An evening with Ex-cadets

It was a nice evening with a touch of cold, a Saturday, possibly the best day of the week for an office worker. It had snowed the day before; the first good snow in GTA this winter, a thin sheet of white crystals covered the ground. The temperature had risen earlier the day and the rain in the morning partially melted the snow. This was a double jeopardy. We loved snow, especially the kids, but then who could pass on the warmer weather?

The party, more accurately a get-together, was scheduled at 6 PM. Had it been between the years 1978 and 1984, during my pathetic stint as a cadet in one of those prestigious and somewhat privileged institutions in Bangladesh, I would have gotten ready by 4 PM, had the family marched into the family van by 4:30 PM and made the hour long trip to be at the venue at 5:30 PM with 30 minutes to settle down. This was however 2012, January the 21^st, 28 years had passed by since I graduated from Cadet College and all my training about discipline and punctuality had long evaporated. It was now out of my grasp to figure out how a 6 PM party can start before 8 PM? There’s something called rationality, right?

The gods of traffic looked upon me mercifully and the roads seemed devoid of any usual troubles – rather amazingly, forcing me to cover the distance in little over half an hour. The kids, two of mine and one of my friend, 11, 10 and 6 respectively, had been upset about the weird party where they learned all the grouchy old people from schools called cadet colleges located in Bangladesh were supposed to show up.

  The venue seemed to impress the trio, one good thing. As a parent it is a continuous struggle for me to ensure that they are happy and content and in return provide me the peace of mind I so cherish. I had never been to this place before. The Ellas Banquet Hall located on 35 Danforth Road looked quite elegant, neatly organized, bright and specious and most of all relieving with ample parking spot.

 Greeted cordially by a few of the organizers, inevitably other fellow ex-cadets, most of who I had never met but knew by name from my earlier correspondence through the group email that the young and enthusiastic group of organizers had set up. A small contribution made and a name tag with details of my cadet persona imprinted I followed the family into the hall room – a high ceiling and specious place with rows of round tables running across the length, each arranged to host about a dozen guests. Following the email chains earlier I had learned that the response to the call for the get-together had been overwhelming and the organizers expected the number of guests to be no less than hundred and fifty – a considerable number remembering the fact that this was the first ever gathering of ex-cadets from all cadet colleges in this city, perhaps in the country, some may even go as far as to say in the world outside of Bangladesh. While ex-cadets from the same cadet colleges met sometimes, there hasn’t been any known occasion where attempts were taken to arrange a grand reunion with all cadet collages, away from home. It was a night to cherish, a night to remember – just for the mere reason for making it happen - setting apart all the great things that followed in the next several hours as the evening danced into the night.

We picked a table in the rear, one still not taken, took off our coats and jackets and settled into the sturdy chairs as the kids quickly joined dozens of other kids in the specious lobby, some even starting a game of hide and seek.  FInding them happy I relaxed into a chair thanking the volunteers who had worked diligently to bring all of us together there, under the roof of that beautifully bright place with a podium and professionally dressed stuff offering appetizers to the guests. The list with all of their names can be found at the end of this article.

As the evening progressed the size of the conglomeration grew at a rate surpassing expectation. A final count gave away amazing numbers – in total 82 ex-cadets and their families had convened, a few from as far as Montreal, some approaching their golden years while many others are still pursuing their higher studies in universities located in Windsor, Kitchener, London areas. The grand total turned out to be 212 – two thirds of that was adults with the rest kids. Several ex-cadets who had immigrated to Canada in recent years and are yet to bring their spouses showed up alone. 

Can’t be sure when the scheduled programs actually began but the place looked so bustling with well dressed, cheerful and energetic crowd that there seemed to be very little need of anything else to happen.   While the ex-cadets chatted, laughed and seek out other cadets who they might have not seen for a while, their spouses were equally eager to gather with friends and acquaintances and the kids merrily ran back and forth the long corridors and the hall room when they weren’t busy playing Gameboys or complaining about boredom.  The warmth of the crowd was touching, the gentle demeanors pleasing and the healthy murmur that resonated was heartwarming. At some point the scheduled programs did start under the efficient guidance of the three delightful conductors – Farid(JCC,74), Rimon (SCC,88) and Iftikhar (FCC,89) followed by an excited Hassan Mahmood (FCC 84) , my good old friend of 27 years from Dhaka University, paving the path to others by introducing ex-cadets of FCC who were present in the audience. (For the full list please refer to the end of this document).

A program itinerary had been prepared and brochures were printed. Though rarely the audience calmed down enough to give full attention to anybody whatsoever, amid this pleasant chaos things did move on – from singing the national anthem of both Bangladesh and Canada, introduction of ex-cadets and sponsors to video presentation of all Cadet Colleges reminiscing old and present days skillfully put together by Rimon and his wife, an elaborate look at the web site under development (a list of the ex-cadets volunteering that effort  is included at the end of this essay), a cultural program that accommodated several of the kids belonging to the ex-cadets who danced, sung, recited, played instruments to much amusement of the full house (a list of the participants are included at the end of this writing) followed by kids favorite cake cutting lead by Brigadier (Retd.) Kalam Shahed, an ex-cadet from the first batch of JCC , group pictures of all ex-cadets followed by their spouses and children.

 The Indian themed dinner stood in between healthy and delicious with plenty to go around.

Later reputed singer Chondan took over the stage and entertained the cheerful audience through the night to early morning when the enchanted guests had to finally call it a night and bid a gleeful bye to this amazing event.        

There may be mixed feelings about cadet colleges in Bangladesh, considering the high cost that is inevitably attached to them, an obvious outcome in the process to filter out the best young minds and to train and educate them in the best possible way, in an elite private school type settings, to create an especial group of people who would lead the nation as members of not only defense forces but also as civilians. Their numbers are miniscule in comparison to the total number of students coming out of higher secondary education system but their attitude and enthusiasm toward life is undoubtedly discernable. While there is no accurate data or elaborate study to determine the actual benefit of the cadet colleges, looking at that gathering of bright, educated, conscious men and women accompanied by their equally bright spouses and tech savvy ultra smart kids, one might dare to suggest that the sacrifices of the dotting mother has been rewarded. Regardless of age and success measured in materialistic scale, the love, dedication and promise that were so prominent in that crowd that it took no difficulties to figure out that the avalanche of goodwill and conscience would inevitably ripple across the continents to the little piece of land with wiggly borders, the land we call Bangladesh.  Just the thought of all the impossible-s that will one day be accomplished by the men, women and the kids I stood among was simply overwhelming.

This was an event that will be remembered for many months to come and hopefully will return in the coming years with enhanced vigor and enthusiasm. 

A special mention:

Md. Ataullah, one of the visionaries of this get-together had to travel to Bangladesh on a short notice to see his ailing grandmother who eventually passed away. May she rest in peace.

The volunteers:

Nazmul Hasan FCC; Hasan FCC; Hainf FCC ; Iftikhar Uddin FCC ; Anis FCC; Hasib FCC; Mahfil MCC ; Tareq Saifur Rahman MCC ; Shamsul Muktadir RCC ; Hanif Suhrawardi RCC ; Sadique Syed JCC ; Rimon Mahmud SCC ; Md. Ataullah SCC ; Sohel Islam SCC ; Arshadul Islam PCC ; Anwar Kabeer PCC ; Golam Hyder BCC ; Shoeb Ahmed BCC ; Asif Ahmed BCC ; Mobinul Islam CCC ; Nahid CCR ; Farzana Naheed MGCC ;

Brochure designer:  Mahfil - MCC 87

The ex-cadets who introduced the members of their respective cadet colleges:

FCC - Hasan (84); JCC -  Sadique (90) ; MCC -  Saif ; RCC -  Hanif (96)   ; SCC -  Rimon (88); CCR -  Nahid (95) ; BCC -  Shoeb (90) ; PCC -  Anwar (90) ;  CCC -  Mobin (90); MGCC – Nipa (86)

Web-site preparation: Ex-Cadets Anwar (PCC, 90), Mobin (CCC, 90), Shoeb (BCC, 90) and Hanif (RCC, 96). Ex-Cadet Kishore (RCC,79). 

The performers:  A. Rahman (FCC, 90), Jolly (wife of Shahidul, FCC 86), Ivana (daughter of Rimon, SCC 88), Tushmit (Daughter of Iftikhar, FCC 89), Jasia (daughter of Shahidul, FCC 86), Preetul (daughter of Badrul Rashid, RCC ), Preetul (daughter of Pasha, PCC 88), Obilia (daughter of Hasan, FCC 84), Tapti (daughter of Hasan, FCC 84), Rodella (daughter of Hanif, RCC 96), Hanif (RCC, 96), Umree (wife of Nahid, CCR 95), Rayan (son of Arifa, MGCC 90) and Farid (JCC, 74).

The ameteaur singing trio A. Rahman (FCC, 90), Sadique (JCC, 90) and Anis (FCC, 96) deserve an especial mention for their immensely entertaining chorus of popular Bangladeshi songs.  

Sponsors:

 Anwar Kamal (RCC, 85) (Real State – Home Life)

Shafik (JCC, 86) (Business person – Rose Brand) 

List of participating Cadet Colleges:

FCC – Faujdarhat Cadet College

JCC – Jhenaidah Cadet College

MCC – Mirzapur Cadet College

RCC – Rajshahi Cadet College

SCC – Sylhet Cadet College

PCC – Pabna Cadet College

MGCC – Mymensingh Girls Cadet College

CCR – Rangpur Cadet College

BCC – Barisal Cadet College

CCC – Comilla Cadet College

Arab Spring or Eruption?

I don’t think it would be possible to identify a true start date for what has been described as Arab Spring. Yes, it is quite evident that one vendor in Tunisia had helped the uprising to take a dramatic turn, but there is no questioning that a massive grudge had been brewing slowly in the Arab world for a while, owing to issues from economic inequality to widespread suppression lead by autocratic governments in some cases for decades after decades. Let's take a quick look:

Syria – Since 1963 (Hafiz Al Asad and then Bashar Al Asad)

Yemen - Ali Abdullah Saleh - 22 years

Libya - Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi - 41 years

Tunisia -  Abidine Bin Ali - 24 years

Egypt - Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak - 30 years

Jordan – Constitutional Monarchy

Saudi Arabia – Absolute Monarchy

Bahrain – Constitutional Monarchy

Kuwait - Constitutional Monarchy

Morocco – Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

Algeria – Presidential Republic

Oman – Absolute Monarchy

To understand the origin of the spark that seemingly started the still ongoing upheaval in the Middle East I wanted to know the 26 year old Tunisian man Mohammed Bouazizi from the rural town of Sidi Bouzid with estimated unemployment of 30%, who poured a can of gasoline on his body and set himself alight – around noon – right in front of the governor’s office. A vegetable vendor throughout his youth he was constantly at the receiving end of harassment by the local law and order, possibly for bribes, something he simply couldn’t afford to give. 

On December 17 2010 after being humiliated and his electronic weight machine being confiscated by the local police Mohammed rushed to the governor’s office in a failed attempt to get his equipment back. Within one hour of the police incident, the young man who has been supporting his younger siblings and his mother ended up engulfed in fire, from which he never recovered. He died after 18 days on 4th January 2011.

The demonstrations that began in Sidi Bouzid as a result of his unusual death eventually spread to the capital Tunis, thanks to the secretly shot videos posted on social medias which inspired youths across the country to take to the road. Soon tens of thousands braved tear gas and battled police. After the army refused to shoot protesters Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia with his family, just after 14 days of Bouazizi’s death.

Not even three weeks later, Egypt's army too refused to shoot at the protesters and 82-year-old Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for almost three decades had little choice but to resign.

Soon the protesters hit the streets in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city. Months later the struggle ends with Muammar Gaddafi killed while trying to escape. The wave of Arab awakening continued its rage through countries after countries in the Middle East – from Yemen to Morocco to Syria -- a nation infamous for its repression. Eventually a majority of the 22 Arab nations felt the heat of the erupting Arab fire that may soon burn all the disparity in that region and start a true democratic, not theocratic, process to develop. 

Since Bouazizi many others, equally desperate and absolutely frustrated, in the region have followed his path and set themselves on fire. Some of the names:

Mohsen Bouterfif, a 37-year-old father of two, Maamir Lotfi, a 36-year-old unemployed father of six, Abdelhafid Boudechicha, a 29-year-old day laborer who lived with his parents and five siblings, Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafar, a 49-year-old restaurant owner of Egypt and many more. Along with them died thousands in the process of demonstrations and armed struggle.  

A notable point:

On 7 October, the Nobel Committee announced that Yemeni protest leader Tawakel Karman would share the Nobel Peace Prize with two others. Karman was the first Yemeni citizen and first Arab woman to win a Nobel Prize.

Regretfully the time for this Arab eruption may have not yet come to a point that it can subside. One cannot stop but wonder about Syria’s fate. The unimaginable cruelty that the Syrian government have unleashed on its own citizens is hard to fathom. As I read the story of the 13 year old baby-faced boy Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb who was killed brutally by the government forces for graffiti against Bashar Al Asad my mind just cringed in total disbelief and disgust.  On April 29, 2011, he was detained during a protest in Dara. On May 25, 2011, his dead body was delivered to his family, tortured, burnt, shot three times, and his genitals cut off.A peak at his image and one must stop to wonder what monstrosity one needs to have to mutilate such an innocent life. The worst part of it is that Hamza wasn’t alone. There have been several other kids killed brutally by the Syrian army. I don’t even want to mention about the thousands of adults who perished.

Will this Arab eruption have enough lava to bury all the wrong and bring a new dawn in Syria? Time will tell. 

What's in a Calendar?

It’s not even ten days into the so called New Year 2012 and we are already burdened with a flurry of unfortunate events – locally and internationally. To name a few that sort of got my attention:

1. Several murders right after the New Year in several parts of the city (GTA)
2. Female journalist harassed in Dhaka while doing investigative  report in the hands of a local MP
3. Death of several dozens of Shiite Muslims in Iraq in yet another suicidal bombing
4. New scuffle between the West and Iran on Iran’s nuclear ambition. There are threats of sanctions and blocking Straits of Hormuz by opposing parties (US and EU vs. Iran)
5. Many deaths and thousands desperately in need for help in South Sudan after another tribal conflict
6. Two Canadian’s death in Mexico in the hands of miscreants

However, none of these are out of ordinary and 2012 has nothing to do with it. It’s only a number to define a time frame. Things happen all the time and there are plenty of media and analysts to report and analyze them. I feel very little need for me to add to that mass today. Instead I went on to perform a little investigation into the origin of calendar concept itself. It is a vast field but here is a very concise summary of my findings.

Calendar:

             

The motivation for most calendars is to fix the number of days between return of the cycle of seasons (from spring equinox to the next spring equinox), so that the calendar could be used as an aid to planting and other season-related activities. The cycle of seasons (tropical year) had been known since ancient times to be about 365 and 1/4 days long.

Some of the primary calendar systems are: Solar, Lunar, Lunisolar, Astronomical.

The Ancient Egyptians were the first people to make a calendar which kept in step with the Sun and the seasons. They were also the first people to use a twenty four hour clock.
Before starting to use solar calendar the earliest Egyptian calendar was based on the moon’s cycles, but the lunar calendar failed to predict a critical event in their lives: the annual flooding of the Nile River which took place at a certain time of the year.  This was due to the fact that a solar year is 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds long or 365.242199 days and the time between full moons is 29.53 days. Unfortunately, the cycles of lunar month and solar year did not mesh evenly. As a result lunar calendar would become out of synch of the seasons. The observant noticed that the sun moves northward and southward, through the equinoxes and solstices, as the cycle of nature in the temperate latitudes takes place. For an agricultural society, this cycle is of practical importance. Besides, it is also a good impetus for religious observances.
The Ancient Egyptians divided the day-time into twelve hours, numbered one to twelve, and the night-time into another twelve, numbered thirteen to twenty four. The hours were not all the same length: in the summer the hours of the day were longer than the hours of the night, and of course the other way round in the winter. By making all their months an even 30 days, they abandoned trying to sync with lunar cycles and concentrated instead on aligning with the solar year. However their calendar didn't quite align with a solar actual year. (30*12 = 360 days)
Eventually Julius Caesar, the Greek ruler of Egypt, asked an astronomer, Sosigenes of Alexandria, Egypt, to devise a better calendar. What resulted is called the Julian Calendar. He adopted months of 30 or 31 days length, keeping February at 28 days and introduced an extra day in February in leap years (to take care the ~.25 days per year discrepancy). Julius Caesar re-named the 5th month after himself. His successor, Augustus Caesar, re-named the 6th month after himself.
The 12 month calendar which currently serves as the world standard of time is called the Gregorian Calendar, named for Pope Gregory XIIIth who “revised” the previous Julian calendar (named for Julius Caesar). October 5, 1582 was followed by October 16th, 1582, correcting for the Julian calendar which had slipped behind the Spring Equinox by 10 days (the reason is that a tropical year (or solar year) is actually about 11 minutes shorter than 365.25 days. These extra 11 minutes per year in the Julian calendar caused it to gain about three days every four centuries, when compared to the observed equinox times and the seasons). Aside from an improved leap year calculation, Pope Gregory’s calendar has no structural differences from Julius Caesar’s calendar. The longer months were placed in the summer because the sun’s movement through the stars is slower in these months. A further correction of omitting the extra day on even century years, except every 400 years, keeps the calendar in close synchronization with the seasons.

Okay, now let’s end it on a different note. We hear so much about New Year resolution. Is it worth having? Does it make any difference whether we list out things to do in the new year or not? The answer may both be yes and no. It is always a good idea to first identify what needs to be done. So, listing them out is a good start. However, carrying them out in reality is a totally different thing. Perhaps having a long list of things that are not achievable serves no purpose. My suggestion: create a short list and work on to make them reality.

Source: Various web sites in the internet. Primarily: Wikipedia.

New Year celebration 2012

Back in Bangladesh, decades ago, celebrating New Year (both Bangla and English or Gregorian) had always been a part of my life since I was a young adult. Of course the nature and procedures of celebration differed quite a bit. Bangla New Year was invariably celebrated with a visit to the much anticipated Boishakhi mela  (New Year fare) while the English new calendar year was more of a late night event where we often grouped up with friends and families and did loud countdowns. My parents were never much into the New Year celebration; very few parents were at that time to my knowledge. So, it was unlikely that we would have very feisty parties but whatever we did it was good enough to keep me and my siblings occupied and satisfied. I remember one time we had arranged for a small gathering at the flat roof of our three storied building in Dhaka where I had lit up a small fire and barbequed chicken – not an usual event in our lives by any means. It gave us something to talk about for a while.

Since coming to North America many years had come and gone. As a single guy I had allowed several of them to pass quietly. Once I coupled up with Mili, my wife, things had gotten much groovier. New Year parties had become sort of common. However, we only started to have the best of the New Year parties once moving to Toronto and meeting this wonderful group of friends with young kids. Being the most party enthusiast in this particular group, I had arranged almost all of these New Year parties in our house over the years with plenty of plans to keep the kids engaged and entertained – most are the product of my lazy mind.

In 2010 we had gone away to Florida to visit the Disneyland (and other attractions) and obviously did not participate in any New Year’s party. This year we had stayed in Toronto and had planned to host one. Not only my kids but all the kids of our friends had always loved these parties and looked forward to them. Unfortunately though, several of the families from our closely knit group had traveled away for the holidays this year and my New Year’s plan almost seemed unrealizable. However, things just worked out at the end and we had a great party, possibly one of the better ones, with lots of food, fun filled activities, interesting contests and even an impromptu cultural show. Let’s have a quick look at the events of that night.   

High points:

• A memory test by my fellow ex-cadet sister Nipa, who brought back memories from several decades past by quoting parts of poems or prose that we read or studied in school years. While our senior brother Badal bhai blessed with great memory scored heavily I performed embarrassingly bad with only one correct answer (with pure luck).

• A trick question quiz. This had always been a super hit with the kids. [Check out some examples at the end of this blog]. Prizes were awarded based on score.

• A game of charade where two kids acted out ten different scenarios and all the teams, ten in total, tried to guess and noted their answers down. Later they were marked and prizes were awarded among three top teams.

• The much waited dancing with Hindi music of the four year old son of one of my friend. Unfortunately this took place half past one in the morning and the little guy were almost half asleep. Regardless he insisted on performing and did a great job with the whole audience cheering.

• Several impromptu/partially rehearsed dances of several of the kids present in the party. Traditionally I had always kept it low key so that instead of becoming a rehearsed show it feels like a fun filled family party where everything is imperfect.

• We had food in three different phases (appetizers, main courses, desserts) with every family preparing foods from different parts of the world including Italian, French, German, Chinese, American and of course Indian/Bangladesh.

• I found a simple non-alcoholic (none of us drink alcoholic beverages) cocktail recipe (banana, several types of fresh juices, milk, sugar) from the internet and prepared jug full of it. We started the New Year with a noisy count down and a drink of the delicious cocktail.

• The excitement of all these must have been too much because one of the ladies who often suffer from vertigo jumped up and performed an Indian classical dance. However, she had to retire into reclusiveness later with dizziness.

• I had requested every family to bring some gifts for the other kids. The gift swapping wasn’t planned until much after midnight but by popular demand by the kids (to the point where they threatened to desert the show) the gifts had to be handed over before the New Year countdown. No wonder they screamed at the top of their voices during count down.

• Later, once all our competitive activities had been completed, around 2 AM, we distributed the prizes (each family was requested to bring one for this purpose).

Low points:

• None!  (Okay perhaps me not being able to answer any of the memory questions. I can barely remember what happened yesterday, how could anybody expect me to remember 30-40 year old stuff? Give me a break!)

Some of the Trick Questions

• You live in Toronto. Your best friend lives in Ottawa. Why you have a dog and he has a cat?
• How can Amina be Rina's sister and Rina be Mina's sister but Amina is not Mina's sister?
• What seven-letter word can have hundreds of letters in it? 
• A man and his son were in an automobile accident. The man became unconscious on the way to the hospital and the boy was rushed into surgery. The emergency room surgeon said "I can't operate, that's my son!" How is this possible?
• A man says, "Brothers and sisters, have I none, but that man's father is my father's son." Who is he pointing at?

Try them out if you have time.

Journey to The Kingdom of Florida - part 5 (Orlando, Florida)

On Monday morning, around 8 AM, we thanked Kaz for his extraordinary hosting (he even paid the ticket fares in Georgia Aquarium visit) and boarded our trusted van and hopped on the interstate 75. We would continue to follow it for more than 600 kilometers until we hit Florida Turnpike which would take us into the city of Orlando.

Contrary to our expectation Atlanta was cooler than we thought it would be and one of the sliding doors of the van froze stuck. Little later as we drove on the expressway the ice melted and the door became loose with the alert light coming up on the dashboard. Deciding not to take any chance I stopped the car on the shoulder and had the door shut down properly. Not a usual event. We hopped back on the highway again and merrily drove through the Monday morning traffic, which to my relief wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be considering it was a working day. 

All of us were very elated, especially the kids who really glazed in excitement now that finally we were approaching the Disneyland. It was the longest we drove since leaving Ajax – 720 kilometers – Atlanta to Orlando. 

                                            Palm trees on the way to Orlando

 

As we advanced toward Orlando the weather got increasingly warmer and we started to see occasional glimpses of palm trees – a sure sign of warmer weather. We stopped about midway for lunch in a roadside restaurant and dined with home-style burgers and fries. The joint was quite colorful, it was sunny outside and the kids were really beaming in anticipation – everything looked exactly what we wanted it to be. I found several palm trees outside and took pictures. Back in my motherland Bangladesh I grew up with the sight of various types of palm trees and sight of these plants invariably excites me. To me they are the sure sign of warmth and good times.

We drove at full speed and did not stop any more. When we finally entered the neighborhood of Orlando it was half past four in the afternoon. 

Among other things what pleased both Mili and I were the spread out orange gardens that can be seen right from the highway. As a young kid I had visited Tripoli, Libya and visited several orange gardens with my parents. The memory of that instantly flashed before my eyes.

 

Later, as we drove into the city we found it neatly arranged with palm tree lined roads and colorful houses and buildings. In the north our houses are really bland looking. This was a pleasant change of views for all of us.

 

Disneyland is located in Kissimmee, in the outskirts of Orlando, one of the major cities of Florida. Naturally most hotels, motels and other tourist attractions have been built in the vicinity. The Universal Studios are also nearby. Among other attractions Sea World is definitely a major one. The Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway is flanked with all kind of hotels, restaurants and additional attractions. I had booked a room in Holiday Inn on the internet. Wasn’t fully sure how it would be but had to settle for something based on whatever images and information was available on their web site and the user experiences that I could pull up from many user groups. 

To all of our relief it turned out to be a gorgeous  place, quite colorful and well maintained, specious lobby, large outdoor swimming pool, even a small gym and plenty of parking spots at the rear of the building. And above all the view around the place is simply great with large trees and some palms. Our room was in the fifth floor. During check in we were informed that J and family had already arrived and the reception would inform them about our arrival. We can then get in touch with each other. As we stepped out of the elevator on the fifth floor corridor we found a rushing Tasi and her parents following her closely – all smiles. Our rooms were only a few room apart. It was simply great to see them. There’s nothing better than enjoying a great place with great friends.

  

That evening we went to visit the Ripley’s Believe It or Not in the vicinity. Though as an attraction its significance is much less than the giants that it co-lives with but it is a great place to visit. And I say great because the kids really liked it. In my mind anything that today’s video game playing kids with fast reflex and short attention span find amusing got to be worthy.  

  One of my favorites. Please read the text below to learn more about the man in this picture. 

 

A fur bearing trout (very rare)

That night after returning in hotel room I took out my planner that I created back in Toronto based on the information that I had, especially the weather related info. Once here and with the updated weather information the plan needed to be revisited. Going to the water place in a cold day would make no sense while that could work out fine in other attractions.

I had booked the hotel room for six nights. After plenty of thoughts and considering updated weather forecast this is what my final plan looked like:

Disney Magic Kingdom – Tuesday

Seaworld - Wednesday

Disney Epcot - Thursday

Disney Hollywood Studios – Friday

Seaworl Aquatica (water park) – Saturday

Disney Animal Kingdom - Sunday

The other major attractions not in my plan were (I picked Aquatica over Disney water park and considering the age of my kids – 5 and 10 -  decided Universal could be little over their head):

Disney Blizzard beach (water park)

Disney Typhoon Lagoon

Universal Studios

Universal’s Islands of Adventure

Universal Wet’n Wild

Some interesting facts about Florida:

1. Orlando attracts more visitors than any other amusement park destination in the United States.
2. The United States city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater (Dolphin Tale movie)
3. Young aviator Tony Jannus made history on January 1, 1914 when he flew the world's first scheduled passenger service airline flight from St. Petersburg's downtown yacht basin to Tampa.
4. Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first suntan cream in 1944. He accomplished this development by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife's stove.

Journey to the Kingdom of Florida - Part 4 (Atlanta)

Saturday. We woke up early in the morning. Primarily because Mili had the same fate as I did the night before and was unable to get a good night's sleep. As a result she was all set to start even before it was dawn. The kids were tired and slept deeply. Yet, we decided to wake them up and get going so that we could reach our next destination before it was dark. I almost always avoid driving after dark when we are travelling away from home. Just in case something went wrong - could be with the vehicle or health related - the last thing I would want is to get stranded on a lonely stretch of the expressway. No matter how safe things looked danger can lurke from practically everywhere. There had been several case of highway murders. Don't want to sound like safety freak but it is better to be safe than to be sorry.

Like all other Super 8 motels this motel had continental breakfast as well. Nothing too grandiose. In the narrow lobby in one corner they had set up couple of small tables with several usual items like cereals, milk, muffins, eggos, coffee etc. There was a Caucatian woman attending the counter. She was a middle aged woman with a cranky attitude. Not sure exactly what she had done or didn't do but Mili was quite offended. She later mentioned to me that the lady was giving her an attitude. I personally did not feel she was mean or anything but at the same time I also knew that often Caucatians can be snubby regardless of their social stature. Mili is usually the friendliest person on earth. I kind of felt bad for her as she really looked disturbed by this. All she did was trying to get the kids a good breakfast. The woman did not have to give her the look.

When we pulled out from the motel parking lot it was little after 7 am in the morning. As I drove the van into the isolated Saturday morning expressway the kids tried to relax in their seats and get some sleep. Mili was still slightly sour from the early morning experience. I usually like to constantly chat with her when I am driving which keeps me focused. I tried to drive quietly until she warmed up to make any kind of conversation.

Our destination was Atlanta, Georgia.  One of my close friend from Dhaka university lived in the suburbs of Atlanta. Total distance to his place from Lexington motel as per google map was about 620 kilometers.  Roughly it should take us about 6 hours of driving time and an hour for lunch or washroom break. We could be in his condo apartment before 3 PM, beating the darkness by at least an hour. Solid planning. One must admit.

It was a quiet winter morning with clear roads. It had snowed here lately and the fields were covered with thick sheet of snow. As we moved at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour the white fields looked very pleasing to the eyes. Soon Mili had regained her composure and we cheerfully chatted on.

On our way we traveled through Danielle Boone National forest. This part of the landscape was very hilly with dramatic turns. It had snowed here as well and most hills were covered with white snow. In some areas we also encountered dense fog. Over all it was quite interesting. Once we entered Tennessee things gotten a little flatter. We stopped at Lake City and the kids played a little in the McDonalds’ indoor games facility. We drove through Knoxville, Chattanooga and entered Georgia. 


Some interesting facts about Knoxville:

1.In Knoxville on May 1, 1890 the first electric street car ran from Gay Street to Lake Ottossee (now Chilhowee Park).

2.Downtown Knoxville is 936 feet above sea level.

3.The soft drink Mountain Dew had its beginnings with Hartman Beverages in Knoxville in the late 1940's.

4.Knoxville Zoo is the Red Panda Capital of the World, having the greatest success in breeding and survival of baby Red Pandas.

We pushed hard and reached Atlanta in Kaz’s place around 2:30 PM. Atlanta looked very green from the outskirt. The apartment complex where Kaz lived was very nice with hills at the back drop and tall pines and Oak trees surrounding the compound. We were to stay here two nights. Our goal was to visit the Atlanta Aquarium touted as the largest in the world and the Stone mountain – a very popular and unique rock formation. Kaz’s wife and kid was away visiting Bangladesh. However he was a good cook and was determined to ensure that we did not feel the absence of the lady of the house. He cooked, baked and mashed all kind of things and offered us nothing less of a royal luncheon. The kids were very relaxed and happy realizing they won’t have to be on the road for almost two days.

Some interesting facts about Atlanta:

1. Atlanta is the fastest growing city in the United States (total population)

2. Dr. Martin Luther King started the worldwide "Civil Rights" movement here in Atlanta

3. Birth place of Coca Cola

4. The world's largest bas-relief sculpture - Georgia's Stone Mountain Park

5. The second-largest convention center in the world - the Georgia World Congress Center

6. One of only two cities in the world to be home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners. At the age of 35, Martin Luther King Jr. was the youngest man to receive the Noble Peace Prize in 1964. President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

7.Georgia Aquarium is the world's largest with over 8 million gallons of water

Goofs: While in Kaz's home, Mili went to the parking lot to bring back some stuff from the car. Hours later when we went down to go to the mall I found out the driver side sliding door wide open. Fortunately nothing (including the whole car) was stolen. I thanked God for one more time. This trip was really turning out to be rewarding. 




The largest mall in the Southeast America - Lenox Square is located in Atlanta. We spent the evening roaming around the mall. I hate malls no matter how big or how grandiose. As far as I am concerned they are the most boring place on earth. Mili had a great time though. She bought little but checked out a lot - just like most specimen of her gender.

We visited the Georgia Aquarium the  next morning. It is advertised as the world's largest aquarium. Since it had opened several years ago I had made a note to visit it. Being an aquarium enthusiast it was a must see for me. 

The Georgia aquarium was a true blast. We have been in other aquariums but this was a really wonderful experience in every sense. The kids loved it (and they usually hate everything). I thought the coral reef with the extremely colorful fishes was out of the world. Anybody who is visiting that particular part of the world should make some time to visit this place. 
 

Stony Mountain Park was the other local attraction that we visited later in the afternoon. This is a popular destination for the local people as the park has many different type of activities for all ages.  

It also has the world's largest bas-relief (is a sort of sculpture where the sculpture has less depth behind the faces or figures than the actual faces or figures would have, when measured). There is a cable car to carry people between ground and the top of the mountain. Kaz took Mili and the kids in the cable car while I opted out for the walking trail that went up the mountain. It is about 900 feet tall and the walk to the top is a very nice and scenic one, not extremely difficult but at the same time provided me with enough work out. The view was definitely worth the extra work.