Syracuse Trip and Car buying experience

Guys.. Lotta stuff has been happening out here these days. Me and my friend had gone to upstate New York, i had gone to meet my aunt. She is in Syracuse with family. That place is really beautiful except that upstate is more violent and crime rates are higher. Can't help it. Those places get colder sooner and not much development has happened over there. Most of the buildings are very old and the apartment where my aunt is staying is built in 1970 on a river shore. That place is very beautiful with lotta birds and fishers around. Especially the weekend we had gone it was the pear of autumn and we have seen lotta fall foliage. Visit my picasa album for pictures. We had gone to a park; for us park means some 4 acres may be atleast in Chennai. This park is little bigger; as much as 6.1 million acres :) howzaat. Yeah its one of the biggest national parks. Its actually an area named as Park. Though we didnt see any wild animals; there are plenty of bears. And that place is full of lakes. That weekend was one of the unforgettable in my US stay. Though the drive in Dodge Caliber was not so good!

This weekend me and my roomie has decided to have a car. Finally narrowed on a 2001 Elantra; it has gone 108 miles in 6 years. But the car ran good; and it had all the facilities for a luxury car.
And the price was compromised to ignore the mileage; hope it would be a nice deal. Don't know
I have to get a temporary registration to take the car home. Here the stuff goes in a complicated but straight way. May be later - once i complete them - i will write about that..

First Long Drive in USA

As you may know; I have got my Maryland driving license... I have made sure that every one knows that... :) Last friday i got the license in hand; though my photo is not looking good in the license that was a pretty good asset i have got in USA.

So on Saturday i went to the car rental hoping that i will get some thing less than a Ford Mustang.. but finally ended up on a Kia Rondo. It looked funny, reminded me of my Hamy. :) We started around noon, it was a 210 mile journey. We had fun out there; the photo in this blog is a view of the Pitts downtown from Mount George. It is beautiful from there. Next day we went to one coat factory to get prepared for the winter. I took a jacket for 160$ which was on the costly side. But it will keep you warm even in Antarctica i guess. :) Now i am left with glove and a monkey cap; then i will be ready for the freezing cold of winter.

One the way back i have just tried for 100mile/hour speed, it was awesome. If some cop had caught me my license would have been suspended since the speed limit on the interstate was 65. 100mile is 160km/hour. And its the maximum speed you can drive in east if there is no cop, above that by the time you reach the speed some one would catch you. In west coast they have raised the speed limit to 80miles/hour in some interstates. So i have celebrated my license with a 500mile journey :P it was a good experience and motivation for some more long journeys i am planning...

Gone with Gauley...

Have you ever done white water rafting?? If you haven't and you are in US; you should not miss it, its awesome. Last weekend it was my turn to experience it; along with 18 of other colleagues from my office. We had gone in 3 vans, to West Virginia; to get the experience of a Class Five white water rafting in the middle Gauley river.

We had to drive for 5 hours to reach the place; changed dress to wet suits, wore life jacket and helmet. Then they took us in a bus to the actual location - around 1 hour travel - we had to carry the big boat. We divided ourself into group of nine, then the guide. He had twenty years of experience in water rafting. 8) we jumped into the boat, and started our 4 hour journey to lower Gauley, through the rapids.

The first rapid was awesome there was a rock in the middle which was adventurous; after that the two gals in the boat become little relieved. Then there were places were we could jump in to water. i have tried that and it was very nice to hang on to the boat wearing a life jacket you know. One of my friend was singing also in the boat; so it was kind of an unforgettable trip.

To the end of the river trip we all became tired and the cold was unbearable for some of the people. Again we had to sit in the bus for 1 hour to reach back.

As usual bought a fridge magnet as souvenir; now i have a pretty good collection of fridge magnets. As always Nishant inspired me for this habit too. Next week there are so many event to happen - MY DRIVING TEST - i have to call up the driving school to fix up and appointment for Sunday to learn the parallel parking. Tues day again i have to call him to take me to the test. I don't want to fail in this. I have to clear it at first attempt itself. I don't have money to pay the driving school :(

Broke .... I broke my 18-135mm lens.... Feeling happy for that... :)

Hurray... On Friday last week it happened. It just happened as if it was the destiny... I kicked the tripod next to the couch, to make it loose the balance and to make my camera surrender to the gravitational force. Though I didn't scream inside i was so upset. But by Gods grace nothing happened to my D80 body (Not identified as of now, hope there wouldn't be). The lens' CPU contacts came off with the screws... !!!!

I was left with two options; getting a better lens or getting the same lens. Repairing was out of my options since the estimation of how much it would cost me to repair it does cost 45$. So I have left it considering the shipping cost and etc. it will come not much cheaper than getting a new one.

After a lot of thinking i have opted for the dream lens of those who doesn't want to change the lens from the body. The Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 ED-G IF AF-S DX VR wide angle telephoto lens. Pretty complicated isn't it. I liked the complexity of the name itself. ED-G IF AF-S, which means it incorporated ED type optics which has multiple coatings to reduce glare. G type lenses are those whose aperture can be controlled from the body of the camera. IF AF-S means internal auto focusing with silent wave motor. Then coming to VR - This is THE technology these lenses are using. It is very much complicated. It has vertical and horizontal velocity sensors and two voice coil motors. Interested can find more about it from the above link.

Whatever it is; I got a lens for 800$ and I am feeling happy for breaking the later. I hope there is a better future for the photographer inside me..

Also I have bought a Hamster... As of now i haven't named him; so some people are putting weird names which i dont wanna say here. Within 3 days; it made a blood shed in our home - more specifically from my finger :( - Later my friend had send me a link which contains information about what to do and what not to with a hamster before it gets used to me.. He is cute.. for those who calls him a rat; its not a rat. :( its a cute animal which doesnt have a tail. (it has but a very small one) It lives for 2 years - the one i have is a dwarf hamster - normally in US its a pet for kids and chaps like me. I sometimes feel, whether i am copying whatever Nishant is doing. But then can't help it. He also has a hamster - her name is Gypsie - I have a male hamster. Names for him are invited. May be after a week I will name him 'X'; if i am not ending up with another one..


Catch you later...

I am Freaking....

Heeeeeeeee yeeeeeeeeeeeeee...
Hmm I just wanted to start differently this time; but looks like i am freaking out here... This time i have lots to tell you since i have visited so many places in the last two weekends.
The first place where i had gone is Boston, the week prior to this week, and this weekend to Niagara falls.

Boston Trip
Me, Nishant and my roommate made a plan to meet our friends in Boston. Nishant wanted to drive his accent manual to Boston, suggested saving lot of money both in Gas and Rent areas, and it was hectic for him to drive manual car for 500miles one way though.
We started like 7ish since i had some urgent work to complete, and we reached there by 3 took 2 breaks to fill gas and stomach. Nishant has his own ways to stay awake while driving like chewing gum and mountain dew. He says the caffeine in the drink keeps him awake; any ways he never slept off while driving :)
Boston is a beautiful place with lot of small islands and a good harbor. But we didn't do much out there, other than trying some new drinks at night. We went to spectacle island and did whale watching in deep sea. Got some nice pictures during the trip. One of my best album is Boston Trip album. Whale watching was not so impressive as i expected since i could see only the back and tail of the whales. Around 9 whales we saw. But then it was my first trip into the sea, it was beautiful but scary to be somewhere were there is only water all around. But our boat was like a small ship which was cruising at very high speed in to the deep sea, which made the trip unforgettable
On the way back we got stuck up in the New York traffic. New York is the worst place i have ever seen for drivers, don't know couldn't find anything so appealing about New York. Looks like a dirty city with lot of sky scrappers and maximum number of unsolved crimes. It took 2 hours for us to reach George Washington bridge from I-95.

Niagara Trip
This weekend my colleagues had arranged a trip to Niagara falls in the far north of NY. We have rented two cars, Pontiac Grand Prix and GMC Acadia, I loved the GMC. I drove it inside the hotel campus and it was lovely. Pontiac was an old model but had a roaring V6 engine which gave it a very good acceleration.
We planned to start at 2am, but the circumstances made us wait till 4. We reached there by 12 noon the next day. I was the navigator for my driver. And i did a good job without any faults, we reached safe before those who had GPS. Now i can go to Niagara with out any maps, i have by hearted the 450mile route. I just need to remember the sequence of interstate high ways. I-270, I-70, I-76, I-79, I-90, I-190 and exit 22 to Canada. :)
It was awesome as expected especially the trip to straight under the Canada falls in a boat. unforgettable it was. There also i have got some nice photos; though i cant say i have the best photos, they were just different.

This weekend is going to be a long weekend, I think its labor day; i am not sure. Whatever, that leaves an extra day thats it. My friends are planning for a big time trip to Florida, they are taking Friday off and flying to Florida. I didn't go since i wanted to route that money to some where else. I wont say for something useful since i am not that type :) .I have got a creative speaker system to watch movies, and a new 50mm lens to take portraits, so that gives you an idea how usefully i do spend money. I don't know what else to buy now may be i will save some money for a change.

I wanna see some beautiful places without spending much money. I wanna get my license easily so that i can rent out a GMC and go some where.. These are my short term dreams as of now. I gave up thinking about my long term dreams

Not a Different Weekend..

Other than for Bourne Ultimatum this weekend was not so different. Oh I forgot the new furnitures we have got

The final Bourne was simply awesome; the scenes which strikes me the most are the scene where the Jason Bourn's car runs into a pool of cars. That was the most perfect accident scene I have ever seen on big screen; then the final shot where everyone thinks he is dead; and he swims away and then the song Extreme Ways by Moby starts. Please check the link it really worth hearing.

That happened on Saturday after noon; before that on Friday evening it happened; some one just left a cool sofa in the trash. Rob found it; me and Ela straight from office went to take a look at it. As Rob said it was a sexy sofa cum bed. Just that it had some scratches here and there, but then for us it was like a heavenly gift. Though I was so happy; a sudden shock occurred to me when i tried to lift it. Oh damn! it was nearly 100Kgs which of course me and Rob even with the help of Ela can not carry for 100 meters till our house. We were sadly thinking for an option, again like an angel my office colleague and her husband came and offered a pair of hands (2 pairs). There is no gender difference when it comes to help you know.

So we have started our 100mts journey right there with 5 people; till our building we took 3 stops which was not so bad compared to the weight - now i think it is heavier that 100kg - so till apartment block we have reached now the greatest hurdle of making it reach the 2nd floor. Seeing that our fellas left the scene. But then what they have done was very much appreciated. That time we took a bigger break to wash our faces. After that my another friend's husband came and helped us to make it up to the apartment. Oh man we couldn't breath after that.

It really did worth that much effort. It looks awesome in out beautiful and clean. Later on Saturday we found one TV stand also which was not so heavy. Then again on Sunday we bought a shoe rack. With that this week we have kind of furnished our house. With our beautiful dining table and the new additions it really looks nice.

One sad part of this weekend is that my Tommy Hilfiger watch which i had presented to myself on my birth day early this year; has stopped working. I had changed the battery for 10 bucks. The next day it stopped working; then the lady in the shop said its a problem with the crown of the watch and it takes 35 bucks more. But then for that 5K watch i was not willing to pay 25% of its price for that. May be once i get back to India i can repair it.

This weeks photo will be added soon currently i am not in a mood to post picture. Let me watch another movie on my laptop with my Bose head phones :)

Burning Experiences...

This weekend the following are the achievements

1. Visited Siva Vishnu Temple in Maryland
2. Saw 'Ratatuille' movie
3. Burned my hand in an attempt to extinguish the fire in our kitchen :(
4. Rowing boat with the burned hands
5. Playing shuttle with burned hands
6. Swimming with burned hands
7. Writing blog with burned hands

As of now only this much but I expect the list to grow bigger since my blister is still looking smart. Ok let me talk about the other achievements first.
First of all we have rented a car(KIA); I still wonder what they did? (KYA KIYA?) but then it was a good car. I drove it for some 2 miles. Its automatic but then enjoyable drive it was. kind of driving Activa :)

We had gone to temple at around 12 30; since one of my friend had to monitor one job in production it became late. The traffic was also bit high as there was an accident on I-495 (Interstate which runs around Washington DC known as Capitol Belt way) It was a beautiful temple with full of telugu people, just that what I have expected was not there. The guys came along with me were interested in the Sambar Rice, Idli and Vada. Even I liked them. Got some nice photos from the surroundings.

Coming to second item we had gone to my old favorite place Rio; this time it was very nice with so much people. (Last time I had gone was in winter and then the entire place was empty) This time they had two music bands, so many kids dancing and etc. As usual I had some nice time clicking my Nikon. We had gone for the much awaited Ratatuille movie. Don't twist your tongue pronouncing it, as the movie creater itself has asked to pronounce it like rat-a-tu-yee. From our usual Regal cinemas this time we have tried Lowe's; paying 2$ extra from 7.5$. But not much difference in anything expect the better sound effect. Could be the plus point of the movie. It was a good funny movie.

Then coming to the most interesting achievement; its was a quite interesting experience to have a pan full of oil catching fire and getting an experiment of pouring water into the burning oil. Awesome it was until the fire reached the heat sensor . It started screaming like a kid as if some one had pinched his thigh (I have done that - so I know how it sounds.. ) then me and my friend got panic and in that hurry i bravely grabbed the pan on the bottom. Sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh....... oooooooooooooooohhhh..... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah... my brave heart prevented all these sounds except the first one... ya it burned my 3 figures till the second layer of skin. Which could be called a minor second degree burn. Which makes the most severe pain out of the 3 types of burns - third degree is painless. Ok whatever it may be I have been counting stars for 2 hours; or more don't remember since I have been busy counting stars. My roommate said 4 hours. I have been very helpless; till then I used to think ear infection is the worst pain. but this was the next level man... I had decided not to enter kitchen later. :) I have a statement here to make - my new roommate doesn't have anything to do with the accident; i don't want to make her feel more guilty. I have been trying to make her believe it; till now not successful.

Then on Sunday I have escaped from the room for a small trip with my burned figures; around 40 mile north to Germantown there is an artificial beach (nothing more than a lake with some white sand) Had tried to row an aluminum boat which made a blister over my finger. But then it was nice. Had some nice time playing shuttle, where as my other friends joined 2 American guys for foot ball. Later came ack home and had nice hot dosa with sambar. Thanks to the lovely roommates of mine. They didn't let me touch on anything other than dosa. (As if I was interested in doing something :) )

Oh man my whole body is aching after the adventurous weekend activity. My finger looks scary now. May be it will be fine in 2 days. I will wait for 2 days after that i will poke it without letting any one know :)

Dude take care of your fingures...
Wait for next blog... with more burning experiences ... :))

Above photo is of a crazy gal who was dancing for the band in Rio Mall. The evening light made the photo appear shadowy but then i liked the photo so much.

Rocking Six Flags..

Hey I think I have missed one blog last week, I think I am taking little more time to adjust to the new environment of my new home. Ya last week I have moved from my beautiful hotel to a beautiful home. Now I have started a new life with 2 new friends.
My new life started with another amusement park for a change. Six flags. It was an awesome experience though the big monster King Da Ka was not there in the six flags where we had gone. Ya, King da ka is a monster ride,you will be catapulted to more than 400 feets at 120 miles/ hour straight up and then 90 degrees straight down. I wish it was there in the six flags we had gone. Though the rides we had here itself were adrelaline pumpers. For the first time I had been on a ride in which you will be made to lay facing sky, after that they have done something and all, finally my head was spinning and was paining very badly. It was the last ride I have taken that day. Since it was just another weekend it was not crowded too so I could test my courage so many times. :) Entry fee of 25$ was appealing though 3.5$ water bottles were very much irritating given the fact that it was very hot.
This week me and my roommate made biriyani for the first time in our life, it came out well. It was motivating to have another try next weekend. Then watched Virumandi movie, lot of violence, but then it was ok.
Came to know today that another colleague of mine is moving back to india so he is selling his old furnitures out. Thinking of the financial possibilities of renting a truck. (20$ per hour) Another problem is that I dont have licence. This made me to start (again) towards my driving test. So I have registered right away for online drug course. Since I dont take drugs planning to take the answers from another friend of mine who already has the answer keys. After this online test we need to go there and take the same test. Though they will let you pass in all means. :)
After that there is one more online test which is driving rules and everything. After clearing it, I will get an appointment for the road test. Which consist of parallel parking, 3 point turn and one more thing i forgot. Parallel parking is the challenging one but then should be fine after one or two trials...

The photo on top is one of my friends' after the six flags. The wet trouser symbolizes the effect of rides :P

July 4...

This week I had lot of fun, we had independence day holiday on July 4. Todays Blog is dedicated to US independence day. In 1776 July 4th America has got their freedom from the Great Britain. If you wanna take a look at declaration of independence you can See here. For those who has seen National Treasure movie will know the importance of that. It is located in the National Archives in Washington DC.

We had reached DC by what time, hmm I think around 4. It was supposed to be raining though we didn't take any precautions. We got down at Chinatown Metro since the Smithsonian station was shut down (which is the nearest to the National Mall - the ground in front of capitol which includes all the museums) China town station is located near the Spy museum none of us had taken a look at it till then. So we had gone there saw the entry fee of 16$ and came back. We were not in a mood to spend 16$ to see the enigma, other coding devices, camera's etc which spy's used to use. Of course they won't show what are the devices spies are currently using. These are world war remains. Just like holocaust museum but for that entry was free. From there we have been walking walking, till the check point neat Washington monument. It was nice seeing all the people around. So many weird and beautiful people. It was nice till it started raining, it rained so heavily and we found shelter under a tree. And there was a guy who was selling umbrellas. He had a nice business, he was telling this is the 4th Independence day consecutively in rain. Then some cop came and took us to another place to stand since as per him its not safe to stand under tree when there is lightning. Ok as he wish.

Later when the rain stopped, after the security check, we could enter the ground. It was nice to see all the portable toilets out there. Around 50 of them :) . We found a place in front of monument between Lincoln memorial and and monument, the fire works was supposed to be from the middle of the reflecting pool. you wont believe there were more than 2 lack of people there, and this was my first experience to see this many people together at one place. At the end of the fire works people were moving like ocean. Awesome view it was.

I have got some nice pics of the fireworks, people and kids. The fire works photos though it was not so bad, could have been better. I have identified the mistakes I have done. For people who is interested in photography of fireworks, keep your aperture at 8 or above to prevent over exposure. Also set your ISO low again to limit the exposure. Without tripod you cant get anything out of a firework show. Also set the camera to M mode and set shutter speed to bulb and use a remote to control the starting and beginning of the exposure. If there is wind you may end up with bad photos, like what happened to my photos. That was a mistake I could not prevent. The things i could have taken care were, the Aperture and the ISO to control exposure.
After the fire works we have walked to the Metro Center station; walking in the middle of the road in DC was an awesome experience that too in the middle of beautiful gals :). Of course they have blocked the road from the morning. I have tried to take out my whistling skills. Many were trying to whistle, I think only Indian would have succeeded. We reached back by 12.30. End of story.

Above photo is from my picasa album of Independence Day. For other photos visit my Picasa album.

Another weekend...

It was just another weekend, just that I have seen two movies on a stretch for a change. We saw Fantastic Four and Die Hard. And more than 15 previews of the upcoming movies. I think after seeing movies we have at least 5 coming weekends reserved. Oh man there are awesome movies coming, at least the previews made us feel so. Especially Spielberg produced Transformers appeared to be the best among them, which is due on 4th. And also due for us on next Sunday :) Another one caught my attention was The Bourne Ultimatum, the name gives a kick, isn't it. Though I am not a fan of Mat Dammon, the previous movies were really fast and nice. So thats also due for the next week. Simpson's was also nice, but I don't like cartoon movies. But then there are exceptions like Ice Age, Shrek etc.

Ok I am leaving the movie part to professionals www.fandango.com, here review starts based on the previews even before the release. Thats a nice thing. :P

Then after the movie we just happen to have a look at an American bus stop, our bus service - Ride On - is the company or organization or whatever which does the bus transportation in our Montgomery county - county is something like our districts as far as i understand - which runs between extended stay and Germantown transit center - Bus stand :) - stops at 9 PM on weekends and 11 PM on weekdays. Ha thats why I have to come home early. Other wise I need to pay the blade charge of Regency Cab Service. Ok so where were we, ha at the bus stop there were around 7 black gals - we say karappu - they were making so much sound and were running around and all. More than fun it was scary for me after the Baltimore Effect; oops I will tell that later. And there were some Mexican gals looked like pros to us; then around 4 Mexican guys, and two police cars. This is the typical bus stop at 10 PM in our small town.

The way one Mexican fellow was staring at me was not so nice. I don't know what was their intentions were, if I was alone i would have taken a cab and would have gone. But then its not that I am not brave. :P I have waked to my home at 12 30 alone from 1 mile away to the hotel. No I am not joking it 12 30 AM. It was absolute silence; there was only me and my shadow. It was just like a horror movie. In such situation in America, I will be singing Hindi songs and I was too. So US is not so safe for guys. Some one was saying gals can walk around freely here; may be he was referring that homosexuality and prostitution are more common than normal people ??

By the way I had a look at the iPhone; I admire anything that comes from Apple. And now this awesome piece of art. What ever they are claiming at Apple site was there in my hand. And it impressed me more than the flash video in Apple site. Its small slim, and beautiful. The touch screen does wonders. Typing messages using the Qwerty keypad on the screen is very easy and it doesn't make any mistakes - as far as i have tried. By the way it comes only from AT&T that means you can't use the mobile with any other network. Thats the bad side. Though i am not against AT&T just that I don't like to be bound to something, at least not to materials.

Ok dudes and dudettes on the other end of the keyboard; its time for sleep. Keep reading...

Hope is a waking dream - Aristotle
Dreaming for hope is then what, 'm confused.

The photo on top is from Woodley Park Zoo album of mine. He was begging me to take a snap of him; Which I was loved to do

Web hosting and Pandora ...

I have been so lazy these days in my life. I seriously think so, though I wanted to learn so many things I have been lazy to start something. Other than just spending time in watching movies, I want to do something useful; I can't say writing Blogs like this is useful. But then its like a diary, may be some time later some one can investigate my life using my Blog. But I really doubt whether some one would dare.. no thats not the word, 'bother' thats correct isn't it :). I also doubt how many people will read Blogs (I don't read any)
So finally me and my colleague has come to an agreement that he will give me cyber space for a competitive rate. And I wanted a trial for 2 weeks before committing; I know myself better than anyone isn't it (Though my mother used to say she knows me better than myself 8| ) So it will be a miracle if my initial spirit goes on after 2 weeks. Ok looks like I have money :) so I may buy the space; even if I don't do much about the site, There will be some content in my site, since i am planning to feed my photos to it. Should be nice idea isn't it. Also simple viewer (the flash program that render pics from Picasa) looked really nice during the demo.
Once i finish doing the setup I will Blog on how to do all these (registering domain, hosting a web etc) :) for those who want to do some thing like this. Like my friend Ms.A C. I have seen her Blog; tried to read some of the poems she has put in. But then since I don't have a Hindi poet inside me, I have stopped after sometime. Moreover I am not used to Hindi after 10th, other than for movies. Though I wont understand 40% of what they are saying; since, Hindi movies are full of emotions I do understand movies. I think so. But if some one has objection towards it i will not challenge them. I like Hindi songs more than anything, because they do make tears out of me sometimes even if I don't understand the meaning fully (what would have happen if I have understood fully)
Of late I have became a full time listener to English songs - thanks to Pandora - And if I like the music of a song I do find the lyrics of the same - thanks to ACS network with broadband - My network in Extended Stay has become little better -though it doesn't stream music as good as in office- once after my colleagues vacated from hotel. They were big time browsers, I could feel the bandwidth getting squeezed out those times...

Visit this site - www.pandora.com - you will not regret if you love songs
My friend suggested this radio station to me, its amazing. They have their music library of some 30K songs , They have identified some hundreds of attributes of each of the song they have. As per their site each song would have taken 20-30 min to get those attributed identified from them - which is the Music Genome Project . Their software will play they music which you will like, you will have to periodically refine the search by saying you liked this song, you didnt like that song like that.. Finally you will get a refined music station which will play the music you would love to hear; though you can't play a particular song, you can discover many songs and singers you have not heard of.

A Quick look...

Hey I am inviting you for a quick look of my life... But don't expect me to give you so many clues about it. I don't know why it does fast forwarded all the time, automatically. Once upon a time I used to think and dream about the life of a dude :) the young chap. I wanted to become old and wanted to get rid of my teenage that time. But now I am understanding gone are the days which were beautiful. May be this is the feeling i am going to have all through the life. All my crushes and heart breaks made my life beautiful and mature and sad at the same time...
The way God teaches me the lessons of life and love is very interesting, starting from my first day in Rajagiri I have been learning life, which caused a sudden change in my life style, thoughts, dreams.. It has been interesting. hmm .. My life in my college was the most beautiful of the whole time till now, and i don't expect any more good time here in Germantown. I have enjoy I my life there to the maximum, other than boozing. And I think I should regret about that. It would have been an opportunity of others to enjoy. I still remember the people who used to see drinking as a sin, they are no more sinners. They have got baptized in Tequila, Jack Daniels, Bacardi and Martini. I never had an allergy towards drinks though I am not a drunkard. No one would call me drunkard. I hope so. Because I will be extra decent after boozing. (Am I?) But there is a secret I have to reveal now, I don't like gals who lets me drink, or appreciate me drinking; don't tell this to anyone.. :) Ya all the gals in my life has asked me not to drink (At least they would have said don't drink so much) I had a friend whom I used to get scared to tell that I had drunk. She used not to talk to me if I had. She was so important to me that I have tried to stop my temptation most of the time when i was in Chennai. I am not hiding anything here, I have smoked too, but never felt its some thing bad in smocking till my another friend made me to make a promise that I will not smoke. Though I have accepted I had broken that promise once; to her. I think i shouldn't smoke any more. You know I am not that spoiled as you think... You know I am so flexible...

The photo on top is of a newly wed couple and their friends. It was my first experience to see something like this... it was awesome especially the flower gals effect (I will not show you that photo.. )

Straight fron Germantown...

When I came to Germantown, I had an image inside my mind. First time to US and the first city to see you can imagine the height of expectation. Washington Dullas airport appeared to be small when I got down. I understood the international terminal itself is almost twice the size of Chennai airport later when I had gone there to drop my friend. Ok I was talking about Germantown, the first thing I saw in the so called town was my hotel were I am staying; Extended Stay America. It looked very elegant on the day we came here, there was snow in the porch from the previous days snow fall. It looked very beautiful. For the first 2 -3 days I was thinking why this place is so dry and boring until my old project mate took me out. We had gone to iHope with Chrissy - my friends colleague - first time to go out with an American. She gave us lift. She was nice big lady, she finished one big glass of ice cream with strawberry in five minutes. That glass was double the size of a beer glass. That day we had gone to Milestone Center the happening shopping complex in Germantown. There we have Walmart, Giant, Target, Staples, Borders, McDonald's, Best Buy, Kohl's just to mention some. Though I got confused so much about the way and the location, I understood that it is very near to hotel. Actually it was walkable from my hotel. But now I am bored of MileStone Center. Now I have found out more hang out places, near by and also bit far too. But I wonder how I became too lazy. The place I have liked the most is my friends place, Charlettesville; where we have University of Virginia = UveeeYe. Its a funtastic place. And I really loved the company of Nishant's friends. It ranges from the Bad gal to DJ Michael. That place rocks, and it made me to dance.. that's another story.. that too in my first visit..

The photo on top is one of my first photos from a digital SLR; taken with my friend D80 before I got mine. Its from Washingtonian Center, Gaithersburg a place 10 miles away Germantown