Owner: View from the Passenger Window URL:http://passengerview.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:32:25 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: I have been travelling in the US since a little over the past three months. But unlike my other travels, here I have been the perennial passenger and get driven around wherever I have to go. So as I sit in the passnenger seat of the car I started taking p Site statistics:Click here
Street Views of San Franscisco 2008-03-08 23:34:00 There are some pictures shot from the bus when I travelled alone in San Franscisco. The city is crowded and characterised by narrow roads, chaotic traffic, dust and dirt everywhere and lots and lots of people. It was like going back to India for me. Except for the fact that the public transport system is very good and there are no street hawkers bothering walking public to buy stuff or beggers seeking alms. But there are beggers... here they are referred to as pan-handlers who are seeking "help" "handouts" "loose change" etc. Guess what I saw in the parking lot of the Caltrain station? a gleaming blue Bajaj Legend scooter proudly standing amidst numerous big and small scooters, mopeds and motorcycles. Couldn't resist taking a picture. And of course take a look at the graffiti and the dust, Read more:Street
Pictures shot from the train to San Franscisco 2008-03-07 19:29:00 I travelled to San Franscisco from Sunnyvale by Caltrain. The train not only carries people from place but it carries their vehicles too. Most travellers from suburbs of San Franscisco come to the railway station by bicycle, load it in the train and then ride to their office after alighting. Here are some pictures shot from the train and around the railway station in San Franscisco. Platform of the Caltrain station at Sunnyvale Picture shot from the train, on the road somewhere around Mountain View. A metal sculpture made of blocks in front of a public park caught my attention. The picture was again shot from the window of the train. Trash along the railway tracks is quite normal in US too. Read more:Pictures
Enroute Redwood Forest 2008-03-06 23:15:00 While in California we visited Redwood forest which has trees over 500 ft tall standing on 70-80 ft trunks. Some of the pictures shot on the way to this unique forest. The forest is sited near the Saratoga village. This is a fire station sited near the Saratoga village. I doubt even if big cities in India have such an impressive looking fire station. Like I mentioned earlier, Saratoga and most other villages have infrastructure comparable to any city. Perhaps better than some tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India. I wonder when our country will grow and prosper like this. After Saratoga village the road passes through beautiful forests and mountains. The narrow roads, steep gradient and sharp turns reminded me of Indian hill stations which have similar road infrastructure. The beauty of this Read more:Enroute
, Forest
More views of the road to California 2008-03-05 21:18:00 Something that I love about America, smooth and long roads, which are relatively empty sometimes of the day. But if you land up during the wrong time of the day, the same road will look like a parking lot.Another feature I like about the road infrastructure here is the concept of fly overs at every intersections. This minimises traffic lights and facilitates free flow of traffic. Read more:California
, views
Signboards and Desi Enterprises 2008-03-05 20:19:00 In America everything is about selling. The ubiquitous mammoth signboards advertising and enticing people to buy the products on display convey the message. These signboards were on the highway 5 on the road from Los Angeles to San Jose.Signboard advertising has caught up with Desi entrepreneurs also. A Desi restaurant to get Roti and Dal for lunch. Not to mention the tasty Palak Paneer. Read more:Enterprises
Pictures of Carrollton 2008-03-04 00:00:00 These are some pictures shot in February in Plano and Carrollton. I am sure you will enjoy them. This is the picture of a tree infront of a government building on Tennyson Parkway, Plano. The tree has shed all its leaves during autumn/ fall. Though shorn off all leaves the tree presents a beautiful picture and a philosophical message. That one should reinvent oneself ever so often, in terms of learning, skills and positive attitudes. These two birds were enjoying an afternoon siesta on the banks of Josey Ranch Lake. The day was cold and the sun light provided a pleasant warmth which the birds seemed to be enjoying. Waterbirds swimming, hunting for food and gracefully enjoying life. When I walked relatively close to these birds they raised their long necks and looked at me disdainfully as i Read more:Pictures
More views on the road to San Franscisco 2008-03-03 20:23:00 The road seems to stretch endlessly towards California. Excellent pothole free and surrounded by beautiful mountainous terrain, makes this highway any bikers dream. Though I was in the car I enjoyed it nevertheless.Massive digital road signs like these keep motorists informed about the road and weather conditions.California's source of fresh water for drinking, farming, cleaning and every other purpose. Manure piled in agricultural fields reminded me of rural India where this is a very common sight. A few miles ahead we passed a cattle ranch which exudes the smell of cow dung. A stench which can permeate even through closed windows into your car. More road shots on the highway to California Read more:views
Views on the road from Los Angeles to San Fransisco 2008-03-01 23:36:00 A huge hoarding with an inspiring message from the ruthless and shrewd former British PM.Contraptions like the one in this picture are common sight in rural America. These are supposed to be gas wells which go down as deep as 10,000 ft in search of fossil fuels.The highway 5 which is the arterial linking road between Los Angeles
and Bay Area passes through some very scenic mountainous landscapes. This picture was shot through the windshield as we hurtled down the highway at 85 miles per hour. View of snow capped mountains in the far horizon.
Los Angeles airport to Pasadena 2008-02-29 17:37:00 Last week we visited California. We flew from Dallas to Los Angeles
and then travelled around in a rental car. Here are some of the pictures shot in Los Angeles
area.Beautiful palm trees swaying to the breeze on street intersections, no wonder this is the world's glamour capital.The other side of HollywoodLos Angeles hosts Hollywood and belong's to America's most prosperous state of California. But like every other city in the world this has its downsides. Graffiti is seen everywhere, trash abounds along highways and mainroads. Here are some pictures I shot of the Graffiti and Trash. For those of us in India who were led to believe that America is as clean as a operation theatre, this comes as a shock. Read more:airport
, Pasadena
Ramadevara betta and another peak 2008-02-28 09:31:00 ramadevara betta and another peak, originally uploaded by srinidhilv. This was shot way back in 2005 while I was travelling on Tumkur road, near Bangalore, India. The fortified hill has been one of my most favourite hiking spots.
Iron horses on Plano Parkway 2008-02-25 20:31:00 Texan cowboys' love for horses is legendary. But now since better modes of transport have taken over, ranchers show their love and adoration to these racing beasts by isntalling life like replicas made of metal in front of their ranches. These expertly carved horse images are installed in front of a ranch on Plano Parkway in Texas.
Waterfalls in Texas 2008-02-25 20:28:00 It is difficult to find a natural waterfall in flat as pancake Texas
terrain, especially around Dallas-Fort Worth area. An innovative rancher in Plano has built this tall tower out of which water continuously flows and appears like a waterfall. This is the closest thing to a waterfall I have seen till date in Texas. Read more:Waterfalls
First blogpost 2008-02-24 22:03:00 This picture was shot while travelling on "Plano Parkway" on Sunday, February 17, 2008. I welcome to check this blog everyday to see where all I have been to and what are the numerous sights I have seen.I decided to start this blog out of boredom of sitting idly in the passenger seat of the car. I am still not comfortable enough to drive on the big roads of America and the fact that I don't have a local license and suitable insurance makes it even tougher to convince Padma to let me drive.It can be quite boring to sit idly and be driven around anywhere and everywhere you have to go. Moreover when there is not much too see around it gets even boring. There are the same cars, the same roads and the most boring part is that in America housing and buildings are strikingly monotonous. There are Read more:First
Back in Carrollton 2008-03-12 19:32:00 Here are some pictures I shot in Carrollton, some interesting sights and some mundane ones. Hope you guys enjoy looking at the pictures. Another picture of the waterfall tower, I shot as I was being driven past the landmark for the nth time. Austin Ranch is the place where this water fall tower is located. The name evokes images of cattle, horses, agriculture, poultry etc. But pass through this intersection and you will see only residential neighbourhoods and very little ranching activities. We had gone for a walk in the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve and this is an interesting landmark within the preserve. A tall tower from where one can get some spectacular views of the sunset. I like this place very much.
First view of the Golden Gate Bridge 2008-03-10 22:34:00 The most famous landmark of San Franscisco is The Golden
Gate bridge. It is truly an impressive sight to behold this solid steel hanging bridge across the ocean. The ancient fortress, dungeons, bastians, passages, canons etc reminded me of Indian seaside forts of Aguada (Goa), Murud Janjira (Mumbai) and Bekal (Kasargod, Kerala). First
view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Picture was taken from the bus. I hate the people who do such insensitive and callous things. I wish they would put their energies and efforts into something productive and that would be constructive. Fairly closer view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I love the azure and gleaming waters and if it were not so freezing cold I'd love to take a dip here.
Television antenna! 2008-03-10 01:41:00 I was surprised to see this contraption atop a lodge/ hotel in San Franscisco. In the age of HDTV, Blue Ray, and what not, there is this lodge which is still dependent on the good old Antenna to receive TV programmes.A majestic and old church in China Town neighbourhood of San Franscisco. Read more:Television
Austin, Capital city of Texas 2008-03-14 22:15:00 Couple of days after returning from California, we had to travel to Austin
, the capital city of Texas
. Padma was delivering a talk on Outsourcing in a seminar organised by RISE-Austin at the Capitol Building. A series of seminars on various topics useful to entrepreneurs had been organised at numerous locations in the city of Austin. Padma's talk was at one of the several small conference rooms in the Capitol Building, which is the seat of the state government of Texas.Austin is a much smaller city than Dallas and is characterised by narrow roads, traffic snarls and crowded side walks. This was my second visit to Austin and to the Capitol building also. This time I got the biggest shock since arriving in the US. The entire city was strewn with dog shit, including the lawns and walkways ins
Last views of California 2008-03-13 20:52:00 These pictures were shot as we returned from San Jose to Los Angeles. Since we drove in the afternoon, we had some time on hand to stop and take some pictures. The road is every roadster's delight. Flanked by beautiful hills and offering panoramic vistas of lush greenery, highway 5 is one of the most scenic roads I have been on in this vast country. Hills and rocks which invite one to climb and explore are just a stone's throw away from the highway. We stopped at couple of places including at the San Luis Reservoir. This is a really big waterbody. But there have been increasing fears that this would go dry soon. The receding water level is obvious in this picture. It is scary to see such huge storage reservoirs going dry. Hundreds of thousands of people and millions of acres of farm land d Read more:California
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Snow in Texas 2008-03-16 21:03:00 Texas is known for its crazy weather. In November-December 2007 when the east coast and higher regions of the US were cold and snowing we had mixed weather. It was bright, warm and sunny one day and cold, foggy and raining the other. Months have passed and as we approach spring, there was this sudden instances of snowfall. Thick fluffy of snow covering up cars, lawns, roofs with a carpet of white. Here are some pictures of snowed out Carrollton neighborhoods, vehicles and lawns. View of the green belt and homes behind our apartment. This SUV was almost completely covered by snow, not quite submerged but enough snow to cause inconvenience. The apartment lawn and buildings completely covered by a carpet of snow. The roads were cleaned up before vehicles started plying. That is a good thing a Read more:Texas
Castle Hills, close to home 2008-03-16 01:56:00 Here are some pictures captured in CastleHills
, a non-gated but master planned residential community where Padma's best friend, Mary, lives. Every time we would drive to this place, but couple of days ago on a rare occasion we walked and that is when I got active shooting these pictures. Hope you enjoy them. Entrance to Castle Hills, created to appear as if one is getting into a castle Another view of the entrance to Castle Hills Play area with a dragon cement image
Downtown Dallas Views 2008-03-16 01:43:00 Last week we had gone to DowntownDallas
and loooked up these new places. We walked around Downtown and felt impressed by the tall sky-whose spires seemed to rise up to meet the heavens. All gleaming with their glass exteriors and topped by an array of different designs. I don't know how much I walked but soon I came face to face with the sixth floor museum and then on one side there was the Old Red Museum. The latter's crimson red hue reminded me of the postboxes of the yester years.Here are some pictures of downtown Dallas. The Old Red Museum was formerly a prison, now converted into a museumThe life-like cowboy and cattle herd sculpture installation in Downtown Dallas
Carrollton and McKinney 2008-03-19 16:06:00 Recently I had gone to McKinney a small city in the Dallas area about 20 miles from our home. Here are some pictures I shot during that outing. Like the rest of the US I have seen the roads and great but somethings I see along the road is surprising and even downright shocking. Look at the pictures and you will know. I saw this sight very close to our home. A train loaded with war machines; i.e. military equipment including tanks, huge trucks, ambulances, armoured vehicles etc. Wonder where they are being transported to, Iraq, Afghanistan? or to the testing location near San Antonio in southern Texas? Large water tanks such as the one in the picture supply water to the teeming cities in the US. Every city has a trademark shape and style of watertanks. An old barn/ work shed located in what
Community landmarks 2008-03-17 23:26:00 Here are a few landmarks which residential communities/ neighborhoods pride themselves in. Similar to the draw bridge kind of entrance to Castle Hills other communities try to be different and mark their presence. Here are a few pictures of such communities. Entrance to the Lone Star Ranch, a residential community in Frisco city Entrance to Hillcrest residential community in Frisco
Trammell Crow Park, Dallas 2008-03-20 22:22:00 Last week I had been to the south side of Dallas
downtown and guess what it looks like a ghost town. Characterised by narrow, pot-holed streets, dirty neighborhoods the city looks more like small town India. But one striking difference is the lack of people. While India is bustling with people in all kinds of places, here it is difficult to see anybody. But for the ubiquitous presence of cars whizzing past on the roads one would think there is nobody in the neighborhood. As we were driving noticing this vast open space with a lake and some sculptures, we stopped to take a closer look. Signboard announcing the name of the park and lake. Bird perched upon one of the posts in the boat pier.Cattle and cowboys are inseparable part of Texas. If not the real ones then the sculptures made of stone
An interesting newsreport 2008-03-25 23:44:00 I have interacted with several Indians who adore nations of the west, especially America. The first and foremost point they speak about the country is how clean and neat it is. The impression they create by their talk is as if American roads are as sanitised as operation theatres. But it is not so. The sheer geographical size and miniscule population is what ensures that the country "appears" clean and litter free. But given a chance people across the world are the same "Litter bugs". Indian with its billion plus people and 20 percent of America's land area produces relatively less waste. I would like to let the scanned image of today's Dallas Morning News speak for itself.Apart from this newsreport, I have shot several pictures of trash on roads, in parks, along rivers and creeks, gardens Read more:interesting
New finds in Arbor Hills Nature Preserve 2008-03-24 23:30:00 Couple of days ago we had gone to Arbor hills for a walk... possibly the 10th time so far. But every time I have walked in Arbor hills I have discovered something new a different facet of this nature preserve. It is small, only about 200 acres but full of surprises, nature and attractions. This time I also had a fleeting glimpse of a Bobcat, a species of wild cat which scampered into the bushes at lightening speed.But the highlight of this visit was finding a small lake in the middle of the preserve which is home to several turtles. At the first glance we saw several of them sun-bathing on a rock at the edge of the lake. As I walked around the banks and neared them one by one all of them jumped into the water out of fright. I have begun to like Arbor hills very much and feel like visiting Read more:Hills
, Preserve
Ekta Mandir - Irving 2008-03-29 00:00:00 The Ekta Mandir
at Irving is one of the major temples in the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) Metroplex area. Last week we had gone there to take part in the holi celebrations. I took the opportunity to shoot some pictures of the temple. Here they are for you all to look and enjoy. The cupola of the Ekta Mandir, very traditionaly designed and built of concrete. Most of the modern temples in India look similar but are much more colourful. Perhaps the city ordinance doesn't allow multicolour buildings or maybe the authorities decided to have uniformity in colour. A dolmen in the rear of the temple which looks more like a greek structure than Indian. Symbolically built to replicate the originals in India. The holi revellers included some local American kids too. This american girl seems to make a bold
Old Pictures of Dallas 2008-04-01 01:52:00 Since the batteries in our camera went dead about a week ago I haven't done any new photography. I will be back in action with the camera tomorrow onwards. Till then I thought these old pictures are well worth sharing.My first and longest drive in the US was when we travelled from Los Angeles to Dallas
in October 2007. As we neared Dallas, people were getting to celebrate the festival of devil worship, Halloween (also spelt as Holloween). This is a festival when people carve out pumpkins to look like faces, kids dress up like zombies, ghosts, vampires etc and go 'trick or treating' to strangers homes and get rewarded with candies, sweets, toffees etc. So the pumpkins and vegetables you see in these pictures are grown for decoration and not food. Moreover they are so hard and feel like rubb Read more:Pictures
Radical shift in the philosophy of life 2008-04-03 01:18:00 Known as life in reverse, this is a new philosophy which sounds good and greatly different. A fantasy worth reading and thinking about. Read more:Radical
Miscellaneous road views 2008-04-02 22:45:00 Like I wrote earlier, my camera has been out of action for sometime now. I have bought the batteries but need to install them and start clicking. Till then I will be digging into my old pictures of the road and posting them on line. I am sure you will enjoy the same. Here are some pictures I shot during my first road trip from Los Angeles to Dallas. School bus belonging to the Flagstaff Independent School District. Most school buses in America are similar to look at. One of the narrower roads in Arizona state. Great quality of surface and excellent road and lane markings. Excellent roads of Arizona and California. A picture taken moments after the sunset and the moon rise. Read more:views
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