Phillip Island / Penguin Parade - Part 2

From there we proceeded towards phillip island. The island and the main land is connected by a bridge. IAN told us that originally there was a suspension bridge then later they replaced it with concrete one. It would have been good if there was a hanging bridge. The length is almost a kilometer. There were ferries on one side and the other side was just water and water. Inside Melbourne we have been to two beaches. Williamstown and St.Kilda. In both there were no waves and the water so still that it was looking like a lake. Beach means it has to have waves. IAN told us that he will be taking to a place called Cape Woolamai. He warned us not to go deep into the sea as the currents are strong and it might pull the person in. I was commenting to priya that nothing will happen if this is similar to the other beaches we have already been. I was
wrong. This beach satisfied my desire to watch a sea with huge waves. It was so good. So windy and chilly. Priya wanted to venture into the sea just to have the feel of it. I didnt took the chance as the legs will become salty and we dont have much time. And my weakness is once I am into a sea it will take long time to satisfy myself and get out of it. It is so lovely. Priya ventured and later told me that the water was ice cold. Her question was that the weather was a so chill and the water is also so chill why it didnt freeze. I couldnt answer. Any body has an answer.

Then we went to another beach called "Cowes". This is like our Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai. Where there are lots of shops near the beach. We were roaming in the sea and walked on a bridge which was built on the sea. There was a platform to which you climb down from the bridge and watch the ocean much closer. I dared to get down and wanted to touch the water. Exactly at that moment a seal popped his head out to sea which new animal is putting its hand inside. Because of Priya's request pulled my hand out and we came back to the beach. The wind was so chill that even after covering us with jerkin and cap we could feel the chill. We noticed that it was time to move to the next place and reluctantly we came to the bus. On the way we packed up a vegetarian burger(it was of good size, probably the size of my palm) and some potato wedges. People who
has any doubts, we cant get idlies, bajjis or bondas in Australia that easily. The next stop was in Nobbies. We used to buy a salted peanut packet from the super market which was from the brand name "Nobbys". I was under the impression that we are going to see this particular plant and a question was poping in my mind from the time i came to know that we are visiting this place is that what speciality is there to include it in a day tour. Alas! I was wrong. We went to a hill place where again the wind was heavy. It was so heavy that even the birds cant fly properly and even we felt that we will be thrown off. There was a foot bridge from the hill to the beach. Still I didnt understand what is nobbys?

Then IAN explained. Nobbies Center is a place from where we can watch seals, sharks and dolphins. There are cameras placed in the viewing area which you can use to watch these marine animals. Using the foot bridge you can walk down to the beach. But due to weather we didnt go down. There were two rocky islands just closer to the hill. IAN explained that the two rocky islands are called as Nobbies Nuts. One was similar to a peanut and the other to a doughnut. The tour operator provided a coffee or a tea free of cost there. After having it we moved to our final destination, Penguin Parade. We went through a rough hill road. We started wondering whether this is the right route. Then IAN announced over the mike that this route he is taking just to show us the sea and the kangaroos in the wild. And we were fortunate to see couple of kangaroos and a beautifull amazing scenaries of the sea which is around the island. The waves were rough and it was awesome. Then we went to the penguin parade. The name parade is because
of the nature of the penguins to form a line after they reach the shore to go to their burrows. The penguins live and move around in a group and all the penguins wait till the entire group comes out. We were seated on a stadium type of structure to watch the penguins. The height allowed us to watch the game a group of penguin was playing. There were around six of them which came to the shore. They will walk to the shore look up at the audience for few seconds and then went running into the ocean. It was similar to a baby walking his first step. The penguins were very small, the maximum is only 77cms as per a display board there. They continued this game till the entire group came to the shore. Since the penguins eat fishes fishing is banned around this area and the penguins go out to the ocean in the morning and come back home only after
the sunset.

IAN jokingly said that the penguins will be watching the sky whether it is dark to go back to their burrows. And then it happened. Almost twenty penguins came to the shore as a group and they formed a line one after the other and all of them went to their burrows. The stadium where we were sitting was connected to the visitor center or the entrance to the penguin parade via wooden foot path. It was a good thinking. Since the penguins are scared of bright light and a sudden flash might affect their vision, photographs and videos are banned. Even the lighting they have made around the area was dim. We had a good view of the penguins from the wooden foot path and were fortunate to see a group of penguins going to their burrows pretty close. Since rangers were there i didnt dare to touch any of them even though i liked to do it. The way the walk and run are still before my eyes. It was an awesome experience. People should never fail to visit this island incase they are travelling to Australia. We got a cap and fridge magnet as souvenir and came back to the bus with a heavy heart which was begging to stay there. On the way to bus we saw boards saying that look under your vehicle before you start as the penguins might be there. We all then bade good bye to the wonderfull Phillip Island and came back to Melbourne.

I still remember my childhood days when my father was posted in Tirunelveli and we used to visit kutralam every year whenever there is a relative visiting our house. I will be glad to take my friends and relatives visiting me, from India, to this wonderfull island. I wont forget this trip for a loooooooong time. The below is the link which has the photographs we clicked. There are few penguin photos which I downloaded from the net.

Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/guruprgl/PhillipIsland?authkey=LKpDO7zzdQk#

Phillip Island / Penguin Parade - Part 1

There are two major day tours available in Meblourne. Day Tours are operated to those places which can be covered in a single day. One of them is Great Ocean Road and the other is Penguin Parade/Phillip Island. When I heard the name "Penguin Parade", I was thinking about my school days where during the sports day there will be a parade. And a funny thought crossed my mind, what if the penguins walk just like "Right","Left","Right". Ok, let me come to the tour.

We booked the tour in True Blue Tours, on thursday (06th Nov 2008). A tour operator who operates both the tours at a cheap rate. As my project manager is a person who always looks for the cheapest, we went ahead and booked the tour. The operator offered lots of places to view in the package and we were quite pleased with the rate. We have requested for pick ups in two places. Near one of the hotel, which is close by to our house. Our project manager and his family will board the bus from another hotel which is nearer to his house. The operator has taken his credit card number as a security. So if we fail to go to the tour or if we cancel after the tour departs the entire amount will be deducted from his credit card. So I dont want to take any risk. We both mentally got prepared and bought some snacks as we never knew where we can eat
something or whether we will get something to eat on the way.

On Saturday 08th Nov 2008, our pick up time was at 12:25. And the hotel was four stops away from the stop next to our home, in tram. We both got ready and went to the tram stop at 12pm. Just to confirm the place of boarding and the time called up the tour operator and enquired, then understood that we need to be present in front of the other hotel which is just across the road instead of the one before which we were standing. Then went to the correct hotel and we were waiting for the bus. The bus came at exactly 12:20 and since we were waiting in the footpath, as we were not staying in the hotel, he has to come out to pick us up. The guy who picked us up introduced himself as James. He is a nice guy and was speaking freely with us. He told us that he has to pick up two more people before proceeding and we were under the impression that we are
going to travel in the same bus. We went to the other two hotels and picked up a couple, who were from UK for a vacation, and a lady, who was also from UK on vacation. We were the odd man out as we have booked with one tour operator and they have tied up with this tour operator. Probably because our operator didnt have much bookings.


We then reached CBD and James told us that we need to get into another bus. We were waiting in front of the Rendezvous hotel. Atanu and his family were also waiting there. And within five minutes the other bus came and we hopped inside and the five of us(Me and my wife, Atanu, his wife and his kid) took the last few seats at the back. There were two gentlemen who were already sitting in the last seat. So we took the last but one and the one in front of it. It was a 2X1 seater and the bus was of the size of the Swaraj Mazda. It was a comfortable one. The new driver cum guide introduced himself as IAN. He gave a small welcome speech as to where all we will be going. Then he gave us all a mint. It was not like the regular mentos or something which is of soft in nature. It was rock hard and was slowly melting in our mouth. He started off the vehicle and
took us out of the city. He took us in a route which we have never seen before(as if we are roaming melbourne everyday). The road was too good and the speed should be around 80-100. The way the motorists drive here is also a good lesson to all those who drive in India. They follow a single lane policy as there are exits in the left and the right is for those vehicles which can be driven at a greater speed and there was no horn. The entire trip we didnt hear any horns.

After an hour of travel, may be less than that also, we reached our first stop Tooradin Village. This is a small village. It had a lake and some highway eateries. As we have had our lunch before leaving we didnt want to eat much so just had a coffee. There was a lake near the eatery and we were taking photos. There was a bridge across the lake and we were all taking photos there. It was a nice experience. Then we came to the bus paid the tour fare, till now they were having the credit card number as a security. We paid as cash as the credit card transactions incur a additional charge. In India now a days there are no additional charges for credit card usage but here for everything there is a additional charge. Then from tooradin we left to a nearby winery. This is mainly for those who want to sample and taste the wines made in the winery and incase you like it you can buy them. The winery had a nice garden. Those who dont drink, went to the garden and took photos while people were tasting the wine. We were there for 30 minutes. As the winery was on a small hill, the view from there was too good. The ocean was visible and the garden was full of roses. It was a pleasant surprise for us all when we saw a lavendar Rose.

From the winery we all left to the Maru Koala Park. Koalas are Australia's Tourist Icon. And the government of victoria has prohibited from patting a koala. So you are allowed to just stand near it and take photos, nothing more. For more information on a koala refer - http://www.australianfauna.com/koala.php and http://www.thekoala.com/koala/. The latter link has much details than the former one. In the park they took us a photo with the koala and we get it printed for a price of 15$. After seeing the preview we decided against getting a
printout. Then we went to the fauna park in the same Maru. First we met a goat which was very big and had its head alone outside its fence threatening to jump out anytime. Then we saw the Emus. Pretty similar to its cousin Osterich and the way the popped out and in to their fence was funny to see. Maru park allows the visitors to feed the animals. You need to pay $1 for one bowl of food. I did pay and got a bowl. But I was not ready to feed the Emu as the way they pecked the food from IAN's hand scared me :). Then we went to see the cute little wallabies. These are chotu or small kangaroos. Since they were kind and nice enough I decided to feed these cuties. It was a lovely experience. They didnt bite me but were licking my hand to eat the straws and the pieces of grass with corn pieces i had in my hand. After feeding them for may be 15
minutes we went meet the real kangaroos. My goodness was the statement came out of me after seeing them. They were so cute and the way these guys stood on the back legs was amazing. We saw a white kangaroo which is a rare one. One of these guys came hoping towards us. We got scared as the speed of it was so much, even if we run at our high speed, it will catch us within seconds. But it came near us and started looking at our hands and faces.

I felt really sorry for giving away my food tub to IAN as he was so much interested in feeding the kangaroos and I too wanted my hands free to take shots of them. I felt like that kangaroo is asking us you guys are earning in dollars cant you provide us food. What to do? But overall it was a good experience. As per the instruction of the park keeper we washed our hands properly and had another coffee in the visitor center. Oh yeah I forgot to tell you about another animal we saw there. The Wombat. She was two years old. And even the park keeper admitted that she is a bit show off. When we were all crowded around her fence she did cat walk and shaked her body as if dancing. The came close to the fence on her own to get a pat on her back. Her skin was like touching bits and pieces of wires. But the way she moved proved that she is showing off.
Then we also saw a fresh water crocodile. The sign outside its fence is worth mentioning. It has mentioned "You will get bored seeing me lying down without any moment, but come and get into my fence you can understand how fast I am and how wild I am". Do we need to venture. No we came out of the park. It was drizzling but still the weather was too good.

U R Lucky

This is a statement made by my australian colleague. One day Priya gave me Chapathi and aloo curry for lunch. I got it heated up by putting it in the microwave before lunch. The smell was good. I never knew another person was there in the cafeteria. When came back to my table with the dabbas she commented,

Colleague:"U R Lucky".
Me : Thanks
Coll : It smells good. Was this prepared by your wife.
Me : Yeah.
Coll : Then surely you are lucky. My husband will be jealous of you. I cook OK but not this delicious smelling kind. You are lucky. Enjoy.
Me : Thanks.

Thanks Priya.

St. Kilda Beach

After visiting Williamstown before Priya came decided to visit St. Kilda Beach. My friend was saying good things about this place and I thought since this is near to our house, lets go there. Again its a quite beach. No waves nothing. But atleast people were there. There were few people who have come to take sun bath. The travel to the beach was one of the worst I have faced all through this 3 months. There were three school kids shouting all sorts of foul language and disturbing. Nobody bothered to speak to them or even control them. All three are on their own. And they were creating all sorts of disturbance to the people.

They didnt even respect an australian old lady who told them that it is not necessary for the people in the tram to adjust to their behaviour. But still the kids were shouting. We got down near one of the stops which is closer to St. Kilda beach. Like our MGM and kishkintha there is a fun world named as "Luna Park" in St. Kilda. Since both of us thought we have outgrown all those rides we didnt venture there. Instead went directly to the beach. Assuming that St. Kilda will be similar to Willamstown, I never thought we can touch the ocean or even walk along the coast. But it was quite pleasant. Except for the waves it is similar to our beaches in chennai. No, no dont compare with Marina which is much bigger than this. But these guys are good in marketing. They have water rides here. Like you water scooter and other things. We are planning to venture into those next time.

Priya wanted to get into the water. Since I was wearing the sports shoe I was not interested. And was not comfortable leaving the bag and the shoe on the shore and get into the water. So, after a few debating session within myself. I decided to carry the bag on my shoulder and the shoes in one of my hand and ventured into the water. It was toooooo chill. But it was a good experience. People were swimming and enjoying the water. After an hour or so we started home with a resolution that next time we go to St. Kilda we are going to wear sandals and have backup dresses incase we venture into water scooter and other stuffs. Let us see what happens.

Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/guruprgl/StKildaBeach?authkey=E3kpIPn-rY4#

Albert Park Lake

Near our house, in Union Street, there is a huge lake, "Albert Park Lake". I have never ventured there before. So decided to go there and have some fresh air to breath, yesterday. We both left home at around 5pm just to see what is there. The lake was just across the road. I loved it the moment I saw it. It has clear pathways to walk around or to jog around or to cycle around. We both took some photos and decided to go for a walk. Initially since there was a island blocking our view, we thought that the lake is small. Infact pretty small. But when we started walking enjoying the beauty of the lake and the birds in it we realised it has to be big.

So we kept on walking around. The weather was also good that it wasn't rainy or it wasn't sunny or it wasn't windy. So we enjoyed the breeze and just kept walking around. It was a fun. Lovely fun. Walking hand in hand with your partner in a place like that is really a fun. No doubt about it. Seriously. The lake wasn't of any particular shape. It zig zagged and we walked around. After an hour or so we realized it is more than we thought and then we took rest to walk further. Both of us felt we need something to drink and we ended up in a small restaurant. It serve coffee tea and various other snacks for people doing their regular chores. We both had a refreshing coffee and took a water bottle. Infact the opposite shore or the area from where we started was not at all visible. 

It is important to mention that all along the walking area there were various excercising equipments to do push-ups and other things. People who dont want to spend money to Gym but at the same time consious about their health did use those to excercise. Fortunately or unfortunately, the lake was toooooo huge. With all the remaining effort we started walking back to the place we started. And atlast after two hours of walking we reached the place where we started. In between there were places where you rest and have a picnic or even a barbeque party. When we reached the starting point i felt as if i have finished trekking a huge mountain. And the information board said the entire pathway is 4.7kms. Thank God I read it at the end else I am sure I would not have walked all along. It was tough for me.

We have now decided to go to this lake atleast once in a week to walk around. Let us see. 

To know about Albert Park - http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/resources05/05_0451.pdf

We took enough photos there and are happy to share.

http://picasaweb.google.com/guruswaminathan/AlbertParkLake?authkey=BebC-TUdlQw#

Diwali Celebrations

You dont love shades until you stand under the sun. The same way we miss out functions and all the extras we get during the festival season once we moved here. one major thing is the advertisements we used to get during the festival season in all the channels. And unfortunately we dont get any indian channels in melbourne and we feel like left alone. Thats when one of our friend here told us about the diwali celebrations in federation square. We thought of our regular diwali celebrations with sarams, busvanam and chakram. But unfortunately when we reached there nothing was there. The funniest part is they blasted a electric charam which will just make some sound and nothing else.

Because of all the safety measures and other stuffs, the fireworks happened in a secluded place away from the public. It was a good experience though. There were dance performance and also a performance by a stage group(sorry it didnt even sound like music to me). Dances were fantastic. One of the group from Shiamak Davar(am I spelling it right?) dance school. It was awesome. But as all good things has to end. The show ended with fireworks. But still it didnt fill up the void. Diwali means listening to the cracker blast from a week before and a week after the diwali function. Here it is complete SILENCE. Nothing else. Just to save and earn more money we need to miss more fun like this. Thats life. What to do?

Return to Melbourne

After the sashtiabthapoorthi function as a family we had few get-togethers and visited few temples (specially on Oct 14th , birthday of my father). Then on 15th we started from chennai to melbourne. As I have already experience for carrying excess baggage, i was very clear this time that i should take only few luggages. But even then after packing everything we were left with 13 kgs of excess baggage. Everything packed is important and we cant leave out anything as it is. So I made up my mind that I am ready to pay and we came to the airport.

Fortunately in the airport when we checked in our baggage the person in the check-in counter didnt ask about excess baggage and all the baggages were checked in safely. I was so relieved. Our parents have come in taking the visitors ticket to bid bye to us. In case if the guy in the counter tells us excess baggage I was thinking of sending few things with them. But nothing happened. So we bid them bye and went to immigration. Since the documents and the tickets were perfect we had no problems. We were waiting in the lounge for an hour. When I was travelling alone the same one hour was like one decade. But since this time I had a company and that too it was my wife we were chatting and chatting and chatting.

We boarded the flight at 09:45 and the flight took off at 10:00 exactly. We landed in KL at 0425am the next day. Since I had my laptop with me I was not ready to sleep. But my wife was feeling sleepy and she slept immediatly. I need to tell about my wife. Her name is Priya. We both are of the same age. We got married five years back and after three years of love. Now since this is Priya's first international journey she couldnt get adjusted immediatly. So she started sleeping the moment we got a seat to sit. And i was watching the crowd. After an hour or so we went to have a coffee. Then we relaxed again. This time she was a bit fresh and I could relax. Then when the time to security check was nearing we went to a italian restaurant, as the inflight food will be served two hours after the take-off. We had sandwich and pizza.

We finished of the security check and boarded the flight. For the first time in my internation trips, I slept almost 75% of the time. We landed in Melbourne at around 20:30. The climate was chill. We finished off our customs check(nothing major was found). Then we came out. Thats the time when Priya felt the real chillness of Melbourne. We hired a taxi and came home.

The Function

In our tradition when a man turns 60 he is reborn again. As far as i have read and understood. And the birthday celebration is not just cake cutting. Its celebrated with all homams for the wellfare and the goodness for him and the family. This is called as sashtiabthapoorthi. Sashti means 6 or 60. Abtha means age I guess. I am not good in sanskrit, so dont expect the correct meaning. Poorthi means completion. Traditionally this is a small marriage to celebrate the successfull married life the person has got during that time. Then people included another piece of tradition to render the sacred Rudram before the marriage. As it is when u listen to music or to rendering of sacred slokas our body gets rejuvenated and we are blessed by god.

So my father's star was on October 11 2008, Saturday. We decided that redering or rudrams or Rudra Ekadasi was to be performed on the previous day. It is usually performed by pandits who are well versed in rudrams. And in general the number of pandits or priests who renders it will be in odd numbers. I thought 3, 5,7 or 9 is not enough and requested for 11 pandits to render the rudras. It is for our parents and they have always given the best to us. So I wanted to return the favour. I wanted to give them the best I can. Then on 11th we had the sashtiabthapoorthi function. It was performed with making holy water (holy and not holi) with lots of slokas rendered and pooja being performed. Ultimately the holy water will be used for abhisheka of my parents. When head priest was performing the pooja for the holy water the others were performing homams like Mrityunjaya Homam, Navagraha Homam, Ganapathy Homam etc., It was so powerfull that we felt the vibration in the mandap.

On the evening of Rudra Ekadasi(rendering of rudrams 11 times and rendering chamakam after completing rudram) my father being a traditional person has arranged for carnatic "katha kalatchebam"(telling stories along with songs). The topic was Radha Kalyanam. We have also arranged for a professional photographer to cover the entire function and we have arranged for a photosession with the people who attended.

On 11th after the sashtiabthapoorthi we left the mandap tired but heart full of blessings and good vibrations. On a whole it was a wonderfull experience.

Melbourne to Chennai

My father's 60th birthday was celebrated on Oct 10 and 11. It was a grand gala function. We all enjoyed it. It is a blessing from god to watch our parents get married. I pray to god that they live long and bless us all happiness. To attend this function I went to chennai on 08th Oct. My flight was in the very early hours of 08th. From melbourne it departs at 0115. It reaches KL at 0625am. My flight to Chennai is at 1925. So there is a 13 hour transit. When I enquired in the malaysia airlines ticketing counter. They gave me accommodation in a nearby hotel. The hotel was too good. Named as Concorde Inn. I was entitled for a free lunch also. So I to the hotel, took my room key card. Yes, card and no key. To open the room you need to insert the card in the slot provided in the door and then you can open the door. it was a good idea. Then took rest. Went to the restaurant at 2 to have my lunch and then came back watched CNN(that is the only news channel available) and then left the hotel at 5pm. Came back to the airport. The security check will commence only one hour before the flight's departure time. So I was roaming aorund the airport and at 1830hrs went to for the security check and was waiting in the gate to board the flight. As usual the flight was prompt on its time to depart exactly at 1925 and we reached chennai at 20:35. Then collected my baggage and within 15 mins i was out of chennai airport. My father, my wife and my inlaws were there waiting for me in the airport. After exchanging pleasantaries we came home.

Williamstown

When god created earth and then humans he would have definetly thought that these guys are going to have a hectic life. So he wanted few places to relax and make your heart and buzzing mind cool. One such place is Williamstown south of Melbourne. We never thought we will ever go to this place. If you have read my earlier posts you might remember my first house. The land lady of that house stays here. She has invited us once to her home. But since none of us took her home we were hesitant to go the place. And since it was winter and the whether was damn chill we thought it will be more chill as the place is nearer to the ocean. We were roaming around in the CBD every week. We got really bored seeing the same places and the same shops. So we wanted to venture out. There were two options. Either to a beach or to a place where u need to pay an entrance fee. We thought the former is more feasible. So we decided to go there on a sunday.

Melbourne is well connected by trains, trams and busses. You need one ticket to travel in all these three. There are variety of tickets available. Since that is not the discussion here i am not going into it. But need to tell you all that on a sunday the ticket rate is pretty cheap compared to the weekdays. And since Atanu wants everything cheap he was not ready to travel on other days. So we were ready to travel on a Sunday. As per the trains the entire area covered by the train network is classified as two Zones. Zone 1 and Zone 2. A ticket for Zone 1, which cannot be used in Zone 2. I didnt try what will be the penalties if you travel this way. Except for the sunday ticket other tickets has to be bought for Zone 1 or Zone 2 or Zone 1 + 2 (which is costlier than everything else). There is no point in getting a ticket combining both the zones as we wont be travelling to zone 2 place at all times.

Atanu told Williamstown is in Zone 2. I had a Zone 1 monthly ticket as my house is in Zone 1. So went to check with the officers whether on sundays we are permitted. They said except for the "Sunday Saver", which can be used in both the zones, all other tickets can be used only in those zones. I thought ok we will drop the plan of going to Williamstown and choose another place in Zone 1. But when we checked the map we realised that Williamstown is in Zone 1 and the next train leaves in another five minutes. We rushed to the platform and got into the train. In the video display in the platform they have mentioned that for Williamstown we need to change to another train in a station called "Newport". Since we were new to the route, we were checking each and every stations. Siraj slept as we both were alert. Then when Newport came we all got down.

I was under the impression that there will be another train from some other route which goes to Williamstown. But then a train came from the depot and it was destined for Williamstown. From Newport Williamstown is fourth station. We got down in the station and were surprised to see a silent, quiet area. Its a total opposite to the buzzing Melbourne. When we got out of the station we were able to see the ocean and also the ships. But there was something different, I didnt realise it at that time. We started walking towards the beach. It was not chill at the same time not warm. What kind of beach is it?

After a 10 minutes walk we reached the beach and immediatly understood the difference. There were no big waves in the beach. It was silent. And due to this nature they have made it as a harbour area. We have seen this place from our IBM office. But never recognised or realised. There were couple of big ships. There was a small area like a peninsula which was full of shells. I went there and started taking photos. Atanu and Siraj didnt expect this kind of beach and they didnt come inside. Took enough photos and then came out of the peninsula. Walked towards the harbour area. But it was not open to public. So we started walking back to the station. Atanu and Siraj took coffees from the mobile coffee shop there. We reached the station. Took a train and came back to Melbourne. Even after reaching Melbourne the silent and the quiet beach was in memory. I donno whether the other two liked the place but I simply loved it.

Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/guruswaminathan/Williamstown?authkey=tKA-W1y9Kvo

Union Street House - Moved In

"Veeta Katti Paaru, Kalyanatha Panni Paaru" is a solavadai in Tamil. But we should re-write it. "Veeta Maathi Paaru foreignla with 4 luggages". Yamma, it was a daunting task. The house is in the second floor and unfortunately there is no lift also. From Friday I was wondering how am I going to take everything up into the house. There were four luggages. Unfortunately after reaching here 3 more got added. My laptop bag, then the bag given to me by the agency which was appointed by IBM to help me in getting an accommodation and my back bag. So totally 7. How a small fella like me can manage?(elders no scolding....just enjoy). Then got an idea. Anyway I need to collect the keys from the real estate agent on saturday. So let me carry three bags with me initially get the keys from them go to the house put all the three bags then again return back to the hotel and take the other things. Since, i dont want to spend money in cab unnecessarily, I tried my luck in the Melb tram on saturday. Friday I went through the tram website and understood few things like the stop number nearer to my office and nearer to the house. Since the real estate agents office was on the way thought of getting down on the way. But unfortunately, as it happens in all first time travel, I got down a stop before. And need to walk down carrying all the luggages. Went to the Agent's office collected the keys and then took a cab(didnt want to trouble my shoulders as I need to carry hugggeee suitcase in my next trip).

The cab driver was a irritating guy who doesnt even know the route and kept on saying something or the other. Then he went to his GPS and got into the correct route and dropped me in the home. Even though the meter didnt show a huge amount I guess an able driver would have taken an easier route and dropped me much earlier and for also lesser fare. Sometimes it happens. Then took rest for 10 mins(Need to climb two floors carrying three bags!!!). Then started off from the home and came back to my hotel with the help of Tram and Train. I love travelling by trams. They are sort of cute and easily accessible and they go to all the places which u cant imagine, even to the busiest shopping areas. Now in my hotel, since the check-out time was 10am, even before leaving to collect the keys, I checked-out and kept the extra luggages in the luggage room which can be used free of cost. I called up a taxi company and they did send a bigger car just because I am leaving from the hotel. Thanks to them. This driver was a capable one and he took me through the shortest route. On the way he showed me all the shops available. Once we reached the home he helped me to get the suitcases out of the boot. God bless him. I wanted to find a safe way to get into the apartment and also wanted to have the luggages safely. Found a door from the carpark and dumped two of the suitcases under the stair case. Then took one by one to the home. Taking American Tourister upstairs was the real daunting task. But managed it. Lied down in the sofa for a while then started to unpack the things. Took photos for you all.

Photos are in the below link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/guruswaminathan/UnionStreetHouse?authkey=hLJiIagS7bg

Melbourne

What is Melbourne? Its a city with various suburbs in it. The main city or CBD, as they call here,(Central Business District) is small. You can check it for yourself from

the attached word document. This is a map taken from the google. The actual CBD starts from Spencer St., in the left to Spring St., in the right. And from the Flinders

Street to the La Trobe street in the top. From the day 1 I have been going through all these streets to understand the CBD and now I can say, to some extent, where what

things will be available.Infact, now that I know much about CBD I can move around all alone. Thanks to my friend and colleague Atanu. He showed me most of the places and

gave me an idea of what is available where. But still we are exploring.

Just opposite to the Flinders Street station there are three Indian Restaurant where you can get everything from idlies to Chole Batura, at a decent price. If you need to

understand the price range just a small example. A kilo of surf is priced at say Rs. 60 in India, you will get the same here at 2.5% high. Initially I was converting for

each and everything. Then learnt and understood that I shouldn't. Then was worry free. Now, I dont convert for all. Incase I am checking a bigger product like washing

machine or something of that sort then I am tempted to convert and see. But since I was looking for a furnished house I didn't have to buy it necessarily. I need to mention

here about the conversation I had with my father before leaving. Since I don't know the city structure, before arriving I was saying him I will take an unfurnished

apartment and buy all things. He was for furnished apartment. I put forth an arguement like I need to buy these things only once and so why do I need to pay extra money for

the rest of the months. Both of us forgot the valid point of disposing the things I buy here.

There is a website gumtree.com.au in which you can find all the second hand products. But you need to pay extra for the transport. So, ultimately it will be almost the same

price we get in the market. And we also donno how much they have used the product. They might say it is in good condition, but how can we ensure. So, after arriving here

and doing few researches I understood having a furnished house is far better than an unfurnished house. In a furnished house you dont need to worry about getting a cot, a

mattress, pillows, tv, fridge and all day to day used items. With this understanding I refined my search. I also informed my agent that I am ok with the furnished apartment

but should not exceed a limit. He said, if you want a furnished apartment it is easy. Because most of the people buy things here and they dont even bother to dispose it

off. So, most of the house we can get good things.

In the first week after landing, I was roaming around the CBD and was checking with my agent whether any house was available. But didnt seriously do any house hunting as I

was enjoying the foreign land. I started getting tensed when the second week dawned. I haven't got a house and the 14th day is also nearing. What if the hotel guys forcibly

asks me to move out and I need to be in streets. I made up my mind and left the ideas of exploring melbourne and got into serious house hunting. Saw around 8 houses which

were within my budget and decided to go for 1 among the 4 I liked very much. Applied for all the four. Wondering what I mean by applying. Here in Melbourne you cant get a

house as easily as we all do in India. Infact when you like a house we need to fill up an application with the copies of various documents like passport, company photo id

etc.,. Then the landlord will accept or approve that we can stay in the house. Then we need to sign a lease. Then we need to apply for getting the connections for

electricity and gas and water. Then the first month rent is paid in advance and we can get the keys.

Ok coming back to the house hunting, out of the 4 houses I liked three were of walking distance from my office. 1 was 4 kms away from office. Even though it was a bit away

it was wonderfull spacious just like our indian houses with seperate room for kitchen. In all the other houses it is a open kitchen. I had a dilema whether to choose the

one nearer to the office or the one I will be comfortable. House is something where we need to comfortable relaxed and worry free. So,I decided to go for the one a bit far

away. I have signed the lease today morning and paid the advance also. I will be giving the rent and collecting the keys on Saturday and I have planned to move in on

saturday. Let me see how well I can manage everything. Its a test for me and I hope with Bhagawan's blessing everything should go well.

Now I need to hunt for groceries and other items so I can start cooking at home. Even though everything is available in CBD I dont get any Indian Masalas in the

supermarkets here. There are few Indian grocery shops near a market which is famous for fresh vegetables. Need to go there and check. Let me move into the new house and let

you know the experiences in the next mail.

Check the photos of my house in this link - http://picasaweb.google.com/guruswaminathan/UnionStreetHouse?authkey=hLJiIagS7bg#

Melbourne Map

Weekend Trip.

Spending a weekend abroad that too all alone is painfull. But thank god I have good friend here, Atanu. He is a project manager in India. Here he is my team mate. See the fate!!. But we have explored Melbourne CBD as much as possible. It was real fun roaming around. We didnt go inside any of the major buildings yet. We will be doing it soon. Infact almost the entry ticket cost are more than 20$ per head so instead of spending twice(one now and one after Priya comes), I thought I can visit all the places with Priya itself.

Why you should not convert when spending abroad? The answer is you will never buy anything at good quality. Atanu, always converts everything and says oh my god in India we will get it cheaper. But when we are getting paid in AUD we need to think of spending in AUD and should not convert in INR and spend, is my view. Else we wont buy anything we like and we end up spending those things which are of cheap quality. Whenever I am with him, I am a silent listener. He is a good friend. He never portrays that he is a people manager or a project manager. Down to earth person. Infact he is the guide for me to many of the shops in Melbourne. Since his friends were here already they have given him a fairly good idea of the entire CBD.

On Saturday, I came to CBD at around 10:30. Atanu's house is very near to the Flinders Street station(check out the photos). So, walked down to his house. Once he got ready we came back down thinking of what to do. We saw a subway(restaurant) and we went in to check what they have. Thought of having a sandwich but ended up having a cup of coffee and a couple of cookies. Sandwiches were not upto my mark!!!. Hope you understand that statement. They use loads and loads of lettuce and tomatos and onions in the sandwiches.

Then I told him that I want to take photographs of the office and we came to the other side of the Flinders Street station. And walked down across the Yarra River clicking photos and then started walking along the bank of the yarra river. We saw a spectrosphere which has been built to say the wishes for the Australian athletes participating in the Olympics 2008. Then we saw the Crown entertainment plazas which has casinos. We also saw the Melbourne Aquarium from the outside. Then crossed the yarra river and came back to the place we started. Should be a 2 km walk. Then we went to the QV Plaza in which BigW is situated. There is a bakery shop "Breadtop" in that plaza. And they have various buns which tastes really "Yummy". I had a garlic bun, a doughnut and a cheese bun. The cheese bun had a huge amount of cheese which I need to remove of before eating it. Even then it had a good amount of cheese in it.

I wanted to buy bread. So we walked down slowly to BigW and got a loaf of bread and a pack of washing powder. Because if I use the washing powder given in the hotel room then it is charged. They have given 250 gms of washing powder and charging 2.50$. My thinking was if it is the same in market i dont need to buy one and i can pay the hotel. Once I get the house I can get a new pack of powder. But then in BigW it was 3.50$ for 1KG. So why to unnecessarily use the pack in the hotel. Let them have it. Came back home after having a heavy dinner(2 Naans, Aloo Mutter and Dal Makhani). It was full. I came back to the home and put all the clothes for washing. Once the washing is over got them out and hanged it in all the places available. Since I was feeling tired, went to bed immediatly.

On sunday, woke up at 10:30 am. That too because the room service guy was knocking the door. Else I would have woken up a bit later. Then as we have planned to check out electronic items, I went to Atanu's place again. From there we started to check out digital cameras and mobile phones. He was checking Handycams also. Saw a damn good digicam from sony which is 10.1 megapixel camera with 3.5" LCD. I need to buy it before returning to India. We checked almost in 5 shops for the items to understand the price range. Then we went to Harvey Norman one of the biggest electronic chain in Australia. I saw few softwares for my compaq laptop and also few good laptops. Probably I might get one before coming down. God only knows.

Then we both went to the house of another team member Nagesh Prashanth, who is currently heading this project here. We were there for an hour and Prashanth and Atanu left to BigW and I came back to hotel after having dinner. Reached home then folded(In tamil Madikarathu) all the clothes I have hanged and then retired to bed.

Will update you more next week.

The link for the photos we took on Saturday is - http://picasaweb.google.com/guruswaminathan/MelbourneTrip?authkey=T_Uwhh5mYUI

Let me know your comments.

Take Care. Enjoy!!!

Searching for a house

In the serviced apartment I stay, they have booked the rooms till 14th only. As such I am eligible for 14 days stay. I was wondering what to do for the three days, either i need to get a house right away or i need to spend money from my own pocket. I spoke to my manager in IBM and she told no, it should be till 17th check with the reception. If it is not till 17th change it immly, you dont need any approval for this, as you are eligible for 14 days. I said great. The same day I went back to the hotel spoke to the receptionist and asked them to change the checkout date.

"Veeta katti paar", is a very famous saying in tamil and everybody knows it. But it should be like "veeta thedi paaru foreign landla". Pinna enna, edho vandhoma nimmathiya sambathichoma nu irukanum. In my office they told i need to seach of my accommodation and it has to be done within the given 14 days. Just think, how to search for a house and also to do work in office. I dont think its possible or even feasible. Infact my friend was suggesting a furnished single bedroom house for a rent of 400$ per week. Yes per week only. Even though it is a bit heavy on my pocket and budget i thought why not give it a try. From the realestate website i could figure that the house is pretty small. But still wanted to confirm and to have a satisfaction that I have seen a house I went there. Its a west facing house. Once you enter into it on your left hand side it is the kitchen. No doors or windows. Then a small living room with two single sofas and a TV. On the right hand side a bedroom. The bedroom too has no wooden doors, only a sliding and a folding door. Then in the left hand side, immediatly once u enter the bedroom, there was a bathroom. Inside which there is a another door which leads to the toilet. Even though it was good looking it didnt impress me much.

I am going to see one more house tomorrow which is of 340$ per week. Here the funda is you need to pay 4 weeks rent as advance or bond as they call here. And the month's rent. Rent is always needs to be paid in advance. For August you pay on August 01st and for September you pay on September 01st. So, I need to shell out a months rent as advance now + that months rent. Here there is a funny policy that if the rent is greater than 350$ per week then few landlords may demand upto 6 weeks rent as advance. For the house i saw in the afternoon they were demanding 6 weeks advance. Which means $2400.

Even though the rent is weekly but we need to pay it only monthly. There are two different ways of calculating the same. But since the landlord wanted a 6 weeks advance, it was a simple calculation 400*6 which is equal to AUD2400. So if I include the rent also which will be AUD1733. Put together it is 2400+1733 which is 4133. My company doesnt even pay me that much and more over i dont have that much cash advance. Now what to do. I was interacting directly with the landlady. So, I contacted her back and asked her whether the advance can be taken as 4 weeks. She said she will discuss and let me know and till now I haven't got a call from her. And the problem is this house is a bit far away from the office and its not that easily reachable. So, now what.

Even though my company has arranged an agent to look for a house for me, everybody advised me to do it on my own. I was searching the internet and now got a few good houses. I have sent my interests for them and they have to respond back. One of the agent has sent me an sms saying tommorrow I can visit one of the houses. This house is a bit far from the office but not that far when compared to the previous one. This is also a furnished single bed room house. The rent is AUD 340. I will feel lucky and blessed if I get this. Because in the CBD it is very difficult to get a furnished house for this rate. So, let me see what happens tomorrow.

In the office front, we all went to the client's place today and met the people there. From monday the work will start in full force and we need to complete it part by part. Will update as and when it proceeds. Its a lovely office and they provide free drinks on thursdays and fridays 5 to 7 it seems. I need to check with them whether they will give any fruit juices. Pray for me to get a good house before next saturday.

Take Care and Enjoy.

Photos of Union Street House Taken From Internet

Life in Melbourne

Oh Wow! will be the first impression I got the moment I saw the IBM office building. You can check in maps.google.com the exact location of my office. Copy "Flinders St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia". Now in the map you will see "Flinders Street Station" and beside this is a water area. This is the Yarra River. On the other side of the station you can see South Bank Promenade. And between SouthBank Blvd and Southgate Ave and before the Cook St, is the SouthGate. A city of its own. It has two major towers. One the HWT Tower and the IBM Tower. My office is located in the IBM Tower. We have around 29 floors, sorry I donno the exact number floors IBM has. And I am in 19th floor. The problem is I can take the photos of SouthGate but I can't take photos inside the office as cameras are not permitted inside the office. I am enclosing few pictures from the picasaweb for now. If I am in Melbourne this saturday(as talks are going on to cancel the Sydney training trip as we have client meeting on Monday and Tuesday), will take several photos and send it.

Melbourne has various places. But the main city is much smaller than our own tnagar. And the funniest thing, for this they have 5 stations. As I have said earlier there are trains going to most of the main cities and towns in Melbourne. And there are connecting Trams and Busses. And If I buy a daily ticket, which is valid for the whole day, then I can board a train or bus or tram from any place to any place at any time during that day. I cannot use it the next day. I am yet to explore the concept of weekly and monthly. I didnt go for weekly and monthly right away because I donno whether the sydney is trip is cancelled or not. If it is not cancelled then it is a waste, to buy a weekly or a monthly ticket, as I will be losing 4 days in sydney. Instead I thought I will wait till next wednesday to get either of those tickets. And here people call the main area of melbourne city as CBD, Central Business District. And in the CBD we can find all the major offices and the financial institutions. CBD is made of maximum nine major roads going from flinders street station and it ends in Victoria Street(check google maps). The streets, Elizabeth, Swanston and Queens are considered as the major shopping hub. Offices and shops are there in the other streets too.

I have been through Elizabeth Street and Swanston Street doing window shopping. There is a big super market in Melbourne named BigW. Guess I have mentioned it earlier, if not it is the original version of our Big Bazar in Chennai and Bangalore. The BigW is in the corner of Latrobe stree and Swanston Street. Harvey Norman a big electronic supermarket is in the Swanston Street. The branch in which my bank account is, is in Collins Street. Collins Street infact has all the financial institutions. I saw a citibank there and understood why they charge Rs. 100, when you go to a bank to do any transaction in India. They need to maintain the offices across the globe right. Infact I felt i might reduce loads of weight, because I was walking around the streets in the first two days. Yesterday didnt go for any shopping so no walking. Today I am thinking of going to room early by 09:00pm and watch a tamil movie. There is a movie channel in my hotel room which has adult movie running throughout the day. And the charge is 14.95$ per day, I think so.

The Yarra river which is next to our office has river cruises and all other added attractions. Need to go in that once Priya arrives here. I dont want to tour to all the places once alone and the again with Priya because then I will get bored. So waiting for her to come and tour Melbourne. My team mate Atanu Debroy is very helpfull. He is a guide to me and he has helped me a lot in locating most of the places. His wife is also coming in October for a month and a half as his kid is going to school. So during october we are planning to do a family outing and enjoy the places. Lets see how it all works.

In the food court available in the ground floor, there are various restaurants. But due to my selectiveness in food i have not yet ventured into all those and as of now having only Naan and dhall(either yellow or brown) to avoid any stomach problems. Later on I will slowly start experimenting. On tuesday I went to get many things for breakfast and also to eat from BIGW, so my hands were full and everything was heavy. So decided to take a taxi to hotel. It was driven by a Indian student. He is studying accounting here and in his last two months of course. He took me to the hotel. On the way once the meter reached 11$ he switched off the meter and said "Me Indian, You are an Indian, so I want to lessen your burden". There was another 900 meters to 1 km travel but he never asked or demanded even a single cent more than 11$. As a courtesy I offered him 12$ he said 11$ is more than enough and left. Good Guy na.

I got a map from the hotel and it was quite usefull till date. It shows the street names and also the station names in the melbourne city and the surrounding suburbs. Ok, all this is enough, but what i do in office. Today is the fourth day and they have spared me free till today to finish of the major works like bank account activation and other things. Here native Australians don't work on Fridays. So, my work will be starting from Monday. Depending upon whether I am going to sydney or not, I will start working. If I am going to sydney then it will be a seperate travelogue all together.

Ok thats all for now. Will continue in the next mail. See you all.

I have not given any explanation to any of the photos now. I will give you the comments for all the photos i take. Ok.

Take Care.

My Serviced Apartment

Photos Of my Serviced Apartment :

http://picasaweb.google.com/guruswaminathan/MyServicedApartment?authkey=EOHru40JiHU

In the Chennai Airport

Here are the photos of the people who came to see me off.

http://picasaweb.google.com/guruswaminathan/InTheChennaiAirport?authkey=isQRdD15TGc

Travel Experience

Idho vandhuten. Ungalukellam ennoda Australia trip pathi solla vandhuten. Will continue in English, inorder to avoid any confusions. I left to Australia on 02nd August 2008, by Malaysian Airlines flight MH180. Initially my trip was planned for 24th July. But then my Visa did'nt come. I guess, as I have experienced in the past 24 hours, my name and its length gave the Australian Immigration department a problem. So, I have to reschedule my travel to 30th July. Australian Immigration Department will, only, send a document to say that the Visa has been granted from this date to this date. But it needs to stamped or in other words eveidenced or authorised in my passport. Without which I cannot travel. I was waiting for that till 01st of August. I was forced to reschedule my ticket for the second time. And I have booked the tickets for 02nd August. I have a biiiig suitcase from American Tourister, a medium sized suitcase, a small suitcase and a travel bag full of vessels. I was wondering how much will be the extra baggage charge i need to pay. Even though my company reimburse me a good amount i dont want to get into trouble by paying a huuuuge amount. In the airport, I met Chintamani Mama, Padma Mami, Ramani Mama, Bharathi Mami, Guru, Swami Mama and Sathy Mama. Appa, Amma accompanied me in our i10. Priya with the luggages and her parents and sister came in a qualis. Rajmi and kids came in an indica. Athi came from office. It was only me travelling but there were 14 people to see me off. Mamas and their families left the airport at 07:00pm as they had to perform few duties the next day. Appa, Amma, Akka, Athi, Surabhi, Shrawan, Father-in-Law, Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law got entry ticket and came inside the airpot to see me off. Good that they came inside.

When I went to check-in my baggages, I had 33 kgs extra. And then the person in the check-in counter threw a bomb on me that the cost per KG will be 1100. My God. I was shell shocked and managed to stand straight. Then trolled off the luggages to the palce where the others were standing. Discussed with them and gave them back the travel bag which contained the vessels. I should thank the Malaysian Airlines officer as he increased the maximum eligible luggage limit to 25 from 20, due to which i need to pay for 20 kgs. After paying it and after attaching the tags to my check-in bags, with a heavy heart that i have to pay so much for the extra baggage, i came to the place where others were standing. Bade my final byes to them and proceeded to immigration. The queue was huge and there was only one officer. I thought it will take the entire time. But to make us feel relieved two more officers joined in and the queue moved faster than I expected. The proceeded to the security check. With a single suitcase to walk around was much easier. But since the check-in officer told me that my hand baggage should be only 8 kgs I need to remove the handy cam from the hand baggage. I need to carry it around and also use the stroller to pull my hand baggage with me. Security check was never a problem as i dont carry illegal or harmful. So, finished off the security check and proceeded to the lounge and wait. Since two passengers who has to arrive in the flight, from Malaysia to Chennai, took time to retrieve their baggages, our flight got delayed by 15 minutes. At 10:15 the flight started and by 10:25 we were flying.

They gave us a headfone which cannot be used outside the flight because the wire had two pins in the end which makes it impossible to connect it to the reggular audio player we all use. There was a in-flight radios playing tamil and hindi songs. So were listening to it. In my ticket the meal preference was given as "Asian Veg Meals". And I was thinking of getting a roti and rice. I was shocked. When others recieved white rice and sambar, a saffron rice was given to me packed with half cooked veggies. I couldnt eat the veggies. So with difficulty finished off the rice and then had a bread and some juice and slept off, not to feel hungry. But thank god i didnt feel hungry when the flight landed in malaysia at 05:00 am the next day. Being a known place to me, malaysian airport was more friendly than frightening. I went to change my AUD to MYR and then had a nice cup of coffee. I was sitting in the lounge for a long time. Then it struck me what if these people give me the same meals again. I went to the Malaysian Airlines counter and asked them to change the meal preference. They said it cant be done as i am approaching them just an hour before. I felt a bit disappointed. Since I have got the frequent flier card in the flight(thanks Ramani mama for notifying me about this), added the miles of my trip, MAA to KUL to MEL. I went to burger king and had a large fries and a ice milo so that, even if i get same the meal i wont feel hungry. Then went back to the lounge and I was one of the first few to clear the check off and set in the gate lounge. Lounge i was sitting earlier was outside the gate. Unlike Chennai airport where you have lounge just outside the gates, in KLIA(Kuala Lampur Internation Airport) has a lounge inside the gate so that people can finish of security check and get into the flight. If you have noticed in chennai airport we wont be having chairs to sit once you are inside the check-in area. But in KLIA they have put chairs at every possible place to make you comfortable.

I dozed off during my waiting time before getting into the flight. Then the announcement came and the entire crowd rushed up to board the flight. Unlike the earlier flight, this had tvs on the back of every seat. And they were telecasting movies and TV programs continously. One channel dedicated to one movie. Once the movie gets over it starts off again. So, I watched Billa 2007, Aaja Nachle and Independence Day(Priya, see how i am lucky all are my favourites). They served meals and I recieved a similar meal. I asked the airhostess, a kind good looking one, whether i can swap it. She asked my preference and i told indian vegetarian would be fine. Priya would have loved the meal served to me initially. It was rice with brinjal. The airhostess got me basmati rice with channa masala and told that this is the only one available. I was so happy and grabbed it immly. I stuffed the entire content into my stomach without delaying. Had a cup of coffee and back to watch movies. All the movies was over by 6pm. I still had 1.5 hours travel. If you have thought that i watched the enire movie, no, starting from a good scene till the end!!!. I slept off for the rest 1.5 hours. I was given a passenger information card which has few questions. You need to answer either 'yes' or 'no.

Some of them are
1. do you carry more than 10000AUD in cash or other forms.
2. do you carry gifts or gift articles more than 900AUD
3. do you carry sport shoes or shoes with mud
4. do you carry wooden articles or traditional medicines.
5. do you carry any processed foods.
6. do you carry any articles with feathers or eggs
7. have you visited south africa or africa in the past 6 days
8. have you visited any farm house or animal farm in the past 3 months.

Three more questions were there but i forgot. I woke up only after the flight landed. Even though it was a smooth landing we experienced a bit of bumps which woke me up. I was thinking of Tulimarine International Airport to be as big as KLIA. But it wasnt. We got out of the flight and came to collect baggages. As my friends told me already there were officers with dogs to sniff the luggages you carry. These were not big dogs but small cute dogs. I loved one of them which was roaming around in a rather sturdy looking officers hand. Then proceeded to the customs. In between a officer was checking the passenger information and guiding through various gates. I was wondering about the concept behind it and till now I couldn't understand. I was in a long queue which was moving at the rate of a snail's speed. The only difference is it didnt come back everytime it moved forward. I got the answer for the delay, the moment the custom officers came into my view. They read our passenger information card. They ask you to put the luggage belts for scanning. If we have answered Yes for any of the questions, especially 5 and 6, and if they find anything suspicious they ask you to open the bag and examine it clearly and thoroughly. There was a guy who was having 4 suitcases with sweets from Sri Krishna Sweets and Adyar Ananda Bhavan and the officer was rather strict and examining it as if she is looking at ugly insect. It was written in the Airport that, don't put Australia's future in trouble.

For me since nothing was there except clothes and clothes and clothes, the custom officer left me off after me informing him that i have ayurvedha medicine and a pair of new formal shoes. They didnt ask me for the prescriptions for the medicine and Priya, no metal detector gave a beep at my knee. I came out and was searching for the person who has to pick me up. Unfortunately I have made a mistake again. I didnt send me the itinerary to them. They dont follow the details in the mail it seems. I was waiting there for 45 mins and then picked up a tax and came to the hotel. It was a service appartments and it was good. I loved the place. I settled down and went to the nearest 711(24 hours store which sells of important day to day need products - like milk), and got a phone card to india. It was pretty chill outside. But manageable. I came back to the room and since i was not feeling hungry, i started trying to reach pgthur or blore. My bad luck I couldn't get connected to both. So enquired the reception and that guy told me it will be 2.50AUD per 30 secs. I thought ok I need to inform them of my safety so i dialled pgthur as Priya will be travelling and informed my parents. Then went to bed. And slept off right away the moment my head hit the pillow. There is a train station very near to my guest house. But since today is the first day, I thought instead of getting into trouble finding the right train and station let us go by a taxi and return back in train. In the morning i need to rush up to the office so didn't want to take risk. But in the evening I can right.

Came to the office and informed my team Prashanth and Atanu. Prashanth came down to pick me up as Atanu was not in office. My laptop was almost ready when I reached the 19th floor. I met my connections manager to do my onboarding formalities and came back to collect my laptop and settled down. The office is huge. Next to the Yarra River and nearer to Findlers Street station, which is similar to our Chennai Central. I need to check out the train tonight. Had mini meals from the Indian Restaurant which is in the ground floor food court. Had rice, channa masala and dhall. So yet to venture out to find out more about this exciting new place. I haven't taken much photos. But will take a few tomorrow andshare it with you. Expect the link which has photos of people who came to see me off in Chennai Airport. Will meet you all soon with more updates. Bye for Now. Enjoy Life and Take Care.

And if there are any mistakes please bear with me as i have been writing this parts by parts from the morning. I was moving aorund to meet people and to settle down.