Othon's Blog

Day 48 – January 14th, 2008

othon — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:03:00 +0000

Monday morning I worked on project management for 2 of our products. For lunch I brought from home homemade pizza. No tomatoe sauce, just a lot of toppings including chicken, onions, olives, tomatoes, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. Later in the afternoon I met with Viv and we talked about how to track the development of the new products.

Also today was Makar Sankranthi which is a festival that signifies the beginning of the harvest season for the farmers. I was wished a happy Sankranthi as I did the same to others. Also Rajendra told me that it is when the Sun makes it’s transition on it’s celestial path to the other side. Kind of like Winter Solstice.

I didn’t take photos today but here are a few from Saturday. First photo is an elephant behind the palace. They offer camel and elephant rides for a small fee. The second photo is at the Brindavan Gardens. Third photo is a traditional Chai Tea stand.

Day 47 – January 13th, 2008

othon — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 04:42:47 +0000

I wasn’t that tired form yesterday’s trip. I think what got me tired last trip to Shravanabelagola was being on the bus for 3 hours and the roads were not that great but yesterday was a relaxing day. For lunch JJ invited John and me to his house. He has a beautiful home. His wife Jessy loves flowers and plants and they have about 400 flowerpots around the house. JJ’s son Divit is a great kid. Smart, respectful and friendly. He call John and I Uncle out of respect. He reminded me of my nephew Max and I had a good time talking to him.

The food was awesome. We had some sausages and sheep as appetizers. After seeing JJ’s gun and armory collection we sat down for lunch and we had chicken, shrimp, fish, pork and more. It was like a festival of food. I really enjoyed meeting JJ’s family. Thank you.

For dinner Wayne called me earlier to see if I would have dinner with him and Gail. When they picked me up they told me they met up with everyone else at Church and we went to a place called Up Beat. It was kind of a lounge restaurant where you could dance and have a good time. Clerita and Avi danced a lot while all the rest of us sat and talked. We had some typical food, rice, dhal and chicken butter masala with butter nans. Thanks everyone.

Day 46 – January 12th, 2008

othon — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 17:49:10 +0000

Saturday, a day to relax and forget about the stressful things. Vineet, Venkat and Giri wanted to do something fun with me to remember the good times we spent together back in the US so they planned a trip to to Mysore. Mysore is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka, India and they said it is a nice place to visit, much cleaner than Bangalore. The highway was nice, no potholes, a few speedbumps, but compared to other highways this was the best road I’ve been on so far. Our first stop was to have breakfast at Kamat. Since it was crowded we decided to do the buffet which was just great. I saw the people preparing the masala dosas and I got to try a little of everything they had. The dosas were great and since it was a buffet they would bring you as many as you wanted. I ate about 5 but they were half the size and thinner than a regular size masala dosa.

The next stop was Sangam, where the 2 rivers meet. I didn’t get the names of the rivers but it was a nice stop. You can take a ride on the river on a circular boat if you want to. Here are Vineet and Venkat next to me. Also there is a marketplace that sells crafts, snacks, coconut water, sugarcanes, etc.

Next stop was Mysore. The city is well kept. On one of the roads they have 2 statues of the king when Mysore was a Kingdom until 1947. We then went to the palace for the Kingdom of Mysore. Inside the palace the walls have paintings on them that tell the story of the king and his people. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures inside and they mean it. I saw a guy taking a photo with his phone and they made a big fuss about it.

The palace is awesome inside and out. I think we were lucky that it wasn’t very crowded and I got a few of great shots of the palace and its surroundings.

After the palace we decided to have lunch. We went to a pizzeria that was pretty cool, car themed. Next stop was St. Philomena’s Church. Saint Philomena is a saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. She is said to have been a young Greek princess martyred in the 4th century. The church was nice but again you could not take photos inside. I did see a few huge bee’s nest on top of the window arches.

Once outside of Mysore we headed to the Brindavan Gardens. On the way there we drove past a small amusement park where was a wooden ship. Once at the Gardens I met probably the tallest person in my life. 7 feet and 8 inches tall. The guys were enjoying the gardens as I was too.

The Gardens are huge and located next to a dam. What makes this place great is that it is well kept and you can just walk forever and enjoy the view. We then climbed on top of the dam to see the water above and the dam gates.

I had to take a photo of the water after sunset since it reminded me of the lake I sail at back home. When it started to get dark they turn on the lights and the Gardens fountains become a magical spectacle of dancing water.

For those that wish to stay longer they have a nice hotel overlooking the Gardens. It was magical to see all the fountains being lighted up with different colors.

After a full day we stopped on the way back to a typical restaurant next to the road. There we had some egg burgi, french fries and a nice evening with friends. Thanks Vinnet, Venkat and Giri.

Day 45 – January 11th, 2008

othon — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:59:48 +0000

On the way to work, John, Raj and I saw probably the most full bus in India. There were 3 people hanging out the door. I had to take a photo and share with everyone. I worked on project planning for 3 of our product lines. I’m applying my learnings of project management to the production plans I’m working on.

For lunch I brought Chicken Butter Masala with Rottis, fried potatoes wedges and apple pie. At around 5 pm Noorul stopped by to offer some cake since it is was birthday. Below is a photo of him with the cake box.

Every now and then we drive past this Muslim mosk. I’ve been wanting to take a photo of it but it seems I cannot go in there, prohibited. Best I could do is take a photo from the street.

Day 44 – January 10th, 2008

othon — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:39:29 +0000

This morning I wasn’t feeling to good. I felt tired. I think the bed is too soft and is making me have a restless night. Anyhow, I dragged myself out of bed and went to work. Once at work I dedicated my time to production planning. The learnings I’ve acquired during this trip are paying off. While doing the production planning I ran into a problem and then asked Rajesh for his advice. Then he made it clear where I was stuck at.

For lunch I went with Clerita and Mythili to New Krishna Bhavan. Mythili had been there before but Clerita hadn’t. We all had Paper Masala Dosas and a few pure ghee sweets for dessert. In the evening once at home I watched some TV and then fell asleep on the couch.

The photos for the day are also from my trip on Saturday. The first is the shoe stand at the entrance of the Hoysaleswara and the Kedareshwara temples in Halebidu. Since it is a sacred place you cannot wear shoes and you leave them here for a fee of 2 rupees (about 5 US cents). The second photo is the side of the Hoysaleswara temple. Here you can see all the carvings that went into creating this temple. Third photo is a closeup of some of the carvings. Here you can see the detail of the carvings and the wear through the years.