Weekend

I had the demo on friday..it was pretty cool. I had a nice time presenting it. Anyways we had a small daaru party at my apartment. There was Red label and a really cool beer by the name of Kirin. I had a nice time..we slept at about 2 in the morning. I got up at 11:00 am!! The day was spent making some calls and washing my clothes. I talked to Shruti..who's currently in Kobe. It was fun to catch up. I went to Yodobashi to buy a camera for myself. I bought a Canon Ixy Digital 25IS. Its a nice 10 megapixel camera..quite popular here. Anyways tomorrow I would be going to an artificial island in Odaiba. Its a 30 minute train ride from Kawasaki. I would put my new camera to test and take some pix. Anyways gatta stop now..almost time for dinner.

Demo

Well..the time has finally come. I have to give a demo of my product in front of the entire NEC Research Labs tomorow evening at 6pm. I wonder what the hell came over these guys to schedule the presentation at such an odd time. I hate staying late on Friday nights!! Anyways I finished up the presentation and the live demo preparations. I hope things go well tomorrow. All the best to me!!

Kawasaki

I live in Kawasaki..its a lively li'l place just outside Tokyo..and its famous for its nightlife (also for its "red light areas"). Anyways its really cool...really lively..loads of lights and sounds. Anyways I joined office yesterday..set up everything..had a meeting with my Japanese managers and stuff. Tomorrow's gonna be like the first day when I start my work. There's a welcome party for me next friday..so..looking forward to that too. Hmm..what else..I am doing loads of house-work these days..which I am not used to. I get up early..cook myself a breakfast..and stuff. Thankfully I got a really cool room mate. His name is Syam (pronounced as Shyam). He loves to cook and I love to eat..what more can I ask for!! Anyways I went to this amusement park called Yomiuri Land. Its really cool..it had one of those standing roller coasters which does a full loop....that was awesome!! It also had this another huge one which reached speeds upto 90 km/hr!!! and the best drop I had ever seen...awesome stuff. Its only during the weekends that I can have fun. Most of the weekdays would be spent at the office. Anyways I do booze at home to keep things nice and light-headed! :D . The internet speeds are awesome..so I have got loads of stuff to download. Hmm..got nuthing else to write...guess I'll drop off to sleep..my turn to make the breakfast.

Tokyo

I touched down Tokyo today morning at about 7:00 in the morning. I am living at an apartment in Kawasaki with a room-mate who is a Malayalee..loves to booze...and is a fan of metallica!!! Phew!..talk about coincidences!!! Anyways updates coming soon. I gatta get some sleep!!!

Get Set .. Go!

Am leaving tomorrow for Japan..my first trip outside India. I would be there for about 3 months. Although I am really excited..but am nervous as hell at the same time!! I really dont know what to expect. I also have to present a demo of my project to some very senior ppl at NEC. All of them are f*ckin PhDs. I really pray to god that I dont screw up. Anyways..cant write in much..I am too tired after packing. I guess the next post would be in Tokyo. Sayonara...and all the best to me!

Shopping mis-adventure.

I am leaving for Tokyo next Friday i.e. on the 22nd. I am really excited for it. However, one thing am not too excited about it is the preparation. I hate shopping!..even if its for myself...I detest it if I have to do it for someone else. I just dont have the patience for it. Anyways I went to the nearby mall with mom and dad...cuz they were pretty sure I would mess it up (which even I myself believe). There was a huge sale going .. and the place was jam packed. I quickly selected a pair of jeans, some T-shirts and formal shirts, a belt, a bag and the works. The entire ordeal took close to 3 hours. When it was finally over, we rambled on for the exit. Thats when the buzzers went off. I was like what the hell! The security guards took our stuff and started checking it. We showed them the bill..but they were cool..they knew the guy who packed all the stuff, forgot to remove the tags. And thus began a series of activities which involved opening each bag..checking each item for the tag..removing it and re-checking it with the sensors. That was when me and dad totally lost it and asked why the hell did it happen in the first place. I got a reply saying that they had hired loads of new guys since they expect a huge turnout for the sale..and since they were new..they forgot to get the thing out. Anyways after spending around half an hour at the exit gate..the guys finally finished all the checking. After we came out of the mall, we realized we had parked the car all the way to the other side of the building. I sighed as dad got the car around and we all jumped in. Phew!..what a day!..I was tired as hell and the humidity dint help either..hmm..on second thoughts..it did help a little..we stopped for some beer at the local shop and had a nice time drinking the entire afternoon away. Hmm..anyways I am so glad all the shopping is over. I also have one more big boring job on my list. I gotta transfer loads of stuff from my Desktop to my Laptop. But I guess that could wait for tomorrow. I can handle only one boring job at a time.

Independence Day

Well..today's independence day! However, it has changed a lot over the years.I would always remember it as a day when the sky was full of kites. It used to be magnificient! And leading up to the D-day was soo exciting. All the kids and many of the grown ups too..hogging their terraces..practising their skills for the big day. Kids running around collecting kites which were defeated in epic battles. I never could fly the kite..no matter how hard I tried. I remember my friends Harman and Rohit pitying on me and "allowing" me to hold the strings :D . But it was fun..especially the battle cries when one used to win. I just loved it when the kite was at the farthest position possible..when there was no more twine left on the spool. Harman was amazing at that. Sadly, I just saw like 3 kites flying today. Its really sad..where the hell are the kids?..there's no excitement at all. Its just another "holiday". Its just a day when they show patriotic movies on the TV all day long..the shops are closed and there's traffic jams everywhere. Times have changed a lot and for the worse. Damn.. I miss my childhood...and I kinda sympathize with the kids of today..they are missing on all that fun.

OpenSuse11.0

Linux has definitely come a long long way. I remember myself struggling to install a Red Hat Linux Distro waay back in my 10th standard in school. I always messed it up somehow..and many times I ended up blowing up my windows partition and loosing all my data. At one time I was scared to look at a Linux distro. It was hell to get the X running..searching for details like the Display Card manufacturer, the resolution my monitor supported and stuff. But gone are those days..its time for the new Linux..a very slick..and a user friendly Linux. I had FC 9 just before installing Open Suse 11.0. I got it along with the Linux For You magazine and the when I looked at the chameleon on the cover page..I just HAD to install it (even though I had installed FC9 just a few weeks back). Anyways..the installation is simple and fast. Newbies who are scared of partitioning their systems need not worry..all they need to do is have some free space on their hard drives..the installation would automatically detect it and ask your permission to use it (like all the other distros that you get these days). Anyways the installation is pretty fast..and you get started right away. There is no need for any driver CD. This is why all the Linux distros are simply really cool to work with. Once the installation is complete..everything is set. You just log in and thats it..you have the internet..the sound..the office suite..its all set to go. Anyways you have the option of a new version of KDE..the 4.0. However, I did face some difficulties while in that environment. I had to switch back to GNOME and its flawless..my desktop effects are working nicely and I shamelessly played on it like a li'l kid..and showed it to mom. She however asked me to grow up!! Its really tough to find like-minded ppl for me. Anyways I just had to enable the wireless connection to get my WLAN working. I havent checked out the package manager..as yet..guess I'll go play with it now.

I-Rock

Good friends..good music and plenty of chicks to look around..what more can one ask for. It was exactly all of the above for me yesterday. Me, Sam, Adya and Jain went for the I-rock Delhi finals at Hamsadhwani. Its my favourite venue. I have been going there since I was in school..and I never miss a chance to catch a gig there. The atmosphere is simply awesome. Anyways so, we reached the venue pretty early. We were all comfy on the concrete seats ..waiting for the action to begin..when this Airtel guy comes up trying very hard to get the crowd going. He screams in his mic "Who are the real fans of rock here"....3 hands promptly went up ( :D ). So he goes to one of them..I guess his name was Ankit or something. So he goes up and asks him to sing a song!!!. I couldn't actually believe he would actually ask that!!! Anyways the guy who is wearing this Evanescence T-Shirt starts shaking really badly (I dont blame him tho..everyone gets nervous). So mustering all the courage he grabs the mic and in the gayest voice ever..sings.." I am gooiiiinnnng under" .. damn I couldn't help laughing my ass off!!!. Ok..I cant really make much fun of him..cuz it takes guts to stand in front of a crowd and sing!..especially "Going Under"... and I admit I dont have the balls to do that..but it never stopped me from making fun of others...so haha. Back to the topic..some more guys are asked to sing and one more noob..sings "I want it that way" by the Backstreet Boys!!!!!! But I think it was intentional...that was fun!! Anyways the show began with

Rampazze
I couldnt get the name at first..but then I got it..its "Rampage". They are a really cool band!!..its just that they were the first ones to perform..and no one was warmed up. I found them to be excellent. They play Classic Rock. They are heavily influenced by AC/DC, Kiss , Aerosmith and the likes. I just loved them..they started with a really catchy song Son of a gun. Their setlist was an all OC one..and I had a really nice time listening to them.

AVR
AVR (short for Another Vertigo Rush) has a very unique sound. Its sounds like Metal..but they have loads of things going on. I was amazed with the sounds they produced with their guitars. The songs were nice and powerful. I could use a heavier vocal..but they did gel up very well. I liked them mostly cuz of their unique sound. Some of their comps are awesome..like Anger Management...I just love the drums on that one.

Frequency
I dint like them much when I saw them at Launchpad..and it was the same yesterday too. Its not that they dont play that well and stuff..ppl go crazy when they listen to them. Its just that its not my kind of music. Plus I hate them even more cuz they really butchered "Highway to Hell". Thats like one of my favourite song..and they messed it up real bad.

Tearcube
They are a metalcore band. 2 years back I would have dismissed the genre and any band which were a part of that genre. But then....I met Bhayanak Maut..who literally spun my head around. Thy are just awesome..anyways its not about them ..so I'd better move on. I had heard Tearcube on TV during the Launchpad prelimnaries. They are fun to listen to..heavy as hell. But I think the sound system yesterday didn't help them much. I wished the speakers were a lot cooler...they would have rocked much harder then. Anyways they were nice enough to make me head bang the entire time they were on stage.

Superfuzz
Superfuzz were up next. They were the headlining acts..and were as usual..right on the money. They were awesome..they played some of their new stuff which is absolutely great. They also had a new guitarist..I dunno if he's a permanent member or not..he's from Joint Family. anyways an extra guitar did make them louder..and allowed Sanchal to perform his solos better in a sense. Anyways they played their hits Four Times and Once After, Queen of my Heart, What I really think, School and an awesome cover of Communication Breakdown by Led Zepp. They really got the crowd grooving. I enjoyed the most..right then!

After superfuzz..it was time for the results. First up was "God of the Strings". It was decided by an SMS poll and was awarded to AVR's guitarist. I wanted the Rampazze guys to win..I felt they were much better..guitar wise. Anyways the best band also went to AVR..cuz of their unique sound and how well they use it and stuff. I couldn't agree more..but deep down I really wanted Rampazze to win...maybe cuz its the old school..and its the old school my friends..where all the action began in the first place!

Fun Food

I am a great fan of food. People who know me and who have seen me eat would fully agree that I can never skip a meal..hell..even thinking about it makes me hungry. Anyways, last Friday, while coming back from the office, we stopped to have "corn on the cob". It was only the second time in my entire life that I had it. Although, taste-wise, its OK..but its the experience of eating it that I absolutely loved. I just loved the dig-bite-pull-chew mechansim. There's something animalistic about it which is soo much fun. Its simple fun..to just dig in to the cob..get a big bite of the corn and pull it off. Once I start; I just cannot stop digging at it again and again..even for a second. It was weird..I dont usually eat corn..esp the one they serve in the cups and all. But I just couldn't help not eating the entire thing in record time. I dint even open my mouth to talk during the entire time!! Other such fun foods for me are Pizza and Nachos. I get bored of the taste after having my third slice of a pizza..but its the fun factor, which I can't get enough of. I love it when the thin strands of cheese just refuse to leave the pizza while taking a bite..well I guess any food which successfully make a mess on the face, plate or the table is a fun food for me.

TGI Friday!

Phew! after a heavy week..its friday..the official day to booze the night away. Me and Partha promised to ourselves that we'd spend the evening away in alcohol (and cigarettes). It was a pretty useless day at the office..the first half I was in a meeting with my project manager and in the second half we had a demo about Coverity - a static tool checker. After the meeting it was almost 5 and almost time to leave. I just had time to write a mail to my clients and fix a teeny bug. Although we missed the usual company of jain, amaresh and subhash but I did enjoy bitching about everyone in the office with Partha :D . Anyways am back..am not that sleepy so was loitering about on the internet with Pantera blaring away on the speakers. Tomorrow would not be wasted and would be spent with my precious Xbox 360. I would be travelling to Tokyo on the 20th of this month and I was thinking to do some shopping. But its better to wait a little and be perfectly sure that the plan is on. Hmm..got nuthing else going on..guess I would sleep now.