I have uploaded more photos here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/shivaramr/Austin1/
Keep your comments coming
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Weekend at the University of Texas
Ok..., Overcame my jetlag within couple of days (thats a feat).
Went to office on Friday. Did some work but not a very productive day. Too excited. I laid my hands on my brand new Kodak Easyshare Z812 IS camera that i had ordered from India. Trying to figure out all the controls. Idea was from DAY1 start shooting.
The Bradford Suites which is the hotel that i stay is a pretty good place to live. Its more like
a studio apartment with a kitchen, living room, bedroom and a changing room. Has a 50" LCD tv
there which is rotatable 180 degrees so i get to see the tv frm living room and in the bedroom
when i go to sleep.
Got up late on Saturday and then decided to have a stroll and find out about the neighbourhood. What do i find...
"Car Car Car yel nodi Car --- Car-ae ni thande Car-ae ni thayi Car-ae foreign daivya kani ro."Sounds like Greek? No its actually couple of lines in a song from Sandalwood (ahem ... the
Kannada movie industry)It means "Wherever thy sees, thy shall see only Cars. Ye Car You are the family and ye are the God here in 'foreign'.
This is no exaggeration. Welcome to the land of Cars. Now i understand why Cars sell more on
internet in US than books do in India. Not a soul to be found on the road. People literally live
in Cars. I ask them in the hotel "Where do i get bread" they say its a 2 mins drive from here :)Kind of scary. Haunted roads where only the mechanical monsters prowl.
Theres a Gateway shopping center mall nearby. Went to the BestBuy and CompUSA... both electroics. But u get them cheaper on the internet. 'Thank you sir' i said 'just window shopping'.
Much better here, some homo sapiens walking around at last. Then theres something on the sky....some long white smoky trial... Is it a UFO? Is it Superman?...
No, its a plane.It was amazing, u look up and see many such long trials on the sky criss crossing each other... every plane leaves its trial...like a rocket. Seems common here. Got some pics of that.
The temperature is extreme in Austin. One day its warm at around 22 C and the next day its less than 10 C... Unpredictable, So good to be prepared.
Sunday, the plan was to visit my wifes cousin Vivek. He studies in the University of Texas (UT) in Austin. UT is one among top 5 in the US. Decided going in a bus will be a good experience
here. Hit the Capital Metro site and got the data. Bus leaves sharp at 10.18. Caught the bus.almost missed it. A lady driver inside, but she is very sweet. Allows me to travel free since i dont have change... Its 50 cents for a one way drive till the last stop and i had only a $5 note.
Its a unique experience. At every stop the bus deflates and goes down around a feet below. Allows passengers to get in. Then it rises again and bus is ready to go. There is option to keep bicycles in front of the bus.Timings is maintained perfectly.
Reached the university. Met Vivek and he takes me around. We visit Capitol building first. Its
like the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore. But its beautiful. Hosts the house of representatives.
Governor holds sessins only once every alternate year here. Surprisingly no security. Its more
like a museum.The University of Texas, is just a street ahead of this. Huge place... lot of students around from all part of the world. Around 40,000 students studying and about 60-70% stay in the campus... Super Kewl. They have a diagonal zebra crossing in the street within to allow students rush to classes. Vivek explained how they teach here and the way of life here. Students everywhere. Most of them studing.From internet kiosks, lot of hang outs, CO-OPs(shops where u get memorabilia of the UT), dormitries , a huge canteen its got all. A place which makes u feel u want return. I envy the students here.
The university tower is a landmark and has a bell that rings every 15 minutes.'Dont waste time'
i think it keeps reminding everybody. After taking lots of snaps here... its time to go back to the hotel... Caught the same bus back. One weekend done, 7 more to go.
As i sit back and ponder, one thing keeps coming back to my mind. The words on the University tower.... "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free"
How true...
Went to office on Friday. Did some work but not a very productive day. Too excited. I laid my hands on my brand new Kodak Easyshare Z812 IS camera that i had ordered from India. Trying to figure out all the controls. Idea was from DAY1 start shooting.
The Bradford Suites which is the hotel that i stay is a pretty good place to live. Its more like
a studio apartment with a kitchen, living room, bedroom and a changing room. Has a 50" LCD tv
there which is rotatable 180 degrees so i get to see the tv frm living room and in the bedroom
when i go to sleep.
Got up late on Saturday and then decided to have a stroll and find out about the neighbourhood. What do i find...
"Car Car Car yel nodi Car --- Car-ae ni thande Car-ae ni thayi Car-ae foreign daivya kani ro."Sounds like Greek? No its actually couple of lines in a song from Sandalwood (ahem ... the
Kannada movie industry)It means "Wherever thy sees, thy shall see only Cars. Ye Car You are the family and ye are the God here in 'foreign'.
This is no exaggeration. Welcome to the land of Cars. Now i understand why Cars sell more on
internet in US than books do in India. Not a soul to be found on the road. People literally live
in Cars. I ask them in the hotel "Where do i get bread" they say its a 2 mins drive from here :)Kind of scary. Haunted roads where only the mechanical monsters prowl.
Theres a Gateway shopping center mall nearby. Went to the BestBuy and CompUSA... both electroics. But u get them cheaper on the internet. 'Thank you sir' i said 'just window shopping'.
Much better here, some homo sapiens walking around at last. Then theres something on the sky....some long white smoky trial... Is it a UFO? Is it Superman?...
No, its a plane.It was amazing, u look up and see many such long trials on the sky criss crossing each other... every plane leaves its trial...like a rocket. Seems common here. Got some pics of that.
The temperature is extreme in Austin. One day its warm at around 22 C and the next day its less than 10 C... Unpredictable, So good to be prepared.
Sunday, the plan was to visit my wifes cousin Vivek. He studies in the University of Texas (UT) in Austin. UT is one among top 5 in the US. Decided going in a bus will be a good experience
here. Hit the Capital Metro site and got the data. Bus leaves sharp at 10.18. Caught the bus.almost missed it. A lady driver inside, but she is very sweet. Allows me to travel free since i dont have change... Its 50 cents for a one way drive till the last stop and i had only a $5 note.
Its a unique experience. At every stop the bus deflates and goes down around a feet below. Allows passengers to get in. Then it rises again and bus is ready to go. There is option to keep bicycles in front of the bus.Timings is maintained perfectly.
Reached the university. Met Vivek and he takes me around. We visit Capitol building first. Its
like the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore. But its beautiful. Hosts the house of representatives.
Governor holds sessins only once every alternate year here. Surprisingly no security. Its more
like a museum.The University of Texas, is just a street ahead of this. Huge place... lot of students around from all part of the world. Around 40,000 students studying and about 60-70% stay in the campus... Super Kewl. They have a diagonal zebra crossing in the street within to allow students rush to classes. Vivek explained how they teach here and the way of life here. Students everywhere. Most of them studing.From internet kiosks, lot of hang outs, CO-OPs(shops where u get memorabilia of the UT), dormitries , a huge canteen its got all. A place which makes u feel u want return. I envy the students here.
The university tower is a landmark and has a bell that rings every 15 minutes.'Dont waste time'
i think it keeps reminding everybody. After taking lots of snaps here... its time to go back to the hotel... Caught the same bus back. One weekend done, 7 more to go.
As i sit back and ponder, one thing keeps coming back to my mind. The words on the University tower.... "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free"
How true...
Friday, January 25, 2008
US Trip - Flight and settling down.
Phew! Finally reached Austin after a tiring journey of around 32 hours. It was a uneventful but safe trip.
Taking off from Bangalore to Paris during the night, we flew over Karachi, Kandahar, Prague, Romania over the Black Sea and then reached Paris. The Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris is really massive. You can get lost and roam around for days there. But what an airport! Sample this - the runway of the CDG has underpasses for railway track and road highways. You can see buses and cars going down the underpass when ur plane is rolling over above it.The roads are so wide like 4 Hosur roads put side to side. Come on Bangalore wake up!
The CDG is so large that you need to travel in underground trams to reach from one gate to another.Since Paris is an international hub u can see flights taking off and touching down at every eyeblink.
The flight from Paris to Atlanta over the Atlantic ocean was just breathtaking. The sky & clouds is different here than India. The view of the snow capped mountains and lakes and vast land below was like watching a Nat Geo Special. The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport is also a big one. Atlanta looks more like a business city and is very busy. Had a 3 hour break before flying towards the Austin-Bergstorm international airport which took another 1.5 hours.
Austin is more relaxed and a serene place. I am staying in the Hotel Austin Bradford Home Suites. Its a great place and its like a one bedroom apartment. Trilogy office is around 5 miles from here.Its different than what i see in our offices where u have hazaar cubicles and people bobbling everywhere. Here u have rooms for everybody and most of them work from home. This office once used to house some of the arguably best technical software developing brains in the world. Now development work has been completely Bangalored and Chinaed.
Since the time difference here is around -11.30 hours my body needs to adjust to the day-night shift or jet lag as u call it. Feeling tired and sleepy after a not-so-productive day. Shall post photos soon.
Taking off from Bangalore to Paris during the night, we flew over Karachi, Kandahar, Prague, Romania over the Black Sea and then reached Paris. The Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris is really massive. You can get lost and roam around for days there. But what an airport! Sample this - the runway of the CDG has underpasses for railway track and road highways. You can see buses and cars going down the underpass when ur plane is rolling over above it.The roads are so wide like 4 Hosur roads put side to side. Come on Bangalore wake up!
The CDG is so large that you need to travel in underground trams to reach from one gate to another.Since Paris is an international hub u can see flights taking off and touching down at every eyeblink.
The flight from Paris to Atlanta over the Atlantic ocean was just breathtaking. The sky & clouds is different here than India. The view of the snow capped mountains and lakes and vast land below was like watching a Nat Geo Special. The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta international airport is also a big one. Atlanta looks more like a business city and is very busy. Had a 3 hour break before flying towards the Austin-Bergstorm international airport which took another 1.5 hours.
Austin is more relaxed and a serene place. I am staying in the Hotel Austin Bradford Home Suites. Its a great place and its like a one bedroom apartment. Trilogy office is around 5 miles from here.Its different than what i see in our offices where u have hazaar cubicles and people bobbling everywhere. Here u have rooms for everybody and most of them work from home. This office once used to house some of the arguably best technical software developing brains in the world. Now development work has been completely Bangalored and Chinaed.
Since the time difference here is around -11.30 hours my body needs to adjust to the day-night shift or jet lag as u call it. Feeling tired and sleepy after a not-so-productive day. Shall post photos soon.
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