Yala - 2015

There are a few seasons a year Yala is exciting and even during the correct season you have to go at the correct time to spot the Leopards and Bears. Well 3pm wasn’t the best time to go on the safari at Yala.

Elephant Rock in the background of the Lake

A frog eaten alive

Crocodile

Vesak 2015

Compared to the previous year’s this time the Vesak decorations were much less almost everywhere. We visited the Gangarama Temple area and the crowd was significantly less. Maybe everyone expected the same decoration and avoided the trouble going there. And it was nothing more than the same decorations as previous years – if not lesser.

Fireworks at Beira Lake

Boats on Beira Lake

Vesak Thorana

Singapore Travel - 2014

Traveling in Singapore is easy; thanks to the Subway I was able to travel to areas like Clarke Quay, Chinatown and the famous Marina Bay without much hassle.

Marina Bay Sands

Elevated Garden Walkway in Chinatown

Batam - Indonesia

Batam Island is situated just south of Singapore. We traveled to Indonesia just for a couple of days via the Ferry. The Island is very different compared to the developed Singapore City. In Nagoya giant Hotels arises in the middle of slums – I have not seen such anywhere else in the world!!! I see much potential in tourism industry if they can clean up and organize the island.

A small entertainment pier near the Batam Center

Jet Ski Rider jumping on waves created by the Ferry

Kandalama

Heritance Kandalama Hotel is famous for its unique landscape and eco friendliness. We went to the hotel on 16th August 2014 and it truly was a beauty. The only pain was the long walk back and forth to your rooms.

Swimming pool at night

Camouflaged Hotel Building

Elephant by the lake

Tourists riding an elephant

Vesak 2014

For the past 4 years or so the same decorations were done around Gangarama Temple. It’s high time they change the setup and the decorations. I felt there is nothing I haven’t seen before and it was waste of time going there.

Reflections of lights on Beira Lake

Boat on Beira Lake

Birds in my backyard

Spotted a bird building a nest in my backyard. This tiny bird is lightning fast and it does not want to pose for the camera like the kingfishers.

Carrying items to build it's nest

Highline

Highline Park is an old elevated railroad converted to a beautiful park on the lower west side of Manhattan. It’s one of a kind concept and I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere else.

Remains of the railroad

View from the Observation point

Street Art

Wild fruits

Highline

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – 2013

Thanksgiving is something new to me and in New York City they have a parade for everything! Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade attracted much more people than I initially though on 28th November morning but luckily the balloons were huge and anyone could see them even from a distance.

Toothless the Night Fury from How to Train Your Dragon

Spiderman

More Balloons of Cartoon Characters

Santa and the Reindeers

Los Angeles

Known as the “The City of Angels” is a place you would fall in love with immediately after you see it with your own eyes. As a big city it offers you anything you need – Entertainment, Nightlife, Culture, Food, Lovely Beaches, Mountain Ranges of Natural Beauty and lots more… Though I had to end my visit on 24th November and head back to New York I would definitely come back to LA for a much longer visit.

Panoramic view of Los Angeles City from Griffith Observatory

A Quadcoptor with Surveillance Cameras

Santa Monica Beach is another Iconic landmark as it’s the final stop of the Interstate Highway which connected East and the West Coast of the United State. The Santa Monica Pier also appear on many movies and it has the Bubba Gump restaurant which featured on the movie Forest Gump.

Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Pier – Amusement Park

A memorial on the beach

Enjoying the Sunshine

Panoramic view from Santa Monica Pier

Hollywood

A tour in Los Angeles wouldn’t be complete without visiting the certain places. The entire world knows what Hollywood is and I made few visits on 23rd and 24th November 2013 to cover some places.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

A shop in Hollywood Boulevard

The iconic Hollywood sign

Madame Tussauds – Hollywood

Los Angeles being big on its entertainment, it’s not too easy to spot a star on the road! But if you walk in to Madame Tussauds you can see plenty of them. Located on the Hollywood Boulevard I visited the famous wax museum on Saturday, 23rd November 2013. The figures are impressive but some aren’t what you would expect them to be.

Marilyn Monroe

Rihanna

Marlene Dietrich

Universal Studio

Unlike Disneyland, Universal Studio in Hollywood is something you can cover within a day time if you plan it properly. You can really feel the effects in their simulations and specially made 3D or 4D movie parts. Though I went on Saturday, 23rd November 2013 it wasn’t busy around the time park opened.

Seaworld effects of plane crash

Universal Studio – Globe Theatre

Disneyland

Disneyland California is divided into two parks; the adventure park and the theme park. They are something you can’t cover in one day for sure. We started the tour Friday, 22nd November 2013 early morning from downtown Los Angeles to Anaheim where Disneyland is located. The rides in Disneyland are very unique and could be enjoyed by anyone (though I initially thought its target audience is kids).

Antique cars still running for transportation services

Skull inside Adventureland

Pirates of the Caribbean

Mini kingdom

Santa on his new ride

Disney Princess on the Parade

Submarine yard

Iron Man costumes on display

Top of the Rock

Rockefeller Center is one of the main tourist attractions of NYC because its observation deck called Top of the Rock. You can get the best view of Central Park from this observation deck by day time and by the night you can see lights of New York City.

Rockefeller Center

View of Empire State Building

View of Queens and Brooklyn

Inside Rockefeller Center observation deck