Well it is been almost two weeks since New Year is started. We welcomed 2012 with usual joy, attended parties, made some resolutions (though mostly not fulfilling them) and so on…. But looking back at 2011 there were some ups and downs in my life. I think it is better to summarize the things happened during 2011. It goes on as below:
First of all in January (to be specific on 13th January), I purchased a new cell phone LG P500, running on Android 2.3 operating system. This is a 3G smart phone with many good features. With many applications running on it I am enjoying my smart phone. I think after started using smart phone, even I have become relatively smart J
Another important thing happened in my life was, I accepted the offer from Hyundai Engineering Company and gave resignation to my previous employer Yokogawa. I got relived from M/S Yokogawa on 21st of January. It was really a tough decision to make as I had no justifiable reason to leave Yokogawa. The only reason which came to my mind was, working with EPC firm is better than working with Vendor firm, which may be correct in a broader sense but considering my situation now I think I made a wrong decision. No doubt I am getting a good salary, better living standards and environment, good colleagues and broader field of work, but I am really missing my family, Indian friends, my car and above all Mysore. The worst part is that, even if I plan to switchover now and go back to India may be it is very difficult to find a job in Bangalore L
After my relive from Yokogawa, before joining Hyundai I got nearly 45 days of break. The Korean visa processing is very slow so I got ample amount of holidays. It was a very long break time for me after my II PUC classes and I think it was a much needed break before my new assignment. During the first week of my free time, along with parents toured the Historical places of North Karnataka. Badami, Aihole , Pattadakal, Bijapur, Hampi and Hospet were on long pending list. Finally I used this opportunity to visit those places. It was really a very good trip. The cave temples of Badami, temple complexes of Aihole and Pattadakal, The ruins of Hampi an erstwhile capital of Vijayanagara, the engineering masterpiece Golgumaz in Bijapur and etc… are a must see places for anyone. I am happy that I captured many good photos of these monuments.
I joined basic photography class during my free time and learnt on how to effectively use and capture good pictures using DSLR cameras. This is really helping me now. After a few days I brought new tele-photo zoom lens (55-250mm). Now I can capture relatively far distant objects also. My photo capturing skills are much better after the course and with new lens.
One more important thing I did during my free time is getting an approval from Mysore City Corporation for our proposed construction of new house. Totally I made 9 visits to the concerned office and without paying a single rupee bribe able to get the approval J
Just before coming to South Korea, I made a lone trip to Horanadu, Kalasa and Sringeri. It was yet another wonderful trip. This time I was all alone. The staying at Horanadu, the temple visits in Kalasa, Sringeri, Kigga, the discussion had with priest in Kigga on various topics were all good and be always in my memory.
After a long wait, me and Karthik received our South Korean visa and booked our tickets for 15th March travel. Just 2 days before my travel, we started the construction activities for our new house. It was my parent’s intention to start the work before my travel and we made it.
On 15th of March we landed in South Korea and from 16th we started working for Hyundai. On the very first day we missed the company bus (Karthik got up late). Managed to reach the office with public transportation and instead of 8.00 am we reached office at 9.30 am (late on day-1 itselfL). New office, new faces, new project, new working environment and so on…. It took few days to get adjusted.
On 8th of April, Korea Culture Club (KCC), part of Hyundai Engineering arranged a tour to Jeju-Do islands for all foreign employees working in HEC. The trip is so memorable. While going it was through ship and coming back by plane. 2 nights stay in Jeju. First time I did sea journey, it was fun and exciting. The KCC team is so good. In two days we made so many friends, involved in many activities. Indeed a memorable trip.
The months of April and May were very pleasant. Spring brought new color to Korea. Leaves and flowers started to blossom (especially Cherry blossoms were too good to see).
In the month of June, we got 3 days of long weekend. I utilized this time to visit Busan, second largest and most beautiful city of Korea. Again I made this trip all alone. Experienced Korea’s fastest train (KTx) which travels at more than 300km/hr. Stayed at a youth hostel run by a Japanese woman, made acquaintance with Mexican, UAE, Irish and Japan travelers, visited beaches, mountains, islands and Buddhist temples. Finally yet another memorable trip in 2011.
Rakesh Chinnaiah, Vasudev Suresh and Sundara Srinivas become new friends in Korea. Rakesh and Sundara were from Accenture and Vasudev from Worley Parsons. Four of us made several mountain hiking, Nami Island visit (together with Ram and Radhika), Temple visits, Market visits and many more. Till they were here in Seoul, weekends were never boring J
Through Facebook contacts, become an active member of Korea Kannada Koota (KKK). KKK organized several activities like get-together of Kannadigas in Seoul, Gyeongpo beach trip and important one is celebrating Kannada Rajyotsava in Korea. I gave a presentation on Karnataka history, culture and tourism during Kannada Rajyotsava J
Had been to Mysore for vacation during Dasara time. 15 days just passed like that.
Read many books during the last year. Most notably Immortals of Meluha, Secrets of Naga, Simply fly, Karisiriyana, Vijayanagar-a forgotten empire and few more.
Watched a number of movies in 2011. Moneyball, Adventures of Tintin, Super, Mission Impossible-Ghost protocol, Sherlock homes-1&2, Jockey, Hudugaru, Zindagi Na miley dubaara and more.
Started playing Table tennis in the office during lunch break. It is a good way to overcome back ache problems which I started developing due to long sitting hours in office. Started playing pocket ball (pool) during weekends. There is a club called “Color of Money” near my apartment. Self and Anurag play every weekend. Sometimes play NFS and Chess online with Vikas, playing chess is a fun J
