Urge to Explore and Passion to Click

Oh well... its been quiet strenuous, hectic and so so so stupid that i couldnt concentrate much apart from work for a long time and now i was so desperate to get out sme wer and do some thing non routine... Today is Sunday and i still have to work this morning as for the obvious reasons in any consultant's life....Managed to finish the office bit early for the planned visit to St. Johns Island in Singapore... This is for some reason not so famous but deftly a worthy break... Lemme try and explain so to make this post usefull for any Singapore Resident's advantage...

Get the Red line (North South) to Marina Bay Station... get out of it and catch Bus no. 402 to Marina Souther pier... My mate and me took a disastarous decision to walk to the Pier as we thought its only 2 stops away.... We always had this fun of taking the longest possible route to any destination and unwillingly worked this time as well... It was a nasty 40 mins walk but so rlved after having a lovely look at the lone building (Pier) on the shore....

Pain again... The next/last boat from Pier is at 5 PM (the timez 4 PM now) and we got roughly about 15 mins in the St. Johns island to explore and thaz it .... Holy Christ !! (Oops... Enna kodumai Saravanan) We thought we will get back and come again some other day but i din wanna waste the day.... So we took the boat confidently knowing its gonna be a shorter than the anticipated length of fun.... the climate was so apt for my photos.... got in to the buisness straight away clicking with the blend of technology (D90) and imagination (Me yo!!).....

I honestly liked the serene view of the sea and the anchored ships all around... There are two other islands around called as Kusu Island (What the....) and Sisters Island.... but din get a chance to drop and walk.... managed 15-20 mins manuovering in St. johns island... looked like a perfect place (am exaturating though) for a day break swimming, camping, hang around get lazy and get relaxed.... The humidity was still a pain....

I am sure we left about 60% of the place un explored but i made up my mind to re visit the place some time in future... The return was once again painful as we gotto catch bus back and we got down near Tanjong Pagar MRT thinking that could be Raffles place... means we need to transfer train to red line after a stop and then around 40 mins travel....

I stored my so called 'photography' in orkut album and anyonez welcome to visit if you got enough time and needed patience... catch u soon with my next post !!!

Taxi Taxi !!!!

Managed to find time to blog and this time its about the Taxi drivers in Singapore. I have already written about Auto drivers in Bangalore, Taxi drivers in Malysia but this one is quiet contrary to the earlier themes on driving service for public. In my limited exposure to the non-Indian part of the world, i should insist and say 'The Singapore Taxi drivers were the best'.




Last week i got in to a taxi from office to home after hard days work. The following are the shocking facts about the best taxi drivers in the world ( i don mean the driving talent.. i meant the attitude and the system itself)



- The earning per day of an average taxi driver is just around 60$ provided if they drive atleast 11 hours a day.



- The average earning of the taxi driver in Singapore is around 2000$ which is below par for the cost of living here in Singapore. That too they need to work atleast 6 days a week forgeting almost 100% of their social life.



I know there are other hard working skilled workers who earn even lesser but my point is, in most of the countries the taxi/auto drivers are at their best in terms of earning against the hardwork which means pain to public. Contrastingly, the public here appreciate the Taxi service but the poor Drivers dont get much of the benefit from the govt. they deserve. The Tax and other statuatory payments are a overload for them and they are worried as most of the public thinks they earn bloody lots of money. Few of the quotes i heard from the drivers are



'People dont mind spending 10$ for a flipping coffee but mourn a lot about travelling for the same amount comfortably in an Airconditioned Taxi with the quality of service'



'I feel like am living a machine life driving all the time i am awake and still getting peanuts'



'I would have prefered to be in China selling Tea rather driving Taxi in Singapore where no one bothers about our welfare'

Singapore should hold the credit undoubtedly for emphasising such a law were at any point of time a Taxi driver should never ask for even a cent on top of the meter charge. No taxi driver can say 'No' for any destination in Singapore asked by public unless they are changing shifts. On top of this, the Service from heart is matchless. But Show some Sympathy for this Nation's Pride.


I dont know what i wanna achieve writing this here but I just felt they deserve more than what they are getting in terms of recognition and reward. I just need some space to say 'I Agree'.

I am 28 today....!!!!

19/05/2009 : 7.30 pm
I know iam turning 28 in 4.5 hours.... here is ARavindh's Irony... will wake up until 2 am if its chennai match in IPL and no hope for anything else... i shd keep myself awake till 12 as i know i wont be sleepin at that time... Idea !!! got tickets for the movie PASANGA for 9 pm and then out to shopping with my mom and wife... all is well as the shopping bill is well with in the boundary...


19/05/2009 : 11.45 pm
Out from the cinema... thoroughly enjoyed and a must watch movie... all about kids from their view.... a lovely BGM by James vasanthan... a good break for me too.... Oh boy !!! i reached home and as 'so called' surprisingly the cake is ready at home for me.....



19/05/2009 : 11:59 pm
I helped my wife placing the candles in cake, lighting the candle in cake, cut the cake myself... had a piece myself and in to my laptop.... i was expecting phone calls from some wer (i dunno who will care to call me at 12 am singapore time) still i was expecting.. bly me !!! spoilt indian kid me....


19/05/2009 : 12.10 am
ahhh !!! none called me yet... so i went online and quiet warm to see few messaged me in orkut... my bro came online and asked me to call him.... he picked the shit outta me once i called him 'un bday ku neeyae call panni wish panna solriyae.... kevalama ilai !!!', a perfect jackass me... is it april 1 or may 20 ???...


20/05/2009 : 9.45 am
got up with utmost hesitation as i am took off that day and really wanted to have a good long sleep... Indian hindu ladies, u beauty... no matter wat is the occasion u wanna start with a temple visit.... and concentrate more on special poojas than the actual prayer.... anyway i din make any argument though am a bit agnostic about these.....


20/05/2009: 11.30 am
gobbled another piece of over night cake with icecream ... crash the bed and slept crazy for 4 bloody hours... quiet a number of calls on an average of every 30 mins during my sleep time ... stilll answered like a fresh one and continued sleeping... after all i get these many calls only once in a year...


20/05/2009: 7.45 pm
sitting on my couch... watching rajasthan vs kkr and bloggin in my laptop munching cookies with tea.... oh well a pleasant day ... bday is all an excuse for my day off and chill out.. !!!!

சென்னை Chennai Super Kings !!!

Oh man ... this is fun..... jus 2 or 3 tamil dudes in the team but i still love the team Chennai Super kings in the IPL giving the toughest fight in every game they play... as Dhoni always never cares about the results.... A year back, i never thought this tournament will be a far from imagination super hit thing... thanks to ICL who were the primary boost factor.... I understand there is no much Chennai thing in this team apart from the owners... however, i love the team jus coz they represent my CITY.....




Its fun to see all the rivals in world T20 teams rub their shoulders each other and planning a strategy to turn down their own country men.. its all happening in the Indian Premier League.... I am trying best to spend my all evening with any IPL match happening .... but my fate, i am held up with work most of the times.... i seriously hate this...

Like any other average chennaite, i support CSK from my heart... however, my other preference in semi finals will be banglore, hyderabad and kolkota... well kolkota is now out of the tournament but every one else is strongly competing each other raising good funds for already rich BCCI.... Few of the (Indian) players impressed me this season so far are

Yusuf pathan - brimming with confidence and getting more n more consistent

Suresh Raina - A deadly attack from the top order... again a consistent one

Jakati - The goa jewel... A lovely spinner for this format .. unfortunately, not in world cup squad

Yusuf Abdullah - a consistent yorkerer but been belted harshly off late.. poor one

R Jadeja - Another young talent a totally worthy allrounder ... well suited for T20

Rohit Sharma - What is he ? When i think he is useless, he rises like a phoenix

Dhoni - Ofcourse getting clever every game



There were few let down factors too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Sehwag - not an impressive knock yet...further, a handicapped chap now

Laxman - better stick to tests dude

Uthappa - only in patches

Asnodkar - was a big fan of this tiny wonder last season but a total mess this time



Over all, i feel Indians are very well getting a good practice for the upcoming T20 World Cup and ofcourse, the favourites to win the title...

for now, am enjoying the crucial encounter between csk and kings XI punjab ... my team out ther belting out the bangra dudes so ruthlessly taking the total to 68/1 in 7.3 overs.. thanks for the rain for stopping the play so i can blog :)))

Read and Write !!!

Yesterday I happen to view my favourite show combined with my favorite topic. Its Neeya Nana, a talk show in Vijay TV and the topic is ‘Should the Tamil people know to read and write their Mother tongue (Tamil)’. The sense of Déjà vu always prevails whenever I think about this issue and there fore I have managed to sit and watch the whole 1.5 hours show.

There were 2 groups.. Obviously, one supports and others oppose. I was strongly with the group who supports the topic. I found this whole show useful and observed interesting extracts. Doesn’t matter if its tamil or hindi or telugu or any language… You have all rights to learn any language considering the communication needs involved in the era of globalization. However, there should be no way you can link these reasons to know your mother tongue to the extent of reading and writing. Learning to read and write your mother tongue is the pride factor and not make-money issue.

I found few of my friends feels posh if they say ‘I am a tamil dude but no clue to read and write… therz no point’… I jus feel pity on them…. Coz, the top countries in electronics like japan, china, korea etc… they all learnt the whole technology through their own language…. They din even know what is mean by electronics … I mean the term in english…. They can excel so well coz they can communicate and study the whole technology through their own language and that made them to understand things so clear which no other language can teach em….

The next basic problem of ‘why people don’t know to read and write tamil’ comes from their parents… I understand their concern on their kids to know English better to survive anywhere in the world… agreed… that doesn’t mean you should ignore the mother tongue… even kids choosing second lang. as hindi or French jus for the sake of getting good marks in high school… so kiddish… Learn any number of languages… that’s healthy… but don’t ignore your own language… thaz shame !!!

To be honest, I took hindi as second language from my Standard 9 (purposefully avoiding French as it was a non-indian language).. However, I studied Tamil from primary till 8th Std…. In my middle school, I managed to learn both hindi and tamil parallely… thanks to the school having made this mandatory and my parents encouraging me to learn both… However, in Tamil Nadu, I blame it mainly on the society which ignores Tamil … rather, they prefer other languages instead of Tamil for their kids… on top of it, scoring good marks in Tamil is most toughest thing… its coz the language got so many letters and complex grammer… Think of Iruketta ethir marai peyar echam… you go mad… I agree… but if u give me 2 situations where

I got good feed back when I did a marvelous (English) presentation in my work place that might lead to good rewards and

the other situation being my Japanese friend embarrassing me for not knowing to read and write my mother tongue and I can not spot any of their countrymen in that factor……
I feel the later one will impact me than the pleasant first situation….

The highlight of the show is the German dude who was there and spoke such a lovely tamil for his background was a stunning eye catcher…. When asked, what made you to learn this language… he answered in tamil, ‘See, I came to Chennai to preach Christianity but I was so fascinated by the language history and the heritage… that now made me to learn and am currently working on translating Thiruvasagam to German… The language has so much beauty and knowing mother tongue well is the only way you know your people well…’ I dunno, his words landed as sphere…

I am in mid 28 now.. I know many of the readers of the post are just parents or will be parents in near future as most of them being in my own age group… my request is that don’t let your mother language (not necessarily Tamil) become an extinct when it comes to reading and writing… lets set up a proper platform for the next generation so they wont complain us telling ‘my parents never encouraged me’… again, am not against any other language but the pride of knowing your mother tongue ‘well’ is immaculate….

D90 Rocks !!!

oh man... i couldnt believe my eyes.... i neva thought i will love my new camera that made me to get up at 5 to capture those serene lake side view of the Selator reservoir.... am slowly getting addicted myself more with photography and the learning curve was never sharper without my new worlds best Nikon D90..

For me, photography always comes with awesome power of imagination.... the passion to imagine... the patience to wait for the right mix of light and the scene...... a bit of technical knowledge with the equipment and the intrst to innovate..... you dont necessarily need an expensive camera to get the best pics.... a point shoot is still good enough....

I always refer to kenrockwell website for my photography/camera/accessory advices.... honestly, that is one big place where i got lots of theoretical knowledge on photography and handling the equipments.... here are some extracts that i learnt from kenrockwell, fellow photographers and my own experience...

never expect a perfect picture in your first shot..... for me atleast.... some times, i wait wait wait and click atleast 10-12 snaps to get a single perfect one (atleast to convince myself) the following one is the example

This is quiet contrary to my attitude... try not to be embarassed if u wanna snap thing that u come across all on a sudden... i always feel reluctant... some how all on a sudden i strike with an idea when i was checking my frnds nikon d40... i thought for 5 secs... decided in 2 secs... and clicked this snap in next 30 secs time....

Some of the snaps might look best when you further edit it.... i am not with the idea of tampering with ones true image... however, jus to unleash the innovation i try out few like these...

If you got a photo link or orkut gallery, dont upload all the pics you have taken... try and sort out only the best ...also, try and keep the pics as unique as possible... repetitive pics sometime makes the surfers boring thing.... if you don get any pics that convince you dont upload any... wait for the moment... some times u get only 1 or 2 out of 100 that really satisfies you.... and that will boost your confidence when you go for a shoot next time....

Try and find an appropriate caption for your pics... be it a description of the place, a poetic line, a humorous pick ... anything that strikes ya mind.... this will create the intrst with the viewers.... after all, photography is primarily for others to see and ofcourse, for you to cherish....

I have collected all the special clicks of mine in my orkut photo space.. you can search for my id aravindhindia@gmail.com and add me as a friend before you can see....or u can try clicking this link.. http://www.orkut.com/Main#AlbumList.aspx?uid=5890502207803063523 am not sure if this works... :)

Neva been ...

Neva been so much work

Neva been so much sports

Neva been so much excitement...

Am all busy last few weeks since my come back to Singapore... The life dramatically turned just opposite.... The new client am in are so demanding... (kadaseela ennayum vela seyya vachitaanga)... lead to challenge my time management ability.... very much unwillingly, my wife is the ultimate sufferer as i never stay home most of the time....

Luckily, i got this cricket and badmitton goin on in parallel... picks the (work work) stress off from me.... adding to the flavour was the worst flu i ever had in my life.... it sticked to me for a complete one week and the whole life was busy, painful, exciting, adventorous bla bla all on a sudden....

In between, my passion for photography and badmitton is increasing exponentially ... together am confused as am getting all good things at one time and no clue of how to manage to the best....

uhhh... am still confused... what did i intend to write on this post???

Titanium Duck !!!

Off late, I started to get myself involved in sports. I started to form friends network in Orkut as I don’t know much sports enthusiasts in Singapore (specially Indians, specifically Tamils). I am the one who bashed Orkut long ago for its n number of cons and later I myself reopened the account for its n number advantages. (vidungappa !!! arasiyala ithelaaam saatharanam) We started playing weekend cricket and I got another bunch of friends who taught me playing badmitton and now am more than enjoying the game we play atleast 3-4 evenings during weekdays. Primary reason being to get myself in to some sort of activity and to deviate myself from work stress I am enjoying ; ) (nambara maari ilayo)

What does the above paragraph got to do with my post title ?

We formed a cricket intrst group through Orkut and successfully playing for continuous 4 weekends. Last weekend has become more terrible. It was a 10 over match and we fielded first. I was fielding all 10 overs with out getting chance to bowl. However, I managed to get in as opener in the non strikers end when our turn came to bat. The pathetic part is as follows.

The striker in the other end played his first ball defensively and gave a start up for a single. I was all excited and sprinted to the other (even though it’s a danger end). The batsman coolly came to half way and went back with out even caring my situation. Gone ….. Completely gone….. I have no chance to get back. I know its not a big deal for any one (even myself) but the whole day, I was so angry on myself (ofcourse even with the other dude who contributed a lot in my dismissal) I am not sure why mind is so occupied with this few hours weekend game. May be as I like it so much.

Today I was following the India Vs. NZland Test cricket of Day 1 through internet commentary in Cricinfo.com and the following comment caught my attention

72.3: Patel to O'Brien, FOUR, one more paragraph for the blog, Munaf delivers from wide of the crease and angles it inwards, he gets a thick leading edge which beats the massive gap between slip and gully

I know Ian O’Brien is a blogger. Infact, I sometimes read his blogs too. Cricinfo guys publishes his blog in their own website. But, the ironic fact is that they pick the micky out of OB almost every time when he comes to bat or bowl.

I noticed more similarities with myself here. OB is suffering this in international lever. I am suffering on local level. Other wise even I am treated the same way. When I get back home after Cricket/Badmitton and tell my wife on how I played, her immediate response will be ‘So you got stuffs to blog tonight ?’. Ironically, those who criticizing me are the regular followers. Pathetically, I am still not sure how to react when they pick S**t outa me about my blogging ;-)

The new Click Machine !!!

Even though i cherish the golden moments with my Sony H50 which i got few months ago, i was fascinated by the quality of Nikon D seires. My friends in Kualalampur recomended this new machine for any photo snapping freaks. I was quiet disappointed for not going for the best option and there came the relief.


My brother was in need of a good camera and there you go. All the excuses i need to get rid off the Sony one. Today morning i visited the IT Sales show in Singapore Convention Center and i presume i got one of the lovely package deal. Here is what i got today for a total price of 2100 SGD.

• Nikon D90 Body (DSLR)
• Zoom lens - 18 -105 mm
• UV 67mm filter lens
• Tripod
• Big carry bag for camera
• 8 + 4 GB memory card
• Extra Battery
• Screen protector
• External Flash SB 600
• Lens cleaning kit

It was sure a good deal i guess. I just arrived home right after the purchase and obviously, my wife got every reason to bang me with the same tripod i got home. She was quiet happy since my PSP was stolen in Malaysia as i can spare time for some house hold work and now this new enemy (Nikon) entered home.

My first photographical click in Nikon: Further edited using Picassa

I slowly forming a photo interest group in Singapore and we plan to visit few places at wierd Maniratnam timings (at dawns) in upcoming weekends. Meanwhile am trying to learn the features in new camera and work on the ways to improve the art of clicking.

Too Doggish !!!

I recently watched Slumdog Millionaire in a cinema near by. The theme is good, the screenplay is excellent although this reminds lots of popular Hollywood movies. A R Rehman’s talent might be new to Hollywood but for India, specially for Tamil Cinema, his work is just average in SDM. As most of you know, I am a big fan of ARR and I listened most amazing tunes of him than SDM. However, he still did good work to put himself in the limelight in the world stage.



Now coming to the actual instincts. Though I liked the movie in terms of movie making, I will never bother to watch this again for projecting India as 3rd world to the International Audience. I accept the fact that there are places in India as shown in the movie but I bet there are millions of other places makes you drop your jaws. This applies to Indians themselves as many are not aware of abundant sizzling nature in the country and certainly no doubt. If you still not convinced, watch Maniratnam movies and you will be amazed looking most of his songs and coverages where inside India.

I understand this movie requires a backdrop where the protagonist suffered most of his life in search of life but need not be so disgusting… specially scenes where the kid jumps in shit.. and lot more… I feel so devastated seeing such scenes… Again, they all are ok from the Hollywood point of view but after watching this movie any non-indian will be on the intention that ‘I will never go to this country’… May be I would have liked if this movie taken in any other country.. coz, from my opinion there are lot many places in the world where the director can go for more shitty scenes than he adopted in India.

The Direction is good, music was amazing, Cool screen play, catchy story, the film crew did a spectacular job for the pay they got. The end product is mind blowing but not suitable-to-watch for an Indian who likes his Mother land. I am not trying to show up being most patriotic citizen living abroad but I just cant take this as its not exactly the fact. I can, for one time, agree with Amitab bachan for his remarks about this movie.

அகம் பிரம்மாஸ்மி !!!

மசாலாக்கள், குத்து பாட்டுகள், அதிரடி சண்டைகள் என்று வலம் வந்து கொண்டிருந்த தமிழ் சினிமாவிற்கு இது போன்ற படங்கள் ஒரு வரப்பிரசாதம். நான் குறிபிடுவது சமீபமாக வெளி வந்த 'நான் கடவுள்' தான்.



படம் பார்த்து விட்டு வீடு வந்த நான் இது ஏன் இவளவு மிகை படுத்த பட்டுள்ளது என்று நினைத்து, அடுத்த நாலு நாட்கள் தூங்க முடியாததை உணர்ந்தேன். காரணம், மனதை பிழிந்த யதார்த்தமான சம்பவங்கள் மற்றும் அதை சித்தரிக்கப்பட்ட விதம். பாலா கண்டிப்பாக தமிழ் திரை உலகை அடுத்த நிலைக்கு துரிதமாகவும் லாவகமாகவும் எடுத்து சென்று விட்டார்.


கல்லூரி, காதல், சண்டை, அரசியல், அடாவடி இது தான் வாழ்க்கை என்று நினைத்து கொண்டுஇருந்தவர்களுக்கு அகோரி எனப்படும் சாதுக்கள் மற்றும் குண்டர்கள் பிடியில் சிக்கி தவிக்கும் பிசைகாரர்களையும், துல்லியமான திரை கதையுடன் நம் கண் முன்னே கொண்டு வந்துள்ளார் பாலா. ஆர்யா அகோரியாக திரையில் வலம் (வாழ்ந்து) வந்தாலும் அவர் தேவைக்கு அதிகமாகவே சிரமபட்டிருகிறார் அல்லது அவர் சிரமபட்டிருபதற்கு ஏற்ப இன்னும் கட்சிகளை வைத்திருக்கலாம் என்று தான் சொல்ல வேண்டும்.


பிட்சை காரர்களாக நடித்தவர்கள் தான் படும் கஷ்டங்களையும் தாண்டி அவர்கள் செய்யும் நய்யான்டிகளும் குறும்புகளும் சிரிப்பை வர வைப்பதோடு கண்களில் நீரையும் எட்டி பார்க்க செய்கிறது. இன்று பெரிய நடிகர்கள் என்று சொல்லி கொண்டு அலையும் பல டாப் ஸ்டார்கள் இவர்களிடம் யதார்த்தமாக நடிப்பது எப்படி என்று பிட்சை எடுக்க வேண்டும்.


பூஜா அபாரமான நடிப்பு இல்லை என்றாலும் கொடுத்த வேலையயை கட்சிதமாக செய்திருக்கிறார். சீ சீ என்ன வேடம் இது என்று பந்தா பண்ணிகொண்டிருக்கும் நடிகைகளுக்கு மத்தியில் இதை சவாலாக ஏற்று முயற்சித்ததில் பூஜாவிற்கு எனது வாழ்த்துக்கள். பாடல்கள் மனதில் நிற்க வில்லை என்றாலும் பின்னணி இசை பிரமாதம். இளையராஜா எதிர்பார்புகளை நிரப்பி இருக்கிறார்.


எவ்வளவு சிறப்பான படமாக இருப்பினும் படத்தில் உள்ள அதிக கோர கட்சிகளாலும் , மனதை பாதிக்கும் சம்பவங்கள் இருப்பதாலும் நான் ஒரு பொழுதும் இதை இளகிய மனம் கொண்டவர்களுக்கும், பெண்களுக்கும், குழந்தைகளுக்கும் கண்டிப்பாக பரிந்துரை செய்ய மாட்டேன்.


அன்றாடம் சந்திக்கும் பிட்சை காரர்களை அலட்சிய படுத்தி அவசர உலகில் அலை பாய்ந்து கொண்டிருபவர்கள் இனி அவர்கள் பார்க்கும் பிட்சை காரருக்கு ஒரு ருபாய் போட்டாலும் படம் வெற்றி என்று தான் அர்த்தம்.



'நான் கடவுள்', செதுக்கப்பட்ட யதார்த்தம்
இருட்டு உலகின் அப்பட்ட வெளிச்சம்

பாலா வின் துணிச்சலான முயற்சிகள் தொடர, தமிழ் திரை உலகம் உயர என்றும் வாழ்த்தும்



- தமிழ் திரை ரசிகன்

Cheapest path Algorithm (KL-SG-KL):

Last weekend was quiet exciting for me as I had an unplanned trip from Kualalampur to Singapore. I normally take weekend fly back but last weekend I haven’t planned (don’t think I anticipated work … just for reasons). The trip was exciting for two factors being my primary objective. The fastest way to reach Singapore with as much less cost. Here is the cheapest and quickest path on road to Singapore.

I got to Pudu raya bus terminal in KL which is conveniently located inside the city. Even before I enter I see people shouting Johor Bahru which is the last city located close to Singapore. Most of the standard buses charges 31 MYR (Malaysian Ringgits) from KL to JB which is reasonable looking at the high tech bus model. You can get nonstop buses going to JB in less than 3.5 hours but unfortunately I got in to the bus which made 45 mins halt on the way.

The bus travel was quiet pleasing traveling in array of mountains and greeny plantations all the way. With PSP in my bag, I cant ask for more for a pleasant journey. Reached JB for the first time and it resembled more of a KL atmosphere. I quickly got down and looked for the local bus that can take to me to border check point. Bus no. 170 is quiet frequent (every 15 mins) and you can use your EZ link card (this is a travel card used in Singapore local transport). The charge is some where around 1SGD or 1.5 MYR. It takes around 10 mins to reach the check point.

Got off from the bus at the border check point and quickly walked my way to Emmigration clearance from Malaysia and again got the same bus on the other end of the building. Another 3 mins travel to Singapore Immigration check point. Again quick check in as the facility is quiet good to accommodate any number of people. Then I got in to Local bus no. 950 that goes to Woodlands MRT (Local train) station.

I am quiet lucky as my house is quiet close to Woodlands. It took only 10 mins train travel to reach Yishun and am home. I used the same method to get back to KL two days later and the total expense of my trip haven’t crossed 30 SGD (around 1000 Rs.).

I then thought I can publish a post on this which might help out ppl visiting Singapore or Malaysia and want to travel cheap to either locations. However, you gotto have the Visa for the respective locations on hand before you go (Obviously)

Fully Salted !!!

The breeze of riot dashed us with courage. The ever hot and humid Singapore now carried a lot of MOISTURE IN THE AIR.

Naturally, we were overwhelmed.

Signifcantly, thrilled and

unwillingly, we thought of it.

‘Are you sure ?’, I asked my mate with astonishment. ‘Yes, I am’, he replied with full grace. ‘I thought you wouldn’t like it’, I continued. ‘May be, but I gotto give a go. I cant stay untouched for ever and this is the right time’, he brimmed with confidence. ‘Ok, dude lets go then but don’t change your mind once we are in as am damn curious too’

The conversation is over and we headed to the office area to rent the boat for our first kayaking experience in the open sea. My mate, who never entered any water surface with more than 6 feet depth was equally curious as me to get cracking in with his first water adventure. I had my eye on the water scooter but even am thrilled to get this kayaking experience. We (4 of us) been to Pasir Ris beach (Singapore) for a change in weekend schedules without any plans of adventure but as always ended up with dynamic plans.

The price is 14$ per hour and that sounded reasonably fair to us anticipating great fun. We got this huge double seater boat with paddles to row in to the sea. We din had the swim costumes and gotto comprise ourselves with the tshirt and pant that we were wearing. We cracked in to the sea and it was quiet a pleasant feeling to see ourselved floating in the salty surrounding.

‘Man its fun’,my friend shouted with all smiles. ‘Yeah, be carefull’, I slowly realized the situation. ‘Damn, I missed this for long time.. its fun man’, he cant shut up. We gracefully paddled up for a while here and there for 20 mins odd. Then we started enjoying the ride and felt like king of the sea. We started going towards the middle and some butterflies-in-stomach feeling started prevailing on me. We were fine as long as we sail against or along with the tide. The moment we started rowing parallel to the tides, we felt the intensity of the thrill.

The boat started wobbling and we more concentrated to balance and stay floating.. Our existence is as good as Mathew hayden’s current form. We soon perished jus like sehwag got bowled of Yorker trying to clear the boundary. The boat toppled and there we tasting the salted water from nose to throat.. We both were panic initially but I thought its ok as we got life jackets on. However, my friend totally shocked and started screaming for his life. As we both were in one side of the boat, we are unable hold it for support as the boat kept rolling like devotees doing ‘anga prathatchanam’ surrounding the ‘praharam’.

I normally don’t take up the responsblty in fail safe procedures.. but this time I calmly swimmed to the other side of the boat to stop this rolling spree. The boat stopped rolling, we started to feel secure and my mate realized the life jacket helps him to float. Then slowly we moved towards the shore and felt better at the end.

Few funny points we realized later

- When we fell down from the boat, my friend was screaming for help. The other mates in the sea thought we are just playing and we are asking them to take pics. So they came forward and took few pics (think whatz running inside my mate’s mind)

- The lifeguards there din give a damn when my mate cried for help but cruised in like a james bond wen they saw one of the paddles is floating in the middle. I like the humanity

- Ofcourse, the whole audience in the shore had a free comedy show… not even vadivelu and vivek can better us… not even bagyaraj can frame a better screenplay…

Rashtra Basha

This afternoon I was heading to lunch with my regular group of dudes working with me in the client’s office. One of em, an Andhraite found me conversing in Hindi to my other colleague and asked in astonishment ‘You speak Hind ???’ … I smiled with grace (like Roger Federer) ‘Yes’… he replied instantly 'I know you are from south … you are not from Andra… are u from Kerala ? … I stopped the smile after 12 secs until than and said ‘I am Chennaite’.. He gave a look as if India announced war against Pakistan… ‘Strange man… I got few of Chennai friends and they have it as a policy of not learning Hindi at any cost’



This is actually not an uncommon scenario…. I heard many times and gave same diplomatic smile with out knowing how exactly should I react… In my opinion, any person in the world should be well aware of their national language… I would consider it as shame if you cant speak your national language… no matter how good you are with your contry’s politics knowledge…. But I wont blame the younger generation in Tamil Nadu for that… It’s the ridiculous society they are brought up….

For some reason, the Tamils generally don’t like to include Hindi in their life other than watching bollywood movies… infact the pathetic percentage of hindi acknowledging public exists in Chennai only due to Sharukh khans and Aamir khans…

I should be thankful to my parents who encouraged me to learn hindi during my school days itself… I even written few exams like prathmic, mathyama and all… this really helped me to survive well and win friends anywhere in India…. However, I can not accept these vote bank oriented politicians banning hindi for their personal benefits…

On lighter side, my friends in chennai felt knowing hindi is as posh as knowing American English to show off with other girls (specially north Indians) and for that sake they are ready to watch any boring hindi movie to learn the language… ofcourse if they are accompanied by girls (preferably non-north Indians) hahaha In many movies I watched the funny scenes were a Delhi guy can converse to Pakistani in hindi… Chennaite can converse to Srilankan in Tamil but too pathetic to see a Delhite and Chennaite can converse only in English… You can notice how practical is this if you happen to live overseas…

In my honest opinion, I suggest any one to learn the national language and avoid the embarrassing incidents which sometimes classifies tamils as racists due to this lone factor… I am certainly not against being a Tamil as am really proud of being it…. Just that to show the unity in us to the outer world through one common language that we can share…. Also, enjoy bollywood movies along with the mighty Kollywood/Tollywood : )

End note : 2008

As reaching the end of 2008,
Lets pray for no more fight

Though the economic crisis was a big pain,
Lets join to eradicate the crisis rain in 2009

Jingles all the way last week and
New resolutions this week,
Lets make it strong and healthy for the benefit of the HUMANITY

Technically, Year++
Eventually, the world is getting older
Lets fight the pollution to keep the world younger and younger

May it be Spiderman 3 or Terminator 3,
Always be healthy to balance your time and
keep the entertainment slot for free

Do not Drink and drive or Smoke and fly ,
Just keep yourself fit for more New years to come

Be it Grand Canyon or a Local attraction,
Unleash the traveler in you

To enjoy the life with its well deserved fun

One more Deepavali,
One more Christmas,
One more Id,
All awaits For us
To spread the never ending harmony

Easier said than done,
Lets hope this 2009 is a bliss
and retains the joy in us
For ever and ever.

Wishing you a Very Happy New Year 2009 to all the kind/patient hearts reading my posts :)

Note:

Actions speaks louder than words

Silence speaks better than a shout

I believe, personal words cares better than a (e) greeting card

So, please try and send handwritten letters/mails than a greeting card printed by an unknown person to convey your wishes to the one you love/care.

Trust me it works better :)

A 'Mr.Bean' in all

This is the embarrassing cluster of incidents I had when I first boarded a flight in my life and that too it’s an international flight.

From : Chennai To : London (Gatwick Airport)
Via : Dubai, Flight : Air Emirates

Scene 1:

I reached the airport in a rented quails car with 12/14 people (relatives) in the same and followed by another car load of friends. Adding to the already crowded atmosphere of the airport. However, I was completely excited and totally thrilled with a good mix of nervousness. The scene was a bit embarrassing attracting all the non-first-time-flight passengers offering them a memory of ther own when they boarded a flight first time in ther life.

Scene 2:

I entered the security gate way to international departure and I showed almost every document I had with me while the demand was only the passport and ticket.

Scene 3:

I treated the boarding pass issuing staff almost like a visa issuing officer and totally nervous to answer every single question they ask for.

Officer: Hi
Me : Hi, Good morning … Sorry, Good evening (Confused and nervous)
Officer : (Smiling) First timeaaa ?
Me : Yaa..hehehe… here is my passport, ticket, visa documents, offer letter
Officer : Wo Wo !!! i just need the passport and ticket... Ok your bags to check in ?
Me: (I had put all I got with me) do u want me to put my hand bag too
Officer : (Again with a humiliating smile) Its ok u can take back your hand bag
My take away cabin stuffs are Big leather coat, one more sweater, big bag with full of stuffs weighing 10 kg etc…
Officer: I guess you can not carry more than 8kg on your hand bag
Me: Hehehe…. Student sir.. first time sir…. I need all these sir … please sir….
Officer : (Once again smiles) ok ok …. Have a great flight
Me: Abba am luckiest in the world…hehehe

Scene 4:

I am about to leave and my mom & grand mom opened their tap from ther eyes and the embarrassment continues… hugs, kisses, advices etc…. I was more eager and worried about the rest of the formalities until I reach the destination than getting myself embarrassed…. I said ok for all and got detached finally to the emigration counter.

Scene 5:

Managed to get in to the boarding room after an obvious nervous interaction with Emmigration officer to register my exit from India. Now, who the hell are these people waiting outside boarding longue… wat the hell they are checking with all bags… I was so scared and prayed lord balaji to get my bag safely with out any problems during the scanning… and yes, my prayers are answered…. Again, a person checking my coat, pant, shirt everything …. Embarrassing, I was showing my passport, ticket, visa docs to the security person whose duty is just to check for any prohibited goods that I may carry….

Scene 6:

First time stepping in to a flight…. Prayed balaji again… and entered…. Very cold place and bloody hell (Tamil Nadu’s Thiruavalluvar transport buses are spacious than this flight) anyway that’s least of my concern….
Air hostess: Halo sir, may I help you
ME: Hi… Hehehehe… Am traveling for the first time… could you help me finding my seat….
AH: Your boarding pass please ?
ME: Here (once again I showed all docs)
AH: (jus taking out the small paper bit and had a look) over there sir (she pointed with well polished nails)

Scene 7:

Got my seat and window seat (ofcourse I got my boarding pass 3 hours in prior and askd for a window seat).. I kept(squeezed) the oversized hand bag in the top and retained my leather coat with me…The next 3 aisle seats were occupied by a couple with their 2 year old kid… and the man threw a shock, ‘Hi… can we take the window seat and you can take the aisle seat if you don’t mind as we have kid ‘… I don have a clue wat its in his mind (and vice versa)…. My mind voice talked ‘You #@#@#!@ I was waiting for window seat in a flight all my life to have a good look at the city during take off… what you think I am a regular flyer and looking for aisle seat for my comfort’…. But my actual voice said ‘Ya, sure… no problem’….. some body kill me….

Scene 8:

The flight was about to take off and I started my prayers again and beginning to get myself worried for unknown reason… mind voice->’come on … be a man’ The flight started and I jus curious looking out and praying parallely… I was astonished to see the flight moving so slowly… I thought It will move slowly then pick up the speed and fly…. Later realized the flight is being dragged by some other vehicle to run way… hell… I was too early and started praying… lemme restart… The take off happened finally and I tightened the seat belt as tight as I could….

Scene 9:

The airhostess distributed the menu card for the meals… then I called one of them after 10 mins and asked ‘Can I pick any number of these ? Do I have to pay any ?’ , she smiled and answered politely , ‘No sir, this isn’t restaurant style card… this holds the information on the list of items served in your meal and ofcourse you have paid for all these when you buy the ticket’… yet another embarrassing one … am sure the next seat chap heared and giggled…. When will I reach dubai ahhhhhhhh

Scene 10:

Reached dubai… Clueless on what to do next… first time I saw a lovely airport in my life…. Chennai is no way near… I almost asked 10 ppl for the transit gate to Gatwick flight and quiet surprised its more than 10 mins walk… huge airport man… once again I showed all docs to the security check person in the boarding longue….

Scene 11:

Reached London Gatwick airport and the reall pressure comes in here when I stood in the queue for the immigration… I know I got all docs but still I felt I need to use the restroom… nervousness you see…. The interaction was smooth and I walked out happily to the baggage claim which is the penultimate prayer …. I wonder how my luggage arrived so safely being a non living thing with no sense to think …. Why am I not in the luggage so that I cud have avoided all embarrassments and pain…

Scene 12:

I need to catch a transport to Southampton and the taxi fare is my dad’s month’s pay…. I took the help of a staff there who unbelievably helped me out to get in to a coach and guided me on my cheapest way to travel to Southampton… thank god… all my prayers answered and ofcoure with full of embarrassments…. Any one could never forget their first international flight journey… Phew !!!

I guess i can hand over this script to Mr. Bean for his next play... and ofcourse he cant make it more humorous than the actual incidents.

A quiet vacation

I guess this is the longest gap I have given between my posts in recent past. As most of you know, I was on leave for a week. No specific reason just told by my boss that I need to exhaust my leaves by this year or those will be of useless if don’t use it. I picked this whole from Dec. 1 to 5 and planned well to spend it very organized (when I say organized, It need not be a usefull one )

I started getting back to gym spree and I made full advantages of the hotel gyms in Malaysia where I am staying on the business trip. So, all days I managed to spend 2 hours odd in gym to get some health back. Swimming after is a bliss to the over heated body of mine. Then comes the KEY part of the day. Its Movie time. All the days I decided to watch one Hollywood movie a day and here you go.

Day Light Roberry : Nice one to start with…BGM is top class… good entertainment as the whole movie is all about clever bank roberry and so u will sure be entertained till the end… I would recommend any one

Journey to the Center of the Earth : Another good BGM movie… I really admired the dialogues as it had british style (addressing all with Mr./Mrs. And a well structured English) Adventure movie with a lovely cinematography… Another good entertainer

80 Minutes: A thriller. He got 80 minutes to return his debt or he dies with the poison in his body… All the troubles in the world hez facing in those 80 minutes… good time pass…at the end…

Witless protection : A total waste of time… supposed to be humourous and totally irritating… don even think…

Pursuit of happyness : The perfect movie I loved to watch when its raining outside and am sitting on the balcony feeling the freshness of the atmosphere…. All about a father who struggled to the core to get a chance to prove his talent and ability…. Will smith is sure a top class actor.. my favourite too

And that is all I have for you on my holiday updates… the weekend was exciting as I traveled back to Singapore as a formal visit that I do once every 2/3 weeks with out doing much… been to bowling with my only mate out there and managed to watch Quarrantine which is a total mental torture for 1.5 hours…. As a whole, it was a total gym and movie spree but totally gone down as I return to work today after good long leave…

Go Gadgeting !!!

I slowly getting gelled with the gadget world around me and this time its PSP… This is one freaky gadget I aimed since 3 years and now got the chance. I happened to visit with out any plans to Low yat plaza, one of the bargain shopping mall in Kualalampur. Like Sim lim square in Singapore like Ritchie street in Chennai….

However, I found the rates of the items relatively expensive compared to the Singapore. But I suddenly spotted a small shop selling the PSP and just enquired about it… He offered the latest PSP version for 1200 Ringgits which includes

- Cracked PSP set so that I can play any copied game
- 8 GB memory card with around 8 racing games (All NFS) and 4 combat games
- Carry case for PSP
- USB cable for data transfer
- Sony head phones

Totally fascinated by the features of the damn piece

- Play games in high quality graphics
- Watch movie (high quality display)
- Listen to songs
- Surf internet using Wifi
- Watch still images

I can able to use 5 hours nonstop to utilize complete battery power. However, no replacement warranty if I happen to drop the gadget accidentally… if its broken, its gone… Also, this can be connected to any TV for watching movies and can be connected to plasma/lcd tv for playing games with bigger screen with same high quality display…

I guess I am totally mad on this one playing my favourite NFS mostwanted at the moment and watching movies…. Now, I am lookin forward to travel any wer as am sure I wont be bored at all ;)

Note : Did I mentioned that the original intention for the shopping was to buy a touchscreen ipod for my wife for her bday but pathetically ended up with me gifted with this… ok la, compensate later ;)

Unreal Classic... Utter Crap !!!

I am not much fond of Gowtham Menon’s direction for his uniformed presentation in most of the movies. The slow screen play, narration by one of the characters, kinda maniratnam’s influence etc… At times I feel like watching Maniratnam’s movie… anyways am not a great fan of Mani either…. The only 2 movies impressed me of Gowtham is Kaaka Kaaka and Minnale… I guess music and the hero plays major part than the GM’s role as director.

Watched Varanam Aayiram recently in Singapore.. I had my expectations high as its from Surya and harris jeyaraj comes together again but neva thought it will be total disappointment…. The movie is supposed to tell the bonding between father and son but focused away in many places…



Positives:

Surya conquered all our minds with his variety with make up’s, action and roles…. He done justice to the role with all his hard work

Music was absolutely mesmerizing… am stilling murmering the song and tune all the time…

The 1980s back drop… done with perfection and Surya again matching the glamour.. Also, the cinematography involving Brooklyn bridge and songs… Awesome !!!

Negatives:

Not at all for B and C centr: GM thinks all the B and C centr audience should not watch his movies at all…. This is quiet obvious from the movie… is it a hollywood movie or tamil movie…. Not much of Tamil dialogues… thank god atleast Simran explains the title at the climax… crap !!!

The slow slow screen play: The romance scenes in the second half was way too boring… I felt many are not at all needed (the rescue show from military, the delhi fiasco etc..)

Logic: Suryas all from middle class family but mostly converse in English like a posh family … this is seriously not practical…. Father is not in good health, sister unmarried, family is suffering due to debts, son is just started to click in his financial situation but inspite of all that he gets Visa to USA and is ok to spend lakhs just to find and get back his love at first sight… see how practical this being… I don’t understand on what basis he expcts ppl to thnk this as a classic movie….

Suryas hard work: I think this also was over done for this movie…. Surya’s hefty physique is not at all needed just to show that he became major in the on going stage of his life and just because he got a good physique he needs to show it up with a military rescue operation… toooooo boring.. besides, the dad Surya is too much of a cool dude and always agrees with his son for what ever decision he takes… Son Surya being a middle class family guy, opts to go to Kashmir, Delhi for a change with out showing any way of how he got all the fundings for all his adventures…. Ayooooo !!!! I know Indian cinema shouldn’t be searched for logics… but this supposed to be classic rite.. soo do justify??

Simran did some justice I should say but at times I feel she never reacts enough to be a love lady or caring mother….

Theme: The director made too many love duets and love failure songs with more than 2 heroines but failed to give a thumping, heart touching melody for Father-Son touch which is supposed to be the theme of the movie…

Neutrals:

Divya and Sameera: Refreshing one to see them but again they just don’t lift or let down the movie… they just played their part meeting expectations.

As a whole, I felt 30% of the movie extremely good (Surya, Music, Screenplay in first half) and the rest 70% was close to crap (Screen play in second half, missing logics, mainly direction).. So decided that Gowtham Menon’s movie to be watched only if one doesn’t kno how to spend time or too bored with life to watch some movie or no other good movies released or get viewers review before watching….He should be happy i got so many options to see the movie still...

One line conclusion is ‘Thavamai Thavamirunthu was a great movie’, Thanks Gowtham Menon I just realized that after seeing Varanam Aayiram ;)

Clicking all the way

Quiet a huge gap again and ironically, was busy at work and finding way to manage my time effectively. Last weekend had a chance to visit the lovely theme park in kualalampur, Sunway lagoon. What interested me was the park was neat and well maintained with varieties of attractions inside. I was particularly fascinated by the well built surf beach, the interactive zoo, terrain bikes, kayaking, scream park, water rides etc...

Top of all, being a clicking crazy dude, i saw the advert outside on the photography contest poster sticked over there. The rules are straightforward, pictures to be taken should be inside the theme park premises and there you go... here are the set of pics that i submitted for the contest. Though, i kno am not all that great and getting the first prize was a far dream, am still excited to send the entries :)

Stay away !!! Even if you like me

Set me free : PLEASE

Rest --- is all i need:

Privacy please !!!

Lone Soldier

Do Not Disturb: Am thinking

Fist of Fury

Busy Pair

I clicked lot more but the above are the ones that interested me :)