Costa Rica Diary: Here I Come
Posted: February 1, 2010 Filed under: Guest Post 2 Comments »On the Journey is very pleased to announce Gurkhahere as its first ever guest writer. In this post, and the series that will follow (hopefully 
), Gurkhahere will share with us the memories of his recent trip to Costa Rica.
How often can you have a great bar night with a bunch of people, all with varying accents, in a place where very few people speak English. Not often, right?- at least that hasn’t happened with me before.
It is fresh. It is different. The refreshing air nicely complements the magnificent weather. People are speaking Spanish everywhere which makes me realize that I really am in Costa Rica. I’ve just escaped the cold DC weather and the daily hustle to be in Costa Rica and the first day (January 16, 2010) has treated me well.
Just up the street from my house
Costa Rica has exceeded my expectations of being a developing country. At times, it reminds me of back home while at others it makes me wish my home was like this. The streets are well paved, the mercado is well organized, cars are decent and of course the bars are superb. There is a freeway here, although without shoulder but only a few high rises. Streets are fairly clean and there are neighborhood guards to patrol the streets at night, who greet you, every time you walk by with a simple buenas noches.
The street I walked everyday
At the San Juan Airport, I got picked by Ingrid, a very nice woman who spoke no English. I am proud to say that we had a nice conversation on the way to the “home.” Go me! Seems like my attempt and the desire to learn Spanish finally paid off. We drove along the freeway, through downtown San Jose and into San Pedro to get to the “home.” She showed me a few landmarks along the way, including Hospital Mexico, which is apparently the biggest hospital in Costa Rica (hun?). We also drove by the Universidad de Costa Rica, a huge and the most renowned university in Costa Rica. Ingrid mentioned that the university is very competitive. She showed me a couple of parks where people just hang out, play futbol, basketbol, and bicicleta, and basically just hang out with families on Sundays. Downtown San Jose was pretty lively with people just hanging out on the streets. The stores were closed but bars were open. Seems like the Ticos have their priorities figured out. Read the rest of this entry »
DSLR 101
Posted: January 25, 2010 Filed under: News/information and opinion 6 Comments »First of all, this post is not for the professionals, or even the advanced level photographers. This post is primarily for those people who are sitting on the fence on upgrading to a Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera (DSLR), or to those who want to buy a camera but not sure if they are ready to jump straight to a DSLR. Also, don’t expect this post to be very technical, this post is based mainly on my experience of using DSLR for past three years.
If you are thinking of buying an advanced (high-end) compact camera, and if the portability (size) is not an issue for you, then you should go ahead and buy a lower end DSLR. If you can afford, then you can even shoot for a higher end DSLR . The camera I have now, Nikon D40, costs around $400 -$500, with kit lens. A higher end compact camera will easily cost you from $350 -$500. I understand, it’s not always advisable and possible to carry a bulky camera around, but for those “Kodak moments” you always have your cell phone camera. The camera’s in the cellphone, today, are far better than my very first 2MP HP digital camera 
The biggest secret of a DSLR taking great pictures, even when a novice is operating it in an Auto Mode, has to do with it’s larger sensor designs. These sensors can capture more light, even in darker conditions, hence producing crisp images with reduced noise. Compared to compact cameras, DSLR normally focuses faster and shoots fast without the shutter delay. Think of the times you wanted to take a picture of some event, when you finally clicked your compact camera, and that event has passed. Also, you can take very fast continuous shots of an object. These qualities alone will make Geoff Boycott say “Even my mom could take better picture with a DSLR”.
Unlike the compact cameras, with DSLR you can change the lens based on your requirements. For starters, let say choosing from your kit lens of 18-55mm to take pictures inside a room (closer objects) or choosing 55-200mm to take pictures of birds (farther objects) on the field. The sky is the limit, when you think about the type of lenses for different occasions, the more you know about them, less you feel you have known. If you want to learn more, check this site to see some of the DSLR lesnes.
Now let me talk about my experience with DSLR. Like some of the available texts recommends, and based on my own knowledge, never fall for the megapixel trap. Paying more money to get higher megapixel camera is no longer worth it. My six megapixel Nikon D40 can easily produce excellent16x20” pictures, now why would you want to pay more for higher megapixel camera (unless you often require very BIG prints)?
Do I need it?
Posted: January 6, 2010 Filed under: News/information and opinion 8 Comments »
For past couple of weeks, I was feverishly following the development of Nexus One, the “Google Phone”. I have to say, I am very impressed with what they have come up with. The phone is pretty fast and powerful, one of the Google’s official stated that it is better than what his laptop used to be four years ago. But, one thing to keep in mind is that this doesn’t end here, the products hereon will keep getting better with time.
I don’t blame anyone for wanting this phone, I do too But are you willing to purchase another one, with even better features (surely) within a year? Unless you have a big chunk of money to spend on these gadgets, I am absolutely certain that it would be overwhelming and very hard to keep up with the new technologies. I feel that how you want to proceed in these technological advancements basically boils down to two questions: 1. Do I have the best possible phone? or 2. Does my phone do everything I need it to do?
People have different opinions; but, personally, I will be asking myself the second question before thinking about any possible upgrades As much as I am impressed with this phone, I don’t have any immediate plans for purchasing it 
Please check the following links for some more information, and early reviews on Nexus One: Link 1, Link2, & Link 3, or simply go to the Official Page to play with it.
Greetings and wishes
Posted: December 28, 2009 Filed under: Let the picture speak, Others 9 Comments »
What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of a year.
By: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Winter
Posted: December 11, 2009 Filed under: Let the picture speak, Randomization of randomness 10 Comments »One of my friends said; one burns 200 calories* just to get out of the bed, in a wintry morning, to get to the work. I say it’s more like 400 calories; 200 on bed itself while you are just thinking about waking up, and 200 to actually get up. Though some might argue that’s a fantastic way to burn calories, trust me it’s no fun to wake up at 5-6 am every weekday, in these chilling condition.
Hope ya’ll are staying warm and cozy; wherever you are, except down under (Australia). Below, a recent picture taken from my window. And, a choreographed picture of a flower on snow; to make things brighter, even in gloom
* Note: just for the sake of talking, not a fact
The festive atmosphere
Posted: December 3, 2009 Filed under: Let the picture speak, Randomization of randomness 5 Comments »One of the bitter part of celebrating festivals (like Dashain) in a foreign country is that you don’t have any holiday atmosphere to go along with your rituals. As soon as you get out of your or your friend/relative’s house, it is business as usual. There is no festive environment, forget the holidays; it is like celebrating the festival in isolation and in patches. If I have to remember Dashain in Nepal at this moment, I would say: rituals for ghatasthapana, flying kites, fifteen days or month-long holiday, empty streets of Kathmandu, good food, my parents always buying the exact same cloths for me and my brother, fulpati rituals, astami, nawami, tika and blessing from elders, etc. Things that we took for granted or overlooked in Nepal are sorely missed here; the religious and cultural significance of a certain festivities is not complete without the festive atmosphere that precedes them.
As I mentioned in one of my previous post, we not only celebrate our own festivals here but are also culturally involved in the local festivals. We do get holidays for those, but the festive atmosphere encourages us to enjoy the culture even more. For example in Christmas, for weeks, there would be lighting and christmas carol everywhere you go, people everywhere seem happy and cheerful. Regardless of your religion, creed, or faith; I believe all the religious holidays are meant to be celebrated among families and friends. People everywhere sparing some time to get together and have fun. I tend to celebrate them all, as a means of getting together with friends and family, even if that’s not always economically viable 
Merry christmas to all of you.
Following are the few pictures I took around my neighborhood (you can click on them to enlarge).
Jiffy Lube, Dentist, and Sai Baba
Posted: November 12, 2009 Filed under: I love to drink, Ramblings on life 7 Comments »If you are raising your eyebrow after reading the heading, I don’t blame you. This post is listed under my “I love to drink” blog category, so those who are regular to my blog can pretty much expect what’s coming up. As most of you might know how my loss of appetite for liquor has hurt that particular blog category, but I still find a way to get around it. Today I’m writing this post under the influence, not the liquor but general anesthesia Read the rest of this entry »
