Beaches, Birthday Bumps, Bangkok and more...

Hmm… Here’s a Birthday Blog on my 26^th Birthday. Thank you everyone for all those Wonderful and Warm Wishes - be it via e-Mails, e-greetings, Orkut scraps, birthday bumps, a 'very special' call and the wonderful Chocolate Cake. I will cherish each and every moment forever. For they made me feel at home even while being so far from home in this smoggy city…

Thanks once Again for making my day so special!

Our i2 team has been working pretty much into late nights ever since we started on this project. Weekends were usually spent catching up on some much needed sleep and that effectively left us with little time to explore Bangkok. This last fortnight however was a bit different! Our team got some respite, thanks to a couple of interesting events that came out way. First was the sports day, shortly followed by a visit to the beautiful beach city of Pattaya.

The sports day was real fun; a bit tiring at times, with more than a dozen events lined up back-to-back.

There was a prize for the winning team from amongst the five teams and our Green Team was eventually declared the overall winner at the end of the day.

The weekend that followed was the 2-Day visit to Pattaya… The leader of the pack of 8 was ChiChi aka Sameeeeeer Saxennnna with his inexhaustible bundle of practical jokes and knack of perfect humor (extra e’s & n's in his name for the Thai Version.). He led throughout with his enthusiasm and along chugged Lahuti, Ankit, Tiwariji, Mohan, me, Ghosh Babu, Atul and Vahini… Once there, we were joined by Koon Sayan and Koon Charoen. We all made for a real fun team. :)

The tourist city of Pattaya is well-planned and has a very hospitable and welcoming ambience.

Day one was the visit to an isolated beach island called Koh Larn Island near Pattaya. The beach there was breathtakingly beautiful… absolutely clear skies, white sand and blue-green waters, kind of... straight out of some Oil on Canvas Painting.

After hours of splashing around, beach volleyball and some unintended sun tanning, it was time to head to the Hotel Resort.

Day 2 began with a leisurely morning spent at the beautifully maintained Nong Nooch Gardens. They have a wonderful Orchid Garden and even created a replica of the Stonehenge.

Post a sumptuous lunch at Alibaba Restaurant, we found ourselves on the famous Pattaya Beach complete with its European tourists, banana boats, para sailing and much more...

I must admit that the Banana Boat ride was the most exciting of them all though! It needed a lot of co-ordination. We fell into the water not once, not twice, but thrice and I still get an adrenalin rush when I see these wonderful snaps clicked by Vikas...

Pic 1. Before the first fall...

Pic 2. Down with the Banana Boat...

Pic 3. Out of the water after some tense moments...

Then it was Sunset Time and we lazed around a bit, our bones aching courtesy to the three falls.

The trip would have been incomplete without a walk on the famous walking street with its infamous bars and pubs. So we went ahead and did just that. Walk :)

Pattaya was fun and helped us unwind and begin anew on the project. Look forward to having some more good time here in the 'Land of Smiles'. Catchya then!