UNNNNIIIIVERSALLLLL Studios

This was absolutely everything I had expected and more. It was so not just a great experience it was a brilliant experience. I had booked one of those starline tours thingies, they picked me up from Motel 6 sharp at 8.45. Motel 6 was also the perfect choice, I am so glad I booked my hotel on hollywood bvld. It was like less than 2 minutes by foot to get to the holly wood walk of fame, perfect choice...

So ya back to universal, I was dropped at the Universal studios gate at 0945 and since I had one of those starline tours tickets I did not have to stand in the line again to get my park tickets. At the entrance of the gate they have this music from the best of their movies playing, movies like jurassic park and others.

As soon as we entered everyone had started running in a specific direction. As soon as I picked up one of them pamplets with ride timings I realized why they were running. Everyone was trying to get themselves the first ride on the studios tour.. And SO i started running as well, hehe.. And mananaged to get the first trip.. This ride was like a tour of the studious with their latest and greatest "king Koong Ride" Now was that cool or what. Remeber the movie king kong there was a sequence when the dinosaurs are after the chiq and king kong saves here. In this ride the bus that we are on is the chiq and dinosaurs start attacking. The whole damn bus moved and rattled and when king kong decided to show up it was like the roof of the bus caved in and we could even feel the breath from the animals barking or howling at us.. It was BRILLIANT, the most exciting ride ever ever...While making our way back I looked at the brochure of ride timing and decided to make a run for the next ride.

Timed each ride to perfection and I was able to dooo iitt allll.. It was perfect :

Tour - King Kong 4d

Shrek 4d

Terminator 3d

Jurassic Park

Mummy Ride

Simpsons Ride : this was like a virtual roller coaster. So the thingy that we were sitting in never left its place but it felt like it did cuz of the screen and the 4d effects. Just like in the simpsons show this ride was filled with typical simpsons knick knacks and effects.

Water World : This was a real life enactment of the movie with guns and pyro effects. This was cool tooo..

And yes how did I forget I got to meet scooby, bart lisa Simpson, Shrek, Dora and other movie personalities. Even got my picture taken with a few. It was cool.

I was to make my way back at the entrance at 6.00 that was when the park closes. So outside the park they have this small street with a bunch of shops and eatiers. GameStop is like a gaming shop which has demos setup of xbox and PS. Being the Fifa fan that I am I couldn't resist but play with this guy and man did i woop his ass. All these over confident gamers its so much fun to beat them, and I could see it in his face Damn I got beaten by an Indian.. hehehe was fun.

For all those reading this I very strongly sugggest not to miss Universal Studios it is a must visit and deserves respect. You will not regret it.

-Santosh

Week 2

Being the scarred pussy that I am and when bobby told me that this will be an interesting experience I was shit scarred or rather very very anxious and looking for reasons to not goto the Grey Hound terminal in San Francisco. But it turned out to be alright, checked my bag in and hola I was headed to hollywood beginning the second leg of my journey.

So ya grey hound has its share of surprises for you, like the homeless guy staring or drunk guys in the bus. It can be a scary experience but its alright, we as Indians and Mumbai'ites have seen worse. I was getting worked up but once there I was like ya I can handle them if the need be.

SF - North Hollywood and then a subway train took me to hollywood bvld. Having taken a quick cofee break in starbucks I was all ready for me trip to unniivveerrssal studios. Was that fun or wahat.....

The three major highlights of my trip were Universal, Disney and the Grand Canyon which I think need a special mention........

Continuing to Universal in the next blog...

Week 1

Week1 has been interesting, not as interesting as the kind and loving Mr Hurley. The first day I met him and he was so forthright so funny so full of joy, fun to be around.

So I arrived here on saturday checked into the nice and shiny hotel took a quick bath and before the jet lag cold get to me got ready and went to PA downtown. Nice little bubbly place, since it was saturday there were alot of people around. What I love the most about the Americans is that they "YIELD", yield is a traffic term here which means let pedestrains cross first wait and then go. And hence this is bred into themwhile walking while opening doors while in the elvator, everywhere they want to let you go first and then follow.

Slider BAr and Cafe :

A very interesting small little cafe which serves burgers and beer. What was so interesting about this cafe was that their burgers are small and tall, kinda like mini burger but was very good. Couple of glasses of draught beer burger, garlic fries was more than enough. This interestingly enough is the de-facto american lunch. Burger Fries and Beer and god bless the person who came up with this, hehe... Love the amount of calories it adds to the body heheh...

Had an awesome two scoops of the very famous HagenDaaz ice-cream. I did not give the jet lag time to set in, beer /burger and good enough sleep enducers if you know what I mean..

Pier 39 :

The next day was a site seeing trip to SSSaaaann Francisco... Every time I say San Francisco it reminds me of the song...Well The pier is like a "fun-fair" that we have here back in India. People eating playing drinking taking pictures. With Christmas around the corner there was an obviously huge chritmas tree. I went there early as in at around 10 in the morning and it was freezing. People had warned me about the cold breeze and so I was carrying a jacket sweatshirt and an umbrella. Thank you RUPALI for forcing me to buy a damn umbrella. It never rained......

Had a good fisheraterien lunch at one of the peir restaurants. Expensive but good. We then ran into a guy who was offering a 10$ ride under the golden gate bridge and so it was to be.. Ride under the golden gate bridge was excellent. It was a very interesting experience looking at the streets of SF from the sea. The golden gate bridge is humongous, when looking at it from the ferry below the bridge it looks so much more bigger than it might be. It was larger than life, downright beautiful.

We then walked upto lombardt street "the crookedest street" in the world. It was fun a lot of walking but ya it was fun. China town was a let down, I was hoping to catch some nice interesting street food but that wasn't the case. It was like the "FORT market" out here in Mumbai.

Drive back to Santa Clara and dinner with Prasant was fun, But special mention to Prashants wie for coming up with a brilliant cpu of tea. It was like tea at home but only like on the other side of the world.....

First day at work was fun, met some of the brains behind Zimbra... Jim Kevin Ellen Maria Boris to name a few, the UI guys hadn't checked in yet but the "Amber's VMware Special" trip was fun. I was put up in an office sharing with Mr Hurley and it was sooo much fun. Mr hurley is like the funniest guy I have ever met. I begged him to take me along to the next "Sharks" game..Spent that night with Karthik Rajesh Satish and their families, it was fun..... They ordered a Jumbo burger for me which is like with two meat patties and I had a very hard time finishing it...

The next night was probably the funn'est night I spent in SF, Ice Hockey game in the "HOME OF THE SHARKS" San Jose. Firstly let me tell you the fans here are crazy, hehe and since it was the home court of the Sharks it was filled with Shark funs and the "Wings" only had a hand full of fan following. By the way Mr hurley is such a big fan that he has his seat and he just won't let anyone sit there.. Its like "THATS MY SEAT". It was fun to watch the game :

"Whats the matter with howard he's a bum" And Howard was the visiting teams goalkeeper...

Met a very interesting guy in the PA office, a Mr mike he is like the vmware know it all GSS guy and fun. He can go on and on and on like one of those Duracell commercials.

I was at 6th street on SF downtown the day before the last day in SF, and man o man it was scary. It had a bunch of homless guys hanging around and a bunch of those cross dressed men, with everyone shouting and drinking. Damn scary place to be in, but if u keep your head down and walk like you know where you are going then probably you will not get bothered. Out here in the US if you look a person in the eye, they consider it as a engaging and feel that its necessary to respond. Now this response can be a simple nod or can be "wat you lookin' at brother".. So my advice do not engage, look away simply.

Day 0 Mumbai Airport

Its funny how anxiety can get to you. So ya I managed drop my boarding passes, I also managed to crack a stupid joke with the baggage checkin guys ohh common this can happen to anyone.

I am an anxious person and I do tend to mess things up from time to time. After an extremely jittery security checkin, making sure my cabin baggage did not have any liquids or knives or whatever and as soon as that got done I was a little relaxed. Trying to walk around the airport i thrushed the passport and my boarding passes into the back pocket. While happily chatting away with my wife a gora walks up to me and says is this yours, "hell ya thats mine" I had dropped both my boarding passes from Mum to DXB and DXB to SFO.

So ya there are good people out there, but airports are funny places. Some of them have most polite conversations with you and some the most rudest. Busting with people grinding away at their laptops, some bored out of their wits trying to drink away. Some hogging on chicken buggers and fried chicken wings., some trying to understand the complexities of the airport by sipping on their 5th cup of coffee, and then there are some who love to have a beer before the flight. I have come to realize that having a beer before you get on board the flight kinda relaxes you, it takes the jittery ness away.

Well I am here waiting for an hour now already and a couple more to go. From what I hear Dubai airport is an even more fancier and hence complicated hell hole. I hope I am able to navigate my way around it and not mess up.

Next update from across the Arabian Sea..

Over and Out

-Santosh

Day 0 SF

And I am all set and ready, all geared to visit the UNited States.. The feeling is amazing we've heard of so many things about the place, seen it a gazillion times in movies there is so much to look forward to.

My flight leaves at 3.45 tomorrow morning, which means I will be leaving Pune in the evening,. Yes unlike others I like to reach early and wait. Its funny this time tomorrow I will be in San Francisco.

Have an awesome itenary : http://www.tripit.com/trip/public/id/322BE56FDE34

Tickets, hotel reservations, bus tickets and everything is all set. Two copies one in each bag.

Scared, nervous, excited, happy mixed feelings. These butterfiles in my stomach, they will only mellow down after I reach I guess..

Lets hope the flight is fun, some say it flies over the north pole which is sooo exciting.

Gracias to everyone who helped me plan the trip, next update from 7 samundar paar. ;)

Ahem! Our First Marriage Anniversary....

Its been an year already. From the highs of Leh to the valley of flowers in Satara, from shiny hotels in Mumbai to coffee valleys in coorg it is amazing the things we've done and seen together in this one year.

Its feels like it was yesterday we drove off from the marriage hall. Its amazing how fast time flies, it makes you realize how small life is. Time will not stop hence dont shy away, tell your wife that you love her. So ya we have had our differences our fights our issues our misunderstandings, that is what defines a relationship. How easily do you get back up and try to mend things, that is what makes a relationship special. With good comes bad with positive comes negative with optimist comes a pessimist, it all depends on how you look at things.

I love the fact that she likes to snuggle in the bed, I love how she tries to defend herself when I complain, I love how she likes to argue with me on every little detail, thats what makes her special. Our days begin together and end together, and that is what I will never give up on.

So yes I know we are still discovering each other, shit I don't even know at times as to what her reactions will be or what she is thinking. But that is what life is about, what is the fun in expecting when you can be surprised ;)

Here is a recap of the year gone by, well the highlights offcourse..

1. Had the most brilliant honeymoon in the valleys of Coorg. Sipping coffee, chatting trying to understand each other.

2. Called Mr Ganapati to our house the first time..

3. Had the most thrilling bike ride in the mountains of Leh....

4. Drove 900 kms in one day

5. Saw the american consulate..

6. Planned but unfortunately only planned and did not visit Thailand..

7. Spent a splendid weekend in Matheran

8. How could I forget got ourselves a CAT.. mr Chinya himself..

9. In the name of dieting spent a month without dinner....

10. Aaratrika's Vacation with us

11. Beer brunches with Gautam...

12. Got the best best valentines day surprise ever : http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1360669617383&set=a.1103405945952.2017228.1250825628

So ya big deal I cannot come up with an anniversary surprise , but I would like to take this opportunity to tell her how much she means to me.

-Santosh

My Travel Blog

Excitement fills the air as the day of my departure etches closer. I couldn't be more happier, from as long as I can remember I have always wanted to visit the united states and finally that dream is coming true.

I was almost in tears when my manager told me that I should go ahead file for a Visa and to plan my trip. Two more weeks and I will be in the Land of the whites, the blacks and the hispanics. I have been planning for this trip since ages, I will be gone for 2 weeks which has me struggling to strike out the things that I cannot do. Vegas here I come hehe, I am not that keen on getting drunk I am the kinds that wants to see. Wants to fulfill this childhood dream, I cannot believe that I'll get to visit Universal studios. Universal studios Oh my god, I have to say it a couple of times to really convince me that I am actually going. Hollywood, I will be staying in hollywood ohh common thats is unbelievably huge. How many people do u know actually have stayed half a kilometer from the Hollywood walk of fame baby.. Isnt that nice.

And the grand canyon its hug its gigantic its a wonder of nature and guess what I will be checking it out.. I'm going to try and blog everyday, write about my experiences and the places I visit.

The tentative itinerary looks something like this :

Nov 27th - Mumbai - SFO - Palo Alto
28th - visit SF
29th - Office (Palo Alto)
30th - Office (Palo Alto)
1st - Office (Palo Alto)
2nd - Office (Palo Alto)
3rd - Office (Palo Alto)
4th - LA ( Venice muscle beach)
5th - LA (universal studio )
6th - LA (Hollywood)
7th - Anaheim (Walt Disney)
8th - Vegas
9th - Grand Canyon and back to Vegas
10th - Vegas
11th - Vegas
12th - SFO - Mumbai

For a more detailed break up :

http://www.tripit.com/trip/public/id/322BE56FDE34

The World is Ending or New World Order is kicking in

In the past decade more than half of the world has suffered major incidences, either bringing down their economy or killing hundreds of thousands of people.

The 9/11 attacks on the twin towers the memories of which still haunt the people in US, the 7/11 attacks in Mumbai, after the incident no passenger has traveled the train without giving a suspicious look to the bags kept on the racks and now the bombings in Jaipur.



I just took out some number from Wikipedia.

• Gujarat earthquake 2001 approx 20,000 dead

• European heat wave of 2003 approx 37,451 dead

• Tsunami in the Indian Ocean December 2004 approx 283,100 dead

• Earth Quake in Kashmir, Pakistan in Oct 2005 more than 79,000 were announced dead.

• Hurricane Katrina in 2005 around 1,836 dead. 80% of Louisiana USA was flooded due to the failure of several flood walls in August 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

• Earthquake hits Indonesia in May 2004 more than 230,000 dead

• Cyclone sidr hits Bangladesh in 2006 4,140 dead

• The Africa flood is reported to be one of the largest floods in recorded history in the continent of Africa with 14 countries affected this was in the year 2007

• Cyclone Nargis in Burma 2008 146,000 dead

• Earthquake in China May 2008 around 30,000 dead

• Earthquake in Haiti Jan 2010 around 222,000 dead

Total approx in 1,053,527 in the past 10 yrs.

And these are just natural calamities on top of that the Human intervened mishaps which causes not only deaths but infrastructure downfalls. Mishaps like the 9/11 put back the Americans a couple of years which caused an instant breakdown in their economy.
The Bombing in Jaipur , the Ghodra incident, the various other terrorist attacks not just in India but around the world.

There is a simple rule which applies here cause and effect, the cause is us and the effect you have seen above. If we don't stop and understand the manner in which we are destroying this planet , the planet shall destroy us. In other words the earth is balancing itself.

Basically there are two theories, one I mentioned above i.e the Planet is correcting itself and basically balancing life as it struggles to survive. The other is the idea of a covert plan to create a New World Order (Novus Ordo Mundi) refers to what several scholars consider to be one of the most widespread conspiracy theories. The allegations, which cut across political and social boundaries, describe a powerful and secretive group alleged to be plotting to eventually rule the world via an autonomous world government, which would replace sovereign states and other checks and balances in world power struggles. In this conspiracy theory, many significant occurrences are said to be caused by a powerful secret group or groups. Historical and current events are seen as steps in an on-going plot to rule the world primarily through a combination of political finance, social engineering, mind control and fear based propaganda.

Why cant these secret groups of groups be inter planetary. Let me refer to them as "THEY", They could be making us do things so that we destroy ourselves, they may be planning and executing their plan to perfection. They may be the supreme being and not US. Well they could also be causing natural disasters, for those who have seen FRINGE all these events can be triggered with the help of some extremely weird pseudo science.

So either it us destroying the planet or "THEM" destroying the planet to rule the world or should I say interplanetary rule or THEM scared of our "know how" and want us to suffer in fear & distraught.

Just some food for thought..........

World has lost Humility

Sometimes it really makes me wonder, where is all the humility in the world lost to. Common man, its such a simple and straight forward concept. What is wrong in being humble, it breaks me into pieces thinking that man lets his ego rule over his humility. I would like to take this opportunity and explain that being humble is not a sign of weakness, its a sign of strength. Once a friend of mine told me the only way to attain true spirituality is to admit that you don't know shit and ask for guidance, give unto a guru and accept his hand. This is spot on, giving up ones pride is the greatest thing a man can ever do. "THANK YOU" for helping me with this, two simple words can bring joy in the other persons life. Admit for once in your life that maybe you do not know everything and maybe the person trying to help you is actually trying to help you. Not everyone is out to rip your guts, I am sick of this feeling. Everywhere I look people are trying to understand trying to interpret what the hidden signs are or trying read between the lines for every action. If I can stop thinking like that and take actions as they are maybe people around me will stop being the bitches that they are trying so hard to be. And so if everyone think like that then the world can be a much better place.

A simple thanks can take the relationship a long long way. So I know of this person who loves to say thank you every now and then, people make fun of him saying he is a fake. Guys common he is being thankfull for what you were already expected to do. Let it be fake atleast he is trying, what the fuck did you accomplish by complaining that he is a fake. People walk away saying dosti mina kya formality but you see its not about formality it about you being glad the other person is helping you. Haan kya farak padta hai woh hai na he will do it for me, well surprise surprise but that is the most shittiest thing you could have thought about him. I mean excuse me if you want to get something done do it yourself, why ask someone else. I am not at all saying that I do not want to help or if someone shouldn't help, what I am trying to put forward is if someone is helping you then you have no right to take him for granted and make treat him like its a favour you are doing for him which should have been the other way around.

Again I am not saying we shouldn't help, am just saying if being helped be humble enough and give the person helping you a little gratitude. I as a habit always try as far as possible to not ask for favours and if i do I make sure I am humble enough to not take him for granted and appreciate him going out of his way. But then the opposition will argue that he is my friend I can always ask him for favour, yes you can but there is a fine line between asking and telling and I feel one shouldn't cross that line.

Just because he is willing to help does not mean you tell him to do it. A wise man I tell this friend of mine is aka Chandu, when we were young which was like say 2 years ago we used to get shit drunk. On one such day he said always when doing things for others make them realize its a favor being done for them, I had big fight with him saying kuch bhi nonsense. But then that makes sense now, to control this un humble egoist male chauvanist behaviour one has to be cruel. Well I cant be that and hence I preach. The argument that I am trying to put forward is that when you do a certain something for a friend and the entire episode comes back to you saying ' hey asshole' you are doing it wrong do it this way, well balls to you bitch. Some say the environment gives or returns to you what you contribute or give unto it, well I like that concept but that idea has certain limitations. That only holds true for Nature and the universe, Humans on the other hand are scum they consume what is given to them and move on.

Think about it, when was the last time you thanked your maid or thanked your dhobbi wala or thanked the waiter serving you food. Yes they are doing their jobs and yes they are getting paid for it but a little expression of appreciation can make them feel good about themselves. It will give them a small glimmer of joy knowing the fact that someone out their likes or is happy that they are doing what they are doing.

Do something for spirit of humanity Thank everyone around you. I know time and again I can mess up my chain of thought and go on tangents, please bare with me. And yes Thank you for reading.. :)

Leh Ladakh '10

It all begins with a phone call, a phone call asking me if I was willing to be part of a trip to Leh. "Offcourse we will" is what I said, even without speaking to my wife and mom. I knew it would be expensive but I knew it would be worth the money spent. I had seen pics from my friends trip and it looked awesome, so I used to wonder is it really that blue is it really that white and are there really so many mountains. I can guarantee all those questions were indeed answered to the fullest when we finally went to LEH.

The iternary can be summarized like this :

Day 1: Pune - Mumbai - Delhi
Day 2: Reach Delhi
Day 3: Early morning flight Delhi - Leh
Day 4: Leh Acclimatization
Day 5: Pangoooong Lake via ChangLa
Day 6: Hemis, Thiksey Monestery, KhardungLa
Day 7: Likir, Shanti Stupa, Pathar Saab, and SHOPPINGGGGG
Day 8: Leh - Delhi - Mumbai
Day 9 : Mumbai and then Home sweet home

The hotel/guest house/home stay that we were staying in was brilliant. "Sia La" guest house, the hosts were amazing. Mr Nabilay is kindest and most humblest person I have known. He went through extraordinary measures to make sure that we were comfortable and in times of need he was even kind enough to lend us his car.
I'll cut through the chase and get to the more interesting details. The first day itself me and Anshu went and hired bike. Well it had to be a bullet, I promise you this "One can most enjoy the highs, the lows, the steeps, the beauty, the hills, the rivers of Ladakh only and only when on a bike". I get goose bumps even when I think of my ride to Pangong on that awesome Bullet Lightning.

There was a big big controversy on the day before the trip to Pangong, everyone wanted us to not take the bike. But common with three SUVs and 17 of us this was the best opportunity to test the limits of the bike and us. Good that there were a couple of us super keen on riding the slopes of Himalayas and not just be in a car.

We started of at 5.30 with Anshu and Shilpa starting the bike ride. Me and Rupali took over just before Karu. When we reached Karu, the others were surprised to see me and Rupali on the bike. A cup of tea and we were back on the bullet heading towards ChangLa which by the way is 17590ft above mean level. As we started climbing it started snowing. There was a buzz around that the peak might be snowing. Around 20km before the peak Mohan kaka and Neelu atya took over, I tell you guys they must be 50 a piece but they rode like 20 year olds. It was awesome to watch them drive to the peak.

It was snow, and it was white and it was beautiful. Pictures can't even begin to describe how it feels. You start feeling breathless as and when you start going higher. The pass was full of soldiers and from the Indian Army running a small emergency hospital giving Oxygen, and giving a warm cup of black tea for everyone coming. My little niece started having some trouble near the peak, she was given some oxygen and she jumped back to life.

Pangong Lake is undoubtedly the most beautiful place on this planet. It was clear and blue with the awesome backdrop of the mountains. While coming back it started snowing again near ChangLa, no one was willing to drive the bike, I took it upon myself to drive and bloody hell that has to be the most exciting experiences of my life. I even got thumbs up from the on-coming car traffic. I get goose bumps even when I think about it, I was riding along and it felt like being on top of the world, zzzzimply awesome... Unfortunately because of the weather I had panicked and had refused my wife the pillion ride. But I regret that, these things one only experiences once it would have been totally different if she had been with me. I really hope I get to do something tht exciting again but this time with my wife...........I am sorry baby...

The very next day our rented Bullet had a flat rear wheel, we were so bloody glad this did not happen the day before, else we would have had to pay for hauling the bike all the way from ChangLa.

The last two days were the toughest for me, I started developing symptoms of HAPE which basically means my lungs had started filling with water because I was unable to pull enough oxygen from the atmosphere. The last day when we were scheduled to fly out an entire series of unfortunate events unfolded. Let me write about this in greater detail......

Since the previous night I was having trouble and showing signs of deteriorating. I somehow managed to make it to Dabke's room where everyone was gathered for the highest party in the world :) how could ever afford to sit that one out.

Couldn't sleep through the entire night, I could crackling noises from each breath I took which was very very scary.. We wanted to go to the doc before leaving, so we decided to goto the military hospital. Man o man am i glad we decided to do that, as the doc said only if I had been 30 mins late I might not have made it. My pulse oxygen saturation was around 35 which is usually 98 - 99% in an adult. I think this would have been the pinaccle of my bad health. I had never been warned by a Doc before like this, he said I could never ever come to these altitudes again. They say I might have started developing this when I went for the trek to Himachal 5 years ago. So every time I go up, so does my hopes of coming back.. What he meant to say was if I go to these altitudes again I might not make it back alive. Well thats encouraging! But what the hell we had to leave that day, we had a flight and that bugger would just not let us go. Somehow we had him convinced that I can make it, because simply the cost of staying back was humongous. They had my wife sign a certificate which basically meant they are not responsible if I die at the airport.. Its not a joke to go book a flight and fly to delhi..
So we reached the airport, shit we were late I was sick the flight was about to take off. Somehow my mother convinced them to check us in, all this happened in a matter of 5 mins. Shit it was panic personified. Mom wept and wept as soon as we boarded the flight..

As soon as we stepped inside the flight I started feeling better because the freaking air plane is pressurized. As we landed in Delhi all tht was left of my pulmonary edima was that I was feeling super tired.

Was unable to do any physical work for a week but the doc had said that I will start feeling normal as soon as I go down. So ya tht worked.

They say life is full of surprises and hurdles man I faced both sides of that story. From an Exhilarating bike ride across a 17000 ft high peak to the nightmares of Pulmonay Edema LEh offers everything.

To sum it up in Hiro Nagamora's words "Yatta!" (I did it)


PICS