This weekend my family and I visited the Point Lobos reserve. I've been there 4 times before and I'm never bored. It was a great desire of my husband and I to take my parents-in-law to visit Point Lobos. It's called as the one of the most beautiful places in the world for a reason. It would be impossible for me to write down about all the trails, vista points and the different animal and plant species that are there in addition to the remarkable rock formations and the pacific ocean.
Point Lobos offers something for everyone..I've seen people of all ages hiking the point lobos state reserve. I've gone there both in a big group and just with my husband and I loved it both times. My husband and I have hiked the entire park and we wouldn't be wrong if we told that this place is just so unique and vivid. You don't really get to see beauty of this kind when you are going on the 17 mile drive or just around hwy 1 upto big sur. It's unique because of the abundance of plant and birds and rock formations...It's quite breathtaking to see how the plant species and the terrain changes as you hike from one point to another. People really have to visit Point Lobos to understand and appreciate.
My only motivation behind hiking is that I would like to see something beautiful at the end of the hike and I find Point Lobos to be truly rewarding in that regard..each view point different than the previous one yet so beautiful...As you continue your hike you notice that the beauty only increases.
I'll post pics soon...
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Are all parents-in-law MONSTERS??
I just got back from a meeting where one of my colleagues was pretty surprised to know that my parents-in-law are still here with me? They are here in the US for about 3 months now. He asked me "If I was really enjoying it?" well, we all know what he meant!! and I replied "Honestly, I really do enjoy it". He simply couldn't believe it until I told him that my parents-in-law are really nice and I had to explain why I think they are nice.
I'm writing about this not because I had this conversation with my colleague but I had a similar conversation with another newly married friend of mine. First of all the idea of getting into a fight with your parents-in-law only when you spend a few hours with them is quite appalling and I would imagine that it requires a lot of effort from both sides to brood over everything.
These days a lot of the parents-in-laws are educated and do realize their limits and bounds and yet at the same time can provide the newly weds with enough insights on what could be done to ensure that there's long lasting harmony. The educated ones usually try to treat everyone as equals and try and sort things out in a civilized manner.
Here's my take, I wake up late on weekends and my mother-in-law doesn't complain about that (a lot of others do), she cooks once she confirms with me what needs to be cooked and I help out with chopping vegetables and cleaning dishes. I cook the friday dinner for everyone and even though she happens to be the resident expert in cooking none of my family members make a big fuss when what I cooked for them doesn't taste all that great. That's really all I could ask for and more. Not everyone can eat a meal without making a remark(good or bad) no matter how ludicrous it is. In all the 3 months they've adjusted with whatever we had, they had to be in the living room as we hadn't planned for their visit ahead of time. They did understand our situation and never complained at all.
Best of all is when no one would ever come around trying to prove who's superior. Mothers-in-law or daughters-in-law trying to establish authority never works well in a family. That family is bound to be ruined (or atleast laughed at) sooner or later, unless ofcourse one has the virtue of being able to ignore the authoritative person.
I've always wondered what makes the mother and daughter in laws polar opposites to a point where they are uncomfortable they cannot talk among themselves and instead feel more comfortable complaining about each other to everybody else. The basic problem solving method would be to talk to your husband and see if he empathizes you or if you just had a wrong notion...
well then if he agrees he could do the talking for you...but if you have a spine you could talk things out yourself without actually fighting.
Ultimately for any relationship to be fruitful both parties have to work at it sincerely and employ better problem solving techniques where both parties have something to gain rather than just fight over things to prove a very silly point. This reminds me of an incident that happened when I was in India, my mom deep fried some crispy stuff for me to eat, now this stuff was originally prepared by my aunt who was visiting me at the time. My aunt didn't agree with the way my mom had prepared them...well, it was a simple matter of using less oil vs more oil. My mom was the lesser oil side. My mom simply let it go and didn't care to respond much...but when I went to visit my aunt my aunt made sure she deep fried with the same stuff with more oil and made it a point to show my mom how it ought to look. Frankly, my mom and I couldn't care less and we let it go. But I'm fairly certain everyone else in the room lost respect for my aunt...she just proved to everyone there that maturity doesn't always come with age. She did prove her point but at what expense...was it worthy? Maybe to her it was.
To conclude, I'm sure I wouldn't regret if I said not all parents-in-laws are monsters and for any relationship to be successful both parties should work on it and establish trust and be able to disagree with each other without any sense of fear whatsoever and more importantly you treat the other person like an equal and not like your sub-ordinate. Always remember that vain glory blossoms but never bears fruits. I'd rather give up on a few things and live happy than prove my point all the time and make enemies out of everyone.
I'm writing about this not because I had this conversation with my colleague but I had a similar conversation with another newly married friend of mine. First of all the idea of getting into a fight with your parents-in-law only when you spend a few hours with them is quite appalling and I would imagine that it requires a lot of effort from both sides to brood over everything.
These days a lot of the parents-in-laws are educated and do realize their limits and bounds and yet at the same time can provide the newly weds with enough insights on what could be done to ensure that there's long lasting harmony. The educated ones usually try to treat everyone as equals and try and sort things out in a civilized manner.
Here's my take, I wake up late on weekends and my mother-in-law doesn't complain about that (a lot of others do), she cooks once she confirms with me what needs to be cooked and I help out with chopping vegetables and cleaning dishes. I cook the friday dinner for everyone and even though she happens to be the resident expert in cooking none of my family members make a big fuss when what I cooked for them doesn't taste all that great. That's really all I could ask for and more. Not everyone can eat a meal without making a remark(good or bad) no matter how ludicrous it is. In all the 3 months they've adjusted with whatever we had, they had to be in the living room as we hadn't planned for their visit ahead of time. They did understand our situation and never complained at all.
Best of all is when no one would ever come around trying to prove who's superior. Mothers-in-law or daughters-in-law trying to establish authority never works well in a family. That family is bound to be ruined (or atleast laughed at) sooner or later, unless ofcourse one has the virtue of being able to ignore the authoritative person.
I've always wondered what makes the mother and daughter in laws polar opposites to a point where they are uncomfortable they cannot talk among themselves and instead feel more comfortable complaining about each other to everybody else. The basic problem solving method would be to talk to your husband and see if he empathizes you or if you just had a wrong notion...
well then if he agrees he could do the talking for you...but if you have a spine you could talk things out yourself without actually fighting.
Ultimately for any relationship to be fruitful both parties have to work at it sincerely and employ better problem solving techniques where both parties have something to gain rather than just fight over things to prove a very silly point. This reminds me of an incident that happened when I was in India, my mom deep fried some crispy stuff for me to eat, now this stuff was originally prepared by my aunt who was visiting me at the time. My aunt didn't agree with the way my mom had prepared them...well, it was a simple matter of using less oil vs more oil. My mom was the lesser oil side. My mom simply let it go and didn't care to respond much...but when I went to visit my aunt my aunt made sure she deep fried with the same stuff with more oil and made it a point to show my mom how it ought to look. Frankly, my mom and I couldn't care less and we let it go. But I'm fairly certain everyone else in the room lost respect for my aunt...she just proved to everyone there that maturity doesn't always come with age. She did prove her point but at what expense...was it worthy? Maybe to her it was.
To conclude, I'm sure I wouldn't regret if I said not all parents-in-laws are monsters and for any relationship to be successful both parties should work on it and establish trust and be able to disagree with each other without any sense of fear whatsoever and more importantly you treat the other person like an equal and not like your sub-ordinate. Always remember that vain glory blossoms but never bears fruits. I'd rather give up on a few things and live happy than prove my point all the time and make enemies out of everyone.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Weekend getaway!!
My husband and I decided to spend the thanksgiving weekend at Napa as we had no intentions of travelling long distance to entertain ourselves. Visiting Napa was a very unique experience. Please note that Napa is the wine country and every restaurant/Inn that you go to offer wide varieties of wines for you to pick from.
We decided to stay at the Hennessy House Bed and Breakfast Inn at Napa. Initially we were a little skeptical about staying in a privately owned B&B as opposed to just staying in a reputed hotel. Nevertheless we decided to try the B&B as it would be a new experience. Napa has lots and lots of B&Bs to choose from, the choices are just overwhelming. After going through almost every single B&B, my husband and I picked the Duck Nook room at the Hennessy House. This B&B was a stone building that had beautiful antiques and each room had a theme which made it interesting.
We reached the Inn around 6 pm and there really wasn't much to do as it had already gotten dark. There was Sherry for us in the room and it did taste really good too. No sooner than we entered the room and closed the door, there was a pet cat that showed up at the entrance. I'm really scared of cats and wasn't sure about opening the door in order to get to the car and bring our stuff back. It was quite amazing to see how my husband could interpret the cat signals and how he made friends with it so quickly. The cat pretty much obeyed whatever he told it to do and it always came running to him once it saw my husband (I just hope I could love the animals the way my husband does!!!). Since it was the thanksgiving day lot of restaurants were either closed or were already full and couldn't take any more reservations. Hennessy House's website had a list of recommended restaurants and it made it easier for us to decide where we wanted to go for dinner.
We managed to get reservation at Ristorante Allegria which was located on the First Street. That was pretty much the only restaurant that we could get a reservation. We managed to get to the restaurant by 7:30pm. The restaurant was nicely decorated for thanksgiving and had lots of room and the seating wasn't cramped. They were serving Thanksgiving special dinner as well, but since I was a vegetarian we picked Bruschetta Al Pomodoro for Appetizer and Capellini Pomodoro as the main course. Upon ordering they served bread with dipping oil, the bread with dipping oil tasted wonderful. Then we got our appetizer, we have always loved the Bruschetta and it was excellent here at this restaurant as well. Then came my Capellini Pomodoro which was excellent as well. It didn't have too much cheese and it wasn't bland for a change. I had nothing to complain about and I was pleased with my main course. For desserts we had Classic Tiramisu, which was great too. We pretty much had a complete dinner with appetizer, main course and desserst and were really happy with the meal and the service at the restaurant.
We got back to the Inn and watched TV, our room had a 42" LCD TV and that was really nice as some of the Inns don't have TV or internet connection. It was really nice to have TV and internet so that we didn't have to invent other ways of entertaining ourselves when at the room. That was our first night stay at this Inn. The room had a nice fire place which was pretty efficient in keeping our room warm. The bedding was amazing, it was truly one of the most comfortable beds that I have slept in. My husband and I managed to sleep well that night.
The next morning we had to get to the dining room that was at the main house at the Inn. They served us our morning fruits, followed by Frech toast and muffin. The Peach Cinnamon french toast was excellent and the muffins were really good too. They had a lot of berries in them and tasted wonderful. They did have the usual granola and yogurt as well but we decided to have the gourmet breakfast. There was tea, coffee and orange juice for beverages. Overall it was a sumptuous breakfast.
After sometime we decided to go for a nice bath in the Jaccuzi tub. We unwound and soaked ourselves. The bath soak liquid was provided as well and it was great too. It was greatly relaxing. Since it was the black friday we spent the rest of the day shopping at the Westfield mall in Fairfield and then shopping at the Napa premium outlets. I bought a PCTV tuner the review of which would follow sometime soon. Having used to shopping at the West Field Valley Fair in San Jose and the Gilroy premium outlets I don't have much to talk about the malls in Fairfield and Napa.
We got back to the Inn past 6:30pm which means we had missed the evening wine and snack. We weren't interested in it so we decided to skip it and just hang out at the mall. Finally we picked up Pizza at Pizza hut in Napa and went back to the inn. Finally it was saturday morning and time for breakfast again, we were served watermelon soup instead of fresh cut fruits. The watermelon soup tasted divine. As for the main breakfast this time it was baked eggs with dill sauce, I didn't like it as much as I liked the french toast. The muffins were different too, my husband picked the sundried tomato muffin and he didn't like it and I had the Banana bran muffin and it was good.
On both days that I stayed at the Inn, our rooms were cleaned nicely and bed was made nicely as well. Everything was back in its place and as good as it was when we got there. When I went to return the keys I met Lorri who happens to be the owner of this Inn. She was very nice and friendly and gave us a lot of information about which places to see, which wineries we could go to and where we could possibly eat lunch. She was nice enough to get us a wine tour reservation at the Rober Mondavi winery and gave us a free wine tasting coupon for V.Sattui and another coupon for the Sterling winery. She gave us a booklet that had map of all the wineries.
We went to the Robert Mondavi winery and took the tour, the tour guy was great he wasn't too fast or rushing us out. He gave us enough time to ask questions, take photos, etc... We were given a brief history about the winery and then the tour began. From whatever he told it was clear that the most important wines were Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc. Robert Mondavi does make a lot of other wines too...but the grapes aren't always grown at the Robert Mondavi vineyard. We were given the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to taste. The grape in itself had a strong taste and the skin was way too bitter. Proceeding further we were shown how the oak containers are used and we then got to see the wine aging in the oak barrels. He explained the whole process of wine making and all these intermediary stages from harvesting the grape to bottling the wine.
At the end of it we were given 3 different wines to taste. He offered us the unoaked chardonnay first, I was told that they only made 200 cases of this Chardonnay and that it could be aged upto 8 years easily. The unoaked chardonnay basically bypassed the aging process in the oak barrels and gets bottled right away. Everyone like this Chardonnay as it merely tasted like grape juice only fuller. The next wine that was offered was the 22005 Merlot, this had quite a bit of alcohol and I couldn't take it. Then came the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon which everyone was waiting for. We were given a small appetizer that was made using olive bread and mushroom when tasting the Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery tour guy told us that Cabernet was the biggest wine they make and it needs to be paired with big foods to be enjoyed. We were also told that Cabernets can be easily aged for about 15-20 years. Finally as a surprise we were given muskato this was an outright winner, it tasted like a stronger 7up and every single person that was there in the tour with us bought atleast 2-3 bottles of this wine.
There were people from other states of USA and certain other countries too that had come to visit these wineries. All the other wineries seemed crowded so we went to Beringer more to see its architecture than for the wine. We didn't go on the tour or wine tasting there. The Beringer vineyard was just beautiful. We walked down the St. Helena Downtown and picked up some chocolates at the Woodhouse chocolate store. Those chocolates tasted divine. My husband and I totally loved these chocolates, each chocolate melted in our mouth. It got dark pretty quickly so we were on our way back. Every winery was uniquely decorated with christmas lights. It was quite a sight.
It struck me on my way back home, how the weekend was a real getaway. The two days we spent at Napa were really relaxing and we never thought about work or daily routine or anything else for that matter. We pretty much lived by the moment. Anyways it was time for us to get back home and we did.
In all honesty, I would definitely recommend a weekend visit to Napa and I whole heartedly recommend a stay at the Hennesy House as well. I would love to visit Napa sometime during summer or early fall and I would definitely love to stay at the Hennessy house or maybe try a different B&B just for the sake of variety.
We decided to stay at the Hennessy House Bed and Breakfast Inn at Napa. Initially we were a little skeptical about staying in a privately owned B&B as opposed to just staying in a reputed hotel. Nevertheless we decided to try the B&B as it would be a new experience. Napa has lots and lots of B&Bs to choose from, the choices are just overwhelming. After going through almost every single B&B, my husband and I picked the Duck Nook room at the Hennessy House. This B&B was a stone building that had beautiful antiques and each room had a theme which made it interesting.
We reached the Inn around 6 pm and there really wasn't much to do as it had already gotten dark. There was Sherry for us in the room and it did taste really good too. No sooner than we entered the room and closed the door, there was a pet cat that showed up at the entrance. I'm really scared of cats and wasn't sure about opening the door in order to get to the car and bring our stuff back. It was quite amazing to see how my husband could interpret the cat signals and how he made friends with it so quickly. The cat pretty much obeyed whatever he told it to do and it always came running to him once it saw my husband (I just hope I could love the animals the way my husband does!!!). Since it was the thanksgiving day lot of restaurants were either closed or were already full and couldn't take any more reservations. Hennessy House's website had a list of recommended restaurants and it made it easier for us to decide where we wanted to go for dinner.
We managed to get reservation at Ristorante Allegria which was located on the First Street. That was pretty much the only restaurant that we could get a reservation. We managed to get to the restaurant by 7:30pm. The restaurant was nicely decorated for thanksgiving and had lots of room and the seating wasn't cramped. They were serving Thanksgiving special dinner as well, but since I was a vegetarian we picked Bruschetta Al Pomodoro for Appetizer and Capellini Pomodoro as the main course. Upon ordering they served bread with dipping oil, the bread with dipping oil tasted wonderful. Then we got our appetizer, we have always loved the Bruschetta and it was excellent here at this restaurant as well. Then came my Capellini Pomodoro which was excellent as well. It didn't have too much cheese and it wasn't bland for a change. I had nothing to complain about and I was pleased with my main course. For desserts we had Classic Tiramisu, which was great too. We pretty much had a complete dinner with appetizer, main course and desserst and were really happy with the meal and the service at the restaurant.
We got back to the Inn and watched TV, our room had a 42" LCD TV and that was really nice as some of the Inns don't have TV or internet connection. It was really nice to have TV and internet so that we didn't have to invent other ways of entertaining ourselves when at the room. That was our first night stay at this Inn. The room had a nice fire place which was pretty efficient in keeping our room warm. The bedding was amazing, it was truly one of the most comfortable beds that I have slept in. My husband and I managed to sleep well that night.
The next morning we had to get to the dining room that was at the main house at the Inn. They served us our morning fruits, followed by Frech toast and muffin. The Peach Cinnamon french toast was excellent and the muffins were really good too. They had a lot of berries in them and tasted wonderful. They did have the usual granola and yogurt as well but we decided to have the gourmet breakfast. There was tea, coffee and orange juice for beverages. Overall it was a sumptuous breakfast.
After sometime we decided to go for a nice bath in the Jaccuzi tub. We unwound and soaked ourselves. The bath soak liquid was provided as well and it was great too. It was greatly relaxing. Since it was the black friday we spent the rest of the day shopping at the Westfield mall in Fairfield and then shopping at the Napa premium outlets. I bought a PCTV tuner the review of which would follow sometime soon. Having used to shopping at the West Field Valley Fair in San Jose and the Gilroy premium outlets I don't have much to talk about the malls in Fairfield and Napa.
We got back to the Inn past 6:30pm which means we had missed the evening wine and snack. We weren't interested in it so we decided to skip it and just hang out at the mall. Finally we picked up Pizza at Pizza hut in Napa and went back to the inn. Finally it was saturday morning and time for breakfast again, we were served watermelon soup instead of fresh cut fruits. The watermelon soup tasted divine. As for the main breakfast this time it was baked eggs with dill sauce, I didn't like it as much as I liked the french toast. The muffins were different too, my husband picked the sundried tomato muffin and he didn't like it and I had the Banana bran muffin and it was good.
On both days that I stayed at the Inn, our rooms were cleaned nicely and bed was made nicely as well. Everything was back in its place and as good as it was when we got there. When I went to return the keys I met Lorri who happens to be the owner of this Inn. She was very nice and friendly and gave us a lot of information about which places to see, which wineries we could go to and where we could possibly eat lunch. She was nice enough to get us a wine tour reservation at the Rober Mondavi winery and gave us a free wine tasting coupon for V.Sattui and another coupon for the Sterling winery. She gave us a booklet that had map of all the wineries.
We went to the Robert Mondavi winery and took the tour, the tour guy was great he wasn't too fast or rushing us out. He gave us enough time to ask questions, take photos, etc... We were given a brief history about the winery and then the tour began. From whatever he told it was clear that the most important wines were Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc. Robert Mondavi does make a lot of other wines too...but the grapes aren't always grown at the Robert Mondavi vineyard. We were given the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to taste. The grape in itself had a strong taste and the skin was way too bitter. Proceeding further we were shown how the oak containers are used and we then got to see the wine aging in the oak barrels. He explained the whole process of wine making and all these intermediary stages from harvesting the grape to bottling the wine.
At the end of it we were given 3 different wines to taste. He offered us the unoaked chardonnay first, I was told that they only made 200 cases of this Chardonnay and that it could be aged upto 8 years easily. The unoaked chardonnay basically bypassed the aging process in the oak barrels and gets bottled right away. Everyone like this Chardonnay as it merely tasted like grape juice only fuller. The next wine that was offered was the 22005 Merlot, this had quite a bit of alcohol and I couldn't take it. Then came the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon which everyone was waiting for. We were given a small appetizer that was made using olive bread and mushroom when tasting the Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery tour guy told us that Cabernet was the biggest wine they make and it needs to be paired with big foods to be enjoyed. We were also told that Cabernets can be easily aged for about 15-20 years. Finally as a surprise we were given muskato this was an outright winner, it tasted like a stronger 7up and every single person that was there in the tour with us bought atleast 2-3 bottles of this wine.
There were people from other states of USA and certain other countries too that had come to visit these wineries. All the other wineries seemed crowded so we went to Beringer more to see its architecture than for the wine. We didn't go on the tour or wine tasting there. The Beringer vineyard was just beautiful. We walked down the St. Helena Downtown and picked up some chocolates at the Woodhouse chocolate store. Those chocolates tasted divine. My husband and I totally loved these chocolates, each chocolate melted in our mouth. It got dark pretty quickly so we were on our way back. Every winery was uniquely decorated with christmas lights. It was quite a sight.
It struck me on my way back home, how the weekend was a real getaway. The two days we spent at Napa were really relaxing and we never thought about work or daily routine or anything else for that matter. We pretty much lived by the moment. Anyways it was time for us to get back home and we did.
In all honesty, I would definitely recommend a weekend visit to Napa and I whole heartedly recommend a stay at the Hennesy House as well. I would love to visit Napa sometime during summer or early fall and I would definitely love to stay at the Hennessy house or maybe try a different B&B just for the sake of variety.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Point Reyes
I visited Point Reyes last saturday and had been wanting to write a post about the place. I have already gone there a couple of times only to see the place completely covered in fog. This time it was different and I really got to see how beautiful Point Reyes really is. Even before I start I want to make it clear that no amount of words can truly describe the beauty of Point Reyes.
My parents-in-law are here and we've been wanting to take them to Point Reyes for a while now. This saturday since weather seemed fine I looked at the Point Reyes Cam to make sure that the weather and visibility were good in Point Reyes. Most of the times weather and visibility are great until the visitor center but the Point Reyes light house would be covered with fog. It really helps to see the cam before you leave your home.
Ideally early morning trips should be made to Point Reyes its mainly because the place lies to the west it might be more pleasant in the morning and would have correct amount of light for photography. Photos that are taken in the light house close to evening tend to get overexposed. The other reason is that if you are travelling from San Jose then you need to travel via SFO and as the day progresses the traffic near SFO gets worse.
Anyways if you are lucky with traffic then it takes about a couple of hours to get there. On your way you get to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the drive gets pretty scenic from that point onwards. Further down from the Golden Gate is the Muir Woods National Monument and Park which is where most of the traffic is usually headed. Further down is the Muir beach overlook which is a very beautiful spot where you can see some base-end stations that were used during World War II. Once you cross Muir beach overlook its some more windy roads and you get to Stinson Beach. As you drive further down you get to flat lands lined with backwaters on one side. You just continue on Hwy1 and you finally reach Bear Valley in Point Reyes.
Muir Beach Overlook - View towards San Francisco
Muir Beach Overlook - view of the opposite side.
At the visitor center you pick up the map and head wherever you feel like going. Right when you step out of your car you realize that you are in a secluded place thats far far away from the daily commotion. There's a sense of peace that embraces you. Next to the visitor center is the Earthquake Trail. Its a fairly short trail that takes you through the San Andreas Fault Zone. On your hike you get to see the fence that moved 20 ft apart during the earthquake.
Beach as seen on our way to Light House
The map pretty much has all the beaches and trails listed. But most people usually end up at the historic light house. On your way to the Lighthouse you see Ranches and other beaches, various rock formations and different species of trees. Once you cross Ranches M to A you get closer to the light house. Winds are a lot stronger near the lighthouse and the hike to the lighthouse is 300ft downhill. The view of the lighthouse is spectacular. It was constructed in 1870 and is no longer functional. But the original structure is being preserved and maintined in mint condition. The path that leads to the lighthouse is a flight of stairs that have support rails on either side. You get to see the ocean on either side. You could see the small rocks and different types of birds resting on them on your hike to the light house. The ranger gives a small explanation about the light house mainly about its construction and how it was used.
The Light house
In addition there are several beaches some offer a calm shoreline and others are usually rough mainly due to the rock formations. Apart from the beaches and light house the whole landscape of Point Reyes is just breathtaking. The valleys, small water bodies, rocks, dense forests with deers running around. The different colors of the ocean at different points is just so wonderful to see.
Because of the early sunset we had to start heading back home earlier than on a typical summer day. But overall I enjoyed every minute I was there in Point Reyes. If you really need a weekend getaway or a quiet day in the wilderness to just zone out then Point Reyes might be the place to go. Even thought its just 1 hr drive from the city you almost feel like you are in some place far far away.
My parents-in-law are here and we've been wanting to take them to Point Reyes for a while now. This saturday since weather seemed fine I looked at the Point Reyes Cam to make sure that the weather and visibility were good in Point Reyes. Most of the times weather and visibility are great until the visitor center but the Point Reyes light house would be covered with fog. It really helps to see the cam before you leave your home.
Ideally early morning trips should be made to Point Reyes its mainly because the place lies to the west it might be more pleasant in the morning and would have correct amount of light for photography. Photos that are taken in the light house close to evening tend to get overexposed. The other reason is that if you are travelling from San Jose then you need to travel via SFO and as the day progresses the traffic near SFO gets worse.
Anyways if you are lucky with traffic then it takes about a couple of hours to get there. On your way you get to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the drive gets pretty scenic from that point onwards. Further down from the Golden Gate is the Muir Woods National Monument and Park which is where most of the traffic is usually headed. Further down is the Muir beach overlook which is a very beautiful spot where you can see some base-end stations that were used during World War II. Once you cross Muir beach overlook its some more windy roads and you get to Stinson Beach. As you drive further down you get to flat lands lined with backwaters on one side. You just continue on Hwy1 and you finally reach Bear Valley in Point Reyes.
Muir Beach Overlook - View towards San Francisco
Muir Beach Overlook - view of the opposite side.
Beach as seen on our way to Light HouseThe map pretty much has all the beaches and trails listed. But most people usually end up at the historic light house. On your way to the Lighthouse you see Ranches and other beaches, various rock formations and different species of trees. Once you cross Ranches M to A you get closer to the light house. Winds are a lot stronger near the lighthouse and the hike to the lighthouse is 300ft downhill. The view of the lighthouse is spectacular. It was constructed in 1870 and is no longer functional. But the original structure is being preserved and maintined in mint condition. The path that leads to the lighthouse is a flight of stairs that have support rails on either side. You get to see the ocean on either side. You could see the small rocks and different types of birds resting on them on your hike to the light house. The ranger gives a small explanation about the light house mainly about its construction and how it was used.
The Light house
Because of the early sunset we had to start heading back home earlier than on a typical summer day. But overall I enjoyed every minute I was there in Point Reyes. If you really need a weekend getaway or a quiet day in the wilderness to just zone out then Point Reyes might be the place to go. Even thought its just 1 hr drive from the city you almost feel like you are in some place far far away.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Caress Body Wash, Tahitian Renewal Review
When I was shopping at Target this weekend I came across a deal on Caress body wash products. They had two of the Caress Tahitian Renewal Body wash and one Caress Brazilian body wash combo for $9. I had been using Caress Moroccan body wash for a while now and I decided to try the Tahitian body wash.
I was mainly tempted to try this product solely because of its pomegranate content. Its cool that this body wash is both moisturizing and exfoliating as well.
Now my take on this body wash: Despite being an exfoliating body wash it does lather well and doesn't seem to strip the moisture from the skin completely. It does exfoliate the skin mildly but that wouldn't be enough to completely ignore your regular exfoliation procedure. It did make my skin softer and my skin felt great all day. Overall my skin definitely felt soft and supple. Infact, I really liked it better than the Caress Moroccan body wash. This one did really smell great, it was a very refreshing smell and it smelt mostly that of pomegranate.
If you are looking at a mostly balanced body wash this might work for you, but if you are keen on deep exfoliation and stuff then this is not the one, some microdermabrasion creams might be the way to go. Also to note, if your skin tends to be dry then this body wash might not work for you.
I'm not going to list out all the ingredients here, but all I would say is that the pomegranate and coconut fragrance seem the most dominant and you can feel the ground pomegranate seeds. As a finishing note, I should say that this body wash does do what it promises to do and that is exfoliate and moisturize at the same time (ofcourse the extent of moisturizing or exfoliation is just not good enough to replace your existing exfoliant or moisturizer).
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sun Puts Tech Layoffs Over 20,000 So Far This Month (Oodle and Rearden Also Join Our Tracker)
I just came across this article and decided to post it.
Sun Puts Tech Layoffs Over 20,000 So Far This Month (Oodle and Rearden Also Join Our Tracker)
Posted using ShareThis
Sun Puts Tech Layoffs Over 20,000 So Far This Month (Oodle and Rearden Also Join Our Tracker)
Posted using ShareThis
Monday, November 10, 2008
Marriage
I read this artcile "Sooner Vs. Later: Is there an ideal age for first marriage", it was quite interesting to see how people prefer to get married later as opposed to getting married in their teens or in their 20s. This article talks about Americans and at what age do they prefer to get married.
During the course of reading this article I was reminded of my dinner with my husband at Amici's in Mountain View, CA. We both love the place and have gone there before our marriage. Last friday we happened to be there and it was quite amazing that both of us told the other person how free we felt despite getting married. I was delighted to know that the feeling was mutual.
I come from India and I know that people there give a lot more importance to marriage. It's not very uncommon to see girls getting married when they are still in college. Not only that a lot of the marriages tend to be arranged marriages as well. Essentially you get married at an early age and start living with a stranger and then try to get to know him and his family. To be honest, I personally feel that it's a bit too much to take when you are in your late teens or just barely 20.
I personally feel that youngsters should be given 2 to 3 years upon completion of their studies to figure out who they really are and what they really want. In my case, the two years after my graduation helped me understand myself a lot better. When you are still in school, you mainly tend to worry about your career and you hardly ever think about marriage. But once you settle down in a job it gives you a lot of time to really think about what you really want. In fact its during that time of life that you really discover who you are as a person.
I'm not against arranged marriage but I totally dislike when there's more than 3-4 years of difference in ages of the bride and groom. In my opinion the closer the ages are it becomes easier to accept the other person as an equal. I can't imagine being in early 20s and marrying someone 8-10 years older than myself. I know women who are in such marriages and say they are super happy but I have my own doubts as its one thing to be truly happy and its totally different to convince yourself that you can't be any happier.
The whole idea of making a long term commitment with an unknown person seems pretty outdated. I'd rather stay single and wake up unhappy a few mornings rather than get married to a wrong person and be unhappy the whole time. Even when you are having an arranged marriage, I think its more important to have a long enough courtship period. The courtship period really helps the bride and the groom to get to know each other really well. In addition, if things don't go well you're better off with breaking that engagement than breaking your marriage.
I had 1 year between my engagement and marriage and time went by so quickly and during that period not only did i get to know my spouse better but his family also. By the time I got married I didn't feel like a total stranger and the transition was easier. There were people who were cynical and were trying to convince me to get married within the next 2-3 months. In fact, one person even suggested that I get married secretively in US (When I'm publicly engaged why should I secretly get married!!!). According to them once engaged its tough to control your urges, in all honesty any disciplined child would know about self-control.
Well, anyways I personally feel that a person should get married only when they feel they are ready (be it teenage or late 20s) and are confident that this relationship with the other person will take them somewhere(not to the courts!!). This is one decision that you need to make for yourself disregarding the pressure from others. We all want to get married just once in life and there's really nothing wrong in taking time to make that decision.
During the course of reading this article I was reminded of my dinner with my husband at Amici's in Mountain View, CA. We both love the place and have gone there before our marriage. Last friday we happened to be there and it was quite amazing that both of us told the other person how free we felt despite getting married. I was delighted to know that the feeling was mutual.
I come from India and I know that people there give a lot more importance to marriage. It's not very uncommon to see girls getting married when they are still in college. Not only that a lot of the marriages tend to be arranged marriages as well. Essentially you get married at an early age and start living with a stranger and then try to get to know him and his family. To be honest, I personally feel that it's a bit too much to take when you are in your late teens or just barely 20.
I personally feel that youngsters should be given 2 to 3 years upon completion of their studies to figure out who they really are and what they really want. In my case, the two years after my graduation helped me understand myself a lot better. When you are still in school, you mainly tend to worry about your career and you hardly ever think about marriage. But once you settle down in a job it gives you a lot of time to really think about what you really want. In fact its during that time of life that you really discover who you are as a person.
I'm not against arranged marriage but I totally dislike when there's more than 3-4 years of difference in ages of the bride and groom. In my opinion the closer the ages are it becomes easier to accept the other person as an equal. I can't imagine being in early 20s and marrying someone 8-10 years older than myself. I know women who are in such marriages and say they are super happy but I have my own doubts as its one thing to be truly happy and its totally different to convince yourself that you can't be any happier.
The whole idea of making a long term commitment with an unknown person seems pretty outdated. I'd rather stay single and wake up unhappy a few mornings rather than get married to a wrong person and be unhappy the whole time. Even when you are having an arranged marriage, I think its more important to have a long enough courtship period. The courtship period really helps the bride and the groom to get to know each other really well. In addition, if things don't go well you're better off with breaking that engagement than breaking your marriage.
I had 1 year between my engagement and marriage and time went by so quickly and during that period not only did i get to know my spouse better but his family also. By the time I got married I didn't feel like a total stranger and the transition was easier. There were people who were cynical and were trying to convince me to get married within the next 2-3 months. In fact, one person even suggested that I get married secretively in US (When I'm publicly engaged why should I secretly get married!!!). According to them once engaged its tough to control your urges, in all honesty any disciplined child would know about self-control.
Well, anyways I personally feel that a person should get married only when they feel they are ready (be it teenage or late 20s) and are confident that this relationship with the other person will take them somewhere(not to the courts!!). This is one decision that you need to make for yourself disregarding the pressure from others. We all want to get married just once in life and there's really nothing wrong in taking time to make that decision.
Wax Museum
I visited the Wax Museum in San Francisco yesterday. I went with my family to San Francisco mainly to see the Golden gate bridge. It was a wonderful evening in SFO with clear skies and the golden gate looked so beautiful. Anyways, since we had some time we decided we'll go to the Wax Museum.
Right at the beginning we saw Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and none of them looked real :(, already disappointed we went in to see if there was anything better. As we walked down the stairs to see the other exhibits we first came across Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet's Titanic exhibit. That's easily the worst replica of Kate Winslet that you can see...It looked nothing like her.
As we kept walking there were lots and lots of exhibits. The exhibits were mostly of presidents, world leaders, dictators, actors, scientists, artists, poets and religious figures.
My favorite wax figure was that of Adolf Hitler, it looked so real and scary. The other nice ones were that of Yasser Arafat that again looked pretty real. Benjamin Franklin and Einstein looked good too. Vladimir Putin was good as well. Cleopatra looked great but then I don't know how that compares to the real one. Eddie Murphy and John Travolta looked nice and realistic. In all honesty nothing looked better than Hitler.
Now the really bad ones were their depiction of hindusim, the religious figures didn't have names and their jewellery and clothing didn't do any justice as well. With regard to christianity Jesus preaching everyone was subaverage but the last supper was okay. With regard to other religion there was nothing breathtaking about them and I cannot critic them as I don't know anything about them.
Then we walked down to the section were egyptian mummy exhibits were kept. It was nice to see the details of the tomb and amount of work that must have been put into making these exhibits. They were good but not my favorite.
Then came the horror section that I completely skipped...but it was so awesome to see the floor with pools of blood (red colored wax really), it sort of looks real until to see it really close.
Now I got to see the sports figures Barry bonds, lance armstrong and stuff...it was okie. After this was the hollywood stars, IMO nicole kidman and marilyn monroe were good but everything else was subaverage. The worst was that of Britney Spears again it looked nothing like her. Now for the hollywood men, Keanu Reeves from Matrix looked okay from distance. The real good exhibits were that of Travolta and Eddie Murphy. The really bad exhibits were that of Governator and Clint Eastwood.
Once this section was over there was a bunch of exhibits for western actors and stuff...and then there were some exhibits for some of the famous paintings like the mona lisa. These were interesting to see but I'm sure I won't remember seeing them.
Overall I would say it was an interesting time pass. It was a lot of fun especially since I visited in a group and not just by myself. I'll post the pics sometime soon.
Right at the beginning we saw Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and none of them looked real :(, already disappointed we went in to see if there was anything better. As we walked down the stairs to see the other exhibits we first came across Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet's Titanic exhibit. That's easily the worst replica of Kate Winslet that you can see...It looked nothing like her.
As we kept walking there were lots and lots of exhibits. The exhibits were mostly of presidents, world leaders, dictators, actors, scientists, artists, poets and religious figures.
My favorite wax figure was that of Adolf Hitler, it looked so real and scary. The other nice ones were that of Yasser Arafat that again looked pretty real. Benjamin Franklin and Einstein looked good too. Vladimir Putin was good as well. Cleopatra looked great but then I don't know how that compares to the real one. Eddie Murphy and John Travolta looked nice and realistic. In all honesty nothing looked better than Hitler.
Now the really bad ones were their depiction of hindusim, the religious figures didn't have names and their jewellery and clothing didn't do any justice as well. With regard to christianity Jesus preaching everyone was subaverage but the last supper was okay. With regard to other religion there was nothing breathtaking about them and I cannot critic them as I don't know anything about them.
Then we walked down to the section were egyptian mummy exhibits were kept. It was nice to see the details of the tomb and amount of work that must have been put into making these exhibits. They were good but not my favorite.
Then came the horror section that I completely skipped...but it was so awesome to see the floor with pools of blood (red colored wax really), it sort of looks real until to see it really close.
Now I got to see the sports figures Barry bonds, lance armstrong and stuff...it was okie. After this was the hollywood stars, IMO nicole kidman and marilyn monroe were good but everything else was subaverage. The worst was that of Britney Spears again it looked nothing like her. Now for the hollywood men, Keanu Reeves from Matrix looked okay from distance. The real good exhibits were that of Travolta and Eddie Murphy. The really bad exhibits were that of Governator and Clint Eastwood.
Once this section was over there was a bunch of exhibits for western actors and stuff...and then there were some exhibits for some of the famous paintings like the mona lisa. These were interesting to see but I'm sure I won't remember seeing them.
Overall I would say it was an interesting time pass. It was a lot of fun especially since I visited in a group and not just by myself. I'll post the pics sometime soon.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Crickler
I play the Crickler puzzle on the Washington Post every single day. I've always liked games that test your word power. The game is sort of interesting in the way that its really not a crossword puzzle but is as interesting as one. I really like the way "y" in included in set of vowels just to add a little complexity.
For those of you who are interested in trying out this game you can start by playing the demo game that gets you oriented on how the game is to be played.
I like to play only the Vocabulary, Crossword and the daily news puzzles but there are a few more for the ones that couldn't get enough Crickler.
I hope you guys like it as much as I do...happy crickler solving :)
For those of you who are interested in trying out this game you can start by playing the demo game that gets you oriented on how the game is to be played.
I like to play only the Vocabulary, Crossword and the daily news puzzles but there are a few more for the ones that couldn't get enough Crickler.
I hope you guys like it as much as I do...happy crickler solving :)
Monday, August 4, 2008
I got tagged...
Yaaay, Uncle Che has tagged me.
So, here are the rules:
7 facts about Radioactive Android:
1. Work: Engineer that mostly works like a maniac but tries to enjoy other aspects of life as well.
2. Education: Yaaay, not a student at school anymore..I did top in college, blah blah...but they mean nothing!! To me it's all about being able to do things at my own free will...and school isn't the right place for it ;)
3. Friendship: True to saying!! I deserve all my enemies and not my friends. I have very few friends but wonderful friends!!
4. Relationship: Woohoo...I struck gold the very first time :) and I'm just about tie the knot.
5. WWW: Maybe in the 1990's I don't remember the exact year
6. Fitness: What?? Can you repeat the question????
7. Dreams: Well, I only get nightmares :P
Now, I don't know who reads my blog...I started this blog just to post my thoughts and then read it myself...lemme just pass this on to
Suganthi
Tsunami
So, here are the rules:
- List these rules on your blog.
- Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
- Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
7 facts about Radioactive Android:
1. Work: Engineer that mostly works like a maniac but tries to enjoy other aspects of life as well.
2. Education: Yaaay, not a student at school anymore..I did top in college, blah blah...but they mean nothing!! To me it's all about being able to do things at my own free will...and school isn't the right place for it ;)
3. Friendship: True to saying!! I deserve all my enemies and not my friends. I have very few friends but wonderful friends!!
4. Relationship: Woohoo...I struck gold the very first time :) and I'm just about tie the knot.
5. WWW: Maybe in the 1990's I don't remember the exact year
6. Fitness: What?? Can you repeat the question????
7. Dreams: Well, I only get nightmares :P
Now, I don't know who reads my blog...I started this blog just to post my thoughts and then read it myself...lemme just pass this on to
Suganthi
Tsunami
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