No beer tonight

I'm a good restaurant for a change to have dinner so a cold bottle or two of Corona or Kingfisher would've been nice.

However there is an election on Sunday so the ruling party apparently wants to make 100% people remember who they have to vote and has banned all alcohol sales for the entire weekend.

What a joke, really, but didn't seem to be negotiable with the usual incentive even though I don't even have a vote.

Target practice

Every outdoor driving range I've been to has a machine driven around the grounds to collect the balls. In India labour is so cheap that buying such a machine apparently doesn't make a good business case.

The alternative is to hire men with buckets and for safety equip them with umbrellas. It must be over 40C where they're standing so I hope they also get water now and again.

It was pretty obvious that some of the Koreans practicing there were aiming at the ball collectors. I will admit to having tried to hit the collector machine once or twice for fun, but actually hitting one of these guys would just be so wrong.

Good morning Bangalore

First morning as a resident sounds like the previous ones; once the stray dogs stop howling the car horns take over. Despite traffic being light on a Saturday morning the noise is incredible.

I can't wait to move into our rental house, hopefully some time next week.

On a completely different note, I haven't been too happy with the layout of the Shozu Blogger posts. Hope these settings produce results that are easier on the eyes...

Registration

Once you arrive to be an Indian resident, you need to register in the commissioners office. Didn't take pictures inside, but it's a scene from Terry Guilliams Brazil.

Outside in the heat there's priority queue, with the people coming alone in the bottom rung and the others very unofficially ranked by the merits of their handler.

Some animals truly are more equal than others as I was in and out of there in no time...

Tranquility bay

A cozy corner for 2 in Leela Palace Hotel, Bangalore. Sitting by the window overlooking the fantastic garden it's easy to forget the noisy and dirty Airport Rd neighborhood the hotel is in.

The flipside of all this luxury is evident in the pricing. Expect to pay more than 10x the going city level for meals, laundry, etc.

Record in the making

A huge crowd has gathered around a TV set in the office park lobby to witness Sachin Tendulkar become the 1st player to hit 200... runs in one-day international cricket.

I must confess I know absolutely nothing of the sport, but it must've been a special achievement as the whole office felt electric.

Geek goose bumps.

Time to not fly through Delhi

India is a hot place most of the time, but winter in the north can get bitterly cold.
In Delhi the cold January weather translates to a thick layer of fog that seems to effectively block all air travel. This doesn't seem to be reflected in any airline schedules, tho.
In the future I'll make sure I'm connecting elsewhere come new year.

Spicy flower

I've been scratching my already bald about how on earth can I update the blog with my mobile. I only now decided to try Shozu. Test dummy picture is a fiery flower arrangement from Park Hotel, Bangalore.

Indian Idols

Indian Idols
Originally uploaded by tormave.

9. tammikuuta 2010 6:39:51 If you put an ad in the paper in Finland to search for senior Java programmers, you don't have to be prepared for a tidal wave of applicants even in this economy. Nokia in Bangalore put a half-page ad in Times of India and 5 000 people arrived over two days for interviews. In Finland the only try-out that would gather such a crowd would be for the Pop Idol contest and the chance to become a famous recording artist.

New blog phase: Expat in Bangalore, India

New blog phase: Expat in Bangalore, India
Originally uploaded by tormave.

5. tammikuuta 2010 9:55:31 Next 2 years this blog will mostly be about Southern India and how it feels for a middle-aged North European guy to live there with the family. I think this picture is the perfect starting point. India has a very optimistic vibe to everything. Given how traffic is in Bangalore, by no means is one safe just by wearing a helmet (especially the helmets they do wear, but more on that later). To be really safe you shouldn't be on the road or anywhere near it. On the other hand for me, the safety of my family is the most important thing during the next 2 or so years. Maybe we should just wear helmets...