sukku

It came as a shock to me as to how backward Hanoi is? Anyway I was on an official trip to access the viability of a project here so who am I to complain. My flight landed at the Hanoi Airport and we had our Korean friends to pick up from the Airport and we went straight to the site which was about 30 minutes drive or more from the Airport. We were at the Korean Contractors office and after a short meeting left for the actual site, it was 19 bridges and foundation works for 4 bridges had started. We looked at the contractors who were doing their work. And by the time we finished the work it was pretty late in the evening but the watch showed otherwise, my watch was still set at Malaysian time and it is about 1 hour difference in Hanoi. So it wasn’t that late and work finished at 5.30 p.m. but it was pretty dark outside due to winter. Our partner brought us to the Hotel that we were suppose to stay and boy, was I disappointed. Maybe it is partly due to the location, we are at the ou...

  The top picture was taken on a Monday morning in KL, you can see the Twin Towers amongst the jam and the 2nd picture was taken from my car, as I was on my way to my site which is about 400 km away from Kuala Lumpur and it was a very wet drive. Anyway I reached my site in one piece but my site was in a bad shape due to the rain. I had to wear my wellington boots to walk in the site and progress was down.  

Flew in from Mumbai yesterday evening, was in the Mumbai Airport reading a book titled "Jesus" by Deepak Chopra. Didn't do much last night as I checked by dinner time, had some RC whisky at the Cocktail hour at the Hotel F.O.C. Woke up pretty early as my body was still following Malaysian time and after that it was a busy schedule with the Auditor and then the Lawyer. Bought some more books at Walden first thing in the morning. Picked the following books: 1. The Associate by John Grisham 2. Outliers by Malcom Gladwell 3. What Got You here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith 4. It's not how Good you are, It's how Good you want to be by Paul Arden 5. The Rules of Management by Richard Templar Looks like I have a lot to read when I get back. And guess what I had for lunch, the famous Hyderabati Dum Briyani and for breakfast I had super soft idly with chutney. It's been awhile since I had all these goodies. Well tomorrow is going to be equally hectic as...

Yes all of a sudden my boss had informed me that I have to make a trip to Mumbai tomorrow and I would be with him for day there and then fly to Hyderabad for some work with my Auditor and Lawyer. I hardly had any time to prepare for the trip and I have a presentation to make to my company board of directors on my objective for the trip tomorrow afternoon before flying off. It's like jumping from the frying pan to fire as I have no answers as regards to my objective but I know I have a lot of work to do when I am there with regards to tidying up the company accounts and other matters. Besides the work, I should be able to do some shopping with regards to stocking my medicines, get a few books namely the best sellers, Indian sweets for my wife and finally get to bring back some of the things like my DVD, books etc, that I had left in Hyderabad. I hope to meet up with friends too and finally get to relish the famous "Hyderabad Dum Briyani" and the kebabs.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (below) Well it was a hectic week for me as I left for Hyderabad last Sunday and reached their Shamshabad International Airport by mid-night. I was feeling rather sleepy as I had quite a few pegs of whisky. I took the cab from outside the airport as my neighbour told me, it is cheaper that way but it was foolish of me to do that in order to save a few bucks for the company. I remember the cab driver was taking me a long route and I was so dead tired that I dozed off in the cab. I don't even have the drivers name or the cab number, but I just dozed off. They woke me up as they got closer to the place that I stayed for direction, I only realised what a fool I was to doze off in the cab, what if those guys had driven me somewhere and robbed me of everything and after that just dump me on the roadside, but I guess there is still some goodness left in Hyderabad. The picture on my right is taken from the Shamshabad International Airpotrt and I waited ...

This is where I used to shop around before I make my trip back to Kuala Lumpur, usually I pick some clothes for my wife. This place serves you very good steamed dosa and a whole lot of vege dishes. The thali is also very nice. Again another must for me before I fly home as my wife loves Mysorepak, a signature sweet which you get at SKS. This is my favourite supermarket for all the foreign stuff and also for meat and fish. Last but not least, Hyderabad without Briyani is not Hyderabad. I like the Tandoori chicken here besides their usual Briyani.

Those pictures sure do have a lot to say. I was stuck in a jam and I took the photo from my car and I was suprised to see that a mini pickup van was transporting workers (just like cattle). Just below that is a restaurant "Nanking" which I guess is a very old chinese restaurant in Hyderabad, maybe 30 years old or more. The furnitures in the restaurant certainly looks very old. Anyway I had the pleasure of having my lunch there and I find the food is okay, but the service was kinda slow (maybe the staff are as old as the restaurant). There is also a picture of a beggar selling the Indian National flag at the traffic junction on India's Independence day. And then there is the huge billboard of the superstar himself "Rajni"and just above is a hindu temple next to the highway.

The pictures were taken this morning and afternoon. The first photo was in the morning where the traffic jam was horrible due to the damage inflicted by the rainy season. The second photo is the famous Mojamzahi market, built by the Nizam and in the background you can see the heavy skies. And the photo above was taken at Tank Bund, overcast and heavy breeze as though a cyclone is expected. The weather man had said that more rain is expected in Hyderabad and yesterday I saw a picture in the newspaper whereby the residents were using boats to travel as most of the places in Hyderabad was flooded. My only worry is that I got to get clothes washed and if it rains, where the hell am I gonna dry them. I am leaving on this Friday back to KL and I am hoping for the weather to ease up as everything is damp and gloomy. Due to the jam, I had my lunch at 3.30 p.m. at KFC and the KFC in India is quite unique, I had original Chicken with Rice pulau and Dal Makhani, so it was quite filling. Now l...

Got stuck on the aircraft for 20 minutes as there weren't any docking bay for the aircraft at the Hyderabad International Airport. My suitcase was marked X with a chalk as I had left my digital camera in it and not in my laptop bag. I had to explain to the customs that I only have a digital camera and nothing else and furthermore it was not a new camera. He asked me the cost of the camera and I had to lie to him by saying Rs 3,000 as the actual cost is Rs 13,000. Well I got away with that without opening my suitcase, anyway I brought the camera along as I wanted to take some snap shots for the blog. Well, I travelled with my HR manager, a lady and we both took a cab and when we walked out of the airport, we nearly got ourself drenched. It was raining outside and what the girl at the car rental booth informed us was that it was raining in Hyderabad for a week. The roads looked bad, like mini swimming pool everywhere and it took us more than an hour to get to Hotel Taj Deccan. After ...

Yes I am flying in to Hyderabad tomorrow midnight. I am going to be there for a week and it's gonna be a busy week ahead for me. Hope the weather is ok as I hate the rains in Hyderabad, with traffic jams everywhere and the dreaded powercuts. I can relish on my mutton briyani and tandoori chicken. Sad thing though, I will be missing out on the opening ceremony of the Olympic games. Hope to blog from Hyderabad and maybe take some snap shots.

These snap shots were taken at Jalan Bukit Bintang/Jalan Imbi and our guest from Mumbai was staying at Hotel Park Royal. My office is located at Jalan Imbi and while I was going out for breakfast with him, I had the opportunity to take these shots.

I guess being in Hyderabad and not displaying it's iconic image would be a sin. I know it is an old structure, that's why upto now I haven't taken the stairs up to the gallery (don't get me wrong). Anyway it is located in the old city and the place is like a huge market with I guess from bangles to pearls are being sold dirt cheap and maybe a lot more of other stuffs too. I have been here only a couple of times and that also to show my friends what "Charminar" looks like and below is an extract of what Charminar is from the net, however the photo was taken by me: Hyderabad's most popular landmark Charminar is located at the center of the old city and surround by lively bazaars. It was built by Sultan Mohammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 in honour of his wife Bhagmati, shortly after he had shifted his capital from Golconda to what now is known as Hyderabad. It is popular as the Arc de Triomphe of the Ea...

Look at the ancient dumb bell and it looks pretty heavy right? I tried lifting it and it didn't budge an inch. This is what you see in Golconda Fort in Hyderabad which was built in the 13th century by the Kakatiya Kings and the existing structure was built by Qutub Shahi Kings into a massive fort with granite walls having eight gates and 87 bastions spread upto 7 kms, in circumference over a span of 62 years. Golconda Fort, popularly known in Telugu as "Golla Konda", which means "Shepherd's Hill", has an exotic story behind it. What I was impressed with was when the guide told me regarding the criteria those days in joining the guards or sentry, you have to lift the dumb bells and I hope you don't have to run with it too (they would die of hernia). If only they had this same kind of qualifying exercise now I guess the Hyderabad police force would really be a super fit crime fighting force to rec...

This photo was taken yesterday afternoon at a junction near the Rajiv Gandhi statue coming in from Begumpet (I was in my Scorpio) in Hyderabad and just look at the billboards and I am sure it is a distraction for motorist. There are so many of this larger than life hoardings advertising just about anything. I would love to have a collection of photo's made up of the hoardings which I believe gives Hyderabad it's flavour next to Briyani and Haleem. And mind you some of these adverts does seem to be have a double meaning to it but who cares anyway as it's the pictures that captivates the poor (excited) motorist. I will try to capture those double meaning ones for my future posting if time permits.

This was taken at Ramoji Film City at Hyderabad. I think it is a replica of some sculpture from some part of the world (correct me if I am wrong). Anyway it was done tastefully and I guess they would not use this backdrop in any bollywood movies as it might not get through the censor board. What I like about this Ramoji Film City was the landscapping and the vastness of the place and with it's laid back atmosphere. Be prepared to do a lot of walking and I guess the best time to visit this place would be during the winter season in Hyderabad i.e. from November to January.

It looks beautiful right and it also cost a bomb staying here in this beautiful Hotel in Mumbai. The food is superb and the service is impeccable. Well I guess I won't name the Hotel as then it would be free publicity to them right. It is a breathe of fresh air compared to the maddening chaotic rush with the traffic jams in Mumbai. Well this Hotel is rated five star and it is very close to the Mumbai International Airport. It belongs to the Sheraton group and that's about all the information that I am giving and if you are from Mumbai I am sure you would have guessed the Hotel's name by now. I remember I had my lunch in the city in a Goan restaurant and I had Bombay Duck which I guess is made off salted fish and the stuffing was in a crab shell, boy it was good. On my other trip to this Bollywood capital, I had the local fish curry which instead of using tamarind, they had used some sort of berry to give that sour taste and it was heavenly.

I parked the car in Town (Kuala Lumpur) and went for a banana leaf lunch at a Chettiar's mess in Lebuh Ampang before embarking for the shopping trip at Sogo with my wife. The picture taken above was from a bridge behind Jalan Masjid India and you can see the Twin Towers in the background. And below is the snap shot of the shopping complex taken at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. There was a sale going on and it was like a fish market inside the mall. I guess people were shopping until they drop.....

This is the real thing unlike the green elephants at Ramoji Studios. This was taken outside the temple in Pondicherry. I think the elephant was kinda cute but I always have the fear of getting close to an elephant as one never knows when they would stomp on you.

This photo was taken in Chennai the capital of Tamil Nadu. This church has really a unique façade and it looks like the "gopuram" of a hindu temple. I was driving through and got my driver to stop so that I can take a snap shot of it.

This is a snap shot taken during one of my visits back home for my holidays. I had my relatives from US and they wanted to see Kuala Lumpur and I had the privilege to show them Sultan Abdul Samad Building and "the building has long been a landmark for Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. Its predominantly Moorish appearance suitably reflects the cultural background of Malaysia". The Sultan Abdul Samad building was constructed in 1897 and has long been a landmark for Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. The unique Moorish-style building has a 41m clock tower, dubbed 'Big Ben'. The design of this building was undertaken by a British architect, A.C Norman, who worked for the Public Works Department at that time. In designing this building, he took into consideration some of the features of buildings in several Islamic countries. The predominantly Moorish appearance of the building suitably reflects the cultural background of Malaysia. The site of this beautiful building was carefully chos...