Ocean one-on-one

How would you feel if one of the fiercest creatures on earth was staring at you.. only wishing it could dig its teeth into your flesh? And that creature is a shark! May be a chill down the spine...? Well I had a similar encounter...only that I was on the other side of the reinforced glass, thankfully!

I am talking about my trip to the Adventure Aquarium where I had teet-a-tee with sharks, hippos, turtles, seals, fishes and all kinds of sea creatures.

The Adventure Aquarium on the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border sure has some adventure attached to it. Located on the Camden Riverfront in New Jersey, it overlooks the gorgeous Philadelphia skyline right across and can be a lot of fun for the sea lover and those with an interest in marine life.

The aquarium is divided into many parts...like the West African River Experience, where Nile hippos Button and Genny entertain the visitor. One gets to see them playing underwater... through the massive glass tanks.

The Juels Verne gallery houses the beautiful jelly fishes (See my pic below), the giant spider crabs and a Giant Pacific Octopus.

The Shark Realm is what i liked the best... my primary reason to visit...to have a full frontal view of the sharks! the 40-foot shark tunnel is the best what I have seen. Not only can you see the sharks through the glass...you can see them right over your head..often their eyes staring in hunger at you. Over 20 sharks live in this 550,000-gallon shark realm.

And if you’ve got the guts, the aquarium also lets you swim with the sharks under the guidance of an expert shark handler, of course. And no...I aint that adventurous. I did not even have the guts to touch a star fish (another feature).

The Caribbean Currents features hundreds of brightly colored tropical fish, lined seahorses, pipefish, barracuda, and the blue and gold macaws and double yellow-headed amazons.

The Ocean Realm introduces one of the rare creatures of the aquatic world the Shark rays. They are considered the "pandas" of the aquatic world because they are so rare in any aquarium setting.

The penguin island is one of my aves...cuz I love penguins...who doesnt? They’re cute. They walk funny. They’re flightless. They’re the African Penguins. And they’ve got over twenty of them.

And this is just a peek into the adventure..I sure had a great time there.

Naturaly beautiful

Love for the leaf

It was only yesterday while preparing dinner it stuck to me that may be I should write about the curry leaves sometime...Well, this may surprise many...who know me...cuz they also know that I never had a love for cooking! In fact...kitchen was just as unexplored for me as Mars is to the mankind... that was until I moved out of India...Yeah! slowly its getting me...I am enjoying my experimentations in the kitchen... though sometimes they do end up in disasters!

Coming back to curry leaves, or kadhi patta as it is called in most of India...or meetha neem patta, as we UPites call it! I was at a friend's place a few days back... and she suggested I must use the curry leaves to add fragrance and taste to my food. Though I wasn't very convinced at first, I nevertheless decided to give it a try after tasting the food she had prepared. And, on my next trip to Patel Cash & Carry I got a pack of fresh curry leaves.

The first time I tried it...I was a bit sceptic...how my family would react to the new found fragrance in my food. But everyone appreciated! Bingo! That is it! Curry leaves have now replaced the dry Bay leaves that I have been using all this while. And, they have become a regular feature of my food.... So much so that last week my husband commented: Are you going to use curry leaves in every dish you prepare now? My answer...? You must have guessed that by now!

My mum always made me go in the garden and pluck a few fresh ones... now I know why. May be I will do the same when I have kids too (and a garden!).

Curry leaves work the best when you put them first in oil along with cumin (jeera)...so try it that way.

Well...I don't know much about the curry leaves...so I am not going to profess my intelligence on the subject...but my experience says...it's a mighty good ingredient and worth a use in the curries that you prepare!

And while I was there...

A few shots I got while visiting Lady Liberty...

Standing Tall

We visited the Statue of Liberty this weekend. Though, the excursion is a bit worn-out for the seasoned traveller -- who likes to explore the unknown... Statue of Liberty sounds a bit too touristy to me as well. Yet, I enjoyed it!

Visiting Lady Liberty can be quite exciting for anyone visiting New York City or even New Jersey. The trip, not only allows a peek into the American history and heritage, it is an ode to every immigranat in this country. And, of course, it is of great visual appeal and offers many great camera shots. Add to it a nice breezy ferry ride on the Hudson River.

The statue itself is enormous and a must see. One cant even gauge the size of it unless he sees it for real. Very few know about the statue's history -- that it was a gift from France to America on the occasion of American independence. The statue was built in France itself and then shipped all across the Atlantic Ocean to America, where it was installed next to the Ellis Island just off Manhattan.

What could be more surprising? that an exact replica of the statue (at a much smaller scale) is also installed in Paris on the Seine River... And is also visible from the Eiffel Tower.

For many years, the statue served as the American landmark. Ships travelling through the Atlantic Ocean, knew they have reached New York when they could see the statue from afar. They then docked at the Ellis Island, where the passengers had to clear immigration before entering the US.

Today, the Ellis Island still harbors the American museum of Immigration. And one can take a look at the old immigration records by stopping at the Island en-route the Statue of Liberty. All ferries make a stop at the Ellis Island, which is also included in the fare.

And why is the statue green? It is built with sheets of copper. Over the many years, the metal has reacted with oxygen and water and has changed the statue's color from original bronze to green.

The Circle Line ferries run from Liberty State Park in NJ and Battery Park in New York. Make sure you chose a bright sunny day and don't forget to take your camera along, or you will Miss the great views of the world-famous Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Verazzano Bridge.

Wonders of Life

Or the wonderous life? A jelly fish

Stoned stupor

Today my mind wanders to one of the very few racial experiences that I have faced. I, along with my sister were travelling to Stonehenge in UK. We took a train from London's Waterloo station for Salisbury.

So, we were on the train, when we felt that the ticket checker wasn't all that friendly to us given our "brown" skin. He gave us quite a few looks that made us uncomfortable...nevertheless, we ignored him until we had doubts about our stop.

It so happened that our train was delayed and made an unscheduled stop at one of the station en route. Confused, we inquired with the TC if that was the right place to get off for Stonehenge, to which he gave an affirmative response with a nice "YES".

As we disembarked, it was only after the train departed that we realized that the guy had shown his true nature...one of dislike for people who are not "blessed" with white skin. He had made us get off at a station where there was no transportation available... no buses...no cabs. And the next train was 45 minutes later.

The two of us were deserted on a deserted station for more than an hour to hop on the next train and reach our destination. It was only then we realised that no matter how advance we get, there are always few who pull you back.

Even though we lost more than two hours on the day trip we made (the next train was a local one) ....as we caught the first glimpse of the beautiful rocks of Stonehenge... we forgot how bad some people can treat you....no matter how shitty life may get..there is always a silver lining....!

Under the Bridge of Sigh

The Bridge of Sigh on River Cam in cambridge, UK. Named aptly, for on the left are the student houses and located on the right are the exam halls. A student surely lets out a deep sigh as he crosses over!

Painted Red & Blue

Colorful artistry at the temple at Badrinath

A sloppy show

After attending his show at the NY fashion week last Friday, I am almost tempted to label Sabyasachi Mukherjee's Spring-Summer 2008 collection as sloppy! I am sure that raises a few eyebrows here and there, but I am driven by my honesty.

I won't say I am a fashion expert...but as a New York journalist, I sure have seen tad-a-few shows in the City to be able to comment on one. Being a New Yorker itself teaches you some very basic lessons of fashion. And if you live in this high profile city and want to jive-in with the rest of the Big Apple(ites), you sure would be following some good fashion sense.

Coming back to Sabyasachi's collection. Well, I am having to work some extra brain cells to be polite. No, I am not his critique....neither do I despise the designer...in fact I have been a fan of his...till last season, so to say. As much as I appreciated his collection at the New York Fashion Week in 2006, I also wore a Sabyasachi-inspired Saree for my own engagement this summer.

And, whatever I write here is out of sheer disappointment I went through last week. I think I was hoping for something much better. or shall I say much..much..much better.

For whatever I have understood about fashion shows and organizing one, I know for a fact that the success lies in its planning. I have interviewed many Indian and New York based designers and most of them suggest that not only should one have the best of the designs to show off... one must also plan for the right models...and for the right accessories to go with the designs...shoes, hair.. accesories...music...seating arrangement...and everything else.

Sabyasachi's show seemed to fail on many counts apart from the clothes. The designs did not offer anything fresh or out of the box. None would say that this was one of his spectacular shows where he presented something new. They were the same Sabyasachi cuts...same colors and same patterns.

But even if we leave the designer's creativity aside, even the planning wasn't up to the mark. Most models walked the ramp in their sneakers...and by New York fashion standards, that wont be flying too well. For the upscale New Yorker never thinks of anything less than stilettos and pumps.

There were also no accessories used to complete the looks. No hair-does... no hand bags and no jewelery. So the collection looked pretty much incomplete.

I do understand that coming from India, its a huge investment for anyone to show in NYC...but then if you are doing it...do it right! For the benefits that you may reap may even be better!

Flagged wisdom

So, I was at Barnes & Noble today when I saw a pack of Tibetan prayer flags on sale. They have reminded me of my involvement with the Tibetan cause....yeah that was some time back though! Back in the 90s, I was quite involved in the whole Tibetan movement for autonomy. I, along with my sister started the Delhi chapter of the Indo Tibet Friendship Forum and also took part in many rallies to protest Chinese possession of the small Himalayan country.

My mind wanders back to those days today...of meeting The Dalai Lama, making posters over night at the Tibetan Youth Hostel in Delhi and organizing debates on the topic across the Delhi University. And with that, all the delicious Tibetan food that I hogged on while doing all that.

Yeah, I am still sitting at the book store while I write this.

Coming back to the prayer flags, it was the first time I visited Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, when I saw these prayer flags flying high in the sky. The White, Red, Green, Blue and Yellow flags... attached to a rope, cris-crossed the streets. They not only added color but also gave the place an instant Tibetan character.

The Tibetan prayer flags are considered extremely sacred and you may find them at every Tibetan, home, temple, restaurant, shop... or any other place you are able to think. Why so important? They have many Tibetan Mantras, prayers and chantings printed on them and considered an important part of the temples.

Often, they are put up in the airy and open spaces. Tibetans believe that wind will carry the sacred mantras and chantings and their goodwill across the world, which would touch the lives of every human being!

Weekend Blues

We just had the Labor Day weekend here in America. Indeed, it's wonderful to have three days off from work. But what do you do... most of America travels on long weekends. So it may be by natural instincts that one may plan his trip on the three days as well.

But travelling on the long weekend can get quite tricky and sometimes disastrous. For one, as I said, most people plan to travel on their three-day breaks. The result -- over filled airports, too much traffic on roads, and trains have no seating space. Not only that, most hotels offer rooms at double or may be triple the price on such days. And so are the travel costs - flights to be precise.

I planned to go see the Niagara falls this weekend... but looking at the hotel prices, I decided otherwise. A room, that costs about $70 on any other Saturday was priced at $200 for this week! Most hotels and B&Bs were even sold out. So if so many people were going to one place, then one can imagine how crowded it would be there! Just taking the Maid of the Mist would have been a task. And driving to the falls would have been a nightmare, with all the traffic directed in the same direction.

Also, by my earlier experience in New York City, long weekends are big for tourists, who throng all such places to make the most of their holiday. Often, it is impossible to set your foot in NYC on these big weekends.
My take : Relax at home... or chill out at near by places on a big weekend and travel during the off season. It is much more easier and more value for money.