Monday, April 02, 2007

Onsite diary..initial days!

After the welcome surprise of the first class seat in BA, I finally landed in Memphis on 19th Feb.
I did not have any trace of jet lag though (I know all you jealous buggers would say it was due to the first class seat. But then, I pride myself in my body adjusting to different clocks easily)
Right now am nicely settled out here. The company had a brand new apartment ready for occupation. And completely furnished to go with it. With cable and DVD as well.
First thing in the US, get a car. At least in Memphis. Public transport is as common as an empty road at 9 AM in Bengaluru. That should give you an idea. Cabs have to be always dialed for and buses are like 2 in a day. The roads are practically deserted during non-peak hours. Though, a reason for this might be the distance from Memphis downtown. But I like the area. Quaint houses giving an impression of a old-time township. My apartment has a gym, tennis court and swimming pool as well, to boot. Planning on being regular to at least 2 of the 3 of them. The cold weather's not been to kind to make any plans until now. It also has a nice lake for a leisurely walk with your wife or girlfriend around. But then, I have to make to with walking hand in hand with my camera.

The variety in food is also amazing. I've tried almost every kind of cuisine - American (obviously, duh!), Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, lots of Indian too. Of them, found Vietnamese pretty close to Indian food, at least in spiciness. But I liked Japanese among all, their sushi was really nice. And at another place, they cook the whole meal right in front of you at your table. The cook was a juggler with all is cutlery as well. Was entertaining to watch him cook. But once in a while wondered what if the butcher's knife he was juggling around just missed the mark and flew towards one of the patrons happily dining (that's so much Calvin-like thinking).
Heh heh. Would make a good headline in the papers the next day -

JUGGLER GOES FOR THE JUGULAR

Hahahaha. I found that pun damn funny.

Rented my first car as well. Since I am alone, didn't feel the need for a big car anyways. So went for a compact for now. It a cute little Chrysler PT Cruiser. I am sure some of you will hate the look and some will like it. At the beginning, I hated the look. Looks like a lovechild of the Ambassador and the Swift. But it kind of grows on you gradually. The interiors are really spacious with some really cool designs. Its inspired by the retro cars of the 60s or 70s. The door handles are the button press and pull type - you might remember them from the good ol' sturdy Ambassador cars back home. anyways, enjoying driving around here. didn't take too long to adjust to the left-hand driving out here. I guess, this is better for a left hander, somehow. Just perception, I guess.

Been watching a lot of movies as well. Watched 300 at a theater recently. Pretty nice - the comic book style of picturisation. But I felt there was too much blood and gore all around. And man, did Xerxes really look like that man-giant, bathed in gold ornaments?
Also watched Babel today. Brad Pitt if just amazing in this movie. A thoroughly restrained performance. Had just watched Fight Club a few days back. 2 entirely different characters. And he did justice to both.
Seems like too many movie reviews, heh heh. That's because of the sheer number of movies that I have watched in the last 3 weeks. Easily 2 movies a day on average.
More for another day.

See more snaps at http://travel.webshots.com/album/558394527zfTdMv?start=0

2 comments:

Lucifer said...

substantiate ur blog with uploads to flickr as well :P

Anonymous said...

Hi Prashanth:
Good, looks like you are having a good time. Enjoy!
cheers
chap