Glance Digitally - Travel the world with me virtually !

Yay, Its official Halloween Season !!!!! Halloween for us includes a wide range of possibilities like kids wearing " boo-tiful " costumes, " Boo-Bash " party, hilarious " ghoulish " foods, spine-tingling " scary " movies (especially Halloween kid/teen movies lol, we have to be careful of what we are watching in presence of kids ) and so on...... Halloween or All Hallows' Eve is a celebration as a festival of Samhain observed in many countries on 31 October every year.   Pre-Covid, we would host Halloween parties at our place and from our place all the kids along with some parents would go looking or rather " hunting " for spooky treats 🍬 every " Trick or Treat " 🍭 one house to another wearing Halloween costumes and face paints/makeup which obviously was kids’ favorite part of the day … We along with some parents would create tidbits of fun food menu like "little" pumpkin cakes, caramel apple "

 I've been to Shri Jagannath Temple twice so far and its about 2,500 sq. yards beautiful and very well maintained temple located on Road 12 -Banjara Hills, @ Hyderabad , Telangana State in India built  in 2009  by the Kalinga Cultural Trust, a charitable trust established promoting Odisha culture and local Odia community. Jagan meaning "Universe or World". Nath meaning "Lord, Protector, Master". Jagannath means " Lord/ Master/ Protector of the Universe/World". Jagannath is an abstract representation of Shri Krishna and an avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu also known as Narayana is one of the principal deities of Hinduism.  Jagannatha is worshipped in Hinduism in India and neighboring countries as part of a trinity along with his older brother Balabhadra (also known as Balarama) and their younger sister Devi Subhadra which are  carved out of Neem wood . There are other shrines inside the temple dedicated to Devi Lakshmi, Lord Shiva,

Everywhere I look, I can see the visible changes in nature as it prepares for Fall/ Autumn season, temperatures are getting cooler and breezy, leaves changing into rust-colors and strewn all over on roads and highways.  For me this is the most incredible time of the year apart from Spring with vibrant hues of yellow, orange, red and brown. "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - ALBERT CAMUS As most of us know, on September 21st each year, we embrace the fall season with the arrival of the fall equinox (also known as the autumnal equinox ). Born and growing up in a cosmopolitan city in India, I hardly saw any greenery around my house so, I did miss the beauty of the nature during the seasonal changes. But, now living in US almost two decades, made me see and enjoy the nature near my home or during my travels particularly beautiful and colorful flowers blooming in Spring from March to May, Fall/autumnal leaf color changing to vibrant

The quiet paved path on the road infront of my house began to dampen quickly with the sudden rain fall since dawn today and I am sitting in my front yard sipping hot cup of Chai on a rainy day watching a view of greenery around me as if nature has come alive. It is just mid-morning now as the sun struggles to make its presence behind a thick sheath of clouds.☁ The memory of my childhood doubled down on me (and so I'm penning down my thoughts in this blog ) when I was recalling my past where I would enjoy the simple pleasures of rainy day like eating snacks- vegetable samosas, onion pakora, Maggie noodles 🍜 or simple plain biscuits along with my favorite masala chai/tea, a perfect treat I deserved after a hectic day of studies/work. Playing in the rain while coming from school or college or office.☔ Such a fond memories!! Chai with a bite on the samosas or fried fitters platter (either Onions, Green chilies, Potatoes, Cauliflower, Cabbage or bre

Los Angeles has been my go-to place past 15 years. Whenever we had a long weekend and did not have a plan to travel other states or countries, we would road trip to LA ( since it was few hours drive). Among many places in LA like Disneyland, Universal studios, Warner's Brothers studio and many more Landmarks, Hollywood Boulevard is one of my favorite downtown spot I often go every time I visit LA. Its a 4-5 miles long stretch in Los Angeles starting from Highland Avenue to Orange Drive with the following attraction -  Museums like - Madame Tussauds Hollywood Wax Museum featuring replicas of famous celebrities. ( will upload the link here once I finish writing the article) Landmarks like - TCL Chinese Theatre formerly known as the Grauman's Chinese Theatre ( the exterior is designed in the Chinese Style) Dolby Theatre formerly known as the Kodak Theatre Hollywood Pacific Theatre Grauman's Egyptian Theatre ( the exterior of the theater

Yosemite National Park , a natural beauty carved by glaciers and waterfalls was delegated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984. I have been to this captivating place many times to see the ethereal sight of the waterfall and an undisturbed meadows surrounded. Yosemite National Park is 160 miles from San Jose and around 170 miles from San Francisco.  It is a beautiful place to explore and I would never risk going to Yosemite during holidays or long weekends because of the place getting crowded with so many people hiking or running around everywhere and would definitely miss the scenic beauty of the falls. Below are "Some" of the attractions in this park for visitors to visit -  Glacier Point (a viewpoint)  Tunnel View (a picturesque viewpoint on State Route 41)  Half Dome (a granite dome at the east end of Yosemite Valley)  El Capitan (a vertical rock formation at the north side of Yosemite Valley)  Bridalveil Fall (a 617 ft. waterfall with Ostrand

Gorge Creek Falls Trail is a 1/2 mile loop trail located near Rockport along the North Cascades Highway 20 to pull off to take rest, stretch your legs and give kids/adults a restroom break. This place features the view of a beautiful waterfall once you reach the end of the trail by walking thru the mystical path of giant trees with overlook of the river and information plaques. It was surreal. It took us may be a quick 20 mins stop @ this trail for small walk, enjoying the majestic views of mountains/river and bird watching.  Ps: Definitely no entrance fee to this trail. Ample parking available. The waterfall was not that big compared to Multnomah Falls  - Oregon ( https://sk-digilance.blogspot.com/2021/06/multnomah-falls-oregon-usa.html )  or Yosemite Falls  - California ( Will upload the link soon ), but still worth a visit!  When I visited North Cascades ( https://sk-digilance.blogspot.com/2021/08/north-cascades-nation