Vacances in Phuket, Thailand (2024)

21-Dec-2024

December always brings the holiday, no work mood somehow. It may be due to the fact that everyone is busy taking their vacations and find a cozy place to welcome new year with a new set of resolutions and hopes. We are also in the same league. This time we go to Phuket with Shivam, Sarthak and Anvay all being in Thailand for holidays. 

Shivam aka Ishu, Sarthak aka Golu and Anvay came to Bangkok on 11th Dec, and 10 days zoomed fast without a blink. Ishu and Golu are already on way back to India and Anvay will go back on 3rd Jan 2025. 

We had a packed 4 days 3 nights tour of Phuket with first day spent at Patong beach. Second day was more of tapping into the adrenaline with go kart and ATV bike. The day ended up eating Pizza at old town. Third day was full day James Bond Island tour on the speed boat. 

ATV adventure

Icon Siam

End of the year euphoria guess will continue with some shopping stuff with Anvay. He reacts strange at times may be once you start living along away from family, the adjustments back take some time. He is doing okay with some ups and downs, and too busy with illuminate the social profiles he founded with his friend Sparsh. It's a good exposure on clients, project management and running an enterprise at small scale. I am glad and proud that he is doing this at this age which is big contrast when we were in college cribbing our college days and searching for some direction. 

Myra is enjoying her school holidays and Pallavi is busy with thinking about her next job or work. She left her job end of September. In Thailand, the options are bit limited due to language barrier and most of the administrative or operations job require local language support. It's going to be tough to find something meaningful in short time.  Let's see if 2025 brings some change 

Have a good weekend!

vA

Myra & Me Connection Month

21-Sep-2024

Morning from Bangkok

Myra has been under my full supervision as Pallavi is away for a month since start of September. It is a good opportunity for daughter - father bonding, as usually Pallavi handles her. She may be missing her mom as my way of handling things are bit different. She may not be liking it, but she doesn't have much of a choice here.

Normally, I don't have to plan ahead for her, but this time I have to think what to give her to eat a day ahead, her school dress is washed and whether I will be late from office etc. My office schedule has to be managed as we are going to office almost every day now. She can stay for few hours alone, so for some days if I am coming back late, it is not an issue. In case, I have to go somewhere at night, either I have to take her with me or find a place to stay. Below is the picture from a local wedding we attended together where she joined me. She found it very boring though except for the photo booths. 

On a good side, the morning routine she is managing mostly herself making things easy for me. I just have to wake her up on time. Weekends are anyway busy as she has to wash her hairs, she has started to wash her necessary clothing, and since we have started going for badminton on Sunday it's passes usually very fast and get tiring. 

We are already pass 20 days, and 2 more weeks to go. It is also an opportunity for Pallavi to spend some time alone. It is probably the first time she has stayed away from her since birth. I don't know how it feels like but much required break for her. Hope she is making best of it. 

Another weekend has started, she is still sleeping, and I am cooking breakfast and preparing for lunch for her. I do appreciate how many things mothers have to do and think ahead. Men may be at times don't realize this. 

Have a good weekend!

vA

Vietnam, Hanoi and Ho Chin Minh

08-Sep-2024

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit Vietnam two cities Hanoi (the capital) and the Ho Chin Minh city on a business trip. The schedule was very tight so we couldn't explore any of the city, but it was a good touch experience. The currency denominations in Vietnam Dong made us millionaires (1 USD -- 25400 VND, 1 THB - 730 VND). It's doesn't look cheaper though.

28-Aug

We took a noon flight to Hanoi (approx. 2 hrs flight), reached hotel by 3pm, went to office to check setup for client meetings etc. Had a dine in the busiest area of Hanoi, and at 10pm it was still fully alive. No real time for any clicks. The city looked like Delhi, but much cleaner. 

29-Aug

We had the morning meeting with the client and post that we took a flight to Ho Chin Minh. The city looked modern, bit of European flavor (Vietnam being a French colony). We had the dinner at the hotel and went to bed as we all were fully exhausted. 

30-Aug

Decided to hit the gym a bit and later we did a quick morning walk with Ngoc and Deepak to get a local coffee. 

We attended a client meeting in the morning and departed for airport in the afternoon. Landed back at Bangkok around 7 pm (it was an hour flight from Ho Chin Minh to Bangkok). 

In crux, it was a good trip and an ice breaker with my top boss. I believe, every step in a new unknown direction can be an opportunity so you should welcome it with open hands. OfCourse, it comes with its own risks. In case, we get some business in Vietnam, I may have to fly back again but so far it looks like this is the one. 

On a side note, Ho Chin Minh is just one hour flight and can be a good vacation destination. 

vA

BeLejendary, Billions (Series) and Infosys Losses

22-July-2024

It was a long weekend with Monday being off. At the end of it, it feels like a wasted 3 days with me being laying on sofa watching #Billions series. It was intriguing as it made me clearer how most of the hedge funds operate and why you can't beat these guys. It is all information that you don't have which is a crucial raw material. The series as I read on Wikipedia inspired from some real-life financial crime stories 

Last week was also bad with losses on reckless #infosys futures trade. Infosys was rising for many weeks and TCS numbers were also good as per market veterans. Still, I went short on Infosys before the results which burnt me. The loss could have been bigger as ADR was trading 8% up after the results but next day it remained limited to less than 3% on Indian markets. This was a trade on long with cover, but I did the opposite reflect a fundamental weakness in my emotions and how to react to data which was clear. Ideally, I should have gone long or no trade. 

My thinking of it that it already ran too much for a short wasn't great. I did it many times and every time got burned. I was trying to keep it sane with only equity or covered calls, or perfectly hedged trades. I also broke this rule and thus, rightly punished. 

Lately, my determination in every theme is not that strong, be it daily walks or workouts or following trading rules and everything I thought I will do but then passed it or didn't follow with the same zeal. I need to work on that, just that I am not sure how to pull it back and strong. 

There is a need to reconstruct myself before even I target a goal to accomplish. My top boss posted something I liked and could related to on the "LINE" group chat. 

I copied, wrote and pasted it on my home desk so that I can read it every day to follow. There are tons of things to do, and you need the right motivation, determination and knowledge. Probably, it will help something. 

 vA

Cafe Mumbai

01-Jul-2024

It was good fun on Saturday night catching up with Deepak B, Dipak M and Pete with some desi beats at Cafe Mumbai, Khao San. The cafe was full of people with live classic songs and DJ later to set the moods.

It's a nice place to go once in a while and the food and drinks charges were reasonable too. Later, we took a round on the Khao San road and found it too loud. Our heads felt bit heavy after just walking 100 meters. 

Maybe we are getting old. :)

vA

It's all pain and frustration

16-Jun-2024

Last time I mentioned about the financial mess created by Nitin, and we are still dealing with it. He still hasn't found a job yet, and debt amount is quite massive to deal with. Charu sold her gold to cover off most of the credit card debts, papa paid some and Sanjay also helped to pay some. I am paying the EMIs. All the EMIs are about 117k INR when combined. 

It pains and frustrates me a lot to see this. We did everything for Nitin to make him settled. He just needed to follow a follow 101 of financial management. There is no point living an artificial life as it will come to bite most of the time. Well, nothing you can do here except praying he gets a common sense once this is all over and follows a prudent financial management. He has two growing children and in next few years he will need good money to support their education. He has to spend next 10 years recovering from this mess if he finds a stable income source and remain on an austerity path before he comes back to same life. 

This year in general seems to be trouble. Work wise also we are having a tough time getting new projects, and it is already half the year. Hoping that we can sign something before the end of quarter. 

In family front, everything is routine. Anvay is back in Delhi for summer break. He is also busy with some professional work "illuminate" which helps people increase their social index in various social platforms. 

Myra Y6 term is almost ending with another 10 days to go. She wrapped up her football tournament earlier this month and now she is looking forward to travel to India for summer holidays end of June. 

I will also join them late in July and we all will return back to Thailand in second week of Aug before the next school term starts. Hope I have the job till then :)

The Unexpected Financial Mess

28-May-2024

The simplest and starting lesson given to a person who starts earning is that please spend within your limits. You can only spend to the maximum you make and, if you don't control your needs, you will end up in a disaster for sure. Still, a lot of people continue to make mistakes as they can't see the worse. 

Last week I spent like understanding the financial mess my brother has created. He had to switch jobs for better options but those didn't work out and he ended up without a job in haste which I will attribute to his ego and over-confidence. Six months of job lessness drained his cashflows and resources. How long you can live on loans and money taken from friends? His situation gone from bad to worse and ultimately resulted in a huge debt mess. 

This mess is not one day or six months' work, it was in the making for years. Joblessness just give it the trigger. He spent off his limits, and it remained hidden but keep piling upon as he has job to cover some of it. Either way, with job and without job, it would have ended in the same result. He has an aggregated a debt of around 87.35 lacs rupees. Many people don't even earn this much during their lifetime, or it takes decades of work to save this much of money. It's a complete disaster now and if he is serious about resolving it, it will take 5-8 years even to stabilize assuming he gets a job soon. It is my worst nightmare. 

Last Sunday, the family gathered to understand the gravity of the situation and see what all can be done to save him. He probably ends up selling his gold and house if there is no job. This is such a big amount for anyone to simply pay off. He was earning a decent salary, so I am not sure how and where he lost control. He has no savings, and all his savings (if any) will now be gone. I probably will end up spending 15 lacs rupees saving him from selling his house in the hope that someday I will get this back. 

It gives me a lot of pain to see him like this. We supported him since his education, during initial jobs, marriage and building his first and only house. He is not a young kid anymore where you have time to recover. At 43, you are an experienced and wiser person with a family to support. Anything you do bad, will end up impacting your wife and kids the most. 

 Frankly, I didn't see it coming. I anticipated that he may have debt of 10-15 lakhs, but debt of this scale was never in my thoughts. It will take years to come out of this problem fully and everyone has to stay positive and patient. Nitin and his family have to do lots of sacrifices in the coming years and they will have to have a tight control in expenses till the time the debt is not paid off. I am sure Nitin hasn't thought through this fully when he was busy creating this problem. Some debt is good if you can manage it and it's not a free loan. The best is to avoid it. 

Let's hope he get his senses back and can think objectively and rationally. 

vA

Another deployment, time to find new projects

19-May-2025

With the deployment of drop3 this weekend, we wrapped up our MVP3. This was the longest deployment running which ran for more than 24 hrs. Guess, this was the price for a zero down-time deployment. In-spite of the longest one, it went mostly defect free and largely un-stressful. 

The vertical I was managing is slowing down, and it is time to find new work. Looking back, it was successful four years running the wholesale banking side of things at this account. I remember starting some initial work on this program in Jan 2020, end up running it from July-2020 and continue till now. I have learnt a lot, and this is one of my career's best works. 

This week was largely uneventful as everyone was focused on getting the deployment right. We had few drinks with the few folks travelling to Bangkok. Next few weeks look busy as we trying to close new deals.

On personal front, Anvay finished her first year and will be flying back to Delhi on 20th May for summer break. Myra and Pallavi will also be travelling India after the school term end around last week of June. Pallavi's mama and mammi travelling to Thailand from 20th, so guess next two weekends will largely be busy. 

vA

 

Not all green at work

06-May-2024

I am coming back to write after few months. I won't say it was too busy but was more of a routine. I thought about writing many times but one way or the another, couldn't. Worth mentioning, last five months had Myra, Pallavi and my birthdays. We also completed 22 years of our marriage. Wow!

The work is slowing down with lesser deals, so it's getting bit stressful. It seems the first targets as an Associate Partner will be missed. It is so tricky at this level. Everything is black and white, either you get it, or you are not. Few misses and you are on the radar. It's bit stressful these days but hope for the best. 

Pallavi's parents spend two months here from January to start of March. Anvay is busy with his Semester II exams, and then he will head back to Delhi for summer break. 

Myra, Pallavi and I had taken a short break at Radisson Resort, Cha-Am near Hua Hin start of May. It was short but required change. The resort was good (you can do more things when in group). Food was a problem for vegetarians but manageable. We spent two nights, and I hope gals had a good time. 

Myra and Pallavi will head for India end of Jun when the school break starts. I may also travel in July for few weeks. This is the longest period I haven't travelled to India, almost a year. 

Work is going ok, however, there is a lot of stress as no new signings. This is causing system wide panic as revenue and utilization all will be impacted. At top, it's all about signings, revenue and utilization. At times, it feels like go back and do something slower and new. 

Hoping that things will improve soon, and all this negativity go away. 50 may be a good age to get out of all this but need to make sure have enough to survive post 50.

vA