Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne

November 16, 2015November 19, 2015 ~ Alok Singhal ~ 80 Comments

Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne are internationally renowned and have a history of more than 165 years. Spread over 94 acres, they have breathtaking landscapes and have a collection of more than 10,000 species of plants – both native and exotic.

It is a perfect place to relax within the scenic views. Being a visitor hard-pressed for time, we spent a couple of hours walking through the lush-green landscapes and covering Guilfoyle’s Volcano, Lakes, Fern Gully, and Children’s Garden.

Guilfoyle’s volcano deserves a special mention as it had a couple of big floating islands in it. We were amazed with the various species of Cacti artistically presented there.

They are not as vast as the Longwood gardens I visited in the US (and wrote about few weeks back). However, the entry to Royal Botanical Gardens is free and they are easily approachable being right in the city.

Though one thing that stood out for us was the Rainforest Walk. It was a different experience. Those tall trees and pathways give the feel of walking in the forest. It was well maintained too.

My wife loved sitting by the tiny ponds. Few families and group of friends were having picnic there.

There is also a guided tour of the Gardens, they give detailed explanation of how plants are grown, how they breed various species and how cross breeding is done. We took it for a few minutes as we were running out of time. It’s very educational though.

If you are in Melbourne and the weather is good, do spend a day there. It’s soothing, relaxing, and moreover, you don’t have to pay a penny!

Sachin, Warne, and other legends in Cricket All-Stars at New York!

November 9, 2015November 15, 2015 ~ Alok Singhal ~ 98 Comments

The crowd, noise, craziness, and entertainment was all expected! Why not, the Legends of Cricket were in New York!

And, how could I have missed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the greats in my own backyard! Actually, i was all pumped-up as i had never been to any cricket stadium earlier to watch a match live, though i am a die-hard fan of the game. In fact, i sometimes watch multiple matches live at home – with my TV and Laptops playing them all together :)

So, we set out to watch first match of the Cricket All-Stars series at Citi Field, home of New York Mets, on Saturday. The stadium was absolutely beautiful…though it is for Baseball, it looked amazing with the drop-in pitch laid-out perfectly for the match.

The line-ups of Sachin’s Blasters and Warne’s Warriors looked great though they were picked in a random draw at Times Square. I surely missed seeing Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi!

As the giant screen asked us to make noise and get louder, a cheer wave started across the stadium and went on for quite sometime.

I was live on air as well, shouting with Warne’s fans. You can see me in white tee with camera around my neck in the video below :)

Plenty of @ShaneWarne fans here at @CitiField !! #cricketallstars pic.twitter.com/FDveZOf6qe

— Cricket All Stars (@T20AllStars) November 7, 2015

It was quite an entertaining match and i am sure each one of the 36,000 people in the ground enjoyed to the fullest. It would be inspiring for the American sports lovers and for the betterment of the game to have more such matches in the US.

As the Warne’s team were heading for a win, Sachin probably thought he can entertain us with an over. Guess what, he went for a six soon!

And, the presentation soon followed with Shane Warne being declared Man of the Match!

The next 2 matches are in Houston on 11th Nov and Los Angeles on 14th. Looking forward to watching them at home :)

Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

November 2, 2015November 1, 2015 ~ Alok Singhal ~ 76 Comments

You would probably know we were off to Australia on vacation during the week starting Sep 28. As a reminder, Saru had won a trip sponsored by Tourism Victoria for this entry. Starting with this post, I am going to cover the numerous spots we covered and some were well worth the visit.

We stayed 3.5 days in Melbourne, 1 in Gold Coast and 2.5 in Sydney during our week-long outing. We flew Virgin Atlantic between these cities, which I should say I enjoyed.

After landing in Melbourne on Sep 28 early in the morning, we headed to our hotel ibis Styles in the CBD (central business district), kept our luggage with the reception and soon ventured out for our first spot – Melbourne Cricket Ground. You see, I am crazy about Cricket, so we kept this as the first attraction to visit :)

Before I write about the attraction itself, I should mention the free Tram (numbered 35) one can take in Melbourne. Most of the attractions are easily approachable using this free service that runs during the day. There is also a Free Tram Zone, where one can take other trams also that run there…however, they will not be free once you are out of the free zone.

Once at the MCG, I was amazed with the enormity of it. We bought the tickets for the MCG tour and also for the National Sports Museum they have. The tour takes you through the entire stadium, with commentary on history, membership, library, media areas, rooms for executives, practice areas, and much more. It lasts a little over an hour to complete the tour…though i will give you a quick virtual tour here :)

Do you know they don’t just play Cricket at the MCG? They have also had Football, Rugby, Soccer and even Olympic Games there and many of them are still actively played there.

Our tour began from the ground. “Do you know the cricket pitch is not permanent on the ground?” – you won’t see it in the pictures below. It is prepared separately, brought to the ground a day before the match and laid there – there is a special machine which does all this.

There are two ways of entering the field for a player and the player decides for himself which route he would take. One is through the crowd and one is an under-path which leads directly to the field.

After the field tour, our guide told us about the seating capacity and how different stands are marked. With over a hundred thousand seating capacity, there are 22,000 seats reserved for the members of the MCG. And, if you ever think of getting one for yourself, you won’t get it in this lifetime – the waiting list is that long.

Later, we toured the Media Room, both TV and Newspaper, Practice areas, Library and saw the members’ Dinning Area as well.

We also saw the Strategy Room, where the teams evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their opposition. You can not sneak into any of these places as there are close to 350 cameras in the MCG.

Once done with the tour of the ground, do not miss the 3D interaction with Shane Warne in their National Sports Museum.

Using the latest in Simulated Hologram Technology, Warne interacts with us as he moves around the space talking about his career – he opens the locker doors, plays with the bat, ball, and does much more…it looks and feels as if he is actually talking face-to-face with us.

There is much more to discover at the Museum, and one can spend an entire day at the MCG alone.

MCG is a must visit attraction, for it is the 10th largest stadium in the world, largest in Australia and largest cricket ground by capacity!

Whiterface Veteran’s Memorial Highway – Lake Placid

October 26, 2015 ~ Alok Singhal ~ 84 Comments

I had mentioned in my earlier post that we went up the Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway on our recent visit up North in the US. The drive is probably the easiest in America, as opposed to Mount Washington Auto Road that we took last year. We took the Olympic Region Passport (provides you discount if you want to cover many activities together) from Lake Placid, a village famous for its 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. Lake Placid also hosted the 1972 Winter Universiade and 2000 Winter Goodwill Games.

olympic region lake placid — Saru with our Olympic Passports. The Peak is in the background, captured from another spot

Whiteface Mountain – just 13 miles from Lake Placid – is New York’s fifth largest and stands at 4,867 feet. It provides a spectacular 360-degree view of the Adirondack Region and even glimpses of Vermont and Canada on a clear day. The parking area is at an elevation of 4,600 ft and from thereon one can either take the elevator or walk, as we did. Next to the parking is also a Castle built from native stone and a restaurant and a gift shop.

The walk of just 267 feet further from the parking area was pretty challenging as it was lined with boulders, with railing on both sides. Even with running shoes, it was slippery at times. I am glad we took we chose to walk up (as opposed to taking the elevators) as the views were breathtaking!

P.S. – I am back to the US and will be more active on my and your site :)

A Symbol of Love – Boldt Castle!

October 19, 2015October 30, 2015 ~ Alok Singhal ~ 104 Comments

Few weeks back we went on a 3-day trip to the Thousand Islands, Adirondack Region, Saratoga Springs and Howe Caverns in the United States. Within these overall classifications, we specifically targeted Cape Vincent, Wellesley Island State Park, Boldt Castle, Whiteface Mountains, Lake Flower, Lake Placid, Lake George, Saratoga Race Course, and Howe Caverns…and within each of them we did various activities.

Most of these places are very close to US-Canada border and at one point in time we were actually standing at the Border and were looking at the Immigration officials!

Each of the places we go to, in general, are thoroughly researched first by my wife. The reason being we want our experiences to be everlasting. So, we have a plethora of memories (and pictures, of course) from our trip, which are impossible to cover in a single post. Hence, this post will be solely dedicated to the Boldt Catle, a monument with a history well worthy of mention.

Boldt Castle is located on Heart Island in the Thousand Islands region, along the northern border of the state of New York. Construction of this castle began in the 1900 as a result of an ambitious plan by George Boldt who wanted to build a huge masonry structure as a gift to his wife. However, as luck would have it, she died in 1904. The construction was immediately stopped and Gorge Boldt never visited the place again.

The castle bore the brunt of time till it was acquired by the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority in 1977 and since then has been undergoing restoration and further improvements.

We took the Uncle Same Boat Tour from downtown Alexandria Bay in New York towards Boldt Castle. On the way, the guide talked about some other locations that we were passing by and their historic significance.

how to reach boldt castle — On the way to Boldt Castle

We also ventured into the Canadian waters (the immigration doesn’t stop these boats, since they are allowed to pass by for tourism purposes). In the below pic, we were just a few feet away from Canada!

Finally, after spending close to an hour looking at marvelous structures and few terrific sights both in the US and Canada, we reached the Boldt Castle.

boldt castle near new york

A huge Mansion that was supposed to be a symbol of Love (much like Taj Mahal in India) now stands amidst pristine beauty, and as a major landmark and tourist attraction.

Adventures galore at Seaside Heights!

October 11, 2015October 30, 2015 ~ Alok Singhal ~ 63 Comments

Seaside Heights is a popular destination located in the Ocean County of New Jersey, primarily because along with the Beach it also has an amusement-oriented Boardwalk, which is one of the busiest at the Shore. The community is also the location of popular MTV Show Jersey Shore.

As I am very fond of beaches and have already covered more than 10 of them this year (some had lighthouses too), i couldn’t have left this one out. So, with much excitement, we left one Sunday afternoon for Manasquan, which is on the way to Seaside Heights. We spent a bit of time on a beach in Manasquan. The place was not crowded at all, maybe because there is too much to do just a few miles away at Seaside Heights. However, calmness has its own beauty and we saw people enjoying their afternoon playing sports at the beach, including kite flying :)

As we reached Seaside Heights, the hustle-bustle there spoke about its popularity. Saru was happy to see numerous amusement options at the Casino Pier. First, we took the Sky Ride, that took us high above the beach and boardwalk. The cool breeze from the ocean, and great views of the Atlantic Ocean, Barnegat Bay, Seaside Height’s Beach and Boardwalk took our breath away!

We then walked on the Boardwalk from the end where the sky ride dropped us to the other, where plenty of rides are located. This time I skipped the other adventure activities there, having done the same at Jenkinson’s boardwalk at Point Pleasant last year. However, Saru was thrilled just by seeing them and experienced Super Storm. The ride swings like a pendulum and also spins around its circle. The greatest thrill is when it turns you upside down, making a 360 degree revolution. Well, some people might feel nauseated after it, and that’s what happened to Saru…so that was it for the day. But we spent a splendid time there enjoying seeing others take other rides.

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire

October 5, 2015October 30, 2015 ~ Alok Singhal ~ 69 Comments

Last year, we were lucky enough to hit New Hampshire right when the fall was at its peak. We covered many attractions including the Franconia Notch State Park, Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves, Castle in the Clouds, Flume Gorge, Cannon Aerial Tramway, Echo Lake, Kancamagus Highway, and few lakes and other scenic spots on the way. We also had an amazing drive up the Mount Washington Auto Road and i wrote about it earlier here.

However, the beauty of Lakes there calls for this dedicated write-up. Numerous motion pictures have either been filmed or set in the region.The region has 273 lakes and ponds, including the largest of them all – Lake Winnipesauke, located at the foothills of the White Mountains.

We covered many of these Lakes during our trip, primarily the major ones: