Comic strips.
I am not a die hard fan of comic strips ( partly because I dont get the subtle humour in many of them ;-) but lately I and regular with Dilbert and have started to enjoy it. I think to get all of it one needs to be familiar with the whole set up. I want more now. Tried Ripleys believe it or not, but most of the facts they state are not very exciting. Today itself started reading some of the Calvin and Hobbes series and I think this will be something that I will like. Dont have the complete background knowledge yet but just found this direct one nice.
Food Update
9. Ocean View Terrace
Taste: 2.5/5
Location: 10 min walk west of ECE building.
Cuisine: Multi cusine. Messing style.
Cost: low. I had a personal Pizza and Fires and the total was less than $4. Thats what I call low pricing. Though some of the other item are nominally priced. There is not tax for students.
On-the-go-option: No for the most of the Graduate engineering students. Its too far, even for a meal. Its different if one is in the mood of a light walk and munching something with a peep of the ocean.
Vegetarian Factor: 4/5
Late Night: YES. Its open till 1:00 am in the night (check online for weekends and special days)
Health Factor: 1-3.5/5
Comments: I wanted to try the open hearth pizza and did so the first time I went there, but was dissapointed. It tasted okay, nothing great about it. The good point was that they bake it fresh for you. Also the fries I had were cheap but pathetic. They were cold and once can imagine what cold fries tastes like.
8. Earl's Place
Taste: 2.5/5
Location: Near Canyon Vista.
Cuisine: On-the-go-packed-food and coffee.
Cost: EXPENSIVE
Late Night: Yes.
Comments: Dont go there. I
7. Canyon Vista
Taste: 3/5
Location: 4-5min walk east of ECE building.
Cuisine: Multi-Cusine. Messing type of eatery.
Cost: Nominal. It has variety of option ranging from $1.75 bowl of pasta with marinara sauce (ass a $0.30 garlic bread to it and you have got a meal) to ~$2.00 pizza slices to ~$4.00 subs to ~$4 burgers to stir fry etc.
On-the-go-option: Pricewise yes, but its far so not a very practical option. I am not sure if they even have a take away option.
Vegetarian Factor: 4/5 given the variety, one can find enough vegetarian stuff to please himself.
Late Night: No.
Health Factor: 1-3.5/5
Comments: Its good to go there, but I usually end up eating Pasta and Pizza, which have low nutritional content, so I avoid going there. Its kind of a mess (not the messy mess, but mess hall) so great for backup strategies, though I feel that it should extend its timings - it closes at 8:00 pm.
6. Sunshine Store - only One The Go Food and coffee.
Taste: 2.5/5
Location: Price Center
Cuisine: On-the-go-packed-food and coffee.
Cost: Mocha - $1.12 (16 ounce)
On-the-go-option: I have really not tried the packed stuff there, only go there for coffee.
Vegetarian Factor: X
Late Night: No.
Health Factor: X
Comments: Probably the cheapest coffee you can get on campus. They have all the paraphernalia for making coffee, tea, hot chocolate. One needs to have the Mocha for atleast 10 times to develop the taste. I dont know why they have a habbit of adding some like of weird flavors to coffee and chai.
5. Tacone (will be updated)
Taste: 3/5
Location: Price Center
Cuisine: American. Sandwiches, warps etc.
Cost:
On-the-go-option: $1.50 for hot fried french fries. The quantity is descent and they also add their special spices which gives it a more Indian taste. Also tried $2.50 Sweet Potato fries - (fired shakargandhi with honey). Did not like it on the first time.
Vegetarian Factor:
Late Night: No.
Health Factor:
Comments:
4. Round Table Pizza
Taste: 3/5
Location: Price Center
Cuisine: Italian. As the name suggests it specializes in pizzas.
Cost: $1.50 for a single topping pizza slice. Has options for personal pizza but are expensive. A better thing is to go in a group and order the large pizza.
On-the-go-option: One can take two slices of one topping pizza for $3.
Vegetarian Factor: 2.5/5
Late Night: No.
Health Factor: 1/5 - ones eating only cheese, bread and tomato sauce.
Comments: Having had pizza is its birthplace itself, my thresholds are high, but given that one gets a hot pizza slice, its better than other pizza joints I have tried on campus. They also serve Beer.
3. Rubio's
Taste: 3.5/5
Location: Price Center
Cuisine: Mexican. Wheat/Floor Tortillas with filling options of Beans, rice, vegetables, lettuce, cilantro, onions, corn, bell peppers, cheese with their choice of salsa and chips.
Cost: $5.50 for a vegetarian Especial Burrito- Includes all of the fillings as mentioned above. $3.50 just cheese and bean burrito with chips. $2.50 for a Street Burrito.
On-the-go-option: A Street Burrito is one of the best on-the-go optin in PC. Though a vegetarian option is not their on their menu but one can ask them to substitue meat for vegetables and lettuce. No chips with it.
Vegetarian Factor: 4.5/5
Late Night: No.
Health Factor: 4/5
Comments: Was the favorite during the initial days, but got bored of it and subway is taking on the first spot.
2. Subway
Taste: 3.5/5
Location: Price Center
Cuisine: American? Bread toasted/plain with cheese, some fresh vegetables - lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, onions, bell peppers, some tinned - olives, jalepenos etc with mustard and mayonnaise.
Cost: $5 for a vegetarian footlong (12 inch), $3 for a vegetarian sub (6 inch).
On-the-go-option: a 6 inch sub is a descent option but with tax it shoots bit abouve $3 to $3.21
Vegetarian Factor: 4.5/5
Late Night: No. But closes last among the PC eateries.
Health Factor: 4/5
Comments: Its becoming a fast favorite of mine, cus of the vegetable content and the fresh factor. I usually go for the 6inch, but with 12 inch it is also a cost effective option. A 12 is sufficient for normal appetite people, but hogger like me need something more.
1. Panda Express
Taste: 2.5/5
Location: Price Center
Cuisine: Chinese - that includes steamed rice, fried rice, chowmein and for sides mostly meat items, but also found tofu and a mix of stir fried vegetables.
Cost: $6 for half portion of steamed and fried rice each with a portion of tofu and vegetables. Tofu was patheic, cant take it the next time.
On-the-go-option: Nothing is available below $3
Vegetarian Factor: 2/5
Late Night: No.
Health Factor: 4/5
Comments: May be a bowl of rice and stir fried vegetables or chowmein can be the next experiment. That would also bring the price under $5.
What can you still do with 15 Paisa - $0.003
Get closer to your sweetheart! I mean not physically but vocally.
Reliance Info offers intra-circle calls at 15pThat really does break all bounds.
Hypocricy of the press or the college?
Obscene CDs: 4 engg students suspended"In yet another crackdown by Anna University authorities four third-year Mechanical Engineering students of the College of Engineering, Guindy, were suspended on Wednesday for allegedly possessing obscene film CDs and misbehaviour in the hostels."
Anna University Vice Chancellor D Viswanathan said,
“As many as 300 hostel students own computers which are connected to local area network, so that students can share their information. However, we never expected them to use them for watching pornographic movies,”
Really? I mean does the H'ble Vice Chancellor really expects that from 21 year old males (and females //?//) or is it the media and public they are afraid of? I wonder even these kinds of suspension should be brought to limelight by media (or by me)? I mean in IITK we had various such cases of student logins getting suspended for non academic use, nothing more than that and probably that was the right amount of punishment/importance given to the matter, not worth a newspaper article anyway.
For God and the Country
You must be knowing the recent announcemt to have five more institutes tagged as IIT's. It does not matter where you are from, but if you beleive this is NOT the solution to the problem of Higher Technical Education in India and would rather mitigate the brand name of IIT's please
sign this petition.
Fellow blogger, kindly spread the word.
Photos Updated on Flickr
Ultimately found a soultion to get my rolls developed and digitize at bearable costs. There is Ritz camera (one of the best photo studio) in La Jolla Village Center, that develops 24 exposure rolls for $4.50 but gives UCSD discount of $2.00 so thats just $2.50 for developing and then at Ralph's Photo Express at La Jolla Village Square one can get them scanned at $3.00 if the negatives are not cut. For cut negatives they charge $5.00 for 50 negative photos and $7 for around 100 negative photos. So on the whole one can get a roll developed and digitized at around $5.50 (good quality) which is quite decent. Infact got all my negatives scanned at Ralphs today and uploaded them at flickr at
Random(includes the cycling trip pics): (~ 8 new)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97388042@N00/sets/1786421/California Trip: (~20 new)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97388042@N00/sets/1785831/
Task for this Quarter - Food at UCSD
"Visit each of the eleven campus restuarant and write about them." (I hope :-)). Food, Food, Food are the three top most things I miss about India and IITK. Today morning itself Himanshu came over and we went for a short drive. And I said - "
Agar abhi India mein hote to kachori kha ke aa rahe hote". :-( . I really miss the road side food stalls. In Delhi I could have found a '
Sundar Sasta Tikau Chola Kulcha' with a drop of a stone. In Kanpur Lala made it sure that we have OnDemand food from 2 in the afternoon to 2 in the night. And ofcourse there was MT for Chai-Samosas and ShopC for Cold Coffee, Patties and Milk Cake. If we used to get fed up with even these, there was the Famous Dosawala at the entrance. Once in a while IceSpice.
But here, its just Subway(Sandwitches) or Rubios(Mexican). And if one is a gastronome, he tries out Canyon Vista (mess type of arrangements) or some eateries in Old' Students Center. Even a pathetic coffee with all kinds of awful smelling chemicals makes you shell out a dollar. (I mean think by Indian Standards 4.5 Rs vs 45.). You can find better tasting coffee at Roma's cafe but that costs double. Anyways, no point cribbing cus the problem is not lack of eating options. The problem is lack of exploration. The UCSD website says there are 11 dining option on campus. And how many have I tired yet - Just two. Apart from these there are few more fastfood types of eateries in Price Center and Old Students Center and again I have a patheric experimentation count. So this semester I aim for trying atleast 10 different kinds of eatries. The parameters are
cost, On-the-Go-Snacks and Vegetarian Options. - My aim is to find vegetarian option that fills your tummy for under $5 if thats a proper meal, or under $3 if its On-the-Go-Snacks.
1. Panda Express
Taste: 2.5/5
Location: Price Center
Cuisine: Chinese - that includes steamed rice, fried rice, chowmein and for sides mostly meat items, but also found tofu and a mix of stir fried vegetables.
Cost: $6 for half portion of steamed and fried rice each with a portion of tofu and vegetables. Tofu was patheic, cant take it the next time.
On-the-go-option: Nothing is available below $3
Vegetarian Factor: 2/5Late Night: No.
Health Factor: 4/5
Comments: May be a bowl of rice and stir fried vegetables or chowmein can be the next experiment. That would also bring the price under $5.
To TryCafé Ventanas: 30 ft. floor-to-ceiling windows, an exhibition-style kitchen, a sushi chef, and more await you in this architecturally breathtaking restaurant.
Club Med: Begin your day with a cooked-to-order breakfast, or stop by for a HeartSmart lunch or fabulous Italian cuisine.
El Mercado: The best spot on campus for authentic Mexican foods.
Foodworx: Pizzas, salads, Quizno-style sandwiches, and much more.
OceanView Terrace: Serves open-hearth-fired pizzas with a breathtaking view of the Pacific.
Plaza Cafe: There's something for everyone with vegetarian specialties and rotating international specialties from the South, Middle East, Asia, and Mexico.
Plaza On The Side: Coffeehouse-meets-poetry reading-meets-live music.
Sierra Summit: With made-to-order wok, a vegetarian station, and "on the rock" ice cream.
Snackropolis: Catch a spectacular view of the ocean while enjoying grilled-burgers-of-the-day, specialty salads, and more.
Photoblogging - California Photos
If you just want to see the photos and not go into the crap written
click here.I did forget to write a blog about my entry into SLR photography. Anyways, I got a Nikon FM 10 a month back, a fully Manual SLR camera and got to use it properly for the first time during the California Journey.
Now there are some draw backs of still using a roll based camera. The rolls cost you money, the developing costs you money, the printing costs you money and the digitizing costs you money. I am still experiments whats the cheapest way to get my rolls in digital format without compromizing on the quality. Still not sure, I have to buy the rolls, I have to get them developed so there goes $5 per roll. Add good quality printing - another $5. And you also ofcourse them in Digital formats another $5 in uncle sams country. But the camera was way cheaper ($200) than the digital SLR's ($800 - Nikon D50) and it being completely manual you are forced to learn the hard way, but the learning is permanent.
Shot 4 rolls in all, and got two of them onto CD. A new issue I am tackling with right now is how to best organize them and display them. I know flickr is there, but came to know about
Pixelpost from
Zishaan Hayath. Right now I have uploaded some pictures at
My Flickr account itself to get started. Also pressure from freinds and family was too high. So enjoy the photos and dont forget to comment on them.
