In August, I came to know that an India-SL ODI match will be played in Eden Gardens, thanks to many venues opting out owing to security reasons. And by round robin allocation of matches, Kolkata got its match after a gap of 2 years. I was elated as a cricket fanatic to view a match in Eden and frankly, coming to Kolkata is not something I envisage in the times to come. When I got through IIM Calcutta, I had this wish to watch a match in the stadium. But the happiness was shortlived as this time, CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) decided not to do any public sale of tickets and issue only passes for the match. And with this went my all hopes of watching the match.
But a day before the match, a class mate of mine messaged me informing about an extra pass (read FREE) for the day-night encounter. And I jumped on to the opportunity! Finally, I was going to watch the match first time ever in a stadium and that too in Eden :)
We reached the venue well in advance as we were warned about the mad mad crowd which result in a long queue. Here, I must salute the security arrangements made by the city police. The approach road was closed for all vehicles and we had to walk down quite some distance to reach our gate as different blocks had different entrances. We (3 of us) had to wait for classmate to arrive with the passes. In the meantime, we got our faces painted (I did not) and bought Indian flags to cheer the team. Companies were freely distributing the 4 and 6 written placard outside the stadium and hawkers made quick buck by selling food-stuff for 200-250% the price!
After a long wait, we finally made our way to the gate.Here, security frisked us atleast 5 times and did not allow any water bottles (Eden has a bad track record, remember the 1996 World Cup semi-final with the same opponent) and the only flags were allowed as people were told to remove the wooden sticks with them.
We entered and it was not easy to locate our stand as it seems that only our stand did not have any directions. After a lot of hunting, we managed to located our seats. The view from there was just amazing! It was one level up and when we entered, all the players were practicing. The crowd was cheering Indian team like anything. The toss took place at 2:15 which India lost and we had to witness India field first.
The best part about the live match viewing is the environment in the stadium. The crowd is always on its feet, cheering every ball, every run saved, a 50 or century scored (even by opposition) and creating the mexican wave. I personally enjoyed the mexican wave participation to the maximum. It just starts in one stand and keeps moving again and again...after 4-5 rounds it stops and people then clap for themselves for the commendable performance ;)
The other thing which is different is the speed and ease with which players change the field between overs or between deliveries when the batsmen change. The bowler just walks to his run-up and in the meanwhile, the field is so quickly changed. Also, when a batsman hits a ball cleanly for a boundary..the sound of timber sounds like WOW!
When India came out to bat in the lights (which were switched on at 3:30 pm), the stadium was looking just too awesome to be explained in words. The bat carried by the batsmen looked like shining armour waiting to assault the ball. Sadly, Sehwag and Sachin got out early as we wanted to experience some fireworks. More sad was that we had to leave when India were on 150 as we had more important engagements back in college. It would have been just great to be a part of winning celebrations of India in the stadium :) :)
I am surely booking the tickets for the WC 2011 final in Wankhede, Mumbai to relive the experience!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
More of New York!
After exciting first two days in New York, we started our day with full enthusiasm. We once again had to settle with an American breakfast though this time we went to another eating joint, which was adjacent to our hotel, called ‘Deli’ and has multiple outlets in the city.
We started our journey once again with the subway and got down at Central Park. We crossed the Central park on foot and its beauty in daylight was even better. The lush green grass really looked scenic. We reached the Metropolitan Museum of Art or MET and here again the security was quite tight. Now comes the interesting part of paying the money to enter. There is no ticket as such here but 'recommended' donations of various amounts. It was 20$ for adults but 10$ for students. I fell into the student category, thanks to my International Student I-Card. We diligently paid 50$ and moved in. Later, we realised that we are NOT obliged that amount. We could have paid just 5$ each and moved in. Nevertheless, a lesson learnt :)
This museum is just amazing with art ranging from wood to sculpture to painting to musical instruments to Egyptian etc etc etc....We did not realise when did we spend time there. The most famous thing about this museum is that it houses the very first painting of Michelangelo. As expected, photography is allowed everywhere but this painting.
It was lunch time and it was more than 2 days since we tasted Indian food. Luckily, we found a good one near Times Square which served buffet and Indian tea. Our taste buds enjoyed the food to the max and feeling of freshness just entered our tired bodies.
Next destination was the Empire State Building. We bought consolidated ticket of a skyride and for visiting the observation deck of the building which is essentially the top of the building. The skyride made us sit on a floating platform which gave us a feeling that we are flying over New York skyline. Good fun! The line for the Empire State Building is quite long and one needs to take into account this waiting time. But once we reached the top of the building, the feeling is just too awesome! NY looks just so more beautiful from there with skyline kissing the sky, water on two sides, so many bridges and horizon in the backdrop :)
We started clicking pics and did not realise that we had already spent around 3 hours being up there :P and it was time to move out. We walked back to our hotel and decided to call it a day but my other two friends went out to watch a show in Broadway, meanwhile I caught up with some old friends over the phone who are in the US.
We started our journey once again with the subway and got down at Central Park. We crossed the Central park on foot and its beauty in daylight was even better. The lush green grass really looked scenic. We reached the Metropolitan Museum of Art or MET and here again the security was quite tight. Now comes the interesting part of paying the money to enter. There is no ticket as such here but 'recommended' donations of various amounts. It was 20$ for adults but 10$ for students. I fell into the student category, thanks to my International Student I-Card. We diligently paid 50$ and moved in. Later, we realised that we are NOT obliged that amount. We could have paid just 5$ each and moved in. Nevertheless, a lesson learnt :)
This museum is just amazing with art ranging from wood to sculpture to painting to musical instruments to Egyptian etc etc etc....We did not realise when did we spend time there. The most famous thing about this museum is that it houses the very first painting of Michelangelo. As expected, photography is allowed everywhere but this painting.
It was lunch time and it was more than 2 days since we tasted Indian food. Luckily, we found a good one near Times Square which served buffet and Indian tea. Our taste buds enjoyed the food to the max and feeling of freshness just entered our tired bodies.
Next destination was the Empire State Building. We bought consolidated ticket of a skyride and for visiting the observation deck of the building which is essentially the top of the building. The skyride made us sit on a floating platform which gave us a feeling that we are flying over New York skyline. Good fun! The line for the Empire State Building is quite long and one needs to take into account this waiting time. But once we reached the top of the building, the feeling is just too awesome! NY looks just so more beautiful from there with skyline kissing the sky, water on two sides, so many bridges and horizon in the backdrop :)
We started clicking pics and did not realise that we had already spent around 3 hours being up there :P and it was time to move out. We walked back to our hotel and decided to call it a day but my other two friends went out to watch a show in Broadway, meanwhile I caught up with some old friends over the phone who are in the US.
New York continues....
The day started with an American Breakfast in the cafe just adjacent to our hotel called cafe Edison. The options in vegetarian are really limited and since I am an egg-itarian, the options increased a little. One more interesting thing we noted in US. Since all 3 of us always ate together, and whenever we asked for the bill, we were asked whether we want separate or a consolidated billing?! Initially, we felt a little awkward but then we understood the culture and started asking for a consolidated bill right away.
Today, we decided to hit the Grand Central Terminal first thing in the morning. Its the central station in the city of NY from where one can get long distance trains to most of the places. It also showcases the amazing architecture which is evident in NY throughout. There are multiple terminals inside it, just like an airport, which are made according to the direction in which one wants to travel.
We moved out and headed for Chrysler Building. The interesting fact is that Chrysler and Empire State started their construction almost simultaneously and both were trying to edge out the other one as the tallest building at that time. According to initial plans, Chrysler was poised to become the tallest standing structure, but a last minute addition by Empire State builders robbed Chrysler of this stature.
United Nations headquarters was our next destination and there is a tour which can take inside it. The tours keep happening every 20 to 30 minutes and there are tours in other languages apart from English. Our tour guide was from Peru and he took us to inform about the history of UN, how they work, processes followed etc etc. We also saw the General Assembly hall where all the countries sit during a conference. Here, we were informed that all countries sitting position is rotated after every round of talk, thereby giving giving country to sit right in the front :) We were also informed about the various programs for the needy undertaken by UN through UNESCO and UNICEF, their development goals and similar activities.
Once this was over, one of our friend took off to meet someone and we 2 decided to hit the 5th Avenue. We visited the Apple Store near the Central Park, which is quite attractively made. Its an underground store with a glass enclosed entry and transparent elevator which takes one to the basement. Of course, staircase option is also there but life gives a panoramic view of the store ;) Since, I am an avid fan of the TV series The Apprentice, it made a lot of sense to check out the Trump Tower. Its open to public for few hours of the day and houses some of the elite restaurants of the city.
Next destination was Central Park, where all TV serials and movies are shot for any scene depicting any park of the country! Its covered over a huge area covered over 50 streets in length. One can spend hours exploring the park which has vast greenlands, special cycling lanes, playing area and what not!
Once it was dinner time, we decided to check out the famous restaurant called 'Hooters'. It was quite good but not much up to the hype. Since we ate a little too much, we thought of walking down to our hotel. Late into the night, my friend wanted to have some drinks and we went to two bars, found a place in one and spent some quality time there. On the way back, we saw that Times Square was completely basking in its glory with thousands of people enjoying this amazing place of the city. The best thing about Times Square is that one can sit and talk and enjoy the view and will not the time of the night. It is always so crowded, be it 11 in the night or 3 in the morning! We finally the left the place at 2 after spending like 3 hours !!!
Today, we decided to hit the Grand Central Terminal first thing in the morning. Its the central station in the city of NY from where one can get long distance trains to most of the places. It also showcases the amazing architecture which is evident in NY throughout. There are multiple terminals inside it, just like an airport, which are made according to the direction in which one wants to travel.
We moved out and headed for Chrysler Building. The interesting fact is that Chrysler and Empire State started their construction almost simultaneously and both were trying to edge out the other one as the tallest building at that time. According to initial plans, Chrysler was poised to become the tallest standing structure, but a last minute addition by Empire State builders robbed Chrysler of this stature.
United Nations headquarters was our next destination and there is a tour which can take inside it. The tours keep happening every 20 to 30 minutes and there are tours in other languages apart from English. Our tour guide was from Peru and he took us to inform about the history of UN, how they work, processes followed etc etc. We also saw the General Assembly hall where all the countries sit during a conference. Here, we were informed that all countries sitting position is rotated after every round of talk, thereby giving giving country to sit right in the front :) We were also informed about the various programs for the needy undertaken by UN through UNESCO and UNICEF, their development goals and similar activities.
Once this was over, one of our friend took off to meet someone and we 2 decided to hit the 5th Avenue. We visited the Apple Store near the Central Park, which is quite attractively made. Its an underground store with a glass enclosed entry and transparent elevator which takes one to the basement. Of course, staircase option is also there but life gives a panoramic view of the store ;) Since, I am an avid fan of the TV series The Apprentice, it made a lot of sense to check out the Trump Tower. Its open to public for few hours of the day and houses some of the elite restaurants of the city.
Next destination was Central Park, where all TV serials and movies are shot for any scene depicting any park of the country! Its covered over a huge area covered over 50 streets in length. One can spend hours exploring the park which has vast greenlands, special cycling lanes, playing area and what not!
Once it was dinner time, we decided to check out the famous restaurant called 'Hooters'. It was quite good but not much up to the hype. Since we ate a little too much, we thought of walking down to our hotel. Late into the night, my friend wanted to have some drinks and we went to two bars, found a place in one and spent some quality time there. On the way back, we saw that Times Square was completely basking in its glory with thousands of people enjoying this amazing place of the city. The best thing about Times Square is that one can sit and talk and enjoy the view and will not the time of the night. It is always so crowded, be it 11 in the night or 3 in the morning! We finally the left the place at 2 after spending like 3 hours !!!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Credit Card v/s Debit Card
Recently, I went to eat dinner with a friend of mine to celebrate a long due party from his side. At the time of paying the bill, he took out his debit card and did the payment.
Once it was done, I asked him that why uses debit card and not a credit card. To this, his reply was that since debit card instantly debits money from the account, its easier to keep a check on the spending.
And this is the exact reason I personally don't use a debit card. First of all, personally I believe that holding a credit card does not make you a reckless spender and debit card stops it. If that is indeed the case, then someone has a shopping problem and needs medical help :D
According to me, there is no good reason to use a debit card over a credit card as a credit card is much better and here are the reasons for the same.
1. Since my account is instantly debited when using a debit card, one loses interest on that amount for not one but 2 months. The amount might seem to be small on the face of it but add all the amounts for a month and then calculate the loss. And for people who are thinking that how one loses 2 months interest, here's the maths. Suppose one spends on 29th of a month, the credit card statement will come by 15th of the next month and the payment needs to be done by 5th of the month after that. So, if one had used my debit card on 29th itself, the money is debited but credit card payment is done in the next 2 calender months.
2. Credit card gives more control in terms of security any day! God forbid, if someone loses debit card, then the account is under threat but credit card prevents one from that too.
3. Using credit card gives one reward points too which can be redeemed later on, which is not the case in a debit card.
4. And credit card allows one to spend much more than my account balance if the limit is quite high. This is really useful in case of emergencies and some bulk purchase if one needs to do.
So, personally I see no reason of using debit card apart from it being used to withdraw money from the ATM!
Once it was done, I asked him that why uses debit card and not a credit card. To this, his reply was that since debit card instantly debits money from the account, its easier to keep a check on the spending.
And this is the exact reason I personally don't use a debit card. First of all, personally I believe that holding a credit card does not make you a reckless spender and debit card stops it. If that is indeed the case, then someone has a shopping problem and needs medical help :D
According to me, there is no good reason to use a debit card over a credit card as a credit card is much better and here are the reasons for the same.
1. Since my account is instantly debited when using a debit card, one loses interest on that amount for not one but 2 months. The amount might seem to be small on the face of it but add all the amounts for a month and then calculate the loss. And for people who are thinking that how one loses 2 months interest, here's the maths. Suppose one spends on 29th of a month, the credit card statement will come by 15th of the next month and the payment needs to be done by 5th of the month after that. So, if one had used my debit card on 29th itself, the money is debited but credit card payment is done in the next 2 calender months.
2. Credit card gives more control in terms of security any day! God forbid, if someone loses debit card, then the account is under threat but credit card prevents one from that too.
3. Using credit card gives one reward points too which can be redeemed later on, which is not the case in a debit card.
4. And credit card allows one to spend much more than my account balance if the limit is quite high. This is really useful in case of emergencies and some bulk purchase if one needs to do.
So, personally I see no reason of using debit card apart from it being used to withdraw money from the ATM!
Monday, September 21, 2009
There are cities and there is New York!
Continuing from where I left in the last post, our flight touched JFK airport albeit an hour late from the scheduled time. The feeling was ecstatic :) After traversing through countless escalators and travelators, I finally reached the immigration counter. As is the case with all the immigration counters, here also the divide was between the American citizens and citizens from other countries. And the number of people in my category was huge. A friend of mine who reached JFK few months back had to wait for one and a half hours to get passed the immigration. And looking at the number of people there, I was sure of spending that much time myself too.
After waiting for some 30 minutes or so, some of us got lucky and starting from the person just ahead of me, we were redirected to the US citizen counters which were running comparatively empty. My number came in next 10 minutes and the immigration officer. He was a friendly guy and asked some general questions. In the middle of the conversation, he asked me, "So, you doing your masters right?". I replied in the affirmative.
Officer: " Is that the IIT?"
Me (Not very suprised): "No, they are engineering institutes for the graduate degrees. I am doing my management from the Indian Institute of Management."
Officer: "Oh! You from an IIM!"
Me (all smiles): "ya"
Officer: " Which one?"
Me: "Calcutta"
Officer: "Good!"
This made me even more happy :D After this, he gave me some random gyaan on body building tips so that I am able to impress Kareena Kapoor and Preity Zinta. To which, I told him that I am not interested in them ;) The conversation ended there and I moved towards baggage area. My suitcase came in quickly and I made my way out of the airport expecting my friend to be there.
But as the case most of the times, he was not there. I searched for him in all the possible places but no use. Finally, I decided to call him but pay phone there accept only quarters for which I needed change. Before making the call, I decided to look for him once more and this time, I was lucky :) He justified his arrival time by considering his immigration wait of one and a half hours :P
Well, we made our way out for the city and took a train from the airport to the nearest MRT station. From there, I took the underground train for Times Square, where my hotel was. It was a long long journey to Manhattan from the Airport and took it me around an hour or so to reach there!
Finally, I alighted at the station and came out in Manhattan.
The feeling was OVERWHELMING!!! The city just hits you! It seems that one is inside a video game where one is surrounded by people and tall buildings and taxis and what not! Its just so so so difficult to explain the feeling in words.
On the way to the hotel, I saw Times Square, NASDAQ and world headquarters of Morgan Stanley. After a bit of rest and freshening up, all of us planned to go to Statue of Liberty.
We took the Subway as that is best way to commute in New York. But the subway network there is not so easy to understand. There are multiple lines and they change over the weekend. Sometimes, there is repair work and regular maintenance going on which adds to confusion ;) But at the same time, very detail maps are available to understand the network. Also, the fare is uniform of $ 2.25 irrespective of boarding and destination station.
We reach the downtown area and walked to Wall Street and saw the stock exchange - NYSE, memorial hall and other bank buildings. Also got a chance to see the famous Merrill Lynch Bull :) From there, we moved to Battery Park which is the place to board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Since, we were a little late in the evening, it was not possible to cover Ellis Island too. If one wants to cover both, one should reach there by 2 in the afternoon. Nevertheless, we took our tickets and headed for security check, which was equivalent to airport level checking :P
Finally, we were on the ferry and the view is alluring when one is on the ferry. Downtown skyline, Jersey skyline and Statue of Liberty - all 3 together give a view which is out of this world. The journey was spent in clicking pictures and same activity once we reached the statue too! Moreover, the return journey was made more enjoyable with the setting sun and the cool breeze.
Once back on land, we decided to visit Macy's, the famous 7-floor shopping store, though did not buy anything. Since, it was dinner time now, we tried out Sbarro's pizza which were quite good and the dining area was underground. The interesting part was that this dining area directly opened into a Subway station :D
We reached back our hotel, after spending some time at Times Square. Any amount of time can be spent at Times Square, especially in the night!
Not a bad start to the tour, I thought :)
P.S. - I know I am very late in posting all this but I will cover my complete journey for sure in the coming days.
After waiting for some 30 minutes or so, some of us got lucky and starting from the person just ahead of me, we were redirected to the US citizen counters which were running comparatively empty. My number came in next 10 minutes and the immigration officer. He was a friendly guy and asked some general questions. In the middle of the conversation, he asked me, "So, you doing your masters right?". I replied in the affirmative.
Officer: " Is that the IIT?"
Me (Not very suprised): "No, they are engineering institutes for the graduate degrees. I am doing my management from the Indian Institute of Management."
Officer: "Oh! You from an IIM!"
Me (all smiles): "ya"
Officer: " Which one?"
Me: "Calcutta"
Officer: "Good!"
This made me even more happy :D After this, he gave me some random gyaan on body building tips so that I am able to impress Kareena Kapoor and Preity Zinta. To which, I told him that I am not interested in them ;) The conversation ended there and I moved towards baggage area. My suitcase came in quickly and I made my way out of the airport expecting my friend to be there.
But as the case most of the times, he was not there. I searched for him in all the possible places but no use. Finally, I decided to call him but pay phone there accept only quarters for which I needed change. Before making the call, I decided to look for him once more and this time, I was lucky :) He justified his arrival time by considering his immigration wait of one and a half hours :P
Well, we made our way out for the city and took a train from the airport to the nearest MRT station. From there, I took the underground train for Times Square, where my hotel was. It was a long long journey to Manhattan from the Airport and took it me around an hour or so to reach there!
Finally, I alighted at the station and came out in Manhattan.
The feeling was OVERWHELMING!!! The city just hits you! It seems that one is inside a video game where one is surrounded by people and tall buildings and taxis and what not! Its just so so so difficult to explain the feeling in words.
On the way to the hotel, I saw Times Square, NASDAQ and world headquarters of Morgan Stanley. After a bit of rest and freshening up, all of us planned to go to Statue of Liberty.
We took the Subway as that is best way to commute in New York. But the subway network there is not so easy to understand. There are multiple lines and they change over the weekend. Sometimes, there is repair work and regular maintenance going on which adds to confusion ;) But at the same time, very detail maps are available to understand the network. Also, the fare is uniform of $ 2.25 irrespective of boarding and destination station.
We reach the downtown area and walked to Wall Street and saw the stock exchange - NYSE, memorial hall and other bank buildings. Also got a chance to see the famous Merrill Lynch Bull :) From there, we moved to Battery Park which is the place to board the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Since, we were a little late in the evening, it was not possible to cover Ellis Island too. If one wants to cover both, one should reach there by 2 in the afternoon. Nevertheless, we took our tickets and headed for security check, which was equivalent to airport level checking :P
Finally, we were on the ferry and the view is alluring when one is on the ferry. Downtown skyline, Jersey skyline and Statue of Liberty - all 3 together give a view which is out of this world. The journey was spent in clicking pictures and same activity once we reached the statue too! Moreover, the return journey was made more enjoyable with the setting sun and the cool breeze.
Once back on land, we decided to visit Macy's, the famous 7-floor shopping store, though did not buy anything. Since, it was dinner time now, we tried out Sbarro's pizza which were quite good and the dining area was underground. The interesting part was that this dining area directly opened into a Subway station :D
We reached back our hotel, after spending some time at Times Square. Any amount of time can be spent at Times Square, especially in the night!
Not a bad start to the tour, I thought :)
P.S. - I know I am very late in posting all this but I will cover my complete journey for sure in the coming days.
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