I'm reminded how naggy my mum is the moment I saw her after 5 months away.

"Those 'friends all over' are the best and worst part of travelling around so much, I think," so said Miss Prevette to me just now.

Yep, I'm back with a major reality check. Goodbye, new friends, and hello again to the old ones.

Random rant and whatnots

I have this thing about people doing the "How well do you know ABC" quiz on FB. No I will not create one myself for my friends to do and neither will I do the quizzes of others. It just reeks of narcissism. If you know me well, then you know me well. You don't need numbers and stats to prove it. And if you don't know me too well, then either I am not a good friend to you or you are new to me. At the risk of sounding too irritated over nothing, I lament the sad state of relationships these days, where people have to resort to taking quizzes online to prove their friendship and loyalty.

Otherwise things are pretty chill for me recently. Slowly easing back into the first-world motions. I think coming to India was a good decision. It would have been too jarring to go from no-govt-total-anarchy Nepal straight to first-world Singapore. India proved to be a good transitional point to mentally prepare us to remember to wait for the traffic lights before crossing the roads, how to use a washing machine again and how hot Singapore can be when we return.

Many things to do when I return, such as reports to write, meetings to attend and many things to sort out post-Nepal, pre-final year at NTU. And of course Roland Garros to catch, although tennis seems pretty boring these days without Justine Henin. Will be back on the 25th night, so I guess I'll see you all when I see you all.

5 more days in second-world India. Tomorrow I ride the Rajdhani Express from Delhi to Mumbai, a 16-hour train ride. Something I've wanted to do since reading Paul Theroux's The Great Railway Bazaar. Good piece of travel writing, and there is something about train journeys that make them more colourful than planes or bus rides. Currently reading Pico Iyer's The Global Soul. When I travel I like to read the classics or travel literature. Things I can imagine or relate to.

See you soon.

On tourist mode

In March this year the Singapore High Commissioner of India and his First Secretary came to visit the Singaporean folks in neighbouring Nepal while on an official trip to see the now-defunct Nepali government. Since there is no embassy/consulate in Nepal for the Singaporeans, we often hang out at the unofficial "consulate", in a restaurant called Singma, started by a Singaporean and a Malaysian who have been in Nepal for the past decade. So that was how we met Ding Yong, the First Secretary based in New Delhi. And when we mentioned that we were going to head to India after our internship, he kindly offered to host us in his apartment in Delhi, located within the Singapore High Commission. So this is where I am currently staying:

So we switched off our third-world survival mode that was on for the past 5 months and turned into instant tourists:

Mahatma Gandhi final resting place.

India Gate, where all the TV journalists always stand when reporting from Delhi. Though I haven't been to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, I doubt the India Gate is as impressive as that.


And who would miss the grand ol' Taj? Now that was stunning, and no matter how touristy the place is it's still worth driving 4 hours there and 4 hours back to Agra and being toasted under the 45-deg scorching sun just to see it. Zak commented that it seems that great architecture can only be built during slavery periods, such as the Taj, the Great Wall, Pyramids of Egypt, the Colosseum, etc. Do you agree?

From third world to second

Our gradual transition back to the developed world. Upon arrival in Delhi, other than being greeted by the full blast of mid-day heat, we did what we haven't done for the past 5 months:

Sorry Michelle I couldn't wait that long for my fast food fix...

Connaught place at night, the heart of Delhi. First clear night shot I could take without a tripod. It may seem like a pretty normal night scene for those in Singapore, but to us who just came from the GFC, it's like heaven was suddenly lit up with a thousand stars.

More pics on where and with whom we're staying with here in Delhi next. It's better than staying in a hotel man.

This time I'm ready to go again

All packed thanks to the amazing packing skills of Kyoko-san, our Japanese neighbour. Shame on me I know, but you simply can't beat an expert.

Delhi here we come...

One of the top 10 things I had to do before I die

And I did it! Just that I was too cheapskate to spend 1800 Nepalese rupees on the video (hey I've already blown 7000 rupees on the jump alone). So here's the exact same thing I did which many people have put up on YouTube:



It's indescribable. I think I've died and gotten reborn again.

And what I would have also done on the same day if I had the money:


Kinda makes Singapore's reverse bungee look kiddy dosen't it?

Back and going back

I'm back from my trip to eastern Nepal and we're leaving the country soon. The big news here is that Prachanda, the Maoist PM has resigned so now the nation has no government. Best to get out while we can. I hope my mum dosen't call me immediately upon reading this. Yes mum, I'm getting out. I guess I'll update when I get back since I have so many things to tell and not enough battery power and bandwidth here to upload anything.

A piece of good news in this gloomy time: I'm heading to Bangladesh in July. GO-FAR here I come....

Road trip

Well I'm off to Ilam (think Darjeeling tea, since Darjeeling is about 30km away from Ilam) in eastern Nepal for an assignment tomorrow until the 7th. Be right back.