Being back home…

I came back to my 1st home, Pune, after about 2.5 years. It felt different, yet familiar. The magic of belonging and not-belonging still holds true! There are so many new things in the city, that I felt quite lost and pleasantly so. This visit also saw some major changes happening, specially about my future visits and I am still upset about that!

One of the reasons for the visit was to make sure ze best friend gets married to her guy and doesn’t skip her own wedding! I ensured that by booking my tickets to India, insisting that she book our tickets to her home town and the wedding venue, and making sure to keep her in my sight during the last couple of days. We had fun last few days, shopping, eating Idlis and getting Mehendi done at my place on our last day in Pune. Going around on her scooty on her last day before traveling for her wedding, I felt really, really sad that this was going to be perhaps the last time we went about town. We both wondered when would we ever do this again, where we went out, bought a bunch of trinkets, had momos and went back home. Not having to worry about anything else. I feel terribly sad that I will have only the boys to hang out with whenever I come home next! Not that they are horrible people, but they are not my girls!

The wedding turned out to be quite fun. We had a mini hostel room reunion and it was great to catch up with the girls! I got to travel to the southernmost tip of India and checked off Kanyakumari from my bucketlist. The place is unique because it is a confluence point for three seas, the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. It was hot beyond reason, but we lived to tell the tale. Unfortunately, a tale of terrible behavior by tourists, lack of peace, and plastic trash everywhere. The Vivekananda Memorial was beautiful, and would have been amazingly peaceful, if the people would have been respectful. It was underwhelming, and disappointing. Luckily, the cab driver took us to another spot on the other edge of Kanyakumari, where there was no human in sight. Now, that was stunning! The water was so blue and clean, and the visibility was glorious so that we could see the nuclear plant of Kundankulam from the shore.

The rest of the trip is passing by in a daze of laziness, rains, humidity and gluttony. I have gotten drenched in rains in Pune more than I have seen rain in the last year in California. The monsoon has gained way too much speed right now, and my flights back to SD are causing a good amount of stress. The humidity has made my hair crazy but I am not complaining! The added task of filling buckets of soft water from kitchen tap to wash hair has been interesting, but apparently everyone does it here! The groundwater is hard and is terrible for skin and hair, and hence this exercise. Gluttony is at it’s peak per usual and I am on my see-food diet. I refuse to refuse food offered to me, and I have been downing everything as long as it is vegetarian. Bring on the street food, mom-made food, desserts, and my mint antacids like cherry on top. It has been glorious!

The biggest problem now is, how to deal with the gnawing pain of leaving home, again. I was hoping that I was used to this by now, but it still feels new just like back in 2009. All the euphoria of coming to motherland, to home, to family, is replaced by this weird nervousness of having to leave again during the last week. Anyone and everyone visiting HAS to say “Oh, she’s leaving this Saturday?! It’s almost here!” YES WE KNOW! I find it insanely annoying when they have to ask me about my next visit and if I would take as much time between visits like last time. I see my parents going about their daily life, and I wonder how they would continue after I leave. And I wonder how I would continue after I go back? This woe puts all the stupid dry hair, humidity, fatty food issues to shame.

Anyhoo, for now, this is all the fun stuff that I have to share. I am constantly monitoring the flood situation in Mumbai for my trip to the airport, and palpitating a bit. Hopefully, this stress will be for nothing, and I would be catching my flight without too much hassle. Here’s to wishing and hoping for the best!

See y’all on the other side of the globe!

 

 

2016??

It’s 2016 already?I feel like I am hungover. I keep thinking that it is 2015, but I know it’s not and for some reason I still feel thinking its 2014. Like, I definitely have to pause and take a moment to remember what F-ing year is going on!

Also, I just have gotten back from India. I spent around 20 days at home, and it was glorious! Shib got married, another friend Ashwini got married, so Day 1-3 of the trip was spent in dressing up, traveling, and eating wedding food. It was really fun catching up with all old friends and taking too many mad pictures. Ani, thank Sanuj. 🙂

I spent a majority of the trip eating out and spending time with friends. The food was taking such a toll on me, that I was literally popping meds before every meal, but there was no stopping me! I ate loads of Pani-Puris, momos(thanks Moo!), Paneer tikkas, sandwiches, and what not! We even scored a free cake at Barbeque Nation where I took the parents for a dinner last week. I have put on quite a bit, but we shall worry when the time comes. 🙂

Also, I met another blog-friend! I met Bhakti this time, and it was really fun hanging out with her. I used to feel that we have a giant age difference between us, but I did not realize it when we met. Either she is too mature or I am too juvenile; I am inclined to swing towards the latter. Also, it’s totally awesome to give someone career advice and pretend that you know everything. Just kidding B, I DO know everything. Thanks for meeting me Bhakti, and thank you for the awesome gifts. My mom thought those are pudding/Jello packets. Haha. I am going to try them out soon and will let you know if I get mistaken for an 18 year again.

But but, here’s the best part! My parents are here with me!! Yayyy! That was the whole reason for the short trip and my parents traveled to the US along with me yesterday. They are tired, not surprisingly, and are getting used to this whole new world. It was quite funny to see their reactions at the airport and in the flight. It’s going to be fun and quite interesting, the next 5 months. I will try not complaining about my curtailed social life(as if it was super exciting).

PS : A part of my vacation also involved chewing off my nails to receive my H1b transfer on time in India(company decided to change some payroll name at the last minute), being convinced that I was going to get deported, waiting with bated breath to get the visa approval, tracking my Fedex from my attorney with visa documents every hour, stalking the shit out of Pune Fedex facilities and getting the driver’s phone number to meet him on the highway 10 minutes before we left for Mumbai to catch my return flight. I live on the edge, people.

PPS : Wish you all a very happy new year! Trust all are doing great!

Travelogue : Death Valley

Thanksgiving. Long weekend. Get out of town. That’s the mantra we seem to be following these days. Any long weekend or vacation spent at home is akin to a crime.

My holidays started pretty much when a very old friend from college Sayali came over to my part of the country to catch up on our friendship and enjoy her vacation. We had a blast, went to Las Vegas, clubbed, gambled, boozed and did the usual Vegassy stuff. After coming back to Orange County, we visited the local beaches which were too cold to be enjoyed thoroughly. Yet we had a great time sitting on top of the lifeguard’s post and talking.

Thanksgiving dinner was had at my buddy Shawn and Alicia’s where food was served to us in quantities that will put an elephant’s diet to shame. I am still eating leftovers and I am still set for two more meals.

One of the very exciting things that I did was to go to the Death Valley National Park with Abhi and Nisha. It is one of the largest national parks in the country and is a huge expanse of flat lands and mountains, a lot of it actually below the sea level. The say that Death Valley is the land of extremes. The temperatures range from 120 F in summers to 20 F in winters, which is around 48 C and sub-zero. Also, you get to see extremely beautiful night skies with the milky band. It was a few nights after full moon, yet we could see a gazillion stars just at 7 pm. My skin tingles at the thought of a moonless night over there. And a date. Meh.

We stayed at the Panamint Springs Resort which is a family owned resort with a few rooms, pre-built tents, RV hookup sites and campgrounds. It is an old and basic arrangement but worked very well for us. The restaurant had vegetarian options in pizzas and burgers and a couple of appetizers. Nothing fancy considering that it was a friggin’ remote location with ZERO cell service. Yep. No internet. No phone. Zilch. Zero. Nada.

We stayed in the lodge on Friday night after a 4 hour drive from OC to Panamints springs area. The drive was rough with a lot of unpaved roads as would be commonplace in such an area. In the next couple of days, we enjoyed quite a few Death Valley massages as Abhi called ‘em gravel-ey roads. We ate and slept, prepared for a an early day. We had some sumptuous buffet breakfast on both the days with pancakes, scrambled eggs, cereal, croissants and such. On Saturday, we set out to cover most of the sightseeing in the area.

There are two things worth mentioning. First, I was awed by the sand dunes. They were so beautiful! Now, I have an itch to go back to Rajasthan in India to see the desertlands. For the nerds interested, scenes from Star Wars have been shot at those Sand Dunes in the Death Valley. We walked quite a bit in those dunes to get to a nice high point and then returned with scoops of sand in our shoes, socks, jeans, yep.

The second point of interest that I loved was Badwater. It is a highly salty marshy area with encrusted soil on top as of now because of the heat and is about 300 ft below sea level. The history says that a traveler thought it was a good spot for his mule to have a sip of water but the mule refused to drink it. So, he named it Badwater. The water is so saline that only a few special aquatic creatures like this bunch of weird snails can survive there. To maintain ecological balance, straying off the boardwalk is not permitted. By the way, there is also a Badwater marathon for idiots who like to run in extreme weather conditions and die. Count me out.

Leaving you guys with some pictures I took during the trip.

Sand dunes… They shot Star Wars here!

Because, why not! Abhi and Moi…

Badwater Basin

Artist’s Palette!

Frozen!

Pointers:

1. September-November seems to be a great time and so is spring. Any other time will ensure that you will either boil or freeze to death.
2. Come prepared for some walking and bring your hiking shoes. Each point is atleast half a mile away from the parking lot with some good hiking loops around.
3. Bring plenty of water. Don’t be too fussy about food if you are a vegetarian and be prepared to eat same meals. It is not a place to expect buffets.
4. If you are a social media or smartphone addict, you are screwed.
5. Bring all your camera equipment. The place is indeed beautiful for photography and astronomy enthusiasts.
6. Book lodging or camping grounds well in advance. It seems to get full real fast, especially for long weekends.
7. Do an estimate of the amount of daylight you will have and the places you want to see. Pace yourself accordingly.
8. Forget everything above and let Abhi and Nisha plan, so that you can sleep in the backseat. 😀

Travelogue : Turkey : Istanbul

The ultimate Turkey travelogue is here!

After Cappa, we were all set to catch a flight to Istanbulllllll baby! I was mad excited about that one and I did not let the late flight play spoilsport. We reached Istanbul around 2 hours late than my expected timing. The craziness of Istanbul and the men started right away. Men in Istanbul are flirts and that’s just an understatement. The shuttle driver while going tour hotel,  called me to sit in the front, asked me if I was ‘Hindistani’, said mashallah to me a few times and made me take my sunglasses off because he wanted to see my face! I tolerated all that only because he was giving me a legit tour of all the places we were passing.

We got to the hotel, and met the 15 yr old daughter of the AirBnB owner, Ecenoor, to be called Ej, who made Moo and me fall in love with her. She had a funny way of doing Umm-hmm when we asked her anything, had the most beautiful golden brown straight hair, and milky skin, and, err,….. so on. After chilling in the room for a bit and re-arranging the space to ensure we could open our bags and walk around, we left for the Sultanahmet square. It was barely a 10 min walk for us and the most important places in Istanbul are located here. We had the Sultanahmet mosque on our agenda for that day, also popularly known as the Blue Mosque, the reason being the intricate mosaic work with blue tiles. It was stunning! Just, stunning! Such a huge mosque, high ceilings, intricate art work! It was so beautiful. We went crazy clicking pictures there. On our way out we had a crazy encounter with this creepiest person who touched me inappropriately and had suggestions to party at night with him and his cousin. Ewww. The string of crazy encounters continued with shop-keepers, restaurant servers, random security guards, taxi drivers.

The famous Blue Mosque or Sultanahmet mosque

Stunning mosaic

Hagia Sophiya or Ayasofya

Magic!

Day 2 in Istanbul, started with an itchy throat. I did not pay much attention to it and moved on. We had planned on seeing the Topkapi palace early in the morning and the city’s main mosques after. We had breakfast and started to walk towards Topkapi palace. Like I mentioned before, most important locations are at a stone’s throw from each other in the Sultanahmet square. But at one point, I decided to ask this seemingly normal looking old man of around 60-65 who told us to follow him and that he will lead us to where we had to be. After a quick glance to ensure enough people in the surrounding areas for safety, we started following him. He spoke to us about ‘Hindistan’, Hema Malini, about him being from Iran and other random things, seemingly jovially. While walking, we came across a junction where Moo spotted a park and a sign that said Topkapi palace. So we stopped there and told the man that err, we have reached. He said ok ok and held out his hand for Moo to shake. As soon as she took it, he lunged towards her with the weirdest pouty kissy face to give her a kiss! She leaned back horrified and I wrenched his arm away from her and both of us pushed him away. It was awful!!! In order to not make a scene, we said bye to him and I tolerated a hand shake where again I had to pull my hand away from him. We ended up having a big laugh about it later. The side view of his pout is burnt into my memory now. Arrrgghh. We have had the strangest encounters ever in Istanbul with the men.

Topkapi Palace was beautiful but very tiring! The palace was home to the Sultans of Ottoman Empire and their queens. My dad told me later that he had seen the movie Topkapi from 1960s which is about a diamond robbery. Indeed, Topkapi palace had a jewelery collection with huge diamonds. But to be honest, some of them did not have the facets that make a diamond shiny and I felt rather under-whelmed on seeing them. But, I will not mind if you decide to gift me one of those. I will adjust.

After Topkapi, we checked out some mosques in the Eminonu area which were walking distances from each other. While walking to the mosques we crossed the Egyptian market, Spice Bazar and the small internal Istanbul bylanes. It really felt like we were walking in the old town area of Pune. The activity, street food, hustle and bustle is so similar to home.

The last stop was Grand Bazar. On the way to GB, Moo and I took a cab and turned on Google Maps for good measure. That led us to realize that our cab was cheating us and we ended up yelling big time at him and paid only 20 lira vs the 40 he was demanding. By then, my itchy throat was feeling like a cat’s scratch post and was full-fledged hurting. We shopped, bargained, felt cheated, felt glorious, and felt extremely drained out  by the end of our Grand Bazar experience. It is huge, people! There are so many shops, so many trinkets, sweets, lamps, it is unbelievable! Of course the shop keepers flirt big time! In order to get magnets for cheap I had to endure getting propositioned for marriage, being told weird things about my lips and being questioned about my v*rg*nity. Goodbye self-respect. Going back to the hotel from GB also involved yelling royally at 2 cab drivers.

Topkapi palace

Museum rooms, photography wasn’t allowed inside.

Bosporus.

Harems. Lucky guys!

St. Irene cathedral.

St. Irene cathedral.

Sulemaniye Mosque

Grand Bazar

Day 3 in Istanbul started with a visit to Hagia Sophia or the Ayasofya. That place made me feel like I was a part of Dan Brown’s book.  It is a huge museum which was a church in the 500s and then a mosque in 1400s and finally restored and converted into a museum by Ataturk in 1930s after secularization. It is the only place I have seen which has Christian mosaics and frescos along with verses from the Holy Quran, side by side. The chapel was H-U-G-E! It was impossible for us to capture the entire ceiling in one go. The domes were decorated so beautifully! It was all just visually so stunning.

The next stop was the Basilica Cistern. The cisterns were used to provide water to the city during the Roman period. It was eerily creepy yet so strangely fascinating. There was water still in there with these giant fat fishes floating around. Somehow I had the chills the whole time we were down there. There are two pillars in there with Medusa’s heads that were not discovered until restoration in the 1980s.

One big surprise was that Vince texted that he and Proctor had just reached Istanbul last night and they would be free to hang out. Moo and I were planning to do the Bosporus cruise after lunch and we asked them to join us. Like every other water body in Turkey, the Bosporus is also a very striking shade of blue! The cruise was so relaxing! We had a pretty good time clicking tons of pictures, and generally enjoying the views. We even sneaked in a nap towards the end of the cruise on their comfy benches inside the boat. Yep.

We had dinner after in one of the many street restaurants over there which involved a huge confusion over the bill and the money we paid and tax and tips. But we chugged along.

Hagia Sophia!

Christian and Islamic symbols together

Basilica cistern

Creepy fishes

Medusa

Bosporus cruise

Day 4 was our last day in Istanbul and we decided to take the train and check out the other side of the town and Dolmabahce palace. That is the palace which later also became Ataturk’s part time residence in Istanbul and where he eventually passed away after battling Cancer. The palace has been converted into a museum. As with other historical buildings in Turkey, even Dolmabahce features exquisite decoration and intricately painted ceilings and walls. It houses gifts exchanged with other empires and countries in form of Baccarat crystals, chandeliers, carpets, and paintings. A lot of political diplomacy could be seen at play in the pictures and paintings and the gifts. The grounds were lush green, well-manicured and looked out to the gorgeous Bosporus. I would not mind living there at all!

While we were there, the weather decided to play spoil sport and it started raining. But I really, really wanted to have this local street food Kumpir(a loaded baked potato) and Turkish waffles in the Ortokoy area and so we headed out over there, braving the storms, err, the drizzle. The Kumpir was heaven, but the waffle, was O-M-G! It was beyond delicious! So rich, and so yummy! All for 15 lira each which is like $5.

We headed back to our familiar Sultanahmet area back after and spent the evening strolling here and there and rounding it off with our last dinner of Lentil soup.

Outside Dolmabahce Palace

Dolmabahce Palace

Yep.

Kumpir is the bomb! Loaded baked potato.

This heavenly delight called Turkish waffle.

Archeology museum

Kebab platter for the meat eating boys

Last tea in Istanbul.

The next day, I said bye to Moo early in the morning to catch my shuttle to the airport. I felt bitter-sweet leaving Istanbul. They say that you feel sadness about leaving a place, not just because you will miss the place, but you will miss the person you were, the age you were at and the state of mind you had. I couldn’t agree more.

Turkiye, it’s been real. And it would be a real pleasure if I get to see you again. Till then, hello new lands!

Tips :

1. 3 days in Istanbul are not enough if you get tired easily. 4 days should be good to be able to space out all places of historical importance.
2. Go to the Spice Bazaar to buy most of your Turkish Delights(sweets) and spices. Rest of the goods are similarly priced in Grand Bazaar.
3. Your bargaining must be at its A-game. Otherwise you are going to kick yourself. There shouldn’t be room for  hesitance in your voice. I think I am good at it. Always offer 1/3^rd of the price they quote.
4. Do go for a Tukish Bath/Hamam. I missed that and I feel bad about it. Don’t feel shy. Who knows you there? 🙂
5. The cabs are expensive if you are alone or 2 people. For 3-5 persons, it is a better deal than public transport wrt to costs and comfort.
6. I will not suggest Istanbul as a part of a leisurely vacation unless you don’t care about historical sites.
7. Try and stay in the Sultanahmet area if you are touristy, and stay in the Beyoglu area if you like street cafes, bars and nightlife. You will have access to train stations from both places.
8. Vegetarian food is available but not the greatest variety. Don’t expect a royal meal and don’t get fussy. Do try the desserts.
9. Have the Turkish tea and coffee if they offer it in stores and such. It is a nice experience to sit and chat over tea. I am not too fond of tea, but I rolled with it. Like they say, When in Rome, do the Romans, do as the Romans do.
10. Keep your eyes, ears and nose open. Take in ALL the sensory delights. 🙂 Turkey is amazing.

Travelogue : Turkey : Cappadocia

So, continuing the adventures of PB and Moo in lands far, far away, on our magic carpet(SunExpress airlines), we flew off to Kayseri Airport to get to Cappadocia/Kappadokya/Goreme, and any other name you want to call it. At this point, I want to mention the itinerary I prepared and how beautiful it was. I had taken printouts of flight tickets, hotel bookings, places to see, food, timings and arranged it neatly, had put color coded sticky notes and arranged it acc to the days. After my itinerary was complete, I felt like a certified nerd, or a professional holiday planner. I prefer the latter and I see myself dressed as Sonam Kapoor for some reason with a bright orange planner. I digress.

So when we were planning the itinerary, we were planning to go to Pamukkale for a day from Antalya . But Moo, made one single request and I had to honor it. She really, really wanted to do a hot air balloon ride. I had wanted to do it too but was in a double mind about it. Thanks to her request, I decided to fit in a night in Cappadocia instead of Pamukkale and check one item off my bucket list as well. So we landed in Goreme after our plane ride to Kayseri and a shuttle to Goreme. Goreme is gorgeous! It is such an unexpected landscape! If you remember my Bryce canyon pictures, it has similar structures but not orange, and rising from around you, and not in a valley. Like, we were pretty much in between those structures. The hotels are also called cave hotels and if you have a higher budget, you can live in one of those. But we had constricted ourselves to a per night limit and the idea that a cavey structure may house lizards, put us off the real cave rooms. After checking in, we had lunch, and went off to check out the Goreme Open Air Museum. It is a Unesco heritage site which was a Byzantine monastery. There are clusters of churches, chapels, housings inside of the caves and rock cut outs. They are extremely interesting with respect to the history.

Boy, was it hot that day! We felt like we were walking in a microwave with the sun baking us. I felt like a drained out battery and we kept hiding in the caves from the sun. At one point, Moo and I got into some cave room which looked like it was a kitchen and plopped down for about 20 minutes with some tourists flitting in and out, but we refused to budge. It was the best escape from the sun. And that day, I had for some reason decided to carry my zoom lens as well, which was adding to the bulk of the scarf/hat/backpack. We couldn’t even take too many pictures of us because for every pic, we had to take out 3 things atleast from our heads or necks at which point I gave up. 😀

Finally when it had cooled a tiny bit, we left the museum to walk back to the hotel. On our way back, we came across this adorable pottery shop where there were 2 trees covered in blue glassy evil eyes, and old earthen pots. The tree covered in blue was so beautiful, aah, I loved it! Finally, we had some energy back into us and we spent that in taking our pictures. Moo was drawn to alien looking zoozoos which I was kinda terrified of. Eeks. We had dinner after and called it a night since we had a rather early start the next day. It was still so hot, that I slept with a thin towel on me instead of a bedsheet. Haha

The hot air balloon ride called for a insanely early morning alarm, but you know what? Right from clambering into the wicker basket, the lift off, the soaring across the skies watching the sunrise, the intentionally bumpy landing, to popping the champagne after the ride, it was all so magical, so dreamy. I had never thought that watching the sun rise from 850 m high up in the sky could be this intense. The view was nothing short of spectacular and I will let the pictures do the talking here.

The cave hotels.

Beauty!

Inside the monastry.

Goreme Open Air Museum: Monastry

No evil eyes here!

Readying for take off!

My balloon!

Raise your glass!

PS : There will be a part 3.

Travelogue : Turkey : Ankara + Antalya

I am back! *Jazz hands like Karan Johar*

It is September 2015. My birthday month, and never before have I had such an exciting start to my birthday month ever! I am loving 2015 so far. After the meh-ness of last year and half, 2015 has brought new and unexpected things for me. I have run races, climbed hikes, traveled and have so far thoroughly enjoyed myself. I hope the trail of happiness continues. 😀

Turkey was phenomenal! Oh, what a country! I am going to write down as much as I can remember but that is going to cover barely 30% of the memories I have in created. When I met up with the SDSU group in Ankara, we called it ‘CSEL going International’. CSEL= Combustion and Solar Laboratory. We like to call ourselves CSEL fo lyfe. Lol. We had been invited to our Turkish friend Murat’s wedding who was marrying his GF of 3 years Becca. Becca’s all American family also hung out with us and we had a really good time.

I had a 13 hour flight to Istanbul and an hour flight to Ankara. Murat was picking me up at the airport. As soon as we saw each other, we RAN and bear hugged each other. We just couldn’t stop laughing that we were meeting after 3 years! Showing up for his wedding in Turkey felt so surreal! He kept giving me hugs, we were that happy! We had another hour to kill at the airport so that we could pick up 2 of his friends as well who were flying in from San Diego. After a hearty dinner of, err, burger king bean burger, we plopped down on massage chairs at the airport and that was awkward to say the least. We were like two giggling school girls. As a result, Murat was telling everyone that PB is so funny! And when asked why, his reply was just… she’s so funny! 😀

After his friends came, we went over to the hotel, and I went off to sleep at about 11 pm. I slept like a baby till about 10 am till his friend Vince texted me to come down for b’fast. We ate, I went to my room, chilled pretty much for the whole day till the gang came down from their 3 days in Istanbul. Then we got ready and headed to Murat’s parents’ restaurant for the bridal party. It was one crazy affair! We were treated like super honorable guests and I have never been paid so much attention in my life. Like, not even by my parents. Murat and Becca entered to fireworks and traditional dancing. Murat was doing this move that we thought is thanks to his bad dancing skill, but we learned eventually it is a legit step. They love one kind of dance form which we named pinky finger dance. They basically form a circle with people connected using their pinkies and they do this 1-2-3-4-kick-4-3-2-1-kick step. The WHOLE TIME! I was okay with it until I started getting pulled on both sides by my pinkie which was hurting like a b***** by the end of the night. Food was catered by his restaurant and was really yummy with plenty of veggie options(I would like to think so!)

The next day, my jet lag decided to kick in and I was awake at 5 am! I was lost as to what to do and then I heard it! There is something very beautiful about the Fazr Azan. I lay awake listening to it and then I just got up, started watching random stuff on my iPhone. I was so bored that I ate breakfast twice, once alone and once with the rest of the group. Becca’s sisters said that they too were awake and I should have knocked on their doors. They were bored out of their wits as well. Later after breakfast, we went out for sightseeing where we saw the Ankara Castle and this super interesting museum with old engineering artifacts. We walked back to the hotel at lunch time and the manager could not have been a better host! He drove us to a restaurant of his recommendation, insisted that he will pick us up in an hour, then drive us to Ataturk’s mausoleum and arranged a guide for us. Like I said, people in Ankara know how to host their guests. Ataturk’s Mausoleum was the highlight of my Ankara sightseeing. I learnt so much about the Ottoman Empire and Turkey’s history that I had no idea about. Mustafa Kamal Pasha Ataturk was a visionary who merged European culture with Islamic traditions to create a modern, free-thinking society. From what we saw and learned, he was a feminist and one of his adopted daughters was the first female pilot of Turkey in 1930s. The way Turkey moves, it’s society and culture, shows what a liberal thinking country it is, which is very interesting for an Islamic country. My dad had asked if I could get a book on him, so I bought him ‘The Great Speech’ from the museum store.

Streets of ankara

Citadel

View from Ankara Citadel

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Citadel

Whirling Dervishes

Bride and Groom

Aspendos ruins

Spicy! 😉

Parade

Ataturk’s Mausoleum

Antalya sunset

Ruins

Aspendos Ruins

Kanyon… Look at how blue it is…

Umbrella street! Almost threw a tantrum to get here.

Marina

Coral feet 🙂

Lara Beach, Antalya

I had gazillion cups of the Turkish Tea…

Moo was flying in that day and I met her after coming back from the mausoleum. It was a happy, happy re-union for us. Somehow both of us end up meeting more regularly than any other friends. In the last 3 years, this is 4^th time that we have met. Not a bad record at all! She came like Santa bringing gifts from parents and friends. I got a top and a cute chotu backpack from Dhaka from Ani and Moo and a dress from the boys, Shibs, Saipan and Hazra. Folks back home sent me sweets. Yay for birthday gifts! 😀

We spent the next day exploring some parts of Turkey too. We came back to the hotel after lunch time to start getting ready for the wedding. We took tons of pictures and selfies after cleaning, scrubbing and decking ourselves up. The wedding venue was gorgeous!

The wedding was a mixture of American and Turkish styles with the vows being read out and the bride in a stunning white dress and all that. There was a ritual where guests who were family lined up and were pinning gold to the bride and groom and giving Becca bangles. I could have sworn she looked like an Indian bride, albeit in white, by the end of it. There was delicious food, really rich deserts, a performance by whirling dervishes(I was kinda underwhelmed) and some more pinky dancing. The real party happened after the wedding where we drove off to a club and danced straight from 11 pm to 3 am. Now I don’t go clubbing too often, but when I do, I go all out. My shoes were off, and I was glued to the dance floor. At some point I ended up earning Vince’s tie around my neck. 😉

We came back to the hotel to finish packing since we had a flight to catch in exactly 4 hours. I could have sworn my suitcase had exploded, there was so much stuff! I think I had an hour of sleep pretty much. We headed over to Antalya on the southern coastline of Turkey. When I say the water was really blue, I am NOT kidding around! It was the most brilliantly blue shade of the sea I have ever seen. So pristine! We spent 2 days in Antalya exploring the bazaars in Kaleici, ruins of Aspendos, swimming in the sea and my favorite part, boating in Koprulu Kanyon. Unfortunately, we couldn’t carry our cameras because of the water, but we could rely on Karen’s GoPro. The guide got us into an inflatable raft and we canoed against the tide to reach this gorgeous spring water natural pool on top of a rock. It had waist deep ice cold water. I got into it and I friggin’ couldn’t breathe for half a minute or so! But sooooo fun!

We spent the evening on the beach swimming in the water and called it a day. CSELers left for US that night and Moo and I left Antalya for our next set of adventures the following morning.

Tips:

1. Ankara doesn’t have a lot in terms of attractions, so 2 days should be enough.
2. Ataturk’s mausoleum is really high on my must-see list. I learnt so much about the Ottoman Empire and the birth of Turkey.
3. Taxis are fine in Ankara since every must see place is close by to each other, but Antalya, you definitely need a car. We drove to places which were like an hour apart from each other and that would be hard in taxis.
4. The rest of the wedding party went southwards from Antalya to Kas and if you have more time and budget, I would suggest to do that because there are some amazing boat tours, and hidden underwater cities to see, and the beaches are less commercial.
5. If you are booking accommodations on your own, through AirBnB and such, make sure that there are atleast 25 reviews and preferably guest pictures. Do not hesitate to ask clearly how far the beach or the main attraction is wrt walking or cabs.
6. Make sure to carry and wear plenty of sunscreen and hats/caps because the ruins are all out in the open with almost no shade.

PS : This is just Part 1. Part 2 will cover my shenanigans in Cappadocia and Istanbul.

Vacay time!

Heads up! You won’t find me in Cali for the next two weeks because I am in Turkey!!!!!

  

The month that was

Hola! I am back to the big, bad USA and I am still incredibly jetlagged. My trip was not that short, but it feels like it was. My H1B got stamped till 2017, so yay for that. I went to Vadodara for a work visit and I took my mom along leaving dad and Moony at home. It was a huge break for her and she thoroughly enjoyed her stay in the 5-star hotel. She has been telling all and sundry about the awesome Taj hotel. Plus I took her out for a dinner date to Mainland China and she was sooooo happy! Dad is feeling better and needs only one cane to walk now. He drove for the first time while I was there. It was a huge improvement. During my first week in India, we went to Mumbai for my visa interview and he got to leave home for the first time since his surgery in August, barring the hospital visits. He was very drained but he felt so good! Moony is happy, but age has definitely caught up with him. We have to give him a quarter NSAID every day. The doctor said that giving him a painkiller daily will make his remaining time comfortable atleast. It is very very sad to see him shiver with his arthritic pain. But he is a happy bunny otherwise.

Last few days, my mom kept wondering aloud about how short the trip seemed. I am not going to post a giant travelogue but I want to list a few highlights from the trip.

The Good :

· Mommy, Daddy, Moony! New home! It is lovely! It is small, cozy, all white with nice balconies. Most importantly, it is ours!

· I ate tons of food! I had a lot of chaat, and visited new and old restaurants. My mom made everything I loved. I made a few things for lunches that I had learned.

· My Vadodara visit was very fruitful work-wise. My mom was insanely happy and thoroughly enjoyed her stay and the flight and the train trip. I loved the train ride back. I usually get the most amazing sleep on a train berth wrapped up in their blankets and sheets.

· We spent half a day in Ahmedabad and we shopped a bit at Law Garden. It brought back so many childhood memories. I was in luck and since it was Uttarayan season, our Gujarati Thali had Undhiyo and Jalebi. Gosh I miss that stuff! Highly recommend Toran for a good thali.

· We went to Siddhivinayak in Mumbai. I make sure to go there every time I am in Mumbai. We took a little leverage thanks to Dad’s walker and managed to get VIP darshan. Bwahahaha!

· Mumbai has the best cops and the best taxi and rickshaw drivers. The best. And Pune? The worst!

· I was very happy that my friends made some time to do a day trip to Adlabs Imagica. It has a lot of rides that are similar to Disneyland and Universal Studio rides. But the way it is built and run, is very impressive. It is following International standards easily. Some of the rides were truly thrilling and only Saipan was brave enough to do it with me. And Moo walked into a pole there and was retired hurt. I was worried about what if she starts saying “Main kaun hoon? Main kahan hoon?”

· Hazra and my breakfast at Wadeshwar on FC road after our Dagdusheth Ganpati early morning darshan. Plus I saw Ganpati fresh-fresh after his bath without his usual silk drapes and ornaments. He looked so adorable.

· I have recently re-connected with a school mate with who I used to do elocution and recital competitions. He picked me up from home and we went to have dinner on new year’s eve to Vaishali. He figured that was the classic-est place to take me and I approve. Vaishali’s Indian food is extremely famous and so good. It was a regular b’fast spot for me when I was in Junior College.

· I managed to not contact the xBF. Except a ‘happy new year’. To which he replied ‘happy new year’. How interesting.

· I met an ex bf and finally accepted his fb request and managed to keep it all clean. (We were famous for our on and off relationship thanks to our chemistry. Ahem.) I got told off by Ani and Shib for meeting him.

· I took Mausi-Mausaji and cousins to BBQ Nation as my treat. What Paneer man! Yum!

· Moo and Ani came home! Moo and I got thrown out of a children’s park. We were escorted out by 4-5 men making sure we don’t go back in. I went to Moo’s place and had the yummiest Nagercoil style egg curry ever.

· My best friends Hazra, Shibin and Saipan have once again re-iterated the fact that they are family and will always be there for my parents and I can stay in peace here. I love them to no end.

· My new year resolution is to make constant efforts to stay in touch with the besties. Hazra, Saipan, Shib, Ani and Moo. But it needs to be a two-way effort. But I will try my best.

· I went to India and came back unmarried. Booyah! 😀

The Bad :

· The saddest thing to happen was the loss of a parent by my best friend. I cannot fathom how deep his sorrow must be. Shibin lost his father to a heart attack. It happened in a few minutes but it changed lives. I was glad I could be with my friend at a time like that. He called me later to thank him. But there were no thanks needed. He is family. I gave my parents a big hug after I went home.

· Seeing Moony age, and new lines on my parents’ faces.

· That nagging feeling of leaving home and going so far away that all expats face. All the time.

· My parents questioning about why I am not yet ready to start looking for boys. They asked if I was still hopeful about Scube and if they want me to contact him. I lied through my teeth that it’s all over, and I have no hope.

· The xBF made no contact with me. Inspite of me checking in on FB and making it very obvious that I was in Mumbai, Pune and Lonavala.

· I fell horribly sick for a week with a terrible cold and sore throat.

· I was unable to meet so many people thanks to the above mentioned illness and the trips to Mumbai and Vadodara. So sorry Bhakti. Other than that, I got contacted by so many people to meet and it was quite impossible. Random people from BE who I have never spoken to wanted to meet me. So weird. Except this girl Esha with who I got along fine in college. A year and half back also she wanted to meet and this time also she commented on my Instagram to meet her. I feel weirdly sorry that I could not meet her.

The Ugly :

· I have gotten off a very high horse regarding friendship. I feel humiliated by the total lack of concern shown by a couple of friends over even texting or acknowledging that I was in India. I do not expect a call from them because even I am on a texting term with them in the group. But the complete lack of response to anything I say or to my being in India made me feel very insulted. I had taken some gifts for them to give when I met them. One was supposed to come to Imagica with the group. But she cancelled at the very last moment and for something she knew about long back. Why even make a plan then? Or have the guts to say it in the group and not call a friend and tell him in private. I am so done with that group. It makes me very glad that I did not go for their weddings. (On a more evil note, I regret even getting them wedding gifts. Hmmpphh). It’s like, kehne ke liye friends. Baaki they don’t give a hoot about me. What is the point of such friends when you don’t feel the warmth. Esha seems to be more concerned about me than these so-called friends. Maybe that’s why I feel that guilt over not meeting people who actually wanted to meet me.

Anyways, now I am back to office and oscillating between pure dread about the work that lies ahead and sheer laziness. I miss home. I want to be back with my parents. But there is no point saying that. But I am also glad to be back. Friends at work rushed in to my space to tell how they missed me. It was nice to hug my car. She definitely missed me and I missed her. Also, I am glad to back on the blog. I have read most of the posts when I was home, but could not comment. I wish I could do the 30 day challenge! But next time.

So, bye for now. See you guys later!

Travelogue : Portlandia adventures

Hola Amigos!

I am sitting at work, with my legs on the voltage regulator/emergency power thingy. They feel like lead! I have a terrible vacation hangover and I need a vacation to recover from the vacation.

I went to the gorgeous city of Portland in Oregon, nestled midst the lush greenery of American north west. I cannot describe how pretty the place was. As some of you might be aware, California is in an extreme drought season because of very low rains in the last 3 years. So it is quite brown and dry and the recent forest fires have made it even worse and scary. So landing at the Portland airport was such a fresh green experience. There were really tall, green trees all around. Mini forests surrounded us all over. We even got bone drenched in rain in our mile and half walk to the hotel from the bus stop! Our very first hour in town on Saturday. Is that how Portland welcomes Californians? We will never know! 😀

On Sunday morning, we rented bikes for 24 hours and did a nice ride along the waterfront. We did our own brewery tour and went to many, many microbrewery tours in downtown and the South-East. I stuck to tasters throughout and got the max bang out of my buck without getting drunk. I had no intention of riding a bike drunk on the narrow streets. The breweries in Portland are very famous for their quirky flavors. Since I do not like stouts or pale ales or anything dark and bitter, I stuck to my fruities and florals and a little bit of citrus and coffee here and there.

So much beer, so little time….

On Monday, we rented a car and went to the very famous Multnomah falls. They were so so so beautiful! The area was so lush, breezy and the light spray of water in the air felt so refreshing, I cannot even describe. We did a nice hike up the mountain to get to the top of the falls. That was something! We reached the river which feeds the falls. The water was icy cold but I loved splashing my feet about. There was a Labrador Retriever there playing fetch with his human. He was running, splashing, swimming to get his wooden branch or whatever that was. It was adorable!

On Tuesday, we finally got to have Voodoo doughnuts, which is a must stop shop for visitors. The doughnuts there are beyond divinity! Usually the wait in line is almost an hour, but I planned on going there on Tuesday morning when most tourists would have left. So we had to wait just over 5 minutes.

Another highly recommended place would be Salt and Straw ice cream. I am out of words to describe my flavors. Almond brittle with salt caramel and a scoop of honey lavender. Sheer genius, whoever came up with the lavender flavor.

My legs refuse to move sort of and my butt hurts beyond words from all the cycling and hiking, but so worth it!

One cool thing about Portland is there is no sales tax! Aaand, there is a huge bookstore called Powell’s. It is like Crosswords X 3 and has 3-4 levels and a basement. I bought 3 Lord of the rings used books for around $15. Not bad at all.

The city is famous for bikes. Half of the roads, however narrow they are, are reserved for trams and bikes. It is extremely safe to ride about town because bikers have the right of way throughout. I highly suggest renting bikes rather than cars. They have bikes with carriages and child seats as well.

The most important thing about the trip was, I got to get out and do something! My last trip was to Atlanta to see Moo, and I hadn’t done anything after that. If I don’t do anything and don’t get out, I start getting anxious. So it was a welcome break from the trappings of the routine. But I have to admit, I missed the xBF a lot. I was thinking about him all the time. What he would have done, what he would have eaten, how he would have been the control freak to plan everything and would have lead us everywhere. Me and Abhi and all would have just played ‘follow the leader’ blindly with him in charge. I couldn’t help missing him while cycling, at the falls, while dining or drinking. Anyhoo….

If you are planning on a Portland trip, get in touch. I will tell you about the places in much more detail and the do’s and don’ts.

Travelogue : My Boston weekend.

Haaah! Finally the Research Symposium is over and the presentation is done with it. Professor was happy, so I am happy. Now over to more work for the thesis defense. That rant will come in a couple of weeks.

By the way, I went to Boston last weekend. What a beautiful city! I loved it. And what luck, it had snowed just a day before, so got to see the entire landscape covered with powdered snow…Ohh so pretty!

This was a special trip. More than visiting Boston, it was about meeting my boyfriend’s sister, her hubby and her 5 month old adorable baby V. The BF had told his parents last December and I had met his parents casually in India. His sister is really really sweet. We gelled rather well and most of our hobbies are similar. she knew I like reading, so courtesy her, I am the owner of a brand new Kindle reader!! Yayaayyy for that! 🙂 At night we all skyped with his parents and somehow it made me very comfortable. I feel that THAT is the family I want to live with. So much love already. I felt so good. I haven’t told my parents yet and will do so as soon as I start working, which should be hopefully soon. I just hope it lasts through the long distance when the BF is in India (he will be leaving for good soon), and I will be here to work for at least 2 years.

So coming back to Boston, what a city! so wanted to go and meet Yuvraj Singh, but the BF said I was mad. 😦 We even passed the Boston Medical Center where he is undergoing treatment. I wanted to wish Yuvi, so bad….

I had the honor of visiting MIT, the mecca of engineering. As we walked through the majestic building and peeped through the world class Labs, I was filled with a sense of awe. The library and common room was full of paintings and pictures that the students have indulged in as hobbies. I saw hordes of brilliant students eager to go and study and research on new brilliant things. I so wanted to take their pictures as well. It was just awesome!

Next we went to THE Harvard University. It was like taking a walk through pages of history. The guide told us about the students who have walked those hallowed portals and gone on to paths of greatness. So awesome.

We saw a small ice skating rink on the grounds and decided to skate. It was my first time, and boy, was I scared! But I did it and actually managed to skate along the circumference a fair few times. although one hand was always close to the railing because I was not confident enough. Our friend Varun was the funniest! He was literally hugging the railing all the time….So funny.

Yeah, I also visited the sites of the Boston Tea Party and the Declaration of American Independence.

We had a nice Mexican lunch. For 2 people from San Diego, it was kind of stupid to go to Boston and have mexican food. But what to do, when your BF is silly boy who is so averse to experimenting with cuisines. everybody wanted to try out some Mongolian but alas! apparently when he was a kid, he had gone for some Europe tour and had eaten only French Fries throughout the journey. Gaaah!

Taking the flight back to SD was an adventure in itself! We were in the bus from the airport car rental to the Boston terminal at 5 pm when we get a call that our 6 30 flight to Minneapolis(the stopover) has been postponed to 8 30 pm. and within 2 minutes of that call we get another call saying that we have been put in another flight with a stopover to Salt Lake City that will depart at 5 25 pm. Whaaaaaat!!! We ran for our lives, took our boarding passes, snaked through the security and run till the last damned gate of the terminal. Phew! We caught our flight at 5 23pm with people in the plane giving us weird looks. Our flight was changed cuz we would not have been able to get a flight from Min to SD.

Rather adventurous, right?