Edinburgh - Treat to Your Eyes

Last weekend was a long weekend and i did not want to waste the rarity of having long time off.

Myself and a friend of mine decided to have an open mind to travel around.We sat down to choose which place we wanted to visit. We toyed around with Wales or Scotland.

Impulsively we selected Scotland. 

We booked the tickets for Thursday last weekend , believe me that on the same day there were 900 people of all ages leaving and traveling to Edinburgh. The bus/coach operators were surprised at the bookings, as against a normality of one bus, there were 14 buses that ran on the same day starting at the same time, 13 coaches were rented out coaches to accommodate the rush in bookings.

If that wasn't a surprise , the biggest surprise of all was the mixture of the crowd; 97% of the crowd was from Asia predominantly from China and India . Yes India & China are emerging tigers was well demonstrated here.

In Edinburgh all hotels and hostels were absolutely packed to capacity.

My friend had suggested that instead of time tested methodology of checking into hotels, he wanted me to be open minded. Our first difference was we booked ourselves into Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel. I would absolutely recommend this place for anyone wishing to travel without any specifics in mind. Being a first timer to a hostel, i was surprised by its cleanliness. Breakfast was continental and was ok but you get what you pay for.

Once we had checked in, we washed ourselves and we were off to roam around the city.

Our mantra was to explore as much as possible.

So our first point of call was a walk on the famous Princess Street, immediately i was struck by the beauty of the various monuments and the street in itself was a normal shopping street but what made it special was that on one side were very old monuments and buildings while on the other side were swanky shops , it was an eclectic mix of old and new.

In the afternoon we visited the Edinburgh Castle. The Castle and the history in itself didn't amaze me but the city of edinburgh built around it and the Castle standing slap bang in the middle was a sight that i would never forget.

After close to two hours in the castle , i was exhausted and needed some fuel. So we hit Jimmy Chang a Chinese restaurant near Waverly station. Me being a Vegetarian had little option for food here but the temptation was that it was a buffet menu and it was a non-veg paradise, my friend hogged as if there was no tomorrow.

Post a filling lunch , we headed back to our hostel. After an hour of rest we refreshed ourselves, feeling fresh, we hit the streets.

We visited Rose Street , which is famous for its bars. After a few round of beers for my friend and diet coke for me , it was time for us to have dinner and we were spoilt for choices but we settled for Italian at Massimo.

The Risotto was nice but was touch expensive. After an eventful and an exhausting day , it was time to hit the bed , just then we realized that we hadn't planned what to do the next day.

Lonely planet guide came in handy , even here we chose not to follow tried and tested routes. So we zeroed in on Inverness , north most part of scotland. We agreed we take the journey by train and were off to bed.

The following morning was misty and overcast which didn't dampen our spirits as we hit our schedule train and we weren't let down. As the journey took us through some spectacular sights that i have ever seen. It was a photographers delight and a treat to the eyes. 

We reached Inverness at around 11:30 on day 2 of our visit. Again here we decided not to try the tried and tested Loch Ness trip from Inverness, instead we visited the local tourist information centre , where we got briefed about the history of the place and also about a  walk way called the Great Glen Walk. 

We decided to try the Great Glen Walk Way. We were right , it was one of the most serene walks that i have ever encountered. The walk route , takes one through the Ness Islands on river Ness and crossing the Caledonia Canal and onto various villages in and around Inverness. of-course this walk was too long for us to complete in the time we had.

We rounded off our visit to Inverness by having our lunch at one of the bars, never have i tried eating lunch at a bar but the rice and beans wasn't a bad offering .

From there we hit the rail again , this time on our way to a town called Pitlochry known for its Hydroelectric power station and also River Tummel.

We reached Pitlochry at around 18:30 and walked past the River Tummel walkway and on top of the dam over the river which incidentally also serves as Fish Ladder to assist Salmon fish migration. After immersed ourselves in the beauty that nature was able to throw at us, given a town near the river , not having fish & chips was a sin to any non-vegetarian but my friend was too full and me being a vegetarian , we settled just for salted chips to while away our time and walk around the town before we headed off to the station to take our train  back to the city of Edinburgh.

We were so late that we did not have much option but to go for a simple indian meal at the Shezan Tandoori restaurant . The food was neat and easy , not much fuss. Exhausted , i hit the bed and off to sleep in a jiffy.

Day 3 saw us explore local places including the famous Rosslyn Chapel , now made famous by the Da Vinci Code, the Chapel in itself did not inspire me one bit. 

After that visit , we had a solid Mediterranean meal at Hanam's restaurant slap bang on Johnston's terrace street. I by far had the best ever Naan bread, it was lovely and i was in love with the food, we summed up our lunch with Bhaklaba a traditional Mediterranean desert.

Day 3 afternoon had the least activity as i was exhausted and so was my friend , so we did roamed around locally before packing up and leaving the lovely city of Edinburgh.

It was one of the best ever trip i had ever had . The learnings were enormous . I loved every bit of my time.

Experience of a 3D Movie

Me & movie ? am not joking , Yes i watched a 3D movie for the first time ever yesterday and boy did i like it.

It was my first movie in theatre after a very long time , to be precise after 3 long years. The last movie that i saw in theatre was Kamal hassan's Dasavatharam in London in 2008.

The 3D movie that i saw was titled ' Caves Of Forgotten Dreams' , Its about Chauvet Caves in France and its awe inspiring paintings inside it . These paintings were drawn some 32,000 years ago. Yes 32,000 years ago and still alive.

The movie is a documentary produced by Werner Herzog. 

Just as the movie begins , the screen lights up to say that we need to wear the special effects 3D glasses. As the ad arrives on the screen , my mind races to think how can i wear another glass over my existing glasses, will it work? I had my own doubts.

I reluctantly wore it just in the nick of time before the movie begun.

I was gobsmacked right in the first scene. The vivd display and real like images on 3D made me sit up and look at the screen in awe.

I was amazed at the technology and the finesse in which the movie evolved, there was no comparison . I had by now turned into a 3D fan and agreed to myself that this technology has set a new benchmark in motion picture displays.

It was as if i was walking into the cave as an explorer. It was so real that i almost thought i was able to touch and feel the caves.

The movie in itself was quite technically brilliant and had wealth of information but for me , the experience of the 3D movie stood out .

Am not exaggerating the experience , i admit it was quite captivating and i have not seen anything even close to it .

My friend Kishore who is a movie buff commented about his experience after watching Avatar in 3D , i just pooh-poohed his review and said it was just his self which was exaggerating the movie experience.

I must admit how wrong i was and 3D is definitely the technology of the future.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bolloywood & Kollywood movies are released in 3D , would make it interesting to watch the masala stunt.

It was one of the best experience i have ever had watching a movie.

It made my day. People often ask why is there a need to go for a movie and the standard answer from film connoisseur's to that question is , well its just for the experience of it.

How right they are. Although you will read this blog and think how much i enjoyed the movie but for you to enjoy the same, you would have to walk to your nearest theatre where this movie is running to watch it.

Astounding!

A Great Team Makes All The Difference

No this isn't about the Indian cricket team.

So what's this all about,some sort of team work at office? Certainly not.

This is about watching a match as a team.

Last Saturday was a glorious day for two reasons, one the weather was beautiful and two we witnessed one of the best world cup finals.

What made it very special for me was the people around me who made it an occasion to remember.

I had four people visiting me on Saturday to watch the match out of four of them, one was a very close friend of mine , rest were his friends.

I was as excited as everyone to watch the match and also to meet new people. I had made preparations for them to stay comfortably and enjoy the match.

No match is watched without packets of chips and lots of soft drinks to wash down your throat and this was no exception.

With all set for the day, my visitors arrived on a glorious day to find out that Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat.

As the game progressed,people who I barely knew until that morning became quite close.

The bond became even stronger during India's chase.We cheered every run scored and rued every wicket.

When Dhoni hit the winning six, we hugged with joy and the noise in the apartment was loud enough to warrant a compliant from the neighbour.

To sum up a great day, we had a sumptuous dinner at an Indian restaurant.

When I returned home from dinner, I felt so happy after a long time.

I truly believe that my day was not only made by India's victory but also by the team along whom I watched it, because it was the team that made the day very special.

I would savour the day and every moment of it.

Not to miss out my friend Rama without whom I wouldn't have enjoyed the day as I did.

Note:- first post from my iPad so do excuse if you spot formatting issues

2011 Season Begins in Earnest

Yes, after the delay due to political tensions in Bahrain , the 2011 F1 season has begun in earnest.

How has it panned out so far.

The reigning world champions Red Bull racing had by far the best winter testing, followed by Ferrari. Mclarens had their worst nightmares in the new MP4 car and Mercedes are plodding on from where they left off in 2010.

Ross Brawn says that he doesn't expect the car to be a championship winner but would fight for the podiums.

On the middle sector cars, Renault seem to have the best package however in the absence of Robert Kubica they might find it difficult to get the traction that they need from Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfield.

Force India seem to be decent and would like to improve on their seventh placed finish of last year, they do have new driver in Paul Di Resta who was the reserve driver last season.

Sauber petronas seem to have found some form , how they translate it in the season remains to be seen , Kaumi Kobayashi probably would shoulder big responsibility for them.

As far as Williams go , i might expect them to be somewhere between grid 4-6 , what seem to be seen is how rookie Paul Maldonando keeps up with the experience of Rubens Barichello.

As for the rest of the teams , except Red Bull Toro Rosso , i would consider them pure back markers and no real expectations of surprises.

For Toro Rosso, they have a Renault engine and a Red Bull steering & brakes, would be interesting to see how it goes for them.

The real heroes are not the drivers or the cars but this year it could be one of the three new factors for 2011 season .

1 DRS - Drag Reduction System

2 KERS - Kinetic Energy Recovery System

3 Pirelli Tyres ( After departure of long standing Bridgestone tyres , Italian company Pireli has become defacto tyre supplier)

Lots has been spoken about the new tyre component and expectations are that there would be a lot of pit stops this year and it would be impossible for any car to do a one pit stop strategy.

What remains to be seen is how these would affect the strategy and how teams cope with changing conditions.

Am very excited to see the start of 2011 season. With this , am also kick starting my blogging after a three week hiatus.

May the best team win.

Its World Cup Time Again

Yes,

Its just a week to the ICC World Cup in the sub continent. The world cup is returning to Asia after a decade. The last one was held in 1996.

Am quite excited at the prospect of watching great teams battle it out to win the world cup.

Its going to be two months of high quality sporting action in the sub continent, what's more Bangladesh has been drawn in to co-host for the first time as against the earlier versions, which were co-hosted by the well known trio of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Here are few of my greatest moments of the past cricket world cup

1975 & 1979 - The class act of Viv Richards and Clive lloyd showed the world why West Indies were the natural powerhouse in cricket, with such a abundant supply of talent , there was no stopping this west indian supremacy.

1983 - The one single innings of 175 not out from Captain Kapil Dev goes down as an innings to remember in a world cup. He led from the front and what became as a surprise to a nation of one billion people with India winning the world cup against the much fancied West Indies

1987 - If one single innings from a captain was the highlight of the previous world cup, one single mistake from a captain was the talk of 1987 world cup. Mike Gatting reverse sweeping Allan Border , only to top edge to be caught by wicket keeper Mike Vellata, this single mistake cost England their world cup.

1992 - There were two people who personified this world cup, Jonty Rhodes who electrified the ground with some stunning fielding , who could forget his run out of Inzamam Ul Haq . The second person was Imran Khan who led from the front in all key moments during the tournament as Pakistan became a worthy champions. Of course this world cup was shadowed by the rain rule in the semi-final between England and South Africa and to top it all , those two magic deliveries from Wasim Akram in the finals were just few glimpses of action during this world cup down under.

1996 - World cup saw a return to the sub continent after close to a decade. This world cup was marred by unrest , initially at the beginning when Australia and West Indies refusing to travel to Sri Lanka to play their group matches due to security reasons but also another massive shame when the world cup semi final between India and Sri Lanka abandoned due to crowd's unruly behaviour. All said , there were two notable players who stood out. Sanath Jayasuriya , who made history with his explosive opening batting and the seasoned Aravinda De Silva whose innings in the Semi-Final and the final will go down as the rare gems in world cup history. Sri Lanka went onto win the world cup , completing the list of sub continent giants being holders of the trophy.

1999 - This world cup saw the introduction of qualifiers from countries who were members of the ICC , it was an effort from ICC for development of the sport in other countries.

South Africa was expected to win this world cup but only to be denied by two costly mistakes, one when Herschelle Gibbs dropped Steve Waugh's catch and next when Allan Donald didn't see Lance Klusner running from the strikers end in what has so far been regarded as the best ever semi-final in world cup history. The world cup also saw the most one sided world cup final of all times when Australia thumped Pakistan in just 20 overs. With Adam Gilchrist blazing away to a unbeaten 140+.

2003 - Australia were the formidable side but were equally matched by India in the group games. Again rain ruined South Africa's chances as an ill fated decision by Mark Boucher cost them the match. It again boiled down to team work of Australia against India's dependence on one single match winner in Sachin Tendulkar . It is also worthy to note the great integrity showed by Adam Gilchrist when he walked off even when the umpire gave him not out in the semi-final against Sri Lanka.

When Sachin was out to Glenn Mcgrath in the finals , the result was all but known, Australia being the worthy winner.

2007 - Matthew Hayden was the name of the game in 2007. His clean hitting and aggressive batting paved the way for Australia's resurgence in the game. Although it was expected to be revival of West Indian cricket but it was far from being any where closer to revival as the hosts were shut out in the super eight stages. With Sri Lanka defeating New Zealand in one semi final and Australia making a short work of South Africa in the other ,it was expected to be a engrossing contest in the final as Australia were expected to avenge their defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the 1996 encounter. They did that in style as the final of the world cup almost ended in complete darkness.

One incident which shook the 2007 world cup was the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer which put the tournament in jeopardy but in the end game won.

With all the ups and downs in the previous nine editions etched in the memory of cricket aficionados , the tenth edition is returning to the sub continent in about a weeks time.

Iam looking forward to an exciting contest ahead.

May the best team win.

It's world cup time again

A Week of Sitting Through Sales Talks

A self explanatory heading to the blog.

This week i had a chance to sit through two sales discussion from two companies . The first one a big corporation which has made its mark already and another trying to get off its ground.

The discussion in both the meetings were dramatically different, even the tone of the discussion was very different. The one with the big company was focussed more on which product of theirs we could choose , how could they send in army of their people to do some consulting work for us and how their expertise in their field is helping companies in various lines of business and all standard sales pitch.

As i sat there completely flummoxed and thought to myself why these sales guys aren't asking the question about what is that my organization want from them? Rather they were firing off statements on what their company could do and how their expertise was top quality etc . We already knew their offering , it was daft from them to keep reiterating their product offering.

On the other hand , on the very same evening i met the sales executive from the second company which was getting its feet off the ground, it was clear from the outset that , they wanted to help us.

The first question the sales executive asked me was , 'so what is that you do currently and what is that you want to change in which our product can assist?'.

I was genuinely surprised and the conversation became interesting from that point onwards . The sales executive was open and honest about the shortcomings of their product , which impressed me a lot and also couple of my colleagues.

After more than an hour of absolute grilling , the sales executive from the second company made a lasting impression on all of us in the room.

He had been truthful, open and honest about the product . I came away very impressed and also with a good lesson.

Its always better to be open and honest .

The winning factor was this sales executive was very prompt in responding to my questions and more pro-active in directing me to his colleagues when he couldn't answer technical questions.

Turning to the larger company , my questions with them are still outstanding .

The difference was definitely not due to the individual person but more reflective of the culture of the organization.

The two meetings and the activities relating to these have made me think is being big and successful such a bad thing or is this a one-off occurrence?

These days sales executives from big companies actually reflect to me the wider life blood of their organization , do big companies care for its clients or potential clients?

I have seen numerous cases when big companies scoff at its clients. This isn't the right attitude. By no means i am saying that big companies shouldn't care for themselves and their bottom line but i am trying to say that these companies should always put clients at the heart of everything that they do.

All i understood from this weeks incident was that statement only hangs as a phrase in much of larger corporations and there seem to be no concrete example of the same in action.

Maybe i am concluding this subject way to fast but i am going by own personal experiences and am convinced that big companies need to start thinking along the lines of how they put customers at their fore front rather than always thinking about how they can profit from each trade or sales pitch.

If clients are put at the forefront , the bottom line is taken care of automatically.