Travel and Maggi

Day 1

Some of the fall outs of last minute decisions during peak season are having to deal with annoying itineraries and ridiculous prices. Our flight to Puerto Rico had a 11 hour overnight layover in Atlanta. Whoops! Another hotel booking and double the check in baggage fees (Thanks Delta! Your customer service is something else. Not.) later, we arrived in Atlanta. We heard a lot of whooping and cheering in the airport arrivals section. The troops were home for the holidays - presumably from Iraq. While they deal with world problems, we had one brewing for ourselves - Dinner. No car + late night = hungry and irritated. Anyway problem solved. Luckily, we’d packed a few Maggi’s to get us through any bad days and poor culinary experiences (That’s life when you’re vegetarian). So, one maggi + coffee cups+ microwave later, we were all set to tackle the next day’s flight to San Juan – Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico!

Puerto Rico trip – Dec 09

It’s funny how some decisions can be made very quickly. Out initial thoughts were to head to New Orleans for Christmas week. We even bought the travel guide! But something changed and off the fly (pun in retrospect) we decided to go someplace further. We booked our tickets to Puerto Rico and planned the entire trip in 2 weeks (after buying a new guide book of course). We did not have time to learn any Spanish phrases unfortunately.

Why Puerto Rico? Its in the Carribean. Its exotic. Its tropical which is nice since we've been shivering our a$$e$ out in Austin. Its not technically the US but we don't need a passport to get there from mainland US. (Imp since husband's passport was running out. Countries need 6 months validity for international travel. Not to mention that Indian passports always means visa i.e. more planning)

Trip Itinerary

Day 1 – Travel Austin- Atlanta. Overnight stay

Day 2 – Atlanta to San Juan – capital of Puerto Rico

Day 3 – San Juan and surroundings

Day 4 – Snorkeling and kayaking off Culebra (the Spanish Virgin isles)

Day 5 – El Yunke rainforest and kayaking into the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo

Day 6 – Luquillo beach – About 45 mins from San Juan

Day 7 – Driving on the Ruta Panaromica into the central mountains. Overnight stay in the mountains.

Day 8 – Guanica, in the South coast of Puerto Rico

Day 9 – Guanica

Day 10 – Return to Austin

PS: Advise for other Indians passport holders in the US planning a trip to Puerto Rico. Just your US driving license will do. Travel to Puerto Rico is considered domestic travel. You will not need your passport anywhere. Take it though - just to be safe (it has your US visa). Plus, your US mobile phones work there (no international roaming)

Travels and travails

I am going to kick start the revival of this blog with a brief description of the travels we have done here.

The real reason we came to the US was that a lot of other places are accessible from here. I think Sriram and I have been fairly happy with the travelling we have managed in the past 1 year (yes we recently completed out 1 year anniversary in Austin!).

Lets see. We arrived in Austin - Feb 09

April 09 - New York City - Always wonderful. Spent time with brother. Even after having spent months in NYC in the past, I had never seen Liberty island and Rockefeller Center. So with that done, I think I've completed the tourist circuit in NYC. Which means, I can do other stuff when I go there again next month. Oh wait its already March. So this month.Yippie!

June 09 - South Padre Island - Spring break Mecca and for us, a long interrogation by US emigration(the island is barely 30 miles from the border with Mexico). and we hadn't even left the state of Texas! One lesson learnt on that trip - carry passport everywhere you travel.

Houston - Boring. I can't even remember when we went!. Its the only place apart from Dallas (even more boring I hear) that's an easy drive from Austin. NASA was a total let down. Yawn. Did I say boring? The highlight of the trip was perhaps the old old pub we visited in downtown Houston. Their cash register was at least 2 centuries old and it rang real nice. Side note - I read just yesterday that the sound of the cash register is one of the most pleasant sounds on earth (it ranked something like #2 in a top ten list). The other highlight? I almost forgot. Leaving our car in a garage that was closed for a public holiday. Convincing the Mexican inside to let us in to retrieve the car so we can go back home was no mean task! Lesson - Use hotel valet. Even if it means 30 bucks a night. Robbery.

August 09 - Trip with parents and brother to the West Coast. Lovely

Vegas - Every bit as over the top as you hear it is. The shows are nice. The casinos - you could'nt lose your money faster. Vegas even seems to have liquor that costs thrice what it would in a regular pub. In any case, people from Austin are spoilt with the low cost of living. Couldn't believe that a pint of Budweiser (about 3-4 bucks in Austin) could be 9 bucks in Vegas. They just used some fancy packaging. Anyway, the fact that I lost my camera and it was actually found and returned to me (posted home by the Casino I lost it at). Priceless.

Grand Canyon - The best decision we made was to rent a car and do our own driving. The desert moonscapes around Vegas are to be seen to be believed. The Grand Canyon is breathtaking. We really want to go back there and make the hike down to the river. Sigh!

Los Angeles - Finally. The land of Hollywood. The drive was interesting. The traffic in LA - legendary. Universal studios - touristy. But surprisingly, we had a lot of fun. The veggie food in a cafe there was one of the best I've ever had. Santa Monica beach - cold. But a beautiful sunset.

The bay area and San Fransisco - Reunion with with old friend. Great time. San Fransisco - as magical as ever. The redwood trees again. I never cease to be amazed by their size. A whole day wine tasting in Napa - hic! I've never had this much champagne before. The flavoured ones were excellent.

Sept 09 - Trip to Bangalore and home sweet home. Does this count as "travel". I guess not. What would have counted was the trip to Goa. But then - that was a disaster. We got caught in torrential rains that flooded the area and we basically scooted from there before you can spell G-O-A. There was that trip to Calcutta too. The less said the better. The street food in Calcutta always rocks!

Dec 09 - Puerto Rico. Now this, I wont let any of you go easy. I have spent a precious few hours writing a travelogue and read it - you must. It will go on this blog shortly.

Am I back?

Its been a whole lot of time since I last blogged. Its funny how things turn out differently from what you imagine (I don't mean it in a good or bad way). Seeing as it was that I was set to make a huge move in life (really this is a pun!) to live and experience the US of A- Austin Texas it was. Wanted life to change a little bit- actually a whole lot. Living in Bangalore for all those years. Working. Earning good money. It was just way too predictable and I wanted to get away. Its even quite strange how the universe throws things at you when you need it. Not a few months before we left to the US - the husband and I, we had talked about how moving some place far - like the US will be really nice. So it happens.

I thought I'd have a lot to share and a lot to discuss and this blog would be brimming with posts. None of that happened.

It feels strange and I feel strange. I think I need to start writing again.

The swanky hotel in Manali

Its the "catch your eye" generation. Agreed. But why feature the Burj Al Arab next to an advertising piece on Manali holiday packages? Plain stupid. Seen in in the Times of India online edition today.

Road to indebtedness

In India, the banking system is still traditional. Yes there is the occasional Lakshmi chit fund and Vini Vic scheme. We all take housing loans, student loans etc. After getting to the US however, I see some of the “advance” (pun intended ) ways in which people can get hold on money. Its about the “right here right now” out here. Its mainstream. Plus, its not even the banks that do this.

1) Title loans – There are tons of ads. Smiley couple needs cash. Sad. Walk into a “title loan” shop and walk out with money, beaming. Anyone can get cash. Instantly. What they omit to tell: They just kept your car as security for a 500 buck loan.
2) Cash into gold – Got broken chains and unwanted gold jewellery at home? (Yeah really they believe jewellery is unwanted). Just send it in an envelope to the automated processing center and they will send cash. Instantly. Almost like its free.
3) Turn a structured settlement or annuity into cash now – Its just simple cash flow discounting to present value with obviously a tidy profit involved. The ads encourage people to get their cash flows (usually from lawsuit settlements) discounted so they can buy their dream home!
4) Cheque discounting – Even Walmart does it. Take a check and get cash immediately for a small fee. Encourages people to not even wait for 2 days that it takes for a cheque to clear.
5) Most shops offer EMI schemes and many many people buy expensive stuff only because of those schemes. Cars, houses? Fine. What about TV, furniture, holidays. Yup all of this.

Financial advancement is great. Deception is not cool. Some of this is taking place in India. Its just not mainstream yet. I really hope it remains that way.

I like, I dont like.

I have been tagged by Maanasi to do this. She wonders if I’m alive and breathing these days, seeing that this blog has no updates. So, this is to show her up.

1) I like driving – Even in Bangalore. Especially in Bangalore maybe. I know the traffic sucks yada yada, but secretly, I liked all that alone time I used to get.
2) I like things natural - It may make me look like I just got out of bed, but I’m not cheating anyone. Plus, I’ll never figure what to do with make-up. Its effort I don’t know how to make. Anyway, I NEVER look like I just got out of bed unless I just did or I’m lazy. That happens sometimes.
3) I hate exercising in the gym - I still do it but I hate it. Its boring.
4) I love traveling – That’s all I ever want to do. Go to as many different places as possible. I never get a travelogue done though. Much as I try. It’s the laziness again. I won’t even include that as a separate point.
5) I like to read in the loo. Some may find it disgusting. I like it. In Bangalore it was the daily newspaper. Here, it is Time magazine.

Hmm so far, 4 “I like” and 1 “I hate”. I have to change the equation

6) I hate “girl talk” other than with girls I share a wave length with. Its sooo boring to hear women talk about their daily lives. Unless they want to use humour or say something interesting, I don’t care for it.
7) I like studying. I complain and complain about it when I have to study for exams, but the nerd deep inside loves it best when studying.
8) My latest passion is America bashing and also some “Indians in Amrica” bashing. Got nothing against the country. Noticing a few things and making fun of it makes me feel good. It also makes me mean. But I don’t say anything to anyone’s face. So I’m good right?
9) I love watching programs like CSI and also Medical Detectives and such like. In fact, in my CA exam studying days, I used to allow myself 1 hour everyday to enjoy watching grisly murder stories re-enacted while having lunch. But horror movies? No siree bob. No can do. Hate them and don’t feel silly to say - I get really scared.
10) I love clothes but hate shopping. I will never buy stuff at some discount stores, not because I’m a snob but because I hate sifting through stuff that’s in a heap. If its all nicely put up on a rail, I’m all for looking. I cannot tolerate shopping trips that last more than say 3 hours. Not even at these fancy American outlet malls.

Lets see, now I’ve reached the same number of points as on Maanasi’s list. Just need one more to top her effort. If not content, sheer numbers talk baby!

11) I’m really bad at keeping awake for late nights. I used to be called "8 ‘o clock news" in my childhood for my penchant to quickly drift off to sleep soon as the anchor came on. No much has changed today. Ok, its not 8 pm anymore. But its certainly not all night or even close.