Paris Trip

I had a good trip to Paris during the Christmas holidays this year with my wife and a couple friend of mine. All four of us spent 3 nights and 4 days in the city of lights.

Day 1: ICE from Frankfurt to Paris. The superfast train covers the distance of more than 600 kms in 3 hrs and 45 mins. Paris is not as tourist friendly as some other European cities. One needs to wait in a busy queue to get a feeling of the transport system and required tickets. Also unlike Germany the metro system is quite cubersome and crowded. Each time you want to enter the station, you need to punch your ticket which is not a smooth process especially for beginners. Paris offers a 1,2,3,5 days pass to tourists to explore the city. However, if you are planning to spend most of your time in the main city, I would recommend that you dont buy any day pass. Instead buy a book of 10 or more coupons. It costs much less than a day ticket even if you make 5-6 trips a day.
The first day, we spent some time getting ourselves acuianted with the city. We visited the Louvre gardens and had a walk upto the Corcorde square. We also walked to Champs Elysee and to Arc de Truimph. Then after a lunch and a quick nap, we were charged up for Eiffel tower in the evening. Luckily the queue was not long and the weather permitted us to visit the top floor of Eiffel.

Day 2: We started with Notre dame which was very close to our hotel. The hotels are very costly and hardly value for money. A night stay will easily cost you 60 Euros for a double bed room with shower. But the room would be as clumsy as the hotel. Anyways, there are a lot of websites offering cheap hotels. If you are lucky, you will get a cheap and a value for your money room. Also dont expect the Parisians to be very hospitable. Anyways, after visiting Notre dame, we visited Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge. Again we came back to our hotel for lunch and a nap. Our evening was very interesting with a river cruise.

Day 3: Disney Land. We were lucky that we got a contact of a desi sweeper in Disney land and he could arrange tickets for us at half price. Dont forget to make maximum use of your fast pass in Disney land and dont make a fool of yourself buying a 1 day - 2 parks ticket. Disney land is big enough to keep you busy throughout the day and you will never have enough time to visit the Walt Disney studios.

Day 4: Louvre museum. Get an audio guide for 6 Euros. Do a tour of the most famous exhibits like the Mona Lisa using this audio guide. The history is interesting. Dont try to cover the whole Louvre museum in 1 day. You wont be able to do that. Instead of that choose a floor and go through the exhibits at your own pace seeking the help of the audio guide wherever possible.

Our snaps can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pratik.gala/Paris23122008To28122008?authkey=FOlqG18xXWU#

Hera Pheri skit

Bhavini, Parth, Abhishek, Sadiq, Krishna and me performed the hilarious skit based on the movie Hera Pheri on 6th Dec 2008 at the TCS annual function.

Star cast:
Babu rao - Pratik
Raju - Parth
Shyam - Abhishek
Anuradha - Bhavini
Manager - Krishna
DeviPrasad and mavali - Sadiq

It was a super-duper hit and the audience laughed their hearts out. We enjoyed it as well. If you want to enjoy it too, check the video at
http://www.zshare.net/video/523776543bd79f03/

GiveIndia

Your finger can wipe away tears; help someone stand on his own two feet; let little minds bloom in school; and make a big difference. Please use it to choose the cause you want to support and the NGO you want to work with. Donate NOW! Children Elderly Education Disabled Employment Women Health Human Rights Youth is a non profit organization that brings together NGOs in India and provides a transparent, easy and instant medium to donate. With the GiveIndia Assurance you will know (in 8 months) about the person who benefitted from your kindness.

TCS, other IT cos to slash hikes

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Software/TCS_other_IT_cos_to_slash_hikes/articleshow/3725953.cms

Roedelheim, Frankfurt

This Frankfurt suburb is my home. I have been here for 3 years and there may be only few suburbs which offer the luxuries as this one. All the things one need exist in this area and this brings the benefit that you dont have to travel too much which is especially an advantage in winter.

There are 5 grocery stores in Roedelheim; Penny, Lidl, Tengelmaan, Rewe and City Tegut. So a wide variety of stuff to choose from. Roedelheim has a post office and a police station. Dresdner bank, Frankfurter sparkasse and Deutsche bank have their branches here. It also hosts many photo studios, casinos and other small shops like NKD the cloth store.

There are also many good restaurants here offering many tasty bytes. My favourite is the Italian restaurant called Rusticalle. It offers wide range of pastas and pizzas. I would recommend to try the pizza Verdura here.

There is also an Indian restaurant called Chilly, a chinese resturant known as Sunrise and many Turkish doner eateries.

Also many companies have their offices here. Neue Boerse is very close. Other office areas like Eschborn Süd is just one stop from here. There are 2 gyms in Roedelheim, one exclusively for ladies.

There are two parks here which is a heaven for joggers and cyclists. Summer evenings are very colorful here.

A perfect place to own a home. Three cheers for Rödelheimers!

Indian Idol 4

The 4th season of Indian Idol is as entertaining and as melodious as the previous 3. The Gala round is all set to begin but this week episodes were halted by production strike.

My favourites are Priyanka Negi, Thosha and Rajdeep.

Dostana movie

This gay comic flick is something new in Bollywood and it can't come from a better producer - Karan Johar. Star cast is huge, not heard the music yet. But Priyanka chopra rocks! Miami is the setting for Dostana.

Recall the 'Kantaben' episode in Karan Johar's Kal Ho Naa Ho. The episode is alive even today, in skits, on stage, amongst friends. That was a mere trailer. Picture abhi baaki hain.

The first half is comic but the second half is very difficult to digest... Music is the worst of the KJ series.. But this is the first of its type in Bollywood..