I suppose I should consider it an honor that my workmates decided to create my mural, after Pro Mobile Media API got slashdotted:
But did they really have to show the bags under my eyes and the neck of a giraffe?
BTW: the book cover says: J2ME for Gumbies.
Thanks Paul and Joel!
.. which is the time between my posts here (ignoring the little post earlier about being back). So let me see, this is a list of things that have happened...
.. Lost baby due to miscarriage (the primary reason why I lost interest in blogging or doing anything else)
.. Had trouble with a shoddy builder for our new house. Dumped him. Lost money on that. Found new builder, plans get to council stage
.. New book came out (MMAPI book)
.. Craftbits.com moved to a dedicated server, which was a massive job
.. Craftbits.com got a new makeover and then got listed on BoingBoing.com (thrice four times!)
.. Went to see Stomp! (awesome show!)
.. Celebrated getting old
.. Loved Lost
Just catching back up after several things that have happened in life.. so normal blogging will resume from today.. hopefully..
In my opinion, the greatest one day game played between Australia and South Africa was a one off and I don't think the record of 438 in a single innings will be broken anytime soon. There is talk of teams now being able to score 500, but I think that is not going to happen. Sure, other teams may score 400+ scores but at least 500 would remain a pipe dream, even 450 won't happen anytime soon. In fact, I am sure that the record of 438 will stand for a long time.
In any sense, South Africa deserve all the praise that they can get. What would have been a pipe dream, became a reality, and ahem, as I have been saying for a long time, Ponting's captaincy is the culprit here as well. He is a fantastic batsman, but his captaincy is knee jerk and his successes have been riding on a successful team. He is going to find it more difficult to win matches, now that the team structure is unravelling, starting with a whittled bowling attack.
But what an astonishing and wonderful game.
Acting on a curious urge, I wanted to see what the whois entry for Google is. Most sites reported the entry correctly, however, Planetdomain.com.au, an Australian based web registrar has this (Click on the image for a larger image):
Try it out for yourself... Go to PlanetDomain's website and enter Google.com in the WhoIs search box.
Weird!
and it was fan-tas-tic. The opening blew me away. Didn't expect to find that in the hatch and the way it was shown was way out of the left base.
Absolutely love Lost. Great going!
We celebrated Shellie's BDay over the weekend at the jorge bar in Brisbane City. Her Birthday isn't till the 23rd, but since Shellie's friend Natasha's BDay is two days before hers on the 21st, and both celebrate their BDay's together each year, the weekend seemed an appropriate time to gather family and friends together. Here is a picture of the two ladies cutting the cake together (Shellie is on the left).
In the morning, we leave for Brisbane. It's been a slow and tiring few days, and I am happy to be going home. Just before that, some final facts and observations about Copenhagen continuing from earlier posts..
1. Most taxi drivers are Pakistanis. Most seem to have arrived here exactly 35 years ago.
2. There is a higher population of Pakistanis than Indians.
3. I love the Danish greeting of ‘Hi’ (‘Hej’) which is a sort of mixture of a greeting and a question at the same time. Wherever you go, the attendants at the shops, the receptionists; everyone says the greeting with a smile and it comes out a bit different than what I can say.
4. The trains, I noticed, were terrible for strollers. I saw several women and men struggle with them, and wouldn't have been able to get on or off if people didn't help them.
5. I couldn't find an English language newspaper, despite being told that one is published in Denmark. Not that they should publish one, but I would have loved to read a local newspaper to see what local people are getting up to.
That's probably it for now. This brings to an end a wonderful trip but tiring trip to beautiful Copenhagen. I hope to come back here in summer to enjoy it fully.
Farvel!
I have and the temperature was about 1 degree Celsius too. Where? At the Tivoli in Copenhagen of course!
The magic of Tivoli is hard to describe, without actually experiencing it first hand. It is a high end amusement park, romantic couples interlude, a children's fairy tale, and a shopping bazaar rolled in with plenty of excitement, thrills and open air shows. It is magic within the city.
There are some pictures here, but to be honest, they don't do the place any justice.
Yes, I know, things should not be left till the last moment, and this being the last day here in Copenhagen, we couldn't see all the things that we wanted to see because we ran out of time and another piece of bad luck. We decided to buy the Copenhagen card to go around the city, which for 199 kroners, gives you unlimited travel on trains and buses, and free entry to most attractions. The card is bought from most tourist centers, but not the attractions themselves, and it is best if you buy it at the airport tourist centre, the central station one, or the main tourist centre in the central square. This is where we bought the pass ourselves.
The first thing we decided to see, after a little shopping on Stroget, was the Rosenberg Slot, one of the main residences of the Queen. We trudged up there in pouring rain, and were aghast at the fact that it was closed on Monday. The walk had been exhausting, and the disappointment was severe. We then decided to keep walking till we got the Amlienborg Slot, the other residence to see one of the residence that has been turned into a museum. Just before you get to that place from the city, the beautiful Marble Church or Marmorkirken that I had talked about earlier comes up and here is one more snap of this gorgeous monument.
It was disappointing when we got to the residence. For starters, we had to pay 10 kroners to keep our bags in storage. Fair enough. Then we couldn't take photographs without paying a fee of 20 kroners. This was told to us, after we had taken a few photographs, by a kindly old lady in a very subtle whisper. This is on top of the 199 kroners that we had already paid for the Copenhagen Card. Lastly, the museum was very very small, and almost a waste of time and effort, with hardly anything of interest.
We then wanted to go to the Christinaborg Slot, which contains some ruins. A change of bus, and a drenching rain later, when we got to it, we found that it was closed. On Mondays! Arrgghh.
Our spritits sapping, we decided to do the one thing that we knew we could do. Take the bus to Tivoli in the city, and make the most of it for the rest of the day. This is what we did and that devotes its own post.
Another slow day today. We are leaving everything for the last moment and perhaps that is not the best thing to do, but what could we do. We didn’t leave the hotel till nearly 12 and it was too bloody cold to do anything. Anyway, Damian had to drop the keys to his previous apartment at the Pussy Galores café so we went there first. While there, there was a guy there setting up Xmas trees for sale. Here is a picture of me in front of them.
The banner behind me says Christmas Trees. There is another shot from the other side.
After, this we walked back to the city and I came upon this familiar scene across the world.
Yes, Yes, you were right, I was wrong.
And now a shot of the canals across which we had to go to cross into the city.
We then had lunch at an all you can eat Chinese café for 49 kroner. Good value, but the food was a bit ordinary.
Next we went to a place called Rundetårn (Round Tower), which is supposed to be the oldest working observatory in Europe. It is attached to a church, and I took some photographs inside but somehow, none of them came out right. The Church was pretty awesome, but the main attraction is views of the old city when you get to the top of the tower. Here are some photographs.
Before you get to the top a sign warns against letting little children out of sight..
We trudged back to the Tourist Centre at RÃ¥dhuspladsen, to get the Copenhagen card, but the centre had closed by then. Why close the tourist centre at 3 in a major tourist city? Anyway, lacking things to do, we went to the Illums Bolighus and Illums shopping centres. Pretty impressive centres, but way too expensive. They have a lot of Georg Jensen stuff and more contemporary Danish artists as well. Some photographs from inside:
With this done, we strolled to the Nyhavn and looked at the roadside shops, but didn’t buy anything as we felt that there may be cheaper stuff in Tivoli. Coming back from here, we reached Kongens Nytrov, a square where there is an ice rink and it was bustling with activity. We watched for a while and then decided to eat at an American style eatery where we finished the night watching soccer. Walking back, I saw this sign and thought it was funny..
and I don't even smoke. The hotel that I am staying in Copenhagen, Denmark has got a ventilation system that transfers the smoke from the smoking rooms to your non-smoking rooms with great ease. And due to the windows being closed to keep the cold out, I am drowning in somebody else's cigarette smoke. Actually, this has been one of the irritating aspects of this trip, anywhere I go, bars, restaurants, trains and.. hotel rooms, smoke nearly kills you. I hope the Danes bring forward their no smoking in public places rule soon because it is a great country and I would love to come back here.
try the Ankara Turkish restaurants. There are 4 around, one near Stroget. For 39 Kroner (aprox 5-6 USD) lunch buffet, you probably won't find a better deal. The only caveat is that the place is crowded (at 39 Kroner, why wouldn't it be), and that you have to buy a drink to go with the meal. But with the lavish spread, who can complain? I am still bulging at the seams with the lunch that I had an hour ago.
In the last few weeks that I have been here in Copenhagen, I have eaten at several places, including some Indian/Pakistani restaurants. In all, I have been to 3 Pakistani and 1 Indian.
This post is not about the food at these Indian/Pakistani places, which was generally very good. Instead, I am seething with anger at the general disdain with which I am received at these restaurants. It’s not a welcome, it’s not a greeting. I immediately get the feeling that I am not welcome in those restaurants. They look at me suspiciously and with a question in their eyes. Why?
Don’t these Indian and Pakistani restaurants cater to Indians and Pakistanis? Do they live in a class society where they don’t welcome Indians and Pakistanis? I just don’t understand it.
Perhaps they are not used to Indian and Pakistanis coming to their restaurants. Perhaps they only want to cater to Danish people and want to keep it that way.
The biggest culprits were Shezan and Indus in Vesterbrogadde. In Indian Monsoon, the waiter was Indian Uni student who was friendly, but the owner was a sulk.
The only time any of them flash a smile is when I take out my American Express Gold card to make the payment. Money talks. Even over class and racial prejudices. So not fair.
Continuing from the previous post, here are some more observations..
1. Cyclists are kings (and queens) of the road in Denmark. Cars give way to them, they have their own dedicated lane where pedestrians don't walk on, they have parking for cycles all over, and even pedestrians don't get the same preferrential treatment.
2. When I talk of own lane for cyclists, I mean a real lane, almost 3/4ths of a car lane. Not the pissy ass 2 cm wide lane for cyclists that we have in Australia.
3. I see too many cyclists on the roads here, but I see an equal number of cars. This is really surprising considering...
4. That buying a car in Denmark for private purposes attracts nearly 200% tax. So with all the disincentives for buying cars, there still are heaps of them here. I personally wouldn't ride a bicycle to work, if I lived here for a longer period. But then, maybe I wouldn't be able to afford a car either.
5. I have seen a few Hero cycles from India here.
6. The first time I sat in a taxi here, I realized that I was sitting in a Mercedes. Ok, so most taxis here are Mercedes. Don't keep gloating over that and enjoy the ride.
More to come...
The last few days have been busy, what with the working week starting and all. So no blog entries about this visit to Copenhagen. However, some facts and observations about Denmark in general and Copenhagen in particular.
(Please note: These are just observations, nothing more, nothing less).
1. I am going to get fat eating all the danishes. They are sold everywhere, in speciality shops, from roadside stalls, from supermarkets, from 7-11's. The chocalate danishes are the best.
2. Beer is cheaper than water. Just accept that and drink whatever you fancy.
3. 7-11's sell alchohol.
4. You can get Ben and Jerry's icecreams in Denmark. Why can't we get them in Australia?
5. Trains don't necessarily run on time. Most are atleast a couple of minutes late. Prepare yourself accordingly.
6. Smoking is allowed almost everywhere, in trains, restaurants, bars etc. I found this surprising, coming from a place where there is a total ban on smoking in public places. In trains, there are special smoking coaches.
7. Almost all trains, even local ones, have special coaches where you are allowed to have food, bring dogs and as I said earlier, smoke.
8. They show the latest series of Lost on TV here. I am jealous and was petrified that I had seen something that I shouldn't have, so I switched off the TV and didn't open it for another 2 hours. Why can't we have the latest series in Australia?
9. There are around 4 TV channels, which show a mix of Danish, Swedish and American TV. The American TV is in English with Danish subtitles.
10. Wireless Internet is available in a lot of cafes. Some are priced, that is, you have to pay the cafe owners who then give you a password to access it. It is pretty costly this way. There are free Internet cafes as well. Look for the WI-FI sign on the door. I think, that the ones that charge have the sign 'hotspot' on the door.
11. The Hot Dog stands sell some great ... well.. hot dogs. When you ask for a 'Hot Dog', it normally means the 'Hot Dog' with the works. It costs about 20 kroner (=2.50 USD) for one. Great value.
12. Most Danes speak English, and it is true what they say in the Lonely Planet book, you should show an effort to speak a little Danish. Learn to say 'Tak', which means Thank You and better still 'Maange Tak' which means, Thank You very much.
12. Danish people are very friendly and go out of way to help you, especially a foriegner. They will immediately switch to English if they realize that you can't speak or understand Danish.
13. Copenhagen is very beautiful indeed and whatever you have heard about it is probably true.
More to come ...
Today (27-Nov-05), we had to change from the hotel and check into an apartment block nearer the University, where we are supposed to be working. This was a privately leased apartment arranged through a bed and breakfast company over the Internet.
We arrived at the apartment right at the appointed hour, near a cafe called Pussy Galore's, but waited for more than half an hour like idiots while the locals buzzed around us, looking at us suspiciously. Some were helpful, asking us if we were lost, as at times we were pouring over a map making sure we were at the correct address. We were at the correct address, the host was late.
The host arrived and apologized for being late, saying he had a late night. Hmm.. alarm bells rang immediately in my head. It didn't help that the taxi driver on the way had said that the suburb we were driving to was a ghetto. Although, I didn't feel unsafe, I had an uneasy feeling from the start.
Worse, the apartment was on the fourth floor. There was only one room with two single beds in it. Finally, finally, I asked him about the Internet, something promised to us in our confirmation, while making the booking. Internet? What Internet? His dumbfounded expression matched my mounting frustation with the place. I was uncomfortable with the place already and lack of a promised commitment made me snap. I immediately told him that we wouldn't be staying if we didn't have the Internet. He left saying that he will check with the office and confirm.
Of course, he never rang. I rang him after an hour, after I had convinced Damian that it was a bad idea to stay there. Although, he wasn't convinced, he went along. We trudged out, trying to find a cafe with Internet so that we could make a booking at the hotel that we had left. In all that time, I tried ringing the main guy through whom we had made the booking, several times, but his phone was always switched off.
After half an hour of walking the streets around Pussy Galore's, we finally found a cafe with Wi-Fi access. We immediately made the booking with the original Zleep Hotel, a hotel that we had left in the morning, and found that the price was now cheaper than our original booking. Go figure!
Meanwhile, the host rang me and told me that he would cancel if we were ready to pay 200 USD. $200! I was angry beyond belief. So we went back to the apartment, collected our stuff and asked him to meet us at Pussy Galore's so that we could tell him that we had made a booking elsewhere and would be leaving now.
When we arrived, he met us and apologized for the problem. Meantime, Damian was wavering between staying at the apartment as he really liked the area and it was closer to work as well. So, to cut a deal, we decided that Damian would stay at the apartment, and I would go to the hotel. Of course, as soon as we said that we may still keep the apartment, he wanted us to confirm with the main manager. Of course, the manager was now available on the phone!
Anyway, I am now back at Zleep and Damian is at the apartment, the host keeps his deposit and everybody's happy.
With a city as big as Copenhagen, it probably requires more than a week to justify all its glorious museums, historical sites and cultural artefacts. So after taking a detour to Malmö, Sweden, yesterday, we embarked on day two (26-Nov-05) of a more detailed tour around the Copenhagen city (Do read the first day around Copenhagen).
We started again with Strøget but instead of going right to the end, we decided to take a detour at the Georg Jensen store and turned right into Højbro Plads, which is like a square with fountains, street performers, musicians etc. There is an immense statue of the founder of Denmark, Bishop Absalon on a horse (Ok what’s with the idea of putting everybody on a horse?)
Just next to this statue, a store was stocking up on Christmas trees (I think these are Christmas trees!).
And here is another shot of the statue, this time, from the front.
As you can see, Christmas is definitely in the air (It is late November!)
Moving forwards from the statue, you cross a bridge over a canal. Both sides are quite picturesque. Here is one shot, where I forced Damian to include me in.
And here is a shot of the other side.
The area that we crossed into over the bridge is called Slotsholmen, which is where Denmark’s government sits, including the parliament and the bureaucracy. The main building is called Christiansborg Slot, and this is like an old palace with a museum underneath, stables on the main ground and government offices over it. Here is a shot of me in one of the guard cubicles at the entrance.
We didn’t actually go to the museum as we decided we will take this site in when we buy the Copenhagen card, which gives free entrance.
Moving on, to the left of Christianborg Slot (when facing it) was a spectacular building that I later learned is called Børsen. Even more surprising is the fact that it is actually a stock exchange, constructed in 1620s, and still functioning, making it the oldest stock exchange in Europe (God which is the oldest stock exchange in the World?). Just look at the front of this building and you will realize what I mean.
Moving behind this building, we crossed another bridge over a canal to get to what is known as Christianshavn. Here is a shot over the bridge of some office complexes (I think these are office complexes).
Moving straight on this bridge and going nearly till the end, we turned left and walked about 250 meters to arrive at Christiania, a social experiment that has had mixed results. Since I don’t know much about Danish history and whatever I know has come from Lonely Planet guidebooks, I can’t really explain the rationale behind this place. Take a look at this photograph, which is at one of the entrances to Christiania. This may give you an idea about what this social experiment is about, and why it is controversial.
The people of Christiania proclaim themselves free of Danish laws and don’t pay taxes or rent and the sign leaving Christiania says it all: “You are now entering EU�. Here is the front of that sign.
Photography inside is banned, and perhaps for good reason. Once thing that I noticed was that there was a heavy presence of police inside, with groups of several men travelling together in an obvious sign of authority.
With this interesting side tour over, we travelled back to Nyhavn about which I had talked in my first post. This time, we walked back to the second bridge over the canal (with a detour to a bakery where I had another one of those yummy danishes), and took a water taxi from there. We paid nearly 32 kroner for a ride of 2 minutes and cursed ourselves for being stupid.
This time, I was ready to take pictures of Nyhavn. Here are some samples. Note that the sun was out, the first time in three days, and with it, there were a lot of people on the road (it was also Saturday).
A gorgeous building right at the end of Nyhavn. Don’t know what it is although the name at the top may suggest something.
Almost right opposite to that building is the house where Hans Christian Anderson, the famed author of ‘The little mermaid’, amongst other classics, lived and wrote most of his works.
The area is lined with very colourful, very Danish, buildings surrounding the canals. Here is a look:
And another:
We had already been to Nyhavn on day one, and didn’t want to stroll through it again. So we decided to take a short walk to the residence of the ...
Continue reading "A walking tour of the city, Copenhagen day two" »
Being in Europe makes you realize how close every other place is, relative of course, to how far every place is in Australia. By taking a 30 minute ride on the train, we could go to another country, so that is what we decided to do, on our second day in Copenhagen (25-Nov-05). We decided to take a train ride on the Øresund Bridge that connects Copenhagen with Malmö in Sweden. The train ride was pleasant but boring till Damian asked me if I had brought my passport. I hadn’t. The simplicity of being able to go to another country which felt like going from one Danish city to another, I had forgotten to take my passport. With panic setting in and visions of guards dragging me in chains back to a plane to Australia, I kept convincing myself that I had a Schengen visa, which entitled me to travel anywhere within the Scandinavian countries. Still, the visa would be of no use if I couldn’t prove that I had one. So a jovial visit to another country was going to turn into a nightmare and I prepared for the worst.
The Malmö station approached and Damian and I got out, expecting to see an immigration counter or something similar. However, to my immense relief, there was no sign of a border post or anything like that, and you could just walk out of the station. I found later that I don’t need to carry my passport in the Scandinavian countries, if one of them has granted me a visa for the region. However, it may be prudent to carry it, just in case.
There was a tourist section at the station, and we decided to get some information and maps from there. The section was immensely helpful, and in some very impressive English, the gentleman helped us get started.
Once outside, I got my first feel of the Swedish winter. I may have been just 35 minutes from Copenhagen, but this place felt much colder, if that was possible. The wind was icy and I was more than glad to have put on a warmer coat. The temperature reading at the top of a building shows what I am talking about.
We walked out of the station, and across a canal, into the Stortorget, which is like a city square. It has impressive buildings surrounding it, but the architecture resembles most Danish buildings, which Lonely Planet informs me, is because this area used to be once a part of Denmark. Some photographs from this square, including the one above showing the time.
The last I found to be really impressive in real life and somehow the photograph doesn’t capture the true essence.
Moving onwards and to the right is the area known as Lilla Torg, which is a much smaller but stylish square, housing some well known restaurants and cafes. But what was more impressive was the cobbled streets, which make it look more European/Italian than Denmark, and if there are any such streets in Denmark, I am not aware of them as yet. Here is one such photograph with me shivering in front.
We then decided to move towards the west of the city where there is an old castle called Malmöhus. On the way to it from Lilla Torg, we passed some very pretty buildings and parks, and here are two photographs from that walk.
The actual castle was far from impressive, and looks like an old industrial warehouse surrounded by a moat. Look at this snap for what I mean.
When we reached it, it wasn’t open and we had time to kill before it opened at 12. There is supposed to be a museum inside with an aquarium and other interesting tidbits. By this time, light snow had started and we wanted to rest and get ourselves warmed up. Opposite it, was a small building, which, we later found out, was the Kommendanthuset (The Commandant’s house), but now had been turned into an eclectic café. See what I mean by this picture that I took of its exteriors, looking from the castle.
The fact that I saw an Indian rickshaw outside it, speaks for itself. Inside, there was a mixture of colourful art with a social message, but we just decided to hang around till we could get warm. None of it made any sense to us but we were happy to be saved from the elements outside.
After a little rest, we decided that we would proceed to the technology museum, which was a stones throw from the castle. The ticket to the museum included the price for entry into the castle which was just as well. However, the museum took most of our time, nearly 3 hours, and afterwards, we couldn’t be bothered going into the castle. The reason that it took nearly 3 hours in the museum was because it had a good mix of technical, automotive, train, naval, scientific and photography sections. Here are some of the snaps from inside.
A real Swedish submarine called U3 (or is that the type of a submarine?). We went inside it as well.
Various aircraft parts
View from the top down of a number of old style automobiles
Some well preserved motorcycles and scooters
Part of the photography exhibition, probably a children’s play area with a theme
A pumping machine, for well… you know what..
Some more snaps from the photography section
Overall, the museum was ....
This week I am in Copenhagen (Kobenhavn in Danish), Denmark for some work related to these guys. This is my first trip to Europe and there is a bit of a disappointment in doing it without Shellie, as Europe comprises a bunch of very romantic countries, Denmark especially, and Copenhagen definitely.
The flight here was torturous. Nearly 8 hours to Singapore from Brisbane, a wait of around 5 hours and then a marathon 12+ hours to Copenhagen. The onboard on-demand entertainment system was very good, but how long can you watch it without making your eyes go crazy? I had a terrible terrible time trying to sleep and it didn't help that a couple of families around me were travelling with kids.
My first impressions of Denmark were not good. Specifically, the arrival section of the Copenhagen airport is old. The floor is old rustic timber planks and resembles something done in the 60's. The arrival and departure areas could do with a bit of modernization to account for the heavy tourist traffic that it receives. I kept thinking that the airport resembled very much the small airport in Penang, Malaysia.
Of course, all this changed the minute I was out of customs and into the main airport area. It was modern without being plastic. We (I am travelling with a colleague, Damian) had to wait around in the airport for a little while because our flight arrived at around 7:30 AM, and the check in at the hotel wasn't till 10:30. So we sat in a cafe called the Hans Christian Anderson cafe in an upstairs area. This is where I had the first of what I am sure will be a thousand more danishes, or the way they are called here, wienerbred. This was a chocolate danish and one of the best I have ever had. It was soft, tantalisingly sweet without being overly so. We also had coffee and fresh juice and had a nice view of the outside. Here is a shot that I took of the outside.
And here is Damian enjoying his breakfast..
We decided to catch a train to the hotel, instead of a cab as trains leave regularly from within the airport building itself. Can't say I wasn't disappointed, as I was looking forward to travelling in style in a Mercedes taxi, as all taxis here seem to be! The train ride was quick and comfortable and it was only when we came out of the train station at our destination that I realized, that it was bitterly cold outside.
The Weather channel at home said that the temperature in Copenhagen would be 4 degree Celsius. What it failed to mention was that it would be 4 degrees, without the benefit of a Sun, and with winds blowing at a furious pace. I freezed everything in my body in the short walk from the train station to the hotel.
The hotel is called the Zleep hotel. It is a cut above a hostel, but the staff are friendly, the rooms are clean though a bit bare, and they have free Nintendo Game Cube for everyone to play in the common room. Here is a picture of my room:
Essentially, as you can see, there is a bed and a table and chair. The bathroom is on the side behind the door.
This is a shot that I took earlier in the day outside my window.
The bathroom offered a curiosity. The shower, was in the middle of the room, with a shower curtain around it. The curious part was, that it had no taps to turn the shower on with. After arriving, when I decided to take a shower to get rid of a day's dirt, I stood in the middle of the bathroom, naked and shivering, for about 5 minutes trying to figure it out. After much strain on a jet lagged brain, it occured to me, that in some environmentally friendly manevoure, the hotel staff must have decided to keep one tap for both the wash basin, and the shower. This proved to be true, and in quite Ikea (I know it is Sweedeish) simplicity fashion, I had to switch the tap in the wash basin which was a meter away to get the water. This meant, that I had to run back and forth from the basin to the shower, before I could get the water to the right temperature. It was only after I had showered, did I realize that I could have just tested the water in the basin, and then witched it over to the shower.
A quick breakfast followed, where we had some delicious breads topped with some cuts, chesses, and chesse spreads. I hated Pumpernickel at home, but loved it fresh here. Not bad considering that the origin of the word seems to be 'to break wind'. :)
Hmm.. have been thinking of the title of this entry for quite some time, and that's the best I could come up with. On the weekend, despite Shellie's protests, I rented SAW, the movie written by two Melbourne based guys James Wan and Leigh Whannell. Leigh acts in the movie as well while James Wan is the director.
I was quite surprised with the movie. It was quite good and didn't have that much of gore as I was expecting. Oh there are a couple of scenes, but the essence of the movie is on story telling. I think a lot of people are turned off wanting to watch it because they think that it is a slasher flick, while it isn't. The problem there is that it has been promoted that way, and I think that says a lot about the marketing.
Saw II has come out as well, and I hear that Saw III is in the works, already. Hmmm.. milking it for all it's worth if one thing.. but wanting it to be the golden goose another.. Move on guys.
We had some Gold Class upgrade coupons to go see a movie for over two months now. Initially, we couldn't decide which movie to go, so they didn't get used for a month. Next, I saw a promo for a new Jodie Foster movie called Flight Plan. I admire Jodie Foster and her acting skills and the movie premise sounded nice, so we decided to wait to use the coupons till this movie was in the cinemas.
I must say, the wait was well worth it. The movie was very good, the acting is great and the Gold Class experience was fabulous.
Flight Plan's story is simple. A woman (Foster) is flying back from Berlin to New York after her husband commits suicide by throwing himself of their apartment. She is travelling back with her daughter who is six years old. Her husbands body is on the same plane in a casket. As soon as the plane is airborne, Foster and her daughter both decide to occupy some empty seats at the back of the plane to stretch out. Foster wakes up a little later to find her daughter is not sleeping with her. Initially, she thinks that she must have gone to the toilet or found some kids to play with in other areas of the plane. She searches frantically, but finds no trace of her. She gets the flight attendants involved in the search who also can't find her. Finally, she raises an alarm with the Captain and a flight Marshall is also involved in the search.
Everybody initially believes her and tries to locate the girl. Finally, a flight attendant looks up the flight manifest and notices that there is no mention of her daughter having checked in. Disbelief sets in with a panicked Foster trying to convince everyone that she did indeed carry her daughter on the flight. It gets worse as none of the passengers around her remember her with a six year old girl.
The true story unfolds as the suspense over the missing girl in a plane makes people nervous, uncomfortable and fidgety. Foster plays her 'a panicked mum' role very well, and it is almost a carry on from 'Panic Room' where she played a similar role.
The acting from the rest of the characters is adequate, but the star of the movie is Foster and she has the maximum screen time. The direction is first class, and the movie comes out as a tight thriller with no loose ends (none that we could pick).
Oh.. and the Gold Class experience was fabulous! Bit expensive, but the 180 degree reclining seats and the seat service well worth it. You are treated like royalty and it feels good. As they say, if movies are a journey, travel first class. Or something like that. :)
OK, so my earlier post was supposed to be a post on how Indians don't acknowledge other Indians in foreign lands and my own experience with this strange going on. But suddenly, I am getting more heat from the Amway/Quixtar crowd. There are 2 comments from one person running the Quixtar Facts website. There is so much traffic on my blog because I have got linked to it from a Quixtar Chatter site.
So let me clarify.
I am not an Amway/Quixtar basher. However, my experience and opinion of them is not good and is unlikely to change. Like bland green tea, I accept that they exist but they are not my cup of tea.
Early 1999, Cleveland public library, I was browsing for some books. A smart young Indian man approached me with the 'oh so original line' of "Are you from India?". I fell for his idea of making money by growing a network of buyers. I invited him home and he explained the business to me. He used every trick in the book with the now classic Roy Kroc (McDonald's) franchise thing (I see they still use that line!). I was convinced. What could be easier than convincing my family and friends of this unbelievable way of making money? Right? Wrong!! Luckily, a quick chat with another saner friend made me realize what I was getting into. Thankfully, he is still a friend.
I won't go into more details as to why the Amway/Quixtar doesn't work for me. Suffice to say there are others from India and others all over the place.
Recently, a colleague has joined Amway Australia. I told her my experience about the organization. She still tried to recruit me. This is what it does.
Then sing for it
Finally!! I have managed to upgrade my Movable Type platform to 3.2. I did some weird stuff while uploading the files and this sent everything haywire. There is a good tutorial at LearningMovableType.com that explains how to upgrade properly. Follow that and you will be good as gold.
We went to the Black Eyed Peas concert on Friday night. The trouble with such concerts is that if you aren't really into the group or that kind of music, or stone punched drunk, you cannot hope to enjoy them.
The trouble, conversely, with the group itself was that if they have only 3-4 hit songs, they cannot sustain your interest for very long, and that is the way the concert was for the whole night. Their hit songs mixed with a variety of unknowns, where even the people in the mosh pit had no idea whether to tap to or wave their arms or what, just lounge around. Make no mistake, the name sells tickets, and the concert was sold out but it lacked energy.
We are off to another concert this Friday, the Coke Live tour which has a variety of other bands most famous being Spiderbait and the Living end. With a variety show like this, it should be more interesting.
It's been a long time between posts and all attributed to a lot of work that I have at the moment. So to the 2 people and their 3 pets who read this blog, sorry.
I am fascinated by the current Ashes series. The contest is so bitter that it makes for fascinating display. Of course, living in Australia I only get to see the first session and then catch the rest of news in the morning (unless I want to be really late at work).
I am not sure if the current series shows the demise of Australian superiority over the rest of the countries OR the rise of the English team to a par level with the Australians. The Australian team takes great pride in the way it plays and are professional to the core. Are the English at that level now or have the Australians slipped?
Ricky Ponting makes for a sad captain and I think if the Australian Cricket has to keep its standards up, Gilchrist should be promoted. Ponting spitting the dummy for his run out at Englands substitute fielder was just bad sportsmanship. The fault was nobodys but Ponting's and the fact that he spit the dummy shows that he can't handle the pressure.
All said and done, the last match gets underway soon in this fascinating series and I think it should be a ripper. If the weather holds up.
I know it's a bit late, but for my Bday on the 25th of June, Shellie gave me a gift pass to Zorb on the Gold Coast.
Good fun indeed. Here is a snap from when I had tumbled down the hill.
I think the idea is a bit revolting. Funny, but revolting.
I am currently reading this classic by Charles Dickens. I was afraid before I picked the book up that it would be a slow read with hard to understand Victorian English. To my complete and utter surprise, it is a fascinating read! While I wouldn't say that it's a page turner, it is so well written that I am actually enjoying reading it.
Some months back I read "The old man and the sea", a Nobel prize winning story by Ernest Hemingway. While that was a book that genuinely tugged at your heart strings, it was a difficult read for me. I struggled to finish it because in spite of the courage displayed by the central character, I could guess where the story was going. It was predictable and at the same time, so slow.
Not Oliver Twist. I am enjoying the way this story is going and love the narrative. It is fast yet paints a complete picture. It may end up being a simple story, but it would be a story well told.
No wonder it is a classic.
Me boarding the plane in Langkawi --
Amitabh and Klorida's wedding in India --
Shashu enjoys an icecream in Mcdonalds, Chandigarh, India --
Shellie 'Ava Gardner' Goyal shopping in India --
On a very very high mountain top/helipad in Shimla, India --
Shellie in the pool in Langkawi, Malaysia
Ok, so I am three weeks back from our month long holiday to India and Malaysia. That is why this two month delay in posts.
It was a fantastic trip and we attended my friends wedding in India, which was a great experience for Shellie. More to come, with some photographs as well. The highlight of the trip for me was my first horse ride on the beach in Malaysia with the setting sun in the background. (Ok, so there was another couple riding with us and Shellie's horse was called a donkey because it refused to move several times, but nonetheless, it was great).
Another highlight was the trip to the Eastern and Oriental hotel in Penang and having the tiffin service there. This is the place where famous writers like Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham wrote some of their finest pieces.
In Dec 1997, I arrived in America to work for a consulting firm. A month later, I had my first credit card. My pride and joy, it represented to me unlimited freedom to do anything that I wanted and not be constrained by those pesky debit cards (charge cards) that were linked to your savings account. Live within your means! What a horrible thought!
With this credit card in hand, I looked for newer avenues to spend it where others couldn't. I found Amazon.com.
The company had been in operation since July 1995. I think I must have been among the first 100, 000 th customer to trust the company and to buy books from them. I used Amazon.com because of three reasons:
1. I wanted to use my credit card over the Internet. I was a programmer and I had inherent trust in this new economy.
2. The local stores did not have the books that I wanted. They could back order the books. Amazon had the books available for delivery within 2 working days.
3. They took care of packaging/shipping and sending the books to my father in India, which made it very easy for me. I had to select the books over the Internet, provide the shipping address and my credit card details and they took care of the rest. How easy was that?
So, keeping these things in mind, I read the book titled "Amazonia" by James Markus with great interest. James was employee no 55 at Amazon and was hired as an editor in 1996. The book traces his experiences in the company over a five year period with the help of a range of emotions.
The book is candid, funny and extremely readable. I want to emphasize the extremely readable part. You would expect a book such as this to be full of boring anecdotal accounts. But no, James does a great job of taking you with him on a journey where you share his angst at the MBAs taking over the company, you share the subtle joy of being a millionaire and you smile ruefully when the AmaBot replaces him to take over the home page duties.
It is a story well told. James is honest in his opinions and observations. He shows his annoyances at the various automation projects that replaced humans with faceless computers. He is clearly more miffed at the MBAs who talked only about "the bottom line" and "monetizing those eyeballs". He is dismissive of all the meetings that he attends which go nowhere.
The overall feeling is of a well deserved employee being made redundant and neglected in favor of expansion and commercialization in an organization that grew too big too fast. However, these are the facts of life and James presents them well (with only a subtle hint at his personal problems).
By Dec 1998, after I had purchased a stack of books from Amazon, they sent me a coffee cup with the Amazon.com logo on it. I cherished the fact that they took care to send me something for free and valued me as a customer. Next year, I bought more books and I did not get anything. The year after, I bought still more books, but still nothing under the Xmas tree from Amazon.com Santa. The company had grown too big, too fast. I know how James felt.
I have a new found respect for every man or woman, who comes home from a days work (or at the end of household work for those who stay at home), changes clothes to get into gym gear, drives to the gym and spends at least an hour or so working out.
It takes hard work and lots and lots of determination.
When I started, I thought I would be able to keep my motivation up no problem. But as the evening drew closer, I started dreading the workout. It is not just the physical pain (which is a major problem, I must say), it is everything associated with it as well. Why should I get up of the couch and give away a perfectly good evening and sweat myself out!
In any case, we have finished our sojourn to the gym but do plan to take it up after we are back from holidays. All in all, I went from 76 Kgs to 71 Kgs. This, coupled with body fat loss, comes to around 9 Kgs, which is a very good figure overall, especially, since it was done in aprox. six weeks time. My waist went from 90 cms to 82.5 (ok 83!)
To every one of you, who make the effort, hats of to you. I can honestly say, I know what you feel like.