Chaat House

893 E. El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA
(Intersection of Wolfe and E. El Camino Real)

The Indian restaurant market in the Bay Area may be crowded, but Chaat House (http://www.chaathouse.net/menu.htm) stands out as an excellent North Indian snack food restaurant. Over winter break, my cousin, who has been frequenting the establishment for the last 5 years, insisted that his mom and I give Chaat House a try. So, we went to Chaat House for lunch and ordered Chana Bhatura, Sprout Bhel, Bengan Bhartha, Sarason ka Saag, Aloo Paratha, Hara Bhara Paratha, Gulab Lassi, and Chaas.


The food was excellent, reasonably priced, and just the right amount for three hungry people. I was surprised by the food’s freshness and mildness (not too pungent or spicy). Of the above items, my favorite was Chana Bhatura. The atmosphere in Chaat House was also laid back and pleasant. We sat near the TV and watched song and dance numbers from old Hindi movies.

Give Chaat House a try if you’re in the mood for some light snacks that remind you of food from the old country.

Deal or No Deal?

During Winter Break, I watched an unusually high number of game shows since my grandmother, who loves game shows (and cheesy Indian soap operas), was at home. The most interesting one, by far, was Deal or No Deal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_or_No_Deal). Why? Because I can’t figure out if the show is pure genius or pure stupidity.

On the one hand, the game is just a measure of contestants’ risk tolerance. When more briefcases with large dollar amounts are opened, the probability that the contestant possesses a briefcase with a low dollar amount is higher; and vice versa. Contestants usually choose to reject the first few offers, either out of greed or a love of being on TV.

On the other hand, the genius of the show might be in how the deal is calculated. The deal seems to be computer-generated; if so, the Banker is there only ‘for show’. At first, I thought that the deal was just the expected value of the remaining amounts. The expected value is the remaining dollar amounts x the probability that they will be selected. But, this turns out not to be the case. I sat with my laptop and Excel open a few times while watching the show and the deal turned out to be lower than the expected value. Clearly, a more advanced algorithm is at work. The algorithm probably changes, as do the rules of the game, from time to time.

To his credit, Howie Mandell is an entertaining host. And while most game shows are high energy (The Price is Right, Family Feud, etc.), this one is larger than life given all its melodrama. But to me, nothing is more satisfying than watching a greedy contestant reject a deal and end up with a low amount. It’s like watching NASCAR for the car crashes!

Alamere Falls

Tucked away on the California coast at Point Reyes (just north of San Francisco), Alamere Falls offers some of the best scenery that Northern California has to offer. I first visited Alamere Falls in the summer, three years ago, with several friends from SAP. I was awestruck by the coastal beauty.


With those images still fresh in my mind, last week, I went back to Alamere Falls with a friend visiting from Philly. The trek was still beautiful - but this time in a wintery sort of way. The sky was overcast and the temperature was in the low 50s / high 40s. One of the good things about going in December, and later in the day, was the lack of people. We began the hike at 12pm, later than we would have liked, having gotten lost a few times en-route (we overshot the Sir Francis Drake exit by 20 miles off 101, just north of Sausalito). After a few hours of hiking, we reached the falls around 3pm. We relaxed, had lunch, and played some Frisbee. I also climbed down to the beach to get a better look at the falls. Unfortunately, the water level was disappointingly low. At 3:30pm, it started to drizzle, and we started back to the car. It was dark for most of the return hike. At about 6pm we reached the car and headed back home.


As far as coastal treks in Northern California go, Alamere Falls is one of the best. The view alternates between glimpses of the ocean and forests / brush in the hills. Unlike hill or mountain treks, the elevation changes only gradually in this trek. It feels more like a long, relaxing walk.

Catching up

Time flies - when you're having fun or when you're really busy. In my case, it has been the latter for the last several months. Hence the lack of blogging. After coming back from Cancun, I got right into the swing of things at school and haven't had any time to catch my breath - that is, until now.


I started with five classes and dropped one (advanced cell biology) to get to four: advanced molecular genetics, intro to genome science, intro to bioinformatics, and drug discovery development. After seeing my grades, I probably dropped the wrong class (molecular genetics didn't go so well). I also worked two part-time jobs - I continued my internship at Yaupon Therapeutics and started a new job at Penn's Center for Technology Transfer (CTT). As a CTT Fellow, I provide assessments on new inventions disclosed to the CTT. It's been a great experience - I'm learning how to look at new inventions from technical, business, and legal perspectives. In addition, I've been working on running the Biotech Investment Group with two other Wharton students.


Now I'm enjoying my winter break and am slowly gearing up for my return to Philly in a few weeks. Next semester is shaping up to be almost as busy as the last one. Whereas I focused on genetics last semester, this semester will be more about devices, my current interest, along with healthcare software. I'm scheduled to take Brain / Computer Interface, Tissue Engineering, and a CTT class (not for credit) on Lab to Market. I'm also hoping to take Healthcare Systems and another healthcare management class, though I'm not sure which one yet.


As for New Year's resolutions, I haven't completely decided on them just yet. But for one, I'm hoping to blog more than once every 6 months. Happy New Year!

Rescue Diver

For any scuba diver who plans to dive frequently or attempt challenging dives, the Rescue Diver course is a must. Like all PADI classes, this course consists of classroom, pool, and ocean components.

The most difficult and important skill in the course is rescuing an unconscious diver from the bottom of the ocean. Getting the diver to the surface is fairly easy, but at the surface it gets more complicated. Three things must be done simultaneously - rescue breaths, ditching equipment, and towing the diver back to the boat. I had the most trouble towing the victim back to the boat - I could not swim 10 feet in about 10 minutes of trying (luckily I still passed despite this obvious failing). Finally, the victim must be dragged out of the water and onto the boat. On the boat, CPR is administered until professional help arrives or the diver regains consciousness.

I'm glad I took the course in Cancun because I didn't need a wetsuit or heavy weights. With all the physical exertion that the rescue diver course requires, carrying less equipment makes a big difference. Panicked divers may try to pull your regulator out of your mouth and rip your mask off. My instructor, though a little guy, put up a good fight when playing the role of a panicked diver.

After this course, my instructor congratulated me on passing but told me to improve my swimming. I'm lucky he let me stay in the course as I was very rusty on my first day. I hope to dive a few times each year to keep my skills up.

Cancun

What better way to end a great summer than with some fun in the sun in Mexico? I was worried that it would rain constantly in Cancun (weather.com showed 'isolated thunder storms' everyday during my trip), but thankfully, it barely rained. Travelling at the start of the low season did allow me to stay in a very nice hotel, Cancun Caribe Park Royal Grand, for a fraction of the normal cost. I paid $67 per night and got upgraded to a suite that overlooked the ocean. All guests at the hotel also got a 15% discount on all food and drinks at the hotel. But because it was low season, the resort was fairly empty.




All of this didn't matter because the Caribbean water is warm and pristine and I got my money's worth just from that. During my first five days, while I was waiting for Neil and his family to arrive, I took and passed a rescue diver class. More on that in separate blog. I also did two dives in a Cenotes or cavern. This was the most amazing diving experience I have ever had. The cool, fresh water is refreshing and requires divers to carry only half the weight they carry in the salt-water ocean. You can see stalactites and stalagmites, but even more impressive is the interplay of light and shadows as sunlight refracts in the water. At times it can be a little nerve-racking as there is no direct route to the surface. Apparently, Mexico and Florida are the best places for cavern diving.


After Neil and his family arrived, I hung up my mask and fins for some conventional Cancun tourism. We took part in an excruciating timeshare presentation at the neighboring Grand Caribe hotel which lasted over 2 hours. We were hard-sold by 7 sales reps. This was the first time I had ever taken part in a time-share presentation, and according to my friends who had been through several more, it was especially tough. In the end, we got $25 off per person for a Chichen Itza tour and my friends got free transportation to the airport. Neil and I went club hoping at the Corona Bar, Senor Frogs, and The City. While the first two were lame, The City was rocking. Corona Bar and Senor Frogs were populated by tourists, and this was why it was so lame. These are not the places locals go on Saturday nights. They go to The City, and that's why this place was so happening.



We did see Chichen Itza though I would have enjoyed it more had it not been so hot (try 95+). Unfortunately, the site is not impressive except for the main Mayan ruin. There is no comparison to Machu Picchu in Peru, which is located in a far more picturesque place high in the Andes mountains.



All in all, Cancun was a fantastic 1 week getaway at a reasonable price. I wish I had gone when I was a college student on spring break all those years ago, but better late than never!

Family Festivities

I made a brief trip home in August to celebrate some very important events in my family: my sister's engagement and my dad's 60th birthday. It was non-stop excitement for these 5 days as a good portion of my extended family - maybe 50 people or so - flew in to the Bay Area to celebrate. Suffice it to say that both of these events were highly anticipated by our family and boy was it a relief to see them go off so well.

I think the highlight of the weekend was how our back yard performed as a venue for both parties. I've never seen it look so spectacular. The second highlight was that we had a bartender. The only thing that could make the backyard better is a sound system, which we're working on. The weather was very pleasant - not hot at all - and a welcome change from the hot, humid, and rainy Philadelphia weather that I have been experiencing all summer. Thank god for my AC.

With these events behind us, the next time my family will gather will be November 7 for my sister's wedding.