Stands for Bay Area, and is the symbol for BART and British Airways. I successfully drove the three hundred miles to Santa Clara in spite of G.'s constant prattle. She still thinks she won at the Word Building game we played to kill time, even though I won comprehensively. We stopped at Atascadero to get some Pizza Express. At that time my rear was very sore (and I don't mean the rear of the car) and I welcomed the rest. The landscape was pretty unremarkable after Atascadero around the exit for Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was pretty barren and desert-like. Luckily the speed limit on that stretch was 70, so I promptly pushed Julie to do 85. It was also extremely windy, and there was a strange noise on the driver's side, so I pulled over for a while and filled in some air in the tires. Eventually when the wind died down, I realized I didn't have to worry at all as G. pointedly pointed out.
The south part of the San Francisco Bay Area has a lot of Indians. We could see the first signs of Silicon Valley when we were near San Jose. The two lane freeway became five lanes wide. Tall buildings of software companies appeared into sight. I got to Santa Clara about five and a half hours after leaving home - which I think is pretty good, considering we had a forty five minute stop for lunch. That night we ate at a place called Grand Indian Buffet. The variety of the food was mind-boggling though the quality was not all that great. I started off with a Masala Dosa and some Idlis (after six long months) and Sambar. The Uthappam was decent too. After the South Indian fare, came the usual Naan and the "Paneer Butter Masala" type of dishes. A huge chicken spread was available too. It was capped off with Gulab Jamun, Carrot Halwa and Mango Ice-Cream. All in all, a decent Indian meal after days, so I was pretty happy.
The next couple of days were for rest and recuperation, so I took full advantage by watching the NBA finals on the Samsung plasma HDTV. When I start earning (i.e. a decent amount of money), I've decided I'm going to buy a HDTV and get channels from India, especially Headlines Today. The day after rest, I went to Palo Alto. University Ave seems an excellent place to just chill. Initially of course, I took the wrong side of University Ave and went into East Palo Alto, where the decrepit run down houses bore no signs of bead shops. I couldn't even see house numbers as I was looking for #158 but to no avail. When University Ave. finally culminated in Highway 84 I knew I had come the wrong way. I took a quick U-turn and went the other side. The road narrowed and I entered downtown Palo Alto. The shops immediately showed an increase in prosperity and I knew I was close. I drove for another 10 blocks before I found free parking (glory be to Stanford!) and wandered around University Ave. Purchased all beading equipment successfully and walked down University Ave. I considered eating at Hyderabad House, a Paneer Roll that might have reminded me of Kabab Corner back home. Finally, I settled for another buffet - at a place called Darbar.
The next day I drove to the place with probably the most concentration of Indians, Fremont, CA. I parked in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station. I took a round-trip from Fremont to San Francisco (10$). This particular train starts from Fremont and goes up the East Bay. We passed the relative squalor of South Hayward into the industrial areas of Oakland. After the West Oakland station, the train goes under the Bay Area and enters San Francisco. I got off at the first stop - Embarcadero. The Embarcadero or Herb Caen Way skirts the East side of the Bay. All the piers of San Francisco are on the Embarcadero. I walked from Pier 1 to Fisherman's Wharf. Pier 39 is a huge draw to tourists with lots of eateries and entertainment joints. A juggler especially caught my fancy, not with his juggling acts but with his patter. He made out to be a very ordinary juggler but he could easily juggle three razor sharp machetes, while balanced on a plank placed on a circular pipe. I toyed with going to Alcatraz, a cruise which would have taken a couple of hours. I also toyed at going to the Alcatraz souvenir shop and buying a prison T-shirt. I did neither, though I saw an extremely beautiful blonde woman who was wearing a tube top with prison colours. I saluted Alcatraz and finally settled on a Dreyer's ice cream to ward off the heat and headed back to Pier 1.
The next day was the half an hour drive to Foster City, CA. It seems like one of the lonelier places in the Bay Area. One can't reach Foster City by BART. The BART terminates at San Francisco International Airport, on the west side of the bay. However, the west side is well connected by Cal-Train. I missed a chance to go on this double-decker train. The main draw of Foster City is a lagoon. Kayaks can be rented and the lagoon isn't small, so kayaking is a fun activity one can do there. I didn't have much time that day, so I didn't do it and we returned to Santa Clara.
The next afternoon I ate lunch from Swati Tiffins. This take-out place is just off Lawrence Expy, and the prices are very cheap; or at least comparatively cheaper than the other Indian places. After lunch, I drove to north Oakland for the weekend. I was met by J. and Raja. Raja was initially a little shy but then she warmed up to me by stretching out on my lap. She also has the typical cat mentality to stalk for prey. This was evident when she tried to hunt down a laser beam, one provided by a key-chain. She also bites, not very viciously, because I got bitten quite a bit (pun not intended). We went to Peet's on 4th St, in Berkeley. I remembered the chaat place we had visited six months back, on the way back from Napa. Chaat Cafe, on University Ave. apparently pales in comparison to Viks Chaat Corner, also close by, on Allston Way. In the evening, we went to Alameda, and dinner at an Italian place.
In the morning, we went to Nomad Cafe, where J. and a musician called Jacques Ibula were performing. Armed with a guitar, and accompanied by J. on the violin and a bass guitarist, they touched the hearts of the people in Nomad Cafe. A lady even cried when Jacques was talking about Africa. After that, me, J. and K. played basketball at the local park. Tired out after that, I had lunch and then we went to Berkeley Bowl. A very famous shopping center in Berkeley, it's always filled with people. We managed to make it before closing time. Berkeley Bowl is so famous that it's packed at almost all times. It was announced twenty minutes before that they were going to close. When it became closing time, there was still a long line at all checkout counters. Very humorously, the announcement was "Berkeley Bowl is officially closed".
I left after the shopping at Berkeley Bowl, back to Santa Clara. Next day, being a Monday, we thought we would go to downtown Mountain View. Castro St. was a let-down. It ended too quickly. We couldn't find the chaat place, so we finally made it back up El Camino Real to Indian Chaat House. Unfortunately, the quality of food wasn't that great here either. Apart from the Salt Lassi, the other items were not good at all. When I ordered Masala Puri, I got a Puri that was made of methi and some vegetable. Not classic chaat one felt. Amusingly, the place had TVs that showed Hindi songs with English sub-titles. One ridiculous sub-title said "Look at the colorful tie I wear" and other such literal translations.
The next day, I left Julie at Foster City and caught a cab to San Francisco International. My Asian Vegetarian meal on the San Francisco-London was surprisingly good, considering the food that British Airways served last time. As usual, I caught a couple of movies, one being Don, which was really awful. The action parts of the movie were achieved with a lot of hand-waving without any substance. Because of my online check-in, I got a window seat, I could see the whole of downtown San Francisco and I saw the Rockies when I flew over them. When we flew over London, I saw Craven Cottage, home of Fulham Football Club. At the time I didn't know I was going to stay close to there. When I arrived in London, I was presented an Oyster card for getting around the London underground. We took the blue line back to Baron's court but I was denied the sleep of the just until that night.
The next day I drove to the place with probably the most concentration of Indians, Fremont, CA. I parked in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station. I took a round-trip from Fremont to San Francisco (10$). This particular train starts from Fremont and goes up the East Bay. We passed the relative squalor of South Hayward into the industrial areas of Oakland. After the West Oakland station, the train goes under the Bay Area and enters San Francisco. I got off at the first stop - Embarcadero. The Embarcadero or Herb Caen Way skirts the East side of the Bay. All the piers of San Francisco are on the Embarcadero. I walked from Pier 1 to Fisherman's Wharf. Pier 39 is a huge draw to tourists with lots of eateries and entertainment joints. A juggler especially caught my fancy, not with his juggling acts but with his patter. He made out to be a very ordinary juggler but he could easily juggle three razor sharp machetes, while balanced on a plank placed on a circular pipe. I toyed with going to Alcatraz, a cruise which would have taken a couple of hours. I also toyed at going to the Alcatraz souvenir shop and buying a prison T-shirt. I did neither, though I saw an extremely beautiful blonde woman who was wearing a tube top with prison colours. I saluted Alcatraz and finally settled on a Dreyer's ice cream to ward off the heat and headed back to Pier 1.
The next day was the half an hour drive to Foster City, CA. It seems like one of the lonelier places in the Bay Area. One can't reach Foster City by BART. The BART terminates at San Francisco International Airport, on the west side of the bay. However, the west side is well connected by Cal-Train. I missed a chance to go on this double-decker train. The main draw of Foster City is a lagoon. Kayaks can be rented and the lagoon isn't small, so kayaking is a fun activity one can do there. I didn't have much time that day, so I didn't do it and we returned to Santa Clara.
The next afternoon I ate lunch from Swati Tiffins. This take-out place is just off Lawrence Expy, and the prices are very cheap; or at least comparatively cheaper than the other Indian places. After lunch, I drove to north Oakland for the weekend. I was met by J. and Raja. Raja was initially a little shy but then she warmed up to me by stretching out on my lap. She also has the typical cat mentality to stalk for prey. This was evident when she tried to hunt down a laser beam, one provided by a key-chain. She also bites, not very viciously, because I got bitten quite a bit (pun not intended). We went to Peet's on 4th St, in Berkeley. I remembered the chaat place we had visited six months back, on the way back from Napa. Chaat Cafe, on University Ave. apparently pales in comparison to Viks Chaat Corner, also close by, on Allston Way. In the evening, we went to Alameda, and dinner at an Italian place.
In the morning, we went to Nomad Cafe, where J. and a musician called Jacques Ibula were performing. Armed with a guitar, and accompanied by J. on the violin and a bass guitarist, they touched the hearts of the people in Nomad Cafe. A lady even cried when Jacques was talking about Africa. After that, me, J. and K. played basketball at the local park. Tired out after that, I had lunch and then we went to Berkeley Bowl. A very famous shopping center in Berkeley, it's always filled with people. We managed to make it before closing time. Berkeley Bowl is so famous that it's packed at almost all times. It was announced twenty minutes before that they were going to close. When it became closing time, there was still a long line at all checkout counters. Very humorously, the announcement was "Berkeley Bowl is officially closed".
I left after the shopping at Berkeley Bowl, back to Santa Clara. Next day, being a Monday, we thought we would go to downtown Mountain View. Castro St. was a let-down. It ended too quickly. We couldn't find the chaat place, so we finally made it back up El Camino Real to Indian Chaat House. Unfortunately, the quality of food wasn't that great here either. Apart from the Salt Lassi, the other items were not good at all. When I ordered Masala Puri, I got a Puri that was made of methi and some vegetable. Not classic chaat one felt. Amusingly, the place had TVs that showed Hindi songs with English sub-titles. One ridiculous sub-title said "Look at the colorful tie I wear" and other such literal translations.
The next day, I left Julie at Foster City and caught a cab to San Francisco International. My Asian Vegetarian meal on the San Francisco-London was surprisingly good, considering the food that British Airways served last time. As usual, I caught a couple of movies, one being Don, which was really awful. The action parts of the movie were achieved with a lot of hand-waving without any substance. Because of my online check-in, I got a window seat, I could see the whole of downtown San Francisco and I saw the Rockies when I flew over them. When we flew over London, I saw Craven Cottage, home of Fulham Football Club. At the time I didn't know I was going to stay close to there. When I arrived in London, I was presented an Oyster card for getting around the London underground. We took the blue line back to Baron's court but I was denied the sleep of the just until that night.
