Happeee new year

This blog has bcome a very dormant one in the last few months and needs lot of updating. Have lot of stuff to write about, my trip to Lisbon, my trip to India and other weekend activities in between... Until then... I wish you all a very happy new year...

Smiley Potatoes

I was in Lisbon for a long weekend and I went to Pizza Hut. This is what I found on their Menu. Fried Mushrooms, Garlic Bread and Smiley Potatoes. Look at them, they look so cute and perfect smiley. How can you eat them, when they smile at you like that..... :) Nevertheless, the beast that I am, I ate them with great pleasure...

Trip to Bessegen

Besseggen is a very popular destination for hikers in Norway. It is one of the mountians that belong to the Jothunheimen mountain range in central Norway. The hike takes approximately 6 hours w/o any stop and very steep in parts and more importantly very scenic and extremely beautiful. To read more about this trip, please click HERE to go to my travelog.
Photo album from besseggen trip

Preikestolen and Kjerag

Weekend trip to Preikestolen and Kjerag in August 2007. Read my travel blog.

Bharat ek Khoj

I dunno how many of you remember this by name. It was a popular Telly serial on Sunday afternoons during my middle school days. It was based on "Discovery of India" by Jawaharlal Nehru and directed by Shyam Benegal. I thought it had one of the best cast among the comtemporary telly serials. I used to love watching this series. I dunno if the theme song (Shristi se pehle ...) attacted me more to it or the historical story in each episode. Long time after during grad school days, a group of us friends were discussing about this serial and we all remembered the powerful opening and closing themes(hymns) from the Rig veda (Ancient Hindu scriptures) and how much of philosophical meaning was attached to it and how we desired to watch it again or atleast listen to the theme songs.
I don't know what prompted me to look for it today, but Google gave some search results with some videos and Mp3's of those themes and some explanations of the same. It really felt nice to listen to it and remember the old days, those lazy sundays in front of the telly with the whole family.

MP3 of Opening theme also on You tube and Mp3 of Closing theme : Courtesy of links and full test
Warning: Volume maybe a bit loud on the Mp3's.


I also found an interesting explanation to this hymn. It is really quite amazing reading through the whole of this suktha. some really deep philosophy about creation... It teaches how to question the unknowns. Quite interesting!

Weekend trip to Hemsedal

Another late blog... This is about the trip to hemsedal with some friends and colleagues. Hemsedal is a beautiful ski resort to the north of Oslo, roughly about 3-4 hours drive from Oslo. It has many ski slopes and some steep which makes it a very popular destination during winter. even in summer, this place is really beautiful and good for hiking, biking and kayaking. We did some hiking and also kayaking over the weekend and enjoyed the cabin experience with Sauna. All in all it was a nice trip to wind off from the busy week and the weeks before.
To read more about the trip, please go to my Travel blog

Photo Album

Funny prank

This very funny.. *LOL*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yaS28MHHZk

Trip to Brugge and Bruxelles

My 3 day trip to Brugge or Bruges and Brussels in Belgium. It started off with flight to Paris, Thalys fast train (cousin of TGV) to Brussels and a local train to Bruges. Bruges has this beautiful small city feeling to it and its canals and the lovely buildings and oh. not to mention the Beer, chocolates, Belgian Waffles, Fries with Mayo or many different vareities of sauce and yummy food. The famous Bruge dish is Mussels and Fries :). One of the artistic attraction was the sculpture 'Madonna and the child' by the genius Michael Angelo and artifact of religious interest was the vial carrying blood drops supposedly of Jesus Christ.
Brussels, the capital of EU, was also equally impressive. All its old buildings gave a sense of history amidst all the modern new buildings and constructions. Star attraction was Grand place, central market square which feauturs the city hall and also the statue of Manekin Pis just around the corner from here.

All in all it was a nice weekend to spend exploring new cities, drinking lots of belgian beer, eating belgian chocolates, waffles and frites. :)

To read more about the trip, please visit my Travel blog

Photo album

Trip to Germany

I ve always wanted to go visit Germany, go see the Berlin wall... and finally I did that this Easter.. Well just 6 months late in blogging about it.. been too lazy to blog.. :) I went to Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Heidelburg. A week full of walking, doing touristy things... Well you got the picture..

This is the picture I liked the most.. The broken chapel with the dome destroyed in the bombing during WWII in the backdrop of the modern Sculpture.. That paints the picture of Modern Berlin.. A buzzing city with so much of good and bad history behind it..

THE WALL that once divided the West and East berlin.. THE WALL that fell in 1990 unifying the FRG and GDR into one unified Germany.

Please go to my Travel blog for the complete Travelogue...

PHOTOS from the Trip

Doh... Eat my shorts... !

Hehe.. I am so thrilled.. I am going to watch Simpsons today and I can't wait till evening.. Hope its not 4 episodes in one movie and story long enough for 2 hours... I would watch it anyways... cos its Simpsons...

What can I say?? It was fantastic... I enjoyed every bit of the movie from the titles to the end credits. It is a must watch movie... Highly recommended if you like Simpsons..

Fed Ex rolls on....

What an amazing game it turned out to be! The world best battled it out for the best grass court tennis torunament and the best player wins... It was just great to see both Federer and Nadal playing a superior level of tennis, reminding of some of the previous duals between Ivanisevic and rafter or Edberg and Becker. Finally Federer proved a bit tougher for Nadal with his big and precision serves.
He also equalled Borg's record of 5 wimbledon's in a row. Ironically it was Federer who beat Pete Sampras in 2001, when Sampras was going for his straight 5th Wimbledon championship. This time around Federer got a walk-over in the 4th round. Maybe this is an indication of several great things to come from this amazing player.
Also watch out Nadal... He has just lifted his game in the last year or so... apart from the titles, there is very little that seperates these two guys who are playing their best tennis.. or maybe their best is yet to come... :)

Goooooalllll.... gol..gol...gol..gol..gol... Messi..messi..gol..gol...

Finally the much talked about boy wonder delivers in fashion.. the world was expecting something of this sort from Argentine 'Lionel Messi' who now plays for Barcelona F.C, to deliver a Special goal during 2006 Worldcup.. Just a bit late, but he did it in style by treating all the football fans by doing a Maradona... His goal for Barca against Getafe brought back the memories of the Goal of the previous century by Diego Armando Maradona against Peter Shilton's England in 1986 wordcup in Mexico... This solo run by him beating four oppnonents and the goal keeper to the net the ball in.. its just superb.. Watch it in action.. No wonder hes going to be a future superstar or maybe already a superstar!!!...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSBAMIkigUE

Fantastic Sunset(s)

Sunsets are always a treat, especially when you are on a boat away from the shore and all you see is the infinite stretches of waterbody... and those beautiful full moon nights with moon light reflecting off the water.. I am jus lovin it! Some of my pics which came out very well.. Enjoy!


Sky on Fire...
Sun just vanishing beyond the Hoziron... leaving back quite an impression!
Delightful Contrast of Colors...

In search of Aurora

Aurora Borealis, other wise called Northern Lights is supposedly a Celestial Phenomenon which can be observed in places above the Arctic Circle on a Clear night. To read more about Aurora go here. One of the places where it can be viewed best is North of Norway. So we decided to go to Tromso, a city in the North of Norway which is located 70 Deg. North of Arctic Circle, aslo called gateway to the Arctic. When you hear Arctic Circle, you already feel the cold as if you are going to be shut in a Freezer or in a Eskimo Igloo. Well to a large extent, it was like that. Temperatures around -5 and -10 Deg. C and even colder in the night with chill winds.

Few of us friends from work decided to go here to try our luck to view the Aurora. First factor was the Solar activity which cannot be predicted much in advance and second is weather, which stood against us. But we took out chances with a forecast of not so clear skies and cloudy weather with some snow fall and medium Solar activity. Unfortunately when it cleared out, Solar activity was at its low and we could not see the Aurora even after staying in tromso for 4 nights. We did get to see some of the Arctic Museums, a Cool Arctic Cathedral and also did Dog Sledging on a Very Cold Snowy night(padded up with a warm suit to survive the Cold Outdoors :) and finished off with Dinner and Coffee in a Sami(Original inhabitants of the Arctic region, Sort of tribes) Hut. It was a cool(literally) trip all in all, but due to our bad luck we couldnt see the Aurora. Oh.. well.. maybe next time...

Photos from the trip to Tromso

Ave Caesar!

They say All roads lead to Rome. So just take any road and it should lead you to Rome eventually. Thats exactly what I did. I flew from Oslo to Milano and took the path to Rome through the beautiful cities of Florence and Pisa, famous for its renaissance art and home to several great artists Leonardo Da vinci, Michel Angelo, Donatello, Raphael(Reminds me of the Four Mutant Ninja Turtles ;-),Ghirlandiao and several others... As I explored more on why they made that statement, I found out that wherever Romans invaded and occupied(Brittany or Gaul or Spagna) they put up a Mile marker along the path specifying exactly the distance between that point in the occupied territory to a specific point in Rome called 'Milarium Aerium' which was supposedly the Center point of Rome in those days, located inside the Roman Forum(only ruins remain now). All roads were considered to start from this Milarium. So the reverse must also be true. Q.E.D (Hence Proved!) ...
Ave caesar! Morituri te salutamus - Hail Caesar! We who are about to die salute you. (gladiators before the fight) ... Kill...Kill..Kill...
This fervent chant seemed to resonate through the building in space and time in this Colossal Colosseo in Rome. In the Movie Gladiator, Juba says to fellow gladiator Maximus(played by Russel Crowe): "Did you ever see anything like that before? I didn't know man could build such things". It was so true and that showed the power and richness of the Roman Civilization hundreds of years ago. I don't support the reason for such a cause to kill and play with lives of men and animals just for entertainment, but just the architectural beauty of the whole building itself is a wonder. It is well planned with wide stairs and can seat easily around 50,000 people and whole concept of elevator to being men one level up to fight in the arena has been well thought of, many centuries ago. It apparently had 52 gates so people can be seated in their seats in just 5 minutes after entering the Colosseo. Now all that remains is just the ruins of a great Roman empire which once ruled much of Europe and some parts of Africa and Asia. Marching along the different streets or 'Viale' of Rome, chances are that you will come across a historical monument every 100 metres. Such is the beauty of that city and its just a view to watch a technologically advanced fast car zipping through a road with the Roman ruins and Colosseo in the background. Its purely a city of Wonder. You need a lifetime to truly explore and understand the history of this magnificient city. Remember "Rome was not built in a day". Being and there and done that, makes me feel very happy now.

To read the whole blog about my Italy Tour, Please read my Travel Blog and also individual blogs. For Photos check out my photo album

1. Milano Blog - Milano Photos
2. Firenze Blog - Firenze & Pisa Photos
3. Rome Blog - Rome Photos

**Not all links are active as of now. So please check back later.

Scarlet red Prancing Horses !!!

What better way to follow up one beast with another one... I mean a Concorde followed by none other couple of Scarlet red Prancing Horses! I saw a couple of Ferraris when I was touring Italy in Rome. The Home of Ferrari... What a beauty! Enjoy....
This F1 car was sighted in a Ferrari Store on 'Via Tomacelli' in Rome. The store was closed and I couldn't go inside. What a tragedy! They had lots of Ferrari Accessories for Ferrari Fans and naturally looked very expensive from Outside.


The sporty scarlet red car was the beautiful V12 Ferari Enzo(named after Enzo Ferrari) sighted near Piazza Del Popolo in the Center of Rome.

P.S: For Serious Ferrari Fans - Please forgive me if I am wrong with the Ferrari Model or the Technical Details.

Piece of History!

Little bit of Aviation History here.. The last of the Concorde Fleets which has been exihibited at Aeroport de Charles De Gaulle in Roissy in Paris. Doesn't it look awesome? Cant imagine this has a beast of an engine and the only Commercial Supersonic aircraft in the history of Humankind.. Quite a view! Sad indeed that this has to be sitting like this instead of flying like a Monster at supersonic speeds..

So much to write about..

Back home after almost one year and vacationing with parents, met old friends and made new friends, relaxing at home.. Its seems like Bliss to just laze around and sleep in the comforts of home with someone to make your coffee and meals.. :) .. Well... got a lot to write, but need a faster connection for that.. So Keep staring at this blog for a longtime and one day some posts with lots of Pics will appear.. :-)

Another Yoohoo.. Bought my first Ski set

I finally bought my first new pair Cross Country Ski Set for a very good price. Now I need to figure out how to put them to good use. I have never skiied before and its going to be a very interesting project for this loong winter weekends. :) . and thats something I am looking forward to right now apart from the Idlis and Dosas I am going to eat for the next 3 weeks, back in Good Ol' Madras..

Yoo..Hoo... Going Home finally!

Finally going home after almost an year in Norway..
I feel good.. So good.. So good.. well.. u get the drift.. :)