Lisbon - Weeks 22 & 23

Fátima

[30/01/2013] - Vacation! This fortnight was full of eating out, travels, and shopping.

[27/01/2013] Two of my batch mates were in Lisbon during this week, and it was really nice to have some Sri Lankans around, after a long time, and discuss some good old memories!

[23/01/2013] - We paid a visit to Leiria-Fátima, by Rede Express bus service, which starts from Sete-Rios (Metro Station - Jardim Zoologico). Fatima is a religious place for Catholics, with the church of Our Lady of Fatima.

Seagulls in Parque das Nações

 One month of 2013 is going to finish.. :-o 2013 is surely becoming the most eventful year ever. Successful exams, followed by a vacation, of which two weeks have already gone, like a beautiful dream - with joyful, interesting, exciting, as well as sad moments. I guess, I love Lisboa (and its food, drinks, the shades of the mild winter evenings it has to offer, and the lovely people..).. ♥

Feeding seagulls in Parque das Nações (Parque Expo), watching movies, metro journeys, travel by tram no.28, and trying different restaurants by Parque Expo were remarkable. I will surely miss my friends, when they start returning to their countries, finishing their studies in Lisbon.

Lisbon - Week21

[17/01/2013] - Exams have completed, and we are also getting the results! Final results for 2 of the 3 modules are already out. The results are highly positive. :) Now vacation period! Movies, shopping, travels, and eating out!

Expectation: 30 mins technical call. Reality: 5 mins sales call.. AWW yeah.. This is 2013.. :P Still was glad to receive a long technical document, via email marked "CONFIDENTIAL", after quite a long time. :D

Lisbon - Week20

IST is full of oranges these days!

[09/01/2013] Exams have started, and are going pretty well. Done with Security and Parallel Computing, and remaining is cloud computing.
[08/01/2013] In the mean time, had a long shopping at Colombo, Centro Comercial. Lisbon is a good place to do some serious shopping.

A colourful new year

2013 just started with colours and style, as an energetic year. 2012 was the most successful as well as an important year for me. I expect 2013 to be more interesting. Very happy new year everyone.

The count down for new year and the fireworks at Praca do Comercio was nice. Now time to get back to studies, for the upcoming exams next week.. :)

A few things that made my 2012 interesting..

Nightly walk in Lisboa

Time has come to say good bye to the year 2012. I was keeping my blog updated on the with regular updates. Year 2012 - a year of changes summarizes the first two trimesters of the year. This year was truly remarkable, and probably it was one of the 3 best years so far (the other two were years 2010 and 2004). Now time to look into some random things that made me 2012 a unique year.

1. Broken resolutions
Yes, those resolutions which rarely works. Not to stay up too late, not to spend much time on the Internet, .. these resolutions! :P

2. Successful goals
Surprisingly, 2012 turned to be a very successful year. It didn't start pretty well, to be honest. Learned more realities of life throughout the year. :D

3. Movies in Colombo

Oh.. too many of them this year.. :D

4. Nightly walks 
I always enjoyed a long walk, in the nights. ^ ^

5. Busy days getting the documents ready for the Portuguese visa. 
It was not fun. However, now all it gives is nice memories.

6. Arakashan Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi, India.
When I said I am going to stay in a place called Pahar Ganj during my visit to India, some guys who are from New Delhi were scaring me saying Pahar Ganj is a dangerous place. I myself noticed that the place is dodgy, as an over-crowded place next to the central railway station. Staying there for a few days gave me a more insight of New Delhi.

7. Trip by HoHo bus in New Delhi 
It was interesting (in a strange way) to travel alone to tourist attractions, such as Qutub Minar.

8. Three-wheeler negotiations in New Delhi 
New Delhi by tuk-tuk was fun!

9. Exploring Colombo 
Sometimes we don't really get the chance to explore the city that we live in. It was this year, when I really explored more of my city. :D

10. Random Shopping

And exploring Colombo city!

11. Summer in Lisbon
Summer experience in Lisbon is really great.

12. Yellow bus travel in Lisbon 
"Yellow bus" is a convenient way to explore Lisbon, in 48 hours, for 25 Euros. Visited many interesting places such as Lisboa Oceanario.

13. Shuttle travels to Taguspark campus!

An interesting routine activity

14. Lunch at Taguspark canteen.

It was a time of friendship and chats!

15. Dinner for 4.45 Euro at Açúcar & Canela, Lisboa.

How many times in this small bakery/restaurant?

16. My weekly blog posts on my stay here in Lisbon. 
Interestingly, the blog views got to a peak in the month of October. Moments with Twitter.. and Moments with Twitter - II became two of the mostly viewed posts, all time.

17. Living away from home and the country for the first time.

I am doing awesome too.

18. Nights at Bairro Alto and Cais do Sodre.

Such magical nights!

19. Group discussions for P2P exams!

Oh, those exams!

20. Getting soaked in the wild rainy days in New Delhi during the second visit.

Unexpectedly strong rains.

21. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib. 
Going to a temple of another faith that I was never aware of, turns to be interesting, like exploring a new world. This year, I went to many places of worship, of different faiths, including Central Mosque of Lisbon.

22. Visit to Munneswaram and the other surrounding Hindu temples. 
It felt great to have such a religious trip with family, after a long time, without much preparation.

23. Beach Wadiya of Wellawatte. 
Never mind the big fat rat.. :D

24. Emirates! I like the airlines, and Dubai Airport. 
This was not my first time though.

25. Letters from KTH
It was surely one of the highlights of the year. Letters regarding EMDC was always promising and made me smile big.

26. GSoC Awareness sessions all over the island. 
We did it big for GSoC 2012. More evangelization!

27. Optimism 
Not that 2012 was full of good events. It had its own share of negative events and depressing moments. I feel, it was me being optimistic, made me take some brave decisions to withstand the currents, which eventually turned as the right decisions. :-)

28. Crazy friends
I am surrounded by them here. So no comments on this right now. :D

29. Portuguese classes. 
I rarely did the homework. I should have put more effort. However, we have completed the Portuguese A1 level now. :)

30. Being a student once more, after two years. 
Makes me feel younger! EMDC, IST, and Lisbon - It is a cool combination.. :D

We are going to Madrid, Barcelona, and Nuria in Spain the coming February for the EMDC winter event. Apart from this, I have plans to visit home next year. Finally to KTH, Stockholm for the second year. 2013 seems more promising. Thanks for reading my list until the end. If you are really interested, you may also read the blog posts on my other years as well. Happy new year everyone.