Book of the month : January

Knowing that this is not going to be very easy, I picked up something that I know I would surely enjoy - Asimov's short stories. The book was thoroughly enjoyable, for someone who enjoys Asimov's writing. I must thank one of my friend's - Murr for introducing me to Asimov's wonderful world. What started as an obsession with the Foundation series, slowly increased to the Robot series, Clarke's Space Odyssey, Clarke's Rama series, Frank Herbert's Dune series and a bunch of other books (including Ender's Game which I really liked). The best thing about Asimov's short stories is that they are fast paced and never have a dull moment. If you are like me, it will leave you with a smile on your face - the same feeling you get when you read Jeffrey Archer's short stories, or a PG Wodehouse story or a brilliant Sherlock Holmes' story (written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). There are few writers who seem to take a lot of pleasure in writing, and I would place Asimov right there at the top. The energy seems to transfer through the power of their words and it transfers right to the readers. Lately, the Harry Potter books did the same to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the narration and savored each book, hoping that they would never end.

One month down and I am already liking this resolution.

Day 2 of our Dec 2009 Vacation

Woke up at 8:30 and had a quick breakfast at our hotel (Quinta Inn). Started driving towards Miami. The road was fairly boring, and I somehow managed to stay awake. One close call, as we approached Miami. I noticed a Volkswagon Beetle in the right lane, a little behind us. I put on my indicator and tried to change lanes. The Beetle guy accelerated like a possessed guy and came in to close the gap. I made the mistake of not checking before changing my lanes. Uma's gasp alerted me to it and I came back to my lane. Car swerved a bit but everything else was ok. Phew! We then proceeded to Miami Intl Airport and dropped off our car at 1:30 pm. Now we had to get to the cruise by 2:30 pm. We asked the car rental guys if they could give us a ride to the Port of Miami (where we had to board the cruise). They told us a bus could pick us up but it would show up in 30 mins. We panicked, as we didnt want to barely make it to the cruise. We got ourselves a cab (for 26$), and drove off. As we left the rental car location, we saw what seemed to be our bus, just pulling in to the lot :) Oh well.

As we pulled towards the Port of Miami, we were very eager to catch a sight of the cruise ship. I had no idea of what to expect from the size of this ship, or what the harbor front would look like. My first glimpse was not disappointing at all. This was big all right! It looked pretty colorful too. And there was lots of activity at the harbor front. A porter came to talk to us. He asked us to drop off our heavy luggages there. He was also nice enough to point out that any tips for him should be made right then, since we would not see him after that. Good job, man! This, my friends, is begging in its truest form. Not asking for tips! After that, Uma was visibly anxious about the next steps. I was unusually calm for my personality. We walked in through some procedures which seemed fairly similar to the airlines check-in procedures. A security screening for your carryon luggages, followed by printing of boarding passes, and finally taking the walkway to our cruise. There were a lot of people high on red bull (or something else ?) welcoming us. We were offerred free champagne or orange juice (in a champagne glass) at the entrance. Once you enter the cruise, nothing really feels like you are on a cruise. Excepting that you keep reminding yourself of that all the time. We entered what seemed to be like a bar area. There were a lot of the ship's crew who had set up shop there and tried to get us to buy something. It could be either a reservation for two, for dinner or a chance to enter a lottery, or something to do with the casino. Somehow, we avoided this trap. We were kind og eager to see our rooms at this point, as it looked like there was no real exit route from this trap! We found our way to the elevators. By that time, Uma had regained her composure. She was ready with information on which floor we should be going to, and what we should be expecting. We reached out room, which looked pretty much like the pictures on the net. The first thing I noticed was a small portable tv. Not just because I am a guy, but because it was switched on. There seemed to be some sort of a safety announcement being made at that point. We sat for a few mins, freshened up and walked out to explore the rest of the boat. We were actually very hungry at this point, having not eaten anything since breakfast. It was around 3 pm. Now, food is one of the things I was very curious about, on this cruise. I had heard stories about the famous buffets on cruises. Not particularly that they are delicious, but that they are available at most times, and people end up eating a lot. We asked a crew member for directions, and she directed us, to THE buffet! Here I was, 3 in the afternoon, standing in a buffet line, snacking on pastries, lemon rice, breads, and pretty much anything else vegetarian they had to offer!

After we had eaten lunch 1, we set off to explore the rest of the cruise. Uma was like a person who had 50 redbulls! She was not tired and wanted to see what the cruise had to offer. It turned out to be a blessing, as we became aware of almost everything that was free on this cruise! There were 3 important activity places - The Stardust theater which had a lot of free shows, the buffet place on the top deck, which had free, unlimited food almost any time of the day, and the deck area itself which had a couple of pools, hot tubs, ping pong tables, basketball courts and a whole lot of other activities. We hung around near the pool area for a while, relaxing on the beach chairs, under the sun! Oh yes, did I mention the sun ? It was mid 70s when we started and we were expecting 83 degrees C the next day, at Nassau, Bahamas. But like the cruise director warned us, they were expecting the wind chill to bring it down to 82 deg C! After a while of lazing around, we went to other floors (there were floors 5 to 11 to explore). We were then given a security briefing, about how to use life vests. The crew were very particular that everyone do this training, at a specified location, as against seeing the video from your cabins. We returned to our room after a while, to see the ship set sail. It was wonderful to stand in the balcony, and face the Miami traffic, who were waving from their cars, as they were driving! Some of them pulled over to just wave to us! All this while, we were also enjoying beautiful views, and taking lots of pictures. This is probably one of the few times when I thought the upgrade was totally worth it. We had a choice of taking a room without a balcony, and we chose this one. I strongly recommend this!

After we were well away from the port, Uma and I decided to get ready and explore the rest of the cruise again. We were also slightly hungry (again!). First things first, we stopped to get Uma flip flops from the gift store. Expensinve, but not as bad as I had expected. We then stopped by a restaurant to eat. They had very interesting sounding food, which tasted weird. Uma was not able to eat much. I asked her if she would be ok for the night. She indicated in a not-so-subtle way that we should go upstairs, for another round of the buffet! :) One good thing that came out of eating at this restaurant, was that the staff alerted us to a free song and dance show that was to happen, in their theater. The cruise is full of free food and free activities. You have to put in a little effort to find out where these food and activities are. Not very difficult to do, but you have to put in some effort. When you board the cruise, you are given a room card, which opens your cabin. Funny thing is, they also tag your credit card with this room card. So, when you go to a restaurant or a gift shop and pick up something, the staff simply ask for your room card. The thing is, they ask you for your room card for some of the free stuff too. So, you have to be careful to know which one's paid for and which one's not. Anyway, after dinner, we stopped by to see this song and dance show. It was pretty good, especially the dancing. The singing just reminded me of American Idol and America's got Talent kinda shows where it is considered to be an insult if someone was judged to be good for cruise ships. We ended that night with one more round of eating, and retired for the night. Before sleeping, we stepped in to our balcony to see how the ocean looked like in the night. It was one of the most disconcerting views. It was a cloudy night which meant there was nothing to see for hundreds of miles. Thankfully, at the bottom of the ship, there were a few lights that showed us the water level. The weather was still pretty warm and humid. The ship's rocking motion was something that we were now getting used to. The motion was not too harsh to cause any sort of sea-sickness, but it was still pronounced enough to notice. I had a good night's sleep, not waking up even once. The bed was rather comfortable.

Day 1 of our Dec 2009 Vacation

Woke up at 9 a.m. at home, had dosas for breakfast, while I unplugged several chargers and packed them. I counted 9 batteries that we charged before leaving. I dumped some movies on my laptop for good measure. We contemplated having breakfast at ihop but ended up eating dosas and coconut chutney at home. Turned out to be a fantastic decision. Within the extra 30 mins that we stayed, the USPS delivery person showed up with my Canon 18-55 mm lens that I had ordered a while ago!! I had really given up hopes on getting this lens in time for my trip. That would have meant that I would not have any wide angle lens for the trip. I swear that just picked up my mood!!

We made a quick stop at walmart, picked up some essentials and went to the airport. We bumped in to someone from Columbus, that we knew (Joseph and Sangati) who happened to be flying with us for the first leg of the flight. We had a nice talk with them, till we had to part ways. Southwest airlines has a weird seating policy where you get to pick any seat of your choice based on the order in which you checked your luggage in. Since we checked-in only 2 hours earlier to the departure, we were pretty low on the boarding order. Consequently, our seats were not together. Oh well, just a 1 hour journey to Chicago. The next flight was better, we sat together but we slept most of that leg anyway! The air hostess was very nice to us. She offered us a drink after we woke up, since she missed us while we were sleeping. Next stop, Orlando!

Orlando was nice and warm when we arrived. It took us a good 45 mins to get out of the airport in our rental car. We went to our hotel, dropped of our luggage and drove to TGIF one of the few restaurants, that was open on Christmas eve, at 10 pm in the night. The waitress was once again nice to us, pointed out veggie dishes and made suggestions. Turned out to be a great dinner, even though I was not hungry :) That was way too much work for the first day of our vacation. Hoping for better days to follow.

Keeping up with the resolutions

Firstly, I am sorry for conjuring up images of a dysfunctional family that has now began to claw its way into main stream television by dating NBA and NFL stars. Secondly, I am kicked at being able to keep up with my resolutions so far. I know its a tall ask, but hey, I will take any credit I can give myself.

So, here's my entry about the "Dish a month (new)" or as my wife would exclaim each time she encouters this - "Damn!"

This month, I attempted a Vegetarian Quiche. I found its recipe on the web, while looking for dishes that can be made with feta cheese. Ironically, I ended up not using much feta cheese. I give myself a 6 on 10 for effort and taste, on this dish. It is one of the easiest things I have made in a while. Given that I have not cooked in a while, I would actually give myself a pat on the back for not screwing this up royally. I made this as a potato crust based quiche, with vegetable and cheese filling. It sounds rather yummy and would probably have been a lot better too. My first reaction was that it was too salty, but I realized later that the salt had not mixed well. My second reaction was that the potato had not baked uniformly, especially under the pie. So while, I had an overall good consistency, I would have liked it if the potato had solidified all around. The final thoughts I had were that this might have been a good dish but I had no reference to compare this to, and hence I declare this a success :)

An interesting thing happened when I popped the first piece into my mouth and realized it was a little salty. I turned to my wife who was also sampling her first piece and said

"Ok, my resolution said I have to cook a new dish every month but no one said it had to taste good. So I guess this cuts the bill"

Once again, without wasting a second, my wife chimed in with

"Of course, honey. No one said it had to taste good. I agree with you."

Back to the dentist

About six months ago, I made a trip to the dentist and wrote about it here. I set up a recurring appointment then, as my company paid for preventive cleaning done every six months. I went back recently, and had a similar experience to my first visit.

Firstly, a note to self : Make sure you wear good shoes before going to the dentist.

When you are standing normally, your trousers cover a good portion of your shoes and even if they are not, its a long way down for someone to be looking, if they wanted to see your shoes. At the dentist's office, when you are lying down, your feet are raised to little below the dentist's eye level. And if you are like me, wearing company shoes, that are rarely polished, then you know what I am talking about.

Anyway, back to my dentist experience - how do you differentiate between a yes and a no, when your mouth is wide open and you are trying to decide what to do your tongue so that it is not in the way of the dentist ? While I am trying my best, to keep up with this uncomfortable position, the dentist is whistling to himself happily and pops a question.

"So Phani, did you make any new resolutions this year ?"

"Uh..huh.."

"Oh yeah ? I will have to ask you what those are."

"What the hell ? With all the construction crew you have in my mouth ??"

"Let me rinse your mouth first."

So he proceeds to rinse my mouth and I tell him about my resolutions. All this while, he is holding some more equipment, looking rather impatient as if he would rather just get along with his work. After I finish, he thrusts more tools into my mouth (oops I just made an inappropriate joke, didn't I ?). As I lie down, he asks almost immediately

"So what book are you reading now ?"

"Err...??"

"Yes, I know. Let me wait till I rinse you again"

This went on a couple of more times. Lesson learnt. Next time the dentist asks me questions, I will answer in a way, that leaves no room for follow-up questions.

"Did you make any new year resolutions ?"

"No"

"No ? Why not ?"

(shrugs shoulders) "uhh.."

FAQs about the cruise

I have put together a bunch of questions, that I had before I took the cruise. The questions are meant for people who think like me, so let me know if you want a particular question answered and I will try my best. You can get the answers to some of these questions on the cruise's website too.

Q: How expensive is it to take a cruise ?

A: Well, it depends on a lot of factors. Three important ones are length of the cruise, time of the year and quality of your room. The cruises are very expensive between Christmas and New Years. The prices are almost double the usual costs. We ended up taking a 3-day cruise to Bahamas. It started on the 25th and ended on the 28th, which is right at the peak season. We took the rooms with a balcony view which are the second most expensive rooms on the cruise. This cost us roughly 500$ a head, for the three days. The cheapest rooms would have cost us about 200$ a head and the most expensive ones are about 1000$ a head, for the three days.

Q: What are the different kinds of cruises ?

A: We took a freestyle cruise. Concisely put. this means that there are no rules on what to wear or how to behave :) Some cruises have more formal dinners where your seating is decided for you. The food is probably better and the service would be more formal. On our cruise, there was free seating, which meant you sat wherever you wished and wore whatever you chose. The entertainment on the cruise was also more informal. I would think this is one of the cheaper cruises. There are more formal cruises, that would also charge you more. Then there are specialty cruises, like the Disney cruises which are much more expensive, but surely have a better experience. If you are a first timer, and are not sure on which one to take, I recommend the Norwegian Cruise Line as it was good for the money. There are some Desi cruises, which are more tuned for people from the sub-continent. I think these are called masalacruises. You get lots of Indian food on these cruises and the entertainment shows are also by Indian performers. If you are planning to take parents with you, this is probably a much better option. Of course, these are more expensive and I dont know too many other details on them.

Q: What does your room cost include ?

A: That is a very good question, the answer to which I found out on the cruise. I think this answer varies from cruise to cruise. For the cruise that we took, the room cost included free food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) from some restaurants. It also included some free entertainment shows on the cruise. It of course included the room and its maintenance. The room had a TV and an attached bathroom. The cruise provided towels, bathroom accessories (soaps, shampoos etc), and sheets and beach towels, pretty much like a regular hotel in the US.

Q: What do you mean food from some restaurants is free ?

A: Well, there were some restaurants on this cruise that charged a cover of around 10$ to enter the restaurant. We had about 10 restaurants on the cruise. 3 of them had no such charge. You had free unlimited food on these three restaurants. One of these 3 restaurants was a buffet too. It was open from 6 in the morning till 12:00 in the night! The other two had more formal seating and ordering from the menu. However, the food was free once again. You can choose to leave a tip if you want. If you are cheap like me, go to the buffet. The food was better, and you did not have to leave a tip :)

Q: I am vegetarian/vegan/diabetic. Can I get something to eat other than salads ?

A: Again, this depends from cruise to cruise. If you can not live without Indian food, please do the masalacruises. Our cruise had at least one Indian dish at every meal. Even then, I cannot recommend this to anyone who survive only on Indian food. I saw a lot of Indian parents on this trip and my sympathies are with them. They would have certainly had something to eat, but they would not have enjoyed it as much. The buffet had quite a few vegetarian and vegan food items. There was the salad bar, which had fruits in addition to regular salad items. Then there was a vegetable stir fry, a veggie burger with condiments, different kinds of breads and cheeses, some form of fried potatoes, one rice based Indian dish, one Indian curry, some pastries and a lot of desserts. The desserts were mostly mousse based and if you are sweet-toothed like me you would not care for them. There was a crepe station and a chocolate fondue place too. So yeah, a lot of reliable food but nothing mind-blowing as such. The breakfast had omelets, pancakes, bagels, french toast, cut fruits, waffles pretty much the usual stuff. One thing I have to mention is that the service was awesome. I know its a buffet and a lot of cheap people like me show up. However, the crew greeted everyone nicely. There were at least 15-20 people hanging around the area, happy to answer questions. The people behind the buffet tables answered questions about the food very well, pointing out the vegetarian and vegan dishes. They also had sugar free desserts and vegan desserts.

Q: What are these free activities on the cruise ?

A: There is a ton of free stuff to do on the cruise. You can identify what is free by asking the crew members, who are ubiquitous! The top most floor on the cruise is an open deck. It had a basketball/volleyball court, two pools, two big hot tubs, bunch of ping pong tables, some golf cages, a lot of beach chairs to just sit and relax and a dance floor. The other floors have a gym, a jogging track, a place to play Wii, an art gallery, a play room for the kids and a two-storeyed theater that showed some free shows. I know it does not sound like much, but between all of these there was not a single minute that we got bored. The other activities where you can pay if you like are the casino, a video arcade, a gift shop,a spa, and some paid shows.

Q: Will I get sea-sick on the cruise ?

A: The short answer is no, you won't. This is a huge ship. It is about 11 floors tall and more wider than that. It rocks a bit in the sea but it is largely stable. You can notice the motion of the ship, but it is not enough to make you sick. If you are in doubt, try a 3-day cruise like us. If you want to minimize the motion of the ship, stick to the center of the ship. If your room is closer to the middle of the ship, you dont feel much of the motion. Again, the motion you feel is much lesser compared to what you feel in an airplane or a train. However, it is rhythmic and I can see that causing some uneasiness to people.

Q: Does the atmosphere feel stale in the cruise ? I mean you are at sea, and the room probably gets moist.

A: Actually, the cruise did a wonderful job of maintaining the humidity levels. The rooms had air-conditioning and I bet they had a dehumidifier too. The weather was humid but nothing that was too severe, at least this time of the year. The rooms felt fresh and clean and I could not smell anything stale, during my stay. This was one thing I was not sure about, but I can say with good confidence that you would not feel uncomfortable with the humidity.

Q: You went in December ? Wasn't it cold at sea ? Could you even go outdoors ?

A: Ladies and Gentlemen, when you are at sea, you have the best weather! At 1200 in the night, you might feel a slight chill that warrants a full sleeve clothing. But other times, you can walk around in shorts and flip-flops and not feel a thing! The weather was perfect. It was more than perfect. It was neither hot nor too cold. I can completely see why this is considered the peak season. We were on the top most deck of the ship, in open weather for most of the time, and did not get cold at all.

Q: Do you have to get a visa to go to the Bahamas, or any other island ? Does the cruise take care of this ?

A: Yes, you do need a visa to go to the Bahamas, or to any other island outside US. The cruise does not automatically take care of this. You are expected to apply for your visa and be ready before you board the ship. Each destination has its own procedures for the visa. The Bahamas visa requirements are pretty low. It cost us 55$ a head. We got our visa within4 weeks of applying. You need to have your cruise booked before you can apply for the visa which is a bit strange. However, the odds of getting rejected for the visa are low.

Q: What do you do when you get to the island ? Do the cruise people guide you on where to go and what to do ? Can I do my own thing and not stick with the cruise people ?

A: You can do whatever you want when you get to the island. The cruise offers some packages for activities on the islands, but you are under no obligation to take those. The only advantage of taking packages through the cruise is that you are guaranteed to finish your activity and return to your cruise on time. If you take an activity on your own on the island, make sure you finish it on time to return to your cruise before it leaves for the next destination in the evening. You can also choose to not leave the cruise ship. I cant see why you would like to do that, but you can choose to stay on the ship and laze around in your room, just watching TV, or go to the buffet, or play at the casino. If you get down to the island, you can choose to just walk around there and explore the city on your own. You can also just sit at the beach and play in the water. Again, nothing set in stone.

Q: What does it cost for these activities at the island ? What are my options ?

A: Again, speaking for this trip to Bahamas, there are a lot of water-related activities. You can do parasailing, snorkeling, underwater adventures, swimming with sharks, swimming with dolphins, boat tours, cab rides of the city, and other touristy things. They can cost anywhere from 30$ to 200$ depending on the kind of activity. We did parasailing for 80$ and an underwater sub-adventure for 130$. I strongly recommend the under-water sub adventure. If you are like me, you will remember this experience for a long long time!

Q: I have kids/parents with me. Should I take them with me, on the cruise ? Isn't the cruise mostly adult themed ?

A: I saw lots of desi parents and desi kids on the cruise. There are some activities on the cruise that are adult themed. But, you are warned in advance about these, and there are too few of them, for you to worry. You can have a lot of fun, with the family-themed entertainment as well. I think desi parents had a lot of fun, just taking in the atmosphere.

A trip full of firsts

Uma and I just returned from our vacation. We went to Florida and the Bahamas, it was the most exotic vacation we have had so far. I have typically not enjoyed two popular activities - swimming or anything to do with water, and dancing. On this vacation I did both of these, and enjoyed the water activities.

The vacation had a lot of firsts for me. These are the ones that I can share with family audiences :)

1. The first time I opened my eyes under water. This happened at the coast of Bahamas. Clear waters, also saw some fish. The salt water does sting a bit, and it was far too blurry for me, but it was a lot of fun!

2. Floated on water! This is a big achievement for me. I have tried this a couple of times and failed miserably. This time I got some tips from Uma and was able to successfully float on my back. I got greedy and attempted the backstroke, but failed :)

3. 30 minutes under water with an oxygen tank. The underwater sub adventure gave me a chance to do this. I hope to post a video of this soon and boast about it for a long time.

4. Parasailing: Frankly, it was a little too hyped for me. However, I can see why this is popular and enjoyed it a bit. The views are spectacular and it makes for some great pictures. I regret not having taken a camera with me when I was doing this. I strongly recommend that you take a handheld camera with you, if you do this.

5. Going on a cruise: It was just a 2 day cruise to Bahamas and back. I loved every minute of it. I was a little bit skeptical of how much I would be able to enjoy myself, and if the activities would be in sync with my energy levels. However, there is a little bit for people of all energy levels on this cruise. I had a whole bunch of firsts on this cruise, sadly not all of which can be mentioned on this blog!

6. Eat 4 dinners in a single evening: Yes, crazy as it sounds, I did it. There's an unlimited buffet on the cruise. The unlimited means that you can leave and come back as many times as you want. There was food in some form or the other till 1130 in the night. And no, I did not just have dessert in one of these 4 dinners. Starting at 6:30 pm, I came back 3 other times and had something or the other from the main course!

New Year's resolutions

I always try to make resolutions for the New Year. I like the idea of bringing some changes to my lifestyle and I think the resolutions are a good way of enforcing that. This year I wanted to make 3 resolutions which are not related to each other. I have so far come up with two.

1. Read at least one new book a month.

2. Cook at least one new dish a month.

I will try and post about what I cooked, or what I read each month. That way I can try and keep track of my resolutions. And speaking of resolutions, this is what I had resolved to do in the past years

1. 2006 - My resolution was to finish everything I ordered to eat, at a restaurant. Of course, buffets were exempt from this. Getting left-overs was not an option. This turned out to be a fun resolution. For the first half of the month, I ended up stuffing myself so badly. There was one particular trying moment at a Chinese restaurant which was close to Grand Junction, Colorado. This was on my trip from Denver to Salt Lake City, Utah with a couple of my office colleagues. We stopped by for dinner and I ordered Moo-Shu vegetables. Given the price, I expected something small. I was not prepared for the one entree serves three kind of dish! I immediately realized what I had to do. I had to eat before my body sent out feedback saying I was full. I am glad to report I kept my resolution that year!

2. 2007 - Do not eat chocolates unless someone offers them to you. I kept up with this for a good amount of time. I initially thought I will plainly stop eating chocolates or candy of any form. Then I realized there are quite a few occasions when people would offer my candy, and I did not want to draw unnecessary attention. The funny thing about chocolates is that I love them. However, three months in to this resolution, I had no craving for candy. Ofcourse, I am back to devouring chocolates now. Esp, white chocolates!

3. 2008 - Run a mile a day. I like to keep up with my running habits. I started running in Colorado in 2004. After slowly having picked up some stamina, I lost it completely in 2007. I came up with this resolution to get back to enjoying running. I maintained a blog of my running thoughts. I used to run at least twice a week and I ran at least 3.5 miles each time. Towards the third quarter of that year, I started developing cramps in my leg and could not continue this. I thought that doing the elliptical was a good alternative. I matched the number of calories, and the intensity of the workout on the elliptical for a while. I think I accumulated around 310 miles that year. We were building a house in the later half of the year, and I had to compromise with all the work that was going on for that.

4. 2009 - Try at least one new, exotic restaurant a month. I think this was my weakest year in terms of resolutions. I did a poor job of keeping up with this one. Sadly, this was one resolution that my wife was looking forward to. I hope to make it up this year, with my resolution to cook at least one new dish a month. We did try a few exotic restaurants throughout this year, just did not keep track of doing one a month. I think our favorite new restaurant this year was Stir Crazy - a Chinese/Mongolian place where you can pick your veggies and sauces and the cook stir fries them for you.