Los Angeles Pictures!!!

First, yay! This is my 200th post! =) I wonder how many posts I'd be at if my old blogs were still around... And now for California pictures! Omar's place in 1000 Oaks, California After dropping off our gear, we're ready to roll. Driving to the Beach The beach! Another beach pic The Ocean! Aamir and Omar at Muscle Beach Venice Beach Promenade Venice Beach park area Me playing catch with Wilson and Tom Hanks Poking the Lion at the Famous Grauman's Chinese Theater The Mall beside the Theatre Aamir attempting the water-defying walk through the randomly spraying fountain Me trying to eat the Hollywood sign Then I saw some of Cap't Jacks treasture and just couldn't resist. Hook tried to stop me. But with Shaft on my side I wasn't scared. At least I wasn't until Jason showed up...ahhhhhh! I ran, but Neo & Trinty put an end to me....don't ask why, it was a weird script. For our amazing performances Omar won an Oscar for Best Lover (that scene was not shown do to the PG-13 rating of this blog). I won the Best Body award. And Aamir won, Puss in Boots Still not entirely convinced show business was for us. We went to work at the construction site Omar is supervising/planning/some sort engineering or whatever supposedly does while chatting and facebooking with us. Zoom, Zoom I wonder how long it takes to change the tire... And then we were off again To Downtown LA! ...but that was rather meh. Though the Buddhist Temple was nice. So we were off again! And driving on Malibu Canyon Rd was awesome. The scenary was just amazing. We went to Bevery Hills and Hollywood Hills. Sorry, I'll only post 1 pic of this b/c I don't like how they turned out. None of them really captures how hilly/steep some of the roads are and how nice the houses look. Santa Monica! Walking along the beach Just chilling and enjoying the view. The Ocean is so fun to just sit and watch. After chilling on the beach we decided to get some Chocolate! And head to Universal Studios for some fun I just barely missed out on the discount =( But I still had fun on the kiddie rides And the not so Kiddie rides, yeehaww Bull Riding! That was fun! I actually didn't do that well though, 14-15secs or so. But I fell off not b/c I slipped but b/c the jerking action of the bull was hurting my hand a lot and so I let go, maybe I wasn't holding the reins right...). Omar lasted the longest at about 17-18 secs. Thanks for making me do it though Omar =) Random pic I had to take for any Waterloo'er out there. Random scenary shot taken at Univeral. Good night LA, I'll be sure to visit again. ps. There are a few more pictures on facebook for those interested.

Back from LA!

I'm back from LA! And it was awesome!!!! It wasn't a very relaxing vacation but thats not what I was really looking for anyways. It was a lot of going here and there and seeing a bunch of stuff and being a tourist. And I definitely saw a ton of stuff, Long Beach, 1000 Oaks, New Port, the OC, Leguna Beach, Topanga Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly HIlls, Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, Malibu Beach, Malibu state park, Universal Studios, and lots of other stuff which I'll point out when I put up pictures. Which unfortunately will not be with this post. I went out with some friends last night and I'm going out again tonight so pictures will have to wait till the weekend. Sorry! hehe. The only disappointment was downtown LA. Theres really like nothing there....its like the anti-new york. Everything worthwhile is outside of downtown in the suburbs. And the downtown core itself is really small. I also got fairly well versed with the layout of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). I arrived in LA late on Friday, about midnight. Omar was driving to pick me up but was running a bit late so I had some time to walk around and explore the terminal for about 30mins or so. After he picked me up, things became a bit interesting. Without detailing the entire story, let me just present you with: Ahmeds Traveling Tips: 1) If you're flying 3000 miles across the continent to visit friends, please provide your flight details. Simply saying 1am at LAX isn't enough. 2) If you fail #1 please bring your cell phone. 3) If you instead decide to leave your cell phone behind with your family...it helps to leave your flight information with them as well. 4) If you've now failed the above 3 steps, remember to bring the phone number of friend your visiting. 5) If you fail #4 and mistakenly call the older sister of your friend waking her up in the middle of the night....you might as well get your friends number from them. 6) If you've now left your friends with the only option being to drive in loops around the airport terminals hoping to spot you.....it helps to stand outside.

BRB - Gone to Los Angeles

California...knows how to party California...knows how to party In the citaaay of L.A. In the citaaay, In the citaaay We keep it rockin! We keep it rockin! Alright, I'm off to Los Angeles California for 5 nights to hangout with my old highschool buddies Aamir and Omar! Woohoo! I'll put up tons of pics when I get back. Have a great weekend everyone and Happy Canada Day! O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Die Hard 4 Mini-Review

I saw Die Hard 4 last night. There were quite a few scenes where I thought to myself oh man, thats dumb, or thats just so unrealistic. But overall, the movie is great action flick that is just a lot of fun. Its a bit over the top, but the pacing is good and its pretty funny as well, in fact there were many moments where I was laughing aloud. Oh and to think of it, the movie had no nudity and almost no foul language. I'll give a 4/5 and I'm definitely going to add it to my Die Hard DVD movie collection. Next up on my list to see, Ratatouile and of course Transformers!

About labels and movies

Yesterday I started to go back and label my old blog posts but for some reason it was making me sad. I'm not sure why as my previous posts aren't sad or mark any particular event in my life that would make me sad...so because of that, and the fact that I really don't know how to label these, ie what categories to make....I'm thinking of just either only labeling new posts....or just getting rid of labels all together...I'm not sure yet. Any suggestions? I watched Pans Labyrinth last night. It was...well it was engaging. I'll definitely give it that. It pulled me in and I wanted to know what would happen. But at the end, after it was all said and done, I was left unsatisfied. So I'm force to give it a 3/5. I also Apocalypto a few days ago. It was much more gory than I expected. And the reviews for this were good, not just the written but the word of mouth reviews as well. So I think that skewed my expectations a bit. Still I was again engaged and hoping things worked out for the characters. The ending could have been stronger as well, but I'll give this one a 4/5. I'm going to go see Die Hard 4 tonight. Early reviews say its good. I'm a fan of the originals and own the box set actually. I'd rank the 1,3, and then 2. Hopefully this one turns out well. Oh and I saw Fantastic Four on Sunday. It was...meh. Its a renter and a mindless popcorn flick. The Silver Surfer didnt do enough. It was light on action for a popcorn flick. I'll give it a 3 only b/c I like the genre and idea of the film and I wouldn't mind seeing more like it (though preferably better of course).

Name that summerlicious californian beat

What would you do if I blogged out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your eyes and I'll write you a...post I will try not to press the wrong key, yeah... I had the a few random songs stuck in my head this morning. Although I've butchered it abit, the above was one of them. Any guesses what it is? While writing that up, an old post of mine popped into my head...Pakora, Pakora (should be very easy to guess since the answer is in the comments)...and now I'm a bit hungry and wishing I had bought those chocolate ghiradelli squares I saw this morning....oh well. Its probably best I didn't. Speaking of food, the last 2 weeks of July are Restaurant Week! Yay! Restaurant week is like Summerlicious, where restaurants have reduced price lunch and dinner menus. So far I've booked 3 places, Fleur de Sel, Sea Grill, and Terrace in the Sky. I wanted to book this other restaurant since it got 2 Michelin stars! But unfortunately its booked solid. Actually quite a few places are, crazy eh, trying to find a spot in a restaurant over a month in advance and not being able to. I'm not sure yet if I want to book another one or not...I do love Food!...but even at reduced prices, it adds up. We've been on the run Driving in the sun Looking out for #1 California here we come Right back where we started from California, California! Here we come! In other news, I'm going to California this weekend! Woohoo! Aamir and I are flying out to see our friend Omar who moved there a few months ago! Leaving Friday evening and not back till Wednesday, a short but nice 4-5 day trip and a good break from work! It should be a blast, I haven't really hung out with Omar in well over a year I think! And I haven't really been there before so that adds to the excitement because I love to travel! And thats a lot of exclamation points I just used!!! hehe I'll definitely be taking a lot of pictures this trip. And btw, I've updated my Picture Archive. Here's another song that popped into my head this morning. I'll leave this one alone and it should also be fairly easy to guess what it is. There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea. You became the light on the dark side of me. But did you know, That when it snows, My eyes become large and The light that you shine can be seen.

5th Annual BBQ!

On one summer day back in 2003 Anojan was thinking to himself how nice a day it was and how much he likes to eat food. How much he likes to eat food that is grilled. And being the nice guy that he is, he invited a few of his friends to a simple little BBQ in the park. From that small gathering of 9 or so Waterloo CS guys (and a couple girls) began the Annual Summer BBQ, last year..... I think we had about 25-30 ppl or so. Its a day of eating, and games, and eating, and sports, and eating, and water balloon/shaving cream fights which for some reason always involve ganging up on Ahmed and chasing him around the park...outside the park, over the fence, through the parking lot of the senior citizens home, the park parking lot, through the woods, back in the park and then still not getting him! mouahahhhaah....ok maybe they slightly got me last year at the end...... :( Oh and then possibly some eating. So this year will be the 5th Annual BBQ and it'll be on Saturday July 28th. In Scarborough. And every single other detail is still in the works hehe. So if I know you and you're in the area. Feel free to ask for more details and come :) If your some entirely random stranger I've never spoken to, well I think it'll have to stay that way for now. Here's some pics from BBQ of past. 2003 2004 2005 Here's some pics from last year, the 4th Annual BBQ. And heres a video of some evil friends chasing me with water balloons

Katie, Vivan, and Miss. Peacock visit NYC

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I know I'm particularly behind in posting pictures. Its just been a busy last few days. And also facebook just makes it so easy to put pics up...I get lazy in putting them up here. Anyhow, to make it up I'm going to present you all with the answer to everything. Yes, everything. But you'll have to read all the way to the bottom of this post to find out....or you could cheat and just go to the bottom now.......booo cheaters.... Ok, so this weekend Vivian, a friend of mine from first year (wow thats like 7 years ago now...) and her friend Katie (who also went to waterloo and whom I share a remarkable number of mutual friends but somehow just never met) visited new york. And naturally we did what every tourist does...check out Times Square. We then met up with Anojan for some dinner the Afghan Kebab House. The next day we had another visitor as Miss. Peakcock (another friend of mine, and yes, of course thats her real name hehe) joined us for more adventures in the city. First stop, the MET (I only saw the Roman/Greek stuff with Jane last week). Meow This doesn't seem too hard... Some more sillyness And 1 more. After the MET we went to this Mexican/Morrocan Halal restaurant and crashed some guys 20th birthday party. It was a fun dinner unfortunately the food wasn't that great and we didn't get any bday cake :( Left to Right: Anojan, Jane, Me, Vivian, Katie, Miss. Peacock Still wanting Dessert we begin searching for a place to satisfy our cravings Finally we find a diner, and Miss. Peacock and Jane seem to think its fine. But Anojan & I have our doubts... Now I admit, the Banana split looked good...but the ice cream was rather meh The next day we decided to check out Central Park The fresh air did Katie some good as she grew a foot taller than me But after that healthy walking...we wanted some more chocolate. This time we went to good stuf, Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald Man mmm......chocolate..... Vivian and Miss. Peakcock trying to decide what to get. Anojan: ahhhhh I can't wait, where is my dessert!? Yes! Its here! mmmm....dark hot chocolate.... Vivian, Miss. Peacock, and I just posing for the camera. A group picture Left to Right: Janes roommates friend, Janes roommate, Jane, Anojan, Katie, Vivian, Miss. Peacock, Me. Some sillyness on the subway And finally the answer to all your questions.

Museum Mile

So the other day was Museum Mile Day. All the streets from like 82th to 105th street along 5th avenue we're blocked off for ppl to walk around and visit the museums for free. We (Jane & I, Sadia and Romana were also there but always 1 museum ahead, and Aasia was busy having fun in the rain) checked out the Gugenheim, the Design Museum, took a walk in Central Park, and then went to the MET. So we're entering the MET when I get a call from Janet. Jane goes inside and I take the call outside (better reception). While I'm talking on the phone I see this middle age woman taking pictures of a younger woman with a balloon. So I move to get out of the pictures when she comes up to me with the camera. Presumably to take a picture of the two of them, but no. You have good colour she says, could you stand in the shot? I'm surprised but agree and tell Janet to hold. I pose beside the woman (brown guy, offwhite pants, red shirt, black cell...maybe I am good contrast to white girl with plain dress and silver balloon?). After the picture, I finish the conversation with Janet and walk into the Museum and Jane's like what was that? Oh that? I reply, Well I only do pictures, no autographs. :P Anyhow, here are some pictures from Musuem Mile (unfortunately not many for the most part, pictures aren't allowed inside the museums) and from dinner later that night. Just a building I liked while walking to the Gugenheim Museum Mile Street picture Harp Player Inside the Gugenheim Light floor exhibit Jane telling me she wasn't ready for the pic Me Outside the Gugenheim (you know.....I like saying Gugenheim. Gugenheim! Guuugeeenhhheeimm haha) Outside the Design Museum Otherside of Design Museum Chandelior exhibit View of city over small lake in Central Park...the pic doesn't do it justice. Outside the MET Inside the MET Jane with Statues Me with statues Jane and Janet....they hate this pic......oh well :P

This makes me smile

Another fitness checkin, another parade.

Theres only 13 days left and I still have 7 lbls to go....this is going to be difficult. I need to up the cardio and cut down on the chocolate (I had like 3 slices of cake this weekend.....soo bad.....but....mmmmm....sooo soooo good hehe). So now I'm sitting here at lunch eating salmon, veggies and bit of rice. Its good. Its tasty. But....really, I wish veggies were just a bit more filling....sigh. In other news, I went to the Puerto Rican Day Parade on the weekend. It wasnt as entertaining as the Dance Parade (btw I've decided that although I find parades incredibly dull on tv, they are fun in person) it was massively larger. Just massive. Ricky Martin was suppose to be at the parade...maybe he was but I didn't see him. I did however see J. Lo go by on a float. I'll put some pictures up on here later. They are already on facebook for those of you who can't wait.

Quiz Survey thingy

Ok, my friend sent me this long ago by email...and I never replied. But oh well, I feel like blogging and this will do just fine. 1. What is your occupation? Product Manager (though for visa purposes I state Systems Analyst...shhh)...soon to be business student. 2. What color are your socks right now? white 3. What are you listening to right now? Noises from the streets and my co-workers using their computers. 4. What was the last thing that you ate? Feta Cheese from my salad. 5. Can you drive a stick shift? Not properly...yet. 6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I feel like blue today. 7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My mom. 8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? In small doses, hehe j/k. They're ok. I only see them every few years or so though. 9. How old are you today? 25...I feel older. 10.Favorite drink? Milk! Drink Milk, Love Life! And it does a body good! 11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball! 12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Nope. 14. Pets? Does a tamagotchi count? 15. Favorite food? Chocolate! 16. What was the last movie you watched? I was bored and watched Hard to Kill last night (old steven siegel movie)...not very good. 17. Favorite day of the year? November 2nd! 18. What do you do to vent anger? I don't vent too much, I bottle up....other than to a few people I tell stuff to. Or I just find something to put me in a better mood. Watch a movie while eating some chocolate, or ice cream, or chocolate ice cream. :P 19. What was your favorite toy as a child? It changed with age...what age = child? Giant Teddy bear, He-man action figure, hot wheels, nes, and snes were big ones. 20. What is your favorite fall or spring? Fall (unless its spring with summer weather). 21. Hugs or kisses? Hersheys Kisses 22. Cherries or Blueberry? Neither, banana and watermelon! 23. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes...but this is in blog format now....so comments will do. :) 24. Who is most likely to respond? Respond as in do this survey thingy? Probably no one. 25. Who is least likely to respond? Everyone. 26. Living arrangements? Anojan, Punit, I. Usually some guest is visiting. Soon to be back at home though so Mom, Dad, I, Sister, Dadi. 27. When was the last time you cried? Hmm...I don't remember, 2006 sometime. 28. What's on the floor of your closet? Suitcases. 29. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I'm blogging it, not sending it... no idea who my oldest blog reader is. 30. What did you do last night? Groceries, Gym, Bought dinner, more groceries, watched a movie. 31. Favorite smells? Food and Chocolate, matches. 32. What inspires you? Things I see, People I know. 33. What are you afraid of? Other people dying, failure, hell, big bugs, rodents, some other stuff i'm sure. 34. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Spicy Cheese. 35. Have someone you'd like to have another chance with? I know if given another shot I could totally beat my mom at carrom board. :P 36. Favorite dog breed? I don't like dogs. 38. How many years at your current job? It would have been two years in August. 39. Favorite day of the week? Friday 40. How many states/provinces have you lived in? 3, Ontario, New York, Tamil Nadu (Chennai/Madras) 41. Favorite holiday? Right now I'm looking forward to July 4th, going to LA woo! 42. Ever driven a Motorcycle or heavy machinery? Do camels count? No? ok well I've been given rides on bikes and its fun. I'd like to learn someday. 43. Who's your favorite NFL team? I'm more of an NBA fan, Lets go Raptors! 44. Do you have house phone that is NOT cordless? I don't have a house phone. I only use my cell. 45. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? Preferably I'd be indoors for either. But if I must venture out, give me the heat any day.

Japanese Human Art

Why Is My Girlfriend Mad? Matrix Ping Pong

Tag: Places to eat!

Ok, I was tagged by Ruby to list my five favourite places to eat. There are so many wonderful places to eat and I just love food but I have to choose some...so after much deliberation....in no particular order....here we go. Oh but unfortunately I only have pics for the first two. 1. Grimaldi's Pizzeria - Brooklyn, NY This is simply the best pizza I've had in NY. Its thin (I like thin pizza), its not oily, and its incredibly tasty and delicious. I went last Thursday and after waiting in line (Yes, its that good that despite the hundreds of pizza places in new york, this place on a thursday night will have a lineup outside!) had a fantastic large pizza with ricotta cheese and peppers. I've been craving more all week...I can't wait till I go again. 2. The Chocolate Room - Brooklyn, NY The Chocolate (3) Layer Cake is just amazing! Its extremely moist, rich, and has a wonderful chocolate taste BUT its not heavy! I could just keeping and eating it. And as a free starter before you even read through the menu they give you a mini scoop of chocolate ice cream. The place itself is nice little dessert cafe and a perflect place to go and just hang out after a meal. 3. The Halal Cart on 53rd and 6th - Manhattan, NY Looking at it, you may say its just a street vendor, like any of the hundreds of halal vendors on the streets of ny. But then I'd say to you, you haven't tried it have you? Yes, like everyone else they serve shorawmas, gyros, platters with rice and salad, chicken, beef, lamb, etc but they're portions are great and the food just seems to taste better from them. And that white sauce! Mixed in with that hot sauce!! Fantastic! And not only is there great food, but there is usually some very good eye candy as well! The lineup even at 2am will usually be half a block long or more! 4. Yemen Cafe - Brooklyn, NY They have the best Roasted Lamb ever. I know many people aren't into lamb but this is just amazing. And its a great deal. You get lamb soup, a salad, a giant naan, the roasted lamb with rice and vegetables and unlimted Yemen tea for like $15. The lamb is extremely tender and tasty and the service is quite fast. 5. Home - Mississauga, Canada What can I say, I can go to restaurants all over the world, try any cuisine, but a home cooked meal made by my mom (and/or dad) just can't be beat. Ok, so now I'll tag.......Sofi, Sarah, Samosa and anyone else that would like to share their favourite places to eat.

Returning Home

Wednesday I got the email. Haven't got the actual papers yet so I don't tell anyone. Friday I left work early, got back to my apartment for some last min packing before going to the airport.....awk...I forgot the key at work...but the super let me in...so it was fine. Checked the mail on my way up and I got what I was waiting for. Took the cab to the airport and flew back home to Canada. My family was out at a wedding so I took a cab home and just relaxed. Its nice to be able to just sprawl on the couch, at home, and just watch tv and eat a home cooked meal. It was also really weird to be back. Well weird is not the right word. But...I haven't spent very much time at all in Canada in the past ~2 years. It was odd having so much space again. And not huge buildings everywhere. Saturday Woke up (I heard birds when I woke up!) and came downstairs to greet my parents. And tell them, I got into Rotman (University of Toronto) MBA program! They were naturally very happy to hear I got in and of course that I'm moving back. I'm really excited! I feel like I've missed out on tons not being home. I dont' regret leaving. I've experienced a lot and seen so many things here in NY. Still...you miss not being at home at times. That said, after my initial YAY when I found out on Wednesday. I'm going back to school!!! My 2nd thought was ok....I have 8 more weeks to do everything I want to do and haven't yet in NY! So after that I quickly got ready and met up with Jessani, Nadin, Gabriel, and Al to play squash. I haven't played in ages and oh man...I'm out of shape. But I still managed to go undefeated! :) Afterwards we went played some basketball. I'm terrible at basketball but I'm a decent shooter and managed to win at 21. Then in American, everyone was tired so we only played to 4 points and I somehow managed to win that too! After that we met up with James, Bradley, Seiji, Bill, and Ruth and just chilled at Jessani's place for awhile and played ping pong and a couple more games of 21. I was undefeated at pong and won 1 more game of 21. I'm on a roll today! After getting ready we all went to Alice Fazooli's (which coincidentally is the same restaurant we all went to when I was leaving Canada to come to NY) where Ali, Shahzad, Hillary, Dave, Ken, June, and Gordon joined us for dinner. I have to say the Calamari was excellent. The rest just ok. Jessani raves about the pizza....I haven't tried it but compared to NY pizza....I dont' know...afterwards we went to Ken&June's place and just hung out. And my lucky streak was broken as Shahzad destroyed me in pong. Twice. Ah well, better him than Jessani :P It was great to see everyone again and just chill and talk. I can't wait to be back and doing that more often. Sunday I met up with some bloggers (Mezba, Ruby, Isheeta, Liya, & Samosa) at Yorkdale mall for the first time. I've never met other bloggers before so I really had no idea what to expect. And I'm a pretty quiet person until I get to know people...but then I semi-sort of know them....but anyways it turned out to be a lot of fun. Everyone was very friendly, cool, and pretty much like their blogs. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them some more when I'm back. The rest of Sunday and Monday (its was a holiday for me) was spent with family. And that was....fun, annoying, silly, frustrating, awesome. Everything families always are. :)