You cannot help being happy here..

Usually the family visits the happiest place on earth aka Disneyland during Thanksgiving and celebrate the parents birthdays. This year, we were not sure what was going to happen during thanksgiving. 

Both the kids were new college bound.. the older one for a masters and the younger one starting undergrad.

At the end of summer we knew they were both going to be in Southern California 2 hours apart in two different UC's. 

So we made a plan on the long weekend to go visit both schools, hunt for housing for the older one, look at the college for the younger one to see how she will fit in and as an added bonus, given we cross Disney, dedicate one day for Disney as well. 

The college visits were not much.. they were empty and deserted as it was a long weekend and in hindsight it was a bad idea to show the kids deserted eerie large open spaces and collosal buildings. Does not help form a good first impression. Still that is where they ended up and have settled in. Both of them got hit with health issues and local hospital and ER visits within a quarter. All that seems to be behind us. This post is about our Disney visit.

Given we have almost been there every alternate year for the last 24 (this blog probably has enough entries to make a parade evolution video), this maybe just "yet another Disney post". 

We did smile all day, have fun, go see the latest Star Wars show. You have to see it. It is just too amazing for words (there are small bits in the video.. but not giving anything away so you go see it for yourself)!

Enjoyed as many rides as possible in one day, but didn't sit in the cold for fireworks. We saw it on the way to the parking lot. We had dinner reservations for a mexican place right outside the gate but within the Disney walkway to the parking lot. So we rushed to have dinner, then watched the fireworks and walked back to the hotel. 

Here are a few memories for later.

The kids wanted to go to Plant power, a burger chain which was apparently the place to be for Veggie burgers! So went with them and ate fries while they enjoyed the burgers as an early evening snack.

We also got to eat at a small Indian restaurant right next this place called Star of India. That place did not disappoint. It was very good snacks and amazing ginger chai!

We did some shopping including my first visit to a thrift store to buy things! The kids had made a reservation at a fancy place, Osteria La Buca (in Melrose) for dinner and we enjoyed that as well. The candle lights were a special touch!

We also got to eat at a place later in Santa Barbara called Masala Spice. That was also good. Finger licking good. 

Have always failed at these pictures that they take.. so we never end up buying one. Someday, I will stare at that camera and smile. The family was mocking me for a good hour after this. "Even Disney is giving us something for free and you mess it up!"

and the parade.. we always love this parade of old and new Disney characters.. they make it so much fun!

Our visit to a sea of storm troopers! We were talking about the possibility of "storm trooping" being a minimum wage job, now that the kids are older and our conversations in Disney seem to be different every now and then.. then the kids hit me with some snarky comment to put me back in my place, so we can all be just kids again and enjoy the rides!

A picture with the main star of the place. We stood in line for more than an hour to get this picture!

and the final fireworks!

and a video as usual!

our smiling faces say it all..

There was a picture of the girls in a tea cup that brough back memories from a different tea cup ride in San Jose downtown.

Kids are all grown up.. but happy to see them still be kids in tea cups!

I am happiest when my girls are all smiles.

This place is priceless!

Given almost every trip has a bittersweet ending for me recently, this one also did. Here is a public service annoucement. Always wear sunglasses when driving back from LA back to the bay area. Yes, the sun is in your face when you drive back and your eyes are wide open after a few hectic days in theme parks or otherwise. The wind is almost always kicking up crap on 101 North when you are near the San Antonio de Padua mission exit. Something went into my eye. It took me a good week to get better after washing and treating it. 

Wear those damn sunglasses..even if you think you don't look good in them. You can thank me later!

A very happy Deepavali to every one

2020 is the year of staying at home. Deepavali is a stay at home festival for the morning but in the evening, you go see all your friends and relatives and join them in the firecracker fun.. 

This year it has been a muted affair. The gatherings are smaller and we meet only people in "our bubble" which is a good thing.

We did have new clothes, great eats and some sparklers! San and me teamed up to make a lot of sweets and savories (and she got some guidance from our neighbor on some sweets and they reminded me of my grandma cooking with her aunt Ambulu when we were kids.. they would spend days planning before the cooking started!). We did go solo on some items..

She sparkles better than those sparklers..It was a good thing I adjusted an almost underexposed shot and realized this was actually a good thing!

This is the first Diwali without jr. being present at home. That was constantly in the back of my head and I am not sure how many years it will take for me to realize that you cannot expect to see kids for Diwali or take that for granted anymore! Given every now and then I manage to go to India to celebrate with my parents, know that the kids will come back home after they grow up to celebrate.. maybe more often than I did.

The little one knows of my secret plan to keep her closer to home and continues to roll her eyes everytime I suggest colleges within a 20 mile radius. 

Life comes full circle.. What I did to my parents, my kids will do to me. Good news is that I am already in the "brace" position. 

It is my sincere wish that we get over COVID soon in the coming year! People are still dying and folks are still denying the truth and reality. Diwali or Deepavali is literally the triump of truth over lies, light over darkness.. knowledge is the true illuminator! 

May knowledge and facts make a comeback after this Diwali !! 

For someone who is staying at home, we have done a good job dressing up at every opportunity.. 

Still don't know how my wife is able to handle Jr.'s being away so calmly compared to me. Either she is made of different stuff or she is faking it really well. Have some things to learn and understand.

Once again, wishing you all a wonderful Deepavali/ Diwali!!

What makes a festival festive?

Is it the gods?

Is it all the action?

Is it the crowd of devotees?

Is it the zillion other kids in the crowd?

or could it just be...

Kaathaadis of different shapes,

sizes,

and colors,

A billion bubbles

big ball and apple balloons

screeech screeech screech..

getting your hands on these WMD's minutes after your brother got his apple ballon

flutes galore

click click click click peacocks

and if you are a girl, some lovely nai kuttys (puppies)

glass and rubber bangles

and some paasi maalais from your friendly neighborhood kurathi

and is it?

sweet panju mittai (cotton candy)

thengai burfi and perichchambazhams(coconut sweet and date fruits)

poovam pazham, malai pazham, rasthaali ? (types of bananas)

pala cholai (jack fruit)

Pattani, pori kadalai (puffed rice and roast nuts)?

Do you still have any doubts?

Didn't think so!

ps. All of the above photos were taken between 4th and 6th April 2009 around two sides of the Mylapore temple tank around the Vijaya store corner during the Kapaleeshwar temple utsavam (festival).

pps. The photographers mental age at the time of taking these snaps was approximately 7.258 years.

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Snacking away ay, snacking awayyy ay..

Yeah yeah.. For some reason Ian Anderson is doing the rounds in my head, but that is another story.

This weekend, the boss finally allowed me to go freak out at the local costco to buy healthy snacks. You see, a month without potatoes has left me with a big void to fill!

What can I eat as snack food if Pringles, baked lays, chips (bbq, sour cream and onion flavors), kettle chips, veggie chips (which are really potatoes with different veggie flavors), samosas, aloo parathas, puffs, etc. are all off the table?

Trying to give up potatoes and living in the USA is like living in a small island and giving up sea food!

The wife and MIL are begging me to break the self imposed "vrath" because of various reasons. The obvious one is that it seriously limits the stuff they can dish out. The not so obvious, devious reason is that a potato free man tends to take the remaining foods more seriously. His tastebuds have somehow become more sensitive..

What can I compare this to? Have you ever gone to an ENT doctor in your high school, early college years to get your ears cleaned with a syringe?! You walk out of that clinic and all of a sudden you feel like the world of sound is open to you. You come back home, switch the cassette player on and start hearing those odd chimes that Ilayaraja so strategically placed in the background, stuff you completely missed just before the cleaning session? Something like that.

Suddenly, I can detect the ratio of salt/chili/tamarind to the second decimals. Now that is really getting on the wife and MIL's nerves. They would rather have me stuff myself with bland potato filler than be more critical! Looks like it is harder on them than for me.

Well, the 34 size pants still fit and that means the aloovrath goes into its second straight month!

Only one problem. The brain still sends the hand to an imaginary cup on the couch when watching TV or working on the laptop at odd hours, well at any hour for that matter and when one goes to the kitchen and surveys all those potato thingys on the shelf one tends to get depressed and grabs chocolate instead. That problem has been corrected and the women of the house decided to give away all the candy stash or hide it from me. So the hunt for new healthy snacks began this week.

We have now purchased

1. Dry roasted Edamame (soy beans) - truly amazing (Sea point forms brand I believe). Low fat, high protein, as good as peanuts (which as you all know is a no no in this house).. loving it

2. Mrs. Mays almonds (they are back in costco) - delicious!

3. Pretzels (yes, they are high carbs, and we have to chip off the salt crystals before eating them).. but they are a better alternative to other junk foods

4. Mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans) - no peanuts, no peanut oil. What more can we ask?

5. Pistachio Crisps (by True North) - very yummy and supposedly healthy!

Add to this the usual Honey nut cheerios and we could make a new type of mixture (granted it wont be as good as grand sweets), but it will be a mixture that is high protein, medium carb and is potato/peanut/sesame seed free!

All these have been purchased on one condition. None of this shall go to waste!

Based on what is being crunched and munched right now as this post is being typed, we can be assured that it wont!

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What is a blog without Pongal pictures?

Was so busy with the game that the Pongal photo post never made it through!

Last year we made pongal without the Prayer part, because my aunt passed away.

This year Pongal was a relatively subdued affair, considering it made it on a weekday. When I came home early to do the prayer, there was a pleasant greeting at the doorstep..

There was a prayer, which coincided with sunset instead of sunrise,

and some really yummy Pongal and Vadai!

Note to self : Next year, take the day off and celebrate.

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