Yes, it's that time of the year again...when I look at LJ and go, "About time I update the journal.." AND have information to share ;) so here goes...

Starting today, I'll be working for Mozilla Corporation a.k.a MoCo for short. I will continue to be based in Singapore and will be working as a sysad, providing on-call support during the wee hours in the US. I'm their first hire in Singapore and their first IT hire outside the USA :D

I had an opportunity to meet (almost) the whole IT team and a bunch of other excellent folks during the Mozilla All-Hands held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View between the 27-29 April this year. It was great fun and it really helped validate my decision to join them...even if I'll be working remotely. The energy levels are just amazing and I can't wait to get started! :D

In other news, I've also just moved in over this weekend to a nice two bedroom apartment. Most of the unpacking is done, about two boxes to go and a while to settle down I guess. The internet connection is up, so that's super cool.

Time to crash, first day at work (again) in a few hours! :D

The first even night race in Formula1. Wow. A part of history now and I'm glad I could be at the race in person :)

It was great fun walking the track with teemus on thursday and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday just flew by with loads of F1 and loads more of Zouk.

This was my second F1 race and if I was asked to pick between Sepang and Marina Bay, I think the latter wins hands down. Cheaper food, cheaper merchandise, lovely atmosphere, amazing music, giant screens that were actually viewable to name some. I think the very fact that the race happens in the middle of a city is a win. In Sepang, there was nothing to do after the race, but head back into the city...which wasn't all that much fun in retrospect ;)

I'm sure the organizers will iron out the kinks for the next edition and it will be even more fun overall.

Way to go Singapore, you've given F1 a truly wonderful twist in the tale.

Last set of pics, Raceday - http://flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157607704772359/

X-posted to f1

Pics are up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157607640807934/

X-posted to f1

Pics are up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157607538474392/

Sorry! No time to describe in detail, but to summarize :

If you're every coming to Asia to see a GP, Singapore is THE place to be :) Awesome event so far, amazing organization and great fun!!

X-posted to f1

In a week from now, Formula1 cars will line up along this very stretch to kick off the Singtel Singapore Grand Prix and create history.

I spent around 2 hours walking around the circuit yesterday and took a few snaps.

All the photos are handheld. No tripod or monopod. The lights are really quite bright as you can see :)

A few interesting things : BMW Sauber stuff, Turn 19 - where the cars go under the grandstands, Digiflags and concrete protective barriers.

For the rest of the snaps, clicky!

I can hardly wait :) 24 days to go for FP1 and that'll kick off the world's first night race. I got these 3 day walkabout tickets back in June, and took the pics back then too, just been lazy to upload them.

Of course, these are commemorative tickets, and hence plastic. They're damn cool :)

The circuit is almost done, lights are up, protective barriers are up and they're some very strong concrete barriers...will be interesting to see where the tyre walls will come up, if any. I'll try to walk around this weekend and get some shots of the circuit

Few more pics : http://flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157607054264156/

I was out with some friends yesterday evening when I found out that Mika Hakkinen was in town for a little promo and there was a McLaren F1 car involved in the picture...

On digging around the internet, we found out that it was a promo for Johnnie Walker's new do not drink and drive campaign called Join the Pact (http://jointhepact.com/).

The only thing we (roomie and I) did today was head over to the place where the event was happening and catch a glimpse of the McLaren MP4-22, Mika, Paula Malai Ali and Steve Dawson (covering the event for Star Sports).

Woohoo! I managed to get some pretty decent shots ;)

Of course, the car never did anything more than 2nd or 3rd gear and the ear plugs they handed out weren't really needed, but it was fun. Mika did a total of 4 runs in the MP4-22, with the 3rd and 4th being longer than the first two along with some spins and the like.

The place where the event happened is actually a part of the street circuit where the GP will take place in September. Rest of the snaps - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157604312769276/

As I was heading out for dinner yesterday, I spotted this catty, sleeping peacefully on top of the ATM cash deposit machine. Awesome :) I didn't have the D70 with me, so you'll have to make do with the w810i's cam.

At peace with the world...and on top of all the cash ;)

In the past two days, I've been asked by two different girls if they can be my girlfriend and that too in front of my parents.

Fun :)

Hope you all had a fun-filled and Merry Xmas as well!

So I was part of history today :p

There were lots of people waiting in the Changi Beach Park to watch the landing of the first SQ Airbus A380 plane (regn. 9V-SKA) at the Changi Airport.

While the light was fading, this mammoth of a plane glided in smoothly for a safe touchdown on runway 20R.

Was able to get a few more shots, but I sort of liked this the most. Will post the rest later.

View Large On Black

Taken during a trip to the Island of Palau Ubin, Singapore during the month of August this year. Unfortunately, there seems to be some dirt on the CCD :(

We had a fun trip, a decent amount of mountain biking, walks by the sea and just generally relaxing. I took this shot when the clouds were rolling in.

Another one I liked - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/1498521773/

The set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157602287565610/

One more not so nice thing to strike off my to do list, experience an Earthquake.

Crazy. We felt the office sway, slowly from side to side....for a full minute. It was almost surreal. You sort of didn't know if it was your mind or if it would stop.

I hope there is no loss of life in Indonesia, considering this was a 8.2, I'm afraid I'll be wrong about that :(

More info over at USGS -

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007hear.php

Update : They revised the magnitude to 8.2 from 7.9

Update 2 : They revised the magnitude to 8.4 from 8.2

Taken around 1930 SGT today, the skies were actually blue when I took the shot. Hoping for clear skies on the 28th, when the Lunar eclipse occurs.

I've always wanted to be in Delhi for our Republic Day Parade, because it's just awesome. The show of strength and unity is simply amazing as is the atmosphere. I will make it someday. I'm sure of that :)

Singapore turned 42 years old on August 9th and I was there at the National Day Parade. I got to the venue a bit later than originally planned (but about 3 hours before the event began) and was out of vantage points. Amazing how many people turned up many hours in advance with lunch and snacks packed, so they could get the best view points.

Rest of the snaps (some interesting ones too :p) in the set.

Taken during the last NDP 2007 dress rehearsal which was on August 4th. This is where all future NDPs in Singapore will be taking place. The view is the Singapore skyline as seen from the Benjamin Shears Bridge. The bridge was closed off due to security concerns on National Day. View Large on Black. Rest of the snaps are in the set. I'll be uploading the actual NDP snaps sometime soon.

Okay, so I walked into office and looked out of the board room on Friday and saw an aircraft with a BIG blue tail. I was telling myself that it can't be and got out the camera....and there it was.

The world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.

I couldn't get much with the 70-300, since the plane is a good kilometer and half or more away and I'm shooting through tinted glass, but still, it was awesome seeing this baby parked on the tarmac.

She's here for some tests on the new Terminal 3 and will be departing Singapore in about 10 hours or so. Early morning, so I can't get better snaps.

I'm guessing they would be flying in at least once more, before the first SQ A380 is delivered in October. I'll make sure I catch that one. Thanks to ti22 for some post processing magick ;)

Hopped onto the plane spotting bandwagon, thanks to the office shifting to Changi Business Park.

I'm going to have to balance work and this, or this will take up too much time ;)

First shots : http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157600204757968/

I think I'll spend quite a bit of free time doing this.

I'm planning to see quite a few movies this year...let's see how that goes :)

Managed to watch my first chinese movie today (with English sub-titles), called Protégé. I liked it and it's a story about an undercover cop in Hong Kong who's trying to bust on of the major heroin suppliers in Hong Kong. How he manages to do it while seeing how drugs destroy people is what that movie is about. Very well made and apart from a few slow scenes, the movie was quite fast paced and thrilling.

The second one was Mel Gibson's Apocalypto. Very well made, very nice, extremely gory and that is one of the reasons why this won't be approved for screening in India (and there are others as well). The movie is completely set in the Mayan Age about how people had to fight to survive. It's about one man, Jaguar Paw fighting to save his lineage from extinction. It is so authentic, that there is not a single word in English. Thrilling but again, quite gory. If you're someone who can't stand blood/gore, don't bother watching the movie.

It's Chinese New Year today...and everything here will be closed :) Gong Xi Fa Cai!

And so we were heading back home from work by taxi and I managed to snap this beauty on the road :)

A couple of days later, I saw a red Spider 360 convertible on the same road, but didn't have the cam with me.

Oh well.

Life's been good (and busy) on the whole, tons of new pics up at http://flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/

Blood Diamond

I think this is one very well made movie about conflict diamonds. It actually shows the struggles of Africa, the civil wars, the greed which turns people into killing machines, the many million child soldiers in Africa and other issues. Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly (though in a limited capacity) deliver power packed performances. In the end, you leave the hall thinking that if you ever buy a diamond, you're going to make sure it isn't a conflict diamond.

Sort of a documentary (good amounts of information), but very well made. Keeps you on the edge of your seat and the ending is quite nice.

Night at the Museum

Another well made movie. Honestly, I wasn't too interested in going to see this one, but went for one reason - Ben Stiller and boy, I'm glad I did. It's a very well made story, nice comedy, overall a very good and enjoyable movie.

Kabul Express

More of a documentary of sorts. But then again, nicely made, good dialogues and scenes. Never a boring moment but had a predictable ending. Worth a watch for sure.

Very nice Jazz music, heard/saw/photographed them at Esplanade where they performed yesterday. For the rest of their snaps, clicky!.

There was a nice visual arts exhibition going on as well titled As it is...

Fun.

In other news, got myself a Flickr Pro account, so expect a lot more photos :)

And before I forget, wish you all a very happy and wonderful 2007!

Yup, I made it in one piece to Singapore :) Seems the IC flight from BLR - SIN is usually the one having all the problems, the one I flew left Bangalore 2.5 hours late and caused a good number of people to miss their connecting flights from Changi.

The first few days were a daze, nice hotel room, new smells and sights (photos shall follow later). Moved into the condo towards the end of the first week and love the place as well.

Office is on the 34th floor, giving us a fairly good view of Sentosa Island and surrounding areas.

Singapore is better than I last saw it in 1990 (obviously), the public transport systems are just fabulous (I'm a sucker for MRT systems and I love the ones in Madras just as much). Little India is aptly named, you'll find a copy of India there on weekends...tons of Indians in a place :)

Since Tamil is one of the official languages and also since quite a few people know the language here, I find myself using it quite often. Yay!

Yet to do some sightseeing, since work has been generally on the tighter side. Have been jogging and swimming and yes, it does feel good to have some regular exercise.

My T630 phone locked here and Sony said they can't do anything without losing my data. If you'd like to keep in touch, please leave your number here, I'll add you to my phone book. Comments are screened.

PS : Felt very homesick for an hour a few days back. Wanted to head back home...but the feeling passed, things are much better now.

PPS : Oh yeah, Schumi won the Chinese GP :D Awesome race, managed to watch it all live here and enjoyed every moment of it. Nice to see a sulky Alonso, I'm sure I'll see more of that next season when his McLaren doesn't finish races ;)

Okay, so a lot has been going on in life since July....and I guess it's time to update you all about the same.

I'd planned to join Portland State University to do my Masters this fall. Everything was fine until the visa officer at the American Consulate in Chennai saw that I was born in Dubai and had spent 12 years of my childhood there...reason enough for them to push my application into "additional adminstrative processing". Did someone say something about man proposing and god disposing?

Anyway, I was told that the processing will take upto 4 weeks and if it does extend beyond that, I'll need to check the website to see my status. It has been well beyond 4 weeks, still no status change and basically, I'm not going to be able to make it this fall.

In the meanwhile, I was offered a job with Ness Technologies at Singapore & after a wee bit of thinking, I decided to head to Singapore, since my US visa is just sitting for now.

I'm leaving for Singapore tomorrow night. Yeah, slightly short notice and a lot of things need to be sorted out before I leave. I'll be there for at least a year, if not more & am so looking forward to a lot of things, like the Malaysian GP 2007 as well as maybe a trip to Australia or atleast a few SE Asia trips (Cambodia, Thailand...)

I have less than 48 hours to leave and I've not started packing. Oh and if you're in/around Singapore, do drop in your details, I'll screen the post, try to call/meet up when I get there. Same applies to folks transiting through Singapore (I'm sure there'll be quite a few).

Oh and I've met a lot of wonderful folks in the last 6 months at HCL EAI. You all know who you are, thanks for everything and I'll miss all of you.

Following up on my earlier post, I found this really well written article on Airports, specifically Changi on Business World.

An excerpt :

The sceptics will jump in and say: Singapore is a rich country, why compare India with it? It is a sobering fact that Singapore got independence in 1957. It was a poor nation, smaller in size than any Indian state and had no natural resources. Even today, it has to buy water for everyday use from across the border in Malaysia. When Singapore had less than 5 million people - most too poor to travel - they had decided that they must create a world-class airline. That was the beginning of Singapore Airlines. That world-class airline needed a world-class airport. The resolve paid off.