Table Of Content

• About India
• Misc Stuff from various sources
• Recreation
• Points of Interest
• Things to see in LA
• Yosemite information

Great India

1. India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history. India is the world's largest democracy.
2. Varanasi, also known as Banares, was called "the ancient city" EVEN when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 BC.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
3. India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
4. The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.
5. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
6. Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
7. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.
8. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth UNTILL after the time of British came over & infiltrated India in the early 17th Century.
9. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.
10. The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATI.
11. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nav' .
12. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
13. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
14. Aalgebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
15. IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.
16. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
17. According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called Sudarshana was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.
18. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
19. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
20. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).
21. The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.
22. India is one of the few countries in the World, which gained independence without violence.
23. India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World.
24. India is the largest English speaking nation in the world. India is the only country other than US and Japan (and perhaps now China), to have built a super computer indigenously.
25. Famous Quotes on India (by non-Indians)
    • Albert Einstein said: We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
    • Mark Twain said: India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.
    • French scholar Romain Rolland said: If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.
    • Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said: India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.

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Some good referrals
Antenna guy recommended on Cupertino Desi - Dicks Antennas 408-268-6814

Banquet Halls with Indian Food

•	Athidhi restaurant, Sunnyvale
•	Sneha (Arques Ave x Lawrence)
•	Bombay Garden, Santa Clara
•	Peacock Milpitas
1.	Arka Sunnyvale 
2.	Mayuri Indian Cuisine,
3.	Mynt
4.	Dosa Bawarchi, Milpitas
5.	Swagat, Milpitas
6.	Amma's Restaurant. 5988 Newpark Mall Rd. Newark, CA 94560
7.	Chandni restaurant, Newark
8.	Century Palace Fremont
9.	Dosa n Biryani in Sunnyvale on Java Dr
10.	Balaji Bhavan (now Banjara) in Sunnyvale on El Camino

• Swimming
  • Swim Pro - Expensive but maybe good
  • SV Jewish Community - Los Gatos
  • YMCA Northwest / Southwest
  • De Anza College - For older kids
  • Santa Clara Swim Club
  • DACA
  • Satatoga Star Aquatics
  • Sutton Swimming
• Hiking
  • Montalvo - Saratoga
  • Rancho San Antonio - Cupertino

San Francisco Bay Area
Sunol Caboose for Birthday Party - Inexpensive

Hawaii

Things to do in Oahu - Source, a colleague

Diamond head volcano hike (not free anymore)
Arizona Memorial and tour of the Mighty Mo Battleship (make your reservations well in advance)
Waiola shave ice stand (two locations, either one is good)
North Shore
Waikiki Aquarium  --very manageable for that age group
Sea Life Park (don’t know if it is still in operation)
Manoa Falls Hike
Waikiki Beach
Kaimana Beach
Ko Olina – very manageable lagoons for small kids
Pali lookout <-free
Hanuama bay
The cemetery of the pacific <- free
Pearl harbor
Kailua, best beach in Oahu, IMHO<- free
Island snow shave ice.
Pickled mango buy from street vendors
North shore, see surfers on huge waves <- free
Dole plantation
Ko Olina, nice beach w/ lagoons safe for kids. Disney has a resort there <- free

African Safari

Source - Colleague Vatsan

I went in 2010 for 2 weeks trip to Nairobi (flew from SFO to India through dubai as hub. SFO to Dubai to MAA, MAA to Dubai to Nairobi, Nairobi to Dubai to SFO back)
1. Landed in Nairobi-the customs/immigration guy charged some amount and pocketed them in front of us (all finger printing they did-not sure why?).
2. Stayed in Nairobi for 2days and then took a private minivan to drive around kenya arranged by my travel agent (Can give details if you are interested in contact details).
3. Drivers speak english well-Kenya was former English Colony like many places around the world (if the weather was good and weather was mild, the english man would have been there in 19th century:) )
4. Don't carry cash-try to get travelers cheque. There were lot of fake $20 notes I think and so they won't accept these bills at all.
5. Many banks will have security guard with gun-petty theft is very high and you will have 2 doors to enter the bank with heavy security precaution.
6. Nanyuki - On Equator and Mt.Kenya walking trails (you can see Mt.Kenya from the road). The reserve here is called "SweetWater Reserve"
7. Went to an English club close by-It was beautiful in Nanyuki area. Stayed for 1 night. (Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club-now called) - was english club before.
8. Samburu National Reserve HQ, Isiolo, Kenya-this is little far way and it was scary with all the weapons/sudan/somalia issues until you reach the Reserve. There was close to 100 km in desolate place driving north.
9. Aberdere National Park-you have to put your luggage in a place and drive to a cabin for overnight view-this was good-isolated from world and you have to stay in lodge overnight and have access to lot of elephants coming to the water hole.
10. Then we drove (After Finishing Nanyuki, Samburu, Aberdere) to Rift Valley (The wealthy part of kenya).
11. We went to Nakuru (a small town) - this is where you will see Pink Flamingo. Nakuru is crowded place and poor city. Nakuru has lot of mosquitoes and it was the only place we saw plentiful of mosquitoes in entire trip.
12. Nearby we also went to Lake Bogaria-this also has lots of pink Flamingo and also isolated –pristine place/lake and no houses and no pollution-Absolute nature, lake, lot of pink flamingo hanging around.
13. And then went to Maasai mara-this is where all animal action is-open flat land and all big animals, killing by the CATS-so we saw lot of action here/big family of lions
14. Drove to the famous Maasai Mara River crossing-it was too late in summer and already the wilder beast has crossed and the river crossing was empty. I heard that migration happens earlier may be May-June time frame and we went in July. This is where the crocodiles kill the wilder beast and the National Geographic channel shows a lot.
15. I hear that Serengeti is good and places around Arusha would good-but I did not have time nor was it planned and did not go there.
16. My uncle lives there-so we went to Mombosa taking a local flight and hung around beach resort for 2 days (you have to fly since it is 500 miles away East on Indian Ocean)

Each of the places, we stayed in the reserve itself and my travel agent took care of all accommodations. We are vegetarians and food was good and it worked out well for us (definitely Indian cuisine was there in all places).

Typical day will start at 6AM-you go with your driver in the minivan (which he can open the top) and roam around looking for animals for 2-3 hrs, get back to reserve get breakfast and then take a nap after Lunch in reserve also.

And then go again at 4PM until 7PM when darkness sets in-you should plan and get back before it gets dark for sure unless you want to night adventure.

Then you get your dinner around 7.30PM and hit the bed whenever for next day trip.

The roads are very bad (single lane in most places, pot holes and not divideD)-Sadly, saw an accident in the local cab (they have a name for it) and one guy died on the road and did not see any ambulance until 30-60 minutes away when we were driving. The public transport system is very bad-and they don't have trains either.

Don't wear jewelry, carry cash-theft is high and you have to watch out in public places especially crowded places. ++++

I would not recommend driving like me up-down the country because of road and villages that we saw with poverty. Maasai Mara, Arusha, Serengeti and may be lake victoria might be good choice. Maasai Mara has airport and you could fly from Nairobi instead of driving and then goto Arusha/Serengeti and avoid the other places if you are interested in Big-5 and killings and actions in the Serengeti.

You can check the places I mentioned on the google maps.

Did take yellow fever shots here-got malaria tablets, but there was no mosquitoes around and protected most of the time inside net/safe places (so only took few pills).

Overall, it was great trip for me/family. If you lived in India, you can relate to lot with african life style and won't get shocked with the way people live there.

One more thing I forgot to mention. I took cameras, large USB drives to move pictures-we left the drives in the luggage and somebody has opened it and couldn't find them/gone. It could be in africa airport itself (last we saw), but I doubt it.

It might have been here in SFO airport and with all heightened terrorism fear, they might have taken it to look at the contents (for terrorism may be).

Fortunately, I moved all of them in my laptop in handbag-so don't leave any drives in check-in luggage if you are planning on shooting photos/movies in handy cam.

In addition to Disneyland and Universal Studios there are some other things to do in LA.

Paul Getty Museum
Griffith's observatory
Santa Monica beach, and 3rd street promenade and walk down towards Venice beach which always has a lot going on, street performers, arts, drummers and dancers on beach etc.
You can then head to the Rodeo Drive, Sunset blvd, Madame Tussads wax museum
Kodak theatre, drive around Mulholland drive for a nice view of the city at night
Sunday night special comedy show at Groundlings Theatre, one of LA hidden gems and an absolute riot, might be restricted for minors.
Quick dinner at Muma's
2nd Saturdays every month there is Art Walk in downtown LA. Its awesome.
The Huntington library and the botanical gardens are really nice.
There are several hop-on hop-off tourist buses which can give you a quick tour of some historic sites, studios etc. Lot of tourists do that.

Yosemite Information

Web sites
Yosemite Main web site