Lucky 3!

This is my 3rd visit to the US - 3rd one in last 10 months, that is almost one every quarter. This one was to attend the "Leaders Summit" – a 2-day conference to help grow the budding leaders of the SC community in my group. I really had a tough time to decide whether to go for this one or not as I have my visa interview next week. After thinking too much about it, I decided to screw the company - enough of thinking too much about what company will loose; enough of playing the good guy. I just decided to visit the US and have a short vacation.

And, that is what I did. I started from Bangalore on 9th, spent a day in Singapore with my friend Deepak, spent 4 days in the US including 2 days at the conference, and now I am on my way back to Chennai to celebrate my holidays(and prepare for the visa) for next one week.

I had quite a good time at Singapore. Stayed at the Golden Lankmark hotel, right next to Raffles hospital. On the first day I was just hanging around with Deepak at different places - doing some shopping at the Mustafa Center, walking around Little India, wandering along the Orchard road along the endless number of malls. We also decided to go to a pub somewhere near the Orchard area - but we just had to turn back as we got scared by the number of eunuchs near that place - most of them were difficult to identify and were prostitues. That experience was very strange. So, we left that place and went to the lake near the China Town. We sat down there for almost 2 hours and had a good chat.

Next day, we were roaming again. Around the City Hall, where I had the opportunity to meet his friends and sister. Second day was quite short and I had to hurry up to the airport after the meeting.

Well, I didn't see any notable places in Singapore like the Sentosa Island or the Jurong park, but I had the chance to walk around the streets of Singapore and look at different people and their lifestyle. I think Bangalore is much like Singapore in its early days. Maybe after a few years, Bangalore would be like Singapore - a complete cosmopolitan city.

Back in the US, I stayed at the same place where I stayed during my first visit - at the Summerfield Suites. This one is much better than the Sofitel as it has a refrigerator, a microwave, burner...almost a kitchen. Summerfield feels more like a home. I got a 2 bedroom place. So I had 3 TVs - one in each room and one in hall. Always confused which room to sleep in, I used to end up sleeping in the hall on the sofa!

The two day conference was quite good. Got to meet people from other hubs. Some of them were 10+ years experienced, a lot more than what anybody in India currently has. I think the long term benefits of staying at Oracle are a lot. There was also a person who did her master's after becoming a grandmother. Boy! She is an inspiration for me to do MS.

Then, Hilarie (Senior Vice President) and Carl Griffin (Vice President) spoke about their life journey line, which were not so interesting to me. I don't know what did others find so interesting in it. Americans(I mean the people who live/work there including Indians, Chinese, whoever...) are kind of funny people - they laugh at silly jokes, they eat uncooked food with such an interest as if there is nothing better, they follow a successful leader and believe blindly in whatever he says always, they dont work as much as Indians do but still they get more out of life. Maybe it is not the Americans, it might be the corporate world, maybe it is just my view of looking at it...i dont know.

One of the team dinners was interesting. Nelsy, who is more of a HR person in Oracle Direct kept advising me that OD is the best place to be. With a lot of dedication and interest, she was explaining to me to see the bigger picture at Oracle Direct; to look at the long term benefits; that I should go back to India and let others know of it; that I have a lot more potential; that I should take more risks at work. I was listening to all these like a good boy nodding his head to her mother's advice and doing exactly the opposite once the mother is gone. Now when the time comes to quit just after a week, I am sure she would just call me up and literally kill me over the phone! That incident was really funny.

So, that was my 3rd trip to the US. Just attended the conference and way back home!