Whatever I like in this space, it's my profile.
Today was Global Smurf Day in NYC.. They wanted to break the Guiness Book of Records for the most number people dressed up as Smurfs in a single location. They were giving away smurf hats and pants and blue color to paint faces and all. It was fun, but loks like the NYCers need a bit of tips and advice in organizing funner events and par up to SanFranciscans funky events and fun crowd.
Yesterday was the 100th annual Bay2Breakers race in San Francisco - one of the most fun races ever. 12k, very little elevation and lots of fun, costumes, and craziness. Went again to walk the 12k and be part of all the good fun. Check out the pic below for some of the craziness at the race.
That was a few weeks ago actually, but I did not yet had the chance to post the and no better time than Christmas to post the santa con pics with all the bay area santas congregating and having fun :)
I reached Antigua on a Sunday and the fair was in town !! I love fairs.. the rides, the junk food, the people, the energy.. of course I could not miss it while I was there. I was glad I came on the right day for it. I had an awesome time at the fair and the rides were awesome !! though.. sub-security standards as compared to the US... but that's what made the rides extremely thrilling and exciting !! The food too was awesome.. though as fair food anywhere else in the world.. very greasy and unhealthy and all.. but once in a while, it's all good :)
North of Cartagena de Indias, there is a 15m high Clay Volcano - The Volcan de Totumo - Yes, the volcano spits out mud/clay from within rather than lava.
Every Valentine's day, there's a Pillow Fight Flash Mob in San Francisco. Many hundreds of people gather at a public space and pillow fight each other !! Today, yet again, another valentine's day, another pillow fight !!
Read more about the SF Pillow fight here.http://www.pillowfight.info/Here's a video I took of the event
Christmas day - I decided to invite a few friendsover for dinner at my place. While a lot of people were out or had other xmas dinner plans, there were still quite a few friends who were able to make it and we had the most wonderful time. Initially I was thinking to do a potluck, but then I decided to cook it all and feed them and rather ask each of them to bring in the drinks and deserts. We started off with chinese dumplings. Chopsticks were pretty handy to eat the communal dumplings. After dumplings, I had a freshly baked quiche with spinach. Following the appetizers, we went on the salad course - we had a nice red leaf lettuce salad made by Kendra. The main courses consisted of Roast Beef and Scalloped potatoes in parmesan and butter made by my housemate and I had cooked Basmati rice with peas and carrots, massaman thai chicken curry with dried peanuts, vegetarian thai red curry and stir fried chayotte. Then the desert course consisted of Upside down pineapple cake cooked by both Priscille and Deepti, Brownies by Brian and Chocolate bark by Deepti again,
After dinner, we had a white elephant gift exchange. It was real fun. We all had brought in a gift that were waiting under the Christmas tree. We took in numbers which determined the order which we picked an unopened gifts. We had a great nice variety of gifts, but I think the best gift though is the one Deepti brought - a yodelling pickle !!! That brought some good laughs :) Then we played lots of nice fun games - lies and truths... Had a great time in the great company of my great friends !
This is my fourth and last series of pictures from Burning Man 2009.
In the last 3 pictures, you can see the extremely packed van that Kimo had packed with a lot of patience and effort (Van was packed the the max with all our gear and bicycles and Kimo had come to the city from Dublin to pick our stuff the day before and packed it all on his own so that we could leave promptly on Tuesday afternoon). In the next picture, you can see where I stayed. I stayed in the little yellow tent and next to it, we had the shade structure that Tony and Therese had graciously welcomed me to. The shade structure was a parachute that was set on top of PVC pipes. Tony and Therese had it set up like a home away from home. Under the shade structure, we had carpets, couches, coffee tables, decorations, plants. It was a really nice setup. We spent most of the hottest times of the day in there. Then the last picture is a picture of Phoenix, Kimo, Me, David and Melanie - with whom i came.Check out part 1 of my burning man 2009 pictures
Check out part 2 of my burning man 2009 pictures
Check out part 3 of my burning man 2009 pictures
The first picture and last picture portrayed in this set is from the Temple at Burning Man. Each year they build a different temple. As read from another blog -- "The temple, which is a giant, elaborate, wooden structure designed to inspire/nudge you towards a solemn/prayerful/meditative/ transformative/grateful/introspective mindset. People leave burnable offerings at the temple, and in a quiet and mindful gathering on Sunday night of the event, the temple (and its offerings) are burned.
Offerings can represent things for which you'd like to give thanks, things you'd like to have burned away, hopes, wishes, ideas, bad habits, good habits, get-well wishes, shout-outs to those who have passed on, inspirational things, questions, requests, whatever."Upon entering the temple, it's one of these places, that you immediately feel the spirituality and intense atmosphere.Many people are there meditating, reflecting on the people they have loved and lost. They burn the temple on the night after the burning of the man .i.e Sunday. Unlike the burn of the man, where everybody is partying, celebrating the burn, the Temple burn is very silent and spiritual. With the few ten thousands people gathered for the temple burn, it's just amazing to feel that silence and unity in the air as we watch the temple burn and spirits flying away from it.Check out part 1 of my burning man 2009 pictures
Check out part 2 of my burning man 2009 pictures
