US West Coast-East Coast : 15 days of work & fun !!!

[mobike008]

This is a photoblog of my whirwind trip to US between March 31, 2012-April 15th 2012

March, 2012 : I joined a new organization and I had an inkling that I may have to travel to US pretty soon but, didnt know that I had to do it even before I got properly settled down in the new organization.

This actually isn't a typical travelogue as I didnt visit any touristy places since it was primarily an official trip. However, I fortunately got an opportunity to extend my visit and take a 4-day break to meet my family which was the most memorable time of this entire trip

You'll mostly find pictures of cars and roads as I was sitting in a passenger seat through out the trip and that was the only time I got an opportunity to take out my P&S and click a few pictures

Driving from Redmond to Seattle downtown



Amidst the skyscrapers in downtown NYC



My favorite city : Boston

[mobike008]

My route was Hyderabad-Dubai-Seattle and carrier was Emirates

My flight from Hyderabad to Dubai was at 4:00AM and I was just carrying one piece of luggage (23kgs one) and my laptop. However, since my luggage was weighing 26kgs, I ran into a bit of a problem at the Hyderabad airport where they wanted to charge me extra for the additional luggage. With some convincing they let me go

Though I was allowed 2 pieces of luggage with 23kgs per piece and i was carrying only one piece but, with a bit of extra luggage

Lesson Learnt : Carry two pieces if you think 23kgs may not be really sufficient besides the point that you may buy something in US which eventually would need an extra suitcase.

Hyderabad-Dubai was a breeze and even before you can take a short nap and getting properly settled down, your in Dubai.

My previous visit to Dubai was during a layover to US when my flight was KLM and since then Dubai Airport has really changed with T3 terminal which is really jazzy and being an international hub was teeming with travellers.

All these pictures are taken between Hyderabad & Dubai

[mobike008]

It was about 8AM when I reached Dubai and had a 4 hour layover before my next flight which was to Seattle.

Dubai-Seattle sector was launched in March 2012 and I believe this could possibly could be the longest flight from one destination in the world to another.

The total flight duration was a nerve wracking 14 hours. Fortunately, I got the seat at the aisle near the emergency door so it was more or less a breeze for me except for the last few hours which seemed to go on endlessly and was just waiting anxiously to land as after sometime these long-haul flights tend to get really and terribly boring.

While waiting at the Dubai airport. Spotted this beauty. The twin engined Airbus-A380. Look at that wing-span, really wide. But, except the two floor seating capacity, overall length of the plane is equivalent to the 777-ER 300










A tired yours truly



A Chinese restaurant with Live Fish, Crabs, Lobsters that you can chose from this aquarium







Anybody for golf??

[mobike008]

It was about 1:30PM PST, when I landed at Seattle (Tacoma International Airport), after quickly completing the immigration formalities which was done with utmost professionalism, I was out in the main airport and took the elevators to area where taxis normally wait for arrival passengers.

When I stepped out on the curb, the cold hit my face and for a second I was little numb as there was a huge weather change especially since its summer out here.

Besides, Seattle is famous for dark, grey, cloudy weather for almost 9/10th of a year and folks there are desperate to see some sun. I was lucky as the 8-9 days that I spent there I could experience sun for 2-3 days and for most part of the day even though the weather was pretty chilly ( 3C-4C range)

Best part about Seattle unlike the big cities of mid-west and east coast is I didn't feel the wind chill. And, there was no gusty winds as well through out my stay.

It was usually cold, damp and a lot depressing

I took the first yellow cab which was a "Toyota Hybrid" that told him the address of my hotel which was about 24 miles away towards a town called Redmond which comes after crossing another larger town called Bellevue.

To pass the time, i started chatting with the guy whose name was Sam ( Sonu) from Phagwara. We talked about the weather and other small talk till we reached the hotel. I also used this time in the cab to click some pictures and it was pouring most of the way to my hotel.

Finally, after about 50 minutes, we reached the hotel. Fare was $60 and I tipped him $5

First view of Seattle from inside the airport. Whew! I was depressed already













Not one, but two dirt bikes being towed by this guy. Lucky him !!

[mobike008]

I stayed in "Residence Inn, Marriott" which is a cheaper of the other brand " Courtyard, Marriott"and both these hotels were adjacent to each other.

Luckily, it was not situated off some freeway but, right in town center. Therefore, shopping malls, eateries were just a few stones throw away from my hotel.

They charged $161/night and that was supposed to be a corporate price and included a sumptuous large daily buffet spread in the lobby where you can sit right next to a fireplace and enjoy some delicious continental buffet.

Residence Inn, Marriott, RTC

[vnabhi]

Nice pics. Keep them flowing. Looking forward to more pics of Seattle area and the MSFT offices.

[hyd_traveller]

Nice start. Seeing all the photos makes me want to go to USA right now. Awaiting more photos eagerly!

[Rajesh Rawal]

The beauty of Residence inn is they have the standard layout for all properties ( any location) in the u.s

Let me guess breakfast would be scrambled eggs ,red skin potatoes and the other usual stuff.(Waffles etc)

I like the residence inn and find it value for money (free internet ,full kitchen amneties)

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Nice pics. Keep them flowing. Looking forward to more pics of Seattle area and the MSFT offices.

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

Nice start. Seeing all the photos makes me want to go to USA right now. Awaiting more photos eagerly!

Thanks, Lots of pictures coming up so keep an eye out on this thread

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal

The beauty of Residence inn is they have the standard layout for all properties ( any location) in the u.s

Let me guess breakfast would be scrambled eggs ,red skin potatoes and the other usual stuff.(Waffles etc)

I like the residence inn and find it value for money (free internet ,full kitchen amneties)

Yes, It indeed was value for money and they don't even charge for local calls made which is a big plus. Breakfast as you said use to consist of scrambled eggs, bacon, potato wedges, bagels and cream cheese apart from lots of fruits, bread and juices and lots of cakes and desserts.

After dumping the luggage, I stepped out immediately to take a look around the hotel. Basically check out my surroundings.

And, what first catches my eye are the cars that were parked in the hotel parking lot.

This is what I found :-

My Cruze



Which car is this one?



Acura FX-35









The mighty Mustang

[traveloholic]

Amazing start of your Travel'n'Work'louge. Loved the rain drenched window pic a lot. Reminds me of my Indian Holiday at Munnar. Eagerly awaiting for the Food pics from Our In-House Foodie of Hyderabad. Keep them coming.

[srishiva]

Thats also an Mustang. Its Infiniti, not Acura. Nice travelogue with varied subjects.

[traveloholic]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Which car is this one?

That Red Car looks to be a Mustang. Not sure about the year though, but it for sure looks to be a Mustang.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Thats also an Mustang. Its Infiniti, not Acura. Nice travelogue with varied subjects.

Originally Posted by traveloholic

That Red Car looks to be a Mustang. Not sure about the year though, but it for sure looks to be a Mustang.

opps you guys are right. I took that picture from a long distance and didnt bother to zoom it till now and can clearly see the mustang insginia on the front left side

[smartcat]

Yikes, Airbus A380 looks ugly with that droopy eye - looks like a whale. In my opinion, Boeing 777 is the most beautiful passenger liner in the world right now. 747 looks nice, but its a bit old.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Yikes, Airbus A380 looks ugly with that droopy eye - looks like a whale. In my opinion, Boeing 777 is the most beautiful passenger liner in the world right now. 747 looks nice, but its a bit old.

Yeah, I agree. it doesn't look that great. Except for additional seating capacity and faster distance coverage ( I heard it can cover the 14 hour trip in 12 hours) it looks pretty much like other passenger airplane.

I missed riding one as my return flight was out of JFK in morning. Had it been in the night flight from JKF to Dubai, A380 is the default Emirate plane.

That evening a friend of mine who was also in Seattle dropped by to my hotel. He was staying there for last 2 months and was scheduled to head back to Hyderabad a week later.

We thought of just taking a ride in his Ford Crown Victoria ( it was a nice car with acres of space inside) to downtown and grab something to eat. We thought of checking out the Space Needle which is the tallest building in Seattle so we can take a look from the top. But, unfortunately it was close by the time we reached there.

So we were content to see it from close quarters and not go up that building.

Finally, after a quick bite at the McDonald's right across the street we decided to head back as it was getting colder and colder as night passed on