Seattle trip

We decided to visit Dada and Vahini during our thanks giving break. Deepa also joined us for this trip. We left Los Angeles at around 7:45 AM on 22nd Nov 2007. It took us about 2 hrs & 40 mins to get to Seattle. On our way we saw Crater Lake (Oregon) ,Mount St. Helen's(WA) and Mt Rainier (Kasla aahe to - Vahini).

Crater Lake

Mt. St. Helens (active volcano) - can see smoke coming out of the crater

Mt. Rainier

Dada and Vahini both came to receive us at the airport. The drive home is about 30 mins. It was quite cold there, but we could smell the difference in the quality of air. It was nice and fresh, far from the smoggy air that we breath in LA. Surprisingly, it was bright and sunny and it remained so for the next couple of days. Vahini made yummy mutton curry for us. It was sooooo yuuuummmy. I infact overate, and my tummy was hurting the entire evening. After our lunch, we decided to go to Space needle to take advantage of the nice and clear weather. It was quite windy at the top of the space needle, but the view was terrific. We could see clearly for miles in all directions. Usually, this is not the case, because it's always raining in Seattle.

The Space Needle

In the evening, we went to Shashi kaka and Jaya Kaki's place for the Thanks giving dinner party. There were quite a few guests and friends and a vast variety of food (as it was a potluck as well). I couldn't eat too much, as my tummy was still rumbling because of the over stuffing of mutton. Kaka-kaki were both very happy to see us. We got to spend quite some time with Kaka-kaki. It was lot of fun.

Next day, was 'Black Friday'. This is the day after Thanks giving. Most of the stores have special sales on this day. We all went to Kohl's and Target in the morning. Jyothi, Vahini and Deepa all did quite a bit of shopping. Vahini made vietnamese style sandwiches for lunch. They were very yummy too. After lunch, we all went to Pike's place for site seeing. Pike's place a crowded market located in Downtown Seattle. It has lot of Seafood restaurants and also seafood stores and quite of few shops which sell all kinds of stuff. We had a light dinner at one of the Seafood restaurants which had a nice view of the bay.

On Saturday, we all went to the Boeing museum. It is located in Seattle near the Seattle international airport. The museum has lot of different sections and also a large number of different type of planes. Keyur and Krutika also joined us for the museum trip. We spent almost the entire afternoon at the Musuem and had a great time. As we were all quite hungry, we decided to go to 'California Pizza Kitchen' for a late lunch. On our way to 'CPK' we stopped by 'Pike's place' to pick up some wine flavored jam for Jyothi. We had yummy pizza and "drinks" at CPK. On your way back, we stopped by Keyur and Krutika's place. Keyur had baked brownies for us. We enjoyed them with Vanilla ice-cream. I didn't know keyur was such a good cook ;-) After coming back home, Vahini made chicken chettinnad and fried shrimp with onion. It was all very tasty. We again ate a lot. This time I stopped half way through my dinner, so that the tummy rumble situation is not repeated. But Jyothi kept eating, and she had a tummy rumble next day on the plane ;-) We all watched a movie, 'The terminal' and eventually slept late.

Next day was Sunday, and it was time to go back. We ate the previous days left overs for lunch and left early for the airport. On our way to the airport, we stopped by at Thanedar kaka's place. Both Kaka-kaki were very happy to see all of us. We had some snacks and then left for the airport. Our flight was just 5 minutes late, we bid farewell and dada and vahini and went through the security check.

We had a wonderful trip to Seattle, and now we are waiting for Dada and Vahini's trip to LA during Christmas time.

Trip to SLO during Labor day weekend 07

During the Labor day weekend of 2007, we went on a road trip to San Luis Obispo. The primary purpose of the trip was to find accommodations for Deepa and take a look around the campus and facilities at her new school. Most of you must be aware that Deepa will be joining the Master's in Bio-engineering program at Calpoly San Luis Obispo (popularly known as S.L.O.).

San Luis Obispo: Looking east from top of Bishop peak

SLO is located almost midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on CA-101 freeway. The entire town is basically a university town. The college itself has about 17,000 students. The pacific ocean is about 12 miles west.

We left Buena Park early in the morning on Friday, 31st August. Initially it took us some time to beat the LA commute traffic, but once we were on the outskirts of LA, the traffic started thinning down. The drive on 101 N freeway was very pleasant and Scenic. Most of the freeway runs along the California coast, with the Pacific Ocean on once side and small cliffs and mountains on the other. It took us about 4 hours to get to SLO non-stop.

Once we reached SLO, we drove straight to the university campus. Lot of work and re-vamping was going on at the campus in anticipation of the upcoming fall Semester. First thing on our mind was the housing. After finishing up the housing / lease formalities, we went to Panda Express for some yummy chinese food and then rushed back to the campus to finish her registration. Luckily one of her to be professors was present on campus and volunteered to take us on a tour of the Bio-engineering department(what a stroke of luck !!!). We enjoyed the private tour of the engineering buildings, classes and labs. Above all Deepa's excitement increased exponentially :-)

By the time we were done with all this, it was almost 4:00 PM. We went to our hotel (about a mile away from campus) to check in. The hotel that we stayed at is called Quality Suites Inn. This hotel is quite comfortable and nice and I would recommend it to any of our relatives or friends visiting SLO.

In the evening, we went out for to the Firehouse grill, located in downtown SLO for a quick bite. They serve excellent vegetarian(Boca) burgers. After that, we just came back to the Hotel as we were expecting Shobakka and Arvindmam later on in the evening.

This was overall a very productive day and Amma was very happy and slept soundly at the end of the day.

Next day we went for Wine tasting. Jyothi and Deepa tried a variety of wines, and picked up a bottle for Sasupa. The Vineyards were all lush green and it was a pretty site. In the evening, we went for a small drive to Morro Bay which is located about 15 miles west. Morro bay is a popular tourist attraction and it has a pretty long board walk etc. We also visited a farmers market where Arvindmam bought some fruits. There is a nice boardwalk at Morro bay, with lots of shops and fast food joints. We had some seafood at a small place and headed back to SLO. By the time we reached SLO, MuktaPachi, Shanbappa and Ananth had already arrived. We enjoyed some wine during the Happy hour ;-)

Next day we went out to see Hearst Castle which is located about 55 miles north on Pacific Coast highway. Here is a picture that we took before entering the Tram at the Hearst Castle. It is a residential mansion built by William Hearst as a vacation home and a place to entertain his guests. The view from top is very nice.

We headed back home in the evening and went out for dinner to the Indian restaurant, the food was really good. It is walking distance from Deepa's residential complex. All of us were quite tired from the days trip and we hit the bed early that night.

Next morning, we all had good breakfast at the hotel and set off on our trip back to Los Angeles !!!

(This post is still being edited ... please be patient)

Pageant of the Masters

Ashish and I went for the Pageant of the masters on Friday.. I had seen it being covered on TV every summer and always wanted to see it in person. - The idea behind the pageant is to re-create paintings in 3D- using real people and props to represent the original.

The theme for this year is "Young at heart" and the 2 hour program showcased more than 40 paintings and statues. The cast of about 1000 people included 200 children and it was unbelievable to watch- the performers were so still that only the blinking of the eyes gave them away.

All the performers, ushers, and make-up artists are volunteers- Ashish's colleague from work also participated. So, after the show, we got a behind the scenes tour of the props, and got to see the way the make-up, etc are done.

It was really amazing and we are waiting to vist again next year.

Official website: http://www.foapom.com/gallery/
Clip of a performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u-vXDEV_GQ

Trip to Vegas

Over the weekend, Dada and Vahini came to LA and the four of us drove to Vegas on Saturday morning. We met with Mahesh Kaka, Manoj kaka, Madhuri kaki and Anish at Bellagio and had a sumptuous buffet for lunch. Then we set out on our site-seeing tour of Las Vegas on foot.. In a time span of 10 hrs, we were transported from Rome, to Venice, to Paris to New York ... seeing beautiful fountains to exotic cars to a hair-raising ride on a roller coaster(Whee!!- look at Ashish and Vahini in the picture!!!) ...... After a exciting and fun filled evening (and a lot of walking), we finally dragged ourselves back to our hotel.

After a good night's rest, we headed back to LA. Fortunately we were able to beat the traffic. We had a wonderful time with the Pradhan Paltan and we look forward to meeting everyone soon

Click here for pictures

May Misc

May has been quite a month - we started with our Yosemite camping, then the following weekend I attended my boss's baby shower where I performed a dance, then the next weekend we got to meet Abhay kaka and family, we went for a music concert, and finally, Sameer came to visit us over the Memorial day long weekend.

Just waiting to find out what summer has in store for us!

Asha Bhosle Concert

This weekend we went for a Hindi Music Concert at the Long Beach Convention Center. The program included performances by Asha Bhosle, Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala and Kailash Kher. Ashish and I are not too much into the Hindi music scene, but fortunately, we got a crash course during the 1 hour Namaste India program that is aired on the local TV station on Saturday.

The performance started with a s couple of songs by Gunjan (Thank you Deepa- for your ringtone - 'Crazy Kiya Re' :-) ) This was followed by half an hour performances by Kunal Ganjawala and then Kailash Kher. Kunal Ganjawala has an amazing voice- and 'Bhegi Hont Tere' was awesome.

Asha Bhosle's performance was really awe-inspiring... At the age of 74, she is still a very versatile performer - able to mesmerize the audience with her golden voice. I was actually pretty surprised at Sonu Nigam's performance. He too has a very good voice that he can modulate according to the kind of song he is singing. The concert also had pocket performances by some Bollywood dancers- which completed the entertainment package.

We thoroughly enjoyed the show as did all our friends (Sameer too- though he will not admit it) and we are already on the look out for the next concert.

Yosemite Camping

We went on our long awaited Yosemite camping trip over the last weekend. Jay, Hiral, Jyothi and I stayed over at Heli-Digish's on Friday night and all the 6 of us left early Saturday morning.

We reached Yosemite around 1:00 PM, and after a few stops at the vista points, we checked into our camp site. After a quick lunch of Bhel, we went for a short walk/ hike to the Lower Yosemite falls. The falls were full of water and the sight of the lush surroundings were very cooling(freezing :P). Yosemite looks absolutely fabulous this time of the year. The day time weather is very nice. The skies were also clear and blue. Upon returning from the hike, we started getting ready for evening Campfire.

After sunset, the weather became quite cold. We enjoyed a few rounds of Antakshari around the camp fire. We had some Maize, Pakodas, Shrimps and chicken for dinner. The night sky at Yosemite was crytal clear, and the stars seem to be planted in the skies. We went for a short walk to the small beach(on merced river) right by our campsite. It was very cold, but we still enjoyed the view of the stars there. Then we returned and slept off.

Next morning, a little bit of wind started blowing and we were frozen stiff in the cold. We got up and made hot chocolate. Had Omlette and Masala pancakes for breakfast and then started the clean up. We left the campsite at around 11:00 AM. Before leaving the park, we stopped by Bridal veil falls to take some pictures.

Here is a link to the pictures

Komal's Wedding

This weekend was Komal's wedding to Harshal. The celedrations began with the Mehendi/ Sangeet function at Bharati Kaki's place on Saturday evening. The wedding was set at the beautiful Los Angeles River Center and Gardens. For pictures, click here

Vahini's Bday

This weekend we celebrated Vahini's Bday by going to dinner to the SKY Room in Long Beach. Being a Friday night, it took us forever to get our table and we were famished by the time we took our seats. Fortunately, the service was good, the food was brought out pretty quickly and the taste was absolutely out of this world... we had a wonderful evening... looking forward to the next time we can celebrate there

KASC Yugadi

This weekend was the KASC's (Konkani Association of Southern California) Yugadi celebrations. The program started with Arati, followed by cultural program. Ashish and I participated in a group dance, set to the Konkani version of 'Mere Angane me'.

The program was the brain child of Mohiniakka and it took 8 weekends of relentless practice for all of us to get in sync. Ashish, who was performing for the first time, did a wonderful job as Amitabh. The roles of 'Deegi' (Lambi), 'Guddi' (Choti), 'Kaali', 'Thori' (Moti) and 'Gori' were portrayed respectively by Jyothi, Rajesh, Deepa, Bhat maam and Nandini mai. The Cheerleaders were played by Mohiniakka, Jyoti mai and Bidyakka. The song was sung by Shridhar maam. Mohan maam and Shakar maam were constantly there to support us.

Rajesh also organised 'Deal or No Deal' for the kids, which was also a big hit. The evening dinner with yummy jevan.

Click here for pictures

Keyur and Co. LA trip

Last weekend, Keyur and his family visited Los Angeles. We went to Hollywood, saw the Kodak Theater, walk of fame, Hollywood sign. On our way back, we stopped for some chat, samosa, bhel and snacks at Rasraj in Artesia. Next day we went to Universal studios. I have been there probably around 8 times, but still everytime it has been loads of fun. Uncle-Aunty both had a great time there. Keyur and Krutika also enjoyed. Jyothi was having fun as always :-).
Click here for the pictures !

San Jose Trip

This weekend Ashish and I made a quick trip to San Jose. We drove up on Friday night and stayed at Shub and Hemant's place. On Satuday, we spent most of the day with Shilpa, Sanju and Sahil, along with Sheelakka and Gokul uncle and Sanju's parents. Sahil is so adorable and enjoys the attention he receives from his grand parents.

We spent the evening with Shub and Hemant, in SF. We tried some Erythrian cuise which was really yummy. Sunday afternoon we stopped by for quick visit at Suwarna Tai's place. It was early evening by the time we reached LA.

We had a wonderful time with friends and family. We look forward to the next break that we can take to go up to San Jose.

Click here for pics

Tennis Lessons

Ashish and I are taking Tennis Lessons for Beginners, this semester at the Cypress College. The courts are right behind our apartment complex, so it's just a 5 minute walk.

The classes which were previously on Saturday mornings, have now been moved to Wednesday evenings. This is a good thing because now we have our ENTIRE weekends.

We started last month and it has been a lot of fun. We look forward to the classes every week and feel our game progress after each class. Ashish now had a pretty good game, while I am now able to hit the ball ( well... atleast MOST of the time :-) )

Watch out guys... here's a Andre-Agassi/ Steffi Graff team in the making ! ;-)

Welcome Sahil!

On the 10th of February, Shilpa and Sanju's baby boy, Sahil, was born. Click here for more pictures.

Jay and Hiral's Welcome Party/ Pratik's Bday

Yesterday, we got -together with our Gujrathi friends at Pratik's place. It was a joint celebration of sorts. First of all, it was Pratik's Bday. Secondly, it was a welcome party for Jay and Hiral. And lastly, it was Aanshi's first official outing.

After the cake cuttings, we watched the video of Jay and Hiral's wedding. Dinner was a grand feast of yummy delicacies, made possible through the joint effort of all the ladies.

All of us were getting together for the first time since Vaishali's Baby shower. It was an evening of fun, laughter and gr8 food!! We do hope we have more occasions like this, though our friends circle is now mapped literally, ACROSS the Southland - from Thousand Oaks, all the way to Carlsbad.

Click here for pics- Set1. Click here for pics- Set2