Summer sale has started here last week! Shops are giving discounts upto 70%. So, the obvious, the whole of last weekend, we were shopping!!!
Our target was mainly dresses. Our group had equal representation from both the gendres. Hope you have guessed what would have happened. Yes, we ended up spending most of the time in ladies garment sections. I don't have any idea, from where those girls get so much of energy for shopping.
During the small amount of time we got for shopping, I could find enough stuff to buy. After everything was over, I calculated the total amount spent. Oh boy, this was the costliest shopping I've ever done! Before coming to belgium, I've bought twice the number of dresses in India for around half this rate. Guess, my next serious shopping will be only after I go back to India :(
Monday, July 04, 2005
Friday, July 01, 2005
Victory!
It was a long time pending desire to learn french. Since now a days, life is very relaxed & I've lots of time, I joined a french course 6 months ago.
It was real fun. When the course was started, I was the only one in the whole class without any prior knowledge in French. Most of the other students were from Europe & they had French in their acadamics or at least had some exposure to it. The course was supposed to be taught comletely in french. Learning a language in the same language? Quite strange. Of course, I used to wave my hand & say "Excuse me... I'm here..." to make my tutor translate things in English. Probably I was the most difficult student she had ever.
The final exam was conducted about a month ago & the results are out now. Can you guess the result? Well... you've under estimated Karthi very much... I've passed the exam with whopping 83.5% and very comfortable second rank in the class. Third rank was 71%. (Btw, don't ask about first rank holder. I won't tell you that she scored 91.5%. Disgusting! :( My prime goal was to beat her. But, I failed miserably!)
Anyhow, learning a new language is very much exciting. Comparing the features of one language to another makes us to think about the way languages are structured. It is a very nice experience. If possible, try learning a new language & have fun!
Au revoir!
It was real fun. When the course was started, I was the only one in the whole class without any prior knowledge in French. Most of the other students were from Europe & they had French in their acadamics or at least had some exposure to it. The course was supposed to be taught comletely in french. Learning a language in the same language? Quite strange. Of course, I used to wave my hand & say "Excuse me... I'm here..." to make my tutor translate things in English. Probably I was the most difficult student she had ever.
The final exam was conducted about a month ago & the results are out now. Can you guess the result? Well... you've under estimated Karthi very much... I've passed the exam with whopping 83.5% and very comfortable second rank in the class. Third rank was 71%. (Btw, don't ask about first rank holder. I won't tell you that she scored 91.5%. Disgusting! :( My prime goal was to beat her. But, I failed miserably!)
Anyhow, learning a new language is very much exciting. Comparing the features of one language to another makes us to think about the way languages are structured. It is a very nice experience. If possible, try learning a new language & have fun!
Au revoir!
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Nice quote!
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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Vacation
After a long time, I had a big vacation from Dec 24 to Jan 3... i was missing India a lot during those days... india is more lively & i never wondered what to do on holidays... but here i had to break my head to find a way to kill a day.. visiting the same shopping complexes & roaming in the bazaars are not so interesting... (of course, my friend's wife seems to njoy it very much... more obviously, my friend doesn't like shopping, in particular shopping by his wife ;-) )
fortunately i got those two as my company during those days... somehow, we've spent the vacation in a not so bad manner... it was a nice break to come back to work with all the energy...
on dec 26, the next day to x-mas, there was a nice snowing here... i went to a park with my friend & his wife during that time & it was very nice... finally the whole purpose of my birth is fulfilled ;-)
for me, the last year was very interesting, educative & nice in many senses... hope the new year also will be a good year... wish you all a very happy, healthy & fun filled new year.... let us welcome the new year with heart full of love, hope & joy...
fortunately i got those two as my company during those days... somehow, we've spent the vacation in a not so bad manner... it was a nice break to come back to work with all the energy...
on dec 26, the next day to x-mas, there was a nice snowing here... i went to a park with my friend & his wife during that time & it was very nice... finally the whole purpose of my birth is fulfilled ;-)
for me, the last year was very interesting, educative & nice in many senses... hope the new year also will be a good year... wish you all a very happy, healthy & fun filled new year.... let us welcome the new year with heart full of love, hope & joy...
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Cool Belgium!
Now a days, the minimum temperature of belgium is touching 0... snow falls r predicted in a few days... in my childhood, i used to dream a lot about these... going to be a dream-come-true event! hoping to have a nice time with those snows... but these snowfalls will be very light... for seeing heavy snowfalls, we've to go to french border... planning to go for ice skating & skiing during these winter days...
few of my friends planned an italy, venice trip during a 4 days holiday... unfortunately, flights got cancelled due to bad weather & they came back & spent the 4 days @home only... i think we cant go out in the year any more... i suspect that most of the coming weekends will be spent @ closed houses only... :(
few of my friends planned an italy, venice trip during a 4 days holiday... unfortunately, flights got cancelled due to bad weather & they came back & spent the 4 days @home only... i think we cant go out in the year any more... i suspect that most of the coming weekends will be spent @ closed houses only... :(
Friday, October 15, 2004
My Dreams
Sometime back I've gone through an interesting blog Me and My Memory - 1. The author of that states the brain remembers things based on LRU logic. I felt the brain's logic is more complex than just LRU. It has lot more parameters like number of times accessed, importance, interest, etc, etc... Still it is a very interesting thing to start thinking about our brain behaviors.
While talking about brain, one can't forget dreams. Today morning, in a dream, I saw three girls whom I've met 5 years ago in my college. I've seen their faces with the clarity of maximum possible resolution I can imagine. When they asked me if I can remember their names, I said the name of one of those girls & when I was trying to say the second girls' name......... booom... the dream was over. From that moment, I've tried very hard to recollect their faces (of course, at the cost of my early morning sleep :( ) & I couldn't get even a single piece. Now I couldn't even confirm if the name I said in the dream is the correct one. May be the brain is surfing through all the memory links when we are sleeping & bring out the interesting ones as dreams.
Many of my dreams used to have very normal & realistic incidents with only few strange things. I used to break my head for quite some time to know why that thing happened in my dream in that manner. Most of the time, I could find out a really complex but very logical reason for those incidents. Definitely the brain is doing a lot of rehearsals before playing that dream for me. Hats off to the brain!
But few of my recent dreams are quite illogical & I couldn't find out any reason for that. I don't know whether my dream creator is going blunt or my active brain. Anyhow, I'm becoming dumb... that is very clear :( ... In yesterday's dream, I was surfing the net & my friend asked which site I was looking into. I was looking for the URL in all parts of the keyboard, then in monitor & after a lot of difficulty I found that at the bottom of the screen. All the browsers I use (firefox, opera, IE) have URL at the top. I dont know why I searched that in the keyboard & found that at the bottom of the monitor. May be I was looking into the keyboard I'll be using in the future? (crap!)
While talking about brain, one can't forget dreams. Today morning, in a dream, I saw three girls whom I've met 5 years ago in my college. I've seen their faces with the clarity of maximum possible resolution I can imagine. When they asked me if I can remember their names, I said the name of one of those girls & when I was trying to say the second girls' name......... booom... the dream was over. From that moment, I've tried very hard to recollect their faces (of course, at the cost of my early morning sleep :( ) & I couldn't get even a single piece. Now I couldn't even confirm if the name I said in the dream is the correct one. May be the brain is surfing through all the memory links when we are sleeping & bring out the interesting ones as dreams.
Many of my dreams used to have very normal & realistic incidents with only few strange things. I used to break my head for quite some time to know why that thing happened in my dream in that manner. Most of the time, I could find out a really complex but very logical reason for those incidents. Definitely the brain is doing a lot of rehearsals before playing that dream for me. Hats off to the brain!
But few of my recent dreams are quite illogical & I couldn't find out any reason for that. I don't know whether my dream creator is going blunt or my active brain. Anyhow, I'm becoming dumb... that is very clear :( ... In yesterday's dream, I was surfing the net & my friend asked which site I was looking into. I was looking for the URL in all parts of the keyboard, then in monitor & after a lot of difficulty I found that at the bottom of the screen. All the browsers I use (firefox, opera, IE) have URL at the top. I dont know why I searched that in the keyboard & found that at the bottom of the monitor. May be I was looking into the keyboard I'll be using in the future? (crap!)
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
End of my french beard
Oh my goodness... even I couldn't tolerate my face like this! So the game comes to an end... smart karthi is back with a full clean shave... ok guys, you are lucky to escape this time... anyhow, it wont be much long before I become crazy again & feel like having french beard or something even crazier...
For the time being, bye bye french beard.
For the time being, bye bye french beard.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
My french beard
When I shaved today, I felt bored of seeing the same face again & again. Life should have change, right? So, I shaved leaving a bush around my mouth! Yes! Finally I've executed my loooong time desire of having french beard!
Till then whoever I meet I'm asking how I look with the great french beard. I also torture them to tell me the name of a movie hero who looks similar to me. Poor fellows... they are forced to quote some very famous personalities. This game is very interesting. I'm planning to torture everybody by showing my face like this for quite some time! ;-)
Till then whoever I meet I'm asking how I look with the great french beard. I also torture them to tell me the name of a movie hero who looks similar to me. Poor fellows... they are forced to quote some very famous personalities. This game is very interesting. I'm planning to torture everybody by showing my face like this for quite some time! ;-)
Monday, October 11, 2004
First Blog!
Yep... I agree, I'm far far left behind in the world of blogs! Hope I'll catch up fast. Actually for long time, blog looked like waste of time for me... but, am very much impressed by few of the blogs I came across in the net (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/, http://chitrapandian.blogspot.com/, ...) & finally decided to join the community! Hope u'll find something interesting here in the days to come.
My life has always been an open book. I used to share all the interesting, sweet & bitter moments with my friends. Hope this will make that circle bigger.
Njoy reading my life!
My life has always been an open book. I used to share all the interesting, sweet & bitter moments with my friends. Hope this will make that circle bigger.
Njoy reading my life!
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