New York City - Pearl on the east coast of USA

 

New York, New York City, Newark: I had whole lot of confusion before entering United States about these three terminologies. New York is the state on its own, New York City is a city in New York State and Newark is a city on the other side of the Manhattan in Jersey side. Since I was located in New Jersey, I had a chance to explore this wonderful city in United States in a leisurely way during the weekends with my family.

I had a great chance to experience the cruise ride on Hudson River during our annual meet with our customers. It took us to all important spots like the statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the panoramic view of the Manhattan, the skyscrapers etc. It was certainly one of the great dinner experiences which I have ever had. I would strongly recommend the visitors of New York to take a cruise ride in the evening.

Central park is one of the predominant spot which most of the visitors hang in out. Located in the heart of the city of New York, definitely one needs a complete day to explore the beauty of Central park. Liberty Park is yet another park on the jersey side which gives awesome view of the Manhattan and partial view of the statue of Liberty on a sunny day. Times Square in 42^nd street is one spot which every tourist would like to be. Honestly, it was over hyped to the core with big big buildings in a congested environment and mere lighting of these buildings.

Walking from 42^nd to 33^rd street is definitely awesome experience. This walk gives the total picture of New York. One should never the miss the food in Saravana Bhavan in the New York City. The food here was delicious compared to other Saravana Bhavan. New Port in Jersey side is definitely worth mentioning. It’s more calm and serene when compared to Manhattan and the view from New Port of the Manhattan is definitely stunning. Walking on the Brooklyn Bridge on a sun set is something one shouldn’t miss out and I heard Brooklyn Park is so nice during spring time.

Driving to John F Kennedy international airport was certainly a big adventure when one drives from New Jersey. Driving through great Washington Bridge is a nice experience. After experiencing European transportation system, I should admit the transportation in New York City is in medieval times. Still I have to explore to reach the top of Empire State building and The Rock on a sunny day and many more things left in this block buster city.

Over all New York is a must see city on the east coast of USA. So when are you going to visit me soon in New York and grab a beer :P

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Sri Venkateswara Temple, Bridgewater, NJ

Sri Ventakeswara Temple located in Bridgewater, New Jersey is definitely a great place to be on an auspicious day. The temple symbolizes the numerous Indian diasporas settled in and around New Jersey. Built on a very spacious locality, the deity of Lord Venkateswara is absolutely stunning. Had a chance to go to this temple with my buddies Praveen, Kamlesh and his fiancée on Tamil New year’s day. Not to forget the delicious prasadham offered in this temple.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Bushkill, Niagara of Pennsylvania!!

Bushkill Falls is a series of eight waterfalls, located in Northeast Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains in the USA. Beginning at the headwaters of Bushkill Creek, the water descends the mountain, toward the Delaware River, forming Bushkill Falls. Bushkill Falls is often called the "Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania. It’s around hour and a half drive from Morris Plains.  Had a great chance to visit this waterfall with my family. There are various paths one can take to explore the waterfalls and if you are a trekking fan, it’s indeed a great place to be. Probably a better place to be during fall as one can see the picturesque view of the leaves in yellow with the waterfall.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia is the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, the second largest city on the East Coast of the United States, and the fifth-most-populous city in the United States. Philadelphia was one of the nation's capitals during the Revolutionary War, and the city served as the temporary U.S. capital while Washington, D.C., was under construction. Had a great chance to explore this city when I was on business trip to Mc Niel in Fort Washington. The funny incident was when I was almost near the customer site, I got a mail stating they don't require my support. Who cares! Took the time to explore Philadelphia spontaneously. Liberty bell, City hall and Independence hall are the places worth enough to visit. It’s around two hours’ drive by car from Morris Plains. Certainly a place to be for a weekend.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Boston, City of Universities

Recently I had a chance to travel to Boston on a business trip. When one says Boston, two things which come to our mind are Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The city runs totally with University and its students with numerous restaurants, bars and nice panoramic view of the city across the bridge with Charles River piercing through the city. Thanks to Genzyme for giving me this opportunity to explore Boston. I had a great chance to meet my college mate Rajesh and his wife after eight years who was doing his Ph.D. in Harvard.  Definitely a trip to remember in many aspects.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

European Endeavor to American Adventures

Recently I landed in New Jersey, United States of America (USA) to work in the same company which has a branch in US on internal transfer. It was my long time dream to study Masters in US but unfortunately, didn't work out for many reasons. But I was so fortunate that I landed in Germany and explored Europe for a period of seven and half years, probably happened to be one of the best phase of my life. Even though I traveled to many countries, US kept me at bay for really long time. I am so glad that I got this opportunity to work in US and explore the various places in US, land of immigrants. Apparently, I have renamed my blog from European Endeavor to American Adventures.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Dubai, Masterpiece of the middle east

Dubai, the hub of Middle East, cash cow for many people from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines etc, and no body would have imagined that this desert area before thirty fourty years would serve as a heart of the Middle East. Had a chance to explore this wonderful city once again, thanks to my German passport that I require no visa and could use my connecting flight from Chennai to Dubai and from Dubai to Hamburg.

 

Last time when I went, Burj Khalifa was under construction. This time had a chance to go to the top of the tallest building in the world, The Burj Khalifa. It was indeed a masterpiece of civil engineering, has about 200 floors. One gets a panoramic view of the city of Dubai from the top of Burj Khalifa. Also had a chance to see the colourful and picturesque waterfall show near the Dubai Mall which I missed last time.

 

What really fascinates me about Dubai is the influx of so many nationalities in one City. Even though many people complain about the torrid working conditions of many construction workers, one has to agree to the fact that Dubai is definitely the cash cow for the Indian state of Kerala and to some extent for the Civil and Chemical Engineers of the sub continent.

 

Dubai airport is definitely one of the highly sophisticated and modern airports in the world with connecting flights through out the world. If you have connecting flight via Dubai, don’t miss out the fun which this city offers. It was fitting end to my long vacation of seven weeks in India, that I could explore the warmth of Dubai before I was frozen by Europe cold. Thanks to Damo and Mohan, my good friends who helped me to explore Burj Khalifa and the waterfall show.

Cheers,
Sathish Kumar S

Bangkok, Phuket - Thailand

Thailand, one of the great touristic locations in South East Asia. Never expected that this country would be so awesome for tourists. If you are beach lover and sea food eater, then definitely Thailand should be in your list. First landed in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. Indians receive on arrival visa and Germans need no visa for Thailand. The time difference between the connecting flights from Bangkok to Phuket was only two and half hours for us. I misjudged that one can get the on arrival visa in Phuket. But one has to get the on arrival visa after arriving in Bangkok.

There was a huge queue for this on arrival visa. I literally thought that we are gonna miss the flight. We finally made it as a last passenger just before five minutes before the take off from Bangkok to Phuket. Never had such an experience before with all the stress and hassle before boarding a flight. Phuket is definitely an island which one shouldn’t miss in Thailand. The city runs completely with tourist. One can hire a motor bike and explore the whole of Phuket. The Big Buddha statue situated on the top of Phuket is a must see location in Phuket. The drive to the top in motor bike is something one shouldn’t miss out. One gets a panoramic view of the city of Phuket and Andaman Sea from the top. Wherever you go in Phuket, you end up in one beach or other. Patong being the best one with many activities like surfing, jet skiing, speed boats, night life etc.

Another island which is near to Phuket is Phi Phi Island which is worth exploring. There are various ways of reaching this beautiful and scenic Island (speed boat, motor boat, ships). One gets a chance to do snorkelling with goggles to see the coral beds underneath the sea. What’s unique about Phi Phi are the mountain ranges present in the middle of the sea. The water is so clear that one can see the coral bed from the top. The ship ride from Phuket to Phi Phi takes about two hours in Andaman Sea which was breathtaking. The street side restaurants in Phuket are the more delicious ones which offer wide varieties of sea food. Honestly, I was surprised with Thai cuisines with vast varieties of sea food.

After exploring Phuket, we landed once again in Bangkok. As any other Asian city, Bangkok was highly crowded, congested and polluted. But the metro trains in Bangkok makes it easier to go to important locations. The most important place to visit in Bangkok was the Grand Palace. It takes nearly half a day to cover this grand palace. The emerald Buddha in the grand palace was simply awesome, the Buddhist monasteries was pleasing to the eyes. I was just wondering, Buddhism was found in India but never flourished in India but spread to Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar etc.

Out of many Buddhist temples in Bangkok, the masterpiece was Emerald Buddha, Sleeping Buddha, Wat Phao situated across the shores of the river. One can explore important touristic places by travelling in boat. The giant wheel situated across the banks gives panoramic view of the city. The shopping malls in Bangkok are worth mentioning with gigantic skyscrapers, artistic decorations and pleasing entrances. The Swarnabhoomi airport in Bangkok was a masterpiece probably one of the biggest and largest in Asia. One can see the statue of Vishnu Bagawan in the middle with Devas and Asuras  churning the ocean shows the strong influence of Indian roots in Thailand.

What I was really surprised was the love and affection which the Thais have for their king. Everywhere one can see his cut outs and portraits; it seems he has done a great job in uplifting the nation to a higher level. I presume the country’s major economy is tourism besides exportation of rice to various nations. What I really liked in Thailand was the openness of the locals to accept western culture -people from western countries to roam around easily with Bikinis, kissing around, alcohol and night life which is not normal in Asian countries to accept it. When northern hemisphere is freezing with cold, definitely an ideal place for holidays on the beaches of Thailand.

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Sri Lanka, truly Asia :)

 Sri Lanka country known for its bloodshed, civil war, thirty years of bitter experience between Sinhalese and Tamils , the LTTEs but honestly the country is simply stupendous which many of us wont even imagine in our dreams.  Had a great opportunity to travel to this Island Nation with my travel guru – my beloved dad. It was really hard for me to convince him to come for this trip. Apparently, it happened to be his first foreign visit outside India. Well I was pushing him to visit me in Germany but unfortunately it never happened. It was definitely an experience which every son would cherish in his life to travel alone with his dad at the age of thirty :)

The visa regulations are quite easy because country strives on tourism. Just online application has to be filled up and meager amount has to be transferred to them. We had an hour’s flight from Chennai to Colombo by Air India. Colombo is highly crowded, congested as any sub-continent cities. Some of the notable places to cover in Colombo are Parliament house, War memorial, Galle face, Lotus temple, Gangarama Buddhist temple, Premadasa stadium if you are Cricket fanatic.

Kandy is geographically situated in the middle of Sri Lanka. If one stays in Kandy, one can cover most places in the island. Temple of tooth (Lord Buddha) is definitely one of the picturesque and artistic temple. The main place which one shouldn’t miss out in Kandy is the Botanical Gardens, one of the largest in Asia. Was really amazed with the diversified flora which they have got. It was green green everywhere. The white budda at the top of the hill is a must see in Kandy. One gets a panoramic view of the city of Kandy from the top. The striking animal in Sri Lanka is the elephants. In any corner of the country you would see an elephant. The elephant sanctuary named Pinnawala is definitely worth going. One gets a chance to see around fifty elephants at a single stretch. It was too good to see the newly born small elephants. 

Unfortunately, we went at the wrong time. It was raining all along the day with strong thunder showers. The local mentioned the best time to visit the island nation is on April. Out of many Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, the golden temple at Dambulla is certainly the masterpiece. One can climb up the mountain to see the lord Buddha carved out of the single stone. One gets a panoramic view of the small city of Dambulla. Near to Dambulla is the must see place called Sigriya.  Because of bad weather conditions, we couldn’t climb up to the top of this rocky mountain. 

Anuradhapura, the previous capital of Sri Lanka was a great place to hang out for a day. The city is full of various Buddhist temples with very old history and tradition. If you love Buddhism, don’t miss Anuradhapura. The gigantic Buddhist stupas in Anuradhapura were breathtaking. Could you believe, I stayed in Sinhalese house as a paying guest in Kandy? Interesting isn’t it that a tamilian stayed in Sinhalese house. 

One shouldn’t miss Nuwera Eliya if you are nature lover. The picturesque mountain peaks, the tea estate, the water falls piercing through the mountains, driving in the midst of those are certainly which will reside in my memory forever. It’s about two to three hours of journey by car from Kandy to Nuwera Eliya. The major attractions in Nuwera Eliya are the Horton Plains but due to adverse weather conditions, we were not in a position to explore those places. We had a chance to look at the tea factory, their manufacturing process. Also had a chance to go to diary farm which gave us the opportunity to see New Zealand cows.

After Nuwera Eliya, we went to another coastal city, Galle in the extreme south. The train journey from Colombo to Galle is something which will linger in my mind for long time. Since my father worked in Indian Railways, had a chance to travel in many trains, but this journey from Colombo to Galle is a pick of the lot. The tracks were laid just few meters from the beach. Never seen any railway line which was so close to the coastal line. Just wondering what would have happened to those people traveling in train when Tsunami came in. The Galle international stadium was in the heart of the city and one could easily see a cricket match from the Galle fort which is about 50 meters away from the stadium. I still remember the double hundred scored by Shewag against Murali and Mendis in this ground and squared the series in 2008.

The strange experience in this Island nation was the entry fees for the foreigners. In major touristic attractions, the entry fee for the local would be 50 rupees but for foreigners it will be Rs.3000 which is something ridiculous. I had the same experience in India in major tourist attractions, where foreigners paid 10 times more than the locals but to taste the same pill in another foreign land was not easy to accept. In some places bought some local tickets since me and my father looked like Sri Lankans but they asked to speak Sinhala but I spoke in Tamil stating I was from Batticola.  The moment they asked my ID, I had to buy the foreigner’s ticket: P I can agree to the fact that the country thrives on tourism, but if Sri Lanka are to attract tourists from India, they need to relax the price for SAARC countries. 

It was always my dream to explore this island nation right from my childhood and ever since I watched Cricket matches played by Jayasuriya, Muralidharan, Arvinda De Silva, Ranatunga etc. It all happened that I explored this wonderful nation with my beloved dad. Thanks to my good friend Kaja who helped me in all aspects to explore this scenic country and made my stay so wonderful and pleasant. Thanks to my new Sinhalese friend Supan and his mother who showed the beauty of Nuwera Eliya and gave us a chance to stay in their guest house in Kandy. 

What was more fascinating about this island nation was, one stretch you have hill stations, mountain peaks and within 200 kms one hits the coastal line and within 200 kms one sees the cultural heritage with Buddhist monasteries. I could see all three languages Sinhala, Tamil and English written in all information and sign boards. I wish Sri Lanka as a country to strive in all aspects in south east asia in the coming years after all the bitter experiences of what has happened in that country. 

Many believed, the former Ceylon would be an example of thriving economy after Britishers left the sub continent. But unfortunately, became the totally mismanaged country of the world with all bloodshed, civil war and petty politics. But I could realize that every individual in the island nation are glad that the war is over and hoping for a new beginning. Sri Lanka, must see island in south east asia and perfect location for holidays during winter in Europe.

Cheers, 

Sathish Kumar S

Cycling in East Coast Road, Chennai

I traveled humpty number of times on East Coast Road in Chennai but I never imagined one day that I would do cycling on Sunday morning with sun rise across the coastline. Thanks to Suresh who gave me the wonderful opportunity to do cycling on East Coast Road by bringing his own sports cycle and motivating all along the ride. Our target was to finish less than an hour covering 25 kms. Finally we ended up at 57 minutes. It was a beautiful sunshine with mild breeze blowing across the coastline. I never imagined that there are quite a number of avid passionate cyclists in Chennai. Hats off to Tamil Nadu Cycling Club which conducts all these events in a more professional and organized manner. Certainly a day to remember for a Chennai boy J

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Business trip to India....

My long dream got satiated of making a business trip to India. Thanks to Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad and Werum Software & Systems for making this to happen. The main motivation why I left India for higher studies to Germany is to increase the chance of doing trade relations between India and Europe. In fact the idea behind the studies by German Universities is to increase the trade relations between the countries.

Honestly, it was a special feeling to represent a German software firm for Indian giant Pharmaceutical manufacturer. It was the first time that I traveled with my German passport and my OCI card. It was just a formality in the immigration checks. After the business trip, my colleague Florian wants to see my city Chennai. We had a nice time together exploring Mahabalipuram, east coast beaches and typical South Indian dinner. Certainly an experience which will reside in my memory for long time!

Cheers,

Sathish Kumar S

Isle of Skye, Scotland

Scotland, Wales, England together form Great Britain, Great Britain along with Northern Ireland form United Kingdom. Had a great chance to visit Scotland especially Isle of Skye during our trip to London. We rented a car in London and drove first to Glasgow. It was about 450 miles (650 kms) from London and took six to eight hours with frequent breaks. It was bit challenging for the first half an hour because they drive on the opposite side of the road unlike Europeans and sign boards shows Miles instead of Kilometers.

The drive from Glasgow to Broadford (Isle of Skye) was breathtaking with wonderful landscapes. The mountain range along with beautiful lakes on a sunny day was simply awesome. Probably one of the best road trips in Europe next to Bergen to Oslo in Norway. Norway and Scotland are different landscapes where the mountains in Norway are bit high and fjords add extra beauty to it. Scotland has got some lovely medium high mountains and many lakes. Benn avis the highest mountain range in Scotland gives panoramic view of the lovely landscape. 

The movie Harry Potter was taken in Scotland and one gets a chance to see those shooting spots while driving to Isle of Skye. Eilean Donan castle is worth visiting on the way to Isle of Skye. The bridge connecting the mainland and Isle of Skye is breathtaking. Portree is the biggest city in the Island followed by Broadford where one could stay overnight. The round trip along the coastline was a great experience and Dun vegan castle is a must in Scotland. What one shouldn’t miss in Scotland are the boat trips and seals tour. 

 The boat trip takes you to the middle of the sea and gives a great chance to see the seals. It was indeed an experience which will reside in my memory for long time. There were quite number of sheeps in the middle of the road and driving amidst them was a different experience altogether. Thank god we had three drivers who could frequently switch so that nobody is tired. The return trip from Isle of Skye was to Edinburgh where we could connect our flight back to Germany. We were lucky that it never rained during our stay in Scotland. Definitely for nature lovers and road trip adventurers, Scotland especially Isle of Skye can offer lot of attractions. 

I must honestly admit that it was bit difficult in the beginning to understand Scottish but with time, you realize it’s yet another dialect of English. I heard from my cousin there were quite of lot of Scottish settlers in New Zealand. I could presume both the countries have similar landscape one in the northern hemisphere and the other in southern hemisphere. Scotland wasn’t that expensive when compared to London. All in all we all had a great time in the Island, drove around 1000 miles (1600 kms) and thanks to weather god; she was so kind enough for us for the whole trip. 

Cheers,

Sathih Kumar S