Thursday, August 16, 2012

My US Experience

And my journey begins when it all comes to an end. During Birdy’s last visit to NY, he told me not to forget to document all of my US experiences and travel. So here I am, deciding to blog on each of my trips and experiences. I have a really long list of places to write up on. The trips being Atlantic city, Boston and Rhode Island, Niagra Falls, Florida (Orlando, Miami and Key West), Vegas and California (Grand Canyan too), Seattle, Whippany-Belmar, Washington DC, Woodbury and other small and big experiences. Like; Visit to Philadelphia, New York- The place where dreams come true, Skydiving, How to travel at low expense in the US, Medical procedures, Fashion and Trend, Visit to my client location, My tattoo exp Since I have really not much time to write on these topics while I am in US, I have made this list. Will start writing on each of these once I get back to India.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

My Ice skating experience

“How is it?” asked SS as I halted next to her holding the fence of the ice skating rink. “Can’t explain, you should try this...” I replied and continued skating. One down my bucket list, I whispered to myself.
It was the 30th of Jan. It was a pretty warm day for the New Yorkers. 31⁰ F was warm for this time of Jan. But to me, it was definitely not. I dreaded walking in the street even in broad day light. So -1⁰C was not a suitable temperature for any outdoor activities.
Earlier that day, Mike, my peer advisor, had told me about an ice skating rink that was located 200mts east from my office. The excitement of even the thought of fulfilling one of my long term dreams helped me making up my mind.
I was all set to leave office at 5.30. But as PK had a little work to attend to, we got held up. The ice skating rink was located 200 mts away from my office. I know!!! Even I was equally shocked to learn that there was an ice skating rink in the heart of Manhattan, that too at Times square. Well, to continue with my story, I reached the rink at around 7.30 P.M, took a size 8 skates and got on the rink.
Right when I placed my first foot on the rink, I realized that it is nothing like ground skating which I was used to back in India. But it took me less than few minutes to figure out how to skate with the blades on.
It took me 4 falls and 3 save to get comfortable with those skates. Once I did, it didn’t feel much different than my regular skates. There were Skate guards skating on the rink who helped me couple of times. Well those were few pretty good saves, I must admit. One of the Skate guards held me when I was inches away from the ground, turned me in a jiff and got me back on my feet. “Wow!! Thanks” I replied as he looked at me with the ‘are u alright’ look. “Don’t worry, it happens all the time” he murmured with a smile on his face. “I’m skating for the first time” I chattered. He smiled and replied, “You ‘r pretty good for a first timer. You should do this often”. “Guess I will” I replied as I skated away.
The guys who had accompanied me had to use the fencing of the skating ring. However, I could freely do it, guess my past skating experience helped me. Once I was done skating more than 20 rounds, I walked out of the arena realizing that I had successfully managed to get one more down my bucket list.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Beginning ??

“I am gonna update my FB status as ‘Longest day of my life Jan 23rd 2012= 34.5 hrs”!!! These words stormed out of my mouth as I was travelling to my destination NJ after a long and tiring journey from my home country. The travelling part felt like a never ending movie that I was unwillingly subjected to watch. I was well prepared to face the cold weather; feeling all cozy in my Jacket. However, the sheering pain in my nose definitely felt like I was gonna get a nose bleed.
I was rating NJ on a comparative scale with the B city. Things seemed a lot different, but nothing different than what I had already seen on the television before. The warm water in the tub helped me relieve all my stress. After a chaotic day, with all the tension of food, calling cards, room allocation and the core chilling cold, the bath tub felt like home.
Shopping cheered me and my friends PK, SS and Naf the next day. We took a bus to Jersey Garden, a mall in the nearby county. We had decided not to convert the $ amounts in INR, and guess that helped us enjoy every single minute of the shopping. By the end of the day, we were exhausted, but still smiling. My friend SS had a small encounter with a cop, who just wanted to have “a small talk” with her. Once he had her documents verified, we got on to the bus back to the hotel.
The next 2 days was not really eventful, we spent the entire day at the office. We were subjected to rigorous training which drained the left over energy out of us. Lack of proper food and sleep added to the misery. The first eve, we visited Walmart to check if the rumours about Walmart being the biggest retail outlet held true. The answer was, ‘it definitely did!!!!’ There was a time when I even got lost and then ended up looking around to find my friends.
It felt relieving to get out of NJ the next day and step into out apartments in NY. Phew!!! Guess this is just the beginning.