A Sidrigavi Christmas

I have always thought that I am so lucky to have as much family in Canada as I do in India. This Christmas I escaped to Sidrigavi, to my Uncle Lalu's coffee estate, with his family, to spend some quality time in the mountains. The air is fresher, the sky is bluer, the stars are brighter, and I honestly think your food digests faster up there too! I had the wonderfully talented Erica, stuffing me with all kinds of yummy food, every three hours on the hour. So in order to earn these delicious meals, I had to walk and walk and walk just so I wouldn't look as blobbish as I felt! We went out to the forest on the 23rd to cut our own Christmas tree, we ended up chopping off the top of a fir tree, but i'm sure it will grow back by next year! It's amazing to see how the labourers climb trees that are like 50 ft tall with only their bare feet, and chop off limbs while clinging to the trunk! It's like extreme sports Indian style.
The 5 days I spent there just flew by. I went on hikes with my cousins Aaron and
Lauren almost every day. I also went coffee picking with Lauren and the coolie children (picked a wopping 9 kgs!), and hunting with Aaron and Lalu. In total we only shot one green pigeon and it was too cute to eat, so I didn't. I returned to Bangalore on the 27th of December. And at midnight Paul, Ken and Danika landed with their gigantic haul of luggage and I know Danika will hate me for mentioning this, but she cried like a little baby when she saw me! I think this is the longest we've ever been apart (2 months) without seeing each other.
It's funny, but as much as I am warming up to the way of life here, I am beginning to miss home just as much. There are so many things that we don't realize about our own lives until we are submerged into another culture or lifestyle. I am sure anyone who comes here will marvel at the richness of the culture and the vitality of the people here. But regardless of how many times I have visited India, the poverty, the inequalities, the apparent lack of any kind of modernization persists visit after visit. And if there is one thing I have learnt from my 2 short months here, it is that we are lucky to be women living in a country like Canada. There are inequalities everywhere I know, but the ones here you can see every single day, with your own eyes, and they are egregiously destructive to any woman's freedom.

Hong Kong & Shanghai

I am guilty of neglecting this blog over the past few weeks, so to all those who actually read it faithfully (Linds!) I am sorry.

HONG KONG:

To recap my trip to Hong Kong, all I can say is holy overcrowded! I try to think of the places I have visited, and what struck me the most about them. And for Hong Kong the most prominent thing is the sheer number of people that live there. I should also mention that when I first left the aiport on their fabulous express train into the city I was struck by the beautiful mountains that stand in the backdrop to the soaring cityscape. I was also struck by the many islands that surround Hong Kong's main island. I have always thought that it was just one big island, but the majority of Hong Kong proper lies outside the main island where the financial district is. I was very lucky in Hong Kong to have my old teacher Chris Coates and my Auntie Colleen to show me around. I also took one of those one day city tours that takes you to all the most popular tourist haunts. On the tour we visted the Man Mo Temple which is a very old Taoist Temple found in the antique district of Hong Kong and also near the spot where the British first put down the Union Jack and took possession of Hong Kong. "Man" means literature or words and "Mo" means war or weapons, so it is the temple of literature and war. The temple is a beautiful old building, hidden in a bustling commercial area of town. When you walk in, there is a huge ornamental door that is only opened on very special occasions. It is said that it is opened for all the bad spirits to leave. The temple houses the statues of both the Gods of Man and Mo, and in the middle is a huge section where you burn offerings to the heavens. The offerings are these huge coiled incense cages, you write down your prayers and intentions and tie them underneath the cage and then you light it and it burns for a whole month. As the smoke rises it carries your prayers to the heavens and to the Gods.
After the Man Mo temple we visited the famous Victoria Peak. We got to take the tram, which sits on a 45 degree slope and carries you up from the base of the hill to the top which is 1800 ft. above sea level. Unfortunately, the air pollution over Hong Kong is really bad and so you cannot see very well past the harbour. But from the pictures taken in the past, it's supposed to have an amazing view.
After the Peak, we drove to Aberdeen Harbour which used to be home to a huge fishing village. It has since been reduced to only about 100 families and has been been pushed further offshore into a large canal. This is due to the fact that waterfront real estate demands have made it much more profitable to have the Royal Yacht Club there instead. In Aberdeen Harbour is also the famous floating restaurant which I think has been in some Jackie Chan movie or something. We took a ride on a fishing boat through the floating village, which has larger sea bound ships and then smaller ones where the fishing families live. There is a floating community centre and a shower/bathroom area, it is really interesting to see a lifestyle like that being sustained in this day. It seems that most of the families dont' make a living from fishing, but rather the tourists that come to see them, go figure.
From Aberdeen Harbour, we drove through Repulse Bay which is a popular beach for swimming in the summertime. The tour guide told us an interesting fact, that they used to have a problem with shark attacks about 10 years ago and so the government was forced to install these giant shark nets to protect the local swimmers at the beach.
Our last stop was to Stanley Market which was a nice shopping area on Hong Kong's North side. None of their prices could even compare to the stuff you get in Thailand and India, but lo and behold, I bought a pair of shoes anyways!
On the last night I was in Hong Kong, I went out with Chris and his friends to the trendy Lan Kwai Fong area of town. This place puts all the other partying towns i've seen to shame. On Fridays and Saturdays (I went on a Saturday) the street is blocked off for pedestrian traffic only. In Hong Kong, 2 very cool things are allowed to happen: 1) You can buy a drink from a 7 Eleven or any bar and take it with you on the street or into another bar and 2) The bars are opened all night! So between walking around with your drinks and having no last call, it gets pretty wild in Lan Kwai Fong. It's also one of the few places in the city where you find the local Hong Kong Chinese and the "Gwai Los" (foreigners) mixing together. It's pretty amazing to see the number of ex-pats that live in Hong Kong, and I think it really tells you something about the cosmopolitan and liberal atmosphere of the place. After Lan Kwai Fong we headed over to Wan Chai which is also knows the Red Light District. It's not as bad as you might think, but walk into any bar and you automatically know who the working girls are. To put it truthfully, these places exhibit a certain bit of hedonism, and you can see that in the way some of the men who live here get caught up in the culture. One good feature about all these places is that they all have live bands that play all the latest music.

SHANGHAI:

Shanghai was really amazing because it was completely unlike anything I expected. I have always tended to think of China in much the same way I see India, heavily populated, very rich or very poor, modern, but still behind the times and it was NONE of these things! Shangai is really something to see. The roads are clean, and well organized. There are lots of new cars, lots of new shopping malls, beautiful skyscrapers, and wherever there is greenspace in the city, it is well manicured and always clean. It was also very, very cold, and I think colder climates tends to make a culture more subdued. Ray was saying that in Toronto when it's cold, the whole place looks dead, and people just run from their heated cars to their heated offices to their heated houses. And in China its somewhat like this, there aren't as many people on the streets, as you would find in Bangalore or Bangkok.
I visited the famous Bund River, which has the Pearl Tower and a lot of pretty skyscrapers along it's shores.
If there is one thing that struck me about Shanghai it's the bad drivers. In India, the roads are completely chaotic, there are no lanes, often you can't tell where the road ends and the sidewalk begins. But in China there are very clean lines, and traffic signals, and yet people do not observe any right of way, sometimes they ignore the lights, and I swear on the drive from the airport to my Aunt's house I saw 4 accidents alone. I guess some stereotypes do exist for a reason!!
I also visited a small canal town, called Zhujiajiao, just outside of metropolitan Shanghai It had cobblestone streets running next to small canals, both of which are used to get around the city. There were tonnes of antique and curiousity shops, and often you could bargain them down to one tenth of their asking price. But still, the prices weren't as good as in Thailand or India. Besides the cold weather, Shanghai was full of pleasant surprises. My Aunt took me for many delicious meals, and I was pleased to see that a lot of the food that the locals ate is available in Toronto, and is almost as good.
On the last night we were there my aunt took me to a cute area of town which also had cobblestone streets, a starbucks, jazzbars and lots trendy stores. I was shocked to see a place like this in the heart of Shanghai, it looked like a scene out of trendy Manhattan or something.

At the end of the 7 days, I was exhausted, and a little glad to be returning to Bangalore. I realized with each new place that I visited that there may be different cultures and languages, but in the end we are all people who are trying to survive. And I think the best sights in all the places were the local people, the way they exuded the life of the place more than any of the sites or cliches that we have come to recognize as outsiders.

Pacific Mall x Gazillion= Hong Kong!

Hey all. Finally arrived in Hong Kong yesterday afternoon.

To recap, The last 4 days in Thailand were spent on the island of Koh Phi Phi [Pee Pee]. It is one of those places you see in travel magazines, that has aquamarine water, white sand and mountains in the background. It was like a little slice of heaven. Koh Phi Phi itself is made up of two islands, Phi Phi Don, and Phi Phi Lay. Phi Phi Don is larger and houses most of the resorts and where you find the main ferry pier. Phi Phi Don, though larger, is still very small. Only a narrow strip of the island is actually inhabited. There are no motorized vehicles on the island, only bicycles. And a lot of it is still under construction from the post-tsunami destruction. It was relatively quiet, but It'd be interesting to see it in a year's time when all those mammoth resorts under construction finally open up.
Phi Phi Lay lies about 2 km south of Phi Phi Don, it is uninhabited for the most part, it is mostly unreachable rock cliffs and dense, hilly foliage. The movie "The Beach" was filmed in Phi Phi Lay's Maya Bay. It's this beautiful lagoon, with amazing snorkelling. There are some locals who camp on the island in Maya Bay on Phi Phi Lay, but no permanent residents.
Ray and I got enough sun and mosquito bites to last us the rest of the Canadian winter. Well Ray at least, I head back to Bangalore and 25 degree days! Koh Phi Phi was the most relaxing part of our trip. We lounged on the beach a lot. Took a one day tour of the surrounding islands, beaches and lagoons. Went snorkelling and swimming too. The snorkelling here is phenomenal. The fish are great, but the coral is something else! And to be able to see it all from the surface of the water is such a thrill. We also pigged out on great seafood. The jumbo tiger prawns are so good, fresh everyday, and relatively cheap!

Hong Kong is pretty cool. It reminds me of a cleaner, hillier version of Manhattan. The airport express train into the city was uber cool, it travelled outdoors mostly so I got to see a lot of harbour and lots of mountainous coast. The city itself is teeming with people, there are people everywhere! Chris says they're favourite past time is shopping, which is evident by the number of malls and stores that are around. For the most part the culture here is just a larger scale version of what you would experience at Pacific Mall on a Saturday afternoon. It's very much a "going out" culture, which doesn't surprise me because given the limited space on the island, i'm sure there's no incentive to stay in one's teeny tiny apartment.
I'm meeting my Auntie Colleen this afternoon, which should be fun since she knows this place well. Off to dim sum in Hong Kong!

Patong Beach, the Asian Wasaga

The past two days Ray and I have been at Patong Beach, Phuket. Patong is located off of the Andaman Sea off in a huge Bay that is inset about 2 miles from the ocean. It has white sandy beaches and clear green water. You can go parasailing or rent jetskiis right off the beach. The surrounding area have mountains that rise up up about 1000 ft or so and are covered with beautiful green vegetation. The beach itself was affected by the Tsunami a few years back. But has since recovered, and very well. There is a main road that runs parallel to the beach with tonnes of shops and restuarants. There are so many tourists here it is unbelievable, there are more blond people here than in Toronto!
You could never tell this area suffered from such a devastating Tsunami only 2 years ago. The restaurants, some of them quite posh, are lavishly decorated and can seat large numbers of people. There is a Nike shop, and McDonalds, and tonnes of biker bars and cafes.
We spent most of our two days here scooting around the city and vegging out at the beach. This place is more about people watching than actual sight seeing. On Sunday night, we went to the main Bangla Rd., which is closed off for pedestrians. There are mostly bars that line the street, and people soliciting you the whole way down. They sell things from cigarettes to tailor suits to Ping Pong shows(sex shows). Thailand also seems to have a substantial population of what they call "ladyboys" which are really just drag queens. They stand on the street in thongs, high heels and feathers and try to get you to watch their burlesque shows. We've been tempted to go just for the hell of it, but it's too expensive. This place really comes alive after dark. The restaurants fill up, the "Thai girls" start lining up in front of the bars trying to get guys to come in and spend all their money there. It's a pretty awesome spectacle. Needless to say Patong Beach is more for "mature" travellers, there are very few kids here I've noticed.
Ray has rented a scooter for the 3 days we've been here. Last night he parked on the wrong side of the street and his bike got chained. He had to pay the police 500 baht to unlock it! It's funny, we were joking that he managed to get a parking ticket halfway around the world too! Anyways, tomorrow off to Koh Phi Phi for relaxing, snorkelling and diving.

Zoom Zoom!

Today was the one of the best days of our trip because we rented a scooter! The rental guy wouldn't let me have one myself because when he made me go on a test run I almost crashed into a wall. Which wasn't my fault really since i've never driven a scooter in my life. But Ray got one, and it was only 200 baht (about $6 Cdn) for the whole day, it was worth it. He drove around by himself for most of the afternoon because I didn't trust him to take me on the back. But by the evening, I was feeling a little bolder and so we decided to brave the streets of Chiang Mai and drive to the night bazaar. It was amazing! The traffic here is much more calm than in Bangkok, but still quite busy. Like India, no lanes, and even fewer traffic signals (that we understood anyways). Happy to say we arrived in one piece back at the hotel!

Elephants, Spiders and Roosters oh my!

Today we returned from a 2 day trek in the North Thailand mountains and it was incredible! We departed early Saturday morning in a group of 10. There were 4 dutch travellers, 2 Italians and 2 New Zealanders. We travelled about 1 hour outside of the city to visit a traditional Karen[Ku-ren] Hilltribe village, which is one of the many different Hilltribes that live in the Thai mountains. The Karen Hilltribe migrated to the Thailand mountains hundreds of years ago from Burma due to civil unrest in their native country. They live off of the land, and survive off of cash crops such as flowers, fruits, vegetables and of course rice, which is Thailand's biggest agricultural export. The Thai Monarchy has helped the rural communities such as these Hilltribes by implementing agricultural programs that provide research and resources to the Thai people, so they do not have to rely on crops such as marijuana or opium to make a living. Much of the rural communities suffer from debilitating opium addictions, and this was one way for the government to resolve their addiction problems and the volatility and danger of harvesting illicit crops. The loyalty of the Thai people to the Monarchy is absolutely overwhelming. Due to programs such as these, the people here revere and basically idolize the King. There are yellow banners with the King's picture (the colour of the King) everywhere and every Monday (the day he was born) the Thai people were yellow golf shirts as a show of support for the King. They also wear yellow rubber bracelets that say "Long Live the King" not quite "Livestrong" as Lance would have it.
Anyways, this Karen hilltribe was beautiful, with thatched roofs of straw and some sort of waxy leaf. They are all built on stilts because of the flooding caused during the monsoons. And like most rural, agricultural areas, each family has their own share of dogs, chickens and pigs that roam around the village, yet somehow everyone knows which belongs to which family.


After walking around the village we got back into the truck, stopped for lunch and finally were dropped off at our trailhead. We walked for about 15 km up and down hills, over streams and through paddy fields, and arrived at our night camp 3 hours later, which was another Hilltribe village. This one was quite similar to the one we visited earlier in the day, but here there was a large hut for the tourists that stopped for camp. It was on stilts as well, but had no door, and the floor was about 2 feet lower than the sleeping surface and was structured sort of like a gangplank. The beds had large mosquito nettings, but that was about it in the way of comfort. We all had baths with ice cold water. And were treated to a remarkable dinner cooked by our tour guide, on a single gas stove. He made us bean sprout and tofu stir fry, green curry chicken, vegetable soup and white rice! It was really, really good. The hilltribe also had a large cooler stocked with Fantas, Chang beer and water, and for like 1$ each drink we drank like fishes! We ate by candlelight and then headed off to bed since there wasn't muc else to do.

The stupid village roosters crowed almost 2 hours before sunrise, so we were all up and ready to leave very early, sans any type of alarm clock. When we awoke, we saw that a gargantuous spider had made a home in the hut where we were sleeping, so we all wanted to get the hell out of there anyways! (This picture is just for you Danika! I hope you can see its hairy body and beady eyes, and very gangly, fuzzy legs!)

After leaving the village in the early morning, we had to hike a lot of tedious uphill terrain. And I know Ray will hate me, but he was dying! I think he sweated more liquid than he drank that day! But he made it, with a sprained ankle to boot.

By midday we arrived at the elephant camp, and there were 4 majestic elephants and 1 baby waiting for us. There could only be 2 on the saddle per elephant, so that meant 2 out of the 10 of us had to ride on the neck, and I was one of them! It was freaking scary, but so incredibly fun.
The elephants walked very slowly and seemed almost gentle knowing we were on it's back. Everytime it flapped it's ears it would slaps my legs and it kept pointing its trunk it my face like it was going to sneeze on me, like that nasty walrus scene in 50 First Dates. We rode the elephants for about a half a kilometre, through streams and next to cliffs, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Only in hindsight Did I actually think it was fun!

The last thing we did was take a bamboo raft down the Mae Ping river. The rafts were about 30 feet long and were tied together with cut up pieces of rubber tires! It was more like white water rafting since we went through rapids and got soaked, but it was nice to not have to walk for a while. The trek was so much fun, and the group of travllers we were with made it that much more interesting. Needless to say it was nice to come back to a hot shower and air conditioning, but it's an experience I will certainly never forget.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

The last few days in Bangkok were spent shopping and visiting the famous Wat Pho, which is the "Temple of the Reclining Bud-dha" as well as the Grand Palace. The reclining Bud-dha is magnificent it is housed in a huge temple building, the actualy Bud-dha is about 200 ft long, and it is painted gold. We were not allowed into the Grand Palace because there are hours when the locals are permitted, and then hours when tourists are permitted. We unfortunately landed up when it was only local people hours, so we walked around the Palace walls and took in the surrounding. We took a river boat up the Chao Phrao river, which winds through downtown Bangkok. The waters are brown, and very choppy, but you get to see some really great sites, like Wat Arun, which is the "Temple of Dawn". It is a beautiful structure with one large spire that is heavily adorned. It was on the opposite side of the river to the other popular temples and the Grand Palace, so we didn't make a stop. But we got some really good pictures of it!

This morning, we arrived in Chiang Mai and met our Tour Guide "Billy". He picked us up from the airport, he was waving one of those giant signs with my name on it. I've always wanted someone to do that! The hotel is really quaint, with all Lanna style designs. It will be our home for the next 5 days as the tour continues. Tomorrow we go to a visit a Thai Hilltribe in the local mountains and then to Home Industries to see how they make all the local Thai handicrafts.

We had lunch at this cute outdoor cafe next to the hotel. We feasted on Tom Yum Goong soup, Thai yellow curry, Thai red curry and pad thai. We have decided to order Tom Yum Soup everywhere we go, because it is honestly the most amazing soup. Yes Paul, even better than Young Thailand! The yellow curry was also crazy good, though it reminded me sort of South Indian Coconut curries, but more about that in the food blog!

The cost of renting a scooter for a day is 150 Baht, which is about 5 Canadian dollars. So Ray has decided he is going to rent one tomorrow, at least he has travel insurance!

IN BANGKOK!

Bangkok is absolutely amazing! The new airport is gorgeous and takes like miles and miles of movators to get anywhere. And this is the first time EVER that my luggage was on the carousel before I even got there!
The people here are so friendly. There is food everywhere, but i've been to excited to eat, I know, no one would ever think Danila would say that. I arrived early this morning and had a little adventure getting to the hotel. The English speakers here are few and far between, so I stick to pointing and stuff. And the ones that can speak English have a killer accent, sounds like another language all together! The weather is nice and steamy, but people here still wear long sleeves and stuff, kind of like India.
I am just doing some prelim research right now on what to do. Kind of overwhelmed here by myself, but not for long! There's a nice Aussie chap typing next to me, so he's my company for today! I will upload pics when I have time, these computers are pretty basic. OH, and so strange! They have 7 elevens and Tops grocery stores here!!!

Some observations...

Everytime I sit down to write about my trip, I end up with way too many thoughts, and only about a tenth of them end up being written down. There are some day to day experiences which don't really qualify as stories, or events really. But are things that deserve to be mentioned. So I have decided to include an "observations" section, where I can write random things that I have forgotten to blog about at the time.

This morning, on my way over to Erica's house, I saw goat, balancing on a wall, so it could eat off of a tree. The area I was walking through was residential, with a few construction projects going on. There are often cows, and bulls laying around, but i've never seen a goat!




The traffic in Bangalore is beyond insane. At any one time, there can be three different streams of traffic converging onto one road. There are no lanes, there are no rules. It's basically every man, woman and lop-sided bus for himself. I am completely shocked that I have not seen an accident yet. And here when you want to turn or changes "lanes" no one checks their mirrors, they merely cut in, and hope that whoever is behind them has good brakes. The auto rickshaws are the worst, they are like tiny street vermin that squish into the tiniest of spaces.

And everyone here spits. They spit out of windows, they spit onto sidewalks, they spit onto walls, they pee on the walls. It's like the street is one giant public toilet. There are signs that says "Keep Bangalore beautiful. Do not litter or urinate on the walls." And there will be people standing there and urinating on the sign.

It also gets dark here very quickly. By 7 o'clock, its nightime. And it's odd, but as soon as night falls, it seems that all the women disappear and there are only men on the street. I wouldn't say it is dangerous to be out at night as a woman. But it is definitely risky. Especially if you need to tak a rickshaw, they will automatically triple their price because they know you have no choice but to pay them.

Being in India also has its perks. Namely that everything is cheap. Especially food. And almost everyone here speaks at least functional English, so it's easy to find your way around.

Off to my homeland! (The other homeland)

I am very, very, very excited that I have finally confirmed my ticket for Bangkok, and will also be visiting Hong Kong and Shanghai as well! Finding destinations in visa-sensitive South East Asia was not easy. And after finally conceding that I would not be able to visit Vietnam for lack of time to obtain a visa, and nixing Singapore because it's so damn expensive, I am glad that I at least get to visit Hong Kong which on the top of my "must visit" list. More importantly, and thus the title of this entry, I will be visiting Shanghai, China, my other homeland! For all of you who delight in calling me an immigrant and love pressing my "immigrant button", I use the term homeland for you.
As for visiting China, i'm really not sure I know what i've got myself into. I have no idea what to expect, but like reading an unknown author or a watching an unfamiliar movie, I am often strangely surprised, and so I hope the same fate for my experience in China. If there is anything you want from there, please let me know. And if you don't know what to ask for, just remember all the times you turned over that obscure plastic product, or a cheap cotton tank top, only to see a "made in China" sticker on its bottom! I am very lucky to have an aunt in China, and so I will not be completely hopeless.
1 more week til I leave for Bangkok, whopeee!

A Diwali Pooja

Last night I attended a Diwali Pooja at my aunt's cousin's house. It was a small gathering of family and friends.
When we entered the house we had to remove our shoes, and sit or kneel before the home-made shrine. On the shrine, there were silver and gold statues of deities adorned with jasmine wreathes, there were diyas burning(traditional Diwali oil lamps), offerings of sweets and fruits, and a container with silver coins.
The pooja began with the preparation of a pooja tray. The man of the house (in this case, Erica's cousin Harrish) decorates the tray with red ink, he marks an Om, and a Swastika, both sacred Hindu symbols. On the tray, he placed a lit diya, some sweets, a small container of milk.
The container with silver coins is opened, and a series of symbolic ingredients are added. The woman and the man of the house do this first, taking turns adding a pinch of rice, a pinch of sweets, 2 drops of milk, 2 drops of water, flowers, tumeric powder and a dab of red ink, everything must be added with the right hand only, and in a specific order. Then you place both hands into the container and mix all the ingredients with the coins, while silently praying for whatever it is you want on this Diwali. Following the man and the woman of the house, each person attending the pooja does the same ritual, going in order from the eldest to the youngest present. After the money has been sufficiently blessed, it is place on the alter as an offering in return for the blessings of wealth.
Then the Diwali tray with the symbols is adorned with incense and a diya and each person takes turns rotating it in a cirlce in front of the Pooja shrine while a Hindi song "Om Jagga Jai" (forgive my spelling) is being sung. After this everyone kneels before the elders and asks for a blessing, out of respect. Now the pooja is over.
After the Pooja, we had a delicious vegetarian meal, and the host and hostess gave us presents and sweets when we left, which is apparently a Diwali tradition. I was very grateful to be allowed to participate in Harrish & his family's Diwali pooja. It was a strangely spiritual experience, and proves that regardless of what faith you may be, prayer and family are inherently what is most important to these spiritual holidays.

Houstonji, we have arrived

22 hours after leaving Toronto, I found myself standing in the Bangalore airport waiting for my luggage. First of all, kudos to Lufthansa for being so incredibly punctual with all of its flight times. And kudos to me for flying halfway across the world on my own for the first time! It was late and very hot and humid when I disembarked. The luggage took over 1 hour to come out, but I am so very thankful that it is here at all. Erica and Lalu greeted me at the airport and dropped me off to Mossglam (my grandparent's house) at around 1 am. Everything was exactly the same and completely different than I had remembered it. Mosslgam had the same smell as when I left it 4 years ago! I think thats more a bad thing than a good thing. Anyways, have spent the last 2 days galavanting around Bangalore. The traffic here is incredible, I don't ever remember it being so bad. And its almost impossible to get an autorikshaw, eventhough I've been told there are about 65,000 of them registered in Bangalore. I think I still have jet lag as I wake up at 5:30 am everyday (mum you would be so proud), but I'm sure it won't last long.
Grandma, Erica and I went to breakfast this morning at Konark. The idlis and vadas were soo good, and although I can honestly say the stuff you can get in Canada comes in a close second, you just can't beat the 20 Rs pricetag on 2 idlis and 1 vada. And the coffee, it's soo good! I think its the milk here. It's delivered fresh everyday to people's houses.

It's Diwali this weekend. Every school and office will be shut down for the next 5 days as we celebrate diwali, also known as the "festival of lights". People are supposed to buy new clothes and jewellry, they buy boxes and boxes of sweets and luxurious fruit baskets and go and visit each other and exchange these presents. Diwali symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. The date marks the return of Lord Ram (the good) after killing Ravan (the evil demon) during his exile for 14 years. It is a very special time of year here. Since such a huge population of India is Hindu, the festive feeling is reminiscent of a North American Christmas. And just like Christmas, I think the greatest joy is having so many days of vacation! Grandma is leaving tomorrow to go to the estate with Gerard, Uncle Ben, Aunt Rita and Ruth to celebrate Grandpa's birthday (October 22nd). So I'm celebrating at Erica'a place with Aaron and Lauren. We've splurged on junk food, sweets, movies and beer (for E & me only of course), and we're going to stay up late, burst firecrackers and sleep in for the next 5 days!

Oh, and happy to report, no devastating malarial-like illness symptoms so far!

T minus 4 hours and counting!

Ready to Go! And with 1 1/2 hours to spare. So here I sit, at my laptop, writing my last blog in Toronto, and hopefully making you all very envious. I finished most of my packing last night, thanks to Neeks and Ray, and here is a picture of my very helpful packing assistant hard at work...



I also wanted to say thanks to Mum and Pullu for the fabulous crab curry dinner last night. And to Paully, Ken, Ray, Neeks and Lauren for making my last night here uber memorable, oh and Rachna and Linds too of course. My fingers still smell like crab curry this afternoon!

Looking forward to the airplane food and freeee booze...my next blog will be from India, yay!

Namaste

The road to India is paved with good intentions...

Hi all! Only 5 more days til I leave. With some unnecessary difficutly, I finally received my Indian visa today. And I am also happy to report that we have booked a hotel for the first few nights in Thailand.

I have officially opened my suitcase and started tossing random stuff into it. Minus the last minute crap my Mum and Aunts will try to sneak in, Kraft singles, hot chocolate powder etc. (don't ask), I could leave tomorrow!

A special thanks to all those who came out to the "farewell" party last weekend at the Madison. From what I remember it was a crazy fun night, and I hope it's only a precursor to the months ahead.

I will try to update you guys as much as I possibly can while I'm away, and post lots of pics.

See ya'll later, and don't miss me too much! (notice I didn't say GOODBYE!!??! ...you know who you are)