.
After that I go to my workplace and continue to work till 4:30 pm when it is time for another half an hour break.
If I am in a good mood, I will take some new task and work on it religiously for 2 hours otherwise I do web browsing or play flashgames till it is time to leave.
My evening usually consists of having samosa and tea near Shambhu's corner with friends . I may then go and play TT or come back home and do something on the internet.
After that, dinner takes about an hour of my time(including small talk with friends in the hostel) .
Then I read some novel or watch some hollywood flick and go to sleep.
That is all about how I spend time during a working day !!
After this I come back and read the newspaper for about 15-20 minutes. Then I take a bath and get ready for breakfast. After having breakfast in hostel, I depart for office where my first task is do monitor daily management activities of my group.
From then on till about 10:30 am, I work on a short-term project which maybe either coding in Oracle D2K or doing some data analysis.
Then I take a break for about half an hour and have my tea and a little chitchat with colleagues.
After that, I work till 1:00 pm on most of the days. Then I have my lunch in GT Hostel-4. After lunch, I watch TV or read magazines or have a little nap on the sofa.
After that I go to my workplace and continue to work till 4:30 pm when it is time for another half an hour break.
If I am in a good mood, I will take some new task and work on it religiously for 2 hours otherwise I do web browsing or play flashgames till it is time to leave.
My evening usually consists of having samosa and tea near Shambhu's corner with friends . I may then go and play TT or come back home and do something on the internet.
After that, dinner takes about an hour of my time(including small talk with friends in the hostel) .
Then I read some novel or watch some hollywood flick and go to sleep.
That is all about how I spend time during a working day !!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)