Nov 27th'10:
Now, last night before sleeping and setting the alarm ready for this morning, Vijesh's brilliant mind thought when should we take the last metro to New Carrolton.That is when it struck me that the last metro is at 3am which means we need to leave from room at 2.15 wholly sh**.We woke up at 1.45 packed our bread jam, left room at 2.15 and caught the last metro to Federal triangle at 2.30am.We checked out the night life in DC and it was windy and cold at that time,we did a smart thing by walking up to our office and took rest there till 5am and walked up to the Megabus counter and boarded the bus at 5.15am with ease. The bus was a Double decker bus, with toilet in it,AC charging point, Wi-fi and driven by a lady, well quite alot for a cheap bus, though i have to admit that bus seat comfort was bad.
We reached NY around 9.30 and from our bus window we could see the Manhattan skyline,it was sunny but when we stepped out it was windy,freezing and that was the last time i removed my jacket.New York here we are and it was an amazing feeling as we walked towards the 28th St Subway with our hands in our pockets and nose getting numb.We boarded the subway train to reach the South Ferry, it was the last stop and metro was packed all though it was a weekend.We could see people of different countries and all were clothed from top to bottom,all seemed Touristy kind and were in hurry to get moving. We reached the place of boarding our ferry for Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, it was a kilometer long crowd and we did the good thing of booking it online.Its called the Battery park entrance and after going thru airport style security-check, we boarded our ferry at 11am and we were the last ones for that timing. This place was more windy, freezing and after a 20min ride we reached Liberty Island.We walked across the periphery of Statue, a park with Liberty bike, a US national Flag in the center and Manhattan skyline to vouch for and i went on clicking spree, the view of the Manhattan skyline is mesmerizing from the island. We then approached closer to the Statue and there she stood beautifully with a book in one hand and Crown in other hand.I think this was the most stunning monument i have ever seen after the Taj !!,we could not walk to the pedestal as we couldn't get the ticket for that and got to know there is a separate ticket for Crown access and that must be great to be in there.We waited for the ferry in 1 deg chilly wind blowing across us though we still chose the open upper deck of the ferry and i bet temperature would have been in minus something with wind blowing and making life miserable.I withstood the freezing wind till my neck and nose turned deep red with chapped lips and i gave up. We skipped the Ellis island and
reached the Battery park to carry on with our next destination. We walked up to the Wall Street and there was a mad rush to click pics with the Bull and after waiting in queue, we managed to get ours too.We then walked to the Trinity Church and it was a historic,full service parish church with beautiful stained glasses and vaulted ceilings.Hunger struck us and we ate at the famous Falafel and Gyros Street food joint, i had falafel in pita bread and it was spicy yumm and was great for the cold weather,pretty filling too,Vijesh went for the Chicken over Rice and it was finger licking.We walked to the nearby 9/11 World Trade center (which is no longer exists) and all we could see was the new WTC under construction and a memorial for 9/11 which charges u 10$ damn it if u want to see it, we skipped it but surprised to see the nearby building still intact and survived the horrific crash, the WTC towers were spread across a large area.
We took the nearest Subway, love the subways here as they are a great and cheap mode of transport, and got down at the Brooklyn Bridge station.Vijesh came in a different train so waited for him at the station and then we walked up to one of the oldest Suspension bridge in US,we chose the separate walkway along the centerline for pedestrians and bicycles.We took pics with the overlooking Manhattan bridge on the East river.We then walked to the nearby Chinatown center which was an ethnic Chinese enclave surrounded by hawkers, authentic chinese restaurants.We didn't find anything interesting here and we boarded the subway to reach Grand Central Terminal, its a terminal station in Midtown Manhattan and is the largest train station in the World interms of number of platforms, it has 44 platforms.From Grand Central terminal we walked to 42nd street 7th Avenue to reach Times Square, on the way i munched a Knish which NY is famous form,its a mashed potato based stuffing in a dumpling form, it tasted ok as it was bland with mustard sauce.
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan and huge number of animated neon and LED signs billboards make the famous landmark of NY.We walked through sea of people, alot of indians enjoying themselves and this place was alive at any point of the night.We could see a bunch street performers and managed to get a good deal on our Chrono watches and we saw the Empire state building from far off and it stood lit magnificently.We ended our trip with a dinner at an Indian Pakistani joint but food turned out to be ok kinds.We were happy to board our bus from Penn station as it was freezing outside and reached our room in DC at 2.30am.Phew!! Wat a trip with sleepless nights, lots of traveling, freezing winds and it was one hell of a trip my best ever :)
thanks for reading this, this post was a big one.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Black Friday
Nov 26'10
Its a black Friday as they call in US and its the second biggest sale in US.Well, i didn't have anything to buy since my camera was ordered online but things change when u head to supermarket.
Kmart being the closest to our room, we walked from room around 8am and checked out the black friday sale happening there, did my own shopping, we found the black friday sale happening at this store as nothing great.Later during the day after having our lunch we walked towards DSW as i had to purchase 2 pairs of shoes, one for my in-law and other for bro-in-law,did that and checked out Walmart which was closeby, Vijesh purchased his ipods and we reached room around 9.30ish and slept early as we had the Big apple trip early morning .We again walked to close to 10kms but this time much quicker,less tiring and were clear with the route.
Its a black Friday as they call in US and its the second biggest sale in US.Well, i didn't have anything to buy since my camera was ordered online but things change when u head to supermarket.
Kmart being the closest to our room, we walked from room around 8am and checked out the black friday sale happening there, did my own shopping, we found the black friday sale happening at this store as nothing great.Later during the day after having our lunch we walked towards DSW as i had to purchase 2 pairs of shoes, one for my in-law and other for bro-in-law,did that and checked out Walmart which was closeby, Vijesh purchased his ipods and we reached room around 9.30ish and slept early as we had the Big apple trip early morning .We again walked to close to 10kms but this time much quicker,less tiring and were clear with the route.
Thanksgiving Day
Nov 25th'10:
Its Thanksgiving day, the second biggest festival in US and they wait all year long for this one.It always falls on fourth Thursday of a month and to provide a long weekend, Friday,Nov 26th is also considered a holiday.A little history on Thanksgiving, here it goes, to
"Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday and Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends. "
We didn't have anything planned for this day since the major attractions would be closed today for the holiday.So, nothing much in mind we got down to preparing our Runbooks, one entire day we did not step out, working on our laptop starting from 11am and ending at 11.30pm Phew !!.We celebrated thanksgiving with Budweiser, Bryer's Dark Chocolate ice cream and lots of work :)
Its Thanksgiving day, the second biggest festival in US and they wait all year long for this one.It always falls on fourth Thursday of a month and to provide a long weekend, Friday,Nov 26th is also considered a holiday.A little history on Thanksgiving, here it goes, to
"Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday and Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends. "
We didn't have anything planned for this day since the major attractions would be closed today for the holiday.So, nothing much in mind we got down to preparing our Runbooks, one entire day we did not step out, working on our laptop starting from 11am and ending at 11.30pm Phew !!.We celebrated thanksgiving with Budweiser, Bryer's Dark Chocolate ice cream and lots of work :)
Long Weekend Begins :)
Nov 24th'10
We woke up pretty relaxed and late as it was a Wednesday and we had to visit the Hosting center for the Carlyle.Thuan was before time (ppl here know wat punctuality is) and we joined him in 10 mins regular Indian Stretchable time ;). Thuan drove us in his Accord on a sunny day though chill, we went to their primary Hosting center at Sterling which is managed by Savvis, a datacenter vendor.It had cages for each of customer's hardware and checked out the different EVAs, servers and switches for Carlyle.We later on went to the nearest DR center at Reston,managed by Coresite, now got to know that Carlyle has stakes in Coresite.Thuan then took us to Obi Sushi,a japanese restaurant and now this is what i call an Authentic Japanese food joint.They had seafood buffet and we started with Seaweed salad,lettuce, veg tempura with sauces (tasty but dont remember the name), then went for the famous Sushi rolls,well here goes the list - California Roll, Veggie Roll, Alaska Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll, Raw snapper fish,Raw Eel rolls and few others which i don't recollect.Fresh fruits and Mochi red bean ice cream was my dessert, Vijesh opted for the fried ice cream. The food was great and dessert the best part.We thanked Thuan for taking and guiding us in the japanese food joint, it was a very different and nice experience.We crossed horse farms, massive and fairy tale mansions, undoubtedly these are freaking expensive homes.Rested the afternoon and purchased fruits from Bloom a local grocery shop and next day was thanksgiving day.
We woke up pretty relaxed and late as it was a Wednesday and we had to visit the Hosting center for the Carlyle.Thuan was before time (ppl here know wat punctuality is) and we joined him in 10 mins regular Indian Stretchable time ;). Thuan drove us in his Accord on a sunny day though chill, we went to their primary Hosting center at Sterling which is managed by Savvis, a datacenter vendor.It had cages for each of customer's hardware and checked out the different EVAs, servers and switches for Carlyle.We later on went to the nearest DR center at Reston,managed by Coresite, now got to know that Carlyle has stakes in Coresite.Thuan then took us to Obi Sushi,a japanese restaurant and now this is what i call an Authentic Japanese food joint.They had seafood buffet and we started with Seaweed salad,lettuce, veg tempura with sauces (tasty but dont remember the name), then went for the famous Sushi rolls,well here goes the list - California Roll, Veggie Roll, Alaska Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll, Raw snapper fish,Raw Eel rolls and few others which i don't recollect.Fresh fruits and Mochi red bean ice cream was my dessert, Vijesh opted for the fried ice cream. The food was great and dessert the best part.We thanked Thuan for taking and guiding us in the japanese food joint, it was a very different and nice experience.We crossed horse farms, massive and fairy tale mansions, undoubtedly these are freaking expensive homes.Rested the afternoon and purchased fruits from Bloom a local grocery shop and next day was thanksgiving day.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wasabi Effect...phew !!
Nov 23rd'10:
After the tummy effect, i woke up feeling good and reached office on time.I was expecting to have some indian food which was prepared by Vijesh last night which i didn't have it.But Vijesh had forgotten to keep the lunch boxes and now we were in the state of confusion which place to eat. Our good friend Amit bumped into us at the elevator and he gave us lot of gyaan on choosing the right restaurants for us. It was nice of him to walk with towards the 7th Street which is 3 blocks away and showed us the China town area.He showed us plenty of options starting from the Rasika (indian joint) to the Hooters (girls skimpily dressed,showing their *** u know wat i mean and serving fud), i guess ppl wud be looking at the girls rather than the food and its price ;).Vijesh somehow wanted to try Zengo,may be its a catchy name.Zengo by the way means "Give and Take" in japanese.Now we are the table looking at the menu which we are not familiar at all.I wanted to have an appetizer and then try the Salad so i chose the Vegetariano Sushi Roll and Vijesh chose Bento Hot Box.Well, this is where it gets hysterical, i get my dish first and before me is a small empty plate with Soya sauce in a small kettle and chopsticks.The dish had Veg sushi rolls, ginger peels and a green paste, now i assumed that this is some kind of mint (pudina) chutney and treated the Sushi as a samosa and ate it with ginger to go with it. After tasting the paste, it burnt my nostrils and for a minute i was grasping for breath.Later found out that this is a kind of spice and its called Wasabi,a horse radish and it needs to be had along with the Soya sauce to cut the spice, this is the only spice which affects the nostrils rather than the tongue. Vijesh's dish arrived in a literally large tiffin box with 3 compartments, containing Steak,rice and squash.He was smart enough to ask the waitress on how to eat the dish.Now, i was still hungry so walked to the nearby Chop't salad house and it had a long queue as people were waiting for it.
I ordered the Caesar salad and it had nothing but lettuce leaves,croutons and caesar dressing with shaved cheese pieces.The dressing kind of spoilt the taste and i finished each bite with a good portion of black pepper,it was a pain in finishing it.Walked back to office and had a hearty laugh with other colleagues who told us the right method of having the Wasabi in a way this lead to building a good rapport with the onsite guys.I would remember this incident for a long time and had learn how to have the Sushi with Wasabi.This also made me realise i murdered the dish.
After the tummy effect, i woke up feeling good and reached office on time.I was expecting to have some indian food which was prepared by Vijesh last night which i didn't have it.But Vijesh had forgotten to keep the lunch boxes and now we were in the state of confusion which place to eat. Our good friend Amit bumped into us at the elevator and he gave us lot of gyaan on choosing the right restaurants for us. It was nice of him to walk with towards the 7th Street which is 3 blocks away and showed us the China town area.He showed us plenty of options starting from the Rasika (indian joint) to the Hooters (girls skimpily dressed,showing their *** u know wat i mean and serving fud), i guess ppl wud be looking at the girls rather than the food and its price ;).Vijesh somehow wanted to try Zengo,may be its a catchy name.Zengo by the way means "Give and Take" in japanese.Now we are the table looking at the menu which we are not familiar at all.I wanted to have an appetizer and then try the Salad so i chose the Vegetariano Sushi Roll and Vijesh chose Bento Hot Box.Well, this is where it gets hysterical, i get my dish first and before me is a small empty plate with Soya sauce in a small kettle and chopsticks.The dish had Veg sushi rolls, ginger peels and a green paste, now i assumed that this is some kind of mint (pudina) chutney and treated the Sushi as a samosa and ate it with ginger to go with it. After tasting the paste, it burnt my nostrils and for a minute i was grasping for breath.Later found out that this is a kind of spice and its called Wasabi,a horse radish and it needs to be had along with the Soya sauce to cut the spice, this is the only spice which affects the nostrils rather than the tongue. Vijesh's dish arrived in a literally large tiffin box with 3 compartments, containing Steak,rice and squash.He was smart enough to ask the waitress on how to eat the dish.Now, i was still hungry so walked to the nearby Chop't salad house and it had a long queue as people were waiting for it.
I ordered the Caesar salad and it had nothing but lettuce leaves,croutons and caesar dressing with shaved cheese pieces.The dressing kind of spoilt the taste and i finished each bite with a good portion of black pepper,it was a pain in finishing it.Walked back to office and had a hearty laugh with other colleagues who told us the right method of having the Wasabi in a way this lead to building a good rapport with the onsite guys.I would remember this incident for a long time and had learn how to have the Sushi with Wasabi.This also made me realise i murdered the dish.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Lunch @ Central
Nov 22nd'10:
After the last night thrilling movie, we woke up to get ready to leave for work.It was sunny and i don't see any chillness in the air :( now the sad part got to know that its snowing in Tacoma after we reached here DC.We had an informal lunch with the Exchange guy Saul,he was kind enough to check with me if i eat steak beef,pork/chicken) and i gladly told him i eat seafood.He took us to the downstairs Central restaurant, i ordered the Lunch special which included the Crab Chowder, fish and chips and Chocolate mousse, well it was mistake from my end i should have gone with the Roasted Salmon with pearl pasta. We checked out the place to board the bus that leaves to NY and took the cab from Vienna station to Candlewood suites, the cab driver turned out to be a real nut crack who was trying to preach Islam and follow some stupid islamic website. He kept telling us the reasons to choose that religion non-stop and it gave me a real headache.I reached room and the effects of having an oily deep fried fish showed on me, i had bouts of constipation and realised this is the end of fried fish n chips stuff for me for this trip. I ate an apple and lentils, n dozed off.
After the last night thrilling movie, we woke up to get ready to leave for work.It was sunny and i don't see any chillness in the air :( now the sad part got to know that its snowing in Tacoma after we reached here DC.We had an informal lunch with the Exchange guy Saul,he was kind enough to check with me if i eat steak beef,pork/chicken) and i gladly told him i eat seafood.He took us to the downstairs Central restaurant, i ordered the Lunch special which included the Crab Chowder, fish and chips and Chocolate mousse, well it was mistake from my end i should have gone with the Roasted Salmon with pearl pasta. We checked out the place to board the bus that leaves to NY and took the cab from Vienna station to Candlewood suites, the cab driver turned out to be a real nut crack who was trying to preach Islam and follow some stupid islamic website. He kept telling us the reasons to choose that religion non-stop and it gave me a real headache.I reached room and the effects of having an oily deep fried fish showed on me, i had bouts of constipation and realised this is the end of fried fish n chips stuff for me for this trip. I ate an apple and lentils, n dozed off.
Monday, November 22, 2010
1st Sunday @ DC
Nov 21'10:
Well,i woke up after a completely relaxing and peaceful sleep by around 9ish.The confusion prevailed on what to be done this Sunday, considering there is nothing worth visiting the nearby cities, we did our most popular stuff Mall Shopping. We went to the Burlington Coach Factory, walkable distance from our room after checking out the Sports Grille bar.I shopped for the new one who is yet to arrive :) and after feeling satisfied and tired of course we hit the Indian buffet. This buffet was more organised and ate the spicy chat with pan puri and pav bhaji in our stomachs, this was a pure Veg buffet and the atmosphere was complete indian with Gods photos all around decorated and the ganapathis stealing the limelight.Fresh Dosa was a nice thing to see here.Again buffet made me full and ate till my throat and i needed some walk.We walked back to the room,i dozed off for 30 mins and got ready to walk the East side towards Fairfox 14 corner,a shopping complex.We walked around checked out the nearby shops, we found Chilled beer was 4$ while the coffee was 3$,chuck the coffee and went for the Budweiser :D.I wanted to see atleast one movie in a theater in US, so my wish was granted we watched the "Unstoppable",an action packed thrilling movie, the show started at 7.35 and without any interval ended at 9.15,the mustangs,EVO and stunning Corvette caught my attention and we walked back to the room and hit bed :)
Well,i woke up after a completely relaxing and peaceful sleep by around 9ish.The confusion prevailed on what to be done this Sunday, considering there is nothing worth visiting the nearby cities, we did our most popular stuff Mall Shopping. We went to the Burlington Coach Factory, walkable distance from our room after checking out the Sports Grille bar.I shopped for the new one who is yet to arrive :) and after feeling satisfied and tired of course we hit the Indian buffet. This buffet was more organised and ate the spicy chat with pan puri and pav bhaji in our stomachs, this was a pure Veg buffet and the atmosphere was complete indian with Gods photos all around decorated and the ganapathis stealing the limelight.Fresh Dosa was a nice thing to see here.Again buffet made me full and ate till my throat and i needed some walk.We walked back to the room,i dozed off for 30 mins and got ready to walk the East side towards Fairfox 14 corner,a shopping complex.We walked around checked out the nearby shops, we found Chilled beer was 4$ while the coffee was 3$,chuck the coffee and went for the Budweiser :D.I wanted to see atleast one movie in a theater in US, so my wish was granted we watched the "Unstoppable",an action packed thrilling movie, the show started at 7.35 and without any interval ended at 9.15,the mustangs,EVO and stunning Corvette caught my attention and we walked back to the room and hit bed :)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Weekend @ DC
Nov 20th'10:
Work which was unfinished on Friday night,carried over to Saturday morning and it kept me busy till 1pm. We decided to See and Shop at the Walmart,after getting confused with the right direction and google map directions in our hand,we left room at around 2pm.We walked and walked,enjoyed the beautiful clean roads and lovely apartments, the scene was just a dream place to live in.We finally got confused and a lady taking her dog for walk was our savior and she correctly guided us to our destination. We crossed a beautiful lake with fountains of spring, met another walking couple who helped us reaching our destination. We reached the Fairfax shopping center and found a Pets Mart, a Pet hotel with Chihuahua dogs all around us, since it was a weekend hence people flocked with their pets.We ended up purchasing shoes from DSW which turned out to be a gr8 deal for both of us, i purchased my Merrel Trekking shoes while Vijesh got his Running shoes.
We finally reached Walmart and upon reaching we went to the Subway counter and gulped down our 8foot long sandwiches,i got mine made spicier. Walmart was huge and lot of articles on the shelf, from the beauty bars to grocery,Electronics to Clothing.We did our bit of shopping however we were a tag disappointed as we had come for the Chrono watches and didn't find them here.Afer calling the cab, we reached the hotel and hit the bed with tired legs after all close to 10km of walking.
Work which was unfinished on Friday night,carried over to Saturday morning and it kept me busy till 1pm. We decided to See and Shop at the Walmart,after getting confused with the right direction and google map directions in our hand,we left room at around 2pm.We walked and walked,enjoyed the beautiful clean roads and lovely apartments, the scene was just a dream place to live in.We finally got confused and a lady taking her dog for walk was our savior and she correctly guided us to our destination. We crossed a beautiful lake with fountains of spring, met another walking couple who helped us reaching our destination. We reached the Fairfax shopping center and found a Pets Mart, a Pet hotel with Chihuahua dogs all around us, since it was a weekend hence people flocked with their pets.We ended up purchasing shoes from DSW which turned out to be a gr8 deal for both of us, i purchased my Merrel Trekking shoes while Vijesh got his Running shoes.
We finally reached Walmart and upon reaching we went to the Subway counter and gulped down our 8foot long sandwiches,i got mine made spicier. Walmart was huge and lot of articles on the shelf, from the beauty bars to grocery,Electronics to Clothing.We did our bit of shopping however we were a tag disappointed as we had come for the Chrono watches and didn't find them here.Afer calling the cab, we reached the hotel and hit the bed with tired legs after all close to 10km of walking.
TGIF in DC :)
Nov 19'10:
It was Friday yippie but the sad part is we had to be dressed in Formal clothes as this is TCG :).We reached late and got involved with our work.We left work to walk towards Radio Shack to buy my Universal charger.We boarded the train from Metro station instead of Federal Triangle.We decided to have dinner at Bombay Cafe, an Indian Buffet @ 7$ and we were very happy seeing indian delicacy.We started with Samosa,papadi chat, poori channa,nan and Dal Makkani,few other vegetables.Food was delicious and i overate,i wanted to try the Sevai but tummy didn't have any space and i ended the dessert with Gajar ka halwa and jalebi.We walked towards our room with heavy tummy and drowsed by the food.Lesson to be learnt not to hog on indian food when its cheap ;). Came to the room,chatter with wifey and slept :)
It was Friday yippie but the sad part is we had to be dressed in Formal clothes as this is TCG :).We reached late and got involved with our work.We left work to walk towards Radio Shack to buy my Universal charger.We boarded the train from Metro station instead of Federal Triangle.We decided to have dinner at Bombay Cafe, an Indian Buffet @ 7$ and we were very happy seeing indian delicacy.We started with Samosa,papadi chat, poori channa,nan and Dal Makkani,few other vegetables.Food was delicious and i overate,i wanted to try the Sevai but tummy didn't have any space and i ended the dessert with Gajar ka halwa and jalebi.We walked towards our room with heavy tummy and drowsed by the food.Lesson to be learnt not to hog on indian food when its cheap ;). Came to the room,chatter with wifey and slept :)
Day 3 at Carlyle Office
Nov 18th' 10:
We reached office a bit late and i got to finally meet my Onsite Storage coordinate, Thuan Tran. He is a philipino short guy and cool about things.Well there is nothing much to write about this day as we boarded the Metro back. This time i managed to keep myself awake in the Metro and this was mainly due to conversation between co-passengers of the train.It was interesting to be a part of such conversation b/w a partial Blind man,an Alstom engineer and a expectant Indian lady.I was surprised by the Blind man's travel knowledge and on other varied topics.Reached room,cooked dinner and slept :)
We reached office a bit late and i got to finally meet my Onsite Storage coordinate, Thuan Tran. He is a philipino short guy and cool about things.Well there is nothing much to write about this day as we boarded the Metro back. This time i managed to keep myself awake in the Metro and this was mainly due to conversation between co-passengers of the train.It was interesting to be a part of such conversation b/w a partial Blind man,an Alstom engineer and a expectant Indian lady.I was surprised by the Blind man's travel knowledge and on other varied topics.Reached room,cooked dinner and slept :)
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Day 2 @ Carlyle Office
Nov 17th'10:
We woke up and left room at our leisure pace, we were picked up the by the same cab guy who picked us yday.He informed us that Vijesh's Citi card did not work when it was swiped yday for the cab travel so we gave him cash simple :). We got familiar with the routes now and had a peek of Capitol hill towards our right while walking towards our office.Office work was less as we got introduced to more onsite colleagues.We had lunch at Mexican joint called Qdobo,Vijesh had Chicken gumbo and i had Veg gumbo,it was nothing but rice mixed with medium spicy curry with cheese and babycorn and this is the veg version.Vijesh loved the most as it was closest to Indian food.We walked around to find we are in the most happening tourist spot, we decided to keep this for DC sightseeing.We left office at 5pm and reached home (had to mention tht bcos its our place of stay),i used the treadmill and it was fun jogging on it.Dinner was the best served so far with Rice,lentil and Karela subji to go along.Chatted with my wifey, i love it and slept peacefully.
We woke up and left room at our leisure pace, we were picked up the by the same cab guy who picked us yday.He informed us that Vijesh's Citi card did not work when it was swiped yday for the cab travel so we gave him cash simple :). We got familiar with the routes now and had a peek of Capitol hill towards our right while walking towards our office.Office work was less as we got introduced to more onsite colleagues.We had lunch at Mexican joint called Qdobo,Vijesh had Chicken gumbo and i had Veg gumbo,it was nothing but rice mixed with medium spicy curry with cheese and babycorn and this is the veg version.Vijesh loved the most as it was closest to Indian food.We walked around to find we are in the most happening tourist spot, we decided to keep this for DC sightseeing.We left office at 5pm and reached home (had to mention tht bcos its our place of stay),i used the treadmill and it was fun jogging on it.Dinner was the best served so far with Rice,lentil and Karela subji to go along.Chatted with my wifey, i love it and slept peacefully.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
1st Day @ Carlyle Office
Nov 16th'10:
Well, this was our first time visit to the Carlyle office and we woke u fairly early to get ready.We were given all the desired info to reach the office from our Onsite manager, which was nice.We took a cab from our Suites to reach Vienna metro station, it took 25 mins to cover a distance of 6kms and this made us think about our Bengaluru traffic, though people still dont honk what come may.We reached Vienna Station around 8.15am, there was a little chaos in getting our Smart Trip card and all of them seemed to be in hurry.The fat ladies disappeared and the city had Slim and fit ladies all around dressed smartly to work.
We got down at Federal Triangle station after crossing 12-14 stops and the metro was a comfortable ride. We walked 3 escalators up and managed to reach the office,though the Tacoma rains followed us in DC :), we met our onsite manager and she introduced us to other Onsite colleagues.The Carlyle office occupies the 2nd and 3rd floor at 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue.The building is beautiful with shinning Green Granites on the wall and mirror reflecting Brass handles and elevators.The Carlyle office was painted in white with brass handles giving a richness to it.We ended our work at 5pm and reached back to Candlewood suites in traffic (unlike of US) but this is DC.
Well, this was our first time visit to the Carlyle office and we woke u fairly early to get ready.We were given all the desired info to reach the office from our Onsite manager, which was nice.We took a cab from our Suites to reach Vienna metro station, it took 25 mins to cover a distance of 6kms and this made us think about our Bengaluru traffic, though people still dont honk what come may.We reached Vienna Station around 8.15am, there was a little chaos in getting our Smart Trip card and all of them seemed to be in hurry.The fat ladies disappeared and the city had Slim and fit ladies all around dressed smartly to work.
We got down at Federal Triangle station after crossing 12-14 stops and the metro was a comfortable ride. We walked 3 escalators up and managed to reach the office,though the Tacoma rains followed us in DC :), we met our onsite manager and she introduced us to other Onsite colleagues.The Carlyle office occupies the 2nd and 3rd floor at 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue.The building is beautiful with shinning Green Granites on the wall and mirror reflecting Brass handles and elevators.The Carlyle office was painted in white with brass handles giving a richness to it.We ended our work at 5pm and reached back to Candlewood suites in traffic (unlike of US) but this is DC.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Reached Washington DC :)
Nov 15'10:
We boarded the UA262 flight and were comfortably seated in this low-frill aircraft.Surprisingly, this Air A320 had more leg space than the Kingfisher we boarded to reach Dubai. We reached Washington DC at 7.15am local time, it was a 5 hour flight and we traveled close to 3750kms.Well, this was the East coast and time difference of 3 hours so had to reset our watches 3hours ahead.The first reaction of DC it was lot crowded than North West and people seemed to be in hurry.It was a foggy morning and not as chill as Tacoma,the traffic thickened and the most we have seen in US so far.We reached Candle Suites in about 35mins and after checking in took some rest.
The room was better in terms of a Dish Washer facility :),lot more utensils,tea bags (wat a relief),washing free.Well, we were excited to try the Bombay Bistro which serves indian buffet for 5$ man that's a steal.We asked the reception desk and kept walking,crossing the dangerous freeways and were gr8 at walking the other direction.This proves Always Right is not the right way,we ended up walking close to 6km extra,with hunger pangs striking we ended up eating Spaghetti and Chicken Sandwich :(.We did manage to find the veg and vegan serving Saravana Palace but it serves only Dinner :(:(. We didnt want to give up hence finally managed to find the Bombay Bistro with mouth watering indian dishes,there was an indian market nearby run by a Sardarani.Well we walked back with grocery and cooked dinner, to have a peaceful sleep.Well we learnt the Lesson the hard way, Google map should always be used in this country.The best part it was a monday and we worked from Room; no office :)
We boarded the UA262 flight and were comfortably seated in this low-frill aircraft.Surprisingly, this Air A320 had more leg space than the Kingfisher we boarded to reach Dubai. We reached Washington DC at 7.15am local time, it was a 5 hour flight and we traveled close to 3750kms.Well, this was the East coast and time difference of 3 hours so had to reset our watches 3hours ahead.The first reaction of DC it was lot crowded than North West and people seemed to be in hurry.It was a foggy morning and not as chill as Tacoma,the traffic thickened and the most we have seen in US so far.We reached Candle Suites in about 35mins and after checking in took some rest.
The room was better in terms of a Dish Washer facility :),lot more utensils,tea bags (wat a relief),washing free.Well, we were excited to try the Bombay Bistro which serves indian buffet for 5$ man that's a steal.We asked the reception desk and kept walking,crossing the dangerous freeways and were gr8 at walking the other direction.This proves Always Right is not the right way,we ended up walking close to 6km extra,with hunger pangs striking we ended up eating Spaghetti and Chicken Sandwich :(.We did manage to find the veg and vegan serving Saravana Palace but it serves only Dinner :(:(. We didnt want to give up hence finally managed to find the Bombay Bistro with mouth watering indian dishes,there was an indian market nearby run by a Sardarani.Well we walked back with grocery and cooked dinner, to have a peaceful sleep.Well we learnt the Lesson the hard way, Google map should always be used in this country.The best part it was a monday and we worked from Room; no office :)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Last Day in Tacoma
Nov 14th'10:
I woke up to a more relaxed Sunday as this would be the last morning i would be waking up in Tacoma.Since we had our flight to DC at 23.30 we decided to spend the time wandering around the nearby Tacoma Mall,Best Buy, JC Penny and few others. We spent a considerable amount of time in Best Buy especially finalizing the SLR to choose, i think we have decided on which one to go for.Checked out the nearest J C Penny for window shopping and moved to the Dollar Store to get my things exchanged.We had a quick bite @ Wendy's and they did a sweet thing by offering me a Burger minus the Chicken Slab for no charge since they didn't have anything for me non-meat eating guy.
We came back to the room, took rest and our cab guy picked us up by 8.30 from the room.We reached the Seatac airport at 9pm and checked out few souvenir shops at the airport.Our dinner was Chowder with Cod fish and chips with a lemonade to go along.
So this was our final good bye to the beautiful and peaceful Tacoma.I would summarize our Tacoma trip by saying
1. Tacoma would always be remembered to me for the Shining Snowy peak of Mount Rainer.
2. Our first sight of US freeways with Mustangs,RAM Dodge vehicles stealing our sight.
3. Seattle would always be remembered for its high rise buildings and the beautiful Space Needle.
Tacoma, I would be back to see you once again some other time :) and thank you for everything.
I woke up to a more relaxed Sunday as this would be the last morning i would be waking up in Tacoma.Since we had our flight to DC at 23.30 we decided to spend the time wandering around the nearby Tacoma Mall,Best Buy, JC Penny and few others. We spent a considerable amount of time in Best Buy especially finalizing the SLR to choose, i think we have decided on which one to go for.Checked out the nearest J C Penny for window shopping and moved to the Dollar Store to get my things exchanged.We had a quick bite @ Wendy's and they did a sweet thing by offering me a Burger minus the Chicken Slab for no charge since they didn't have anything for me non-meat eating guy.
We came back to the room, took rest and our cab guy picked us up by 8.30 from the room.We reached the Seatac airport at 9pm and checked out few souvenir shops at the airport.Our dinner was Chowder with Cod fish and chips with a lemonade to go along.
So this was our final good bye to the beautiful and peaceful Tacoma.I would summarize our Tacoma trip by saying
1. Tacoma would always be remembered to me for the Shining Snowy peak of Mount Rainer.
2. Our first sight of US freeways with Mustangs,RAM Dodge vehicles stealing our sight.
3. Seattle would always be remembered for its high rise buildings and the beautiful Space Needle.
Tacoma, I would be back to see you once again some other time :) and thank you for everything.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
World's First Starbucks outlet !!
Nov 14th' 10
Got up a bit late, as it was a weekend ;), I freshened up and all set to hit Seattle again. I was being a hero by wearing a linen shirt in the freaking 6 Deg cold, cold start affecting my naked nose and lips. We missed our 10.15 am bus from Tacoma Mall to Washington University, which was great for me as I ran back and got my jacket, this was relief. Reached Seattle by around 12.30pm, this trip was less of sight seeing and more of visiting the World's first Starbucks coffee shop.
After checking the Ross shop and Vijesh got refund for his watch, we proceeded to the nearby Pike Market, on the way Vijesh enjoyed his Japanese Hot Dog, I was craving to have the World's Best Mac n Cheese at Beecher's Cheese joint, the cheese was handmade and delicious, while the pasta was soft and melted in my mouth. I also saw them making the cheese infront of me. I later had Danish Cream and Apricot Ruggula at 3 Girls bakery and the Aprioct one was the standout loaded with Apricots and Walnuts and just for 1.5$. I ordered for a cafe mocha cold with Cream on it and Vijesh chose the Pike roast at the Starbuck's (World's first outlet). We strolled around checked out other shops in Seattle downtown including Harley's showroom and North face (this one is not popular in India), were surprised to hear old hindi songs being played at SAM (Seattle Art Museum). So this was our final goodbye to Seattle and it was memorable to say the least.
Seattle Rocks !!!
After checking the Ross shop and Vijesh got refund for his watch, we proceeded to the nearby Pike Market, on the way Vijesh enjoyed his Japanese Hot Dog, I was craving to have the World's Best Mac n Cheese at Beecher's Cheese joint, the cheese was handmade and delicious, while the pasta was soft and melted in my mouth. I also saw them making the cheese infront of me. I later had Danish Cream and Apricot Ruggula at 3 Girls bakery and the Aprioct one was the standout loaded with Apricots and Walnuts and just for 1.5$. I ordered for a cafe mocha cold with Cream on it and Vijesh chose the Pike roast at the Starbuck's (World's first outlet). We strolled around checked out other shops in Seattle downtown including Harley's showroom and North face (this one is not popular in India), were surprised to hear old hindi songs being played at SAM (Seattle Art Museum). So this was our final goodbye to Seattle and it was memorable to say the least.
Seattle Rocks !!!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Last Day at TBI's
Nov 12' 10...
We reached 10 mins before our presentation to Gary, with wishes from our boss we got things set in Gary's room. Before we started the presentation, we took our share of Doughnuts (fresh and soft) courtesy TBI. I took the massive Chocolate Doughnut and presentation went off well with Client happy with the direction we are proceeding, most important is execution now :). Well, this was our last day in TBI office, hence played our last ping-pong game and was planning for an informal lunch with colleagues but most of them seemed busy. So, we too joined in for their Friday Pizza lunch, I took veggie ones with Mushroom and twisted bread with cheese filling to go along with it, gulped it down with Mountain Dew. Pizzas here were lot juicy and cheese quality superior. It was a filling lunch and after bidding bye to our Onsite colleagues we left this office where we got adjusted for 2 weeks. I felt a bit sad leaving this place which was our working place.Being honest, we found the client interaction onsite to be mediocre kinds and started to gradually improve at the end.
We got down at Dollar Tree shop on the way back and checked out the different stuffs. This shop was a paradise for Christmas celebrations.ranging from bells to chimes, Christmas tree and lot of colorful gift wrappers. It was amazing to see the stuffs in the shop and nothing more than a dollar :). We did our bits of shopping and checked out the nearby JC Penny Mall. With shopping weight to carry around and tired legs, we decided to check out this place one last time before leaving.
We got down at Dollar Tree shop on the way back and checked out the different stuffs. This shop was a paradise for Christmas celebrations.ranging from bells to chimes, Christmas tree and lot of colorful gift wrappers. It was amazing to see the stuffs in the shop and nothing more than a dollar :). We did our bits of shopping and checked out the nearby JC Penny Mall. With shopping weight to carry around and tired legs, we decided to check out this place one last time before leaving.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Lunch with Gary
Nov 11' 10...
I had woken up early and gone for jog, it was cold 6 Deg morning and felt great jogging and sweating it out. I found jogging is much harder than cycling and ur heart takes a pounding. After coming back, took a shower and left to office to have lunch with Gary (the big Boss). Before that we met Deepak, our sales guy who flew in from LA. We had a quick chat with him in the nearest Starbucks.It was a chat over cold Vanilla Latte and hot Latte ;), Deepak rented the Camry and drove from Seatac airport, man renting a Camry for 70$ a day is worth it.
All of drove to the nearby restaurant named, Metador. It was a beautiful red building with high ceilings, wood in-laid bar with an open fire place in the round. Both of us chose the Catfish as suggested by the waitress, fish was good but not great with vinegar sprinkled leafy veggies going well. We slept late in the evening, as we had to do the last minute presentation preparation with Rahul (my boss in india) helping us a great deal. We had a presentation with Gary the next morning at 8am and we were ready for it.
All of drove to the nearby restaurant named, Metador. It was a beautiful red building with high ceilings, wood in-laid bar with an open fire place in the round. Both of us chose the Catfish as suggested by the waitress, fish was good but not great with vinegar sprinkled leafy veggies going well. We slept late in the evening, as we had to do the last minute presentation preparation with Rahul (my boss in india) helping us a great deal. We had a presentation with Gary the next morning at 8am and we were ready for it.
Boring Wednesday
Nov 10' 10...
We reached office on our usual time and felt happy with yesterday's work, as the client seemed impressed. After getting our remaining work done, playing a couple of ping-pong games we left workplace and reached room to dig into our ice cream. Vijesh had mild temperature and he rested the full evening. After preparing dinner, I went to the Laundry section to get my clothes washed. It took 2$ for wash and 2$ for drying, the clothes dry washed was hot and sun baked. The on premise laundry was clean, huge machines with huge industrial dryers. This is a developed country where everything here is automatic. Overall nothing exciting about this day.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Meeting Lunch with Clint ;)
Nov 09'10..
We reported to work early as we had a scheduled call with Offshore team.On getting this done, we had a surprise email received from Clint our Client (Clint and Client so similar) asking for a meeting lunch as he could not make it for the early meeting with us. He drove us to Tacoma Waterfront in his massive Toyota Sequoia (google it, its not available in India) and this place had a scenic drive with the Puyallup river besides the roadway. All the restaurants were river facing and the view was unbeatable. Clint took us to a place called Duke's restaurant and this was seafood lover's paradise.
The toughest part was deciding the menu and it had so many recipes which we couldn't decipher out. After taking a suggestion from Clint, I opted for North West Chouder (Wild Alaska Salmon & Cod, fresh Manila Clams — cioppino style), this was awesome and taste still lingers, it had a slight tomato tangy flavor with the Clams substituting the Salmon and Cod fishes. My main course was Salmon fish with blueberry sauce,with bakes potatoes and boiled peas, with bottomless diet pepsi. Vegetarians ofcouse have no options here. Vijesh was in a more confused state than me and opted for the 'Duke's Award Winning Chowder" and the main course was Mac & Jack’s Fish & Chips with the Strawberry lemonade to go with it. Dining in US is very different experience for us, we were served food by a waitress Natalie and her service was prompt and took good care of us.
We talked business and lot about India, festivals,languages spoken and movies. We suggested them to watch 3 Idiots and Endhiran was a good choice for bollywood movies. It was a great meeting lunch and first one for me.
In the evening, we went to Albertson's again to get the fungus infected raspberry exchanged, I purchased the Chocolate,Vanilla and Strawberry flavoured icecream and plain yogurt (tasted it after a week). We reached home and enjoyed the icecream and hit bed after having dinner.
The toughest part was deciding the menu and it had so many recipes which we couldn't decipher out. After taking a suggestion from Clint, I opted for North West Chouder (Wild Alaska Salmon & Cod, fresh Manila Clams — cioppino style), this was awesome and taste still lingers, it had a slight tomato tangy flavor with the Clams substituting the Salmon and Cod fishes. My main course was Salmon fish with blueberry sauce,with bakes potatoes and boiled peas, with bottomless diet pepsi. Vegetarians ofcouse have no options here. Vijesh was in a more confused state than me and opted for the 'Duke's Award Winning Chowder" and the main course was Mac & Jack’s Fish & Chips with the Strawberry lemonade to go with it. Dining in US is very different experience for us, we were served food by a waitress Natalie and her service was prompt and took good care of us.
We talked business and lot about India, festivals,languages spoken and movies. We suggested them to watch 3 Idiots and Endhiran was a good choice for bollywood movies. It was a great meeting lunch and first one for me.
In the evening, we went to Albertson's again to get the fungus infected raspberry exchanged, I purchased the Chocolate,Vanilla and Strawberry flavoured icecream and plain yogurt (tasted it after a week). We reached home and enjoyed the icecream and hit bed after having dinner.
Monday at TBI
Nov 8'10...
We reached office by around 9am,Sunday also marked the beginning of Day Light Saving (DST) this means we could sleep longer on Monday.It was a cold day with temperature hovering at 6deg in the evening, Vijesh rued the chance of not getting his sweater and he felt it the most. Our cab guy was unusually late and we kept waiting on the road outside the TBI building in biting cold with wind making our bones shiver.We went to Albertson's grocery store. We purchased Raspberry, black berry and other daily stuffs, and we kept waiting for the cab in the biting cold again :). We crossed the road and purchased the Platinum (7 times Distilled) Vodka, the best part of entering a liqour shop, the door open automatically :D
With my nose leaking in the cold wind, we used the public phone to call the cab but it turned futile as those dont work. Finally Customer Service at Albertson's helped us get a cab. Lesson to be learnt in US, if you dont know anything better ask or seek help. After boarind the Cab, we felt the heater in the cab would keep us warm but that's not the case, it started blowing cold air as if the outside cold wasn't enough. We warmed ourselves and Vijesh realised this was the worst day to miss his sweater ;) and we took a nap to get up early next morning.
With my nose leaking in the cold wind, we used the public phone to call the cab but it turned futile as those dont work. Finally Customer Service at Albertson's helped us get a cab. Lesson to be learnt in US, if you dont know anything better ask or seek help. After boarind the Cab, we felt the heater in the cab would keep us warm but that's not the case, it started blowing cold air as if the outside cold wasn't enough. We warmed ourselves and Vijesh realised this was the worst day to miss his sweater ;) and we took a nap to get up early next morning.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday in Seatte :)
Nov 07th, It was a sunny Sunday morning and Seattle calling again. We took the route 53A and reached Washington State museum to board the ST Express 594 proceeding to Seattle. The bus was loaded with Sea Hawk and New giants fans, they all were wearing their team jerseys and got down at Safeco and Qwest Stadiums. We got down at Union stop which is the downtown Seattle and we entered Ross, a clothing store and purchased stuffs for our wives. Seattle has a souvenir shop at every corner and better bargains lurking around.
We entered Seattle aquarium by paying 17$ each and we were lucky visitors to watch the Divers feeding the fishes in the huge coral filled tanks. We ran our fingers along the sea anemone's tentacles, got our fingers caught between the Starfishes and it was a unique experience. Different colored Anemone's and Starfishes made the crowds swarming to them. We stood within a circle of glowing jellyfish and this is the first time i viewed them so close. The aquarium had various exhibits of fishes all from the local Washington region. We walked around the display tanks and saw the fragile Coral reefs deeper portions, where numerous habitats existed in them.Most of them hid from us in those corals, camera shy ;) They have their own 'Gizmo',the octopus and it moved beautifully around. We spotted our Nemo fish, brightly colored red fish with white stripes, watching the staff feeding the fishes was interesting to watch as each fish tried opening its mouth to grab the most ;)
We walked to the Shore birds section and it gave us an insight how these birds live and survive in the inhospitable homes. Alcids (diving birds) were a popular stop,we watched the Tuffed Puffins and common Mures diving to pick potential meals from the jagged bottom of the exhibit.
The unique Ocean oddities were the Leaf scorpionfish, Cowfish, Convict Blennies and more and yes we spotted the Trumpet fish :) We entered a bit late into the Underwater Dome which is the largest exhibits in the Aquarium. It was an undersea room featuring a 360Deg view into a 400,00 gallon of tank filled fish. We missed the talk and feeding of the fish by aquarium scuba divers.The most action-packed event of the Aquarium were the mammals section, featuring Sea Otters, harbor seals, and fur seals. We viewed these mammals from beneath the surface in an underwater mammal viewing area.The Sea Otters delighted us by their antics.
I forgot to mention a section featuring the Orcas (a dolphin looking whale), though we could only hear the different sounds simulated underwater, blue whale, sperm whale and more simulated sounds. I purchased my Seattle Aquarium souvenir and left the place feeling happy as it opened our eyes to the colorful marine life.
I had a quick Subway footlong veggie burger and Vijesh opted for Teriyaki chicken, the chicken wasn't that impressive and left him hungry for more :) It was a cold and windy Seattle evening, with fingers and my naked lips numb we crossed over to the Underground tour. Underground tour is Seattle's most unusual attraction, is humorous walking tour of buried city.
We roamed the subterranean passages that once were the main roadways and first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle.Crumbling brick, decaying wood, and rusting iron pipes were the chief elements of decore, with the occasional streak of moss as a highlight.
There are some interesting items - a flowered toilet, an old bank, broken bath tub,sewing machines and more..the tour was 90 minutes and basically talks about Seattle's 1800 history; interesting to know a city which was built underground to its glorious present status. The tour finishes at a gift shop where visitors can buy souvenirs. We boarded our bus back to Tacoma leaving behind an eventful day.
We entered Seattle aquarium by paying 17$ each and we were lucky visitors to watch the Divers feeding the fishes in the huge coral filled tanks. We ran our fingers along the sea anemone's tentacles, got our fingers caught between the Starfishes and it was a unique experience. Different colored Anemone's and Starfishes made the crowds swarming to them. We stood within a circle of glowing jellyfish and this is the first time i viewed them so close. The aquarium had various exhibits of fishes all from the local Washington region. We walked around the display tanks and saw the fragile Coral reefs deeper portions, where numerous habitats existed in them.Most of them hid from us in those corals, camera shy ;) They have their own 'Gizmo',the octopus and it moved beautifully around. We spotted our Nemo fish, brightly colored red fish with white stripes, watching the staff feeding the fishes was interesting to watch as each fish tried opening its mouth to grab the most ;)
We walked to the Shore birds section and it gave us an insight how these birds live and survive in the inhospitable homes. Alcids (diving birds) were a popular stop,we watched the Tuffed Puffins and common Mures diving to pick potential meals from the jagged bottom of the exhibit.
The unique Ocean oddities were the Leaf scorpionfish, Cowfish, Convict Blennies and more and yes we spotted the Trumpet fish :) We entered a bit late into the Underwater Dome which is the largest exhibits in the Aquarium. It was an undersea room featuring a 360Deg view into a 400,00 gallon of tank filled fish. We missed the talk and feeding of the fish by aquarium scuba divers.The most action-packed event of the Aquarium were the mammals section, featuring Sea Otters, harbor seals, and fur seals. We viewed these mammals from beneath the surface in an underwater mammal viewing area.The Sea Otters delighted us by their antics.
I forgot to mention a section featuring the Orcas (a dolphin looking whale), though we could only hear the different sounds simulated underwater, blue whale, sperm whale and more simulated sounds. I purchased my Seattle Aquarium souvenir and left the place feeling happy as it opened our eyes to the colorful marine life.
I had a quick Subway footlong veggie burger and Vijesh opted for Teriyaki chicken, the chicken wasn't that impressive and left him hungry for more :) It was a cold and windy Seattle evening, with fingers and my naked lips numb we crossed over to the Underground tour. Underground tour is Seattle's most unusual attraction, is humorous walking tour of buried city.
We roamed the subterranean passages that once were the main roadways and first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle.Crumbling brick, decaying wood, and rusting iron pipes were the chief elements of decore, with the occasional streak of moss as a highlight.
There are some interesting items - a flowered toilet, an old bank, broken bath tub,sewing machines and more..the tour was 90 minutes and basically talks about Seattle's 1800 history; interesting to know a city which was built underground to its glorious present status. The tour finishes at a gift shop where visitors can buy souvenirs. We boarded our bus back to Tacoma leaving behind an eventful day.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
My First Weekend in US
Nov 06, We were already in the weekend mood starting Friday. It was mildly raining and cold, i loved it :) We left home at 10am, took the 53A route bus from our place to reach Tacoma transit center and on the way to catch the ST bus to seattle, we came across Tacoma Bicycle shop and i had to visit it :).
It was just amazing tto see the sexy road bikes and feather lite carbon frames, it was a delight for a cyclist. They deal in Giant brand and they are pretty expensive, the cheapest road bike i found was 560$ and the most expensive 3300$.Cycles are more expensive here than cars and this was confirmed by Peter who is the guy who works there. We boarded the ST Express Route 594 and we reached Seattle in about 45 mins crossing the country side.
The first sight of Seattle was beautiful with tall Sky capers kissing the clouds and 2 huge stadiums names Safeco and Qwest. We got down at the last step just to know that we crossed Seattle Union a few stops behind, we felt ok not a problem and walked the Seattle streets with cold blowing blowing across. Our first sight of Space needle made us feel happy and excited. We quickly walked over to Seattle center to reach Space Needle. This is a 40 Story building and after buying tickets we reached the top using the elevator taking 41 secs ;). There was a central cafe and surrounding it was the Observatory deck and thats where the real action happening.It was biting cold in the deck and mindless of this fact, we enjoyed the overall 360 deg view of Seattle.
The view was stunning with clouds kissing us and we were more than happy to re-enter the warm and cosy cafe to enjoy my frappachino with the view to enjoy for. Vijesh opted for hot chocolate to warm up his cold fingers.We reached the basement and did some Souvenir shopping, i purchased a mini replica for my colleague Geet. We came out and proceeded to the adjacent Pacific Science center which had the 3D Imax shows running, we decided not to go for it today because it had "Bugs"movie being shown. We moved towards the Food and Entertainment section, had a quick Falafel veg bite and vijesh chose the Chicken version.We had people from HMong community (people from Laos) celebrating their new year, they were dressed in traditional costume and kids looked adorable.
We tried the chocolate almond Fudge and took the Monorail to reach Western Center, few blocks away was the Pike market. It was a clean and neat market with people selling their local food, local fruits to creative and unique collection of artifacts. The artisans were the seller to, i was tempted to buy something but it was expensive. There were so many unique stuffs a delight to your eyes. We walked towards the famous Fish market with salmons all around. I decided to try the Kalhua White chocolate Cheese cake and it was yummy,cheesy and coffee flavored (my wife's fav). Bread was the only thing in our mind but only the designer breads were available.One spot which no one should miss was the Harley Davidson Shop at Seattle Downtown and it was an amazing experience looking at the collectibles and certainly genuine quality.Though i did not pick up anything for memorabilia. We walked towards our bus stop to board the same bus and reached Tacoma by 7pm. We had to wait nearly an hour to catch the local bus route 53A to reach our hotel. Time passed by looking at the road beauties, overall Seattle was an amazing experience and lived each minute of it. Still lots of Seattle was left to be explored hence this waited for us the next day.
It was just amazing tto see the sexy road bikes and feather lite carbon frames, it was a delight for a cyclist. They deal in Giant brand and they are pretty expensive, the cheapest road bike i found was 560$ and the most expensive 3300$.Cycles are more expensive here than cars and this was confirmed by Peter who is the guy who works there. We boarded the ST Express Route 594 and we reached Seattle in about 45 mins crossing the country side.
The first sight of Seattle was beautiful with tall Sky capers kissing the clouds and 2 huge stadiums names Safeco and Qwest. We got down at the last step just to know that we crossed Seattle Union a few stops behind, we felt ok not a problem and walked the Seattle streets with cold blowing blowing across. Our first sight of Space needle made us feel happy and excited. We quickly walked over to Seattle center to reach Space Needle. This is a 40 Story building and after buying tickets we reached the top using the elevator taking 41 secs ;). There was a central cafe and surrounding it was the Observatory deck and thats where the real action happening.It was biting cold in the deck and mindless of this fact, we enjoyed the overall 360 deg view of Seattle.
The view was stunning with clouds kissing us and we were more than happy to re-enter the warm and cosy cafe to enjoy my frappachino with the view to enjoy for. Vijesh opted for hot chocolate to warm up his cold fingers.We reached the basement and did some Souvenir shopping, i purchased a mini replica for my colleague Geet. We came out and proceeded to the adjacent Pacific Science center which had the 3D Imax shows running, we decided not to go for it today because it had "Bugs"movie being shown. We moved towards the Food and Entertainment section, had a quick Falafel veg bite and vijesh chose the Chicken version.We had people from HMong community (people from Laos) celebrating their new year, they were dressed in traditional costume and kids looked adorable.
We tried the chocolate almond Fudge and took the Monorail to reach Western Center, few blocks away was the Pike market. It was a clean and neat market with people selling their local food, local fruits to creative and unique collection of artifacts. The artisans were the seller to, i was tempted to buy something but it was expensive. There were so many unique stuffs a delight to your eyes. We walked towards the famous Fish market with salmons all around. I decided to try the Kalhua White chocolate Cheese cake and it was yummy,cheesy and coffee flavored (my wife's fav). Bread was the only thing in our mind but only the designer breads were available.One spot which no one should miss was the Harley Davidson Shop at Seattle Downtown and it was an amazing experience looking at the collectibles and certainly genuine quality.Though i did not pick up anything for memorabilia. We walked towards our bus stop to board the same bus and reached Tacoma by 7pm. We had to wait nearly an hour to catch the local bus route 53A to reach our hotel. Time passed by looking at the road beauties, overall Seattle was an amazing experience and lived each minute of it. Still lots of Seattle was left to be explored hence this waited for us the next day.
Diwali in US :)
Nov 5th, It was diwali time and after wishing our loved ones, we wake up thinking we can celebrate any diwali celebration in the States. We reached office by around 9am and found that hardly anybody works here on Friday. The weekend begins on Friday itself, starting from Larry (cook in Bistro cafe) who is in high spirits because the weekend is approaching and TGIF :). We too got into the same mood, after all its Diwali for us ;).
After playing a couple of Table tennis games, i went for Half melt Tuna sandwich and Vijesh opted for Turkey burger. Halt melt tuna sandwich is tuna,in b/w breads of my choice and cheese of my taste,grill it and here you go. Cooking after all is an easy affair in the US. We then moved to on find some interesting city tours in Seattle, after failing to any we opted for home cooked lunch and ended our day playing a couple of games more. We left office around 3pm and proceeded to the nearby Park to capture the World's Longest Totem Pole" in our cameras and indeed it was really long touching the Sky. We walked towards Sound Transit clicking beautiful covered maple tree Streets with the awesome cars zooming around.Now Sound Transit is a free Tram ride in downtown Tacoma, we took this one to reach the Tacoma Bus Station to enquire about our bus which would take us to Seattle, found that Route 594 ST bus takes us to Seattle Downtown and there is a bus every half hour. We reached room and decide not to take a nap and were successful in doing so by sipping our hot coffee to walk towards the nearby Best Buy. The weather was the coldest we experienced so far and i just loved this weather. With the rain trickling down and vapour seen from our mouth,we checked cool Electronics stuff in Best Buy.
I think the best deal were the LCD and LED TV sets costing just 16k and 24k INR for the Samsung brands, not to forget the Sony Bravia 40 inch LCD costing 26k as well.Alas it wouldn't work out for me since taking the LCD in luggage baggage to India is a big risk.We opted to check out the Tacoma Mall for cool Ipod touch and Iphones at the Apple store. I ended up entering Old Navy clothing store and buying stuffs for mallika and myself, after feeling satisfied with the good quality,choice and cost (Sssh...same rate as in India) we decided to call a day. Though the best part was the spotting of muscular Mustang (man ppl love their cars here). With tired legs we prepared dinner and hit the cosy bed for a peaceful day. We missed the Diwali celebration but felt lets live like a roman in Rome hence we would enjoy the Thanks giving day in style ;)
After playing a couple of Table tennis games, i went for Half melt Tuna sandwich and Vijesh opted for Turkey burger. Halt melt tuna sandwich is tuna,in b/w breads of my choice and cheese of my taste,grill it and here you go. Cooking after all is an easy affair in the US. We then moved to on find some interesting city tours in Seattle, after failing to any we opted for home cooked lunch and ended our day playing a couple of games more. We left office around 3pm and proceeded to the nearby Park to capture the World's Longest Totem Pole" in our cameras and indeed it was really long touching the Sky. We walked towards Sound Transit clicking beautiful covered maple tree Streets with the awesome cars zooming around.Now Sound Transit is a free Tram ride in downtown Tacoma, we took this one to reach the Tacoma Bus Station to enquire about our bus which would take us to Seattle, found that Route 594 ST bus takes us to Seattle Downtown and there is a bus every half hour. We reached room and decide not to take a nap and were successful in doing so by sipping our hot coffee to walk towards the nearby Best Buy. The weather was the coldest we experienced so far and i just loved this weather. With the rain trickling down and vapour seen from our mouth,we checked cool Electronics stuff in Best Buy.
I think the best deal were the LCD and LED TV sets costing just 16k and 24k INR for the Samsung brands, not to forget the Sony Bravia 40 inch LCD costing 26k as well.Alas it wouldn't work out for me since taking the LCD in luggage baggage to India is a big risk.We opted to check out the Tacoma Mall for cool Ipod touch and Iphones at the Apple store. I ended up entering Old Navy clothing store and buying stuffs for mallika and myself, after feeling satisfied with the good quality,choice and cost (Sssh...same rate as in India) we decided to call a day. Though the best part was the spotting of muscular Mustang (man ppl love their cars here). With tired legs we prepared dinner and hit the cosy bed for a peaceful day. We missed the Diwali celebration but felt lets live like a roman in Rome hence we would enjoy the Thanks giving day in style ;)
Friday, November 5, 2010
Day 4 at Work
We reported to work around 8ish and after getting our task for the day, we decided to munch a bite in our cafeteria located at 10th floor. We had the delicious, mouth-watering Rocky Road Brownie and it was heavenly. We found a bottle of water costs 2.09$ while Pepsi costs 1.69$... we are still wondering why?
We left work pretty late and after reaching room we decided not to sleep longer but the way it goes we kept sleeping till 11pm only to wake-up and realize we are yet to cook dinner. Egg curry with rice was dinner and we slept around 1.30am. It was boring day and we wasted it by dozing off :(
We left work pretty late and after reaching room we decided not to sleep longer but the way it goes we kept sleeping till 11pm only to wake-up and realize we are yet to cook dinner. Egg curry with rice was dinner and we slept around 1.30am. It was boring day and we wasted it by dozing off :(
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Day 3 at TBI
Nov 03rd, We guys almost got settled at our new work place and were quite confident about the route to work as well.We tried the Pudding and Hot veggie Pizza as a morning snack, Pudding was too good the best ever i had. We took a stroll out during lunch and found a beautiful park facing the Tacoma Port. We had the Albatrosses to accompany us in the park and while returning we managed to find an Indian hotel named "India Mahal" offering lunch buffet at 7.99$. We left work and boarded our King Cab,we were picked by the same cab driver who had dropped us earlier. We have named him Shahrukh Khan reason being his wife watches Bollywood movies and he too like Shahrukh Khan alot. While leaving the cab, Shahrukh our Cab driver wishes us Shuk-riya :). We wasted the rest of the day dozing off instead of checking out the nearby mall.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Second Day at Work
Nov 2nd - We had to report to work at 7am so we woke up at 5am and got our lunch packed, freshened up and had corn flakes as breakfast, as i mentioned earlier Punctuality is respected here and our Cab was on dot time. This time we took the I5 freeway to reach our office and yahoo!! We saved 5$ this route and faster ;). We kind of got settled at our new work place and the day went by smoothly at office, we left work early to roam round the streets of Tacoma.
I did a research on the net and found Freighter Square Tacoma is a place not be missed and comes in a must see list. We decided to walk to this place and enjoy the sunshine, it was around 16 Deg.We kept the museum visits for later since few of them were closed on Tuesdays, Washington State Museum and Tacoma Art Museum are worth visiting. These were walkable distance from our office which is located in Downtown Tacoma. Mount Rainer was shining in the glory and sticking out to enjoy the sun with snow peak looked beautiful to watch.
After walking close to 5kms and enjoying the different views on road, we finally reached Freighter Square (not many ppl know this place), its right besides Tacoma Station and when we entered this place was nothing but a sad looking jail kind of rooms with no one to give you info. We had a hearty laugh as we waited for our Cab sitting on the bench with cool breeze hitting us. Vijesh in particular enjoyed taking pics in front of Ford Mustang,the muscular mean machine.
It looked sexy and we finally hit room to sleep again for a couple of hours. Dinner this times was Dal rice and Cabbage (my cooking) and poor Vijesh had no other choice but to say Food was OK ;)
I did a research on the net and found Freighter Square Tacoma is a place not be missed and comes in a must see list. We decided to walk to this place and enjoy the sunshine, it was around 16 Deg.We kept the museum visits for later since few of them were closed on Tuesdays, Washington State Museum and Tacoma Art Museum are worth visiting. These were walkable distance from our office which is located in Downtown Tacoma. Mount Rainer was shining in the glory and sticking out to enjoy the sun with snow peak looked beautiful to watch.
After walking close to 5kms and enjoying the different views on road, we finally reached Freighter Square (not many ppl know this place), its right besides Tacoma Station and when we entered this place was nothing but a sad looking jail kind of rooms with no one to give you info. We had a hearty laugh as we waited for our Cab sitting on the bench with cool breeze hitting us. Vijesh in particular enjoyed taking pics in front of Ford Mustang,the muscular mean machine.
It looked sexy and we finally hit room to sleep again for a couple of hours. Dinner this times was Dal rice and Cabbage (my cooking) and poor Vijesh had no other choice but to say Food was OK ;)
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
First Day at Work !!
Nov 1st'10, this was our first day at work in US and we were kind of anxious and excited to see how the day would go. We had to report to Gary from TBI (True Blue Inc.) at 9.30am. Our King cab picked us from the hotel (this is called punctuality), it was raining little hard and cold. Our Cab guy had some difficult in finding the office, finally we were taken in by Rory from TBI. The office had blue colored walls with a weird elevator to take us upstairs. After settling in at work, we checked out the cafeteria on 10th floor and it had great view of Mount Rainer and Port tacoma. Though it was gloomy and raining, i took the Fish and chips as lunch while Vijesh went for Grilled Chicken sandwich. People at this office had a casual approach and we saw their data center.
We were sleepy headed (due to the travel) and first day was more relaxing kind. We left office to pick up some grocery but the nearest one was 5kms away, we were given a Google map print out by one of the TBI employees and he was more than happy to help us. I somehow started loving Photography here, with lovely red, yellow maple trees playing a perfect snap to be taken. We got drenched and decided not to take the local bus but very happy to get dropped at Albertson's grocery mall by King cab. The mall was huge for grocery store and had fresh vegetables, all kinds of berries, meat fish u name it and its available here. We purchased a gallon of water/milk, few vegetables and the moment we reached hotel, we hit the bed to be woken up by a phone call after 2 hours. We made our first meal at the hotel room and packed the same for tomorrow's lunch.Our first day at work was relief for our tired souls.
We were sleepy headed (due to the travel) and first day was more relaxing kind. We left office to pick up some grocery but the nearest one was 5kms away, we were given a Google map print out by one of the TBI employees and he was more than happy to help us. I somehow started loving Photography here, with lovely red, yellow maple trees playing a perfect snap to be taken. We got drenched and decided not to take the local bus but very happy to get dropped at Albertson's grocery mall by King cab. The mall was huge for grocery store and had fresh vegetables, all kinds of berries, meat fish u name it and its available here. We purchased a gallon of water/milk, few vegetables and the moment we reached hotel, we hit the bed to be woken up by a phone call after 2 hours. We made our first meal at the hotel room and packed the same for tomorrow's lunch.Our first day at work was relief for our tired souls.
Day 2 - Reached US :)
We boarded our flight to Frankfurt at 2am Dubai time, this was a Boeing 747 so lot more space to extend our tired legs (tired wandering the Dubai Airport). The air-hostess were old aunties with make up all over their face to hide their wrinkled faces :) To start with we had the Red wine and Vijesh enjoyed the Vodka. We both dozed off and were woken up to be served breakfast. Our Asian Veg breakfast included Bitter Orange Jam with bun, hot Poori Aaloo and Chole ( what a surprise !!).We touched base the Frankfurt airport at 5.30am local time.Frankfurt Airport lacked the charisma of the Dubai Airport and we took our transit train to reach Gate A60 from where we had our flight at 10.10 local time. I did some Souvenir Shopping at Frankfurt terminal and our breakfast was a Pomodoro sandwich, tomato cheese sandwich and Chocolate Croissant.
Chocolate Croissant was the stand-out with moist chocolate oozing out from the center with every single bite. I couldn't control my temptation so got the Chocolate and Blueberry muffin packed.We boarded the Lufthansa flight to Seattle (finally !!), it was the best of the 3, an A330 aircraft with comfortable with leg room space and entertainment with lots of movies to watch.
I opted for Vodka with Sprite this time and Vijesh settled with the smoothness of whiskey. I was already getting to feel the luxurious treatment we were in for :D. This was a 10.5 hrs light so we had our own doubts on sticking our bums to the seat for this long. Entertainment helped us atleast me in dozing off every time I used to watch any shows on it. We were served Asian veg which included bun with butter, pulao with Dal and Kheer for desert. Time passed by as our flight crossed North sea, Iceland Greenland to enter US territory. Lufthansa truly lived upto its tag" No one can fly better than us". Chocolates with Juices were being gulped down by us. We were served a final meal of Rajma rice with Shahipan korma, curd and fresh fruits. Finally we reached our destination SeaTac airport. It was relief after 31hrs leaving behind our country. We seemed to be more excited than tired ;) Immigration check at the US airport was a hurdle and I crossed it but Vijesh couldn't and was asked to wait for more grilling and questioning. I too was called in to prove my stay in US. Finally we cleared the US customs and proceeded towards our taxi.
We were in awe with the sheer magnitude of Cars and freeways in US. In the parking, we kept adoring at the Superbikes and had pics taken besides it. Mount Rainer with half ice covered peak looked stunning from the road. Sardar cab guy in Toyota Prius took us to our destination which was besides Best Buy in Tacoma South, a 20 min drive on I5 South freeway and it costed us 63$ ;).Two things were clear on reaching US, 1) Money would now be given in Dollars and its expensive, 2) It gave us a feeling that this country runs on Fuels seeing the number of luxury cars and massive trucks speeding away. We settled in our Doubled Bed Studio around 4 pm Local time and the weather was chill outside.
The room was clean and neat with a Service kitchen and bath tub toilet. After freshening ourselves we walked to the nearby Best Buy mall to enjoy the Halloween weekend. We found our Universal adaptor in Tacoma Mall, a huge mall besides Best Buy. The festive spirit of Halloween was visible in people dressing themselves in different outfits and it was great fun being among them.
Our tired eyes wanted rest so we retired in rooms and with hot maggi being served as dinner (courtsey Vijesh ). Next day was waiting to be discovered and explored, so far we weren't jet lagged :)
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