Puerto Rico

We enjoyed Puerto Rico. Following are the list of activities, lodging and food options.

Activities:
1) Bio-bay - they have two trips - one around 6:30PM and another around 8:30PM. Do the earlier one. In the earlier trip, you will kayak in day light - so you can see the path and also the groves and it will be dark when you come back - so you can enjoy the biobay also. But at 8:30PM, its dark even when you go in, which is pretty scary.
2) El yunque rain forest and the coqui frogs. Try the tender coconuts on the way - they are amazing.
3) Old San juan - just walking through the small streets. The fort was okay.
4) If you are into water activities, snorkelling is moderate - not as amazing as other places but decent.
5) There are also lot of sailing, motor boats and inflatable boat trips - that take you to the smaller Palaminitos islands etc in a day- which is quite a sight. It was very enjoyable.
6) We didn't go to Veiques coz we didn't have a lot of time. So we did a day trip to Culebra with "Aquafari Culebra" trip. The flamenco beach is not be missed. It was BEAUTIFUL - especially when you fly and see it from above.

We went with the tour guides called Kayaking Puerto Rico and mini-boat adventures - they give you a discount when you do more than one trip. Most tour people are very comparable and do similar stuff.

Food:
If you want to try Puerto Rican food - the way it should be tried, check out Luquillo Kiosks. Its pretty crowded but totally worth it.
Inside tip 1: Stall 2 in the Luqiollo kiosks- La Parilla is considered the best. Try their pineapple-coconut curry.
Insider tip 2: Mofongo is the PR speciality food - its a plantain preparation. The menu usually says Mofongo with some meat inside. It usually runs to $15. But you could get a a side order of just Mofongo - which is like $3. We don't really enjoy meat so much. So we got just a side of Mofongo and rice and beans - this was a perfect meal for us. BTW, the rice and beans is just heavenly - such simple food but made right.
We found - hole in the wall -places are usually better than big restaurants for authentic food.

Lodging:
I did a lot of research on lodging options. Following are the most popular options:
1) Downtown San Juan - this is all high rise hotels. Its more like a partying place. Parking is a huge pain. And the beaches near San Juan aren't very good. But it is close to shopping etc. There are a LOT of 4 star lodging options. You could get a good deal with priceline since most hotels are comparable.
2) Fajardo - This is 45 minutes from the airport. This is where all the water stuff activities are located. This is very close to the ocean and other smaller islands, snorkelling activities and the ferry dock. Its also cheaper and more-local-ish. The people are really friendly. You will get to see the local culture. There are many bed and breakfasts and one resort (El Conquestador).
3) Ponce - this is more upscale and posh - I want to say. Its known for its architecture and shopping. The beaches near Ponce are supposed to be the best.
4) Rainforest - There are many private B&B and log cabins near the rain forest. They are all amazing. You can hear the COQUI FROGS sing all night - some people find it a nuisance but we just LOVED it.

We stayed in Fajardo - because we wanted to be close to the water and locals. And we just loved it.
1) We stayed in a B&B called passion fruit B&B. It was pretty good and very convenient.
2) We also stayed in the resort called El Conquistador. It was pretty good. We saw a lot of kids. The resort had a lot of activities for kids. They also have a private island that you can go to, using their ferry. Its slightly on the expensive side - but we got a good deal in priceline. Parking is expensive and food is expensive and not very good. So we drove outside the resort for food. As I said, it was more for kids than adults and it was very crowded. We like smaller places that are more intimate.
3) We also stayed in the rain forest for a night - in a B&B called Casa Flamboyant. It was ONE AMAZING PLACE. Its a like a dream come true and it was so perfect. They had their own natural water falls. And it was so far away from anything, up in the mountain. It was good for a night's stay - but not more than that coz its so far away from everything else.

General Pointers:
The traffic is PR is very unpredictable and bad. So if you want to get out of San Juan or get into San Juan, give an extra 45 minutes in addition to driving time. We missed our flight on the way back and had to stay an extra day :-(

Driving itself was not as bad as people say. The roads are narrow and hence it feels like everyone wants to hit your car.

Google maps and GPS is USELESS. So you need to get driving directions to places you want to go from locals/hotels.

Word of caution: PR is more like India than US, though it technically belongs to US. So look out for yourselves. Also when you do guided tours, don't assume they are going to bring you back safe and alive. We did snorkeling - unlike Hawaii, where they really look out for you, these guys kind of have an attitude that you should gauge the danger yourself and take care of yourself. We did a "mini-boat adventure" in which you get your own inflatable boat and go into the ocean and do island hopping. It was a lot of fun and we had an awesome time - but as I said, there was this one big wave that hit us and we couldn't jump it - I am glad we came back alive and without getting hurt. So just be careful!

I hope this helps. Trip advisor is very useful for PR. So you may want to check that out before you make reservations.

Music

What is it about Music that makes your dreamy, that makes you happy, that makes you sad, that instills a fire in your for more? What is it?

Nanda kumara ....

I am listening to my usual playlist and debugging some 10 year old code - and a thought thats not well formed comes to my mind- and I involuntarily google for Aalavandhan. I never liked that movie - when I watched it 10 years ago. But now with a little more understanding of life and a little more tolerance for the reality of that life, I may actually like it. I remember how awesome the lyrics of all the sings in that movie were- Kadavul pathi mirugam pathi, African Kattupuli, Puruppo etc. Raveena Tandon was stunning - expect for her dubbing voice that totally didn't sync with her acting.

My all time favorite line that I comes to my mind every time I shed a drop of tear in hopelessness.

Nanda kumara nanda kumara - malai neer suthadu theriyatha ; Kannam valigira kaneer thuli than venner thuli yena arivaya;

He dances in the rain and sings how cold the water drops are - and suddenly he feels a couple of water drops down his cheek, that are warm - and he realizes that they are his tears!

Kalakitinga Kamal!!!

What happens if ...

you don't like the people you are supposed to like? you don't feel like talking to the people you are supposed to talk? can't do the things you are supposed to do?

Is it because every question had a "supposed to" in it? What if there are no rules - just you and how you feel! But there are others and how they feel! Result - Chaos and misunderstanding!

But what if you don't like to do they things you really like - or at least you think you like? Does that mean you don't like it anymore? Where and when did the disconnect between the mind and heart come?

Can you feel what you really feel? When did logic and rationality completely fall apart? When did you start enjoying loneliness?

How is it that some can live totally accordingly to the rules? Makes you want to live by the rules too - but will that make me happy? Maybe. Maybe not. But I hate them. Hate when they show off how perfect their life is. makes you wonder if they are just ignorant or decided to act and tell themselves how perfect their life is. Either way, do I want to be ignorant or do I want to act as if everything was perfect. Can they ever be? If they are, is it perfect anymore?

Ellame arai-kurai

There are so many things I have tried in my life. But I have not stuck to anything till the end. I did paintings for like 10 years. Now I dont even feel like holding a brush. I took piano classes for over a year. I still like it when I can sit and play - but I judt don't do it. I took swimming classes and I totally enjoy swimming but I wouldn't just drag myself to the pool. I love cooking but there days (many of them) when I dont want to go to the kitchen. My new addiction is to plan vacations that never happens - for reasons ranging from no time all the way to civil unrest in the countries we planned to go! Now thats a sign.

I just feel brain dead. Like there is nothing to do! What do people do - like everyday?

Why do you wake up in the morning?

For a long time now, I have been struggling to wake up early in the morning. I recently realized I have no reason to wake up early. There is nothing to do even if I wake up early in the morning :( Lunch is packed on the previous day after dinner (if we cook). I cannot exercise yet, thanks to my injury. I am not expected at work until 10:00PM. What do I do, even if I wake up?

How to make soft idlies?

Many people have asked me this questions before. SO I finally decided to post this, so from now, I can just send them a link:

It took me a while to figure out idlies - so don't be disheartened if they don't come out well the first few times. I use a counter-top grinder. You can buy them for $250 here. They ship it home and its very convenient. I just couldn't make good ones with mixie/blender. The batter is always rubbery when I use a blender.

The ratio is 4 cups of idly rice and 1 cup of white whole urad dal. From my experience, the two most important thing to get good idlies are
1) Idly rice - just any parboiled rice do not give soft idlies. Get idly rice from the Indian store. Any brand would do. They have to be short and fat.
2) How you grind urad dal - there is a point after grinding it for 20 minutes in the grinder when the volume of the urad dal increses to twice or thrice of what you started. When u put a spoon, it wont stick to it. Thats when u need to stop. This is the trick to make fluffy idlies.

Soak urad dal and rice seperately for 3 hours.
First grind urad dal as mentioned above. Remove it from the grinder.
Grind rice till its smooth - it can be a little grainy - it doesnt matter. Grind for above 20 minutes with adequate water.
When the rice is done, add the urad dal batter to the rice batter and let it spin in the grinder for a minute - so they mix properly. Also add salt at this stage.

Store the batter inside the oevn. I prehead the over to 125 degrees - and turn it off - and put the batter in the oven. It takes me 1.5 days or two nights for the batter to ferment. You can heat the oven to 125 degrees for 5 minutes and turn it off every day while the batter is inside - it quickens the fermenting process.

There are also little secerts that no one really tells you. You should store the batter in multiple batches. You HAVE to use the entire batch on one day to make idlies. Lets say you use half of the batter and store the rest, you wont get soft idlies the next time u use it. Its like some bonds are formed between the molecules - you have to make idlies as soon as u use a spoon and mix it all up. Else you wont get soft idlies the next day. So what I do is, I divide the batter into three batches. When they ferment, I put them in fridge without mixing it. I mix the batter with a spoon only before making idlies. I completely use one batch at a time. If there is extra batter, I make idlies and freeze it. Microwaving the frozen idlies will be as good as making them fresh.

Also, I have a special pan for making idly - where you use a cloth on top of the idly plate and put the batter on the cloth. So there is NO oil at all. Its just steam. And these idlies are better when frozen and micro-waved later. But you can make only 6 idlies at a time. I felt idlies made with this pan was usually softer than the ones from pressure cooker.

I make fresh batter almost every week. With these tricks in place, I really have to try hard to screw up idlies anymore ;-)