Gym tales

Do you guys remember in F.R.I.E.N.D.S when Chandler wants to quit the gym? And they bring out Maria?

I am so screwed!

PS: I don't intend to quit gymming/exercising. I just want to shift to one which is not as expensive as the current one.

A Simple Equation

Healthy dinner at Subway + Peach flavoured frozen yoghurt with fresh mango topping + aimless walking along the exotic aisles of Cold storage = One happy boy :D :D :D

Cold Storage is a fantasy land for me!! I will get lost and drift to my happy place when I am there. The rest of the world ceases to exist! Infact, my ex had gotten quite jealous that I seemed more excited at cold storage than on our dates. LOL!!

A sure shot way to make me happy (especially if I am angry with you) - Drop me of at Cold Storage and come and pick me up after a couple of hours :D Importantly, pay for whatever I purchase there.

TWO

I am wondering what to write in this post. A post which marks my completion of 2 years in Singapore. 2 years of living by myself. Being at a loss of words made me take a look at the post I wrote 1 year ago.

Yes, I am still very happy about all the things that I have mentioned in that post. Each time I travel on the Benjamin Sheares Bridge, from where I can view the entire Marina Bay area, it fills me with a sense of pride that I live here. And every single time, I still gawk at the skyscrapers and the view like I haven't seen it before in my life.

It feels like the past one year has flown by so fast. Maybe because a lot has happened in my life in the past one year - Traveling, friends, shifting homes, the beach, hour long commutes to work, taking a big decision, surprise birthday parties, getting into a relationship, getting out of a relationship, etc. I am glad about every thing that has happened - the good ones and the not so good ones. It gives me the feeling and the high of living my life on my own terms and being responsible for it.

Cheesecakes on the house to all the readers. Its time for some celebration! And a biiiiiig and tiiiight hug to a big bunch of people. You know who you are.

Equality

Recently, I came across this video on youtube. I didn't realize what was happening in the video initially, but then when I reached the end and realized what it was about, I was at a loss of words. It is so well done and conveys the message extremely well.



Thanks Sumanth for the link.

Just Wondering

Of late I have started to wonder, if we get along great with a friend of ours and have similar tastes and interests, should we start considering this person as someone more than a friend ? You know, like a possibility of having a romantic relationship with them. At least this is what certain friends of mine have conveyed to me. While many have been teasing me about it, one of them actually sat me down and asked me to seriously consider the girl in question as a prospective life partner.

I don't understand one thing. Just because we get along quite well and have similar tastes and interests, why should we immediately start thinking about starting a romantic relationship with other? I mean, come-on isn't there something called as being good friends? Can't two people of opposite sex who have similar tastes and interests, be just good friends and remain as that? Why should every great non-romantic friendship be thought up as a romantic relationship down the line? It invariably happens that way. It makes me wonder - Don't we want to have friends who like to do the same things as us? Just because the said friend is of an opposite sex, why should they be considered as prospective date?

Neither Bollywood or Hollywood seems to believe so :)

A Grand Welcome

What do you do when a bunch of evil and scheming friends embarrass you when you come out of the arrival lounge of the airport, with something like this -


Yes people, yours truly was one such victim. You can read about it here and here.

I now declare full revenge on the brains behind this operation! YEAH!

Read this

I can very well relate to this post. Very well written and echoes my thoughts.

Wondering out loud

So, the other day a couple of friends of mine and I had been to the blood bank to donate blood. As part of the procedure we were supposed to answer a questionnaire which had questions about any illness, previous blood transfusion history, sex life, AIDS awareness etc, etc.. Once we complete the questionnaire, a doctor/counsellor reviews it in front of us by asking us the same question in person.

During the course of this review, the doctor/counsellor asked me if I was married. When I replied in negative, she immediately responded by saying that we could skip the section about the sex life as I was not married. I was taken a back a bit by this considering that this is Singapore (which happens to be one of the highly westernized countries in Asia).

I still wonder why! :-?

During the course of the blood donation there seemed to be some problem with my blood and it was flowing at a very slow pace I believe. Due to this and some other medical stuff which does not make sense to me, a bruise appeared at the spot where the needle was inserted. It became purple ans was slightly paining. So they gave me an ointment to apply everyday. After a couple of days I had totally forgotten about it, when I got a call from the blood bank inquiring about the bruise and if I was ok. That was so sweet of them to do that!! Had such a warm feeling after that. Its so nice of them to care so much. I'm impressed.

My Life in Singapore

It is just the way I had hoped it would be. I am so glad I took up the oppourtunity and came here. Staying by myself, experimenting with cooking, exploring the city during weekends, jogging and staying fit and travelling around are some of the things that keep me occupied (apart from my job ofcourse). I am just enjoying every moment of it.

This is the first time in my life that I am staying so far away from family. I am sure this is going to be one heck of an experience. There are definitely lots of things that I will discover about myself, which inturn leads to a better understanding of myself and people in general.

Things that I am currently in awe of -

1) The National Library. The buildings are so swanky and elegant looking, it is hard to believe that it is a public library. You actually would want to go and spend the whole day there reading. Adding to it is the lovely cafe attached. Just perfect for a rainy weekend afternoon.

2) The Roads.

3) The huge supermarkets and the variety of stuff available. I generally end up spending more time and money than intended when I go there. :))

4) The amazing variety of fancy looking restaurants here serving up some lovely fare.

Things that I miss most from back home -

1) Family and close friends

2) Chaat. *drool*

3) Not being bombarded with Bollywood information. I have to make an effort to look up for it on the internet :( I have absolutely no idea what Abhi-Ash have been upto lately. Not that I was very concerned about it, but being continously bombarded with their whereabouts while in India it feels like there is a void, now that I am not being bombarded :))

One more thing that has made my life much easier over here is the presence of some good friends. Thanks to her (and also her), loafing around the country has never been so much fun. I just cannot wait to try out all the food places which are begging for our attention.

Quitting my first job

Quitting my previous job was such a wierd experience. That was my first job after college and I was at it for almost 4 years. It just feels so wierd to say 'ex-office', 'ex-colleagues', etc. When I came out of my office (oops... ex-office) building on the last day, that's when it actually struck me that I may never step foot inside that building again, never sit at my cubicle again, may never work with the set of people or never work in front of my office PC. Oh!! My Office PC!! I so miss that amazing, superfast and sleek piece of electronics! I so hope the PC at my new office is going be the similar or better :) It was quite a sentimental drive back home from office on that day.

There are so many things that I miss about my ex-job. In particular, I really miss the post lunch walk session with M, having coffee/tea on terrace and doing general yakkity-yak with H, playing the fool along with A, D and G, technical and time-pass discussions with my ex-team members N, C, S and Y. Oh! I am so gonna miss you people and the familiar and comfortable things.

Here's a toast for all the wonderful things that have happened in my life in the last four years after I joined my first job and more than that for meeting and interacting with all the amazing people during the course of those four years.

*clink*

Atithi Devo Bhava

Okay! For all of you who were wondering where I had vanished to, I was busy with loads of stuff. I have shifted my house, quit my job and also went for a trek in the Himalayas. Lots to blog about, but so little time to do so. Right now, I shall leave you guys with a guest post from Shub:

Dearest PizzaDude,

So, when you asked me to do a guest post the other day, I readily agreed, but had no clue what to write! Probably a month later I decided what I wanted to write about, well vague idea, and today I decided to type it down!

In exactly four days, you'll land in Singapore! To start a life that I know you've been dreaming of for a while now. The living on your own, cooking (what-looks-like) exotic stuff (if it doesn't end up in the sink :P), exploring new restaurants and cuisines - oh wait, you do that all the time - and the loads of time for yourself that you'll come to enjoy. I'm sure you'll cherish the experience - like I told you a few days back, I miss that feeling I had when I had just moved in here. You know, that slight anxiety, at how you're gonna cope, the general awe at everything around you*, the little spring in your step since you're gonna be living ON YOUR OWN for the first time, the overall novelty of the experience. You'll definitely love it. Soak in every minute of it.

And yes, we shall go to Bar None again and look for that cute waitress and you CAN say the ridiculously overenthusiastic "Oh HIIIIII!" again. :D This time of course, I'll look away and pretend like I don't know you. Actually that's favourable to you as well. You wouldn't want her to think you're taken or something would you?! Muahahaha!

I'm totally looking forward to try out the zillions of restaurants that are begging to be tried out here, go loafing around generally and yes some cheesecake too! And going looonnng walks after pigging out! Talking nonsense and laughing our heads off at jokes that don't remotely qualify as funny.

Here's to new experiences and good times! And to a great friendship! *Clink*

Love,
Shub

*Just don't start staring at pretty girls passing by while I'm taking a pic and trying to get you to look at the camera, okay? That's almost as bad as the Bar None type embarrassment! :p

Cheese and its kind

There is a dog in our street (lets call her Cheese) and she has delivered a litter of puppies in our back yard. There are 7 of them and you should hear them trying to make some sound with their extremely feeble voices. They look so adorable and tiny. Infact, they cant even walk. All of them will be lying like a pile of stones against their mother's body. I tried to take a photo of them, but have not been able to get a good shot. They are all piled up in one corner behind a tree. Cheese is apparently very very comfortable with me and my family and is hardly bothered by our presence. It has become a daily ritual for me to give her bread and milk.

I have always wanted to have pets at home. My parents though are quite against it for two reasons -

1. Its not good to keep any animal bound or tied. They should be let free.
2. They will have do all the taking care part of it. I will be excited for a few days, but then due to other constraints like time and effort, I would soon lose interest.
   

I do agree with them now, but as kids it was a different story. No amount of reasoning could convince me or my brother. Then my mom got a super-duper idea and told us that its either the "Pet" or us. Promptly, my brother and I shut up and have not raised that topic ever since. But, to till this day I wish I could have a pet without feeling guilty that I am curbing its freedom. Infact, an ideal pet would be a baby elephant. Yes, you read it right, A BABY ELEPHANT!. Ever since I saw some on NGC, I want to have one around me and in my house. Oookay, you can stop laughing now :P

Btw, what do you guys think I should name the puppies ? Mozzarella, Riccotta, Feta, Parmesan, Gouda, Cottage, etc.. :))

A familiar feeling

You think its been 3-4 years. Things would have changed. I would have moved on. Those feelings would have gone by now. But hey, What do you know ?!! When I saw her recently, all I could think of was "God! She is so Beautiful!". She still manages to make my heart beat faster. I just could not help but admire her.

I feel that everyone sub-consciously has a mental image of what their perfect woman/man should look like. Many might be aware of it and some may not be. When we actually meet someone who matches this image, the infatuation just happens. In my case, I dont think I will be able to get over it any time in the near future (I have had this infatuation from the past 7.5 years). I am not repenting or anything of that sort. I am very much aware of the practicalities of life and enjoying my life at present very much. But, each time I see her, she just takes my breath away!!

I so relate to this song right now -
Anisuthide Yaako Indu
Neenene Nannavalendu
Maayada lokadinda
Nanagaagi bandavalendu
Aahaa yentha madhuraa yaathane..

I dont want to translate the above lines to English as I dont think I will do a good job of the translation and it wont be able to capture the meaning of this song as intended. So, the readers of my blog who don't understand Kannada, Please Excuse :)

Ha Ha Ha

Last week, when I went to the salon for a haircut, I saw that they had renovated the place. The old salon was gone and in its place stood two salons - one for the men and the other for the ladies. Any guess what they had named the two salons ?

The men's salon was called as "Abhishek Men's Salon" while the ladies salon was called as "Aishwarya Ladies Beauty Parlour" :O For a second I did not know what to say and then I burst out laughing loudly on the road :)) Jesus christ!! People and their thoughts!! They had even put up posters of the stars on the respective salon doors.

Engaged

I am not talking about myself, but about two close friends of mine. Both were my class mates in college and are now soon to be Mr and Mrs. I am feeling all god-fatherly about this latest turn of events. Its like their love blossomed right before your eyes and now it has grown and matured. Hee Hee. I am so happy for them!!

Before they officially told us about their relationship in college, a couple of us kind of knew that things were definitely going to happen between them. There are certain signs you see. Like going by themselves to the samosa stall during the break, the conversations between them in class.. and lots of such minute but very obvious behaviour patterns!!

So, come this weekend, Mr B and Ms R are all set to get offcially engaged! All the best you guys and a warm HUG to both of you.

Dharwad Trip

There is some kind of thrill in deciding for a trip impromptu. I have always had loads of fun on trips decided like that. My Singapore trip was one such kind(although we decided and booked tickets one month before the actual date of departure, we decided on it, got leave and booked tickets in a day or two... you get the point?). Trip to Dharwad was also one such thing. Decided on it, booked tickets almost instantly and luckily even got confirmed tickets :D

It was supposed to be a two day trip, but eventually turned into a three day one. We left Bangalore on a saturday night and reached Dharwad on Sunday morning. The ongoing journey by train was very pleasant. Surprisingly, the train was quite empty. My friend, lets call him as 'S' and I were up quite late and were generally talking. The train was to reach dharwad at 6.45 am and since we were up quite late, were wondering if we would get up on time to get down at Dharwad. Nothing of that sort happenend though (it would have been fun if that would have happened). Woke up quite early and it was still dark outside. Saw the sunrise after a really loooooooooong time! God knows when was the last time I saw one. A friend (who also happens to be my colleague and boss) had come to receive us at the station and he took us to his home. It was such a pleasure to be out of Bangalore. The life there went on at its own pace and I was totally enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and lifestyle. Not that I hate the lifestyle in Bangalore, but everyone likes change every now and then.

I ate lots of new stuff. There is such a marked difference in the food between Bangalore-Mysore region and Hubli-Dharwad region, the latter being very much influenced by maharashtrian cuisine. Even Chaats also tasted quite different to the ones available in Bangalore. Enjoyed that too. :D

We visited quite a few places around. The first was a village called Saundatti. Its quite famous for the "Yellamma Temple" and also for the devadasi system. Nearby there is this dam on the Malaprabha river. Its built mainly for irrigation purposes. We visited it in the evening, just in time for sunset. Spent more than an hour over there taking photos and soaking up the serene environment around. The other major place we visited was the Magod Falls. Its about 80-100 kilometres from Dharwad. Its quite popular and I realised why after seeing it. The falls are extremely magnificent, cascading down in two stages. I dont know if there is path leading to the waterfall. The actual viewing spot is at a distance from the waterfall. The waterfall is amazing!!! I could not help but stare and be awed by the sheer power of water and the beauty of nature and forests around. The only sound was the roar of the waterfall. The photo below definitely does not do justice to the actual waterfall. It looks even more spectacular in real.

Learning to drive a Car

Yup, that's what I have been trying to do since the last three days. Been planning to learn it from quite sometime. It materialized recently. Through the course of the classes, I realised that I am more scared of hitting someone on the road than on being hit by someone. Ofcourse this is even more compounded by my fear of huge vehicles on the road, the erractic bangalore traffic and the concern that I will cause a traffic jam!! Man, I have issues (read that as lots).

Plus, learning to drive a car apparently makes me very very thirsty!!

Fond Memories

Well..... Yesterday was a nice day and was feeling quite happy.

Could not help but think about a similar day last year. This is what I did last year along with two of my friends. :D

Miss u guys... >:D<

Why ?????????

I dont know why, but when ever I get into an auto, the auto drivers start talking to me in Hindi. When I respond back in kannada, they will be like "Oh !! You are from Karnataka only !!!".

Infact one of my colleagues told me that I dont look like a South Indian. It seems that I look more like a North Indian. Do you guys think so (Atleast the people who have seen me) ?

What the Hell !!!

I sometimes seriously wonder if people have nothing better to do. I saw this scene on my way to office today morn. There was this problem/fight between two people on the road i guess. The police had come down and were talking with the people involved. There was a crowd of around 50 people around them who were standing and watching the fun, blocking around 30 percent of the road. Apart from that, there were these people on two-wheelers who had actually stopped their vehicles mid way on the road and wondering what was going on, blocking another 30 percent of the road and also the traffic. What the hell!!!! Its bloody so irritating. Why cant people mind their own business. And its not like it was an accident or something. The police were already there and investigation. I have observed this behavour so many times. People seriously need to grow up and start minding their own business. I dont think that either of the people who were watching the "tamasha" actually cared.

I also get seriously pissed when people stop their vehicles mid way on the road and start fighting because one of them banged into the other. Go to the side and fight all you want!!! Dont do it in the middle of the road and block the traffic behind you. Dunno when people are going to learn. X-(

After I came to office, I had called up one of my friends, a Ms D and was full time cribbing to her about this. She on the otherhand was full time cribbing about her problems. I was wondering, that all of us have some thing or the other to crib about..