My husband and I decided to buy a new HDTV for our new apartment. After looking at our Cousin's 32" TV we felt that it might be right size for our apartment too, besides we also felt we could push the big TV purchase for later. We found the Sharp Aquous 32" LC3234U at costco for $499 and bought it. We brought it home and watched TV programs and they all looked great and later that night we watche Surf's Up and both of us felt the TV was smaller.
We decided we'll get a 37" or a 40" TV and were searching for deals. We were eyeing the 40" Samsung A550 model and a Sharp Aquos 37" model. We went to Fry's that friday night and looked at all the models they had we still liked the Samsung, Sharp and 40" Sony Bravia sets. The Sony model wasn't sleek which was a big bummer. We felt Samsung 450 looked better
than the 550 so we were unsure about buying that. We decided to look the Plasma TVs and we liked the Panasonic 42" models 42PX80U and the 42PZ80U models. The latter being the 1080p version. We were unsure if 1080p would actually make a difference at a distance of 6ft or slightly more. After walking up and down the aisles and struggling to pick between LCD vs Plasma we finally got the TH-42PZ80U model home. The reasoning behind picking this TV was that it was a 480hz tv with no motion blur or pixelation issues. Besides the these days plasma TVs come with an anti reflective coating so reflections in bright rooms isn't that big of a deal. In addition all plasmas have better contrast ratio and superior black levels than their lcd counterparts.
The Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ80U has a recommended minium viewing distance of 5.5 ft and has a resolution of 1080p. We were thankful we got the 1080p because it was fairly easy to tell the difference between a 1080p image and a 720p image. Other than that the TV has a native contrast ratio of 20,000:1 and a dynamic contrast ratio of 1000000:1 which is quite higher than most LCD Tvs at the same price range or even significantly more. The Tv doesn't have PC input but supports svideo so it's really not a big deal.
We got the TV home set it up and watched Harry potter for a while, we didn't like the movie but the picture quality was brilliant, the cinema mode was fantastic. Later on we watched Transformers and Spiderman movies and they all looked brilliant, we also played the orange box and Assasin's creed games and we noticed that the blacks pretty much appear fully black. Overall the image quality looked amazing and we thorougly enjoyed the whole experience. I was worried that the TV might be big for watching regular TV shows but I must admit that all the HD shows like House, 24 and American Idol just look fantastic. Bones in Fox looks the best and CBS looks the best compared to FOX and NBC. Even the SD shows like Friends and Frasier look very good. Seinfeld is the only show that doesn't look great.
This TV tuner is one of the fastest tuners I've seen and the menu is so user friendly compared to the menu in Samsung TVs. The remote buttons are nice, big and respond well when you use them. The picture quality of this TV has been compared to the Pioneer Kuro in some regards and that really makes my husband and I happy about having picked this TV. It's a delightful bonus to have a TV that you enjoy watching and notice that several other rever this TV.
We also tested the TV with Planet Earth HD DVDs and they just looked awesome, I'm lost for words to describe how cool it was to be able to watch such stuff at home. I should also note
that we got a good deal for this TV when its selling for $999 else where (yaaaay!!!!).
Finally, I would just like to conclude by saying that my husband and I are so delighted and so extremely happy about the Panasonic Viera TH42PZ80U.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Recipes to dainty dishes :)
When I left India after marriage, my husband's granny showed me some recipe booklets that got published with the Aval Vikatan tamil magazine and asked me if I like them, I told her I'd definitely like to try them sometime. Basically, each small booklet contains 30 different recipes that would help you to cook 30 variations of the same basic dish (more like specializing it).
I went through the one for Rasam and tried some stuff and I really like it. I like the fact that 30 different recipes for one dish are provided and I could just pick one and make it instead of having to search the internet. Besides I really love to read the traditional south indian recipes in tamil. I guess its just a cheap satisfaction that I get :)
I've had the "samaithu paar" culinary book by meenakshi ammal which is pretty much what most south indian brahmins/vegans follow. I'd like to think of the aval vikatan recipes as a nice extension to that samaithu paar book that I have.
I was trying to find out what other recipe booklets had gotten published and during my pursuit I found all the booklets being shared on esnips. Here's the link to the page http://www.esnips.com/web/SamaithuPaar , it has all the booklets listed in nice PDF. If you are interested, you could just download these and try them out. The only catch is that they are all in tamil.
For those who know tamil and in the mood to try this out "Good luck"
I went through the one for Rasam and tried some stuff and I really like it. I like the fact that 30 different recipes for one dish are provided and I could just pick one and make it instead of having to search the internet. Besides I really love to read the traditional south indian recipes in tamil. I guess its just a cheap satisfaction that I get :)
I've had the "samaithu paar" culinary book by meenakshi ammal which is pretty much what most south indian brahmins/vegans follow. I'd like to think of the aval vikatan recipes as a nice extension to that samaithu paar book that I have.
I was trying to find out what other recipe booklets had gotten published and during my pursuit I found all the booklets being shared on esnips. Here's the link to the page http://www.esnips.com/web/SamaithuPaar , it has all the booklets listed in nice PDF. If you are interested, you could just download these and try them out. The only catch is that they are all in tamil.
For those who know tamil and in the mood to try this out "Good luck"
Friday, January 9, 2009
Buying inexpensive petite clothing
I have a few lady friends at work and they also happen to be petites and sometimes we ask each other where they usually buy their clothes. Being petite and finding nice casual clothing is a big challenge. I have no clue why most of the Petite clothing looks like its been designed for middle aged women, in addition a lot of them look formal as well. Living here in the silicon valley I've found a few stores and brands that I like and I've found that people notice and do compliment me on my clothes.
Kohls, JcPenney and Macy's are some of the big departmental stores that everyone knows that sell petite stores. In Macy's their home brand charter club and style & co aren't that expensive and they usually fit okay. The only catch with Charter club is that most of the tops also look like they are made for older women. I love the Jeans by Ralph Lauren, its quite a steal if you manage to find it on sale.
Kohls and JcPenney have a decent Petite collection, but I personally feel that anything more than 6P is usually easy to find. I like Croft&Barrow, Briggs and Jones Signature.
Now onto the other stores, for some reason everyone thinks that the Petite Sophisticate in great mall has been closed forever, but that's untrue. The store re-opened last year and petite sophisticate now has more causual clothes as opposed to the usual formal wear they used to carry before. Since its an outlet store its really easy to find good clothes for relatively less price.
But the best price value is usually at discount stores like Ross or Burlington, I personally like Ross when it comes to stuff other than coats or Jackets. Even at Ross smaller sizes are tough to find but still you can find most of the brands you usually find at Macy's in addtion they have certain other brands that I've never heard of but they fit so well. I like the brand Rafaella a lot. I regularly shop at Macy's and under numerous occassions I've noticed that most tops from Macy's end up somewhere in Ross for prices that are under $10. Lot of people aren't comfortable shopping at Ross as they think its cheap, but in reality if you get the same branded clothing for prices that are a lot lesser what's there to feel bad about.
With the recent downturn in economy, discount stores are doing extremely well but even otherwise what's wrong with buying the same thing for a lower price???
Kohls, JcPenney and Macy's are some of the big departmental stores that everyone knows that sell petite stores. In Macy's their home brand charter club and style & co aren't that expensive and they usually fit okay. The only catch with Charter club is that most of the tops also look like they are made for older women. I love the Jeans by Ralph Lauren, its quite a steal if you manage to find it on sale.
Kohls and JcPenney have a decent Petite collection, but I personally feel that anything more than 6P is usually easy to find. I like Croft&Barrow, Briggs and Jones Signature.
Now onto the other stores, for some reason everyone thinks that the Petite Sophisticate in great mall has been closed forever, but that's untrue. The store re-opened last year and petite sophisticate now has more causual clothes as opposed to the usual formal wear they used to carry before. Since its an outlet store its really easy to find good clothes for relatively less price.
But the best price value is usually at discount stores like Ross or Burlington, I personally like Ross when it comes to stuff other than coats or Jackets. Even at Ross smaller sizes are tough to find but still you can find most of the brands you usually find at Macy's in addtion they have certain other brands that I've never heard of but they fit so well. I like the brand Rafaella a lot. I regularly shop at Macy's and under numerous occassions I've noticed that most tops from Macy's end up somewhere in Ross for prices that are under $10. Lot of people aren't comfortable shopping at Ross as they think its cheap, but in reality if you get the same branded clothing for prices that are a lot lesser what's there to feel bad about.
With the recent downturn in economy, discount stores are doing extremely well but even otherwise what's wrong with buying the same thing for a lower price???
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Shortage of rice in Indian stores in the bay area
If you've been living in the silicon valley you'd be well aware that most Indian stores have run out of the tamil ponni and sona masoori rice varieties which are widely used by most Indians. With the elections approaching soon in India, the government has no plans to lift the ban on rice export. Last month my husband and I had to make trips to 4 different stores before we could get a 20lbs bag of Sona Masoori for $35, in the end we got the last bag that was remaining at one of the stores.
A week back when I went to the store I didn't find any non-basmati rice at all, I was even okay with buying parboiloed rice but even those seem to have gone. I did ask the store owner if they do have sona masoori and she said that she had but rice is no longer kept in any of regular isles anymore :(. I got lucky this second time also as I could still buy rice for the same $35 and not having to eat the long grain rice.
Even some people have switched to eating long grain rice due to the increasing rice shortage I always wonder how it would taste with the traditional south indian dishes. I'm not sure if I should transition and start eating long grain rice instead of hunting for a rice bag everytime. or should I make the transition only when there's no sona masoori available?
A week back when I went to the store I didn't find any non-basmati rice at all, I was even okay with buying parboiloed rice but even those seem to have gone. I did ask the store owner if they do have sona masoori and she said that she had but rice is no longer kept in any of regular isles anymore :(. I got lucky this second time also as I could still buy rice for the same $35 and not having to eat the long grain rice.
Even some people have switched to eating long grain rice due to the increasing rice shortage I always wonder how it would taste with the traditional south indian dishes. I'm not sure if I should transition and start eating long grain rice instead of hunting for a rice bag everytime. or should I make the transition only when there's no sona masoori available?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Opeth's Watershed review
I have been wanting to write this review for a long long time now...This album was released when fans were quite concerned about the departure of both their drummer and guitarist from the band. Fredrik Akesson and Martin Axenrot are the newbies (new only to the band, they were previously associated with bloodbath and witchery respectively) that worked on this album. I think I've listened to Watershed a whole lotta times that its about time I wrote a review.
I'm musically challenged quite a bit so the rest of the review wouldn't be filled with any of the technical stuff. It's solely wat i think about the album and how I feel when listening to it. First of all I can't help but notice that blabbermouth has given this album a 9.5 which pretty much means its an excellent album.
There are a total of 7 tracks in this album, the first song is titled Coil and its a swedish folk song, the song has Axe's girlfriend Nathalie Lorichs rendering vocals as well. Both Akerfeldt and Lorichs sound excellent and I like this song, but I've listened to it too many times to a point where it gets boring...as good as it sounds it does get a bit boring after a while.
The next song is "Heir Apparent" I consider this the best song in the album, the speed at which Axe ends up drumming is just stellar. It gets quite intersting towards the middle, you would know what I'm talking about when you listen to this song...I watched Opeth play this song and I have to say Axe did drum so perfectly it was just amazing :). My husband and I definitely consider ourselves privileged :)
The third song is the "Lotus Eater" it has the sound of Opeth but its nothing like the other songs that Opeth has ever done. It's really progressive and I absolutely love it, I love it so much that I don't even want to judge it. The bouts of silence followed by intense drumming is amazing. Listening to Lotus Eater just elevates my sense especially when the music gets real intense.
The 4th and 5th songs are Burden and Porcelain Heart and I'm not a big fan of both and I don't really have much to say. I find them both to be simple and lacking creativity. I have a problem with just trying to get to like the basic tunes of these songs. Others might very well like 'em, I don't like it simply because its not my kinda songs.
The 6th song is the Hessian Peel, I still remember, when I watched the DVD and heard Akerfeldt play I really couldn't believe the first verse was real. Its such a sadly pleasant bitterly sweet tune. I love the rest of the song as well...but the solo blows me away. Every time I listen to the solo I feel like I'm not here anymore.
The 7th song is Hex Omega its yet another brilliant song.
So, overall I love 5 out of 7 tracks the remaining two aren't bad but they are simply not as good as the other ones. I personally feel that Ghost Reveries is still the best album by Opeth and with this album is definitely not as great as Ghost Reveries but it's definitely close. Opeth with this album has taken a new direction and inclusion of Axe has definitely contributed to the change. This album is certainly great in terms of musicality but the quality of lyrics has certainly dropped. Most other bands run out of ideas when they get this old but Opeth seems to have the conviction to really make good music. In all I understand why blabbermouth gave this album a 9.5 and I certainly feel that the band deserves every single point.
I'm musically challenged quite a bit so the rest of the review wouldn't be filled with any of the technical stuff. It's solely wat i think about the album and how I feel when listening to it. First of all I can't help but notice that blabbermouth has given this album a 9.5 which pretty much means its an excellent album.
There are a total of 7 tracks in this album, the first song is titled Coil and its a swedish folk song, the song has Axe's girlfriend Nathalie Lorichs rendering vocals as well. Both Akerfeldt and Lorichs sound excellent and I like this song, but I've listened to it too many times to a point where it gets boring...as good as it sounds it does get a bit boring after a while.
The next song is "Heir Apparent" I consider this the best song in the album, the speed at which Axe ends up drumming is just stellar. It gets quite intersting towards the middle, you would know what I'm talking about when you listen to this song...I watched Opeth play this song and I have to say Axe did drum so perfectly it was just amazing :). My husband and I definitely consider ourselves privileged :)
The third song is the "Lotus Eater" it has the sound of Opeth but its nothing like the other songs that Opeth has ever done. It's really progressive and I absolutely love it, I love it so much that I don't even want to judge it. The bouts of silence followed by intense drumming is amazing. Listening to Lotus Eater just elevates my sense especially when the music gets real intense.
The 4th and 5th songs are Burden and Porcelain Heart and I'm not a big fan of both and I don't really have much to say. I find them both to be simple and lacking creativity. I have a problem with just trying to get to like the basic tunes of these songs. Others might very well like 'em, I don't like it simply because its not my kinda songs.
The 6th song is the Hessian Peel, I still remember, when I watched the DVD and heard Akerfeldt play I really couldn't believe the first verse was real. Its such a sadly pleasant bitterly sweet tune. I love the rest of the song as well...but the solo blows me away. Every time I listen to the solo I feel like I'm not here anymore.
The 7th song is Hex Omega its yet another brilliant song.
So, overall I love 5 out of 7 tracks the remaining two aren't bad but they are simply not as good as the other ones. I personally feel that Ghost Reveries is still the best album by Opeth and with this album is definitely not as great as Ghost Reveries but it's definitely close. Opeth with this album has taken a new direction and inclusion of Axe has definitely contributed to the change. This album is certainly great in terms of musicality but the quality of lyrics has certainly dropped. Most other bands run out of ideas when they get this old but Opeth seems to have the conviction to really make good music. In all I understand why blabbermouth gave this album a 9.5 and I certainly feel that the band deserves every single point.
Making a good bed
My husband and I like a lot other Indians were just sleeping on a plain bed with few regular pillows. We normally like to sit on the bed and watch Frasier before we fall asleep and we've had a tough time sitting on the bed for longer time. We decided we'll make our beds nicely and see if that makes any difference.
There are so many blogs and other sites that talk about how to make a bed for a good night's sleep. We read through some of them and found out that we were missing the euro pillows and the other small square pillows. We went on a shopping trip to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked a couple of 26x26 euro pillows and we also picked out a 300 thread count sheet set by Croscill. I've used Croscill sheets before and they are really soft and they were the first fitted sheets on which I could sleep properly. Since we already had the accent pillows and comforters we skipped those.
We have a memory foam mattress topper on our mattress which makes it nice and soft when we lie down. We aligned the mattress and the topper nicely and put the fitted sheet on it. The croscill sheet pockets are deep enough to fit our almost 13 inch mattress. Then we laid the flat sheet on top the fitted sheet and tucked it in on all sides except the top. We are still learning on how to make hospital corners but other than that we did a good job. We arranged the euro pillows, regular pillows and the accent pillows and neck roller respectively starting from the headboard. We laid the comforter on top like it should be.
After making the bed, when we used it for the first time we discovered that a properly arraged bed really does make a lot of difference. We were able to sit very comfortably with enough support for the back and the quality of our night sleep has improved considerably. Not only that when we are tired enough to fall asleep there's nothing thats more pleasing and inviting than a well made bed :). More importantly this really wasn't a very costly solution, it was very affordable considering the fact that I won't suffer from poor sleep or back ache due to my bed :)
There are so many blogs and other sites that talk about how to make a bed for a good night's sleep. We read through some of them and found out that we were missing the euro pillows and the other small square pillows. We went on a shopping trip to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked a couple of 26x26 euro pillows and we also picked out a 300 thread count sheet set by Croscill. I've used Croscill sheets before and they are really soft and they were the first fitted sheets on which I could sleep properly. Since we already had the accent pillows and comforters we skipped those.
We have a memory foam mattress topper on our mattress which makes it nice and soft when we lie down. We aligned the mattress and the topper nicely and put the fitted sheet on it. The croscill sheet pockets are deep enough to fit our almost 13 inch mattress. Then we laid the flat sheet on top the fitted sheet and tucked it in on all sides except the top. We are still learning on how to make hospital corners but other than that we did a good job. We arranged the euro pillows, regular pillows and the accent pillows and neck roller respectively starting from the headboard. We laid the comforter on top like it should be.
After making the bed, when we used it for the first time we discovered that a properly arraged bed really does make a lot of difference. We were able to sit very comfortably with enough support for the back and the quality of our night sleep has improved considerably. Not only that when we are tired enough to fall asleep there's nothing thats more pleasing and inviting than a well made bed :). More importantly this really wasn't a very costly solution, it was very affordable considering the fact that I won't suffer from poor sleep or back ache due to my bed :)
Monday, December 29, 2008
Point Lobos State Reserve
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...
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...
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.
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