Las Vegas with Mom and Dad

This summer mom and dad visited with us for 40 days. We took a 3 day trip to las vegas with them and boy was it a scorcher!!

We landed in vegas with the sun scorching hot at 110 degrees. We were staying at the MGM grand. We headed straight to the hotel and settled in our comfortable rooms. After a short nap we headed out to The Strip.

As the sun set, las vegas lit up. It was our second time there but las vegas didn't fail to dazzle me. The air just seemed to sizzle with excitement, the whole city suddenly seemed to come to life. The Bellagio fountains were as enthralling as ever and mom and dad watched show after show completely entranced. The Paris Paris eiffel tower loomed above us, seemingly as large as the original. It was all beautiful. All Man-made beautiful!

We spent our days hopping from one hotel to the other, taking in the beautiful architecture and appreciating the painstaking way in which almost every hotel brought some or the other city and culture around the world to life.

And ofcourse we gambled our nights away as any visitor to las vegas would.
We would all sit down on a table together and take on the casino. It was so much fun. Mom enjoyed the gambling. Dad enjoyed being in the middle of everything but didnt take to gambling as much. Overall, we lost some and won some more!

And like always, we didn't want to leave, wanting to gamble just once more, wanting to see one more amazing show and to look at those lights light up vegas just one more time! Sin city beckons!

Sunsational Hawaii

Paradise!! Remarkable untouched beauty! I could go on in this vein. But I would still fail to capture the essence of Hawaii. Captivatingly beautiful and serene, it takes you back in time when everything was so pure.

We took our first trip to Hawaii this February. The minute our feet touched the tarmac it felt like we had finally reached paradise- god’s own home. We had booked a six day trip to Big Island.

We stayed at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort. The Sheraton property is beautiful. We stayed in a room with partial ocean mountain views. The views were awesome. We felt transported to a different world – away from all the daily hustle bustle of city life.

On our first day there we simply took it easy- acclimatizing (we went from 20 degrees below to 80 degrees with the sun shining high above us). We just relaxed and caught up on the Super Bowl game.

The next day began with breakfast in our hotel room balcony. It was awesome. We had coffee and light breakfast while watching the sun rise from behind the mountains. It was simply beautiful. This became a ritual for the rest of our stay. We actually came to relish the dawn-early morning time when the world slowly came to life while we enjoyed delicious Kona coffee. We then set off to explore Big island.

Our first stop was a coffee plantation. We were staying in the Kona area on Big island. This area is famous for its coffee and macadamia nuts and has plantations and nut farms spread throughout. We took our tour, picked some fruits, ground some coffee beans and tasted some of the best coffee I have had. If coffee were a religion, Kona would be a temple.

Later we went for an authentic Hawaiian Luau with the Imu presentation, the luau dance and mai tai's. We were called on stage and the host sang a hawaiian song especially for us while we danced. It was so special!!

The next day after our morning breakfast (with delicious kona coffee), we headed north on the big island for some sightseeing. The landscape on Big Island changes dramatically as you move from one area to the next. Infact 11 of the 14 known climate zones can be found here. So the scenery changes dramatically from desert lavascapes to tropical rainforests to beaches to snow peaks!! We saw some stunning valley lookouts, beautiful waterfalls and small hilly villages. It just seemed to be straight out of a picture!

In the evening, we took in a whale watching tour on board the fastest speed boat on the island. The whales came out and put on a jolly good show.

The next day, we went off to see Mount Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world. On the way, we checked out beaches which were quite unique- one with Green Sand and another with Black Sand!! The views all the way were awesome. The volcano itself was such a beautiful experience. We rode on the rim of the crater, saw some steam vents and some famous craters. We went inside one of the lava tubes and came out near the most beautiful rainforests i have seen. It was awe-inspiring.

We spent the next two days taking in more of this vast hawaiian island and its breathtaking views and its beaches. At the end of it all, we still hadn't managed to take in all. We wished we could settle down there permanently. There are some places on earth which manage to give you a taste of heaven and Hawaii certainly is one of them!!

Chicago Bulls

I religiously follow and root for Chicago Bulls. I watch Bulls games on TV and also make Tina watch it against her wish :-).

I never watched Bulls play live and always wanted to go to United Center. My cousin recently came from India and he is a huge basketball fan like me, this gave me an opportunity to plan a visit to United Center.

Bulls were playing Miami Heat on Sat evening and though there were great chance of being sold out, we gave it a shot and reached United Center in hope that there will be some tickets available. We were lucky to get the tickets and then we immediately hit the Beer stand and got warmed up in anticipation for an exciting game.

I enjoyed watching some of my favorite players live, Bulls put a solid defense to restrict likes of Dwayne Wade. It was a close game in the end though Bulls took initial lead.

Beside basketball, they have lot of fun activities on the floor. I have uploaded some pics here.

Overall, it was an exciting experience and Bulls win was an icing on the cake.

2007 New Year's at DC

This year we decided to take ourselves to Washington D.C to party on New Year. Anoop's bua lives in Maryland, only a few miles from D.C proper. She had been asking us to come over for the last year and we decided to take her up on it for New Year's.

The trip started on a bad note. We were late reaching the airport. And once there, we landed smack bang in the middle of long (it almost seemed never-ending) queues for check-in. We finally checked in with 45 minutes to boarding!! As a result Southwest couldnt guarantee that our bags would make it with us.

And what do u know, when we land our bags hadnt made it!!! So we had to wait. We decided to hit the mall while we waited. In D.C, taxes are lower - 5-6% as compared to chicago (10%). so we made use of that excuse and loaded up.

D.C has two states adjoining it- Virginia and Maryland. Washington D.C (D.C as in District of Columbia) itself is quite a small. If it were a state, it would be smallest in terms of area. All branches of the U.S federal government are in the D.C area.

We were in living with anoop's bua in Maryland. On 30th we just took it easy and relaxed and spent time with family. On 31st we decided to explore the D.C area. D.C looks very colonial. I was told that the city had been planned and built by french architects. And that shows. It has a very european feel to the whole place. A small tidbit- all structures in D.C are mandated by law to be smaller than the Capitol Building. Also, it houses all the best museums in U.S, plus the Mint, IMF and World Bank headquarters and many other landmarks. (Lets not forget The White House!!!) So it feels and looks more like a village and less like a city (very unlike chicago and its towering skyline).

We visited the Georgetown area, which again looks so much like what i imagine European towns would look like. It was simply beautiful. It transports u to a different era. We had an awesome time looking at all the landmarks, the potomac river, the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument and last but not the least- The White House. Though if u ask me, i found the Capitol Building to be far more impressive!!

We then went to Virginia and saw the Pentagon. It is the largest building in the world in terms of floor area. Its said that it has more area underground than over. Its a very impressive structure. Then we headed to D.C again for dinner and then home. We had 3 kids in tow and by the day's end we were too tired to want to party outside.

We had a crazy time at home though. We had bought stuff and proceeded to have a small party at home. It was fun.

D.C has some of the best museums in U.S. So we decided to check out some. We could only take in 3 museums. frankly i didn't find them as fascinating as i had expected. But the highlight of the museum trip was the Gem and jewelery exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. we saw the Hope diamond and some other beautiful pieces. Most of them were from the Golconda Mines in Hyderabad. It reminded us of India's glorious past and how we had lost so much to outsiders!!

All in all we had a great time. D.C was relaxing and charming in a way that only a city which looks like a village can be. I hope to repeat the experience again.

Diwali in India

I planned a trip to India during Diwali this time and I finally celebrated Diwali in India after 6 years. Tina was lucky to have just missed one Diwali.

We had loads of fun exchanging gifts, shopping, eating, decorating and blowing up the fire crackers. The whole family got together to play cards till late nights. While it can be celebrated anywhere in the world, the thing I missed the most was family and my home town.

It was a very satisfactory experience and I hope to spend more like this one.

Relatives from DC

Punam bhua, fufaji, dada, dadi and kids drove to Chicago for July4 week.

It was lot of fun with them.

Tina will add all the events in details
;-)

Brookfield Zoo

We went to see Brookfield Zoo with friends and had a pot luck picnic as well. We were there about 6 hours there watching different animals and birds. It was fun and tiring.

Above is a small video clip of dolphin show.

You can see pictures here.