Saturday Blues !!
I realized its Saturday when woke up from my bed pack. And my room was illuminated with lots of light. Yes…I thought it’s a remarkable day…….I have my own reasons for it to be a remarkable. I met Mr. Sun for the first time in China…:), he was blistering out here…Out of the blues, the weather was transformed…u never know with the weather turn outs…hmmm…tatz mother nature…
It was also a different day for me because it was the first Saturday-weekends-working for me and also supposed to be the last Saturday of the month. Yes I had to go to office, it’s a policy here. I was off mood to go to office…on a weekend…
It was gonna be a short weekend for me….but in one way it was ‘boon in the disguise’ because u get so called good food prepared by Mr.Chi…usually the food will not be good on regular weekends…we have to go to another mess…so I had the chance of escaping from that. It was something to smile about….:)
I stepped out of BaiCaoYuan only to feel the scintillating light and blitz heat…I was not able to walk under the Sun…infact wasn’t able to open my eyes…tatz what it happens when u get accustomed to the environment rather murky weather…as far as now it seems the gloomy days won’t be there…somehow managed to get out of the sun…”xie-xie” to Cab service…he dropped me till the F1 block (infront of my office).
It was the same day again with loads of work…donno how time flew. It was 12 Noon and was lunch time…left for ‘Mess Hall’ which is about a furlong distance from my 20 storied office. This mess-hall is juss one among many in the Huawei City, to tell the area it covers….i can say its equivalent to Leela-Palace in Bangalore…This hall caters some thousands of people. Now I was bit early than other days…I was quite impressed by the menu…had few new things in the list…did all the field-work by grabbing the bowls fast…I was rather amazed to see a ‘jhilebi’ in China…although it was not looking like a ‘Indian Jhilebi’…but was good….comparing the fact that I m having it outside India.
I enjoyed the food, now I donno was it because that I was too hungry or my taste buds have been type-casted to this food…:D. May be there was influence of both these factors… in the mean time also got some French fries and Chinese noodles…truly a enjoyable lunch…
Now I was feeling that I am living here since aeons….although it was juss a fortnight of my stay….
Again back to work and finally looking earnest for the short weekend ahead…
Team Building...
My First team building in Dragon's Land ofcourse not with dragons's around...;)
Enter The Dragon...
Enter the Dragon…
It was the D-day for me…yeah it’s about embarking on Chinese venture…I reached Bangalore Airport at around 7.45 or 8.0. Thought it would be an easy go ‘check-in’…but realized its not….only when I saw the mammoth queue landing in front of the baggage sign on…it took time to complete of my formalities. Luckily got the window ticket…was more than happy for that. I was put into the cabin-crew; thought it would be boring…but couldn’t get bored though….for obvious reasons…:D. I wasn’t in a mood to leave the corridor. Suddenly came in the announcement, that the flight I was supposed to fly had got delayed by half an hour. I was more than happier to hear that.
Finally came my Voyager….it was a colossal Boeing 747; the heart of the plane opened her arms widely. It was around 11:00 PM when the Boeing began her journey gently climbing up into the sky towards the destiny carrying all her beloved ones. Once it reached an altitude of 33,000 feet the craft was whisking the air. Take off was the awesome experience, at least Bangalore looked ecstatic from sky pack. I was sitting almost over the left-wing engine, it was a great view. The earth was laid with ‘Carpet of Lights’
Our road map…oops rather Air Map…was displayed on a flat screen…information was quite adequate. It also mentioned the Time at each zone. Thai Air-hostesses were very warm…in acknowledging to requests. I had the legion of ‘Inscrutable Americans’…was a nice read. I had gained the time when we were in Bangkok around 3.30 in the morning…huh it was a huge Airport…having 77 bays…suddenly thought of Bangalore Airport: D. Seriously we lag a lot when it comes to infrastructure…I was literally lost in the mammoth Airport….was suppose to wait for 2 more hours to obtain the ‘Boarding pass’ to Hong Kong. Did a window shopping across the Airport…by the time I completed one row 2 hrs had fled apart….:D,
Again was lucky enough to board into Thai Airline Boeing 747 with a window ticket. The only difference this time was that I was over the right –wing engine…We boarded around 8:00 AM (HST). This time it was early morning and was able to have an eye on each and every cloud that passed by…There were few ecstatic blissful views on the way to Hong Kong…especially when we passed at some place where we were sandwiched between two layers of clouds…
I had fallen asleep, suddenly listened to the announcement of entering Hong Kong terminus…ohh gosh watta view it was…it was a Da Vinci’s painting of a Monalisa…a huge cluster of mountains…..at the middle of the rocks one can find the tall sky scrapers in huge numbers trying to kiss the sky…there was huge dam at the higher end of the cluster and Sea at the other end…infact the city is in the middle of the mountain chain and Sea.
Suddenly the craft started to lower drastically, knew it would be landing…suddenly I was awestuck to see that we were landing on Sea…then found a narrow trajectory leading its way into the Island…that was the most zeal able landing one could had…yes it was Hong Kong…the beautiful city. I thought Bangkok was a huge Terminus but I was wrong when I saw Hong Kong terminus…that changed by opinion. Suddenly Air-India flight landing dragged my eyes…realized yeah I m missing India even in this beautiful place…
Hong Kong airport was build hardly 8-10 years back. It’s a ‘Man-Made’ island; there’s been a record that they shifted to that place in less than 48 hrs. The place here is very systematic…juss like the function of our ‘Heart’ is to pump and generate the blood…the function of each and every member who works for Hong Kong Airport is well defined…its managed very well tooo.
From Hong Kong it was suppose to be an hour journey, I had 2 means of commutation to reach Shenzhen from Hong Kong. One is boarding a Bus and the other is a Ferry. Although my mind had prioritized on boarding a Bus when I was in Bangalore, I changed my plans to take a Ferry. Y you may wonder…here is the answer…if I take a Ferry I would have commuted with all mediums…Land, Air and Water…thus decided to go by Ferry.
Had to fetch a Ticket for the Ferry, to reach the counter one has to take an Inline Train, he reached a distance of 2 Kms in less than 30 seconds. Now u may wonder it was outside the Airport. I say no, I was inside the HK Airport. Since it was Hong Kong had to convert the currency to Hong Kong dollars to buy a ticket. Any currency you expect to be converted its none other than Travelex, once the ticket was bought I had to take a Bus to the Ferry terminus. The bus service was called as Sky Pier. Since the Bus to Ferry terminus was bit late, I was supposed to wait for 2 hrs in the Bus Lounge. It was a nice opportunity to roam around the malls, again went wild with my window shopping.
Soon it stroke 2’O clock in my watch, rushed to the bus lobby to board the bus. It was a gigantic Mercedes make bus. He dropped us at the Ferry terminus; finally we were out of Hong Kong Airport. It was an awesome travel again. Was enjoying listening to the honking of the ferry and there fellow members; we soon reached the destination in less than 40 minutes.
It was around 3:00 PM CST, there was custom check at Shenzhen departure. Unfortunately the lady couldn’t tally me with the one in the Passport. It took 10 minutes to confirm her that I was the same guy as in the passport. Gosh I had entered the Dragon’s land escaping from Dragon’s jaws…:D,
We boarded a taxi to Huawei City located in Bantian…it took half an hour to enter the city. Roads are very much etched and buildings are posh…Huawei city is almost in the outskirts of Shenzhen but still one cannot find its in outskirts. Finally entered the Huawei City…I was dumbstuck…totally lost for second time…its simply huge…u find ppl everywhere…there are around 24-28 complexes in the campus…one such were my Apartments; which was supposed to be found first. The taxi driver was lost tooo…it took some time to make him understand how to go and where to go…for obvious reason they are not familiar with 26 lettered language and are more familiar with 3,600 lettered language.
Bingo!! Was the expression after dropping down…rather drooping down…:D, found all my colleague friends who were here. We were welcomed ‘warmly’ on a power-strip off day. I was given a room with number 351, was waiting for a key but got a card. Yeah it was my key to open the door of apartment. Nothing to worry, it works in the absence of power too…I entered the room…dropped the luggage…
This was the place I will be for next 6 months…watta bed…u never woke up once u sleep….:D, the apartments are very clean. We are entitled with hell a lot of facilities. Took a cold bath as it was pretty humid…n had a nap…then hit the roads of Shenzhen for first time. Before telling my adventure of Shenzhen strolling let me tell u about the view from my room’s balcony. There is full of trees/plants and then a road and a not so huge mountain on the other side. Can spend hours watching the place/people walking down the streets. No coming back to Shenzhen strolling…as it was Sunday my friends here usually go to Indian restaurant which is around 20 kms from our apartments. The hotel is called as Taj Restaurant…not bad it tastes true Indian…had Vada for the first time in China…:D. I also had the privilege of viewing Wachanben. It’s the SP road of Shenzhen, u find all damn electronics around here…there are branded as well as unbranded. The best part I liked was the Mini-Bus service…he takes juss 2 Yuans to take u to any part of the city. Isn’t it great….one more special thing about this service is that…there is no Bus-Stop as such….if u just whip ur hand in air…he will stop for the service…:D, imagine me whipping hand…:D
By the time we left back to our apartments it was around 11.30 in the night…I was damn tired and it was also raining like hell….
Juss went back and slept, woke up around 7:00 to realize it was morning. I couldn’t have had a better First day in this short journey to Shenzhen.
After all these I still say ‘East or West…India is The Best’…
Trio Brat's Trip
It was 5 stuck in the clock on an awesome saturday morning and was woken up from the virtual world to reality by the grin of my clock. Was struggling to decouple my eyelids thus was not able to sleep off, suddenly realized the whacking blows I am gonna receive if I do not reach my first destination on time...at the same time my father reiterated about the event so i will not lag with time. Had to rush up...
Yeap the day ahead was about the dream I was about to visualize when I was not asleep...huh I had to Grin and Bear it...;)!! Also it was the day about a voyage to terra incognita for Trio Brats. For obvious reasons you already know the First Brat, well the second and third are two gigantic miniatures(Sunrita and Sandipan)...:D
Too much of suspense...hold ur breath to know the adventures of Trio Brats...well it was a curtain raiser for the trip to Nandi Hills...it was much awaited implementation of POA(Plan Of Action)...POA was done more than a year ago...due to aesthetic visionary of a person the Place in the POA was not realized...;). There were quite a few instances that could have instigated the destination Nandi Hills this time too...but brave First brat fought and won the battle for the other two....:D, because of my problems with the Chariot at the final cusp of travel. Hey hold on...forgot to introduce my sweet heart....yeah its my lovely chariot...driven by a bravo braino...;)
Road to Hebbal was serene and calm...not to mention it was early in the morning 5.45. I was literally driving my Chariot at 70 miles an hour...As soon as I stopped my chariot for first pickup...I saw an encroached person mimicking 'Cooolaa' with his spunky sunglasses...got all the cooolaa stuff from his place and marched towards The Sterling Gardens....yes i am talking about abode of Queen of Babylonia....;)...as expected her arrival was ignited with a Big Fight session....ofcourse she always wins the final arguement even though she is wrong...this time was for the Possession of Seat...
The wheels picked up its speed....we hit the NH-7 Highway around 6.15 in the morning. Awesome music of Kenny G was playing on my deck...Coool breeeze was whistling and hitting our facial muscles...Sun was rising gently on his legs...it was a pleasant day. Trio Brats were totally pepped up for the occasion ahead. We loved the drive most having lottsss of funn. This was my first to any hill station as a driver of my chariot....I was more excited....at the same time it was a testament for my driving skills...ofcourse I had the last laugh though...:D...cruising and piercing the trajectories of the hills we reached the mountain atop.
On reaching the top...we received warm welcome with sunn's friends out there....
The view from the great mountain Nandi was breath taking....Our hearts beating pitter-patter over the view...we were literally over the clouds...By this time, my stomach had sunken in....it was a rush hour for every one...in a nick of a time we unpacked the knapsack containing food...courtesy Food World...yummmy Cakes...we gulped it on the drop of a hat...in the meantime we had a photo session with sunn's kuchchikooo camcorder...
We missed a wonderful scene capture....it was sandipan's display of bravery to capture a flying cover....:)), in vain he lost to the glorious wind.
Then roamed around the hill....sunn was busy with her kuchikooo...shooting loveliest flowers on earth....;). Although I love ornithology, it was a bad time to be there. Sandipan desperately wanted a cup of tea...we obliged his request n stepped into the hotel...we got two cups of tea...woww watta tea it was...the taste was lingering around the tongue for a long long time...sunn seriously missed it, bad luck!!!
Ohh forgot to tell about the important place...on Nandi hills. It was the place where Tippu sultan's water plot where he use to park his droopy horses...:D
After strolling around the gardens n nurseries....it was around 11.30 AM...we had so called fresh cucumber and finally packed the baggage for departure down the hill. We had a plan to have the lunch on one of the punjabi dhabas....as sunn had tried the same on her previous visit...unfortunately we couldn’t have because it was too early. Well going by the thought provoking words...it always happen for good...we had our lunch at an awesome place....yes its none other than Chungs malleswaram...As soon as we entered the malleswaram realm...it reminded all of us about the past Golden Days we had at ISS...once again it made all our memories lively...it bought back all those enticing moments we had at that place...
After an exotic...mouth watering lunch, I thought...ahead was the Herculean task for me...As it was the last weekend in India before I land up at Dragon's Land...I had huge things to shop for. Then I realized there was nothing to worry about when I have Queen of Shopping besides me...:D, I utilized the expertization of sunn's shopping skills...:D. Have to mention sandipan's ideas were brilliant. Infact it was his idea about selecting the destination for shopping. It was none other than Garuda Mall...I went bizarre all over....got all the things required...
It was around 2.30 in the noon when we entered Garuda Mall...I can say its a budding shopping mall....soon will be transformed into Forum n Central with hell a lot of ppl arnd doing less shopping...
By the time we ended with my shopping....insatiable thirst for shopping stroke Shopping Queen which is by de-facto....always happens....now we were roaming everywhere like a worker bees behind a queen bee....:D, I must say we didn’t leave a single shop without entering....huhh...
Bingo!!! we left the Garuda mall at 6.45 in the evening, still there was a dissatisfaction of leaving early on Queen's face....
Finally left to hebbal and further to their respective homes....watta way to Ring Down the Curtains for an eventful day...I wouldnt have got a better weekend like this...before my departure...
Not to mention....this is juss a beginning....more to come...
Truly a cooooolllaa trip....:D
