Outing @ London Eye - tips

London eye - on a bright sunny day providing a spectacular view of the whole of London. We talk about London and this is the iconic landmark that comes to our mind - located on the banks of Thames, overlooking the Big Ben and Houses of Parliament.
I have been twice on London eye and still everytime I look at it I marvel at the amazing design and its  architectural ingenuity. London eye, initially known as Millennium eye, was inaugurated in 2000 and is the most visited tourist attractions in UK.Go on the weekends, and you have a long queue to ride the wheel. London eye takes half an hour to complete one full rotation. So before you plan the trip to this attraction, ensure that you have accommodated sufficient time for the queue and actual ride.
London eye timings differ during the summer(till 9.30 pm) and winter seasons(till 8.30 pm), however the views are spectacular whichever season you pick. During the winter season, try going on London eye, closer to the christmas and you would be spell bound by the lights shining on the banks of the Thames.
London eye also offers something called as a Cupid's capsule - which is a perfect romantic place if you want to pop the question or just want to enjoy a romantic drink atop London.

London eye ticket offers a 4D experience of the views, this is located near to the ticket counter -If you have time, you should view this short film.
There are different kinds of tickets available -

1. Standard ticket - If you are already at London eye and based on the queue you can decide to take this ticket. This is for immediate boarding (obviously you would still have to wait in the queue)
2. Flexi standard ticket - If you planned a complete day out in London and are not sure when you would visit London eye, then this is the ticket for you.
3. Flexi fast track - This would give you priority boarding. There is a seperate queue for this and is much faster.

There are also various offers available online.

1. London Eye's official site provides around 10% discount on the tickets if purchased online.
2. Combination tickets are also available that would allow you to combine two or three attractions in one ticket and pay a cheaper price for the same. Please remember that the combination tickets would need to be converted to London eye tickets before boarding the London Eye. 
3. Sometimes, a 2 for 1 offer is also available from Days out Guide

I believe for anyone visiting London, this would be an amazing experience.

A tale of two brains - Mark Gungor

Ever wonder why women think differently than the men? Why women can always remember that small mistake that men have done and keep pestering men when all they want to do is sit at a place quietly.
This is a video that all men will love - though this still does not answer the age old question every male has - what is in the female's mind? 
If nothing else, it is definitely a good laugh -

'Adjust Madi' attitude

Don't you just hate it when you take so much pains to do something on time trying to make your day go without a hitch, and then suddenly everything starts going out of your hand. Why - because there is someone out there who did not do things ahead of time and thought that it would be perfectly all right to spoil others well made plans by asking them to 'adjust'.

It happened to me when I was coming to UK via flight. Like a organized person, I did a web checkin on time and reserved a place for me so that I would not have to hassle for a seat at the last moment and get what I want.There was a lady who had a seat next to me, and she was traveling with a kid. She did not have the foresight of checking in advance, and wanted me to adjust somewhere else so that she could sit with her kid next to her. There is no way that you can say no in this situation. I had to give up my seat and sit in a aisle seat - which I hate, since I am never comfortable there so that she could sit with her kid.

Then again there was this incident with my sister. She and her husband had gone to watch a movie in the theater. She is newly married and this may have been one of her first few movies together. And there again,  though they had the right tickets, they had to sit in two separate rows - all alone to watch the movie. Why - because there was a kid who had fractured his hand and the adult wanted to sit with the kid next to him for the movie.

I have seen so many cases where people have asked others to adjust so that they can be comfortable, sometimes using the sympathy factor and sometimes just for the sake of asking it.
I do not know what to say in these situations - you cannot say no because you feel bad for them, but then is it right? Is it right for a handful of people to use the sympathy factor and use the 'thoda adjust madi' attitude.
And where else are we using this 'adjust madi' attitude? Haven't we always learnt that being organised is the right way to do things, were we wrong?

Legal age for drinking alcohol

Legal age for getting married is 18 for females and 21 for males. Legal age to vote is 18, legal age for getting a driving license is 18. And now comes a new rule - legal age to drink alocohol is 25. And once again like it always happens, with every new rule there is a controversy. Bar owners, pub owners and youngsters are outraged. But the question remains - Would they be really affected by this new rule?

I am not trying to say whether the rule is correct or wrong, my only point being if a rule is made, steps should also be in place to ensure it is followed. Otherwise this would also become one among the many rules that we have in our rule book and which is dusted only once in a while when someone gets caught doing the wrong thing. And as everyone knows, how many times does this actually happen!! And it definitely does not mean that rules are being followed.

I do not believe anyone serving or buying liquor in these stores ever asks for any kind of an identity proof for their age. So how is the government going to ensure that this rule would be followed? Even if we say for a minute that the pub owners would bow down and follow the rule, what about the local bars and the middlemen who sell alcohol to anyone and everyone that wants it. I think the problem here is much bigger and may not be solved by adding only one rule. It is a step yes - but there are many more steps to follow if what they actually want is to implement 'de-addiction policy'.

I live in London where though the age for drinking alcohol is 18, there are certain products - tobacco and alcohol that can be bought only if you are above 25. And this rule is very strictly followed. I once saw a group a male and 2 females, who were trying to buy tobacco. The girl asked for the tobacco and when asked for id proof was refused since she was below 25. Then the guy accompanying her asked for the same, and even he was refused even though he was above 25 - reason being the store owner was not ready to take the risk that the guy would buy it and give it to the girl. And this is how strict it gets here. If you want to buy such stuff, you have to make sure that the group you are in is above the legally required age. Again this does not mean that the problem is completely solved - but it just makes it difficult to break the law directly.

Unless India comes up with similar strict ways of ensuring the rules are followed, these rules would only end up being one among the thousands that people break. And even though the intentions of the people making the rules are good, unless they also devise ways to ensure the rules are followed, it would be a waste of  time and money.