Leap with Joy

30 days have September, April, June and November,
All the rest have 31, except February Alone
And everytime when leap year comes
Thats when February has 29...
(guess thats how it goes)
That was the rhyme we used to sing to remember about the days of the year...
Hey just noticed today is leap day, or rather Feb 29 which is in a leap year. Why I am writing about this, and what's so special? Well, during the last leap year there wasnt any blogger.com and blogs introduced....
Did you know leap year is also called intercalary year; i.e. one containing extra days than the regular calendar year. Well, everybody does know the reason why it is so, and I dont have to go about explaining that...

The Super Week

Well, it started with the "Super"bowl on Sunday with the Giants beating the Patriots. Though am not a big fan of football, this is one event I like to catch up... just for the fun of spending time with my friends. We follow the American tradition of gathering at somebody's house, with the usual starters, appetizers and food: - wings, fries, soda, beer and pizza and our own Indian junk food like bhelpuri and bajji . The rest of the events include predicting the quarter scores, deviating from the football topics, catching up with friends and such. So the weekend ended with the giant superbowl win.
Today the super continues with "Super" Tuesday for the 24 states voting and candidates vouching for last minute "deals", well last minute appeals. I really am not sure why this has the super adjective tagged though (is it coz it follows superbowl... lol )
After this I was thinking what could be the next topic on the Super week... and while I was just browsing came across this... France today unveils The AGV (Automotrice Grande Vitesse) - a train which will travel at up to 360km/h (224mph) and can be compared to the world's largest airplane, the Airbus A380.
That was just an addition to the two big Supers happening in the US of A since I found a fancy to comment on the Superbowl and the Super Tuesday... Maybe there's more to come since the week has just begun...

Too cute to leave !!!

Following the story of "Knut, the Cute" who rose to a celebrity status more than a year ago; when he and his brother were abandoned my the mom in Berlin zoo, and finally authorities rescued and reared the polar bear cub with human milk, fed him with special meals, gave him his own christmas tree to play with, played his favorite music to soothe and rock him to sleep, he now faces death sentence... Guess why, coz he was reared by human hands (supposedly against animal protection rights) and so he isn't a normal polar bear anymore, and neither can he be. Poor thing, what does he have to suffer for the authorities rearing him this way. He is indeed cuddled and pampered. Waiting for this fate to be decided; while me, an animal lover vouches for his life !!!

Another story which caught my attention today, is a female polar bear cub again being abandoned by her mom in Nuremberg zoo, Germany. Never knew animals had this sexual discrminiation, or maybe its some other reason. Another new mom in the same zoo ate/killed her cubs... and even though animals do this often when they suspect their cubs security, safety or due to their illness.... I couldn't help but copy and paste on my blog, when I saw those pictures...

What to say about this sad picture, where the mom carries the cub to keep it away from itself, and in the second picture, the new cub is being fed and nurtured by zoo keepers, to save a life.

Photo courtesy, Times of India picture gallery and The Time world report.

Toyota passes Ford as 2nd-biggest auto seller in US - Nation

Toyota passes Ford as 2nd-biggest auto seller in US - Nation

Hit the road

Introducing the all new super cute, super mini NANO the smart new car from Tata Motors, has all that you can ask for from a mini car. Someone from work asked me yesterday, is the body made of plastic, is the fuel injection system made with straws? Oh c'mon, is that what you think of on Indian Technology. Think of the traffic in US, where everybody wants to own the "BIG" Luxury car, give a break and get a small eco-friendly economical car, yeah its the world's cheapest car, priced @ $2500 (Indian Re-1 lakh)

Comes with the 33 BHP fuel injection petrol engine, 624 cc engine, and has a fully functional dashboard with all the features, all-sheet metal body, tubleless tires and other essential safety features; (in a country where the driving speed is much less) which is pretty much all that you can ask for convenience; and it is CUTE !!!

Eating Out

Started by Annie and added on by Secay here's me continuing on the restaurant listings.
The rules are:
1. Name and link to the person who tagged you.
2. Name the state and country where you reside.
3. Name your five favorite local restaurants.
4. Tag others

I love and live in Florida, the Sunshine State. Its been more than 2 yrs that I've been residing here, before which I was in Oklahoma. I still remember when my husband came to "officially see me" for the 1st time, (yeah arranged marriages still do occur in some parts of India) and I was unwilling to relocate to Florida, halfway through my Masters programs, he said, "once you come and be there, I assure you that you'll love it." And that did happen.

So here's me in Florida now, and the rest of the story which you could make out from my blogs, now its time to pick some of my fav eating out places in and around Tampa. OK but before that lemme explain that I'm a veggie, (or rather an eggetarian) so my picks would be mainly those which satiate me, coz my taste is limited.

1. I love Thai food, and there's never a time when I wouldn't want to have that. Our local fav hangout place, by the Channelside Tampa, where you get beautiful waterside view and restaurants, music, movies, shopping and everything a city like Tampa can ask for. There's this traditionally decorated Thai restaurant, Thai Thani, which is open late, and has the best soups I've ever had in Thai restaurant, not to mention the panang curry, green curry and the special basil and eggplant fry there.... Then there's my husband's anytime fav Thai Ruby in North Tampa, (closer to our home, now so we can go there more frequently).
2. The best Gobi Manchurian I've had in a long long time, reminds me of the authentic Indo-Chinese dish, the ever fav Gobi Manchurian that I used to adore when I were in Trivandrum, India. Though this special Indian style food still tastes best in Trivandrum- Hotel Horizon, you get very similar taste in Cilantro Indian Restaurant, in Tampa. Cilantro originally started in Jacksonville as an upscale Indian restaurant to satisfy the American palate, they maintain a clean environment, good service, and awesome food there. A must visit for Indian food lovers.
3. Thinking about Masala dosas filled with potato-onion curry, and a special hot n' spicy powder mixture, nothing comes to my mind other than the Hindu Temple of Florida, temple canteen food. I am a big food junkie, and loveee Indian food. Ofcourse I can make super crispy thin dosas and also the fav uttappams, there are times when I need break from my own cooking, (and unless my husband cooks) we need to eat out. So saturday/sunday calls for a sure Temple visit, for 2 main reasons....you got it.
4. Come a lazy friday night, and you are too lazy to go bowling or movie (one of our most common friday night activities) and no friends to come over to play 28, carroms too... thats when you go to CDB pizza, a local pizza place, kinda a family owned local place near the USF, they have the most filling dinners not too heavily priced. The freshly baked garlic bread starters with soup and salad and the main course, a lasagna or a veggie parmesian, is all that you want to start a happy friday night with, coz they close early, so you can finish dinner soon and come home and relax with a good movie.
5. How can I forget California Pizza Kitchen, where we can order (yes just specially for us) the tropical style tandoori pizza with ripe mangoes and special veggies to match the tandoori chicken taste. Yeah, just substitute the chicken with your fav grilled veggie, topped with just the right amount of Indian style garam masala powder, and zip-zip-zoom, get reminded of Ambrosia(again one of the local favs in my hometown, famous for pizzas).

Annie had mentioned only 5, but there are many more in my favourite list, and many more places on our list to explore,... The Spagetti Warehouse, located in the famous party hangout place of Tampa, Centro Ybor, in the heart of Tampa downtown...Then there's a Middle eastern place yet on the list, Zaeem Palace, where they have live belly dance all night long... Oh just waiting for some special occasion to explore special places...

Now to mention the not so local ones, mainly Indian, coz thats what we explore on our trips.

1. Saravana Bhavan, in Sunnyvale, CA, the heart of Indian software hub, where they have the best Indian restaurant
2. Madras Palace in Gaithesburg, MD, the best way to spend a Sunday morning, with the most variety of dosas and other southy junkies.
3. Madras Saravan Bhavan in Atlanta, GA, go there well in advance, and prepare to wait for a couple of hours, or else you better reserve your place there.
4. Had heard about this place from my friends a couple of times, and really got convinced that it was simply delicious, the Ganesh Bhavan, dosa place in Detroit, (psst book a night flight, from Detroit back to your hometown, and go to the restaurant early enough to have special dosas dinner and pack some for your breakfast the next day; yup thats what we did.
5. Disneyworld, EPCOT world showcase, where there's no need to specifically mention what its famous for, world food... Go there, get into the rides, spend the whole day exploring countries and their exotic food and culture.

Now its time for me to tag Thas along for this fun blog.

Where was ME?

Anybody wondered where the Blogger Girl went all this while.. I am surprised to see that I havent blogged in about 4 months now. Even though I wasnt a very frequent blogger, I used to do occassionally, for my own happiness, whenever I had thoughts to jot down.
So here's what happened in the mean time. We bought a new house, moved in... see there's the excuse, so there was this packing, moving, unpacking, sorting, arranging phase and now we r kinda in the settled phase with more things to add, and to keep on adding to make our abode even more beautiful. Then there was this job of mine, designing roads, and solving the traffic problems in Florida.... seems like I need to be there to solve issues.... which constantly keeps me busy and drains all the enthu and energy out of me.
Now, here I come back with all the passion and zest once again...

Think Green... Go Green and Gold

Its the big game day, for USF-Bulls in the Bigeast Conference. Its 7.57 Eastern Time and the biggie is going to begin now: - No 18 South Florida Bulls vs. No 5 WV. Ticket sale for the game started on Monday morning and there goes- the 12500 of them got sold out the same day, 500 of them which again opened on Thursday also got sold out.
Mayor had declared today as the Green and Gold day, and even the Sun Trust Building in Tampa, one of the tallest in our downtown will be lit in Green and Gold. The entire city supporting the bulls spirit - and helping the team achieve its goal.
Traffic started building up on the Interstate since 3 pm, towards the Raymond James Stadium and people left office early to support the game, thats the spirit of football.

A new day everyday !!!

Been over a month since I started my new job, and life has been so different all these days, like I posted in my last blog, (well I try to come back to write atleast once a month, though I would love to write more, its the same lame excuse) same routine; work's not hectic at work, but time consuming, and I still hate this interstate driving, and guess I'll keep cribbing about it... Traffic is certainly getting bad in Tampa and the rest of the nation

I was reading an article this morning on msnbc on Smart Cars; whether the Smart cars were a dumb idea to introduce in this "fat nation" where BIG is Better !!! This 8.5 feet x 5.5 feet cutie comes in handy to make those swerves and turns and move fast with over 40 mpg, but will the SUV loving nation prefer her? ( I've done a lot of research as part of my project at school, and have seen that the love for SUV is taking a toll on this nation, in every aspect.)

Well, here's a glance at our beauty, meanwhile I have some tips...

In this regard, I have some small tips for interstate work commute, I've been making more than 50 trips now, and guess I have the experience to share what I feel:

1. Never expect the same day everyday - Initially I tried leaving home around the same time everyday and never felt that the traffic was the same, yes its never predictable
2. Prepare to listen to some music in the morning, and if you are someone like me, who's just out of the bed, dont sleep off, so take some fast numbers
3. Take a book or even a newspaper additionally, incase of worst back up... lol
4. Never go to the leftmost lane- Though the left lane can be faster and help you drive for a longer distance, it doesnt work in the mornings
5. Never let anyone overtake you, or even speed ahead of you, coz no one lets me in before him.. Its not about aggressiveness, but about ethics which you almost forget on the road, during the peak hours
6. People are rude, so be prepared for that- I wasnt initially and used to feel bad
7. Experience a new day everyday and enjoy the ride :)

Experiencing The Fun

All the while I have been wanting to drive on the Interstate System, a marvel in the field of construction, a perfectly designed system, created by the Americans in the late 1950s with the intention of traveling across the whole country without ever having to touch a traffic light or stopping. So doesn't that sound like an adventure, traveling all over the country, swerving and sweeping all along, and never having to stop, except for gas breaks and such obviously. For that matter the Interstate System just celebrated its 50th year in 2006 adding miles of road networking more places.
So here I was, driving for over a year, with the intention of enjoying a long ride all by myself ( even though I have traveled a lot with family and friends, I always wanted to DO IT myself, drive and enjoy the thrill)... And lo and aho here came the fun. I got to go on my beauty, my gorgeous Red Altima. I got a job ( yes another thing to be proud of) and a car to drive all by myself.
Its been only a week since I started doing this, and how much fun it could be? Well, I don't feel it fun anymore.
Here's what I hate; Reasons (not excuses)

1. Getting up in the morning. Atleast now its sunny and bright even before 7, but what will happen in a few months?
2. Having to hurry to work, keeping up the time.
3. Warm my car and heat my engine; wait (those frustrating 1-2 mins)
   
4. After all this trouble, the traffic
5. Interstate is never predictable, you'll take an hour to reach work no matter what time you leave the house, so there's no set peak hour traffic, its always peak and an hour.
6. Work, Work, Work, no lunch break (that way I can leave early)
7. Still the same story on my way back, only adding to it is the tiredness.

Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy more trips other than work trips, and get to feel the speed and the thrill. Here goes for myself and all- DRIVE SAFELY

A day to reckon

Whats about July 21st, my best friend's birthday, mine?
No its the day which created a day in History worth remembering, coz its the day when the Legend, the person who created a wave, a story almost worth called as an epic (next to only Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Bhagavat Gita) was released... Yes it is the Harry Potter final series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release today. One of my friends was asking me, "Isn't Harry Potter last book releasing this week, or is it the next week?" C'mon any true muggle is supposed to know that its the biggest thing happening around...
I was never an ardent fan of this series until recently, and all the hype it created during its pre-release rekindled the interest in me, and made me feel like a teen, eagerly awaiting to lay my hands on the book to know the ending, the fate that decides the life of Lord Voldemort. So here I am waiting to get the book, while in line in a local Barnes and Noble bookstore, trying to click some snaps, and enjoying the final countdown to the event... Patiently waiting till I can explore it myself, unless there are no spoilers around. I've pledged to keep my silence though...

Why Fear this day?

Paraskevidekatriaphobia : - Fear of Friday the 13th!!!

In Greek, Paraskevi means friday, Dekatria means 13 and Phobia means fear of something... Obviously I dont know Greek, just read it somewhere...

I have heard about the superstitious fear of Friday the 13th, and the reasons behind it in Christianity, since Jesus Christ was crusified on Friday after the Last Supper on Thursday with 13 people. For that matter, people are afraid of the number 13, Dekatriaphobia, itself is another phobia on its own.

So here I come to work just like any other day, and start my routine checking of emails and browsing the internet, and there I see the date.. oops... Then I start wondering is it really unlucky, discussed the same with collegues, just checking the year planner for the past two years, and see it has already occured thrice since last fall, October 13, 2006, April 13 2007, July 13, 2007, and again going to appear next June, 2008.

Wonder what the frequency is, it is 688 times in about 400 years, more than any other day... Believe it or not !!!

Do you feel LUCKY?

Ask yourself this question today, because today is 777, which is one of the most luckiest days in about 100 years. Hundreds of couples would be crowding Las Vegas to tie their nuptial knot, and many other lucky places to tie the lucky knot today, atop the roller coaster, by the beach, Niagara, and many other fun destinations. Superstitious gamblers are believing that today is their lucky day, getting drinks for $7, lucky watches for $777 and even suites in Las Vegas and other casinos for $7707.

Reasons to choose this day as the wedding day,

• Adding the number 777 as a jackpot to celebrate their newly found luck in love.


• To have their life long commitment blessed with luck. As one couple iterated:"you can never have too much luck."


• Many individuals and couples consider number 7 their favorite number.


• Biblical reverence of number 7. The most common reference was to the 7 days of creation and that God blessed and rested on the 7th day, so that still today our week contains 7 days.


• Of great importance was also the fact that the 7th of July falls on a saturday so close to The 4th of July holiday allowing for a weekend long enough for guests from far away not to have to rush home. A weekend long enough for relaxing, un-hurried destination weddings.
  777 looks good on their invitations


• A date so easy to remember, so that no one forgets their anniversary, and also time to take off from work.

Anyway, just enjoy your day!!!!

Curiosity Killed the CAT !!!

iPhone seems to be the "coolest invention" ever. A phone, a PC, an MP3 player, an entertainment piece, a pride, all in one. Apple Inc reports that almost all the manufactured pieces were sold within the 1st 4 days that the product was launched, and Apple Inc, is planning to sell of about 3 million of this gadgets by the end of this year. The product launch was eagerly awaited by its fans in almost 165 stored within the country, waiting for it @ 6PM on Friday, the 29th of June...
Was it curiosity or hatred which killed the iPhone? Within hours of the release of the most awaited and anticipated iPhone, while ardent fans became the proud owners of this wonderful piece of electronics, people who detested it, tried to scramble it and bring it down to a meer junk item... Why did the fate of the new iPhone turn out to be like that, the reason, well, just curiosity; to know what made it most wanted, why was it so over-priced and what was in it? So silly that I remember an old fable about a person killing his duck which laid golden eggs. Of course, he was greedy to get everything, still the end result is the same. While the duck keeper couldn't find any golden eggs in his duck, our iPhone owner was able to see some electronic circuits and ofcourse an AT&T simcard.
Thus somebody turned out to be the 1st to get into the iPhone and has been receiving responses as another groups of enthusiasts want to find out the reason. So, maybe I should've changed the title of my blog to "The Curious Cat Killed the Rat!!!"Funny isn't it? Check this out...

Flowers say it all !!!

Just a pretty gift from someone very special for a very special occasion.... another year with promising dreams and hopes. I read this somewhere today, not quoting it since I dont remember exactly what it was and where I read it... It goes, "Dreams just occupy as much space as that occupied by the brain cells unless they are fulfilled." So dream and make them come true. Count the number of flowers and you'll get my age !!! Hey do not count them all ;)

How boring can boredom get?

Ever wondered how relaxing and joyful would it be if you didnt have to work? Do you get TIME TO DO ALL THE NOTHING YOU WANT? ( i found this on my fav t-shirt) I have always wondered who took away my time, why is that I dont get time to engage myself in my favourite passtimes and hobbies.

The truth is people have become so lazy because they think they are over-worked, while the truth is that people are not spending quality time in their office-work and they dont do any physical activity while working. The result, lack of sleep, lack of energy and less productivity... and the end result hard working people eventually become "Zombies".

So I started this blog talking about boredom and not hard-work and lack of sleep. But the point I am tryin to put is the level of activity people have today. People take vacation to relax coz they need a break from their work and give their brains some good food. Thats leisure time activity. How about classifying leisure as active and passive, sounds logical. Now describe passive activities:-

• Watching television
• Spectator games/sports
• Shopping/spending money
• Gambling/betting
• Getting drunk/hogging on food.

If you agree with that, then think whether they give our brain some relaxation, yes they do, but do these feed the brain well and make us energized? Then the answer is no. Research (not mine) has shown that 90% of Americans today are active but passively...In the 1930s and the WWII people used to spend time reading, going outside, visiting friends and picknicking, dancing to pursue their interests after expending their activites doing manual work during the war times, but now lazing around is all we do in the name of relaxing. Kill the time, but do it efficiently; relax but enjoy outdoors; cherish moments, but challenge yourself !!!

What people search for?

Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Ask, the most popular search engines, but what do they all do? What do people want to find over the internet? Did you know that Archie has been claimed to be the 1st search engine started as early as 1990. Later technologcal advancements made them obsolete and the evolution of technologies led to the now popular google and such search engines. There is also an internet site maintaining the rankings of the popular search engines website, which claims Google to be the leader with almost 50% of the search engine share. So what is that which makes google the top in search engines, its nothing but the "Pigeon Cluster" technology, which made is so popular ever since its launch in 1998... unfortunately a sad joke by Google for April fool's day in 2002. In fact it uses a different technology called page rank...

I was just trying to "google" the most popular searches in internet and the most common mistakes people make while searching, and found this. http://www.portalmix.com/english/searched.htm

Finally why did I write about this subject, well the title of my blog is itself something to share, and I wanted to share it...

How do I describe this?

Even wondered why it feels so beautiful, why it brings a special feeling, something really refreshing and pleasing?
So what is that I am talking about, its the nostalgic smell of the wet earth after the first rain of the season. Its June 1st and there is the official monsoon season. Global warming did change much of nature and disturbed her a lot, but still nature continues her cycle. Yes it is here in my place, drop by drop it was building up in the clouds all this while and then it started to give way...

I was always thinking of how to explain the feeling you get when you sense the smell, its neither sweet, nor unpleasant and I couldnt find a better ajective to explain that smell, but I found a whole word to explain it, "Petrichor " from the greek root "petros - stone" and "ichor - the fluid believed to run in the veins of Greek Gods". So why do we feel it so special and what makes it so distinct? Well it is coming from the soil of course, due to the oils and other chemicals absorbed by the vegetation. Well scientists have conducted much research and coined the word long back, in the early 1960s, and I'm not going into the chemical details of it... for the moment just enjoying the drippetty droppetty rain and her dance in the wind.

Cricket Fever !!!

Cricket is happening NOW!!! For those like me, who follow up regularly on the matches, it would'nt be a matter of life and death today, India vs. Srilanka. For others, I dont know how many would have opted to stay back at home and "work from home" as well as try to get updates on the match. Well as I type now, the match is halfway through with Srilanka successfully completing an innings of 254/6 and India ready to take the batting battleship. Way to go India, this is your Judgement day !

Hmmm on this context, I found an interesting photo from one of my friend, and decided to sneak it and use it to blog. I love the caption particularly, so I though I could share it with everyone...

Sunshine State !!!

I am presently living in the Sunshine State, aka Florida, USA. Its been a little over a year that I've been around here. Its a beautiful place, and in some way similar to my nostalgic God's Own Country aka "Ende Kochu Keralam"/ Kerala, India. Of course Kerala is much prettier with its ancient heritage well preserved, its lucious green trees and abundant Coconut Palm Trees. We also have places like the famous Munnar Hill Station which was once the British Summer Resort and their coffee and tea plantations estate, the Kovalam Beach Resort, with its endless stretching beaches along the East Coast of India, and many private/public beaches along the coastline, the peaceful Kumarakom Lake Resort only to name a few, all rightly contributing to the name God's Own Country. Tourists could pamper themselves with the warm weather, serene atmosphere, and a very different cuisine. Believe it or not, Kerala breakfast is supposed to be the healthiest food, and a tongue tingling taste. Oops ! I think my blog is becoming more of a Tourism Promotion for Kerala !!!! Demand Advertisement !!!

Well, there is really much to write about my Kochu Keralam, coz its the paradise on earth, for tourists. Yes I need to specify that. Life might not be smooth for permanent residents though, a quite life, not much activities for an "adventure craving person", and a slower growth rate in terms of economical growth. Do the "politicians" allow any new development atleast? Ok enough said...

I was here, starting to write about my present Paradise Sunshine State, my Florida, with its abundant beaches, fun and adventurous theme parks and its wonderful weather. It never snows in Florida, and no need for heavy jackets, and other winter clothes. On an average, a Floridian could manage all year round with a sweatshirt or a light denim jacket. Isn't that amazing, being here? And there's sunshine all though the year round. No wonder its called the Sunshine State.

Enjoy the warmth and indulge yourself in some fun!!!