Too Long

Yes I know I've been a hopeless blogger till date. I've written 6 posts in as many months. I really can't say that I'm too busy, because it really doesn't take that much time to write. Ah well, all I can say is I must try to improve my frequency. Thanks to everyone who's left comments. Its very motivating to know someone is interested in what I have to say :)

So in the last few months I've not done much new...work had become a little hectic so a little less on the exploring but things have finally quietened down a bit. I had gone to the Aero Show which was quite exciting. Just to stand there and hear the roar of the planes is an experience! I wasn't going to go initially as I'm not really into such things but am glad I did. Plus it's always nice to spend the day doing something apart from the usual. The Surya Kiran display was definitely the best. My hats off to the pilots as well as the entire Indian Air force for their skill. It's heartwarming to be a part of an event and hear so many of the kids saying wow and wouldnt it be great to be a pilot. We need more people like that. I would love to learn to fly. Obviously not at such a level but more for kicks. I'm sure right now I wouldn't be able to afford the lessons but someday! What a high it must be - no pun intended!

Last weekend I went to Pondicherry. Gosh it was good to get out of the city for even 2 days and take a real break. Came back fully refreshed although it was excrutiatingly hot in Pondicherry! The town was not at all what I'd expected. I guess I think all beach towns should be like Goa, but Pondi is a lot calmer and more about just doing nothing and drinking less. We wandered around, took long bike rides in some beautiful shady paths, went on a boat ride ( the boys jumped in to the salty salty sea! ), tried to shop (not very advisable) and of course visited the ashram which is one of Pondi's most famous sites. We also ate at some delicious restaurants. my favourite food was at RendezVous. A quiet little place in the French Quarter with casual service but Yum food. From the melt in your mouth garlic bread to the ice cold breezers and beer to the main course everything was perfect! We had dinner at a place called Satsanga, again in the French Quarter. This place is also quite well known and although the setting is lovely I would not really recommend the food. Firstly most of our orders were messed up, and not very appealling. I think the chocolate mousse must have been still in the making when it was served!

Very close to the ashram we had lunch at a small Pizzeria run by some very real Italians! The pizza is extremely authentic and although not suited to the Indian palate specifically it was delicious nonetheless. More importantly I think I had the best chocolate cake I've ever had in my life! Wow!

Just before leaving we relaxed at The Promenade. This place is a Hidesign boutique hotel and beautifully built although a little rundown in a few places. The outdoor bar/restaurant has a lovely view of Pondicherry's main beach so a great place to just relax and have a few drinks. Overall it was a great trip thanks to the company of 5 good friends. Best way to get around Pondi is to hire bikes and stay somewhere in the french quarter so you can also walk around in the evening.

Recommendation : Good for a weekend or 3 days - try to stay somewhere with a swimming pool!

New Years

So, guess what time of the year it is? You got it, its that time when we bid farewell to another year. For some this will have been full of glory, others tragedy, and for some nothing really special at all.

For me this was a big year. I moved to Bangalore, a completely new city, a new job, and my first time living away from my parents. This is no joke and something I am proud to say I have managed quite well! I'm still learning lots - I still don't cook as often as I should, my clothes to be washed are done invariably only on Sundays, and I'm utterly hopeless at organizing my finances (particularly anything to do with tax!). Generally by the end of the month I suddenly realise I've spent most of my money!!

So, one of my most important New Years resolutions is definitely to start saving some money. I think the best way is some kind of scheme where as soon as I get my salary a certain amount gets automatically deducted ( Like a recurring deposit or something) and then I'm forced to manage with the amount left. There's just no other way I can do it, I'll just spend the money for sure! This way I want to save a decent amount and then blow it on something big (like a trip around south india). I keep thinking I want to take some basic you "Managing your finances for Dummies" kind of course, but neither have I found something of that nature nor honestly, really tried!

What else - definitely to be healthier - very important resolution. Too much eating out, and eating at the wrong times does not a healthy body equal! I'll have to put in some effort, buy fruit more regularly, cook decently, and avoid binging late at night! Possible, mmmm, probably!

These included, I'm looking forward to 2009. I think its going to finally be a time for stability, hopefully some peace, and an upward weight in our wallets!

More things to do!

Volunteering

There are loads of places one can volunteer here if you're feeling a little in the giving mood. It's something I always want to do, but don't :(. There are tons of NGO's who work with disadvantaged kids, disabled people, the elderly, abused women, etc. A few of these include HippoCampus, FAME, Parikrama, and DreamADream, SAHAI. DreamADream is a really great foundation that works with underprivileged children. They team up with other foundations such as the Freedom foundation to create workshops to help train kids on social skills, and life skills, as well as organizing feel good events. They have something called a sunday funday where you can sign up to help out on any sunday event, as per your time constraints and interests, and spend time with the kids. For example sometimes its a Cricket match, or a trip to the bird park, or to the Planetarium. This is a great way to spend your Sunday and something that will brighten definitely a few kids faces.

Wonder La

Wonder La is a huge amusement park on Mysore Road, shortly after Kengeri. They have a water park and many slides, games etc as well as the usual thrilling rides! I would advise you not to go if you're going to be boring and avoid anything that seems too fast or too high up! There are lots of small places to eat and they do keep organizing events such as a Raindance, etc for different outings.

Movies

Bangalore has loads of movie theaters like any other big city, and its always good for a break to relax with a hot huge tub of popcorn! This includes PVR cinemas in Forum, Koramangala , Inox at Garuda mall near Brigade road, Fame cinemas (Lido Mall -Ulsoor) , Fun Cinemas ( Sigma mall - Cunningham road ) Innovative Multiplex ( Outer Ring Road ) , Inox (Swagath - Jayanagar) , Rex (Brigade Road) and Urvashi ( JC Road) . Many other smaller places abound in all the popular areas, particularly majestic.

"Oh, there's nothing to do..."

I frequently hear my colleagues trying to make plans for their coming weekends, and the most often heard refrain is "Oh, there's nothing to do in Bangalore". Now, perhaps, because I'm fairly new here still and everything seems fresh, I think if you really want to, there are tons of things to do on the weekend. It's just about taking the initiative. Let me name a few :

Innovative Film City : This is a huge theme park/activity center brimming with things to do, about 20 kms out of Bangalore, in Bidadi. If I were to go into detail it would take up too many pages so some of the main things are below.

The amusements include go karting, a water park, mini golf, and a mirror maze.

The attractions include a haunted mansion, dinosaur city, and cartoon city.

Some of the 'cool' museums (not two words generally found used together) include Madame Tussaud's Wax museum An a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum.

They have a huge amphitheatre and keep hosting different events like karaoke, and theme parties. There's shopping and some good restaurants so your day will be over even before you know it! You can easily do this on any saturday or sunday without feeling too much of a strain! And please don't think this is just for kids-i guarantee anyway will enjoy it!!

Ranga Shankara :

This is a very active theater in south Bangalore that keeps putting up plays, ranging from amateur festivals to productions by some of the most prominent names in theater. A small but well known space near RV Dental College, the tickets are very reasonably priced (~100) and oftentimes sold out well in advance. Most of the crowd are truly interested in the plays and this respect is made obvious by the fact that the doors close strictly 5 minutes before the start time and you will not be allowed in if you are late.

They update their site : http://www.rangashankara.org/ very frequently so keep checking in case you're in the mood to spend your evening experiencing something different!

Suchitra Film Society is a very active club with respect to theater and art films. This is again located in south Bangalore in Banashankari. They are always associating with others for film festivals and you can get regular updates by calling and checking at 26711785

If you want to try something active you can go Bowling at Amoeba on Church Street or in Leela Palace. Prices are the same at both places and in Leela they also serve beer. There's also Megabowl near the old airport but the lanes are very small and take quite a lot of the thrill out of it. Go-karting is another option on Mysore road at Gripps, at Patel's Inn, or at Star City in palace grounds. Paintball is slowing becoming popular and is an amazing way to bond with new friends as you need to ensure a big group and book the place in advance. You can get more details on this at http://www.yuyutsa.com/ and http://www.thepaintballco.com/ and http://www.xtremezoneindia.com/

I realise I have only just got started and there are millions of things I could list, plus all the many day/weekend trips one can plan out of Bangalore so I think this will have to be Part 1, shortly to be continued!

The wandering mind

There are those people who keep dreaming but never make anything of those dreams. Does that make it wrong to dream? There are those people who make one goal and center their lives around that goal. Is it wrong to be so focussed and miss out on other opportunities?
My last blog was about the many things I want to do. Needless to say I've not joined dance class. I've been working extra and none of the classes fit into my schedule. It makes me feel like one more thing I've failed at, but does that mean I should stop trying things or wanting to try things?
Before this becomes a philosophical lesson I will just decide to choose. I choose to always keep wanting more, and hopefully, as Harry Potter says, for every 14 No's, there has to be one Yes!
Maybe I should start with someone that does not require a specific time. Like blogging! I can do this whenever I want, it gives me a chance to use my rusty english skills, and hopefully one day I'll actually write something interesting enough that people will comment on my blog!
Many people say blogging is an art in itself, and I am definitely the greenest amateur. What are the best ways of building one's blog?
The following link seems to be a good place for me to start and so I will start reading a little in my free time
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/blogging-for-beginners-2/
In school I read a book called Catcher in the Rye which was a complete stream of consciousness and I wonder how it would work as a blog. From one perspective it is a maddening book to read as you have to really keep track of the many things he says. It's literally following the way a person might think. It's extremely interesting to track one's thoughts and see how fast we jump from topic to topic without even realising. Example :

• I should go to sleep, I have to get up early tomorrow
• It will be so cold early in the morning.
• First I'll have a cup of tea, that will get me going
• Oh I forgot to buy more sugar from the supermarket today
• I can have black tea with honey
• What was that documentary on tv about honeybees the other day?
• Black and yellow is a horrible combination for an outfit but it really works on bees
• I need new black trousers
• I wonder when sale season is. Probably January.
• My cousins getting married in January in Udaipur
• I've always wanted to visit Rajasthan

And so on....
within a span of maybe 5 seconds, from going to sleep I've moved on to planning a trip months from now! It's really amazing how fast the mind works and how easily things are connected. Now imagine I had said the first, fifth, and last thing out loud. Wouldn't that sound ridiculous?!
That's the stream of consciousness, and it can be mesmerizing! Give it a try, it's worth a laugh if nothing else, and maybe one day a blog!

Doing More than whats expected.

I'm one of those people who always has a long list of things they want to do and unfortunately always finds reasons/excuses to never actually go through with them. When I was younger I would spend weeks begging my parents to let me join horse riding classes or keyboard classes, and then when they would finally agree, I would go for probably 3 classes and then not follow it up. In hindsight I wish I had pushed myself more. It would be great to actually be skilled at something.
Last year I, on my own impetus, had joined drumming classes. It was a ball. Its amazing to learn to make music. I went for quite a while and soon was getting the hang of it. However, the teacher then asked me to learn the notes and do some homework and learn how to write music basically. I didn't go back because it was hard to keep up with spending time on it outside of class.
I often feel that this happens also because very few people respect what you do in your spare time. Everyone always feels its a hobby or just something to do IF you have the time for it. But sometimes I feel that extra curricular activities should have a priority. When you do things outside of your workplace, you stimulate your brain to explore its creative side and to stay alert. You meet interesting people which might be good for networking, or at least conversation. If everyone started having the attitude that its important to keep trying new things I think it would be easier to keep up with them.
Right now I really want to join dancing class. I've always wanted to learn dance, in any form. I know I cant make the weekday course but I'm hoping I can join on saturday-sunday batch. However I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be travelling for work on many sundays. This is because our free time isn't valued, and there's so much competition and 50 people waiting to take ure job that we dont even protest. Or so we think! However maybe i will brave it. I've found out a few places near my house that have dance classes such as Platinum Bodies in Jayanagar 3rd Block, Studio 5678 in the same area, Genesis in JP Nagar, and IFLAC for salsa in Basavanagudi. So there are many options and I'm always looking for more! Let's see what the weekend brings.

Under New Skies

Hi. I'm Natali and I've just shifted to Bangalore. Since i'm still to discover what this city has to offer I've been spending a lot of time online. I'm hopefully not the type of person who lives in a city for 2 years and only knows the 3 roads surrounding my flat. So I'm going to start exploring this place soon and for all those people new to Bangalore I hope to give you some insight to my new home and let you know what i figure out!