Sausalito = (Art + Beauty)++

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Jerry

That’s the techie way i would describe the town of Sausalito.

It’s a small town by the bay, north of Golden Gate Bridge. History says that this place started as an artists’ colony. Well most of that is visible in the way this small city has been decked up.

Now think of a town, so small that you can walk from end to end through the heart of that place, before you even finish reading this line.

Ok, may be that was an over-exaggeration, but the town area is less and the rest of the place is mostly residential. But it packs enough beauty which makes you want to spent a whole day there. The place now has a very Italian taste to it, both with the people and the cuisine.

After the view of the bay from the street, the main attraction of this place include –

The Harbor Walk
The ferry ride to Ferry Building, San Francisco
The Yacht Club

If you’re in San Francisco, take the ferry ride to this small town it’s worth a visit, by all means. During the ferry ride don’t forget to get a glimpse of Alcatraz Island and a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Golden Gate Bridge must be photographed! You can’t resist it!

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Jerry

It was last Saturday that we, my roommate and me, decided to go to Golden Gate Bridge and couple of other places in San Francisco. To be frank this geek has seen enough and more photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, that visiting the bridge was one of my last items in the ‘When at San Francisco’ to-do list. But either way having nothing much to do for the day, we decided on that small ‘get-you-ass-out-of-house’ plan. Now that photography has become my immediate hobby, the camera follows me to all places except a few, that i guess by now you would’ve guessed.

Yes, it’s the most photographed bridge in the world. Given that fact, i was wondering how much of different snap could i take from what has been already taken? Well there were a few shots that i could’ve taken by risking my life or falling into frigid waters below – I opted not to. But nothing could prepare me for the view from the hill adjacent to the bridge, it begs to be photographed.

There were a lot of people at that spot, everyone had a camera in their hand, and i was quite proud that i had the best camera. Yes just the best camera but not the lens for the job. All i had was a 18-105mm kit lens that came with my D90. There was a guy who was having a D3000 with an even more ‘gigantic’ lens. But i did make the best out of what i had.

More photos here

Next stop would be to walk on the bridge…

Cars, Freeways and Pseudo-Tamilians

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Jerry

Day 2 and i’m doing pretty good in US of A. Petaluma is where i stay and it’s more or less a residential area. Very quite, beautiful and a killer of a climate that begs to be loved. 30mn of drive to where i’ll be working, 15mn to Wal-Mart and 10mn to the nearest Costco outlet. Period! that’s all you all need to know. Now let me tell you the best things that has happened after coming here.

Since i have a strong attraction to anything with an engine and 4-wheels as opposed to anything with a tight rear and 2-legs, i couldn’t help, but notice all the cars on the road. Most of them are Chevys, Toyotas and Hondas. But it’s not that i’m talking about. I’m talking about the modified Ford Mustang that is parked in front of my apartment, the Chevrolet Corvette C6 across the road, the BMW M3-s, M5-s and Z4 and the Audi R8. Yes, there are a few Pontiacs, Subarus and Buicks but who cares!.

The drive from the airport was even interesting. I happened to meet this cab driver Ronald. He’s Mexican and he knew Tamil! Yes i did get the shock of my life. He knew India pretty well. When i said i was from Alappey. He was like, ‘Oh! it’s the place with the houseboats etc. right!’. It seems like his next door neighbors are Tamilians and he has a big liking for Masala Dosas.

Being in the tropics, you tend to have fairly normal days – 6A.M. the Sun is out & 6P.M. the Sun is gone. So with the summer season just starting here i’m still getting used to the fact that days are going to be longer. Twilight sets in by 8P.M. and i think it’s 6P.M. It’s fairly cold with morning temperatures hovering around 12 degrees and afternoon it hardly crossed 20 degrees. (Read all temperatures in Celsius).

Finally even after my 21hr flight, i didn’t get the in-famous jet-lag. Bad thing i’d never know how it feels like!

(pssst… i’ve located the nearest strip club in my area. don’t tell my wifey about it!)

Mallu in Delhi – Part 2

Posted on December 25, 2008 by Jerry

December 19, 2008 …

I didn’t expect to write this second part the very next day. But something really funny happened that i had to write about day 2.

After taking the session to a crowd, that enrolled itself for the advanced training, for something that they didn’t know, i was quite exhausted. Every time i finish a slide i’d ask them, “Did u guys understand that?”. They all will then have that look like Katrina Kaif just asked them out. Interestingly the only girl in the session, was trying out the student exercises and was cursing big time – “Yeh, kitna ghatiya system hai…”. With all that, i needed a break.

I decided to walk it up to the guest house. After all it was just a 15 min walk from the office. Got out to the main road and got on to a cycle rickshaw. I was told by my friend from Delhi that one of things to try out in Delhi was to take a ride in one of the cycle rickshaws. Hopped on to one of them and as i was nearing my guest house, i changed my plan.

(translation of my conversation with the rickshaw guy)

“Do you know any shopping malls near by..”

“Yes sir”

“Can you take me there?”

“Ok”

So he started peddling. On and on and on. On the way i see one Grand Mall, he didn’t stop there. Then i see a Mega Mall. he didnt stop there either. I asked him why he didn’t stop any where there? He replied that he will take me to a better place. 20 minutes into the ride i end up in a place like the BDA Complex in Bangalore and there was a big red board on top of that building and on it was written in white Arial Bold font – “DLF Shopping Mall”. Yes! he took me to a building named shopping mall. I just couldn’t stop laughing at myself. Paid the rickshaw guy and walked back to Mega Mall. All the way laughing at myself.

So if u ever end up in Delhi/Gurgaon/any NCR region, dont ask for shopping malls. Just ask for ‘malls’. I must warn you, if u cant say ‘mall’ with the ‘o’, and can only say that with an ‘a’; Oops! My advice – stay at home, Delhi is not the place for you. Or may be if you are lucky enough the mall can get you to a place full of ‘mall’.

Blogging Workshop at BIMTECH

Posted on August 1, 2008 by Jerry

Never ever did i expect that something that i follow as a passion would get me a chance to conduct a session at one of the best business schools in north India.

Last week-end, i flew to Delhi and on Saturday i was at BIMTECH, Greater Noida, for a session on blogging and the monetary benefits of blogging. The E-Cell of BIMTECH had contacted Mutiny for help and i took the offer.

The session was planned at 6p.m.. You really have to appreciate the guys who study at b-schools, a session at 6p.m. was nothing for them. Other colleges too were invited for the workshop and there were indeed people present at that time of the evening on a Saturday evening.

The session kicked off after a brief intro about the speaker, ahhmmmm that’s me , and about Mutiny and of collage 300x187 Blogging Workshop at BIMTECH course about my friend Mayank (yes its the StudioWordpress guy!!! – http://mayankgupta.com or http://mayank.info ). Mayank was supposed to be on time and help me out with the session, but he was caught up with an emergency Snooker game-session. Well he did turn up to save me for the last 30min .

I started off at the same grounds from where i started the blogging session at Wipro. Telling them everything that i knew about blogging, etiquette, etc etc. But there was a flaw. Most of the people who were there didn’t know how to start a blog. By ‘start a blog’ i mean they didn’t know even how to get a blog at blogger. The lesson – get to know the people and the requirements before we start.

So STOP!!! Get back to the basics. Took them through the live demo of setting up a blog in Blogger. So when all was set, and everyone was on the same page, we were back to where we stopped.

Mayank was just in time as i was getting warmed up with the business side of blogging. Talked about some of the ways that i knew about making money out of blogging. Though i have to mention that i’m too lazy for a blogger that i don’t earn as much as others do, out of blogging.

The idea of a community blog was something new to them. The facts on how Mutiny has grown and maintains itself interested them.

After that it was Mayank’s turn to help everyone with the things that he knows. The way he earns his living was interesting to listen to and i’m quite sure that it would have opened up some idea for those who were listening.

The fact that interested me a lot was the volume of idea that people had for blogging. They all wanted to blog for so many reasons and they just wanted to know how.

Put together the session was one that’s one of the most memorable. I’m taking back some very valuable learnings and some ideas with me.

More pics here

Blogging Wordshop at BIMTECH

If any BIMTECH guys are reading this, i would like you to give me you feedbacks and comments too ..

(Cross-posted here)

Jerry Mannel

Eternally alive on the Internet

Category Archives: Travelogues

Sausalito = (Art + Beauty)++

Golden Gate Bridge must be photographed! You can’t resist it!

Cars, Freeways and Pseudo-Tamilians

Mallu in Delhi – Part 2

Blogging Workshop at BIMTECH