Avatar with my roomies

Avatar !!! The much awaited movie, I wanted watch in a big screen and finally on 18th december, I was invited to see it with my friends @ Finnkino 3D, Helsinki. Wow!!! I have always resented missing the original Star Wars on the big screen (the movie against which all other cinematic goundbreakers are measured). I was fortunate enough to catch some awe-inspiring "man" movies, like Tim Burton's Batman, the epic Braveheart, and the movies 300 and Gladiator. I saw both Titanic and Passion of the Christ both at theaters. I have never, however, been able to catch a truly pivotal, era-definitive movie at the theater - 3D, until tonight.

Okay, to be fair, let me define pivotal, or rather give examples. Try to think back to these times... do you remember what Pixar did for animated movies? Or what The Matrix did for action and fighting sequences? Or what Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did for martial arts flicks? Each of these mentioned had one thing in common: they pushed the envelope. They raised the bar. Their producers and directors stepped way out of the box to create new standards in their movies' respective genres.

In the same way that the Wizard of Oz broke the boundaries of color films forever, so Avatar does for graphically-enhanced, visually-stimulating movies to follow. Avatar is an absolute must-see before it leaves the theaters.

It was fun to be along with a group of buddies to watch this movie.

Waterfall @ Monkey falls - for the first time.

Never in my life (before I visited valparai), I had got a chance to bath under a water fall and a pond, since I was born and brought up in a urban city except you can find artifical waterfall and pond in a theme/amusement parks. During my trip to Valparai, it was my first ever waterfall experience.


Valparai a beautiful hill station lies high up above the ranges of Annamalai, above 3500 ft from sea level. We had to cross 40 Hairpin bends to reach the destination. We drove a car, from Coimbatore to Valparai, on the half way we felt tiring and as we entered Valparai, Monkey falls welcomed us. Monkey falls is almost at the foot of Valparai. Local here say that a trip to Valparai is not complete without a bathe at monkey falls. We got down the car and amazed by the beauty of the place, we were happy to spend some time there in the monkey falls. And yes, there will be 1000's of Monkeys around...so Beware! We then had to climb some rocks and came to a flat open plain shaded by huge trees, we walked across this plain and the whole area was rocky, green, lush and so silent and we saw this little opening through some bamboo and there it was this pool and water rushing down into it from a height i could not make out, the water just seemed to be falling out of the sky. It just really took my breath away. This place is a delight to eyes of water lovers, one cannot resist getting drenched there. My mind initially saying NO to get drenched in a waterfall, honestly I was bit scary and hesitant, when I heard the sound of water gushing from high skies. I later made up my mind to experience this new adventure. I was surprised to see small kids enjoying there. I said to myself let me try this ! There was around 25-30 members already taking bath. I changed my clothes and walked towards the area where people stood still and enjoyed the bath. The first time when the water poured on me, it felt like as though some rocks are hitting upon my head, the force of the water (cannot measure it) was carrying my whole body away. I was enjoying every moment along with my friends who are like experts trying new things to make themselves feel unique from others and I was like holding them every moment. I can’t remember how long we all stood there, but I experienced something energizing me and felt totally fresh, like a new day in my life.

ToTen Million Fire flies...

I can't sleep knowing tunes like these exist! i just had to blog it. Owl city is officially my current obsession, next to Beyonce or Coldplay.

listen to Rainbow Veins - Owl City

to ten million fireflies, i'm weird 'cause i hate goodbyes...-
(fireflies - owl city)

Hot, Hotter, Hottest Chennai

September 19th 09, I landed Chennai for the first time after 1 ½ years. After a tiring journey all the way from Helsinki via Delhi made me go crazy. Once I came out of the airport the first thing I felt was the burning skin... AHHH.. it was the Chennai Heat! This feeling lasted few minute until I got a taxi, to my home. Same old Chennai people, chaos everywhere, horns, some complicated brigdes, bumpy roads, tea kadai, stinking Adyar bridge, bus, cycles, traffic, new constructions, slums, wow I m in Chennai... Warm welcome from my parents, tasting moms food, my favorite foods, surprising grand parents on my arrival and meeting friends was how my first day at chennai started. I was telling stories to my parents about my personal and work experience at Finland. A few minutes later I realized, how the time fly by. It look like, it was only that day when I completed my degree and joined too up my career in a software industry. I wished to god to put a small speedbreaker to the time for next 3 weeks, so at the end I dont realize that 3 weeks passed by in a jiffy :)

Met my school friends, staff and college mates in the initial days and almost each and every day I spend my time with area mates. Most of my time I spent in Korattur and my own house. On the first weekday I promised to visit my office (which was now changed to a different location) which was very far far far away from city and it takes 2 ½ hrs to reach by corporate bus from my home. It was a beautiful morning as day started the charm was disturbed by increasing traffic, pollution and noise. It was a delight to see my old team mates and friends in office. Souveniers and momentos gave them feel there was some one back from onsite. I had to end my day late in the night, due to some pending task at office.

Since it was a weekday, I had to call my friends over phone and chat with them and met only very few people and close ones during my stay. It was a festive season in India, I got an opportunity to experience Durga Pooja once again, at Chennai almost at all famous venues where they are held. I rented a car and took my parents and grand parents to all the pooja celebration venues. A visit to Valparai (a small hill station 500 kms from Chennai) and Pollachi, was a mindblowing trip with my friends. A 3 days tour to Valparai was planned just 2 days before we departed. We took a bus from Chennai to Coimbatore from where we drove a car, high up above the ranges of Annamalai, above 3500 ft from sea level. before we could drove through the 40 hair pin bends, i was taken to a waterfall near the roads. Bathe in a waterfall was my first experience. I thought Valparai would be a small remote village, but its quite big. This is not only for bachelors, but a perfect get away for family too. Myself along with my 5 friends had a awesome time, making fun, teasing each other, boozing (I dont booze :)), playing cards and get to taste a typical south indian hill station dishes at hotels and road side shops. Clean air, lush green tea estates, glorious landscapes, crystal clear water, least-explored places, and unforgettable moments – These are memories that you will come back with.

Riding bike in chennai was first thing I wanted to do, but felt a bit out of control after a long time, I got the touch in 2-3 rides with my friends... Didn't get car to drive myself, this time :( I was deighted to attend my sweet buddies marriage at chennai having a heavy briyani lunch during the feast. Spent most of evenings staying at my friends house and roaming in and around city on roads and bikes. Many of my friends visited me at my home during my last 2 days of vacation. When my parents and some friends came along to say goodbye at the airport and felt a bit emotional. On the whole it was a very sweet and short vacation filled with all goodies and goodies.

Going Home

I said to someone the other evening "I want to go home". And thinking about it later, realised I didn't quite know what I meant..wonder how many people actually do. Those who do know, are really quite lucky.

I love music

To me, music is not just a melody but something which changes the frame of mind. No one in the world can live without music, from babies cry to Thunderstorms, music is everywhere. I usually like hearing background musics which are played in the movies and always keep humming some tunes. It is the first thing that the movie viewer sees and hears and a good title theme music creates a great impression for a movie to begin with. A good movie theme is catchy, and it evokes the mood of the movie. Some of my favorites are :



Jeans - A.R.Rahman-Very catchy, peppy AND melodious, the brand of music that we have got used to from Rahman. This is the perfect piece to hum along.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAX-6njv-uU



Bombay-A.R.Rahman-This is what made the Bombay movie complete—the Bombay theme, calling it brilliant would be an understatement! Naveen’s flute was nectarine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbiYEXNqksw&feature=PlayList&p=81E5578444D4F6ED&index=19



Chariots of fire-Vangelis- An electronic score might be considered ill-suited to a period piece, it worked beyond anyone's expectations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-7Vu7cqB20



Asoka - A.R.Rahman- The historical classical piece. On hearing you feel like its giving life to a broken heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0AfxUU8uzc



Titanic-The portrait and final scene- James Homer. Masterpiece from James. This can break the silence between loved ones. Its a delight to watch the final scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eej8uT_QEdw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oijVMNSAE7o&feature=related



Anbey Shivam-Vidyasagar-The “Yaar yaar Shivam” piece, great work by Vidyasagar again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgf0VHMEtNs



Enigma-Return to Innocence- One soul touching full of emotions and a genuine sense of nostalgia for one's childhood .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vJ-CmnjXw



Mounam pesiyadhe - Yuvan SR - Love the tune, prelude and interludes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYoOjvsZ400



Slumdog Millionaire - A.R.Rahaman- Sweet little melody with a beautiful hum by Sussana. Hard to believe it was only condensed into three minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UiOaQzBccE


Other well known original music score
Pink Panther -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRus&feature=PlayList&p=BD36A8E8981A177C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1
The good,Bad and Ugly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hYV-JSjpyU

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

When you are in Rome, be Roman - My Italy trip

ITALIA

It was my dream trip and I never thought I would ever visit the Colloseum or the leaning tower of Pisa in my life. It's a dream come true. Italy fever started in early October when there was a cheap flight ticket sale to many destinations in Europe from Helsinki. I still remember how I got my tickets standing in the queue for more than 5 hours from 6 AM till 11 AM, on a weekday (almost bunked some office hours) :)

It was me and my friend Samanta (unfortunately not a gal) toured Italy for a week. My plan was to fly to Milan from Helsinki by Finnair and start my journey in the roman land. I planned the whole trip a month back and it was very clear to me what to do next so I did not have a problem exploring the new city.

First Day in Milan: The joy started when I boarded the flight and after an couple of hours, I was looking at the beautiful white Alps and passing over Swiss. First and foremost thing came into my mind was 'where are the Italian chicks' :) ha ha just kidding.. As I reached the airport I had to take a bus all the way to reach the city center. It was a 45 min journey to city center, I walked down the streets and flea markets ina nd around Milan (Called Milano). I managed to buy a ticket for the whole day for local commutation. It was a bright sunny day and I felt the suns ray touching my skin after 2 months, but then it was too windy that I cannot resist myself wearing my jerkin. It was freaking cold and windy and wind was blowing at 36 Kph (which is something unusual).

Milan Pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay1#

I did not anticipate so much of crowd in Milan, since it was Xmas many people were outside, but to my surprise there were lots of tourists walking around. I visited Duomo, a cathedral which is an amazing piece of architecture and art. Read more about this wonderful monument from this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duomo_di_Milano. It was the symbol of Milan. For 1 week my cuisine was completely Italian, and friends let me tell you something.. Italian pizza's are the best in the world and not even Dominos or Pizza hut can beat this local Italian pizza. It tastes delicious an yummy :).... I thought Italy being predominantly a Christian Majority, the roads would be empty. On the contrary there were lots of people and cars on street much like a bigger city and so unlike Helsinki. I went and had a Cappucho (Cappuchino) and a Brioche (Chocolato). Of course I had to say Ciao and Gracie and Ciao again. Quite Funny, Ciao goes for both Hi and Bye and then throw in some 'Prego'(Its Ok, You are welcome) everywhere and you can speak perfect Italiano.Then I visited the castle and opera house. That night i had to take a flight to Rome from Milan, i booked a cheap flight Ryan air. Milan airport are quiet far from the city and I remember the name Bergamo from I had catch this flight. I had to rush hard to reach the airport and when I reached there, the timetable reads Ryan air to Rome is delayed by 1 hour. Very sad... Ore bad words :) My friend, Sudipta joined me this time and he had to miss first day in Milan, as his flight was schedule that day evening. And from here, we started together to Rome.

At the captial - Rome Pics Day 2: http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay2#

We reached Rome late in the night and somehow managed to get into the hostel. We had faced a hard time at Ciampino airport to get into the city. The hostel staffs were very kind and we did not have any problem here. The next day 24th dec morning, we marched towards the Colloseum(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum), and what a wonder, I was speechless, I could not find any words in dictionary to describe this monument. I was in cloud nine. The whole structure still remains in my eyes. We visited the platino and other important places. I had a map in hand which was triple the time of a normal A4 sheet and it was marked with streets and monuments and my target was to visit as much as places possible and I did it, late in the night when I went back to Hostel, I thought it would so lively, there were a dozen of new faces in front of me and everyone was eager to celebrate the Christmas at Vatican city.

Hostel gave me a chance to blend with so many people almost every one whom I met were students from all parts of Europe, Brazil and US. we formed a big gang and spent the whole night wondering in the streets of Rome. Finally we reached Vatican city (Another country, or the worlds smallest country) where the pope was addressing the mass gathering and giving speech (Christians call 'mass'). The city was crowded and everyone started celebrating the Christmas as the clock ticks 12:00 Midnight, fireworks and wishes everywhere. We spent the whole night chatting with each other, play station games, cooking pasta, etc etc :)


Rome day 3 Our journey to explore Rome continued the next day, and we visited the Vatican City and entered the world largest Basilica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica) where we saw the pope and other disciples where chanting and conducting some Christian rituals. I wasn't sure what was he doing but I was amazed to see the big basilica and the tall dome. Every structure and a piece of art were huge and grand, I wonder if the ancient roman people did ever know the meaning of small :) Then we walked along the street of Vatican and almost covered most of the important monuments and structures. Since it was Christmas, there was no public transport and we had a difficulties reaching station to catch continue our journey to Venice. We booked a night train to Venice and we had to stay in the station for at least 2 hrs and once we entered, I feel asleep and got up early morning and landed up at Florence, from where we will have to catch another train to Venice.


Venice day 4http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay4# Venice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice) turned out to be an awful experience in the whole trip. The place was beautiful, scenic and different from any other cities in the world. But it was our bad time; our hostel was far far far away from the mainland, we did not get down at the correct station were we are suppose to and the weather was very very cold (though the sun was shinning bright). We manage to get into a bus and the driver got us down at the wrong stop and we had to walk 8KM to reach the hostel... Oh no! I was hoping, not to experience such thing again in my life in a new place like this. After we reached the hostel, things seems to have settled, we refreshed ourselves and took a bus (by this time we became expert in buses) to the mainland and walked in the streets of Venice. The streets are so small and people like me should think before entering the narrow streets, it was good. The waterways are the only mode of transportation in Venice. The gondola ride (we haven't taken this), the churches and small canals were the major point of attraction in Venice. We met a guy here, who also stayed along with us in the hostel, at Rome. We walked together chatting on different topics, doing window shopping, you will also find lots of mask shops (Venice is famous for mask) and what not !

It was a pleasant evening and outing ended after we departed him in the station and headed back to the hostel. Luckily we had a shuttle service back to the hostel which took 20 mins to reach there.The next day we planned to visit Florence and Pisa and we had to rush to the station early morning to catch the train. The bad time continued early in the morning and I would not like bring those bad moments into my mind again. Somehow we managed to reach the Florence/ Firenze.




Pisa and Florence Day 5 http://picasaweb.google.com/haloamar/ItaliaPicturesDay5# I had decided to go to Pisa (Home to Enrico Fermi, Galileo and Fibonacci among others)) this day to see the famous Leaning tower or Torre Pendente (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa) . So I took a train from Firenze to Pisa, which takes only about an hour, and took a bus towards the tower. There is nothing much to do in Pisa except the tower and the Basilica next to it and the other museums nearby in the same place. It costs quite a lot of money (15€) to go up to top of the tower, but what's the fun in not going to the top after being there. So I had to do it just for the heck of it. It was a very nice experience climbing the winding stairs which goes around this leaning tower and when you climb can actually feel the lean on one side. It was a great view from the tower. Then I went inside and saw the cathedral nearby. That's it, I had to go and buy some mementos and souvenirs from the nearby open market.


After that I took the train back to Firenze and roamed the streets, Flea markets, The Duomo, locating some of the Museums and some galleries. After the gallery visit, I went to see the Duomo. It was undergoing some restoration on one side. But we were allowed to enter the Duomo. Late in the evening, I walked to the other side of River Arne along the famous Ponte Vecchio, Florence's oldest surviving bridge has Jewellery shops on both sides of the street. It is open only for pedestrian walking. It connects the Old Medici Florenti Palazzo(Palace) Vecchio to the New Florentine Palazzo Pitti. I crossed the River Arne towards Palazzo Pitti and found that it was closed and I started marching to Piazza Michael Angelo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_statue) to get a night view of the whole Firenze city from there and also saw the Bronze copy of David by Michael Angelo which adorns the Piazza. The night life at Firenze was again a wonderful experience, we again formed a gang of 8 and few among us started boozing like anything. There was one beautiful girl from Spain (originally from Brazil) in our gang and I can't stop myself flirting with her... Oh man.. She was amazing and cool; we were together had a nice time (you can see her in my pictures).

There was a cool chap Felipe, who offered us the Christmas wine/tequila, and the for the first time I had peak alcohol effect. It made me go crazy :) It was 1 AM in the night and we decided to walk in streets to go to a nightclub, we were walking and speaking some rubbish things and all of us had a good time. Unfortunately the night club was about to close in an hour so we decided not to go in and spend the night in the streets shouting and yelling some bad jokes, every one sharing their experience and i was telling them about my work (it was 28th dec, i completed 3 yrs in TCS), about my culture, about India and Finland, about my family and etc etc :). That night ended at 5 AM in the morning and I did not wanted to sleep but thought of taking a short nap to energize my self, to complete my lastlag of the whole trip. I had to wake up at 8 AM, to catch our train to Milan.

Day 6 - The Thriller

Our trip has reached the climax, but as in every Indian movies, we find lots of twist and interesting things happeining in climax. Yes ! the same happenend to us. First is, we missed the train in which we are supposed to board. At last decided to board a Euro star (and "without a ticket") :) from Florence to Milan, which turned out to a real thril. It was basically, the ticket collector's mistake who did not produce the ticket when we requested for and told us to wait until he completes his checking. But the person did not turn up :). By that time we reached Bologna, another tourist spot, where the trian stopped for the first time after it departed from Florence. We rushed down, without turning back and came out of the station :) Just stayed here for couple of hours as our next train to Milan was late. It was an express train to Milan !

It was my second Milan visit, as I have to catch the flight from here to helsinki. I roamed the city again and as the dawn begun, our bad time also started. Our flight to Helsinki was at 19:00 hrs and we reached the airport at 18:10 hrs, by the time we spoted Finnair boarding point for check-in, the counter was closed. As it took a long time for us to spot the counter (and later we were told that, boarding closed). Tensions started creeping on my head, but did not panic, made myself cool and was confident that we would board the flight today. I went pass the security check in without boarding pass. The Italian security gurads was so stupid, they did not even bother to ask for a passport or the boarding pass. I should say they are not only stupid but it was our luck and by this time the clock reads 18:40 hrs. We were running as though a mad bull was chasing us. Finally we reached Finnair gates and luckily managed to get a boarding pass on the spot. Woof! We entered the flight at 18:55 and cheering ourselves. Late in the night we reached Helsinki and the outside temperature was some -1 deg and we walked out the airport and took taxi and way back home.Wow.. Awesome... That's all I've got to say about the whole trip. I was so in awe that I really don't have better words for describing my feeling. Another amazing adventure and experience in a whole new world!!!

Coffee!!! to go or not to go

I m not a coffee aficionado, but for the first time in my stay here at Helsinki, I was invited to have a coffee with a finn lady Tiiu. I'm trying to get pumped up for it. I feel relaxed, vibrant and lively when I spend time with a person whom I like and I never thought I would meet such a person here. A short background as to how it all started !

Tiiu, my colleague, we worked together for a couple of months and departed and almost stopped interacting for 4 months or so. My work demanded me again to work with Tiiu after say around 6 months. But this time I felt something special, not as before. I liked her company and support in day to day job and things were moving smooth. For the first time I got a chance to talk to her personally when we meet in our office canteen for lunch. And guess what ! I enjoyed chatting with her and she wanted to continue this later sometime.

On one fine day, a mail arrived to my inbox for a coffee with her (I never knew if I can call this just a evening coffee or a Coffee date). Out of excitement I just agreed without thinking about my plans on that day; unfortunately had to cancel them. Since I was not that familiar with the city I have asked her opinion about the venue, time and meeting point.


Well thats how it all started and let me see how it goes my first time with a finn !