New Lodgings

Let me flick that cobweb out as I welcome you in to my blog yet again. Extremely irresponsible of me to promise and not deliver, with regards to the 'regular blogging'. Sigh. Some things just can't happen; but i'll try.

Anyhow, I was mighty excited for the whole month or so, because, NEW HOUSE! Yes, after the humble 'Roti' and 'Kapda' it was time for the 'Makaan'. I rented an Apartment at  Discovery Gardens itself, a 10 minute walk from where I currently live.

The Apartment by itself is great. A view of the desert enhanced by a prime location just behind the bus stop. Everything I love grabbed together and squeezed into 500 odd square feet of gorgeousness. An apartment, at this stage, is quite a big deal for me, you should understand. Majorly, metaphorical, it signifies my introduction as an earning member of the society, like an epaulette on my shoulder, a medal around my neck, a cufflink on my cuff (You get it by now, I'm sure).

In fact, I was the happiest yesterday as I set out to collect my tenancy contract, set up my Du home services and take a handover from Better Homes. It's the little things folks.

So, this post was just a result of excitement more than anything else. Thanks everyone who helped me get to this point in my life. It is an extremely important level-up for me.

PS: I might be shifting the focus of the blog in the future from largely personal aspects to food. As I presume that could get me more interested in blogging again. Please let me know if you still read this, or if you would rather see my Instagram food pictures put up here.

Deo Borem Korum!

What I learnt while/from Winning A Car.

So anyone on my Facebook and Twitter friend/follower list must definitely know the topic of rage that has consumed my timeline lately. I have won a car at the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). The last time I was this lucky was when being brand conscious with the choice of my pampers won my parents Gold in Oman.

I could very well go on about how awesome it is to have the honor of winning something, but to avoid being hated and jealousy is a green-eyed monster (says someone who gets jealous at the drop of a hat), let me bring it to you in the form of Tips. Rather, what I learnt in the whole experience winning a car at the DSF.

1. Use the Metro.
My entire winning scenario was wrapped around the efficacious use of the Dubai Metro. I woke up that morning firstly, late and secondly, feeling particularly groggy and almost decided to take a cab to work. In hindsight, as is always I'm glad I didn't. The Dubai Metro really is an awesome way to get around. It has its limitations regarding connectivity but is known to save quite a bit of time.

2. Use the Convenience Store.
The Zoom store where I got my Raffle Ticket is a very nice concept. Small stores at almost every metro station in Dubai. Prices are certainly up by a dirham or two, but the convenience of grabbing anything from a Newspaper to a packet of biscuits to a drink really wins you over. In my case, the Zoom store at the Noor Islamic Metro Station is located remotely and not along the exit path as it happens in other metro stations in Dubai.

3. Drink Green Tea.
Given my Diet choices from the past 4 months, the only things I went to get from the store were a packet of Green tea bags by Alokozay and a pack of sugarfree mints, the latter being something i have only found at the Zoom Stores. Green Tea really is an awesome beverage and is my go-to drink after a heavy meal or problems with digestion. Shout out to the boss, Mr. Asim Amin, for promoting a Green Tea friendly environment in the office.

4. Always write your full name.
There was a particular time frame in school where I used to write my name on all communication as Brian K. C. I hated people misspelling and making fun of my middle and last name and did this to cut out the chances of that happening. In college, I learnt to be proud of my whole name, its uniqueness, and how much it added to my character. So when I got that raffle ticket the first thing I did was to write down my whole name. Look how it paid off.

5. Pick up unknown numbers.
I know a lot of people who dislike picking up unknown number. Of course, they have their reasons. Now the call letting me know I had won was made closer to 11 pm in the night. I had just returned from the Gym and was preparing my food for the night.

6. Pray.
Once I got done with the call and a hug to celebrate with my room mate, I then proceeded to pray. Thank God for all he's given you and whatever he adds unto your name. For it is he who handles the grand scheme of things. Always.

7. Call your Parents.
My Dad falls asleep quickly on weekdays and my Mom was travelling that night. I made our neighbour in Salalah, Seby Uncle, wake Dad up just because I wanted to share the news with him. It had to be done. Thanks Uncle! I left a message for my Mom on Whatsapp that night and the next morning I placed a call to her to explain everything. Love You Dada and Mama!

8. Thank the people who played their part in your win.
Since I was sketching the same route via the metro again the next morning, I decided to pay a trip to the Zoom store again. The Ladies there treated me like a celebrity and took a lot of photographs. Never before have I felt so honored. I thanked them and indicated that a bit of their luck rubbed on to my lottery ticket as well.

The team at the Zoom Store, Noor Islamic Metro station who treated me like a Celebrity. 

9. Never Go Alone to a Presentation Ceremony.
Prior to Thursday, i did not know where Global Village, Dubai was. I consulted my colleagues at work and got a kind of idea regarding the same. At the Ceremony, the kind gentlemen asked me if I had a friend with a camera. I didn't. Both my Room mates were unavailable. In hindsight, I could have called and asked anyone else to come along, but I didn't. Real bad on my part. You need that one person atleast there because any momentous occasion really sucks if you don't share it with some one else. I missed my Dad, Mum and sister that day the most of all. (Thankfully, my virtual presence on social media gave me significant support. Glad to see that a lot of people have my back.)

The Side View of the stage I went up on.

A Kind Emirati Teenager in the Audience obliged to take my photograph in front of the stage.

10. Enjoy your 5 minutes of Fame.
I got on stage and on Live TV at the same time. 5 minutes of fame. Maybe Lesser, but thoroughly enjoyable. I picked up my chit. It was a Nissan Micra.

The Chits come in balls of uniform sizes. 

11. Miracles Happen.
6 months back, I was unhappy, dissatisfied with my life and did not know why I was in Dubai. I couldn't spot my purpose. 6 months ahead, it seems clear. I have a job which I like very much, I have lost a considerable amount of weight for the first time with my own effort and I feel like I have gotten closer to my parents and I appreciate them more now. To add to it all, I won a car! From a probability figure that would send folks into a tizzy, from entries across the wide city of Dubai, my name was picked. God is really great.

Its really been a ball, these past few days. Absolutely Enjoyable moments all along. Thank you guys for all the praise and support. I am lucky to have a prosperous ecosystem with my family and friends around the world who really come in and make good moments seem greater and make bad moments much better to bear.

Also, Dubai, I chide you too much. Thanks for everything.

Working Out is Working Out.

Hello all.

For any one who even mildly pays attention to my status updates and, of recent, photo uploads, on instagram may have realized or forced to realize that Brian Carvalho is now on the route to shedding the kilos.

I actually began my routine on the 1st of September and as I write this post it has been 1 month and 15 days since I am on a diet. Throughout much of my life I kept complaining that I simply couldn't exercise alone and wasn't motivated enough to do so. Turns out that this may have been right, though at the time it was more of a quick thought excuse.

I am working out with Keith, in whose house I have also been living for about two months at the beginning of the year and a little more than three months now. It was a simple sit down and talk at the beginning of it all. He simply wrote down all the things I absolutely love to eat and gorge on on a piece of paper and then wrote  'DO NOT EAT' on top of it all. But believe me, since the routine has begun, my cravings for those objects have actually been replaced by healthy and home made food like these yummy grilled egg sandwiches with garlic sprinkles and slivers of mayonnaise.

Lunch on most nights is as shown below. Grilled Fish/Chicken with Salad

Getting down to what matters; Exercise. I have taken up a gym membership with the MMA Fitness Club at Discovery Gardens. It costs me 299 AED for the first payment and 199 AED for every consecutive payment. Given my current economical situation this isn't too cheap but given my cutbacks on the extra crap I would be eating and comparing it to where I'm putting all that money in. It's worth it!

The Routine Keith uses fuses intense cardio sessions with a little bit of Mike Chang's After burn Exercises. Normal People will remember Mike Chang as that guy whose Six-pack shortcuts advertisements goes on to irritate them before they can get to watching their videos on YouTube  I have watched the a few of the set of videos without buying them, that is and there is some truth in what he says, but it finally works down to how an individual may perceive them. Throughout the work week we switch between days on the Treadmill clocking 999 calories while stopping for a few seconds after completing every consecutive 100 calories to wipe up and sip on water. The other days, we initiate a moderate workout of up-to 300 calories on the treadmill before switching to, depending on the day, either sets using Dumbbells or Barbells. Mondays and Thursdays are exceptions to the workout because I have evening classes from 6 to 9 on these days, but i try to make do by walking home from Discovery Street 1 to Street 12 (Where I live). Its quite a distance and decreases the guilt of not being able to properly exercise on that day. Fridays and Saturdays see us usually at home, lazing around and sleeping because if we are awake we would feel the urge to eat. On these days, in the evenings, we choose a spot from either the Gym or home to do the Super Set Exercises which has anything between 2 to 5 gymnastic exercises performed continuously lasting 20 seconds each and then followed by a minute or less of rest between each set. These form a total of 10 sets, which ultimately aim to push the muscles well past us finishing the exercise.

At the end of a 1000 Calorie Cardio Burn

Coming down to the metrics. I haven't really revealed numbers relating to my weight to pretty much anyone because i used to hate weighing scales and the self-introspection they promote, but I would now like to put it out there. I started on the 1st of September at 121 Kilos and am now down to 113. This essentially translates to a loss of 8 kilos since I first started. This has definitely shown its way with clothes that weren't fitting me previously fitting me now and I have managed to get hold of my stamina now which is a good thing.

Now the irritating part in the scheme of things is that for the past two weeks I am stuck at the 113 figure. More so because I'm pushing for muscle exercises and what I'm guessing is that any fat I lose is compensated for by the muscle mass I gain. I derive this conclusion from chats with colleagues in my office who are serious Gym junkies and who know what they do. Its got frustrating and is on my mind for the past few days. So I got to the one place where I wouldn't feel shy talking about it and also would like to express my frustration.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to let my well wishers know that I'm trying to do something worthwhile. Hopefully by the beginning of November I expect to hit the 111 mark.

Shukran for reading!

Its been long.

It's been a while.

It was very bad on my part not blog. The problem with me is that I often find a very thin line between blogging and writing a diary entry. Hence, my personal posts are mixed with a professional front and my posts about the professional front carry rich personal undertones. I do not know if this is right, but whenever I sit down to type out a post it happens. Maybe its just an indication of my personality or maybe its a style of writing which I can prune and control but am not doing so, at least, for now.

Well I've got a lot to tell you guys. My last post was exactly two days short of a year back and things have obviously changed since then. For the better or the worse, only time can tell.

Firstly, I now live in a cliche i.e. Dubai. I live and study in the city of Gold. A place where one observes glitter all around which he cannot touch. Famous restaurants I can't eat in, famous malls I can't shop in, most visited landmarks I can't visit and cars I cannot drive. But there is of course the fact that I'm here to study and you can see how easy it is to get distracted. I shifted here just before New Year 2012. And rang in the momentous occasion with my mom and a good family friend, Keith, to whom I owe a lot given how accommodating he has been over the past 8 months. I began studying my Masters in Strategic Marketing at the University of Wollongong in Dubai in February and finished a semester in May. The first semester was marked with three trips to Salalah during which I made 2 tries to complete the road section of the driving license test and failed both times. After the first semester, I went to India for my regular health check ups and hurried through the 10 odd days I was there for. Big Guilt feeling there because I couldn't meet and greet most of my relatives and friends even in that span of time. I returned from India in the beginning of June after which I began a relatively short second semester which will end this next week. So that's that for the University.

Me, Mom and Keith at his place prior to leaving for our New Years Eve Dinner

Supraket comes home to visit me (or Tuffy?) during my short trip to  Mumbai

Its surprising that in that short time I managed to change my place of stay thrice. I began staying with Keith at Discovery Gardens, then moved in with William at Al Fahidi, who by the way is another gem of a Goan and made me feel very comfortable during my stay at his place. After that, I shifted in at Quisais. Unfortunately, things didn't work out well and I got back to Discovery Gardens to stay with Keith again, but this time at a new place.

A Lazy Boy Chair at Keith's new place at Discovery Gardens

As of July 15th, yours truly has also officially begun working. Spontaneous social media updates may have kept well, most of you informed. I work at Hang On Media, a start up digital media firm (The website currently routes to their first advertising product, but is in for an up haul soon). I'm currently working on some very exciting projects there including an e-commerce facilitation website. I love it here, and the fact that we're a start up is only adding to my experience of other routine office work in play. I work in Al Quoz, almost adjacent to the Oasis shopping centre and travelling there is a bitch because I have to change a bus, metro and a cab, thus increasing the income of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority in all three forms of transport.

One of Dubai's many swanky metro stations on the Red Line

To be absolutely truthful here, I really feel the pinch of not having a car. Dubai isn't much pedestrian friendly no matter what the PR plugs in the newspapers say and a car is an absolute necessity here. On the other end, trying to get a license here is equivalent to trying to become a Chartered Accountant. People have been known to take numerous tests and still fail. Ironically, If you're European, American or Arab, you can easily transfer from your country's license to a Dubai one. So with my options limited, I go with the flow and put my faith in the public transport system here to get me places.

I think I have spoken a lot for now. I shall conclude with the same old self-promise to blog more often and if you are one of the extremely small if any minority who happen to read my blog and will like to read more, please remind me to post. Hopefully, I'll move on to write about the happier aspects of my life here.

Till then, Bye Bye from Brian in Dubai.