Vegas!

Day 1 - PB Bar & Grill

New people, old experience i.e. good experience just like every other time. I wonder how people in San Diego are always so friendly and accepting. Thats why I loce each and every single one of my visits there.

Day 2 - Drive to Vegas

It's a straight road. Amidst a vast dry desert is this highway, full of cars driven by enthusiats waiting to hit the oasis a.k.a. Las Vegas and get lost in the sins of the sin city. Honestly, I do not understand why they call it the sin city

. Fun is not sin!

Night was spent walking around experiencing the city of lights, excitement and entertainment. It was like a treasure hunt for a foot long margrita ending at MGM. Casinos, limo rides, mid night hot dogs, lights and people. What happened after that doesn't need to make it to www ;)

Day 3 - Lazy morning, Crazy night

Woke up in a 50th floor hotel room in the middle of the city. I know I have written about my love for downtown stays before. Same experience, very satisfying.

Evening was spent in indulgence - Gambling, Casinos, Food, July 4th fire works, Dressing up, Dancing and having a good time with people I love. Couldn't get better!

This was my trip to Las Vegas, the last one down on my list of Things-to-do-before-I-turn-25!

Special thanks to Asha and Siddharth for the pictures :)

I can't believe my stay at San Diego is over and I am already in Norman. Wow! Time flies... Now I am trying to settle down in Norman and start over. There is not much to see here, but I will make sure that I keep posting on GPS whenever I travel next...

More San Diego for you

Here are some more random pictures from San Diego :)

(View of downtown over highway 163)

(Balboa Park Theater)

(Science Museum, San Diego)

(Balboa Park)

(View from Glider's Port)

(Downtown)

(Kite Festival @ Seaport)

(Hike - Gliders Port)

Pictures courtesy: Mouhammad, Anand

What not to order at Coyotes!

(Café Coyote y Cantina, Old Town)

Old town is a cute little stretch in San Diego. It has a lot of history to it (which I will write about when I get a chance to go there again, during daytime).

But what took me to old town a couple of nights ago was – food! They say old town has the best Mexican food to offer. Well, of course may be after Mexico :P which is not more than 20 miles from old town anyways. So I decided to try out the best rated Mexican restaurant there. Café Coyote y Cantina! Oh yeeeeaaaaah!

We reached there and started with a Good Luck Margarita. Take my word for this – it was huge and very tasty. I am usually hard to please when it comes to Margaritas. But I liked this one. Fruity and yummy. Try it blended. I liked the drink so much that the bar of my expectations was raised way high up for food. We started with appetizers. Fajitadilla – super large tortilla stuffed with lots and lots of chicken and vegetables. Sounds delicious? Yes it was :) but it was so big that I was full after 2 slices. Also, the first look at it told me that it was the unhealthiest food I had had in last one year. Oil was dripping in the plate. But of course taste comes at a price!

I was so full that I had no space for the main course. But I didn’t want to leave after a shared appetizer. So we ordered another appetizer. Queso fundido! Mistake! It was served with tortilla. But it was a tub of hard thready cheese and some sausage and capsicum thrown on top. It would be unfair if I don’t mention that the sausage was delicious though! But I just wish there was more of the sausage than cheese. It tasted good but I guess I didn’t place the order right.

I think Fajitadilla is a good size to serve four if you want to have your main entrée. And do not order another appetizer. If you decide on Queso fundido, then it’s good for two. But it should be ordered as the very first thing, and alone.

Don’t let your visit to this awesome place go waste. Ask the server for help and I am sure you will like it! I can’t wait until I go back to old town :)

Candy for the country folks

(Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay)

I went to a concert last night. What’s so special about it? It was my first ever country music concert. And the first ever concert where I was sitting and watching. Before I left I was very skeptical about it. I didn’t know what to expect. I pictured a usual concert, with a dark stage lit by colored lights and a band and music instruments, audience yelling and cheering the musicians. Perfect!

So my first question to myself was – What should I wear? Well, not too hard, I decided to wear a white self patterned (striped) buttoned-up military shirt with destroyed cut-off denim shorts and gladiator sandals. It’s a country music concert right… Perfect!

So we reached Humphrey’s Concert by the Bay. To my surprise, the set up was completely different than what I thought it would be. The four main singers - Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller – were on the stage, together. There was no band, they play their own music. And yeah the audience was not the screaming kind. They were calm old white people, sitting and enjoying the music (there goes my first ‘perfect’ in a ditch, for good). Surprisingly, I liked it. I liked how people were enjoying the music and having fun. There were no MCs. The singers were just talking to themselves and to the people. I loved it. So casual, so laid back, so much fun :)

My second ‘perfect’ hit the ditch, when I felt the chilly California June breeze. Yeah! I should have worn jeans and brought a jacket. It was an open air concert. Lovely! We were seated by the ocean, overlooking the water and the boats. There were some free-bees who parked there boat right by the theater and were enjoying the music from there. Like a boat party was going on for them. Fun times! - Thank you Preston!

One more thing that you can do in San Diego… :)

TIP: Never leave home without a light sweater/jacket.

Water, Speed and Sun (and yeah Bollywood too)

This past weekend, I went to the Mission beach with a group of friends. I have to admit, that I have never regretted more that I never learned how to swim. The ocean is so blue, so beautiful that you just can’t resist the temptation of jumping into it right away.

We reached there around noon-ish. I was starving. I don’t know how and why I am always hungry :( and I know my friends hate me for that. So we found this café by the Hyatt hotel and went there to get something to eat. That place stunk of seafood! So much so that I didn’t even feel like eating any sea food from there. It was a very small café though. And i don’t know why, but except us, all the other customers were old. I ordered a chicken sandwich and my friend ordered fish and chips. Sandwich was fine, but fish and chips- three little pieces of fish and fries! Totally over priced! Not recommended!

(Mission Bay boat rental port)

Finally we rented a motor boat and got into the bay! Best beach experience so far, I must say… perfectly blue water, clear sunny blue skies, speed, and sun! What more can you ask for? It was fun lying on the boat and just enjoying the sun and wind and getting a free tan :) I even got a chance to steer the boat. Exciting! It felt like playing a video game to me. Accelerate. Steer. Steer. Accelerate. You can’t do that on a road. But just a piece of info: the speeds in that area, are not much. Probably cz its really crowded. Out boat was surrounded by jet skiers, sail boaters, and kayakers. And not to forget the little kids on the tube tied at the back of the boats (dangerous! But of course fun).

(Notice the blue water. You can also get a glimpse of the city in the background)

(Peek of Sea World :P)

It was beautiful to be in the water, surrounded by a little hilly city. I could see the houses around. The roads. And people fishing at the shore. Oh by the way, did I tell you we got kinda lost for a bit. Hehe. Not really though. We just took the boat in a wrong direction and ended up going too close to the shore that the motor got stuck. The guys had to jump into the water and push the boat away from the sand. Fun fun! I felt like I was on an ocean adventure (well not really though).

So we returned the boat 20 or so minutes later than the scheduled time. Good thing we were not charged anything extra. So yeah if you ever go there I recommend renting the boat from Seaforth. And their bathrooms are very clean as well :P

All of us were tired and hungry! So we ended up going to a Thai restaurant – Spices Thai Café (at Mira Mesa). My rating = A. I can be very picky about food. But to my surprise, the food was really good there. What to try? Everything on the menu is good. But I liked – Panang curry with white rice – Spicy Noodles – Thai Iced Tea. Make sure you adjust the spice level while placing your order. Also, if you plan on going for lunch, either make a reservation or be prepared to wait for an hour!

No! That did not conclude my fun Saturday. I went home and took a much needed nap. Evening plans included Pre-partying at home and Bollywood party at Canes Bar & Grill. Yeah, I was really excited about this one cz this was my first desi-party in this country. Only in San Diego will you find such fun international parties (well, that’s an exaggeration now).

Desi crowd, desi music, desi night… We had fun!!

TIP: Don’t forget to pack sun-screen, bathing suit and a bandana for the day and stilettos for the night!

San Diego

I moved to the US of A some two years ago. And until now I have traveled quite a bit. But to my surprise, I had left the most beautiful place unexplored – California! This summer I am finally here. And let me yell it out loud!! It is beautiful!

San Diego is a not-so-big-not-so-small town. It has the beauty of a small town as well as the charm of a big city. It is what you want it to be. There is plenty of stuff to do for fast paced, party lover youngsters. But at the same time I see a lot of people moving here after retirement. So I like to say that this place has something for everyone.