Met Sneha on Wednesday for dinner. Dinner was at the Happy Singh, which is a part of Pop Tates. Decent enough joint, but the long island iced tea was ice tea!

I met up with Idea Smithy for tea on Thursday. We met at Crepe Station in Lokhandwala which has recently opened. IMO, while the place is decent and the food too, it is over priced. So, you need to pick and choose what you would like to eat. The conversation resolved around blogging, writing, education and a bit of food.

I met up with Marise after this and we headed over to Bandra to Sheesha. We ended up sitting at the same place as we had during our last visit. The food is definitely good and so are the mocktails, however they really need to put a few fans and lights in that place!

Went over to Marise’s place on Saturday afternoon. Before that we stopped at the Airtel “relationship center” in Bandra. The relationship center is a real joke because for any support you need to call up the customer. For all users of Airtel, make sure you check your bills carefully. I was billed Rs. 100 for downloading two games which I never did and more, don’t even know to download from where. This isn’t the first time I have seen Airtel incorrectly bill users. Had to yell at the customer care dude who promised that it would be rectified in 24 hours. I am totally clueless as to which planet this 24 hours belongs to. I have decided to discontinue this account. I’m not sure which is worse, Airtel or Reliance! At least Reliance didn’t try to bill me incorrectly!

We also went over to the Vodafone center, which in my opinion is a much better service. I guess that is what differentiates a multinational company than a company run by a bunch of greedy Indians. I guess this is one of the things that pisses me off about my country. If this was the US or UK, you could take the company to court and win! Out here, you don’t have the years of your life to do that.

Marise and me, along with her family and Rixon, caught the late night show of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past at PVR in Phoenix Mills. I will write a review of the movie sometime later.

I stayed over at her place and we returned home the next day. I spent the last few hours at home getting an haircut and a shave. Set off for the airport to catch the Go Air flight to Bangalore.

The flight was perfectly on time, unlike on my journey to Mumbai. Mumbai looks really beautiful from the air and even better at night. The new Bandra-Worli sealink has beautified the landscape and it was my first view of the link.

If you haven’t seen Mumbai from the air, then check out some beautiful pictures of the same. But at night, it is even more beautiful. I could see the entire shape of South Mumbai. The journey was comfortable except for the occasional bit of turbulence that we faced.

The Airlift that I had booked was already at the airport. I had to wait a while for the remaining passengers and we headed back. Reached home in about an hour. Did a bit of blogging and then went off to sleep.

And, Monday, work began as usual!

However, Monday was a bit eventful. Vincent managed to get the road tax for my bike done on Saturday and so we set out on our bikes to the Bajaj Service Center which is in HSR Layout. They did a good job on the bike and it is running beautifully! We both headed home after work at about 12am and I froze in the cold. Didn’t have my jacket, but I also realized that I need to pick up a thicker jacket.

Yesterday, I was the only person in my cab so I reached home rather quickly

Our first visit today was to the ICICI bank in Koramangala to make a demand draft to pay my road tax. The draft did get made, but the tax did not get paid, because our agent was out of town. So, once again, this has been postponed to next week

After a good amount of searching, we finally found the telephone exchange in Koramangala. We picked up the wireless DSL modem and set it up ourselves (not that there is much of setting up to do).

However, we weren’t able to test it until almost two hours later because of the really irritating load shedding we have in Bangalore. Lunch was a simple biryani from “Biryani @ Koramangala”, on which we stuffed ourselves.

We’ve been facing a really irritating problem with the internet, as the connection tends to drop at regular intervals. A restart of the modem fixes it, so I have a feeling the modem isn’t able to take the load of two connections downloading data continuously. We intend to complain on Monday, so lets see how it goes.

This is definitely a great improvement over my GPRS connection that I have been using for so many months.

I may need to work tomorrow, but that I shall come to know in a while. I intend to get some coding done today. My plugins would do well with updates.

Marise’s friend Priyanka’s marriage was on the 15th and as part of our custom, both the bride and the groom have an individual roce which is a traditional function.

The roce was held on her building terrace in Kurla, which required me to ride in terrible traffic out there. Got there very early in spite of this.

Early did mean that I had to wait for a while before the function actually started… an hour later.

The usual dirtying of the bride-to-be took place followed by dancing. We left the place and I dropped Marise home.

The next day was rather silent. Saturday was the big day of the wedding. Being free in the morning, I decided to head over to Big Bazaar, this time in Mulund. My last two experiences were rather bad. However, since I had Rs. 1,400 in discount coupons, I had to go make and expense. Picked up a black sweather that shall hopefuly assist me this winter. I spent last winter borrowing jackets from Ravi.

Also picked up a salwar piece for Mom, who celebrated her birthday on Sunday.

Saturday evening was the wedding. The reception was held at St. Josephs in Bandra. Marise’s sister and dad were trigger happy and I was able to collect quite a few images.

For more photos check out the photo gallery.

Stayed over at my grandma’s that evening and convinced her to come back with me on the bike. That would have made an excellent photo

Sunday was Mom’s birthday. Just a quiet lunch to which Marise came over. She left in the evening.

Spent Monday visiting banks and my barber in the morning and the rest of the day at home.

Caught the first bus from Mumbai to Pune on Tuesday morning and reach here by 10am itself.

Classes began yesterday with a full four hour class from 6.30pm on Advances in Supply Chain, followed by Strategic Marketing and Advances in Supply Chain lectures today. Thus ends the lectures for this week.

Placements is just around the corner and well I kinda tensed. A well kept secret atleast on the blog was my Preplacement Offer from the company I was in for summers, which I rejected last week since it wasn’t up to my expectations. The scene is bad this year, so my fingers are crossed.

Returned to Pune after Diwali vacation on 30th itself to make sure that we study for the Corporate Finance and Software Project Management exams on 1st. Well, study we did, but managed to mess up SPM

The rest of the week passed by with some good, some bad and some really really ugly papers. Well, January 3rd is the tentative date for the results.

Had originally planned on leaving for Mumbai on 10th itself. However, I had to attend a student interaction session by the NAAC team. Symbiosis International University is currently being accredited by NAAC.

Namrata and me set out for Mumbai by the 7.15am bus. The driver refused to take it through Parihar Chowk and insisted on taking the bypass route. The drivers can be really frustrating at times.

The MSRTC bus turned out to be full, which is rather suprising for a Tuesday morning. Anyway, got into the Neeta bus which got to Mumbair rather fast. Ended up watching Tashan on the bus. I really wonder how they allow some Bollywood movies to be made!

Got down at Santa Cruz and picked up my bike from Jana who studies in NMIMS. The bike runs well, but as usual I plan on getting it serviced tomorrow. Have a lot of riding to do this week.

Not sure when I’m heading back to Pune. I’ve got to start studying for my upcoming placements.

Awoke nice and late (I need to start sleeping earlier) and left to meet Trupti to give her some stuff.
Just as I was about to leave I realized that I didn’t have my bike. I had given it to James who will be looking after it while I’m in SCMHRD.

Had to travel to his bro’s place at RNA Heights to pickup the bike and found out that he didn’t carry the helmet. So, it was back home to pickup my helmet and gloves and so reached a bit late at InOrbit.

I don’t like being late, but then a girl in a mall will never get lonely

And it was Subway today as well. (Visited Subway yesterday with my brother and it was my lunch and dinner).

Was there sometime before dropping her off my my journey home. Got home, had barely some time with my love and I was off to an eye doctor to get my eyes checked. It’s been over two years since I visited and opthamologist and decided its high time (of course Mom kept grumbling to ensure I do it).

We arrived very early and so killed time with kachoris and sugarcane juice

Spent a great deal of time at the doctor because in addition to getting my eyes checked I also got the retina checked. Had drops put into my eyes which dilates the pupils and also resulted in the title of this post.

Eyesight’s back to normal now and hence the blogger in me had to post about it.

Managed to cock up “We are here to praise you”. Guess, I’ve got so much running through my mind now a days that certain older stuff just takes a while to recollect

Saturday was a relatively quieter day, atleast till evening.

Picked up James and headed over to Holy Trinity Church in Powai. Heading there wasn’t a problem at all because the roads were perfectly clear. Helped because we left only at 5.20pm for the 6pm mass!

The church is much smaller than our church, but it has an equally bad sound system. Our singing was appreciated, because we got quite a few compliments and even some future requests :O

Since we were at Powai, we decided to drop in at the new Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Powai. My last experience with KFC was nearly eight years back and it wasn’t a very tasty one!

However, with the arrival of KFC in India, one thing that has definitely happened is the additions to the menu. Also, the Hot and Crispy was definitely not bland which was a good thing. The photo to the right shows how much we ate, and that is excluding the sundaes afterwards

Sunday

Sunday was a truly not-good day. Had a moderately decent CET Mock (awaiting results). This is the last one before the Sunday D-Day (are you praying for me?).

As I was ready to get back home, I discovered that the key of the petrol lock of my bike had disappeared. I use the word disappeared because I still can’t figure out how a key can just disappear (damn, I’m repeating myself) of a perfectly intact keychain!

Was able to get a contact of my regular mechanic to open the lock so that I could take the bike home.

Was even more pissed off later in the evening with Hutch customer(I don’t)care. I’ve always complained that Hutch customer care sucks and sucks big time and they never fail to disappoint me. The entire BPO industry is not what it used to be. We’re having more untrained morons handly calls and all they can do is infuriate the customer.
I’ll reserve this experience for a seperate post. Let me trash them in detail!

Monday

Began the day by first getting the bike petrol lock changed. I then headed over to the Hutch shop and got them to cancel the number.

Paid a visit to my stupid internet provider’s office to complain about the crappy connection. I am looking for alternatives…

And finally gave the bike for servicing. Spent the rest of the day at home working on releasing Snap Preview Anywhere 1.2. Choir practice was cancelled so the evening was spent at home, except for a quick visit to pickup my bike.

Tuesday

Tuesday was yet another day in front of the computer. Awoke early, blogged a bit and then hit the bed again as I was really exhausted. Spent a good portion of the evening trying to get the button in the WYSIWYG of WordPress, but finally just gave up and stuck to the button for the quicktag editor. Released Open Picture Window.

It’s just past 3am on Wednesday morning. I sense yet another long day ahead and still more plugin work as well. Should be fun…

I had given my bike for servicing yesterday and she came back looking all shining and almost brand new. Had the battery changed as well since it was giving problems. Things look smooth so far. I’m happy.

Had a wedding mass in the evening. U. Conrad had to rush so he asked me to play the final tracks. The couple’s photographer decided to exhaust all his roles in the church itself, or so it seemed by the marathon photo session!

After this our ancient boring priest decided to come and grumble at us for playing the music. So we grumbled back and told him it is his job to ensure that the couples finish on time. Then again he wouldn’t understand that considering his long boring sermons! Thank God I don’t go for midnight mass X(

Have a Mock CET tomorrow morning. Plan on working on this blog’s look a bit. Lets see what I can churn up

Anjali came over on Monday morning for a bit of CAT studing, while in the evening I had to go for choir practice. We have been learning a few new hymns and the different parts for some old ones.

Tuesday was uneventful, but Wednesday made up for it.

Now that I am at home, my sleep patterns have changed drastically. I seldom go to sleep before 2am and unfortunately I have to get up before 8am!

Wednesday was no different. We had to go to three banks and so was ready before 10am. Set off first to HDFC bank in the area. I don’t really like the bank policies of HDFC, but I will admit their customer service is a lot better than most banks I have seen.
Have decided to keep my account with them only because of this. Then again… you never know!

Next stop was to Union Bank and then we had a nice long ride to the HSBC in Vile Parle. Being the festival of Ganpati, they had puja in the morning (or so I assume) and so we got modak.

All our bank gallivanting lasted for more than three hours. Reached home mid afternoon and managed to get two hours of sleep before going for mass in the evening for the Novena.

Mass was great . A lot of us turned up and the singing was quite good.

Forgot to mention that I gave my bike for servicing in the afternoon because the engine seems to be heating up. Found out that the back wheel was jammed resulting in extra pressure on the engine. So got the bike serviced and picked it up after mass.

However, I don’t think the problem seems to have been solved because today the engine heated up again. Will have to get him to look into it tomorrow.

Today we once again set off for the Mahim clinic in the morning. Stopped over at my other grandmom’s place in Khar inthe morning and then we headed off once again back there.

Had to wait for the report (which we didn’t get in the end) and so to kill time we paid a visit to OM in Sunmill Compound in Parel.
Picked up a few good Praise and Worship VCDs and DVDs.

Have finally got down to blogging today.

Have a few articles that I plan on writing about. Do keep reading.

Anyway, headed straight home after the paper. Was really zonked, because Dad had arrived in the morning, resulting in my sleep being cut shot. But no complains at all

Went for the 6pm mass as usual. Mass was short and good

Didn’t do much for the rest of the evening.

Set off Monday morning with Dad for his medical and then to a few banks for some work.

The engine of my bike has been getting hot and so took the bike off to my mechanic for some checking. Changed the oil, but the “problem” still seems to be there. Have decided to give it a few days and a few long rides and analyze the same.

Spent the rest of Monday at home. Monday night was Pizza Night.

On Tuesday morning too I was official bike chauffeur This time locations were several banks.
No complains on the riding bit, because it sure has been a while and I simply love riding my bike.

We also paid a visit to a local dealer of DishTV, which is a Direct To Home TV via Satellite.

dishtv is India?s first direct to home entertainment service that has digitalized Indian entertainment to bring to your home the best in television viewing through the latest in digital technology. It not only broadcasts high quality programmes straight from the satellite to your home, but also gives you absolute and complete control of what you watch and what you pay for. It is almost like having your own satellite up in the sky.

Their competitor in the business is Tata Sky, but they are still new and have a long way to go in terms of channels.

However, both these work out much better that your local cable operator, because you don’t have to rely on him for the channels and even better, the quality of the signal is a lot better (being digital).

Going now… have to do some studing today.

Thankfully, I was on first gear and so was able to land on my feet, though the bike had a spill.

The brake was jammed so tight that it could not be moved at all. With the help of my watchman I managed to drag the bike away from the entrance of the building and then set off to my regular mechanic’s garage.

He immediately came with me. On checking he confirmed that the jamming was extremely tight. The brake rubber had worn out and the brake itself was rusted.

I’m glad this didn’t happen on a highway, because then I don’t think I would need just a mechanic to look at the bike :O

Have given the bike for servicing and getting it ready for the monsoon (which has already set in).
As for the bank work. Mom has volunteered to do it.