While we were in Oahu, we loved the snorkeling at the Haunama Bay – the colors of aquatic life, mainly fishes that you see under water is pretty amazing. The Sunset dinner cruise gives you a view of the shoreline and the night lights around the island – it also gives you some flavors of the Hawaiian cuisine, the food is so yummy. In Hawaii, most of the seafood is fresh and since the fruits and vegetables are grown on the island – don’t forget to relish on these to your heart’s content. The hike up to the waterfall in Waimea Valley brings you closer to nature, it will leave you refreshed and rejuvenated – not to mention that this will feel like a work out so make sure to do this before lunch. The vegetation is pretty amazing, where you get to see fruit that looks like pineapple growing on trees but don’t get carried away by looks  – trust me, these are not pineapples. While you are there, check out the Dole pineapple plantation where you get to taste the sweetest, less acidic fresh Hawaiian pineapples and grab some flavored or chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Since we had taken the Circle Island tour, it really helped us to cover most of the important locations on the island including giving us an idea on creating a list of places we would like to revisit by ourselves during the rest of the stay on the island. Haleiwa Town, along the north shore is another popular spot if you love galleries, boutiques etc and the sunset beach is another favorite of mine.

If you have a rental car at your disposal then take a tour of the entire island from one end to the other – there are some beautiful beaches in Oahu, with crystal clear green & blue waters/waves away from the busy Waikiki area. There is just so much you can do in Oahu, in terms of activities that it can be pretty overwhelming – but don’t forget to grab a drink and chill at the beach to calm your inner being and soothe your soul – ALOHA!

A fact that I have noticed which is so prominent among immigrants here are that they are never content with their lives – everyone is in some sort of a race to improve something or the other, it could be a better job, better quality of life or to just be better than others. Everyone is so entangled in this race that they forget to live and somewhere in between, they even forget the meaning of their lives or the value of their relationships which is human nature to get bored of everything including ones own lives. But if you pause for a second and think about all the things you have accomplished so far, then this race does not make any sense – it makes more sense to just enjoy life the way it comes, it surprises you in beautiful ways some good and others bad many of which you never anticipated. Don’t waste your lives thinking of all the futile opportunities that you have missed in life, in turn be positive and keep an open mind – you will be surprised by all the positive signs around you and sometimes you feel the presence of some divine force around you, in the form of a person who brought something positive into your life which was a pleasant surprise to you and brought a smile to your face.

Since this game is fairly new and the fact that I haven’t really explored all aspects in the game, there is a possibility that some of the above mentioned functionalities may exist but I am not really aware of it, like some of the other players who are in the same linkshell as me. Well, if it exists then my advice to the game designers, is to start providing random tips to the players.

It is definitely true that no one knows for sure what the future has kept in store for us. But to do nothing, and wait for the GC process to take its own sweet time is sometimes difficult to understand and you really don’t know if you should settle down here with the fear that your visa may not get renewed or the GC could get rejected since most people do like some sort of certainty in their lives to live happily. It is hence crucial for ones own survival to find a system that processes applications for PR faster as well as qualifies to your expectations, including embracing immigrants like us with open arms and let us contribute to the GDP.

In addition to these changes, working out is another thing that we Indians need to add to our schedules, at least a couple of times during the week. Joining a fitness center and getting a trainer would be ideal if you are willing to spend some money to get you back on track, which I would highly recommend in order to understand weight trainings in more detail and getting better results for the time spend. We have been eating a lot of fruits both fresh and dried, which includes mostly berries (strawberry, blue berry, black berry etc), which I read in some health magazine as being nutrient rich. Also a couple of interesting things that I have noticed, while reading up online and in magazines includes, eating free range eggs which are supposed to be lower in cholesterol than regular eggs (based on some study), citrus fruits, beets, celery, chili peppers, pumpkin and their seeds, fresh turmeric, purslane and kale are all supposed to be good, although I haven’t really found purslane or kale at any of the grocery stores I usually shop.

People are really unique, every one of them vary with country or region, so many different cultures, dynamic behavioral patterns, social life, etc or in general every aspect of life differs, only the variance among some seems to be shorter than few others, based on whether they come from similar backgrounds or not and ultimately everything boils down to the only one common factor that we are all human beings. Though this is a known fact to everyone, it amazes me, the intricacies of human behavior and the ways by which different people react to the same stimuli.

But, NO that’s not what i want to do. With the help of one of my friends at work, I was able to identify a very interesting aspect of my life that i would love to blog about. Guess what, it is “America through the eyes of an Indian.”

A very interesting topic, though i may not be an expert in any of these areas, i would be able to explain the things i feel, see and understand from a human perspective. Hope it turns out to be interesting.

My birthday was very delightful, though it was similar to other work days in many ways; it was special for me with a group or team lunch which was so much fun at Claim Jumper, thanks to all the team mates who made it so joyful and then a private dinner in the evening with family. Well, since we rarely celebrated birthdays with cake cutting back home, ever since my dad had this serious accident when I was still a kid, right after the night of his birthday celebration and the fact that this was caused by an irresponsible drunken doctor seems like a horrible fact but true, I never knew that we need to make a wish before you blow out the candle. Funny, how you learn small things every day from some one or the other, now I will have fun telling this to my kids, if we end up having them. But anyways, this past weekend we did get the opportunity to drive to Cottonwood, which is approximately two hours drive from Phoenix to ride the Verde Canyon Railroad (http://www.verdecanyonrr.com/) from a Depot in Clarksdale which runs to Perkinsvile ranch and back. The train depot had these amazing crafts of wooden eagles made by the local artisans, with such perfection that you end up buying them like us. Apart from the small-scale shopping we did the train ride with complimentary drinks and food, to keep you refreshed for the spectacular four-hour ride through the wilderness is truly an experience of a life time since there is likelihood that you will be able to see a few eagles, their nests and probably even eaglets. The ride made me realize even more now that we all need to preserve this beautiful world and try to live in harmony with nature, as every rock or stream or tree or mountain that you see beholds the supreme craft and it definitely makes us all happy.  

We stayed at a very special bed and breakfast place that makes you feel cozy, comfortable and at home (http://www.theannabelinn.com/). The rooms were nicely decorated especially the one we had called the La Chambre D’Or, and the owner of the place was very friendly and hospitable. The Thai Palace restaurant, which sits right around the corner, probably less than a mile from the Inn, seemed pretty busy but the food was very authentic and we loved it. Overall, we had a very delightful weekend and this was probably one of the best birthdays I have ever had in my life, hope to cherish these memories for as long as I live.