1. The town is so silent. Time is 07:16 PM !
2. Had a nice day in the office. Learnt that the project would be pretty easy :)
3. Went to office in a taxi. The taxi driver spoke about many interesting things.
4. KB, the 10-yr-exp-developer, is curious about knowing me. He spoke very frankly about India, and China that they are booming nations threatening the other nations' growth. He also said that Ireland started to grow just before 20 years.
5. Still other cubicle mates are not coping up with me.
6. Went to The CattleView Farm B&B. Nobody there. The taxi driver accompanied well. He has been a taxi driver for the past 6 months. Before that he was a landscaper. Eventhough it is physically tough he enjoyed it. He said "You know it's pretty good when I make something out of a place that is nothing". Good thought.
7. He also said that he does not like cricket. Almost everybody here speak with me about cricket, economy, and climate of India.
8. The driver billed 90EURO. Forgot to get a bill again.
9. Thank God I found The Derby House Hotel so close walkable from the LM office. Fullstop for taxis.
10. But still to save some money I need to look for some other hotels/guest houses. Paid 780EURO for 13 nights; 60 per night.
11. I'm scared that I may not be returned the amount I paid if I check out earlier. When enquired, the receptionist said they'll return the amount.
12. Still doubting what to tell to the HR people.
13. Thank God again that I found an Indian hotel here in town. Ate mushroom rice with a coke as compliment for just 3.95EURO.
14. A Pakistani, Ahmed, is running the Indian restaurant. Great thing.. our brothers are fighting there back.
15. Finally, got a toothpaste for 2.95EURO. Pretty costly if converted to INR. I'm getting ready to save at least 1000EURO
16. I think I'm now left up with just around 2989EURO. Need to look for some other living place soon. Mail HR asking how much is the per diem including accomodation.
17. Meanwhile, got into the server room where PLOM application runs. Great to be into the den of a little lion!! Pretty interesting experience.
18. Need to brush up official things.
19. I somehow felt guilty hearing that here is a 31% increase in unemployment in Ireland, the highest recorded in the past 9 years. We may be one of the reasons for that. Who knows, the skilled pros may not be available here.
20. Polls are up in Ireland. One party says No for Ireland to be part of EU and the other Yes. Need to learn more about this thing.
21. Taxi driver said that housing is the job hub for about 40% of the people here.
22. The driver asked about the population in India. I said 1100 million. He laughed and said, its just 4 million here !
23. The driver also said that I speak better English like an English.
24. He can't speak mcuh Irish; learnt and forgot in school ! Still people in Western Ireland speak Irish "only". Very traditional.
25. Had some "vegetable" lunch in the canteen. Expense: 2.90EURO!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The Irish Days - DAY-2
Date: 9-June-2008
Place: Guest room in The Osprey Hotel, Naas
1. Had a tough time taking bath in a bath tub.
2. Hired a txi to travel to the office (Expense: 33.30 EURO)
3. Visited LM (Client office name suppressed) by 08:00 AM. CO (Client name suppressed) seemed to turn by 09:00 AM. And disappointingly I'm having appointment only by 03:00 PM.
4. Phoned HR. Seems that they have given the card for UK and not for Ireland.
5. I have strated to count my days for returning back to my home in Chennai.
6. Met CO. Seems to be a nice guy. Working culture here is too good. No so formal. Need to learn from these guys. Had an intro to the cubicle mates.
7. Cool guys and not a better project. Foreseeing some tough time later. They seem to have less hope in me particularly KB (client name suppressed), the 10+ year experienced in PLOM (App name suppressed) is of particular concern and looks like not liking me. But CO is too cool and he helps me understnad things literally well.
8. Happy news. My card is working now. Commuting from Naas is the foremost problem and next to that is the charges levied by Osprey damn hotel. Need to look some guest house close to the office.
9. I need to charge up & cope up with this culture & people irrespective of the expenses. Go.. speak with people. Build some positive attitude in you.
10. KV (HR name suppressed) helped a lot to sort out the problem with my card. Good man!!
11. Noon lunch was terribly bad. A veg sandwich which I can't master eating. CO seemed embarassed but didn't show off. Surprising thing is nobody stared at me unlike in India.
12. Hired a taxi to get back to the hotel (Exp: 30 EURO). Forgot to get the receipt for that.
13. Withdrew 200EURO from an ATM nearby
14. Learnt that some 5+ colleagues are here around in a place called Saggart; 49 Kms away from Naas. Let's have time to meet them.
15. Spoke with Amma & Hari. Fot to tell them that nothing is fine in this "VILLAGE". Need to get back home soon.
16. More things to worry. Hope things will get fine.
17. Now moving out for shopping.. err.. for just roaming.
18. Got a damn thing done. Kept the perungayam (Asafoetida) dappa on one of the lights in my hotel room. It got melt in the heat of the bulb. The bulb is damaged badly; also the furniture. I'm too scared that I'll be billed for it. Need to get outta this place ASAP.
19. Got some bread from a grocery nearby. (EXP: 8EURO)
Total expense today: 71.30 EURO
Place: Guest room in The Osprey Hotel, Naas
1. Had a tough time taking bath in a bath tub.
2. Hired a txi to travel to the office (Expense: 33.30 EURO)
3. Visited LM (Client office name suppressed) by 08:00 AM. CO (Client name suppressed) seemed to turn by 09:00 AM. And disappointingly I'm having appointment only by 03:00 PM.
4. Phoned HR. Seems that they have given the card for UK and not for Ireland.
5. I have strated to count my days for returning back to my home in Chennai.
6. Met CO. Seems to be a nice guy. Working culture here is too good. No so formal. Need to learn from these guys. Had an intro to the cubicle mates.
7. Cool guys and not a better project. Foreseeing some tough time later. They seem to have less hope in me particularly KB (client name suppressed), the 10+ year experienced in PLOM (App name suppressed) is of particular concern and looks like not liking me. But CO is too cool and he helps me understnad things literally well.
8. Happy news. My card is working now. Commuting from Naas is the foremost problem and next to that is the charges levied by Osprey damn hotel. Need to look some guest house close to the office.
9. I need to charge up & cope up with this culture & people irrespective of the expenses. Go.. speak with people. Build some positive attitude in you.
10. KV (HR name suppressed) helped a lot to sort out the problem with my card. Good man!!
11. Noon lunch was terribly bad. A veg sandwich which I can't master eating. CO seemed embarassed but didn't show off. Surprising thing is nobody stared at me unlike in India.
12. Hired a taxi to get back to the hotel (Exp: 30 EURO). Forgot to get the receipt for that.
13. Withdrew 200EURO from an ATM nearby
14. Learnt that some 5+ colleagues are here around in a place called Saggart; 49 Kms away from Naas. Let's have time to meet them.
15. Spoke with Amma & Hari. Fot to tell them that nothing is fine in this "VILLAGE". Need to get back home soon.
16. More things to worry. Hope things will get fine.
17. Now moving out for shopping.. err.. for just roaming.
18. Got a damn thing done. Kept the perungayam (Asafoetida) dappa on one of the lights in my hotel room. It got melt in the heat of the bulb. The bulb is damaged badly; also the furniture. I'm too scared that I'll be billed for it. Need to get outta this place ASAP.
19. Got some bread from a grocery nearby. (EXP: 8EURO)
Total expense today: 71.30 EURO
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Irish Days - DAY-1
Day-1: 8-June-2008
Place: Guest Room in The Osprey Hotel, Naas
1. Had a nice journey from Frankfurt to Dublin
2. Hopped on to a taxi from Dublin to The Osprey Hotel in Naas town. Seems that the taxi has over-billed : 88EURO.
3. Travel cash card given by my employer not working. Paid the hotel 125EURO for check-in. Have a balance of 150EURO.
4. Running out of money!
5. Sent a mail to HR & Travel desk: "Please help". Today's sunday; so they hardly listened. But in no way I have money to start tomorrow or to eat today. I'm starving.
6. In search of an ATM that could give me MONEY, I found Naas to be a peaceful place if you're RICH. It's not the good old story of enjoying life abroad. No ATM is accepting my card. Help me, my God.
7. The sun is still shining at 19:56 :)
8. Not able to make a call to UK HR
9. Finally reached HR. He said things will be sorted out tomorrow.
10. The day was over with a cup of noodles boiled in a water heater !!
11. Meanwhile, I felt Rambha's (BTW, thats my pettie doggie. Why the hell did I forget about my parents!) absence leading to a bit of home-sickness, at least mentally.
12. Tomorrow will be a good day.
Place: Guest Room in The Osprey Hotel, Naas
1. Had a nice journey from Frankfurt to Dublin
2. Hopped on to a taxi from Dublin to The Osprey Hotel in Naas town. Seems that the taxi has over-billed : 88EURO.
3. Travel cash card given by my employer not working. Paid the hotel 125EURO for check-in. Have a balance of 150EURO.
4. Running out of money!
5. Sent a mail to HR & Travel desk: "Please help". Today's sunday; so they hardly listened. But in no way I have money to start tomorrow or to eat today. I'm starving.
6. In search of an ATM that could give me MONEY, I found Naas to be a peaceful place if you're RICH. It's not the good old story of enjoying life abroad. No ATM is accepting my card. Help me, my God.
7. The sun is still shining at 19:56 :)
8. Not able to make a call to UK HR
9. Finally reached HR
10. The day was over with a cup of noodles boiled in a water heater !!
11. Meanwhile, I felt Rambha's (BTW, thats my pettie doggie. Why the hell did I forget about my parents!) absence leading to a bit of home-sickness, at least mentally.
12. Tomorrow will be a good day.
The Irish Days
Before almost a year, the people of the town Kildare in Ireland were looking at yet another brown-tanned Indian guy in their streets. That was exactly during 8-June-2008 to 8-Aug-2008, when I stayed there in the Derby House Hotel paying 60EURO per night (I'm puzzled why these hotel guys are not bothering much about the day), the value of which I now recognize sitting in a guest house in the Bristol city of the United Kingdom as a run-by-salary living being.
I tried to blog about my stay in Ireland. But as usual the interest faded away. I don't feel the compulsion to justify why I didn't continue with my posts, because most of the bloggers know it.
I was all alone there in Room#207 in the Derby House Hotel. I had nobody to listen to my worries or happiness (note the order). So, I logged everything in my personal notepad-turned-diary. I wrote about my lonely visits to the Dublin city; about my office hiccups; about my friendships with some Pakistanis; almost everything. The diary turned to be my best friend. After almost a year now, when I opened my diary again and read my own words- first, I felt silly about myself- second, I felt nostalgic and felt going back to Ireland.
To be frank, I feel Ireland is a heaven on the Earth; no exaggarations.
Why am I writing all these now? I have again started to think about posting my experiences in Ireland; the experiences of my fight with loneliness and frenziness in a foreign land. BUT, I'll be just copying my daily diary journals into these posts. So, I disclaim: THIS HAD BEEN AN INTERESTING STORY FOR ME. I'M NOT SURE WHETHER YOU WILL LIKE IT. THE LANGUAGE IS TOO TERSE OR EVEN KIDDISH AT TIMES (LIKE CRYING TO YOUR MOTHER); THAT FIT MY JOURNAL. NO DETAILS.
Hawww, that's primarily because of my laziness to rephrase my journals. But, it will be genuine and frank so that you will know I have gone nuts over myselves. I'm sure that you'll smile over each of my journals of how The-first-time-lonely-foreign-visitor had behaved.
Good luck reading !
I tried to blog about my stay in Ireland. But as usual the interest faded away. I don't feel the compulsion to justify why I didn't continue with my posts, because most of the bloggers know it.
I was all alone there in Room#207 in the Derby House Hotel. I had nobody to listen to my worries or happiness (note the order). So, I logged everything in my personal notepad-turned-diary. I wrote about my lonely visits to the Dublin city; about my office hiccups; about my friendships with some Pakistanis; almost everything. The diary turned to be my best friend. After almost a year now, when I opened my diary again and read my own words- first, I felt silly about myself- second, I felt nostalgic and felt going back to Ireland.
To be frank, I feel Ireland is a heaven on the Earth; no exaggarations.
Why am I writing all these now? I have again started to think about posting my experiences in Ireland; the experiences of my fight with loneliness and frenziness in a foreign land. BUT, I'll be just copying my daily diary journals into these posts. So, I disclaim: THIS HAD BEEN AN INTERESTING STORY FOR ME. I'M NOT SURE WHETHER YOU WILL LIKE IT. THE LANGUAGE IS TOO TERSE OR EVEN KIDDISH AT TIMES (LIKE CRYING TO YOUR MOTHER); THAT FIT MY JOURNAL. NO DETAILS.
Hawww, that's primarily because of my laziness to rephrase my journals. But, it will be genuine and frank so that you will know I have gone nuts over myselves. I'm sure that you'll smile over each of my journals of how The-first-time-lonely-foreign-visitor had behaved.
Good luck reading !
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