Hunting moose at my parents farm

Arrived at my parents place early Sunday for a week of moose hunting.



On lookout for some action




We managed to shoot some mooses




These animals are big and not easily moved




Tass and Alonso on the way out for some moose hunting


All in all it was a really good week. The weather was excellent during the whole week and we managed to shoot what we had planned to during the first three days so the hunting was cut short. However, Tass and Alonso really liked coming out in the forest to do some hunting so I'm glad I flew them home to Sweden for this.

Posted at 04:00AM Oct 07, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Landing in Islamabad, Pakistan

Taking care of illegal parking


Went to a potential customer in Islamabad, Pakistan to do a short Proof of concept. The this was the first thing I saw when I stepped out of the airport...

Posted at 04:00AM Aug 14, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Work is done and it's time to return back home

The Business Class lounge in Singapore


Working hard the whole week in KL with workdays starting at 9:00 and ending at 03:00AM so I fell asleep immediately as I sat down on the plane. Woke up after 2 hours and went to the toilet. As soon as the air stewardess saw that I was getting up she immediately asked:

- Would you like your T-bone now Mr. Karlsson?

That is really good service! The food was really good, the meat was cooked perfectly and really tender.

So, enjoyed another perfect meal, watched a move and continued to enjoy the lie flat bed by sleeping all the way back.

Posted at 04:00AM Aug 02, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Flying to Kuala Lumpur

View over KL


It's summertime in Dubai and also there is a amnesty for illegal workers so it's really hard to find tickets out of Dubai (or back for that matter). So, if you have to get somewhere in short notice chances are that after a lot of searching you end up with a business ticket. I personally think that if your flying to work hard for a couple of days somewhere else and as soon as you arrive you go to the office you should fly business so that you can sleep. I'm to old to sit 10 hours in economy with bad sleep, then go and work for another 12 hours (not that it doesn't happen all the time but that is really messed up).
Also, you can work for a couple of hours on the flight since there is a power socket and enough space in front of you to actually use the computer.

The food on board Singapore Airlines is excellent in Business class and you have the option to preorder exactly what you want from a extensive menu.

The menu from Dubai to Singapore:
Tomato sallad with tuna and anchovies
Grilled fillet of beef with onion sauce, roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes
Moccha icecream with cherry sauce and some fruit on the side


The perfect ending to this dinner was a really good espresso.

After landing in Kuala Lumpur I went directly to the office and had a 12 hour working session answering a RFP. We ended up working from 9 in the morning to midnight every day during the week, but we finished the RFP and submitted on time.

Posted at 04:00AM Jul 29, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Airplaine trouble

At least the hotel had a nice pool area...


Was ment to go home to Dubai yesterday. Flight mechanics seemed to disagree and just as we where about to take of, the pilot announced that it will take a couple of more minutes because they need to re-check a engine for one of the flaps since it was indicating a error. Don't be alarmed, we'll be off soon...

15 minutes later, a new message: We'll soon be of, the engine is working but the indicator lamp is still giving error, we'll be towed back to the gate and they will clean the connectors... Just have patience.

Another 15 minutes later: Could everyone please leave the aircraft.

So, 45 minutes after the original starting time, still no real information besides that we should take of soon, and that we should get of the plane. Good...

No information in the waiting hall, talked to a stewardess and asked what was happening: Just follow the person up there. Ok, took my things and 5 minutes later we where put on a bus. Fair enough, I was seeing where this was going, but it wouldn't hurt with some information....

Could finally go to sleep at around 2 AM, still no information other than we would be contacted for more information. The next day the only thing that was possible to do was to connect to internet on the room and work from the hotel room and wait for the phone to ring.

At around noon I received a phone call saying that we should all be in the lobby at 14.00 to go to the airport. Good, finally! So, continued to work and went down at 14.00. Now the problem started, I had set back the time on my watch to Dubai time so the clock was actually 15.00. Fuck! Don't want to spend another day waiting for a flight... Ran down, managed to get a taxi to the airport and check in again. Luckily it was the same 20.00 flight as the day before so there was enough time and once again I was sitting in the lounge waiting for the flight to leave.

Posted at 04:00AM Jul 26, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Another city, another country

Tonight it was time to go to one of the poorest countries on earth. It's a bit strange to eat a good T-bone steak and drink a nice bottle of wine, then go to the airport and 7 hours later wake up in a country where about 78% of the population lives on less than $2 a day... It wasn't such a bad experience but traffic was a bit extreme and gave me flashbacks from Bangalore. All cars (also regular sedans) where fitted with kangaroo railings and it sort of gave you the feeling of being among bumper cars in the tivoli.


Contrasts of spending a day in Dubai and going to Bangladesh




Electrical safety




Bumper cars




I understand why laptops are so popular




Creative car fixing

Posted at 04:00AM Jul 21, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Taking the train to Skinnfällen

The dogs get tired in the evening




Filip


Had to get up early since I had a train to catch at noon. Fredrik stayed overnight in the apartment since his isn't finished yet due to renovation. We woke up at 09:00 and went out to have some breakfast before I had to go to the train. Sitting on a train through the Swedish summer landscape you realize that being in the dessert all the time makes you really miss the green and the nature that we have in Europe.
My father picked me up and I had a hectic afternoon helping my brother install WLAN connections at his company before finishing the evening in the sofa having a beer or two. Got the chance to meet their newborn baby who is going to be named Filip. So, I'm a uncle for the second time...
It's always nice to get back to the country side and meet the family even though this was a really short visit. Tomorrow will be another early morning since I have to go back to Stockholm to catch the flight to Istanbul.

Posted at 04:00AM Jul 08, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Hotel hopping

Continuing on the mission of trying to show as much as possible of Dubai to Jesper we went for a quick round to Barasti at Le Meridien Minah Seahi. After that, we went to the Roof Top Bar of Royal Mirage which is in Arabian style and it gives you a good overview over the Palm Jumeirah and the ocean. It's a really nice "slow" place, there isn't that much people there but I like the atmosphere.



Jesper is taking it easy at Barasti






The Palm seen from Royal Mirage

Posted at 04:00AM May 16, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

First trip to Kuwait

Today I went to Kuwait to take part in a workshop. Kuwait was really interesting. There was a lot of 15+ years old buildings and then few new ones but a number of new projects and it seems that there has been a reluctance to invest in the country ever since Iraq was thrown out during the first Gulf War up until the point where the US actually went back Iraq and made sure that Saddam would never return to power.



Looking out on Kuwait from the hotel


We had no hotel booking when we went there and when we arrived at the hotel the problem started. Apparently there was a international Water Polo contest and many teams where staying at this hotel so for the first night it was fine but there where no rooms for the day after.

When we came back to the hotel, there where no rooms for the second night. But fortunately, after a bit of persuasion, we managed to get rooms. I myself got the Presidential Suite. With bedroom, dining room, kitchen and a enormous living room.



The Presidential Suite

Posted at 04:00AM Apr 30, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  | 

Visiting Pakistan for the first time

Old ways mixing with the modern city


This weeks destination was Lahore in Pakistan. I was going there to do a Proof of Concept. It was much work, but during the evening we managed to see some of the local historical places.
The evening I arrived I wanted to eat something quick so I tried to order a beer and a hamburger. It wasn't that easy as no alcohol where served at the restaurants in the hotel. I however found out that you can order beer from room service. So, decided to order in. After a while a guy was standing in front of the door looking nervous. Then he took out the beer bottle from under his jacket... Didn't quite feel like you where buying beer... Anyway, it turned out that it was a beer from a local brewery, so they don't sell, but they manufacture beer...

As with India, old farming life is mixing with the modern city. These old carriages are not that uncommon in Lahore.

Also, a funny traffic related episode took place when we where traveling with our driver on the way to the customer. The driver ran a red light and we got stopped by police. A really angry discussion started and when I got this translated I laughed really hard. The policeman asked the driver why he ran the red light, the driver quickly responded that he didn't. He had had ha drivers license for 15 years, did the police really think he was stupid enough to run against the red light? The police responded that he had been a police for 20 years, did the driver really think he was that stupid that he would stop a car that didn't run against the red light? Anyway after a couple of more minutes of arguing, he looked in the back of the car and discovered me. Quickly asking the driver who I was, he muttered something and let us pass.



The top of the restaurant






Badshahi Mosque seen from the restaurant


One evening we went to eat at a local restaurant close to the Badshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort. The old parts of Lahore are really nice and it has a long history (which also was true for the restaurant). Apparently it had been a old brothel which had been remade to a restaurant by a son to one of the working women. The food was alright but it might have been here that I got a really bad stomach...

Posted at 04:00AM Mar 27, 2007 by Tobias Karlsson in General  |