Tomato Soup - Something different @ Svensons in Singapore

A stroll down the Orchard Road in Singapore was more than a time-pass activity to me. It was about 6:30PM on the 1st of August, when I reached my hotel - Traders Hotel Singapore. The hotel is located in a strategic location - perpendicular to the Orchard Road, and pretty close to Little India (a 15minute drive).

Me and my pal (from school days) , who visited me, took a stroll down the Orchard Road, and I enjoyed every bit of the walk. We walked through huge malls, discussing his research activities and my pursuits outside of my day work. We happened to step into this restaurant called Svensons on Orchard Road, which was a party place for all those birthday babies.

I took some cheese munchies, a tomato soup and a pasta. But this tomato soup is something that caught my attention - it was served in a pumpkin-shaped container, which was a garlic bread itself!


You must definetly try this out if you happen to visit Singapore the next time!

Karthik @ Singapura

Busy days during the past one month has made my blog to look like a location awareness tool :-)
This is the post (hopefully) that will be of that sort. I just got to Singapore, and plan to go hunting for a decent dinner now.

Hope to get into a good Southeast Asian restaurant and see if they do offer a palatable veggie spread!

More updates to come..

A land where two and four+ wheelers exist in peace!

China is the country that competes closely with India in more than a way. Two-wheelers like cycles and bikes are one of them. China has as many (or greater) two-wheeler traffic on the road as India has. But the road-safety ensured for these two-wheelers is far greater than what is ensured in India.

The roads in Shanghai has typically four lanes. The two of the outer lanes are the ones used by the two-wheelers. These outer lanes are separated from the ones in the middle by a solid metal railing that runs continuously along the length of the road.


An interesting thing can be observed at the junctions where roads meet - the two-wheelers cross over to the other side using the pedestrian crossing (zebra crossing). Parking spaces are available for cycles along the sides of the road, where a nominal charge is levied on an hourly basis.

Shanghai, China - A Geekland

The book stores are sights-to-see for anyone who makes it to the financial capital of China - Shanghai. A walk into any bookstore at any time of the day is like walking through narrow streets packed with people. Bookstores reveal the true side of the geek land. Every aisle in the book store had dozens of geeks standing, sitting, squatting and reading books!


Walking through the narrow aisles was a challenging task most of the time.
Some facts about bookstores in Shanghai (my experience):

• Most of the books found on the bookshelves were in Chinese
• Most of the books had dog ears
• Almost 90% of the walking area was occupied by squatting/sitting readers
• Almost 50% of the corners were blocked by readers
• 90% of the readers were seriously reading and taking notes, 10% of them seemed to be listening to music and browsing/waiting for someone
• The persons at the cash counters at the exit of each bookstore seemed jobless (and reading too!)

Given this kind of a marketplace, I have been wondering the motivation behind opening a bookstore in Shanghai. It might be profitable to open a library - Won't it?

The other interesting observation was that they listed GMAT/ GRE/ SAT books under a section called "Kids Books"! Smart kids indeed!


Before I close, here are a couple of interesting videos of a typical Shanghai bookstore...

Shanghai and the Maglev experience

This is my first posting after my Shanghai travel, and thought it would be good to share the welcome experience I had at Pudong International Airport. I'd reached the airport at about 13:35 Hrs, and waited for my colleague who was arriving from the United States. I'd read a lot about the Shanghai Maglev Train, and hence decided to experience the speed. The Shanghai Maglev Train station is connected to the airport, and we were there in less than 5 minutes. The train operates on one route, which is the Pudong International Airport - Longyang Road link. We took the one-way ticket which costed CNY 50 (INR 267/ USD 6.5).


This was one of the most thrilling experience I've had so far. We were allowed to enter the track area only after the train arrived at the station. The station had a railing that prevented the movement of people anywhere near the tracks. The train looked like a mini Boeing jet to me. We boarded the train, and in less than a minute, we heard the bell and the doors closed. The train had one more uniqueness - it had a digital tachometer displayed inside. I didn't even realize the speed at which the train was moving, until I saw the tachometer.

But for the tachometer, I'd never have realized the train speed. It was such a smooth ride, that it felt like traveling in a jet.

For long, the jets have been known for their speed - Airbus 380 travels at a maximum speed of 0.89 Mach (590mph). The Maglev train travels at a maximum speed of 268mph (431km/h) - almost 50% as fast as a Boeing 380.

If you happen to go to Shanghai, make it a point to take this wonder machine from PIA to Longyang Road, and then take a cab from Longyang Road station.

Packing my bags....off to Shanghai

Off to "China's New York" (this is how people have described Shanghai to me). I am looking forward to see a concrete jungle with skyscrapers, huge motor cars gulping gallons of fuel every few yards, people walking down the streets lost in their own busy thoughts, filled parking lots and ....of course a lot of McDonalds, KFCs and Subways...

Will hope to give some steaming news from Shanghai. If not, will catch up with my net presence after I return on the 11th July.

The Dream starts with a Nightmare - Travel from India to USA

The Trend
For many Indians, the United States has been (and continues to be) the most dreamt place to study/visit/work (for a myriad of reasons). Right from my engineering undergraduation days, I've heard many engineers-to-be talk about their dreams of getting an admission - into a graduation program in an engineering school in the US of A. Even at work, I've seen a lot of people wanting to work in the US of A.

The Brand
United States of America has become a 'brand' that has established itself so strongly in the minds of trillions of people around the world (and so in India). A 'brand' that has emerged so confident of attracting 'clientele' from across the world, that it doesn't take that 'extra' step to increase 'user-friendliness' to its end-users (if I may call so).

The Nightmare Experience!
I was at the Consulate General of the United States - Chennai, India a couple of weeks back for a visa a business travel that I had to do in a week's time. This is in the month of April in Chennai - which means, the thermometer read 34 degrees Celsius (approx 94 Fahrenheit). I had an appointment post-noon, and was asked to be present atleast 15minutes prior to the time I was given. I went there half an hour prior to my appointment time, and was put into a queue that spanned for atleast 50 yards from the Consulate entrance. I was joined by people from all age groups - people in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's...and also late 70's! I had a couple ahead of me who were 79 and 75 years old. We all had to wait in the line "that had NO shelter" under the 'real HOT sun' for almost 50 minutes. We were called in 10minutes after the appointment time (No, the wait doesn't end so soon!)

There were a group of security personnel who checked our documents and the appointment time, and we were asked to go past security. We were then made to stand in another queue inside the consulate premises (a winding queue that spanned another 50+ yards). It took us well over an hour to get into the visa interviewing chamber (a building which was airconditioned). During all this process, there was no place where we were offered a proper shelter - not even a temperory roofing nor a was there a place to sit! I pitied the aged couple who were ahead of me (there were many more older people in the queue).

There was a person from the consulate who came forward to ask for people who had kids, and let those people go ahead of us; but when this old gentleman ahead of me asked if he and his wife could go ahead, there was a quick question from the consulate person - "How old are you?". This person told " I'm 79 years old". The immediate reply from the consulate person was - "Only people above the age of 80 are allowed to bypass the queue. It won't apply for you". This is ridiculous! What if he had his 80th Birthday the next day???

Some tips to Go Armoured!
So, net-net, here are some tips for people who plan to visit the US Consulate at Chennai (especially during the summer):

• Bring along a person with you - who can stand outside and help you with essentials like water, umbrella, ice pack, etc (this person has got to stand away from you - near a tree - even outside the consulate - the security demands this)

• If you are a reader of books, magazines, please carry one with you (you can carry this inside the consulate) - this comes handy (both, to read and as a shelter) when you stand in those long queues inside the premises

• Carry some candies with you - this comes handy inside the premises - helps you with the thirst

• Carry a hand towel, as you will tend to perspire a lot and also this doubles as a shelter!

• Don't book your flight tickets (incase you are flying down from outside of Chennai) anywhere close to your appointment time - give atleast 5 hours* gap between your appointment time and your flight departure time.

* (2hours inside the consulate+ 1 hour travel time to airport+ 1 hour for checkin time + 1 hour buffer time)

Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...

Got back to Chennai on early morning of May 1st, from a place that has so much of history attached to it - Las Vegas.

Never realized that Vegas, a place known for its glamor, gaming and style, dated back to early 1700's. This was the second time I've been in Vegas in the past 5 months. Being a tetotaller and a big 'zero' at gambling, I was not as much thrilled as others would be, during this second visit. I was there for a conference, and it was my first conference as a speaker. With butterflies in my stomach, it was a different experience to be in a place like "Vegas for a technical conference"!

The second day was over, and it was when I happened to know from my friend that Las Vegas had a good history attached to it. It is when I began to realize that Nevada (the state to which Las Vegas belongs to) was a desert! This got me curious and started to browse the internet to learn more about Las Vegas.

(a view of Las Vegas from my room - 17th Floor at The Rio)

"Las Vegas" means "The Meadows" in Spanish, discovered by a Spanish trader Rafael Rivera in the 1700's. Its told that the construction of the Hoover Dam (originally known as the Boulder Dam) resulted in the generation of so much of electric power, that Las Vegas started to consume and started to develop as the most brightly lit city in the world.

"The Strip" is a stretch in Las Vegas which houses some of the world's largest and glamorous casinos like MGM Grand, Paris, New York New York, etc. Its said that "The Strip" does not belong to Las Vegas, but to Clark County. The Strip-building began in the late 90's and ever since then, its been the gaming capital of the world.

"Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"....this is how the famous one liner goes. But "Whatever has happened (the history) at Vegas needs to get out of Vegas" :-) . To know more about Vegas, here is a good link LasVegasPast.com