Isloated in Suburban India

I just got back from a business trip to India where my company was taking part as an exhibitor/speaker at Sun Tech Days in Hyderabad. The hotel that I stayed in was the Novotel Hyderabad which caters to overseas guests attending any events at the convention centre.



The staff lived up to their four-star standard and went as far as to call me on the evening of the first day as I had left the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the whole day, concerned that I may have been sick and going to the extent of offering to send in a doctor to see me.



Foodwise, my colleague and I ate mostly at the hotel as there were no other food places within walking distance around the hotel. Breakfast was a buffet of international spread but I went mainly for the chapathis, naans, tosais and vadas topped with an assortment of curries and chutneys. Other meals were either catered for during event days or we ate in as my colleague discovered a pizza corner delivery service. Pizza Corner's spread included conizzas (ice cream cones made from pizza dough containing pizza filling), sandwiches and baked pastas kept us sustained as hotel food was pricey. However, the hotel's La Cantina's Mexican restaurant served really good food and substantial servings.



On the first day we tried walking out of the hotel grounds in search of alternative eating choices but found none. But we did find some lovely photo opportunities in the surrounding area. For our last day we managed to squeeze in some time to make a short trip down to a handicraft market before heading to the airport for the trip home.



Though it was a business trip for both my colleague and I we were in for a pleasant treat on the last night of our stay. The Novotel Hyderabad is a popular venue for weddings and we were invited by the father of the bride to join in the celebrations when he saw us taking photos of the bridesmaids and stage decor from the perimeter.

So yeah, it was definitely a blast as it was my first time speaking at such an event and a brief culinary and cultural experience. Definitely not the full experience of India for which I would have needed to travel far south to the city to see the real India but still lovely!

2009 and beyond...

Right, so I've been very guilty of neglecting this blog but a lot has happened last year up to now. For one thing, I've started a Deviant Art page where my cosplay and other photos now are. Speaking of cosplay, I've had the opportunity to work with several groups for some shoots and the pix are all there at  Deviant Art .

I managed to take some time off from work to go to Vietnam; spent a week touring Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay. Some of my pix from the trip can be found here:

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In addition, the laptop that I was using for 2 years since I enrolled in post-grad studies decided to flatline on me. With my Dell warranty expired I decided to move to a desktop for my photo processing. Who would have thought that I'm now spending more time on:

1. Fallout 3
2. Unreal Tournament 3
3. Quake Wars

Yup, so that's what's been happening up till now. Btw, if you did catch "The Day the Earth Stood Still" I'm sure you'll agree that the scene where Keanu Reeves spoke Mandarin was pretty hilarious though he did a decent job...