Movie of the year....

2009 is ringing to a close and what better way to end the year than watching a wonderful, heart warming movie like the '3 Idiots'.
I watched the 3D animation flick 'Avatar' last week which was hugely raved about. Even though the special effects and the theme of the movie were quite extraordinary, it failed to leave the kind of mark '3 Idiots' did. Having read the book 'Five point someone', from which the movie's storyline is loosely adapted, I was wondering how a movie based on the sufferings and travails of the Indian engineers could possibly be an interesting movie. But the movie really transcends all speculations and once again the director Raju Hirani succeeds in making a heart warming movie with a strong message. Of course the stellar performances of Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi and Madhavan all contributed to making such a wonderful experience on screen.

The Canadian Rockies

We just got back from a 6 day trip to the Canadian Rockies. Cataloging the main points of the trip here.

Day 1 : Left from San Francisco and arrived into Calgary. We stayed at the Residence Inn Marriott in downtown Calgary.

Day 2 : Left for Banff after breakfast. Arrived into Banff and visited the Johnston Canyon. We took the trail to the lower falls. Then visited Mount Norquay and stopped over a few vista points on the way.

Day 3: Took a day trip to Lake Loiuse and Moraine Lake (about 45 mins from Banff). Also visited the Takakkaw falls. Took the trail to the bottom of the falls

Day 4: Took the gondola ride to sulphur mountain. Visited Lake Minnewanka and Vermillion lake and Bow Falls.

Day 5: Drive to Jasper. Stop over at Peyto lake and Columbia Icefield (Athabasca glacier) and Bow lake.

Day 6 : Day in Jasper. Visited Maligne Canyon, Maligne lake and Athabasca Falls.

Day 7: Drive back to Calgary and visited Mistaya Canyon on the way.

Fantabulous Big Sur

It's a shame that we have lived in the bay area for over 10 years and it is only now that we visited a fabulous place like Big Sur. Why isn't everyone making a big deal about this place? We hear about Monterey, Carmel, Yosemite but not much has been said about Big Sur. Well, the place was a real treat doubled up with great weather. We enjoyed a small hike to the pfeiffer water falls, made sand castles on the pfeiffer beach and enjoyed the plain old playing with kids in the green meadows of the park. We stayed in the Big Sur Inn lodge which is in pfeiffer state park surrounded by beautiful mountains on either sides. One of the main attractions of the area is Point Lobos which unfortunately we missed this time around. But I am happy in a way 'cos that just gives us a reason to visit this fantastic place again.