Seattle & Singapore

As a software engg, most of us have the inherent desire to have a site trip and go onshore after we have established ourselves. From my perception, this usually comes after 2-3 years of rigorous hard work and getting noticed in the boss's eyes. At my place, i was lucky to have 2 trips in 15 months. So here i go about describing my experience of the so-called "most sought after" thing in the IT industry  - the onshore trip.

Seattle - I went to Seattle, US in Aug 2009, less than a year since joining amdocs. Was very excited to go to the "land of opportunities" the US. Seattle is a nice city near the western coast. Tall buildings, shopping complexes, great road network, variety of people and restaurants, this city seemed to have it all. The famous space needle was just a min's walk from the hotel i was put up in. The office was right in the downtown area. Although the office was about half an hours' walk, walking in the cool atmosphere and lively city was kind of nice. On the weekends, there was plenty of stuff to enjoy, like the shopping complex, the downtown area, the ferry ride,  Seattle Pier.

One of the weekends, we rented a car and drove about 200 miles to Mount Rainier. The drive was beautiful all the more for me, since i  love driving. Mount Rainier is a beautiful natural park with snow covered mountains in the winter, paradise lake, amazing waterfalls, a very scenic picturesque place indeed.

I was in Seattle for about 45 days. Though i admit that the work days were very very demanding and most of the days, i would be in office till late nights, but i enjoyed the time i had there. I learnt many new things from this trip and would always remember the trip to Seattle. Truly as the movie name goes - Sleepless in Seattle.

Singapore - In december 2009, i got the opportunity to travel to Singapore and i grabbed it with both hands. Though i had a trouble time getting the visa which even delayed the travel but in the end i flew to singapore on boxing day 26th dec. Singapore is small but developed and by developed i mean its no less than any of the western developed powers. Huge buildings, roads, transport, infrastructure, food, entertainment, you name it this city has it. Recently it opened its own version of the london eye - the singapore flyer - a huge ferris wheel showing you the skyline of the city. I also got a chance to catch the magnificient new years eve and fireworks show on the marina bay. It was awesome. The sky lit up with dazzling fireworks at the Marina Bay. Also visited a great bird sanctuary and nigh life safari. Though there was a hard time finding vegetarian food near the office but other than that everything else was great. I had a great 2 weeks of Uniquely Singapore !

So that was it. Experience of my 2 trips i have had till date. Hopefully many more to come to places in between Seattle and Singapore :)