Trip Abroad Asia Trip - 04

Flight LH445

Atlanta Frankfurt

Tuesday-Wednesday, Dec 22-23, 2009

Somewhere between US and Europe

We left about 15 to 2o minutes late in time at Atlanta-Jackson International airport and flew from Atlanta toward Frankfurt in Germany via Lufthansa LH 445. Half way through the flight I had to take help of a cheerful and helpful air hostess to retrieve an ear-plug that got stuck in my ear and started to break. She very skillfully used her name badge to pull the ear-plug out of my ear. Thanks to her thoughtfulness and skill.

Then as we approached the airport we had to land outside the regular terminal since we were late. By the time we landed it was 9:10 local time and by the time the ladder was placed and boarded the bus to the terminal it was 9:35. Out connecting flight was supposed to leave at 10:15. So we hope and run through the terminal and security check only to find out our flight has already left.

We then had to leave the boarding area to get our tickets re-booked. We were rerouted via Qantas and Singapore airline via Singapore to our final destination. We then boarded our Qantas flight about 12 hours of stay at Frankfurt.

Trip Abroad Asia Trip - 03

Getting Ready for the Trip
Monday, Dec 21, 2009
Tallahassee, FL, USA

We are getting ready for the trip to Asia. The packing is almost done and we checked with the one-way rental car. Due to heavy snow-storms (Saturday and Sunday) in Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA we don't know how our flights will be affected. We are hoping that since ours is an international flight and we are leaving from weather wise unaffected airport in the southeastern US we will be okay.

We will know more details soon.

Trip Abroad Asia Trip - 02

Travel Abroad Asia Trip 02
Travel Visa
Travisa Outsourcing

For our recent trip we need to get some visas for some Asian country and we have found out now that Travisa Outsourcing is handling the obtaining of the visas. We used to have some level difficulty in tracking about what was happening when we tried earlier to obtain some visas to other Asian countries. But this time we found that Travisa Outsourcing was very efficient.

They gave us a tracking number and from the secure website we could follow the status of the visa. From our experience we found it took about 5-8 days to get the visa with regular (no expedited service requested) from the day it was sent out using regular mail and received by us regular mail. We are very happy with the new service.

Trip Aborad Asia Trip - 01

Trip Abroad Asia Trip -01
via Lufthansa Airlines

We will be off to Asia via Europe soon. We will be flying via Lufthansa Airlines, the German carrier based in Frankfurt, Germany. It has been several years since we flew in Lufthansa.

On my way back home

Back to home
Fri, Oct 9, 2009
Tampa, FL

Finally I was able to get out of Houston, Texas. There was a delay of one hour+ from Houston. The flight carrier allowed me to change from NW to CO. I got a decent flight to Tampa International. But arrived 15 min later than my flight home. But fortunately, my flight home was delayed by 45 min. So everything seems to be working out OK so far.

At Tallahassee Airport

At Tallahassee Regional Airport
Tallahassee, FL 32310

I am waiting at the airport for my flight to Houston, Texas. Fortunately, the Tallahassee Airport (TLH) gives the passenger free wifi access via a private company called DigitalCanopy. I actually using it to update my travel blog right now.

Travel to Houston 01

Travel to Houston
Early October 2009

I will be traveling to Houston, Texas in mid October for a business open house.

Trip to Valencia Community College

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Ponce de Leon Light House

Ponce de Leon Light House
Ponce Inlet, FL 32127
Sunday, July 12, 2009

Ponce de Leon Light house on the South end of the barrier islands off of Daytona Beach and Port Orange is a very beautiful light house. It is the tallest light house in the state of Florida. During summer time it is open from 10:00 AM and until 9:00 PM (visitors allowed until 8:00 PM). Since we saw it after closing time last night we came early (9:45 AM) and bought the tickets (adults $5:00 and kids $1:50).

We went up the red light house (all the 175 feet of it). The day was very clear with very little clouds. We could see all the way to the north Daytona Beach and beyond. On the South we could see past several miles.

We went around the top deck and watched the light house light mechanism rotate (with lights off, of course). Took some pictures and saw the surrounding area until 11:00 AM.

Visit Daytona Beach

Visit Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Saturday, July 11, 2009

Since STS-127 Space Shuttle (Endeavor) launch was postponed due to bad weather on Friday night, we spent some time visiting the Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex, bought some souvenirs, and had coffee.

Then we decided to head back to Daytona Beach, FL where we had originally planned to spend the night after the launch. We arrived there in the early afternoon and after checking into our Hotel, we headed toward the public beaches.

We went down on US 1 South and took Dunlawton Avenue and headed to the South Daytona public beach with life guard on duty with free parking. The beaches were open to the public and vehicles until 7:00 PM and the life guard was on duty until 6:30 PM. There were moderately strong currents so we stayed close to the shore.

Late in the evening we went and saw the Ponce Inlet light house. We decided climb into early tomorrow morning.

Preparation for trip to Cape Canavarel

Preparation for trip to Cape Canaveral
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Tallahassee, FL 32306

Sunday, July 05, 2009:

We bought one more adult ticket. We were able to buy the tickets and use the "Print your Ticket at Home" option since the Space Shuttle launch is scheduled less a week from the purchase date. Ticket cost $40.28


Friday, July 03, 2009:

We got a reservation for a room. Due to the heavy booking in and around Titusville, FL we couldn't good room for a reasonable price. So got a room in Daytona Beach, FL about 25 miles away from Kennedy Space Center.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009:

We bought the tickets for Space Shuttle Launch "View from Space Center" option. The ticket cost was $40.28 and we choose the option "Print at Home".

Trip to Miami/Orlando Summer Camp

Environmental Summer Camp Field Trip

Miami-Key Biscayne-Orlando, FL

Thu-Sat, Jun 25-27, 2009

The FAMU's Environmental Science Institute's 2009 Summer Camp Field Trip to Everglades, NOAA Research Lab started in earnest this morning. Everyone who wanted to go on the trip got on to the Astro Tours Bus early this morning and left for Miami around 7:10 AM from Tallahassee, FL 32307.

More updates will be posted as the travel progresses

Trip to Georgia Day 04

Last Day in Atlanta

Trip To Georgia Day 03

Trip to Atlanta, GA
Day 03, Thursday, May 07, 2009

Due to cloudy skies and prior commitment to the tickets we today did the Tutankhamen exhibit at the Atlanta Civic Center in the morning.

Then we went to Johnny Rockets retro diner for lunch.

In the afternoon we did the Georgia Aquarium. We saw the shark feeding at 3 PM. Later we left the town and went to the Cumberland Mall Food court for dinner.

Trip to Georgia 02

Trip to Atlanta, Georgia

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Atlanta, GA 30339

The day started with cloudy skies and rainy roads. Our original plan today was to go to the Stone Mountain Park on the Northeast of Atlanta. But due to the rainy and cloudy conditions we have decided to change our plans from outdoors to indoors.

So after a nice breakfast at the Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel we traveled to downtown Atlanta and went to Fernbank Museum. The Fernbank Museum houses one of the largest skeletons of a dinosaur. We saw the dinosaur exhibit walk through time in Georgia exhibit and watched an IMAX movie about the dinosaur excavations in Mangolia and New Mexico.

Then we stopped by Luckie Street and ate at Burgers and More. Bought group tickets to World of Coca-Cola (revamped in 2007). There we saw the exhibits and saw a 4-D movie (sound, 3D and movements of the chair).

Then we walked through the Centennial Olympic park and headed home by about 6:30 PM.

Trip to Georgia Day 01

Travel to Atlanta, GA
Via US-27 through FL and GA
Tuesday, May 05, 2009

We started our trip around 9:45 AM in Tallahassee and took US-27 via FL and GA and traveled to Atlanta, GA.

Around 11:00 AM we stopped in Colquit/Donaldsonville, Ga for some snacks at a gas station. Then started driving slowly through some rain and arrived at Columbus around 1:00 PM and stopped Zaxby and Taco Bell for lunch.

Then we took I-185 and traveled to Atlanta, Ga and arrived around 4 PM at our destination.

Trip to Georgia Day 0

Preparing for the trip
Monday, May 04, 2009
Tallahassee, FL

We are preparing for our trip to Georgia. We have started to pack the boxes with our travel amenities.

Visit Chicago 02

Visit Chicago 02
Chicago-Midway Airport (MDW)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Visit Chicago 01

Visit Chicago 01

Monday, March 30, 2009

Northwestern University

Chicago, IL 60611

Early Monday I left for Chicago via Delta flight getting a connection in ATL. By the time I arrived in MDW the weather from TLH to MDW has changed so much. It was a bright but blustery day with temperatures ranging from mid 30s to mid 40s. We picked a SUV (with a Garmin GPS Navigator) and exchanged the correct one at ORD and headed to Northwestern University, Downtown Campus, Chicago, IL.

Our host was waiting for us and we completed our official work well after our lunch time. Then we took some time for lunch. By the time we came back the host had some work to do and our work was complete and so we headed to Hotel Affinia Chicago, a block away.

Later that evening, we walked slowly on the Lake Shore Drive, two blocks from the University,  toward Navy Pier. We spent some time at the Navy Pier and the surrouning park. After dinner we drove to Millenium Park and saw "The Bean" and the "The Face". Then later that night we went to John Hancock Building Observatory and saw the view of the city at night. 

Trip to Chicago 01

Trip to Chicago, IL
Preparation

I will be traveling to Chicago, IL in few weeks. I have booked my ticket using a traveling website for the cheapest price. Once it has been decided, I asked my host for suggestion for a place to stay. Since it is a big city and the place I am going is very close to downtown, I followed upon my host's advice and used maps.yahoo.com to plug the address and narrowed down the cheap hotel from the list provided by my host.

Travel to Orlando Florida

Travel to and fro Orlando, Florida

I woke up early morning around 4:00 AM and started my trip to Orlando at 5:05 AM. I took first Florida US90E then  I-10E toward Jacksonvillle then I-75S, Florida Turnpike, and finally on 408E. I arrived at Valencia Community College, Institute of Criminal Justice around 10:05 AM for my meeting.

It was a pleasant day with bit fog early in the morning. But otherwise  it was a warm and sunny day (84F) in Orlando.

Since the meeting got over by 3:00 PM, I started my journey to back home around 3:30 PM from VCC and retraced almost the same path with few stops for coffee and dinner and arrived home around 8:15 PM.

Add Location in WikiMapia

Add Vedaraniam (Thirumaraikkadu) Residence
Tuesday, February 3, 2009

I have added my old residence in Vedaraniam (வேதாரண்யம்) to WikiMapia. The residence is clearly visible in the North Main Road in Vedaraniam also known as Thirumaraikkadu (திருமறைக்காடு). The town center and the main temple, Vedharaniyeswarar temple is also seen.