mjm wired :: Travel

Rest and Relaxation

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:01:24 -0400

I will be out of town for some rest and relaxation for a few days. I will get back to my email and other random stuff when I return.

Long overdue.

India 2007 - Part 1 - Delhi

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:45:01 -0500

Well belated Happy New Year. I returned from my India trip about 2 weeks ago and now I finally feel like the jet-lag has totally passed. I still have a lingering cough that I got some time before my arrival in Bombay. The only one thing I can not seem to kick is this overwhelming feeling of lethargy. It took me forever to write this!

Anyways, I had a really interesting trip with my family. We did a great deal of site seeing this trip, saw most of our extended family, had time to shop and relax.

Delhi

Originally in 2004 we wanted to visit the north, but the May heat was too much so we never quite made it there. This time we decided to start there. We landed in Delhi early Dec 14th morning and the next day ventured all through the city. We started with the Lotus Temple (yes, it does look like a real Lotus). This is the first time I had to walk so much without any shoes. Then we visited the Akshardham Temple - supposedly one of the largest modern temples in the world. Unfortunately the security there was tighter than an airport - no camera, no cell phones, no bags, nothing. The security guards (for men) were quite thorough frisking every little corner. This was probably due to the news that a handful of Islamic terrorists had recently managed to sneak it into the country. While the Hindu temple is without a doubt a marvelous structure, walking past the unfinished areas you can see the filthy 3 and 4 yr old children collecting gravel for the construction. While this is not uncommon throughout India (and the world), it does make you wonder about the massive donations temples like this receive every year.

After the temples, we made a quick stop at the rather simple Gandhi Memorial. From there we drove by the Indian Parliament and Government Buildings (just like the US, you really cannot stop and look). Down across the road from there was the India Gateway. I don't know why, but the drive up to the monument was pretty cool. There's another gateway in Mumbai (Bombay). I felt in some way that this marked the "beginning" of the journey and when I visited Bombay, that would be the culmination.

For lunch we had some really nice Delhi thali. After lunch we made it to Qutub Minar. This is where I first realized how valuable tourism is to India, for entry Indians pay 10 rupees, non-Indians/foreigners: 250 rupees (25X as much). This place is the home of some tombs, a mysteriously non-rusting iron pillar and a really old tower. About 30 years ago when my parents visited, they were permitted to climb to one of the terraces. However since then, many have found it a convenient place to commit suicide, so entry was not permitted. Ohh well, the pictures would have been amazing!

We had about an hour before mass that evening, so we decided to visit the Indira Gandhi Memorial. Ironically I did not have a great desire to visit at first. However it was quite sobering walking through the home and seeing where a national leader was murdered in her own garden by her guard. Adjacent was a memorial to her son, Rajiv, who was assassinated in a suicide bombing 7 years later in 1991. It was quite depressing, but very moving at the same time. (Sadly Benazir Bhutto would be assassinated in Pakistan 2 weeks later).

We attended mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral where Pope John Paul II visited in 1986. The English mass was just like any other. The surprising thing for me, however, was seeing Hindu's visit, praying and leaving before mass. After mass, we had some cheap food at the Bengali restaurant near our accommodations. We slept early, for the next morning would be our trip to Agra!

Agra - Taj Mahal

We woke at 5AM to start our trek to Agra. From the looks on the map, it appears to be about 100 miles(160km). And in my impression the roads from Delhi seemed very well developed and our driver was making good time. We arrived in just about 4 hours. We drove straight to the Taj Mahal. However we were informed that vehicles were not permitted the last kilometer up to the mausoleum because the exhaust fumes were supposedly damaging the marble. This meant horse, camel, pedal or ... walking. The thing about India is that anyone and everyone has to make a buck ... err rupee. Our transportation up to the entrance was trying to sell us something from one of his "business associates". We jumped out and walked the rest of the way. Arriving at the line - Indians: 20 rupees, foreigners: 750 Rs!!!! So we bought our 20 Rs tickets and got in line of about 100 or so people. Someone pestered us saying that for 300 Rs we could skip the line. Too much. Someone else: 200 Rs. Too much. Finally someone said 100 Rs. So we accepted. He just pushed us to the front, he took care of the guards and we made it inside in less that 5 minutes.

However it was only a half victory. The female security check prevented my mother from taking her purse inside (which had passports, money, travelers checks and gold jewelry inside). Often handlers and even guards steal things, so she grabbed all the valuables in her hands and pockets and gave the purse to security check-in. The security check for us men was troubling in a different way. My brother and I made it through fine, however the guard really checked my father for any hidden packages (thoroughly). My father did scold them, and he made it through. After we all re-united, my father realized my mother forgot her gold jewelry inside her purse...

The Taj Mahal was quite breath-taking. Amazing, very beautiful - something definitely worth seeing before you die! I took more pictures there, than anywhere else during the trip. The view to the river and Agra Fort was very nice. We did get to walk inside, shoe-less (or covered), and see the two tombs. After taking it all in, my parents made a mad rush back to the security check-in to hopefully find the jewelry. ... Even though they exited at the wrong spot and ran all across the place, luckily nothing was lost or stolen. Well, as I will say: They will never forget the Taj Mahal.

The next stop across the way was Agra Fort. You could see the walls from the Taj, however the view of the Taj Mahal was even more amazing from the distance across the river. The fort in itself was gigantic. Even though we saw many walkways, courtyards and gardens - less than one third of the site is accessible to visitors. In some ways it reminded me of Heidelberg Castle I saw in Germany in 2006, but this was much better maintained and the artwork was much more intricate here. I wish I could have seen more, but time was limited. After an expensive lunch at some Chinese cuisine, we made the 4-plus hour trek back to Delhi.

Leaving

On the last day in the north, we wanted to do some shopping only to find out that Monday the stores were all "bunth". Fortunately for us, our incredibly competent driver took us to some underground bazaar (Palika) where we had a hell of a time haggling with all the vendors. From 750 Rs down to 300 Rs for a hand-bag - not bad at all :-) After some quick lunch (more thali!!!) and a stop at the bank we visited some very old acquaintances of my parents from their last trip to Delhi in the 1970's. We had a very pleasant dinner atop a book store that towered over the Delhi streets at night. What a view! Especially after a little Black Label :-) It was a relaxing night.

After some packing we were all ready for the next leg of our journey. The Delhi trip turned out much better than expected. The first night it was quite cold, but I learned my lesson and slept with 3 wool blankets. I wish we had a little more time, maybe have visited the Golden Temple, perhaps that will be another trip in the future. The next morning we hopped on a King Fisher flight to Goa. But that is a story for another day.

Spending Christmas in India

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:26:43 -0500

I probably should be packing or sleeping ... or most likely both.

Time for travel. A little bit poorly planned, I admit, but sometimes you get caught up in things. Tomorrow I'll be leaving to visit my home country once again. Last time I went to India was almost 4 years ago. In that time people have gotten married, babies grew out of their diapers and revered loved ones have left this earth. Even though there is not the same anticipation of my last trip, I am still very much looking forward to it. This time around we made plenty of time for some site seeing, relaxing, and ultimately truly enjoying ourselves. My greatest disappointment is that not all my siblings could come along, but I guess that was inevitable.

This trip culminates a rather crazy year. First there was my brother leaving for California, then there was this interesting family function that I didn't blog about, then there were some other life things that I didn't blog about (I know I'm lazy to write). Well I got to meet quite a few fascinating new people this year which I am so grateful and unfortunately I've had to wish farewell to some very admirable colleagues as well.

So while I maybe stuffing my face with idli sambar or admiring the Taj Mahal, somewhere in my thoughts I am hoping that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you everyone for all your support! See you in 2008!

Google Maps Across the Ocean

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:09:00 -0400

I saw this in the newspaper and I thought it was pretty funny. Go to Google Maps and get directions for 2 major cities that are separated by an ocean. Say for example New York and London.

Try it for yourself.

Pay close attention to how Google recommends you cross that ocean. And of course don't forget the disclaimer:

These directions are for planning purposes only. You may find that construction projects, traffic, or other events may cause road conditions to differ from the map results.

In this case you might be missing your road.

Back from Germany

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:38:35 -0400

What a trip!

I went to Germany last week on a business trip and it turned out to be quite an interesting experience filled with fun, stress, food, booze, late nights and women. Okay, maybe not the last one, but I had a great time (ignoring work). The Germans are a funny bunch. I can't recall all the differences I saw between them and American culture, but I want to mention some of the things that I observed.

Food. The main components of German diet are pork and beer. The menu's consist of 75% 'swine' meals and the remaining is beef (with a little fish and fowl). But the fowl was scarce due to fears of the avian flu. They love the juicy bacon, not the crisp stuff. Even the veggies are sprinkled with bacon!! ... And the portions are huge! Well if you run a meal at 15 euro, that's almost $20 US (ie. everything was just a tad bit expensive -- tip and tax are automatic). The odd part of the meat is that it's seldom seasoned. Just huge slabs of meat. Just huge.

Drink About 5 yrs ago, someone told me that once you get used to German beers you won't like anything else. Hmmm, some truth in that maybe. ... They prefer hefeweizen which to me was a 'misty' beer that seemed a lot thicker. Odd at first, you develop a taste for it rather quickly. Although the dark beer ('dunkel') did have a nicer taste. Curious though, the bars did not have much variety with the harder drinks. Maybe it was their lack of understanding my english?

Toilets The men's standing toilets seemed like little bowls mounted on the wall. No privacy. Just everybody standing friendly next to eachother. Of course, the Germans aren't as uptight as Americans (which explains a lot). ... Toilet tissue leaved a lot to be desired. Interestingly most of the restrooms I saw always had lots of open TP laying around. In the US you have to lock it up so people won't steal it. And the final kicker: the TP is like sand paper!!! Go home and hug your Charmin and tell it how much you appreciate it.

Sex Again, the Germans are open and free. Driving to the hotel, there are posters and billboards all over with ads for "erotic materials". Absolutely no big deal. You can find a 'Sex Shop' in the middle of other stores. Buy some groceries, try on some clothes, pick up some XXX magazines. Curious. And the television isn't much different. After 10 (or maybe 11) the commercials on several channels are littered with all sorts of ads for 'erotic' things. See I couldn't quite figure it out. I thought it was possibly phone sex or something. But it was also SMS messaging, and other weird stuff. But, you see the girls are totally naked. And that's only the commercials. Very odd. --- Don't worry, I was almost never in my room except to sleep.

Lots of other interesting things. ... The autobahn was a bit wild. I saw our cabby pull 165km/hr more than once. ... Lots of absolutely tiny tiny cars. ... No such things as 'non-smoking areas'. People smoke everywhere. And there are cigarette vending machines, with not a few varieties - but 40. Clothes smell. I even saw ashtrays in the stairwells at work. ... Impressive how the restaurants and bars have many english speaking waiters (and attractive waitresses). ... Airport security is about 3x times more intense than in the US. ...

It was a very fascinating trip. I'll bet most of the above isn't too specific to Germany and maybe Europe as a whole, but still hard for me to guess either way. Anyways, I'm glad I got the opportunity.

Unique Opportunity

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 03:38:11 -0500

Even though I do have various degrees of experience across different software, I still consider myself somewhat of a junior engineer. Someone somewhere thought differently. So a "roster" of people was drafted for some workshops in Germany. One person's personal trip was already preplaned, hence he was out (you know who you are). Many people had passport or visa issues and in the end, given the last minute nature, only a subset was able to go. So here I am at 4:45am writing a blog post in a hotel room a little distance away from Frankfurt, Germany. I tried so hard to sleep, but I just couldn't.

There's a workday ahead of me with people I hardly know on a project that's so massive and complex that I could spend weeks just understanding ... and my imput matters. I don't know what impression I'll leave on the German engineers or what effect I will have on this project as a whole. However I'm glad to have a unique chance to be involved and to experience another country.

My eyes have been "opened" multiple times so far and that's not even including the culture shock. More later.

Austin 2005: Better Late than Never

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 23:26:08 -0400

This is one for the memory books. I had a blast, Austin is great. The people are nice, the food is rich and the everything seems like it's in motion. Anyways, my boy Mahesh and his wife Hema are great hosts. And their friends are all very fascinating characters. Great slice of the community! :-D

So a quick recap. Friday relaxed, grocery shopping then laughed at Kill Bill vol.2. Had some drinks then made fun of Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men. Next morning we did a little Telegu socializing. As you can guess I was a bit out of place, but I was still better at dumb charades (man you should see these guys). Anyways, that night we went to Chuy's a popular TexMex cuisine in Austin. In fact we went to the very place where one of the Bush twins got busted for underage drinking. I felt like I was seeing some historical landmark. ... After that we hit 6th Street. What a site! What a site! A huge stretch of bars and clubs and party places with nothing but beautiful girls in every direction. We went into Spill (what an odd name) and got a feel for the noise and dance. What a party street. I remember one interviewer telling me to make sure I visited that place. Oh well 4 yrs too late. ... Next day we went to the famous Chez Zee breakfast house. Apparently they have a dish that Matt Lauer prepared on the Today Show! ("Matt. Matt, Matt, you don't even-- you're glib".) So much food. I think I ate the most and I think I ate crab meat for breakfast?! Later saw a nice coffee shop on the river, but no one ordered coffee. Bummed a little then the guys went out for a few drinks and laughs. Met some nice people but got a little tipsy. Slept it off. Next morning head on back.

Good trip. Good times. Can't beleive I didn't take any pictures or buys myself a t-shirt. Anyways in summary:

Hema: So Mauriat are you having a good time?
Me: Ohhhh yeaahhh.

Now I'm sitting here wondering what life would have been like had the IBM thing worked out. Who knows?

Off to Texas

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 20:48:13 -0400

Now on leg 2 of my US tour I will be gracing Texas with my presence. My buddy Mahesh insisted that I come down there for him to argue his stance as to why I should switch to Intel from AMD processors. I don't know sounds like a tough challenge. ... Nah, just taking some time off to relax, catch up, check out the scene down there.

Time to party, err, relax. Hoping for some good times! You all know the drill, email works as always.

Washington D.C. Highlights

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 21:34:51 -0400

Got into Virginia friday night and just looked over our plans then smashed eachother on Super Smash Brothers. Saturday we took in the Mall of DC. Unfortunately everything was either wardened off or it was just too crowded. The main spots were the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and Natural History museum. Very fascinating. Wish we spent some more time there. There were so many things to see, I can't even recall them. We tried the fighter jet simulator but my co-pilot had a knack for flying us upside down. Lots of cool planes and things. We saw the Hope Diamond (origin: India) and a shocking assortment of fine gems. Warning: you WILL be ripped off at the food court!

Head off to see the monuments. The Washington monument was all blocked off, no more tickets were available when we got there. So we walked and walked to the White House, there was such a crowd there. We squeezed to the gate and took a picture from soooo far off. So many cops there. Big WOW!!! Not sure what all the people were excited about. The WWII memorial was surprisingly simple. It seemed more like a token than a true tribute, but I'm not saying anything bad about it. On the other hand it was pretty difficult to look over all the names on the Vietnam memorial. So many people were kneeling and looking for certain names. Sad. ... Moving on, we couldn't even walk beside the Reflecting Pool they had us walk all the way around. Reaching the end we made it up to the Lincoln Monument. That thing is so small up close. People were waiting in lines to take a solo picture next to it. I tried waiting but then gave up, so what if some random person is in the corner of my pic?! After that walk, I was totally spent. I think we sat there the longest. Made it home and just chilled, more Nintendo and movies.

Next day relaxed with some more movies and we decided our luck at bowling. Odd thing, why is everyone intimidated by it? I guess it's humiliating to roll gutter balls, but hey we all do it. I started bad, but came out on top (note to self: ball size 15). Don't remember what after that, saw Bewitched. Funny and cute but enjoyable. Props to my boy Will Ferrell.

Next day went out to the other air and space museum. I forget the name but this one was impressive. Lots of missiles and cool planes. Highlights were the Concorde, Enola Gay, Blackbird and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Lots of cool stuff, can't remember it all. After that we got ready for the official D.C. fireworks. No one really knew how long they would be, but starting time was 9:00pm. We got out to the Metro train by 7 and IT WAS PACKED. We made it to Arlington National Cemetery and picked out our viewing spot by 8:30 or so and waited. They didn't start till about 9:10 and they were pretty impressive, but they ended at 9:30!!! Only 20 minutes?? So head on back to the Metro entrance, there were a few thousand people in line already. So we walked for about 45 minutes to the next stop. And it was PACKED. So incredibly hot and crowded. Don't know how long we waited to climb in but you could barely breathe: think sardines. Made it back to the pad at 11:30. All of that for 20 minutes of "ooohs" and "aaahs". Never again.

Next day, packed up, wasted time, set our objectives for next year's trip and flew home. Overall great trip. Could have used a lot more planning, but I think we covered a lot. I know my bro's not reading this, but hat's off to him for a good time.

Off to Virginia

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 13:43:25 -0400

Since it was July 4rth, and my heart felt the need to pay respect to this fabulous country, I am going to celebrate July 4rth weekend in our nation's capital. Okay fine, I'm not good at telling jokes. Anyways, my brother and I are visiting our other brother in Virginia. (Can you keep count of the Brothers Miranda?) Should be a nice getaway. All packed and leaving in a little bit. If you need to get in contact with me, email, of course it will sit for a few days.

Hope everyone enjoys their long weekend. Especially all you stuck in the heat, trapped in traffic or can't sleep because of fireworks! I'm out of here!