Darshen's and Jaggu's Wedding

Congratulations to Darshen and Jaggu on their marriage. Darshen weds Jaggu last month in Malaysia and moved to Hongkong.Click here for the wedding blog.The sword is given to the groom to defend against the wife...

Google Earth

My present home, just jump on the top and climb down three floors, you would find me there. The green right side of it is where my neighbour, the president of Singapore lives(offical home called Istana). Well, by now my repute would have gone up as his neighbour.

Present home at Hyderabad..

School days home, almost spent 13 years..The ground before it is where I used to play cricket, gilli danda, marbles and kabbadi.

Well we lived in suburbs and it doesn't seem dense, this is how a part of Hyderabad looks like...more populated to Singapore.

Hema's home at New Jersy..I've never been here but figured out by her directions over phone...genius me...

A coastal region of Andhra Pradesh where I was born in a village which is not possible to locate. Perhaps google just mapped to towns and cities and haven't gone much extent.

Dad's side ancestors lived here. The place on pic 'Tangtur' is where our centuries back ancestral home. Well a castle to our standards, I remember being able to view it 5kms apart travelling in a bullock cart..perhaps wrong as I can't validate my childhood memories. I used to visit a village (where our farms are located)during summer vacation and stayed in ancestral dwelling (looks like hut) sarrounded with green fields and hills. With absence of electricity at home slept outside on a charpoy with loud orchestra of mosquitoes, losing quite a bit of blood by the morning. My initial swimming lesson was in a farmwell by a farmer and guess what was my floating device??...a dried pumpkin chorded with some kind of weeds tied to my waist...Should have been safer to a swimming pool tube..and sometimes I had to enter the water with just a rope tied to the waist with a guy holding the other end standing on steps..great crude way to be trained..

Caught in the clutches of crutches

We had a team outing with lunch at Marche (Vivocity) followed by Cricket at Sentosa Island. Huh!! what an idea to play cricket on sand where a ball doesn't rise. A collegue planted stumps on the beach and the fifteen years back bowler in me rose up and hurled to fast bowl resulting in twisting my right leg followed with a great fall. I barely could stand after that and was in pain, I was lifted by the Beach Patrol in their buggy given first aid and later my boss dropped me at Alexandra hospital. Lucky there weren't any bone fractures seen in the X-Ray, its only the muscle sprain and was put on crutches and medication. Hope to get well for the weekend binge.

Update : Its been 10days now and Iam happy I don't need the crutches but still got stiffness and soreness in the knee. The doc who diognised didn't say anything about rehabilitation. I had to google and find out more about it, I figured out its the lateral collateral ligament tear and found some excersises for faster recovery.
Painful experiences - The pedestrain traffic light countdown ends and Iam just half way through, thanks to Singaporean drivers who wait for me to pass...A cab waiting nearby and Iam not quick enough to catch...eating mostly home deliveries...cute gals offer help at the bar and I feel myself wimpy n limpy with crutches and pain...had to be extremely careful to enter the bath tub for a shower...while in the mall a caution sign saying "wet floor" sends shivers up my spine...boredom and fatigue due to too much rest...

And watched this motivational video...

Cinco De Mayo Dance Fiesta

Started to blog again after hibernating for months. May 5th marks this mexican celebration, heard its a minor holiday in Mexico but used as a major event to promote Mexican stuff in other countries.

Had sauza shots..that tasted like cough medicine and I remember I dropped one shooter and a bottle of beer on the ground...

Later in the night the percussionists arrive followed by dance..It lasted just for five minutes for hours of drinking.

SEP-OCT Highlights..

OCT
Theatre
ZEE Nite : Indian musical and dance show organised by zee tv at esplanade.
Movies
The Departed, World trade center
Bike driving license
Now can ride a bike in singapore, just got converted using indian ones.
SEP
Theatre
Dance me to the end of love, Joyce took me to this show which is a play cum dance based on novel Siddartha (by Herman Hesse) and songs by Leonard Cohen. (15th sep)
Movies
Devil wears Prada

Anna's Farewell...

Andy struggling to fight a 24year old at cablecar.

Phil, Anna, Me and Yuli at Subzero Eski bar with Anna emptying stocks of Singapore sling.

A sozzled me accompanying her to airport for a safe flight.

Oyster Feast

With flatmates Anna and Uyuli at Maple leaf on upper Bukit Timah road. The bar serves free flow of oysters every tuesday. Me being a chicki-terian confined myself to french fries.

Both the ladies greedily ate few dozen oysters and fell sick.

August 08 Highlights..

Movies Watched
Click Another comedy of Adam Sandler whoz life takes several twists after he acquires a universal remote control.
The fast and the furious - Tokyo Drift An adrenaline inducing car racing movie built on speed.
Hot Candy A psychological thriller showing a teenage girl trapping her captive pheodophile who meet on an internet chat room.
My Super Ex GirlfriendA comedy where Luke Wilson's life becomes miserable due to his overly possesive newly found girl friend (Uma thurman as G-girl) who has special powers.

July 08 Highlights..

Movies Watched
Basic Instinct 2, The pirates of the carribean - dead man's chest, Nacho Libre, How much do you love me (A crap french movie), Now and forever (Korean)

Theatre
The Dresser : Ming and I went to this play wherein Catch stage powerhouses Adrian Pang and Michael Corbidge celebrates the universal themes of true friendship and unwavering loyalty.

Landmark Forum
Attended the three day advanced landmark forum course.

Sports
In cricket India wins the test series against Westindies by 1-0. The soccer worldcup comes to an end with Italy winning the cup.

New Home...

Moved to new home start of july, its much spacious and more comfortable.

TV and wardrobe on the right corner and an aircon to keep me cool.

A queen side bed without a queen. Got pale yellow coloured curtains and matching bed sheets. The blanket on the bed is one I brought a year back and has a top side made of leather, need it as I turn my aircon and fan on to experience syberian chillness.

A bathtub to have a relaxing dip for few hours with beer and music. The whole bathroom is dark blue and has a window on the right for peeping babes in neighbouring highrise apartments.

Crash

Hema crashes her mercedes onto another speeding car and was awarded a ticket by the police. After the crash the safety bag on the passenger side got activated and not on her side, wonder how it works. The insurance company covers all damages and the pic above is from their website.

June 06 Highlights

Movies watched
She is the man, Slither (bloody growse), Road to Guantanamo, Love my luck

Landmark Forum
Attended the three day landmark forum course (9-11th) about living extraordinary lives, Though the course was from morning to midnight, It was the best weekend I felt I ever had. I see many having breakdowns and breakthroughs, not me though - tough guy..I have also signed up for the seminar series and also advanced course next month.

Sports
Its football worldcup season and the battle is still on. Though I have no one to cheer for, I like the spirit of the game.
In cricket India seemed to have come back after a bad defeat in ODI's by performing well in the test matches, three out of four were drawn (couldn't win 2nd one due to rain).

Driving License
Hahaha..could get Singapore driving license with such a ease, just had to clear a theory test and immediately got the license. The whole process took less than an hour. So cleared my first step for my future travel plans and long drives.

Grandma's Love

Yet another poem, perhaps worth the story line but not poetic skills..written on 15th May 2006

Grandma's Love

In her eighties night when the stars still twinkle
The bright moon light shines up her wrinkles
The life is fading fast as sweet memories awaken
Its her only treasure that can never be taken..

The little girl lies aside resting her head on her lap
Finding abundance of warmth as she takes a nap
She wakes up to ask to ease her anguish
The matters of heart that caused pain and languish


She looks deep in her eyes with love and smile
speaking in a kind voice recalling moments of youth during that while
Her heart wavering if it was melting for the right soul
and tells her to trust her heart even if the mind takes a toll

A young man failing to find a way to my heart
conveys his feelings to throw his misery miles apart
thats when I felt he is the one who deserved my love
when my heart and mind surrendered to its power all above

Have I given up my sweet little girl
thoughts caught in pool of whirl
We wouldn't have been talking about love, my lad
cause that young man is none other but your grand dad.

Pirates of the Carribean...

The Curse Of the Burning Bum

Ashok navigating the yacht in his new role as a pirate. He sets on voyage over seas, looting treasure and fighting.

During one of the wars the enemies fire blazing arrows at him and his arse catches fire. But a courageous Ashok still smiles as he soothes his bum on a ice block.

After having acquired treasure in his voyage he now hides in a cave with his wife Anita and has a Lion as guard.

MAY - Pastime...

Having in mind a blog depicts what on with your life, it does seem its stagnating if there are no new posts. So thought of writing a monthly leisure activities list..The one in May follows..

Movies Watched
---------------
Mission Impossible - 3, Posiedon, Da-Vinci-Code, Grandma's Boy.

Theatre
--------
Krishnan's Diary - A one man show by Jacob kept us spellbound with his great skill of playing different characters by switching masks. One just can't feel that its one person performing.

Seminar
--------
On Ming's invitatoin I have attended a introduction by landmark forum about living extraordinary lives, I was touched after hearing some of the older participants speak in how it improved their quality of life. Though its expensive enough (S$700), I have signed up for the course of 9,10,11 June.

Books
-----
Though I have been occupied with my technical books till now, I suddenly took a twist to read some non-fiction stuff...will be more regular now on..

a) Men are from mars women are from venus
Written by John Gray a relationship expert shows amazing differences in how men and women are different, the reason for conflicts arising between them and overall how a relationship can be improved between the two opposite sexes.

b) Richard Branson autobiography
Thanks to Joyce for this B'day gift, Its such a great great book about life of Richard Branson. Its inspiring to read his balloon adventures and how he has rose as a top entrepreneur in his venture for virgin group of companies.

Sports
------
Not a good news!! India lost a cricket ODI series to WestIndies, seems the team just couldn't handle pitches different from sub-continent. Its not possible to watch matches over TV here in Singapore, only way is to follow score on internet.

School Buddies

I registered myself on batchmates.com and had a reply from Pravin my classmate and friend in school. He is a psycrastrist based at Sydney at present.

Thanks to Pravin for sending the picture of class X (1988), St.Anthony's High School, Hyderabad. I had difficulty in recognising myself. Email me if you could recognise.

Pravin is the third from left, the second being Ganesh,its sad that I heard on national TV a decade back that he was murdered under mysterious circumstances in his university at Coimbatore.

Birthday Celebrations..

This year party was at Holland Village starting with drinks at Wala Wala, then dinner at Kinara and finally few shots at freezing sub-zero bar.



Dinner with Joyce, Phil, Claudia, Andy and Sandy..


Gifts..Thanks a lot to Joyce for Richard Branson autobiography and note book, Phil and Sandy for nice shirt and choclates (ate it the same night), Andy and Claudia for the massager.

Bali Trip

Joyce and I flew to Bali on labour day long weekend. The trip included site seeing on saturday and water sports on sunday. I was amazed seeing the hindu culture though seems to be of a slightly different taste from India.

Sculpture spotted over a stopover at a temple. We had to wear sarong kind of cloth (looks funny though) to enter the temple.


At Goa Guhah (Elephant Cave), the three water taps depicting the three scared indian rivers Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswathi..



These are the fallen Buddhist temple remains. Its amazing to see a hindu and buddhist temple together.


Happy looking Joyce.


Carving in the stone.


Nandi (cow which is regarded sacred Hindus) at TanahLot. We reached TanahLot to view the sunset.


Great view of sunset, was bit cloudy though.


Wondering where Iam missing, ok here Iam.


Getting ready for the diving, We were given specific instructions by the dive master and then taken to deep sea in a boat. We spend around 30 minutes under water and dived to a depth of 8meters. There was pain in ears due to pressure. Though we were tensed initially got used to it quickly and had great fun with the fish.

I had a crab like creature trying to attack my hand when I rest my hand on a rock.
It did scare the hell out of me.

FlyFish a new sport where we had to balance ourselves lying on the back and holding handles, the inflatable is tied to the boat which when sped raises high in the air above water.

At last a dream come true, was planning for a parasaling since ages and now I could do it.

Nutrition and Supplements.

P.S.: Iam not a medical professional and not giving any kind of advise to anyone. Please don't blindly follow and sue me :-)

Most people ignore this part and think just physical training is the crux of fitness, the fact is its not, my first six months of training has proven this. Proper nutrition contributes around 80% no matter your goal is to reduce fat or build muscle. The training contributes a mere 20%. I have researched around various diets in this process which I would list down below.

The nutrients can be classified as macro and micro. The macro nutrients consists of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The micro nutrients consists of vitamins and minerals. Iam not going to list down the sources of these nutrients, please do your own research.

I have followed different kind of diets normal diet, atkins style and ketogenic diet.
Normal diet I split carbs, protein, fat in the ratio 40:40:20. In order to reduce fat percentage I had to bring the carbs down and increase protein intake. This didnt reap much benefits. I then switched over to atkins style where carbs where minimum and protein was the major source of fuel. This diet didnt prove good to me as when Iam on cutting (eating less calories below maintenance) the body switches to muscle to compensate, hence losing muscle. Then I switched to ketogenic diet (not for weak hearts) where the C:P:F ratio was 5:25:70, yeah you saw it right I take 70% of fat on this diet. If you haven't fainted listening this, this diet is really superb and believe me its not fat what makes you fat its the carbs what make you fat. When this much of fat is consumed and Iam cutting the body uses fat as main source of fuel and switches to body fat when it encounters a deficit. The diet used to be something like for first five and half days Iam totally on ketogenic diet (70% fat, 25% protein), then I do a weekend carb load for one and half days, this period allows me to take few beers too... read stuff on c-k-d.com.

I only take two kinds of supplements whey protein and multivitamin capsules. No matter how much veggi you have a day you wouldn't get all necessary vitamins, so there is no harm to have multivits. Along with all the above its necessary to drink atleast a gallon of water to keep you well hydrated.

Computing daily calorie intake :
A simple formula is body weight in pounds x 15 for men.. and body wt in pounds x 12 for women and split calories as 40:40:20 (C:P:F) in case of normal diet and 70:25:5(F:P:C) in case of ketogenic diet.

Fitness

P.S.: This section would take time to take shape and I intend to publish loads of information..

It's almost been a year since I started going to gym (California Fitness Center at Orchard Road), had been quite regular throughout except for major 10-15 days breaks in May05, July05, Nov05, Mar/April06. I have vowed to be regular again and continuously make improvements/refinements in my training.

Apr 05 - Oct 05 : This was the toughest period, being a lethargic guy who never excersised earlier, getting my bum out of bed at 5am in the morning and rushing to gym was painful. I forced and motiviated myself and soon got used to it, soon it turned to be that If I miss a day in gym that day goes gloomy.

I started of with both aerobic and anerobic excersises with basic resistance/weight training and cardio. The following was the routine..
Mon - Biceps/triceps, abs
Tue - Chest
Wed - Legs
Thu - Repeat Monday
Fri - Repeat Tuesday

The cardio part was going on 30-45 minutes walk/slow jog on treadmill, I used to rotate this with cross trainer.

There wasn't significant progress as to physique due to mistakes I made in nutrition but it definitely helped me in increasing strength/endurance and mainly getting used to the gym, learning new excersises and above all feeling good about it.

Nov 05 - Mar 06

I have started a total new routine during this period and started using free weights since Jan06. I do a 5 to 6 day split with one or two rest days. The tentative routine is as follows
Monday - Biceps/Forearms/Abs
Barbell curls, dumbell curls, ab crunches
Threadmill
Tuesday - Pectorials(Chest)
Flat bench press, inclined bench press, pectorial fly
Threadmill
Wednesday - Legs (Hamstrings, Qaudraceps, Glutes) { Most painful day }
Squats, Dead lifts, Calf presses
Crosstrainer
Thursday - Biceps/Back/Abs
Barbell curls, Cable curls, ab crunches,pullups or latpull
Threadmill
Friday - Chest, Shoulder, Tricpes
Declined bench press, tricep pushdown, shoulder presses
Saturday - Just confine to cardio on treadmill or use it if I missed any excersise during the week

The progress during this period was satisfactory, lost good amount of fat (36% to 29%) and increase in muscle tone. My waist went down from 36.5 to 32.5 inches, the lean mass has gone up (don't have figures at present). I can lift weights almost twice heavy compared to the first period I mentioned. Iam still on a cutting diet and feel thats the reason Iam unable to develop much muscle, soon I intend to go on a bulk diet when my fat percentage comes below 25%.