So wife is here now with me. We lived together for about 9 months in Shanghai before, together with my parents. And we are here alone, in a city far far away (from Shanghai). So I guess that's a new chapter in our lives, especially for her. I've been for over 10 years and more or less consider the SF Bay Area home.

She jumped right into cooking, which was amazing to me, and I really appreciate her efforts. We've been to Ranch99, Safeway, and Costco, since she landed 2 days ago...As a result, though, I have a lot of cleaning and dishwashing to do, even with a daily run of the dishwasher.

Work is challenging as usual, but I like the fact that I don't have to be in the office every day. Tomorrow (Wed) will be pretty loaded, though, with internal review calls, and client meetings from morning to evening.

I almost forgot it was Valentine's Day yesterday. Feb 14th, 2010, coincided with the Chinese Lunar New Year and buried in the "Kong Hey Fat Choy" calls. In addition, it fell on a Sunday followed by President's Day (3rd Monday in Feb.), which was, surprisingly, a holiday for both my current employer and my main client, both in the IT industry. I thought only folks in the public sector and the financial industry would get that day off. Last but not least, my wife is in a different city far far away from me. So I didn't have to worry about the V-day rituals. Well, I did have some chocolate truffles sent to her in Shanghai around a week ago, but I didn't have to shell out anything for a "romantic dinner." Instead I tried to relax, and watched Narnia, Prince Caspian on DVD at home.

The Bull Temple. Supposedly this Bull was the vehicle for Shiva. The temple is quite small, too small for the huge Bull inside of it.









A scooter and a horse carriage.















I interrupted this fellow's lunch when I was walking back to my hotel. It gave me a mysterious stare, and slowly wandered off. I suppose this is a bull. There are many more on the road that I saw during the rest of my stay.












Pretty messy and dirty streets. My driver has been driving on the streets of India for over 30 years and knows all the short cuts.

so I'm finally in India...Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, bored to death (as my boss predicted, unless I know many people here, which I don't). I'm staying at a big hotel suite with all the amenities including a jacuzzi and steam sauna, but the moment I step out of it, there is mess and chaos everywhere. This place is like Shanghai 20 years ago.

Yesterday I arrived in the morning, about 6 hours late (btw I was impressed with the Emirates' on-flight equipment, and the Dubai airport in general). A company car and driver picked me up and even gave me a 3 hour city tour, which culminated in a shopping session at the "central government run pashmere and silk store" that basically cost me some dollars that will hopefully please my wife and mom. Btw this has Suzhou's Silk Research Institute written all over it...

Knowing that people shouldn't have to work on Sunday, I told the driver to leave me alone for today, Sunday (he's a Christian and goes to church on Sundays, one of the minorities in India, about a quarter of the population). After breakfast in my room (again some spicy Southern Indian food, partly neutralized by plain yogurt and freshly squeezed fruit drinks), I decided to venture out on foot. The result is, in a nutshell, that after 30 minutes in total, I've exhausted all 4 directions from the street intersection, walking no more than 100 meters in each. I saw stray dogs, a well maintained park, a KFC with a Pizzahut upstairs, metro train track construction, and a bull wandering around, slowly. To bad I didn't bring my camera cable with me, or I would have uploaded the photos here. Now I have to wait till I get home.

More to come later...