Monday, March 19, 2007

!! M@iDeN tRiP 2 LoNdOn !!

18th March'2007 : After a long time, I have got something to share, rather words have started to pour in finally. So howz everyone reading these blogs? I hope in best of the spirits.


I am in London while i am writing these blogs. I had no idea that i will be in London; but i am here for a month or two on a professional visit. How does it feel ? Well, mixed reaction on that but certainly should have an experience of this sort.Here is how the journey started for me when i left for London on 18th March. It was early morning on Sunday  All preparation for the trip was done just one day back. Thanks to my friends Manish and Gaurav; the young lads who are really attached to me always. They made sure that i don't miss out on anything and also were on the airport to see me off till i didn't actually cleared all the formalities. Another surprise visit was that of my parents, who flew all the way from Indore just to see me off. It was an emotional departure and shows in India still we are strongly bound to each other by emotions.I boarded BA-256 of British Airways to commence my journey. I met this guy Renan in the plane who was a French guy and a doctor by profession. He was sitting next to me and we exchanged lots of words in the journey. It was good to see him giving me tips on different ways to make your travel cheaper in Europe. Once i landed in London at around 11:15 A.M., it was damn windy and chilly though the temperature was around 8 degrees. I managed to reach the immigration counter but was asked for a medical check up which comprised of a chest x-ray. Whenever you enter Europe  you need to get this done for the first time entry.
The first day in London was filled with all sorts of confusions in every move of mine. But i guess it happens when you are at some new place; luckily for me language is not an issue. Anyways but it is a good learning lesson.It took me 1 long hour to clear immigration and i was worried about the luggage. When i managed to clear customs and immigration, i got my luggage in safe condition and i was delighted to see that. Next i was a little tensed as if i wont get my car for pick up since i was delayed in the proceedings by 1 hour and 30 minutes. But a Desi Indian bhai was waiting outside with a Mercedes Benz for me. He is in UK for last 35 years and i had a drive of 1 hour from Heathrow to Manilla street where i am putting up in Docklands.
When i reached Regatta Point (my apartment , the guy gave me keys of apartment no 9 but i was supposed to be in 13, so again some confusions. He drove me to his office and handed over keys of 13. I was finally inside my apartment. What next?
The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.
I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.
I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?It took me 1 long hour to clear immigration and i was worried about the luggage. When i managed to clear customs and immigration, i got my luggage in safe condition and i was delighted to see that. Next i was a little tensed as if i wont get my car for pick up since i was delayed in the proceedings by 1 hour and 30 minutes. But a Desi Indian bhai was waiting outside with a Mercedes Benz for me. He is in UK for last 35 years and i had a drive of 1 hour from Heathrow to Manilla street where i am putting up in Docklands.When i reached Regatta Point (my apartment , the guy gave me keys of apartment no 9 but i was supposed to be in 13, so again some confusions. He drove me to his office and handed over keys of 13. I was finally inside my apartment. What next?
The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.
I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.
I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?When i reached Regatta Point (my apartment , the guy gave me keys of apartment no 9 but i was supposed to be in 13, so again some confusions. He drove me to his office and handed over keys of 13. I was finally inside my apartment. What next?

The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.


I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?


The room is awesome and has all the amenities that we can think off from the heater, washing machine, music system, DVD player, TV, dishwasher to modular kitchen. But the big question for me was how to use those amenities. I was just experimenting with every switch and somehow managed to get a couple of things working. Yet to know how to get the heater working for water.

I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?


I had a bath and went to the local DLR station (same as metro in india) nearby. I got a weekly pass of 23 pounds and 20 pence for 7 days from Canary WHARF. Canary Wharf has lods of shopping malls and huge buildings that of Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Citibank, HSBC, Barclay's etc. It has a local DLR station as well.

I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?


I got a pass for SOUTH QUAY to TOWER GATEWAY. I was relieved when i got it because without it i needed to spend more money to travel. With this pass you can go anywhere from Zone 1 to Zone 2 any number of time with any means of transport. That sounds good. Isn't it?

I got a couple of snaps in and then returned home since it was really cold here and had a hailstorm as well. It rains any point in time here with no indication whatsoever. The worst thing is the wind which blows like anything. After returning home, i tried to connect to the internet but my connection wasn't working since i didn't have the driver CD in my apartment  I got it from my neighbor who is also from Sapient and in fact was with me in my last project, quite a senior guy. I installed broadband on my laptop but somehow username and password was incorrect so i wasn't able to access it. I have requested NEST( 3rd party responsible for arranging accommodation for my company) to give me a fresh username and password.

I had home cooked dinner at around 9 and then slept at 9:30 as was damn tired. For a change i woke up at 5:45 in the morning and thought of going for a jog as i can see good babes around but then it was drizzling so i skipped the idea. I got ready for the office and before leaving prepared my breakfast and tea. Guess what i had in breakfast?? I had UPMA and tea. I enjoyed it a lot. I caught DLR from South Quay station and got down at Shadwell to change another DLR for Tower Gateway.

My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.


I got a couple of snaps in and then returned home since it was really cold here and had a hailstorm as well. It rains any point in time here with no indication whatsoever. The worst thing is the wind which blows like anything. After returning home, i tried to connect to the internet but my connection wasn't working since i didn't have the driver CD in my apartment  I got it from my neighbor who is also from Sapient and in fact was with me in my last project, quite a senior guy. I installed broadband on my laptop but somehow username and password was incorrect so i wasn't able to access it. I have requested NEST( 3rd party responsible for arranging accommodation for my company) to give me a fresh username and password.

I had home cooked dinner at around 9 and then slept at 9:30 as was damn tired. For a change i woke up at 5:45 in the morning and thought of going for a jog as i can see good babes around but then it was drizzling so i skipped the idea. I got ready for the office and before leaving prepared my breakfast and tea. Guess what i had in breakfast?? I had UPMA and tea. I enjoyed it a lot. I caught DLR from South Quay station and got down at Shadwell to change another DLR for Tower Gateway.

My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.


I had home cooked dinner at around 9 and then slept at 9:30 as was damn tired. For a change i woke up at 5:45 in the morning and thought of going for a jog as i can see good babes around but then it was drizzling so i skipped the idea. I got ready for the office and before leaving prepared my breakfast and tea. Guess what i had in breakfast?? I had UPMA and tea. I enjoyed it a lot. I caught DLR from South Quay station and got down at Shadwell to change another DLR for Tower Gateway.

My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.


My office is close to TOWER GATEWAY. So got in the office though no one knows Beaufort house here where my office is. But we Indians can find anything anywhere, so i am in office finally. Waiting for my PM in London. So that's all from my first day.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.

One thing is for sure, i miss home and every friend of mine with whom i keep in touch. It is not as easy to live outside as we think. I will keep posting as the days goes on and i get to know more about people here and London in general.

Note: London is divided into zones.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You write very well.

Saurabh said...

Thanks a lot Cyndi. Sorry but I missed the comment which was given way back. I wish I can write much better and be more expressive.