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Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Christmas Long Weekend
I spent my Christmas long weekend with my aunt and family in LA (Los Angeles, CA) and it was fun. This is how it all started. I booked a 6:30 AM flight on Dec 25 as I will get to spend an entire day in LA. Other than the reason I mentioned, her, the ticked would cost me only $40. Believe me, its true. How did I get that price? Simple, the ticket itself was worth $130 and I bought a $100 coupon on Craigslist for $10. Thanks United.
Luckily, I mean l.u.c.k.i.l.y I was able to get one of my friends to drop me in the SJC airport at 5:00 AM. Thanks Pradeep. After reaching the LAX airport, I took a metro Green Line train to reach Norwalk station and my Aunt picked me up there. In my metro journey, I've met Sri, Amudha and Pallavi who were on a trip to visit LA and Vegas. Surprisingly they were my friend Mansoor's colleagues in TCS. In case Mansoor decided to travel with them, which he cancelled because of his own mistake, we would have had a surprise, meeting each other in a metro.
As soon I reached my Aunt's place in Cerritos, CA, I've got my Christmas gift. A really nice Banana Republic T-shirt. I wore it on my existing T-shirt to keep myself warm as it was cold in LA. My Aunt had a potluck at her place that afternoon and I got to enjoy all the good food (Idli, Upma, Pulihora, Pav Bhaji, Sandwiches, Sambhar, etc.,). After having lunch, we watched Spurs defeat Miami and Lakers beat Celtics two very exciting matches. In the evening we had a chat with Anil Annam and family, he was talking and we were listening most of the time :). After having dinner I gave my Xmas gifts. A Nivea shaving accessories set for my uncle (babbai), of the 4 items in the kit, I have donated two to the airport officials :(, a 'Preferred Stock' perfume set for Kartik, my older cousin and Rubik's cube for Deepak.
Next morning, we went to check out after Xmas sale to Cerritos mall. Even though it took some time to find parking, it was not at all crowded compared to San Jose malls. This is the best part, the trip will be remembered forever. Deepak found a coat jacket worth $175 being placed on $20 hangers. None of us (me, pinni and Kartik) believed it and we've decided to get the price checked on the machine and it indeed said it was $20. Pinni still didn't believe and got Kartik to check the price again and then all of us were amazed. We took 4 out of the 5 available jackets and that made our day. It's still unbelievable that we got amazing Material London coat jackets for $20 each. In the evening we played some tennis and had dinner at Sweeti Thai.
Next day, we went to checkout UCLA campus (Kartik studies there) on my request and we spent the morning over there. From there, they dropped me at airport and I reached San Jose by 5:30PM. I took Cal train to my home and to my surprise, the ticket costed me $4 (freaking expensive), the ticket for the metro in LAX was just $1.25.
On Sunday, I went to office, worked for sometime and in the evening I met Kasi. Kasi was my friend in Auburn. Me, Kasi and Kalyan had dinner at a Thai place in Sunnyvale downtown and thats the end of long weekend. It was a good long weekend, spent time with family, got some work done, met a friend and now I am writing this post :)
Luckily, I mean l.u.c.k.i.l.y I was able to get one of my friends to drop me in the SJC airport at 5:00 AM. Thanks Pradeep. After reaching the LAX airport, I took a metro Green Line train to reach Norwalk station and my Aunt picked me up there. In my metro journey, I've met Sri, Amudha and Pallavi who were on a trip to visit LA and Vegas. Surprisingly they were my friend Mansoor's colleagues in TCS. In case Mansoor decided to travel with them, which he cancelled because of his own mistake, we would have had a surprise, meeting each other in a metro.
As soon I reached my Aunt's place in Cerritos, CA, I've got my Christmas gift. A really nice Banana Republic T-shirt. I wore it on my existing T-shirt to keep myself warm as it was cold in LA. My Aunt had a potluck at her place that afternoon and I got to enjoy all the good food (Idli, Upma, Pulihora, Pav Bhaji, Sandwiches, Sambhar, etc.,). After having lunch, we watched Spurs defeat Miami and Lakers beat Celtics two very exciting matches. In the evening we had a chat with Anil Annam and family, he was talking and we were listening most of the time :). After having dinner I gave my Xmas gifts. A Nivea shaving accessories set for my uncle (babbai), of the 4 items in the kit, I have donated two to the airport officials :(, a 'Preferred Stock' perfume set for Kartik, my older cousin and Rubik's cube for Deepak.
Next morning, we went to check out after Xmas sale to Cerritos mall. Even though it took some time to find parking, it was not at all crowded compared to San Jose malls. This is the best part, the trip will be remembered forever. Deepak found a coat jacket worth $175 being placed on $20 hangers. None of us (me, pinni and Kartik) believed it and we've decided to get the price checked on the machine and it indeed said it was $20. Pinni still didn't believe and got Kartik to check the price again and then all of us were amazed. We took 4 out of the 5 available jackets and that made our day. It's still unbelievable that we got amazing Material London coat jackets for $20 each. In the evening we played some tennis and had dinner at Sweeti Thai.
Next day, we went to checkout UCLA campus (Kartik studies there) on my request and we spent the morning over there. From there, they dropped me at airport and I reached San Jose by 5:30PM. I took Cal train to my home and to my surprise, the ticket costed me $4 (freaking expensive), the ticket for the metro in LAX was just $1.25.
On Sunday, I went to office, worked for sometime and in the evening I met Kasi. Kasi was my friend in Auburn. Me, Kasi and Kalyan had dinner at a Thai place in Sunnyvale downtown and thats the end of long weekend. It was a good long weekend, spent time with family, got some work done, met a friend and now I am writing this post :)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
My dear friend, lab mate and colleague: Sachin
Since I've been in US, the only person who was always with me is my friend, lab mate and colleague Sachin Dhingra. Both of us worked as Research Assistants under Dr. Stroud in Auburn University. My RA was approved a week after his and from then on we worked in the same lab for almost two years and also shared same office room for over 6 months. We've took the same courses from start to end and we've attended all the conferences together - International Test Conference (ITC) in Oct 2004 and North Atlantic Test Conference (NATW) in May 2005. And finally we did our Master's defense on the same day with same professors in the defense committee. Ohhhhh! so many things together :)
While we were doing our Master's we've been interview by Altera Corp. (Thanks to Srinivas) and we've got our offer letters within a week's difference. After our defense, we've both joined Altera in June 2006. As you would expect, we've both joined in the same team (but different groups) under a single director and the most interesting thing is that our cubicles were next to each other.... wowwww... what a coincidence!!! We were sitting together in the same lab and office in the school and now our cubicles were next to each other .... simply perfect.
The first day I met Sachin, I still remember the way he looked. The look I thought was very weired, he was sporting a goatee, had spiked air, was wearing a formal shirt and a khaki short. His look was kind of surprise for me but he greeted me very well unlike others and that was a warm welcome. Sachin is a very good guy and he helped every person he knows in one way or the other, I can guarantee that. In these 4 years, he helped in many different ways on different occasions. He helped me understand things in research and studies, acclimatize with some of my American friends, gave me rides in his car and in many other ways, the best of all being that I've never felt lonely working in the lab or in the office because of his presence.
After working for 2 years in Test Development, Sachin has decided to move to Applications Dept. as he felt that this job might be a better match for his skills. I too think the same and am sure that he will have more success.
Hey Sachin, thanks a lot for all the help you have provided me and dude I've learned a lot from you. I wish you all the success and good luck with the new job....... I will miss you dude!!! Hope we can meet and spend time together often. Take care and enjoy your new job.
While we were doing our Master's we've been interview by Altera Corp. (Thanks to Srinivas) and we've got our offer letters within a week's difference. After our defense, we've both joined Altera in June 2006. As you would expect, we've both joined in the same team (but different groups) under a single director and the most interesting thing is that our cubicles were next to each other.... wowwww... what a coincidence!!! We were sitting together in the same lab and office in the school and now our cubicles were next to each other .... simply perfect.
The first day I met Sachin, I still remember the way he looked. The look I thought was very weired, he was sporting a goatee, had spiked air, was wearing a formal shirt and a khaki short. His look was kind of surprise for me but he greeted me very well unlike others and that was a warm welcome. Sachin is a very good guy and he helped every person he knows in one way or the other, I can guarantee that. In these 4 years, he helped in many different ways on different occasions. He helped me understand things in research and studies, acclimatize with some of my American friends, gave me rides in his car and in many other ways, the best of all being that I've never felt lonely working in the lab or in the office because of his presence.
After working for 2 years in Test Development, Sachin has decided to move to Applications Dept. as he felt that this job might be a better match for his skills. I too think the same and am sure that he will have more success.
Hey Sachin, thanks a lot for all the help you have provided me and dude I've learned a lot from you. I wish you all the success and good luck with the new job....... I will miss you dude!!! Hope we can meet and spend time together often. Take care and enjoy your new job.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Nippatlu (Crunchy chips)
Main Ingredients
- Biyyam Pindi (Rice Flour) - 4 cups
- Powdered Ground nut - 2 cups
- Powdered Putnala pappu - 1 cup
Maddhur vada
Ingredients:
- Biyyam Pindi (Rice Flour) - 1 Cup
- Maida - 1 Cup
- Bombay Ravva (Suji ravva coarse) - 1 Cup
- Green Chilli
Friday, September 26, 2008
Ticket deals for Sea World, Universal Studios and Disneyland
Check out the following web sites
http://wildatwork.com/
http://www.mousesavers.com/
http://www.tix2fun.com/
http://www.myjetertravel.com/
Some times you can find good deals on craigslist and ebay as well
http://wildatwork.com/
http://www.mousesavers.com/
http://www.tix2fun.com/
http://www.myjetertravel.com/
Some times you can find good deals on craigslist and ebay as well
Monday, September 22, 2008
Rava Idli: Grandma's Recipe
Ingredients:
Pour vermicelli in talimpu and fry it till it becomes slight red. Add bombay ravva and leave it till the mixture gets heated.
Add some grated carrot, curd, baking soda, salt and mix it. Ravva idli mix is ready. The quantity should be sufficient for two to three members.
Leave the idli's in the cooker for 10 mins after the steam starts to blow.
- Green Chilli's
- Vermicelli (Samiya) - 1/2 cup
- Bombay ravva - 1 cup
- Carrot - 1 big
- Curd
- Baking soda
Pour vermicelli in talimpu and fry it till it becomes slight red. Add bombay ravva and leave it till the mixture gets heated.
Add some grated carrot, curd, baking soda, salt and mix it. Ravva idli mix is ready. The quantity should be sufficient for two to three members.
Leave the idli's in the cooker for 10 mins after the steam starts to blow.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Idli, Dosa and Ponganala mix
Rice - 4 cups
Borugulu - 2 cups
Minapappu - 4 cups
Grind minapappu and borugulu till they become very soft.
Grind Rice till its not entirely soft.
Mix both of them and leave it for 8 to 12 hours. Add some salt and baking powder before making Idli or Dosa.
Try to make idli's first as the mixture might get some lemony taste as the time passes by and idli's might not taste that good.
Ponganalu:
Mix some grinded green chilli's and cut onions with the mix and the pongnala pindi is ready.
Borugulu - 2 cups
Minapappu - 4 cups
Grind minapappu and borugulu till they become very soft.
Grind Rice till its not entirely soft.
Mix both of them and leave it for 8 to 12 hours. Add some salt and baking powder before making Idli or Dosa.
Try to make idli's first as the mixture might get some lemony taste as the time passes by and idli's might not taste that good.
Ponganalu:
Mix some grinded green chilli's and cut onions with the mix and the pongnala pindi is ready.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Kakarakaya Sogi (Bittergourd curry): Grandma's Recipe
Ingredients:
Kakarakayas (Bittergourds)
Uppu (Salt)
Karam (Red chilli powder)
Jeelakarra (Jeera) - 1 spoon
Dhanyalu - 1 spoon
Vellipayalu (Garlic)
Cut onions
Bellam (Jaggery)
Chintapandu (Tamarind)
Cooking Procedure:
Kakarakayas (Bittergourds)
Uppu (Salt)
Karam (Red chilli powder)
Jeelakarra (Jeera) - 1 spoon
Dhanyalu - 1 spoon
Vellipayalu (Garlic)
Cut onions
Bellam (Jaggery)
Chintapandu (Tamarind)
Cooking Procedure:
- Grate off the hard portion of the kakarakaya's skin and cut them horizontally into pieces of 3 cm each
- Sprinkle some reasonable amount of salt on all the cut pieces and leave it on for 30 min (This is to reduce the bitterness of the kakarakaya)
- After leaving it on for 30 min, rinse 3 to 4 times with water and make vertical slits in all of them
- Take a small piece of tamarind and soak it in water for few min
- Grind the following items to prepare sogi: Saoked tamarind, Red chilli powder, salt, jeera, garlic, dhanyalu, cut onions and jaggery
- Now fry the bitter gourds in a frying pan
- Take out the fried bitter gourds and fill them with sogi
- Fry some onions, put the excessive sogi in that oninon fry and mixed with the sogi filled bitter gourds
Mirapakaya Sogi : Grandma's Recipe
Ingredients:
Fat chilli's
Dried shredded coconut
cut onions
salt
Pappula podi
Cooking Procedure:
Fat chilli's
Dried shredded coconut
cut onions
salt
Pappula podi
Cooking Procedure:
- Grind dried shredded coconut, cut onions and salt
- Mix the grinded mixture with pappula podi to make sogi
- Make a vertical cut in the fat chilli's and fill it with sogi
- Fry the sogi filled chilli's in a frying pan
- After 2 to 4 mins, the chilli's should be fried, remove the chillis and drain some oil
- Put the leftover sogi in the oil for a minute or less and mix it with the chillis
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Joke of the day
Question: Why don't we have pebble beaches in India?
Answer: If we had such nice stones, they would have been gone in a jiffy........ha ha haaaa..... :)
Answer: If we had such nice stones, they would have been gone in a jiffy........ha ha haaaa..... :)
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Queue???? In US??? In temple??? In a small temple???
Yes, Yes. I waited in queue for almost half-an hour in the Sunnyvale, Sai Baba Temple yesterday. Yesterday was Guru Pournami, it happens once in a year and people really flocked to the temple. I was really amazed to see such a long queue in a small temple on a weekday.
I felt good to see so many people and also Indians. You might say ofcourse, the temple is in Sunnyvale but still it was long queue. I wish they do not move this temple to Milpitas and the queue suddenPublish Postly disappers!!!
I felt good to see so many people and also Indians. You might say ofcourse, the temple is in Sunnyvale but still it was long queue. I wish they do not move this temple to Milpitas and the queue suddenPublish Postly disappers!!!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
IPL Semifinal: Chennai Vs Punjab
Rameez Raza's cool comments while Punjab were batting at 64/7
- Punjab are in suicidal mode, they have pressed the self-destruct button ... ahaahaa
- Punjab thought that they had Yuvi (UV) protection but they didn't .... mmm sense of humor
Memorial Day Long Weekend (May 24-26)
We have the Toastmasters International sessions in the office every Tuesday during the lunch hour. I attend them regularly although I've given just one speech. The date was Tuesday May 27th, the day after long weekend. As usual, I was attending Toastmasters and during the Table Topics session the topic provided by the Table Topics master was that 'What do you think will be an ideal long weekend?' That table topics question got me thinking about my ideal long weekend.
I've started thinking about that question and recollected my Memorial Day long weekend. It began on Friday night when Sista, a senior in Auburn, came to San Jose. He was staying with Suresh, another senior in Auburn. Sista arrived at 9:30PM and I couldn't wait to meet him. I've found out Suresh's address immediately and met them that night around 10:00 PM. I've spent chatting with them till 12:00 AM.
After that I came home and asked my friends about their plan for Saturday, they said that they have planned to go to Napa Valley. I've convinced them to change their plans and come to San Luis Reservoir along with me. I've already planned to go to that place as my aunt (pinni), unlce (babbai) and cousins were coming there. By convincing my friends I've made sure that all of us will have a good time :)
On Saturday morning, at around 9:30, five of us (me, Kalyan, Siva, Sujana and Vinay) left in two different cars. I've met my aunt and family at San Luis Reservoir Creek, the place they were planning to do camping, after almost one year. From there, I took my cousins and left to Pacheco State Park which was around 10 miles way back from that place to do some hiking. The surroundings were beautifulllll...it was all covered with hay. We hiked almost 5 miles and took some good pictures along the way. At the end of the hike, my cousins were almost sick of looking at hay.
After the hike, we went to several vista points and enjoyed the view of San Luis Reservoir from different angles. In the evening all my friends left to Sunnyvale and I've spent some time with my aunt's family in the evening at campground and we all came back to Sunnyvale at around 10:15 PM.
On Sunday, I've spent time with my Auburn friends Sista, Paruchuri, Suresh, Vamsi, Ramraj and Kalyan. Also Sista and Vamsi's better halves Sindhu and Sneha were also present. We all went to 17 Mile Drive at Pebble beach, CA and had a heck of a time there. All the time we were cracking jokes and having fun. We also made sure that Paruchuri had good photo shoot for his future planning :). We were all together till 12:00 AM next day, then said good bye to each other and parted our ways. It was a really memorable day.
I've got up early Monday morning and spent some time with my aunt's family and they left to LA around 10:30 AM. I ate my breakfast and then had a good sleep till 1:00 PM. At that time my friend called me up for lunch. I went to my friend's place had lunch and just spent the rest of my day relaxing.
After recollecting the whole long weekend, I thought that this is the best way for me to spend a long weekend, spend one day with relatives, other with friends and just chill on the final day.
So, all of you do think about your ideal way to spend a long weekend and relish doing it.
I've started thinking about that question and recollected my Memorial Day long weekend. It began on Friday night when Sista, a senior in Auburn, came to San Jose. He was staying with Suresh, another senior in Auburn. Sista arrived at 9:30PM and I couldn't wait to meet him. I've found out Suresh's address immediately and met them that night around 10:00 PM. I've spent chatting with them till 12:00 AM.
After that I came home and asked my friends about their plan for Saturday, they said that they have planned to go to Napa Valley. I've convinced them to change their plans and come to San Luis Reservoir along with me. I've already planned to go to that place as my aunt (pinni), unlce (babbai) and cousins were coming there. By convincing my friends I've made sure that all of us will have a good time :)
On Saturday morning, at around 9:30, five of us (me, Kalyan, Siva, Sujana and Vinay) left in two different cars. I've met my aunt and family at San Luis Reservoir Creek, the place they were planning to do camping, after almost one year. From there, I took my cousins and left to Pacheco State Park which was around 10 miles way back from that place to do some hiking. The surroundings were beautifulllll...it was all covered with hay. We hiked almost 5 miles and took some good pictures along the way. At the end of the hike, my cousins were almost sick of looking at hay.
After the hike, we went to several vista points and enjoyed the view of San Luis Reservoir from different angles. In the evening all my friends left to Sunnyvale and I've spent some time with my aunt's family in the evening at campground and we all came back to Sunnyvale at around 10:15 PM.
On Sunday, I've spent time with my Auburn friends Sista, Paruchuri, Suresh, Vamsi, Ramraj and Kalyan. Also Sista and Vamsi's better halves Sindhu and Sneha were also present. We all went to 17 Mile Drive at Pebble beach, CA and had a heck of a time there. All the time we were cracking jokes and having fun. We also made sure that Paruchuri had good photo shoot for his future planning :). We were all together till 12:00 AM next day, then said good bye to each other and parted our ways. It was a really memorable day.
I've got up early Monday morning and spent some time with my aunt's family and they left to LA around 10:30 AM. I ate my breakfast and then had a good sleep till 1:00 PM. At that time my friend called me up for lunch. I went to my friend's place had lunch and just spent the rest of my day relaxing.
After recollecting the whole long weekend, I thought that this is the best way for me to spend a long weekend, spend one day with relatives, other with friends and just chill on the final day.
So, all of you do think about your ideal way to spend a long weekend and relish doing it.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Trip to San Luis Reservoir, May 24
We started at 10am from Sunnyvale,CA. Now, the time is 11:15 and we
were stuck in traffic for half hour at the 152 E and 156 W junction.
< EOM >
were stuck in traffic for half hour at the 152 E and 156 W junction.
< EOM >
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
An innovative way to play and learn
I think the way we learn stuff in schools (I'm referring to those in India from my experience) is not good and it can be improved a lot. A good way to achieve this would be by allocating special projects to students themselves and instill a feeling to optimize the way they can learn stuff.
While reading Mercury News, I am came across this article by Mike Cassidy who talks about founder and CEO of 'Alchemist Empire'. The name of the CEO is Anshul Samar and he created a card game name 'Elemento'. The card game is similar to the WWF cards, which I used to play when I was a kid or the Pokemon cards, which are highly popular. Instead of learning stuff about WWF superstars or Pokemon characters, Elemento deals with Chemistry and its chemical reactions. In Elemento, elements are the characters and they rob electrons from their rivals to form compounds and subsequently robbing their cards. Mmmmm.......Sounds interesting.......at least for me :)
Oh! And I forgot to mention, Anshul is just 14 years old.
While reading Mercury News, I am came across this article by Mike Cassidy who talks about founder and CEO of 'Alchemist Empire'. The name of the CEO is Anshul Samar and he created a card game name 'Elemento'. The card game is similar to the WWF cards, which I used to play when I was a kid or the Pokemon cards, which are highly popular. Instead of learning stuff about WWF superstars or Pokemon characters, Elemento deals with Chemistry and its chemical reactions. In Elemento, elements are the characters and they rob electrons from their rivals to form compounds and subsequently robbing their cards. Mmmmm.......Sounds interesting.......at least for me :)
Oh! And I forgot to mention, Anshul is just 14 years old.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Eemanna Yosemite Trip aaaaa......
Woww.....We had an amazing Yosemite trip. When I look back at it, I can't even imagine that I hiked the 3.5 miles to reach the top most point of the Upper Yosemite water fall. I have hiked for almost 4 hrs and I was drained of my entire energy. It was the beauty of the location that gave me energy to even do that.
Once I've reached the top of the water fall, I had an amazing feeling that I've accomplished something great and I was feeling that I was on the top of the world. The only sad part was that you have to walk back to reach the car and it took almost 2.5 hrs.
The climate there was next to nothing. It wasn't warm, it wasn't cold, it was simply perfect.
The trip to Bass lake next day was very pleasant and relaxing, which we were in desperate need of. Overall, my second trip to Yosemite is also successful.
I suggest all the people to visit Yosemite if they haven't till now.
Once I've reached the top of the water fall, I had an amazing feeling that I've accomplished something great and I was feeling that I was on the top of the world. The only sad part was that you have to walk back to reach the car and it took almost 2.5 hrs.
The climate there was next to nothing. It wasn't warm, it wasn't cold, it was simply perfect.
The trip to Bass lake next day was very pleasant and relaxing, which we were in desperate need of. Overall, my second trip to Yosemite is also successful.
I suggest all the people to visit Yosemite if they haven't till now.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
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