I love these FULL team meetings that we have at work! Given that I am working on a global role, most of my team mates are scattered in different parts of the world and once a year we come together for a 2-day "offsite". Today was the first of those two days for this fiscal year and it was lovely meeting all of them - bouncing ideas, catching up on gossips, sharing work woes and family tales and generally having a merry time! Quite enjoyed that!
Post the team meeting, we set off to my manager's place for a team dinner. Over some great Indian food, I caught up with my manager's mom-in-law. This aunty and I had met once before, a few months ago. That time I think I kinda got her feeling appalled (in a very cute way) by the fact that I cook only once a year on an average. It was unthinkable for an Indian married woman, you see. Absolutely outrageous really.
Interestingly enough, today she immediately remembered me from the last visit, and was very sweet - asking about work, travel plans, the film shoot etc. and finally the inevitable question on my progress on cooking! Upon realizing that I have made no progress whatsoever, she shared a few recipes and told me that some day soon she will make it a point to visit me at home just to have the food that I cook! How cute is that?! I was like "Awwww....!"
Then she shared stories of her childhood when she was still in her village - stories about how they used to make curd and buttermilk at home, how they used to apply curd on their heads instead of shampoos, how all girls had long, thick, beautiful hair, how later on curd was being churned not by hand but in washing machines, so on. Not that any of these have anything to do with me cooking but I absolutely love listening to such stories from bygone years and so it was a very nice chat with her! I find her incredibly sweet and cute!
Post the team dinner, I quickly made my way to another dinner appointment with the hubby's cousin from Bangkok who is in town (yes, my social life is really buzzing with multiple dinner appointments and all!). He works in a creative agency and is a real fun guy to chat with. Needless to say, I had continued to have a good time!
So the evening ended off quitely nicely and I had a lovely day all in all!
709 more to go.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Day 290: First Cut Teaser Edit!
5 September, 2010
I got back to Singapore after that whirlwind business (and very fun) trip to India only to be greeted by a nice surprise! My super efficient editor of the film has already cut a nice teaser for it! It really boosted my day!
It is a first cut and needs dubs and music still, but it's the first close-to-finish bit of the film that I've seen and it brought a BIG BIG smile on my face! It is super nice to see the bits and pieces falling into place. There is still a long way to go before the film would be completed, but this feels like a good beginning of the end for the whole journey!
710 more to go.
I got back to Singapore after that whirlwind business (and very fun) trip to India only to be greeted by a nice surprise! My super efficient editor of the film has already cut a nice teaser for it! It really boosted my day!
It is a first cut and needs dubs and music still, but it's the first close-to-finish bit of the film that I've seen and it brought a BIG BIG smile on my face! It is super nice to see the bits and pieces falling into place. There is still a long way to go before the film would be completed, but this feels like a good beginning of the end for the whole journey!
710 more to go.
Day 289: Nani Dearest!
4 September , 2010
Today I got to meet Nani - the hubby's maternal grandmother who happened to be in Delhi! She usually stays with her daughter, my mom-in-law, in Kanpur but is in Delhi currently visiting her brother.
At 87, she is the oldest and cutest person close to me and I wanted to make sure that I meet her when in Delhi. Hence soon after my research in the morning, I went to visit her together with my in-laws. We spent about 3-4 hours and I had a nice time chatting with her! She has the sweetest smile ever, really!
i also gorged on all the food Nani's lovely niece, an aunty to me, had prepared! Just as this delicious food was just about to settle down, we had already made our stop at the next destination (my sis-in-law's house) and once again gorged on another round of yummilicious food my sis-in-law's mom had made! It was lovely meeting everyone and also spending time with my in-laws throughout the day.
And thus the first business trip to India ended rather well and now it's time to fly back to Singapore.
711 more to go.
Today I got to meet Nani - the hubby's maternal grandmother who happened to be in Delhi! She usually stays with her daughter, my mom-in-law, in Kanpur but is in Delhi currently visiting her brother.
At 87, she is the oldest and cutest person close to me and I wanted to make sure that I meet her when in Delhi. Hence soon after my research in the morning, I went to visit her together with my in-laws. We spent about 3-4 hours and I had a nice time chatting with her! She has the sweetest smile ever, really!
i also gorged on all the food Nani's lovely niece, an aunty to me, had prepared! Just as this delicious food was just about to settle down, we had already made our stop at the next destination (my sis-in-law's house) and once again gorged on another round of yummilicious food my sis-in-law's mom had made! It was lovely meeting everyone and also spending time with my in-laws throughout the day.
And thus the first business trip to India ended rather well and now it's time to fly back to Singapore.
711 more to go.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Day 288: Biggest Surprise of my Life!
3 September, 2010
I had a long day of consumer research - it lasted about 12 hours or so but was a quite a fun excercise. My colleagues and I finally made our way back to the hotel at about 9:30 and decided to get dinner first before retiring for the day. We went to one of the colleague's rooms to dump the laptops and documents etc., and went up to a restaurant on the rooftop. As we were browsing the menu outside the restaurant trying to figure out what to get, I felt a movement at the restaurant entrance and I glanced up. And then I stopped right in my tracks.
My dad-in-law and mom-in-law were standing right there, with a wide smile and a mischievous glint in their eyes!!!
It was such a complete surprise that I had my jaw drop open and started squealing (wonder what my colleagues thought of that)!! My in-laws have travelled a good 5.5 hours by train to get here just to meet me and give me a surprise! And what a lovely one!
I had NO clue they had come over to Delhi, not even with the five missed calls my mom-in-law gave me in the evening... I thought it was just to catch me online or something! They had been waiting in the hotel lobby for three hours waiting for me because I had gotten late at the research!
It was really incredible!!! I think I kept squealing for about 5 minutes straight! After that I readily ditched my colleagues and took my in-laws for dinner at Bhukhara, apparently one of the restaurants my dad-in-law had been to about 28 years ago and had really liked!
We had a great time chatting over the good Bukhara food and finally they left for their guest house. I have a morning of consumer work tomorrow and afer that I would be spending the entire day with them, before heading back to Singapore on the midnight flight.
So there.... an awesome, awesome, awesome surprise... a REAL surprise... I don't think I ever had one those before, which swept me away so! It was Incredible!
712 more to go.
I had a long day of consumer research - it lasted about 12 hours or so but was a quite a fun excercise. My colleagues and I finally made our way back to the hotel at about 9:30 and decided to get dinner first before retiring for the day. We went to one of the colleague's rooms to dump the laptops and documents etc., and went up to a restaurant on the rooftop. As we were browsing the menu outside the restaurant trying to figure out what to get, I felt a movement at the restaurant entrance and I glanced up. And then I stopped right in my tracks.
My dad-in-law and mom-in-law were standing right there, with a wide smile and a mischievous glint in their eyes!!!
It was such a complete surprise that I had my jaw drop open and started squealing (wonder what my colleagues thought of that)!! My in-laws have travelled a good 5.5 hours by train to get here just to meet me and give me a surprise! And what a lovely one!
I had NO clue they had come over to Delhi, not even with the five missed calls my mom-in-law gave me in the evening... I thought it was just to catch me online or something! They had been waiting in the hotel lobby for three hours waiting for me because I had gotten late at the research!
It was really incredible!!! I think I kept squealing for about 5 minutes straight! After that I readily ditched my colleagues and took my in-laws for dinner at Bhukhara, apparently one of the restaurants my dad-in-law had been to about 28 years ago and had really liked!
We had a great time chatting over the good Bukhara food and finally they left for their guest house. I have a morning of consumer work tomorrow and afer that I would be spending the entire day with them, before heading back to Singapore on the midnight flight.
So there.... an awesome, awesome, awesome surprise... a REAL surprise... I don't think I ever had one those before, which swept me away so! It was Incredible!
712 more to go.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Day 287: Fun Delhi!
My, my... yet again, an amazing day!
Am having SO much fun on this business trip, it's just so wonderful! Today I got to Delhi from Mumbai and all the excitement is still continuing! List-time!
a) Bought two books from the bookstore in Mumbai airport at half the price as they would have been in Singapore - I LOVE the fact that everything is so cheap!
b) ITC Maurya Sheraton, my hotel in Delhi ROCKS! They put me up on the "Eva" floor, exclusively for single female travellers! And that means you get an Awesome room with Awesome freebies and Awesome service! These include things like - extensive toileteries like cleanser, toner, body talc and moisturizer on top of the usual shampoo, conditioner and body lotion, pumpic stone for scrubbing and softening the heel, nail file, nail polish remover, body scrub, ear bugs, ear plugs, eye mask, comb for dry hair, brush for wet hair, washing powder, dream kerchief (apparentely it gives out a fragrance if placed next to the pillow that helps you sleep better), wet wipes etc. On top of this you also get, complimentary glass of alcohol or hot drinks in-room during happy hours, complimentary wash of 2 pieces of clothing, complimentary glass of hot drink just before bed so that the body can sleep better (I didn't even know such a belief existed!), female butler who comes by and checks on me once in a while, etc. etc. etc. etc. It is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
c) My cabbie Rocked! I wanted to buy Kurtis (Indian tops/blouses), and had asked for recommendations on a good place to go. Some of the colleagues here gave a few suggestions and I took a cab with my Chinese colleague to go to one among them. Upon knowing the purpose of our visit, the cabbie gave a different recommendation of a place called Delhi Haat and said that this place would be cheaper and better. And he was right! OK, I dunno whether it was cheap-er and better but it was definitely cheap and definitely a really good place. I had a wonderful time there! And the cabbie was so cute, he was giving us a running commentary on every building that we passed by and making sure we had Delhi completely figured out. Sweet!
d) Delhi Haat - Ahhhh. What an experience! We were treated like royalty from the minute we entered the shop! This could also have been due to the fact that I had a Chinese collaegue with me and they took us for tourists... but still! They were getting us drinks, bringing whatever we demanded to us from the far flung corners of the shop so that we didn't have to budge from our seats, helping us take pictures, taking measurements and providing free alterations within 15-20 minutes and doing a Perfect job of it, carrying our stuff all around the shop, making really good conversation, and in short, making sure that we are having a great time! Yeah sure, this might be a standard in many shops in india, but it's the first time I have been to such a shop pretty much on my own without other relatives who, by default, would have been the ones in the centre of attention as they would lead most of the shopping. So I had never immersed myself so completely in what was happening and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The experience was all the more interesting because my Chinese colleague was nothing short of being astounded by the standard of service! She said it was no less than a luxury brand and I couldn't agree more!
So yes, I feel rather pampered today. This has been an incredible experience and super duper fun!
713 more to go.
Am having SO much fun on this business trip, it's just so wonderful! Today I got to Delhi from Mumbai and all the excitement is still continuing! List-time!
a) Bought two books from the bookstore in Mumbai airport at half the price as they would have been in Singapore - I LOVE the fact that everything is so cheap!
b) ITC Maurya Sheraton, my hotel in Delhi ROCKS! They put me up on the "Eva" floor, exclusively for single female travellers! And that means you get an Awesome room with Awesome freebies and Awesome service! These include things like - extensive toileteries like cleanser, toner, body talc and moisturizer on top of the usual shampoo, conditioner and body lotion, pumpic stone for scrubbing and softening the heel, nail file, nail polish remover, body scrub, ear bugs, ear plugs, eye mask, comb for dry hair, brush for wet hair, washing powder, dream kerchief (apparentely it gives out a fragrance if placed next to the pillow that helps you sleep better), wet wipes etc. On top of this you also get, complimentary glass of alcohol or hot drinks in-room during happy hours, complimentary wash of 2 pieces of clothing, complimentary glass of hot drink just before bed so that the body can sleep better (I didn't even know such a belief existed!), female butler who comes by and checks on me once in a while, etc. etc. etc. etc. It is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
c) My cabbie Rocked! I wanted to buy Kurtis (Indian tops/blouses), and had asked for recommendations on a good place to go. Some of the colleagues here gave a few suggestions and I took a cab with my Chinese colleague to go to one among them. Upon knowing the purpose of our visit, the cabbie gave a different recommendation of a place called Delhi Haat and said that this place would be cheaper and better. And he was right! OK, I dunno whether it was cheap-er and better but it was definitely cheap and definitely a really good place. I had a wonderful time there! And the cabbie was so cute, he was giving us a running commentary on every building that we passed by and making sure we had Delhi completely figured out. Sweet!
d) Delhi Haat - Ahhhh. What an experience! We were treated like royalty from the minute we entered the shop! This could also have been due to the fact that I had a Chinese collaegue with me and they took us for tourists... but still! They were getting us drinks, bringing whatever we demanded to us from the far flung corners of the shop so that we didn't have to budge from our seats, helping us take pictures, taking measurements and providing free alterations within 15-20 minutes and doing a Perfect job of it, carrying our stuff all around the shop, making really good conversation, and in short, making sure that we are having a great time! Yeah sure, this might be a standard in many shops in india, but it's the first time I have been to such a shop pretty much on my own without other relatives who, by default, would have been the ones in the centre of attention as they would lead most of the shopping. So I had never immersed myself so completely in what was happening and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The experience was all the more interesting because my Chinese colleague was nothing short of being astounded by the standard of service! She said it was no less than a luxury brand and I couldn't agree more!
So yes, I feel rather pampered today. This has been an incredible experience and super duper fun!
713 more to go.
Day 286: Travel Yoga
1 September, 2010
Today was a long day of consumer research, after which all that the team wanted to do was to get back to the hotel and rest. But I decided that it is high time I excercised. The first day I was in Mumbai, I had made an attempt at doing yoga in the hotel room with considerable success. I did about 1 hour of the 1.5 hour routine that I usually do in the yoga class.
But today I was determined that I will do it more extensively, in spite of my tiredness, sleepiness, laziness and overwhelming pain in my joints thanks to long hours of just sitting in a spot and listening to consumers. So I gave it a go and was very pleased with my efforts! I am so proud of my achievement! Complete lack of excercise had always bothered me when I travel and I usually hate hitting the gym. So this yoga plan was really great.
Looks like I could actually make this into a nice habit that would ensure that I am not totally unhealthy when I travel and I can eat all that great food with no guilt! That absolutely rocks!
714 more to go.
Today was a long day of consumer research, after which all that the team wanted to do was to get back to the hotel and rest. But I decided that it is high time I excercised. The first day I was in Mumbai, I had made an attempt at doing yoga in the hotel room with considerable success. I did about 1 hour of the 1.5 hour routine that I usually do in the yoga class.
But today I was determined that I will do it more extensively, in spite of my tiredness, sleepiness, laziness and overwhelming pain in my joints thanks to long hours of just sitting in a spot and listening to consumers. So I gave it a go and was very pleased with my efforts! I am so proud of my achievement! Complete lack of excercise had always bothered me when I travel and I usually hate hitting the gym. So this yoga plan was really great.
Looks like I could actually make this into a nice habit that would ensure that I am not totally unhealthy when I travel and I can eat all that great food with no guilt! That absolutely rocks!
714 more to go.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Day 285: S.S.S.
31 August, 2010
Amazing, amazing, amazing day! I can't stop smiling as am writing this post because I really had a grand time! But in the interest of time (it's past 1:15 am now), am gonna stick to three key points!
a) Loved the experience of visiting the P&G India office as well as the homes of our consumers. Getting the access into the office after an elaborate signing in process and lengthy chat with the guards in itself was rather interesting. Then the visits to the different consumers' homes for market research were also quite fascinating. It is always eye opening to see how other people live. Here's just one instance that touched me. One lady told us that her dream was to work in a office to put her education into use - "you know... I want to work in an office where they have laptops and all!". That made me smile, but a bit sadly. Because to be very honest, I hardly see that happening unless she really puts her all into it. She is already into the third year of her married life and being a housewife, with a baby, living with her in-laws in an extended family, panicking about how she needs to start cooking soon even within the one hour she had to spend with us - while her mom-in-law kept a close watch on her every move. That is a hard situation to get out of. Made me count my blessings - am after all living someone's dream.
b) Went around Mumbai at night, which was the only time we were free after the research and we wanted to avoid the traffic. The super sweet cabbie gave a running commentary of every prominent sight on the way, including the residences of the Bollywood stars Bachchans and Shahrukh Khan! Then went to the actual important places like the Gateway of India and saw the lovely hotel Taj and also the Sea Link. But the best of the lot was Nariman point! I had seen it in so many movies and had SO wanted to go and stand right there on the raised pathway overlooking the sea! So did just that! It was amazing. I really did feel like am in a Hind movie! The sea, the rain, the wind, the view. Beautiful!
c) And last but not at all the least, I met up with two of my childhood friends together in Mumbai after about 12 years! We used to be inseparable in school for about 5-6 years! In fact, we used to call ourselves "S.S.S" (or triple S or the three 'S's - whatever that suited our fancy at that point in time), because all three of our names started with 'S'. We were partners in almost every crime - be it ragging the seniors, putting up plays, drawing up Archie comics, never eating our own lunch but each others', writing investigative stories with teenage girls as heroines, etc. etc. etc. But once I left for Singapore, the two of them too went to different parts of India for their studies and later, jobs and we never had a chance to meet all at once. But today we did! And it was awesome! We had a super brilliant time!! Not sure when the next such meeting would be, but today was really really awesome!
So yes, it was a super beautiful day!
715 more to go.
Amazing, amazing, amazing day! I can't stop smiling as am writing this post because I really had a grand time! But in the interest of time (it's past 1:15 am now), am gonna stick to three key points!
a) Loved the experience of visiting the P&G India office as well as the homes of our consumers. Getting the access into the office after an elaborate signing in process and lengthy chat with the guards in itself was rather interesting. Then the visits to the different consumers' homes for market research were also quite fascinating. It is always eye opening to see how other people live. Here's just one instance that touched me. One lady told us that her dream was to work in a office to put her education into use - "you know... I want to work in an office where they have laptops and all!". That made me smile, but a bit sadly. Because to be very honest, I hardly see that happening unless she really puts her all into it. She is already into the third year of her married life and being a housewife, with a baby, living with her in-laws in an extended family, panicking about how she needs to start cooking soon even within the one hour she had to spend with us - while her mom-in-law kept a close watch on her every move. That is a hard situation to get out of. Made me count my blessings - am after all living someone's dream.
b) Went around Mumbai at night, which was the only time we were free after the research and we wanted to avoid the traffic. The super sweet cabbie gave a running commentary of every prominent sight on the way, including the residences of the Bollywood stars Bachchans and Shahrukh Khan! Then went to the actual important places like the Gateway of India and saw the lovely hotel Taj and also the Sea Link. But the best of the lot was Nariman point! I had seen it in so many movies and had SO wanted to go and stand right there on the raised pathway overlooking the sea! So did just that! It was amazing. I really did feel like am in a Hind movie! The sea, the rain, the wind, the view. Beautiful!
c) And last but not at all the least, I met up with two of my childhood friends together in Mumbai after about 12 years! We used to be inseparable in school for about 5-6 years! In fact, we used to call ourselves "S.S.S" (or triple S or the three 'S's - whatever that suited our fancy at that point in time), because all three of our names started with 'S'. We were partners in almost every crime - be it ragging the seniors, putting up plays, drawing up Archie comics, never eating our own lunch but each others', writing investigative stories with teenage girls as heroines, etc. etc. etc. But once I left for Singapore, the two of them too went to different parts of India for their studies and later, jobs and we never had a chance to meet all at once. But today we did! And it was awesome! We had a super brilliant time!! Not sure when the next such meeting would be, but today was really really awesome!
So yes, it was a super beautiful day!
715 more to go.
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