Daddy Narayanan has been traveling over the last few weeks, busy with work.
We also did some travel as a family to Reno and back. Today we spent a few hours in San Francisco visiting the Ripley's Believe it or not, followed by ice cream at our favorite joint..
The skies were a bright red, white and blue and the lights had just come on.. could not resist an attempt to make a composite HDR image..
Definitely going to buy this Photomatix software next time there is a discount coupon!
More photos of trips and funny events around the house later..
ps. The image was a composite of three images shot with self timer by placing camera on a table in the restaurant using my iPhone under the lens to lift it up..
It is not even mid February yet and the Magnolia got confused.. somehow it decided it was spring time and decided to bloom!
One of the reasons we fell in love with this house six years ago was this tree and its pretty flowers. It would be sad if the tree is losing its mind and this is a sign of this tree aging.
Took the camera out after almost three weeks and captured the flowers. Please god, please let this tree live on for a long time to come. It makes five people happy every April..or February!
It was raining in the morning and outside temperatures were in the high 30's. We had made plans earlier to walk around Berkeley and then go on to the Oakland Zoo by noon. The weather was not something we factored in.
So we whiled away the morning indoors with the kids playing Kinect and then the sun came out! It was warm enough to walk outside without a jacket. It was already 11:30 AM.
With a rush of last minute enthusiasm we declared "even if we get to spend only two hours at the Zoo, so be it! Let us go" and we drove off to Oakland.
The weather was perfect to walk around and we got to spend exactly two hours at the zoo. We knew we were going to cover a small section of the zoo and let the kids go at their own pace till the zoo officials kicked us out at 4PM.
We were in for a treat. The lions and tigers were at their active best as were the macaws! The rest of the cages and enclosures were empty but thanks to the skyride we were able to figure out which enclosures had active animals and go see those.
Here are some pictures, thanks to the 70-200mm lens and the 2x extender which was used extensively on this trip. The wife and kids as well as BB family gave the photos a two thumbs up..
The little one still has the same fascination for the golden lion at the exit after four years!
The kids got their share of "rides"..
Finally for the photographs of the Tigers and Lions. Have never been able to get them like this in any zoo trip so far! Must have been my lucky day..
As far as wild animals go this is what we got to see. So in line with the S.Ve. Sekar joke,
Question : Can you name 10 wild animals?
Answer : 5 Tigers and 5 Lions!
you get 5 photographs of the Tigers and 5 of the lions.
Well, let's make that six pictures of the Tigers as this last one is too good to not post on the blog!
Our short visit in video.. The 70-200 converted to a 140-400 may be great for pictures but it is not easy to shoot video with such a huge lens combination. Holding it steady in your hand becomes quite a challenge.
The next visit might be a few years down the road for all we know. One thing is for sure. If you want a place where kids can have some outdoor fun, the Oakland zoo will always make it to the top 5 in our list!
We spent a day in San Francisco by Pier 39 to take the kids to some place local and have some fun..
Turned out to be a great idea. So far our SFO trips have covered the usual Golden Gate bridge, Crooked street and end with Ice cream at Ghirardelli's..
There have been some deviations in the past to the tour guide routine but for once we decided to explore things we have walked or driven past. In other words get to smell the roses a bit, which was kind of a theme in the family over the last few days.
So off we went to visit the COIT tower..
The base of the tower has some amazing murals. Not posting the pictures of the murals here because they make some money selling prints. Guess that is why they have a sign that says "no flash or tripods"..
We had a nice home cooked packed lunch in our Van and went on towards Ghiardelli's, except this time we parked and went to the Maritime museum lobby and walked along the beach to see the different vessels docked at Hyde Street Pier.
The kids had fun getting on the various vessels. It was a world they had never been exposed to. It was so much fun watching their eyes widen as they read the displays and watched informational videos two levels below the deck of a cargo vessel..
There were great views of Alcatraz and Embarcadero from the ships.
The masts were majestic and we were simply awe struck by the fact that these ships with triple masts have survived the test of time and have been preserved for such a long time.
It was also fun watching the little one trying to steer the ship one handle at a time. The ship was just swaying a few feet and she wanted to control it!
It was also interesting to see how prices have changed over time!
Then we went on our walk to enjoy those things on the sidewalk and displays we usually rush past because we are on a deadline to head back to San Jose..
First we stopped at a window where a couple of bakers were doing a display..
What a display ! Truly magnificent piece of bread! They also had starfish, turtles and crab shaped bread pieces which were very impressive.
The little one had fun interacting with the guys painted in silver and dressed as robots.
We walked by the Hard Rock Cafe and past the Christmas tree at the end of the pier and went to see the Aquarium. The entry tickets were a bit steep but thanks to a AAA discount we decided to go for it. After all it was our "smell the roses" day!
The aquarium was actually worth it. Three levels of well maintained displays with more than 20,000 fishes and marine animals. It was like a compact version of the Monterey bay aquarium which also had two glass tunnels, one for shallow water fish and one for fish at deeper waters in the bay.
The last room was kind of weird. It wasn't exactly related to fishes but was about conservation and sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric.
They had hedgehogs and
turtles and
Chinchillas which apparently poop 200 times a day. They don't look much but their display cage had more poop than food which amused the kids..
Then it was time to return to Ghirardelli's to have some ice cream and hot chocolate before returning to San Jose...
We started and ended the routine the same way but the detour was wonderful.
Next time we go there are a whole bunch of Art galleries, a Wax museum, a Ripley's Believe it or Not show , etc. etc. and we might just do another one of these wander around trips about a place that we have grown to love over the years!
We have had one busy week with the parents both being super busy at work to the point where we think it is going to be a 12 day week.
In the midst of all this god always finds a way to throw some excitement our way to amuse us and the kids even if we are cooped up in our living room.
A wild cat of some kind decided to visit our backyard today. San of course assumed it was a raccoon perched on the fence. We (the kids and me) were pretty sure raccoons are not that big and do not look that muscular!
So we mounted the 70-200 and the extender to make it a 140-400mm and decided to observe the cat.
It was very pretty (and dangerous I am sure). Could not hold the heavy lens with my hand steady as there was a 30 degree temperature difference between the living room and the backyard and was also worried about the thing having rabies or making a dash for me.
Here are some pictures and a video. The kids are now scared of going in the backyard alone. That will pass. The wild cat gracefully made an exit into the forest like area behind our house.
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 10:36PM 
