My Journey to US / in US - Part 1

Friends...with an advice from one of my friends, I am planning to start this blog in parts. I want to just write down my journey to US and in US. Hope you find this interesting coz I have visited various cities.


Hyderabad Airport


It was Feb 13th, 2007, a day before valentines day. I ( infact we were three friends came together )was in Hyderabad(India) airport to catch flight to Chicago at 1:30 AM. Lots of luggage, second time travel in flight and baggage check in problems...finally got into the flight by completing all the formalities successfully. It was Lufthansa and a decent flight ( for the first time comers )..-P.

The flight was having transit ( break ) at Frankfurt, Germany. We were a bit excited to see a new country within next 9 hours. Enjoyed the flight journey with different people and different things. Finally the time has come where we had to get down at Frankfurt. Oops...what a climate?..i think almost 3 degrees ( centigrade ). The three hours of break went just like 3 minutes as we had to undergo security check there as well. Struggled a lot to do a phone call to India from there and finally could not do as it was tough for us to understand the calling procedure....:).

We were too excited from the next flight as we were about to reach Chicago ( one of the biggest cities and airports in US, ofcourse in the world ). We made a call from a phone in the flight using my ICICI credit card, before getting to know that the bill would be too much if we do a call from flight. Funniest thing is, I dint get this credit card bill....ha ha ha....


Chicago snow fall in winter

Finally we got an annoucement that we would be reaching Chicago in next 30 minutes. But the flight landed almost after 70 minutes. This was due to much snow on runway and flight traffic. It was an amazing experience for me to see the flight landing in between snow. The temparature was -15 C, yes it was -15C which we even never imagine in India. And the other thing is, it was not simply Chicago airport. It was almost as big as Hyderabad City....:). Wow....landing / take off frequency ONE MINUTE. Can you believe it?..yes its true....


Chicago Downtown

Later we were taken to a guest house in a wonderful suburb(Naperville) near Chicago downtown. There was nothing outside except snow. We got habituated in a few days to snow and US basic lifestyle. We enjoyed a lot for 1 month with 5 people as total. Everything was new including cooking...ha ha...


Chicago Downtown


Sears Tower in Chicago City

In between we got a chance to visit downtown Chicago. Wow...Amazing...Excellent....Awesome..these are the few words which we used when we stepped into the city ( it was the best because i dint visit New York by that time ). We visited SEARS tower, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and spent sometime to feel the night view of the city. Wonderful experience as the things were new...

Enough of boring right...anyways thought of sharing this stuff....

To be Continued......

My 8 Habits/Facts in life.........

Divya honoured me to write this blog.....

The rules for this blog are as follows:
1. When tagged you must link to the person who tagged you.
2.Then post the rules before your list, and list eight random facts/habits about yourself.
3. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other bloggers.

Here I go...

By the way below are real.......:)

1. Strongly believe GOD. Yes, I only believe in god, dont depend on god. I will put whatever effort I can and be calm.

2. Love and Started following James Bond. Taking James Bond as an ideal to be unemotional, infact less emotional and execute the asigned job in a perfect manner.

3. Love cooking. No option after coming to US. I almost became an expert after starting to cook here. Lets see who is that lucky girl...:))

4. Strongly hate LOVE. Ya, you read it correctly. Also hate people who disrespect parents for the sake of love in whatever be the case. But I maintain good friendship.

5. Die for music. You name and give the tune and lyrics of any song from any language. I will be always ready to learn and sing. Die hard fan of Ilayaraja music.

6. Hate Flowers. This also you read it correctly. Probably 1 out of 100 ( may be ) to have this habit I guess...am I right?

7. Punctual. Strictly follow this unless in the worse case scenarios.

8. Love CHIRU ( Telugu Super Star ). Hard core fan not only (blindly) for acting, but for self discipline, hard work and humbleness.

Although its tough, guess I have covered all my intentions in 8 lines. The next turn would be...

Chintan( Ceedy ), aarthi, anonme , madhavi, vandita and just a nice girl

Thanks Giving / Black Friday...

First of all, I have updated my previous blog with some good photos of NY city. Check out those.

http://ootb-jaggu.blogspot.com/2007/11/those-4-months-near-new-york.html

Coming to my thanks giving day experience in US for the first time.......

I was lucky enough to be a part of traditional Thanks Giving Day party hosted by one of my american team mates. Invited me along with fellow team mate & family ( from Kerala, India), another team mate ( From Hyderabad, India ) and a Couple from Ireland.

It was a very good expereince to be a part of that party as there were people from different countries, different cultures and different attitudes. We discussed lot of topics like traffic, food, relations, marriages...what not..... Believe me...I knew so many interesting things from other countries as well.

I gave an idol of famous Indian God ( Lord Venkateswara ) as a gift to that family which made them feel happy.

I was the only vegetarian in the party. They made vegetarian dishes for me. After having good lunch, we went to a walking trail near by their house. Anyways, a day has to end somehow, so came back with good memories.

The next day was a bit funny. As you know, all US shops will have huge discount sales on the day next to thanks giving, which is popularly called as Black Friday. I went to Best Buy ( famous electronics shop ) in the morning 1 AM just to try for a laptop deal. Oh my god, the queue started the previous night at 9 PM itself for the dicsount products. But it was a good experience to see such crowd.

Finally belated Thanks Giving Day wishes for you all and hope you also had a good day.....

Those 4 months in NEW YORK...

Times Square



This type of crazy vehicles are common in NY



Interesting view right...almost got neck pain..



UNO( United Nations Organization )



Some apartment complex....

US Court House

Imagine my trouble capturing this...:))

Empire State..

Very happy to write this blog about one of the beautiful cities in the world. The city that never sleeps. (May - Aug)-2007 was an unforgettable experience for me in my life working in city, that too in 42nd street. Believe me, I have enjoyed it as max as possible. Walking on the 42nd street, going by times square..wow..what a feeling and what an exercise for eyes to see people all around?..My office was just beside UNO in mid town. You know I got shocked when I knew that it was UNO, till then I was thinking it as a hotel...:)). The 4 months of life just flew away like 4 days with the city. Still missing the city a lot, but cant do. Circumstances made me to move from there to other location.

Walking in the streets of the city is enough to forget all the past bitter experiences. Too emotional right...:))...yes the city made a big impression on me. I will be ready ever to share my experiences of city with anbody. I might not like any other city in the world that this. New York is tooooooooooo gooooooooooooooood....................

Kamal Hassan..The Best....

Friends...got about whom I am going to write?...yes i know you would have recognized. He is none other Kamal Hassan, I call him a movie genious. What an actor?...you take any movie...its different...its completely different that his previous. Am not a movie freak, but a hard follower of great songs, movies and actors. Eagerly waiting for Kamal's next movie..Dasavatharam where he would be playing 10 different characters. The one above is his getup as George Bush..:). It might sound crazy, but i think no one can come closer to him in acting films. Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali...any language....Fights, Drama, Sentiment, Romance, Dance..any action...he tries to make them picture perfect. Thats why we call him Artist, not an actor.

http://www.indiafm.com/celebrities/filmography/8635/index.html

Above site gives interesting information about the various roles he played...

I will be in front to appreciate such great actors. It gives a great feeling when such actors highlight our country in this competetive world.

Yes...They are Great Smoky Mountains.....

Believe me....this is perfect name for them.....GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS. You will say it is worth to give that name to those mountains when you actually see them. Anyways..lemme guide you to a virtual tour to them quickly. They are situated in the border of North Carolina and Tennesse in United States. Am lucky to get the idea of going there last weekend which was a perfect season to view the amazing fall colors. There is so much to do there, driving along Cades Cove road, Clingsman Dome, Blue Ridge Parkway.

Wow....What a scenic drive!!!!!!!!...unexplainable....Apart from all these, staying in Gatlingburg ( a small town in Tennesse ) was too good. What a street...All the lights and colors of the world were there in the street of that small town. Felt missing college friends and another good friend/ US drive mate in journey...chintan...:))

All this scenic driving of 750 miles would not have been possible with the rental car I got ( Nissan Altima ). Cannot stop appreciating it too. "Is this a car or a double bed?".. this was the first doubt I got when I started driving along the road.

Hope you will also visit these sometime and get all the fun..............