Bangalore to Austin
Warning : It is going to be a lengthy one..
Its been quite a while since I wrote blogs...Its very strange..But not many things were happening...But I am in new place now..Every day some thing or other is different..Hence thought it is gud time to restart again..(Thanks Aravind for suggesting this).
I am in US now. Came on May 13th (Saturday)... Let me start telling the details from Bangalore to Austin...(I hope its not like the comedy film Chennai to Pondicherry :-))
My iteneary to Austin is a bit of the mess...I don't know wht my travel agent had in mind or wht I did to him... He really made us took a detour... From Bangalore to Delhi to Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Austin.. huh
Started from Bangalore on May 12th evening around 4ish from my place... My parents came to Bangalore on friday morning to send me off..(Thollai theernthuthunu nenachanga pola!!!) Luckily (Is it really luck?) I have Raj (My Trilogy colleague) also coming with me to US.
Reached airport 1 and half hours before..(Thats punctual..Learn it from me guys)... My parents were there...Hence just chitchatting with them for some time...Went inside the security check...painless... I had seen Bangalore airport fill of ppl..I waited for almost 2 hours in the queue for security check. Hence I was happy to see that there was very little crowd and no big queue...They had remodelled the airport properly to get little extra space...This is cool...
Get in to the airport well before time. Flight started a bit late for some traffic reasons...(Some useful bit of information from our pilot...In india distance between 2 flights while take off is 6 Nautical miles but in other nation it is usually 1 nautical mile). Had dinner(Is it really a dinner or snacks.. :-)). Reached the Delhi domestic airport. Took the internal transit bus to International airport.The fun time starts here. Our flight is at 1 PM. We reached the international airport only around 12 and there was a big crowd ahead of us. We ran for our baggage security check. Checked in just before they closed the check in counter. Completed the immigration check..There was a big queue for security check ahead of us... Thanks to some airline staff he moved us from the end to somewht closer to the beginning of the queue(Thats why you should go late always!!!)
Completed the security check and entered the flight by 1:30...The flight was packed. I had a window seat and Raj was next to me. Around 2 the flight started...We had a individual TV/Video. Started watching the movie "My best friend's wedding". They served some food. Ate it..and started watching the movie again. Had breakfast after some time and slept at around 6 or 7 in our time (Changing my body time for US to prevent Jet lag :-))
Got up on reaching Amsterdam. Local time was around 4:30 in the morning. But it was bright outside.. It was such a lovely, beautiful place...The place is very green...Bad that we didn't get a chance to go out from that place. Our next flight was in next 4 hours or so...Freshen up..Went around the airport...There were very few ppl in the airport...May be its too early...All the shops were open..But nothing interesting to buy..(yeah...u r right..all r expensive). Was really tired..less than 2 hours of sleep..Went to the departure gate and tried to slept there for half an hour and then they called for security and disturbed my sleep...
Security check there was funny...Raj and me went together and they asked lots of questions...
Security : Where are you coming from?
We : Delhi..But actually coming from Bangalore
Security : How long do you know each other?
We : 4 years..Working together
Security : How are you related?
We : friends
Security : Let me ask you some questions now!!! (Aren't the above statements ??? ) How many luggages you checked in?
we : totally 3...
Security : Whom did it belong to?
Raj: one is mine and the other two are Mani's
Security : Did you accept any closed packages or anything at all from any one?
We : NO
Security : Did you keep your luggage unattended?
We : No
Security : How did you come to the airport?
We : taxi
Security : Do you carry a laptop?
We : Yes.
Security : Whose laptop is that?
We : Our company laptop
Security : How long are you using it?
We : 1 year.
Security : Anyone else use the laptop other than you?
We : NO
Ahh!!! Then he went and talked with some one else and then asked us to enter the airport..He is asking more or less the same questions to everyone I guess...I don't whats the point or what information he gets out of it.
Entered the flight...Started sleeping immediately...Had something brunch or lunch or dinner..Lost track of it...Got up some time and started watching some humor movies...Reached Minneapolis half an hour before the time...There was some queue in the immigration check..The security guy asked me to show my passport and the other documents..He asked me whether is it a Blanket L1..Yeah dude!!! can't you read from the passport. Asked me to go to some other room. Waited for some 10-15 minutes there and then he got the same set of documents from me..He asked for one document which I don't have a duplicate...I asked him to make a duplicate and give it to me...The xerox machine didn't work...Atlast he made a duplicate and gave it to me..Then his computer didn't work to make the stamping..(C'mon guys!!! provide better systems in the immigration pls)...Came out..My baggage was there...No body else was there in that area. Only couple of FBI guys. They asked to put the luggage in the scanner. They wanted to open the luggage..I did..They started examining all the stuffs...In a minute or 2, they cut open all packets...Then they said you are good to go... Don't know wht they checked in tht 2 minutes..Except gave trouble for me to pack things again...
Came out and put my luggage for my flight to Austin...Raj was missing from the scene... Took a leisure walk out to my next departure gate. Saw Raj on the way...He was bit confused about where I went. We have to wait for more than 5 hours for our next flight to Austin...While waiting there, they changed the departure gate. But minneapolis is a beautiful place...It was raining lightly outside...Beautiful scene to watch...(Going to Minneapolis again on Memorial day...Hoping to catch up some place there!!!)
Flight to Austin was prettie okie...Determined not to sleep to avoid jet lag. Reached Austin and took a cab to the hotel...Checked in... My other colleague Senthil was there already... Was very hungry and very sleepy...Prepared food in no time..Had good food. Went out to meet Sibi along with Senthil and Raj...Sibi was not there..Came back and slept around 9 PM CST. Good sleep. Got up at 2 AM in the morning...Wholly crap...I don't want to go thru the jetlag...Wanted to desperately catch sleep...Again went to sleep at 2:30 AM..Not bad I guess...Wake up at 6 AM and was going through mails and those stuffs....
Pretty good...First look of the US
1. People are really friendly.
2. Very neat place.
3. Roads are broad.
4. Surrounded by beautiful nature.
Things that are different from expected
1. sky skrappers. I thought the whole of US is full of skyskrappers...But it was missing.
More to come :
Trip to Downtown Austin
First day in the office
Bay area
Napa valley
Its been quite a while since I wrote blogs...Its very strange..But not many things were happening...But I am in new place now..Every day some thing or other is different..Hence thought it is gud time to restart again..(Thanks Aravind for suggesting this).
I am in US now. Came on May 13th (Saturday)... Let me start telling the details from Bangalore to Austin...(I hope its not like the comedy film Chennai to Pondicherry :-))
My iteneary to Austin is a bit of the mess...I don't know wht my travel agent had in mind or wht I did to him... He really made us took a detour... From Bangalore to Delhi to Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Austin.. huh
Started from Bangalore on May 12th evening around 4ish from my place... My parents came to Bangalore on friday morning to send me off..(Thollai theernthuthunu nenachanga pola!!!) Luckily (Is it really luck?) I have Raj (My Trilogy colleague) also coming with me to US.
Reached airport 1 and half hours before..(Thats punctual..Learn it from me guys)... My parents were there...Hence just chitchatting with them for some time...Went inside the security check...painless... I had seen Bangalore airport fill of ppl..I waited for almost 2 hours in the queue for security check. Hence I was happy to see that there was very little crowd and no big queue...They had remodelled the airport properly to get little extra space...This is cool...
Get in to the airport well before time. Flight started a bit late for some traffic reasons...(Some useful bit of information from our pilot...In india distance between 2 flights while take off is 6 Nautical miles but in other nation it is usually 1 nautical mile). Had dinner(Is it really a dinner or snacks.. :-)). Reached the Delhi domestic airport. Took the internal transit bus to International airport.The fun time starts here. Our flight is at 1 PM. We reached the international airport only around 12 and there was a big crowd ahead of us. We ran for our baggage security check. Checked in just before they closed the check in counter. Completed the immigration check..There was a big queue for security check ahead of us... Thanks to some airline staff he moved us from the end to somewht closer to the beginning of the queue(Thats why you should go late always!!!)
Completed the security check and entered the flight by 1:30...The flight was packed. I had a window seat and Raj was next to me. Around 2 the flight started...We had a individual TV/Video. Started watching the movie "My best friend's wedding". They served some food. Ate it..and started watching the movie again. Had breakfast after some time and slept at around 6 or 7 in our time (Changing my body time for US to prevent Jet lag :-))
Got up on reaching Amsterdam. Local time was around 4:30 in the morning. But it was bright outside.. It was such a lovely, beautiful place...The place is very green...Bad that we didn't get a chance to go out from that place. Our next flight was in next 4 hours or so...Freshen up..Went around the airport...There were very few ppl in the airport...May be its too early...All the shops were open..But nothing interesting to buy..(yeah...u r right..all r expensive). Was really tired..less than 2 hours of sleep..Went to the departure gate and tried to slept there for half an hour and then they called for security and disturbed my sleep...
Security check there was funny...Raj and me went together and they asked lots of questions...
Security : Where are you coming from?
We : Delhi..But actually coming from Bangalore
Security : How long do you know each other?
We : 4 years..Working together
Security : How are you related?
We : friends
Security : Let me ask you some questions now!!! (Aren't the above statements ??? ) How many luggages you checked in?
we : totally 3...
Security : Whom did it belong to?
Raj: one is mine and the other two are Mani's
Security : Did you accept any closed packages or anything at all from any one?
We : NO
Security : Did you keep your luggage unattended?
We : No
Security : How did you come to the airport?
We : taxi
Security : Do you carry a laptop?
We : Yes.
Security : Whose laptop is that?
We : Our company laptop
Security : How long are you using it?
We : 1 year.
Security : Anyone else use the laptop other than you?
We : NO
Ahh!!! Then he went and talked with some one else and then asked us to enter the airport..He is asking more or less the same questions to everyone I guess...I don't whats the point or what information he gets out of it.
Entered the flight...Started sleeping immediately...Had something brunch or lunch or dinner..Lost track of it...Got up some time and started watching some humor movies...Reached Minneapolis half an hour before the time...There was some queue in the immigration check..The security guy asked me to show my passport and the other documents..He asked me whether is it a Blanket L1..Yeah dude!!! can't you read from the passport. Asked me to go to some other room. Waited for some 10-15 minutes there and then he got the same set of documents from me..He asked for one document which I don't have a duplicate...I asked him to make a duplicate and give it to me...The xerox machine didn't work...Atlast he made a duplicate and gave it to me..Then his computer didn't work to make the stamping..(C'mon guys!!! provide better systems in the immigration pls)...Came out..My baggage was there...No body else was there in that area. Only couple of FBI guys. They asked to put the luggage in the scanner. They wanted to open the luggage..I did..They started examining all the stuffs...In a minute or 2, they cut open all packets...Then they said you are good to go... Don't know wht they checked in tht 2 minutes..Except gave trouble for me to pack things again...
Came out and put my luggage for my flight to Austin...Raj was missing from the scene... Took a leisure walk out to my next departure gate. Saw Raj on the way...He was bit confused about where I went. We have to wait for more than 5 hours for our next flight to Austin...While waiting there, they changed the departure gate. But minneapolis is a beautiful place...It was raining lightly outside...Beautiful scene to watch...(Going to Minneapolis again on Memorial day...Hoping to catch up some place there!!!)
Flight to Austin was prettie okie...Determined not to sleep to avoid jet lag. Reached Austin and took a cab to the hotel...Checked in... My other colleague Senthil was there already... Was very hungry and very sleepy...Prepared food in no time..Had good food. Went out to meet Sibi along with Senthil and Raj...Sibi was not there..Came back and slept around 9 PM CST. Good sleep. Got up at 2 AM in the morning...Wholly crap...I don't want to go thru the jetlag...Wanted to desperately catch sleep...Again went to sleep at 2:30 AM..Not bad I guess...Wake up at 6 AM and was going through mails and those stuffs....
Pretty good...First look of the US
1. People are really friendly.
2. Very neat place.
3. Roads are broad.
4. Surrounded by beautiful nature.
Things that are different from expected
1. sky skrappers. I thought the whole of US is full of skyskrappers...But it was missing.
More to come :
Trip to Downtown Austin
First day in the office
Bay area
Napa valley
posted by Mani | 10:07 AM
3 Comments:
sooooperappu....oray kalakara...btw: u wer confused wth the flight food for dinner or snacks....don worry...namma logic orayy logic...pathaaati second round ;)
and you went back to Bangalore without meeting me. You planned your visit in such a way that I could not be in Austin that time. Yor FYP mate!
Haha! Just kidding. Would have been great if I could have met you here. Anyways, seems like you;ve had a nice trip.
Many grammar and pelling mistakes. Don't you have the grammar check enabled in your company's laptop? Or did they disable it at the immigration? ;)
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