Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Enge sellum indha paadhai...
The title for this post is taken from the starting lines of a very touching song from an excellent movie Sethu. No other tune/lyrics could have conveyed the emotions of the protagonist of the movie in such a perfect manner.
The more I listen to this song these days, the more I begin to wonder about life, it's purpose, what's in store in the future....
The more I listen to this song these days, the more I begin to wonder about life, it's purpose, what's in store in the future....
Monday, March 24, 2008
Unforgettable dates
Following are a few dates in which some really significant events have happened in my life. Since most of the events are of a personal nature, I'm not going to list the events that occurred on these dates in this blog. This post is primarily for me to look up in case I ever forget the following dates in my life
01/22/1986
08/05/1991
07/29/1996
01/24/1997
05/07/1999
12/25/2001
04/07/2002
11/12/2003
07/28/2006
01/19/2008
03/13/2008
03/23/2008
04/02/2008
05/07/2008
I will try to update this post as long as either me or the blog is alive
01/22/1986
08/05/1991
07/29/1996
01/24/1997
05/07/1999
12/25/2001
04/07/2002
11/12/2003
07/28/2006
01/19/2008
03/13/2008
03/23/2008
04/02/2008
05/07/2008
I will try to update this post as long as either me or the blog is alive
Sunday, March 23, 2008
First cut - It's over
Since
1) we missed the window of opportunity to cut Vishruth's hair at our kuladeivam during our last trip to India
2) we are not going to India this summer
3) Vishruth's hair (who is 20 months old) has grown so much
4) hot summer season in california is fast approaching
we decided to cut his hair here at our local vietnamese saloon. prior to that, i did cut a thin strip of hair (and ensured that i didn't even miss a single strand) and saved it in a ziploc bag to offer to our kuladeivam during our next India trip
since it was his first tryst with someone wielding a pair of scissors near his head, he didn't take it well and of course cried out loud. he calmed down after the first few mins as soon as he realized that it acutally didn't hurt
Anyways, after 15 minutes at the saloon, we got to see our "son" who has been looking like a "daughter" up until now....the long due haircut is finally over
1) we missed the window of opportunity to cut Vishruth's hair at our kuladeivam during our last trip to India
2) we are not going to India this summer
3) Vishruth's hair (who is 20 months old) has grown so much
4) hot summer season in california is fast approaching
we decided to cut his hair here at our local vietnamese saloon. prior to that, i did cut a thin strip of hair (and ensured that i didn't even miss a single strand) and saved it in a ziploc bag to offer to our kuladeivam during our next India trip
since it was his first tryst with someone wielding a pair of scissors near his head, he didn't take it well and of course cried out loud. he calmed down after the first few mins as soon as he realized that it acutally didn't hurt
Anyways, after 15 minutes at the saloon, we got to see our "son" who has been looking like a "daughter" up until now....the long due haircut is finally over
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Baking - Attempt number 2!!
After trying my hands at baking once here, I tried it again with a lot of zeal and enthusisam after getting a time tested recipe from my colleague at work.
This attempt was to bake a banana-walnut cake. The recipe was very straightforward and I followed it to a T.....well not exactly, I reduced the sugar so that L's dad could indulge without guilt. The cake actually came out pretty good and all of us enjoyed it
I hope to bake regularly in the future and do it in a way that will entice Vidyuth to ask for a piece, without us having to bribe him to eat the cake
This attempt was to bake a banana-walnut cake. The recipe was very straightforward and I followed it to a T.....well not exactly, I reduced the sugar so that L's dad could indulge without guilt. The cake actually came out pretty good and all of us enjoyed it
I hope to bake regularly in the future and do it in a way that will entice Vidyuth to ask for a piece, without us having to bribe him to eat the cake
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
This day, that age!!
This was the day in 2003 when L and I first found out that we were going to have our 1st child, whom we had already named Vidyuth. I still remember those joyous moments we had and the transformation of L from a daughter, wife to an expectant mother
Happy Birthday Ammi Jaan
Today is my mother's (I call her Ammi Jaan sometimes) 62nd birthday. Here's wishing her a very happy birthday. I really miss her very much and I wish I was with her on this special occassion.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Wine country day trip
We visited the world famous Napa valley this weekend. Equipped with snacks bought from the Indian grocery store and with the Puliyodharai, thayir saadham prepared by L's mom, we left in the morning around 9.00AM
Our first stop was the Sterling Vineyards. They have a short/scenic tram/cablecar ride from their parking lot to their winery, which is actually up in the hills. Vidyuth and Vishruth enjoyed this a lot. Once we got off, we took the self paced/guided tour of their winery. We also got to taste 6 different wines and each one of them was excellenet
After we got done here, we headed to Casa Neustra, which is along the scenic Silverado trail. We grabbed one of their picnic benches and had our home cooked lunch. They also had a petting zoo with their Llamas and the kids had fun watching/feeding them
We make a quick stop at a local grocery store to pick up some cheese for L who missed out on all the wine tasting part since she doesn't drink alcohol
From there we headed to Rutherford Grove to taste their wine. I had some free tasting discount coupons printed ahead of time and so we enjoyed some really good post-lunch wine for free. May be there is no free lunch, but there certainly is free wine after lunch..hehe
At this point it started raining, as per the forecast for that day. Thankfully the rain waited until we completed all our planned activities. We then drove back to Fremont (via Sonoma, Golden Gate Bridge). The detour was to mainly cater to L's dad desire to see Golden Gate Bridge. Overall we had a great time on this fun packed day trip
Our first stop was the Sterling Vineyards. They have a short/scenic tram/cablecar ride from their parking lot to their winery, which is actually up in the hills. Vidyuth and Vishruth enjoyed this a lot. Once we got off, we took the self paced/guided tour of their winery. We also got to taste 6 different wines and each one of them was excellenet
After we got done here, we headed to Casa Neustra, which is along the scenic Silverado trail. We grabbed one of their picnic benches and had our home cooked lunch. They also had a petting zoo with their Llamas and the kids had fun watching/feeding them
We make a quick stop at a local grocery store to pick up some cheese for L who missed out on all the wine tasting part since she doesn't drink alcohol
From there we headed to Rutherford Grove to taste their wine. I had some free tasting discount coupons printed ahead of time and so we enjoyed some really good post-lunch wine for free. May be there is no free lunch, but there certainly is free wine after lunch..hehe
At this point it started raining, as per the forecast for that day. Thankfully the rain waited until we completed all our planned activities. We then drove back to Fremont (via Sonoma, Golden Gate Bridge). The detour was to mainly cater to L's dad desire to see Golden Gate Bridge. Overall we had a great time on this fun packed day trip
Monday, March 10, 2008
Happy Birthday Kannamma
Today is L's (fondly called by me as Kannamma) birthday. Here's wishing a very special person a very happy birthday
Monday, March 3, 2008
Lake Tahoe/Reno - Half century
We went to Lake Tahoe/Reno for the weekend. We, along with L's parents, left on Friday evening and halted overnite in Sacramento. We spent the nite there eating some really awesome idlies (with and w/o milakaipodi) and curd rice with tomato thokku, which L's mom had prepared for the trip. We got up early on Saturday morning and headed out to the Soda Springs resort.
The weather was awesome and wasn't very cold at all. We picked up some breakfast (read hashbrowns) from McD's. The drive was very scenic and nice. Before reaching Soda Springs, we made a small detour to visit an unsupervised snow play area (Cisco Grove exit off I-80E) and we all had fun sliding down the slopes in our own saucer. This was the first snow experience for Vidyuth, Vishruth and L's parents and we could see the excitement in all of them. We played here for 30 minutes or so before leaving for Soda Springs.
Vidyuth and Vishruth had all the fun at Planet Kids at Soda Springs. There was a really cool snow carousel for kids. They had lot of fun on the kid-sleds as well. L and Vidyuth also made snowman. After playing there for a couple of hours, we headed out to Reno and had lunch at IHOP before checking in to our hotel room. After relaxing for a few hours, we decided to check out the night life in Reno. We ordered in pizza for dinner and then visited Circus Circus first. We enjoyed the brilliant gymnastics show that was performed. I took L's parents around the casino and we played for sometime in the slot machines. L was watching the kids since they weren't allowed in the casino area. Since the kids couldn't hang out for long, we headed back to our hotel and dropped of L, her mom and the kids.
L's dad and I went back again, this time to Peppermill Casino and had a lot of fun there until midnight before returing back to our hotel. On Sunday morning, we headed to South Lake Tahoe driving via Carson City. We wanted to take the gondola ride at Heavenly. Unfortunately since there were very high winds, the gondola rides was cancelled for visitors and Vidyuth was very disappointed.
We then had lunch at an Indian place - Nikki's chaat place. The food/service was extremely good commensurate with the high price that they charged. I would say it was still worth it. We then headed back to Fremont and reached home around 5.30pm
Overall it was a fun filled trip for all of us. We did take some pics and I'll be posting a sample here when L uploads them from our camera to the PC :-) BTW, this is the 50th post in this blog and hence the title
The weather was awesome and wasn't very cold at all. We picked up some breakfast (read hashbrowns) from McD's. The drive was very scenic and nice. Before reaching Soda Springs, we made a small detour to visit an unsupervised snow play area (Cisco Grove exit off I-80E) and we all had fun sliding down the slopes in our own saucer. This was the first snow experience for Vidyuth, Vishruth and L's parents and we could see the excitement in all of them. We played here for 30 minutes or so before leaving for Soda Springs.
Vidyuth and Vishruth had all the fun at Planet Kids at Soda Springs. There was a really cool snow carousel for kids. They had lot of fun on the kid-sleds as well. L and Vidyuth also made snowman. After playing there for a couple of hours, we headed out to Reno and had lunch at IHOP before checking in to our hotel room. After relaxing for a few hours, we decided to check out the night life in Reno. We ordered in pizza for dinner and then visited Circus Circus first. We enjoyed the brilliant gymnastics show that was performed. I took L's parents around the casino and we played for sometime in the slot machines. L was watching the kids since they weren't allowed in the casino area. Since the kids couldn't hang out for long, we headed back to our hotel and dropped of L, her mom and the kids.
L's dad and I went back again, this time to Peppermill Casino and had a lot of fun there until midnight before returing back to our hotel. On Sunday morning, we headed to South Lake Tahoe driving via Carson City. We wanted to take the gondola ride at Heavenly. Unfortunately since there were very high winds, the gondola rides was cancelled for visitors and Vidyuth was very disappointed.
We then had lunch at an Indian place - Nikki's chaat place. The food/service was extremely good commensurate with the high price that they charged. I would say it was still worth it. We then headed back to Fremont and reached home around 5.30pm
Overall it was a fun filled trip for all of us. We did take some pics and I'll be posting a sample here when L uploads them from our camera to the PC :-) BTW, this is the 50th post in this blog and hence the title
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