TeamLunch

Two words that never cease to make me break out into a sweat (apart from 'no sugar') are 'Team Lunch'.

Before my first, I used to think that team lunches were all about fun and food... A mini party even! How great it is to finally know your fellow colleagues a lil more personally. It's something that makes them seem slightly human (Note: I have not used the terms 'more human').

But here are the hard facts: team lunches are socially awkward occasions where you endure long uncomfortable silences with people whom you hardly know outside the office whilst you push around food on your plate. A time during which people suddenly turn religious and pray to God, pleading with Him that time flies by quickly... Well fat chance, my friend, God ain't listening. Time crawls slower during a team lunch than it does while waiting for a typical Bangalorean traffic jam to clear.

Yes, that slow.

Have you noticed that even the people you are remotely comfortable with, suddenly act all awkward and weird when they have a dining table and some silver-ware put in front of them? It's like they don't know what to do under the circumstances... 'Do I go friendly all the way? No wait, that doesn't suit the occasion! Better to act grave like someone just died.'

It's true! I used to face that (and act accordingly, I admit) in my former company all the time. The last time I attended a lunch in my previous company was one week after I gave in my resignation letter. The party was because of a successful hardware completion which would help us software engineers achieve our target. I was going to leave the company long before that target would have been reached. Boy, was I feeling uncomfortable during that afternoon.

But then again, I have to admit... team lunches are best of the lot, especially when you compare them to office parties. :D

Why am I suddenly writing about unofficial intra-personal 'meetings' all of a sudden? Aah, it's just because I attended one during the afternoon today. :)

[Oh, before I sign off: I realised that I violated my one-word-for-a-title rule. The rule was purposefully enforced because I sincerely believe that an eloquent person can express all in one word. And if I had to go drag myself to a thesaurus to do it, I would have... Unfortunately, the enforced rule created nothing but unoriginality and more laziness. I couldn't be bothered to find one word that conveyed - you guessed it- 'Team Lunch', and hence the title of this post!!! :D ]

Oopsies

I was browsing through a series of blogs before I stumbled across this particular post: http://annseries.blogspot.com/2008/01/malayalam-ariyilla.html

Not gonna offer any opinion or thought on the matter, but I thought I'd put up my own set of Bloopers (where I mispronounced a few Malayalam words) too.

Four years ago
My hostel roommies and I are sitting around in a circle and generally chatting/teaching myself Malayalam (slang included) on the side.

Me: Hmm.. I can't stand pavakkya (bitter-gourd). Hate the stuff really.

NJ: Me too! Ente chechi gathiketale pickle kazhiku (My elder sister eats pickle when there is no other option).

Me (not understanding the word 'gathiketale' and thinking it was some sort of fruit): Really? What kinda pickle is that?

A moment of silence before my friends burst into laughter and another few months before they let me live it down. :D


Along the same time-line
My roommies are discussing gossip and I join in.

Me: '... That's it! Can you believe that happened to us?' Then what I mean to say next is 'Daddy knetti poyi' (My father got shocked), but what comes out is 'Daddy nettille poyi' (My father logged onto the Net).

A moment of silence again...

Viddy: Umm... If that's how you people deal with disturbing things like that...


Last year
I was talking to Monkey-ma at the flat about natural distasters.

Me: 'Pinne, in Japan, they have... what's the word?' I was trying to translate the word 'earth-quake' in my mind. What I meant to say was 'Bhoomi-kulukam' What came out was 'Bootham kulikum'(Ghost bath)!!!


My personal favorite (I still laugh at this one)
At one time, we used to have a water supply problem back at the Cochin flat. So each time the building water tanks emptied itself, we had to take turns to call up the watchman downstairs and ask him to do the honors of switching on the motor.

One day, it was my turn to call.

When the watchman answered the phone, what I should have asked was: 'Chetah, motor addicho?' (Elder brother, did you switch on the motor?')

Unfortunately I asked: 'Chetah, vellum addicho?' ('Did you get drunk?')

The poor soul started sputtering on the other end and my flat mates were roaring with laughter in the background before I realised my mistake...

:D

Again!

It snowed again!

This time, the transition from a dry, barren ground to a winter wonderland happened right in front of my eyes.

It started off with the normal slightly-cold morning. At noon, as I had lunch outside, I noticed that the weather wasn't as sunny as it should have been but was, in fact, cloudy. So I predicted rain. After all, it did rain last Friday, I thought.

The afternoon wore on as I worked near one of the office windows. Then I noticed the air outside suddenly grow foggy and misty... Wait a second! That's not fog! That's not rain! It's SNOW! OMG!!

Rag and I couldn't wait to go down to the basement to have a look at the beautiful white snow... The short conical bushes on the grounds looked like Christmas trees from one of those English movies. :)

It didn't stop snowing even at night when we made our way back to the GH after work.

After having dinner, I had to go to a nearby convenience store to buy a few things. The short walk also gave me time to appreciate the crunch and the softness of newly formed snow beneath my shoes. I couldn't help periodically swooping down and crushing snow in my hands too. Kinda childish of me, I admit. :)

At the store, I was a bit preoccupied and as I was wondering how much to pay, the salesman replied 'In Korean, simchan won means 3000 Korean wons.' I was surprised. A Korean willingly speaking English to me! He said, 'Thankyou! That's Khamsamida in Korean' and then he smiled.

As I made my way back to to the GH, I couldn't but feel ridiculously happy.

Yep.

Snow + a cute Korean. My favorite combination to end any day. :D

Sliders

While I was growing up, I used to watch a television series called Sliders that was aired every Thursday evening at 8pm on Channel 33. Apart from having a major crush on one of the stars (Jerry O'Connell who played Quinn Mallory), I loved the theme of the show: alternate dimensions and parallel universes.

In this universe, you're this person who has done so much. But what if you changed one decision and that caused you to take another road at a junction, altering your entire life... The idea is mind-boggling to me. :)

You may think that I'm the weirdest person alive, but it really is fun to think about it. Like for example, my mom got an opportunity to work in USA when she was younger. Being newly-weds then, my Dad asked her not to go so far away but live together in Dubai instead. That's where my parents started our family.

So if I use this parallel dimensions theory, had I been brought up in the States, I know a lot of things would be different from what it is now: from my education, profession, opportunities, priorities right down to my personality. Of course, it does mean not knowing the wonderful people I have met till now...

Anyways.

So whatdya think? If such a thing existed, who would you be in an alternate universe?

Valentine

It was Valentine's Day yesterday!

Like any other place, there had been V-Day hype going on in Suwon for quite some time. Restaurants and coffee bars offered that special something for the loved one, blah blah and oh, BLAH.

So I had gone to HomePlus, the previous weekend, to take a sneak-peek. As expected, there were the usual Valentine's Day paraphernalia like heart-shaped balloons, gifts, teddy bears etc

But get this: on one side of the bakery section, propped up against a wall, was a 20-foot long table which was FILLED with chocolates. So many different kinds of them! Some were wrapped in gold foil, some in classy boxes and others in girly ones with pink ribbons. There were also packets and packets of Ferraro Rocher, Belgian and other luxury chocolates plus giant packs of the normal garden-variety like M&Ms, Snickers, Twix... I was in HEAVEN. I took my own sweet time (15 minutes) in finding a small box for myself..

Sigh.

Now I can die happy. :D

Back to Valentine's Day. Did you know that in South Korea it's the women who give chocolates? Apart from being shocked beyond belief when I heard that, I instantly thought of women bondage and those poor ladies who had to give up their special milk/white/dark/minted chocolates to a buncha idiots who probably didn't deserve them (the chocolates, I mean) in the first place.

Oh you all, I'm just kidding! Me just a teeny wee bit possessive when it comes to my beloved... :D

Anyway, last night, the GH owner's sister gave us home-made chocolates as after-dinner dessert. They were very, VERY good. In fact, the next time I go home, I'm gonna rip off a few recipes from the Internet and try making some myself. :)

Oh, I forgot! Yesterday, my colleagues, Rag & Sid, gave me a few candies too.

Thank God for sweet guys. That's how I get by. :D

(And yes I know, this is yet ANOTHER entry about food!!)

63City

The Koreans celebrated their lunar New Year on Feb 7th. So on account of this occasion, all offices were closed from Feb 6th to 8th making it a 5-day weekend. Sounds like fun? Yeah, it would have been had I not gone for work on those days. Sigh.

I came home late on Friday, around 1 am. But I still wanted to celebrate it being the beginning of the weekend (TGIF all the way!). So I talked on the phone till around 2 am and then watched the movie 'Monster'. I guess I slept off at 4:00 am or so while I was trying to fit in 'PS I love you' too.

Next day, I woke up at 10 am. I felt like listening to silly love songs and found John Mayer's 'Your body is a wonderland' on youtube (Click here for link to the song). A part of the lyrics are trash like 'Your skin like porcelain; one pair of candy lips and your bubblegum tongue'... but I love the accoustics and when you come down to it, it does make a person - at least a girl - feel good. :)

Sightseeing plan for the day was 63City. It's a 63-floor building near Yongsan. Tourist attractions are Seaworld, Skydeck, IMAX theater and a variety of restaurants.

My colleagues and I started out around 2pm. After we got off the metro, it took us a while to get to the Tower. But the walk down was wonderful because we took a path which is adjacent to Han river. The river view was beautiful and there were even swans and ducks swimming along the shores. It would have been pleasant for cyclists/joggers/runners or just plain walkers like me. You can click here to see Han River pics.

I've never been to an aquarium before. So Sea World at 63Tower was a good first experience for me. There were sea lions, otters, penguins... Very interesting and good fun.

After that, we went up to Skydeck. That's where tourists can have a glimpse of the city from the 60th floor. Lemme tell ya, the view was AWESOME. The night sky was filled with twinking lights from the city below. Anyway, you can click here for 63City pics.

Just a footnote: the elevators at 63Tower work very, VERY fast. I was amazed looking at the floors whiz by when we were making our way down to the first floor...

Anyway, after leaving the building, we went to a ferry dock which was nearby and took a 60-minute ferry ride. I seriously have no idea how time flew by! The river side view from the ferry was beautiful as we went underneath bridges, one after the other. The ferry ride was comfortable with indoor seating as well as outdoor. And this is my favorite - the ferry even had its own juice/drink/snack bar :D

I loved the ride. It made me feel so vibrant and alive. And happy to spend my time in South Korea. :)

After reaching the dock, it took us a while to get to the nearest metro station (or was it really the nearest?). It was kinda funny trying to figure out how to get back. Eventually, we decided to change 3 trains to get to Suwon. Reached Park-22 around 11am. I had my dinner, watched reruns and then went to sleep at 1am. :)

Single

DISCLAIMER: The following blog entry is NOT to be taken as an offense but rather to be taken LIGHTLY.

Being 'Single' can break a person, I tell you.

Before College

Mom: 'Kochava, when you go to college, you may be tempted to have a boyfriend. I want you to remember who you are because you're not allowed to have anything of that sort. Keep friendships to a limit.'

Me: 'Umm ok...'
(Damn!)

Four Years Later... After Mom ripping almost all of her hair out, one sis is finally married off and another one is refusing to do so.

Me: 'Guess what, Mom, do you remember that guy T----- from my class? He has a girl friend and they're planning to get married soon.'

Mom: 'See??? That's how children are supposed to be: smart! Why couldn't you find a pleasant looking, religious, well-mannered, tee-totaller Christian boy from a good family, who's ancestral property is near ours and who has a well paying job?'

Me: 'Uhh....'
(Right! Let's put that on top of our to-do list, shall we?)

Work Life

Colleague: 'So do you have a boyfriend?'

Me: 'Not really.'

Colleague: (clucks sympathetically) 'Oh recent breakup, huh?'

Me: 'Umm.. I've been single all my life.'

Colleague: 'Right.' (and proceeds to walk away quickly).

Sigh. In India, it's being single that kills ya. :D

Lyrics

Parts of the lyrics of this song are really good. Do read on:

Wear Sunscreen sung by Baz Luhrman
"... Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum...
... Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself...
... Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't...
... Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's...
... Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own...
... Dance.. Even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room...
... Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out..."

Street

This shot was taken on a street near my Guesthouse. The pic is a lil shaky but I'd say it's not bad for a beginner. :D

For those who are interested, click here for a few miscellaneous photos.

Icecream

This is a picture of my favorite Korean chocobar: vanilla icecream with an outer layer of chocolate cookies. Btw, I'm beginning to get a lil tired of it.

Oh and I promise not to write about food anymore... Well at least, not too much :D