Golden Gate bridge and the inside of a cop car....

Yesterday was like any other Sunday. I had made great plans to finish all my household chores, stock up on grocery for the week, get my car washed, return my library books and if time permits - which it never does, read a book at a cozy little cafe a few blocks down the road. It was a warm beautiful Sunday.

Life has funny ways of making things happen. We live life with careful determinism and planning, wanting to make everything perfect, comfortable and happy. But in the shadows, life has an agenda of its own.

So this story starts on Saturday, went to went out with a few friends to have some Pani-Puri at the Indian Store in San Jose. It was one of the most delicious Pani-Puri's I have had, and very addictive. But more about that later. I found out that my friend Susan (name changed for their own protection ;) ) was flying to Boston the next day from San Francisco airport (which is about 40 miles from San Jose) and Aaron (name changed - again!) was dropping her off. After chatting for a bit, and enjoying the Pani-Puri's - which were spicier than usual I might add, we bid our goodbyes and headed our own ways.

Which brings me to Sunday - the day I got to see the inside of a cop car. It so happened that Aaron - who is a wine connoisseur went to a wine tasting fair on Sunday. The wines were wonderful and before he knew it, he had had a little too much, and decided was probably not a good idea to drive fifty miles to the airport and back. And so Susan asked me whether I could give her a ride to the airport.

Before going further I should tell you that Bay Area is relatively new for me, and I have not had a chance to explore the city in the limited time I have been here. This also meant that I am not very conversant with the freeways and the road system around here. Ofcourse, my refusal to buy a GPS and sole dependence on my AAA maps don't make things any easier, as there is a lot of memorization of roads involved.

So, coming back to the story, Susan asked me whether I could drop her off at the SFO airport. Susan is a fun person to be with, and has a lot of enthusiasm about a multitude of things. In the limited time I have known her it has always been fun hanging out with her. I took a quick take on whether I was up for a long drive, and replied - "Sure! no problem". It would be a good break from facing a gloomy Sunday evening away from my husband. It was 6:20PM when I spoke to her and we decided to leave around 9:00PM.

As I mentioned earlier, the Bay Area is unexplored territory for me, and I was keen to check it out more. So when I told her I would drop her off, I figured it would be a good idea to check out the night views of the Golden Gate bridge, which is just 20 miles north of the airport. I was excited at the very thought of it, and started planning my trip. Though I must admit that my excitement was entirely due to the prospect of using my Canon XSI and hopefully take some wonderful night shots of the Golden Gate bridge. Twenty minutes later I realised that I would definitely need a tripod for night pictures, and I don't have one! Bummer! I knew there is a bestbuy really close to home, and checked their timings online - drat! they closed at 7:00PM, which gave me just 20 minutes to get there and make my purchase. I called them to verify that they indeed had some tripods in stock - which they luckily had.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened for the next 20 minutes. (Thankfully!) I picked up the tripod from best buy - close call though! As I was walking out of the store I was wondering what would have had happened had I not been able to buy the tripod. I would have probably come back home, settled down with my reading and gone to sleep, waking up fresh on Monday morning. But things were different now.. :)

I was pretty happy with my purchase. I tested it out once I got home, and instantly fell in love with my impulse buy. I spent the next hour planning my trip - directions, scenic spots to take pictures, and other information for the trip. After packing my bag with some money, energy bars (I always carry energy bars) and Mace (yeah pepper spray - cos you never know when you need it!), I left home to pick up Susan.

The drive to the airport was uneventful. I dropped Susan at the airport about an hour before her flight, and started driving north towards the bridge. Meanwhile I also called my friend Aaron, who was still in San Francisco, and asked him if he and his friends wanted to meet up at the bridge. Despite having a long and busy day of their own, they were all up for the trip, and we decided to meet at the North side of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco.

If you have never driven from San Jose to Golden Gate bridge, you should know that the road is probably not as straightforward as you see on a map. A large chunk of driving is within the city and the US 101 signs are just every once in a while. So the driver keeps second guessing themselves whether they are on the right track. Fortunately I kept on the right track and reached the bridge, and drove across it to reach the vista point on the north side, which is where we had decided to meet.

As I stepped out of my car I was greeted by a strong gust wind waking me from my complacency and making me question my plans for the evening. It was a 100 degrees (F) in San Jose, and it didn't occur to me to carry warm clothing for my trip to San Francisco. I looked around me and everyone was wearing nothing less than a polar jacket. Bummer! Why didn't I think of carrying a sweater?

Aaron and his friends were there before me, and luckily Aaron had an extra jacket to spare!

The views from the northern vista point were beautiful. We could see the bridge and the San Francisco downtown skyline from here. The bridge was lit up, enhancing its "golden-ness" and at night, it looked like it was on fire.

I assembled my tripod in the dark, with heavy wind blowing my hair in my eyes. Aaron helped me with his iPhone acting like a torch (did he download an app for it?) and holding on to the tripod whenever it threatened to fly away with the wind. With shivering fingers - which later turned numb, I managed to take a few shots of the bridge from the North East vista point. I also wanted to go on the hill to get an aerial view of the bridge. Aaron, having been there millions of times, suggested that we drive up there in a single car. It would probably be more convenient. I agreed.

So all 5 of us piled into his car, and we drove off to vista point 2. We were heading from the north east vista point to the north west vista point. The winds at vista point 2 were much more fierce. At one point I was actually afraid of being swept off the hill into the valley below. We passed some ruins (which I would love to photograph in daylight) and reached a beautiful vista point. I liked the second point better, specially due to the proximity to one of the pillars of the bridge. I could also capture the reflection of light in the waters below. However, each picture took about 6-7 seconds of exposure time. And till the picture was taken, we had to hold the tripod very very still. It was painful, but very adventurous too!

Around this time we also had a hilarious incident with some folks in another car. I wont write about it here, but if you ever need a laugh, do ask me about it! :)

Well the interesting part starts here. We all piled back into the car to get to vista point 1 and then say our goodbyes. However, Aaron suddenly realized that there was no way back to vista point 1, except if we cross the bridge, pay the toll and cross it back again and pay the toll again. His friends were in a hurry to get back home as they had an early start the following day.

We crossed the bridge once, and while we were paying the toll, we happened to mention to the toll both operator, our little problem. He suggested that it would be possible to cross the bridge on foot.

I got really excited at the thought of crossing the bridge on foot. It is a 1.2 mile long bridge, and it was 11 in the night. But I thought I could handle it, and asked Aaron to drop me off on the south side of the bridge, and I planned to walk across the bridge and take pictures. He reluctantly dropped me off, and drove on to drop his friends.

I was pretty excited as I started my walk across the bridge. At first I stopped at the south side of the bridge and set up my equipment to take pictures. I must have spent about 5 minutes there before realizing that I had a long walk ahead of me, and I should probably get a move on.

Five minutes worth of walk later, I hit upon a gate. Wait! it was a gate that blocked pedestrian entry on the bridge! On the bridge was a sign - Pedestrian access on the bridge closed from 9:00PM to 5:00AM. Wow the toll booth operator was totally misinformed! Then I spotted a bright red button which said - "press if you want to cross the bridge after 9:00PM, the toll operator will open the gate for you". And that is what I did :)

However, the toll operator was probably unhappy with the interruption, and announced in a strong voice that pedestrian access was closed at this time - I guess this must be a different operator than the one who recommended the midnight bridge walk.

Anyway, I finally started looking for other options. That is when I spotted a phone which was marked - use in emergencies only. Well to me, this was an emergency, and I picked up the phone to be directly connected to someone who asked - what is your emergency?

I half thought that this was a 911 operator who probably wont want to help me out. I told him my situation, explaining that my car was on the other side, and I needed to get there. The operator however said the same thing - access is closed after 9:00PM. I started getting a little frustrated and demanded how to get to the other side? That is where my car was parked. He said - we can give you a ride. I was a little reluctant, but then agreed. He asked me what I was wearing and asked me to come to the bus stop a short walk from the gate. I agreed and hung up.

I didnt know who I was talking to, but I had my pepper spray :)

As I walk towards the bus stop, I see a cop car approaching from the opposite direction. To my surprise it stopped right in front of me and I was asked - need a ride miss?

I was speechless.. but managed to mumble out - yes please! In my head I was thinking - "HELL YEAH!! I want to sit in your cop car!!"

This was an actual cop car, with a real life cop, with elaborate equipment in the front, and a mesh partition separating the front and back. Wow! I was going to sit in a cop car! Without committing an actual crime!! Not that I wanted to go to those lengths to actually sit in a cop car.

I was about to sit in the front seat, when I heard him say ..... back... The wind drowned out the rest of the sentence. He probably wants me to sit in the back. But I am not a criminal!

"Im sorry?", I said. And he repeated - "Put your tripod in the back, I don't think it will fit here". Oh thank God! I can sit in the front! - I noticed my fully extended, unfolded tripod in my hand. And I put it in the back seat. I then sat in the front seat of a cop car!!!

Those were probably the coolest 10 minutes of my life.

The officer was very kind. He dropped me to my car, and even waited till I got in. I was a little tempted to ask him if I could take a picture of him and his car. But I left it to that. He had been kind enough.....

Shark tales...

It was summer of 2008, and we recently found out about Leopard sharks. These sharks migrate to the warm waters of Southern California every summer to breed (much like the humpback whales). However unlike the whales, these creatures prefer shallow murky waters as their ideal breeding grounds. An adult Leopard shark grows upto 5-7 feet, but its mouth is of the size of a quarter and is harmless to humans. We were intrigued by them and after much research, decided to visit them one weekend.

I wont deny being apprehensive. After all these were sharks, and a single thrash could throw me off. But I was excited to think about these huge beautiful creatures swimming so close to our weekend hangout place. I had no excuse to shy away from them.

We parked close to Marine Room and walked to the ocean with our snorkel gear. The sharks are known to swim right behind Marine Room, which has almost no waves and is close to the cliffs creating easy hideouts for them.

It was low tide, and we had to wade in quite a bit before we could start swimming. Now the deal with snorkeling - unlike scuba - is that it is hard to keep up with people. One usually ends up going in their own direction instead of swimming behind someone elses thrashing flippers! :-) So Jayal and I ended up going our own ways.



I had read that these creatures are beautiful, but very shy. They swim away with the slightest sound of people swimming near them and must be approached silently. I had to be very silent to actually see one. I saw a couple of little ones swim away as I approached them. I was slowly going deeper and deeper hoping to spot a full grown shark soon.


The deal with sharks is that they love murky waters and the day we went snorkeling, the visibility was very poor. As a result we ended up swimming in waters where we could not see more that 4-5 feet in in front of us. I did not realise how intimidating it would be, till I spotted an enormous full grown adult leopard shark, swimming right in front of me, just a couple of feet below me. I suddenly felt alone, like an unwelcome outsider in their world. Countless scenarios started running through my head where the shark expresses its hostile feelings towards me.

My survival instincts took over me, and the next thing I know, I am quickly swimming towards the shore with my heart racing. The interesting thing was that I saw a very beautiful ray on my way back to the coast - so beautiful and so close to me. But you know how it is when your mind is in its survival mode - all I could think of was - what is this is a sting ray feeling threatened! I am still a novice when it comes to distinguishing between different types of rays, and I certainly did not want to take any chances. So just a quick goodbye and swimming for 3 more minutes, and I was out of the water. Luckily I did not forget to breathe through my mouth and am still alive to write this little blog post!! But it was a new and very interesting experience. I hope I am able to gather my guts together to dive into the waters again this year!

Disclaimer: Unlike my other blog posts the pictures of this blog are not taken by me, and were found from online sources

Maui - Turtle at Black Rock

If you think my previous experience was extraordinary (which it was!!) get a load of this!

On the last day at Maui, I snorkeled at Black Rock. It was a short walk from our hotel. We had yet to return the rented snorkel gear, so I thought of just taking a little dip, and finishing off the last roll we had in our camera. (We use a very outdated camera for our ocean pictures, waterproof digital camera cases are more expensive than the digicam itself)

And then I saw it, the beautiful turtle swimming close to the water surface and fearlessly coming closer to me. It had spotted the camera tied to my hand, and perhaps thought it was food. It kept circling me and swimming around me. I guess this one was not camera shy at all! I had a blast, taking pictures of this little dude, while at the same time, trying my level best not to touch it. It was an experience of a lifetime. There must be about 50 odd snorkelers that time, but no one spotted the turtle, and everyone was in the water when I popped out to tell someone, so no one could hear me.

I got about 10 minutes alone with Mr. Sea Turtle of Hawaii, and I loved the exclusive meeting!

Later I also spotted a couple of eagle rays majestically swimming in the waters. It was the perfect goodbye! :)

Maui - Snorkelling Down at the "Dumps"

On our second trip to the Hawaiian islands, we decided to visit Maui. It was a 10 day trip, mostly dedicated to the ocean. We snorkeled at various places on the west coast of the island, and they were all extraordinary. Although I must mention that one gets to see a lot more life in the ocean earlier in the morning. So if you plan a trip, be sure to be in the water early..

We had one of our most beautiful snorkelling experiences at a south Maui beach called "Dumps". A sad name, for an extremely beautiful beach. The parking was rough, and there was a short 5 minute trail to reach the coastline. The beach was rocky, and getting into the water was a little difficult, as little rocks kept getting trapped into my flippers. Also, I must mention that if you are new to snorkeling, it might be a little difficult as there are a lot of strong winds dragging you into the ocean. You have to be very careful of the currents. Here is a picture of Jayal with the Hawaiian 'Hang Loose!' :)



Once inside the water, it was breathtaking.. Beautiful coral, fish, octopus all around you. Because of the rocky terrain, the coral was abundant and spread over a vast area.

One of my favourite was Yellow tang. It just stood out in the corals.

We also spotted needle fish on the bottom of the ocean.

This was the first place where we spotted the Hawaiian green sea turtle. It is the usual norm amongst snorkellers, to holler out to others around them if they found something exciting. I just popped out of the water to adjust my mask, when I hear this man shouting out to me - "there is a turtle swimming towards you...!". I ducked right into the water, and there it was.. Beautifully floating in the emaral waters. I took a few pictures using the disposable camera we had and then I ducked out of the water to quickly shout out to Jayal. Luckily he was just a few feet away, and was next to me in a few quick strides.

It was wonderful. This turtle was not used to human life around it, and was extremely camera shy. But I tried to click a few pictures of it as it swam below me, and did not disturb it at all. It was very quick though, and I found it really hard to keep up with its swimming pace - maybe that's how turtles feel on land! The turtle probably was uncomfortable with us following him, and quickly vanished into a little crevice in the rocks and settled down. We dint want to bother it any more. But coming out of the waters that day, we had a huge smile on our faces. It was the first time we were in such close quarters with a Hawaiian sea turtle. We had seen one on the Big Island once, but it was a very quick peek, before which the turtle had vanished into the ocean. this experience was just mind blowing!

(Little did we know about what awaited us the next day - next blog - Black Rock)

Happy New Year!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Diego Snorkel trips...

It has been a little more than 2 years that Jayal and I discovered our common love for the ocean. We started snorkeling a few months after we moved to San Diego. The summers have been wonderful, with (relatively) warm water, and colourful fish, it was a treat to swim and snorkel at our favourite site - La Jolla Cove. The cove is one of the few famous locations for snorkeling and viewing aquatic life - the most attractive being the Garibaldi.


Garibaldi is attractive because of its brilliant orange goldfish like colour, but it is about one foot in size. If you are lucky, you can actually see schools of Garibaldi coming in and out of the ocean vegetation. One one of our snorkeling trips, we had the opportunity to take a few pictures of them.



Just wanted to share them... :)

Shopping adventures..

It is funny how adventures catch up with you in the most absurd situations. This story happened a couple of months ago. Jayal and I had gone on a shopping spree to a mall near LA. We used to go to this mall when we were students, and we just wanted to relive some old memories.. (and shop our wallets off- this mall had all our favourite stores). It took us about an hour and a half to reach it, but it was fun trip. We got back pretty late that night. The next morning, I started opening our shopping goodies, admiring all our purchases. Suddenly Jayal exclaims - "hey whats that?". "It is just a price tag", I say, trying to think of all the justifications for my expensive tastes. "No not that", he goes "this!!!!". And saying that, he picks up my brand new pair of levi's jeans, with the security tag still on. "This", he says again. Well well well... that should definitely not be here. I wonder if we were charged for that? I look through the receipt to see that we were infact charged for it, but the saleswoman just forgot to take the device of the clothing. To top it all, there was no beeping when we left the store... This was all so wierd!

I called the store, asking that what to do with this, considering we lived so far away from them. The manager was apologetic, and found me a branch closer to home where I could go and remove it. He also offered to give me a 50% discount on the jeans after I visit their branch. I thanked him, and hung up.

"He asked me to go to a branch 20 miles away to fix this", I told Jayal. "I don't want to have to drive all the way". Just as if Jayal read my mind he says, "lets fix this".

We started our web search on security tags. To my surprise, there were youtube clips that told you exactly how to remove a security tag from clothing. It took us about an hour to identify the type of security tag we had and the possible structure it had.

So how these devices work is as follows:
A security device contains of 2 parts, a top conical part with a pin, and a bottom base. If one tried to pull out the cone from the base, it would crack the glass containers in the base, leaking ink onto the clothing and your fingers. This ink is indelible. This is how these chains can prevent shoplifting in the trial rooms.

Well, I loved this pair of Jeans, and I totally did not want to ruin them. But on the other side, I would never have known much about security devices had it not been for this. I decided to risk the jeans.

Below is the picture of what we learnt of the device.This is the cross section of the security device, with the red and blue circles being the red and blue ink filled glass canisters. We decided that the best way to approach this is to open it up from the top, and confirm that this was true. After that we would decide the next plan of action.
We used our camping lighter, along with a screwdriver to burn open the top of the base. This is what it looked like.


There were no canisters to be seen at all. All we could see was a set of 2 metal plates holding the pin together. At this point I absolutely did not want to sacrifice my jeans. I was expecting to see some glass canisters, and was a little disappointed. Jayal said, "let me have a look at that", and before I knew it, he had pulled the tag apart, just like that!!

Oh well... So much for an exciting adventure and inked jeans!! I had to settle for a pair of brand new "uninked" jeans and an early morning adventure that lasted just a couple hours! Life is good.... :)