Relationships

An interesting quote on Relationships(picked up from Deep bhai's status message):

Relationships are like glass.Sometimes it is better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together

Bungy Jumping/Extreme Swing@Singapore

As I start packing my bags, this was one major things pending on my list of things to do within Singapore: GMAX and GX5.
GMAX and GX5 are adventure rides that are hosted next to the Singapore River in Clarke Quay.
I had gone for the rides with Niraj and at the end of the day we both agreed that it was more than we had signed for this past weekend. We took the combo that gave us a shot at both rides for $60(+$15 for DVD of GMax). Both the rides were awesome and the unpredictable nature mixed with the adrenaline rush felt left an absolutely thrilling experience. Our first ride was GMAX-The Ultimate Bungy. Think of GMAX as a giant slingshot( or catapult) where the projectile is a cage(with you in it). And you are released up into the sky at speeds of up to 200kmph. You oscillate for a while up and down, finally returning to base. The build up to the point of release itself was quite a nerve wrecker. All of a sudden you realise you have been thrown up into the sky ! But the most thrilling part was when the cage came back facing down every time it reached the top peak. You would see yourself free falling to the ground below. Even though you are securely tied to the cage you can't help but fear for the worst or, as was the case with us, laugh and shout and let the entire world know you are up there.
The 2nd adventure ride was GX-5 Extreme Swing. Think of GX5 as a giant swing that pulls you up to a height of around 40m and then released and you swing in your cage over the Singapore river. The most frightening part here was when you were pulled up to the height to be released. You could see the height you are reaching. We had 2 Nigerian on the ride with us and we all were uttering nervous comments as we reached the top. Everyone uttered "we shouldn't have done this" at least once :p And then, the release lever was pulled. And Bang ! Fly away ! We were going to the moon! But once released, it wasn't that frightening:it was fun ! We screamed , shouted, laughed, called out and waved to the onlookers as we swung. We enjoyed every bit of it :)
Surely, it was an evening well spent, and a task less on the things I have to do before I go for that 'final' ride. :) If you are ever in Singapore, don't miss it(assuming you are as adventurous as I am).

Here's a 'reality' video of how we reacted on the ride...go to the GMAX official site(links below) for a view of what it looks from ground up.

GX5 : http://www.gmax.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/25
GMAX-The Ultimate Bungy: http://www.gmax.co.nz/

Singapore Idol Auditions

I had been to Cathay today(Saturday 6th June) to checkout the Singapore Idol auditions. And people were crazy ! People had been queuing up from previous evening itself. I can say that because I had been to Cathay on Friday night to watch "State of Play" and the already half filled queue did surprise me. Most of the contestants were college students who had come with bottles of water, umbrellas, guitars, and a group of friends to give company. They had sleeping bags, bedsheets etc to survive through the night. They didn't want to miss their spot in the queue. I was reminded of the November 2006 when Santy, Dada(Amitabho) and me camped in the Best Buy parking lot queued through the night for the Black Friday sale that was to start next morning. Only, I was chasing some deals then, and these fellows here were chasing dreams. When I went back again on Saturday afternoon, the craze hadn't subsided and the queues were still filled up, spilling beyond the marked perimeters. The authorities extended the auditions by another day to accommodate everyone.

I was tempted to join the queue and sing a song(if you know my love for singing, you already know the song), but then I will be leaving next month and would not be able to compete through the finals. So with a heavy heart, I had to let it go. May be next time I will participate in Indian Idol :p

Susan Boyle :The Real Winner

Susan Boyle did not win Britain's Got Talent, but she is a winner, a winner who doesn't need a trophy to prove what she has won. 

Diversity were good, so were flawless and so were the other finalists. But I am not going to talk about the finals. I am not going to talk about Britain's Got Talent. I am just going to talk about Susan Boyle. 

I am 27 and I find myself old to pursue many of my dreams, many of the things that I would have wanted to do but I didn't, many things that I just gave up on thinking that I am probably too old for it, that people will laugh if they heard of me trying out these things. And I am sure I am not alone : there are thousands and millions out there who in some way or the other live a life that lets them fit in somewhere in the world that we live in. More often than not, we live a life that others have planned for us, that others approve of, rather than what we really wish to do. 

So what did Susan win? More than winning, its what she gave others: a hope, a hope that you are never too old to go out and pursue your dreams, a hope that no matter what the world thinks of you, you are what you want to be. As she stood on the stage during the auditions, pretty much everyone out there in the audience was laughing: a 48 years old lady who should be sitting home taking care of her choirs is out there on the stage thinking that she is talented. But she stood there. Even as everyone laughed, even as Simon asked questions that were pretty much aimed to break her down, even as the judges gave the expressions that clearly said that "What are you doing here?" , she stood there because she believed in herself, because she knew what she was doing there. And she sang. 

The choice of song was impeccable, for in a way it put onto everyone of us how the world shatters our dreams, how we kill so many of others dreams. The rendition was flawless: it hit the notes at the right places. 

When she had finished singing, she hadn't just given the performance of a lifetime and won millions of hearts, she has given hope to millions that its not over till you want it to be. You are what you want to be, you will be what you want to be, just don't give up. No matter how many times I listen to that song, it gives me the same feeling everytime. Everytime, I am almost on the verge of crying. And trust me: I haven't felt that way often in my life. 

So for me, irrespective of who won Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle will always be a winner because she has changed the way I think of life. My Life is going to be different from what it would have been because of Susan Boyle.

Terminator Salvation - Avoid it.

Watching the movie was like watching 4 fellows playing Unreal(or Quake), firing guns and ammo, killing each other, from beginning till the end. No story, just guns. This was perhaps the 1st movie of my life that gave me headache at the end of it. 

Each of the earlier terminator movies had a plot, a plot that was somewhat real. The 1st Terminator had Sarah Connor's story, the 2nd one was John's. The 3rd one was John's love story and while it wasn't as touching as the earlier two, it was still decent. But the 4th installment just screwed everything up. Well I guess the producers and Director and the script writers thought that the Terminator Movies are popular because of the blaring guns, the fire, and deaths. They couldn't have got it wrong more than that.  

Chritian Bale seemed confused as if thinking : "Dude I am Batman ! What am I doing here! And now that I am here, should I act funny and energetic as John Connor has been shown over the years, or should I be quite and reserve as Batman would be. Hell, I am Batman. Lets keep a low profile!"

I am sure there would be more terminator installments : one where they will show John sending his dad back to save his mom(T-I), another where John will send Arnie back to save his ass (T-II), another one where John will die and his girl will send Arnie to save both of then (T-III). And if all that the script writers have to offer for those installments is guns and bombs, they better stop writing those because I feel the audience is not gonna take another installment of this same crap that was served in T-IV. 

Somebody get James Cameron back on board, and if Arnie is in as well, it would surely be worth it. 

Otherwise, I probably will give those installments the same rating that I give Terminator Salvation. AVOID IT. If you can't then wait for the DVD and rent it. Its not worth spending 10 $ per head. 

My Next Phone

What’s my ideal phone like?

For a while now (which is over an year now), I have been planning to upgrade my phone to something newer, trendier and more useful. So what's delaying it? I want a (smart)phone, that would rid me of carrying any other electronic device on myself on a normal day. Here's what I think is critical for me:

1. The most basic need: It should be a phone. I should be able to make/receive calls :)
   
2. High Speed Internet support: 3G / HSDPA, so that I am 'always connected'.
   
3. Wi-Fi Support.
   
4. The phone should be usable as a modem as well in case I want to connect to the net.(I know that depends on the service provider too)
   
5. Bluetooth: for wireless talking and possibly attaching to the car stereo system
   
6. QWERTY keyboard: that's a must for me. I love the touch of 'real' keys.
   
7. (A)GPS: for finding my way when I am lost.
   
8. An expansion slot. A huge memory (think 8/16/32GB) will be a plus.
   
9. A good Camera (>3.2 mp with flash – vibration reduction desirable and so is zoom). Video recording support...I love taking pictures but don't want to carry around a camera all the time. Videos are a necessity too for capturing those 'once in a lifetime' moments.
   
10. A good screen resolution(pretty much everyone has this)
    
11. Exchange/pop/imap mail support. Office documents support. 
    
12. Support for playing videos in diff formats. Should support flash.
    
13. User Interface: Touchscreen for basic needs like dialing numbers, receiving calls, viewing pictures etc. Coverflow, multitouch is good but not a necessity.
    
14. Good Music Output with music output option(through FM transmitter, maybe )
    
15. Desirable: dual camera (video conferencing).
    
16. Replaceable battery.
    

I can add a few more, but I think this pretty much covers everything I am looking for (and that’s also pretty much the order in which I need it).
What's missing in today’s phone? A few things that come to my mind right away:

Apple iPhone: QWERTY/Bluetooth/Video/Camera resolution/expansion slot.

Sony XPERIA: RAM / Accelerometer / its Windows :( . Moreover, for some reason, I didn't find it very charming when I took it in my hands(although at one point of time, I was quite excited about it)

Blackberries: Camera/Music

Palm Pre: Closest to perfect : The best so far. I have used a Treo for 2 years, and I totally trust Palm products. However, the absence of expansion port is troubling given that I seem to exaust off memory pretty fast ( probably because of my love for pictures and videos). I will have to research a bit on the USB expansion option though.

Nokia N97: The challenger round the corner. So far, it appears to have everything I am looking for. Moreover its a Nokia, so quality should not be an issue(although Nokia isn't much present in the touchscreen world). Moreover, if it really has the FM transmitter that's being talked about, it's going to be awesome. :)


At this time, I think it will be wise for me to wait for N97. It may not be having the touch capabilities of iPhone, but as you would realize from my needs above, I need a phone that 'works' for me and not just looks good. Looks are passé.

N97: I am waiting for you.

Kayaking/MacRitchie/Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

Given that most of my plans go haywire at last moment, it was a momentous achievement for me when I finally set out for Bukit Timah today as per my plan for the weekend. However, after reaching the nature reserve, I realised that my understanding about things was slightly misplaced: I had assumed that Mac Ritchie reservoir was within Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and while there was a trek route from the nature reserve to the reservoir, it was going to be a real long walk, almost 5 hours. I decided against going a trek that long all alone just in case something went wrong along the way. (maybe some other day). But I did spend a few minutes at the Bukit Timah Nature reserve. Its a huge natural rain forest area in the central part of Singapore. and figured out that there are a few short treks (about 30 mins to 90 mins duration) that can be undertaken within the Nature Reserve. There's one long trek that connects you to the MacRitchie Trek routes. Being a nature trek, these are going to be through the trees and so heat shouldn't really be a cause of concern (but rain can be). Its best to pack extra water and food (as needed) because there aren't any restaurants or 7/11s(chain of 24 hour convenience stores across Singapore) along the treks :) The restrooms are also at the Visitor Center itself. Maybe one of the coming days, I will go back to trek along a couple of those short treks.

Next, I took a bus to the MacRitchie Reservoir. MacRitchie Reservoir is a water reservoir built in late 1800s to cater to the fresh water need of Singapore. The

 forest around the reservoir was marked as reserve thereafter to serve as water catchment area. Today, the Reservoir serves as a picnic spot for families to getaway from the ho-hullah of the city. It also provides quite a few adventure opportunities for the daring ones in the form of treks and to some extent, kayaking.

Kayaking : well that brings us to themost interesting part of the day today :) So finally I got to do a bit of kayaking after having been planning for it for a long time. 

The boat cost me $15 for an hour (+$2 for the locker) which I felt was reasonable. There were boundaries defined for kayaking within the reservoir. There weren't may other ppl kayaking at the time when I rented the kayak. apart from me, there was a group of 8 high school kids, and a solo kayaker(who appeared to be an experienced kayaker). Being my first experience at Kayaking, I was skeptical if I will be able to kayak properly. But it turns out

 either I am a natural, or maybe kayaking is too too easy :) I tried to use the time to learn a few tricks of balancing and controlling the kayak and at the end of it, felt that it was quite a constructive effort. I kayaked around for a while but then the hot afternoon started taking its toll on me. I got out from the water and decided to call it a day. 

All in all, it was another constructive day for me, atleast by my "lazy" standards :) Some more pics are here below from the short trek and the park. 

   

    

Singapore Botanical Gardens

I had been to Singapore Botanical Gardens today. It's a huge garden that's a very popular hangout for families. With a lot of greenery and open space, it gives kids a lot of place to run around too! :) There are a couple of lakes and artificial waterfalls as well to add to the beauty of the garden. There's an open auditorium too where events are organised from time to time. But the best part of the Gardens is the "National Orchid Garden" 

National Orchid Garden has been developed as a separate sub-part of the Botanical Gardens that primarily has a large varities of Orchids. The garden has been very beautifully organised. There are a few fountains, sculptures etc that add to the beauty. There are some sections created within that highlight special kinds of Orchids: eg: the Coolhouse houses the orchids that grow in cool places.  The Mist house has the 'summary' of best orchids grown in the Orchid Garden. The ergonomics of the place are well designed to have seats/water fountains/restrooms etc within reach should you feel the need for one. There are many photo points that have been setup specifically so that visitors can get nice snaps clicked with the Orchids. 

I spent a couple of hours there and thoroughly enjoyed the time amongst the flowers, not to mention the opportunity this gave me to click another bunch of snaps :)

If you are ever in Singapore, keep the National Orchid Garden on your agenda for sure. Oh btw, there's an entry ticket of SGD 5. 

Next on the list is : Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Let's see if I make it to the place tomorrow. 

Bollywood Dhoom!

Bollywood Dhoom is a music lounge in Singapore.  But in layman's language, Bollywood Dhoom is a Dance Bar in Singapore, almost like the ones that were shutdown in Mumbai a few years ago. And what was I doing there? Well, having a drink ofcourse. :)

So the story goes this way : Friday night, a friend of mine and me decided to go to ClarkeQuay to kill some time. We strolled around the place for a while and then the idea of having a drink came up. Given that ClarkeQuay has a ton of pubs, the choice was difficult. But my friend was very clear : he wanted to goto a desi pub that had desi music and desi 'girls'. So we started checking out the area and saw one named "Bollywood Dhoom". We entered the club and, Bang ! What we see is a hall of probably 30feetX10feet with sofa seats all around it, loud bollywood music playing, and a couple of desi girls dancing in the center, somewhat similar to what Mumbai Dance Bars were. I couldn't help but laugh and I was actually laughing: the girls weren't any good, rather they were healthy aunties. All the fellows out there were middle aged desis with quite a few already gone bald. Some of those bald men were quite excited too ! A couple of desi fellows were on the dance floor dancing with the aunties..err girls. What was even more funny was that there was a chinese looking lady who was accompanying a desi fellow and both of them were so overwhelmed that in a moment they were on the dance floor too!

We took a bottle each of beer and enjoyed the antics of the fellows on the dance floor while we finished the drink. I think we were there for some 10-15 mins. There were some 3-4 more dancers who would interchange positions after each song, but none of them were any good:neither good looking nor good dancers. As soon as we finished our bottles, we left for home. None of us had to explicitly say that BD was not a place to visit again. 

Lost, again.

Lost has been living upto the expectations that I have from the series for its last 2 seasons. For one, there are just too many open ends that the series left over the first 4 seasons that need to be closed now, which is very well being handed. Wish season 6 could start right after season 5 ended. That wait period is going to be killer. 

 

At this time, some of the questions that I am more curious about include: 

1. Who is Jacob? His name is being repeatedly mentioned in the season-5 episodes to beef up his importance in the mind of viewers. 

2. Who is Richard Albert? This fellow never grows old. What's his story? 

3. How did John Locke get resurrected? This wouldn't be the first time: Christian Bernard got resurrected too. And how come John Locke has become so knowledgeable about the Island (how did he know where the monster is, that even Ben wasn’t aware of)?

 

There are many more questions but for now, I think these are what keep nagging me all the time. I hope the writers give some good sci-fi explanations for the same.

 

I do have some theories too about things at this time.

 

1. Illena and the other fellows are probably hires of Charles Widmore or some other stakeholder, who he has sent on the plane so that they can land back on the island and take care of something or someone (ben, maybe? ). The question “What lies in the shadow of statue” could be a passcode to test who all on the plane are on their team. I am not sure but I think Widmore told Locke something like: There’s a big fight coming. He may have been referring to this.

 

2. The island may have been inhabited by a very advance civilization or aliens in past, which led to the development on the mysterious powers of the island. The markings shown on the wall just before the Smoke Monster shows up to judge Ben are pointing to the existence of Smoke Monster a long time back, and the carvings on the wall look ancient too.

 

Well I guess the more you get into Lost, the more theories you will come up with. And that’s exactly the reason I love LOST. It makes you think, scientifically J

Keep Moving!

Turns out for the past few years, every year I move into a new home on 1st of April. 

1st April 2006: Delafield St Apt@Milwaukee

1st April 2007: Springdate Apt@Milwaukee

1st April 2008: Lincoln Crest Apt@Milwaukee

1st April 2009: Peace Mansion@Singapore

Will this cycle continue next year? We will have to see. 

Rumors? Or Truth?

Heard two interesting bits of news in recent times: 

1. A guy from India was returning to US after vacation. He was working in US on H1B. At the point of immigration, the officer asked him which client he was going to work for. When he mentioned the name as a bank using the bailout money, the Immigration Officer called up his managers at bank to inquire why couldn't they hire an american citizen and needed someone from India on H1B to fill the position. The bank backtracked and said it will fill up the position locally. The guy was denied entry and sent back home. 

2. A guy in US filed for a H1B transfer from one consultant to another. The USCIS authorities sent back resumes of American citizens with similar skills to the new hiring consultant asking him why can't he hire one of Americans. 

The 2nd one seems a bit too far fetched but then nothing is impossible. What is interesting here is that if these are rumors, how much panic people are living in to float such rumors around. And more interestingly, everyone I shared this piece of news with was of that the view that this may happen. Afterall, every country is going to think about the well being of its citizens before aliens.

Lets hope things improve soon and we all get to live peacefully :)

My fear of 'LOST' getting 'LOST'

A few years back there was a trilogy of movies: Matrix, Matrix Reloaded, and Matrix Revolutions. Matrix was a pathbreaking movie: amazing graphics, excellent action, awesome sounds, and thrilling story. Everything about the original Matrix was mind blowing, including the concept that we all are living in a 'virtual' world. I remember thinking at that time whether it really could happen, that I am living in a virtual world. The sequel to it (Matrix Reloaded) was good on action, but somewhere it lost the thrill in the story that the 1st part offered. Third part was a big turnoff, specially because of all the 'Karma' gyan that Neo is subjected to early on in the movie by the Indian couple. That 'Karma' gyan was possibly the means to connect the virtual to the real world, but honestly, I wasn't watching Matrix for that. That was one of the factors that eventually led me to put Matrix-2, and 3 in the category of bad sequels. 

So why am I talking about it today? For the simple reason, that I fear that LOST may head the same way. Season 5 so far has been moving at a gripping pace. There's something sensational in every episode. The pieces are getting linked together. But one of the things thats repeatedly being pushed across is that idea that what has to happen, will happen, that there's something like destiny. The concept that you cannot go back in time and change something that has already happened seems like a genuine expectation: afterall, if you were allowed to do that, you wouldn't end up in the present that you see today, which would mean that in most probabilities, you wouldn't be going back to past to change it. Confusing ? It is. So the simple assumption that what has happened cannot be undone is a fair assumption to keep things simple. 

What worries me is how LOST is eventually going to handle the future and things that are going to happen. At this time, they keep coming back to the idea of something being pre-decidedeg: John Locke had to die. He has to lead the others...etc etc. Are they evetually going to conclude that there's something called Destiny and there's  a superpower? Otherwise, how will you justify the concept that there's a destiny, for if there's a destiny, there has to be writer for it too! 

I hope at the end of the day, there's an acceptable piece of sci-fi explanation to LOST. Otherwise, all the efforts that I have put in lately revisiting high-school physics and theory of relativity/time travel will go down the drain :(

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire

I don't think the movie deserved 8 oscars, and definitely not the Best Film. But then that's the jury's decision. While the movie does reflect on the realities gripping Mumbai and India, it's more a commercialization of the reality for the sake of making money out of it. As someone put it, there's too much happening in life of one person, which is unconvincing. Then there's this case of twisting reality. C'mon : anyone who has ever seen an episode of Who wants to be a millionaire or Kaun Banega Crorepati knows that its not telecast live ! See : commercialization again and the need to put in something gripping. The excessive use of English took the movie further away from reality. You don't expect Slum kids to speak english! The case of Apocalypo comes to my mind. I loved the movie, simply because it tried to capture the mayan civilisation the way they were, including the language. 

Coming back to SM, for me, its just another commercial Bollywood movie. I don't find it to be something out of the world or something that is revolutionary. This is just a case of a movie getting lucky. The actors were quite mediocre except for the kids who were the real stars. It was just another average english 'british' movie made with the aim of catapulting on the western curiosity for the poorer side of India. 

However, I must mention that music definitely was good: but then, with Rahman comes quality and trust of millions. He doesn't usually go wrong and I am glad that he won the oscars. 

Delhi-6

For the impatient, AVOID IT.

Why ? Read on. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

Let's look at different aspects of the movie :

The Negative Side:

Plot: The movie starts on a high, highlighting the importance of relationships in life, and of faith. How fascinated foreigners are with Indian ways is captured well too. But somewhere down the line, it gets lost. It appeared more of a 'COS' curve(think trignometry if you have studied maths, otherwise its something that starts at a high point and then eventually touches the lowest ebb). So all of a sudden, you have this Shani baba coming in from somewhere proclaiming that the Masjid was actually a mandir 350 years back, and the next thing you know is that neighbours start (almost) killing each other. Well, religion is a tricky thing and can make people do weird acts, but just in a moment? Is that the tolerance level of people in Old Delhi? And if that wasn't enough, right at the moment when the riots are to start, the Kaala Bandar appears from somewhere, and Hindus and Muslims are brothers again 'in just one moment'. Phew! Want more ? And it just takes a couple of lines from a protagonists to make everyone realise that Abhishek is faking to be Kaala Bandar so that the riots can be avoided. Ha Ha ! Are people in Delhi-6 really that crazy(if not foolish) to take life changing decisions in a moment?

Abhishek: The weakest link of the story perhaps. I found him totally unconvincing in the role of an NRI. The accent he put on was too fake to be believed. I guess he should have been sent for a accent training at some BPO firm. I feel John would have been a better choice. Even better, a new actor could have been pulled in. After Rang De Basanti, Rakeysh Mehra could have taken that chance and people would have trusted him. But well....

Director: When you make a movie like Rang De Basanti, you set some expectations. Not that RDB wasn't a commercial movie, but it had a message: it seemed to stem out of reality, from our everyday life. But out here, the director didn't bother to do a check on what's expected out of him. He starts off well and then suddenly takes us back to a 1960s-1970s. Dude, people are impatient today and they want more. If someone is going to spend 200 bucks in times of recession to watch your movie, they expect something good out of it. I wonder if RDB was really made by Rakeysh Mehra(or whatever way he spells his name)?

Climax: Why couldn't you just let Abhishek die ? Why did you need to let him survive ? And what was the ghostly Amitabh Bachchan doing there? You had one chance to atleast give a decent end to all the hysteria, but ROM you chose to make it a fultoo desi film.

The Positive Fews:

Kaala Bandar: The idea of kaala bandar was fun though. It reminded me of 2 things: first, how media hypes up things in india, and second Muhnochwa! Back in 2002, when I was studying in Allahabad, eastern UP was attacked by Muhnochwa thread, a creature that came in night and snatched your face and vanished! We had a real good laugh at the thoughts back then, throwing our own innovative theories what Muhnochwa could be. The hype went down gradually, and no one ever found a muhnochwa. But Delhi-6 did remind me of my college days, and I must thank ROM for that. But that's not good enough dude. You made a bad movie.

A R Rehman: It's not the music. It's AR Rehman. As always, awesome. Its the music that saves the movie from being a total disgrace. AR Rehman rocks!(and pops, and jingles, etc etc)

Summary: Avoid it. Don't spend USD 10 / INR 200 on this movie. Better wait for it to be released on a moser baer VCD/DVD and then watch it. This is not a Rang De Basanti.

Starbucks

I had been to Sentosa Island today and on my way back, I saw a Starbucks shop at the VivoCity mall, and I couldn't resist the temptation. I got in and ordered what I always order at starbucks: Mocha Frappucchino. While the order was prepared, I reflected on the time when I was in Milwaukee, specially the last couple of months when I would drop in at the Starbucks near exit 304, get a Frappuccino and sip it on my way back home. That was almost a daily ritual then. 

The announcement of the Barista brought me back to the present : my frappu was ready. I sipped it and it tasted just as it did all those months ago in Milwaukee: great! I went back in time again. I felt I was 'home' :) 

Powai to Singapore

The ride from home to airport was a story in itself. The transport strike has created a scarcity of oil. But I didn't anticipate that it as a cause of concern and left home just in time. But then, tragedy stuck. Even after waiting for almost 15 mins, no taxi/auto showed up. The time was already around 10:10pm and I was supposed to be at airport 30 mins back for my 12:00 flight. With nothing else to go about with, my bro and me decided to go to airport on bike :) I must say it was a sight ! I was all dressed up for any party! Blazer, party shirt, a pair of jeans, a pair of heavy boots. And there I was driving a bike on mumbai roads with my bro holding on to the big suitcase and I was balancing the cabin bag over the oil tank. When I arrived at the airport, I tried avoiding the faces that turned around to check out my royal arrival :)) But all is well that ends well. I managed to complete all check in processes in time and got onto the flight. 

The journey to Singapore aboard an AI flight was like any other AI flights: boring. However, one incident does stand out and deserves a special mention. As the plane tookoff, I stuck a conversation with my neighbour who was working with Cisco in SFO. (Sorry...i didn't ask his name, nor did I give mine). We talked about a bunch of things before the plane got stable in air and the next thing I did was hit the assistance button on the dashboard above. A middleaged steward showed up and I put a silly request through: Can you please get me a lot of water? I am feeling quite thirsy. My neighbour also asked for water politely. The steward left and in a min a lady(quite good my AI standards!) appeared and handed us both a couple of 250mL bottles each. We thought it was taken care of but very next moment the steward appeared with a 1.5L bottle of mineral bottle in one hand and 2 cups in other, and handed it over to us so that we can satisfy our thirst. He handed over the bottle and glasses to us and left. He didn't even bother to pour the water in the glasses. Phew ! Such arrogance! This happens only in Air India :) I tried to catch some sleep after that as it was a 5 hour flight and I had to directly go to office, however i wasn't successful and tried watching some movie. There were some 5 stupid channels and you can understand the choices that I had by the fact that I watched "C Kompany" (or whatever was the name) even though I knew it was a pathetic movie. I wish I could fly back a different airlines on return but I can't :( 

 The only other event of significance was my setting foot in Singapore. A different country governed by a different set of rules and I was an alien, once again. The first glance of the Singapore reminded me of Chicago airport. That long walk that I took from the flight gate to the immigration desk in Chicago a few years back had my heart pounding. Given that Uncle Sams land is known for its rigorous(and sometimes uncertain) processes, I was on my toes not to make any mistakes that would cause me to be deported back to India on the next flight. Believe me I did have that in my mind :) But nothing of that sort happened and I entered USA successfully,like many other aliens, and stayed there for over 2 years. 

However, this time, the feelings weren't similar. On the contrary, I was all prepared for it. The only thing I was going to do was to answer the questions honestly. If they put me on the next flight back to India, I wouldn't have minded that. I thought of one of the wooden board in the hall of St. Joseph's School (where I had done my first 12 years of schooling) that read "Honesty is the best policy." And I smiled :) But nothing unexpected happened, except for my standing in a wrong queue for over 30 mins before realising that this may not be the queue for me, which is when I approached the immigration guys for guidance and then the pointed me to the right counter. And within minutes, I was out in the open, breathing in Singapore. One of the boards read : Welcome to Singapore. I wasn't able to click a snap there as I was in a hurry, but I will try to get a snap taken on the day of my return. 

I reached home around 10 in the morning at the TCS Transit Quarters, got ready in a hurry and took a taxi to office. Rest of the day was as uneventful as a first day at any place usually is: the customary introductions, formalities, understanding the job and all that. The evening was what really turned out to be fun. I took the company bus that dropped me near Bedok MRT (local METRO station), and I decided to figure out the way home on my own rather than taking a taxi, and explore the city in the process. As it would turn out, I took almost 2.5 hours to figure out the route to home that was just 15 mins away :) I asked the people around the MRT but most of them did not have a clue where my street was. I asked a few shopowners,but they weren't of any help either. I asked a few book shops and paper vendors if they have any street maps of singapore, but they didn't have anything worth buying. Hell, I even found a library and went in and tried checking out the Singapore section to see if they had any street maps, but nothing was available. How much I missed our india's Paan Shops at that time :( Finally someone pointed his hands in one direction and I headed in that direction, and reached home in about 15 mins. But the good thing was that I explored the Bedok MRT area well during that 2.5 hours, which came in handy during the later days. 

The rest of evening was no more than a normal day. I met Naveen at home and he game me a good overview of life in Singapore as he has been here quite a few times. Finally I called it a day. The jetlag was already creeping up my body to my head. 

On the move, again.

9th Jan 2009. 0030 HRS IST approx
AI442 finally lifts off from Mumbai for Singapore and with it starts a new journey for me. What next 3 months have in store for me are as uncertain as everyday in my life has been. But now that I am finally taking off, I hope to use the time I get on this trip to finish off some of the stuff that had been pending on my end for some time. I will revisit the list of tasks 3 months from now to see how far I have achieved what I wished for. I don't plan to share it with the world either, for that shall prompt all my friends (and foes alike) to check on my progress from time to time :p Apart from that, I just plan to enjoy this trip and take life easy. Something within me tells me that this is a beginning of a very long journey.