Run and Fitness Report 2023

2023 Running has been interesting, every month. I finally let go of my mental Minnesota weather calendar. I experienced Spring running. Summer was not as hot & humid as last year. And Fall was crisp but not too chilly.

I got 474 miles of Running this year. Pretty pretty close to the miles total from last year, but 5-8 miles more than last year.

 

June & July were hot but not too hot.

Sep & Oct have been great perfect weather. Very few rainy mornings and absolutely no heat-humidity.

Races were mostly for fun and to experience the race atmosphere.

1. Windward July 4th 5k
2. SKV Temple 5k in August
3. Dream Mile 10K at Peachtree Parkway on 17-Sep-2023 - Detailed post here.

Got  85 miles of walking this year. I joined a few ladies Hiking groups and explored a few trails. Nothing long but 3-4 miles of greenery and clay trails. Jones Bridge Park trail, Cauley Creek park.

Jones Bridge Park trail

Cross-training comprised of strength -training and yoga.

All of my yearly Run Reports are here.

Wish you all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year !

Movies beheld in 2023

 We saw some movies in theater and a lot of movies on TV. But this list is only about the ones that stick on the mind.

Generally, a lot of hit films can only be watched in theaters. On TV or phone screen, in the middle of daily life struggles, they loose their magic or we don't have the patience to gobble a mammoth. Like Sholay, Kantara, RRR and everything in between.

TULU

Circus - Georgia's Bunts Sangha organized a showing of Tulu movie Circus staring Roopesh Shetty, Bolar and more familiar faces. Was a good experience and unique one for my kids. 

Entertaining, clean, masala movie with twists and full of Tulu humor. I personally know 5 teenagers who were reluctant to come, but by the end of movie they were all laughing. That’s the power of communal movie watching in theaters. 

KANNADA

Achar & Co - full on old world Bangalore nostalgia.

Kshamisi Nimma Khaatheyalli Hanavilla -  Diganth movie. Movie where an underdog fights his own case in the court of law on an issue others think are minor inconvenience.

TAMIL

Gutta Khusti - fun movie even for the one with dealing with toxic masculinity. Maybe because they covered a hundred perspectives via the numerous side-characters each with their own angle.

Thiruchitrambalam - Dhanush & Nitya in a sweet film with numerous conflicts and all resolving one by one.

MALAYALAM

Gold - was uneven in the spread of comedy or crime caper.

HINDI

Tiger 3 - Saw in theatre to keep the franchise going with family. 
Great ariel stunts. Theatre was blurry so, not sure if CGI or real. Katrina stunts were perfect. This is almost the only Hindi franchise movie where they continue the females lead. 
No catchy good songs; maybe only the end credits one. They kill off many important characters. 
Collateral damage killings were massive as expected; they put mask on all like stormtroopers.
The only unbelievable part was every sequence hero takes the long route of escape, when he could just turn around & leave fast. Again & again. On paper its supposed to show MC Herogiri; like when bullets never touch him. 
Anyway, Tiger 1 (Ek Tha Tiger) is always the best.

Rocky Rani Ki Prem Kahani - Saw in theatres within the 2nd week, so to avoid all spoilers showing up in SM. Didnt need word-of-mouth or reviews to decide on this movie; trailer was enough. It was obvious from the trailer what to expect and so went to see exactly that. Needed this type of entertainer as its a rare thing nowadays. 

Went for Alia's sarees, blouses and jewelry, Ranveer's sweetness and movie's drama. Lot of camoes for eye candy plus Sheeba, Akashdeep & "Aja meri gadi mein baitja" song. And then the mid-section was totally taken over by old songs for like an hour. Then more songs were spread out through the movie. Next day I had craving for some of those songs and lo behold Youtube had the Vintage playlist. Next they also put the Songs medley video as well. That's very thoughtful. Now if they can upload "Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar", that will be all we need (which they eventually did).

Apart from songs, there were many "something borrowed". Rocky name is obviously a hat-tip to Shammi Kapoor's name in Teesri Manzil. "Tum Kya Mile" is also a Pooja Bhatt songs in Satwa Aasman.

Shabana's Bengali accent was so right. Churni & Tota were so endearing.  Plus a huge lot of lead and supporting characters and thousands of extras in many scenes. Delhi & Kashmir. Every scene was packed with interesting scenes & dialoges. 

To crib about, the last 20-30 minutes were all serious and angry confrontations, ending with resolution and a wedding. 

Oh yes the movie was packed with multiple topical issues. I called it "krantikari movie" to someone on phone call on the way back from the theatre. Now the wedding was not 2 states, it was in latest bollywood weddings pastel fashion while I waited for a Bengali bride. And yes a lot of unabsahed kizzings.

That this production house made such a movie should not be a surprise. They have all the tools, cast, crew, connections and knowledge bank to make such a movie. The fact that audience needs such movies from time to time, so such productions with all the capability should make these periodically.

Jawan - in theatre ofcourse. Completely South movie on raising public awareness to holding government accountable. Combine with SRK magic. How could we resist. Me & girlfriend went to the theatre for the first weekend show.

Every scene in the movie had violent scene; reminding very much of  80s/90s south movie which scarred my brain very badly. But this one I watched as full grown adult and that for a thankful change, there were no violence on women. There was all other kind of violence and women were in the center of it all as impacted parties.

There was lot of love shown to women especially daughters - Kali's, Nayantara's, Farmers, and more.

OMG2 - what could have been cringe, was not. Elevated watching experience thanks to Pankaj Tripathi, adorable, loving & respectful depiction of God and interesting unfolding of court arguments & sequence.

Bhediya - Biggest pull was the Arunachal wilderness, funny repartees between the 3-4 male characters, Kriti was good.

Tarla - Needed to be made.

Bawaal on Prime. Good one. Varun Dhawan is best in this gen. Made by directors of Dangal & Bareily ki Barfi. Good situations. Allahabad & Europe cities.  Mix of comedy & seriousness. 

Thank God - Siddarth Malhothra was charming as ever. And as entertaining with emotions as you can expect for Inder Kumar movie.

Ghoomer - rattling new way along with jaded yuppiness of ad makers.

Friday Nigh Plan - cute Babil & cute Juhi

Kathal - Sania can carry a movie on her own.

Tumse Na Ho Payega - watched for Ishwak Singh and movie was not boring at all.

Pippa - adding to the Bangladesh creation stories.

ENGLISH

She Said - The most impressive. For many reasons. It showed an office environment as is. Not the made up Hollywood made up showing of how a corporate office space is. This one was like real life. After 3 years of WFH, I latched on to this movie for the soaking up this sight. Next, for the very premise of young adults starting work. When Lauren says, "I was 21. I lost my voice just when I was beginning to find one." How very profound summation. 

Titanic - (In Theatre). They released the remastered copy. It was only in 3D and 3D was totally unnecessary. But this was the only way to see it again with my kid in theater & chatter about nostalgia.

Avataar - Definitely a theatre movie but wont see it more than once. All the water, colors and intricate parts of the animation was mindblowing. Promptly followed it up with Titanic in theatre.

Your Place Or Mine (2023 Netflix) - Endearing actors as we remember even if they have aged with us. Most of the talk was real-life like stuff; no overacting or imaginary problems. No background music in some scenes (which i disagree with). Set in bright locations in beautiful cities and every frame looking stunning - like SF, NYC apartment and Manhatten Bridge scene styled like Paris usually is. Overall felt very glad after watching this movie.

Monk & the Last Case (Peacock) - Natalie in Atlanta !!! My city !Atlantic sea & hotel. Randy Disher project & Lego model scene were good. Natalie says Huh while holding the dog. Dr Bell said Patient A to D are composite of his different patients. Btw the villain is a composite of we know who all. Bartender scene. Molly, “He is with a woman “; Monk, “She saved my life”. Monk punchlines were good. Molly was good actress. Welcome to Monk world. Missed some epic music until that song came on. That emotional scene at park bench brought tears in my eyes.  Missed Julie & Benjy

My Yearly Movies List here.

Shows on TV & OTT 2023

In Indian landscape, there is so much good work happening in multiple OTT channels, but each has such limited audience. 

OTT has its Pros & Cons. More opportunities for family & friends to see varied movies & shows  together. Often they are ad free. I consider Binge watching as a con. I prefer shows be lined across days or weeks to savor them.

Farzi (Prime)

Made by my favorite directors, so had to watch. Interesting one time watch. Paintings, Amol Palekar, Kay Kay Menon, Vijay Setupathi.

Rocket Boys

In captivating & keeping attention, historic figures, it’s at par with the Crown. 

Intro theme song is a gem, I have never skipped the intro, just for it. Another such gem is Scam intro song. Both are by same guy Achint Thakur. 

Covers a range of historic figure beginning with Scientists  - CV Raman, Homi Bhabha & Sarabhai prominently and in 2nd season sliding towards APJ Kalam and Raja Ramana. 2nd season show brings in more political figures. Basically covers 1940s to 1970s people, theories, treaties, events & everything from our Science & History books of all years of 90s Maharashtra schools.

Jubilee - 

Loved it and here the long post.

Poker face - on Paramont Plus

Brilliant. Waiting for next season. 1st episode is enough to hook. Filled up the gap left by Knives Out and Last Onion.

First interest was coz its of Rian Johnson who created Knives Out & Glass Onion. And then the first episode totally trapped us for forever. Similar format combined with stars Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale the main character. Thereafter every episode builds on it and gets better & better. Add to it, every episode has star actors in cameo appearance for that episode mystery. Nothing here to not like.

Nick Nolte episode was good.
Raoul: What ? Its a women intuition thing?"
Charlie: Its not a tampon commercial, ok?

The episodes were released weekly. I am anti-binging in general and this show did deserve a weekly watch to savour it all week long. And what Rian Johnson says, explain it perfectly.

"Poker Face" Starring Natasha Lyonne Is Pure Entertainment Gold In The Form Of A Murder Mystery Series

"The streaming serialised narrative has just become the gravity of a thousand suns to the point where everyone's collective memory has been erased," Rian Johnson said. "That was not the mode of storytelling that kept people watching television for the vast history of TV."

BEEF on Netflix

BEEF was a very satisfying watch. Only N original series exciting after Inventing Anna.

Biggest hook was the road rage beef & the escalation. It reminded of Ayyappanum Koshiyum, and I enjoyed that movie a lot.

It started there, then ventured into personal lives dramas, showcasing a variety of Asian lifestyles, and escalations took a backseat for a while. Escalations came back and not in a Hollywoodish way. A lot of things in this were real life like, some aspirational. Muli-cultural mix, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, European all Americans, with complex layers and multiple characters 1 to 1 interactions.

As each of their characters slowly unravel, the resentments, generational trauma, and rage that they’ve pushed down inside comes bursting out. 

10 episodes felt like too much. Should have been 6 or 8. Like Ep 7 was just to provide childhood parallels. Esp 9 was gory voilent climax and last episode 10 was the sublime trippy much needed ending.

For all the sculpture art of George, turns out Issac, the rougefian cousin, is an artist in real life.

 

Marvelous Mrs Maisel

S4 - I am on S4:E6 & there hasn’t been any end of episode Stage Performance yet by Mrs Maisel. I miss that. Last seasons had such powerful ones. Everything else is great. The characters & story arc the way it’s progressing is just right. Mariam’s eyebrows are always angry with a great reason.

S5 - Finally a performance. I have been waiting 2 seasons for it. 

Marvelous Finale - every single section of it. Not one single bomb. Even the end montage was sweet. 

FUBAR  on Netflix - 

Why this show ? Arnold Schwarzenegger first. Then the Fun spy action & psyco-babble. All ensemble actors & their roles was good. Even the office guys. Basically its format is one to one relationship. There are non-romantic pairs and their inter-personal conflicts and discussion coming out of them. 

Quantum Leap (S1)

Good Wife

This show is a great one to expose or coach anyone on office politics; even if they go get resolved cinematically. Actually a lot of cases dont resolve, or the good guys dont always win.

But there are some very good standout points.
The giggling's - first Diane, then Will, then a relaxed Alicia. 
Will & Diane's working rapport. Grief handling in S5. The multitaking episode S2:E3
By S7, I had learnt the different formats of court - regular court, grand jury, depositions, arbitration, bar court.

DAHAAD (Prime)

Very detailed police procedural. Nicely made. No boring episode. Side characters & their side track was also good. Even in high profile horrid situation, everyone is level headed & keep emotions regulated. 

This role was perfect fit for Sonakshi given her the angry young women outlook. Gulshan Devaiah was good. And Vijay Verma was epic.

Hunters S2 - (Prime)

Just to close the brilliant yet sick S1. Some episode were sickening.

Books to end 2023

 I read a bunch of books in the beginning of the year. And after a scare, in the mid-year health checkup, rest of the year was spent reading up on pre-diabetes. I ordered all possible ones in the library. Of all, the most useful one was Obesity Code - in explanation of cause and offering solution with all reasoning.

Sourdough - by Robin Sloan

Its about a software engineer in Robotics arm company in SF, covers . Some restaurant guy gives his bread culture/starter to her and she bakes to keep it alive. I started enjoying it at the part where she bakes and eats. Made me crave hot fresh bread slices with butter. At that point, it could go whimsical or sci-fi direction. But it widened up well.

The Obesity Code - Unlocking the secrets of Weight Loss: by Jason Fung, MD

This book talks about various aspects that impact body weight. It has a textbook level details on various things, for which there are short videos or articles everywhere. Hence this book is better.

Role of Insulin in blood and insulin resistance on the increase in body weight; starting with explanation of insulin in type 1 & 2 diabetes. Role of cortisol in increasing body weight. Role of body's thermaset weight. Ineffectuality of various diets through the ages (low carb, etc) as they did not consider the role of foods on hormones and hormonal balance needed for balanced weight. And the fact that the user is blamed for failure by not following the diet. And the myth of exercise.

This books goal is to explain how constant eating keep insulin in blood all the itme which makes body resistant to insulin, hence sugar overload. And fasting periods brings periods of no insulin and helps keep the sensisitivity alive. Also about the link of high insulin trigger by combination of  fructose and new wheat varieties.

The book might provide textbook level detail on this topic, but it is interesting written and structured.

Page 70: What causes weight gain ? Contending theories abound:

Sugar	Calories	Refined Carb	Wheat
All carbs	Dietary fat	Red meat	All meat
Dairy products	Snacking	Food reward	Food addiction
Sleep deprivation	Stress	Low fiber intake	Gut microbiome
Genetics	Poverty	Wealth	Childhood obesity

 The various theories fight among themselves, as if they are all mutually exclusive and there is only one true cause of obesity. ... This approach is wrong since these theories all contain some element of truth.

Page 102: Great er compliance was supposed to be the one main benefits of ... approach, since there was no need for calorie counting. ....Compliance in both groups was equally low in both groups, with upwards of 40 percent abandoning the diet within one year. The outcome was somewhat predictable. The ... diet severely restricted highly  indulgent foods such as cakes, etc. These foos are clearly fattening, no matter what diet you beleive in. We continue to eat them simply because they are indulgent. Food is a celebration and feasting has accompanied celebration throughout human history. .... The ...diet does not allow for this simple fact and that doomed it to failure. 

Page 103: The carb-insulin hypothesis was incomplete. ... There are many problems, with the paradox of the Asian rice eater being obvious. Most Asians, for the last half-century, ate a diet based on white, polished rice, a highly refined carb. Yet until recently, obesity remained quite rare in these populations.

Page 105: One possiblity is that there is an important difference in eating rice vs wheat. .... Western obesity rates are related to the changes in the variety of wheat we are eating...suggests that the drawf wheat that we eat today may be far different from the original wheat.

Page 112: Insulin Resistance: Major Player. Antibiotics, Viruses & Drugs cause antibiotic resistance. Higher does cause more resistance. Same with insulin....

Page 115: Insulin resistance causes high insulin - a classic vicious or self-reinforcing cycle. The higher the insulin levels, the greater the insulin resistance. The greater the resistance, the higher the levels. ... The longer the cycle continues, the worse it becomes ...That resistance leads to high insulin levels that are independent of that persons diet.

Page 205: Nutritionism ignore complexity of food science and human biology.

Page 2:16: Virtually all diseases of the human body are multifacotrial. ... Obesity is multifactorial disease. What we need is a framework, a structure, a coherent theory to understand how all its factors fir together.

Life in the Fasting Lane - How to make Intermittent fasting a lifestyle - And reap the benefits of weight loss and better health
By Dr Jason Fung, Eve Mayer, Megan Ramos

A How-to book giving practical tips on how to fast.

How to gradually slide into fasting 12 hours, 18:6, 20:4, OMAD, Extended fasts like 24hrs, 36hrs etc.

How to prepare mentally when fasting. Now that there is all the free time, with less shopping, cooking, dishwashing & cleanup, we need different set of activities or the vacuum of boredom will suck us back in the whirlpool.

Balancing family responsibilities while being the only one fasting in a household.

Unlike religious fast, this one has different crutches through get through it. Like salt in water for electrolytes to avoid headaches, plus black coffee & hot herbal tea.

Complete Guide to Fasting - Heal your body through Intermittent, Alternate Day and Extended Fasting. by Dr Jason Fung with Jimmy Moore.

This was a fast read, I finished it in 3 days. Had a lot of practical advise.

And then some standard books with some relevant and some outdated information.

Older Reading lists: 2023 (1) | Entire Book list  

Georgia more of it

Now that I have completed 2 years in Georgia, it does feels like home. I have familiar favorite driving routes, favorite stores for particular items, and familiar strangers who are almost friends.

My initial experience posts are here and here.

Exploring the waterfalls of the state one by one. Every trail I went to and peeped at the woods, it reminded me of Hunger Games movie. Turns out, woods of District 12 in all 4 Hunger Games movies were shot right here in Georgia.

Lot of cultural outings. Atlanta Bunts Sangha organized a showing of Tulu movie Circus. Was a good outing and unique one for kids.

I don't think I have attended Carnatic Concerts live. Here I got to attend the Devotional Carnatic concert by Dr Vidyabhushana with Sitar Symphony.

And one by S Aishwarya & S Saundarya.

Yet I am still wide-eyed at some things uniquely Georgia.

There are ice-cream stores, which are one strip mall size with luxurious car-parking real-estate, then the eaters get to eat in open-air. No seating arrangements too. That's unique I would say. Make sense to gobble ice-cream in the heat.

And this state is truly multi-lingual. I did get a hint that this is a hub of immigrants. Once you are immune to the diverse faces, nothing highlights the diversity more than the smattering of languages you hear in a crowded places. There is always some Russian, Czech, Spanish, Chinese, Telugu, Punjabi, Gujrati, Arabic to be heard everywhere.

Anytime there is hurricane or low pressure in Florida, it will definitely be rainy monsoon here. Or mild windy day here, means storm in Florida. That's how much GA & FL are linked.

Fall ! Leaves ! Oh the never ending horror of it. Got a glimpse of it last year and full force this year. And then , there was a day in November, where it rained Acorns - yes a windy day blew all acorns from the tree. It hurt us & hurt the car. I chased and parked car far away.

The mosaic of shade & sunlight filtering through the trees onto the winding roads. As poetic as it sounds, its a driving hazard. Sunglasses can't handle that frequent light shifts. Even without one, its feels scary you might run someone over. And this in a country where almost no one almost jaywalks. 

Round-a-bouts - they are standard feature in Georgia. And very genius idea too. They are more efficient than 4-way STOP signals. They keep the traffic flowing.

Did I complain about Georgia's greenery enough ? Below is a view on the side of road undergoing expansion. The mountains of tree roots & stumps. After few weeks, there was a new realization and respect for the Georgia Road construction workers and companies. And for those from the past who built those single lane roads winding through forest between cities. They really cut through mountains and intense vegetation, to put it mildly.

Vibha Atlanta Dream Mile 2023 - Atlanta - 10K - Race Recap

 I ran the Vibha Atlanta Dream Mile 2023 10K race on 17-Sep-2023 Sunday morning.

Races are such rejuvenating experience. This race was well organized and a pleasant experience. 

It was a drizzly week and this Sunday morning was cloudy, dark, maybe 66F and very very light drizzle for some patches. Summer running outfit & shoes sufficed for this weather.

This race covered all type - 5K, Run/Walk, 10K and Half Marathon. It was staggered one of the other, so the race route never got lonely. The route was round-about, starting from the mall, partially on Peachtree parkway, more on the western home areas and back. So, this route was definitely packed with numerous uphill & downhill. Rain somehow did not make it slippery. And I think I have gotten used to this topography (something I always cribbed about), because a volunteer complimented me on an uphill I was climbing twice or so, "I love how you are pacing yourself".

Volunteer support was of full enthusiasm. They were throughout the route, guiding runners and frequent water support. There was no scope for getting lost. Big chuck of the volunteers were SEWA kids - and they were the best cheerleaders - hyping us up with loudspeakers. One particular boy was very persistent in cheering the ladies, "Aunty Run Aunty you can do it" :) He hyped my friend with his repeated "Aunty run"  and he even ran the last patch with her. While she was pleasantly irritated by being called Aunty so much, she finished at a great time.

Water & electrolyte support throughout was great. 10K running got a medal at the end along with water, banana & protein bars. The booths put up were fun. Lot of food ones too and a photo booth with airdrop to transfer to phone. And the race end prize announcements were an event. My friend won 2nd prize in her age category. Super thrilling.

Packet pickup at convenient location Big Peach Running Co.

There is one improvement the organizers could do. That is to add the starting location & parking location info in the website and emails sent out. Its not boldly mentioned, so I emailed the question. Fortunately someone replied immediately, so I was good. Later my friend guided me to the start location. Its obvious once you have run the race before, but for the first timer, there was no address mentioned.

Great  race overall

Books that started 2023

 So far, this year has been dominated by watching OTT & Movies. Lots were pumped out every week, it feels like. But I did manage to squeeze in a few books. 

Lessons in Chemistry - by Bonnie Garmus

Peppy writing style even on some very very serious events. 

Began the year with this one. Later found out they are making a movie too. I doubt the movie will be able to capture some of the perspective that come out in text. This sort of sarcastic & indirect style will be hard to translate on screen. I hope they make the movie interesting in some other way atleast.

Gen Z @ Work - by David Stillman and Jonah Stillman

Got this book in-order to make sense of this ever changing world. The world styed sameish for about 100 years. Then the pace of change was decade. And since past 25 years, things have been changing every 5 or lesser years. So tough to catch up. 

More than that, the existential question - should we catch up with the new which will go away in a few months or stay grabbing to the past which has survived of decades and more ? 

By coincidence it turned out to be by Minnesota based authors. Its not mentioned in the blurb or anywhere. I found out while reading through the passages.

Format of the book is interesting. David is Gen X and Jonah is a teenager Gen Z. To differentiate their commentary & perspective on different topics, they used normal and italics for their separate generation voices.  That helped, I will say. 

This book explains a lot of things in this ever changing world. The approach is mostly to showcase how each generation (traditionlist, boomer, Gen X, Milleniels & then the new Gen Z) thought, acted and their situation in each. Some assumptions where very simplistics - like boomers being parents of Milenials and Gen X being parent of Gen Z. For some it correctly lists out a lot of things that are typical of Gen Z while comparing with the Millenials, Xers and Boomers about the same topic. Lots of topics covered in the different chapters.

Press Start to Play - Short story collection

Last Black Friday, I bought XBox for myself, to step into the work of Video Games. Read more here about those adventures... With my past experience being limited to Tetris and Minessweeper, I decided to read up on games before I started.

Wide variety of short stories. Lot of them sci-fi and some in twilight horror category.

Notable ones - Andy Wiers, Anda's Game by Cory Doctorow.

The Tetris Effect - The Game That Digitised The World - Dan Ackerman

Got to see the Tetris movie released recently. Book was better. I mean, the movie is thriller format with lot of physical action. Same events & situations happen in the book but in a realistic fashion; and yet they were no less thrilling.

Covers a lot on how software business deals happened, at least in 80s & 90s. Communication might be faster now of course, but people dynamics still are the same. One book about current s/w business world was in the Instagram book. Other insights were about the beliefs and philosophy of the coding world - about the passion for free nature of open code and it becomes a sin when its popular, sharing via floppy disks and 80s & older models of desktops.

Part 1 dealt with the origin - Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers. Page 109 at best boom and bust cycles of the video game industry would go through over the years. In part 1, Bonus Level 1, Chapter 7 - Pa 73, Effect of Tetris on brain. I used to dream of Tetris bricks. Turns out was a universal phenomenon. Called Phantatronic.

Chapter 19 - Pg 191 to 195 - Cherry at the Gates was the most delicious chapter on direct negotiation meetings, various politics and consequences.

The Invisible Life of Addie Laurie - by V.E. Schwab

Whimsical, mystical,  Flowy language; poetic in many chapters. That alone lulls you to read more and never want to end the book.

 Faustian deal of soul is the basic premise. Set in NYC but travels to various places across different times. Deals with the theme of timelessness. Pg 201 (Food) and Pg 257 (miss structure).

Only Human - by Slyvain Neuvel

I am sorry but to be honest, I couldn't plod through the last book of this trilogy; even while I loved the previous two books. I flipped through the pages to get to the ending and even that I couldn't make it through.

Andrew Wyeth Close friends 

A collection of his paintings, made at different stages, of his neighbour friends from the place where he grew up & lived later years.

Older Reading lists: Entire Book list  | 2022 (2) | 2022 (1) | 2021 (2) | 2021(1) | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |

Puerto Rico Trip 2023

The very first week of Summer, we went for a week long Puerto Rico trip. The very first thing to hit us is how much like coastal India it was. I repeatedly said it for the first few days. Eyes wide open.

Beautiful island state. Great local people. 

Here is a bulletized itenary of the trip.

We arrived late Monday night. The night drive on PR-66 from Airport to Luquillo was a dream. 

View from the Luquillo Airbnb alone, was worth the visit. Endless sea and non-stop waves. Luquillo city was beautiful. The Airbnb was in a high-rise society exactly like in Pune or Bangalore. The houses around was like in Ulsoor or any coastal village. Cement construction, bright paints, and tile floors. Almost all apartments & house-bunglows were designed individually. All entrances were covered with iron bar coverings - all fancy designs like anywhere in India. Hardly any people outside during the day; which eventually made sense cause it was 90+F everyday and no one wants the home AC to escape and cool the city.

Tuesday we went on San Juan old town tour. Explored the cobbled street town, colorful buildings, fort and town shops.. Ended the day with dinner at a nearby restaurant. Mufungo for dinner

Wednesday morning, we were off on Catamaran ferry to Culebra island. An hour long ferry ride to the island and they let us loose for 4 hours. They provided a neat lunch as well. It was a great picnic, lazing & snorkeling in pristine blue water.  

Now precautionary list - get loaded up with strong sunscreen, hats, etc. If you are prone to Sunburn, then wear surfguard or rash guard full-sleeve tops, not any skimpy swim top. This is for males & females, kids & grownups. The combination of sea-water & sun for 4 hours is not safe for your skin. And second thing, don't wear your Garmin in water. I got ambitious and wanted to count the sea-walking miles. My 6 years old Garmin froze and conked off.

 

Thursday morning was revealing. Yesterdays 4 hours of sun and sea-water had worked its way into our skin. My kid and me were feverish with sun-burn. We refused to move out. Blacked out every window and doors. Spent all morning watching FUBAR on TV. Sun was the enemy today. Hubby & son had to step up for us. They went shopping in local stores and came back with life-saving supplies. Hubby made some comfort food in the AirBnB kitchen - rice & potatoes. Then Ibrupen and Banana Boat Soothing Aloe After Sun Gel helped a lot to recover from the sunburn & after-effects. By evening we were ready to dressup and step out in the sea.

Friday morning drove up to Mount  El Yunque National forest. We did not book tickets in advance, so did not enter it. Drive up the rain forest itself was a full on dejavu of Dakshina Kanada area ghats. 

In the afternoon, we took a ferry to Vigils island. From the ferry station, joined a shared van ride to Esperanza beach. The drive around the island was totally reminiscent of a drive around Goa. Trivia by the van owner, "This island has more wild horses than stray dogs". Yes, we saw lot of wild horses.

We spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach like Death in Paradise, doing absolutely nothing. The other attraction of this island is bioluminescence beach, which means booking & spending the night on the island. Since we were there on a Full moon night, the tour was closed. 

We returned to the station late night for last ferry. All passengers cordially waited for the station to open up. A drunk flew by on the night road, riding a horse without a saddle and playing loud music on his boombox. And then another guy on another horse. Watching other tourists with sunburnt back, made mine burn ! But the night was cool. Fishes & stingrays swam in the nearby waters. 

Saturday - Isla Verde beach and parasailing

We checked out of Luquillo AirBnB and on our morning drive out, we stopped & waited for an Iguana to cross the road

On the way to next residence, we spent the afternoon lounging on Isla Verde beach. Parking was a nightmare, but the beach was clean and crowded.

Kids went Para sailing while we sipped endless Pineapple filled with Pina Colada. Next day discovered some more sunburn through exposure. Sunscreens are great but sun is stronger.

We drove to Dorado very late at night and drove straight to the town square. It was nearly 1am and the town square was full of people reveling. Hyatt directions had a gap and we landed elsewhere. We called the Hyatt security guard and he directed us through the next 15 minutes drive. 

Sunday Morning view from the balcony showed that the Hyatt Dorado resort campus was paradise-ish.  

Private beach was peaceful long stretch. Sea was crystal clear to spot fishes. 

For dinner, we went out for some delicious local pizza at Faccio Pizza. Dorado city neighborhood was again like Indian bunglow and stores construction. No junk or garbage pile anywhere. 

Monday morning itself was 98F hot day. Sand was burning in through the flip-flops. Spent the morning in shaded pool and for afternoon spent chilling in blacked-out hotel room, watching phone videos & cable TV. In the evening, we decided to explore the west side of the island.

Road trip from Dorado to Agra Dilla. Saw wild cows, the same breed as Indian. There were hills on one side. My kid said those tree tops and hills looked exactly like how tiny kids usually draw squiggly lines hill drawings. Also spotted the huge campus of Abbvie company.

Sunset point at El Merendero De Guajataca. The park was lined up with Almond trees. There was an open-air yoga session going on. They didn't need a heated room. Even the evening air was loaded with humidity.

Magnificent 270 degree view of Pacific ocean.

Tuesday morning half was spent taking another dip in the ocean and the later half day travelling back home.

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