I'm Good, Thank You.

Hectic Times = Fun Time

2012-01-27T21:50:00.000+13:00

WOW - Jan has really sped away but it's been a productive month so far.

As part of the new changes at Unkreative, I decided that the main page needed a re-design and instead of doing a hodge podge job myself, I asked Ellen - a good friend of mine, for some design ideas and she did an amazing job. The design is done and now just waiting on the last bit of coding refinement from xhtmljunction.com and it should be done soon. As part of the whole gig, Ellen also created new business cards for me and I had them printed from Moo.com. In the meantime I bought Freeway Express and started re-designing my personal website and it was a steep learning curve, so the implementation on that is slightly slower and that should be ready in a week or so.

After a lot of consideration and useful advise from Dr. Shuchi Kothari, I finally applied for M.A in Screen Production with specialization in Screenwriting at University of Auckland. Screenwriting is one area that I need to improve myself so I can tell more streamlined and powerful stories and it seemed like a logical step in my development as a film maker. The challenge was that I didn't have a B.A in a similar field and it was always going to be touch and go whether a place was actually offered to me. Thankfully they took into consideration my strong resume and offered me a place on the course and I've accepted the place, so it should be a great year for immersive story writing and learning.

One of the business ideas I have is to conduct film-making/drama directing workshops in India. They'll be 2-day intensive weekend workshops and the plan is to conduct one each in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. David Samuel, has come on board as well to teach a few modules that are related to film, business and human relationships and I think it'll be a huge benefit for anyone attending those workshops as he is an amazing person and an even amazing teacher. So a good chunk of time also went into developing the outline of the workshop and just waiting on feedback from one of my close friends in India, to see how we can make this a reality.

Fitness took a back seat this month but I'm back to it with a vengeance from Feb. I've got a few personal training sessions lined up to align myself back again and work towards my goal for the year.

I managed to watch Alien, Aliens, Hugo & the second series of Sherlock. Alien was a great horror movie, even though it had some flaws, Aliens was a balls to the wall action flick and the two movies couldn't be much more different. Hugo was an amazing movie and it has to be seen in 3-D- the film is visual poetry. The second series of Sherlock was an amazing watch and I guess will have to wait for an year and half or two before they make the third series - which I hope will be the last one. They've created something special with these 2 seasons and hope they don't dilute that something special with a weak 3rd season.

More to come later.
Amit

Summer

2012-01-17T00:12:00.002+13:00

Summer is finally here - 2 days of sunshine and it feels great.

Amit

Dragon Year

2012-01-05T16:18:00.001+13:00

It's year of the dragon and that alone tells me that it's gonna kick all kinds of holy arse, after all dragons are cool, majestic and amazing (not that i know one personally).

I started the new year by screaming through 100 odd pages of 'Story' by Robert McKee and it is mind blowingly good. Do you find that sometimes you buy books and never get around to reading them? This was one of those books for me. It only took 3 years to get to it but I am glad that I picked it up, especially now. Highly recommended reading for screenwriters as well as directors.

I'm really looking forward to this year with all the exciting changes on the horizon. This year onwards it is about creating value for others and finding ways to help people achieve their goals. It is also about focussing on telling stories as that's what we humans do to give meaning to life.

Here is to prosperity and strength for everyone in this coming year.
Amit

New Beginnings

2011-12-21T19:45:00.003+13:00

So I've put in my resignation from my current position at TVNZ today. It is sad because I love the company and the people but unfortunately some of the new shift patterns don't quite agree with me or my body, so decided to take the leap into the unknown.

TVNZ has been very supportive and have offered me freelance work - which is fantastic as it gives me the initial stability and also will stabilize my work hours a bit. This is great as it gives me time to pursue various business interests and opportunities that I wanna explore in this coming year.

Freelance work starts mid-Jan, so if there is anyway I can help anyone with their business, let me know. Here is to the universe - for taking care of me.

Amit

Tongariro Crossing

2011-12-20T11:15:00.001+13:00

What a weekend!!! The weather over the past week and half over New Zealand has been crap but since we'd booked the trip a couple of weeks back there was no backing out, especially since this was my 4 day weekend stretch.

Zoe, Katie and me got down to Tongariro National Park in Zoe's car while Simon drove Glen and Una. It was a slow journey down as the rain was pretty bad. We stopped at Tamaranui for some fish and chips and had them while looking at a billboard of Tongariro National Park.

Brief respite from rain

Zoe driving pretty seriously

Katie enjoying the back seat

The weather forecast for Saturday wasn't looking great but it did say that the weather would clear up over the afternoon, so I was pretty hopeful that the weather Gods would help us out with the trek.

There is a storm coming

As we drove into the lodge we booked ourselves at I realized that I'd been there before in August 2005 with Lance and Anabel and Tarikh. The Lodge itself looked the same but there were huge improvements on the inside and it was definitely an awesome stay. Once Simon and Glen and Una joined us we called it a night around 10PM hoping that the weather would clear up for Saturday. The good thing was that our shuttle wasn't coming through until 7.45AM {they cancelled the 6.45AM shuttle because of the weather} with the decision whether the trek was gonna go ahead or not reserved till 7.30AM. It meant an extra hours sleep in - which was fantastic considering my sleep depravation situation because of overnight shifts the week prior.

Unpacking (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Saturday morning wasn't looking too bad with overcast skies but as soon as we got to the start of the trek it started raining, so everyone put on their wet weather gear. There were a couple of other girls travelling in the same shuttle as us and it was funny seeing them start of the trek with a super-sized can of 'Red Bull' and a cigarette.

Overcast Skies

I'm ready for the trek (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Una, Glen, Katie and me

Tongariro crossing is one of the best one day hikes in New Zealand and I had no idea what to expect from the hike. The start of the trek wasn't bad- we saw a little bit of blue skies and were really hoping that the clouds would clear up.

Start of the trek

Only bit of blue sky we saw the entire trek

Onwards and upwards

Me - right behind are Lorianne and Caroline - the red bull girls (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

After this stage it was all downhill, so to speak. The rain started and it became colder and the wind picked up and combined with the uphill climb it was a hard walk. The worst thing was that taking photos became virtually impossible and a huge task. On top of that I managed to loose my rain hat somehow.

Mt. Ruapehu in the distance covered by clouds

Into the clouds

Una waiting for me to catch up

First break near Soda Springs

Zoe helping Katie while Una and me catchup with the gang (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Glen trucking along even though his hands were starting to freeze up

The walk wasn't hard in itself but the wind made it hard. The visibility was poor and there were no real views to be had, so we just put our heads down and kept walking. Simon, Zoe and Katie had screamed ahead, while I started doing good pace once I stopped taking photos and left Glen and Una behind.

Walking in South Crater

Climbing towards the red crater

A french couple walking through the red crater

I guess one of the good things about doing the trek in such conditions is that you have photos that no one else has and you also don't meet many people on the trek. On a good summer day the number of people who do the crossing on any given day is about 900-1000, but on a day like this it was just the french couple and the red bull girls who were doing it in the same direction as us and we crossed paths with maybe 12 other people doing the trek from the opposite side. I caught up with Simon, Zoe and Katie near Emerald lakes as going downhill was easy because of the walking stick.

Simon, Zoe and Katie at Emerald lakes

Unreal landscapes and smell of sulphur

Passing the emerald lakes

After passing the emerald lakes the rain just got worse and everything was soaked - even though things were water-proof. I wonder how the rain got through the water proof stuff. Anyway the stop at Ketetahi Hut was great. We met a whole heap of people there - including a bunch of american kids doing a photography course, who had started the journey from the other side but decided to flag rest of the walk as it was just terrible weather.

Steam rising from Ketetahi Hot Springs

All of us took an hours lunch break and warmed ourselves up and dried out our essential gear like beanies, socks, gloves as much as we could. It was a temporary relief as it all got soaked again as soon as we headed down. I was one of the last ones of our group to leave but soon found a good pace and the 1 hour solitude in the rain did me good as I was able to think some things through.

Waiting for the shuttle (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

Glen and Una make it down as well (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

The whole group finished the walk in 7 hours including the 1 hour lunch break but had to wait another 30 minutes before the shuttle came and picked us up. A hot shower and a meal later, we all dug into the secret theatre at the lodge and watched 'The Dark Knight' before calling it a night.

Sunday was a stunning day but the number of people doing the trek on Sunday had increased manifold as well. We took a stop-start drive to Tokaanu to enjoy the thermal pools. The stop-start was because I kept wanting to take some photos on such a nice day.

Mt Ngauruhoe

Mt Ruapehu covered in cloud

A Hut

Tongariro crossing in the distance

A marae in beautiful settings

Zoe, Katie and Simon enjoying a laugh

Natural Thermal Springs at Tokaanu

Magical Landscapes

Glen, Una and me in the hot pools (photo courtesy: Simon Barton)

The hot pools were nice and were a soothing balm to all those tired muscles. After a brief lunch stop in Taupo and a coffee stop in Cambridge - we were back in Auckland. I loved the walk and compared to climbing Mt. Ruapehu or Mt. Kota Kinabalu - this was nothing but I'd like to do it again on a nice sunny day, so I can take some nice pics and take in some of the stunning scenery.

If you are thinking of doing the trek and not sure - don't think about it - do it!!!

Later,
Amit

Entertain Me

2011-12-16T02:51:00.000+13:00

A couple of friends of mine - Claudia and Kevin have been hard at work over the past year and have created an awesome website called 'Entertain Me'. Besides deals related to entertainment - they usually are in the know of all the cool stuff happening around Auckland and they also have some pretty damn cool stuff to give away usually, so check them out. You can also catch them on their facebook page HERE. Good job guys, keep up the awesome work.

The 6 minute prologue to 'The Dark Knight Rises' was awesome. The action was crisp and the IMAX sequence looks amazing and it sets the tone for the movie in a big way. Love how each of the movies are shaping up to be thematically different while set in the same universe. There is consistency but also massive differences in how each movie is being filmed. It'll be a long 7 month wait for the movie to be released. The only thing I hope that they fix is the way Bane speaks - I could barely understand him and if that carries across to the movie we might end up with some thing like this

Batman (growling voice): whhhy doo youuu wanna takkee ovver gotham?
Bane: Hrrggh...arghghgh...Muhahaish.
Batman (growling voice): whyy dooo youuu wannna swap masksss?
Bane: daaass nooshehgrh whaass say
Batman (growling voice): i thoughhhht i whaaaas baad buttt you make me look goood.
Bane: gruassh...hurrrass..arghghgh
Batman (Bruce Wayne's voice): F@#$ this shit. I'm going home. Give me a buzz once you take some speech therapy. Do you want some recommendations?
Bane: graaahhh

I'm off doing Tongariro crossing this weekend. The weather has been playing up and the rain is putting a damper on things across the country. Here is hoping that things clear up a little.

That's me for now.
Amit

Reading Depravation

2011-12-09T19:23:00.001+13:00

This week is an exercise called 'Reading Depravation' as part of 'Artists Way' and man it is extremely hard. It is friday and I've managed to get through the week so far without reading a newspaper, magazine, website, book. The point of the exercise I think is to spend more time doing things you keep neglecting - which gets occupied by the constant influx of media.

One of the things that the reading depravation has gotten me to do is actually sit down and update the blog after ages. I'm also planning to simplify and update the main website in line with some major changes happening next year.

Evening Star

I reckon it is a great thing to do, just to give yourself some space to sort out stuff that you've been postponing for lack of time. Reading depravation definitely gives you heaps of time. Another 2 days to go. Wish me luck.

What it also has gotten me to do is become more aware of whats happening around me and also getting me to return to photography as well as socializing over this short period of time.

Grey evening over Auckland

A view from the top

A night out with Douggy - a mate from oz

Shadows and Deals

That's me for now.
Amit

Bethells Day Trip

2011-12-07T18:15:00.000+13:00

Took a day trip to Bethells Beach recently as part of my 'Artists Way' commitment and it turned out to be a great outing.

Every road trip starts with a road

Lydia made me a compile CD for the trip and the selection of songs was great and she also suggested that I take a small trek to O'Neills Bay. It turned out to be a great suggestion and a mini-adventure doing the walk on my own.

Streams and hills

Walkways

Freedom

Start of the trek

Bethells

Into the unknown

Bethells Beach

Yellow

Bethells Beach

Part of the woods that freaked me out

The walk definitely did me good and also bumped into a couple of cool cats - Tim, Nick and Melissa (am not 100% on my memory there with the names). They were enjoying the summer at the beach and funnily enough the '2 degrees of separation' manifested itself during the conversation.

Kiwi summer

O'Neills Bay

Rough Seas

The serenity and the calm was broken as soon a whole lot of kids walked through the area on their school field trip and thankfully they were just walking straight through to their bus instead of stopping and exploring the area.

Kids on their day trip

Fishing in rough sea

Alien Land Mass

Entry Prohibited

The trip was awesome and it had fun exploring one of my favorite beaches in Auckland. A good day trip for sure.

Amit

Somewhere You Know

2011-11-28T10:49:00.001+13:00

'Somewhere You Know' is the name of the new project that I've started developing as a writer.

'In Between' is the other project that I am working on, Andy Sophocleous is the writer, Leela Menon is the producer and Kathryn Burnett is the script consultant.

'In Between' is in a bit more of an advanced stage than 'Somewhere You Know' but needless to say there will be more updates about it in the future.

New beginnings, new stories.
Amit

Millionaire Mind Intensive

2011-11-22T10:09:00.000+13:00

The trip to Sydney this time around was as eventful and busy as last time. The primary purpose for going this time around was to attend a workshop/seminar titled 'Millionaire Mind Intensive' and it was 3 very long days and I'd highly recommend the workshop to anyone wanting to change the financial situation they are in currently. It is worth every cent.

I caught up with Ana and Zak for dinner on 17th evening and we had an amazing dinner at My thai's restaurant. The food was amazing and the company as great as ever. The course itself was long but time surprisingly went by pretty quick. I stayed at a backpackers- which wasn't the best decision as it was noisy through the night and I never had more than 3 hours of un-interrupted sleep during that time.

A girl skyping with her sister at the backpackers

There were some amazing people at the seminar and the course attendance was close to 2500 people. The energy, especially on the 3rd day was absolutely amazing. I like Sydney - I think i'll start looking at opportunities there, especially since NZ economy is really crawling at this point.

I've signed up for another course happening in March but will reveal more about it in due time. Needless to say - I'd highly highly recommend 'MMI' - it could be the single most important financial decision you make in your life.

Waiting to catch the flight back to Auckland

Thats me for now,
Amit

Art in The Dark

2011-11-12T10:35:00.000+13:00

There was this awesome festival called 'Art in The Dark' and it turned out to be an amazing experience. Here are some photos from one of the nights.

Definitely check it out next year if you get a chance.
Amit

Touch Rugby

2011-11-06T18:39:00.000+13:00

Who knew that Touch Rugby was such a fast and intense game? A notice went out at work asking if anyone would like to play the game for TVNZ team for Corporate Games and since I hadn't tried the game before I put my hand up. Before long we had a team all formed up, ready to represent the company.

Kamo and Tem - volunteered to show me a couple of days before the event on how to play the game. A run around in Victoria Park with a crash course in Touch Rugby's intricacies was fantastic - unfortunately I managed to pull my right hamstring and was limping back to work soon after. The next couple of days was recovery and making sure that I gave the hammie as much time to heal as possible.

The big day turned out to be a great experience. Marama had picked up TVNZ gear for us - unfortunately she picked up only female T-shirts, so us guys had to put the scissors to the garment and chop off the sleeves. It was a ragged, pirate look but we didn't mind.

The game begins

It turned out to be a great day and I could run but had no power behind the legs as the hamstring was very sore. We had some awesome players in the team and we were rocking from the word go. It's hard to pinpoint individual contributions as everyone had such a big role to play in the team flowing like it did. One of the funny moments was Marama shouting 'Come on Touch Me' from the sidelines in support for the team {our team name was 'Jutch Me' which is translation for 'Touch Me' in one of the island language - can't remember which one.}. After shouting for a few minutes, Marama realized what she was shouting and went silent while giggling uncontrollably.

Tem subbing for Kamo

Marama and Kurupae

Fraser running the ball

We managed to come second in our pool, beating Maori TV as well as Sky TV and since the organizers were short on time - they didn't have a proper semi-final and final play-offs, instead we end up playing the second placed team from the other pool in a 3rd/4th playoff. The team that came first in our pool kicked arse in 1st/2nd playoff and I reckon if they'd stuck to the proper play-offs our team would've come second easily. Cutting a long story short, our team came 3rd - which was a great achievement for us having entered the competition for the first time.

Traveena, Marama, Ana and me at the awards ceremony

Me receiving the award after cracking a joke

Team 'Jutch Me' (Irene is squeezed in between Marama and Ana)

Not everyone stayed back for the awards ceremony and it was an awesome feeling receiving a medal for achieving something in ages. It was an awesome day and above all we all shared some great laughs and company while enjoying our game time. What an awesome bunch of people!!! Go 'Team Jutch Me'.

Amit

Polaroid Farewell Exhibition

2011-10-04T22:09:00.002+13:00

I was backing up my stuff from my burnt out laptop onto the mac when I came across the polaroids that I'd scanned in for the 'online exhibition' thing that was supposed to happen in 2009. Here they are for your view pleasure.

Hong Kong

Chairs in Valleys

Wellington

Tree of Life

Handstands on the beach

Floating planets

Concrete Jungle

Lion Rock

Wellington Cable Car

Piha

Trams

Metal Monsters

Immortal

City of Sails

Humanity

Bangkok

Hong Kong Harbour

Empty Streets

Waiting to fly out

Portal to everywhere

Sydney and other stuff

2011-09-26T12:35:00.001+13:00

The short trip to Sydney at start of the month was a welcome break from the work. Everyone was generous with their time and hospitality especially Ana and Zak and it was great catching up with people whom I hadn't seen in ages. I like Sydney - the public transportation is awesome and the city is multi-cultural and vibrant- the only thing I'd hold against it is that it is expensive.

Elliot, Zak and Ana

Len and Elliot cooking up a feed

Reunion BBQ

With Elliot's family at the table

Ana, Zak and me

Blossoming romance

Me at Blue Mountains

Three Sisters at Blue Mountains

Sunset over a beautiful city

Sydney CBD at Night

Julia had her baby and it was a surprise to everyone when it turned out to be a girl. Everyone was expecting a boy called Nico but what they got was a girl called Amelie.

Holding Amelie

Amelie holding my finger

Besides that my bike got stolen, so now going to get myself a good second hand bike. It is an inconvenience and a slight financial annoyance but there is nothing much I can do about it except start putting the bike inside my room from now on.

That's me for now.
Later,
Amit

P.S - The World Press Photo Exhibition this time around was kinda disappointing - compared to last year this years exhibition was small and I definitely wanted to see more.

Freedom

2011-09-01T19:18:00.001+12:00

Life is great when you realize freedom is here and now.

I've been giving the eggplant in claypot dish that we learnt in Vietnam a good run and it's my current favorite dish. So easy to make and so so yummy.

First day back at the gym, after 2 weeks of weather related illness, was great. Everything hurts right now - so definitely a good sign.
Amit

Droughts and Birthdays

2011-08-27T16:23:00.001+12:00

Never understood why you get wished a happy birthday when it is the mother who should be the one congratulated for giving birth to you. Social rules I suppose...but here is to all the mothers in the world.

And i'm just about pissing myself laughing over the 'Man Drought Research' in NZ. Nice shoes huh??? Really?

Amit

World Press Photo 2011

2011-08-24T19:17:00.001+12:00

Last year's exhibition was unforgettable and i've still got a few photos ingrained into my consciousness, so I was pleasantly surprised when my inbox said that 2011 World Press Photo Exhibition is back in Auckland. I'll be visiting for sure, how about you?

Sunny sunday

Amit

Pho Bo Recipe

2011-08-23T11:06:00.002+12:00

SERVES 2-3 people

Ingredients
(to make broth)
150-200grams beef bone
1 knob of fresh ginger (bruised)
2 shallots, peeled
4 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
4-5 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1-2 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

(to make beef)
150grams very finely sliced beef (sirloin steak or eye fillet)
1/2 teaspoon chilli paste
2 teaspoon stock powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar

(to serve)
100 grams rice noodles
100 grams bean sprouts trimmed
2 spring onions, finely sliced
handful of coriander leaves (you can also add mint leaves)
lemon/lime wedges

Method:

Pour 3 litres into a clean stockpot, add beef bones and bring to boil.
Simultaneously, on hot pan over medium-high heat cook the bruised ginger and shallots until brown all over. Add to the stock along with star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom pods.

[Marinade the sliced beef with chilli paste, stock powder and sugar for atleast 1 hour]

Once the stock comes to boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Cook on sim for 3 hours, occasionally skimming the fat from the surface.
Strain the stock through a strainer and discard the bones and spices.
Return the stock to clean pot.
Add fish sauce, sugar and salt.
Bring to a gentle simmer. (the stock is ready at this stage)

> On medium heat - stir fry marinaded beef for a minute to a minute half and remove from pan.
> In a separate pot, bring water to boil and put the rice noodles in for 20-30 seconds to soften.

Serving: Add bean sprouts to the bowl, add noodles on top, put in cooked beef, add the hot stock, add spring onion, coriander leaves on top. Squeeze a slice of lemon into the bowl and serve with additional slice of lemon.

Enjoy the delicious pho..

Pho

2011-08-14T21:13:00.000+12:00

One of the things that came out of the trip to Vietnam was the intense appreciation for Pho and I've been trying the same dish at some of the vietnamese restaurants in Auckland and I'll put those up once I finish checking out 2 of the restaurants that I still haven't visited yet.

I made some Pho Bo from scratch earlier in the week and it turned out AMAZING. It definitely ranks right up there with some of the best pho i've tasted - even in Vietnam. The recipe was a mixture from 2 books and will post it up in some other post. I'll sign off now with a photo of what I cooked up.

Pho Bo

Amit

To write or not to write

2011-08-12T18:37:00.002+12:00

Trying to share thoughts on here has taken such a back seat that I'm questioning whether there is any point of keeping the blog, especially since the updates from me are now so spordaic [the last post was almost a month back].

Julia and Nico

Monday coffee catchup with Julia

I've been biking to work almost everyday (there've been 2 days where I drove in instead of biking in)- no matter what the weather. It's good exercise and i've bumped into a lot of people I haven't seen in a while. It's good fun even though some of the hills are very punishing.

Korean sailors making some buoys

An old couple checking out the views

Pillars of Heaven

Boots n' All

A colorful walk

There was a photo competition by Fuji Film and I entered one of the pics I took of Nishil as it fit the entry criteria. Recently they sent a letter saying that it was adjudged one of the top 20 (from more than 1000 entries) but didn't win the prize [a finepix X100 camera]. Encouraging for sure but damn - wish the photo had won.

Running TV channels

That's all for now
Amit

Downtime

2011-07-17T08:41:00.000+12:00

Finally some downtime with 4 days off where I don't have to worry about work or anything else for that matter. Just solid downtime.

Might update the blog with India entry if I get around to it. Bought myself a road bike to cycle to work and on the test run it took me about 9 minutes to bike in and about 15-18 minutes to come back.

Thats me for now.
Amit

Personality

2011-07-04T20:32:00.002+12:00

So I did this online test and here is what it says about me - what do you think? How much do you think it fits me and how much is a way off the mark?

You often make decisions instinctively. Feelings play a greater part in your decision making than rational deliberations.
You strive for change and excitement more than most people. Nevertheless, you do occasionally value the comfort that routine brings.
You are a person who tends towards attachment in every respect. When you feel good you are enthusiastic and infectious in your fervour; when you feel bad, it can't be concealed. You often react strongly to emotional situations, in the positive and negative sense.
You like drawing conjectures and looking for hidden crossover effects between information and facts. To restrict yourself only to hard facts is too boring for you.
Multiple possibilities motivate you. You enjoy an open perspective. Too much rigidity constricts you.

If you know me and are reading this post then do leave a comment - I won't bite. :-)
Amit

Back to NZ

2011-06-22T18:13:00.000+12:00

OK...so I'm back to NZ and slowly settling back into life here. I need to write about my india part of the trip and also the day in KL but will do that once I get some time (and will back date it). The cold and the wetness is harder to get used to than I anticipated.

Busy thinking about some potential business ventures through. In the meantime, refresher training at TVNZ has been going great and I go solo in a week and half. I've had 6 early morning shifts and got another couple to go before I get a break and those morning shifts are a killer.

First couple of sessions at the gym were extremely painful and now just getting back into the swing of things. Other than that slowly picking up threads of my life and seeing if I can't start some new ones.

Thats me for now,
Amit

1 day in KL

2011-06-09T09:07:00.000+12:00

The day in KL is a hazy blur because of the sleepless transition between time zones. Being in a completely new city for the first time is an exciting but scary proposition. So many questions run through your mind and you just have to trust yourself that things will work out for the best.

It was hot but I walked around almost all of central KL and also used every mode of transportation available in the city. Things that stayed with me were the amazing food - no matter where you ate - even at the food courts within the shopping malls. The shopping malls were another story - there are heaps and heaps and heaps of them and that's the place to hang out for everyone. There was no rustic charm to them like in Kota Kinabalu.

KL is not a city with 'things to see' - it is more a place with things to do and unfortunately the day stop wasn't enough and would love to see the city at night. So thats for next time - so that I can get a better feel for the city. And because I was so exhausted from sleeplessness, I didn't take any photos either (+ you are not allowed to take photos in most malls anyway).

Killing time at airport was harder than I thought and ended up walking shitloads. During one of those walks discovered Teh Tarik - a kind of tea preparation, which absolutely won me over. So the 3 memories I do have of KL are the awesome transportation options, the delicious food and teh tarik.

Next time I hope to form some friends in KL before going to visit. After all it feels like there is so much there waiting to be experienced. Now it is onwards to Auckland and the cold.

Amit

Abridged month in India

2011-06-07T23:37:00.007+12:00

A month in India can be a very long time but at the same time very short. The normal definition of time disappears when you are there. To try and recollect every detail or events would be nigh impossible for me and all I can write about is the experiences that stayed with me.

For starters - my timing of the trip was all wrong. In my head the summers in India were in the months of June/July, so i'd planned my trip for May and boy was I wrong. It was peak summer in Hyderabad when I got there with the temperatures ranging from 42 degrees to 45 degrees. Luckily, Vietnam/Malaysia had acted as an acclimatizing buffer, so it was not such a huge system shock. The good thing with Hyderabad is that it is not humid - so the heat was enjoyable in small bursts.

Mango season!!!

The personal issues that were kind of hanging over my head for the past 8 months or so got sorted within the first week of me being back home and after that it was just enjoying good home cooked food, meeting family and for the best part doing nothing - oh I did learn how to cook a few dishes from mum. A comment which everyone kept making was that I'd gotten too thin - which I disagree with, but just had to nod and grin, as trying to defend your point of view with elders is usually a pointless exercise in India. The constant visits from relatives and close family friends was always a welcome change from having nothing to do and I enjoyed it a fair bit.

The monotony of not having any friends in Hyderabad was broken by a trip to Delhi where I caught up with old friends from MBA days as well as one of my childhood friends. It was a good trip as I got to spend time with them and their families. On the other hand I wasn't a big fan of the lop-sided urban development and the concrete jungle that Gurgaon had turned into. The trip was very short but next time around I'll probably spend more time there, since I barely saw Delhi - given the massive amounts of commute time that is required to get anywhere without your own transportation; and I didn't even get to go and eat at Karim's - my favorite eating joint in Delhi.

Chandan, Vikas and Sapna

Jiya, Kanchan Aunty and mom

Kingdom of Dreams

Arun and Bindiya

I was spoilt for food in Hyderabad and the best find was a restaurant called 'Ustaad Baane Nawaab' in Tolichowki and their hyderabadi biryani turned out to be amazing and I made a fair few trips to them during the stay there. Hyderabad is definitely a food paradise - just don't expect too many authentic international cuisines though - it is very limited in that sense.

It was great spending some quality time with the family and the highlight of the trip was planning and scheming with Veni to extend my stay by another 4 days. I didn't tell mum and dad about Veni's unexpected plan to visit India and we kept it a hush hush affair since we wanted to give them a surprise. The usual trip to Vijayawada that we take everytime was binned because the extreme temperatures combined with humid heat would've been too much for me, so Gyanender Babbay and Lakshmakka planned their visit to time with Veni's arrival.

My return flight to Auckland was scheduled for 3rd June night while Veni was arriving on 3rd June morning - so I talked to work and extended my leave and got my flight postponed to leave on 7th June night. I spun a far stretched tale about why I needed to be at the airport on 3rd morning by telling my parents that Lance had a 1 days stop over in Hyderabad while returning from a job in France. They bought the story hook, line and sinker - so gyanender babbay and me were at the airport on 3rd morning.

Seeing Nishil for the first time was a pleasant surprise and it was even more surprising when he didn't cry and came into my arms straight away. He did cry a little while later but it was good seeing Veni after a long time. The look of surprise and shock on mum and dad's face when Veni and Nishil showed up at the house instead of Lance was priceless. It is these small moments which give us so much pleasure in life.

Nishil

Curious Nishil

Veni and Nishil

Nishil wanting to try some noodles even though he can't eat

Dad playing with Nishil while Veni looks on

Nishil and me

Mom cooking some more awesome food

Gyanender babbay engrossed in the online world

The 4 days with the family disappeared without a trace. Spending time with Nishil and Veni was definitely the highlight of this trip and I wished I had more days off to spare. It was definitely harder returning to Auckland this time around because of it - even though it has been a more rounded trip which I really enjoyed and also resolved some internal conflicts for me. There was so much more to this trip but just don't feel like writing it all down here.

The 1 day stop over in KL should be interesting, especially since I've only got about 14 hours odd there in transit. But I'm really excited about trying out some yummy malaysian food while in the city.

Amit