U2 and Me too

Well my favourite band is playing in Tokyo, my latest favourite place on november the 29th. I just booked my tickets to Tokyo. Tokyo here i come again.

nihongu

The biggest problem in learning a new language is not having anyone to practice the language. man, i started learning japanese and its actually not that tough, but i defn need to find someone to practice speaking. maybe i shud just find that japanese chick in singapore after all ;) rite.. as though they are just waiting for me to just walk down and pick them up.

The neighbors

Well i never ever imagined in my wildest dreams that i would ever get a chance to visit Pakistan. When i joined my present company 18 months or so back, it became a remote possibility. But then it really did happen two weeks ago. The visa was not easy to get but that was just the only thng that was tough. The moment my flight touched down in Islamabad, the first thing that hit me was man.. this country looks just like our own.. The airport, the people, the way they behave, their attitude, is all just desi babus personified. The only noticeable difference was that the language they spoke was a little different to hindi.

I had one of the best times of my life in Islamabad. i would be understating if i said that the hospitality i got from my colleagues there was the best. It was awesome. I will never forget the way my colleagues in pakistan took care of me. The city is by far the greenest capital i have visited. Islamabad is one of the most planned cities in the world. The other aspect - food, man it was just delicious. needless to say, i got the stomach flu after i landed in singapore because i just had too much to eat and i also added 2 kilos. I had like the best kabuli kebabs, chickens that are slow roasted over coal - called sajji, haleem, pai, brains.. etc etc.. man awesome food.. I will soon post some pictures in my other blog...

I just wish i could get more chances to visit them and also see a lot of our old historic places like gandhara, takshila, peshawar and ofcourse the cradle of indian civilisation - the harappa and mojendajaro.. some wishes come true, they just take time..

41 days

well thats the time since my last post. Never in the past three years since i took up writing a blog have I neglected this space for this long. Well reasons reasons reasons.. simple 3 words.. i was busy, but then i need to allocate a few minutes to keeping this blog up to date.. promise to myself- will do it definitely

Apart from turning 30 and making a second trip to Tokyo to hire and induct a new business development person and starting on my japanese lessons, life has been pretty much the same. parents are moving to hyderabad and that would make my trips to india easier cos its just a direct 4 hour flight. Man, earlier i used to dread going home cos of the flight to chennai and then the 7 hour train journey to my home. you kinda use up your holiday in just traveling to the destination. Hopefully, now, i can go home more often!

The trip to Tokyo was more fun this time. I even experienced a earthquake that measured 5.5. I was in the 8th floor at my office and suddenly, you heard this wierd rumbling sound and i thought oops thats definitely an earthquake and the next second, i could feel the shake and the building kinda swayed. I looked at my colleage, she wasnt hassled and she confirmed it was an erathquake and my other colleague was like kanags, you are lucky to experience this. Man i was like shit what if this building collapses.. well nothing happenned apart from the swaying for a few seconds and then everything went back to normal.

Actually, this time around my esteem for the japanese shot up sky high. After a red eye flight, i had gone to the ticket counter to book the train ticket from airport to tokyo city. I left my passport bag at the counter and totally forgot about it. Walkedl ike 500 meters down to the train and went up to cabin one and was waiting to board the train. Like 2 minutes before the train starts, this lady comes running with my passport bag. I had not even realised until then that i didnt have the passport with me. She hands it over and i was speechless. of course i thanked her and all that. but i swear never anywhere in the world would something like this happen. Back home in India, the passport would probably have been flicked by the next customer at the ticket counter and would have gone to the mafia for redistribution. Or in singapore, the bag would have gone to the lost and found (hopefully).. she did not have any reason whatsoever to run 500 meters and find me and give me the bag but she did it. I love this country and i loved every minute of my stay there.

Well now, i am getting ready to my trip to Islamabad to meet my colleagues there and discuss some technology strategies and timelines for a product launch. My first trip to Pakistan. it took ages to get my visa approved and now i am looking forward to being there. Will write about my experiences in Islamabad when i am back.