Saturday, October 13, 2007
The Transformers
Watched tranformers..well quite late acutally as the movie is no more in theatres now. Man the robots were so cool, and the CGI was simply amazing. Al the actors were cool too. With a sexy girl who knows all about cars, to another sexy girl who figures out how to decode the alien voice while all the wise guys out there were scratching their heads... I mean the movie was so nice with fantastic action sequence, nice CGIs and good comedy and fun, but hey, the story line is so stupid. I mean just because a bunch of soldiers survived the megatron attack in qatar, doesnt mean they will give be made as a special force and promoted so fst just like that...it doesnt happen that way...not in USA. And the sector 7, was shown as a ultra secert organisation, but they revealed all the truth about them, and even gave complete tour guidance of their headquaters. They tried to kill bumble bee car, and freeze him, and suddenly they free him and ask him to save them...the whole bunch of sector 7 listen to this small kid and release the bumble bee just like that?? commmon guys, its too stupid to happen for a such high secret organisation. And when the megatron and the autobots were fighitng how do people know whom to support to?? i found the storyline of transformer so stupid, yet i enjoyed watching it!!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Oman - Wadi
Unlike what we know of desserts, it rains quite a lot in Muscat and its suburbs. When it rains, it rains hard, and the rain water flows through the valley between the hills. This river is called “Wadi” in local dialect.
And there is no drainage system outside Muscat. While you travel on these roads you will see a lot Wadi crossing, and only in certain places where the predicted flow is high, you will see a bridge built across. On all other occasions the Wadi is allowed to cross the road, by building the road beneath the Wadi level. So when it rains and rains hard once in a blue moon, the road Wadi will be running across the road. So when it rains the transportation will come to a halt.
What is the big deal if the transportation outside the city comes to a halt once in a blue moon? Well guys, people do live outside the city area. There are lots and lots of tiny villages positioned all over the desert. Because that there is so much free space and land outside the city, the houses are placed quite far from each other. Heard that lands to build houses are given to the locals by the government according to their cast and status. Its pity you can’t choose where you want to live. Well anyway the problem is that, because you find houses all over the place and they are situated far from each other, it’s not possible to supply water and clear drainage through pipelines. So the water is supplied to the houses regularly and the drainage is sucked away by Tanker Lorries. By standard the water supplying tankers are blue in colour while the Yellow ones suck away the drainage.
So when the Wadi flows high, and blocks the road, people in the rural areas will not have access to water, and their drainage will not be cleared too. But luckily for them, the dessert sun is too hot, that Wadi doesn’t last more than a day. Cost reduction is the only possible explanation given by the road authorities, for not building a bridge and making the Wadi go beneath the road. Life is funny and different all over the world!!!
And there is no drainage system outside Muscat. While you travel on these roads you will see a lot Wadi crossing, and only in certain places where the predicted flow is high, you will see a bridge built across. On all other occasions the Wadi is allowed to cross the road, by building the road beneath the Wadi level. So when it rains and rains hard once in a blue moon, the road Wadi will be running across the road. So when it rains the transportation will come to a halt.
What is the big deal if the transportation outside the city comes to a halt once in a blue moon? Well guys, people do live outside the city area. There are lots and lots of tiny villages positioned all over the desert. Because that there is so much free space and land outside the city, the houses are placed quite far from each other. Heard that lands to build houses are given to the locals by the government according to their cast and status. Its pity you can’t choose where you want to live. Well anyway the problem is that, because you find houses all over the place and they are situated far from each other, it’s not possible to supply water and clear drainage through pipelines. So the water is supplied to the houses regularly and the drainage is sucked away by Tanker Lorries. By standard the water supplying tankers are blue in colour while the Yellow ones suck away the drainage.
So when the Wadi flows high, and blocks the road, people in the rural areas will not have access to water, and their drainage will not be cleared too. But luckily for them, the dessert sun is too hot, that Wadi doesn’t last more than a day. Cost reduction is the only possible explanation given by the road authorities, for not building a bridge and making the Wadi go beneath the road. Life is funny and different all over the world!!!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Oman - A first Glimpse
Sultanate of Oman is a Middle Eastern country, situated next to Dubai. I had to travel to this place for vacation, due to the fact that my dad is working here, and my mom is living with him. Though never fancied the idea of going to a dessert for vacation, I had to go there since it was the dearest request of my parents, who wanted to see me. Oh well that’s the background story, now lets see how Oman looked to me on my first glimpse.
I Flew from Tech Savvy, kiasu spirited Singapore to Colombo, from where my connecting flight to Muscat was scheduled by Sri Lankan Airlines. It was a wonderful experience flying from Singapore-Colombo on Airbus A340, with its wonderful In-flight entertainment and cool Lankan passengers returning home. But the Flight from Colombo-Muscat was utter disaster, with no In-Flight entertainment, and labourers travelling to Oman from Kerala filling the small Airbus A320.
But luckily the Grape juice (Cabernet Sauvignon) that I had, took me to sleep easily, and when I woke up, I felt I had time travelled back to the 80s. The flight didn’t move close to the Airport Terminal and halted in the middle of the tarmac area. Then only I realised that there was no aerobridge to connect the flight to the terminal, and saw a passenger bus approaching us. So climbed down to the tarmac and got into the passenger bus and went into the transit hall which looked like on of those old government hospitals in Sri Lanka. There was no order or no proper signage to follow, and I was strictly ordered by an Airport Police to join the Residents Visa line, although I told him 1000 times that I don’t have a Resident Visa, but a Family Visit Visa. Maybe it works like that here, and the staff at the counter gave me the chop on my passport and said “Thaankku”.
Came out, spotted my parents and after some warm greetings and some usual complaints, loaded the baggage on dad’s pick up, and rode home. After leaving the city I expected to see sand dunes with baking sun and Camels crossing roads. As the Seeb International Airport, where I landed was just outside the main City premises, didn’t get to see much of the city. The 55Km journey from the airport to my dads place was my first glimpse of Oman. The land outside was like small hills of rock and mud. But you see a lot these hills all around you. And you see some bushes by the roadside with small trees embedded on it here and there. And some of the hills were covered with a small layer of freshly grown grass, resulting from last night showers.
The Government of Oman is also quite interesting. The king (His Majesty Sultan Qaboos) is the head of the country. The government only allows Omanis (Local Arab Citizens) to buy property, land or even own a vehicle, in a country where foreign labour force is double the size of local population. So as a foreign worker you will be given a house, a vehicle which will be oiled by your company, and you water, electricity, gas, phone bills also will be settled. All you have to do is just do the work and earn all the money, while you only have to spend your money for Food. All this is given cuz you have to bear the dessert heat while working, and your only off day is Friday. And you are not allowed to kiss or flirt around with your girl in public. Heard that Dubai and Bahrain are the only other 2 Middle East cities where you are allowed to roam around freely. I was informed that Saudi Arabia is so strict that even foreign non-Muslim girls, entering the country are required to dress up like ninjas. Wierd ah???
I Flew from Tech Savvy, kiasu spirited Singapore to Colombo, from where my connecting flight to Muscat was scheduled by Sri Lankan Airlines. It was a wonderful experience flying from Singapore-Colombo on Airbus A340, with its wonderful In-flight entertainment and cool Lankan passengers returning home. But the Flight from Colombo-Muscat was utter disaster, with no In-Flight entertainment, and labourers travelling to Oman from Kerala filling the small Airbus A320.
But luckily the Grape juice (Cabernet Sauvignon) that I had, took me to sleep easily, and when I woke up, I felt I had time travelled back to the 80s. The flight didn’t move close to the Airport Terminal and halted in the middle of the tarmac area. Then only I realised that there was no aerobridge to connect the flight to the terminal, and saw a passenger bus approaching us. So climbed down to the tarmac and got into the passenger bus and went into the transit hall which looked like on of those old government hospitals in Sri Lanka. There was no order or no proper signage to follow, and I was strictly ordered by an Airport Police to join the Residents Visa line, although I told him 1000 times that I don’t have a Resident Visa, but a Family Visit Visa. Maybe it works like that here, and the staff at the counter gave me the chop on my passport and said “Thaankku”.
Came out, spotted my parents and after some warm greetings and some usual complaints, loaded the baggage on dad’s pick up, and rode home. After leaving the city I expected to see sand dunes with baking sun and Camels crossing roads. As the Seeb International Airport, where I landed was just outside the main City premises, didn’t get to see much of the city. The 55Km journey from the airport to my dads place was my first glimpse of Oman. The land outside was like small hills of rock and mud. But you see a lot these hills all around you. And you see some bushes by the roadside with small trees embedded on it here and there. And some of the hills were covered with a small layer of freshly grown grass, resulting from last night showers.
The Government of Oman is also quite interesting. The king (His Majesty Sultan Qaboos) is the head of the country. The government only allows Omanis (Local Arab Citizens) to buy property, land or even own a vehicle, in a country where foreign labour force is double the size of local population. So as a foreign worker you will be given a house, a vehicle which will be oiled by your company, and you water, electricity, gas, phone bills also will be settled. All you have to do is just do the work and earn all the money, while you only have to spend your money for Food. All this is given cuz you have to bear the dessert heat while working, and your only off day is Friday. And you are not allowed to kiss or flirt around with your girl in public. Heard that Dubai and Bahrain are the only other 2 Middle East cities where you are allowed to roam around freely. I was informed that Saudi Arabia is so strict that even foreign non-Muslim girls, entering the country are required to dress up like ninjas. Wierd ah???
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Extra- Ordinary A380
The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engined airliner manufactured by EADS (Airbus S.A.S.). It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. It first flew on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse, France. After lengthy delays, commercial flights are scheduled to begin in late 2007. During much of its development phase, the aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX. The nickname Superjumbo has become associated with the A380.
Oh well enough of the introduction of A380 (thanks www.wikipedia.org). All of you might be aware of the fact that Singapore Airlines will receive the first A380, and will be first to fly it commercially. All the other airlines will receive A380 only in late 2008.
On 13-08-07 some students of Temasek Polytechnic and some other volunteers were taken to a tour around Terminal 3 of Changi Airport. And then had the rare chance of boarding into Airbus A380, and got the T3 is so cool. It has many special features. One of them is the butterfly roofs. The roofs are arranged in a special manner which will allow natural light to come inside the terminal. The air condition system is set from the ground, as the roof is so high. And the best of all is the vertical garden which is 5 storeys high and can be seen from both arrival and departure halls.
After looking around Terminal 3, all the participants were taken to Terminal to Board into A380, which was parked there. Separate boarding passes were issued to all participants. All were given hand carry luggage to take onboard A380 to act as a real passenger. And food was provided to all the passengers and was encouraged by the in-flight supervisor to throw the remaining all over the aircraft. Basically these tests were conducted to measure the time needed to board all the passengers into A380, the time to disembark all the passengers, and the time to clean the whole aircraft.
If you want my personal comment on A380, as a passenger it just looks like any other aircraft. Nothing special about it. It just looks huge from the outside, and the cockpit might have some additional features, and the flight might have a longer flying time. But as an economy class passenger, there is nothing special in it comparing to any other modern day commercial aircraft.
Oh well enough of the introduction of A380 (thanks www.wikipedia.org). All of you might be aware of the fact that Singapore Airlines will receive the first A380, and will be first to fly it commercially. All the other airlines will receive A380 only in late 2008.
On 13-08-07 some students of Temasek Polytechnic and some other volunteers were taken to a tour around Terminal 3 of Changi Airport. And then had the rare chance of boarding into Airbus A380, and got the T3 is so cool. It has many special features. One of them is the butterfly roofs. The roofs are arranged in a special manner which will allow natural light to come inside the terminal. The air condition system is set from the ground, as the roof is so high. And the best of all is the vertical garden which is 5 storeys high and can be seen from both arrival and departure halls.
After looking around Terminal 3, all the participants were taken to Terminal to Board into A380, which was parked there. Separate boarding passes were issued to all participants. All were given hand carry luggage to take onboard A380 to act as a real passenger. And food was provided to all the passengers and was encouraged by the in-flight supervisor to throw the remaining all over the aircraft. Basically these tests were conducted to measure the time needed to board all the passengers into A380, the time to disembark all the passengers, and the time to clean the whole aircraft.
If you want my personal comment on A380, as a passenger it just looks like any other aircraft. Nothing special about it. It just looks huge from the outside, and the cockpit might have some additional features, and the flight might have a longer flying time. But as an economy class passenger, there is nothing special in it comparing to any other modern day commercial aircraft.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
I am Tagged
I have been tagged by Parthi in his blog...lets honour the tag...I am inclined to acquiesce the request!! I am suppose to write 7 random things about me. So here goes...
1- My hair is curly, messy and it looks like fro. But it’s my natural real hair. I can’t help it...it’s not my fault... Some say, “It’s too messy, do something about it”. But when they ask like that I feel like “you are dark, do something about it”. I mean I was born with this, how can I change this???
2- I suck big time in Programming!!! I know my programming skills are not the best, after falling asleep half of my Microcontroller Technology lab. But then I unknowingly fell into the trap again for my major project, as I was put into the software group of the Boeing 747 aircraft project. This serious, as my grades are gonna get seriously affected...Let’s see how it goes...Never ever plan the future, just live it!!!
3- Finding House!!!Again!!! Finding house in Singapore has been the most important and most consistent quest that I have done so far in Singapore. In my 2 ½ year history in Singapore I have lived in 6 houses, and now looking for 7th. Interesting Hey!!??
4- Top Secret...My life nowadays have become top secret, and I am not allowed to speak about it...I am doing a Boeing 747 simulator for my Major Project, and my supervisor has restricted us not to speak in detail about it to anyone...so is project cyber...my part time job in airport, also is the same, as I am not allowed to speak much in detail about the proceedings to outsiders. Sometimes I feel like an undercover agent!!!
5- Setting new trend has always been me. And the latest addition to this is my necklace. It is just a plain black chain with a microchip attached to it as pendant. All those who are studying electronics can easily find one in their college’s component store. And a resistor as an ear stud will give a complete Eletro-cool look. Tech savvy style!!!, that’s how I call my trend. Feel free to follow me!!
6- There are times when you get addicted to some website and keep on checking it very regularly. My latest addiction is facebook. Due to some unavoidable things being scribbled on my wall, I had to go and keep on firing back. At least it keeps me entertained, so I don’t complain.
7- My latest mania is going to gym. I was going to gym regularly 6 months ago, then got bored by doing the same routine. But now with Senthuran, always being so fussy when selecting the food court and the food to eat, the disease infected me. The friends that u make will make who you are, is completely true. After Senthuran was affected by this gym mania, now 3 of us were infected and are accompanying him to the gym and, do some lifting. Me body is fit and strong now!!haha!!
Hope you all enjoyed the read...I hereby pass the tag torch to Arjuna...he can do it after his A/Ls.
1- My hair is curly, messy and it looks like fro. But it’s my natural real hair. I can’t help it...it’s not my fault... Some say, “It’s too messy, do something about it”. But when they ask like that I feel like “you are dark, do something about it”. I mean I was born with this, how can I change this???
2- I suck big time in Programming!!! I know my programming skills are not the best, after falling asleep half of my Microcontroller Technology lab. But then I unknowingly fell into the trap again for my major project, as I was put into the software group of the Boeing 747 aircraft project. This serious, as my grades are gonna get seriously affected...Let’s see how it goes...Never ever plan the future, just live it!!!
3- Finding House!!!Again!!! Finding house in Singapore has been the most important and most consistent quest that I have done so far in Singapore. In my 2 ½ year history in Singapore I have lived in 6 houses, and now looking for 7th. Interesting Hey!!??
4- Top Secret...My life nowadays have become top secret, and I am not allowed to speak about it...I am doing a Boeing 747 simulator for my Major Project, and my supervisor has restricted us not to speak in detail about it to anyone...so is project cyber...my part time job in airport, also is the same, as I am not allowed to speak much in detail about the proceedings to outsiders. Sometimes I feel like an undercover agent!!!
5- Setting new trend has always been me. And the latest addition to this is my necklace. It is just a plain black chain with a microchip attached to it as pendant. All those who are studying electronics can easily find one in their college’s component store. And a resistor as an ear stud will give a complete Eletro-cool look. Tech savvy style!!!, that’s how I call my trend. Feel free to follow me!!
6- There are times when you get addicted to some website and keep on checking it very regularly. My latest addiction is facebook. Due to some unavoidable things being scribbled on my wall, I had to go and keep on firing back. At least it keeps me entertained, so I don’t complain.
7- My latest mania is going to gym. I was going to gym regularly 6 months ago, then got bored by doing the same routine. But now with Senthuran, always being so fussy when selecting the food court and the food to eat, the disease infected me. The friends that u make will make who you are, is completely true. After Senthuran was affected by this gym mania, now 3 of us were infected and are accompanying him to the gym and, do some lifting. Me body is fit and strong now!!haha!!
Hope you all enjoyed the read...I hereby pass the tag torch to Arjuna...he can do it after his A/Ls.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Hero Harry Potter???
Hahahaha....Finished reading Harry Potter. Had a wonderful theme and good story. All the plots were revealed, as we've expected. We expected the last Horcrux to be Harry Potter, and J.K.Rowling didn’t disappoint us. We expected that there was something else behind Dumbledore’s death, and snape was on Dumbledore’s side, as expected. He seem to protecting Harry, for the love that he had on his mom. Which too was expected.
What sets Deathly Hallows apart from all other Harry potter series books is that, there is no Hogwarts this time. The action starts right from the word go. We see how wizards apparate/dissaparate in real life, and how they live undercover. The most important of all is that, a lot of events take place in such a short time unlike the previous books. Only 2 Horcruxes have been destroyed until now. So harry finds the remaining 5, destroys them and also kills Voldermort. And not forgetting about the new theory of Deathly hallows and gathering them too.
But what I liked about Harry Potter character is that, he is not a hero like Spiderman or Superman or Sivaji. He is brave and noble. But is not that brilliant when it comes to battles. He makes lots and lots of stupid mistakes, which causes pain and discomfort to his friends. Especially Hermione who was cursed by a crucatious curse. He always escapes from tight spots either by luck, or by his brave friends like Hermione and Ron. But nevertheless, Harry has a kind heart, which makes him superior than any other hero!!!
At last Harry Potter ended. And it was very satisfying indeed!!!
What sets Deathly Hallows apart from all other Harry potter series books is that, there is no Hogwarts this time. The action starts right from the word go. We see how wizards apparate/dissaparate in real life, and how they live undercover. The most important of all is that, a lot of events take place in such a short time unlike the previous books. Only 2 Horcruxes have been destroyed until now. So harry finds the remaining 5, destroys them and also kills Voldermort. And not forgetting about the new theory of Deathly hallows and gathering them too.
But what I liked about Harry Potter character is that, he is not a hero like Spiderman or Superman or Sivaji. He is brave and noble. But is not that brilliant when it comes to battles. He makes lots and lots of stupid mistakes, which causes pain and discomfort to his friends. Especially Hermione who was cursed by a crucatious curse. He always escapes from tight spots either by luck, or by his brave friends like Hermione and Ron. But nevertheless, Harry has a kind heart, which makes him superior than any other hero!!!
At last Harry Potter ended. And it was very satisfying indeed!!!
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