Saturday, December 31, 2011

Kumo and Nala's Meet and Greet

My Wife's cousins got a new dog and they brought her over for a meet and greet with Kumo. The video says it all, nothing else for me to say:

Friday, December 30, 2011

Lost Wallet

On the flight back from Miami, we could not get a direct flight to Detroit so we had to fly into Chicago with a connecting flight to Detroit. We had a 2 1/2 layover in Chicago.

We got to Chicago and there was a Starbucks right around the corner and I went and got a Hot Chocolate. Wife went to the restroom and I gave her a 5 dollar bill to get her Tea, that she drinks very morning. It was not enough so I gave her a $20. She got her tea and then gave me the change which I put int he wallet. I had about $500 in the wallet.

Then we sat at the gate for our flight and I noticed that I did not have my wallet when I landed in Detroit. I called the lost and found for American Airlines and left a message about what I lost.

I got a call the next day that they found my wallet and they fedexed it back to me.

The big question on everyone's mind was how much would in the wallet when it came back to me. I expected Zero, the way everyone was talking that they would return the wallet without taking anything out, you would have expected that their might be a chance for something to be in the wallet. So I got the wallet back and there was, $203 dollars left in the wallet. The only thing missing was my business card and that was it. The credit cards were out of order, but I got about half of the cash in the wallet back. I was surprised. I really truly expected zero back and I would have expected that loss without any issues, since it was my fault for losing the wallet.

Cruise Part 2

In Ocho Rios, Jamaica, we did three activities, Zip Lining, River Rafting and Climbing Duns Falls. All the ship activities only had two of the activities that we wanted so we actually booked these three activites outside the cruise line and got a 40% discount and a Van to ourselves. We had a group of 10 people.

This was the first time I had done Zip Lining. The first Zip Lining was just a long zip line over the canopy of trees and was nice and enjoyable.

The second Zip Line was a telephone pole with a wooden platform. You had to first climb the wooden pole, then get onto the wooden platform and then jump off and there was a 8-12 feet of free fall before the zip line took over. It was a super windy day and it felt like it took for ever to climb the telephone pole and get on top. There were these hooks to climb the telephone pole. Then when I am sitting on top of the platform and the wind is just howling and you are so high up and the whole pole is just moving, but after gathering a lot of courage I jumped and the equipment took over and it was all over. Very Scary.

The third zip line was a Swing. 3 people have to get on and then the swing goes back 90 degrees and then you pull a release line and you are basically on this big swing, swinging back and forth over a big valley. I chickened out on this and did not do it. Everyone kept making fun that I was a chicken, but in Jamaica the term they used was Jungle Duck. So then everyone kept calling me a jungle duck. Quack, quack I say. The second zip line wore out my courage and I did not to prove anything. Quack, quack.

Then we went to the Duns Rivers Falls and you had to get to the bottom of the falls and then climb all the way to the top of the falls in the rushing water. I took one look at this and said to myself, weight plus fall equals helicopter ride to the hospital and I hung in the back of the pack of our group and then quietly stayed back. They get down below and I am missing, too late to look for me. There is a walkway all the way up and down and go down after awhile and look for them, they are still at the bottom.

At this point as I am walking down, there were some stairways to the right and there some beads on the stairs and there is a Jamaican at the top of stairs which has a gate that is locked, he calls over to me. He says can I get the beads, I get them and attempt to toss them to him, he says, "No, come and give them to me."

I go and give them to him and he says that these beads are good luck beads and I should really buy them and he will take whatever I have. I had a ten dollar bill and he gives 2 beads for 10 dollars. (Later I saw the same beads for $1 each, oh well).

Anyway I follow the progress of the gang and after a long time they make it to top. I think they only got one bloody knee. But about 1/2 way up there was an older lady that had fallen and had hurt her hip really bad and later I saw her in a wheelchair. She was at least 50 something and over 300 pounds for sure. What were you thinking, come on.

The last activity was a tube ride down a river and this was without a doubt the greatest tube ride ever. It was on a rushing river and the forest had completely overgrown the river so the river was surrounded by lush vegetation. About halfway down the river we came to a spot where there was a tree in the middle of the river and somebody had a swing on a branch of the tree. I am talking about a swing you see in the old Hindi Movies. The heroes car breaks down and and there is Saroji Devi Swinging in the middle of the river and then Love. Yes, it was that type of swing. So if you are ever in Ocho Rios, you have to do the tubing down the river activity. One of the best and most beautiful places I have ever seen.

Then we went to Grand Cayman islands and we were so worn out from Jamaica that we actually just hung out at 7 mile beach and did jet skiing and being lazy.

That was the cruise. In my opinion, it was great and really the cruise is what you make of it. You can be as busy as you want to be, or you can be as lazy as you want to be. Either way you will love it. I highly recommend that everyone take a cruise, a very affordable and fun vacation.

Final Total for Vacation Expenses:

Cruise: $1400
FontaineBleau: $2000 for 3 nights
Excursions: $1000
Outside Dinners: $1000
Airfare: $2000
Other Expenses: $1000

This was my expenses, but you can do this vacation, much cheaper than I did it. Right next to FountaineBleau was the Sheraton Four Points and that hotel was only $159 a night, or some people booked their flights so that they did not have to stay in a hotel.

When I do something I tend to do it very nice and luxurious, because you are older like me, you never know when you last day might me on this planet, so I tend to enjoy myself if I can afford it.

Cruise

This was a picture of me and the dealer for the blackjack tournament after I won. The prize of $500 was given as red $5 chips in the try on the table.



This was a picture of the girls after they finished the climb at Dunn's Falls



Part of the gang climbing the falls.



In gear and ready for ziplining.



A Picture of me with Miami in the background right before the ship left port.




Like I said this was my first cruise. We went to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Islands. My first impression of the cruise was, it was extremely cheap and the entire staff on the cruise ship were extremely friendly.

The feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner on board and they have a midnight buffet and a 24 hour pizza bar.

The dinner was sit down events and one night it was a dress for dinner event where you had to dress in suits for the men and evening wear for the women. Each night of the dinner there was a different dinner event, for instance there was Congo Dancing, and the women dancing or everyone getting up and dancing near the table.

The cruise ship is full of activities and with so much to choose from, you can make yourself as busy as you want or as inactive as you want.

On the very first night they had a stage show in which the cruise ship director Kevin Noonan, everyone just calls him Noonan, came on stage and wanted 3 men and 3 women on stage. I was trying to be as quite as possible and inconspicuous as possible, but I was called up on the stage. I was the first person called up. Basically it was people introducing themselves and Noonan having fun with names and what they did. So there was a very sweet Chinese girl named Vam Pre Ho (Or something like that), so Noonan started called her Vampire Ho. We all started called her Vampire HO, and trust me her name really sounded like Vampire Ho, that was so funny, I guess you had to be there to understand why it was so funny.

Anyway I was the first one on stage but the last one to be called on by Noonan. He asks me who I am here with with and I tell him my wife and 20 other friends. He asks for my wife to come on stage and he asks her if I am romantic, and she says NO! I agreed with that assessment. Then he tells my wife that he is going to make me do something romantic. Then he comes over to me and says that in front of the whole audience I need to say, "I love my Wife as much as BLANK" and I need to fill in the blank and then walk across the stage and then kiss my wife.

He told me to practice the walk and I just started walking across normal and he says No, NO, a romantic walk and asks for one of the other men on stage to show me and one the blank men on stage does that slow gait cool black walk with a low dip on one side. So finally I say, "I love My Wife as much as Kumo" (Nobody had any idea as to wait or who Kumo was), and then I walked across the stage sexually (not really, I think) and dipped my wife and kissed her and the audience exploded with cheers and applause. Then there was a game with a spoon and a string and we were divided into teams of three and we had to take the spoon and drop in the pant legs for men and down the blouses for women. Our group of three won that and they asked us to pull it back and we apparently lost that by a fraction of a second. Either way all the participants got a bottle of wine for coming on stage.

The funny thing was that they kept playing that stage show on the TV's in all the rooms the entire cruise. So everywhere I went, everyone knew me. The passengers knew me, the staff knew me, basically everybody knew me and just called me Vijay the entire cruise.

Here is the video I found on Neeta's Camera:



I also won money in the poker room and I won the blackjack tournament on the ship. The blackjack tournament was fun. You had to have one of the top 7 scores high scores among about 80-100 people that took part. Then the top 7 sat down and played 7 hands of Blackjack and the top score would win. The prize was $500 and a gold ship trophy. It was not the money, but the thrill of competition and I was so nervous. Basically by the 6th hand I was about $100 more than everybody else, and on the last hand I was all in but that $100 and I got a 20 on the last hand and I won. Yeah, that was thrilling for sure! There was a big group behind all the players cheering or groaning based on who they were cheering for, very exciting.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Fontainebleau and Jamaica

I think I have gotten old and set in my ways. Each person has their own way of relaxation on vacation. So I am in this beautiful hotel called: Fontainebleau in Miami and the hotel has I think 11 separate pools. Wife is hanging in the pool, but for some reason I like to hang near the pool, but reading, eating and drinking.

I can swim for 5 minutes, but I do like to read while the wind blows on you from the ocean. I keep getting pressured to this activity and that activity, but is it so wrong to just hang out read and if that is something I really enjoy?

We are about to get on a cruise ship to Jamaica in another few hours. The real horror of this 5 days is that there is no Internet or Cell phone usage. I hear you can use the cell phone, but that it costs $4.50 per minutes. The internet also works, but $.75 per minute. Jeez, basically they have priced it so that it is really not there.

I have lots of pictures from the hotel and I will post them when I get back on the 23rd. By then I should have lots of pictures from the cruise also.

This is my first cruise, so I will post a review after I get back on the 23rd.

Pictures From My Room at the Fontainebleau:










Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Dad & My Dog

When my dad and mom came and stayed with us, I would see Kumo come near his snacks and my Dad would give him something. So Now after dad has left that habit has now stayed. Kumo will come and stand near his snacks, and then he will sit near his snacks and then finally he lays down in front of the area where we keep his snacks, until someone gives him something.

Kumo can easily just knock them down with his paw and then tear into them, but he will never do this. Trust me I have not disciplined him into this behavior, this is just the way he is.

So, yes, my dad has taught my dog a new behavior that he did not have before.




Mom and Her Picture

My mom has been calling and talking to everybody about sending the latest pictures of me after all that weight loss.

This is from today, so you do not have to call anybody else.

Presenting the latest pictures of Vijay: (Current Weight as of today 244.3)

I actually need to be careful now. The appetite has come back with a vengeance. It was crazy how much I ate on Sunday. On Sunday I had 9 Idli, 3 bowls of Bisibelibath, 1 bowl of Upma, 1 Quarter Pounder, 2 Puri and about 5-6 pieces of Fish 65. Crazy huh! When I was sick I would have eaten 3 Idli and that would have been it. I think I have to start working out now so that I can continue with the weight loss.