Brugge

I have been to Brugge during my bachelor life (way back in 2008). Back then, I went to Boudewijn Sea Park.
After that, this time, we (my wife and I) were planning to visit the ice sculpture. We went by train from Brussels. The ice sculpture is located right at the entrance of the Brugge station .

The ice sculpture I must accept, was simply amazing.400 tons of ice were used and more than 12 sculptors were involved in it from different countries.

This time, the theme was based on "The Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter" and "Hobbit". The temperature inside was -6 degrees. Even with a proper sweater plus jacket, I was shivering inside (literally after many months).. But that did not stop us our enjoyment.

Some Sculptures were like Titans and some were literal palace like structure (even the chains were made of Ice). It was an amazing piece of wok!!!

Overall it was an amazing experience to visit and enjoy the sculptures.

Next plan is to visit Damme and the sea Park ;-)

Cheers!!

End of 2012 - Happy New Year 2013!!!

Yet another year passes.. This year was good to me personally.....Except for a few days...

There were lot of highs in this year for me - touchwood.

Right from car driving to exploring new places, I explored many new things...

Some people were predicting "End of World". For them, I wish better luck next time ;-)

For everyone else, I wish U a fun filled, happy, healthy, propserous and a blessed New Year 2013...

Cheers!!

Defeat

This is one such word, I often hate to tell. I believe that when one says he is defeated, he loses the fighter in him.

I myself sometimes keep trying till I knew there is not even a 1% chance of success.

But one thing keeps defeating me and take my beloved ones away from me. That is "Death". I seldom utter this type of word. But during my recent visit to India, I lost my paternal grand father. For many, it was not a big sorrow as he lived a long, peaceful life. But for me, I have lost a Kohinoor Diamond. Somehow, I could not take it in a practical sense. I am still coming to terms with the fact that he is no more.

I know, I cannot win this battle, but this was the day, I dreaded to imagine even in my dreams. My heart does not accept any loss for that matter.

I hope I will be alright soon!!

Trip to Italy

This was one of our dream trip which we were planning for a long time..As usual it was the joining of old combination Anand and family along with us.

We started our trip on May 31 to celebrate Arthi's birthday on the next day. We reached Rome the same night. This was one of the most unforgettable birthday for her. Our flight reached on time and we took a rented car to the camping village (Roma Camping Village)...That was a very special camping place. Anand And Nandhini surprised Arthi with a cute little birthday gift! After cake cutting, (I was tasting cake after ages :-)) we went to our bed.

The next day morning, we took a shuttle and visited Vatican City and took a city tour around Rome.

We visited Colossium...and not to forget the Great Vatican church. We tasted our first Pizza near the Vatican Museum. I should confess that it was very very tasty. After lunch, we started our journey to the Vatican Church which was one of the largest in Europe. Also, this is the Church where the Pope resides. This is what I came to know after my brief research ;-)

The same night we visited Colossium.

The next day morning we started our journey to Pisa and Venice....

Leaning tower of Pisa was not very great except for the leaning type of construction. May be I was not excited because I had seen Eiffel and Koln Cathedral earlier..

The same night we had our dinner in an Indian Restaurant named India.. The food for a change, was very nice...

The next day morning we started to Venice... We reached there in the evening...

Venice was breathtaking to say the least... Very well planned city(though the latest study suggests that Venice is slowly sinking)

We could see lots of restaurants especially sea food and Pizzeria...

We had a nice boat ride.. I was pulling Arthi's legs by showing her a lot of water taxis...

We had a nice dinner at a Pizzeria..

The next day we went around the city... This was the last day of the trip...

With mixed feelings, I was roaming around...

Our flight was at around 8 PM which we caught after some immigration..

The flight was one of my most hopeless flight.. Finally we reached Brussels at around 11 PM...


On the whole, it was a fantastic trip in which I tried my hands at car driving... Driving in Europe is like a dream... Still wonder how come everyone is so disciplined... Hope to drive more in future!!

Adios

Falling in Love with Germany

Yes, this incident happened last week (April 7) when we decided to spend our 3 day weekend in Frankfurt, the capital city of Germany.

We boarded the 6:25 am ICE train to Frankfurt from Brussels and boy, I don’t have any words to describe how superb the train was (we only travelled in a 2nd class compartment) and it was still very much luxurious.
The train started on time and we were cruising at a speed which is almost reminiscent of a flight in a run way.
We reached Frankfurt at around 9:40 am and we were very much in fear for 2 reasons:

1) About the place we were planning to stay as it was too far from the city (I was cursing myself for booking that hotel)

2) About how to roam about in Frankfurt as we didn’t have any clear idea of how many places we are planning to visit. (many people were surprised, when we said we are going to roam around Frankfurt)

But all our fears vanished when we reached the tourist office, whose staffs were very friendly.

I was surprised by their suburban train and bus connections. For my hotel, I had to board a train S-bahn 2 and get down at Nied station and then board the bus 59 and get down 4 stops after.

Most of the stations were environment friendly non smoking station, which had 90% people obeying the rules.

The frequency was simply good and the waiting time and pin point time arrival of bus was simply amazing. Max waiting time was 8-10 mins. When we arrived in Nied, we decided to walk to our destination and to our surprise, the road was more than 2kms. But since the weather was good, we walked till the hotel and reached there around 11:15 am.

We were given a room in the skyline floor (9th floor is skyline for Hotel Ramada) from which we could have a very good view of the city.

Did I forget to mention that we were in the middle of a small forest area? ;-).. That made it doubly thrilling as we enjoyed a peaceful atmosphere.

The room was very luxurious to say the least.

Frankfurt has many sky scrapers which are very famous (the sad part is of course we tourists are not allowed inside any buildings except for one cathedral which we didn’t visit).

But that did not deter our spirits, as we roamed in and around the city center (Romer) where there were many heritage buildings and museums.

We also had a boat ride in river Mine which was awesome as it took us to the most places in the city.

On the first day, we were just going around the city in a bus enjoying the scenic beauty of the river and the skyscrapers.

The second day was unforgettable, as we were spending our day in one of the largest zoos in Europe.. The Zoo was amazing for its different collection of animals.

The best part was the penguin. We missed elephant.. Lions and Tigers were in good numbers as well… Not to forget some birds like peacock and flamingo, which were not caged. I wondered how those were still residing inside the zoo. :-)

The sparrows which are a near extinct in Chennai were in good numbers in Frankfurt and kept our smiles high.

On the third day, we got up late and we checked out the hotel and travelled to Frankfurt. We deposited the luggage in a locker and we began to walk around the city. On that day, I spotted a heritage tram and decided we take a ride on that one too.

From what I understand, it was one of the oldest tram in Frankfurt, which was in operation during 1954. Believe me, the tram was very well maintained with the heater and window panes in perfect shape and not to forget the old paints and wooden floor. We were offered a apple juice and a snack as compliment.

We went around the city for around1 hour and by the time we were back it was around 5:00 pm..

We took away Veg Burgers for dinner from McD and boarded the train at around 6:20pm. The train again reached Midi on time and we reached home at around 10:15 pm.

It was a very satisfactory trip. ICE train and Zoo made it doubly special. Also, the sheer quantities of pics that we managed to click, leave alone the quality ;-)

On the whole, it was a wonderful trip outside Belgium.

Trips

It has been 3 months since my wife arrived and I have been really busy in wandering in and around Belgium.
I would like to mark these trips as a fond memory.

Jan 28 - trip to Amsterdam:
Our first trip outside Brussels. We started very early and caught the 6:22 train and we reached Amsterdam at around 9:40 am.
We had our breakfast in the train prepared by her of course ;-). We set out to the country side of Amsterdam (cheese farm and windmill) after we saw the Madame Tussad wax museum.

I must convey that it was very ordinary when compared to the museum of the year 2008 when I was dumbstruck by the sheer number of their creativity.

Nevertheless, its a money waste for me :-(...

Cheese farm and Wind Mill Villages were beautiful. The windmill village is the venue in one of Nanban song (I wonder why most of the films' songs are shot in Amsterdam and surroundings ;-))....

We took some pics and came back to the city at around 6 pm.

At around 6:30 pm, we boarded the canal cruise in the city (since we didnt go around the city), but there was a mishap when a person threw a stone at our boat which broke the windshield at the back compeltely.
As expected, the boat driver or captain, didn't move until the police arrived, by which the time was around 8pm.

We caught the 8:46 train and reached back home by midnight.

On the whole it was a wonderful trip.


Feb 4 - Luxembourg - 2 days

Anand Ajithkumar err Ashok kumar is back and with that I have one of my best friends here. We decided to plan a trip along with Anand and family and we proceeded with the trip. We caught the first train at 6:50 and reached Luxembourg @9:45pm.

We were very surprised to see a freezing Luexmbourg (-12 degrees while the prediction was 1 degree), but that didnt dampen our spirits as we started roaming around the city.

The casemates were closed, but we enjoyed some treasure hunt like walking.
The night, we played cards for the entire night starting almost next morning...
It was fun and it reminded me of the coorg trip that I went in 2007 with my ex teammies, which turned into a team building event inside the room.

The next day we woke up late, and roamed around as far as possible and we returned the sunday night at around 9.30 pm.

On the whole, it was a very enjoyable trip.

Other trips include short trips to Antwerp, Tournai which were not worth mentioning ;-)

Will be back with the next travelogue soon... ;-)

Happy Pongal And Mahara Shankaranthi

Its the farmers' day the Sunday and I wish everyone a Happy Pongal and Mahara Shankaranthi!

Sudarshana homam lyrics

I am blessed to be a friend of both modern circle as well spiritual elders like my dad and guruswamy.
As one of my friend requested, I am posting this Sloka for her:

Om Sreem Hreem Kleem
Sree Krishnaaya Govindaaya
Gopi Jana Vallabhaaya
Paraaya Parama Purushaaya Paramaathmane
Para Karma Manthra Yanthra Thanthra OwShada
Asthra Sasthraani Smahara Smahara!
Mrithyo Mosaya Mosaya
Aayur Varthaya Varthaya
Chathro Naasaya Naasaya
Om namo Bagavathey Deepthey Jwaala
Pareethaya Sarvathik Shobana
Haraaya Umbat Brahmaney Param Jyothishey Swaha

Om Sudarshanaaya Vithmahi Maha Jwaalaya Theemahi
Thano Chakra Prajothyaathu!

Sree Chakra Raajaya Mangalam!

Next time you go to a Sudarsana Homam, Observe the stanzas :-)

Revenge - In Education field

Education is said to be the most selfless field and the people who work there are portrayed as Gods by our parents. But the system now is utter commercial or waste. 

The word "Revenge" or "Gaandu" in local slang is over riding the sincerity and professionalism that are expected to be shown in this field. Not to say about the internal politics happening. I am not telling that the other fields are very pure, but this is a field where we expect people with service mind. 

 For my sslc, I studied in a school (Bhaktavatsalam Vidhyashram) which didn't pay the teachers for 4 months on the trot and some of them were literally crying because it has affected their life's balance severely. But the classes went on in a normal manner with utmost sincerity and we came out with flying colours in our SSLC exams which was supposed to be one of the toughest as it was CBSE and with all odds stacked against us, since we hailed from a Village called Korattur. 

Now this was one case where I felt I should give back something to my old school faculties which I haven't been able to do till date.

SBOA Experience: For my HSC, against my will my parents moved me to a so called Royal school - Lazy Boys of Annanagar where 90% of the faculties are too eager to mint money (Mohan Lazarus group), that if a student fails in one exam in a subject, then immediately he/she should either attend tution with the useless faculty or ask for a home tution.. One home tution costs Rs.300 INR 11 years back with all facilities like Jilabee, tea, koffee, snacks, dinner etc offered freely to the teacher. Or if a student argues with the teacher or asks so many questions(like in my case ;-)) that they are not able to answer, the student would be beaten up in full public view and they would be asked to cut their privately arranged tutions and asked to join COMPULSORY tutions to curb their question asking ability. This is one kind of business which even a uncultured person won't do. 

Attitude Redefined: These type of Dubakoors redefine attitude with a student who has failed. "Thambi nee en kita tution sernthu 2 times just pass ayita...Very good" - this is one of the famous dialogue that my so called Maths teacher talks to me. When I say "I want to get centum", she would reply "Aya, Unaku ethuku intha ninappu". I am still wondering how many people's attitude has she ruined. She is happy taking her son to the centum pole. I am a strong trier and I beleive that if a person in school does, why can't I? Attitude is everything and these commercial people aim to curb it and say "100% all pass" in my Compulsory tution. Above all, my parents will get scoldings that they are not making me learn. Then for what the hell am I in a COMPULSORY tution with you will be my helpless thought! 

End Result: Dreams of parents goes in vain. Future of the child is at stake because of the neck breaking competition. How can we avoid this? By not joining in these kinda schools! Who will tell about these? No idea! And slowly, I moved to my engg degree. I am not a super bright student, but I developed because I am a trier. I get to know lot of things by questioning. Again I ended up in wrong place.. Emperor Peru Engg College was attached to Brother Univ - Another Univ which is again known for its notorious way of correction and marking candidates. I still remember there was a fight that happened between students and correspondent in which one person was doing some talking with him... That student failed miserably in 2 of the easiest papers in engg... He got an internals mark of 10 out of 20 and it took 2 years to clear those papers. Ditto in my case where I was questioning ethical issues to some lecturers. I was marked, cornered and a big Aapu followed. My 2 friends and I did a project, One of my friend and I were given a 97% mark and whereas the other one secured 100%, when we questioned the authorities, the response was the most irritating I have ever had - "U both were talking in the lab, where as he was quiet". Nothing wrong in losing 3% but it affected my overall ranking and I as a person almost lost beleif in ethics. Why should I be moral? Why should I be true? Why I should I ever respect these persons who vandalise a person's image? Peace finally prevailed after almost 5 months when I got the job. This blog is not to vent out my feelings or frustrations, but it is just to highlight how commercial a selfless field has become. We humans make everything good, but its we again who make things rank bad. My strong desire is to contribute in all possible ways to my old school in my village and help the students which I am sure I will do one day. --Om Sayiram

Good Bye 2011

2011 looked like just arrived, but we are already 10 days into 2012. As I look back, this was one of the best years in my career and one of the most enjoyable in my personal life. In terms of my wish list, I could never fulfill some of my aims (resolutions) that I made for the year, but nevertheless it was a very satisfying year for me.
I got a personal promotion in my life from my bachelor hood towards the end of the year and my European dream is still going strong. In terms of official life, I enjoyed one of the most productive year after a long gap.

I hope 2012 remains the same as in 2011.


I wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year 2012.