Golden Temple Trip - September 2008

Well I have been wanting to goto the Golden Temple since I was in London. I was almost goona end up going there alone, but thanks to few friends and we ended up being 6 people. Me, Ramya, Viplav, Pratima, Vishal and a dude. We hired a gaddi and been to the Golden Temple, Jalianwala Baugh and Wagah Border.

Few super pix I took.

Well this is is just the beginning. These are my students in Infosys chandigarh who have put up the performance. With no prior experience in Salsa and just 10 days of practice, this is an amazing feat.
Checkout the video:

Before I was born ..

Dad, a lovely pic of yours, looking handsome and stunning ... !!!! Miss u always ..

PARIS TRIP (May 2008)..


When I look back, I can remember my Paris to be the perfect vacation I ever had. Frankly I never expected me to travel and see places in europe anytime soon in my life, but here I am. So this was a 5 night 4 day trip to Paris.


Night of 1st May 2008 --> Morning of 6th May 2008.


Travel:

Eurostar is what we choose to travel from London to Paris and back. It was cool and fast though sitting inside the train you dont realise the speed (180mph). From St Pancras International in London to Gare Du Nord station in Paris and back.


In the city Paris we choose to travel in public transport. So it was the Metro. For a 5 day visitie pass, we travelled in Metro, RER and buses for mere 30 euros.


On the last day, as decided, we travelled the city parts on bicycle. Yes the same Velib. I didn't realise that this could probably be the cheapest way to travel in the city. And of course on the bicycle you can have a great view of the city. :)


Stay:

The first night was spent in a hostel named "CALINCOURT". Luckily we got a seperate room. The next 3 nights were in "Hotel IBIS" again a nice hotel. The last night was again spent in a hostel by the name of "Absolute". This was all to economise the trip.


Visited:

As usual visted the most famour places in Paris. Top of the Eiffel Tower, river Seine cruise, the Louvre, the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur on the Montmartre hill, Arc de Triomphe, The Notre Dame de Paris , the Castle on the outskirts.


Here are few lovely memories ....................

Scotland Trip - March 2008

Date: 22 Mar - 24 Mar

This is one of my very unexpected trips. I have been trying to make the plans of visiting Scotland at the Easter breakbut no plans ever worked out. The flights became expensive and trains did the same. So until friday 21st Mar afternoon I was expecting my long easter hols to be spent at home and posibally do nothing interesting. Hmmmm that was not going to be the case.

2 of Rahul's friends came from Ipswich and I remember while going from Victoria to Trafalgur Sq in bus we 4 were suddenly showed our willingness to goto Scotland unplanned. We got the tickets 6:30 in the evening. Our coach (coach means bus here in London, I always get confused) was suppose to leave at 9:30pm. So we just had enough time to go home pack and come back. I will consider ourselves lucky that we happen to book the Guest House with few minutes in hand. All in a mad rush. We just managed to catch the coach.

The 8.5 hr coach journey was one hell of a ride. As soon as the coach there was some problem and in no time the heater stopped working. So it was a night spent in a chilled bus where outside temperatures touched -3 degree. We happen to change the coach in the last leg of the journey. From Glasgow we changed into a new coach but it did little good. So we arrive ini Edinburgh at 8 in the morning.

We kept our luggage in the Guest house but could not move in until noon. So the first 2 hrs were spent in the Starbucks Coffe at High Street to give some warmth to our cold asses. We moved on to explore Edinburg. Near by High street did see a lot of places . Had a great luch at Pizza Hut. My pals choose to go back to Guest house and rest whereas I chose to xplore mysely. I went back in the evening and saw everyone sleeping. hahaha In the night we happen to goto a Pub playing live rock music. The second Scottish pub was even better. But the third Club we been to was an amazing. The meeting with the russian lady was amazing. And I will always remember the dance with her.

Here are the few Pix:

The best pic I took.

Dance Date ..

It has been a while. A nicely worked out dinner date is all I have been looking for. And thanks to me for putting in the initial effort. But the credit goes to the person for making it happen. Well the occasion was Simply Salsa's monthly Party at Club Colleseum.
She happen to receive a small but supposidely beautiful bouquet of pink Tulips. Then we made our way on the train to London Victoria station. There after a decent analysis we opted for a Japanese take away. Spicy chicken & steamed rice - I love it, quick, not expensive and filling. We made our way to Vauxhall. And the lovely dinner was enjoyed at the bus stop. It was so simple and good. A nice way to have one of the best conversations. 20 min. And we made our way to the Club.
The Club was right next to the Thames and once could see the London Eye from the warm inside lounge. She instantly liked the place. The proper Salsa music would make you shake your booty to the music. Few hours. Some drinks. Lots of dance. A few good chats. A bit of flirting. And of course a sensational Salsa performance by a professional couple. Dance comes at its peak and you feel like jealous and motivated at the same time.
At 2 in the night suddenly the urgency of fresh air crept over, and so we headed out. And we could not have expected for something better. After just crossing the road outside the Club an amazing place waited for us to be xplored. Just next to the river Thames was a small joggers passage, nicely lit up by full moon night and dim streetlight, an old century old wooden bench & a beautiful person seated next to me. What could I ask for more. And we sat, and chatted , and I had one of the most relaxed conversations ever. Cant reveal the contents here though. :) Then before leaving, I asked the lady for a last dance. And I must say the full moonlight dance, next to Thames at 2:30 on a chilly winter night was the moment of the night. :) I will remember that.
We made our way back home in a night bus and hugged her good bye.

Well if you wondering who that person was, well I rather keep it a secret...!!

06 Feb 08 Annaz Budday ..

This was also the Chinese new year so double celebration. Also I had arranged for Indoor Sky Diving at Airkix in Milton Keynes (some 75 miles from London). Well it was a great experience. here are few pix of the day.


The indoor sky diving experience was wonderful. And even the day especially the dinner. Here is the Birthday Gal Cheerz.

My Birthday - 14 Jan 2008

Thanks to everyone for making it here.
Here are the pix.

For all pix click here.

Trip to Windsor Castle ..

This was a good experince too see the Windsor Castle. I had the pleasure of soing with Dilip and Suma. Both my friends and collegues from Infosys out here in London. Well the best part is the way we tried catching the bus from Victoria Coach station. Dilip, the ass was 20 seconds late and the coach driver didn't let us in. the coach went on and we ran after it thinking we might be able to catch it at the next stop. But even though taking a Blak cab, and going to Kensington High Street via hyde Park Corner we again missed the bus by 15 seconds this time. Hence the only option was taking the next coach which as 1 hr later. This time I spent in Tesco getting some stuff to eat. :) And having a coffee from Costa. The return bus journey costed us £12. And it was a mere 40 minute journey.

Nice castle, well maintained. Here are some pix.

My Best Dance ..

This is by far my best dance that I completely admire. It has been done and shot in a best possible way. Thanks to all special people around who made this thing happen especially the producer 'Rukshana'.

See the reference post titled by clicking here.

WITH WHEELS UNDER

This is how I look while skating.

STREET SKATING in LONDON

This was virtually the best thing ever happened to me in London. We a bunch of 200 people went from Hyde Park in Central London for a 8.5 mile (2.5 hrs) journey on the streets of Central London. And I did happen to see places like .

Enjoy the pix:


Here is the one of the videos I took while skating.

My New Skates

These are my new Skates and I happen to spend a fortune on it. Well this is my long term one time investment. And I really had to maintain my monthly expenses to make up for it. I got thesse from a shop called Slick willies (www.slickwillies.co.uk). Nice shop. Go through their website and you will be impressed. Especially, the way they say that 'if they cannot repair a skate in London, no one can'.

Trip To GreenWich - 20 OCT 2007

I been to Greenwich on one of the weekends. To be precise on a Saturday 20 OCT 07. Didn't happen to write about this earlier. Well it was fun all day long. We went in a Cruise from Westminster to Greenwich and then walked to the Royal Observatory. There right at the GMT Line took loads of the pix. And the best part was the amazing view from there. Complete London visible with Canary Wharf in the background. Chandu's company was amaing and so were the others.

Here are the pix am sharing. Not able to upload them directly with my stupid IE problem in Vista. its blocking the pop-up.

London As I See

Well here are the Mojoz memoriez in pix. This would contain pix taken at different places different timings. Probably the best ones I consider on my London trip.

Namaste London

1st it was US. Then it was Sydney, Australia. But ultimately it had to be London. May be it had to be. This is what I realized after coming to this place and spending few days here. You will just happen to like the place in first go itself. Nice city, well thatz what it looks as of now. Hopefully in the time to come I will get an opportunity to xplore more around. And the best part is the opportunity I have here to learn dance. The clubs here are gud and by good I mean real guuuuud. The club culture here is engrossed deep in the roots. Go out on a saturday night and it would look like the whole London is out clubbing. On the contrary the weekdays are completely professional looked at. People dressed in suits in almost every field. N all black. Looks like an unsaid uniform.

The Accomodation: Well I would consider mysely real lucky to have got the accomodation the -day I landed here.

Okie i am sharing the pics i have as of now. Itz been 1.5 months I have been in London n there is loads of stuff to write about. the trips I need to Discuss:
1. Ice Skating
2. Club Collessum for the Salsa Republic party
3. Thorpe Park trip - a theme park
4. The finest International UK Salsa Republic at Bournemouth
5. Trip to Greenwich via Cruise

And hence RUMBA ADVANCE came to an end..

I missed the very first class of Rumba advance and hence the very basic step. It waz though pretty different from the regular Rumba basic that we have learnt in Basic batch. But I was happy about the new style, as I knew that was the one internationally accepted. The videos I had seen completely go by the new beat, starting not at 1 but at 2.
2-3 4--1

Well this time it was more stiff, crisp and tiring. Hmm by the end of the class, you can feel the strain on your arms. Well me writing this entry to make sure none of this skips outta my mind in the near future.

So here is a list of all the step and stuff I had learnt (thanx to miz Parul for her inputs):

Hold:
1) Close hold - normal Ballroom dance couple hold.
2) Open hold - holding both hands at ladies waist level.

Walks:
1) Pressed walk - short toe pressed walk.
2) Check walk.
3) Extended walk - extending foot walk.

Turns:
1) Switch turn - the sudden jerk turn after twisting your leg a bit.
2) Spiral turn - the complete slow turn on one leg.

Steps:
1) Rumba Basic Step.
2) Hand to Hand.
3) New York.
4) IEDA or watever way it is spelt - there are 2 versions.
5) Sliding Doors - bring lady on right side with and slide twice like a door.
6) Fan Alabana.
7) Hockey Stick - extension from Fan step.
8) Natural Opening out - lady on side, both facing same direction.
9) Opening Out - can open out on both sides.
10) Cuban walk (need to learn this).
11) Reverse Cuban walk - (need to learn this).
12) Rumba Walk - can be lead after taking the lady into IEDA step.

Well in case more comes to my mind I will update this entry. Also in case you more steps leeme know, I will add them.

Virtual barber Shop..

Listen to this. I particularily like the tickling in my ear when the barber uses his scissors. :)

Pune Central Salsa Competition & Kaytee @ Lush

I would have performed in Pune Central but guess it was not in my destiny. This came to me as a big shock that we ( Me n Garima) had actually qualified for the show. Had it not been the courtesy of the people at Central, things would have been much different, I believe pleasent. Garima didn't get a call from Vinay (guy @ Central) and so we assumed we are out of the game. And guess what right at the event time Vinay wants me to perform in a matter of mere 30 min. Its not possible. You can't expect me to arrange my partner and music CD in 30 min. So I denied and I was sadly happy to be a part of the audience. 5 couples performed. 3 from Rockys. Tejas and Nishita were damm good. I knew they would win, though theirs was a brilliant performance but less of Salsa. I admired Shikha's dance on the other hand with Vineet. Both Kaytee's students.
The same evening we landed at Lush (now Scandal) and it was Kaytee's workshop. He taught some good moves. Thats where I happen to meet him 1st time. Admired the guy in first go. Cool, smart and knows how to dance and carry himself. Monty -- now you know, this is where you intend to move on.

A Dancing Disaster...

Pune Central Salsa Competition. My partner this time was Garima. A sweet gal and an amazing dancer. Apart from Salsa i admired her folk dance too. So we practiced hard. Early mornings mostly. Compiling 3 traks, borrowing the laptop from my friend Satte, and then creating a CD that didn't play on the final audition day. Well thats terrible. Hotel Scirno (I know i spelt it wrong) - thats where the auditions took place. Well 1st things first few things could have been avoided. The CD-you know very well. And then never start to dance id the music isn't proper. You gonna screw up everything. If u can't listen top the music you can't dance, its a simple logic. 2ndly learn to take control of things happening if they arn't going your way. Don't make facial expressions showing your discomfort. Learn to smile and hide things for yourself as well as your partner. Well just this one memory left from the practice session video clip-a snapsjot from there.....