I flew to LA for the holiday season to spend time with friends at UCLA most of whom will graduate in Winter 2010 along with me. 6 Flags has been long pending for almost all of the guys here, and each time there is someone or the other suggesting alternate plans to go elsewhere. This time around a lot of people were out for vacation, and with just 5 of us in the house it made things easier for us to nail it this time.
I have heard of 6 flags from many but my personal experience was truly sensational. The twist and turns, sudden drops, and high speed made things really very exciting. The best of them all was Deja Vu with mind blowing speed, combined with two 360 turns one of which has a twist that will make you face the sky at the highest point in the ride. The best part of it was when you rise all the way up a vertical pole, at the end of the first half of the ride, and you race back to the start, facing backwards. This was the best coaster ride I have ever been.
Another high thrill ride worth the mention is X2. The specialty of X2 was that you were hung out from the main coaster rails, and had seats that can rotate 360 degrees around its axle. On top of this, the ride had considerable speed, a very fast dip, a 360, and 2 marvelous twists that make you face the sky just before a steep drop.
Some of the others worth mentioning are Riddler's Revenge with long loops, and turns, Terminator which is a super fast roller coaster built on wooden structure, Tatsu where we were made to hang like in a frog position. and scream with its 360, and twists.
Though the experience was nowhere close to Sky Diving, it was very memorable. Overall, it was a wonderful day with friends at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
I don't have pictures because we did not want to risk damaging the camera in the rides and decided not to carry it.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
My Vacation - Sep 26 to Oct 4, 2009
Once you start working, vacations are like elixirs that recharge you. I never knew it until I took one myself, and it felt really really good that it took me almost 2 days to get back to full capacity working.
My vacation started at LA where I reached on Friday, Sep 25, and I dropped into my juniors' place. It will be unfair if I don't talk about my juniors at UCLA. They are one of the coolest fun loving people I have ever seen. Don't be mislead, every one of them is a genius in their own field. It all started with a trip to Grand Canyon in March 2009 when I camped with these guys for 3 days - a big story by itself. So back to my vacation now.. I drop there, and every one of them is in one house doing their usual chit-chat, and making fun of others. I had a really long night playing cards, and catching up with people.
Sep 26 was a very exciting day which started with Swami's panneer curry and jeera rice. The idea of karting came up, and since Swami, Tushar and I had done karting with K1Speed in Seattle, we decided to take these guys to K1Speed in Torrence, Los Angeles. We were 11 people, and everyone had so much fun in one round of 16 laps that we decided to go for another slot which the karting guys opened for us at 11:30pm even though they close by 11pm. The 2nd round was thrilling since people picked up the tricks of the track, and were very competitive. Quite a few of us were amazed at how the girls really showed some great racing spirit.
Day 2 at LA (Sep 27) started with lots of confusion whether to go to Santa Barbara or somewhere closer to LA. We finally decided to make it to Lake Arrowhead which was north east of LA. Nothing unusual about the lake, but all of us had good times chatting, doing some chocolate tasting, and wine tasting. Guys were so into my DSLR that they clicked almost a gig of photos there.
I met Priya who has recently joined UCLA for her PhD after finishing her MS from Alabama. She is from Tamil Nadu, and obviously the usual enthusiasm of seeing tamil speaking people got us into a lot of chatting right from Friday night. Priya is so full of cheer, enthusiasm, and positive energy flowing around her all the time. By the end of day 2 in LA, Priya and I felt really comfortable with each other, and became really close friends that she almost made me feel like I should have know her before. At lake arrowhead she let me click a picture of her which is one of my best people shots that I have taken:
Sep 28 to Oct 1 was fully about paper work at UCLA which was why I was in LA in the first place :) On October 1, I flew to New Jersey where I met Karthik, my cousin, after a long gap of 2 years.
October 2 started early since we had to do the 6 hour drive to Niagara Falls. It gave us enough time to catch up with each others' lives. By the time we reached Niagara it started to rain, and it never stopped for the whole day. Our tour at Niagara stared with Maid of the Mist which was really cool, and by the time we finished it both of us were half wet. We then went to cave of the winds where we dared to not wear the head mask, and take a shower in the fierce American Falls. Though we really could not see a thing straight up because of the shear force of the waterfall, we went into the pounding water thrice. By the time we came out of it, both of us were soaking wet, and it started to really get cold. We ran to the hotel, took some rest, and came back to click some pictures in the night as the clouds cleared a bit.
Clearly, Canada is where you should be to view the Niagara Falls. Views from the US were not at all good since we were right at the top of the falls, and not the front. Night lighting was good. We waited and waited for the fireworks to start by 10pm, and half way through the 10 min firework it started to rain. Could not get any better than this. I managed to click some shots, and was really happy with a few.
October 3 started way too early with phone calls pouring in at 12am, yes at night, since it was my birthday. I could hardly get any sleep, and it was morning already. We had to start off early so that we could get some pictures clicked under sun light, and head back to NJ.
On our way, we decided to drop by Corning Museum of Glass where we sat through a glass making demo where they made a decorative vase. It was good to see how things shape up, and work.
October 4, was my last day of vacation. We decide to keep to relaxed. I met with Arun, one of Karthik's friends, and Vatsa, my friend from under grad. We went to Anjappar restaurant where I had the best Indian food in US. We were so excited that we ordered more than we could eat.
My flight back to Hillsboro felt really long with thoughts about the wonderful vacation running in my head.
P.S.: Photos in my blog link to my picasaweb album where I have the entire photo collection.
My vacation started at LA where I reached on Friday, Sep 25, and I dropped into my juniors' place. It will be unfair if I don't talk about my juniors at UCLA. They are one of the coolest fun loving people I have ever seen. Don't be mislead, every one of them is a genius in their own field. It all started with a trip to Grand Canyon in March 2009 when I camped with these guys for 3 days - a big story by itself. So back to my vacation now.. I drop there, and every one of them is in one house doing their usual chit-chat, and making fun of others. I had a really long night playing cards, and catching up with people.
Sep 26 was a very exciting day which started with Swami's panneer curry and jeera rice. The idea of karting came up, and since Swami, Tushar and I had done karting with K1Speed in Seattle, we decided to take these guys to K1Speed in Torrence, Los Angeles. We were 11 people, and everyone had so much fun in one round of 16 laps that we decided to go for another slot which the karting guys opened for us at 11:30pm even though they close by 11pm. The 2nd round was thrilling since people picked up the tricks of the track, and were very competitive. Quite a few of us were amazed at how the girls really showed some great racing spirit.
 |
| From Vacation: Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2009 |
Day 2 at LA (Sep 27) started with lots of confusion whether to go to Santa Barbara or somewhere closer to LA. We finally decided to make it to Lake Arrowhead which was north east of LA. Nothing unusual about the lake, but all of us had good times chatting, doing some chocolate tasting, and wine tasting. Guys were so into my DSLR that they clicked almost a gig of photos there.
 |
| From Vacation: Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2009 |
I met Priya who has recently joined UCLA for her PhD after finishing her MS from Alabama. She is from Tamil Nadu, and obviously the usual enthusiasm of seeing tamil speaking people got us into a lot of chatting right from Friday night. Priya is so full of cheer, enthusiasm, and positive energy flowing around her all the time. By the end of day 2 in LA, Priya and I felt really comfortable with each other, and became really close friends that she almost made me feel like I should have know her before. At lake arrowhead she let me click a picture of her which is one of my best people shots that I have taken:
 |
| From Vacation: Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2009 |
Sep 28 to Oct 1 was fully about paper work at UCLA which was why I was in LA in the first place :) On October 1, I flew to New Jersey where I met Karthik, my cousin, after a long gap of 2 years.
October 2 started early since we had to do the 6 hour drive to Niagara Falls. It gave us enough time to catch up with each others' lives. By the time we reached Niagara it started to rain, and it never stopped for the whole day. Our tour at Niagara stared with Maid of the Mist which was really cool, and by the time we finished it both of us were half wet. We then went to cave of the winds where we dared to not wear the head mask, and take a shower in the fierce American Falls. Though we really could not see a thing straight up because of the shear force of the waterfall, we went into the pounding water thrice. By the time we came out of it, both of us were soaking wet, and it started to really get cold. We ran to the hotel, took some rest, and came back to click some pictures in the night as the clouds cleared a bit.
 |
| From Vacation: Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2009 |
Clearly, Canada is where you should be to view the Niagara Falls. Views from the US were not at all good since we were right at the top of the falls, and not the front. Night lighting was good. We waited and waited for the fireworks to start by 10pm, and half way through the 10 min firework it started to rain. Could not get any better than this. I managed to click some shots, and was really happy with a few.
 |
| From Vacation: Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2009 |
October 3 started way too early with phone calls pouring in at 12am, yes at night, since it was my birthday. I could hardly get any sleep, and it was morning already. We had to start off early so that we could get some pictures clicked under sun light, and head back to NJ.
 |
| From We the people |
On our way, we decided to drop by Corning Museum of Glass where we sat through a glass making demo where they made a decorative vase. It was good to see how things shape up, and work.
 |
| From Vacation: Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2009 |
October 4, was my last day of vacation. We decide to keep to relaxed. I met with Arun, one of Karthik's friends, and Vatsa, my friend from under grad. We went to Anjappar restaurant where I had the best Indian food in US. We were so excited that we ordered more than we could eat.
 |
| From We the people |
My flight back to Hillsboro felt really long with thoughts about the wonderful vacation running in my head.
P.S.: Photos in my blog link to my picasaweb album where I have the entire photo collection.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Skydiving - Mollala Oregon Aug 31 2009
The video speaks for itself. Watch it! :)
The experience was truly out of the world.
We jumped out of the plane at about 13000 feet. The initial 2 to 5 secs out of the plane was the most thrilling - not knowing where we were heading with all the twist and turn. Moreover, its the time we were gaining acceleration. The skydive webpage says we will be coming down at about 120 to 150 mph. You should have seen my flesh - whatever little that was sticking - under pressure and caving into my bones. After the initial acceleration, the free-fall itself was no-thriller - except for the air blowing at some crazy speed on your body. But once the guy started doing the spin it was super cool. The free-fall lasted about 45 secs.
The parachute deployed at around 5000 feet; the view was fantastic with Mt Hood in the distance, the green earth below, and sunset at the horizon. The guy took me on whirls. He saw that I liked it, and took me on a wonderful ride whirling left, right, and stopping mid air once in a while. I will do it again if I get to take someone :)
The experience was truly out of the world.
We jumped out of the plane at about 13000 feet. The initial 2 to 5 secs out of the plane was the most thrilling - not knowing where we were heading with all the twist and turn. Moreover, its the time we were gaining acceleration. The skydive webpage says we will be coming down at about 120 to 150 mph. You should have seen my flesh - whatever little that was sticking - under pressure and caving into my bones. After the initial acceleration, the free-fall itself was no-thriller - except for the air blowing at some crazy speed on your body. But once the guy started doing the spin it was super cool. The free-fall lasted about 45 secs.
The parachute deployed at around 5000 feet; the view was fantastic with Mt Hood in the distance, the green earth below, and sunset at the horizon. The guy took me on whirls. He saw that I liked it, and took me on a wonderful ride whirling left, right, and stopping mid air once in a while. I will do it again if I get to take someone :)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Labor day weekend
The weekend started early for me on Thursday when I drove to Seattle to get my Candian tourist Visa stamped on Friday. There were 2 big highlights on Friday, one was the Canadian visa, and second is my first experience at K1 race track. The experience was exhilarating. I set a best time of 21 sec, and Swami set his personal best of 20 sec.
On Saturday, Kunal and Aravind, my classmates from UCLA, drove to Seattle, and we went around downtown Seattle.
Sunday was the most exciting of the three days. We drove back to Hillsboro, had an excellent lunch at Chang's Mangolian Grill where Kunal filled himself to his neck :), drove to the Columbia Gorge. It was a rainy day which made things much more exciting for me to drive, and the gorge much more greener when the rain stopped. We had excellent views from the Vista House.
Labor day started with a fulfilling breakfast at Shari's. We hiked the entire loop in Silverfalls State Park.
Overall, a very good weekend, with food being the highlight most of the time :)
On Saturday, Kunal and Aravind, my classmates from UCLA, drove to Seattle, and we went around downtown Seattle.
 |
| From Labor Day Sep 7, 09 |
Sunday was the most exciting of the three days. We drove back to Hillsboro, had an excellent lunch at Chang's Mangolian Grill where Kunal filled himself to his neck :), drove to the Columbia Gorge. It was a rainy day which made things much more exciting for me to drive, and the gorge much more greener when the rain stopped. We had excellent views from the Vista House.
 |
| From Labor Day Sep 7, 09 |
Labor day started with a fulfilling breakfast at Shari's. We hiked the entire loop in Silverfalls State Park.
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| From Labor Day Sep 7, 09 |
Overall, a very good weekend, with food being the highlight most of the time :)
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Florence, Oregon
Kunal, a friend from UCLA, and I went to the Sand Dunes along the Oregon coast in Florence, Oregon. The weather was excellent, and we start the day with a thrilling high speed ride on the Dunebuggy. We drove to Cleawax Lake in Honeyman State Park where we swam for a while and enjoyed the wonderful sea side weather.
We drove along 101 to the Sea Lion Caves to see the Sea Lions in their wilderness. It wasn't fun after a while because of the stink, and the grunting noise from Sea Lions.
The best part of the Sea Lion caves was the excellent view of the Heceta Lighthouse which is claimed to be the most Photographed Lighthouse.
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| From Florence, OR Aug 8, 09 |
We drove along 101 to the Sea Lion Caves to see the Sea Lions in their wilderness. It wasn't fun after a while because of the stink, and the grunting noise from Sea Lions.
 |
| From Florence, OR Aug 8, 09 |
The best part of the Sea Lion caves was the excellent view of the Heceta Lighthouse which is claimed to be the most Photographed Lighthouse.
 |
| From Florence, OR Aug 8, 09 |
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