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Our memorable trip to France, England and the USA

20 June 2011 By Avinash Meetoo 4 Comments

As you all know, Kyan, Anya, Christina and myself visited France, England and the USA in April and May. Of course, we couldn’t prevent ourselves from taking hundreds and hundreds of photos… It took us nearly two months to choose the best among them and upload those to our Flickr account.

Here are our best memories from our visit to France, England and the USA:

Part 1A: Christina on a mission in the USA (19 March – 8 April 2011)

It all started when Christina left Mauritius on 19 March to go the USA for work. There she met people from various countries and they traveled through some very well known cities and places:

Part 1B: Obtaining a visa in Paris (27 March – 7 April 2011)

Kyan, Anya and myself went to Paris in France to (try to) obtain a US visa. After more than ten years, I met my uncle, Matchuk, and his wonderful wife, Angela, and daughter, Maya.

Photos scanned from film (I blogged on film photography before).
Photos taken with my phone.

Part 2: San Francisco (8 – 14 April 2011)

Yeah! We have our US visa! Kyan, Anya and myself took a plane from Paris and flew to San Francisco on the West coast of the US to meet Christina. We flew over Greenland to reach there!

We spent a few days in the middle of the Silicon Valley: at Audrey’s place in San Carlos as well as with Nawaaz, Failah, Adam and Sarah in San Leandro.

1st day: Arriving in San Francisco.
2nd day: Visiting Chinatown and the MusÃ©e MÃ©canique.
3rd day: Discovering the Golden Gate Bridge with Nawaaz and his family.
4th day: Walking through San Carlos and visiting the Hiller Aviation Museum.
5th day: Walking through San Leandro and discovering how life was aboard a WWII submarine, the USS Pampanito.
6th day: Visiting Alcatraz.
7th day: Strolling though the Google premises, seeing the Computer History Museum and leaving for Los Angeles in a coach.

Part 3: Los Angeles (15 – 18 April 2011)

We arrived in Los Angeles at night, checked-in in a nice hotel on Sunset Boulevard, a road which is parallel to the world renowned Hollywood Boulevard. During the next few days, we were tourists in Hollywood. And it felt like a dream.

1st day: The Griffith Observatory and the famous Hollywood sign.
2nd day: Being amazed at the really fantastic Universal Studios.
3rd day: We could resist spending an additional day at the Universal Studios and, at night, we went to see the Stars on Hollywood Boulevard.
4th day: Seeing Marilyn Monroe and the Californian Science Center.

Part 4: Washington DC (19 – 23 April 2011)

We took an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington DC and crossed the entire United States. On arriving at the state capital, we were met by my dad’s cousin, Navin, and his lovely wife, Kavita. We had a lot of fun together during the next five days.

1st day: Walking through Washington DC and seeing the White House, home and office of one of my idols: Barack Obama.
2nd day: Seeing the Washington Monument and visiting the Capitol and the Library of Congress (we are members there now!)
3rd day: Amazed in front of fighter airplanes (F-14, F-22, F-86, F-4, Mig-21, etc.) and the Enterprise space shuttle in the Air and Space Museum.
4th day: Visiting (a few of) the Smithsonian Museums of Washington DC
5th day: Walking through the Arlington National Cemetery and seeing the Lincoln Memorial

Part 5: New York City (24 – 27 April 2011)

We reached the Big Apple in a glorious sunlight on 24 April. Navin and Kavita accompanied us on the first day there and we were glad to have them guide us in this mad city (in the good sense of the word).

1st day: Walking on Broadway and Times Square by night.
2nd day: Discovering New York City and the Apple Store next to Central Park.
3rd day: Passing by the Statue of Liberty and seeing New York by night from above from the Empire State Building.
4th day: Traveling through Queens before boarding an airplane at JFK for Paris.

Part 6: A quick stop in Paris (29 April 2011)

We were exhausted when we arrived in Paris yet we had quite an excellent dinner in a small French restaurant with Matchuk, Angela and two of their friends.

Part 7: London (30 April – 2 May 2011)

We arrived in London the day following the Royal Wedding (for the Chowtaree as a matter of fact…) We were pleased to meet our family there: Usha, Raj, Joshna, Mala, Vanesha, Bisham, Rushil, Kavi, etc. I also had the privilege of meeting for the first time, StÃ©phane, my sister’s “friend” (as my mum puts it).

Of course, in between the eating, the drinking and the djalsa, we still got some time to indulge into some sightseeing.

1st day: Taking the Tube and having a great briyani and singing party at Usha and Raj’s place.
2nd day: Visiting the Natural History Museum and dining in London.
3rd day: Meeting Juju and StÃ©phane next to the Big Ben.

Part 8: Back to Paris (3 – 6 May 2011)

Christina was happy to spend a few days in Paris as she wasn’t with us at the beginning of our trip.

1st day: Buying Mauritian food in Paris.
2nd day: Going to Disneyland with Maya.
3rd day: Walking through the Quartier Latin, Montmartre and Pigalle…
4th day: Seeing the Eiffel Tower a last time before leaving.

And, finally, part 9: our return to Mauritius on 7 May 2011

We arrived in Mauritius with 9 items of luggage (count ’em!). We had bought a lot of things everywhere and we also got a lot of gifts.

Once again, we would like to thank Matchuk, Angela, Maya, Audrey, Nawaaz, Failah, Adam, Sarah, Navin, Kavita, Usha, Raj and Joshna for everything they have done during our trip. Everything was easy and oh so very enjoyable thanks to them.

We were glad to meet Juju and StÃ©phane as well as all the other family members and friends.

We hope to see them all in Mauritius soon…

OSS2011: Seminar on Linux and OSS on 22 June 2011

20 June 2011 By Avinash Meetoo Leave a Comment

As the founder of the Linux User Group of Mauritius (LUGM), I am delighted to, once again, tell you that there will be a Seminar on Open Source Software on 22 June 2011 at the University of Mauritius.

The seminar is organised by LUGM in collaboration with the University of Mauritius and the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie and will be held at the Burrunchobay Lecture Theatre at the University of Mauritius (Google Map)

The programme for the day is as follows:

09:00 – Official opening
09:15 – First presentation session: Policy on OSS in Mauritius
10:30 – Second presentation session: Students contributing to OSS
11:15 – Third presentation session: Real world use of OSS
12:00 – Lunch break
13:15 – Three working sessions in parallel: (1) OSS in industry (to be chaired by myself), (2) OSS in education and (3) OSS at the level of the Government.
14:30 – Synthesis of discussions held

I would be more that happy if you could participate in the seminar and contribute to the discussions based on your extensive experience on using open source software at work. More information about the event can be found on http://cse.uom.ac.mu/oss/fr

Please note that the seminar is open to everyone but, because of logistical constraints, it is important to confirm your presence by IMMEDIATELY registering at http://cse.uom.ac.mu/oss/fr/inscription_invite

I would like to thank Ajay Ramjatan of LUGM as well as Jayantee Gukhool, Director of AUF, and Anwar Chutoo, Lecturer at UoM, and his colleagues for making this seminar a reality.

Please feel free to disseminate to friends, colleagues and relatives :-)

New York, New York…

29 April 2011 By Avinash Meetoo Leave a Comment

Start spreading the news
I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York

These vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

We reached New York, the busiest city on the planet, on 24 April and, initially, we didn’t like it. You see, New York, is very dense and, consequently, is not very clean. Additionally, people tend not to be too friendly in New York (as compared to the other US cities at least).

When we reached there, we immediately went on Broadway (but we didn’t watch any show there). Anya and Kyan were amazed to be at the center of the (occidental) universe.

After some time, we talked towards Times Square. This is something which is tough to explain with pictures or words: you really need to see it yourself to decide whether it’s worth its hype or not.

Personally, I liked the atmosphere there. But, to be frank, I was not overly impressed by the signs. Sure, they looked great, but I’m not a lot into absolute consumerism.

The next day, we left our hotel early situated a few meters from the New York Times…

We witnessed something unheard of in Mauritius: parking lifts for cars. New York is so cramped that some parking lots are on multiple levels and you get to see the cars moving up and down!

When we didn’t have time to eat in nice restaurants, we just got hot dogs from one of the hundred of vendors on the streets of New York. Personally, I prefer some nice Mauritian boulettes…

We went to the Rockerfeller Center next with my uncle Navin and his wife Kavita and we had a great time there. We didn’t climb on top of the skyscraper (as we knew we were going to be on the Empire State Building next) but we (tried to) visit the shops nearby.

One thing which is interesting in New York is the fact that most people walk or take taxis. Only a few New Yorkers actually own a car.

We then walked towards Central Park and came across THE definitive Apple Store.

To be fair, I was not overly impressed. This Apple Store, known all over the world, was just one big fancy fair. Nothing as I would have expected with a tranquil and relaxed atmosphere. Naturally, I was happy to see some Geniuses but, once again, nothing much to talk about.

We reached Central Park a few minutes later. We decided not to visit the Central Park zoo as we had already seen quite a view zoos before. We decided just to relax… surrounded by some of the tallest skyscrapers in the world!

The next day, we woke up early and took the ferry to Staten Island. This ferry is free and passes just in front of the Statue of Liberty. This was an amazing sight for Kyan, Anya, Christina and myself. Of course, it would have been better to climb the statue but our time in New York was limited and this ferry was the next best thing to do.

To be fair, photos cannot really do justice to the Statue of Liberty. I believe one should really be there in person to understand how great that experience can be. Sure, it’s just a statue but it’s also the most recognisable feature of New York City.

From Staten Island, we took the ferry back to Manhattan.

We then walked through the New York financial district reaching Wall Street a few minutes later.

Of course, we had to go to Ground Zero, the place where the World Trade Center was before 11 September 2001. My feeling there: deep sadness.

As we had purchased tickets to the Empire State Building, we decided to see New York from above. We reached there around sunset.

Being on the 86th level (which we reached using a one minute lift ride!!!), there was quite a bit of wind.

But, wind or not, this is what we saw when the sun decided to set. Once again, photos cannot convey the feeling we had. New York is marvelous from above.

Today, we left New York and have just landed safely in Paris. We’ll definitely visit the USA again in some years now that (1) we have our 10-year visa and (2) we have realised that we like the country… including New York of course :-)