After 2 days in Istanbul, we were now headed to Kayseri. Being on a budget trip, we took a taxi to Taksim around 3am to jump on the Havatas airport shuttle to Istanbul Sabiha airport. Lucky for us, the Pegasus flight to Kayseri was light and I got an entire row to stretch out. Our hotel was booked in Cappadocia and we didn’t want to carry our backpacks with us, so we rented a car at the airport. It was a pleasure driving through the scenic passes.
Traveling in the low season, we carried the risk of bad weather. While our 1st day in Istanbul was nice and sunny, day 2 was forecasted cloudy for most of the part. We thought of using the time indoors at the 500 year old Grand Market.
Since we didn’t want to leave anything to the last day, we headed to the Galata Tower. At a 25TL entrance fee, it was a bit hyped (locals pays 5TL).
We picked up a grilled fish sandwich on the bridge below the Golden Horn – it was fresh no doubt. We didn’t want to spend on an expensive Bosphorus cruise, and found a cheaper option for 12TL for a 2 hour ride. Here are some shots Continue reading Day 2: Markets, Galata and more of Istanbul
We landed at Istanbul SAW around midnight and were at our hotel in Yenikapi by 230a. After a good night’s sleep and a not so good breakfast (only to realize after a week that this was the best), we set out to explore Istanbul.
First up, we purchased a Turkcell SIM Card that cost us around 55TL and for another 10TL gave us 1GB data for a week. Data, together with the Trafi app, was a life saver when wandering the streets. We also topped up the Istanbulkart for discounted trips on public transport at 2.15TL per trip, irrespective of the distance. It works with bus, tram, metro, ferry & cable car .
Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
Pictures taken at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul
We started in the Sultanahmet area covering the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace – all of which I highly recommend. We purchased the using the Museumkart at 85TL, but didn’t end up using it Continue reading Day 1: The old city around Sultanahmet, Istanbul
Earlier this year, I became part of the Landmark Group’s Web Team, based out of Dubai. The team that started off being the digital custodian for group companies, is now leading the eCommerce and Omni-channel initiatives for the largest retail group in the region.
We’ve had our Android & iPad apps for a while now and for the last few months, we’ve been working on a brand new design that we’re rolling out through a brand new app for the iPhone. I had the opportunity to directly work with Savitar, our Business Head and Creative Director. With him involved, there was a ton to learn right from user experience to writing this blog post. Read more at the Web Team’s Official Blog.
https://goodreads.landmarkshops.com/launch-the-official-landmarkshops-iphone-app-78779aa40198#.6jyw0ndqm
This week, I’ve had major releases for all products in my portfolio: the LandmarkShops iPhone app, a CMS-powered LandmarkRewards.in for our 7 million strong loyalty program in India, and an update to the Shukran Android & iOS apps. That’s a lot of action in just 6 months since I joined. I’m relieved and off to a vacation!
I am part of the Landmark Group’s Web Team and my Product Management portfolio includes leading mobile apps for LandmarkShops in UAE & India, and all digital engagement channels for Shukran – web, mobile, in-store engagement. More on LinkedIn
Dubai is all about options & variety. But in this abundance, I’ve struggled to find freshly baked pizza bases. You will find the frozen ones, but I’m not a fan. In the bakery section, what came closest was the flat, Egyptian pita bread. My only worry was if it would stand another round of baking or end up like a crisp tortilla. But how would I know without trying?
Ingredients:
Preparation:
This is probably the laziest sandwiches I’ve ever made. Honestly, typing & formatting the entire recipe will take longer than it takes to make it.
Preparation:
Every time I traveled, I saw over-priced miniature aircraft in in-flight magazines. Then one day I saw pictures of a diorama airport on Instagram and then I realized why they must’ve coined the tag #aviationporn. There was a huge community building model airports. Wondering where they got their models, I checked eBay and Amazon to find that there are a few manufacturers and tons of sellers. I wasted no time in ordering in my very first model – the majestic A380 that Singapore Airlines was First to Fly.
The next step was to go about designing the airport itself. Downloading foils from the internet was easy. But there was other detailing that required craft-work, and I started off with chunk-sized PoCs. The very first was for the jetways. Me & my brother used to save bellowed plastic straws for this when we were kids. I got a back of straws to re-create them and what turned out wasn’t very polished. Next was the ground equipment, but I soon realized that I had to use thicker paper. I had some card paper that came with laundered clothes which I used to create a hangar – and that turned out well.
I’ve set aside a monthly budget to add a few each month and slowly expand my airport. You’ll see a few good pictures under the Hobbies/Diorama category. Really excited 🙂
Preparation:
Backstory: My decision to leave L&T was reactive. While I evaluated it using some criteria, the move itself wasn’t planned. This framework is what I used when starting with Landmark in Dubai, and it also served my move to Babbel.
This is an overwhelming, topic but its important to get started! Here’s how to plan start planning your career:
Basing career decisions on intuition is a bad idea 👎🏼 Whether you’re kicking off search or accepting an offer, start with figuring what you’re optimizing for.
Basically kicking yourself out of your comfort zone! In this post, we’ll get started thinking what’s important to you. Everyone has needs. Being honest with yourself and prioritizing what’s important to you will not only help decide but also trade-off between opportunity cost and risk.
Its personal. But steering life is important. Its scary and exciting. Sound boarding this with a mentor is always a good idea.
The list below is how I look at choices – not necessarily in that order. You might need to tweak it for yourself – ⬇️ download or ➡️ view the spreadsheet online.
Unfortunately, it is only through some discomfort that we learn and grow. After 5.5 supercalifragilisticexpialidocious years at Zycus, I’ve decided to move on to explore the B2C side of the product world.
I am thankful to Satish & Nirav for sensing my product acumen, and on-boarding me to product management. A big thanks to Sachin & Bikash for being the fantastic managers they’ve been. They entrusted me to lead one of Zycus’ prodigious product line – in terms of challenge, breadth, depth, team, revenue – from concept-to-revenue, and offered exposure and opportunities like never before.
All along, I’ve had the privilege to work with nimble & energetic Zycats – all possessing the right attitude. In 2011, Zycus ushered me to lead product owners; I see them all as my career accelerators. Together with them, my 60-member development team (of teams), lead by Shekhar, has been the top-most reason for my all my success and accolades. I wish to thank all of you, You rock! I am convinced that I’m leaving the product with virtuosos, and wish to see the product line – so dear to my heart – continue to delight users.
My professional toolkit would’ve been soporific without the cross-functional interactions I’ve had with the sharpest minds Continue reading Goodbye Zycus
