Around the world...

Just about a week back, someone asked me how many countries have you visited till date?
It was only after that I started counting and here I list them all in order.
Jan 2004, Bangkok- This was my first visit abroad and whats amazing abt this is that long back, maybe 10 years ago, I met mom's friend who apparently saw me for the first time that in Jan 2004, I will travel out of India for the first time and that I should remember her words when it actually happens.....It was only when I was waiting to board, that I suddenly remembered her words and till date, I keep wondering how accurately she had told me abt the first trip.
Oct 2005 - First trip to Europe, Amsterdam. Same time halted in Zurich, Switzerland for a brief period.
March 2006 - Amsterdam, Hilversum, Naarden, Netherlands
April 2006 - Paris, France
May 2006 - Bangkok, Thailand
Oct 2006 - Antwerpen, Belgium
Nov 2006 - Cologne, Germany
Jan 2007 - Liverpool, Manchester, London, UK
Feb 2007 - Barcelona, Spain
May 2007 - Berlin, Germany
June 2007 - Brussels, Belgium
Oct 2007 - Luxembourg
Nov 2007 - Paris - France, Rome - Italy, Vienna - Austria. Also halted in Zurich, Switzerland
Aug 2008 - Singapore
Oct 2008 - Shanghai, China and Hongkong.
These are the places visited till date. Look fwd to explore more countries in the future. Btw, to answer my friend's Q, I have visited 15 countries till date. Still pending in my wishlist are US, Dubai, Japan and Australia.

Hello Singapore

Recently I got a chance to visit Singapore for 10 days for a training workshop. I wasn’t really in my usual enthusiastic mode, due to work pressure.. I had to complete some line trials in our factory before departing to S’pore and barely got 2 days to pack off. Three of us were to go to S’pore in the same flight. On Sunday- 27th July, it was a bloomy day and was raining slightly. Fearing that there would be heavy rains, I left home quite early and my spouse was kind enough to drop me at the airport. The whole process got finished so fast that I reached the gate almost 2 hrs before time. I got a chance to roam around the renovated airport and started reading a book. We landed in S’pore by 7.30 pm and reached hotel by about 8.30 pm. We were too tired to go out for dinner. So I ordered food in my room only. I got a first hands experience on the vegetarian food. It smelt a little different than normal- probably the food was cooked in sesame oil..
Next day after a sumptuous breakfast, met up with old colleagues from Australia, Thailand and China – started chatting about the recent happenings in our company. The conversation lasted till the time we reached office in Woodlands, almost an hour’s drive from the hotel.After the training, I planned to extend my stay for a project and met a college friend over the weekend. The thought of meeting her kept me motivated and charged throughout the training. Over the weekend, we covered almost all places in S’pore except Sentosa. Singaporeans have a distinct English accent one cannot miss… Ok la, I go with you.. The taxi drivers are very helpful and it is very easy to go around places..I did manage to do a lot of shopping, that on the day of departure, I wasn’t sure if I had exceeded my luggage limit, but somehow managed to squeeze in everything in one bag. Not that Singapore is the best place for shopping, but I required retail therapy to get rid of my stress and chill out..During my next visit, I hope to discover some more interesting things abt this place..