Last Day in Delhi

My last day in Delhi was not too bad. The morning was spent rushing between the Exit Permit office and Singapore Airlines to get the necessary documents. It was really quite frustrating, but to cut a long story short (coz I think I've said enough about this) I finally got everything in place and SQ also confirmed my seat for my flight back to Singapore last night.

For the rest of the afternoon, I booked myself on a half-day tour of Old Delhi. The tour was ok. I've got some pics which I've already uploaded to my album. Red Fort (or Lal Quila) was impressive. I won't talk much about the history of it. If you want to read about it, click here. I find that it is such a waste that all these historical monuments are left to deteriorate. The buildings were just a shade of their former splendour. While the main architecture is still there, the intricacies like the carvings, the inlaid jewels, etc, are all either gone or in the process of being destroyed. The guide told us about the magnificient Peacock Throne which once belonged in one of the buildings. Through time, the throne was looted and moved by invaders. Now, parts of the throne are in Tehran while the larget diamond on the throne, the Kohinoor, is now found on the crown of England's Queen mother. It's such a pity.

In the evening, I made my way to the airport for my overnight flight back to Singapore. There weren't much hiccups at immigration (thankfully!). The flight back was uneventful, though I couldn't sleep at all. I kinda hate overnight flights... Well, everything seemed to be ok until we landed in Singapore. We touched down at about 7.05 am and the plane came to a stop at about 7.15 am. So as usual, the passengers all started getting ready to alight. Wanna guess how long we took before we actually alighted? MORE THAN HALF AN HOUR! We just stood and waited and waited and waited. Earlier on, the pilot said something about being an unscheduled stop or something like that and that the buses were on the way to pick us up. well, the buses must have been leg paddled coz it took them another 25 mins to come! I guess I was most irritated coz (1) no one was telling us what was really happening and (2) how on earth could it take 30 mins to deploy those airport buses?! I mean, this is supposed to be Singapore Changi Airport lor, the 'best' airport in the world. Sigh. And when we finally got down to the tarmac after 30mins... the buses weren't there still! After 30 mins, they only activated two buses to do two rounds... and each round took real long coz the dropping point was really far. Sigh. It was a fitting end to my not-so-nice trip to India.

Well, back home now. Rushed out for Chicken Rice already. Char Siew is next! Unfortunately, feeling a little under the weather. Hope i dun get worse... plenty of things to do in the coming week as I have to move back home and I'm still hoping to go away on my own trip for a few days.

I really really really am glad to be home. :)

Here's another pic. I think all the characters look ok EXCEPT for Tweety. He looks downright scary. Guess there was no way they could make a proportional Tweety. My fave in this pic is the Baby Tasmanian Devil.

Went to Plaza Singapura to check out the Starhub shop. You know it is Christmas when you see all the performances at the mall. Plaza Sing had a Baby Loony Tunes theme. Here's a pic of them doing some stupid dance. See how mesmerized the kids are? Heh, guess we all were once like that some time in our lives...

India Pics

Just update my album with some pics I took. I think some of these buildings are really impressive. It is very sad that they have lost some of their gradeur over time. I think India has a very rich cultural heritage. Despite my bad experience (with the theft) this time round, I think I just might return to India for a more comprehensive tour of it's historical sites.

Back... at last.

Finally back in Singapore. But even at the very last part of the trip, there had to be some irritations. Sigh. Looks like this was a trip which wasn't meant to be...

Nvm, off to take a nap first. Will update later with details.

Thanks to everyone who sent their well wishes!

Delhi some more.

Looks like I'm not gonna make the flight back tonight. First, we went to the Singapore High Commission to get my temporary passport. Finding the SHC was an adventure by itself. The hotel driver couldn't find the place and spent half the time asking for directions. When we finally found it, the SHC was undergoing constructio and had moved to a temporary location. So, we got directions to the temporary location and finally found it. After applying for my temp passport, I went back to do some work. After work, I went back to the SHC to collect my passport. And that's when things went downhill. Here's the simple timeline:

12 noon left to take passport photo & collect temp passport
12.30 found photo shop. Took a instant photo which was totally faded and weird. Had no choice. Paid 60 rupees for crappy photo and went to High Comm.
12.45 Arrived at High Comm, submitted photos & collected temp passport. Told to go to some Foreigner Registration Office to get my exit permit to leave India.
1.45 Arrived at the Reg Office and was told they could not issue me a permit as I had entered India via Bangalore. They had to wait for confirmation that I had entered India. If they asked Bangalore, it would apparently take 1 week for them to check the files. So, the next thing I was told to do was to get Singapore Airlines to issuee a letter to say I had flew in on SQ to Bangalore. Fine.
2.30 Arrived at SQ office at the International Airport. Guess what? No one was in the office. Waited for almost 40mins before anyone showed up. Guess it must have been some long lunch break.
3.10 SQ personnel say they can't issue letter until SQ office at Bangalore confirms with their flight manifest that I was on the flight. So they call Bangalore office and guess what? No one's there again! By then, it's already 3.30pm. And you see, the Reg Office closes at 4.00pm. So without an exit permit, I'm not gonna be able to leave India.
4.15 Back in hotel. Resigned to fate.

Yep, that's my exciting day so far. So looks like I'm gonna be here for a little while more. Hooray?

First time for everything...

Sigh. It's my second last day in Delhi and things just have to go wrong. Actually, everything seemed to be going on fine. The day was proceeding smoothly, work was done quickly and I was looking forward to a couple of hours off tomorrow before flying home. Well, things had to get a little interesting... My travel wallet got stolen.

The group decided to go to the restaurant for dinner. So we met at the lobby, deliberated a little and decided on the buffet at the coffee house. The waiter brought us to the table, and my friend sat at the end of the table furthest from the aisle. I was thinking what a nice restaurant it was and how the food looked pretty good. So, before I went off to get my food, I put my travel wallet in front on the table in front of my friend (it was almost a metre from the aisle) and asked my friend to look after it while I went to get my food. The other four of us then went to collect our food. When I returned (less than 3 minutes later), my travel wallet was gone. Apparently, she had heard someone knocking on the glass divider behind her. She turned around to see who it was and when she turned back, the travel wallet was gone. It all happened in just a few moments. Later, when we asked the other hotel guests around, they remarked that they had seen someone knocking on the glass while another person seemed to have been at the far end of the table. My friend was quite distraught. I think she was traumatised that such a thing had happened. My initial response was of course 'blame'... as in, why didn't my friend pay closer attention. But after a few moments, I knew that it was just human nature to want to blame someone when bad things happened. The truth is, she really couldn't have expected these thieves to have moved so fast, and frankly, it was I who had first my wallet to her.

So anyway, to spoil my time in India, I am now missing my passport, two credit cards, a 512Mb Imation mini-thumbdrive and a 512 Mb Memory Stick Pro Duo. I'll now have to make my way to the Singapore Embassy tomorrow to get my replacement passport so that I can leave for Singapore tomorrow night.

It's so funny that in my years of travelling, I have never lost my travel documents. Furthermore, I've always stayed at cheap hotels with lesser security and even hostels where security was a bare minimum. And now, I am staying at what is supposed to be a 6-star hotel in Delhi, and such a thing can happen in the restuarant. I guess, no one would bother stealing things from people who stay in cheap hotels and hostels.

Well, that's that. Here;s a pic of my police report. Just for memory's sake.

Delhi

We finally arrived into Delhi last night around 9.30pm. By the time we collected our bags and checked into the hotel, it was already past 11.30pm. But the room.. omg.. the room... it's most probably among the poshest rooms I've stayed in. The closest I can think of is when I stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong. The room is equipped with TWO LCD TVs and there's even a jacuzzi! And the shower is so nice & powerful! I know it sounds sua-ku... but after the first crappy hotel, the second not-bad hotel, this one is really a pleasant end to my time in India.

First impressions of Delhi... it's really quite nice. We arrived late at night so we couldn't see anything, but today, as we drove to the test centre and back, I had a good view of some of the beautiful buildings like the President's Palace. I'm hoping to make some time to go on a short tour on the last day. Will update this blog with delhi pics later. First, pics of the hotel...

Here's a pic of the hotel atrium.



Look at the lovely LCD TV in the sitting room... (BTW, that's the extra bed for my room mate..)


Here's the Jacuzzi with the excellent view... It's too bad that I probably won't have a chance to use it with all the work that needs to be done.


And here's the wonderful shower... Look at the lovely spray of water. Believe me, it's great to bathe without having to worry if the water is going to die out on you or with the water tricking out of the shower head.

I am stuck at the Chennai domestic airport. The flight has been delayed by almost an hour.. sigh.. This is sooooooooo boring. At least got some access to free wireless. Otherwise I think I will just die in my chair. Note my excited look. Somemore.. the airport has nowhere to have a meal! It's 6pm, and the flight will take about 2.5 hours. This means I'll reach the hotel at almost 11pm. Sure pengz from hunger...

Ok, finished Chennai and will be leaving for Delhi soon, our last stop. Chennai has a very different feel from Bangalore. For one thing, the roads are smoother!

Last night, we went to a nice hotel, Sheraton, for dinner. Kinda like an end-of-Chennai sector treat. It was a really nice place. The restaurant was very cosy and the whole ambience was like some colonial mansion. The service was also excellent, as was the food! And there was also a singer taking requests and I asked for ANGELS by Sarah MacLachlan, one of my all time faves. Quite good lar. Only drawback was that she was using recorded music from a laptop and it all sounded very 'electone'... What a pity.

Well, I'm off to the airport in about an hour. Let's see how Delhi turns out!

Ok, finished Chennai and will be leaving for Delhi soon, our last stop. Chennai has a very different feel from Bangalore. For one thing, the roads are smoother!

Last night, we went to a nice hotel, Sheraton, for dinner. Kinda like an end-of-Chennai sector treat. It was a really nice place. The restaurant was very cosy and the whole ambience was like some colonial mansion. The service was also excellent, as was the food! And there was also a singer taking requests and I asked for ANGELS by Sarah MacLachlan, one of my all time faves. Quite good lar. Only drawback was that she was using recorded music from a laptop and it all sounded very 'electone'... What a pity.

Well, I'm off to the airport in about an hour. Let's see how Delhi turns out!

Today has basically been spent marking, marking and more marking. Nothing much to say, except that I've been marking. Food has been fine coz the hotel has a decent buffet spread with some chinese-type stuff together with the indian food. The buffet is really quite reasonable, costs only about 320 rupees. That's about 13 singapore dollars. And it's not a shabby thing, good variety with dessert, etc. Must say the dessert is not really to my taste. The indian spices mixed into the food can be a little overwhelming. So for now, my favourite dessert is ice cream! haha... safest option.

Yep, it's already Saturday. Will be back in 6 days... can't wait...

Oh wow... Chennai is quite different from Banaglore... at least from first impressions. There are many more modern buildings ad the roads are much much much smoother! And.. this is the wonderful room which I will call home for the next 3 nights! It is such a difference from the hotel we stayed in at Bangalore. The room is bright and cheery.. no funny smell... and there were nice welcome fruits & cookies! How I hope they are all like this... OK, off to dinner, might blog later if i have the chance.

OK, we're off to the next city... Chennai. Here's a pic of us entering Bangalore Domestic Airport Terminal. The flight was only about 30mins long. Quite ok. Took us only 30mins to travel from one city to another while it took us more than 30mins to get from hotel to airport.. heh...

Here's where I had lunch - the food court at The Forum. Interesting selection... I had the Crispy Chop Suey (American style..which means 'sweet'). It's basically a crispy noodle with some vegetables & chicken meat in sweet & sour sauce poured over it. Not too bad lar. I'm such a modern junkie...

Today, we kinda had an unplanned breather from the hectic schedule. So we actually went to a MALL! Yeah, here is one of the very few modern malls in Banaglore - The Forum. It's the in-place for the teenagers, and it's only about half or one-third the size of J8! But I'm really thankful for it. It's great to be in modernish environment! heh.

Here are the autocabs..the most common form of transport in Bangalore. They are the same as the tuk-tuks in Bangkok. As usual, plenty of bargaining before getting into one. And yes, I can squeeze into one (yeah, I can't believe it too...)

India Continues

Today wasn't too bad. Had a long string of interviews to conduct for the first half of the day. Lunch was surprisingly yummy. We were served home-cooked food (same as yesterday) but today, I found the food quite nice. We had this vegetarian fried rice and there was this yummy gujarati dish called a 'purnay'. It's kinda like roti prata, but smaller and the dough is not flaky. It was eaten together with a potato-cauliflower curry stew kinda-dish... aiya, too many names for me to remember lar. I'm already impressed I can remember the word 'purnay'. Dinner was ok, ordered the fried rice from the hotel together with a chicken-cashew nut sauce dish called 'Shahjahani Murg Kali Mirch'. Basically, i think it's chicken chunks cooked in a creamy pepper sauce. Tasted quite good.

The shower was a little better behaved last night. There was actually a decent water flow and the water was hot. And what's more, it was quite fun! Every once in a while, the water would turn boiling hot, then i had to turn it down.. then it would suddenly turn cold.. then i had to turn it back up... it's all quite fun actually.

The toilet flush is still quite challenging. It's a like a lucky draw. Sometimes you get a nice big flush. Sometimes, a little trickle. Sometimes, nothing. Makes life so unpredictable and fun.

Last night was also quite fun coz the hotel had a black out! Heh... waited a while in total darkness while some westerners started making stupid ghost noises. Then when lights came back on, it took a couple of minutes before it blacked out again. I tell you, this is really an experience.

Oh well, another day tomorrow.

India Begins...

Today is my first day full day in India, but my second, if you consider arriving last nite as my first. Anyway, I can't say I'm having a good time. I know it's a working trip, but I guess, I was hoping to enjoy the country a little more.

It's really different here. Things are not as efficient, as new, as clean, as modern... Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking down at the people and place, I'm saying that I think I've been too spoilt by Singapore. Like i said in my earlier post, I've never been to India. Never had the desire to visit the country. When we arrived at around 10pm, we took almost 1.5 hours to clear customs and pick up our bags. The queues were slow.. and the bags took forever to come out.

Driving here is quite an experience. Apparently, it is ok to HONK at people all the time. All the drivers here use their car horns to get people to move away! The onli equivalent I can think of is someone standing atop the car with a loudspeaker shouting 'MOVE AWAY! MOVE AWAY!". It's all very noisy. And the air. Sigh. The air is really quite polluted. So, the noise coupled together with the air... really makes for a miserable car ride.

Potholes. There are potholes everywhere. Really makes me appreciate how Singapore has practically repaired the roads so well that I think we almost never see a pothole. Todae, I saw a cow strolling along the road in the morning. In the afternoon, on the way back to the hotel, we were slowed down by a bullock cart... Food. The most impt thing rite? Well, the food is really Indian (like DUH rite?). The spices can be very very strong. It's of course 100% authentic, but then, I'm really not into Indian cuisine. We had a nice homecooked lunch todae, but for dinner, I actually ordered chinese food from the hotel restaurant. It's certainly not 100% chinese.. but for now, I guess it's ok with me.

Oh the hotel... sigh the hotel... We're supposed to be stayng at a 3-star type place. But when we arrived last night... SIGH... After a flight, I wanted a nice hot bath and then get to bed... well, no such luck. Firstly, the room smelt funny (Like some sort of vomit smell), and then the taps didn't seem to work. I tried to shower, but the water literally dribbled from the shower head. And to compound the problem.. there wasn't any hot water. Now Bangalore is now having nice cool weather... so the water was FREEZING. Then, I tried to flush the toilet.... sigh again. The best way to describe it is... it's like, when you flush, the... icky stuff goes down.. but the paper remains there! Swirling in the water!! I kept trying to flush it down, but all that resulted in doing was it ended looking like I had WASHED the toilet paper! Yes, it's every bit as gross as it sounds.

Okok.. i think i should not get carried away with the complaining. I think I need to set the record straight. I think it's just me. I'm really not a rustic.. get back to the basics kinda person. Of course, there are many who enjoy this kind of simpler life.. but not me. I need my fun... my gadgets... my cinemas...everything! To some, I'm sure this kind of rustic living is shiok. But it's really not for me.

Oh well, I have another 9 days here. I'm sure things will get more interesting. Will update when I have the opportunity.

off to India in 24 hours

In about 24 hours, I'll be on my way to India. My first visit.

No, it's not a leisure trip, so I'm not expecting to take in any tourist sights. I think the most I'd be able to do is wander around near the hotel IF there is time.

I can't say if I'm looking forward to the trip or not. On one hand, it is interesting to see a different country. But on the other hand, I must admit I've never really been interested to visit India. Maybe this trip might change my mind. Furthermore, I am honestly a little concerned with the food. I'm not one for spicy food and my impression of Indian food is pretty much curry, curry and more curry. I guess I might be wrong. Will find out soon.

So anywaez, I'll be there for about 10 days. Will probably blog a bit if I have internet access.

MUAHAHAHAHA! I've decimated the Aztecs & Mongolians! And I've just entered the nuclear age and started building my ICBMs!!!!

I can't believe it. Histroy repeats itself again. My life has again been disrupted by this little game called Civilization. 4 years ago, a friend (possibily an enemy, since he was the one who introduced me to this life-sucking game) introduced me to this turn-based game called Civilization III. What's the big deal? Well, I pretty much hate turn-based games. In fact, other than Civ III, I still hold true to my dislike for turn-based games. So, I really couldn't believe it when I got so hooked on Civ III. The addiction was so bad that at that time, I remember once when I played it all the way till about 5am in the morning... and I had to go to school at 7.20am! I don't know whether it's something I should be proud of...

4 years later, Civ IV is released. I've been waiting for it, checking the shops frequently, and finally, three days ago, it was released on 7 Nov. Since then, it has begun sucking away my time & life again. I really dunno what is it about that game. It's not particularly exciting. But yet so silently addicting. There's always this 'let's just build one more Wonder', or 'let's try to discover Fusion' before I stop playing. And before you know it, the hours have gone by. I'm so very very very very glad that this time, Civ IV is released during the holidays. Phew. If it had been released during term time, I cannot imagine the massive disruption it would have caused again.

For the uninitiated, Civ IV is basically a god-sim. You play god in developing and growing a Civilization. The main rival to Civ IV is Microsoft's Age of Empires series. I've tried AoE but never found it to be very fun. In Civ IV, you start off with the barbarian age and slowly expand your civilization from the one city to two to four to.. you get the picture. You decide what to research, what kind of government you want, which other civlizations to ally with or attack... and slowly, you grow your civilization to the future age. Along the way, you have to defend your borders, keep your people happy, develop new weapons.. it's all very fun (to me anyway!).

Last night, I destroyed France. Heh heh. It was quite satisfying. I'm playing Japan by the way. Tonight, I shall decide if Genghis Khan has lived long enough.... Stay tuned....

The last few days have been taken up by the Pupil Leaders Camp. Thought it all worked out pretty good. There were a few hiccups here and there, but on the whole, I think it all pulled together. Initial quantitative feedback seems quite promising. Looking forward to reading the qualitative feedback to see how the camp was in the eyes of the campers.

I enjoy organizing such activities. Dunno why. Maybe it's in my blood. Heh. Ever since my school days, I've really found it fun to put together camps, concerts, events... etc. I think it could be due to many different factors. I kinda enjoy the high stress as the event draws near. The late nights of preparations, the constant rush to meet deadlines, the combined effort of the organizing committee... it just doesn't get old. I guess coz each event is different and I get to work with different groups of people. I also enjoy the immense satisfaction when I see an event done well. I think it's both a mix of selfish & non-selfish feeling. Selfish - coz I feel good that I can do such an event and do it well. Great sense of achievement. Non-selfish (can't think of a better word!) coz I know that the people who have experienced the event has taken away something with them.

5 yrs ago, when I was working in Meetings, Incentive and Conventions planning, it was really quite a ride. Hope that in the year to come, I can do more in this aspect instead of having to handle too many different things.

Well, to all campers, really hope you had a good experience. You can check & download the pics from my online album. Right, rest of the next few weeks are gonna be busy too... moving back home.. India trip... phew... exciting!

Oh yah.. a string of good movies are on the way! Harry Potter, King Kong, Chronicles of Narnia... GREAT!

Sky High

Went to watch Sky High on Thursday.

I thought it was a very watchable show. Certainly not deep and thought-provoking. But an enjoyable show. I was a little tired, but I never feel asleep. The pace of the movie is quite good and the super heroes' powers are quite fun.

The story is very predicatable and there are plot holes here and there, but when you watch a movie like Sky High, I think you really don't care lar. It's really just for fun, and it does deliver to that extent.

So, if you need a fun movie to watch, give Sky High a try. It shouldn't disappoint.

School is finally over. No more lessons for the rest of the year. The feeling is good.

The last few days have been kinda.... mad.

So many different things happening... so many different problems to handle. Like the movie title goes,' It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world...'

There were so many loose ends to tie up, it was hard to decide which to start tying!

Well, whatever it is, it's over.

But, heh, the madness is not over. It's subsided a little. But not over.

There's the pupil leaders camp from Mon to Wed. Then there are a whole series of review meetings for the various subjects. Then I'm of to India.. NOT FOR FUN... for work lor. I think I'll be cooped up everyday in a room to do work. Sigh. Then when I come back, it'll be a few more meetings before I can finally call it a day.

So.. basically, I'm kinda hoping to go away in early dec. Maybe go US. If not, maybe Japan. Again. heh. Dunno why, always these two places. I look forward to it, but honestly, with this avian flu scare going around, I won't be surprised if I spent the whole holidaez vegetating at home.

Well, let's look at the bright side of things for now, school's over!

Went to Marina for a super late lunch today. They've finally open the central atrium so you can walk directly to the Food Court without having to go one big round. Love the char siew rice at the food loft. Although not the same as the ones you get in Hong Kong, they're close enough. I 've been thinking of taking a pic of these lights just one floor down from the food court. Thought they looked quite nice.

Farewell, farewell, farewell....

It's been a weekend of farewells. With the school year coming to a close and with so many changes happening, it's inevitable that so many goodbyes have to be said.

On Friday, the dept had a farewell lunch with HCLE. Nice place, Charcoal Teriyaki Teri's that's just after Longhouse Food Centre at Thomson Road. The Nabe there is pretty good and the charcoal cooked meals are not bad. But the thing which really tips the scale is the dessert. They provied a complimentary fruit platter at the end of the meal which they labouriously arrange and prepare. It's a really classy touch which helps push a slightly above average meal experience to an above average one. Back to the farewell, it was a nice good bye and I guess, in Singapore, we're really never too far away to meet up anytime. I'm gonna miss the long chats, the Trekkie talks, the exchange of ideas...

On Sunday night, Hullett Block had our farewell for all boarders. The block is gonna get taken over by the girls from Moor as Moor Block will be demolished to make way for the new 13-storey block. So, all the male boarders in Hullett will have to move out and get divided into the other blocks. Those from other schools are posted to other hostels. It was a simple thing, plenty of food and snacks, a commemorative CD done by some boarders... It's as much a farewell for me too as I will be leaving Boarding after 5 years. Wow, can't believe I've stayed on for so long. It was quite unexpected, but the block gave me a very nice Swatch watch for the farewell. :-) Thanks guys! (if you're reading this!). I'm gonna miss the games & movies nights, the block breakfasts, the teasing and even the formal dinners, block competitions, etc... But I'm not gonna miss the late night knocking on doors and 'sir..can u sign my blue form?' (the latest was 1.30am I think!!!)

(here's the nice watch!)


On Monday night, it was the farewell for the Sec 4s prefects. I thought the Sec 2 & 3 prefects did a nice job with the programme, decorations and gifts. Hope the Sec 4s had a good time. It really can't equate with the amount of contributions they have made, but I think ultimately, it's really the personal satisfaction and sense of achievement. This is the third batch of prefects I'm saying bye to and it doesn't get much easier. I'm gonna miss working with you guys, the lubbings, the fun... hope you've had a good experience in the board.

I think there might be one or two more farewells to go. It's sad to see people go, but I guess it's all part and parcel of life. Wonder when my farewell is gonna be. heh.

Gameboy Micro FINALLY!

I've finally bought my Gameboy Micro! It's a really fantastic piece of hardware. Of course, it's in a different league from the PSP but it's still a wonder of engineering. The biggest selling point is that it's so small (fits in the palm of my hand!) and plays all previous Gameboy Advance cartridges. Ok, I admit the buttons are a little small for my big hands, but it just takes some getting used to. And the screen is really as sharp as the reviews have claimed. The PSP is 3 time larger, but hey, the PSP screen is 6 times larger lor! I think both machines have their own advantages, and I'm glad I finally got my hands on a GBM. Shiok. Now for the xbox 360....