Six Flags .. American adventure

I visited Hartford, CT for 3 weeks with six of my colleagues. The very first weekend four of us (Myself, Rohit, Divya and Ankita) went to Six Flags - Great Adventure at Jackson, NJ. We drove 2.5 hrs to Six Flags at Jackson (spending an extra USD 25 per person), instead of going to closest Six Flags 15 minutes away only. So what was special about the Jackson's Six Flags ... It was "KINGDA-KA".

We started our adventure with a small warm up ride TWISTER. It looked simple but it was real good warm up. SUPERMAN was fun. SCREAM MACHINE was awesome but honestly speaking, I was too tired to scream during the flight. After all these rides and a small lunch we decided to go for the kill ... our ultimate ride.

KINGDA-KA is named very appropriately giving a feel of being a King and having an enormous size. KINGDA-KA is the King of all the roller coasters in the world. It is the world's highest and fastest roller coaster. The que for row1 was much longer than for others. Kingda-Ka is switched off from time to time for maintenance reasons and we did not want to miss it. So four of us comforted with row 2 and row 3. All we could see was a 146m high tower we were going to climb in few seconds and experience a 4-5G force. KINGDA-KA roared ..... and boy we were @ 208Kmph in less than 3.5 seconds .... The acceleration went on and on .... we were climbing the tower at 90 degrees and I started to feel "Mom !! Why did I come on it...." The view from the top was breathtaking and we were going down in no time. It was all over in about 30 seconds but I will always remember the feeling when the ride came to a halt. The feeling was unexplainable as I kept saying "I am Alive, I am Alive ....". The second thought was "The past minute will forever remain one of the most exciting moment of my life".

The day ended with a lion show, dolphin show and a photography session. Unfortunately, we missed the wooden roller coaster EL-TORO because of technical issues so that remains a high priority for next US trip. Ooops ... I am not sure if Six Flags would be operational when I visit US next time, as it has filed for bankruptcy under chapter 11.

Thanks to Major (Rohit), Divya and Ankita for the wonderful day and also being part of the scariest ride (my drive) :P.

In pic (L to R): Major, Ankita and Divya with Kingda-Ka. I am behind the camera :)

You can read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingda_Ka and watch a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN8nv4tVFuA.

Empty weekend !!!

Doing nothing might sound lazy or it can even be an art. Whatever one might think of it but I just realized how great it feels to do nothing, except eating, sleeping and daily chores, over a weekend after nearly 10 months. Saturday morning began at 12 noon. A Maggie lunch with large mug of coffee smelled just like the hostel days. I was suppose to shop grocerries and other household stuff but I just decided to do nothing. It was awesome. I slept another 3 hrs in the evening and had my dinner. Spent some more time on my laptop until 1 AM when my roommate Ayush wanted to have Pan ice-cream at Hotel Park Plaza. The ice cream was good but definitely not worth Rs. 200 for 2 scoops. The omllette with mashed potato and bread toast was fine. Ayush was still hungry so we decided to have some pastries. The caramel pastry was pretty impresive but pineapple was far from fresh. Sleeping @ 4:30 AM was just as perfect for a day somewhat like hostel days. Sunday morning began 12 noon again followed by a Maggie. All day sleeping, music, eating ... wow !!!! I wish everyday was sunday :)

Its good to be lazy after a long time. I wanna be lazy so I am signin off :) .....

The Last Supper !!!

Scorching 45 degree Celsius in Delhi region these days has forced me to bethink of the city I wouldn't like to, Bangalore. Its an irony of my life that best and worst of 25 years of my life are somehow associated to the cursed city where I hardly spent 18 months. The extraordinary weather of the city has never failed to impress any visitor though its infrastructure is comparable to a Tier III city of India.

After coming to Delhi, in January '09, this is the first week when I have time to breathe freely and I started sorting and flipping through some of my photographs from Bangalore. This picture, perhaps one of my last from Bangalore, is of Little Italy - an Italian restaurant in Bangalore. The only place I have had better Italian is Italy. It was definitely one of the best food I had in Bangalore. What i like about the place is its cool ambiance and relaxed feeling. They have three or four differently styled sections to enjoy the food. The pizza style they serve is wood burn with toppings imported from Italy and believe me they are very fresh and natural. I tried a cold starter against the advice of the manager and it didn't turn out to be a great idea, so please do listen to the manager. Perhaps they understand both, your taste and food, better. It also remains to be one of the few places where I enjoyed the pasta. The Mexican potato dish we ordered on the advice of the manager was good too.

I am not sure about visiting Bangalore but Little Italy remains to be the second on my list of eateries to visit, first is undoubtedly The Corner House.

For years, Tennis gurus and fans have been debating whether Roger Federer is the greatest man ever to hold a tennis racket. I don't know the poll results but, for sure, Federer turned the numbers on his side on Sunday June 7, 2009 when he won the Roland Garros. Apart from the several records he registered on Sunday, Federer justified the Power of Perseverance.

When Federer lost his Wimbledon title along with the No. 1 ranking last year, people said "Federer's career is over and that he would never be able to win Roland Garros (the manner in which he lost the French Open final 2008)". Record equaling five successive Wimbledon titles and 237 successive week No.1 ranking (second highest being 160 weeks) made both, the Wimbledon and the No.1 ranking, his birthrights.

Federer's continuous defeats in the grand slam finals (except the US open 2008) hurt me too, but honestly speaking, I never lost faith in Federer. The simplest reason was that he was still reaching every Grand Slam Final. It's the timidity and childishness of human mind that often we choose nothing if we don't get our top choice. Federer's extraordinary run of victories during 2005-2007 definitely quenched his thirst to win but that was limited only to non-grand slams. One could easily figure out that Federer was giving his 100% in the Grand Slams and not being able to play his best tennis was a different matter (due to the physical toll over the years).

Today, a friend and colleague of mine, said, that Federer could win the French Open because he didn't have to face Nadal. I don't agree to this because Nadal didn't deserve to reach the finals of 2009 French Open. Nadal had participated in the tournament and lost a match in a fair manner. I am not sure if Nadal lost because of over-confidence or lack of persistence or something else. This is where Federer races past every man in tennis. Federer's desire and perseverance to win is phenomenal.

Long live the king ... King Roger !!

Trip to Mumbai

Saturday June 6, 2009. I woke up, hurriedly, at about 8 AM to pack my bags and catch a Jet Airways flight to Mumbai at 1PM. I was feeling terribly sleepy and tired even in the cab @ 11AM due to the stressful schedule I had for over 6 weeks. This was the first Jet Airways flight I ever boarded and I can assure anybody that India has just one premium airline, Kingfisher - The King of good times. To me, Jet is just a low cost airline serving ordinary food.

I landed in Mumbai and it was definitely a great moment to meet my good old friend Anuj after almost two and half years. We went to his home in Powai and boy ... there were 9 guys in a 1BHK. 7 of us for the same reason, CFA exam - scheduled for Sunday.

CFA has become a sort of fashion in India for financiers, bankers, IBs and also aspiring bankers among others. Some 8000 people (rumor) were writing the exam @ the same center. It was a total chaos outside the centre. I had to quit my autorikshaw about 2 Km before the center and walk.

Sometimes, in life, you want to meet people with whom you had enjoyed a moment and life didn't give you a second chance. It was pleasant meeting a guy at the center with whom I enjoyed Euro Rail from Stuttgart to Venice. Apart from this, i got a chance to catch up with some of my juniors, seniors and batchmates.

Another cool thing I like about Mumbai was the attitude of the people. It is extremely subtle as compared to NCR. I wish, I could have spent a day or two more but unfortunately, I had to take a flight back same evening.

It was my third trip to Mumbai and unfortunately the only time when I didn't enjoy a dinner followed by an ice cream at Marine Drive.

I love the spirit of MUMBAI !!!