Kerala!!!!

Kerala...EPIC! So we (group of 7 people) took a train to Ernakulam, and reached like super early. We traveled in the sleeper class (non-ac) and it was the most comfortable mode of transport so far (compared to Bus Sleeper and Bus Semi-sleeper --> very uncomfortable)

The main point of the trip was to get on the houseboat and go along the backwater, but check-in was at noon. So we went to check out some fort, which as it turns out, was just the name of the area, and there were no actual forts

The fishing nets!

What was cool though, was the fishing nets in that area. Apparently the idea was brought by the Chinese some time ago, and it's been there ever since.  Pretty neat eh? The entire structure flips over  and is then submerged in the water. Later on, the fishermen then just pull it back and get the fishes out! Simple and easy.

A couple of the people in our group then decided to buy some fishes and eat for breakfast. Very adventurous...since I could barely stand the smell and the sight of live fishes wiggling around lol. But well, the pictures above depicts a local Kerala version of Fish and chips! They cooked and cleaned the fish really well, and yeah it was good =)

We then headed over to the houseboat, making a stopover at some church (seriously, it's not me wanting to see churches and temples and museums, etc. I prefer the nature!) Next to the church, there were a bunch of kids playing cricket, so my friend and I decided to join them. Lol, these kids started trying to do fancy stuff and impress us with their bowling, but it was a big time fail (wide balls, no balls, super high bouncers, etc.) Anyway, when I started batting, I think I annoyed them big time by hitting the ball too far (and they had to go fetch it). I hit it like 3 times, and then all the kids suddenly went away and started playing football instead. Hahah, we got the hint and left.

The houseboat was huge! It reminded be a bit of the barge trip we took in school, and as far as the backwaters go, it was very serene and beautiful. Makes me wonder what Bangkok khlongs looked like before it became a city made of concrete. We were greeted with a welcome drink of coconut water and they served some awesome meals. One question I have though...why is it that when I buy coconut water in Thailand, from the roadside (hence out in the hot sun), it's always cool...yet the ones here are not???? so frustrating!

Here are a few pictures of the houseboat and some of our meals.

The boat, according to government laws, wasn't allowed to continue sailing after 6 pm, so around 5pm we anchored at some village. We then went out to explore the village, which was very small, although there were some houses under construction which seemed to be big and expensive. One of the guys with us is a fruit-lover (basically buys fruits almost wherever we go), and well, when we're at the "market", he sees this thing that looked like a watermelon from the outside. No one in the village can speak Hindi, let alone English, so there was an interesting haggling period before they got the idea to start writing down numbers instead =P

Anyway, it turns out what he bought was NOT a fruit. It looks like มะเขือ, the bitter kind you put in different Thai curries. LOL! We couldn't stop laughing. Big fail. Anyway, the houseboat staff then used it to whip up another dinner dish.

In the evening, one of the local village boys also came to us and asked us if we wanted to go on a boat ride (the rowing kind). He could speak really good english, and as we find out later, he was a 2nd year engineering student at a pretty good university. He did these boating trips since he was around 14, taking tourists around the backwater, to some nice places, and since the houseboat can't operate and people have nothing to do, it was a good part-time business for him. That was when we got to see the areas around the backwater better, the trees (banana and mango), and he even told us about how it used to be rice plantations like in the early 90s. That was relaxing.

We had been discussing what to do on Sunday, when we're done with the boat at around 9 am, and have our train at 5 pm. We were at Alleypey, and we had two options: some elephant training center thing and athirapally falls. The majority wanted to go to elephant thing, which was a major disappointment. (all 3 places and the train station were in different cities....so traveling time had to be taken into account).

Anyway, the elephant place literally had 4 elephants, and the elephant which tourists ride was sick (and the main reason the people from the group wanted to go was to ride the elephant). Luckily entrance was only 2 rupees. But hey! We did see an elephant in a trance state. There was one dude that just kept shaking it's head and dancing....definitely a new experience.

Since we had plenty of time left, we made our way to Athirapally falls, and that my friends, was the highlight of the trip. I don't even mind going back again just to see the falls. It was huge, and very very beautiful. I honestly did not expect such a big fall. When we hiked down to the bottom of the fall, guess what? It "rained". And by that, I mean the fall was so big, and the water fell so hard that it splashed around the area as if it was raining. It was also fun because there were alot of local tourists in that area, and they wanted to take a lot of pictures with our group. I feel kind of bad for the girls though...they could barely walk around without someone grabbing them and saying "photo photo!" There were some really good pictures and that was an epic fall. It made me realize that I really really enjoy nature, and not too much of museums and palaces....

Well, that was about it. We had lunch at some restaurant in front of the train station. Oh wait, I forgot one more thing.....the train actually reached Bangalore BEFORE TIME! I felt like I should have checked the skies to see if there were pigs flying. It was scheduled to reach at 4.30 am, and at about 3.50 am I woke up to find us at a station in Bangalore. 10 minutes later, we're at the main Bangalore station. Amazing eh?

Again, photos credit goes to my friend, not me, except for this next one...just for my friends at Tech!

This was the name of a food court in the Bangalore train station

That's it from me folks! This coming weekend we're headed for Hampi...this time a pretty big group (28 people and counting!) Hopefully it'll be fun =)

Oh, and a special note to those who think I'm here just for fun and traveling...and get annoyed at me for not calling....I just want you to know that I actually WORK on week days. And when I do get off work, there isn't really time to go make house visits and stuff. So chill out. The only way I'm able to fund these trips is by working. Good, now I'm glad we're on the same page.

Long overdue Goa Update

Well well,  I've been really busy these last two weeks. Don't really have much time anymore, hence the lack of updates. So now I need to write two updates...Goa and Kerala (both awesome trips!)

Well, Goa was a pretty fun place. Nothing like the pictures, but I couldn't expect much since we had after all been warned about the weather. The weather was honestly interesting...it used to rain in phases, and as it turned out, it usually decided to rain whenever we were indoors or in a car. So that worked out pretty well, as we could enjoy ourselves when it didn't rain. In fact, we slowly began to even measure time in terms of rain cycles! For example, one of the mornings, we decided to head out for lunch after three more rain cycles. Pretty amusing =)

Anyway, travelling from Bangalore was just me and a friend of mine, and we met up with about 8 guys from Pune and 4 other French people working in Doha (friends with one of the Pune guys). We stayed in a place right at Anjuna beach, which I honestly can't call a "beach". Check out the photos below for a better idea on what I"m talking about:

Yes, there are goats on the "beach"! And these goats look so mean, not one of those friendly goats

It's basically a cliff,, with rocks and eroded land lol. Anyway, we later heard that Baga beach was supposed to be the more "happening" place. We arrived in Goa on Saturday morning, and then later in the afternoon, visited a spice farm. It was pretty cool, they showed us different spices and flowers and stuff, and then later we ate a local meal (which was good too!)

Following that, we visited some sort of temple, and then a church and then we were on the way to checking out some museum, almost reaching the entrance, when we finally realized that literally NO BODY in the group were actually interested to see it. lol, I was kind of wondering since the beginning of the day why we were actually doing all that, when we were in Goa.The church was interesting because it had a Portuguese kind of architecture (I think), and some nice statues and stuff. It looked a bit like a fort from the outside! (see below)

Anyway, that night we went out to check out the night life in Goa. Awesome night! We started off by eating dinner at Baga beach before heading out and then around 2 am we all headed to the beach and just chilled there for about an hour, until the next wave of rain arrived. 

The next day (Sunday) was a lazy day. We chilled by the pool,, while it poured cats and dogs. We played cards and just talked, and then during the dry interval, we headed out for lunch, before getting a taxi to the bus stop to head back

If I was to describe Goa to you, I would say the islands and stuff is kind of like Khao Yai. A lot of trees (and certain areas farm), thin road and well, you would think you're in a forest, except suddenly, you reach the sea! I think I would definitely visit again, but this time in March or December, when there are alot of tourists (although that would mean spending more than we already did....heck, Goa is not cheap! But what do you expect? It's a tourist city)

Oh and yeah, credits of photos goes to my friend who traveled from Bangalore with me.

Update ho gaya

Karan has gone a bit crazy y'all...he is singing "ek update ho gaya" and this really emphasizes the essence of karan...


~SG

Updates coming soon

Hey y'all!
I know I've been slacking. It's just, I'm actually here to work as well and am usually tired at the end of the day (and that's what actually funds the weekend trips which fuels this blog), so hold on, I'll get to it soon!!!

Thanks for your patience and keep reading!

- KG

More goodbyes and more hellos!

It's official. The last person from the old batch of people (who came here before May) have thrown their "good-bye" parties. Along with them, there are also three people who started in May that will wrap up their internship this week.

So we went out for some dinner last night at a pub. Obviously when I got there, I was starving, and as you would expect from a pub, there wasn't a wide variety of food choices. The ones that were available (in moderate price) were more of finger foods. So a group of us decided to go find food nearby. We asked one of the people working there where we can get some good and cheap food. Note, cheap. After trying to be a good employee and suggesting food from their own menu, he suggested a place called "Sunny's". Sounded good, so we checked it out.

Turns out, I don't think he heard the word "cheap" in my question. It was a very posh place, yet not posh enough (as they were playing Katy Perry...). We decided to eat there anyway. The first thing they brought us was some bread and garlic butter. Gosh, I was so tempted to eat ONLY the bread, and then dip out. I mean, after two pieces of bread, I was pretty much good to go. But the food sounded quite good in the menu (and we wanted to be "decent") so we ordered some food anyway. Probably the most I've spent on food in India so far.

And it truly is a small world. At the pub, I happened to run into two students from Tech. I mean, what is the probability of that? (that's a rhetoric question, please don't answer it....even if you're really really tempted to)

Oh yeah, yesterday I also happened to just book tickets for two different trips as well! One for Goa (tomorrow!) and one for Hampi (in two weeks). I think I'll take next weekend off, just to chill in Bangalore a bit, and possibly meet the people I know over here.

Despite the goodbyes though, yesterday was also a good opportunity to get to know the new people. I mean, I've seen some of them during lunch and had a few conversations, but I didn't really meet them properly yet. They're all really cool and to my own surprise, I think I remember MOST of their names now. Most, not all...but that's a good start. I just need to get it done before the next group arrives sometime next wee

But yeah, I guess the only negative thing that happened yesterday was when I got dissed by the cab driver. My friend was trying to explain to him how to get to the pub, and I was just chilling in the background. He was trying to say near the intersection of MG road and St. Marks road. The cab dude turns to me and asks if I speak Hindi. I laughed and nodded my laugh, and then I realized I had no clue how to explain that (one of the other interns really put it well....I only know baby Hindi, but I really think it's improved a bit...). Anyway, the guy basically tells me in Hindi that it's sad that I'm Punjabi and can't speak Hindi (not so nicely though....but hey I understood it!)


Today, I also officially wrapped up my literature search. I had a meeting with my project mentor and I just told him up front that I'm tired of reading, I want to start doing real work lol. Hey, 25 papers, which have on average 10 pages each...that's 250 pages! 250 pages on technical, mathematical stuff...lol I don't think I've read even a 100 pages of all the textbooks combined in my 3 years at Tech.

I also killed about 30 minutes today surfing the net. A friend of mine also happens to be keeping a blog about her travels in India. And she had a few posts of pictures comparing Spain and India, and the comparisons are very interesting! Definitely puts things into perspective on how much India's architecture has been influenced by the Persians and other places.

One of the guys who already left (Aussie chap but would seriously fit in well at some Ashram), he had said something interesting before he left, which I'm kind of seeing a bit....in the mornings when you walk to work, you're extremely fresh. And then the moment you get into the building, you feel sleepy almost immediately. But when you walk out for some fresh air, you're fresh again! Like automatically. Maybe it's got to do with the level of oxygen? The company has a lot (i mean a lot!) of trees on campus....lol I think the oxygen quality is good from those trees. (wandering away a bit...do different trees release oxygen of different quality? hmmm....maybe coconut trees has relaxants that's why you get in a holiday mood near the beach? or am I just so excited about Goa that I''m just talking rubbish? 55555)

Anyway, I'm rambling too much. Guess I'm off! I'll post an update once I'm back from Goa =)

Hyderabad

So I got back from Hyderabad today morning, in time for work. And just reflecting back on the last three days, it's been a helluva trip!

So it started off Friday evening when we headed off to catch the bus, which was about an hour late. We had booked a sleeper bus, which is basically like an overnight train to Chiang Mai, with a few very important differences...

First off, each row had three seats, arranged in a 1:2 format. Of course, these were divided into top and bottom bunks. While booking the tickets, I expected the two "seats" that were together would be like how a seat would be... separated with some sort of divider in between. Well...NO! It was basically a slightly bigger bed, for two people. So here I was, stuck with a random dude for a twelve hour journey. Regardless to say, it wasn't the most comfortable trip ever, but I felt good knowing on the return trip, I'll get my own individual bed. The ride back though, was good up till when the bus stopped for dinner. I decided to get off and ordered some channa masala. Bad mistake! It didn't occur to me that there were no pit stops in between, and even if there were, I would be passed out. So yeah....you can fill in the blanks.

I was traveling with 4 other interns from Bangalore and we met up with two other guys who were coming from Pune. We stayed in the company's campus in Hyderabad, which made Bangalore's campus look ordinary. The rooms were huge (yes, much bigger than what I have now, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture though). The campus itself was also much nicer.

The entire city impressed me a lot. The traffic seemed to be more disciplined, and not as bad as Bangalore. The city itself seemed to be more planned and in a better condition. The buildings looked good, and there weren't too many incomplete buildings. I kind of wished I was based in Hyderabad lol...but like the saying goes, "the grass is always greener on the other side", and I don't want to land up like this:

Anyway, we went sight-seeing around Hyderabad. I think a large percentage of the travelling that I did was on the autos. And it was fun, definitely let me see much more of the city than I would have in a taxi (in which I would have merely fallen asleep....not to say that I didn't fall asleep in the auto hahah)

A few interesting things to note about the auto though:
1. In the beginning we were too far away from Char Minar and no one was willing to take us (the two Pune guys and myself). So I asked one of them to take us to the main road, and the guy agreed. But it wasn't just us three in the auto! There was another couple as well as another guy. So that's 7 people in a pretty small vehicle, for just possibly 4 people max.

2. On Saturday night, when we were trying to get into the town, the auto who agreed to take us had earlier been helping a dude who's motorcycle was broken. So we waited for them to negotiate something (they were talking in Telugu so I couldn't understand). Anyway, the motorcycle dude got a headstart as we were busy negotiating prices (on that note, I think I did a good job negotiating prices the entire trip! Ok giving myself a tad too much credit but still...every time before getting an auto, I would ask a local how much the price should be, and I was always able to get it in that range =))

To get to the point, 2 minutes after we started our journey, we see the motorcycle dude stuck again. The auto guy stops and talks to him. The guy was trying to buy a wrench from the auto dude. The auto finally agreed, but told the guy to actually make sure if it fits (he insisted it won't). Turns out it didn't. So this is the awesome part. The motorcycle dude then gets on the bike, holds on to the auto and the auto guy starts riding towards the main road. It was awesome, and I think that truly shows Indian hospitality.

Well, we saw a lot of the touristy stuff (Char Minar, Mecca Masjid, some palace, the Qutb Shahi tomb (hahah should have heard one of the guys trying to pronounce it), the golkonda fort). The only thing we missed out was this museum that was supposed to be really good. The taxi dude had told us that there was some sort of incident in that area and everything was closed down. Although we were slightly disappointed, I think we were all hungry enough to just forget about it quickly.

I must note though, while the palace may seem nice, and I wouldn't mind living there (just like I wouldn't mind living at most of the other places), it was probably the least interesting part of the trip. It's just a HUGE palace, with many buildings of old stuff and expensive stuff. The kings back in the day didn't know the meaning of "king-size" though. Should've seen the sizes of their crockeries, glasses and tea cups. TINY! You would think that if you were rich and had ridiculous amounts of money, you would buy BIG things. So you can enjoy more. The car collections were tight though. The buick was especially nice. I wish they maintained the cars better..could probably be worth a lot of money now. There is a fine line between scrap metal and antiques though....

The restaurant we ate at on Sunday afternoon was called "Paradise", and it was nothing short of it. The restaurant had about 3 or 4 floors, divided into sub-restaurants. I'm not sure if they all served the same food but there definitely were A LOT of people there.

Obviously since Hyderabad is known for it's Biryanis, so that's what we ordered. Also had some chicken appetizers and stuff. Apparently though, the real Hyderabadi biryani can only be found in people's houses. Possibly the "love" is what makes all the difference?

Oh yeah, I also gave a short speech regarding saving the environment. But I don't think anyone understood what I said though, because I intentionally stood away from the mic a bit. We were at this waterfront food court kind of thing, and they were talking something along the lines of if you sign a board, they'll plant three trees for each signature. So I thought, heck, it won't hurt! While signing, the cute MC asks if she could ask a few questions and I just couldn't say no hahah!

There were a lot of funny and good moments in the tri (such as the inability to do basic arithmetic...lol)., and I would like to thank everyone (especially the six other interns) who helped make it an awesome trip. Thank you!

Well, as for pictures, I guess we'll have to wait for Facebook =)

Run with it!

It's been an interesting week. It started off on Monday (yes, I just pulled a Rebecca Black) when I did my laundry and hit the gym simultaneously. I lost track of time, so got there barely in time before they closed down, otherwise my clothes would have been stuck overnight.

Anyway, just as soon as I leave, it starts pouring. And I'm not talking about some ordinary rain here, it was raining cats and dogs. Naturally, I waited for some time, but there was no sign of the rain subsiding. It just kept getting stronger. I lost my patience and decided to Rambo it. And I actually felt like Rambo.

Imagine a scene in a Rajnikanth, with the hero running through the rain, carrying a heavy bag over the shoulder, with bad guys chasing him. That was what was running through my head. Once I reached the guest house, I was soaked, but I felt a warm satisfaction inside me, as if I had won.

Things are starting to pick up on the work front. I've read a few interesting papers that have begun to put things into perspective and I can formulate vaguely what I'll do later. But that also means I have to work quicker to finish my current task to move on.

The gym here is pretty good and quite a lot of people use it, which adds a good atmosphere to it. Most of them are friendly and willing to chat a bit. So the routine that I've been trying to get into is to hit the gym after work, and then go straight for some dinner (and juice.....I wonder though, does fresh juice give as much nutrition as fruits??? hmm...) I'm avoiding lassi now, because after drinking it at one of the food courts on campus, I decided there is no other place on campus that can serve such a good lassi.

Many of the old interns have started to leave, and next week, we'll be one of the oldest generation (if you can call it that), still remaining. Feels kinda weird in a way...

Yesterday also went to watch Hangover 2. I have mixed feelings about it. The bearded guy (Alan) really annoyed me, and I feel the movie could have been so much better without him (or if his character wasn't so childish) As for the people complaining that it portrays Thailand in a really negative light...well guys, face it. That aspect of Bangkok does exist, and even if we don't want to acknowledge it, we still have to admit it. But I also agree, there are ALOT of positive aspects of Bangkok, yet this isn't the style of movie to portray that. This is a movie which would make money by picking on the stereotypes, and honestly, it sells! Can't do much about that. We just have to encourage our family/friends to visit Bangkok and we can show them how awesome it is, first hand =)

Well, that's about it for now! Really looking forward to this weekend, Hyderabad! =) Will make sure I take my camera (and not take random pictures of trees, skies, floors and god knows what hahahah)