Orlando vacation day 2 - Universal Studios

After a really long day at Magic Kingdom, we started our day little late and took the hotel shuttle to Universal Studios at 9:25 am.  The shuttle stopped at one of the other close by hotels before actually leaving for Universal.  Since Universal is little father than the Disney parks, it took us about half an hour to get there around 10 am.  Even though we got there an hour late than the park opened, what surprised me and made me happy is that there wasn't any crowd at all which was the best.  We picked up the map and started our day as we had planned to cover the rides and shows we wanted to see.

First stop was The Simpsons Ride which was the best ride ever.  This ride tops in the list of my top rides for this vacation.  It's the best fun simulation ride ever and I think it's the best decision Universal Studios took to replace Back to the Future simulation ride with this one.  We loved it so much we decided to go back to it after we finish covering everything else.  We sat in the 2nd row first time but sat on the 1st row second time and it was fantastic!  DO NOT MISS THIS RIDE if you are ever in Universal Studios.

Next stop was next door neighbor Men In Black Alien Attack ride which was a lot of fun as well.  It's a 3D ride and a ride similar to Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin.  The ride actually has a lot of space to put your belongings but they don't let you take anything inside because it spins few times in-between and that's why you have to put your stuff in the locker before going on this ride.  The lockers are just next to the ride and free for first 30 minutes so it's not a problem.  The wait time was like 10 minutes, so we got through the ride pretty quick.  It was fun ride.

Next, we attended Jaws, which is a boat tour of the coast where you never know who pays you a visit....maybe a SHARK!  You are being toured on an island where all of a sudden you see a shark heading your way, rocks your boat back and forth, and next thing you know, you get splash of water on you.  It was nice short boat ride.

So far the day is going great, without any crazy crowd and not really rushing to get to the rides.  Next, we went to Disaster which is not really a ride but combination of presentation and behind the scenes movie making secrets of Disaster that we see in different films.  This is really funny and involves audience participation to create a short film which they show you at the end.  I found it really hilarious, so DON'T MISS this one!

Next, we headed to Twister ride which is again not a ride.  This does not have any seating and involves a lot of standing and moving from one place to another before you actually get to see how a real twister is formed in a movie.  We got to witness an actual twister forming where you see a cow flying, tractor being pulled, roofs flying off, it was amazing!  At the same time, you see the power and force of Twister which is really scary!

After seeing couple of behind the movie making secrets, we headed to Shrek 4D show.  There was about 20 minute wait but we weren't in hurry so we decided to just wait and watch the show.  I had seen this show in Universal Studios in California but this one was different and as usual it was funny.  We also wanted to see the Jimmy Neutron show but unfortunately it wasn't running on that day.  After that we were able to catch the Animal Actors show which had animals from different movies do a little gig.  We saw the dog from Marley and me and there were couple other dogs from other movies which I don't remember.  This show was cute and fun at the same time.  It was already 3 pm, so we took about half an hour break for lunch and freshen up.

Next was the E.T. Adventure ride, which was really nice ride.  It was really impressively built with the sets built right from the movie.  Definitely go on this ride.  We went to Woody's Nut House Coaster which is kind of kid's ride but still I wanted to get on it since I can't get on the big roller-coasters that go upside-down :P.  We waited for like 15 minutes for a 30 seconds roller coaster...hehe...but it's ok.  We went back to the Simpson's ride where we had almost 30 minutes wait.  Well, no wonder there is long wait time since this ride is awesome!!

Oh we also took pictures with a lot of Disney characters including characters from movie Madagascar, The Simpsons, Scooby doo.

Next, we went to Terminator 3D show which is really loud.  I had seen this show in California but we decided to see it again since we had time.  It was little bit different.  If you haven't seen it before then it'll be good to watch it for first time.  It was 5:30 pm and we still had time before the park closed, so we went to the Horror Make-up Show which was more likely comedy show.  I kind of had my eyes closed when they showed horror characters on the projection screen but other than that it was really funny.  There was a magic show playing right across the street, so we went to that next.  I finally went on the Revenge of the Mommy ride which was super fast.  It was definitely different from the one in California but crazy fast.  I am glad my brother didn't come on this ride because it had a lot of turbulence as well.  We left the park after this ride and looked around on the CityWalk.

We headed back to the shuttle parking lot to catch our hotel shuttle at 7:45 pm and got to hotel in half an hour.  This was the best day because we got through all the rides and shows within the given time frame without rushing and not having a big crowd.  Also we came back earlier than the first day when we were super tired.  At Universal Studios, there is a concept of Express pass, which lets you skip the long lines once if you pay extra $20/person.  There was no need for us to get it since there was hardly any crowd.  But this is one park which you can cover in one day without rushing because it's not as big as Magic Kingdom.

I really needed some energy since there were still 5 more days left and these 2 days completely made me tired.  Next on the list is Disney's Hollywood Studios.  Stay tuned! 

Orlando vacation day 1 - Magic Kingdom

It was Magic Kingdom (MK) day.  The title of this post should be "How to cover Magic Kingdom in 1 day" because we pretty much covered everything in this park and skipped the things we knew were not worth doing or really silly.  Our knowledge from Disney Land helped in deciding the ride options and hope this post helps you decide what to avoid and what are the must rides.

Even though I couldn't sleep much the previous night, I had to wake up at 6:45 am for 8:30 am shuttle but I was extremely excited to start the day and trip at MK.  Me and my brother got ready by 7:30, headed to breakfast, and got on the 8:30 am shuttle sharp.  The bus actually took us to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) which is the hub to catch the transportation to all the parks.  We took the monorail to MK and began our adventure.

I have been to Disney Land before, so I knew what to expect from this park, but it was still exciting and breath taking to see the magic of this park :).  Our main goal of the day was to cover the 3 most popular rides first before noon in order to avoid the rush hour and then cover all the other rides accordingly as we can.  With that in mind, we headed straight to Space Mountain and got through the ride in 10 minutes which is more likely to increase as the day progresses.  To be honest, I felt this ride had a lot of turbulence compared to the one in Disney land.  It was definitely longer and had a lot more drops, but it was more darker than the other one.   Right in the Tomorrowland, we also covered Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin which is another fun ride and we got through the line in 5 minutes.  We were at the park right at 9 am, so that's why the park was not crowded yet.  There are two other rides in Tomorrowland which you do not, I repeat, do not want to waste time on.  There is Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Speedway.  Astro Orbiter may look cool but it's just a spaceship looking ride that goes up and down in circle and Tomorrowland speedway is a go-cart ride, only that it's the terrible version of the go-carts which goes at 5mph speed.  Don't waste your time on these rides, instead, stand in line for other better rides.

Then we head to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which is about 10 min wait time.  This ride seems faster and longer than the one in Disney Land but it was really good.  Right next door they have Splash Mountain which I have never been on despite having been to Disney Land twice, so I was looking forward to it.  The only thing I was concerned about is whether my brother will be able to go on this ride or not b/c he had dislocated his shoulder couple of months ago and the ride had a 5-story drop at the end in the water.  To make sure it'll be ok for him, I go on the ride first while he waits outside.  The wait was only 15 minutes so it wasn't big deal.  I enjoyed the ride so much and the drop was pretty smooth too, I got a fastpass for me and my brother so he can also come with me again :).  While we wait for the fastpass time, we got pictures with goofy.  Also in the nearby area, the Hall of Presidents show was playing which we went to.  It was a really nice show with combination of a short film and presentation of all the presidents.  After the show it was already time for our ride, so we headed back to Splash Mountain.  By the time we got out, it was noon and the crowd had tripled in the size than what we saw at 9 am.  If it's this crowded on weekday, I don't know how crazy it is on weekends.  Right across from Splash mountain,  they had Tom Sawyer's Island.  It's basically a small island created with kids' play area as well, but if you miss seeing this one, you won't miss much :P.

We were pretty much done with everything in Frontierland so we headed to Adventureland which also had couple of good rides.  First, Pirates of the Caribbean ride which only had like 5-10 min wait time.  It's a slow boat ride and very impressively created.  This ride was also longer than the one in Disney Land.  After this, we tried to go to Jungle Cruise ride but there was just too much wait, so instead we got a fastpass and headed next door to see the Swiss Family Treehouse.  This is, as the name says, a treehouse with bunch of stairs, but built nicely.  It was already 2 pm, so we decided to sit out and eat lunch.  The area behind the Hall of Presidents theater is really nice so we sat there and had quick bite in 20 minutes.  We took a lot of snacks with us and made penut-butter-jelly sandwiches which was pretty filling.  The next door restaurant Columbia harbor house gives you water if you ask them (unlike other restaurants that point you to buy water bottles).  After quick lunch, we headed to Jungle Cruise ride with fastpass and enjoyed it thoroughly.  This one was also bigger and better than the one in Disney Land by showcasing more animals.  It was already 3 pm and time for Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade which was fantastic.  These parades always make me happy and smile because it's so lively and all the Disney characters are part of this parade.

After the parade, we headed to Fantasyland where we first saw Micky's Philarmagic 3D show.  It's really nice show, so don't miss it if you have time.  Next we were able to get through Snow White's Scary Adventures ride because we got help from one of the service agents so we didn't have to wait in line.  Um..you won't miss much if you don't go on this ride.  To be honest, Fantasyland is full of kiddie rides but I even enjoy them except those carousel rides which are truly for kids.  I really wanted to go to Peter pan's ride since it was one of the popular rides.  There was 40 minutes wait for Peter Pan's Flight, but while my brother waited in line for this ride, I ran to get the fastpass for Big thunder mountain railroad since we both enjoyed that ride a lot.  Right across from Peter pan's flight, they have It's a Small World boat ride which had about 20 min wait but the line goes through pretty fast.  After much denial, and little more convincing, my brother agreed to come on this ride with me.  The first thing he said is that all this ride has is bunch of dolls, that's it!  Well it's not just bunch of dolls, but they have created a culture, an environment from each country with these dolls that makes it very unique.  I really enjoyed this ride and I am sure most of the people will.

After the ride, we headed straight to Dream along with Micky stage show.  We stood little bit away from the stage because it was hot as hell and we really needed some shade.  It was still very enjoyable.  We went for our second round of big thunder mountain railroad and then went to Haunted Mansion.  All of those who are afraid of dark places, get nightmares, can't see scary movies, can be part of this ride.  This ride is not SCARY at all!! In fact, it's a fun ride with a lot of things to watch.  So don't miss it.  We still had 2 more things we wanted to catch before the fireworks which was Stitch's Great Escape and Monster's, Inc. Laugh Floor.  Stitch's Great Escape was a really nice show but here are some things.  It's really loud at times and it gets completely dark at times which I didn't really like, but if your kids are not afraid of darkness for few minutes then it should be ok.  On the other side, there is Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor which you do not want to miss.  It is hilarious 3D/digital stage show where Mike (from Monsters, Inc. movie) interacts with the audience.  It is very cool technology and you will walk out laughing hard.  This time we did not go to Tiki show, because we had seen this show before and thought of skipping it in order to cover other things.  If you haven't seen it, do go watch it because it's one of the nice shows that MK has in this park.

It was already 8 pm by the time we got out and my energy was down, my legs were killing me, and I was ready to see the fireworks. which was still an hour away.  We sat really close to the kingdom for good view of the fireworks.  Magic, memory, and me started around 8:45/50 pm followed by the Nighttime Spectacular fireworks which was truly spectacular.  As soon as the fireworks ended, we raced to get out of the park and head to catch the monorail....can you imagine everyone in the park trying to get out at the same time?  We had to catch our shuttle from TTC at 10 pm and for that we had to get on monorail.  It took us 10 minutes just to get out of the park and then another 5 minutes for monorail, add another 10 minutes of travel time and finally we are at the TTC to catch our bus at 10 pm back to hotel.

We came back to the hotel around 10:30 pm, freshened up little bit, ate maggie noodles, I wrote up the highlights of the day and finally went to bed around 12:30 am.  Oh yea, I forgot to tell you guys that we knew that we would be coming back from parks pretty late, so we brought a lot of maggie noodles with us so we can make it in the room.  It was very handy.  Going to bed at 12:30 am but tomorrow will be little easy as we have decided to go to Universal Studios where the shuttle leaves around 9:25 so I get to sleep little bit more...yay!  Nonetheless, it was a loooong day!!  Hopefully tomorrow is short day compared to this park.

Untili then, see ya!

Orlando vacation begins...

So excited for the vacation, my brother and I leave for the airport on May 23rd and get through security in no time :).  So far good start ...hehe.  We get to Orlando around 6:45 pm and the way airport is situated is that you have to take the tram to get to main terminal.  We get to the level 1 where the ground transportation is for Mears transportation and get our round trip shuttle ticket ($34/person) and head out to catch the shuttle.  As we head out, the sudden change in weather hits me with hot and humid air...oh I could feel the 90 degree temperatures :P.  We have to wait for 20-30 mins for the shuttle so I immediately go back in the building to sit in the air conditioning hall ...haha...I don't know how the rest of the days will work out when I am out in the open parks in 90+ degrees temperatures, but we'll see about that.  Surely our shuttle comes within 25 minutes and we are at our hotel in little over half an hour.  The hotel looked very nice (at least from the lobby) since it had huge and very nice lobby.  The check-in was quick and as told by orlandovacation.com, we received all of our theme park tickets at the counter.  We were so hungry and tired, but on our way to the room, we picked up all the theme park maps and time guides along with the  hotel shuttle times that we would be using every day.

Hurrying up to the room, I was pretty happy with the room.  It was nice, big, and spacious, with 2 queen beds, 42" plasma tv, nice bathroom, AC, fridge, microwave, and wooden closets.  We did a quick check in the room and found 2 things missing, one light bulb and the microwave dish.  The maintenance guy comes within 5 minutes to take care of it.  Now about the food, there were so many restaurants near by within 5-10 minutes of walking distance, but we headed to Cici's pizza which was just a 5 minute walk from the hotel.  It was already 9:15 pm and they close at 10, so we went to eat first and then plan our days out for the next 7 days :).  With our tummy's filled, we were able to plan out the first day which was at Magic Kingdom (MK).  The park was going to be open from 9 am - 9 pm and our shuttle left for MK at around 8:30 am which worked out perfectly fine.  We jot down the list of rides which we want to cover first and the shows that we didn't want to miss.  We call it a night and go to sleep....waiting for the next day's adventures!!

First stop of the vacation is Magic Kingdom, stay tuned for all the details coming up....

Orlando, Florida vacation highlights!!

Hey Friends,

I just got back from a 7-day Fantasmic Orlando vacation today.  It was one of the best vacations I have ever had with so much fun, entertainment, and lots and lots and lots of walking :D.  Yes, you guessed it right!! I went to all the 4 Disney theme parks, both Universal parks, and Sea world!! 7 days - 7 parks!! I am just giving you the highlights right now and watch out for the informative park details coming up in upcoming posts for each park, its attractions and shows, some very  useful tips, and lots of fun!!!!

First of all, I booked my vacation through orlandovacation.com site where they have package deals of hotel + theme park tickets and you can customize how you want your tickets for however many days you want to plan for.  I looked around their site, looked at which hotels they have in their list and researched some of them to find the one with lowest rate and better amenities.  Also I checked the theme park ticket prices and compared them to the actual park tickets that they sell at the park.  The difference is not much at all but the best part is that you don't need to worry about your tickets buying at the park (or stand in the line), instead your tickets will be delivered to your hotel.  I researched around as to which hotel to choose and decided on Baymont Inn and Suites in Kissimmee (7601 black lake rd) which had the lowest hotel rate per ($47/night) day plus it had free breakfast, free wi-fi, free shuttle to the parks and parking at the hotel.  They do charge a resort fee of $5.09 per night but this is something that every hotel charges, so it's not new.  Now, I am sure some of the other hotels offer the same thing but since this hotel was sponsored through the site, I went with this one.  I had also checked out their customer reviews and most of them were positive with some negatives here and there but all in all this hotel seemed decent, so I finalized on this one.

For theme parks, I was looking around 6 or 7 days at the park but wasn't sure.  When I called orlandovacation.com customer service, they said there were having a promotion deal going on where you pay for 3-day Disney parks and you get 5-days Disney park base tickets.  So then I finalized on the 7 day vacation where I will spend 4 days at 4 different Disney parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot), 2 days at both Universal parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure), and 1 day at the Sea world.

Keeping all this in mind, I call the orlandovacation.com people and book the hotel and the theme park tickets, the booking is done in no time, they gave me the reservation number, and told me that I will get the hotel confirmation in email and will get the theme park tickets directly at the hotel.  Fantastic!!  The booking was done in minutes and then I had nothing else to take care of except the airline booking and transportation to/from hotel/airport which we booked through Mears transportation.

This was a vacation for me and my brother for 7 days (excluding the days we get there and we leave from there) from May 23 - 31, 2011, and it was the vacation of lifetime, taking lots of memories back with us.  Each park is different from one another and unique in its own way, but they all have one thing in common - lots and lots of walking!!

But more on that later, because I am going to give you a detailed update on what we covered in each park, how you can avoid long lines, and specially what you should avoid b/c you don't want to waste time on some of the stupid rides which look great but are nothing worth waiting in line for.  If you have kids then my details might not be helpful for you at all because me and my brother were on foot constantly to cover as much ground as possible in one day at each park and let me tell you that we covered everything at all the parks (and skipped some of the stuff that was either silly or that we didn't care about).

So stay tuned!! :)

A big milestone completed!!!

Hey Friends,

I write this post to let you all know with such happiness that I presented my master's project presentation last Friday and it went great.  I passed the presentation and now I am officially done with my master's degree.  My master's project was the only thing pending in completion of my master's degree and now it's done.  It's been long wait but every second of it is worth it!!  I will probably get the degree in couple of months but it's a huge relief and no more projects or assignments to worry about.  It did take me little longer to finish the project since I had to extend it for couple of reasons but the end product has been great.

I want to thank my project professor who has been very helpful and supportive in everything and I have learned so much from him during my time in grad school.  I have met so many people who have become my friends for life and also want to thank them for making my time at grad school so much fun and exciting!  This is a major milestone completed on my part and I can't be thankful enough to all the people who have played part in it.  My mom plays a big role in completion of this achievement because it was her who made me apply for masters and then supported me so much these 3 years to help me finish it.  I am not the only one graduating today with masters degree, but my mom is also graduating with me who has helped me so much from time to time.  Last, but not least, I feel so blessed and fortunate and want to thank God for always keeping his hand on me and showering me with blessings, giving me the push when I felt no motivation, cheering me on successful outcome....

Thanks to all my family and friends to walk this journey with me and cheering me on, giving best wishes, and all the support and love you all have given me :).

Now that I have some time on my hands, will be more active in writing the blog entries, trying new cooking experiments, and who knows what else? 

Until then, see ya!

Corn Vegetable Soup

It's been a while since I cooked something, so I was itching to try out something else.  I didn't want to make a heavy dish like previous ones but something light that can be filling and tasty.  I skimmed through the list on manjulaskitchen.com and saw corn vegetable soup under soup & salad section.  I tried it out and it turned out great.  Here is a snap of some Corn Vegetable Soup I made yesterday.

It had right balance of vegetables and just 3 spices (salt, black pepper, and lemon juice) to make it healthy and tasty :).  I followed the exact instructions from http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/2008/06/20/corn-vegetable-soup/ to make this soup.  Even though the process was short, the straining of mixed corn was the most time consuming and tough.

Now next I want to try out some quick snack that can be handy for either breakfast or afternoon snack :D.  Till then, see ya!

World Cup 2011 Champions - Team India :)

Dear Friends,

I have been away for a while now.  But I am back with some BIG news!!  The ICC World Cup was this year (it comes every 4 years) and INDIA won the World Cup 2011 making all of us Indians proud :D :D.  I am booming with joy and pride.  To give you little more details...here are some facts.

The ICC World Cup was running from Feb. 19 - April 2nd, 2011.  It comprises of 14 Countries (cricket teams) and these 14 teams are divided in 2 groups.  In the group stages, each team plays with every other team from their group.  After the group stages are over, the top 4 teams from each group progresses towards the quarter-finals stage.  The winner of each quater-final stage progresses towards semi-final and the winner of semi-finals progresses to the final of the World Cup.

I was a huge cricket fan back in India but once we moved to US I stopped following it.  I had watched one game here and there during the world cup of 2003.  But World Cup 2011 was the first world cup I followed closely from start to end!!  I have been keeping a close eye on all of India's games and watching all the knockout games (quarter/semi/final) completely even though I had to wake up at 3 AM to watch it!  And I was also keeping up with the scores of almost all the other teams' games.

Australia has been 3 times world champions since 1999 and I had a feeling that this was the year they needed to be defeated because it was like they didn't have any competition.  They were winning year after year after year.  And for the first time, in the quarter-final stage, India beat Australia and Australia was out of the World cup after 11 years of domination!!  This victory let India to progress to the Semi-Final and the biggest game of all because the Semi-final was against Pakistan!!  In all these years, India has never been beaten by Pakistan in the World Cup but this year the tension was high, the expectations were high, and this was bigger than the World Cup Final itself.  Pakistan looked in good form this World Cup and looked determined too but there was no doubt that India was going to win and they did!  India beat Pakistan in Semi-final on March 30th, 2011 and progressed to the Final game against Sri-Lanka.  The final of the world cup was help on April 2nd, 2011 and Team India put their heart and soul in winning this game.

India beat Sri Lanka in the final and became the new World Cup Champions!!  I am so proud of the team and each team member to bring us to this victory.  It was a historic day for each and every Indian as the Indian Cricket Team won the World Cup after 28 years (first won in 1983). I feel so happy and proud to be part of this enormous experience!!! I have had the smile on my face since the World Cup Win and I will never forget this day!! Thank you Team India for this victory and especially to Dhoni for your true sportsmanship and leadership!!!  Not to bore you guys, but I want to say something for each of the team members.

Sachin Tendulkar: He is considered the GOD of Cricket and I want to leave it at that.  He is such a grounded person and he deserved this World Cup more than anyone because he has given this country so much during his entire career in Cricket.  He has made the most runs, more than any cricketer and winning a World Cup was the only thing missing in his kitty...and this year he won it!!  The entire team came together to win this for him, for the country.  Even at the age of 38, he has managed to stay fit, bat superbly, and run and dive to save the boundaries while fielding.  He is my cricket superstar. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni:  I didn't really know this guy much but came to know him closely in this world cup.  He is one cool headed captain who led this team to the victory.  I was not very fond of his batting since he didn't do so well in any of the games batting wise, but didn't know he was saving all his energy for the Final of the world cup to score 91 (not out)!!  I want to thank him for all his effort and true sportsmanship to be the way he is, to make the decisions he did.  Congratulations to him and to the entire team.  Also I found out that under his captaincy, Team India has rose to fame, became #1 in test matches and ODI, not to mention, he is the captain who got us the World Cup after 28 years!!  Keep it up!

Gautam Gambhir: This guy is completely unpredictable.  For once, he takes runs blindly and runs like a cheetah but at the same time he risks being run out :-|, but he proved to everyone that he is in this business for real during the final of the World Cup.  Who can forget his magnificent innings during the final where he played calmly under so much pressure and scored 97 which brought India closer to the victory?  I really wish he had gotten his century but fate had it otherwise.  But who cares about the century!!  It's the effort that counts, not the runs (not in this final), because God knows what would have happened to the team without him!  Great work Gautam, you made us proud!!

Yuvraj Singh:  This is the Man of the tournament and maximum time Man of the Match!  He is someone who brought India to the knockout stages when India had lost some of its earlier batsman and all the pressure was on him.  He fought back against Ireland, Netherlands, West Indies, and Australia.  He is an all-rounder who stroke hard in batting field as well as bowling.  With his effort, India progressed to the knockout stages, so that's why his contribution is huge in this World Cup.

Virender Sehwag: The first game of World Cup which was between India and Bangladesh, this man put up a fighting score of 175 which gave a boost to the team and added to the total of 370.  This gave a great start to the world cup.  After that game, he hasn’t had much luck on batting field since he got out in the earlier overs but still whenever he batted he gave a good start to the Indian team to get the score high up in the first 5 to 10 overs.

Zaheer Khan: He is officially my favorite bowler in Indian cricket team, who was always consistent in all the games and someone the team can rely on.  If the team needed wickets, he was the one to handle the ball to do the job.  He always delivered and never disappointed.  During the world cup, he has taken the maximum wickets of 21, along with Shahid Afridi (captain of Pakistan) to top the charts.

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina: These two young guns were all rounders for this team.  Virat Kohli is the youngest player in the team who can bat, bowl, and field outstandingly.  On the other side, Suresh Raina is great to handle the batting even under much pressure and deliver a great partnership with the other batsman and stay on his toes while fielding.  These two players along with Yuvraj Singh have delivered some great fielding which has saved many runs against different teams.

Apart from these players, other team players have done their parts when needed the most such as Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ravichandran Ashwin, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, and Sreesanth, took the wickets when needed, saved runs (and also gave away lots of runs at a time, but the world cup made up for it), and batted runs when needed the most.

So that’s my taken on the World Cup 2011 and the World Cup Champions – Team India.  Sorry for a really long entry but this was a huge victory for India and it’s hard to cover the World Cup highlights in just one or two paragraphs.  I can not tell you how happy and proud it made me when the team India won the World Cup 2011 and the joy it brought to see them so happy and celebrating after the game.

See ya until the next post!!