Journey to the Niagara…

Day 1 25Th May: The Day we landed.

Note: Readers, if u see the story not quite related to the current date, thats because I would prepared for this blog by the end of that day. So kindly adjust your imagination if there are any blunders.

Thanks.

We started from San Jose at about 4 am. Our flight , the United airlines 536 was bound to Chicago @ 6.20 am.

The flight was on time. The journey of 3.30 mins approx to Chicago just flew like anything as both of us had a nice nap.

We reached Chicago at about 12.30 pm (CST). Since Ravi was a Golden member of Kris flyer ( I still stand in silver), we went to the Red Carpet lounge and had our grumbling stomachs filled with some cookies, banana ,chips and coffee.

At 1.30 our flight united airlines 1142 was called for boarding and after heavy air congestion, our flight took off around 2 pm IST. Duration of flight was 1 hr 20 mins.. but it didn’t seem like so. We were on the ground @ about 4.25 EST.

We had to wait for about 20 mins for our baggage. Then once we had it, we went to the Rental Car area where we had already hired a car in ALAMO RENTAL CAR. They offered us a compact car (DODGE CALIBER). We had taken our own GPS with us. But not sure whether i updated the right information , I even took a hard copy of the route to the hotel we were supposed to check in.

But thank god our GPS responded!!!

I should mention here about the beauty of Buffalo.( Not the Buffalo we think that roams around but the fantastic place here in NY state!!)

It was all green around. Why i mentioned it here is because the moment we entered CANADA after the IMMIGRATION & TOLL GATE, it was even greener.

The officer in the gate asked us the same questions that were present in the application form of the Canadian Visa. Then we had to pay fee of $3.00 US for the toll. The road to the Comfort INN in WELLAND was so beautiful and amazing that i couldn’t just sit there. I took out my Video and started to capture CANADA into my DISC.

We checked in the hotel, freshened up and since we hadn’t had anything good for lunch or breakfast, we looked for a good hotel.

Most of the Indian Tandoori were situated in Niagara Falls region. Since I was damn hungry I didn’t want to take up a food tasting session right away.

Instead wanted something that i know so that i am satisfied with a good meal. since these restaurants were in Niagara Falls region, we decided to have our meal and have a glimpse of the Niagara.

We had a somewhat OK meal but it looked good since we were both hungry!!!

WE had tandoori and Veg Thali. After that, we started to drive along the Falls view Blvd. It took us to the Parking lot of the Falls View.

Wonderful View I should say. IT WAS REALLY A DREAM COME TRUE!!!

We parked our car in the lot and headed to the Table Rock which lead us to the Falls south and north view.

Since it was almost dark , Our first glimpse of the Niagara was ILLUMINATED NIAGARA..THE COLOURFUL WATERFALL.

Ravi couldn’t stop clicking his Camera nor could I resist myself and continued with the recording of the Niagara. I could have stayed up there all night to take The DREAM FALL to my home as much as I can.

The Waterfalls transformed to different colours at different intervals of time. It displayed it fierce look with a red colour… its elegance with violet, blue , yellow colours.. the cloud of water in centre produced a wonderful rainbow even in the dark!!

I had researched before our start of the trip itself that fireworks are to happen every Friday and Sunday and on important events @ 10 pm EST. Today being a Sunday, WONDERFUL COLOURFUL SUNDAY… sharp @ 10 the colours of the falls were now on the sky in various forms of fireworks!! Spectacular!!

It went for around half hr. I am for sure that there will be a spectacular one the next day as it will be memorial day.. but since it will be crowded for sure, and since we are planning to head to Toronto instead, we were more than happy to grasp this wonderful show of mother nature .. in a peaceful quite less crowded environment.

With no mind to leave and our hearts left behind in the falls, we head back to the hotel. We are so tired by now and I would just go off to sleep right after I sign off this blog..but I wanted to note each and every expression and thoughts that ran in my mind. I didn’t want the Feel of the Falls to go down.

So with that much happening for the first day itself, lemme sign off so that i can start the next day’s adventure for yet another magical day of my dream trip..
Catch ya later with more of JOURNEY TO NIAGARA…

OverAll Rating: 200/100 !!

© 2008 SarathaRavi

BIRTHDAY GIFT

On 9th of June, came this wonderful day for me…

Actually it was wonderful only for a certain reason.

This day being my Birthday, yeah just that and nothing else was new for the day!!

Since it was a weekday and I didn’t insist on RAVI to take a off, he left for work!!

Obviously, he made me stay awake the previous night and sharp @ 12 am.. he wished me.

The rest of the day was normal with friends wishing in mails, and Karthi Bharathi calling me from NJ.

But as soon as Ravi left @ 9 am for work, @ 9.30 a parcel arrived from FedEx.

I guessed it might be from my hubby. And I was right!!!

I waited till 9 pm for him to return home so that i can unpack the surprise!!

It was really a SURPRISE!!

Guess what??

An IPOD TOUCH!!!

capacity : 8 Gb.

Size and weight

• Height: 4.3 inches (110 mm)
• Width: 2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
• Depth: 0.31 inch (8 mm)
• Weight: 4.2 ounces (120 grams)

In the box

• iPod touch
• Earphones
• USB 2.0 cable
• Dock adapter
• Polishing cloth
• Stand
• Quick Start guide

Capacity

• 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB flash drive
• Holds up to 1,750, 3,500, or 7,000 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format
• Holds up to 10,000, 20,000, or 25,000 iPod-viewable photos
• Holds up to 10 hours, 20 hours, or 40 hours of video

Display

• 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
• 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch

Audio

• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
• Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Video

• H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Wireless

• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
• Maps location based service

Headphones

• Earphones
• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
• Impedance: 32 ohms

Mac system requirements

• Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
• Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later
• iTunes 7.6 or later⁷

Windows system requirements

• PC with USB 2.0 port
• Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
• iTunes 7.6 or later⁷

Languages

• English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, and Polish
• International keyboard support for English, UK English, French, French Canadian, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, and Portuguese
• Dictionary support for English, UK English, French, French Canadian, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Dutch

Environmental requirements

Input and output

• Dock connector
• 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack

Power and battery

• Built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery
• Playback time
  • Music playback time: Up to 22 hours when fully charged
  • Video playback time: Up to 5 hours when fully charged

  

• Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter (sold separately)
  • Fast-charge time: about 1.5 hours (charges up to 80% of battery capacity)
  • Full-charge time: about 3 hours

Click here to watch a guided tour

The best thing about it… he ordered it as a gift !! And I got an ENGRAVED IPOD!!

At the back of the IPod( As you see in the picture), I got an enscription

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARATHA”

I am really blessed for having him as my life partner, not because he presented an Ipod,

But through that “Ipod Touch”, I could read his heart ” I POsitively Did TOUCH ” you!!

and will be there for ya….

© 2008 SarathaRavi

POTLUCK SPECIAL

Ravi gave me a shock of his life that tomorrow in his office there’s gonna be a POTLUCK!!

I was like, ” What??” “PotLuck?”

What am I gonna do??

Its not just about making a Dish, Its about making the right dish so that people of different natives

working there can enjoy eating!!

It shouldn’t be a typical South Indian Dish at the same time it shouldn’t be too spicy…

As our long weekend is getting real close, I had a a couple of veggies piled up in my refirdgerator.

So I decided in making a peculiar Vegetable Rice.

I already had Carrot, Onions, Peas, Beans , Capsicum , Tomatoes…

To cut short , everything needed for Veggie Rice was there.

The only request by Ravi was not to make it too Hot as people may not be used to our spicy cooking.

I requested him to drop by home sometime an hour before potluck to collect it.

It should be atleast warm if not hot.

So took all my time preparing this dish. And made the necessary decos.

Made a secure Packing so that it doesnt fall off while Ravi drives it back to office.

Hope it mouth watering and people there enjoy!!!

I shall update with the comments once he comes back from office..

Till then its Saratha signing off!!

© 2008 SarathaRavi

MOOLI PARATTA

With our minds all set for our trip to Canada for the MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND ,i wanted to keep the blog active in my absence.

I kinda lost concentration in the Kitchen.

No mood to cook. Well how shall I say it???

No Mood to stay longer in the Kitchen?? Yes!! Thats it!

So what should I prepare to reduce my time in Kitchen?

Well one is, I already prepared DOSA ‘n’ IDLY batter ready in hand.

This weekend our grocery list had Radish.

Both Ravi and I have been sticking to our diet by eating only Chapathis for Lunch and weekends alone we wave off the limits.

So I thought for a change, why not go ahead with MOOLI PARATTA.

I don’t need to prepare any specific side dish for it and its simple easy and fast!!

So here we go..

Prepared the Stuffings for the Paratta with Radish. Had the chapathi dough ready too.

Morning, it didn’t take more than 10 minutes to prepare 3 parattas!!

Of course I should mention the bad part too… salt turned out to be a little overdose.

So what might I use for Compensation?? Of course its side dish, PLAIN WHITE CURD!!!

Now isn’t that nice??

Note: Method of Preparation will be given on request.

© 2008 SarathaRavi

EXOTIC LUNCH

This weekend too turned out to be SPECIAL as it was once again Ravi’s Request.

Ravi wanted me to make FRIED RICE , my way. He loves the flavour of Spring Onions added to it.

He even took the initiative to get the best bunch of Spring Onions.

From Last week’s Grocery list I already had the rest of the ingredients for this Exotic Lunch.

The Basmati Rice was cooked just like it was prepared for my Brinjal Pulav.

The only change happened is The rice was cooked in Electric Cooker with all the Veggies.

At the end of the cooking, after letting to cool down a bit, added cut cabbage and spring onions.

(Note: Spring Onions should not be cooked instead added at the end raw. It gets steamed in the warmth of the Rice itself)

A Good Combi of Raita was prepared too.

Ravi normally adds Soya Chunks to any Rice Delites. It happened here too.

He made some for him alone ( I dont like them, for some reason!!) and added to his plate of meal.

From RECIPES

Actually I was planning to head to the Parlour for my beauty treatment.

Had told Ravi that once we are done then we’ll head home and have lunch.

But with the house aroma’d with Fried Rice, Ravi couldn’t wait to have it and became impatient!!

So what else then???

I had Santhosh Subramanian running on my PC.

With a fun filled entertainer on for watch and having a exotic lunch in hand.. would you wait for anything else?

Well thats what exactly we did too!!!

Little did we take Potato chips to the Lunch and hence making the Lunch even Richer in Combi.

So mouth watering?? Go ahead.. Try and Have a good lunch!!

© 2008 SarathaRavi

The Warm Weather Guide to Healthier Eating

Let the Season be Your Guide

–Courtesy: By Zach Van Hart, Writer

With the weather shooting high this week.. I thought we all should be aware of  how much diet is important and goes hand in hand with Weather. I recieved this SURPRISING mail which I found useful and thought should share it to all.This is of course NOT PREPARED MY ME and soley a coutesy note.

There are certain vegetables that you may be avoiding.

Like if you’re carb-conscious, you might think potatoes will blimp you up.

Or you might think that iceberg lettuce has zero nutritional value.

We’re going to explode some of those veggie myths, courtesy of Prevention magazine:

• Another veggie myth: Carrots are full of sugar. Not exactly. One cup of chopped raw carrots contains just 52 calories, and 12 grams of carbs - fewer than you’d get from a cup of milk, or a medium size piece of fruit. Half of the “carrot carbs” are complex carbs, which help you feel full longer. The other half come from natural sugar, which is better than the processed sugar in candy bars. Carrots are also packed with fiber and vitamins, which boost blood sugar control and colon health.

• Another veggie myth: Iceberg lettuce has zero nutrients. Not true. Iceberg has lots of good-for-you chemicals, like vision-boosting vitamin A, and bone-healthy vitamin K. In fact, studies show that adults who eat one serving a day of any type of lettuce have the lowest rates of hip fracture.

• The final veggie myth: Corn is nothing more than carbs. Yes, corn’s got carbs, but they’re the best kind: high-quality complex carbs. The plant also has little in common with high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener made from corn that has all the nutrition and fiber processed out of it. In fact, corn does double-duty as both a veggie and a whole grain, so it’s loaded with fiber. Corn also helps your heart, and helps prevent age-related macular degeneration.

If you forgot to brush your teeth last night…

If you forgot to brush your teeth last night, did you decide this morning to throw in the towel and never brush your teeth again? Since you’re obviously a slob who doesn’t have enough self- discipline to remember to brush your teeth, why bother brushing them at all if you forgot to last night?

Just do NOT give up.