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October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
stuff
Hindsight
-Guy Kawasaki
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown
is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
-Bertrand Russell
Wear sunscreen
-Mary Schmich
Man was given an imagination to compensate for what he isn't;
a sense of humour to console him for what he is.
- Francis Bacon
Leisure
-W.H. Davies
Not all those that wander are lost.
-J.R.R. Tolkein
Life is a tragedy for those who feel,
and a comedy for those who think.
-Jean de La Bruyère
The average person thinks he isn't.
-Father Larry Lorenzoni
Computers are useless.
They can only give you answers.
-Pablo Picasso
Become who you are.
-Nietzshe
Your future depends on many things, but mostly on you.
-Frank Tyger
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
-Anon
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muse
Having some time to kill before meeting a friend for the evening, I stepped into a Reliance Webworld to peek at their cybercafe. Bought a 50 buck membership and used it to get online - and posted this. Great convenience, speed and ambience - clean, bright and airy (albeit a little noisy from the gamers) unlike typical cybercafes with half-broken computers.
They've done some interesting work around how they price and charge for their services and seem to have opened up the market to a whole new set of Internet/net gamers.
IMHO Reliance is going to be the single largest change agent with bringing the holy grail of "affordable computing" to India. And they'll make money on it. It's going to be interesting once they figure how they create offerings outside the cities... I know I wouldn't want to be competing with them!
4:52 AM
Sunday, May 30, 2004
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Lightning quick visit into Bangalore - in at 6:30pm on Wednesday, and out at 8:30am on Thursday. My mom's pretty amused that people can explain dinner meetings in Bangalore on expense claims. Truth be told, so am I :)
10:18 AM
Thursday, May 27, 2004
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 A big milestone around our company's campus in Hyderabad had us at the construction site wearing helmets and traipsing around the concrete shell on makeshift staircases. Interesting evening (included a beer guzzling contest) followed by a tame round of drinks at Cinnabar Redd - even if some of them were poured directly down gullets!
11:14 AM
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
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no longer chewinggumlessland
Years of mind numbing allegiance to Singapore Airlines, many dozens of flights and yet I can count on one hand the number of times I've been given free upgrades. The first time I decide to fly United Airlines after a five year break and bingo, I found myself upgraded for half my journey back! Unfortunately, Singapore Airlines still remains a much more compelling experience – better seats (almost flatten out even in business class), better service, and absolutely fantastic video content available via video on demand. None of United’s grumpy service or their token concession to video on demand in first class – mini video cassettes that you really have to rewind before ejecting!
Flying Indian Airlines from Bangkok to Hyderabad reminded me of a colleague's experience with them – they were offered an extra glass of orange juice each for being good, well behaved boys :). Today, I was eating breakfast, holding a newspaper in my hand, and peering out of the window when the newspaper was snatched out of my hand with a "your food will get cold and it won’t be nice anymore" from a very pleasant, but very maternal sounding air hostess!
Newspaper had a little blurb about chewing gum being legal in Singapore again – even if buyers have to register themselves! The times are changing… :)
10:17 AM
Sunday, May 23, 2004
...
 I've often suspected my parents seriously considered disowning me when they had described to them the more adventurous kinds of food I'd been trying on my travel across Asia. Sushi and sashimi now seem tame in comparison!
The more memorable culinary adventures probably include
Balut : eggs, with half developed duck embryo's inside - a Filipino delicacy. Yes, you typically are very, very drunk by the time you try this!
Snake : Typically, very fresh. The nice places often allow you and your dinner to get acquainted before cooking it.
Live octopus : in Korea. The santitised version is the bowl full of freshly chopped octopus legs that are still wiggling like crazy. The more adventurous can try whole octopus - live - but one must chew well else... "They attempt to resist, with suckers sticking to your lips, your teeth, your gums ... and then squirm all the way down and up to an hour thereafter..."
Snake blood : Need I say more?
Duck tongues. Yes. You can get a bowl full of them in China... and it's not even considered exotic!
I could keep going for a while, but seeing that look on your face, it's probably wise to pause here. Met up with some old colleagues over dinner at a cozy little Japanese joint, with a delightfully tacky, but cute spin on the typical Japanese watercolours one gets to see! Very cute :)
4:55 AM
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
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Played my first hand of poker over beer in the evening and came out $80 ahead! Beginners luck was gods gift to people like me :)
2:10 AM
Thursday, May 13, 2004
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 Hindu themed tshirts at Bangkok's famous weekend market at Chatuchak. You can find everything from TV's and cheap electronics to animals, handicrafts and exotic food amongst the 15,000+ stalls here. And no, the unusually ecstatic mannequin to the side wasn't modelling a "holy tshirt" :).
I've gotta wake up at 4:30am tomorrow to make my flight to the US. Wish me luck!
9:46 AM
Sunday, May 09, 2004
...
 Just back from a quick one day trip to Bangalore; traffic makes the city seem like one giant parking lot! Last minute plans and an acute hotel shortage in the city moved me from the regular haunts to a smaller boutique hotel - The Park. Picture rooms in purple, orange and blue with lots of silk, leather and wood - contemporary, young and colourful, but not for everyone. An interesting change from the usual white sheets!
3:49 AM
Friday, May 07, 2004
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Friend sent by a rather nice hourglass that is now competing for desk space with my three cutesy toys, four plants, two phones, one music system, two lamps, two piles of books, three puzzles, two clocks, forty CD's, one pen-stand, a bowl full of sweets, two random plaques and three picture holders. Darn, my desk is a mess - considering this list doesn't include the keyboards, monitors and the floating population associated wtih any well used desk - PostIT notes, bills, random photo's, mints and a book on Haiku. Cat Haiku. (don't ask).
I'm trying to think of the ways I can use my hourglass.
- as a stress inducer during interviews.
- to prop up my chin when I'm bored during a meeting.
- carefully aimed, to devastate the scrabble board if i'm not doing well.
- as a roller that can race with my lego moon rover.
- as a fire extinguisher. Am told sand works well on fires.
... more?
8:24 AM
Monday, May 03, 2004
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Travel coming up - touching Bangalore, Bangkok, Seattle and Singapore in the next three weeks!
Luckily, I've gotten much better with making lists before I get to the US and buying off online stores instead of running around trying to find that exact match of what a friend's tacked onto my shopping list. Browsing in any kind of store is so much more fun, when you allow yourself to be surprised by what you find!
4:26 AM
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