Quite a Weekend.. Really!!

Why? Well.. it all started on Friday when I was supposed to take Bolt Bus to DC from Newark and I ended up on bus to Boston.. yeah!! The driver checked the ticket and didn't say anything and I thought it was bus to DC as it was on same spot & boarded it. No announcements made either.. Half way through I realized I am on wrong bus and asked the driver, he tells me I need to go to Boston & take another Bus back. WTF? I call customer care & they get me to dispatch, which tells me to get off at rest stop Burger King & they'll have bus to NY from Boston pick me &take to NYC where I can take bus to DC. They talk to driver about location & the idiot again screws up by giving them wrong location. I end up waiting 4.5 hrs at that stop when after making five calls, finally a bus shows up. I get in NYC at 10 where I finally board Megabus (which I don't like, but they came to my rescue) to DC reaching DC at 2 in night after 15 hrs of journey.. Could have made to India in that time!!

Next day i.e. Saturday, paid a visit to National Zoo in DC with Tani. Small zoo, but okay. Orangutans & Gorrillas there are nice & active & smart seeming. Orangutans take the high rope & fly across one cage to another, was fun to watch. One was pissing & pooping while hanging in air, weirdo.. The other specialty is Giant Panda. They were being leased fro $1 Million until recently and now US is paying $500,000 to China. All they do, is sit & eat Bamboo. For that kinda money, they should do a dance show or something... Regardless, it was fun but the evening was not. Went to Amy's birthday party at PF Chang in Arlington where I was served with completely wrong dish, extreme opposite of what I ordered. The manager came & apologized & all that, but still.. very-very bad.. We did get free appetizer coupons  and $45 gift card for me & Amy each. So anyways, all in all, it was REALLY.. QUITE a WEEKEND!!

Happy India Republic Day 2012!!

Jay Leno's insult to Sikh

US defends comedian Jay Leno jibe

Really? Why so?? With republic day coming tomorrow.. I mean, maybe be more open to humor... I do not personally approve of what Leno did, I don't even like him actually. But this is right of free speech and what he showed what just sarcastic skit. Didn't say anything in particular about Sikhs or the religion at al in this skit. So maybe  loosen up & take it easy. We see even more in India itself, direct insults & dis-respect. This is an American guy just doing his job the way he does it.. & it didn't show any direct dis-respect to sikhs or even Golden Temple.. Maybe we as a country and as Indian people need to losen up a little & take things easy??

General Motors Diet Plan & SNOW

Should I call it Part 2? Returns? Back? Again? Or what?? I was on the GM Diet Plan again, today being the last day. How was it? Good!! (I did cheat once on Day 3 by eating 2 rusks and 2 kachoris, real bad of me huh). I started last tuesday and finished today. I have not been back to Gym since last August due to various reasons and just wanted to lose some weight, detox & feel good. I do feel good. Crash diets are not easy, probably not good either, but this one is good I think.... The weekend was pretty slow with SNOW & cold & all that, with mostly sleeping -> waking up at 10-11 -> preparing & eating diet food -> watching movie/tv/show -> quick nap of an hour -> waking up & watching movie/tv/show -> preparing eating food -> watching movie/tv/show -> sleeping. Sounds boring?? It really wasn't that bad.. Here's what I watched:

• Good Will Hunting (9/10) Amazing performances, excellent storyline.. Ben & Matt are great in not just writing this story but acting too, Ben's scene with Matt where he tells him he'll kill him is awesome.. just a great movie!!
• Following (8/10) One point extra for being made with so low budget. This first feature film of Chris Nolan, could show you what's in future of this great director (FYI: he has achieved it!!).
• Cashback (5/10) Interesting idea but not that well executed, it's alright.
• Donnie Brasco (8/10) Quite a nice not-so-mob movie with great performances and interesting storyline based on real story. Forget-about-it!!
• GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra (6/10) Great Action & FUN.. but that's it.

So.. thanks for reading (so generous of me!!) & feel free to comment (like you are dependent on my instructions) & keep coming back and.. that's it!!

Wikipedia Blackout - How to bypass?

As usual, I was searching for something yesterday after midnight on Google & then clicked on Wikipedia link to it.. lo'behold (does that mean anything? is it appropriate??) Wikipedia is on blackout for 24 hrs & this is what they say:

Imagine a World
Without Free Knowledge

For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. Learn more.

I do not know much about SOPA & PIPA, but I would like to support something Wikipedia is supporting cuz I like them & they seem to be non-profit kinds. I don't know right now, but I like them for sure cuz they are source of lot of my knowledge. But anyways, its the same for many of you & I am giving a way here to be able to bypass this blackout & read the information you need:

Method 1

Step one: Search for the Wikipedia page you want to view

Step two: Wait for the page and the blackout to load fully.

Step three: Add '?banner=none' to the end of the existing URL and press enter.

Method 2

Step one: Use a search engine to find the Wikipedia page you want to read.

Step two: Once you have have clicked on the page you want to see, you need to click the 'Stop loading this page' button in the address bar of your web browser before the Wikipedia flash page loads. You may need to hit refresh a few times to get used to the timing. (See right)

 Note: You will have a one or two second window to stop the page loading before the black out flash page takes over the site. So it's just a matter of timing when you stop the page loading.

Alternatively you can Google to search for the Wikipedia page you want to read.

Method 3

Step one: Perform a Google search for the Wikipedia page you want to view, allow the page load as normal and wait for the blackout to takeover.

Step two: Copy and paste the URL back into a Google search and hover your mouse over the relevant result, then click on the '>>' symbol.

Step three: You will then see a cached preview image of the Wikipedia page you have searched for. You'll also find the word 'Cached' at the top of the preview image, click on this and it will take you to a non-blacked out Wikipedia page - however, the page will most probably be one day out of date.

Method 4

Step one: Download the official Wikipedia app for your smartphone or tablet. The black out has not effected mobile devices.

Before you bypass the black out, you might like read Wikipedia's statement on why it's "blacking out" its content for 24 hours, to see whether you agree or disagree with its stance.

New Hope PA & Lambertville NJ | Princeton University | Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall.. & Movies!!!!

Yep. that was my long weekend. Full of activities - Really FULL. On Saturday, went to New Hope PA & Lambertville NJ which are right on the banks of Delaware river on either side. It's a beautiful little town with nice restaurants & small non-chain shops (I bought Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh in 3D, without glasses) & all that.. pretty & cute. We had a meal at Marsha's Brown, a protestant church converted into a restaurant - nice food, great vibe, interesting place but bad service (maybe it was just the server guy we got & the girl, both!!). Overall, it was really nice!!

Then, the next stop was Princeton University, I likes it. Nice campus, looks lil like Harvard, but more organised & nicer campus. After a lil hangout there, went to Bent Spoon for a dessert - lovely place & great service (the girl kept asking to try more & more stuff). They have great hot chocolate, loved the habanero flavor. The ginger ice-cream was very good & they have very nice cookies & cupcakes specially I hear. Woudl love to visit Princeton again soon. On the way back stopped at the Durga Temple, a north Indian temple, which was very nice too.

Sunday was the visit to Jersey Garden Outlet Mall, which is huge & nice & indoor (thankfully, for the freezing sub-zero weather). there was 40% store wide discount sale at Old Navy, which made me buy lots of pants & shirts there and at Marshalls. Also watched lots of movies over the week/weekend:

• Sucker Punch (7/10): Nice action & imagination & interesting story
• Take Me Home Tonight (5/10): Kinda funny & okay
• Band Baja Baraat (8/10): Very well made, great performances by Ranveer & Anushka
• Freakonomics (8/10): Very interesting & FUN
• Sherlock (9/10): This is British TV show but I love there adoption of Sherlock, one of the best.. almost better than the movies!!

That was pretty much it, I guess.. how about you??

Got my New Jersey License & Car Regn.

So, today I got my New Jersey Driving License. Also, got the Car Title & Registration, moved to New Jersey. I went to the center in Jersey City and it wasn't bad at all. Took like an hour or so to get all 3 done. I was impressed how easy it was. For license, just make sure you have proper 6 point verification documents. Go to the reception, where they give you 2 small forms. Fill all info, get the documents verified, get picture taken & get license in few mins (this does not include driving test). Title & registration was even easier, just make sure you have original title on you and rest is taken care of by filing 2 small forms with car & your NJ DL info. Getting personalized plate is little pain as you have to get it from Trenton DMV or do it online. Also.. for change/transfer, I also had to call Virginia DMV & County Tax office to tell them of move so they can cancel my registration & not charge me any car tax. (One bad thing is that Virginia does not refund your registration money back unless its more than 6 months :-()

It's been as low as 10 F(-12 C). My room was so cold last night, I almost couldn't sleep. I have steam heating, which I think is very good, makes it more than 80s sometimes & I have to crack the window open, but been cold last 2 days. Maybe it was because of this very cold weather or there is a window open somewhere in the house. Need to check....

Happy New Year 2012!!!!

After 2011.. Happy New Year 2012 to all my followers/readers & everyone!!!!

Had a good new year's day taking stroll in Liberty State Park.. eating at India Street at some new 'Haleem restaurant' with delicious chat & nice haleem.. and then watching Pirates of Caribbean's: On Stranger Tides (5/10: not really good, not funny, not nice action and not understandable either. lemurly lemurable). Looking forward for one of the most wonderful years, till date, this year!!!!