Go Alfresco: P. F. Chang's, Downtown San Jose

Pleasant weather is here. If you are visiting Downtown San Jose, it's a good time to have an alfresco lunch at PF Chang's. The festive interiors are something to be enjoyed from the outside. You can also experience the 'Capital of Silicon Valley' go about its day: shoppers, head-turning swanky cars, loud vintage cars, the even louder Harleys whizzing past, some presumably homeless people in fully loaded bikes...

That reminds me-- the day we were sitting outside P.F.Chang's China Bistro, there was music blaring from a bicycle-with-a-loudspeaker and the chap on it seemed to be resolved to go up and down the street fishing for all the attention he could get. (Yeah, it happens here also -- sometimes :) ) Don't let this make you think it is a crazily loud city; all this seemed to be packaged with intermittent periods of quiet. It was Mother's Day too, so there were random people shouting out Happy Mother's Day to me as they walked down South Second Street.

This Spring/Summer go alfresco at this P.F.Chang's and feel the energy of Downtown San Jose.

If you are not too familiar with PF Chang's Menu and are wondering what to eat, let me suggest a few great dishes:

Crispy Crab Wontons

P.F. Chang's Fried Rice

Crab Fried Rice

Dali Chicken (with potatoes)

P.F. Chang's China Bistro
98 S. Second St.
San Jose
CA.

One Picture From My Photo Album - Rowing to realisation

A picture of yours truly. The place is Phewa Lake in Pokhra, Nepal. And I was heading to the island temple of Barahi. What made me pick this picture from the travel albums? This was the trip that rowed me towards accepting the fact that I was bitten by the travel bug.

It was my first trip out of the country. It was my first trip without friends and family. I was on a familiarization trip organised by NTB* for the Bangalore Media. I was travelling with four other journalists who went from being complete strangers to people I shared my Nepal-experience with.

Our getting-to-know of what was then the Himalayan Kingdom started at Kathmandu. We also visited Nagarkot, Pokhra and Jomsom. Each of these stations in our itinerary showed us different sides of Nepal. Kathmandu showed us the country’s cultural best: temples and historical sites. Nagarkot gave us a taste of Nepal’s hill stations while Pokhra let us take it easy and play tourists. And Jomsom transported us to a place like no other. I’ll need a whole post to tell that story.

The images from that trip are still fresh. Have you heard the quote that goes: Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends but it is played out over and over again in the quietest chamber. The mind can never break off from the journey**?

I guess that was what I meant when I concluded my travelogue saying: even after take off from Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu, my tryst with the Himalayan Country did not come to an end. My mind still makes quick trips to Jomsom, Pokhara and Nagarkot, to the gusty road-to-Marpha, to the boating on serene Phewa Lake and to a string of other memories I carried with me from the beautiful Himalayan nation.

Earth Quake at San Francisco's Academy of Sciences

Earthquakes and California have a long and remarkable history together. California is North America's Earthquake capital and San Francisco, California's. Here in the San Francisco Bay area, we have more reasons to worry if we don't get our regular doses of tremors for the year.

The Bay Area is rich in faults and so we talk earthquakes a lot. After all, this is the area that became victim to two notable earthquakes in the last century and they say there's another big quake looming large. Experts tell us the next 'big one' as they refer to it, will have hit before the end of the next 30 years. Now that these parts are not unfamiliar with quakes and have learnt many lessons from quakes big and small, preparedness is almost a watchword. Every now and then, we are reminded that we live in a seismologically vulnerable part of the earth and that we must be ready for the next big quake; at least as ready as we can be.

The reminders come as drills, demonstrations on TV, booklets left around some places and anniversaries of the 1906 earthquake and the Loma Prieta of 1989. Added to this list a few months back, is an eye-opening new exhibit at The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. It is simply called 'Earth Quake.'

A wall of pictures from the Earthquake exhibit

If you live in the earthquake capital or visit often, you might want to visit this exhibit and get a feel of a fairly-big earthquake and even equip yourself with ample information as far as dealing with the disaster is concerned. Knowing what to do in the wake of a quake will be useful, regardless of where you live; you never know when and where a quake will strike.

When we visited Academy of Sciences, we made it a point to take advantage of the Earth Quake exhibit. Here's a quick run through:

Earth Quake - the exhibit has been placed in the west hall of the Academy. The entrance is through a huge crack on a model of the earth. The crack didn't seem like a big deal to me but the Earth Quake area was very enlightening on the whole. There were models of the earth with the tectonic plates marked on it, there were photographs from the big quakes of the area and there were displays explaining the theory of the supercontinent that existed some 200 million years ago; how it might have split and how animal-life might have gotten distributed in the process.

Some other things that stood out were the the planetarium-type pre-show and the Shake House. The Shake House has been built inside a structure that is modelled like one of SF's famous Painted Ladies. Inside the Victorian house was a room that simulated two earthquakes: one of a magnitude of 6.9 (that of the Loma Prieta) followed by a 7.9 of the 1906 quake.

Another important feature here at the Earth Quake was the preparedness section that told us how to be as ready as possible.

I repeat -- if you have any association with the SF Bay area, it won't hurt to know what to do the next time the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate slide against each other or even overlap. But then again, these things happen in a lot of other parts of planet earth. A little knowledge might go a long way so here's sharing what I learnt and what I am reminded of from time to time. :

What to do:

-- If you feel a quake and if the outdoors is a long way off or a few storeys away, sit yourself under a sturdy table till the tremors are gone.

-- If you are visiting SF Bay area or you live in a seismologically active area, make sure you have an earthquake emergency kit.

-- Have a  plan for your family: Where to meet if you have to leave home/work; who will pick up kids from school and all of that. It would be great to have some crank radios as cell phone communication will most probably be disrupted or jammed.

-- Make sure you have some frozen food in your refrigerator, even if you are against processed food. The idea is to have some food (for at least 48 hours) that needs no cooking. In the event of a quake you may not have power and water for a couple of days.

*  *  *

List of California Quakes

Another place to experience a simulated earthquake - Universal Studios,CA.
Want to stand on the Hayward Fault for a moment? Visit Oakland Zoo
California Academy of Sciences Off. site

There's an ace appa-kadai around here

Appam and Chicken Curry

There are Indian Restaurants and there are Indian Restaurants that never disappoint. One such place is Aachi Appa Kadai in Santa Clara. California. We've been to this restaurant several times and have been happy with the place, every time. Hoping this place will keep up the tastes and quality of its food, TipsyFromTheTrip would like to recommend the Appams here.

Aachi Appa Kadai serves Appam in different combinations:

Appam and Chicken Curry

Appam and Egg Curry

Appam and coconut milk

Appam and Veg Kurma

Appam and Mutton Curry

Appam and Fish Curry

They also have Paneer Appam and Chicken Kheema Appam.

Chicken Kheema Appam

Note:  This post is a recommendation for the Appams. Aachi Appa Kadai is a Chettinad restaurant and has other dishes too. If you'd like to know what they are and what new appam combinations they have, you could look up their official site aachiappakadai.com. 

Also note:

• Must taste - the appams in whatever combination you like.
• Must never do - take away the Appams. Appams-to-go will never be as good as the hot ones you eat at the restaurant. 
• Warning - On weekends (and Friday nights), you might have to wait as long as half an hour to be be seated. 
• It looks like Aachi Appakadai has just opened a second restaurant around here. I haven't visited there yet, when I do so, I'll let you know how it goes. 

Sunset at Sunset Beach

Softly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon

Like a magician extended his golden wand o'er the landscape;

Twinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest

Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.

                                                                    -- Longfellow

If you like watching sunsets at quiet beaches, Sunset State Beach in Watsonville, CA seems like a perfect location. Sunset Beach lies at the end of Sunset Beach Road (past the campsites on the hill). It looks like if it's not summer, the beach is a pretty deserted place at dusk.