High School Goodbyes?

How do you say bye to your best friend?

College life will most definitely entail you losing some of your high school chums and buddies. Don't bother denying it or saying no it won't happen because it will. That's one of the few harsh truths of life. People will leave.

So can you be prepared for something like this? No you cannot. You cannot in any way be prepared to say "Hey, we're in college now and I don't think we're going to be friends anymore. So goodbye!" It just doesn't work.

You'll say "Midterms", and "Extracurriculars", "Research" and a whole bunch of other words to justify why you haven't exchanged messages in weeks and why the only time you've had any kind of communication is when there's been a snapchat that's been sent to everyone on your contact list and he/she's been one of them.

It's okay to give those excuses, and I really hope you get yourself to believe them. Because if you do, you've got nothing to worry about. You've truly mastered the art of goodbyes.

The truth is simple, you've moved on. Or they have. It doesn't necessarily mean that both of you have reached a place where you don't need to talk everyday anymore. It could possibly mean that one has moved to a different space and one just has too big of an ego to try talking anymore. It all happens to everyone, and it's all a very harsh reality.

Simply put, you don't get to say goodbye. You don't get to make those final speeches that you think should be made; Thanking them for all that they've done for you and reminiscing about all the experiences you've shared together. You just hope that they remember you in some way or the other, you turn off the lights and you go to bed.

And of course, EAT. SLEEP. RAVE. REPEAT.

Update Coming Soon

Hello,

It's been a while. Yes. I know. An entire semester of no-activity on this blog. That's all on me. It's been a mix of too much work and "don't know what to say"s.

I am still not sure what I'm going to be writing. I'm working on that. Thanksgiving Break is a 5 days away and hopefully by then I will have something to write about.

Update Coming Soon,
Parichay

Urbana-Champaign

I haven't really been able to blog in the past 2 week and that’s because I've been in different cities and barely been with my laptop long enough to sit and write a post. 

After visiting London, Miami and Orlando, I'm finally at my campustown: Urbana-Champaign. Today I saw the place I’m going to be spending the next 4 years in and I loved it. Its a huge shift from your skyscraper-filled skyline of Dubai. Its mostly brick-buildings with lots of eateries and coffee shops. The people here were so welcoming it was so different even from the other US cities I just visited. 

Despite being such a huge campus, the central area is what I fell in love with. The main signature quadrangle was absolutely amazing. A place you'd probably see in the movies as a scene where a family comes for a midday picnic. There’s a very well connected bus service that runs throughout the two cities of Urbana and Champaign and that really solves the hassle of reaching a class from one end of the campus to the other. 

From tomorrow onwards, there’s a lot of orientations for us International Students that look to be helpful and necessary from an International student’s viewpoint. Let’s go and see what they have to say and make that decision for ourselves. 

That’s all for an update right now, more blogging coming up as soon as I get settled into my room and as soon as regular university life starts on the 26th. 

Until Next Post,

Parichay

P.S. Finally hit 10 Thousand Views! Hell Yeah.

Officially Leaving.

So today’s my official last day in Dubai. Unofficially it was 2 weeks back, when I left for India but I came in for 2 days of transit. There’s not much one can do in 2 days of Transit in Dubai. Luckily I did all that I had to do before I left then. Visited all the restaurants I had to, met almost everyone I had to and basically did enough to keep Dubai’s memories lasting till December when I’m back.

So I spent these two days doing absolutely nothing. Barely did any packing (despite being asked to do some repeatedly), didn’t really do anything. Just sat at home and chilled. Met a couple of friends yesterday one last time and meeting a couple of friends today. No shopping malls, no tourist destinations and barely any restaurants. And that wasn’t really the plan. My plan at first was visit all those places that I’d miss once I’ve left for university but I realized that I already did that 2 weeks back and have enough of those memories.

Everyone goes on and on asking about “Will you miss Dubai?” , etc etc. And I find that a little irritating. After spending close to 18 years in this city, do you really think I’m going to forget all about it and never come back? This is practically my home.

This is no long post on how I’m going to miss this city and thank it for all that its given me. I’m not leaving forever. I’ll be back in less than 5 months.

See you in December Dubai!

Until Next Post,

Parichay

Bucket List

Everyone’s got a bucket list. If not a physical one, they’ve got one in their head. What they want to do before they touch 30, what they want to accomplish in the course of their lifetime. There’s both the realistic and unrealistic in those lists. From meeting a certain celebrity to making a lot of money in life, people have a lot of bizarre and intriguing things listed down in this list.

No. This post isn’t going to be a virtual bucket list of mine. Unlike most people, I don’t have a written down list of all that I want, though I’ve been meaning to list it all down for a very long time. It’s all in my head and has been that way for a while. But there’s one entry on this list that has been a dream for a very long time. It’s something that isn’t really that out-of-reach but at the same time, I’d have to get somewhere in life to do it.

I love travelling. Most people find airline travel a real pain and can’t stop counting down the hours from the moment they enter the aircraft to when the estimated time of arrival is. If they get delayed by even 30 minutes, they start to get irritated. I’m not really like that. I’d spend as much time as I could in flights and in different countries. The concept of long flights across the oceans, the frequent flier miles programs on every airline, the fancy terminals built to impress incoming tourists; the whole deal. I guess living in Dubai for so long and seeing its grand tourist attractions, it’s airport which just seems to get better and better every year. It’s all contributed to this interest.

I realized I still haven’t mentioned what the entry on the wishlist is. Well here it is. Most of you have seen Up in the Air. The George Clooney, Oscar nominated, movie in which he spends most of his time travelling within the United States and carrying out a particular job. In the end of the movie, he goes to the airport and picks a random destination from the monitor and flies there. That’s my dream. Going to the airport with nothing but my wallet, a camera, a smartphone, maybe my laptop and practically no suitcase/hand carry luggage. Just pick a destination, buy the ticket and go. Go to that one city and do all that there is to do for a tourist there. Probably go with a friend, but then it becomes a little far-fetched like a Zindagi Na Melegi Doobara kind of thing.

So that’s a dream right now and considering that I’m just entering University I’d say I have a good amount of time to work towards that one list entry and make it a reality.

Also, I left Dubai and now I’m in Delhi/Gurgaon before I head out to the West. Loving it here. The food is just too damn good.

Until Next Post,

Parichay 

A Little Late - Zomato

Ever had a hobby you started a little too late? I do. Its called Zomato.

To all that don't know what Zomato.com is, Its a platform where you get all the information you'd ever need about restaurants in particular cities or countries. It provides information on the Timings, Cuisines. Pricing, and even Snapshots of the menu for you to glance through before you decide to eat at a particular restaurant or order in from. 

That’s the consumer part of the process. There are also those people who write reviews for restaurants, which one can then read to really get an idea of what an outlet is like.

Writing a review doesn’t require a paid membership or any form of money exchange between you, Zomato or the restaurant. You can create an account [or sign in using other services I believe], and start reviewing and recommending restaurants to others out there.

What I really love about Zomato is its reach. Its one of the few platforms I’ve come across which has built apps for all major operating systems. Not just windows and android, but also the ‘lesser beings’ like Windows 8, Windows Phone and Blackberry & BB10. There’s also a mobile website and a webpage for the traditional users.

So coming back to the hobby, you must’ve guessed that by now my most recent hobby involves Zomato. I’ve been writing reviews for quite a few of the new restaurants I’ve been visiting during this 4-month vacation. Now for the late part; I’m leaving Dubai in another day and in the US Zomato haven’t set up yet. Which means that I’ll only be able to write food reviews on Zomato when I come back for my holidays in December and then in May.

I really hope in the next year or two, it decides to expand to Chicago and make things interesting. But until that happens, I’m stuck on Dubai and India.

For those of you few who actually read this blog, you’d have realized that I’ve the Zomato widget to the right, which if you click on will take you to my reviews where you can see first hand what I just spoke about.

Oh and did I mention that the top reviews get AED 100 or more in food vouchers of the top restaurants in Dubai? Which makes for the incentive to write more reviews!

Here’s the link to the latest review: Zomato Review - Nawab

Until Next Post,

Parichay.

The Month's Updates

The past one month has pretty much been the most 'active' month of my en tire summer so far. Thats one month out of the already completed 4 months that I've had off to do nothing else.

It could be because we all got tired of doing absolutely nothing sitting at home and drowning ourselves in TV shows and movies. But as far as I go, I like to think that i’ve been going out more in this month than in any of the other 3 months I’ve off because its my last month in Dubai. In another 5 days, I’m going to be on my way to India, and from there to the US for University. Which means that Dubai will become less of the home that it is now and more of the vacation destination every time I have a long break from University.

I’ve made it a point to try and meet everyone that I talk to on a regular basis atleast once or twice in this past month. I never really thought it’d be this hard, to be honest. When the summer started, everyone was so pumped up and excited about meeting every alternate day. There were plans on Jet Skiing, Paragliding and whatnot but in the end, none of that really happened. The closest we got to proper plans was in the past month. Been to WIld Wadi, Aquaventure, and Laser tag all in the past 4 weeks.

I guess i’ve been trying extra hard to meet everyone in this month because I’m worried about how things are going to be once college starts and after college. Its always been said that the friends we make in college are the ones that stick with us in life. What about the friends I’ve made in the 4 years of highschool here in Dubai? What happens to those friendships?

This change from school to college is without a doubt the biggest change in our lives so far, and it will always be one of the most significant events of our lives; so I’ve been told. And though i’ve been told time and again that adult life is overrated, i’ve also been told time and again that University life is highly underrated.

So here’s to college. Friendships. and whatnot.

Another post shall soon follow, when I’m closer to my departure date. So be prepared.

Until Next Post,

Parichay

Patience. A Virtue of Sorts.

I'm having a little block when it comes to blogging. And no, I'm not talking about Writers Block, if you can even call me a writer. Its just that I write something, and I don't think it's something I'd like to put up on the blog, so I end up deleting it instead. 

But worry not, I'm leaving Dubai for good in another 10 days. And I'll only return in December for my winter break. So that parting, with the city I've spent 17 years my life in, is bound to turn into a blog post of two. 

Keep the patience.

Until Next Post,

Parichay

The BlackBerry Q5

The BlackBerry Q5

The Blackberry Q5 is the latest addition to the Blackberry OS 10 family, and after using it for the brief time that I did, I'm pretty impressed. 

First things first, there's no distinction between curve and bold, which I absolutely love. A brief name like its cousins the Z10 and the Q10, it's touch and type system is something I've been a fan of ever since the Bold 9900 first came out. 

It's keyboard, admitted not the jointed classy one you get on the Q10 or on the bold series, is an absolute beauty to use. Blackberry after all has perfected the art of QWERTY keyboards. 

The screen, a pretty darn good one at the price they're selling it, is a 3.1" touch screen with a 329 ppi resolution. It's got all the features you'll need in phone in today's world. NFC, Blutooth 4.0, 1080p video recording 5 -megapixel camera (rear) and 720p video shooting 2-megapixel camera (front), LTE etc.

The only aspect about the phone that I'm a little worried about is the battery. Since it's got a touch screen, the battery consumption is going to be much higher and with Blackberry 10 and only a dual core 1.2Ghz Qualcomm processor, the battery might die out really quickly. It's got a 2180MaH battery which might seem alot on the curve and bold models of the Blackberry but on this model I'm a little sceptical. 

Apart from that, it works smooth and well. The new accessories on the Blackberry 10 line have extended out to this phone too. And with them, it looks really classy. 

The back is a uni-body plastic shell that is non removable. Which means that the battery is non removable as well. So those who are accustomed to carrying around an extra battery back for when the juice runs out, you'll have to invest in a portable USB charger instead. 

Available in a black, red and white, it's sure to lure in all those entry level customers who don't want to shell out a high amount for a Blackberry but still want to enjoy the bets of the neW OS and the touch and type system. 

For all those wondering what the size and dimensions of the phone are, they stand at 120mm x 66m x 10.8mm. 

If you were thinking about whether or not to buy this latest introduction by Blackberry, it's for 1499 Dirhams in the UAE market, and if I were you, I'd check it out at the new blackberry only store now open at The Dubai Mall opposite Plug Ins electronics. 

Until Next Post, 

Parichay.

iOS 7 - Beta 2.

So Apple finally seeded its iOS 7 Beta 2 a couple of days back. This beta included support for the iPad category as well, while Beta 1 was only for the iPhone. I’ve been using it since it was seeded, and I’m loving it but finding some glitches a little irritating. But hey, the glitches are all part of the Beta, aren’t they? If I didn’t want glitches, I should have probably just waited for the Public Release, which should be out soon.

If you use your iPad for important/ day-to-day tasks, I’d strongly advise against updating just yet. I’m not saying the OS is bad, if you’ve got the iPad/iPhone/iPod, you’ll love this brand new Operating System, but its glitches mean some tasks that you perform just might not work the same, and that wouldn’t be a very positive thing.

Here’s a list of glitches that I’ve come across so far on the iPad 2 Wifi+ 3G GSM running iOS 7.0 (11A4400f). I’ll keep editing the post, adding more glitches to the list as I come across them.

• Several Apps no longer open and crash everytime I try to open them. [Google+, Google Translate, GrandCinemas is a very unpredictable app]

• More often than not, the notification center/ control center refuse to appear on using the gesture. 

• Very often the background image just goes from your dedicated picture to a pitch black background, this usually happens when going from the Multitasking window back to the home screen.

• The slick new translucent keyboard you see on a couple of videos etc, they’ve not been incorporated yet. Only Safari, Spotlight search have it. Even Apple’s apps such as iBooks, Pages etc don’t have it yet.
• The clock on the homescreen appears dislocated and takes 2 seconds every now and then to readjust.

• Sometimes notifications don’t show up on the homescreen or on notification center.

• The camera app has no box to “Go To Photos”, though if you click on the right corner its like you touch an invisible key and it takes you to it.

• The videos app, upon clicking edit, has no “X” on the video to delete, but by touching the corner of the video, the delete pop up comes.

[More Glitches Coming Soon with Pictures]