The ides of March have come and gone
Yesterday was one of my best ever as a sports fan. India beat Pakistan in the cricket, making it 904 days since the enemy defeated us in an ODI; Saina Nehwal retained her Swiss Open title in the badminton; Liverpool defeated Stoke City in an FA Cup football quarter-final; while Roger Federer dismissed John Isner in straight sets to secure his 73rd career title at Indian Wells in the tennis. And it didn't hurt to see a Brit win the first Formula One race this season in Melbourne.
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Meanwhile, I started a new month-long work assignment at Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (DADC) last Monday. The Brits among you may remember the Sony DADC distribution centre that was destroyed in Enfield during last August's riots. As a result the warehouse staff were temporarily relocated to the head-office in Soho's Golden Square, just off Regent Street in Central London. And that's where I've been commuting to as well. It's the first time I've worked in the West End and it's by far the best place I've ever worked. This is my fifth workplace since moving to London. One was located just off Enfield Town, one in Enfield Lock (in a business park a half-hour bus-plus-walk commute from my flat), one in Dalston (a few miles east of Central London) and one on the edge of the City of London.
There are so many good things about my workplace location. For starters, it's a five-minute or less walk to Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Leicester Square, Chinatown, Trafalgar Square and the heart of the theatre district. The lunch hour is the best part of the day. I've decided to spend each one walking in a different direction, soaking in as much of the anonymous side streets that make up this great city. Many of them I've read about or seen on Google Maps, but few have actually been visited. For instance, it's taken me nearly five years to set foot for the first time on Savile Row, a street whose association with fine tailoring I've known about almost all my life, and rather disappointingly, it's not much of a looker. At least not until you can fork out a few thousand quid for a bespoke three-piece suit.
The work itself is mundane. It's essentially data entry but it's keeping me afloat and that's what matters. It's only for a few more weeks. I might even have to quit a few days before the end of the assignment because my cousin who lives in Seattle, is visiting me for a few days on her way back from seeing her family in India. It'll be her first trip to London and I'm very excited about it. No doubt she'll be bringing digestible treats courtesy my aunt & grandma. Weight loss'll just have to wait.
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I've also been busy taking driving lessons as my practical test is in two weeks. I'm extremely nervous about it but my instructor is confident I could pass. I still have two more maneuvers to learn and 9.5 hours in which to practice before the big day. I wish I'd practiced for at least another block of 10 hours before taking the test, but I've already moved the test date twice. I especially regret what happened in February when I didn't take any lessons because I couldn't afford it. Wish me luck!
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On the family front, my sister's in Nepal for three weeks. She started volunteering at an American-based NGO called Nyaya Health about a year ago and became very involved with it. It became obvious to us that she was very passionate about their work, so dad sanctioned her dream visit. Even for Nepal's standards it's in the middle-of-fucking-nowhere as her adventure to get there illustrates. It began with a train journey from Providence to Boston, a flight from Boston to Frankfurt, another flight to Delhi, followed by another to Kathmandu, and finally one within Nepal itself. She then took a fourteen-hour minibus journey through the Western Nepal region, split in half by spending the night at a cheap hotel. At some point they either met or traveled with some Maoists who'd just returned from India on a diplomatic visit. Her crew eventually arrived at Bayalpata Hospital in Achham province where they were greeted with limited access to water itself (let alone hot water), poor communication facilities (let alone the internet) and intermittent electricity. But she's not there for the luxuries. No doubt it'll be an amazing experience.
I trust that the rest of you are doing well, having fun and living life to its fullest!
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Meanwhile, I started a new month-long work assignment at Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation (DADC) last Monday. The Brits among you may remember the Sony DADC distribution centre that was destroyed in Enfield during last August's riots. As a result the warehouse staff were temporarily relocated to the head-office in Soho's Golden Square, just off Regent Street in Central London. And that's where I've been commuting to as well. It's the first time I've worked in the West End and it's by far the best place I've ever worked. This is my fifth workplace since moving to London. One was located just off Enfield Town, one in Enfield Lock (in a business park a half-hour bus-plus-walk commute from my flat), one in Dalston (a few miles east of Central London) and one on the edge of the City of London.
There are so many good things about my workplace location. For starters, it's a five-minute or less walk to Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Leicester Square, Chinatown, Trafalgar Square and the heart of the theatre district. The lunch hour is the best part of the day. I've decided to spend each one walking in a different direction, soaking in as much of the anonymous side streets that make up this great city. Many of them I've read about or seen on Google Maps, but few have actually been visited. For instance, it's taken me nearly five years to set foot for the first time on Savile Row, a street whose association with fine tailoring I've known about almost all my life, and rather disappointingly, it's not much of a looker. At least not until you can fork out a few thousand quid for a bespoke three-piece suit.
The work itself is mundane. It's essentially data entry but it's keeping me afloat and that's what matters. It's only for a few more weeks. I might even have to quit a few days before the end of the assignment because my cousin who lives in Seattle, is visiting me for a few days on her way back from seeing her family in India. It'll be her first trip to London and I'm very excited about it. No doubt she'll be bringing digestible treats courtesy my aunt & grandma. Weight loss'll just have to wait.
----
I've also been busy taking driving lessons as my practical test is in two weeks. I'm extremely nervous about it but my instructor is confident I could pass. I still have two more maneuvers to learn and 9.5 hours in which to practice before the big day. I wish I'd practiced for at least another block of 10 hours before taking the test, but I've already moved the test date twice. I especially regret what happened in February when I didn't take any lessons because I couldn't afford it. Wish me luck!
----
On the family front, my sister's in Nepal for three weeks. She started volunteering at an American-based NGO called Nyaya Health about a year ago and became very involved with it. It became obvious to us that she was very passionate about their work, so dad sanctioned her dream visit. Even for Nepal's standards it's in the middle-of-fucking-nowhere as her adventure to get there illustrates. It began with a train journey from Providence to Boston, a flight from Boston to Frankfurt, another flight to Delhi, followed by another to Kathmandu, and finally one within Nepal itself. She then took a fourteen-hour minibus journey through the Western Nepal region, split in half by spending the night at a cheap hotel. At some point they either met or traveled with some Maoists who'd just returned from India on a diplomatic visit. Her crew eventually arrived at Bayalpata Hospital in Achham province where they were greeted with limited access to water itself (let alone hot water), poor communication facilities (let alone the internet) and intermittent electricity. But she's not there for the luxuries. No doubt it'll be an amazing experience.
I trust that the rest of you are doing well, having fun and living life to its fullest!