I was
in Irvine this time. Irvine is about 40
miles from
Los
Angeles. Unlike previous visits, I was
in a customer
location
this time, not in an HP facility. This
meant,
infrequent
email/Net access.
I made
up for this by, subscribing to the Internet in my Hotel.
(I'd
taken a laptop for this visit)
The
trip was more memorable for my visit to Bay Area rather than
Irvine,
itself!
Sat,
16 Feb, 2002
I was
in Irvine Airport at 7.30 AM, after returning my rental car
(Mercury
Sable). I was a "ticketless"
passenger, having got my
air
tickets through web. This meant, I
could go direct to the
check-in.
Contrary
to fears, the security check was very peaceful - and
I was
inside - laptop and all - without much ado.
I'd a
long wait for the flight, which I passed by reading a
"Reader's
Digest" (Jan 2002 edition).
The
flight was uneventful and touched down in San Jose Airport
by 10
AM. I'd to locate my classmate Shanky,
who was supposed
to pick
me up.
I
couldn't spot him anywhere, but modern technology came of
use - I
called him on his cell. We met and
after a longish
drive
in the Airport Shuttle, reached the parking lot, where
his car
was parked.
We
drove to my Hotel in Mountain View.
After I checked in,
we
decided on an early lunch at a nearby Indian hotel.
Imagine
my surprise, when I bumped into Mr. Hariharan (my
super
senior Suma Hariharan's father) at the entrance.
I also
got to meet Suma and her family.
The
lunch was excellent and the crowd mostly Indian.
Since
we had the whole of the afternoon to spare, we decided
on a
trip to "Mystery Spot".
This
was about 60 miles away and Shanky's Honda Accord
(special
edition) was given a chance to impress me.
We
updated each other with news, views and events - since
we had
been roommates in Bangalore, we'd much to catch up
with.
We
reached Santa Cruz. Now it was time to
look for Mystery
Spot.
Shanky decided to follow the "crowd" - but it lead
to
nowhere. We circled back, found an
"Information Centre",
got the
directions. Even with this, we found
the location
of
Mystery Spot, a mystery. Finally, we
got our bearings
correct
and reached this place, by 2.45 PM.
We were
in queue and found ourselves in the midst of a large
bunch
of desis. (I won't explain who/what
desis are:)
We
bided our time, until our turn came.
Our "guide" was
a
jovial guy, a veteran of Mystery Spot.
He kept us
entertained
with anecdotes and interesting facts about
the
place.
In this
place, trees grow against gravity, a hut stands
against
gravity. When you walk, it looks as if
you are
walking
against gravity. It is indeed a funny
experience.
It is a
different story that I found it a little too
exaggerated. (Shanky shared my view)
For
more details, visit http://www.mystery-spot.com/
After
unravelling the mystery of the spot, we decided
to make
it to the Wharf. Rain clouds had
gathered and
it
began to drizzle. But we braved the
rain and took
a walk
down the pier. It was a terrific
experience.
Needless
to say, we were chilled to the bone, when we
got
back to the heat of the car.
The
return trip wasn't without adventure, as Shanky decided
to
explore a hitherto unexplored route. We
probably took
the
longest route back, after seeming to lose the way,
a
couple of times. I could see the sense
of relief in
Shanky,
as we saw the Bay Area lights.
We were
scheduled to reach Vems' place at 6.30 PM for
a
gettogether dinner and we made good time, being only
an hour
late!
While
Madhavi and her husband Prasad were already there,
JB,
Nagi and Jemma only came after us.
We had
a great time, recounting REC days and generally
chatting.
It was
quite late when we returned.
Sun,
17 Feb, 2002.
Shanky
suggested that we have lunch at his place.
He
picked
me up and we went to his place. Shanky
is a great
cook
(from Bangalore days) and today was no exception
(notwithstanding
a little confusion of sugar with salt:)
We
decided to go for a Maniratnam movie - "Kannathil
Muthamittal". These days, movies were simultaneously
released
in India and US - to get the maximum returns
at the
shortest time!
The
theatre was in a shopping centre - a large complex.
It was
an interesting experience to sit amidst a large
desi
junta - mamis, grandmas, children inclusive -
and
watch a Tamil movie in US!
The
movie is not worth shouting about - though it had
the
Maniratnam touch. I found the kid (the
heroine in
the
movie) a touch irritating for me!
Anyway,
we had a dinner appointment at Madhavi's place.
We got
to watch the movie "Shrek" (a full length
animation
from DreamWorks - this got the Oscar) - this,
I
thought was better than Maniratnam!
The
dinner was lovely, to say the least and JB joined
us as
well. There was more REC anecdotes
exchanged
before
calling it quits.
Mon,
18 Feb, 2002.
This
was a holiday in US. I was picked up by
Madhavi,
and
reached Nagi's place. Jemma had made wonderful
dosas
(masala dosas too), and the hotel breakfast
yielded
place to this!
We set
off after this, to Compaq Centre at San Jose
(I
guess we should call it now HP centre!) to watch
"Disney
on Ice".
This is
a presentation by Walt Disney - a two hour
performance
by skaters on ice - enacting disney stories.
We were
witness to the popular Lion King story, in
which
The Jungle Book, and Tarzan came as sub-stories!
This
was one of the most spectacular ice shows I've
witnessed
(but then, this was also probably my first
such
show:)
The
performers were professional skaters, dressed up
in
Disney costumes. The lighting, sound
and the background
added
to the effects. The songs were
beautiful, the
jokes
enjoyable - all in all a wonderful experience.
For
more information of Disney on Ice, visit
http://www.disney.go.com/disneyonice/jungle/index.html
Thus it
came to be that, I'd a wonderful long
weekend
in Bay Area, courtesy a business trip.