San Francisco Trip

Having lived in the bay area for 8+ years now, I have never actually walked along the SFO piers even once !!

Even this week, we managed it only because we both took the day off, sent the kids to daycare and took my cousin to Alcatraz, Half moon bay and back in time to pick up the kids.

It was a very pleasant day and we walked along the Embarcadero,


past all the gigantic art works,



took a tram to the pier from the Port Station,



went under the bridge...

It was a very pleasant day and we walked along the Embarcadero,


took a ferry to "The Rock", with the coastguard supervising,


The ride was short and pleasant..

and took an audio tour.

It was really interesting. We really enjoyed it.
When we came out of Alcatraz we had this great view of the city. In all my visits to golden gate bridge I have not had such a nice view of the city.


Finally wrapped off the trip with a visit to the Half Moon bay beach along the scenic Route 1



From now on, if we want a vacation, we will both take the day off, send the kids to daycare and visit local sites within a two hour radius. I love my angels, all three of them.. but there is something to be said about the lack of stereophonic wailing noises inside the confines of a closed automobile !!

Guessing game - answered!

Any guesses on what this is ?

email me your guess : sundar72 at gmail dot com

Need a clue ?

Good luck Guessing!!

That was the breakfast menu in the Alcatraz prison, the day it was closed. Apparently it was the best prison food in the country at the time. Boo and Nyneshia guessed right. The locals found it too easy!

Innocence is God

A conversation overheard from the driver seat, on our way to Ghirardelli Square.

Jr: I want to eat ice cream
Mom : We are going to Ghirardelli square and I am going to get you an Ice Cream Sundae.
Jr: I want to eat ice cream now !
Mom : Stop shouting. Didnt I just say we are going to go buy you an ice cream sundae ? (tells dad, "hey daddy, can you tell her where we are going ?"
Me : We are going to buy ice cream
Jr:(shouts) But I want ice cream right now !!
Mom : What is wrong with you ? I am going to buy you an ice cream sundae as soon as we go there.
Jr: I DONT want to wait till Sunday. Today is Saturday. I want it today !!!

At that point I just wanted to stop the car, go pick up the kid from the backseat and give her a big hug. The poor thing does not know Sundae from Sunday!!

BARR - Pasand

My cousin is visiting us this weekend. We decided to take him out for dinner. After giving him a tour of El Camino Real and the 25 odd restaurants within a 10 block drive, we asked the guy "What do you feel like eating ?".

He was still dazed after seeing 25+ Indian restaurants in 5 minutes. The guy actually spent the last month and a half in an Indianapolis suburb. So you can imagine his surprise!

Finally the decision was Pasand. This restaurant at the northwest corner of Lawrence expressway and El Camino Real (right between the Albertsons and OSH), needs no introduction to the local desi. The place has been around for a long long time. The day my wife landed in the US of A, we went to Pasand. Jr.'s first birthday was celebrated at Pasand. So, my wife always has a sentimental liking to this place. Somehow we dont go there often because the place is a little too formal for my liking. The food is great, but the people who come here are usually the quiet eaters and are dressed a few notches above my simple T-shirt and shorts. That should not be held against the place!

Here is the highlights :





Wait time : 1 minute (no crowd and we were seated instantly).
Food wait time from order : 15 minutes for all items including Dosa
Check time : 2 minutes (Visa Mastercard, didnt check if they take AMEX)
Average price per person : $14
Rating "I miss my mother in law!".
Service : Excellent

Items sampled : Rava Dosa,Masala Dosa, Malai Kofta, Butter Naan, Vegetable Biriyani, Chai.

All items came at the same time including the Dosas. One of the few places where this has happened. The masala dosa and the Rava dosa were excellent. Every restaurant has a different touch to the Rava dosa (which is why I use it as a common denominator to compare south Indian restaurants). Pasand had fine stands of carrots and green peas in their Rava dosa. It was also crispy enough for my liking.

The malai kofta was tasty but watery. I like the gravy thick (the Mrs. actually hailed the thin gravy as being more healthy). My thinking is that tasty and healthy should be decoupled. I dont like compromising taste for health. If adding an extra spoon of fat makes it taste good, then so be it!

The naan was "melts in your mouth" excellent. I didnt sample the tea or the biriyani but the rest of the gang declared them a sucess as well. Jr. liked the place also and the service was great, considering the fact that none of the servers complained about a baby who was practising her walking skills when they had their hands full with the plates.

Pasand still has the magic touch.

Understanding your little girl

As a father of two little girls, I always find myself at a disadvantage. I try my best to recollect how my sister was when we were growing up and somehow I draw a blank. Somehow, she was very quiet and used to mind her business.

Of course, I do remember performing surgery on her various dolls with dad's shaving razor with my brother being the assisting surgeon. The end result was always the same. The doll would usually end up with an amputation or be declared dead after the surgery. Lets just say that the only thing me or my brother cut these days, is objects to the Microsoft clipboard. You should be happy that we didnt enter any profession which involves razors or scissors.

Now, today's little girl is somehow very different. Jr. called at least 10 of her friends to her upcoming birthday (which is at least a few months away). She spent more than 10 minutes a person, personally telling each and every friend the same thing over and over again. The whole thing would bother me a lot less were it not for the fact that she was talking on her toy phone!! I wanted to video blog the converstaion, but a 30 second clip wouldnt do justice to the monstrosity of that call !!

This is not the only thing that amazes me. Everytime we go anywhere, be it to the local grocery store or the local park, Jr. picks up a cell phone, her plastic sunglasses and her handbag ! The handbag looks deceptively small. I saw her arrange all the stuff inside that bag and boy, I didnt know so much could be fit into such a small handbag. But the little thing is so sincere and serious when she goes out like this and that really breaks my heart.


Two different photos taken on two different days!


Well, it is getting interesting each day. But if this is any consolation to those newbie daddys out there, you can only love them more when you see them do these silly things, and enjoy the days when the phone is fake and it doesnt cost you anything !! I can see myself shopping for a 10000 minute phone plan a few years from now...