Came across a nice quote:
Do not blame yourself for past errors. You are no longer the same person who made them and you cannot blame a person who does not exist.
Cent percent correct! Learn from mistakes. Remember the learnings & not the incidents. Definitely the day ahead will be sweet & joyful.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Friday, June 24, 2005
Cycling - Diamond route!
Last year september, we went for cycling in a small town called Turnhout (images). It was a very nice trip. The route was around 21 kms long. It lead us along a nice canal, then into the woods followed by a hi-fi village & finally back to the starting position.
Since, it was fun, I convinced my new set of friends for cycling. This time we chose Diamond route in a town called Lier. This route is very famous in Belgium.
My campaign for cycling was running in full-swing till morning of the planned date & finally I succeeded in getting the majority. Because of that we started very late. By the time we reached the place, it was already evening. When we hired cycles, we were informed that only 3hrs remaining. The route goes for 30 kms. 10 kms/hr, hmmm... quite challenging. Still we all decided to give it a shot. (Bad project planning!)
The route was gorgious! Going through woods, fields and villages. Really amazing!
After covering around 10 kms, we realized we've eaten up half the time. Since it was very obvious that covering the route was next to impossible, we decided to turn back. Traversing the same route again? No way. Brave men don't step back! But they take some other route back!! So, we decided to take another shorter cycling route back. After 30 mins of useless search to find that route, finally we gave up & took a very dry freeway back.
I was the only one having a little energy left by that time. Since, the odds of getting late for returning the cycles were high, I thought I'd go first & inform the in-charge that others may get delayed a bit. I started pedaling fast. Competition brings best out of everyone, right? So, I was searching for someone whom I can race with, so that I can reach the destination faster. Right at that time one cycle also joined that path. But, bad luck. It was a very old lady at her late 60s. Racing with a old lady??? I must be crazy.
Anyhow, just for the fun of it, I tried to beat her. My goodness, she was damn fast. The drama of I beating her in downhills & she comfortably overtaking me in uphills continued for quite some time. Finally with my tongue out, I had to accept my defeat after covering around 6 kms. Damn... Even european oldies are strong. MORAL: Never ever challenge an european on physical contests (a lesson I already learnt in my squash sessions :( ).
Anyhow, finally we all reached the destination on-time. (Agile methodology works!)
Since, it was fun, I convinced my new set of friends for cycling. This time we chose Diamond route in a town called Lier. This route is very famous in Belgium.
My campaign for cycling was running in full-swing till morning of the planned date & finally I succeeded in getting the majority. Because of that we started very late. By the time we reached the place, it was already evening. When we hired cycles, we were informed that only 3hrs remaining. The route goes for 30 kms. 10 kms/hr, hmmm... quite challenging. Still we all decided to give it a shot. (Bad project planning!)
The route was gorgious! Going through woods, fields and villages. Really amazing!
After covering around 10 kms, we realized we've eaten up half the time. Since it was very obvious that covering the route was next to impossible, we decided to turn back. Traversing the same route again? No way. Brave men don't step back! But they take some other route back!! So, we decided to take another shorter cycling route back. After 30 mins of useless search to find that route, finally we gave up & took a very dry freeway back.
I was the only one having a little energy left by that time. Since, the odds of getting late for returning the cycles were high, I thought I'd go first & inform the in-charge that others may get delayed a bit. I started pedaling fast. Competition brings best out of everyone, right? So, I was searching for someone whom I can race with, so that I can reach the destination faster. Right at that time one cycle also joined that path. But, bad luck. It was a very old lady at her late 60s. Racing with a old lady??? I must be crazy.
Anyhow, just for the fun of it, I tried to beat her. My goodness, she was damn fast. The drama of I beating her in downhills & she comfortably overtaking me in uphills continued for quite some time. Finally with my tongue out, I had to accept my defeat after covering around 6 kms. Damn... Even european oldies are strong. MORAL: Never ever challenge an european on physical contests (a lesson I already learnt in my squash sessions :( ).
Anyhow, finally we all reached the destination on-time. (Agile methodology works!)
Monday, June 20, 2005
Kayaking!
Last year summer, we went for kayaking in Lesse, the most famous kayaking route in Belgium. Few snaps are available here. We've covered around 21kms in 5 hours.
For all of us, that was the first experience with kayak & so it was just fun. One pair couldn't control the kayak even a bit. After a short struggle, they decided not to fight against nature. Meaning, if their kayak turns against the stream, they started rowing backwards instead of trying to straighten it! In first 30mins, they couldn't cross even 100 mtrs. Ultimately we had to separate them & form new pairs for continuing with the trip.
In some places, the water was very rough & few kayaks even toppled. My mobile phone was totally wet. After drying that, it started working perfectly (except one keypad bulb, which glows always). East or west, Nokia the best!
Why all of a sudden this story? Because, we went for another kayaking trip. This time to a hill station called Coo. Last year also we went to the same place, but for different reason: fun park, cable car, etc..
This time we had female participation also! So, we've chosen more easier & shorter route. This one was about 9kms long. Guess what? We've taken almost the same time, 5hrs, for covering this too!
Even with almost no flow of water, few people managed to topple their kayak! Within 20mins of starting, one guy fell into water & lost his paddle. So, all of us had to wait till he went back & got a new one. Very bad start :(
In some places, it was very shallow. So, we had to get down & pull the boat till we reach place with enough depth. Water was at freezing cold, around 5deg. So, we couldn't stand long in the water too.
This time also one guy's cell phone got wet. He asked another guy to keep it safe & threw that towards him, since getting down from kayak is not that easy! You know what happened? Yes, you've guessed it right. It fell down into the water. We had to search for around 10mins to find that (remember, the water temperature was around 5 :( ). One more stress testing for Nokia handset. After drying, everything was working perfectly. Including all bulbs in the keypad! But, alas, only two things were not working! 1. Antenna: Phone was not identifying any network, 2. Speaker: No sound! So, ultimately that phone deserves a place nothing better than a garbage bin. Very bad nokia!
After everything was over, we came back to the starting place & were about to catch train in 20 mins. On the way to station, we realized one very minor thing. The bag containing all the valuable things (4 wallets, 3 mobile phones, few belgium residence cards, etc.) is missing!!! By that time the kayaking office was also closed. So, we searched for the guy in the counter & found him in a nearby restaurant. Ironically, he didn't know english. Thankfully one more guy understood our english & explained that to him. Then we rushed to the kayaking office with him & found the bag there. Again running all the way back to the station & reached there just 2mins before train arrival time. So, we thought the trip ended with a nail biting finish. But, you know what, the train came 30mins late :(
Anyhow, the trip was very nice. It was a relief from a regular monotonous life. Planning to have more such trips in this summer.
For all of us, that was the first experience with kayak & so it was just fun. One pair couldn't control the kayak even a bit. After a short struggle, they decided not to fight against nature. Meaning, if their kayak turns against the stream, they started rowing backwards instead of trying to straighten it! In first 30mins, they couldn't cross even 100 mtrs. Ultimately we had to separate them & form new pairs for continuing with the trip.
In some places, the water was very rough & few kayaks even toppled. My mobile phone was totally wet. After drying that, it started working perfectly (except one keypad bulb, which glows always). East or west, Nokia the best!
Why all of a sudden this story? Because, we went for another kayaking trip. This time to a hill station called Coo. Last year also we went to the same place, but for different reason: fun park, cable car, etc..
This time we had female participation also! So, we've chosen more easier & shorter route. This one was about 9kms long. Guess what? We've taken almost the same time, 5hrs, for covering this too!
Even with almost no flow of water, few people managed to topple their kayak! Within 20mins of starting, one guy fell into water & lost his paddle. So, all of us had to wait till he went back & got a new one. Very bad start :(
In some places, it was very shallow. So, we had to get down & pull the boat till we reach place with enough depth. Water was at freezing cold, around 5deg. So, we couldn't stand long in the water too.
This time also one guy's cell phone got wet. He asked another guy to keep it safe & threw that towards him, since getting down from kayak is not that easy! You know what happened? Yes, you've guessed it right. It fell down into the water. We had to search for around 10mins to find that (remember, the water temperature was around 5 :( ). One more stress testing for Nokia handset. After drying, everything was working perfectly. Including all bulbs in the keypad! But, alas, only two things were not working! 1. Antenna: Phone was not identifying any network, 2. Speaker: No sound! So, ultimately that phone deserves a place nothing better than a garbage bin. Very bad nokia!
After everything was over, we came back to the starting place & were about to catch train in 20 mins. On the way to station, we realized one very minor thing. The bag containing all the valuable things (4 wallets, 3 mobile phones, few belgium residence cards, etc.) is missing!!! By that time the kayaking office was also closed. So, we searched for the guy in the counter & found him in a nearby restaurant. Ironically, he didn't know english. Thankfully one more guy understood our english & explained that to him. Then we rushed to the kayaking office with him & found the bag there. Again running all the way back to the station & reached there just 2mins before train arrival time. So, we thought the trip ended with a nail biting finish. But, you know what, the train came 30mins late :(
Anyhow, the trip was very nice. It was a relief from a regular monotonous life. Planning to have more such trips in this summer.
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