Kambakht critics...

I just love it when the critics thrash down a movie left right and centre. This makes the expectation level rock bottom. This is what happened with Kambakht Ishq as well. As usual, this Akshay flick was hyped up tremendously. For the first time an Indian movie was show casing Stallone in a special appearance and then there was Denise Richards (no matter if 99.9999% of India didn't know who the heck she was in the first place). I, for one didn't have much expectations from this movie and expected it to flop miserably. My expectations seemed spot on with the kind of reviews the movie got.

One evening, my brother and I were just in a frame of mind to go for 'any' movie and ended up blocking seats for Kambakht Ishq at Inox. I was in two minds while leaving home as well thinking why are we going for a miserable flop. Anyways, the urge to see a movie was too great to change the plans. Firstly, I have to mention that I was very impressed with Inox, Hyderabad. The auditorium had a very rich feel to it, very unlike any other. The first frame set the tone for the movie with a spat between Akshay and Kareena. The entire (almost) movie has this as the central theme, unlike all movies when the central characters are falling for each other. There is an abundant dose of comedy throughout the movie. Some scenes are simply hillarious. Special mention for the best scene where Akshay keeps hearing the mantra in the background. It is outrageously funny. Of the 2 hours and 15 mins humour takes up about 1 hour and 45 mins. I don't care for the other 30 mins as I've already had more than my money's worth.

Tragically the makers were too obsessed in trying to get Stallone and Denise to have a part in the movie, which was totally unnecessary. This part of the movie turns out to be the negative (so much for the hype). The other negative is the music, which badly dissappoints. While all the central actors play there part, the crown should go to the script writer for the comedy which makes this movie a winner. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and wouldn't mind it a second time as well ! 7.5/10 for this one. Go for it.

The Hyderabad Auto Show

The first edition of the Hyderabad Auto Show was conducted in the Hyderabad International Convention Centre from the 17th.thru the 19th.of July. It was a perfect time for me as I am on the lookout to buy my car. Accompanied by my wife I went to attend the auto show on Saturday early evening to avoid the traffic later in the day.

We had a very poor first impression of the organisational abilities of the organisers. The cars were initially diverted out of the main gate suggesting that the parking inside the venue was full. I then parked my car about 1/2 a kilometre away. We then walked up to the gate and saw that cars were being allowed inside ! This started the irritation. I then walked back to the car and drove into the venue. We were then asked to park in a ground a little away from the actual hall and waited for a shuttle to take us in. There were no signs and everything was haywire. The shuttle drove thru a couple of narrow lanes with cars parked on the sides. We were asked to get off a little away from the gate and walk up. We then joined in a line to get in. It was so chaotic that people just got in the 'line' from just about anywhere. There were then no proper signs as to where to buy the entry ticket.

Inside the hall, the ambiance was much better, although crowded. What can one do....India has a population of 1.2 billion people. We strolled around and went thru the details of a couple of cars that we were interested in. People were seen taking pics with almost all posh cars. One of the big stars was the 'nano' which was thankfully (for the dealers) kept at a podium so as to not allow anyone inside, otherwise by the end of the show it would have been in pieces with the number of people trying to get a peek. The clear two competitors were Maruti and Hyundai with the biggest displays. After an hour in the hall we were done and headed out. The shuttle made us wait for a very long time and then took us back to the car park.

The lack of proper infrastructure to organise a big convention or show in Hyderabad is obvious. We need to have world class facilities to conduct a show in a manner which is thoroughly professional and acclaimed by the exhibitors and visitors.

RISK - the third !!

I've fresh news just off the press from Hyderabad. It is known from reliable sources that RISK was played yet again by the same (more or less) bunch of lunatics at a new venue - Somajiguda. After ruining the peace of the residents of Begumpet, this bunch had gone berserk at Somajiguda late Saturday night causing a sleepless night to the residents of that area.

Inside sources say this time the bunch comprised of ten hooligans including two children. One child was a mix of Hrithik and Himesh. The game began around 10-30 and went on until 1-30 in the night. This time there were 5 teams which made all the negotiations, back stabbing, screeching all the more exciting and loud. While it is rumoured that Team Malay (almost) conquered the world by the end of the saga, the true winners were Team Prasan (technically) as they played the game in its true sence (taking RISKS), besides achieving the feat of conquering the United States, the largest economy in the world. At one stage, all 5 teams met at the UN and mutually agreed to merge the teams into two in order to come to a conclusion as the game was pretty much heading no where. There was severe criticism on Team Malay for playing with ONE dice in spite of having about 500 armies on board and having to conquer only a handful of territories. This was in itself a defeat. Finally, the Golden Warrior was the sole surviving army in the lands of Alaska in the combined forces against the oppressive and barbaric Team Malay. After repeated efforts as they were not able to overcome the might of the Golden Warrior, the barbarians raised the white flag and called for an end to the war.

By the end, the lunatics had consumed all the water at the venue as they ended up with severe sour throats. The press is all over the place trying to get some info on where and when the next big WAR would take place as there are strong rumours that there would be another very soon, before one of the loonies leaves for the real world's United States.

Rain rain come again.....I want my car to be clean again !

Gone are the days when there was domestic help always at hand. Domestic help in all fields are tougher to get today than a marketing executive or a software programmer. This is the classic case of demand outstripping supply by a huge margin. If domestic help was a stock I'd buy it all and see my profits soar.

I've had a beautiful car since a couple of years now and always had a car cleaner to keep it clean. Over the last year I've changed 4 or 5 cleaners, only one of whom I removed, the rest resigned....without any notice period (so much for professionalism). I wonder if this bunch had some sort of a convention they attend periodically, as they all had the same damned attitude. I would think twice or more to do anything that my boss wouldn't like and worry about my income all the time. However, these guys have no such worries. They don't turn up a few days every now and then and when we 'dare' cut their salaries for the days they didn't show up, they threaten to quit ! I paid them well.....well above what the normal rate in the market was. This was to ensure that my car was cleaned from within as well (as most of them only cleaned from the outside). All of them would initially agree but it would be a matter of time before they all went back to cleaning from the outside and leaving. The last guy quit because I spoke to him regarding both the above problems. I'm sure he would have found some other vehicle to clean almost immediately however I am yet to find another cleaner.

My poor car is bearing the brunt of this. I feel so sorry for the car when I see its beautiful shiny exterior all dusty and dirty. I feel sorry for the spots and mud inside. I try to clean it once a week but in a pollution filled city that ain't enough. I was happy with the rain recently helping me with the cleaning on the exterior but sadly rains have also dried up this season which makes my work all the more difficult.

Pranabda screws the Big B !

Hold on....the title doesn't have anything to do with Mr.Bachchan.

A few days after being sworn in as the new Finance minister every news channel and all market participants had hyped up the next budget as the biggest ever. CNBC, my favourite channel, called it the Big B (B obviously standing for Budget). For those who remember, the markets rose 17 odd % the day they opened after the Congress Govt.came to power. This was obviously due to the over confidence that all India's problems would be solved very soon. Expectations with the first budget were sky high. Every possible good was already priced into the stock prices. It needed a budget tad below expectations to prick the inflated balloon and that's exactly what Pranabda delivered.

Within a short time into the budget speech the markets started tanking and by the end of the day had shed about 6% or so falling 870 points, going from near 15000 levels to near 14000 all in the span of 1 day ! What did Pranab Mukherji do so wrong? Well....he didn't do much and that was what was wrong. All the expectations came crashing down and realisation dawned. All of a sudden the gung ho sentiment has vanished and pessimism has set in.

I had posted on valuation here during the elections and had indicated the fair value for the Sensex to be 12450. However, the fundamentals have certainly changed over the last month due to the formation of a stable Govt.at the centre. I do expect reforms to kick in, although more gradually. I do expect corporate earnings to improve thereby giving it a premium valuation as well. This means a higher PE multiple (remember 1PEG). Higher the earnings higher the multiple. Speaking in numbers it would work out like this (approximately) - As per http://www.bseindia.com/ the current Sensex EPS is 762 and the Sensex trades at a PE multiple of 18. This multiple seems high with earnings still not growing at 18 times. Therefore a fair multiple would be 16 giving the Sensex a fair valuation of 12192. However, given that the earnings are expected to rise between 15%-20% in the future the Sensex FY10 EPS should be between 875-915. Considering this the Sensex should trade between 13145-18288 by the end of March 2010. If things work out good and the steps taken by the Govt.does help accelerate growth we will end up closer to the higher end. That would certainly be terrific given where we are presently.

Under promise over delivery - New York (the movie)

Its all about expectations....I guess. In more n more instances I have seen the impact of expectations on the likability of a movie. New York had a lot of pre-release hype around it, especially it being the first good starer to release after the long stand off between producers and multiplexes. I for one was eager to see the movie and had built in a lot of expectations. I have this habit of looking thru the review on www.rediff.com on the day of the release to know what to expect. To my surprise rediff tore the movie down. My expectations came crashing down as well. I went ahead to see the movie nevertheless on Sunday evening.

PVR was the venue. I have never quite liked this theatre in Hyderabad coz of many issues which we can discuss later. Anyway, the first few scenes of the movie went by nicely. I was waiting for the movie to take the wrong direction was become horrible. However, my wait continued and continued but this flick didn't give me a dull moment. The quick transformation from the carefree college life to the bad bad world of terrorism post 9-11 was wonderfully depicted. The storyline was well paced. John, Neil and Katrina bring loads of freshness and have acted well. Katrina was outstanding towards the end. Irrfan (thats how his name is spelt) was the usual and seemed to have a Slumdog hangover.

The movie did have its share of negatives though. The diction of Neil and Katrina was not fluent. The difficulty in their Hindi was evident. The music was average except for 'Junoon' which was good. The story was made to seem like a Hollywood thriller however lacked pace. It should have been more fast paced and edge of the seat.

As I said, I went in the theatre with low expectations and came out liking the movie. I would give a 6.5/10 for this above average movie.

A politician with a vision - Kapil Sibal

Now, that's my kind of a minister - who has a vision, who wants a change and who will implement change !

The new HRD minister (what a welcome change from Pranab da) is a man of action and pleasantly in a hurry. The series of sweeping education reforms being suggested by Mr.Kapil Sibal is filled with promise and excitement. The reforms like making 10th.boards optional, having a single national board, free elementary education for all,etc.are great steps for our country.

Unfortunately, there is opposition for this as well. Not surprisingly, the opposition is mainly from the Left parties - who else. Only thing this time round they can't hold the Govt.ransom :) I truly hope that Mr.Sibal is able to implement these reforms successfully. He surely has tread on the right path. Great going minister !

Article in Emirates' Business 24x7, Dubai

The above article had appeared in the business daily of one of the popular news papers in Dubai, UAE during the Big 5 show in Dubai last November.


I feel proud to have my pic on such a popular news paper, especially on the business pages. I always wanted to share it with all of you but somehow kept slipping my mind.

India out of the T20 World Cup :(

I am in a state of shock. I can't believe India, the Defending Champions are out of the world cup without even reaching the semis. I know there are people out there saying "its a sport", "it happens", "you can't expect them to win always", etc etc. However, I don't think its that simple. We Indians are passionate about cricket and do have expectations with our Demi-Gods. We give them the adulation when they deservedly win and have the right to give them the brickbats when they lose as well, especially in this manner.

For starters, I would rest the blame on Mahender Singh Dhoni. I do not agree with the camp that feel otherwise. MSD has committed blunders as a captain all thru the tourney. He himself wasn't a patch of what he was as a hard hitting, much feared batsmen. We saw him nudge and push the ball instead of belting it out of the stadiums like in his glorious past. The blame however, cannot be thrust only on MSD as cricket is a team game and the other team members have to share the blame equally. I would absolve Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma from the blame as they were probably the only players who stood out and showed some level of aggression. The team simply lacked the hunger and aggression which all players displayed during the highly paying IPL.


I would certainly like to see MSD lose his captaincy, not as a punishment but more in the interest of the team. I would like to see the free flowing strokes of MSD. I do think the burden of captaincy is playing on his batting. This has happened in the past with the great Sachin Tendulkar. Once he didn't have the burden of captaincy he revived his batting once again. This is what is needed for the men in (dark) blue too. The most effective replacement for MSD would have been Yuvraj. However, as the same would probably happen to the wonderful stroke play of Yuvraj in the future, I think we should opt for different captains for the different formats of the game - Rahul Dravid for tests, Sachin for one dayers and Bhajji for T20s. Radical thought...but worth a try.

Rain rain come again........

The monsoons are setting in and the weather is getting cooler. Its always a pleasure to receive the first monsoon rains. Its a huge relief from the sweltering summer heat that, in Hyderabad lasts for a good 4 months.

For the last several years I have seen the rains come and go and have always wanted to just go out and get drenched and enjoy nature in its purest form. For some reason I never quite ventured out in the rain once I started working. It was as if I had become too old to do so. However, this time it was not to be. The first rain that we had was a few days back and I was watering the few plants that we have when it started to pour. I looked and looked and then couldn't resist the temptation. I ran down the fleet of stairs; got on the roads and simply looked up to the skies and enjoyed every drop that came down on me. I got completed drenched and loved it thoroughly.

Looking at the way I was enjoying the rains my younger brother, Karan joined me. After a bit, we went under the water fall of sorts coming out of my neighbours' pipe, which was used to remove excess water from the terrace. It was a terrific experience. As if that was not enough, we went for a walk to a nearby ice cream shop and treated ourselves to the delicious Belgian Dark Chocolate ice cream.

I am surely going to repeat this experience a few more times in this season.

GO GET THEM CHAMPS !!

The T20 World Cup is here and expectations from the inaugural T20 world cup champions, Team India is sky high. India has a terrific team loaded with match winners. The batting order has fantastic depth, 7 of the possible playing 11 could bowl. A team that boasts of some of the tallest names in the business - For starters, there is Mr.Cool, MSD who is quickly getting the tag of India's finest captain. We have the finest opening batsmen pair of Gautam Gambhir and the dangerous Sehwag. Then there is Yuvraj Singh. Who can forget his heroics of 6 6's in an over in the last world cup. IPL's stunner, Rohit Sharma has already displayed a sample of what he has in store for us in the practice match vs.Pakistan. Then there is Pathan all-rounder brothers Yusuf and Irfan. Raina, Bhajji, RP & Ishant are likely to be among the playing 11. This makes for a killer combination.

Lets get going guys......T20 WORLD CUP 2009 belongs to INDIA !!

Lost at work.....

10 years back around this time I had to take a call on whether to pursue my MBA or take up a job. It was a very tough decision. On the one hand was an admission from a few very good universities and on the other was a ready job offer in what seemed an interesting line. After a lot of deliberations with all concerned I went ahead with the job. The thought behind that decision was that even if I didn't like the job I could always get the work experience and get back to college for an MBA later. I regret that decision of mine to this day and will continue to do so.

I kept working in that company in spite of not liking the job after a few months. The only other thing that could make one continue to work in a company if there is no job satisfaction was money. Sadly, in my case I couldn't have got a worse pay. I stayed on with the lure of bright future prospects. These 'prospects' were a great career in the US with a large organisation. It sure was a possibility, when I started. However, as time went by I knew that my employers(distant relatives) didn't have any intention to send me abroad. My family was very supportive and talked to my employers. Unfortunately, the wily employers tricked my parents into believing that they had big plans for me but need time.

Months went by and turned into a year and a half of 'training'. That's when I decided that I had had enough. I mustered courage and informed my parents that I will come back and immediately informed my employers and left. That brought about a new dimension to my life. Back to Hyderabad from Chennai, I started looking for jobs and finally landed one at Deloitte. A world apart from the company I worked for. I enjoyed working with Deloitte. Along the way I also did some trading in my field of experience which led me to a very good company which I work for today.

I keep pondering over that decision I took 10 years back and keep regretting not having done my MBA. I do believe I would have been far better off with an MBA under by belt. Far more satisfied at least. I do believe an MBA gives the right tools to hone one's skills and extracts the best from within. My work experience over the years has given me satisfaction and money in bouts but has engulfed my life in such a way that I have never been able to break free and go pursue my dream, my MBA.

IPL 2009 Champions - Deccan Chargers !

The 37 day festival has come to an end. The Indian Premier League 2009 has a new CHAMPION ! The Deccan Chargers have toppled the rest in the league to be deservedly crowned the CHAMPIONS OF THE IPL 2009 !

The worst performing team of 2008 had something to prove and they did it in style. What a comeback. The captain of the Chargers, Adam Gilchrist, was named 'player of the tournament'. This guy is magic. When he gets going the opposition literally gets going. The match between Deccan Chargers and the hot favourite Delhi Daredevils will never be forgotten by not only Charger fans but also every single person who has watched it. It will never be forgotten because of one reason...one man....ADAM GILCHRIST ! He went berserk. He blasted 85 from about 35 balls and ensured the Chargers were thru to the finals. Ravi Shastri, in the presentation speech said Hurricane Gilchrist just blew over the ground and took everything away from the Daredevils.

Like most matches in the league, the finals was filled with excitement and went down to the last ball. This season saw many nail biting finishes. Many finishes that went the Charges way was thanks to ROHIT SHARMA. He had a way to get 20 odd runs in the final over and hit the winning runs in the last ball. Howz that for excitement. What a player. Among other players RP Singh stood out for his spot on bowling and being the proud owner of the 'Purple Cap'. Gibbs gave a few good knocks but lacked the aggression in most matches. Symmo blazed in a couple of matches and gave a little lift in a few more. Dwyne Smith, Vaas, Ryan Harris, did their bit. The area where we really lacked was the rest of the team comprising local Andhra players. Unlike other teams there was no local player worth mentioning in our team. Our team was basically a 6 member squad. We've got to come up with better quality players for 2010 to ensure we retain our # 1 position.

Finally, a big cheers to the IPL CHAMPIONS - DECCAN CHARGERS !

Aakasamantha - beauty in simplicity !

I have been a part of the audience for mostly Hindi flicks. Only once in a way when I've heard of a movie being very good, do I go watch a Telugu movie. I don't think I have ever watched a bad Telugu movie. Aakasamantha has ensured that this record is maintained. I am glad I watched this beautiful movie.

For starters, I enjoy Prakash Raj. I have seen a few movies of his and his very presence is a draw for me as a viewer. The movie is set in a small hill station town. It is a journey of a father and his daughter from birth until her marriage. The movie revolves between these two characters and thankfully doesn't stray. The feelings, reactions and upbringing of a father has been aptly displayed. Comic moments are present all through. There are many scenes that are wonderful but the best among the best are the ones when Prakash Raj slaps the mother when he mistakenly thinks she dropped hot water on his daughter; when he requests his daughter's principal to ask a few questions to him during the interview because he prepared; the introduction of the Sardarji damaad and many more.

The movie moves at a nice pace and with a length of a little over 2 hours, it is just perfect. All actors provide good support to the main lead, Prakash Raj. It is because of him that this good movie turns into a beauty. The only negative that could be pointed out is the music. This movie transcends all ages and linguistic barriers and is a must watch by one and all.

I would rate it 8 out of 10.

A "hair" raising tale !

My brother, the famous blogger, Kamal - http://www.kamaldshah.com/ used to narrate a small incident to me and to several others sometime back. It goes like this.....

Sometime back his friends father visited his friend in the US. It was freezing cold and this gentleman decided to take a walk. While walking he happened to wipe the snow off his moustache and on doing so realised that one side of his moustache had come off ! Honestly......just came off his face. It was a real moustache but because of the cold it came off with a rub. So the next thing he did was rub the other side off as well !

I always laughed it off as it couldn't have been true.

I am reminded about this incident today as I encountered a similar incident myself in a more realistic manner. For those who had a look at my profile can see the kind of hair I had. However, I decided to cut it shorter. I informed the barber that I wanted a very short cut like a small layer. In a matter of seconds the guy took out the automatic cutter with a size 1 and ploughed thru my hair. No sooner did he start than I realised what on earth was happening. The b*****d nearly shaved off one side of my head. I kept looking into the mirror for a minute or so and gave him a mini piece of my mind. For those who know me well enough know that that barber got away with this very cheaply. I looked at my half bald head and dejectedly told the guy to complete ploughing the remaining field as well !

I feel very awkward when I see myself now. However, the hair style (or the lack of it) has met with a mixed response from those around. Many have liked it as well. As for me, I am waiting to have the small layer back. One things for sure, the next time I visit a barber he will have to give me a patient hearing before he gets to work on my hair.

Sell sell sell (for the time being)

The Indian markets are on fire again. The sensex has gained over 50% in a span of about 3 months. This rise has followed a disastrous year for equities of course. There are normally three factors that people track to buy or sell in the markets.

One is fundamental. This is the basics of the business....how a company's doing, are the sales rising/falling, are the profits rising/falling; how the sector is doing and in general how an economy is doing. The second reason is technical. This is more got to do with numbers than anything else. This basically considers different period moving averages. For example the 200 day average, 50 day average, etc. This is used mainly by traders. I have never understood how this works. But there are pundits who swear by this method and I'm sure this is something that cannot be totally ignored. The third category is the herd mentality. Market seems to be going up today so lets buy some scrips. The best example is the Reliance Power IPO. Everybody just had to apply as everyone else was. I too was enamoured by the idea of listing gains and got into the trap.

As for any product we have to also make an informed judgement while buying a stock. Unfortunately, there are no set parameters using which we can make that judgement. Each individual decides the value of a company and buys accordingly. There are a few simple terms commonly used like -

EPS - Short for earnings per share. This is the total profit earned by a company divided by the total number of shares. For example if a company earns Rs.1000 and the number of shares it has it 200 then the company has an EPS of Rs.5

PE - This is the ratio of the current market price to the earnings per share. If a company earns Rs.5 per share and is trading at Rs.100 then it has a PE ratio of 20 (100/5)

PEG - This is the ratio of PE to growth in earnings of the company. For example if a company earns Rs.4 in 2007, Rs.5 in 2008 the growth in profits is 25%. If the PE for such a company is 20 then it has a PEG of 0.8 (PE/Growth - 20/25)

The knowledgeable use these basics to value a company. Other things remaining constant a company generally is bought at PEG less than 1 and sold if PEG is more. However, this is a barometer using past figures in mind. Things could be different in future due to which many other factors that could affect a companies' performance has also to be considered.

As per http://www.bseindia.com/ the Sensex companies have an earning of about Rs.720 for FY(financial year) 08 and the index trades at about 16 PE. This means 16 times the combined earnings per share of Sensex companies. As per most brokerages the earnings of these companies would increase between about 10%-15% (best case) in FY09. This would bring the earnings to about Rs.790-830 per share. Going by the theory of 1PEG the fair value of the Sensex should be between 7900 to 12450. The Sensex has almost hit the upper end yesterday. Besides, the external factors also would play on sentiment. The elections are expected to present no clear winner. There is a good chance that the left parties and/or Mayawati's BSP would play a crucial role to form the next Government. This would certainly spell trouble. Uncertainty is something the markets don't like. Given this scenario I feel the markets are going to go down from here and based on the election results make the next move.

Hyderabad......Its Hot, literally !

For the handful of my elite readers I would like to apologize for not posting anything in a long time. Things have been extremely busy. Went for another trip - this time to Chicago for about two weeks. I have decided to give the travel postings a break as my blog is turning into a travel journal.

Well, coming back from the 5 odd degrees in Chicago to the 45 odd degrees in Hyderabad was as extreme as it gets. What a change this has been. This is what I had been experiencing for several of my trips. I talk like an American....no no, not the accent but about the weather. I can't stop complaining about the heat in India in general and Hyderabad in particular.

I remember during one of my flights back to India I landed in Mumbai from Frankfurt flying on Lufthansa. While off boarding I came a couple of feet from the legendary Sachin Tendulkar ! He was accompanied by his wife and a friend. While getting off the plane he commented - "This is called a WARM welcome".

The day after I got back I started to look for air conditioners for my living cum dining room. Contrary to normal homes, ours is the size of a football field. This would normally be a good thing. However, getting this 'football field' cool when the mercury hovers between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius is close to impossible. After a lot of comparing and fretting about budgets I finally decided to go in for an O General split AC. I heard a lot about this brand from several people and trusted their judgement. Although it is the most expensive among those that I saw, I went ahead with my purchase. Hope it lives up to its reputation.

My visit to Australia and New Zealand - IV

'Good luck Maite' said the immigration officer and welcomed me to Australia. Clear blue skies, lush green landscapes, spotlessly clean and beautiful beaches, fresh breeze, surfers, filled restaurants, families in the parks and people having a great time everywhere....Australia is all this and more.

On this trip of mine I visited Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane. I found each place to be beautiful but had time to spend only in Melbourne and Sydney. I might again be biased to these cities as I had time to explore only these but I must say that they were amazing. The whole atmosphere is so vibrant, so full of life. People here truly live life to the fullest. I enjoyed my walks at the harbours, the beaches and the bustling cities (the local lingo for down town) in Sydney and Melbourne. The few places that stand out were the Melbourne Docklands, Gold Coast's beach and coast line, the beaches in all the cities, the famous Harbour bridge and last but surely not the least the iconic Opera House in Sydney.



Have compiled a few pics from the above. Enjoy !

Melbourne Docklands

Fire show at Crown Plaza Hotel - Melbourne
This hotel also has a casino, multiplex, shopping complex, restaurants and a beautiful water front location. The fire show, although simple is excellent. This runs every evening on specific schedules.

......and as if that wasn't enough, I was in Melbourne a couple of days bafore the F1 race. This gave me the opportunity to see the sexiest of Ferraris just parked on the road by the line of eateries. Here's one of them -

One of Sydney's beautiful beaches -

I did some bird watching....literally !

A view of Sydney city from the Cruise -

Gold Coast's beautiful landscape and coast line -

The Iconic Harbour bridge and Opera House !

My visit to Australia and New Zealand - III

The next morning I woke up and was amazed at the beauty of this place. Auckland is a picturesque place with a lot of greenery and fresh air. What a change from the pollution in Hyderabad.

I took a small little tour in Auckland and visited the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere - Sky Tower ! That's where the Indian cricket team did the sky walk recently. Here's the pic of the structure from close and from a distance -

......and here are the pics from the top -

Auckland also has an amazing aquarium with unique variety of fish. Sample this -














These guys also replicated Antarctica and have migrated Penguins as well. Check this out for yourself -













After a long day I stopped by at 'Bolliwood' (yes, that's the way its spelt) Indian restaurant. The food was good and so was the ambiance. Besides, its named Bolliwood...what more incentive to go have a bite.








110 Ponsonby Road,
Ponsonby, Auckland
Tel - 376 6477
http://www.bolliwood.co.nz/



I built up expectations for my next stop - Christchurch. Although, it was a nice place as well but wasn't as beautiful as Auckland. I might be wrong on this one as I really didn't have any time to look around. With another day's work at Christchurch I left New Zealand with fond memories of the beauty of the land and looked forward to my next destination - Australia !

My visit to Australia and New Zealand - II

The flight from Hyderabad to Singapore took about 3-1/2 hours and thereafter I had a halt for about 2 hours in Singapore airport before taking my connecting flight to Auckland. This was a 9-1/2 hour flight. I didn't expect such a long flight. Anyways, as luck would have it the flight was quite empty. I grabbed the opportunity and moved over to get a middle row of seats which were empty.

After a little while of the flight taking off I prepared myself to stretch and have a good nap. However, my nap was interrupted very early by a flight attendant asking if I wanted my meal. My request for serving my meal after a few hours was turned down with a answer that 'we cannot reserve the meals for so long'. I said what the heck, get me my meal right now. I scrolled on the menu options on the in-flight entertainment system and was happy to see the Hindi movie options. Me being me, I couldn't resist the urge of catching a Hindi movie and so postponed the nap by a little. The movie I saw was Dasvidaniya. I am glad that I did as it was truly a very nice movie. After that and my meal I did manage to get a nap. The cramped seats, seat belts and the partition handles didn't make my nap easy but it was certainly better than keeping myself seated on my single seat.

I manager to get a couple of hours rest and got up to realise that we had another 4-5 hours left. So it was movie time yet again. I watched Quantum of solace this time after which it was the Hindi movie EMI. I almost manager to finish this movie bu the flight attendant asked for the head sets prior to our landing. They even turned off the in-flight entertainment systems about 15mins.to landing. Wonder why the have to do such things. Can't we be entertained until we reach the gate after landing. I think it is Emirates that even takes the blankets away before landing. To hell with the cold!

Anyways, we touched down New Zealand soil pretty much on time. I was expecting a very posh looking airport but was surprised that it was a very ordinary looking simple airport. Guys coming from Auckland into Hyderabad would be expecting an ordinary airport and would be taken aback at the beauty of our airport. Well....getting back to New Zealand, the immigration was quick. However, there was a little delay in the customs as they wanted to check my sample box. This damn box always gets me delayed. Unfortunately, it is a must to carry this everywhere. I exited the airport in search of the hotel shuttle but found none and therefore took a taxi (with an Indian driver) and headed for my hotel.