Bear Mountain Hike

ok, so finally Bear mountain. Its probably one of the closest hiking trail picnic spot to NYC and accessible by bus. So this weekend we decided to go for the hike. This was a total grab stuff and go hike, no planning, no maps nothing. Once there, first we were little surprised by the area of this place, there is a small lake and picnic spots round it, and there is also large area for more picnic all around. There was absolutely no sign of trail head. Then we spotted someone with hiking poles, kind of ob she was here for hike. Asked her about trils, she showed her map, told about few trails she did, and told about the trail we were looking for, steep hike up to the tower and back in a loop. Then rahul brought some maps from somewhere, and we started applying budhhi and decided on a 6.5 mile trail. The trail head was somewhere hidden between highways, to get to the trail head, we had to cross a bunch of freeways, very adventurous. Somehow we managed to find the trailhead and it was immediately evident that its mostly an abandoned trail. Like most of the trails here, there were good signs to guide, but it was not a maintained trail from Seattle standards. So anyway, we started, it was more like a jungle walk and that made me nervous immediately. Then after a while we started hearing traffic noise and realized that the whole trail is close to the highway, we were never away from sound of the cars which was in a way comforting, but then not what I was looking for. I was quite frustrated for a while, wasting time on walking. Then we reached this junction which seemed to be leading to the Applacian trail. The trail map showed that if we took the diversion, it will take us directly to the tower and back.
Decision point, we had about 3 hours before the last bus back, and no idea how long the trail would be, and its suppose to be a steep hike up and steep down, meaning slow both ways. Somehow we decided to take it. More apprehension. Then we met someone who said yes its far, but its good. Ok, move on. The trail immediately climbed few hundred feet and we were at a good open spot with good view, exactly what I was looking for. Then we hit a paved road and lost the white AT trail marker we were following. Met a few more lost people, looking for the tower. We kept walking, more apprehension about missing the bus, and then finally found the trail again. Later I realized that we had taken a bike path shortcut to cut across the hill and meet the trail which we were suppose to take to go back. Anyway, we headed up, it was a steep climb, but view from the top was worth it all. The top of tower is accessible by car also, so it was very crowded. We sat, had lunch, enjoyed the view, took photos and then started back. The hike back was ok, reached in comfortable time. Must have covered a total of 8 miles or more, and good thing is we hit almost every trail in the area in our little adventure. We still had almost an hour to spare before the bus, spent sitting by the lake and of course dunking feet in the water.

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix

ah, fianlly watched the movie :) It was a good surprise, after last movie I did not have big expectations from this one. The last director just did not seem to understand the essence of the book and had totally messed up Dumbledore's character. But this one was much better, Umbridge who is sort of the main character here (apart from the kids) has acted well. But as usual for me, snape just steals the show all the time, he is simply the best! Though he has a very small part in this movie, but his just 2 words ("no idea") are amazingly snapily delivered. One point they totally missed in the movie is that he is part of the order, and whatever Harry mumbles to him in Umbridge's office is the message Snape took to the Order and that's how they finally appeared at ministry of magic. Of course with the fast pace of the book it was probably hard to notice. And this movie also had a really sad ending, Black is dead!

Heroes

This TV series by NBC deserves a special mention on the blog :). The first time I heard about it was when some people started a fan club in office. Honestly at that time I thought that its probably some freaky american violent show, maybe full of some stupid scifi theories given that engg were so much interested in it, sort of like the horror movies here. Then suddenly few days back Rahul brought it up and I started to watch the first episode. And then suddenly I see this south Indian guy with that typical acquired english accent saying something and some Indian music in background and then sanskrit shloks started in the background. That totally got me hooked, so its got to do something with Indians! But well, its not, though there is lot of Indian music in background and scenes of chennai, where Indian talk in the same irritating acquired english accent and a street boy who looks like never been to school also speaks flawless english!. Well crapy direction and acting aside, the series is really good. The whole thing is based on theory that random DNA mutations cause some people to get some special powers, and the Indian scientist is working on them trying to find a cause, a cure etc. And there are couple of very cute Japanese guys who can do time travel and keep jumping all over the place. And of course everyone else is American and they are trying to blow up New York. I found it quite ironic that a Japanese guys is giving up his live, trying desperately to save a nuclear bomb from exploding in New York. In all this series totally got us hooked!

NY is green too!

Today I was sorting through my photos, looking for the lush green nature. And guess what, the greenest and most beautiful photos I found were from the recent finger lakes trip, up here in New York! Not in Seattle, not at Rainier, not even in Columbia river gorge. Its surprisingly beautiful how the finger lakes area so close to NY city is so green and beautiful. It can almost compete with the lush tropical green of Western Ghats. In fact now that I have seen what beauty NY can hold, I can see the signs of it being butchered everywhere in the city, mountains cut, forests cleared, and still wherever nature is left alone, it flourishes in NY like the Central Park. This place could have been so beautiful, its such a shame that people here spend their time snapping at each other in the concrete jungle.

Journey to Ikea

This sunday finally I made my trip to IKEA. I wanted just one thing, a big green lead canopy to put over my office desk. In NY, IKEA runs a free shuttle from downtown to its store in Elizabeth, NJ. So I came from my apartment in NJ to NY, then took the shuttle back to NJ, and then back to NY and then went back to  my apartment in NJ :) Interesting journey. The leaf was easy to find once you know that its actually in the kids section. They also had a huge collection of plants, reasonably priced, and I went totally crazy trying to decide what to get. Surprisingly the artificial plastic plants were more expensive than the real ones, have no idea why. With the amount of care and manual labour real plants need, you would expect them to be twice as expensive. But this is america afterall, nothing makes sense here (like why would u eat double cheese burger with diet coke). I finally settled on a tiny real plant and a artificial one (in case the real one died).

मानसून कि बारिश

कल यहाँ बिल्कुल मानसून कि बारिश हो रही थी। एक मिनट में मौसम इतना बदल गया। बहुत तेज़ बारिश और तापमान बिल्कुल गरमी वाला। एइसा Seattle में कभी नहीं होता था। New York में कुछ तो अत्चा है।

summer has arrived

So summer has finally arrived. We have already made a trip, to Niagara Falls and planning for other smaller hiking adventures, whatever are available here to poor carless ppl like us. And we are also spending days and hours on phone planning the "big" trip of the season. And well, its not going to be on any long weekend this time though. Because we are planning to go to this extreme place called Grand Canyon. Not now, not next month, but in October!! And there is a big IF before the trip, not because its so far in advance, we don't know etc. But because everything there already seems to be booked! Can you believe it, people actually plan 6 months or more in advance. Its so hopeless. I don't know where I am going to be tomorrow, how can I tell about 4 months from now. But there got to be something in that place that millions go every year and some hikers seem to go again and again.

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

हिंदी का blogger

गूगल ब्लॉगर का नया हिंदी का ब्लॉगर। आज से हम सभी पोस्ट्स हिंदी में लिख सकते हैं। और इससे पता चलता है ही पिछले दस सालों में हिंदी कितनी खराब हो गयी है। एक एक शब्द सोच सोच कर लिखना पड़ता है !! आज से हिंदी का अख़बार पढेंगे और हिंदी में ब्लोग करेंगे।

are we just ghosts of our past

In lot of my interaction which lot of different people about lot of different things, I have been noticing that most of the behaviour and discussion is driven by a person's past experience. On a very simple topic, people will have totally different opinion, just because they have had different experiences in past. So are we just the ghosts of our past? It seems that we always assume that what happens once will get repeated given similar circumstances. Do we always forget to take into account change, that people change, things change, earth changes, nature changes, everything is constantly changing around us. So given the same circumstances, there is no guarantee that same pattern will be repeated. So, at that time, do we cause the same pattern to repeat because we 'think' and 'believe' that it will repeat? I know its really really hard to break away from your past experience and look at the world from a new eye, from a different prospective. And then what will happen to learning from your mistakes, if the patterns get repeated and we forget our past, we may just end up repeating the same mistake again and again. So how does one break out of it, how does one know when to look at everything with a fresh eye and when to recognize the pattern from past and not repeate a mistake. Is that what we call maturing? knowing the difference? So we stop being ghosts of past when we grow up, or we just become deeper ghosts as there is a lot more past from which to draw behaviours from!

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

only in India!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/hindi/regionalnews/story/2007/05/070517_rail_pushing.shtml
This is something which can happen only in India. And these are the things which make life fun in India, every day something bizzare will occur, someone drags and leaves a airplane on the road, common people start getting off the train and pushing the train. Can you imagine something like that happening here! people are so dependent on having everything made all prefect and goody goody, all they can think of is cribbing about their perfect lives and stuffing themselves with food to kill time, haa haa haa

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

Finally MyMaps!

ok, so I finally decided to use MyMaps and see how easy it is. And wow, its easy!!! Its like putting pins on a wall map, and it will also locate the places for you. Of course so I created the MySeattle and MySanFrancisco maps. This is now my latest weekend projects, create maps and then link them to photos and what not and then print them in big glossy poster paper and use them as wallpaper :)
MySeattle! http://tinyurl.com/22m4wu

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

perfect end to a perfectly stupid World Cup

I do not even want to say anything more here, and I also do not doubt that Australia is the best team and probably deserved the cup for the 4th time! But still given the tragic and miraculous history of this world cup, Sri Lanka should have gotten a fair chance at performing a miracle. Instead rain, and a set of technical errors gave Australia a easy win.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/TOIonline/Cricket_/ICC_apologises_for_farcical_final/articleshow/1981473.cms

How to deal with happiness

Couple of days back at lunch we were having this conversation about moving to west coast, CA in particular. So somone mentioned that she cannot move to CA (from NY) as she won't know how to deal with so much happiness. She said anytime you talk to people there, they are so happy, weather is great, people are all nice, there is traffic, but you can still drive the car, and park it without paying an arm and a leg for it. And that is so true. Since I moved here, I have seen the general level of tension rise around me. Most people are always edgy, angry, snap at everything. And same for me, there is this cloud of anger, depression, all negative feelings around me. Why would someone want to live in such a place!!

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

ok, so its SL vs AUS again

Its almost final that WC07 final is going to be Sri Lanka vs Australia again, and I have little doubt that Australia is taking the cup for the third time in a row. SL has been doing well, and they certainly have the capability to defeat AUS, but aussies have just been brutal in the whole series. I am just happy that this stupid WC is finally coming to an end. Hopefully ICC will find a way to make the next one interesting.

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

World Cup Super 8, just a joke!

World Cup 2007 super 8 is such a joke. No doubt that Bangladesh and Ireland are performing great. Afterall they knocked out India and Pakistan. But as the matches progress, these teams just collapse in one sided totally uninteresting seeming like a practice tour matches.
http://www.cricketworld.com/world_cup_2007/article/?aid=10969
Can you imagine, a WC Super8 match, over in total of 37 overs, not even 50 over played combined!!
I hope for 2011, they get rid if this rediculousness and qualify teams into Super 8 based of at least some consistancy in last 3 years. ( Of course that would again mean that India will be the first team to be thrown out of Super 8!! )

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

Another 1/2 marathon?

hmm, so its time to start training for Seattle marathon again. How 1 year just flew by. But alas I am not in Seattle. But NY offeres its own set of oppties, flatter landscape and more predictable weather. So I am thinking, just playing with the idea of running some more, complete another 13.1 miles and add them up to make a full marathon :)

Australia 25th straight WC win

http://www.rediff.com/wc2007/2007/apr/16aus1.htm

Now that is what we call 'form'. Aussies have not lost a single match in the World Cup since their 1999 defeat against Pakistan. However boring it may be, but they definately deserve the cup. The team has again and again shown great team-work, not leaning on any single player, performing great with bat, ball and on the field. If 'may the best team win' is true, then they ARE the best team and will take the cup home for the 4th time!

Top 10 places to visit before EOL

(in no specific order)
1. Peru - Inca Trail
1.5 Hiking in Grand Canyon
2. Italy - Cinque Terra, 1 week in Italy absorbing the langauge, culture.
3. Galapagos
4. Greece- Athens
5. Egypt - the pyramids (of course) (F)
6. France - Paris, South of France, Nice, everyone goes there, got to be something special (F)
7. Hiking / backpacking thru Europe
8. Indonesia for its volcanos
9. Hiking in New Zealand
10. Sydney, Australia, Kangroo


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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

Dreaming the dream

There is one thing about dreams, if you had a dream for a long time, something big, and when it finally comes true, it just does not seem to mean anything or give the amount of happiness you always thought it would, over all it just looks like a flop show. Its like you hike a really difficult trail, moving as fast as you can, ignoring anything and everything on the trail, and finally when you reach the top, there is absolutely nothing great to see! Well, ok, that's not exactly what I meant by the dream thing, but it was a good analogy to support the fact that you need to enjoy the jouney of life and not go thru life running to achieve something far away. Getting back to dream, I think its like all your life you wanted a BMW, well, that's not that tough, so let's say a ferrari. You want it, but you know that you cannot get it, so you spend lot of time convincing yourself why your stupid boring corolla is so much better than a ferrari (believe me, I can give you arguments for that). And then one day you get a windfall and boom, there is a ferrari parked in your driveway (and its yours). But at that moment, when you always thought would be the happiest of your life, you suddenly realize that its not, its just a normal second, and it just passed, and you are still thinking how surreal it is, and part of your mind is thinking that its just a dream, other part is thinking of the arguments you gave for the corolla and rest of it is thinking of the price you paid to achieve the dream and if its really worth it, and whatever tiny part is left to enjoy the moment is just trying hard to convince the rest of it that you got your dream, and its real, and its here, so shut up and be happy. What's the point. So I think if you had a really ambitious dream like owning a ferrari, or a 6 bed room house on the lake, you should just let it be in the dreams, and do not destroy rest of your life to get it, your corolla or the 2BR apartment is probably going to give as much happiness if your try to concentrate on the happiness part :)

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tuls

http://tulika.blogspot.com

"If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do." - Bertrand Russell

taking train in reverse

Today morning when we reached the train station as usual, the train was jam packed. Rahul came up with this brilliant idea, that lets take the empty train in reverse direction and then come back. So we hopped on the train sat nicely to the last stop of the train.