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| Going to Hawaii ? |
| Tuesday, January 7, 2014 |
Aloha!!!!
The below itinerary gives you fair idea and a great starting point to plan your vacation in Hawaii, particularly if you have 7-14 days at your disposal. Off course, people have different preferences and you should customize it according to your ideas of places to see, visit, eat.
https://www.123passportphoto.com
Stars suggest my rating.
[4-6 days]- Honolulu- Busy, commercialized but beautiful
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****1/2 Waikiki Beach: Beautiful long, beach, facilities. Best place to stay: Hilton's ocean-view rooms.
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****Downtown Honolulu and Chinatown: (15 min from Waikiki) King Kamehameha Statue, Iolani
Palace, Aloha Tower.
· · ***Nuuanu Pali Lookout (5 mile drive northeast of Honolulu)
no entry fee, $ 3 for cars- Beautiful little drive.
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***Hanauma Bay (30 min southeast of Waikiki) Open
daily except Tuesdays.
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***1/2 Valley of Temples (30 min from Waikiki) A beautiful temple , GPS might confuse you though but be persistent.:-)
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***1/2 North Shore: Take a long beautiful drive Haliewa, **Waimea/ Leeward Coast Bay (an hour from Waikiki)- wind surfing
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****Pearl Harbor: Just go here, remarkable history.
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**1/2 Kailua Beach (30 min from Waikiki) : Well, just another beach ..
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***Leahi (Diamond Head) Hiking spot (easier than other hike’s
with rest areas): I didn't hike :-)
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** Hike to Makapu'u Point – You can watch whales in early morning (early
morning)\
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***Live hawaian Music around Waikiki at a Tiki lounge.
**Kapahulu Avenue ( 5min east
of Waikiki) must visit for local eateries
·
Food-
Buzz's Wharf next to the Maui Ocean Center.
Drive to Oahu's North Shore for Surfers
paradise
John Dominis Restaurant between Waikiki and
Honolulu
Helena's
Hawaiian Food
Sugoi's/Bali
By the Sea
o
[5-7]
days Maui- Calm, different shades and beautiful
Best area to stay: Whalers
Western Side/ Leeward Side
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***1/2 Kaanapali Beach ( watch the sunset cliff diving):
Signature beach of west Maui (Spend the day)
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****Lahaina (shopping, dining and entertainment):
Whaling village and Maui hotspot, banyan tree, Lahaina Historic Trail, Lahaina
Jodo Mission, Front Street
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*** Kapalua: One of Maui’s premier resort areas
– Do a picnic sunset dinner
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*** Honolua Bay: Bid wave surfers during winters,
snorkeling and scuba diving
Eastern Side/ Windward Side
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**** Iao Valley National Park: Iao needle. Lunch at paia and move
to hana.
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**Upcountry/ Kula: Rolling hills and misty
mountains unfold as cool breezes carry the scent of eucalyptus throughout
Upcountry Maui.
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***Molokini Crater: Is a small, crescent moon-shaped island that is a State
Marine Life and Bird Conservation District. Lying only three miles from Maui's
southwestern coast, Great for snorkeling, they also take you to Green turtle bay, mind yiou current strong there.
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***Makena Beach State Park (Big Beach): Maui's southwestern
shores are home to many extraordinary beaches and Makena Beach, also
known as "Big Beach," is one of the island's best.
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*****Luau : old lahaina luau OR ailele Polynesian
Luau at The Westin Maui Resort OR Feast at Lele or Ka'anapali Beach Maui
luau(cheap with offers) in that order of quality.
· · *****Road to Hana: famous scenic drive and can also further down the Hana highway to
swim in the beautiful Pools of Oheo.. Ocean views, beaches, hiking trails and waterfalls are included in these
road to Hana: Do stop by at local eateries, chocklate shops.
• Honomanu Bay
• Keanae Park
• Waikani Falls (Three Bears Falls)
• Nahiku Cove
• Wai'anapanapa State Park black sand beach and
lava cave
• Wailua Falls
• Oheo Gulch (seven sacred pools) Pipiwai Trail,
Makahiku Falls Infinity Pool.
·
**** Haleakala National Park: A scenic national park known as the
“house of the sun”, volcano Mt. Haleakala (“House of the Sun” in Hawaiian)
has its summit at just over 10,000 ft. elevation. It’s nearly free ($10 per
vehicle, for the National Park entry) and requires a very early start, so it’s
a perfect activity at the beginning of your stay when you haven’t yet adjusted
to the time difference. Bundle up – the summit sees snow a few times a year! –
and drive out early for some of the best stargazing around, then sit back and
watch as the sun creeps up on the horizon, revealing a moonscape over the lava
rock and cinder cones that line the enormous volcanic crater. It’s a sunrise
you’ll never forget and Mother Nature changes it up daily, so you’ll never get
the same view twice.
-Ensure
to reach before 30min, good night sleep, Very warm clothes
· - You can enjoy free Hula shows at 7 PM on Saturday/Wednesday( daytime may change) at Kaanapali
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Food:
- Try
Star Noodle (Lahaina), Leoda’s Pie Shop (Oluwalu), Cafe o Lei (Wailuku), or
Flat Bread Pizza (Paia).
-
Local food, sweets, shrimps on your drive aways.
- Komoda
Bakery in Makawao is famous for delicious pastries like their “stick donuts”, cream puffs, pies, and butter rollam Sato’s
in Wailuku has manju (flaky pastry shell outside,
stuffed with sweetened bean fillings like lima or adzuki bean) for take out or stay and have a bowl of their famous dry
noodles.
- Hidden
away in a little strip mall in Kahului is Tasaka’s Guri Guri (pronounced
“goodie goodie”), a sweet
sherbert/ice cream concoction
- Mama’s
Fish House, lobster stuffed Mahi Mahi , just past the hippy town of Paia-expensive though.
- While
in Lahaina, stop at Aloha Mixed Plate
- Hoku's
at the Mandarin Kahala
· *** Keep camera handy, drive a luxury rental car, keeping looking out for amazing scenes and above all, never forget to enjoy the marvel of mother nature.
Labels: exotic vacation, Travelogues, Vacation Planner |
posted by Dheeraj @ 12:56 PM   |
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| It happened one Monday! |
| Tuesday, April 16, 2013 |
Chapter 3: Theory of interjections
I walked down the aisle towards the elevator for my morning (really? i got some guts )coffee.
"Hawo yeah doin ?" like a thorough gentleman he asked with this genuine broad smile
on his face and with this pair of clear fluid eyes caressing me as if i had an
obligation to say I must be doing exotically good, like in the world would i mind this luxury.
While
i justified the smile as a polite office-decorum and a token of hope and well
beingnessof a fellow human - i presume he should have had courtesy to listen to my response. As it turned out to be, a pointless enquiry.
You
can't just ask a question and run away.. For heavens, i don't know where do you seat
and i definitely don't think it's a sign of mental liquidity on my part to take effort to find time on your calender and then apprise you of the situation i am in and explain how the heck yammaidoin!
i guess i had lost it by then and the poor guy just fell victim of my outburst.
I literally stopped him and explained to him-
"No, i am not
doing good. i have a sore throat, an incredibly stuffed nose and there is a lot of stuffing that can rest there(just look at the holding capacity of my nose, you will believe it), crumbling finances, insecure
foreseeable future and more , i can explain only when i am inebriated."
"So, Do you have a follow up question, time and patience to process my answers ?" i was at my unscrupulous best.
Caught by surprise and a situation he never experienced before , he suggested he was sorry and turned away in a haste. He pretended as if he didn't quite hear the whole thing and hence not responding as dramatically as he should had.
Like a man with respect , courtesy and integrity i would then return the kindness back and ask...
"By the way thanks for asking, how you doing"
"Good, Good,,,,very good thank you!! he ran with a sigh of relief out of the lift that opened for him like a stairway to heaven, just in time.
I continued my brisk walk to the coffee shop witnessing another two persons crossing each other,
both asking how were they doing to each other, asking the question in turn
and not caring to hear or expect an answer.
And then i realized, better, formulated my little "theory of interjection.." (c)
I think paradigm of "how you doing" greetings is a direct proponent of relative velocity(speed & direction, in case you forgot the high school kinematics) of the two persons getting engaged in that conversation.
How??
- Slow speed + Same direction : Interjections eventually transmute into long hangout knowhows starting from how-are-yous and culminating into we-should-catch-up-sometimes.
(Now depending upon the sexes of involved person, the catch up could mean coffee on a subsequent weekday or weekend beer at the local bar.)
- High
speed + Same direction : Interjections would mostly comprise of alternate sinusoidal Q&A scheme "Question-Answer&Question&Answer.." until they are at a distance when it's realistically uncivilized to continue conversation and then the involved persons believe it's befitting and not-belligerent to end the conversation abruptly.
When two persons are running against each others directions, it becomes a little more interesting...
- Slow Speed + Opposite direction : This arguably is the most precise form of interjections, where each person rallies with one set of Q&A inquiry. Of course, assumption is both of them want to talk and are not hiding their faces like a snob like me, i am today.
- High Speed + Opposite direction: Engaged individuals are courteous enough to ask the question but don't really care for the answer. Next time you encounter this, don't embarrass yourself and just throw back the question. Never mind answering.
- Very High Speed + Opposite direction: Shortest and possibly phoniest form of interjection. Question would come from either one of the participating individuals and there will be absolutely no answers-- expectation or delivery wise.
- Extreme High Speed + Opposite direction : People involved in this kind, essentially act like this other 6 fit,200 pounds of human unit never existed , atleast not in their recent encounters.Total ignorance!
I ordered my doubleshot Americano and headed back my desk for the struggle of the day.
Labels: Funny Sides of Events, Humor |
| posted by Dheeraj @ 11:34 PM |
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| It happened one Monday! |
| Tuesday, March 26, 2013 |
Chapter 2: My Other Side of the World
I reached my cube in a fizzy and started my obligations at office with the stealth of a spy. I positioned the laptop in its predefined coordinates, not that i measure it but a clearly delineated, neat and dirt-free rectangular plot on the desk defines the ambit of it's existence and it's restrictive movement by an abstract halter. I must state that the state of the rest of the desk is not socially unacceptable for a sizable group of office-goers. Though, i would agree that my desk desperately needs a women's touch.
I believe it is that mesh of the wires that demotivates me or for the fact of the matter, anyone to lift them delicately and dexterously and clean the area hidden innocuously under them, and place them back. All just too treacherous for an immobile piece of space that means no harm to anyone- it was indeed a high-risk, low-gain game. I played safe and played no such game.
These wires now exhibit all sects, attributes and nature- fat, thin, curvy, athletic-built, married, single, divorced, looking, straight and gays. "Single and looking" is the funniest one. Looking at it, it appears ultra attentive, high on heels and ready to hop on to anyone at slightest of an opportunity. I remember when i first walked into this office space years back and i saw the myriad of colors coming out that socket from under the desk, aesthetically intertwined and hidden from the cruel civilization behind the board. But one fine day, came an engineer, worked like an engineer and left corpses behind him, much like an engineer. Not to take away any credits from him, he fixed the network connectivity but the glory remained uncovered, ever since then, long after he was gone.... The solitary screw that hinged itself to the board fought gallantly but inconsequentially. It was awarded a luxurious stay at a vantage point on my desk for a long time in a romanticized hope of reunion before been binned posthumously.
And now 3 years after, those colorful wires: whites, yellows, blacks, blues, greens more or less look the same.
Some whites had turned into yellow(read pale), some turned into black, the blues turned into greasy blacks, yellow ones appear pregnant for the last 9 months with no yield while the green ones look like a worm fresh cut, permeating possibly 4th form of matter and enticing 6th sense of smell.
I have manged to look away from them by a stack of wasted printouts, a useless desktop monitor and a big old desk phone. Somewhere in a nook of my heart, i know there is dirt and part of it hopes it just goes away one day.
But knowing i will be moving away from here soon, i managed keep the desk occupiable, kept my sleeves clean and continued killing a few red ants once in a while, that managed a long walk to my laptop through those sockets and wires. I will admit to sharing a partial responsibility. It could be that apple pie i left on the keyboard that was crushed on the board by mistake. Since then the motherboard had not been only housing the circuits and chips but these red Lilliputians too.
On that Monday morning, as i opened up the laptop- i located a red ant emerging through the crevice between keys F5 and F6. As if it knew i was shooting for a kill, it quickly retracted inside. I managed to kill it but in the process, ruptured the F5 key in a rush of undeniable, intense desire to retrieve the corpse out of its burial ground. Like there was no end to the miseries, another one came gasping out from the big gaping pit created by the absence of the pointing stick at the confluence of keys G H and B.Who on earth uses that small rubber button stuck in there anyways? I wondered..
It feels funny to touch it though. And i guess, i overplayed with it before losing it forever. It was another easy kill but again.. not a great start to the morning.
I cleaned up, strictly the 'area of absolute business' and strategically kept the gym bag on the desk at an angle to hide any possible line of sight of this "other side of the world" and let it be a preposterous display of my non conformism.
Before i could take a breather, multitudes of emails popped out over the same 'burning" issue from 7 different people demanding an "ASAP" response from the same person. No prizes for guessing who that same person would be- me! And then came meeting requests, conference call requests, status update requests, 'swing by my desk' requests. I had no choice but to head for the strongest coffee ever.
Labels: Funny Sides of Events, Humor |
| posted by Dheeraj @ 11:39 PM |
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| It happened one Monday! |
| Wednesday, March 20, 2013 |
Chapter 1 : Theory of Busyness
Like most of the Monday mornings, i was late to the office. It was close to half past 10 in the morning. Naturally but not proudly, i wasn't very keen to be seen with my phony laptop bag and monumentally vacillating and frequently colliding multi-purpose bag which was housing lot of utility stuff that ideally shouldn't be cohabiting in close proximity. Sneakers and lunch, water bottle and socks, underwear and hair cream, deodorant and headphones are just to name a few.
They really should innovate a new breed of men's bag that compartmentalizes these stuff. While they do exist in their independent capabilities and usage, it will be condescending to the office/work salubrity to bring in a work-out bag, a-lunch bag, a men's fashion bag for other utilities , not to forget the quintessential coffee mug. Questions will raise heads and rightfully so- Are you like sure, you're here for work? Those bags had to be designed carefully on utilitarian grounds.
As organized as they claim, a girl's bag is a jungle of beautiful mess (surprisingly it can't accommodate a sleek pen though) with unthoughtful compartmentalization and security. They leave the sides wide upon. What good are those zippers if she topples or errrr the bag topples (it never does, in able consciousness of a women) . Men's bag shouldn't be modeled after it, at all. Men need zippers that covers end to end perimeter, and a thoughtful mix of tiny,small, big compartments to house things separately.
As i parked my car in the office garage, the mind prudently calculated the shortest and safest path to tread before i reach to my office and pretend i have been there since 8 AM.
Finding the vantage path to your cube is a direct function of time of entry/ existing weather condition / day of the week among other variables. Based on my in-memory algorithm, the mind directed the limbs to take the staircases minimizing chances to be encountered with men returning from coffee break and Monday Marathon Meetings on "lost and found over the weekend" science. Encountering men is rarely rewarding , more so at that hour of intractable breach.
While this is irrelevant to the matter but in accordance to my musing , i will state it anyway. On the hind sight, encountering women on the staircases have never been a problem. It's rather a privilege for multiple reasons primarily because of the added advantage of time to converse which is invariably lost in fast moving elevators. Others benefits are too frivolous and silly to be "sighted".
Much to my dismay, the first flight of stairs and i had my executive running down the stairs. Darn, I did miss to factor in his growing awareness to ergonomics and resolution to loose weight. I noticed him coming and i impetuously used my ever-so-naive theory of busyness.
Next second, I was conversing with a ghost on the phone about the latest integration issue that was discovered. The conversation content, language and subject chosen for the circumstances vary with the kind of person to be dealt with. A person who has knowledge, authority, influence is put on the top my Jacob's ladder. In these cases, I prefer interjecting with"Sures", "ahaa- ahaas", and "rights" while folks at the lower end of the ladder hear a lot of gibberish "So the lowest denominator of the performance of the mission critical Job is defined by the fastest running component which needs to be actively monitored via the common auditing/reporting framework through a bottom-up methodology"
A nod and he passed by while i was trapped in compulsion of continuing my intense conversation for another 10 meters before i promised the ghost to to expect a call back from my desk.
Not a great start to the week, given I didn't have great weekend to compensate for a not-so-productive preceding week.
I couldn't go out to my favorite bar due to bad throat, couldn't download David Bowie's latest album, managed
innovative ways to lose money, couldn't reset my living room clock to
adjust to the day light saving as promised to my wife and some not-so-important issues.
Reeling over from Sunday night insomnia caused by a "clear and
present" danger in face of Monday, i was obviously not in best of the moods.
TBC..... with some more theoriesLabels: Funny Sides of Events, Humor |
| posted by Dheeraj @ 12:30 AM |
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| BROOD |
| Sunday, May 16, 2010 |
The sun melted into his lap.. like that ephemeral ice his laughter missed her ears he cried without the device!
Coz tomorrow - he will miss the depth And he'll laughon it- Coz tonight - he will kiss the depth while he lies half on it.
As he Stares the letters weaving on the board, magically- the rhythm, and the cry on the cord just flew and diffused spiritually.
Coz, the hairs that 'fellon him left the trace of the wine- She din't hear the noise- neither those eyes cryin.
So now he writes in residuum- and forgoes her on higher ground, for she was ,his caressed being- he makes this esoteric, sullen sound.
And he wins- when he kills his belief- and when you read, ... he reads, ... and she reads, ... and understands the grief...
-Dheeraj |
| posted by Dheeraj @ 1:20 AM |
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| Binge : Episode 2 |
| Thursday, August 27, 2009 |
What I deduce And I kept driving and playing with my cell for a long time and till the point I faced a police barricade. I tried to pull down my eyeballs from under the eyelids to the nucleus of human headlight and pretended to be a discriminated, hapless private job goer who had to stretch on the Friday night. I managed a perfect “S” swing and escaped embarrassment and some fines. I followed a Moolchand sign which am sure is nearby my place, I still couldn’t find my way back. I notice there are a few places which are only existent on signboard in Delhi. Moolchand and Mehrauli are definitely two of them. They are visible from both directions of a road. And no one lives at these places and they CONFUSE me. I realized I am quite near to my illusive place when I found a “I miss u L” writing on the underpass wall somewhere. Talking of place, there are few places which you simply end up treading no matter which directions you are coming from or going to. Mudrika(for a long time I thought this is different from ring road, for longer time I thought This is misspelled for Munirka), ring road are such examples and you get overdose of them because there are two of them. There are names of a few places which makes no sense. “East of Kailash” is one of them. I mean-Come on! Christen it! Why just give direction? The first time I asked my friend staying there “Where are you putting up? He said “East Of Kailash”.. Pause… I waited for some seconds and enquired..Okay….. and… He said “ I have just one place to stay and one small apartment”.. I said “fine, so give me some more detailed direction to reach.. “East” of Kailash… And North/South/west of what?? Adjacent to what or behind /infront of what??” Another such name is Andrews Ganj. What kind of name is this.. Anglo-Indian?? Call it ”Andrews Cross” “Andrew Avenue” .. or call it.. “Saheb Ganj” or “Gopal Ganj” What’s Andrews Ganj? Well, these were not the thoughts that swarmed me that night. I just happen to stray…. Always! I couldn’t make it to home but I did reach NFC( Now, is there Old Friends colony, or Jaani Dushman(Arch rivals) Colony J too?) By the time the eyeballs had again eclipsed behind the lids. I went to another pub but I have no idea how did I get in stag. I believe I impressed another fellow dipsomaniac with my knowledge of world economy, middle-east medieval politics and Spanish Premier League which, I admit honestly to know nothing of. What I do remember that I wasn’t allowed back in after I came out to receive a call. Quenching my dried up throat, I striked conversation with almost everyone who came around me in a radius of a meter. Mr Office Boss, I am marking off "Can get better at oral communications and conversations" from my growth area. I received enough encouraging feedbacks about it. :-) One thing I remember after that was I followed my roomie, destination was home. Next morning I woke up with the best of physical and mental state- dehydrated and drained in that order. I regained sane senses in the evening to recount the events as they unfolded the last night. I saw the mile meter. I had clocked around 120 km the night. Not bad… had parked the car at the most difficult slot possible which I never ever was able to. I looked for sign of damages.A scratch at the back, worth a price paying for a fulfilling night; yeah that’s what I thought when I rubbed against the wall. I recalled the incident. To unwind mysteries of such night, there are always more cues. Wallet! I searched my purse to find ATM slips. I deduced, I had pulled money from Dwarka and Defence colony. Okay, so I must have run out of money and gas. And while I “kept driving and playing with my cell”, I actually drove 30 kms in opposite direction. And I was not playing, I must have been texting. Another cue, check the sent messages and dialed/received calls. A lesson: If accompanied, deposit your vehicle keys and your cell with friends, when you embark on the journey of self-introspection, riding on heightened sense of capabilities drawn from alcoholic amalgam. It’s a probably not worth doing if can’t be done otherwise. Irony is, cause is the reason at many times. And the mystery unfolded. And I deduced finally: Excessive indulgence kills. Something’s keep killing, something’s just kill and pass. Cheers, Dheeraj Labels: Funny Sides of Events, Humor, Personal, Supposed to be cheap Humor |
| posted by Dheeraj @ 1:18 PM |
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