Showing posts with label Muscat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muscat. Show all posts
Sunday, March 18, 2007
A pleasant surprise is in store for you!
This is what "Today's fortune" on my orkut profile had to say yesterday!
"A pleasant surprise is in store for you"
From past 10 days.. I had started feeling the heat and yeah.. Muscat was definitely gearing up for its Summer 2007!
I kept hearing stories about how worse summers can get in Muscat with soaring temperatures in April, May and June.. and the 'Extreme' and 'Dangerous' tags mentioned on this page can really bother you!
Only 'worse' was about to come!
But...to everyone's surprise, rains lashed the city early this morning... and Muscat is all flooded on 18th March!!And on my way to office...I did manage to take a few pics on my mobile.
It's still gloomy and raining outside... definitely the time for a cup of chai and some deep-fried pakodas :) !
And moreover...the weather forecast for the week lets you heave a sigh of relief.
After this not-at-all-expected 'pleasant surprise', I was curious enough to know what my fortune for 'today' looked like :)
and here it goes!
Today's fortune:
You have an unusual equipment for success, use it properly
!!!!
So why don't you also tell me what 'that unusual equipment' is !!!
May be I should wait and find that out in tomorrow's "Today's fortune"!
LOL :D
"A pleasant surprise is in store for you"
From past 10 days.. I had started feeling the heat and yeah.. Muscat was definitely gearing up for its Summer 2007!
I kept hearing stories about how worse summers can get in Muscat with soaring temperatures in April, May and June.. and the 'Extreme' and 'Dangerous' tags mentioned on this page can really bother you!
Only 'worse' was about to come!
But...to everyone's surprise, rains lashed the city early this morning... and Muscat is all flooded on 18th March!!And on my way to office...I did manage to take a few pics on my mobile.
It's still gloomy and raining outside... definitely the time for a cup of chai and some deep-fried pakodas :) !
And moreover...the weather forecast for the week lets you heave a sigh of relief.
After this not-at-all-expected 'pleasant surprise', I was curious enough to know what my fortune for 'today' looked like :)
and here it goes!
Today's fortune:
You have an unusual equipment for success, use it properly
!!!!
So why don't you also tell me what 'that unusual equipment' is !!!
May be I should wait and find that out in tomorrow's "Today's fortune"!
LOL :D
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Let Go! Should I or Shouldn't I? Have I or Haven't I?
After a stomach-filling chat-eating session just an hour before dinner, it was quite obvious that I'd not have my dinner. I came back to my flat, freshened up, spent an hour at the cyber cafe and then there I was back in my den again!
I was surfing through the few channels available or I would say watchable! because most of the channels available would be the Mallu or the Arabic ones, both of which I can't understand...and a movie just began in one of them..
The star cast of the movie looked very interesting and it didn't let me turn off the TV and get into my bed...
The movie was "Nurse Betty".. Renée Zellweger playing the title role and it also had Morgan Freeman! So I thought it should be worth watching and went on to watch it...The movie has Morgan Freeman and his son Chris Rock chasing Renee, while she's chasing her dream to see her favorite actor of a soap she loves.. suitably called 'Reason To Love'
One day when she's watching her favorite show and is fully engrossed in it...her husband gets killed in the same house with her having absolutely no clue about it. She later witnesses that gruesome incident when she goes out to check the weird noises she heard while watching her show and there begins the story..
Betty gets into a traumatized state where all she remembers is her fav star who she thinks is her "ex-fiancé' and her romantic dream about seeing him and takes her car out and starts off her journey to meet him!
While on the other side of the movie, Freeman and Chris Rock start chasing Betty because the drugs they wanted to pick up from her husband are in that car which Betty has taken out for her long journey!
This is a movie worth watching.. and the story takes its twists and turns as it moves on and that's left for you to explore..
After the movie was over, I was still thinking about Renee's character "Betty".. I thought there was a Betty in me…I've come across few things or people in my life, which or whom I don't let go!
Betty always dreamt that her fav actor was supposed to be "with her" all the time and moreover she thought they were engaged!..huh !... which was of course not the reality..
Like Betty, everyone of us would have things, relationships, people, moments which we never want to let go out of our lives and try hard to stay in a world which doesn't exist!
I did read about the art of letting go in one of my friend's blog.
It's definitely true that I could relate to the post I've mentioned above…
I remember, I had this beautiful red skirt with tiny hearts all over which my dad got for me when I was 11 or 12 for my cousin's wedding…I wore it and every time I did, I loved wearing it…
It was lying there in my wardrobe for few years…And one day during my graduation, when I came home for a vacation from hostel…I didn't find it there!
For a moment, I couldn't digest the fact that " it isn’t here anymore??!!" and I ran to my mom… only to find out she gave it away to someone…guess to my maid's daughter…
While it made much sense to my mom that if I am not wearing that skirt I loved anymore, it's good to give it away to someone who'd wear it!
But for me, it took sometime for the news to sink in…and let it go!
This was just one of those "infinite" examples…and I am sure every one will have similar examples to quote…
All the greeting cards which I got for New Year/ Birthday, f'ship bands I got on the Friendship Day, pictures of Shahrukh and Sachin I collected for so many years…which eventually went on to become a BIG collage…and yeah.. it hung there in my room at the hostel for years!, Shahrukh's wallpaper on my desktop!...And the LIST goes on….
Do they mean something to me NOW?!!
Well...Have I let them go or Haven’t I yet??
And when it comes to relationships and people, it’s the same story again! History repeats!
It's so important sometimes to let them go because holding them back will create more problems to you and the person involved and the "relationship" ….
Though I know this, many a times I still think Should I or Shouldn't I?!!
I was surfing through the few channels available or I would say watchable! because most of the channels available would be the Mallu or the Arabic ones, both of which I can't understand...and a movie just began in one of them..
The star cast of the movie looked very interesting and it didn't let me turn off the TV and get into my bed...
The movie was "Nurse Betty".. Renée Zellweger playing the title role and it also had Morgan Freeman! So I thought it should be worth watching and went on to watch it...The movie has Morgan Freeman and his son Chris Rock chasing Renee, while she's chasing her dream to see her favorite actor of a soap she loves.. suitably called 'Reason To Love'
One day when she's watching her favorite show and is fully engrossed in it...her husband gets killed in the same house with her having absolutely no clue about it. She later witnesses that gruesome incident when she goes out to check the weird noises she heard while watching her show and there begins the story..
Betty gets into a traumatized state where all she remembers is her fav star who she thinks is her "ex-fiancé' and her romantic dream about seeing him and takes her car out and starts off her journey to meet him!
While on the other side of the movie, Freeman and Chris Rock start chasing Betty because the drugs they wanted to pick up from her husband are in that car which Betty has taken out for her long journey!
This is a movie worth watching.. and the story takes its twists and turns as it moves on and that's left for you to explore..
After the movie was over, I was still thinking about Renee's character "Betty".. I thought there was a Betty in me…I've come across few things or people in my life, which or whom I don't let go!
Betty always dreamt that her fav actor was supposed to be "with her" all the time and moreover she thought they were engaged!..huh !... which was of course not the reality..
Like Betty, everyone of us would have things, relationships, people, moments which we never want to let go out of our lives and try hard to stay in a world which doesn't exist!
I did read about the art of letting go in one of my friend's blog.
It's definitely true that I could relate to the post I've mentioned above…
I remember, I had this beautiful red skirt with tiny hearts all over which my dad got for me when I was 11 or 12 for my cousin's wedding…I wore it and every time I did, I loved wearing it…
It was lying there in my wardrobe for few years…And one day during my graduation, when I came home for a vacation from hostel…I didn't find it there!
For a moment, I couldn't digest the fact that " it isn’t here anymore??!!" and I ran to my mom… only to find out she gave it away to someone…guess to my maid's daughter…
While it made much sense to my mom that if I am not wearing that skirt I loved anymore, it's good to give it away to someone who'd wear it!
But for me, it took sometime for the news to sink in…and let it go!
This was just one of those "infinite" examples…and I am sure every one will have similar examples to quote…
All the greeting cards which I got for New Year/ Birthday, f'ship bands I got on the Friendship Day, pictures of Shahrukh and Sachin I collected for so many years…which eventually went on to become a BIG collage…and yeah.. it hung there in my room at the hostel for years!, Shahrukh's wallpaper on my desktop!...And the LIST goes on….
Do they mean something to me NOW?!!
Well...Have I let them go or Haven’t I yet??
And when it comes to relationships and people, it’s the same story again! History repeats!
It's so important sometimes to let them go because holding them back will create more problems to you and the person involved and the "relationship" ….
Though I know this, many a times I still think Should I or Shouldn't I?!!
Monday, December 18, 2006
12:15 AM, Qantab Beach
It was 15 mins past twelve in the night…and standing on the Qantab beach...I was waiting for the waves to splash my feet… All I could hear was… the noise of the waves hitting the beach...
Well it was a farewell dinner party which started at 9 PM and finally got extended to an ice-cream party on the Qantab beach…!! which is a rough 10-15 min drive from Ruwi...
For one of my colleagues in the team, It was time to pack the bags to get back home... It was time for a farewell party!!
And after a not so hectic day at office… I went back to my flat, caught up with few of my friends on the net and the phone calls…
When I was almost done, one of my colleagues just reminded that it was time we went to the restaurant to join the whole team!
So all set, we reached the venue 'Hotel Woodlands' in few mins…and the party took off!
Everyone was busy settling down…and the first round of ordering the menu for the dinner started…
The guys were busy ordering drinks for themselves :) and for the first time… I had seen two menus!!!
One for the usual dinner [veg/non-veg] and later on... my eyes caught the second one and that was for the DRINKS!!
So I realized that the waiter had given all the guys both of these menus… and only the usual dinner menu for me! :)
I slowly picked the drinks menu coz I was curious to know what are the varieties and what was everyone's pick from the menu … ;)
And I was all stars… coz I didn't know what the categories were…and had never heard of those names too !!
There was white vine/ whisky/ a whole range of beers…and there were few fruit juices as well… may be these are usually used to mix with the drinks !!
In no time, the drinks were served to everyone…and then started a round of various discussions… :D
I would say, the discussion was more like a very open PRD!!, that’s a Peer Review Discussion :D ….
We all gave and took the feed back from my colleague in the Hot Seat, who was leaving the project…
11 35 PM, we were through with the dinner… and I was just preparing myself to get back to my flat…
Then suddenly my PM gave us a surprise…!! Or rather for me it was a not- so- exciting surprise….!!
He said that we would now drive towards Qantab beach for an ice-cream party …!!!! And I was like… "This guy's calling us for an ice-cream party at Qantab beach and that too at 11 30 PM!!!!"
I turned around to see how everyone felt about this idea…
To my surprise…everyone around was damn too excited and was gearing up for that!!
With half of them around me drunk, I was a little hesitant to take this call…
And I told my colleagues that I would drop out of this, and asked them to drop me at my flat...
But I agreed to join them after they insisted that the place would be safe…and promised me that we would come back in 30 mins!
All the way in the car I was just thinking… about the kind of adventures I was having in Muscat :)… And in no time...there we were!! At the calm and breezy Qantab beach…
We all quickly sat down on the sand and started having the ice cream…the breeze was cool…and the waves were slowly hitting the beach…
And right after that was the photo session :) ….each one of them just too excited for a team snap…few of them tried to strike all kinds of poses :D…
A few mins later, I moved to the beach… to enjoy the pleasure of listening to the waves...coz I had never dreamt of going to a beach in midnight… :)
I started playing with the waves… waiting for them to touch my feet…and moving back when they came close to me.. :)
Very soon, one of them screamed out… "Swetha, it's time... let's get back"… it was 15 mins past twelve :) ….
The day had indeed come to an end now…All of us got back into the 2 cars we came in…and headed back to our flats…
Being the ONLY girl there... I must say it wasn’t a bad idea to go to the beach at midnight…with my colleagues… :)
It was a different and a memorable experience indeed!!
Well it was a farewell dinner party which started at 9 PM and finally got extended to an ice-cream party on the Qantab beach…!! which is a rough 10-15 min drive from Ruwi...
For one of my colleagues in the team, It was time to pack the bags to get back home... It was time for a farewell party!!
And after a not so hectic day at office… I went back to my flat, caught up with few of my friends on the net and the phone calls…
When I was almost done, one of my colleagues just reminded that it was time we went to the restaurant to join the whole team!
So all set, we reached the venue 'Hotel Woodlands' in few mins…and the party took off!
Everyone was busy settling down…and the first round of ordering the menu for the dinner started…
The guys were busy ordering drinks for themselves :) and for the first time… I had seen two menus!!!
One for the usual dinner [veg/non-veg] and later on... my eyes caught the second one and that was for the DRINKS!!
So I realized that the waiter had given all the guys both of these menus… and only the usual dinner menu for me! :)
I slowly picked the drinks menu coz I was curious to know what are the varieties and what was everyone's pick from the menu … ;)
And I was all stars… coz I didn't know what the categories were…and had never heard of those names too !!
There was white vine/ whisky/ a whole range of beers…and there were few fruit juices as well… may be these are usually used to mix with the drinks !!
In no time, the drinks were served to everyone…and then started a round of various discussions… :D
I would say, the discussion was more like a very open PRD!!, that’s a Peer Review Discussion :D ….
We all gave and took the feed back from my colleague in the Hot Seat, who was leaving the project…
11 35 PM, we were through with the dinner… and I was just preparing myself to get back to my flat…
Then suddenly my PM gave us a surprise…!! Or rather for me it was a not- so- exciting surprise….!!
He said that we would now drive towards Qantab beach for an ice-cream party …!!!! And I was like… "This guy's calling us for an ice-cream party at Qantab beach and that too at 11 30 PM!!!!"
I turned around to see how everyone felt about this idea…
To my surprise…everyone around was damn too excited and was gearing up for that!!
With half of them around me drunk, I was a little hesitant to take this call…
And I told my colleagues that I would drop out of this, and asked them to drop me at my flat...
But I agreed to join them after they insisted that the place would be safe…and promised me that we would come back in 30 mins!
All the way in the car I was just thinking… about the kind of adventures I was having in Muscat :)… And in no time...there we were!! At the calm and breezy Qantab beach…
We all quickly sat down on the sand and started having the ice cream…the breeze was cool…and the waves were slowly hitting the beach…
And right after that was the photo session :) ….each one of them just too excited for a team snap…few of them tried to strike all kinds of poses :D…
A few mins later, I moved to the beach… to enjoy the pleasure of listening to the waves...coz I had never dreamt of going to a beach in midnight… :)
I started playing with the waves… waiting for them to touch my feet…and moving back when they came close to me.. :)
Very soon, one of them screamed out… "Swetha, it's time... let's get back"… it was 15 mins past twelve :) ….
The day had indeed come to an end now…All of us got back into the 2 cars we came in…and headed back to our flats…
Being the ONLY girl there... I must say it wasn’t a bad idea to go to the beach at midnight…with my colleagues… :)
It was a different and a memorable experience indeed!!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
A Journey to Muscat...
Like any other software engineer being sent on an onsite assignment... i too was picked up for one :|
But the major difference was with the Destination :)... Unlike the typical US/UK/Germany...This was destination MUSCAT :)...
I finally reached
SATURDAY 11TH NOV
My flight from b'lore was at 6:15 PM on Saturday, but how can a flight not get delayed if am traveling in that... :||
It got delayed for about 1 1/2 hrs coz of a technical snag...this always happens with me... :|||...
On sat night, I reached the
If the flight had come on time... I was supposed to reach at 8:15 PM
When I reached
And then I got down from the flight, took the bus to reach the transit of airport... and there... was the actual process...which I needed to finish
- I'd to get my original Visa...
- I'd to exchange my USD with Omani riyals...
- Get the passport stamped...
So got all this done....uffff... it was 10:45 PM...
Asked ppl in airport for a phone booth... and picked up my baggage and went there...guess what???
Its not a typical STD booth where you'll talk as much as u want, come out and pay a guy....You got to buy a smart card/calling card...
So... went back again... bought a 2 OR calling card...
Called my acct manager... the line was busy!!
Called my PM...The line was busy again!!!!!!!!!! I got TENSED!!!....
Now I used my LIL but SMART brains :)... called up the hotel guy.. AL WAFA hotel... where my flat was booked...
Asked him if it’s safe to take an airport taxi and come there... he said it’s not a prob... :)
So then...I called my dad. Who was sleeping after an exhaustive day...told him things in brief...and left for Ruwi which is 30 Kms from the airport...
My flat/apartment was booked in Ruwi... that’s where everyone from the project stays...
I took an airport taxi...and old man was the driver of the cab... the cabs here were all fundu cars...it looked like u've have ONLY fundu cars here...
It was only a 15 min journey.. Coz he was driving at 110/120... !!!!!
And that was very
And the ROADS here are too good.... no wonder he drove so fast...
And the cabs are all corollas...or much better cars....
I asked the driver..."how far is the place from airport"...coz I didn’t know it earlier...he said "very far"...
And I asked him another quest....there came no reply from him... aaaah i was already tensed that it was late...
and then this :| !!!! May be he wanted me to just quietly SIT :I
Hmmm...ok now for the drive...name a brand of car...and you could see a BIG showroom....a real BIG showroom...all thru the way.....There’s jaguar/peugot/mitsubishi/porsche/honda/hyundai/mercedes/.... and just every name...
And well... sitting in the backseat...i was engrossed in seeing the roads and cars...
And there's steering wheel on left side ..Here...US style haan... and FINALLY.... i reached the Al-wafa hotel...paid the driver 8 OR!!!! That’s expensive... but it was SAFE :)
The receptionist was a nice guy...
Receptionist : "so madam[actually he said madaaam:)].. You are Swetha..."
Me: "yeah..."
Receptionist:"where are u coming from"
Me:”
receptionist:” so how's
Me:” good.." and i smiled back...
The hotel boy took my entire luggage and guided me to room... telling me how many ppl are now there in these flats from my organisation...
And he's a guy from Andhra... he was happy to know that i knew Telugu..
Then i asked him to get water... and closed my flat's door... and was inspecting it...
Ok then a few mins later...
My acct manager came to room to check if am ok, spoke for 5 mins and then i slept at 11:30....
When i got down at airport it was 28 C, so i thought its really hot temp here..
So turned on AC in room and also the fan :)
but by 1 AM, it was dead damn chilling.. Got up and turned off AC...:|
SUNDAY 12TH NOV
I was told by receptionist that he'll wake me up if i want him to every morn...
so I’d asked hotel ppl to wake me up at 6:30 next day morn...the hotel boy who works in night shift...promptly woke me up at 6:30 AM..
But i got up only at 7 :D
Got ready by 8:15... And PM picked me and 3 others from the apartments...
So on Sunday morn...we reached my client's office... which is a 15 min drive on the way to airport
had a burger in off canteen... don’t know if it was veg or non-veg... :| who cares :), didn’t bother to ask them at all :D
and i met an old friend of mine who was in Mumbai office along with me... he had helped me in Annual Bash activities last year...they all stay in near by flats...
hmmm... i now have loads of docs to read.. I might be given a laptop.. coz client is very strict on us getting laptops from
so PM has asked me to get my laptop to off from Monday :||
he said he'll be arranging one for me soon :| ...but am sure that i'll be using mine :) all thru my stay...
hmm lunch time..had Rajma chawal in noon...may be that was mixed with meat... don’t know what meat means in
i didn’t know that until a colleague told me late in eve...
now i can’t do anything abt it... can i????
at 6:30 PM.. we left for home...me and other 4 colleagues took the taxi service... its 200-300 baisa per person....
i reached flat... freshened up...switched on TV!!!
guess what... there were only Tamil/Malayalam channels coming on TV!!!
i turned it off...may be I’ll need to tune it :|
and at 9:00 PM we went out to a Pakistani restaurant close to hotel for dinner...
came back... had a chat for a while in the reception with my colleagues ...went off to sleep at 10:15!!!
MONDAY 13TH NOV
today...I got my wake up call again at 6:30...but am one lazy goose :)... one thing i'll never want to sacrifice is my early morning sleep :)
i got up only at 7:30...got ready...took my laptop.... man it’s so heavy... couldn’t carry it from hotel till taxi stand...
We reached office...I am now going thru the docs :| related to the module i'll need to work on. There are around 20 ppl from my organization working on 2 diff projects... most of them have been staying here for 10 months now ...
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