Here we go around the pumpkin patch – pumpkin patch – pumpkin patch……
I’ve always wanted to carve a pumpkin in a pumpkin patch. Every time I mentioned this to anybody; they would go – naaah- they wont let you do it. Well, I kept my faith and finally this season – I DID IT! – Yes, IN a pumpkin patch!! Ah what satisfaction
And so here is what you do – you go to a pumpkin patch on the last day of Halloween- coz that’s the only day, they don’t care about getting their patch dirty and un-walkable. Dress comfortably – coz u r gonna be sitting in the patch and pulling pulpy stuff out of the good ol pumpkin. I made the most of my pumpkin – I carved a Japanese face on one side and named him akira – I carved a jack-o-lantern on the other side – I carved my name in English on the third side and I carved my name in Japanese on the fourth side – errr , yea – it was a big pumpkin!!
And I have come to realize - Pumpkin carving isn’t about just cutting out a face or your traditional jack-o-lantern – its getting your hands and tee dirty – with all the super-appetizing yellow pulpy goo, its getting your jeans dirty – with all the mud in the patch – its getting your face dirty – when you trust your friend and sit in the pumpkin push-cart for some relief and your friend turns the cart so that you fall face-down in the patch….

My first Football Game – My first Razorback game

This season I became a football fan...i followed as many teams , as many games as I could..i rooted for my home team - the razorbacks and i went to see them in action as well.
I’ve been in Bentonville, northwest Arkansas for almost a year and so, I finally went for my first Razorback game. Ask anyone who follows college football and you'll find out there are very few things Arkansans love more than their Razorbacks. Arkansas is well known for its fanatical devotion to its team. It's amazing to see the show of support for the Hogs on the roads of bentonville whenever there is a home game. It doesn't matter if they win or lose, we're always proud to Hog Call them (if you've never heard the Hog Call, you should attend a game sometime and get first hand experience).

U2 360° Concert
So, we light 3 diyas to celebrate diwali away from home ;after choti di has already made me jealous enough by talking about all the sweets and fun she was having at home with dad and mom.
And then, we head to Tulsa – a beautiful 2 hr drive which just breezed by as the fall colors kept us mesmerized and the endless toll gates kept us looking for cash throughout.
Reach Tulsa-Rush through the front desk-Rush to the room-to the TV-ESPN-Razorbacks vs FSU – And boy of boy – A game worth rushing through it all….Cant wait to sport a Razorback tee shirt the next chance I get (I can see Ben rolling his eyes on this as he has heard me say this so many times already)
Next day – Drive to Norman – Amazing parking spot, burger and beer and then walk into the stadium and boom –I see this imposing, "in the round" spaceship superstructure towering over Owen Field. And then is the next boom - the black eyed peas performing an energetic set of recent hits including "Boom Boom Pow," "I Gotta Feeling" and "Meet Me Halfway," the opener was the equivalent to a slick, Auto-Tuned pep rally for U2, but while the Peas had much of the crowd moving throughout their 45-minute segment, even a seemingly unstoppable dance-pop machine was merely a prologue for the stars of the evening.
There was a lot of visual flash to go with the superfluous stage and it was all in service to the band-U2, which performed a lengthy set spanning 26 years -- or, as said early in the set, the length of time since the group's last stop in Norman. "It took us 26 years to travel one mile," Bono said, referring to the band's performance at llyod nobel center in Norman in 1983."Believe it or not we built this spaceship to get closer to you," a black-leather clad Bono said, gesturing up at the towering four-footed contraption supporting the band's massive, circular stage. "We're looking for intimacy.""Intimacy on a grand scale" he quickly added, self-aware enough to chuckle at the irony of his words, given the situation.
Yes, there really were special, intimate moments at this stadium show.
When the slow expansion of a giant LCD sculpture more or less stole the show (err I was amazed at the screen so much that I almost ignored Bono singing in the background). The new single "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight." was ridiculously amazing.
U2 also brought an uncommon intensity to some older material, especially during a fiery version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" that was performed against images from this year's election protests in Iran.
In short - if you’re a U2 fan, go see this show when it comes to your town. If you enjoy spending two hours singing and cheering along with tens of thousands of your neighbors - it’s worth every penny.

Surf Surf Surfff awayyyy....

My First Surfing Experience

Where was I?
Could I stand?
Did I get out of the white-water?
Did I have a spectacular wipe-out?
How did it feel when the wave first picked me up?
Was I scared?
AND….What was I thinking?
Sharing the stoke guys!

Hawaii was beautiful; it could have not been any better place to go surfing for the first time in my life.
When I started ..it was all about falling and crashing into the sea….

Fell flat..fell down…crashed for the first hour and then suddenly I kind of did this thing where I went up on my back knee then straightened on a wave.

Had the poo-man survival stance all the way in! But from then I was hooked! It was a really cool moment.
Yea, this summer was the first time i really surfed. I had a really hard time getting out there cuz it was kinda choppy. I was scared actually because surf intimidates me (not anymore!). My first 50 tries i didnt get the wave (i was paddling hard but i just couldnt get the wave). When i did get the ride, i either hesitated or stood up and did a nasty nose dive with slat water running up my nose (ahhhhh!!!) I did get I think like 2 waves in total of 3 hours. Every time though, i couldn’t get the nerve to fully stand up. I got kneed it through. Until finally i could stand.

I’m back now and i just cant stop thinking about surfing (I wana get my own board). If anyone could have tips for me, please shoutout!

Scuba Scuba Scuba in the Red Sea,Aqaba – Jordan. Ohhhh I loved it!

Scuba Scuba Scuba in the Red Sea,Aqaba – Jordan. Ohhhh I loved it!
Aqaba works on siesta time; everything shuts down at 3pm or earlier and reopens later in the evening – just my kind of place.
I was most excited about going to Jordan coz I wanted to dive in the Red Sea at Aqaba- one of the most beautiful diving sites of the world. I hadn’t dived before and was crazy scared but dint have the room to express it as every 2-5 minutes, there was a rhetorical question from dad – “beta, you sure?”, “do you really want to?”, “ahhhh, doesn’t look exciting”……and I kept my fear and cool and replied with the same monotonous answer “yes dad “, “yes dad”, and eventually “stop it dad”…….
Aqaba is Jordan’s only stretch of coastline and is home to over 300 types of corals in the red sea. Sounds nice rite? Well, it dint sound very interesting when I was stepping into the sea. I had my equipment, my gear, my oxygen tanks , even my instructor but the moment I put my head inside the water and saw no sea bed whatsoever …I freaked out….!!
I wanted to stop and get out but I was already down and couldn’t turn back...the first 5-10 minutes, all I was doing was concentrating on my breathing and telling myself...I got air…so what if I don’t see land…..I got air and that too lots of it..So breathe on….
Once I got comfortable with breathing and once I stopped looking down and freaking out I looked around to see beautiful huge corals, amazing colorful fishes swimming by and guess what, I started to enjoy it….it was the most amazing experience ever…


I just couldn’t stop myself, I was so much in awe of the huge colorful corals all around me and every now and then there would be zillions of tiny colorful fishes passing by in groups – I just had to stop and watch em….after 5 minutes I realized they weren’t as interested in looking at me and obviously had things to do , they would swim by in less than 30 seconds – tons of them – just zip by you…
I had forgotten about my tanks and my weights and the no-seabed-in-sight fright when it was time to go back…. we went in as much as 10,000-15,000 feet and it just kept getting better….cant wait to go back and jump in the red sea and dive along – well not without an oxygen tank of course…

Floating on the Dead Sea -the weirdest experience

Floating on the Dead Sea -the weirdest experience
Part of the Jordan and Israel and Palestinian territories goes through the Dead Sea; a lake with such high salinity that your body floats – suicidal travelers should note that drowning would be quite a feat here.
The salt content is over six times greater than the ocean, so plant and animal life is impossible. The only living thing in the dead sea are the floating , swimming tourists….swimming here is difficult because you are too high in the water to stroke properly, of course you can always float on your back and bask in the sun or read a newspaper. The buoyancy that you’ll experience is the sort of thing that you will understand once you ve been there and you ve heard squeals of surprise from people visiting. While in there you will discover cuts that you never knew you had and if any water gets into your eyes, be prepared for a few minutes of agony. The moment I stepped out I could feel salt caking up on my body and face….but floating in the dead sea without making any effort whatsoever made me understand how ships and boats must be feeling – hmmm…lazy and nice….

Petra – Jordan

Petra – Jordan

People say that if you only go to one place in Jordan, make it Petra. I beg to differ. Well, it’s a personal preference to sea than ruins. However, Petra is spectacular as the monuments; tombs themselves are the countless shades and Neapolitan swirls formed in the rock. Petra is often called the rose-red city but even this hardly does justice to the extraordinary range of colors that blend as the sun makes its daily passage over the site. We drove from Aqaba to Petra and reached just in time to catch it during sunset. It’s muddy, dusty and overpopulated with tourists but you can feel the excitement build when you walk the Siq, the long dramatic chasm that links the ancient city to the outside world.

Three weeks later,back home, whenever I walked in the same shoes I wore in Petra-I was leaving little piles of powdery red sand- my favourite souvenier from Jordan.

Amman - Jordan

So after a long long flight, I reached Amman at midnight. The drive from the airport through the city was fast and I was impressed. But hold on there, that was because it was well past midnight.
The next morning I realized that with its endless one way streets, stairways, narrow lanes and jebels (hills), Amman is confusing enough to get around anyway, but the ambiguous names for the streets and circles would challenge the navigational skills of even the most experienced explorer.
One of the greatest challenges is likely to be making it safely to the other side of the street. A car missing you by inches may scare the hell out of you but it is actually a normal and precisely calculated course of events. I learnt that you gotta cross wide roads a lane at a time – if you wait for a big gap you’ll be there all day. If all else fails, put your pride behind you and ask some old lady to lead you by the hand or at least follow in their slipstream.
I must say Amman is one of the most modern Arab city that I have seen (not that I have seen too many).The young generation of Jordanians makes it a very urbane suburb. There are plenty of places to get superb Lebanese food in Amman.
However, one of the traditional Bedouin favorites is the eyeballs of a whole roast lamb which is presented to honored guests – which yes, as a foreigner means you!

London - What can I say...

London - What can I say...

Well, finally after months and months of planning, cancelling, re-planning , I went to london last week. And guess what - I loved it !

Well, well - I had a great time in london alright - now, lets take time to figure out if I loved the city with its tiny hotel rooms, damp walls and crowded subways or was it just meeting up with friends that made the city special for me.

After hours of flying, I dragged my jet legged body off my flight to see what was waiting for me on the outside. Well, it was a tube! I figured I will take the tube to my hotel. Walk from the airport to the station was quite something - inspite of the fact that I was travelling light ( I m sure my friend will have to say otherwise :) ).

I have travelled in the tokyo and new york subways, but my friend - dont let that experience give you any kind of confidence coz this is something else. There are levels and more levels and some more levels in each station ,there are these really fast and steep escalators and then there is this heat and stuffiness in the tube that can make you want to walk from Heathrow to Canary wharf!! No wonder I saw a guy passed out at 6:00 in the morning in the tube - well, err, i guess alcohol might have had some role to play as well.

The pubs are amazing and the streets are lovely - I dint see much...well.. I dint see anything . But if you go out there then you gotta see the palace, the change of guard, the london eye and so many more things. I had done my home work but when I met my friends - it was all about talking and catching up - accompanied by a beer - of course - in regulated quantities - followed by many other means of getting the conversation flowing....

I had checked the weather forecast and I was armed with an umbrella and was itching to use it but the few days that I was there, not a drop of rain...I was just lucky coz the weather was just so lovely. I added "oh-the-weather-is-so-lovely" to almost everything I said in those 3 days and must ve irritated my pals but they took it well coz I dint hear em complaining. The late night cab ride in a BMW with no fare-meter and with indian film music playing out loud and the absolutely indian looking cabby speaking with a thick english accent was another highlight.(For that matter, now that I think about it, I am not even sure if that was a cab! oops!)

The balti-indian-food( dont ask me what that means - it needs code word clearance) , the cab ride, the subway , the pubs, the streets - now,- that- you can find anywhere but what made me love london was meeting up with friends.

Couldnt meet quite a few other very dear friends this time, sorry guys, I'm gona stop by soon and then there we can have a sequel to this oh-so-amazing-"London Experience".

Chocolates, waffles and frites - Thats Brussels for you

Chocolates, waffles and frites - Thats Brussels for you

Now now, do we see a pattern here..chocolates, waffles and frites - Thats what you get in every nook and corner of this lovely city.

There was a lot of mussels talk around but I dint try it.

Me being the glutton that I am , did not miss this opportunity and ate to my hearts content.I went to brussels for a few days and as usual wasnt very interested in going to every museum or palace but walking around the town with the typical european narrow streets with all the street music was a lot of fun. The weather was absolutely ridiculous -

9:00 am - Sunshine - wow , I m gonna wear that tee shirt today.

9:05 am - Rain - What!! what happened - okay, Let me wear that trench coat.

9:10 am - Sunshine - Okay , lets drop the coat.

9:15 am - Cloundy and windy - I just might feel cold. Let me take that jacket.

And it goes on and on until I realize that its already noon and I still havent stepped out. The hotel was good - A hundred times better than the London place. The beer was great. And the food I must say was very very FATTENING !!

Skydiving - Yes, I m free..free falling....

Skydiving - Shut up and Jump...

That was the banner slogan at the skydiving club and man, i took it seriously....i dint shut up..i was screaming my lungs out but i jumped alright!

I went Skydiving today and it was incredibly fun. I have been wanting to do it for a while.I figured this was it, this was the time to do it and this was the only time..so I really had to do it, before what not builds up and my excitement dies down or I chicken out(which happens quite often btw) .

We went to do it last weekend but because of strong winds we couldnt dive. So we reach today at the hanger..early and bright...and we wait and wait and wait some more for our turn as we hadnt made a reservation.Anyways,I’d describe today as a series of “Point of No Returns.” I am in Fremont, but was doing the jump at Monterey(1.5 hrs drive from fremont),long drive and busted previous weekend diving plans n all that so today when we reached the hanger,it was point of no return.
Making final payment -point of no return. Having “skydiving lessons” in which the instructor basically laughed at how scared we’d be and gave us a few tips-point of no return.
As I got closer and closer to the jump time, the “point of no returns” came faster and faster.
Getting in harness - point of no return.Getting on plane - point of no return.Strapping in to instructor (tandem jump) - point of no return.Plane taking off - point of no return.Plane surpassing 15,000 feet - point of no return.
Each point of no return, your stomach drops a little, realizing what’s about to happen.
I’m second in line. Person in front of me has a photographer who non-chalantly flings herself out of the plane. Person in front of me goes. My instructor starts walking me toward the edge of the plane. My knees are sticking out of the perfectly good plane, looking down 15,000 feet. I don’t want to go and all Im screaming at this point is "oh my god...ooohhh my god"(talk about profanity of speech and dearth of lexicon at crucial moments in life). Luckily the jump master strapped to my back makes me go. 3-2-1. FALL......ooohhh myyyy goddd......
I'm scared as in actually-scared , i dono where to look...i look down and i m all the more scared and then suddenly i look out at the horizon and its beautiful and i look up to see amazing clear blue sky and the sun shining , i look away and i see deep blue ocean....lovely,oh so beautiful!..and then suddenly realization hits again...ohh myy godd..I’m hurtling towards earth at 100 mph. All I can really do is let out a huge profanity as we keep hurtling.
After about 2 minutes, the ripcord is pulled and I sail down towards the base. The beautiful view of blue sky and the lovely blue bay hardly registers in my head as the adrenaline slowly rushes out of my body. And then finally ...Land. ..phew....

Amsterdam - Do I have to state the obvious here??

I was very excited about going to Amsterdam, I was excited about seeing everything I'd ever heard about the place.
Amsterdam, where do I begin...
Of course there are the famous qualities that tourists flock here for ,like the legalised canabis coffee shops, the magic mushroom stores & of course the red light district. But the things I loved about Amsterdam were the things that you don't really hear about, like the circling canals that cover the city, the beautiful shop lined streets, the amazing history, & the relaxed & buzzing atmosphere of the locals & tourists.
Okay okay, I admit I loved Amsterdam for the obvious reasons as well but the place really IS charming…..

Si Paris -

So... the most popular tourist destination in the world, France. I recall reading about it on Wiki-pedia and it saying somewhere that, "One can say, with confidence, that Paris is the most beautiful city in the world." Wow... bold claim.

I went to the Eifel Tower and walked the stretch from there to Louvre which covers almost everything you might want to see in Paris.The walk was nice and long for a perfect day with a little breeze a little sunshine and lots of beautiful places. The streets are clean, the buildings polished. The sights are simply unbelievable. It’s pretty incredible. The sights of Paris... every corner you ask yourself, surely there's not another room filled with priceless works of art bumping frames, overflowing the walls, sometimes the ceiling. And then there is. And another. And another.
Every time you turn a corner, you see some beautiful church or cathedral or monument or something. Okay, you think to yourself, surely that's the last one. That was like the millionth or two millionth of such structures, surely that's the last one. Then you turn another corner, and there's another huge church or statue or something. It just never ends. It's all very nice and all, but feels a bit sterile sometimes. It lacks the level of character of a city like Amsterdam or Istanbul. I can completely understand why people love this city, there is plenty to love, I just prefer a different style.

LUXOR - The Valley of Kings

Once mighty Thebes, now Touristopolis, where hustle meets bustle, and cruise ships are stacked along the banks of the Nile life so many Lego blocks. There's a McDonalds here with free delivery, a Club Med, and touristicles by the thousands.
10,000 tourists a day tread the paths of the Valley of the Kings alone, with 100 tour buses making a daily 10-hour round trip from Hurghada, on the Red Sea coast, to the sites at Luxor.
Inevitably, the sheer touristic value of the archaeological wonders of Thebes draws the touts, like flies to honey, and the inescapable price dualities and rip-offs.
But not even the relentless cries of "Papyrus?", "See my shop!", or "Water? 10 pounds", can distract from the incredible sights on offer here, in the West Bank. The Valley of the Kings needs no introduction, of course. Here, the tombs of dozens of pharaohs have been discovered in the last 200 years, with the most recent being found only last year. the most famous, without doubt, is the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
Many of the tombs are closed to the public unfortunately, for restoration work, so my choice was limited. In the end, I was able to explore the tombs of Ramses IV, Ramses III, and Ramses I, all of which contain exquisite and delicate frescoes depicting their respective pharaoh's passage to the afterlife, and the wealth he took with him to the realm of the gods. Alas, photography was not allowed inside, with the ever vigilant guards more than willing to drag offenders outside by their camera straps, so I have nought but memories to take with me, and no photos to share. You'll just have to come here yourselves!
Of the many other highlights on offer, I managed to get around the imposing edifice of the Temple of Hapshupset (built by one of Egypt's greatest female pharaohs) and wander casually through several of the vividly decorated Tombs of the Nobles. The best of these was the Tomb of Ramose, where I was able (for a little baksheesh, of course) to clamber into the bowels of the earth, 50 feet below the main chamber, to where the sarcophagus used to lie and there discover, amid the Stygian gloom, the skull of poor departed Ramose. My second mummy's skull in 2 weeks - not bad going really!

Sipping Singapore Slings-

When heading to Singapore, I expected a cool city despite, especially with such cool facts. I was not disappointed in the slightest.
I got on the subway into the central business district and was overwhelmed with huge skyscrapers. I could see nothing but buildings, having to crank my neck to see the blue sky. The streets were rubbish free and the pavements had almost no black splodges of chewing gum (chewing gum is illegal in Singapore). The greenery was pristinely kept and the public spaces were neat and sharp.
I did feel that Singapore lacked a human touch with all the concrete jungle and buildings. Plenty of travelers dislike Singapore, dismissing it as boring. Singapore was a business city where conversation was always unlikely to sporadically happen and character was hard to find unlike other SE Asian cities/countries.
I appreciated it for what it is: a Westernized, cosmopolitan city with great modern architecture and of course the “Southernmost point of Asia Continent”.
But the foodie in me takes over and I have to vouch for the Singapore Laksa and Singapore Slings …they totally worked for me….

Viva Vegas!!

Las Vegas......the town that never sleeps. I went visiting the city of big lights, big dreams and big money and realised that it truly is an adult playground. Casinos,neon lights,musicals ,shows,bars,Elvis look-a-likes,clubs and lots and lots of posters of women on taxi's,hoardings,hand outs...well...everywhere.

Popularized by the catchy phrase "What happens in Vegas STAYS in Vegas" this town is certainly never one to disappoint in the arena of entertainment. Whether it be the bottomless cocktails, the endless all-you-can-blow-24 hr casions, the amazing shows or the NYC-style Broadway musicals, this city breaths fervor and excitement into your life as you step out on the strip walking along the wide array of glitz and glamour that is Vegas.
The plane landed in Las Vegas and the first thing that I saw were... slotmachines! This is Vegas of course.Seared in my memory - a decrepit old woman in a casino,monotonously dropping quarters down a slot machine with one hand & holding a lit cigarette in the other.

With no interest in gambling I explored the shows in Vegas and I must admit ..I was floored.Amazing theatre's with colorful costumes ,songs,dances,lighting and never seen before stage and yes of course lots of artists flying here and there in the theatre effortlessly.The shows are a visual feast and unbelieveably choreographed.

The clubs are very strict about the dresscode which did irritate me but I still had a blast.Handsomely dressed men and lovely chic women ,endless spirits and gambling ,a 24 hour city,Vegas certainly is a symbolic high point where the best venues of entertainment and fun are put on opulent display.