Monday, August 27, 2007

HAPPY ONAM !!

today is ONAM, kerala's national festival (for those who don't know) and a time of rejoicing and family fun! i had an hour long video chat with my folks yesterday and it was quite nice :) otherwise im working today and something exciting which im looking forward to is the show in moulin rouge - remember the movie? yes, the same place!! - in paris, which i will go to this saturday. before the real heavy-duty work of launching a startup site starts in september, its good to be enjoying a show hehe...

and now, blogger seems to have added the video upload option, so to test it im uploading a little thing i made using mixmoov (where i work) - this is a tribute to marseille to show why i love it, so u will have an idea why i keep talking about this place so much. till next time, arrivederci friends..!!


Sunday, August 19, 2007

italia ... la dolce vita !!


ciao folks! i am back after a 4-day trip to italy and well i can describe it as...mamma mia! and, put up here is one of the best pictures (i think) i have taken - with my guidebook showing the pisa tower held up against the background of the real one lol otherwise in the three days and two nights in italy, i did florence, pisa and siena.

food - gelato (italian ice cream) - claimed to be the best in the world, is really great especially in terms of the flavours never seen before, like coconut ice cream..would be nice in kerala hehe...pizzerias, ristorantes, pasticherias, gelaterias...giving amazing (and real) italian food! well, its a must-see (or must-eat?!) country, i am now sure ('trenitalia' always comes on time). i had arguably my best lunch so far at a ristorante in pisa, with a kind, elderly italian-speaking waitress patiently describing and suggesting the items and me just enjoying every piece with no care of time - really felt the "la dolce vita" here, the term made famous by a film with the same name, roughly translated to "the sweet life" - canelloni pasta, vino rosso della cassa (red tuscan wine), a tiramisu (yes!), and the final cut - a cappuccino! at the end of an hour and a half (a la $wamy), i was full, and a little drunk hehe, so that when i climbed the leaning tower all the way to th top, i wondered if it was the tower or me that was leaning more, or i wasn't sure if i felt that it was leaning a bit more than it should. the best was when i told the same lie (changing the language to french) as the guy before me did, at the ticket counter that there was a train to rome to catch and i had to get a ticket to see the tower at once, and the lady there said just for you i'm giving it NOW (even the guy before got it half an hour later, for him and family)...i was "grazie mille" for her!! and how i loved hearing them speak their language, well this had started with my italian friends...and was thoroughly enjoyable in their home country, with the cutest accent possible :) i have some "chianti" (wine from the region with the same name, very famous for its wines) bought as a souvenir, got to see how long the souvenir lasts lol!

archtecture, cars and women (in the order siddharth mentioned them in his last post, or whichever order you prefer) - a wealth of these abound hehe, one little thing i found about the names of the fiat (an italian company) cars - "siena" is the city and "palio" is a festival there, fyi. about architecture, there seems to be a syndrome called "stendhal's syndrome", after the french author's experience of dizziness and confusion when exposed to too much of extremely beautiful art, in florence. i am no art person, but yes what i saw stunned me, the famous "il duomo" (the cathedral) in florence and siena topping the list of what i saw. even in august, there is some peace and quiet watching florence by night. add to it all the hearty italian people, and you just feel like asking directions even if you know them (just to hear them speak...i don't know if this is a syndrome..!!)

all the world-famous brands having outlets, and it being a sale season i was able to steal a deal or two of "la moda", well, you'll buy something for the salesgirls if not for the discount prices this season. i haven't seen rome or venice yet, but what i did see of italy is amazing...so much for now, until next time, baci..baci..arrivederci !!


Monday, August 13, 2007

party on dude!!!

hey $wamy

really really cool that you're going to Italy, ooooh! the land of amazing architecture, better cars and even better women. how i envy you my friend ;-)
have fun and looking forward to seeing some pictures of the trip up with you as-usual standing in the middle of some georgeous ladies..

life here is the otherway around atleast for me, been really really busy at work but that should come to an end soon and then i plan to take a few days off myself. can't wait :)

have fun and the rest of you. looking forward to hearing from you...

Saturday, August 11, 2007

coucou de marseille!

bonjour folks! i see an 'extended period of inactivity' here but am sure it's because everyone is religiously following the founding principle of this group - doNothing! et bon, now that i have kind of started working, let me shake things up a bit :) its the beginning of another weekend here in the mediterranean and most people are on vacation (france virtually closes down in august), and i just got to know even me, an intern has got 5 days off so did a quick, yes lightning quick plan to escape to italy from 15 to 19 august. the plan (atleast now) is florence, pisa and siena. well, not to tell about the crazy weekend i had with my close friends in montpellier a fortnight ago. work hard, party hard is still true! alora,italia, pasta, dolce vita, ciao bella....practising a little italian from now lol oooh, and theres sth about this facebook.com happening now, and i see lots of people there, so come join in folks!