Sunday, January 27, 2008

Week 2 in India


So last Saturday, I went shopping with the group on MG Road. Even though I didn't buy anything, it is still better than staying at the hotel. This Saturday, we went to Mysore (yeah, that's the correct spelling) to tour the famous palace and shop. Again, I didn't buy anything because I don't think I'll wear those in New York and I'm not exactly into craft works. It was a long drive from our hotel, but I made it in one-piece, didn't throw up thank god! Sunday me and a colleague went to the state government building near our hotel to take some pictures then walked to MG road where I had my beloved KFC. KFC in the US cannot compare to those in Asia. The ones in India have many vegetarian options, but they ain't for me. I was just curious how the chicken taste, so I got the original and the hot & crispy chicken pieces, plus a Zinger burger which is just hot chicken sandwich. God I was FULL, but Oh Boy, do they taste good, just like the ones I had in China. After 2 weeks of Indian food, that's what I was craving for, who cares if they're bad for me. Anyway, I'm ready to go home. I think I'll have to go to Baltimore next month. 


P.S: There are advertising boards everywhere on the streets of Bangalore. I expecially like the ones by 
Canara Bank, an Indian bank. Their slogan is 'we all change for the ones we love' and 'together, we can'. 
I can't help but feel empowered by looking at their ads. They might sound cliche but they are also true 
in many cases. After all, we do do things for those around us, more for the ones we love, less for the 
those we could care less.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

First week in India

Ok, get ready for this. On wednesday, when we got back from work, the hotel was surrounded by guards, our vehicle was not allowed near, so we had to get off and walk. Walking in Bangalore is not fun, because traffic does not stop for you and there's dust everywhere. Anyway, when we got to the hotel, we had to go through a metal detector, like the one in the airport. So nosy like me, we had to find out what's going on at the hotel. Guess what, the Hungarian prime minister and the Dalai Lama just checked into our hotel. Rumor has it that DL was celebrating his birthday there. Holy Moly... Ok nobody cares about the Hungarian prime minister, but Dalai Lama? I've only heard of that stuff on TV. The floor where DL was staying was guarded by security personnel with guns, too bad I was not on that floor. So that was day 1. Day 2, when we left for work in the morning, people lined up outside of the hotel, so we figured DL was probably receiving them. I couldn't go line up and get DL's blessing cuz we got work to do. Then on Friday, we saw red carpet on the floor in the lobby. Apparently the Dalai Lama was ready to check out. And we got lucky, we got to see the Dalai Lama in person! My colleagues took some really nice pictures, I was stupid enough to leave the camera in my room. Anyway, I'm just touched, I would never able to experience what I'm experiencing now if it's not for this job. Yes there're instances where I complain about my work, but who doesn't? I'm just so so glad how this job has really opened up my eyes.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Landed in Bangalore

So here I am, sitting in my hotel room...sleepless. Haven't seen the city yet, the only thing I can tell is that the airport is so shitty, I've never seen such a crappy airport in my life, so much worse than LaGuardia. Geez, I was the only asian (CJK looking) on my flight... And also why do so many people wanna help me? Ok, I know I don't look like a local, but I'm not handicapped. I think I'm tipping too much... But I don't know how much is enough!