The July 4th Weekend

We have been planning to watching the Indepedence day Fireworks display at SFO for 3 years now and finally 2013 was the year. 

All the waiting, traffic, congestion, finding-a-parking-spot, rush, queues and the 3 times more time it took us to reach home was really worth the experience. The time & effort it took and the 100s of cops I saw, constantly reminded me of watching Mysore Dasara.

I am a big fan of 'Bench-with-a-View' and when its with the smell of Sea and sound of waves, it can't get better!

People also add life to a beach..

This one is my all time favorite picture. The Artist in me was instantly gratified. I would anyday trade my time to do this!

An experience can never be complete without watching the Golden Gate Bridge, no matter what weather conditions the ocean throws at us!

Food Photography - 2

Sometimes I am left perplexed looking at the plate that lands in front of me thinking, "was this one of the dishes I ordered?", and when I am sure that the order is not delivered to the wrong table, I am left with "which one from my order could this possibly be?"

On one such day while we went out for breakfast.... Guess what this is?

 French Toast!

Previous entry - Food Photography - 1

US National Parks

One of my proudest and happiest possession last year was a US National Park Annual Pass! Yes, you read it right. There is no one US National Park which hasn't amazed me. The basic facilities, services, roads, trails, maps, sign boards, ranger talks and programs and the brochure which I bring home to cherish my visit for long - each one is perfect. The guidance from the Rangers and conversations with National Park Volunteers makes the entire experience even better. More on each parks in later posts. California has the most National Parks i.e 9 and followed by Alaska, which has 8.

And here is the list of National Parks that I ticked-off my list last year in the same order -

1) Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
2) Death Valley National Park, NV
3) Joshua Tree National Park, CA
4) Zion National Park, UT
5) Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
6) Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA
7) Crater Lake National Park, OR
8) Everglades National Park, FL
9) Biscayne National Park, FL
10) Redwood National Park, CA

I am amazed at the count now. That is quite a lot of travelling considering the very little vacation time that we get in this country!

Say Cheese....

I think I've started clicking more food pictures after I started spending time going through those amazing food blogs, in a quest to find authentic recipes and satiate our salivary glands! This is my another attempt to photograph food after the previous post 'Food Photography-1'.

It was one cold October evening in South Lake Tahoe and just after the first snow for the season - we walked around our hotel exploring the area and to buy some necessities for the trip. And this Cheese collection is what caught my attention. These were the first set of photos from my then new iPhone 5. The camera did a pretty neat job and ensured that I don't miss a lot of things when my DSLR is not around. And that was a sigh of relief! 

Food Photography - 1

I have never tried food photography, but always wonder in awe at all those delightful food bloggers who apart from sharing the recipe, share those awesome work of art - the dish and the photograph! Many times the dish which lands on my table is so interesting that, I pick-up my iPhone instead of the Cutlery. The Hubby is mostly okay as long as I am not clicking his plate and stopping him from using his Cutlery :)

 Swedish Berry Pancakes

Berry Pancakes

Aaaah, those loaded fresh berries! I like the American version, but that's because the Swedish version is thin like Crepes and tend to disappear sooner. Giving the chains a miss and discovering family owned restaurants always has rewarded us with awesome food.

At interesting art work in one of the Breakfast places.