Venice Beach

Time: June 16, 2013
Place: Beverly Hills, Venice Beach
Company: Wife and Daughter
Highlights:

A lazy Sunday led to late planning and departure from home. As late as 5 pm! Just as we reached Rodeo Dr in Beverly Hills, ready to take a walk in the Santa Monica Blvd, Tontu fell asleep. So whiled away the time near a park which had Beverly Hills inscribed. Since she was still sleeping and since it was getting late, we headed out to Venice Beach, eager to see the boardwalk, on which we had read so much about. Sadly, the GPS took us to the southern most point of the parking lot, and by the time we spent some time on the beach and realized where the boardwalk was, it was already 8 pm. Curiously, the shutters come down early on most of the shops and there is not much happening at about 9 pm other than few tourists loitering around, which is surprising because this seems to be a happening place, like the NY Times Square, where time never sleeps, and one would expect happenings to be continuously happening! So, other than a simple walk and light shopping on the boardwalk, didnt experience much in this supposed-to-be-hep place.

Irvine Regional Park

Time: Jun 8th 2013
Place: Irvine Regional Park, Orange
Company: Wife and daughter
Highlights:

Chanced upon this place while browsing internet and it turned out to be a beautiful, beautiful park and a nice weekend outing. It is a great place for kids because there is this small, cute train that takes you through the park for quite some time. Then there is pony ride, a small zoo, a nice stream in which kids can stand and feel the water flowing, a nice shallow lake in which boats (huge cycles, really) can be paddled and a variety of bike rides - meaning single-rider, twin-rider, family-of-4-rider, family-of-8-rider, etc. Add to this many barbecue places, kids' play areas, nature trails, low-lying-trees which can be climbed, etc. - it was wonderful. The website has more details. 

Tirumala

Time: May 15-16, 2013

Place: Tirumala

Company: Wife, daughter, parents, MIL

Highlights: 

Prologue:  The day we landed in India, we went to a TTD office in Jayanagar for fingerprinting and booking Rs 50 tickets. Since we were 5 adults + 1 toddler, I was not keen on taking our Alto. Other alternatives were to hire a taxi with a driver or rent a car (US-style) or take train/bus till tirupati and hire taxi there. Weirdo that I am, I pursued the option of US-style taxi. Not that I like driving so much that I want to rent cars to drive in frenzied traffic conditions in India, let alone Bangalore! Only reason was to save a few bucks (in hindsight - amounting up to only 40 USD!). In this regard, found zoomcar.in. What they had to offer seemed nice and straightforward. The US ‘rent-a-car’ verbiage is ‘self-drive’ rented cars. Because Indian ‘rent-a-car’ is nothing but renting a taxi with a driver. Saw zoomcar website, made few calls and booked an almost new Scorpio (under 1000 kms) for the trip. This was the biggest car I had ever driven in the narrow and traffic-infested roads of Bangalore. Definitely not worth the risk.

Day 1: Zoomcar car pickup was located only in one place in Bangalore – near Brigade Gateway in Malleshwaram (now they have expanded). So at 10 am drove my two wheeler all the way from Jayanagar to pick up location (after having lost directions twice completely, even venturing into Orion mall (wow, btw)), dropped it there and boarded the Scorpio. Trip from Malleshwaram to Jayanagar in this immense car was nerve-racking, to say the least. My drive in the two-wheeler on the previous day on Nrupathunga road was a shocker, so I used an alternate road. Finally reached Jayanagar at 12 pm. Had a bite of lunch and started the journey at 1 pm.

Journey was uneventful. Road is beautiful until Mulbagal and has a median in-between. For the first time in my life, I touched 140 kmph. Had a small stop-over near a local farm for more packed lunch under a tree.  Continued onwards to Andhra Pradesh. Had a small issue at the border because the system was not taking my DL since it is not a commercial license. But the officer was able to get a way through it. Rest of the journey was uneventful, except that by the time we climbed the mountain, it was already nightfall. So tontu could not see the climb. Reached Karnataka Guest House at about 8 pm, had a quick bite of dinner and retired in the sweltering heat.

Day 2: Got up at 6 am, and headed out to Swami Pushkarni for a bath. Tontu’s first outside bath, and she enjoyed it. So much that she didn’t want to get out of it. But there were some tantrums on silly topics. Nevertheless, we headed to the Rs 50 queue at 8 am. This was the first time for Tontu and I was fervently wishing it to be quick and smooth, like so many of the previous trips. Unfortunately, this was the longest I had ever seen. Even the Rs 300 queue was long. After a certain point, the queue just stopped moving and we all sat down on available seats. Then it moved again and stopped, this time there were no seats. So we were stuck there, standing in the middle of 100 other sweaty people with no idea when it will move again. Tontu is getting sleepy but still no tantrums in the queue. Then all of a sudden, the queue moves and it moves so fast that within 5 mins, we are inside the santum sanctorum. And for the first time in my life, there is no rushing and pulling and pushing inside the sanctum sanctorum. It is a simple queue that is moving just like any other temple in India! We get a glimpse of Lord Venkateshwara and too soon, we are out of it!

By the time we came out of the temple it was noon. We rushed to Udupi Mutt (who were gracious) for a quick lunch (elders had fasted since morning for the darshan) and started off to Bangalore at 2.30 pm. For most part it was uneventful except for once when I tried to overtake from left and almost risked it all. Very soon, we had reached Mulbagal Mutt. Got blessings from Sripadharaja Swamy, and once more headed towards Bangalore. Reached Bangalore by 7.30 but took almost 1.5 hrs to reach Jayanagar home. Returned the car next day to zoomcar HQ.

Epilogue: This trip marked a first of many. Self-drive car. Top-speed. First TTD trip (queue, darshan, Tirumala climb, outside bath, etc.) for Tontu. And first trip for Tontu without a single snap being taken! Thankfully, by Lord Balaji’s grace, nothing happened to the new car – no scratch, no dent or anything. By the time I came back, I was quite confortable driving it in Bangalore!

Hubli

Time: May 11-13, 2013

Place: Hubli

Company: Wife, daughter, parents  (returned with them plus relatives-in-law)

Highlights: 

Day 1: Extreme health issue previous night made this trip almost a non-entity. But woke up at 4 am and decided to go with it. Took the car to Majestic and parked it at the railway station. Took the (again L) non-AC janshatabdi express to Hubli at 6 am. Remembered the previous trips on this train. This train works in tandem with other trains in a clock-work precision. Meaning, it arrives at Arsikere station and waits for an oncoming train. Once that train arrives at Arsikere, this train departs. Each time I have been on this train, I have noticed that this waiting time is just 2-3 mins. Same thing happens in Birur. This could be because of the single track but even so, this precision in timing is remarkable.

Reached Hubli on time at 1.30. Took it easy by having lunch at the new station café. Pretty cool setting, in fact. Checked in at the Chalukya Hotel. Relatively nice room and reasonable rate. Siesta. Wifey met pals along with offsprings. After a long wait, went to the wedding hall (wifey cousin wedding) for a quick bite and religious ceremonies. Retired early.

Day 2: Wedding day. Long hot day. Thankfully wedding hall and hotel were nearby. So did multiple trips to kill the time, and for change. Met lots of relatives, and most of them were seeing Paavani for the first time.  Paavani was tongue-tied, as expected. But tolerant of the crowd. Thankfully, it ended. Again, a siesta before heading out to the station. Comfortable train back home.

Day 3: Yeshwantpur was the place to get off, which we did. Then we hopped onto another train on its way to Majestic, since that is where the car was parked. Traveled in General Compartment, after a really long time. Not sure if I had traveled in GC before, either! Anyways, reached home at about 7.30. Car overnight parking charges in Bangalore railway station was 240 per 24 hrs.

Overview: Although we attended the wedding, this wedding was not the reason why we visited India at this time. This wedding just happened to fall in the same time period of our visit – for good or for bad. Good because we got to meet all the relatives. Bad because it added one more out station trip to our already 2 unmissable trips!

Chennai

Time: May 7-9, 2013

Place: Chennai

Company: Wife, daughter, parents, MIL

Highlights: 

Day 0: Left to Chennai in train. Train departure at 11.45 pm but even at 10 pm, there was no assigned cab-drop. Last minute excitement, but all’s well in the end. Daughter sick during the journey to the station in the cab. Wondered if it was a good idea to invite the parents, considering all the trouble with travel and Chennai heat. Had invited just so that they can spend more time with Paavani in the short 3 week duration. Bad planning was to take a suitcase with an uncomfortable pull-tag. Lugging it up all the way up the bridge and down the bridge was a big turn-off. If only there was a ramp in the railway station.

Day 1: The night journey wasn’t all that heat-ed! Since there was no AC tickets available, had reserved the regular second sleeper. Once arrived in Chennai at about 8, the heat hit us! Added to this was the annoying pull-suitcase and the challenge of the language especially trying to identify the waiting cab driver. Finally found him, and his – thank God – AC car!

Arrived at the guest house. Amenities at the guest house of previous company were better compared to present guest house. Anyways. Per plan, had booked a hotel within walking distance for the parents and in-law. So walked to their room after breakfast and spent time with them.

Back for lunch, got ready and visited the OFC for the biometrics scheduled at 3.30 pm. The guest house chosen was such that it was in between the OFC and PAI centers. Despite that the autowallahs were bargaining. One guy agreed for 80, and begged for 120! It was a reverse bargain! Finally paid 100. Biometrics was done by 4.30.

Then, all of us left to Marina beach at about 5.45 pm. It was way too crowded and also too far to walk to the Bay of Bengal. All ventured into the water except me and wifey. After some snacks and sand and sweat, went shopping on the beachfront. More sand, more sweat.

Finally, headed back to the GH, amidst wailing child and an over-packed autorickshaw. Retired for the night after a small dinner. Needless to say, each trip out of the AC GH room necessitated a bath!

Day 2: The big day. Got up early. So went to the parents’ hotel to spend about an hour. Had breakfast in a small 10 by 10 outside café. Typical Chennai breakfast. Met Prashanth for a short duration at the GH since had to return some of his stuff.

PAI interview scheduled at 11 got done by 11.30, after the usual rigmarole of frisking, documents check, waiting in many lines and finally the interview. Thankfully, the interview was not a big deal and it was smooth. Back in the GH by 12. Had a short nap before having lunch and headed out to the station.

Regretted not having booked an AC chaircar even though had tickets in RAC. Had to suffer about 4-5 hrs in the Chennai summer heat until nightfall. Too many people, too few seats, too loud TV!

Heavy rains in Bangalore just when the train stopped. Finally, got the cab and reached home by about midnight.

Overview: Hope this is the final trip to the Chennai US Visa consulate. If only, there was a consulate opened in Bangalore! Really tired of visiting Chennai and the consulate every time I visit India…

India 2013 Vacation

Time: May 4, 2013 – May 27, 2013

Place: India (various cities)

Company: Wife and daughter

Highlights:

Prologue: Thought got initiated for India trip around Feb. Booked tickets in March. Started jotting down things to do, and looked forward to it eagerly!

Day 1 (4): Left the house at 9 am. Took the car to LA and parked it near the airport with ‘Park Place at LAX’ for a reasonable rate per day. In the airport at 10.30. Boarded the Cathay Pacific flight which departed LA at 12.55 pm to Hong Kong – a long 14+ hr journey. Thankfully Paavani was just fine, playing with the touch screen TV. Saw Life of Pi.

Day 2 (5): Reached Hong Kong. Had a brief lay-over time and relaxed at the airport. Boarded the flight to Bangalore. Pretty basic flight. So had to keep Paavani occupied by using the ipad. Since it was a short 5 hr journey, it wasn’t too bad.

Day 3 (6): Landed in Bangalore at 2.40 am. This had been the longest stay away from Bangalore ever – over 2 years. Tontu’s grandparents at the airport to welcome us. I drove back from airport to home. Surprised at myself that even after 2 years, I hadn’t forgotten the road sense and the stick shift. Road from airport was in total mess considering metro construction, and by the time I reached home, my knees started hurting due to the constant clutching! Yapped all day – Tontu enjoying the company of all the grands and even the great grands and uncles and aunts. Went to TTD office to book tickets for Tirumala.

Day 4 (7): INR 70 for Idli and Vada?!! Shocking! Anyways, visited Dad’s new apt in Uttarahalli (under construction). Went to CTS office to collect the visa docs. Had booked the train to Chennai at 11.45 pm. At 9.45 pm called the taxi guys to check why no one had responded yet. Seemed there was no one assigned! Finally one guy said he is on his way. Reached station at about 11.30 pm. Had asked Tontu grands to join us to Chennai trip so that they can spend more time with her. But in the sweltering heat, was wondering if it was a good idea.

Day 5-6 (8-9): Chennai

Day 7 (10): At home.

Day 8-9 (11-12): Hubli

Day 10 (13): In-law’s place.

Day 11 (14): Spent a nice 2-3 hr in J P Park in the morning – one of my recent favs in Bangalore. On the way back, got a call from office and unfortunately I had not got the official laptop with me. So I was forced to return back to Jayanagar to send a mail before EOD. Original plan was to stay over. So, for the first time in two years, stayed overnight away from wifey and daughter!

Day 12-13 (15-16): Tirumala

Day 14 (17): Dropped MIL at the airport since MIL was headed out to Dubai. Bid adieu.

Day 15 (18): Spent time with friends.

Day 16 (19): Prep for the morrow’s function. So visited dad’s apt again with one car load of stuff – still seemed lot of work needed to even host audience in this half constructed house. Even visited the 4^th T block Mutt [after 2 years!] to get some Godly stuff!

Day 17 (20): Dad’s new apt Gruhapravesham. Got up early, left early, priests arrived early. With great Veda chanting, the ‘God’ entered into the apt. Did lot of chores around the house, and even driver-work! Relatives and guests started pouring in. Tontu scrutiny and interviewing began, what with many folks seeing her for the first time! Pooja ended early but lunch was delayed. So did general chit-chat with all. Lunch and post-lunch time seemed to fly and all guests left. Tied up last few ends of the house and left for the day. More chit-chat at relatives’ places. Glad that even my great-grands could attend the function. Had to air-lift them via a chair for two stairs!

Day 18 (21): Visited my apt in HM Sepia – for the first time since construction completed. In the evening, went to a nearby childern’s park. Unlike in US parks, Tontu had wait for her turn to play the swing!

Day 19 (22): Visited Tontu’s first pediatric doc for general check up. Went to McD’s on her insistence!

Day 20-22 (23-25): Shopping in Jayanagar 4^th Block. Had variety of outside food that only Bangalore makes best. Visited few more pals and relatives. Completed last few activities scheduled to be done in Bangalore. Also visited our favorite park near home which wifey and I used to haunt for our walks, went to Mutt and Sai Baba temple on Thursday – just the way we used to on all Thursdays. Also experienced one terrible day when, after tremendously hot day, it rained like hell in the evening, bringing down 126 trees, and hence shutting down the electricity. It took 24 hrs for electricity to come back. Unfortunately there was no water too, and tankers wouldn’t come without electricity - because they needed electric power to haul the water to overhead tanks. So, there was no power, no water and it was sweaty hot!

Day 23 (26): The day of departure. Last minute shopping, re-packing into suitcases, re-distributing the load, etc. Had booked for an Indica with a luggage-carrier from taxiforsure.com. But when the car finally arrived, it was a sedan. So many suitcases would never have fit in a sedan. Back and forth heated discussion didn’t lead anywhere. Thankfully, flight was delayed by 50 mins. Took our car too along with the taxi. About 10 kms from airport, our car – which I was driving with mom – decided to have a flat tyre. Meanwhile the taxi had already reached airport, and dad and wifey were waiting at the airport, with tontu sleeping on wifey shoulder. Like a God, one taxi driver en route to airport stopped and helped me and my begging mother to take us to the airport. Once we reached airport, I generously tipped the ‘God’. At the airport, wifey was nauseous what with the entire luggage and the sleeping toddler. Then we realize that toddler shoes were in the taxi. So we call up the taxi and he agrees to come over to return them. Then toddler wakes up and she has a huge insect bite on her temple, and she is all squeaky. Talk about being tired before a 24 hr flight journey even started! Flight gets delayed further – almost 1.5 hr now, eating away most of the bare 2 hr transit time we had in Hong Kong. In the midst of all this waiting, I hear that Mumbai Indians have won the IPL tournament and Sachin has retired from T20s. Then I call dad to know that he is safe with the car, repaired with the help of relatives and cousins, and on the way back. I am hungry, and I buy few slices of garlic bread. Another toddler beside me is staring at me so hard, that I offer – and she takes them all. Tontu starts wailing that she needs it! Phew. What a night. Finally got on the flight and we are on our way.

Day 24 (26): At Hong Kong airport, we are escorted and we run through security and lounge to our gate, and aboard the flight to LAX. It is a pleasant journey. 8 hrs Tontu played all by herself, and finally slept for the last 4 hrs. Slight trouble at the end of the journey and she wanted to go home, but immigration interview was smooth. Shuttle back to parking lot, and we were driving back to home. The Civic seemed luxurious compared to Alto, and I surprised myself being comfortable again with US driving after 3 weeks of driving in India on the opposite side. Arrived safely back home and got back into the usual routine of getting milk, groceries, fast-food, etc. within the hour!

Epilogue: For many reason, this was a much needed trip. More for the sake of Tontu than me and wifey. We accomplished most of what we wanted to do in Bangalore except for a few activities and meeting few other friends. It felt nice to re-bond with relatives and friends, and get a refreshing feel of "Namma Bangalore" life once again! Apart from this, it also marked completion of our 'Around the world' trip!! [India (Bangalore) - Qatar - USA (Washington DC - Boston & Nashua - Orange County - Los Angeles) - Hong Kong - India (Bangalore)]