Visit NESCO at Kalpakkam for karate tournament

Visit NESCO at Kalpakkam for karate tournament

Sunday, Dec 02, 2012

NESCO, Kalpakkam

Tamilnadu

Today we left around 6:30 PM with Arjun and Anita toward Kalpakkam NESCO auditorium to participate in the Kacheepuram district Karate tournament for Arjun. We arrived there by 7:45 AM and the tournament participants were required to be there by 8 AM. We had breakfast in the Mahindra XYLO SUV and headed to the site. There weren't that many people and it took about 1 1/2 hour before everything started to fall in place.

Arjun didn't participated in the katta part but did so on the individual fighting competition. The event was over by 12:30 PM and we headed home and arrived at Chengalpattu by 1:45 PM.

Travel to Chennai via Dubai

Travel to Chennai via Dubai

Wed, Nov 28 - Fri, Nov 30, 2012

JAX-JFK-DBX-MAA

jetBlue connection to Emirates

 

We traveled to Chennai from Jacksonville, FL (via jetBlue) through New York JFK international airport (via Emirates) and through Dubai international airport.

JFK-Dubai 12:30 hrs non-stop flight (EK 202)

We left around 6 PM at JAX and arrived at JFK around 9 PM. Then at JFK we left around 11 PM and arrived the next night 9 PM at DBX. This flight was Airbus 380 with almost 500 passenger capacity. It was big and nice entertainment program. Our 12 1/2 flight was okay.

Then from DBX we left around 3 AM and arrived at Chennai by 8 AM on Friday Nov 30, 2012.

Visit UCF and USF

Visit University of Central Florida & University of South Florida

Monday, August 13, 2012

Orlando and Tampa, Florida

We started early in the morning from our La Quinta Inn in Orlando (very good place to stay) and headed to University of Central Florida. However, since we couldn't pre-register for the tour we went around the campus using UCF's self-guided tour. Then at 10 AM we attended the information session which lasted about 35 minutes.

We then drove to a near by K-Mart to get some school merchandise and had lunch at a Subway nearby.

We then drove on I-4 West toward Tampa. Three-fourths on our way it started to rain heavily and that slowed our travel. We finally around 2:10 PM at the USF campus and missed part of the information session. Due to the rain the student tour was also delayed. Then around 3:05 PM we started the tour and we like the campus. We followed the tour until about 4 PM and left for home.

We stopped in Ocala to have dinner and arrived have around 9:30 PM.

Visit UPenn

Visit University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

Thursday, July 19, 2012
 

Today morning we had breakfast at the Comfort Inn at the Downtown historic area. There were lot of people at the dining place but we managed to get some breakfast and checked ourselves out. Then we drove through the Philadelphia's downtown and parked our car on the intersection of 36th Street and Walnut Street and went straight to the information session at College Hall.
 

The information session was one hour long and then we went with David for another 1 1/2 tour of the campus. We saw the Engineering School, Library, Business School, and Locust walk and other areas of the Campus.

Then we ate some lunch at Taco Bell and had some coffee. Finally we went to the Penn Book Store at 36th Street. There we bought some memorabilia and left Philly.

 

We took I-95 and took a detour to Edison's Ferrari dealership. There VTS looked around some Ferraris and took some pictures.

Once that is done we drove all the way back to Newark and stayed at a motel near EWR airport (Newark International airport).

Then we ventured out Newark Avenue and had dosai, idli, vadai, and sambar. We went to bed around 10 PM

Visit Princeton University

Visit Princeton University

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Princeton, NJ

 

Today morning we left the motel and drove to Princeton, NJ to visit the Princeton University Campus. We parked our car in Lot 23 and took the central line shuttle to Frist Campus Center. Since there was no complimentary breakfast at our motel and there was no time or place grab breakfast we had some coffee and went to the one hour long information session. The session was held at the same classroom where Albert  Einstein taught a class when he was at Princeton.

Following the information session we went on a walking tour of the campus. We saw most of the campus but after 45 minutes we peeled off and went to Nassau Street to grab lunch. After lunch we went the Princeton Bookstore and bought T-shirts and coffee mugs for VTS.

There we met a lady from Tamil Nadu. She had been at NJ for thirty years. We then took the shuttle back to our parking lot and drove toward Philadelphia on US 1 & 9 and later on I-95. We reached Philly around 3 PM and checked into a good hotel on the ocean front.

Visit Columbia University

Visit Columbia University In the City of New York

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

New York, NY 10027

Today morning we checked out of our motel in Ridgefield, NJ and drove directly to Columbia University In the City of New York. We found meter parking on Amsterdam Street and went for a stroll on the campus. Then around 10 AM we fed the meter again and attended the information session held at the Uris Building and the University Hall. The session was about an hour long.
 

 

Following the information session there was a tour of the campus. Since we had already seen the campus ourselves, we grabbed some lunch at the Earl Building. Then we visited the Columbia Bookstore on the Broadway and grabbed some memorabilia and left the Morning Side Campus.

We drove to Battery Park in lower Manhattan and parked our car near the ferry terminals. We then walked to Castle Clinton and bought tickets to Liberty and Ellis Island ferry ride.

It was a hot and humid day with temperatures in the low 100s. Fortunately, the line for the ferry was short and after a brief security check we boarded the ferry and went to Liberty Island. Since they have closed the statue climbing we went around the Lady Liberty Statue, took some picture, grabbed some memorabilia and boarded the next ferry to Ellis Island. At Ellis we went around the Immigration Hall and had some coffee and cake.

Finally we took the ferry back to Castle Clinton. We paid for the parking people and drove to Trenton, NJ to stay that night at a Ref Roof Inn Motel.

Visit Cornell University

Visit Cornell University

Monday, July 16, 2012

Ithaca, NY 14853

This morning we left our motel in Cortland, NY and drove about 30 minutes via Cortland, Dryden and reached Ithaca around 8:45 AM. We parked our car in the visitor lot and headed to the Arts & Science Information session conducted by Asst Dean of Admissions and listened to him for about an hour.

 

Then we went on the student lead tour the Cornell University campus. We visited the clock tower, book store, Sage Hall, Ives Hall, various departments and the finally arrived back at the Information Center near the Day Hall. The tour took about 1 1/2 hour.

 

We then went to the Kennedy Hall and ate at the Trillion food court. The food was good. It was almost 1 PM. Soon we went to the Cornell University Bookstore and bought some memorabilia for our trip back home.

Soon he left Ithaca and headed back to New York city. We decided to take NY-79, I-81, I-380, and I-80 to reach our motel in Ridgefield, NJ. By the time we arrived it was almost 6 PM. We checked in and drove to the campus of Columbia University's Riverside Height campus. Since it was summer there was plenty of light, the sun was starting to set and we took some video and photos.

We drove and ordered pizza take-out and went to bed by 10 PM.