Something fishy at the airport
Trina, Jessica, Jen, Emily and Joel at the airport
Lalbagh Garden plant life
Emily using it
Meeting the director
The lake at Lalbagh
Let me tell you 'bout the I-D-C
Decisions
Archive for the 'Travel' Category
The Parms and I arrived in Bangalore at 1:30 AM on Saturday, and have since pretty much recovered from the jetlag. Our hotel is the Fortune Select Trinity in Whitefield, about 30 minutes from the city center on a good day and over an hour during rush-hour (which lasts most of the day). On the plus side, the drive to the Accenture campus is about 5 minutes.
Over the weekend we checked out the Bangalore Palace. Pictures to follow; they charged extra for a camera so Emily took all the pictures. The palace is beautiful if not a bit quirky. We saw elephant heads and stools made from elephant feet. We also saw a very old wooden refrigerator, cooled only by ice. There were also a bunch of paintings of naked ladies on the walls, Chinese furniture, and a Spanish mosaic bench.
On Sunday we took a walking tour of Lalbagh Garden through BanagaloreWALKS. Our tour guide Vijay took us on a 3 hour tour of the plant life in the garden. The tour included a lunch at MTR, an ‘institution’ in Bangalore that’s been around for over 70 years.
MTR blue grape drink
Dosa Masala!
We stood on a 3 billion year old rock in the gardens, one of the oldest exposed geological features on earth.
Stroll up a 3 billion year old rock
At the top
More pictures to follow.
For the past few weeks I’ve been preparing for a work trip to India for 4 weeks (followed by 3 weeks of vacation in south India and Thailand). Things were kind of under wraps, not knowing all the details or even if it would happen. Well, it’s happening and the cat’s out of the bag! After a bunch of shots and prescriptions (polio booster, h1n2, Japanese encephalitis (x3), malarone, and antibiotics), dealing with Indian visa shenanigans, and preparing materials for work, it’s on! As an added bonus, Jessica is also being sent with work on the same trip.
Per Dan and Karla’s recommendation, Jessica and I watched Outsourced, a movie all about me. I’ll post more about our upcoming adventure after the 24-hour flight that starts tomorrow at noon.
Jessica and I are in north Lake Tahoe for a 3-day weekend in the snow. We’ve been staying at the River Ranch Lodge (our second weekend here), which is insanely convenient to get to Squaw, Truckee, or Tahoe City. Tahoe has just received 7 feet of snow and it doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. Some of these photos are from our trip two weeks ago. No joke – this storm makes it look like a completely different place from our last trip up.
At the Palisades.
Skiboarding!
Geared up.
Hanging out in the snow.
Mid-storm.
Peppermint Pattie.
Ninja Parms.
Mom, Maer and I hiked the Hollyridge trail to the Hollywood sign this afternoon. The hike is probably only about 2 miles round trip… worth it. The drive there (braving LA traffic) from my mom’s is the hardest part; I was feeling a little car-sick by the time we finally got to the trailhead. Note the lack of smog today!
Sign from Afar.
Smogless sky.
Mom and Me.
Mom and Maer.
Sign's backside.
PARMS with bike and smile at Marin Headlands.
Shawn decked out to bike.
PARMS with the GG bridge.
Pretty.
Highlights:
Shawn with the Boot at Essen Haus
Shawn Mouse
Greg, Parms and Shawn in Madison, WI
Greg and Carmen in Madison, WI
Lauren and Kenny are traveling the world! They recently took a leave from work to travel/volunteer for about year. I plan on meeting up with them now and then.
Recovering from a spectacular weekend in Kyoto and Osaka, I’m back in Shonandai (Lisa’s hometown) to rest up for tonight’s Mt. Fuji ascent a quiet night at home due to a Typhoon on Mt. Fuji 
. A few teasers to whet your appetite.
I made the somewhat spontaneous decision today to buy a ticket to Japan. I’ll be there for two weeks in July. My friend Lisa is teaching English for a year in Fujisawa (Kanagawa prefecture), so I’ll have a place to squat.
I haven’t been out of the U.S. (with the exception of trips to Tijuana and Vancouver) since I graduated from high school in 2002 and journeyed with Adam and Lisa to Western Europe.
I’ll blog later on actual plans during my visit. For now, I’m off to Seattle for mother’s day where I’ll see mother, sister and brother-in-law.