Sending Mail

In India we usually use the term post/letter, and use "mail" as abbr for email. But here people use "mail" for postal and "email" for email.

Recently i had to mail to Philadelphia. So i found a postal office nearby my home and went very early to avoid queues (their timings is 8:30 am to 5pm). From the day 1 in USA, i never sent any mail. So no idea whats the procedure. 

When i went inside, there was an employee in the counter. I just went to him and told i need send the mail. He gave me options like normal, priority etc. I chose for priority coz that was very important mail. The normal mail was 0.69 cents. But the priority mail was $3.8, where we can track the mail and get acknowledgement as the person who receives it has to sign.

That person gave me the envelope which had stamp on it and asked me to fill the address and get it back. I wrote the TO address in the front of the envelope and FROM address at back of the envelope. When i gave the envelope to him , he was quite puzzled. He showed me a sample of letter and asked why i did not write the FROM address in the front side of the envelope. Then i just explained my situation, that this was first mail ever im sending in USA, so no idea on where to write the address.

Below is the format of writing address in USA.

Jumping Signal for Biriyani

I was on my way to restaurant to have Biriyani. I was so hungry that I jump the signal. But the ticket had been sent to my Boss home after a month as the car was on her name. I visited the website mentioned in the ticket. There I saw video of myself jumping the signal.

The fine was $75...

Ganesha Chaturthi 2014

This year more excited and tried to improve the decorations. With lot of plans I soaked the "Kala channa" previous night itself, but I had soaked a little late and woke up early to prepare "Sundal". My bad the channa was not soaked properly, so when I cooked in pressure cooker, it was cooked properly (half cooked) and moreover I left for few more whistles assuming channa will be very soft.

Then I placed the sundal and fruits to Ganesha and prayed. I asked forgiveness for not preparing the sundal well. Hope he forgives me :)

 



 



 Later that evening I went Ganesha temple in Plano and DFW temple in Irving.

 

Orlando Trip

We booked the flight ticket 2 months earlier to trip. Myself , Gona (My roommate), and his friends had planned to go to trip. It takes 2hrs and 15 mins from DFW(Dallas FortWorth airport) to Orlando. I started at noon on thursday to airport as the flight was at 3:30pm. We parked our car at swiftpark (private parking agency). From there we got free drop to airport through same vendor. Due to some delays the flight started only at 4:20 pm.

After reaching over there we were waiting for Rajendra. After his arrival we went to rental car section and got the car which we had pre booked. We took insurance also for the person who was driving. Then we had dinner and waited for other two.

We stayed in a hotel for night and started next day morning. We went to Universal studios and spent 2 days over there. First day we went to Shrek4D,  transformers, Mummy returns, Men In Black, Harry Potter (just the museum), Simpsons, Jurassic park

Second day we went to SpiderMan, Harry Potter (Ride), Popeye (water ride), Hulk

To get the pic (softcopy) taken while we are on ride we need to pay $50. This include hardcopy of 2 pics.

The third day we went to Tampa beach. Due to thunderstorm warnings, parasailing vendors had temporarily suspended the operations. So meanwhile we hired fishing equipments and started fishing. Our first fishing experience was good even though we could not catch any fish. Later the the vendors started parasailing, so we booked for us.

Waiting time was 45 mins, so we were standing in the hot sun. Then 2 guys took us in boat. There are 10 people per trip. And either 2 or 3 people are allowed to fly at a time. There is additional fee of $25 for photos. It was very good experience (highly recommend for anyone).

https://plus.google.com/photos/111328586539880579682/albums/6035402799159469633?authkey=CODfibO-qJvElAE

Austin and San Antonio trip

Most of the times last minute plans work out very well compared to very well planned. This is one such. I joined Prashanth and his family on their trip to Austin and San Antonio.

We started around 8:30am from my home (Richardson). its 3 hour journey to Austin. 

Naturally formed Caves

Myself and Prashanth's in laws.

Entrance of the cave

Some enthusiasts taking up adventurous trip

Sumo (tilt head towards left and see the image)

Mineral deposits collected over years. These keep growing. It took several years to accumulate this heap.

Some of the Extinct animals were been drawn on walls of the caves

Mt Bonnel

This is a hill where we can have a view of Colorado river where people go for boating. Along the banks of the river we can find Billion dollar homes owned by celebrities.

Capitol Building

Austin is the capital city of Texas state. This Capitol building is assembly house (just like Vidhana Soudha of Bangalore).

 San Antonio River Walk

Popularly called as Man Made River. This river has many restaurants on the banks of it and finds itself to be one among tourist attractions. Couples find it pleasing experience to walk on the banks.

Boats are available where a guide drives the boat and explains the history and details about this place.

If you wish to ride a chariot or cycle rikshaws (yes, you can find the cycle rikshaws here), you wish can be fulfilled here.

Sea World

The only 2 tourist spots commonly suggested by most in San antonio are river walk and the Sea world. Sea world has lot of dry and water games as well as sea life shows and interactions with them.

Dolphin show called AZUL

Whale show

Sea lion show

Sea lion doing crunches to reduce tummy :P

Caricatures

The trip was wonderful. Prashanth and his family were very sweet and friendly. Felt as though i was with my own family.

ಯುಗಾದಿ ಹಬ್ಬ 2014

Ugadi, the new year for Kannadiga's. One of the most important festivals. Jaggery and neem are distributed in the occasion which symbolizes that we should treat both Happiness and sorrow equally as life is made up of both.

Prashanth, my ex-roommate and my very good friend had invited me to his home for Ugadi. I was very much excited to be part of the celebrations. Here are few pics.

Ranjitha and Chandan

Rashmi and Prashanth