MY OFFICE !

May be I shared it several times. Or may be not. To be honest, I am not very sure.
Its been quite some time that I work from home. I use my computer as my office. I can operate from anyplace or any corner of the world. That gives me the benefit to be anywhere and still deliver to my work.

Be it online consulting, online selling or making tours in both Indian and International destinations; my work always gives me a privilege or keeps me on the move.

My office can be anywhere. My bedroom or a coffee shop. My terrace or a park. It could be a free wi fi zone. It could also be the flight I take or the train I travel. It could be a ferry boat or just my hotel room.

I could travel anywhere, see new places, meet people from another country, explore their culture. I could live a local's life.

Really, its true. If to work from home feels good, then being global citizen feels so much better.

SURPRISE TO OVERWHELM.

Its true while traveling, there is rapid shift of one's feeling. 

One could be surprised, shocked, Happy, excited, disappointed, Overwhelmed etc. 

So it was for me, In the very first moment, I was surprised when I arrived at the new airport of Siem reap which looks like a run way. The very next moment, I am outside the gates and I feel so overwhelm. 

Yes, I was so overwhelmed when I see my friend Chan whom I met in my previous visit to Cambodia in 2012 was waiting to pick me up at the airport. 

NOSTALGIC FROM MY WINDOW :)

Neither the views nor the weather is new. It's simply the nostalgia.

I have seen these views in many weathers. I have seen the road, the river, the balconies, the monasteries, the trees etc. I have seen them all with the sun, with the winds and with the clouds. I had lived here many beautiful memories.Yet I want to see them again. I wanted to feel the freshness and cherish those beautiful times. I wanted smile.

Good times are the best and the moment you think of them, you simply smile.

VIEWS FROM MY HOTEL :)

It is 11 AM and yet feels like 6 AM as its the clouds colouring the sky.
I had some good sleep and yet need some more. But I have so much more to work. I have finish a lot before I hit Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I slide the window and still love these views with the dark clouds because there is so much more to these views. The place, the hotel Mango Lagoon Place and this room with views is not new.

There is so much more to these breath taking views.

7 ELEVEN NOSTALGIA !

So my room was all set and I went down to bring some to drink and some snacks to munch. It was 4:30 am. Where could I go to buy water? Which shop would be open now?

Its 7Eleven. It is one of the biggest international retail chain in 17 countries around the world to sell some of the basic needs to customers.

There is one 7Eleven right next to the Mango Lagoon Place. So I just stepped in and there comes the sound; Tinnnngggg Tinnnn. The stores all over have automated sliding doors and the moment you step near by the door it makes the noise. Its a sound which rings many memories in seconds. It reminds the belongingness you have which this retail chain. The thousand times you must have heard this sound. It leaves you in a state of nostalgia. The good old memories.

In the whole one day of my stay in Thailand, I must have stepped in to many of these 7Elevens while I ran for my errands. Great feeling and waiting to go back to one of them again.

Tinnngggg Tinnnnn!

HOTEL HOTEL :)

Every time I fly somewhere other than Thailand in South east Asia, I tend to break up my journey either in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia or Bangkok, Thailand.

So this time in Thailand, I had one whole day to run all my errands before starting my work in Cambodia. But the point is not my errands. I do not even want to talk about errands.

I want to talk about my hotel. Every time I am in Bangkok, I stay in this hotel called Mango Lagoon Place. It is a well equipped property with restaurant and bar. It has rooms for everyone.

I always ask for a small room in the terrace floor for good views. If at the terrace floor you can still see a tiny bit of the Chao Phraya river and the Monasteries in the Kao San Road.

So arrived in the hotel at 4 AM and it was already pre booked for me. I like the room and the hot shower in this hotel. After which I organise my clothes, shoes etc. Every time I am here I organise things in the hotel like its my room in my house.

I play it like a game. A sweet game called HOTEL HOTEL :)

HERE I GO AGAIN!! ANOTHER MARATHON!!

Every time I have fly out of my hometown to some international destination, its the same story.
Its always a combination of flights, trains and taxis.

This time it was to Cambodia. Forget my hometown, Cambodia does not have any direct flights to any of the metros in India.

So I took a train from my hometown Bhubaneswar to Howrah -> then a ferry to cross the river and reach Esplanade in Calcutta -> then took a taxi to Netaji Bose International airport -> then I took a flight to Bangkok -> a taxi to my hotel -> flight to Siem Reap international airport.

But its all worth it once I am in Siem Reap.

MY SNORKELLING EXPERIENCE.

In my last previous post, I shared how I made it into the blue. After finishing the post, I thought of sharing my snorkelling experience in details.

It was the May of 2012 and I was with four friends Jorge, Sachin and Awie in Perhentian Islands, Malaysia for spending some quality time. It was lovely weather and we were walking by the beach. A guy at the beach was shouting for snorkelling and diving lessons. He insisted that he would make us the best package.

Jorge and Awie had already snorkelled there before and they challenged me and Sachin. I jumped into  a boat with them and ended up in the middle of the sea to explore the beauty of it. I was there and my heart was beating very fast. The fearless child in me, who always wanted to see whats inside the sea,  had vanished. Awie jumped into the water like a fish that has to be there. Jorge followed and was encouraging us to join. Sachin had brought himself a life jacket to snorkel and in few minutes he jumped into the water. That very moment, I felt I have taken the biggest risk of my life. Why did I not bring a jacket too.

I have a phobia from deep water. I feel someone always try to pull me down.  I am not a good swimmer either.

But, then I gathered courage and jumped into the sea. In no time, I got very restless. I was sinking. All my swimming skills was gone. I would hardly see inside the water. I was just paddling my feet to keep my head out of the water. Many times I breathed in the sea water into my mouth and nose. I made many reasons to return back to the boat.

My friends really helped. They calmed me. Jorge told me its my first time. I must keep calm and I shall be fine. Awie taught me some tricks to lighten myself.

 Then something told me its now or never. Keep calm. It took me sometime and with help of my friends, I was there to see for myself a whole new horizon. A whole new world. It was like watching National geographic and Discovery channel live. I saw many fishes right in front of my eyes. Many beautiful corals. We went to a turtle point where Jorge and I were lucky to spot a turtle.

Every thing out there is full of colours and made my experience very beautiful.

There is a famous saying my native in Odiya language, "Nije na gale Swarga dekhiparibani".
It conveys to see the heaven, one has to travel himself.
So true!! I witnessed heaven.

MY FIRST TIME # 7 : SNORKELING

May, 2012

The man has desires. The desire list has no end. Every time we do something, immediately our mind ticks to do ten other things. Time and again in my daily life I am tickled to try new things. Every time I want to do this and that.

So the hunger to experience has no end. For an instance I have travelled 32 countries but, I want to go 18 more to make it 50 and sometimes I am greedy to say that I want to travel in 100 countries. If I could, I would not say no to pilot a flight. Then I come here to share as my first time # ** .

Similarly, when I was a child, I used to go to the beach with my parents. I would not wait for their permission. I would get down the car and immediately run towards the sea. I always wanted to know where it ends. What is after when the sea ends. Is there is an end at all. What is beneath the water of the sea. So, for the answer to my vast question bank, I would run towards the sea and sometimes even fast enough to touch the waves. I was a stupid and would always trouble my folks.

My mom would be always scared and dad would try to answer my questions very patiently.
I: what's after the sea?
Dad: Its land again.
I: whats is in the sea?
Dad: Plants and animals. Its a huge world of living organism.
I: Is it a different world than us ?
Dad: No we join together and make one world.
I: How do you know that there is another land after this vast sea?  How do you know about the animals and plants inside the sea?
Dad: We know because, science tells us. We have studied in school. When you grow up you will study too.
I: Have you seen it for yourself?
Dad: Yes, somethings.
I: Then dad please let me go inside. I will come back. Please only for 10 mins.
Dad: No, not now. When you grow up, you will know.

Yes, I was very stupid.
I would cry and dad used to hold me tight. He always told me that I know there is land after this sea and he is sure there are definitely crazy children out there who think like me. One has to wait for the right time to know all these.

Listening to my dad paid off. On one of days in the month of May, I was lucky. I was in company of my very best friends at Perhentian Islands, Malaysia. They were Awie from Malaysia, Sachin from India and Jorge from Portugal. We were there for two nights to lead an island life and celebrate the birth day of our friend Awie.  One of the afternoon the weather was very good to snorkel. One of my long time wish came true.

In the beginning I was very scared and in the end I was snorkelling like an expert. It was my first time and was one of the best experiences of my life.

So, here one of the very old saying turns true,"The more we get, the more we desire".
However the positive of the above saying is that, there will be more of the first time experiences in my life :)

PORTUGAL DAY!

Its 10th of June is celebrated as the day of Portugal.

It is called Dia de Portugal i.e national day of Portugal. The date commemorates the death of national icon of Portugal, Luis de Camoes on 10th of June, 1580

So here are the two pictures which appealed me a lot while I was reading about this day. This post might not be very appealing as I don't know how much the readers would feel for the iconic poet of Portugal. But for me this is my love and respect for my favourite country Portugal.