Well, I know the break is for 9 days. So naturally I am here for many days. Well the days did fly away very soon. I had lots of fun and spending time with friends is always special. After the long weekend, I worked for sometime to send a paper to my colleague. After finishing that I headed off to Stanford in the afternoon. Chakka was there to receive me and after some chat we went for a walk around the campus. This was a relatively small (5 miles round trip!!) trek there. We talked and there were some nice views that we could see. We met all his gumbal in Stan and they seemed a friendly bunch. The next day was the official stan tour. It was very impressive. The campus was cordoned and was like our campus (IITM). The buildings were less monotonous (unlike the buildings at UT and other campuses) and also they were very nice and innovative (without looking like being crazy - as in ***). The tour took us abt 3 hours and after lunch we watched Laavaris. Well, AB was too good and it was fun. That night we decided to meet two friends of mine from undergrad and we had dinner at a med place and followed by a gelato. The dinner was nice and importantly it was good to meet those guys. After some chitchat we dispersed. The next day we went to SFO and from there to Berkeley. A junior of mine from undergrad was around to show me the campus. The campus was really good with many buildings close to a hill or the bay adding to aesthetic appeal. The visit to the Berkeley tower presented us with some breath taking views and we met other people and left for stan late in the night. We had fun along the way, waiting for the trains, looking for restrooms and finally reaching stan again. Friday was a relatively less active day with me trying to work and relaxing most of the time. I met another of my batch mates at Stan and discussed about all my civil classmates. In the evening we planned to watch Cheeni Kum so with Chakka's gumbal we drove over to Fremont. Aarti joined us for dinner and the movie. I liked the movies. It was fun and nice. After the movie, we went in search of a bakery, we drove to Mountain view and realized we were late by 5 minutes. Then we decided we will at least have dessert at an I-Hop and went over there. It was nice.
Saturday began with late into the afternoon with us deciding to go the vineyards in Napa Valley. The drive was pleasant and we decided to stop at the "Robert Mundavi Vineyard". We took a tour on the vineyard. I was really impressed with the fundaes and intricacies involved in wine making. After showing us all the equipment and methods we finally reached the place for tasting wines. Well, I have never been a wine favorite so I did not really like it. But of course we tasted 3 brands and in the process learned how to distinguish between a good wine and a bad wine. (Don't know how helpful it is though, because I have also decided I will never try wine again) Then we had a lunch/dinner at Napa Valley and then I realized we are cutting it close to the AR Rahman show. We drove and on the way took a wrong exit and went towards the pacific for about 15 miles (as we did not have a way to come back). Eventually, we found a U-turn and got back on track. We decided to park in Berkeley and then take the Bart. We reached the Bart station about 30 minutes past 8 and somehow found the auditorium and our seats as well. The show was nice. Some songs were really nice. There were some that were boring. I danced for the penultimate song and the last song was really the best one. Oakland City appreciated Rahman by making June 2nd rahman day in the city (I could not stop laughing hearing this). After the show we searched a lot for a gelato place / cafe bar and did find one near berkeley campus. After having a Tiramisu and turtle cheesecake we came home.
Sunday started with a light lunch at home and a trip to Half moon bay city. the drive towards the bay was awesome. We reached the bay and took a stroll on the beach which was pretty amazing. So within the span of a month I had the fortune of visiting both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (Not bad huh?). Then we drove down Highway 1 which runs between the bay and the ocean. Oh man, what a ride it was. The ocean was so beautiful and it was one of those things that you would never want to stop watching. After sometime on the car we felt we had to get out and see, so we stopped at a random place and watched the sea and the cliffs. Awesome it was. Ranks close to one of the most breathtaking views in my life. I was so happy jumping and clicking away to glory with my camera. After spending sometime there, we went to another beach for another closeup with the pacific. It was again very good. Then we returned to the land again and went to Saravana Bhavan. Well, it has nearly been 3 years since I had rava dosa and filter coffee at that place. As soon as i reached there the site of tams and the dishes was enough to make me so happy. I looked for my favorite items, pongal and Rava dosa and ordered them. They were awesome. I had my filter coffee and also some mysore pak to eat as well. The weekend was very good and Sunday was great courtesy aarti for taking me to these great places and more importantly her ever cheerful company!!.
With that the trip has nearly reached ts end. Now I will be flying out tomorrow from here. I might meet Chakka once more before I leave. I hope to reach Austin on time. Lets see how that goes.
