Bye bye 2012, Welcome 2013!

Bye 2012.. You have given us many wonderful moments in life and also some sad moments . Now its time to bid you a good bye and welcome new year :)

Hope is such a great thing in everyone's life! We always hope that coming year will be lot better than 2012 and give us more happiness, success and health. 

Bidding the new year with big green teddy bear :) How is it? By the way, this snap was taken in Vermont, USA in a teddy bear factory.



People.. Are you busy thinking of new year resolutions? I never took any resolution all these years, as i basically believe that we don't need a good time to start any good thing. What do you say? If we want to do some good to others or for ourselves, why wait till Jan 1st? Time is always good for good. 

Welcome new year with bang :) I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year 2013.

PS: My last post in 2012.

Until next year,

Second image: http://www.hdwallpapersarena.com/

My first Snowfall!

Watching first snow fall was like a life time memorable experience. I don't know how others react, but i was just clapping my hands and curious like a child when i saw snow falling like white flowers. :) It was wonderful.

I was in office on that day, everyone were worried about the snow storm coming by, but i was praying God to see snow fall and the day has come :) It started in the afternoon, snow falling like white flowers over trees and melting slowly. I was a bit disappointed thinking it wont be a heavy snow. But No.. It increased slowly. My heart was not on work at all, i was peeping through glass windows regularly and waiting to leave office soon, while my colleagues were teasing and giving me latest updates on weather.

Initial snow

slowly, green lawn turned white!

Atlast, time has come to start from office. but, storm became severe. While getting into the car, snow was almost falling on our faces that it was difficult to open our eyes. Thanks to our colleague, who drove us safely to hotel in almost negligible visibility :)
In just 2 hours, there was 1 inch snow and see how it looked

Trees leaning down due to snow

Next morning, whole place seemed bright as snow is shining in sun light. All roads were looking as if they were covered with snow carpet.

Roads with snow blanket

Hope you liked the photos :)

Until next time,

The Lost Girl - [Book Review]

Book details:
Title: The Lost Girl
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Publisher: Random house India
Genre: Young fiction

Plot: There is a place called Loom in this book, where weavers create echos. Echos are like human beings with life, but not with soul. People who think they cannot live after their loved ones die, order weavers to make echos of respective person they love. Echos will exactly look like the respective person they love and they get all the information about that person, through journals, photos and videos. Echos mimic their behavior, their thoughts and they are destined to live the other's life. When the other dies, their echo is supposed to replace their place. If these echos cannot satisfy the people who ordered them, they will be given a "sleep order", which means they will be un-stiched back and destroyed.

My Thoughts:
I know the story is unrealistic. Anyway, it's fiction. But, the characters and their behavior are very much nearer to real life. Story is about an echo like this. She is an echo of a girl in India called Amarra. She names herselves as Eva. Eva has her own dreams and interests, but is forced to think and behave like Amarra. She doesnt have any option other than this, as she will be destroyed if she cannot do the same. Story is about conflicts in her heart between her life and Amarra's life and how she struggles a lot to replace Amarra. 

What i liked?
Story is an exact definition to word 'fiction'. It has enough twists and turns to attract the reader. Style of writing is impressive and easy to follow.

What i didn't like?
It just couldn't meet my expectations. I was expecting a far better thriller seeing the name and cover. But it is more emotional than a thriller. Story seems to be very slow paced in the beginning  which makes it difficult to continue reading.

My rating:
3/5

Until next time,

Image courtesy: booktopia.com
Note: Received this free copy of book from 'Random house, India' for review and this review is my personal opinion.

Yay! holiday season :)

Yay! Holiday season started and holidays are coming on Tuesdays :)

So, taking leave for one day will give a long weekend of 4 days. Isn't that a good news? Both Christmas and New year are falling on Tuesdays  So, go ahead and plan the weekends now :) 

                  For children, it's a fun season except the preparation for Half yearly exams in Jan. 2 reasons to enjoy - Christmas holidays in this month and Pongal holidays next month. I used to love this season as a kid. Since i studied in a christian missionary school, we used to get holidays for 15 days for Christmas and Pongal as well :) Christmas celebration used to be very good in school with many dance performances, Christmas carols, chocolates distribution from Santa, decorated Christmas tree and daily visits to church in school.

                 I enjoy this season even after joining work. In my earlier firm, we used to celebrate Christmas season with 'chrisma chris child' game. If you have never heard of this game, here is my earlier post on this game. In brief, it is a celebration by giving and receiving gifts. In my current firm too, we play 'Secret Santa'. How do you celebrate Christmas in your organization? Please do share your experience in comments.

Happy Christmas and enjoy fun time with jingles all the way :) 

Until next time,

Image courtesy: Google images

My new phone - Sony xperia Arc Lt18a

Got a new phone recently - Sony Xperia Arc Lt18a. I was excited seeing my first smart phone, its features and wonderful apps. But, also pissed off by some battery and touch problems.
So, thought of sharing my experience, so that people who want to buy this piece will think twice before buying.

Look-wise: It's just perfect and stylish in white colour. No iphone/ Nokia Lumia can compete with this look and it's slim too. That's how i feel, others may have different opinion :) 

Touch screen experience and usability : Thumbs down :( Initially, touch was excellent. But gradually, i started downloading many apps (not more than 20 apps, though). After this, performance seemed to went down. Response time between touch and the action is more. Even to dial a number from call log, it took more time than usual. usability-wise, i can rate 3/5. It is easy to navigate, but it is not easy to search for few important features. 
 Ex: Messages option will show the recent conversation instead of showing the index of all messages, when a new message comes. I need to go back one level to see my recent message and the indication that we have a new message is not very much identifiable.
Some features about organizing the screen are awesome. Ex: If you dont want a short cut of any app in welcome screen, just hold it for a second and drag and drop in trash bin. 

Music: Since it is from best music brand 'Sony', it seems very good. No complaints on the quality of music and calls.

Camera: It has 8MP camera with HD. The best feature in my phone, i say! Image capture is excellent with Mobile BRAVIA engine (colour enhancement). You see perfect colours in the photos. Quality of photos is also good.

Battery: Now comes the worst part. Battery can stay for 2 days without data plan usage. It is an android phone, so Google maps and navigation come by default. Including these, if we have around 20 apps, say around 3 games like temple run, some apps like fb, gmail, whats app, instagram, temperature, torch, saavn, ever note etc., with data plan, battery will come only for one day. Sometimes, screen unnecessarily blinks and brightens when we are not using phone and so battery dries up soon. 

Price: When i bought it 2 months ago, it was $300(Rs.16,200) in amazon.com and now, it is around $350. In India, that specific model is not available. Arc S is available in India for around Rs.26500 in naaptol.com.

I will not recommend this phone to any one unless you need an excellent camera and you use phone only for calls and sms.

Until next time,

Image courtesy: Amazon.com  

I've got your number - [Book review]

Book details:
Title: I've got your number
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: Random house group

This book is different from other books that i read in one aspect. Did you read any story based on sms and emails? that's the interesting thing in this novel! 

Plot: Our leading lady 'Poppy' is a physiotherapist running a private clinic in London with her friends. She is engaged to a handsome professor 'Magnus', whose parents are brainy nerds. Magnus presents a beautiful antique emerald ring while proposing to poppy. (It is a family ring). You know.. Poppy is intelligent, but careless easy going girl, so loses her ring just before she has to meet her future in-laws. Problems start in this lovey dovey story with loss of ring. Unfortunately, she also loses her mobile on the same day and grabs a mobile which she finds in a trash bin. She gives that number to police and others to keep her informed on the whereabouts of ring and so she decides to keep that mobile with her until she finds the ring. That mobile belongs a woman, who is secretary of a business man Sam Roxton of White globe consulting company. To keep the company mobile with her, she makes a deal with Sam that she will forward each and every email and message that comes to that mobile for their company. 

Poppy is a curious girl, so how can she simply forward messages and emails without even opening? Slowly, she reads all of them and story is about how it becomes part of her daily routine, how her friendship with Sam improves day by day and how her life becomes more entangled because of all these.

My thoughts:
I liked the way story is made interesting. Actually there aren't many twists in the story, it looks plain. If you love thrillers and mystery, definitely this book is not for you, as you feel bored. If you like reading easy going stories and read for time pass, you will definitely like this one! Second half of story is better, as it moves fast when compared to first half. Loved the way story is unfolded from emails and messages. The font of text in the book is good and easily readable.

Get the book from flip kart here, if you would love to read :)

My rating: 2/5

Until next time,

Note: Received this free copy of book from 'Random house, India' for review and this review is my personal opinion.
Image courtesy: Google