Here are some pictures from my New York trip.
http://picasaweb.google.com/shivaramr/NewYork
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
San Antonio - Texas sized fun
An ex collegue and friend of mine had promised to take me around in Austin and gave me some
choices of places to visit in and around the city. I went through this list and a name suddenly
caught my attention -'San Antonio'... It sounded like one of those quaint little towns right out
of a Shakespearean novel. I gleefully asked her to take me to San Antonio as i really didnt want
to do any museums or parks ... yuck.
So out we set on the cheerful saturday morning with the Sun shining in its glory and the weather as good as it can be.
The distance was 79 miles (around 125 km) and the time required to cover it was around 1 to 1.5 hours. (Hey, btw... Isnt that the time we take to cover the 15 km stretch from Electronic city
to Dairy circle. Well that is Namma Bengalooru for you, my dear...:)Ok,Out we set at 8 AM and hardly reached 15 miles when there was this huge line of cars and trucks on the Freeway like Lord Hanumans tail. Seemed like a bad accident further ahead caused this. Well at least i could say that i feel at home now :). We were stuck for around 30 mins and traffic was not moving at all. But the thing to appreciate was, everybody are following a strict lane and the entire lane on the left side which is meant for emergency purpose was left untouched by anybody. Cut to Bengaluru again where a 2-3 feet free space on the road and there will be the acrobatic autowallahs driving their autos as if they are on 2 wheelers.And they own the road, dont they :))
Well nothing of that sort here... But lot of cars were trying to take a U turn in a service road
(as big as our main roads) and going back so they can drive from a different route. We too felt
thats the best bet and turned back. On the way we stopped in this huge sporting mall named
Cabelas. It was a mammoth store where u get any items from a travel bag to a boat. Guns to
fishing rods. Caps to hunting dresses. Also there is a huge aquarium housed which has many huge fish swimming around. The store also has a zoo type environment where almost all animals you can think of are stuffed and kept. They looked so real. We spent around a hour in this store and after a bit of shopping continued our drive .
We reached San Antonio and it was a very beautiful city. Its actually the 8th largest city in US. The streets looked inviting and people warm. This has a lot of Mexico in it.And also Mexicans. We went to the Alamos first.The Alamo is a kind of a Military Fort post which has a lot of history and role in the Texas Revolution.There was a Alamo enactment since it was a first saturday of the month which was a pleasant surprise for us. It was lunch time. Had a Panini (kind of sandwich) and Goat cheese... and drowned it with Pepsi and choclate chip cookie... Hmm tasted good.
Then we went ahead to one of the other most famous must-do here. The Paseo del Rio. Better known as the 'River Walk'. Around 20 feet below the street level flows this river inside the city for 2.5 miles that has cafes, restaurants, botiques, nightclubs and hotels on the either side. The width is just that of a road. And not much deep too. It was a great experience going around the city walking on the River side. They also have boat service going around if u want to enjoy a boat ride instead of walk. And then suddenly out of the blue all these colorful boats with lot of music, festives and fancy dresses pass through. And to my delight i realised that the Mardi Gras festival is happenning in New Orleans and it is celebrated in many places around US. They throw beads and people catch and collect them. (There is a different way of getting more beads which i wont tell here, go find it
yourself;) .... )
Lucky day to be here.I caught some beads myself and have kept them as souviners.
After having a great walk and some delicious icecream we went to the shopping malls around the river walk. After spending some time and getting some stuff it was time for us to leave.
My friend offered me to drive the car. The car was a beauty. I was driving for probably the
first time in my life and was nervous. 'Dont worry or panic' was her advice. I hit the gas and
sped on the Freeway. Here u have to maintain a min speed or u will get fined. I travelled in an
average speed of 70 miles (around 110-120) km...wowee and it was a great drive of around 100
kms. All that practise in Bangalore didnt go waste. Reached Austin by around 530-6 PM and was left asking for more.
Heres a link to some more pictures of this trip.
Shall update more later.So far has been a great time in Austin mixing work and fun.
Next Stop - New York - Coming weekend.
So i shall be back soon with the experience of the Big Apple (NY).
Meanwhile watch this space for more updates... So long amigos.
choices of places to visit in and around the city. I went through this list and a name suddenly
caught my attention -'San Antonio'... It sounded like one of those quaint little towns right out
of a Shakespearean novel. I gleefully asked her to take me to San Antonio as i really didnt want
to do any museums or parks ... yuck.
So out we set on the cheerful saturday morning with the Sun shining in its glory and the weather as good as it can be.
The distance was 79 miles (around 125 km) and the time required to cover it was around 1 to 1.5 hours. (Hey, btw... Isnt that the time we take to cover the 15 km stretch from Electronic city
to Dairy circle. Well that is Namma Bengalooru for you, my dear...:)Ok,Out we set at 8 AM and hardly reached 15 miles when there was this huge line of cars and trucks on the Freeway like Lord Hanumans tail. Seemed like a bad accident further ahead caused this. Well at least i could say that i feel at home now :). We were stuck for around 30 mins and traffic was not moving at all. But the thing to appreciate was, everybody are following a strict lane and the entire lane on the left side which is meant for emergency purpose was left untouched by anybody. Cut to Bengaluru again where a 2-3 feet free space on the road and there will be the acrobatic autowallahs driving their autos as if they are on 2 wheelers.And they own the road, dont they :))
Well nothing of that sort here... But lot of cars were trying to take a U turn in a service road
(as big as our main roads) and going back so they can drive from a different route. We too felt
thats the best bet and turned back. On the way we stopped in this huge sporting mall named
Cabelas. It was a mammoth store where u get any items from a travel bag to a boat. Guns to
fishing rods. Caps to hunting dresses. Also there is a huge aquarium housed which has many huge fish swimming around. The store also has a zoo type environment where almost all animals you can think of are stuffed and kept. They looked so real. We spent around a hour in this store and after a bit of shopping continued our drive .
We reached San Antonio and it was a very beautiful city. Its actually the 8th largest city in US. The streets looked inviting and people warm. This has a lot of Mexico in it.And also Mexicans. We went to the Alamos first.The Alamo is a kind of a Military Fort post which has a lot of history and role in the Texas Revolution.There was a Alamo enactment since it was a first saturday of the month which was a pleasant surprise for us. It was lunch time. Had a Panini (kind of sandwich) and Goat cheese... and drowned it with Pepsi and choclate chip cookie... Hmm tasted good.
Then we went ahead to one of the other most famous must-do here. The Paseo del Rio. Better known as the 'River Walk'. Around 20 feet below the street level flows this river inside the city for 2.5 miles that has cafes, restaurants, botiques, nightclubs and hotels on the either side. The width is just that of a road. And not much deep too. It was a great experience going around the city walking on the River side. They also have boat service going around if u want to enjoy a boat ride instead of walk. And then suddenly out of the blue all these colorful boats with lot of music, festives and fancy dresses pass through. And to my delight i realised that the Mardi Gras festival is happenning in New Orleans and it is celebrated in many places around US. They throw beads and people catch and collect them. (There is a different way of getting more beads which i wont tell here, go find it
yourself;) .... )
Lucky day to be here.I caught some beads myself and have kept them as souviners.
After having a great walk and some delicious icecream we went to the shopping malls around the river walk. After spending some time and getting some stuff it was time for us to leave.
My friend offered me to drive the car. The car was a beauty. I was driving for probably the
first time in my life and was nervous. 'Dont worry or panic' was her advice. I hit the gas and
sped on the Freeway. Here u have to maintain a min speed or u will get fined. I travelled in an
average speed of 70 miles (around 110-120) km...wowee and it was a great drive of around 100
kms. All that practise in Bangalore didnt go waste. Reached Austin by around 530-6 PM and was left asking for more.
Heres a link to some more pictures of this trip.
Shall update more later.So far has been a great time in Austin mixing work and fun.
Next Stop - New York - Coming weekend.
So i shall be back soon with the experience of the Big Apple (NY).
Meanwhile watch this space for more updates... So long amigos.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Busy week at Office and at Theatres
Sorry to keep you waiting so long from the last post. A very busy couple of weeks at the office.
Have been working lots to finish this project.
Anyways I had some interesting time in between the busy schedule.Had been to 3 movies, some
restaurants and to San Antonio a beautiful city 80 Miles from Austin.
First the movies. All 3 are very different from each other. The first one was 'National
Treasure- Book of Secrets'- a good movie to watch during a boring or tired evening. This is being screened in Regal Gateway theatre in the Gateway shopping center which is 5 mins
from my hotel. After working for some long hours i went for a walk and ended watching the movie.
A good adventure movie with Nicholas Cage as the hero trying to find a treasure and clear his
grandfathers from murdering Abraham Lincoln. Lots of twists, actions and after solving puzzles
(including kidnapping the President of USA, hahaha!) he manages to find the treasure. The
Gateway theatre is like our PVR. They charge $8.75 (around Rs.350) a ticket during evening.
There are other 6-8 cinema halls inside. Had a good time.
The second movie was "Cloverfield" in the Alamo Draft theatre. It has a wooden bench in front of
the seats so u can order and eat food while watching the movie. Not as classy and comfortable as
our PVR Gold Class, its more of a simple theatre which serves food. The name 'Cloverfield'
sounded like a cartoon chracter (like Garfield) and i thought its a comedy or a light movie when
an office collegue invited me to watch this movie in the Alamo Village Draft theatre. After
watching the movie I came out shaking after being bombed and attacked by 'something' alien
creatures. This is a very unique movie. What makes it different is that the movie is about some
alien creatures attacking Manhattan(NY) and shown from the point of view of some 3-4 people. So
basically its a amateur video shot in a handycam by couple of friends during the course of a
day. They are shooting (or rather documenting :)) a video of a party of their friend who is
leaving America to go for a job abroad and at that time aliens attack the city... and they get
into the city and try to escape and come back to save a friend in vain. A very intense movie and as the theatres warn "You may suffer Motion sickness" by watching this
movie. A very realistic and well done movie. Watch it and in a theatre and u will feel as though
u are part of the group of the people.
Saw the third movie was in the Austin IMAX theatre which is housed in the History of Texas
museum. The movie was 'Sea Monsters' in 3D and it was a breathtaking 45 minutes of 3D monsters
almost biting ur nose off. This movie produced by the National Geographic Channel is a visual
extravanza about the prehistoric animals in the Sea and oceans during the Dinosaurs age. Great
3D quality and amazing graphics made it an experience to remember.
Meanwhile had been to couple of restaurants too. One was in a place called Triumph Cafe where u
order food, pay up and go sit in any seat and the waiters will locate u with the "Country-flag"
tag which they associate with ur order which they give u when u order. Here it is salad means a
plate full of vegetable and with no masala. Great difficulty to get it down the tummy for us
Indians :)Another meal was with a collegue who is a 'vegan' and with 'vegan' friends in a 'vegan'
restaurant. Now dont get confused with 'vegan' and 'vegetarian'. I thought both were same and
was of the impression that i am a strict veggie. Well, 'Vegans' are people who are strict
veggies and also dont eat any diary products like Milk, butter, cheese etc. Basically they dont
eat/use any animal products as they are against animal cruelty. Surprising, but there are vegan
restaurants and bakeries here in the US. Alas, again no masala but interesting to talk to this
group of people who met over the internet and have monthly meetings.
I definitely have to write about San Antonio in a seperate blog entry as there is much to be
told. Getting late tonight. Hang on there till we meet again.
Have been working lots to finish this project.
Anyways I had some interesting time in between the busy schedule.Had been to 3 movies, some
restaurants and to San Antonio a beautiful city 80 Miles from Austin.
First the movies. All 3 are very different from each other. The first one was 'National
Treasure- Book of Secrets'- a good movie to watch during a boring or tired evening. This is being screened in Regal Gateway theatre in the Gateway shopping center which is 5 mins
from my hotel. After working for some long hours i went for a walk and ended watching the movie.
A good adventure movie with Nicholas Cage as the hero trying to find a treasure and clear his
grandfathers from murdering Abraham Lincoln. Lots of twists, actions and after solving puzzles
(including kidnapping the President of USA, hahaha!) he manages to find the treasure. The
Gateway theatre is like our PVR. They charge $8.75 (around Rs.350) a ticket during evening.
There are other 6-8 cinema halls inside. Had a good time.
The second movie was "Cloverfield" in the Alamo Draft theatre. It has a wooden bench in front of
the seats so u can order and eat food while watching the movie. Not as classy and comfortable as
our PVR Gold Class, its more of a simple theatre which serves food. The name 'Cloverfield'
sounded like a cartoon chracter (like Garfield) and i thought its a comedy or a light movie when
an office collegue invited me to watch this movie in the Alamo Village Draft theatre. After
watching the movie I came out shaking after being bombed and attacked by 'something' alien
creatures. This is a very unique movie. What makes it different is that the movie is about some
alien creatures attacking Manhattan(NY) and shown from the point of view of some 3-4 people. So
basically its a amateur video shot in a handycam by couple of friends during the course of a
day. They are shooting (or rather documenting :)) a video of a party of their friend who is
leaving America to go for a job abroad and at that time aliens attack the city... and they get
into the city and try to escape and come back to save a friend in vain. A very intense movie and as the theatres warn "You may suffer Motion sickness" by watching this
movie. A very realistic and well done movie. Watch it and in a theatre and u will feel as though
u are part of the group of the people.
Saw the third movie was in the Austin IMAX theatre which is housed in the History of Texas
museum. The movie was 'Sea Monsters' in 3D and it was a breathtaking 45 minutes of 3D monsters
almost biting ur nose off. This movie produced by the National Geographic Channel is a visual
extravanza about the prehistoric animals in the Sea and oceans during the Dinosaurs age. Great
3D quality and amazing graphics made it an experience to remember.
Meanwhile had been to couple of restaurants too. One was in a place called Triumph Cafe where u
order food, pay up and go sit in any seat and the waiters will locate u with the "Country-flag"
tag which they associate with ur order which they give u when u order. Here it is salad means a
plate full of vegetable and with no masala. Great difficulty to get it down the tummy for us
Indians :)Another meal was with a collegue who is a 'vegan' and with 'vegan' friends in a 'vegan'
restaurant. Now dont get confused with 'vegan' and 'vegetarian'. I thought both were same and
was of the impression that i am a strict veggie. Well, 'Vegans' are people who are strict
veggies and also dont eat any diary products like Milk, butter, cheese etc. Basically they dont
eat/use any animal products as they are against animal cruelty. Surprising, but there are vegan
restaurants and bakeries here in the US. Alas, again no masala but interesting to talk to this
group of people who met over the internet and have monthly meetings.
I definitely have to write about San Antonio in a seperate blog entry as there is much to be
told. Getting late tonight. Hang on there till we meet again.
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