london on S Anand

Canary Wharf time lapse video

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:00:00 +0000

I left my camera near the window of my office at Canary Wharf in time lapse mode on a cloudy day. The video is playing at 60 times normal speed.

Check out the related time lapse videos. They're stunning. With this one, you can figure out which firms work till late in the night.

Comments

Sumit Dhar 27 Nov 2008 6:27 am: Hey Anand,

Did you require some additional equipment to take snaps at particular intervals?

Cheers,
D.
S Anand 27 Nov 2008 6:58 am: Nope – my Canon IXUS 70 has a time-lapse mode. I just placed the camera on
the floor and let it do it’s job for an hour :-)
Balaji 10 Feb 2009 7:53 pm: Really nice Anand… Fantastic to know that this can be done by a normal user too…

Fog in London

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 12:00:00 +0000

This is the park in front of my office in the evening. Fog completely covered London this week. Visibility: 200 ft. Hypnotic.

More views from my office

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Comments

Chitra 14 Dec 2006 2:51 am: Hmmm…very busy view….
Anamika 12 Feb 2012 10:35 am: Oru yenthiratha pola ada ingey ulla vaalkai Ithu yengey poi solla, manam ishtapada villai Nam oora pola ooru illai…!

Funny ads in London

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Funny ads in London.

To My Mugger:

Last night you stole my phone on Holloway Road, you also stole my heart.

I was the tall brunette in dungarees and psychedelic t-shirt, you were the hooded man on the bike. I was captivated by your white teeth and hypnotic eyes.

My home number is stored on my contacts under “me”. (Please don’t call me at “me work”, or my boyfriend, “Josh”.)

I await your call or reply x

Teri Hatcher anyone?

Hi thought I’d give this a shot. You never know! I’m desperately seeking the most gorgeous of all Desperate Housewives (sorry Eva, Marcia and Felicity) - Teri Hatcher. I don’t know Teri Hatcher nor am I a Norman Bates psycho (maybe on Sundays…is today Sunday?) but hey come on, Teri’s great. Or Ms Hatcher as I should call her right?

So if anyone out there knows her or has a connection with her (a REAL connection not those psychic ones. I have one with Tom Jones - doesn’t work that way) by all means - help me out! I’ll be a good date! I’m cute, funny, and intelligent (I’m actually hideous, blonde brained (sorry all blondes - no offense) and ….yeah intelligent. I’m a nerd!). But not ego centric, Hey wait - if I talk about myself - is that ego centric? Hmm…

So remember ladies and gents - think me, think Teri Hatcher….great now THAT sounds Norman Bates stalker like…. Yikes!

Did I sleep on your sofa?

After a very big night out on Saturday, i found myself waking up on someone’s sofa on Sunday morning. I didn’t hang around to find out who was so kind to take me in.

If it was you, please let me know.

Would like to know how I got there?

Tea at the Ritz

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Had tea at the Ritz today. Initially, after reading that “Gentlemen are politely requested to keep their jackets and ties on during tea”, my reaction was rather like Calvin’s.

But the tea (Earl Grey) was outstanding. So were the scones, sandwiches and desserts. Although most people were ladies above 60, the younger ones were among the most beautiful I’ve seen in London.

Innocent in London

Thu, 22 Sep 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Innocent in London.

LONDON (Reuters): - A London underground train station was evacuated and part of a main east-west line closed in a security alert on Thursday, three weeks after suicide bombers killed 52 people on the transport network, police said. A Transport Police spokeswoman said Southwark station was closed and Jubilee Line services suspended between Waterloo and Canary Wharf in the east London business district.

This Reuters story was written while the police were detaining me in Southwark tube station and the bomb squad was checking my rucksack. When they were through, the two explosive specialists walked out of the tube station smiling and commenting nice laptop. The officers offered apologies on behalf of the Metropolitan Police. Then they arrested me.

ALL MEN ARE SUSPECT. BUT SOME MEN ARE MORE SUSPECT THAN OTHERS. (with apologies to George Orwell)

GMT

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

I cross the prime meridien almost every day. I live 0 degrees 5 minutes east of the prime meridien. I travel to Liverpool Street usually, which is 0 degrees 5 minutes west of the prime meridien. The station closest to the meridien, on my route, is Stratford, which stretches from 7 seconds to 17 seconds west of the meridien.

Of course, crossing the prime meridien has no time-zone related significance like the international date line. But it does mean that I travel to the western hemisphere and back every day.

There is a place near Stratford station called Meridien Square. Should visit it some time.

Comments

Shiva 19 Jul 2005 4:48 pm: Hey after a radar search i found this link http://www.bibliomania.com has a quite a large collection of Classic Fiction, Drama, Poetry, Short Stories and Contemporary Articles and Interviews. Quite an interesting site to bookmark

Resilience of London transport

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

The public transport reacted beautifully to the damage. I had to take Bus 259 from Finsbury Park to Tottenham Police Station. As I waited at the bus stop, I saw a 259 double decker pull in. Followed by another. And another. And another. Four double-decker buses following one after the other – and they ended up getting filled. Almost felt like a train, except without rails and a floor above.

Comments

harish 15 Jul 2005 1:52 am: hey i did not know you were in london. glad to know u guys r fine.

British humour

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

If it weren’t happening to me, I’d appreciate the British sense of humour.

I was at the King’s Cross station, buying tickets for the next week at a counter.

“Hi, um… I already have a zone 1-5 pass…”

“Con-gra-tu-LAY-tions!”

Comments

Anonymous 11 Jan 2007 1:13 pm: dont follow the humour

Next London Geek Dinner

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

The next London Geek Dinner is on July 11th. I’ve registered.

Salaam alekum

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

King’s Cross station. 6:20pm. I’m rushing along to catch the next train to Liverpool Street, when a jacket and suitcase step in front of me.

“Salaam alekum.”

This has happened to me before. 5 years ago. My response hasn’t changed.

“Huh?

“Salaam alekum?”

“Huh?

“SALAAM ALEKUM?”

“Huh?

“Aap Pakistani ho?”

“No, India actually.” (smile)

“I just lost my wallet, and I don’t have a ticket. Could you please help me?”

I had all of 5 pounds in my pocket. And I needed that.

“I don’t have cash on me, just a card.” (I meant my travel card. I didn’t have a credit card then.) “Have you tried the Information desk, there? They could help you out, perhaps.”

“Oh, I asked them. But they said I needed a ticket. Even if you have a credit card, that’s fine.” Hmm, that’s being pretty leading…

“Well, if you go over to the Information desk, they can direct you to the nearby police station. And I’m sure the police will find you a way to get home.”

No response.

“OK, let me take you to the Information desk. We’ll ask for the police station.”

“No, no, no. That’s OK. I’ll find my way. Thanks. Bye!”

Vanishes.

Not only am I becoming more socially astute, I’m even beginning to become smart.

Spanish and Argentinian cuisine

Sun, 12 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

I always wondered what cuisines were famous other than the ones I knew (Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Lebanese, Continental). I’d heard of Ethiopian food from Rajeev Ved, but never of Argentinian and Spanish. I spotted a couple of menu cards while walking down Croydon.

London geek dinner

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

There was a geek dinner at London yesterday. Pity I didn’t know about it.

Expensive

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Here's how expensive London is, in terms of clothing.

Item	London (GBP)	India (Rs)	Costlier by
Socks	5	100	4X
T-shirt	10	350	2.3X
Reversible jacket	30	2000	1.2X
Formal shoes	25	1500	1.3X
Cooling glasses	10	150	5.3X
Suitcase	56	1500	3X

Nothing's less expensive than in India. Similarly for groceries.

Item	London	India	Costlier by
Curd 1/2 kg	0.45	18	2X
Cucumber (one)	0.49	3	13.1X
Beans (250g)	0.99	20	4X
Baby corn (125g)	0.99	18	4.4X
Carrot (kg)	0.45	24	1.5X
Cabbage (kg)	0.52	18	2.3X
Cauliflower (one)	0.69	25	2.2X
Spinach (kg)	4.3	??	0X
Onion (kg)	0.46	10	3.7X
Chilli (kg)	4.39	8	43.9X
Cashew (kg)	15.9	360	3.5X
Apple (kg)	1.29	60	1.7X
Milk (litre)	0.6	18	2.7X

Property rates in London

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Net lettings has an interesting map of London areas classified by how high the rent is.

Comments

Sashi 2 Jun 2005 1:35 pm: another good site is gumtree.com. where you can also search for flatshare. unlike findproperty.com, this is a site filled with private ads as opposed to real estate agents
S Anand 3 Jun 2005 7:19 am: Thanks, Sashi. How’re you doing? Will catch up.

Expensive phone

Tue, 31 May 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Time: early in the morning, waiting for office to open.
Location: public phone booth.
Situation: calling a mobile number in London.

Insert coin
20p goes in. Press button to push coin in.
Credit: 20p
10p goes in. Press button again.
Credit 30p
Call mobile number...
07xxxxxxx
"Hi Malu, this is Shobana."
Credit remaining: 20p
"We..."
Credit remaining: 19p
"...just..."
Credit remaining: 18p
"...got..."
Credit remaining: 17p
"...here..."
Credit remaining: 16p
"...last..."
Credit remaining: 15p
"...night..."
Credit remaining: 14p
"...and..."
Credit remaining: 13p
"...are..."
Credit remaining: 12p
"...staying..."
Credit remaining: 11p
"...at..."
Credit remaining: 10p
"...a..."
Credit remaining: 9p
"...hotel."
Credit remaining: 8p
"OK..."
Credit remaining: 7p
"...I..."
Credit remaining: 6p
"...will..."
Credit remaining: 5p
"...call..."
Credit remaining: 4p
"...you..."
Credit remaining: 3p
"...back..."
Credit remaining: 2p
"...later..."
Credit remaining: 1p
"...bye."
Credit remaining: 0p

Longest day

Mon, 30 May 2005 12:00:00 +0000

The longest day.
We relocated to London on 30th May. This was one of the longest days of my life.
5:30am India. Wake up. Brush teeth. Bathe. Shave. Pack toiletries.
6:25am India. All set. Leave the house.
6:26am India. Forgot spectacles. Rush back and get them. Forgot many other things, but ignore them.
7:15am India. Long queue outside the airport to get an entry ticket.
7:25am India. Long queue in front of the security machine.
7:35am India. Very long queue to check into Emirates Air.
7:55am India. “Sorry sir. Your luggage is 38 kgs overweight.”
“Can I pay for the excess baggage?”
“Sure. That will be Rs. 1,107…”
“No problem.”
“… per kilo.”
(long pause)
“OK, I’ll take some things out.”
8:00am India. Unpack bags. Remove pickles – about 5 kilos. Go back to security counter. Seal bag again.
8:10am India. Back at check-in counter.
“Sorry sir, you’re allowed only 40 kgs. I can stretch that to 60. You’ll have to pay for the remaining 13 kgs.”
“Could I pay for 5 kgs, please? That’s all I have money for.”
“No, sorry. If you were flying to Dubai, that might’ve been fine. But you’re heading to London, and there might be problems on that sector.”
“Please?”
“Can you pay for 8 kgs?”
8:20am India. Scrape all the cash available with relatives. Rs. 9,000 available. Barely.
8:25am India. Stand in queue to pay Rs 8,856 for excess baggage.
8:40am India. “Sorry sir. Excess baggage is to be paid in the next counter.”
8:45am India. Finally pay for baggage. Back to check-in counter. Wait in queue
8:50am India. All settled. Say “Goodbye” to everyone. Walk over to immigration.
8:55am India. “Sorry sir. You need to have filled these forms. You can’t fill them up while standing in the queue.”
9:00am India. Forms filled in. Stand in another long queue for immigration.
9:15am India. “No, sir. You don’t need a customs document for your digital camera.”
“OK, but can I please have one? Just to be safe… It’s been a tough day so far.”
9:20am India. Customs cleared. Walk over to security.
9:25am India. “Sorry sir. The customs seal isn’t on your boarding passes.”
9:30am India. Walk back to customs, get stamp, go through the security machine.
9:32am India. “Sorry sir, no scissors allowed.”
“OK.” (dump scissors)
“Are you carrying any spoons?”
“No… why?”
“Can you please unpack this bag?”
Long search for spoon reveals some puja items. Duly entered and signed for.
9:43am India. We board the flight. Flight departure time is 9:45am.
10:10am India. “What would you like to have, sir?”
“Apple juice, please.”
“Sorry, sir. We’re just out of apple juice…”
10:40am India. “Could you please ask the person in front to sit straight? We can’t eat!”
12:15pm Dubai. We land. Long queue for transit security.
12:45pm Dubai. Beep. Security alarm goes off. “Sorry sir. You’ll have to take off your shoes.”
1:15pm Dubai. Try calling a relative at Dubai. Credit card doesn’t work.
1:30pm Dubai. Try again. This time, the number doesn’t work.
2:00pm Dubai. “Excuse me, but are you boarding my seat number now?”
“Yes sir. Please go right ahead!”
My best moment of the day.
2:45pm Dubai. “Excuse me, the movies aren’t working on my screen.”
6:40pm UK. Flight lands without further incidents. Long queue for immigration.
7:30pm UK. “I’m afraid I have to detain you for health control, sir, since you’re staying for more than 6 months.”
8:00pm UK. Realisation that we don’t have a chest x-ray.
8:30pm UK. “Sorry sir. You’ll need a chest x-ray. Please wait here with the others.”
8:40pm UK. “Sorry sir. You’ll need to take off your shirt.”
8:45pm UK. “Sorry sir. You’ll have to take off that white thread as well for the x-ray.”
9:00pm UK. Clear immigration, and pick up baggage. Walk to foreign exchange.
9:05pm UK. “I need to make a call. Could I have change for 10 pounds, please?”
“Sorry sir, all I have are one pound coins. You’ll lose a fair bit if you use these for calls.”
“Excellent.”
9:10pm UK. Call car company. “Sorry sir. The driver waited until 7:00pm and left.”
9:15pm UK. Very hungry. Walk over to coffee shop. “Could I have that casserole, please?”
“The ham & cheese, sir?”
“Oh… no. Anything vegetarian?”
“That will be 3 pounds 10, sir.”
I pass him a five pound note.
“Sorry sir. These are old notes. You can get them changed at the travel counter.”
10:00pm UK. Driver arrives. We leave for Jurys Inn.
10:05pm UK. Driver’s parking pass doesn’t work at the machine.
11:00pm UK. Jurys Inn. “Can you please help us with our luggage?”
“Sorry sir, most of our staff have left…”
11:15pm UK. Sleep. Almost instantly

Pedestrians at Marble Arch

Fri, 23 Aug 2002 12:00:00 +0000

Pictures of pedestrians at Marble Arch. Now, that’s an inspiring site (to me, at least!)

End of the London updates

Mon, 06 Nov 2000 12:00:00 +0000

Sorry, didn’t get time to write more. This page will no longer be updated.

Inverness

Sun, 05 Nov 2000 12:00:00 +0000

The next stop was Inverness. I didn’t know Inverness had any history to it. It wasn’t till we got there that I learnt that the Inverness castle was where Macbeth (of Shakespearean fame) ruled from. In fact, it turns out that Macbeth was a really nice king. There was this barbarian who fought him, lost, and turned to the English for help – who of course were delighted, and they killed Macbeth. This barbarian stupidly signed a document saying that Scotland would pay tributes to England, and that’s been the source of all the trouble.

The other thing to see, of course, was the famous Loch Ness monstor, or Nessie as the locals like to call it. We made one mistake, though. We landed there on a Sunday. As we got off the bus, we learnt that no tours operate on Sundays. The tourist information center was closed. I wanted to buy batteries for my camera, and the shops were largely closed. The only practical thing that was open was MacDonald’s, so we picked up a meal.

Fortunately, a guy called Tony Harmsworth came along on his van. He conducts guided tours to the Loch Ness, so we hopped on with about 8 others. Tony was apparantly involved with the Loch Ness centre since its founding, and had in fact headed it. So he was very knowledgeable about the history of the monstor.

Loch Ness in itself is beautiful. It’s a huge lake, very calm, and apparantly very deep. On one end is the sea. On the other end is the Urquhart castle. It’s a stone castle that was destroyed by the Jacobites (who had the habit of destroying everything they saw, actually). I have a sneaking suspicion Tolkien borrowed quite a bit of inspiration from the Loch Ness and the Urquhart castle. It could well be the remnants of Isengard – or the fort of the Uruk-Hai orcs.

The monster itself, of course, is just a myth. The local folks always thought there was a large fish in the waters. In 1933, Mrs. McRoy saw something large – about 6 to 9 feet – that she thought was a whale. Journalists caught on, and blew it up to a monstor. A Mrs. and Mr. Spicer claimed to have seen a snake-like monstor walking past the road. (We drove past this spot.) A vet student told his mother that he broke his bike because he fell off in surprise when he saw a dinosaur-like creature. Since he was a vet student, journalists believed him. A famous reporter found hippo pugmarks. In the end, it turned out to be a hoax using his hippo foot-shaped ash tray. Then this reporter rigs a photograph that looks like a dinosaur peeping out of the lake. That’s a hoax too, using a toy submarine and a piece of cardboard. Many of the other ‘monstor’ photographs turned out to be fakes – in one case, a labrador fetching a piece of stick (see if you can spot the face of the dog). In the 1987, operation Deep Scan searched the whole lake, and found 3 suspiciously large living objects, but they were no where near large enough to be a monstor. Sure, there’s probably some big fish down there, though.

The rest of the evening was at a local pub with some loud music on. Then we hopped on to the bus, reaching London at 7AM on Monday.

In time to get back to class.