I'm falling in love

So far I've been in Hyderabad for about 8 hours. Just enough time to shower, get something to eat, and start working with the team.

And yet, in that brief time, Hyderabad has bamboozled me.

Maybe it's the jet lag. Maybe it's the incredibly warm greetings. But realistically, we all know what it is.

It's the incredible amount of vegan food.

I'm a little spoiled on the Google campus, where everything is clearly labeled and inclusive food is a priority. But even the flight here had vegan entrees! I think all the American meat eaters would riot if an airline tried such an offering domestically.

I'm tired, I'm jetlagged, and it's ridiculously hot out, but even so: I'm h*ckin happy to be here.

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Gearing up for Hyderabad

In just a few short weeks, I'll be taking my longest ever trip out of the United States: 30 days in Hyderabad, India. I'll fly from Detroit to Charlotte to London to Hyderabad, where I'll be living in a corporate apartment for the duration of my stay. It's going to be quite the experience.

While I'll be working quite a bit, I'm planning to take my trusty Nikon D3300 (kit lens plus 35mm prime) and Google Pixel to document my adventures. I'll be traveling alone, though I'm not sure I'll ever really be alone in a country of billions. I'm looking forward to spending time with my colleagues and experiencing life in Hyderabad while I'm there.

For the curious, the rest of my bag will include:
Bose On-Ear Wireless HeadphonesAnker SoundBuds CurveGorillaPod DSLR tripodGoogle PixelBookTwo spare battery packsChargers, adapters for international outlets, and cables out the wazooAn assortment of pens, pencils, a Sakura Koi watercolor kit, notebooks, and a …

It's hot here

Today I decided to see some of Hyderabad. Being the adventurer that I am, I picked a walking route to the botanical gardens. "20 minutes? No problem!" I thought to myself. Even in 100°F heat, that should be plenty doable with enough water and sunscreen.Reader, it was not.After about 30 minutes hitting dead ends and nearly getting hit by tuktuks while turning redder that a tomato, I decided to try cooling off in a mall along the road. The security guards wanted to confiscate my camera, so I turned around and left. At that point I decided to call an Uber to take me back to the office.The Uber at least was prompt, clean, and fast. I felt awful using Uber, but for a foreigner who speaks no Hindi it's the best option by far.Takeaway: Hi-Tech City isn't a walkable part of Hyderabad except at grave risk of heat stroke or traffic accident, and I'm going to stick to taking an Uber anywhere I need to go.

In praise of the Casio World Time watch

My watch for my India trip is the humble Casio World Time Illuminator in black resin. It has 5 alarms, every time zone, and a sub-dial for the home time zone. When working weird shifts across multiple time zones, it's hard to beat.

The World Time has a distinctly 80s aesthetic. While not as gorgeously uncomplicated as the F-91W (my favorite Casio watch), it is still a lovely example of a classic design era. There's a little world display that shows you which time zone you've selected, plus it gives the city code for the biggest city in the time zone.

One of the World Time's biggest selling points is its price. I bought mine from Amazon for $15, only about $6 more than the F-91W. It's almost impossible to beat, and is reliable to boot. Casio claims it has a 10-year battery (depending on usage of the illumination function).

Speaking of illumination, the light on the World Time is much better than that on the F-91W. It has two lights, one in each of the lower corners,…

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