What the hell is this Aeroline Bus Service all about!!!!

One of our office colleague (Roy) traveled to India a few weeks back and was scheduled to come to KL by late night 22nd Dec.

Due to reasons like cost & unavailability of direct flight to Kolkatta, he had to take the following route to his destination :
KL-Singapore=by Bus (aeroline) - Singapore - Kolkatta - by flight(Air India express) & return similarly.
In the last week or so prior to his departure he had noticed that the Air India express flights were experiencing problems in reaching their destinations in time due to bad weather.

Now since he was traveling with his wife, 3 year old child and his mom he wanted to have a comfortable journey back to KL from Singapore and had done bookings of Aeroline for the return journey for the 6:45 pm bus.

Sensing he might not make it for this bus he asked for help to his friend (senthil) to get the ticket postponed to a later time. Senthil personally went to their office here in KL & requested the Aeroline crew in all the possible ways to help get the bookings changed even if it meant additional cost. The unfortunate way he was treated and told is hideous. He was asked to present the original tickets for making the change although the friend had taken a fax copy of the ticket. Which world does aeroline operate in !!!!!!!! So no options for Roy but to hope for coming to Singapore on time which was truly in the hands of God almighty & Air India express!!

Well the flight didn't make it at 3:45 pm which is the scheduled time of arrival to Singapore and was almost 2.5+ hrs later and that meant it came by almost 6:30 pm. It was impossible for getting to the Aeroline departure location of Harbour front from Changi Airport with all the transport facilities in Singapore. So Roy finally had to accept that he will have to forgo the earlier ticket bookings. But he then still thought of making it for the 8 pm bus for KL by aeroline. He went to the terminal and requested for tickets for an almost empty bus ( 2 passengers) to be just departing from Harbour front & to this he was told that the bus bookings have been stopped and they cannot issue him tickets for their bus!!!!!!!!!!

Roy was with his wife, child and mom with about 5 luggage bags traveling since 6 am from that day morning just trying to be at KL in time to join his duties the next day at office had to finally board a bus from golden mile complex & he managed to reach at 2 am 23rd DEC.

Hearing this nightmare and having experienced a similar situation with Aeroline.. I have told myself to not plan for travel with Aeroline bus in future..... Hope you all there will also think about this incident and avoid traveling by this bus service, who in the name of punctuality is making life miserable for its customers. I don't suppose the airlines in any part treat their customers in this unjust and ridiculous way..

khari Lovers Good news - Did it!!!

Remember a few days back I mentioned about my wife getting this recipe from the net and we were going to try it.. Well we did try it the same day that we got the recipe i.e 19th Dec and it turned out fabulous.. the details of the recipe and how it comes out.. can be seen at the following blog link:

http://theseasoning.blogspot.com/2008/12/khari-made.html

Hope Khari enthusiasts will try their hands and enjoy the snack specially who are out of India and don't have access to fresh Khari and like to have it fresh from the bakery oops.. Oven :) .. 

No dreams..

Well after starting this session the day before.. unfortunately I haven't been having any dream/dreams for the past 2 nights.. i had a disturbed sleep day before.. sleeping pretty late and yesterday it was all deep sleep.. with nothing for me to recollect as to what I dreamt or whether I even dreamt at all :)

Have a nice day all of you visitors...

Arjun!!!

well for me it is a good day to begin with this section today.. cos it is my best friend's birthday today.. 

so here goes about my dream that I had yesterday.. 

I dreamt about the character Arjun from Mahabharat.. I was viewing a large ground where there are lot of soldiers fighting in the background.. and in forefront I was looking at Arjun..who was clad in white armour, crown & shoes... It was like looking at a giant personality maybe 7-8  feet tall.. and with a superb physique..

I could feel the charisma of this character... somehow... it was very magical.. moment...

I am not sure why I thought of this character as Arjun.. which is what I told my wife that it was Arjun....while discussing this I had another thought.. and that was that why doesn't someone from the media in India make a epic serial or movie and which portrays these characters very realistically..(I know B R Chopra, Sanjay Khan have made attempts at some of these epics & have done good job - but nothing like which can be at a level of something like Lord of Rings or a director like Peter Jackson calibre who can read about Mahabharat and create this epic... hope.. it would be possible.. soon...if someone like aamir khan or Ashutosh Gowarikar... sounds like a dream na..... that's what it is.... :))

well and just a quick note that I have not seen any serials or read anything about arjun in the past few months.. or recent times.. so I am not sure why I dreamt about it.. anyway... 

Sharing my dreams....

I got this idea today and shared the same with my wife & she too thought this was a different idea, so I am starting with this new section called Dream. 

People may experience them in different ways but dreaming is an experience everyone shares. Some people always remember their dreams. I don't remember all the dreams that I have experienced but tend to remember atleast some part of the dream. 

So based on the this fact, the concept of this section has evolved. Sounds simple but lets see how it goes.  

Starting with this section what do the experts have to say about " what is a dream?" 

The article below can give some answers to this question : http://psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_are_dreams

Scientific Theories about Dreaming

Scientific theories about dreaming take a view that dreaming is a mechanism by which the brain can sort out the information it receives during the day in order to make sense of it. It has even been suggested that dreaming is an accidental by-product of brain activity and as the brain sifts through impressions made during the day, it will discard the nonsense and therefore, according to some psychologists, this accumulation of ‘nonsense’ is expressed in dreams created in order to be forgotten. Other theories see dreaming as unconscious problem solving.

Generally speaking, dreams 'happen' to us. They are not (although in rare cases they can be) controlled by our conscious mind. In 1989, Empson said, "When dreaming we are the spectators of an unfolding drama, and only rarely does one have the impression of being in control."

There are some people who are of the opinion that dreams are not important. They have no meaning. However, others believe differently. Dreams come in all forms and they are rich in symbolism. They have a language of their own. Those who dismiss dreams as nonsense and who aren't willing to spend a little time learning that language will never understand the magic that is within them. There are indeed many who will testify that their lives have been enriched by tuning into, and respecting, the power of their dreams.

States of Consciousness

Sleep is an altered state of consciousness. Consciousness is a person's active perceptions, thoughts, feelings and memories. Of course people can't be aware of everything at once and therefore there are different levels of consciousness or awareness but when people are awake, they are conscious.

The unconscious is believed to be responsible for dreams, habits and mannerisms, slips of the tongue and even symptoms of illness. The unconscious is made up from all past experiences but how far back do these experiences go? Carl Jung, for instance, put forward the notion of a 'collective unconscious' which is said to be inherited and shared by all.

Get a glimpse of KL traffic

KL and most of the metropolitan cities around the world are known to have heavy traffic jams at peak periods & cause a real nuisance to drive while going to office & while leaving for home. 

I just was able to catch the traffic jam on my iphone you can guess the rest of the story with the traffic jams. 

I and a whole lot of people working in KL have to go thru these traffics jams everyday. It is estimated that everyday 1 million cars come in and go out of KL, since majority of people working in KL stay on the outer boundaries of KL city to avoid the high costs of living within the city limits.

But an unfortunate thing that does occur in major countries and cities is that one car carries one person only most of the times rather than a few sharing the same car based on the concept of "Car Pool". Although we all are concerned with oil conservation & extinction of natural resources workdwide, it is difficult how we as individuals can do better at our end. 

Anyway lot of times it is not feasible to have arrangements like car pooling so one can rely on good public transport system to save on cost & do the little contribution for our earth to be less polluting & moving towards a Greener Earth.

 countries like Singapore have been able to manage & successfully use the public transport to minimise the private vehicles on road & promote greener initiatives. Its a long way for larger countries and cities with an average infrastructure and planning. Hope we can do better to save our earth........you can get good tips on what you can do to save earth.. on this link..http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/8319/savethearth.html

All the best to US!!!!!!!!

Khari Lovers good news..

We found this lovely recipe on another blog and it seems very simple.. we plan to try this out soon.. and shall let you know.. meanwhile.. any food enthusiast who would want to try it.. please have a look at this link.. 

http://enjoyindianfood.blogspot.com/2008/02/shortcut-khari-biscuits.html

please do let me know if you try out, about how it turned out and any expert tips.. in case you do this before we have tried.. 

happy cooking.. 

Kitchen in Style....

Today afternoon while I was at office working on something, I got a message from my wife and she shared with me this website link:

http://www.kitchenculture.com/

The site is very very impressive and it makes you buy the things showcased on the website. The site is about the Kitchen furniture, appliances, accessories, wardrobe furniture and it is about having a stylish lifestyle at an important place in any house & that is kitchen.

The whole theme of this website is based on the concept & I quote from this website that...

"The kitchen is the heart of the home. It is a place where the family gathers, where the host and hostesses display their culinary skills, where friends get together and where you should fit in the best kitchen systems and appliances to create a well-designated and cosy area."

I completely agree with what the company has to say about its designs and would surely look forward in visiting one of their stores & having a look at the items displayed on the website..

I love the accessories depicted & find the 3rd image to be very practical and designer.. & I am blown away by the wardrobe furniture..

I wish I would be able to use some of this furniture in my own house when I have one..

The company has 1 outlet each in Singapore & Malaysia @ Thye Hong Centre, 2 Leng Kee Road & 45E 5th Floor, Jalan Maarof Bangunan Bangsaria Bangsar Baru...respectively

Will let you know my experience once I have visited either of these outlets....

It just Rocks On!!

I am talking about the A1 movie of this year Rock On...

although the theme is about Music, the casting, direction, editing & tempo of the movie all of it are just perfect & you walk out after watching the movie to think about the maturity level of the movie in bollywood.. simply Amazing..

I am floored by the performance of Farhan Akhtar.. although I had become his fan the time I saw "Dil Chahata Hai" few years back and longing to know about the next movie that Farhan would take up.. looking at his character in this movie was simply like watching a Denzel Washington from hollywood or the yester year Amitabh.. at his best.. one can feel the intenseness in Farhan's character without him being too verbose in the whole movie...... I am hollywood movie fan. although i do watch hindi movies.. I only go by references.. to watch them.. nowdays the small banner hindi movies that have come are really good.. but you get once in awhile movies like DCH, Taare Zameen Par or Wednesday.. which leave an impact.. and i would say this movie has not only left an impact on me but my family.. .

The songs although being a different league altogether.. are so close to one's heart once you listen to them.. & you tend to be humming the songs on and off.. my 3 year old son.. simply loves watching & dancing to the tunes of Rock-On songs. one of his favorites being Sindbad the Sailor and Aasman hai kyon Neela Neela.. which are my favorites too...Hats off to musicians Shankar, ehsan & loy.. they are too good musicians in today's times.. apart from the likes of Rehman.. and few others in today's era..

one thing that is always weak with bollywood movies which they are catching up with is casting.. which is very crucial for the movie to carry the story well.. the movie is depicting Rock band with band persons in typical long hairs & attitude.. which is known for Rock stars.. but the drastic changes that take place in their lives and the practical life that they all get into is just wonderful....

Friendship, love.. partnering.. among friends.. husband wife.. and as a team is something depicted in such a lucid but impactful way.. that you can relate to these things so easily..

the bottom line i would say that this movie tried to convey was :

"Have passion in what you like and follow the same which will give you immense pleasure.. " I found this nice article trying explain what is passion?

"Sometimes the best place to begin to define a word is with Webster. Webster’s dictionary states that passion is an emotional response.

Being an intellectual conceptualizer or more simply stated a heurist, I wrote down 3 words – passion, performance and purpose.

Consider the following: Imagine someone standing with out stretched arms and open hands with one hand holding the word passion and the other holding the word purpose.

What I would like you to consider is that passion is the present where others as well as ourselves see our emotions. Purpose is the future, our true north, where we constantly strive towards to reach our vision. And the performance is the individual with the outstretched hands. Performance is the collection of all past experiences and current actions where we continually apply knowledge as we hold our passion and purpose.

Passion exists with our purpose and performance as a partner to help achieve the present and the future that we desire for our families our friends our communities and ourselves."

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. President of ADVANCED SYSTEMS, is the Process Specialist.

First Day at Work

These are some of the basics which one needs to keep in mind, specially at times when someone is changing jobs after a long time. 

Step 1:

Personalise your workspace

Step 2:

Follow the Dress code, and wear something comfortable according to your duties.

Step 3:

Get to know your Workplace. Feel the atmosphere and work culture.

Step 4:

Keep your Conduct, dress and manner professional.

Step 5:

Experience is great, but do not assume your new company operates the same way as your old company.

Step 6:

Adjust your style after you have have time to look around.

There could be other things as well.. which some of you there can contribute.. for sure..