Eating around LA

March 04, 2015

I used to live in Orange County so I would go to LA pretty often. With the great weather and beautiful beaches, it's always great to make a quick weekend trip there to relax.

Whenever I visit LA now, it's all about food. I'm always so torn between going back to my favorite places or trying new places. I could easily fill up a trip by just going back to all of my favorites. This time, I'm glad I got to try a handful of new ones.

One of the best meals I've had was at Bestia. A fantastic Italian restaurant that is in an old industrial building. We ordered as much as we could and stuffed our faces. If you ever find yourself in the LA area, I would highly recommend making a stop here.

Cityscape Nights

February 17, 2015

Growing up in suburbs of Houston, I didn't come to downtown Houston much, so I never got the impression that Houston had the big city, New York or Chicago skyscraper feeling. I have lately been getting more into cityscapes and now that I'm more familiar with the city, there are definitely some impressive views to be had.

New Delhi to Agra

January 28, 2015

I left Mumbai and I got to spend a day exploring the tourist spots in New Delhi. One thing I have to say is that everything had a very grandiose and magnificent feeling to it. There was lots of inlaid stone and marble with intricate carvings all wrapped up in large scale structures. It was definitely very impressive to see the scale and magnitude, while also seeing the fine detail.

Qutub Minar

Lotus Temple

Humayun's Tomb

Khan Market

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib

The next morning, I woke up early to make the 2-3 hour drive to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It was so incredibly foggy I was really worried about how my pictures would come out.

It wasn't the blue sky I was hoping for but there's no turning back now. When I arrived, I was informed I only had 2 hours before they shut the whole thing down to kick everyone out due to a VIP coming. I suspect it was Obama's team to come scope out the logistics of his planned visit to the Taj Mahal.

After leaving the Taj Mahal, I had some extra time so I stopped by the Agra Fort before heading to the airport.

First time to Mumbai, India

January 12, 2015

I recently had the opportunity to go to Mumbai for a few work meetings. With this being my first time to India, I had no idea what to expect. I arranged my schedule to arrive a day early so I could check out the local sights in Mumbai.

I grabbed lunch at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which is right across from the Gateway of India.

Here's a night shot of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel:

Up at the top of the hotel, there was a great view of the Gateway of India down below.

The Gateway of India is Mumbai's top attraction. There were lots of local photographers offering to take your photo and print it out on their portable printer. It also seemed to be a local gathering spot for friends and family to eat and relax.

From the Gateway of India, there is an hour long ferry ride to go to the Elephanta Island, where the Elephanta Caves are the main attraction. When you arrive at the island, you're faced a long stairwell up to the entrance of the caves. Lining the sides of this stairwell are street vendors selling food and the typical touristy souvenirs.