Thursday, September 30, 2004
HK Movie Star !!!
Seems like people want to hear more about the Hong Kong Movie star BS story. So I'll write about it today.
Last Sunday, we intended to go to a place called Film City. To get there, we have to take a bus to a central bus station to catch a connecting bus.
We got there. We checked the time for the next bus on a timetable board. There was still about an hour left to go, so we decided to walk around for a bit. But before that, Rohit wants to check with the guy that works at the bus station first. He told us that the bus should be here any minute. Even thou the timetable says otherwise, we trusted him.
So we sat at the bench where the bus should stop at, quietly waiting. About 10 minutes later, 4 teenagers came and sat beside us. The guy next to me turned his head from time to time, peeking at probably the first live Chinese guy he saw in his life.
That day was hot. I was sweating like a dog. The bus hasn't came as the bus station dude promised. And having a guy who constantly turn his head looking at you while sitting beside him is annoying.
Then I thought maybe I should start a conversation with him to kill time and take my mind off the heat and also his annoyance. So, I turned my head, and politely said "Hi" to him.
He was a bit stunned.
"Hi", he replied.
. . . . .
Silence. All that's in my mind is the heat.
Even thou my random-people-chat skill isn't really all that great, luckily, he seems to be really interested in this good looking Chinese dude. :)
"Sir, where are you from ?"
"Canada."
Puzzled.
"Canada, it is north of America," I said, trying to put things into perspective for him.
"Aahhhhh .... So, what are you doing here in India ?"
Canada, eh ?
Seeing his "pretending to know where Canada is" face drew the devil out of me. "Lets have some fun in this heat," I thought.
"Well, you see, I'm a movie actor in Hong Kong. Rohit (pointing next to me) is my manager and we are here for vacation."
My manager looked at me. Stunned. Within 2 seconds we bursted into laughters. I thought my lie would blow. But apparently, I was wrong.
"Wow. Why do you come to India for vacation?" Staring at me with his admiring and innocent eyes, and again puzzled by our laughters.
I couldn't believe he will believe it. But somehow, he thought our laughters were a Canadian cultural thing. Seeing him face made me want to drive this thing further. Much much further.
I toke out my cigarettes, crossed my legs like how the celebrities on Jay Leno's shows do, and put on probably the most seriously face that I could've ever put on.
"Well, you see, as an artist, we need a constant flow of inspirations and experiences to make our acting believable. I think that when we are still young, we should try as many things as possible so that our acting can relate closely to the real world. So that's why I'm in India."
Wow. Even I couldn't belive what I've just said. At first his friends didn't really believed me. But after hearing what I've just said, they were totally mesmerized by my speech. To make it even more believable, I framed myself as a young star, with a big vision of course, who is just starting his career, and tried to act all humble like many young person do.
The next 30 minutes was basically a QA session. They asked me about the Hong Kong movie stuff, what stuff i've been playing, did I met Jackie Chan or not, blah blah blah. I basically just throw them with all the generic stuff I learnt from reading the newspaper and watching HK TV. But along the line, I try to convey the message that they should persue their own dreams and see the world while they are still young. Hey, when you did something bad, you'll try to make up for it somehow.
This kinda opportunity is probably a once in a lifetime kinda thing. How often would you get a group of teenagers thinking you are cool ? So I offered to take a picture with them, making it sound like doing them a favour.
Me and my fans.
When he left, he had to chase the bus cuz he had spent too much time with his idol. "I will look out for your movie !!" he shouted, with an Indian accent.
My manager and I still can't believe we pulled the whole thing off. Man, being a chinese guy here is like being a star.
Wait, I AM a star. But not a movie one, I'm a BS-ing star.
Last Sunday, we intended to go to a place called Film City. To get there, we have to take a bus to a central bus station to catch a connecting bus.
We got there. We checked the time for the next bus on a timetable board. There was still about an hour left to go, so we decided to walk around for a bit. But before that, Rohit wants to check with the guy that works at the bus station first. He told us that the bus should be here any minute. Even thou the timetable says otherwise, we trusted him.
So we sat at the bench where the bus should stop at, quietly waiting. About 10 minutes later, 4 teenagers came and sat beside us. The guy next to me turned his head from time to time, peeking at probably the first live Chinese guy he saw in his life.
That day was hot. I was sweating like a dog. The bus hasn't came as the bus station dude promised. And having a guy who constantly turn his head looking at you while sitting beside him is annoying.
Then I thought maybe I should start a conversation with him to kill time and take my mind off the heat and also his annoyance. So, I turned my head, and politely said "Hi" to him.
He was a bit stunned.
"Hi", he replied.
. . . . .
Silence. All that's in my mind is the heat.
Even thou my random-people-chat skill isn't really all that great, luckily, he seems to be really interested in this good looking Chinese dude. :)
"Sir, where are you from ?"
"Canada."
Puzzled.
"Canada, it is north of America," I said, trying to put things into perspective for him.
"Aahhhhh .... So, what are you doing here in India ?"
Canada, eh ?
Seeing his "pretending to know where Canada is" face drew the devil out of me. "Lets have some fun in this heat," I thought.
"Well, you see, I'm a movie actor in Hong Kong. Rohit (pointing next to me) is my manager and we are here for vacation."
My manager looked at me. Stunned. Within 2 seconds we bursted into laughters. I thought my lie would blow. But apparently, I was wrong.
"Wow. Why do you come to India for vacation?" Staring at me with his admiring and innocent eyes, and again puzzled by our laughters.
I couldn't believe he will believe it. But somehow, he thought our laughters were a Canadian cultural thing. Seeing him face made me want to drive this thing further. Much much further.
I toke out my cigarettes, crossed my legs like how the celebrities on Jay Leno's shows do, and put on probably the most seriously face that I could've ever put on.
"Well, you see, as an artist, we need a constant flow of inspirations and experiences to make our acting believable. I think that when we are still young, we should try as many things as possible so that our acting can relate closely to the real world. So that's why I'm in India."
Wow. Even I couldn't belive what I've just said. At first his friends didn't really believed me. But after hearing what I've just said, they were totally mesmerized by my speech. To make it even more believable, I framed myself as a young star, with a big vision of course, who is just starting his career, and tried to act all humble like many young person do.
The next 30 minutes was basically a QA session. They asked me about the Hong Kong movie stuff, what stuff i've been playing, did I met Jackie Chan or not, blah blah blah. I basically just throw them with all the generic stuff I learnt from reading the newspaper and watching HK TV. But along the line, I try to convey the message that they should persue their own dreams and see the world while they are still young. Hey, when you did something bad, you'll try to make up for it somehow.
This kinda opportunity is probably a once in a lifetime kinda thing. How often would you get a group of teenagers thinking you are cool ? So I offered to take a picture with them, making it sound like doing them a favour.
Me and my fans.
When he left, he had to chase the bus cuz he had spent too much time with his idol. "I will look out for your movie !!" he shouted, with an Indian accent.
My manager and I still can't believe we pulled the whole thing off. Man, being a chinese guy here is like being a star.
Wait, I AM a star. But not a movie one, I'm a BS-ing star.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Sea of Heads
I didn't get a chance to update my blog yesterday because we leave work early to avoid traffic due to the Ganesh festival.
As always, a lot of fun things happened during the past weekend. Telling them all in one post will be too long. So I'll write about them during this week. Here is a sneak preview:
- playing basketball, in the snow, in India (and saw Santa too !)
- visiting a TV studio and getting a Satellite Communication 101 lecture
- me, BS-ing about being a new Hong Kong film star and got some fans while bored waiting for a bus
- monkey that smokes and talk on the cell phone
But to start, I want to talk more about the Ganesh festival.
Last week we went to see the 42 ft tall Ganesh. Apparently, the start of the 10 days festival isn't really that exciting. The most exciting part is during the end of those 10 days.
On the past Sunday, the 9th day of the festival, we were walking on the street checking some area around. We passed by a parade sorta crowd. Well, can't really say it is a parade because there is only one truck and there were only around 50 people. There were 2 camels heading the crowd. We thought it was pretty cool, so we decided to walk towards them to take some close up shots.
Camels leading the crowds.
From the stuff of their skin, it seems like it is a tradition to cover themselves with pink powder. We walked closer and toke some shots. Those pink dudes went crazy when they see us with our cameras. They grabbed us to dance and shout with them. Rohit and I, being the all friendly Canadians who don't want to go against the wish of 50 pink dudes, danced along with them on the street.
So happy, so crazy, so pink.
And the aftermath ? Well, the pinkness says it all.
Don't show that face man, we know you like pink. Is ok to admit it, Rohit.
When we think acting like morons dancing with pink guys on the street will wrap up the experience we have of this festival, we thought wrong.
Other than the little parade that we experienced, the streets and malls seemed pretty empty that Sunday. I was quite surprised and thought Sunday is a rest day kinda thing where people stay in their houses. We decided to go for a movie which required us walk pass where the 42 ft Ganesh is. And again, to my surprise, we see the reason why the rest of the city is so empty.
Ahhhhh ........
Luckily, we learned our maneuver-thru-the-crowd-while-being-squished skill from all the clubbing experience we had back in Toronto. We thought that was crazy. But again, we were wrong.
After going to the theatre and failed to get tickets for a show, we hanged out in the mall a bit. After sunset, we started to walk back. We know there will be a big crowd at the 42 ft Ganesh area again, but we decided to fully experience India and not take the auto rackshaw. But not only did we fully experienced India, we fully experienced India in a compact form.
That place was packed. Really packed. No, it was really really really packed. We couldn't even move. Could barely breath. The people around you are basically squishing you (not that they want to). You can only move when they move. And for me, being 6 ft 3 tall in a country where people's average height is probably 5 ft 5, all that I can see, is the sea of heads. Never in my life have I seen that many Indian heads before.
The sea of heads.
That was intense. The police couldn't control the crowds at all. Actually, I should make it more clear. The only ONE police I saw was trying to yell at people not to push by blowing his whistle and being squished at the same time. Oh yeah, and sticking his stick high up so people can see.
At that night, when I think back, I realized how dangerous that was. Especially for the families who have elders and kids. There were no police. No medical station nor medical personnel. No nothing. If you slipped and fell on the floor, it is game over for you. You will end up under 3124545341 people's shoe. It'll be hard to imagine for those of you who haven't experienced it. But for me, this is the first time ever since I've came to India that I got a chill to the bone after realizing what I've gone thru.
Yesterday, the 10th and last day of the Ganesh festival, we went straight home after work and didn't go out.
As always, a lot of fun things happened during the past weekend. Telling them all in one post will be too long. So I'll write about them during this week. Here is a sneak preview:
- playing basketball, in the snow, in India (and saw Santa too !)
- visiting a TV studio and getting a Satellite Communication 101 lecture
- me, BS-ing about being a new Hong Kong film star and got some fans while bored waiting for a bus
- monkey that smokes and talk on the cell phone
But to start, I want to talk more about the Ganesh festival.
Last week we went to see the 42 ft tall Ganesh. Apparently, the start of the 10 days festival isn't really that exciting. The most exciting part is during the end of those 10 days.
On the past Sunday, the 9th day of the festival, we were walking on the street checking some area around. We passed by a parade sorta crowd. Well, can't really say it is a parade because there is only one truck and there were only around 50 people. There were 2 camels heading the crowd. We thought it was pretty cool, so we decided to walk towards them to take some close up shots.
Camels leading the crowds.
From the stuff of their skin, it seems like it is a tradition to cover themselves with pink powder. We walked closer and toke some shots. Those pink dudes went crazy when they see us with our cameras. They grabbed us to dance and shout with them. Rohit and I, being the all friendly Canadians who don't want to go against the wish of 50 pink dudes, danced along with them on the street.
So happy, so crazy, so pink.
And the aftermath ? Well, the pinkness says it all.
Don't show that face man, we know you like pink. Is ok to admit it, Rohit.
When we think acting like morons dancing with pink guys on the street will wrap up the experience we have of this festival, we thought wrong.
Other than the little parade that we experienced, the streets and malls seemed pretty empty that Sunday. I was quite surprised and thought Sunday is a rest day kinda thing where people stay in their houses. We decided to go for a movie which required us walk pass where the 42 ft Ganesh is. And again, to my surprise, we see the reason why the rest of the city is so empty.
Ahhhhh ........
Luckily, we learned our maneuver-thru-the-crowd-while-being-squished skill from all the clubbing experience we had back in Toronto. We thought that was crazy. But again, we were wrong.
After going to the theatre and failed to get tickets for a show, we hanged out in the mall a bit. After sunset, we started to walk back. We know there will be a big crowd at the 42 ft Ganesh area again, but we decided to fully experience India and not take the auto rackshaw. But not only did we fully experienced India, we fully experienced India in a compact form.
That place was packed. Really packed. No, it was really really really packed. We couldn't even move. Could barely breath. The people around you are basically squishing you (not that they want to). You can only move when they move. And for me, being 6 ft 3 tall in a country where people's average height is probably 5 ft 5, all that I can see, is the sea of heads. Never in my life have I seen that many Indian heads before.
The sea of heads.
That was intense. The police couldn't control the crowds at all. Actually, I should make it more clear. The only ONE police I saw was trying to yell at people not to push by blowing his whistle and being squished at the same time. Oh yeah, and sticking his stick high up so people can see.
At that night, when I think back, I realized how dangerous that was. Especially for the families who have elders and kids. There were no police. No medical station nor medical personnel. No nothing. If you slipped and fell on the floor, it is game over for you. You will end up under 3124545341 people's shoe. It'll be hard to imagine for those of you who haven't experienced it. But for me, this is the first time ever since I've came to India that I got a chill to the bone after realizing what I've gone thru.
Yesterday, the 10th and last day of the Ganesh festival, we went straight home after work and didn't go out.
Friday, September 24, 2004
The Man with a Tail
Some day last week was the start of a 10 days Hindi festival called ...... hmmm ..... well, thats not the point. Anyways, each family will buy its own statue of the elephant head god (Ganesh, this i remember) and place it at their homes for prayers. Our housekeepers got one too.
The guys setting up their mini-temple in the house.
On the weekend, there was a 42ft tall Ganesh statue on display on the street. Our friendly housekeeper, Raffi, suggested to take us there to see it. Me, being haven't seen so big of a Hindi statue before, agreed with joy.
Arriving there and seeing the statue is amazing. Lots of people lined up in front of the statue for prayers and, of course, photos.
Where the crowds are.
On our way to the place, we came across a guy who went all hardcore for this festival. By hardcore, I mean dressing up in abnormal clothes, or should I say no clothes, with a weird long tail sorta thing that he holds onto. I was delighted to see an Indian who goes all hardcore for his culture.
But to my surprise, dressing up for the festival is not hardcore enough. The next thing I know, while there was no one standing close to him, he started whiping himself with his tail. No no, it ain't one of those girly weak whip that you do with your friends. It is one of those hardcore torturing whip which you can hear the "Whippp Whippp" sound from the wind. It was like watching "Passion of the Christ" live right in front of me, except that it is in India and Jesus is whipping himself.
While I was giving my respect in my thought about how dedicated some people can be for their religion, that guy noticed us watching. Seeing how amazed we were, he proceeded to whiping himself even harder. Much harder.
"Wow, that's hardcore." I thought, seeing an honourable man doing his thing.
After a couple of whips, he walked up to us. I almost wanted to fall on my knees for the show of passion he has for his belief. But little did I know, he came up, put out his hand, shoke it a little, and looked right into us. At that moment of time, all my respect has been replaced with fear.
SHOOOWWW ME THE MONEY !!
Seeing his 6-packs and his hardcore sweaty tail, I didn't hesitate on ditching out 10 rupees for the show of respect, or should I say fear, that I have for him. But it seemed like 10 rupees couldn't heal the pain which he had suffered. So, he shoked his hand, and his hardcore sweaty tail, even more.
It is at that point that, my trustworthy buddy, Rohit, showed his courage by saying "Nan nan, sidn ewwsd noein dsjosfjo ennes indsj." (That's how hindi is to me).
Amazing. Never have I seen anyone being about to stand up against a man with 6 packs and a hardcore whipping sweaty tail. Now that's courage.
A bit shock. But the man with a tail cannot really do anything. So he proceed on his journey of endless whipping. And we went our own ways and never saw this man again.
Oh yeah, btw, I turned the comments for this blog from Members-only to Anyone. So feel free to leave comments.
The guys setting up their mini-temple in the house.
On the weekend, there was a 42ft tall Ganesh statue on display on the street. Our friendly housekeeper, Raffi, suggested to take us there to see it. Me, being haven't seen so big of a Hindi statue before, agreed with joy.
Arriving there and seeing the statue is amazing. Lots of people lined up in front of the statue for prayers and, of course, photos.
Where the crowds are.
On our way to the place, we came across a guy who went all hardcore for this festival. By hardcore, I mean dressing up in abnormal clothes, or should I say no clothes, with a weird long tail sorta thing that he holds onto. I was delighted to see an Indian who goes all hardcore for his culture.
But to my surprise, dressing up for the festival is not hardcore enough. The next thing I know, while there was no one standing close to him, he started whiping himself with his tail. No no, it ain't one of those girly weak whip that you do with your friends. It is one of those hardcore torturing whip which you can hear the "Whippp Whippp" sound from the wind. It was like watching "Passion of the Christ" live right in front of me, except that it is in India and Jesus is whipping himself.
While I was giving my respect in my thought about how dedicated some people can be for their religion, that guy noticed us watching. Seeing how amazed we were, he proceeded to whiping himself even harder. Much harder.
"Wow, that's hardcore." I thought, seeing an honourable man doing his thing.
After a couple of whips, he walked up to us. I almost wanted to fall on my knees for the show of passion he has for his belief. But little did I know, he came up, put out his hand, shoke it a little, and looked right into us. At that moment of time, all my respect has been replaced with fear.
SHOOOWWW ME THE MONEY !!
Seeing his 6-packs and his hardcore sweaty tail, I didn't hesitate on ditching out 10 rupees for the show of respect, or should I say fear, that I have for him. But it seemed like 10 rupees couldn't heal the pain which he had suffered. So, he shoked his hand, and his hardcore sweaty tail, even more.
It is at that point that, my trustworthy buddy, Rohit, showed his courage by saying "Nan nan, sidn ewwsd noein dsjosfjo ennes indsj." (That's how hindi is to me).
Amazing. Never have I seen anyone being about to stand up against a man with 6 packs and a hardcore whipping sweaty tail. Now that's courage.
A bit shock. But the man with a tail cannot really do anything. So he proceed on his journey of endless whipping. And we went our own ways and never saw this man again.
Oh yeah, btw, I turned the comments for this blog from Members-only to Anyone. So feel free to leave comments.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Behind the Office Building
Since I'm rolling on this blog thingy and also uploaded lots of pics, I've decided to take some pictures of the place where I work today. As I've said before, the building itself and the garden around it is very nice.
Me, thinking about what should I write today in front of the main gates
The interesting part, however, is what lies behind the area of the office. One night, while waiting for Rohit to do his chore on the internet, I've walked to the back side of the building for a smoke. Feeling bored watching the same building everyday, I've wandered around the area and came to the back gate.
Where the back gate is.
The security guard saw me, with my cigarette, and told me to go out of the gate to smoke. It is there that I've discovered what's right behind the beautiful building where I've worked at. To my surprise, there was a little villagy store that is lighten with a lantern. It looked pretty cool actual.
The little store.
Yeah, that's about it to the story. Nothing funny to it. Need a rest from all the laughs that i've wrote so far. Anyways, later.
P.S. - I've finally got my cell phone working. Email/friendster msg me for the number if you want it.
Me, thinking about what should I write today in front of the main gates
The interesting part, however, is what lies behind the area of the office. One night, while waiting for Rohit to do his chore on the internet, I've walked to the back side of the building for a smoke. Feeling bored watching the same building everyday, I've wandered around the area and came to the back gate.
Where the back gate is.
The security guard saw me, with my cigarette, and told me to go out of the gate to smoke. It is there that I've discovered what's right behind the beautiful building where I've worked at. To my surprise, there was a little villagy store that is lighten with a lantern. It looked pretty cool actual.
The little store.
Yeah, that's about it to the story. Nothing funny to it. Need a rest from all the laughs that i've wrote so far. Anyways, later.
P.S. - I've finally got my cell phone working. Email/friendster msg me for the number if you want it.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Clean City, Green City
Finally got my pics up. You guys can see them at http://groups.msn.com/LouisLeungPhotos/shoebox.msnw
Btw, don't forget to check out my buddy's blog also, at
http://toindia.blogspot.com
Ever wondered how "public" public washroom can get ? Neither did I. Not until I see "Clean City, Green City".
I told you last weekend we went to this India farming village. To get there, we went by bus. And to get to the bus, we need to go to the central bus station at Secundrabad, the city that is right next to Hyderabad. (Together, Hyderabad and Secundrabad are called the Twin City, like waterloo/kitchener).
The central bus station is a big one. It is also the central train station in the twin city. So basically you can get anywhere from here.
When we returned from the farming village, we decided to explore the area around the station a bit. The station itself has an big outdoor area where the buses lines up for their turns to take off or to pick up passagers. While we are turning our heads everywhere, checking things out, somewhere in the middle of this area, we saw a structure that is something like a small police station. It is very small, probably can hold a table in there with 5 to 6 people. On it, with clear green letters, it says "Clean City, Green City".
Clean City, Green City
It was relieving to see the presence of police in this crowded area of the city. While we were in front of it, laughing how ironic the words "Clean City, Green City" applies to Hyderabad, the man standing inside the station was staring at us thru the left window. We didn't really mind, and slowly walked away. As we walked away from the booth and our perspective changes, I can see the actual inside of the booth. The man who was staring at us was standing in front of the left wall. "How strange ..." I thought. Hmm ..... seeing his hands are in front of his body, seems like he is handcuffed too. Hmmm ....... wait a minute, HE IS TAKING A PISS !!! ...... HOLY SHIT, HE IS TAKING A PISS INSIDE THE POLICE STATION ..... wait, THIS IS A FRICKING PUBLIC WASHROOM !!!
Weren't we surprised to see it. This is not the kinda thing you find in Canada. So I decided to do take a picture of it, with the man pissing. I got out the camera, slowly walked towards it as thou I just wanna piss, and quickly toke a pic before that man turned around.
Run Forest, RUN!!!!
After that, I quickly walked away and once again submerge myself into the crowd once again.
Btw, don't forget to check out my buddy's blog also, at
http://toindia.blogspot.com
Ever wondered how "public" public washroom can get ? Neither did I. Not until I see "Clean City, Green City".
I told you last weekend we went to this India farming village. To get there, we went by bus. And to get to the bus, we need to go to the central bus station at Secundrabad, the city that is right next to Hyderabad. (Together, Hyderabad and Secundrabad are called the Twin City, like waterloo/kitchener).
The central bus station is a big one. It is also the central train station in the twin city. So basically you can get anywhere from here.
When we returned from the farming village, we decided to explore the area around the station a bit. The station itself has an big outdoor area where the buses lines up for their turns to take off or to pick up passagers. While we are turning our heads everywhere, checking things out, somewhere in the middle of this area, we saw a structure that is something like a small police station. It is very small, probably can hold a table in there with 5 to 6 people. On it, with clear green letters, it says "Clean City, Green City".
Clean City, Green City
It was relieving to see the presence of police in this crowded area of the city. While we were in front of it, laughing how ironic the words "Clean City, Green City" applies to Hyderabad, the man standing inside the station was staring at us thru the left window. We didn't really mind, and slowly walked away. As we walked away from the booth and our perspective changes, I can see the actual inside of the booth. The man who was staring at us was standing in front of the left wall. "How strange ..." I thought. Hmm ..... seeing his hands are in front of his body, seems like he is handcuffed too. Hmmm ....... wait a minute, HE IS TAKING A PISS !!! ...... HOLY SHIT, HE IS TAKING A PISS INSIDE THE POLICE STATION ..... wait, THIS IS A FRICKING PUBLIC WASHROOM !!!
Weren't we surprised to see it. This is not the kinda thing you find in Canada. So I decided to do take a picture of it, with the man pissing. I got out the camera, slowly walked towards it as thou I just wanna piss, and quickly toke a pic before that man turned around.
Run Forest, RUN!!!!
After that, I quickly walked away and once again submerge myself into the crowd once again.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
HoooorrrrrLicks, sir ?
For those of you who are wondering what kind of work am I doing in India, I'll try to explain a little here. But since the concepts are difficult to understand, I'll put them in 3 versions to fit your level of education and intelligence :
For educated people :
Writing a computer program that will match 2 different genomes (ie. DNA) of 2 species to see how "alike" the 2 species are. I need to integrate the program into the product (the whole software) that they have for doing DNA analysis and a host of other stuff in the field of bioinformatics.
For computer science guys :
Identifying the longest increasing subsequences of 2 strings and aligning the subsequences that don't match. Needs to run in linear time and space. The algorithm is already there, I just need to understand and implement them.
For dumbass :
Something cool.
Just in case you are interested, here is my groups website :
http://atcweb.atc.tcs.co.in/
Enough of the boring stuff. Now the things that you guys have all been waiting for ..... "The Wonders of India" story time !!
The building at our company is huge and looks cool. It is comparable to the ones that I've seen when I worked at Silicon Valley. The company is very systematic and high-tec also. Basically, I don't feel any different working here than Canada/US.
But beneath the high-end technology and the smart employees (*cough cough*), there is a post inside the company that left me and my buddy Rohit wondering. CM. Yeah, that's right. Not GM (for General Manager), but CM. This post is probably one of the most important role in the company. Without it, every employees on our floor will be highly demoralized and will result in steep decrease of productivity. It is one of the essential post that cannot be lacked.
Now, every floor in the building will have their own CM. Their jobs basically involve standing, sitting, and, most importantly, pressing the button. Which button you ask ? Wrong question, because the answer depends on you. One of the qualification for the job is probably the knowledge of pressing the correct button on the machine that they operate. What machine you ask ? Now, THAT'S the question.
Want the answer ?
So you really want to know don't ya ?
It is the AUTOMATIC COFFEE MACHINE. Yup. That's right. The kinda machine where you just put a cup underneath, press the button for coffee, and Viola, caffeine for all your daily programming needs.
Now, not only do they have coffee, they also have tea, lemon tea, and, mmmmmm ......, hooorrrrrlicks.
One time, Rohit asked the CM (if you haven't figured what CM stands for by now, don't bother asking) for tea while we were talking. "Tea sir ?", asked the CM. "Yes, tea please", replied Rohit. "Tea ?". "Yes, tea". "Tea ?", once again, just to reconfirm. Rohit nodded. The CM then proceeded to do his job. Rohit grabbed his cup, kept chatting on useless stuff with me, and we both walked away. One minute later, while we are still chatting, he toke a sip. "Hmmm ......". He looked. HorLicks.
That left us wonder, why, just why, does the company buy a fully-automatic hot beverage machine, but have one guy sitting there all day just to press the button for us. The wrong button, that is. Ahhh ...... the wonders of India ......
"Tea, sir ?"
For educated people :
Writing a computer program that will match 2 different genomes (ie. DNA) of 2 species to see how "alike" the 2 species are. I need to integrate the program into the product (the whole software) that they have for doing DNA analysis and a host of other stuff in the field of bioinformatics.
For computer science guys :
Identifying the longest increasing subsequences of 2 strings and aligning the subsequences that don't match. Needs to run in linear time and space. The algorithm is already there, I just need to understand and implement them.
For dumbass :
Something cool.
Just in case you are interested, here is my groups website :
http://atcweb.atc.tcs.co.in/
Enough of the boring stuff. Now the things that you guys have all been waiting for ..... "The Wonders of India" story time !!
The building at our company is huge and looks cool. It is comparable to the ones that I've seen when I worked at Silicon Valley. The company is very systematic and high-tec also. Basically, I don't feel any different working here than Canada/US.
But beneath the high-end technology and the smart employees (*cough cough*), there is a post inside the company that left me and my buddy Rohit wondering. CM. Yeah, that's right. Not GM (for General Manager), but CM. This post is probably one of the most important role in the company. Without it, every employees on our floor will be highly demoralized and will result in steep decrease of productivity. It is one of the essential post that cannot be lacked.
Now, every floor in the building will have their own CM. Their jobs basically involve standing, sitting, and, most importantly, pressing the button. Which button you ask ? Wrong question, because the answer depends on you. One of the qualification for the job is probably the knowledge of pressing the correct button on the machine that they operate. What machine you ask ? Now, THAT'S the question.
Want the answer ?
So you really want to know don't ya ?
It is the AUTOMATIC COFFEE MACHINE. Yup. That's right. The kinda machine where you just put a cup underneath, press the button for coffee, and Viola, caffeine for all your daily programming needs.
Now, not only do they have coffee, they also have tea, lemon tea, and, mmmmmm ......, hooorrrrrlicks.
One time, Rohit asked the CM (if you haven't figured what CM stands for by now, don't bother asking) for tea while we were talking. "Tea sir ?", asked the CM. "Yes, tea please", replied Rohit. "Tea ?". "Yes, tea". "Tea ?", once again, just to reconfirm. Rohit nodded. The CM then proceeded to do his job. Rohit grabbed his cup, kept chatting on useless stuff with me, and we both walked away. One minute later, while we are still chatting, he toke a sip. "Hmmm ......". He looked. HorLicks.
That left us wonder, why, just why, does the company buy a fully-automatic hot beverage machine, but have one guy sitting there all day just to press the button for us. The wrong button, that is. Ahhh ...... the wonders of India ......
"Tea, sir ?"
Monday, September 20, 2004
Curry, curry .... wait, curry again !?
My buddy is still updating his blog. So I guess I'll write more.
Hmm .... what to write .....
For those of you who don't know, Indian eat the same stuff for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I remember on the 2nd day, I had breakfast at the guest house. I got served with curry dipping stuff, naan-bread (flat pancake sorta stuff), yogurt (they always have it in case it is too spicy to handle), and more curry looking stuff. I found it weird to have curry in the morning but I thought a change would be good. Then lunch time came, we have curry again. I'm ok with that. But wait, it is the same style of curry. And guess what, the same style of bread. I thought, "hmm .... maybe there were just too much leftovers from breakfast". How naive. We went out, came back, have dinner. I wash my hands before eating. Toke a sit. Then the housekeeper guys toke the pots out. Hmmm ...... smells good. Wait, i remember this smell. The lid opens and I was like "SHIITTTTT ....". This is the first time ever in my life I felt real fear. Will I be having this stuff everyday ?
For those of you have already stopped laughing and is actually worried about me right now, no, i don't have the same stuff everyday. We grew smart. We eat out.
Ahhh ..... when can I have my beef burger with fries ? Non-spicy of course.
FYI, chicken is pretty much the only meat you get in india. Lamb if you are rich. And beef if you want to piss the rest of the country off.
MMmmmmmm ........ buuurrrgggeerrrrrsss .......
Hmm .... what to write .....
For those of you who don't know, Indian eat the same stuff for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I remember on the 2nd day, I had breakfast at the guest house. I got served with curry dipping stuff, naan-bread (flat pancake sorta stuff), yogurt (they always have it in case it is too spicy to handle), and more curry looking stuff. I found it weird to have curry in the morning but I thought a change would be good. Then lunch time came, we have curry again. I'm ok with that. But wait, it is the same style of curry. And guess what, the same style of bread. I thought, "hmm .... maybe there were just too much leftovers from breakfast". How naive. We went out, came back, have dinner. I wash my hands before eating. Toke a sit. Then the housekeeper guys toke the pots out. Hmmm ...... smells good. Wait, i remember this smell. The lid opens and I was like "SHIITTTTT ....". This is the first time ever in my life I felt real fear. Will I be having this stuff everyday ?
For those of you have already stopped laughing and is actually worried about me right now, no, i don't have the same stuff everyday. We grew smart. We eat out.
Ahhh ..... when can I have my beef burger with fries ? Non-spicy of course.
FYI, chicken is pretty much the only meat you get in india. Lamb if you are rich. And beef if you want to piss the rest of the country off.
MMmmmmmm ........ buuurrrgggeerrrrrsss .......
6 ft 3 chinese guy in an indian farming village
Just starting my blog today. The posts you see from the past are basically cut and paste jobs from the email that I've sent to my friends. I still need to upload my pics and stick them to my blog.
Anyways, last weekend we went to this rural indian farming village. When Me and Rohit walked by a store, we saw a teenage girl buying stuff from there. I toke a photo cuz the sence seems pretty cool. She noticed, was a bit surprised, and giggled. I smile and said "jaobi aen nghos ae photo" (it mades no sense to her too).
The girl buying stuff at the store.
Then she walked home. We followed. (Not like we are pervert or anything, but we just happened to walk on the same path). Our distance is farther and farther apart becuz me and Rohit were busy taking pics of everything. She eventually disappear. 10 mins later we saw that girl on the beacony of a 3 story building, and the whole village of women with her. Yes, probably the whole village. They were all watching me with unstoppable giggles. Seems like seeing a 6 ft 3 chinese guy will be their entertainment of the year. I've never felt so popular ever in my life. So I toke pics of them, all giggling at me. Anyways, just something off my head that I remember from the past weekend trip.
This angle doesn't show clearly. But there were many other women behind those 3 who were not shy enough to come out and take the pic.
I'll be updating this blog pretty often from now, cuz i finally have access to a browser that blogger supports. Later.
Anyways, last weekend we went to this rural indian farming village. When Me and Rohit walked by a store, we saw a teenage girl buying stuff from there. I toke a photo cuz the sence seems pretty cool. She noticed, was a bit surprised, and giggled. I smile and said "jaobi aen nghos ae photo" (it mades no sense to her too).
The girl buying stuff at the store.
Then she walked home. We followed. (Not like we are pervert or anything, but we just happened to walk on the same path). Our distance is farther and farther apart becuz me and Rohit were busy taking pics of everything. She eventually disappear. 10 mins later we saw that girl on the beacony of a 3 story building, and the whole village of women with her. Yes, probably the whole village. They were all watching me with unstoppable giggles. Seems like seeing a 6 ft 3 chinese guy will be their entertainment of the year. I've never felt so popular ever in my life. So I toke pics of them, all giggling at me. Anyways, just something off my head that I remember from the past weekend trip.
This angle doesn't show clearly. But there were many other women behind those 3 who were not shy enough to come out and take the pic.
I'll be updating this blog pretty often from now, cuz i finally have access to a browser that blogger supports. Later.
Monday, September 13, 2004
How is Louis doing in India !?
Today is the 2nd day since I landed in Hyderabad. I arrived Sat. at 4:30am and now the time is Sun. 12:30pm. First I want to say don't worry, I'm adapting very well here.
The place where I'm staying in is decent in Canadian standard and very luxurious in Indian standard. It is a 3 stories building with 5 rooms. Each room houses a TCS employee or contractor. Me and the other coop, Rohit, is sharing one room. The location of the house is at a place called Banjara Hills. It is considered as an upper class residential location. Kind of like the Mid-Hill section in Central, Hong Kong.
Yeah, washrooms in India are upside down. You'll believe anything I tell you about India, won't ya ?
There are 3 to 5 servants for the house. They clean, do laundry, cook, and stand-around doing nothing. Only the head servant can speak broken english, indian style. Rohit serves as a good translator between me and them. Even though it is difficult to communicate with them, they are good and friendly people. More like the Philipano maids in HK, except that they are males.
The chef and the .... well, dunno what he does specifically, but mainly housekeeping in general.
The food they cook is what you expect Indians will eat. The spicy level is not that bad, but every food here is spicy. When they have meal, there will be a yogurt side dish that you eat to reduce the spiciness in your mouth. Also, all dishes are vegetarian since all of the people in my house are. I kinda enjoy the food, but no way in hell am I going to eat this everyday. I'm going to cook myself tonight. And yes, they eat with their hands, and so do I. But no, they don't have the "eat with right hand, wipe ass with left hand" distinction.
There is always a sink near dining area for you to wash your hands.
Me and Rohit went out to check out the market and some tourist spots yesterday. The city is crowded and filled with crazy drivers. The driving style is even worst than HK. Something comparable to Macow. The worst thing is that there is no pedestian sidewalk. Everyone walk on the side of the road. And if you think HK is polluted, then you've gotta see the visible black smoke on the street.
Auto Rackshaw, a 3 wheeled mini-taxi. Our main means of transport.
The people you see on the street is like what you see in CNN. Muslim women all covered with black clothes and creepy tatoos showing on their hands. People sitting out and eating with their hands on the street while inhaling the black air. Little kids who come and beg you for a dollar or two. I usually ignore the kids, but Rohit will give them a rupee or two. He is a very good guy, since the reason why he couldn't sleep last night was that he is distrubed to see the kids begging. And I can sense that he is genuine when he says that.
Anyways, that's all for now. We'll be heading to a Hindu temple now. I'll post my pictures later this week when I go to work.
The place where I'm staying in is decent in Canadian standard and very luxurious in Indian standard. It is a 3 stories building with 5 rooms. Each room houses a TCS employee or contractor. Me and the other coop, Rohit, is sharing one room. The location of the house is at a place called Banjara Hills. It is considered as an upper class residential location. Kind of like the Mid-Hill section in Central, Hong Kong.
Yeah, washrooms in India are upside down. You'll believe anything I tell you about India, won't ya ?
There are 3 to 5 servants for the house. They clean, do laundry, cook, and stand-around doing nothing. Only the head servant can speak broken english, indian style. Rohit serves as a good translator between me and them. Even though it is difficult to communicate with them, they are good and friendly people. More like the Philipano maids in HK, except that they are males.
The chef and the .... well, dunno what he does specifically, but mainly housekeeping in general.
The food they cook is what you expect Indians will eat. The spicy level is not that bad, but every food here is spicy. When they have meal, there will be a yogurt side dish that you eat to reduce the spiciness in your mouth. Also, all dishes are vegetarian since all of the people in my house are. I kinda enjoy the food, but no way in hell am I going to eat this everyday. I'm going to cook myself tonight. And yes, they eat with their hands, and so do I. But no, they don't have the "eat with right hand, wipe ass with left hand" distinction.
There is always a sink near dining area for you to wash your hands.
Me and Rohit went out to check out the market and some tourist spots yesterday. The city is crowded and filled with crazy drivers. The driving style is even worst than HK. Something comparable to Macow. The worst thing is that there is no pedestian sidewalk. Everyone walk on the side of the road. And if you think HK is polluted, then you've gotta see the visible black smoke on the street.
Auto Rackshaw, a 3 wheeled mini-taxi. Our main means of transport.
The people you see on the street is like what you see in CNN. Muslim women all covered with black clothes and creepy tatoos showing on their hands. People sitting out and eating with their hands on the street while inhaling the black air. Little kids who come and beg you for a dollar or two. I usually ignore the kids, but Rohit will give them a rupee or two. He is a very good guy, since the reason why he couldn't sleep last night was that he is distrubed to see the kids begging. And I can sense that he is genuine when he says that.
Anyways, that's all for now. We'll be heading to a Hindu temple now. I'll post my pictures later this week when I go to work.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
In Mumbai (Bombay) now ...
I'm in Mumbai right now, waiting for the transfer flight. The trip is very long and I only got 6 hrs of sleep in the Amsterdam to Mumbai flight. Very tired.
The airport at Amsterdam has surprising service provided, which is casino and even massagae. Don't worry, I didn't use any of those services.
The airport in Mumbai is very very ghetto. Imagine the old Kowloon airport in HK, but even worst. But they have a surprising mix of services, like this internet cafe. Nothing fancy, but at least they have LCD screen. The physical infrastructure of the building is very old and at times seems crippled. To transfer us between terminals, a very primitive mean isused, a coach bus.
A drinking fountain in the airport with "Safe Water". Riiiggghhhhtttt .....
I couldn't make any calls because there isn't instructions on the phonesfor calling collect calls. And no way am I gonna use my visa.
The weather here is not hot, not cold. Maybe it is because of nighttime. Short sleeves are ok.
The people in India are very Mainland China like. You can sense their"goo wak" in their eyes. And the sales of travelling services and currency exchange are pretty aggressive. Luckily I have my practice of politely ignoring them from HK. But in general, the people are nice and willing to help.
The airport at Amsterdam has surprising service provided, which is casino and even massagae. Don't worry, I didn't use any of those services.
The airport in Mumbai is very very ghetto. Imagine the old Kowloon airport in HK, but even worst. But they have a surprising mix of services, like this internet cafe. Nothing fancy, but at least they have LCD screen. The physical infrastructure of the building is very old and at times seems crippled. To transfer us between terminals, a very primitive mean isused, a coach bus.
A drinking fountain in the airport with "Safe Water". Riiiggghhhhtttt .....
I couldn't make any calls because there isn't instructions on the phonesfor calling collect calls. And no way am I gonna use my visa.
The weather here is not hot, not cold. Maybe it is because of nighttime. Short sleeves are ok.
The people in India are very Mainland China like. You can sense their"goo wak" in their eyes. And the sales of travelling services and currency exchange are pretty aggressive. Luckily I have my practice of politely ignoring them from HK. But in general, the people are nice and willing to help.
