Thursday, November 25, 2004
3rd week
First I wanna thank all of those who complemented and supported my decision of quitting. And especially the total random stranger whom I still have no idea about. Today marks the end of the 3rd without a single cigarette. I thought I would go thru withdrawal due to quitting. But apparently, that didn't hit me as hard as I expected.
So, what's there to write about. Hmmm ....... well, this is my 2nd last week at work. After next week, I'll be going all over India with the other coop from Chennai for 8 days. The highlight of the trip will be Taj Mahal (one of the 10 wonders in the world) and also the dessert. Me and my friend are planning to camp in the dessert. It is gonna be a fun trip.
What else ..... ummm ...... can't think of anything now. If you guys have things you want me to talk about, feel free to post questions. I'm planning to write about the modern side of India soon. I still need to compile a list of good pictures for that topic.
Anyways, later.
Attached a picture with the most recent me in it. Me, Rohit, and our friends from Hyderabad at a club last weekend. I didn't smoke while I was clubbing !
So, what's there to write about. Hmmm ....... well, this is my 2nd last week at work. After next week, I'll be going all over India with the other coop from Chennai for 8 days. The highlight of the trip will be Taj Mahal (one of the 10 wonders in the world) and also the dessert. Me and my friend are planning to camp in the dessert. It is gonna be a fun trip.
What else ..... ummm ...... can't think of anything now. If you guys have things you want me to talk about, feel free to post questions. I'm planning to write about the modern side of India soon. I still need to compile a list of good pictures for that topic.
Anyways, later.
Attached a picture with the most recent me in it. Me, Rohit, and our friends from Hyderabad at a club last weekend. I didn't smoke while I was clubbing !
Thursday, November 18, 2004
I Quit !!
I have been a smoker for nearly 7 years now. I started from grade 11, up until now. My highest record was 1 pack per day. Before I quit, on average, when I'm in school or at work, I'll do 6 to 10 per day.
Today, Thurs Nov 18, is the end of the 2nd week ever since I've stopped smoking.
What makes me quit in the first place ? Well, it was the cold for the first 3 to 5 days. But while I was laying on my bed, alone, here, in India, without family or anyone to support me, I think to myself, "if I can quit smoking now, I'll be doing a thing that is very hard (mentally) to accomplish".
So I did.
I just stopped totally. And I promise myself I'll stay like this before I go back to Canada. And even when I go back to Canada, I'll quit altogether.
To all the smokers who are reading this blog (yeah, that's you, Nelson; and you too, Kenny), don't tell me it is a "hard" thing to do and I "don't understand". If I, a regular smoker who've smoked for 7+ yrs, can quit, while I'm alone here in India dealing with all the stress from work / cultural shock / homesick, then you can do it too. Life is hard sometimes, just deal with it without escaping to cigarettes. Of course, unless you admit that you are a pussy and you are a worst person than me.
So, quit today.
If you need help, give this a try :
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/tobacco/
Register for their daily email.
This should be encouraging. :-)
Today, Thurs Nov 18, is the end of the 2nd week ever since I've stopped smoking.
What makes me quit in the first place ? Well, it was the cold for the first 3 to 5 days. But while I was laying on my bed, alone, here, in India, without family or anyone to support me, I think to myself, "if I can quit smoking now, I'll be doing a thing that is very hard (mentally) to accomplish".
So I did.
I just stopped totally. And I promise myself I'll stay like this before I go back to Canada. And even when I go back to Canada, I'll quit altogether.
To all the smokers who are reading this blog (yeah, that's you, Nelson; and you too, Kenny), don't tell me it is a "hard" thing to do and I "don't understand". If I, a regular smoker who've smoked for 7+ yrs, can quit, while I'm alone here in India dealing with all the stress from work / cultural shock / homesick, then you can do it too. Life is hard sometimes, just deal with it without escaping to cigarettes. Of course, unless you admit that you are a pussy and you are a worst person than me.
So, quit today.
If you need help, give this a try :
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/tobacco/
Register for their daily email.
This should be encouraging. :-)
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Means of Transport
Edited the Diwali fireworks post and put in some pictures in there. Check it out.
I'm gonna use this post to talk about the different forms of transportation that are here in India. Some are conventional, some are not, and some are just plain weird. Anyways, here goes ....
Bikes and Scooter
This is probably the most common form of vehicle here in India. Virtually every guy will have one. Sometimes, you will even see a whole family of 5 (2 parents, 2 kids, 1 baby) riding on one. Too bad I don't have a picture of that. I'll try to get my hands on one.
Speeeeeeeding ahead !
3-wheeled Autorickshaw
This is the equivalent of a taxi. It only has 3 wheels. It is basically like a big scooter with a cover on it. Me and Rohit ride this everyday to/from work.
Gas, sir ?
Bus, Trucks, Train
These are used as public transport. Since India is probably one of the most crowded country in the world, people have to stuff themselves on these vehicles on their daily travel. However, one skill is needed for taking these kinda public transport: the skill of hanging-while-dodging incoming traffic. I've already talk about this in "Bombay Train of Death".
The bus is moving when I was taking this pic. I was only 1 meter away from these guys in my autorickshaw.
Now I know what does "Trucks loaded of people" really mean.
Bombay Train of Death
Sea Transport
As for transportation used on the sea, the phrase "less is more" cannot describe it any better.
Less is more. Why the f**k do you need a boat when you can just sail on plates ?
Convertible Trucks
Yup. Not only do they have convertible sportscar, they also have convertible trucks.
Tata !
Must be very relaxing to be the driver.
Mind you that the truck is actually moving. It is not just something from the junk yard.
Cows
I now see the reason why they don't eat them in India. It is because the cows are a vital means of goods transportation that enables the economy of India to run smoothly .... and smelly.
Moooooooooo ..... (translate: get off the road, you chinese !)
Camel
And when you wanna be at the top of the world, you should ride higher than other people.
To success, and wealth !
I see the next Indian Bill Gates in these two kids.
Time to move on ...
Ahhh ..... the wonders of India ........
I'm gonna use this post to talk about the different forms of transportation that are here in India. Some are conventional, some are not, and some are just plain weird. Anyways, here goes ....
Bikes and Scooter
This is probably the most common form of vehicle here in India. Virtually every guy will have one. Sometimes, you will even see a whole family of 5 (2 parents, 2 kids, 1 baby) riding on one. Too bad I don't have a picture of that. I'll try to get my hands on one.
Speeeeeeeding ahead !
3-wheeled Autorickshaw
This is the equivalent of a taxi. It only has 3 wheels. It is basically like a big scooter with a cover on it. Me and Rohit ride this everyday to/from work.
Gas, sir ?
Bus, Trucks, Train
These are used as public transport. Since India is probably one of the most crowded country in the world, people have to stuff themselves on these vehicles on their daily travel. However, one skill is needed for taking these kinda public transport: the skill of hanging-while-dodging incoming traffic. I've already talk about this in "Bombay Train of Death".
The bus is moving when I was taking this pic. I was only 1 meter away from these guys in my autorickshaw.
Now I know what does "Trucks loaded of people" really mean.
Bombay Train of Death
Sea Transport
As for transportation used on the sea, the phrase "less is more" cannot describe it any better.
Less is more. Why the f**k do you need a boat when you can just sail on plates ?
Convertible Trucks
Yup. Not only do they have convertible sportscar, they also have convertible trucks.
Tata !
Must be very relaxing to be the driver.
Mind you that the truck is actually moving. It is not just something from the junk yard.
Cows
I now see the reason why they don't eat them in India. It is because the cows are a vital means of goods transportation that enables the economy of India to run smoothly .... and smelly.
Moooooooooo ..... (translate: get off the road, you chinese !)
Camel
And when you wanna be at the top of the world, you should ride higher than other people.
To success, and wealth !
I see the next Indian Bill Gates in these two kids.
Time to move on ...
Ahhh ..... the wonders of India ........
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Bombay Train of Death !!
Hmm ..... seems like I've forgot to talk about my experience back in Bombay. For the what-we-did-when kinda thing in Bombay, you guys can check out Rohit's blog. Don't worry, his blog only has a little bit of writing and lots of pictures.
For me, I wanna talk about the interesting stuff that I've experienced back in Bombay. I call it ..... "Bombay Train of Death" !!
Bombay Train of Death .... the next station is ....... point-of-no-return
Bombay itself is a big city. It is separated into many regions. In order to travel from one region to another, you will need to take the train within the city.
Now, this train contains many elements of death that can readily take away the lives of innocent foreigners who are not smart and quick enough to adapt.
First, the train is packed. No no, I don't mean pack. I mean, PACKED PACKED ! Is it rush hour packed ? No. We went on the train on a weekend afternoon, and it was crazy packed. You can easily suffocate in the middle of the crowd during the summer time in the Indian summer heat.
Try not to focus on how stupid I look, but more on the crowd ........ hey, I said the crowd, damnit !
So, what do the locals do if the train is packed and they still need to get on ? That is where the second element of death comes in: they hang from the train. I kid you not.
Technically, the train itself do have doors. But since the doors are pretty much opened 24/7, I won't considered them as doors. People hang from the door of the train while the train is moving at a speed of 80+km/hr.
What do they hold onto ? Well, there are basically 3 choices :
a) the pole near the door
b) the door frame
c) other passengers
Can't picture this ? Neither can I. So, as always, a photo says it all.
I almost got hit by one of those guys because I was standing too close when taking the picture.
Ah, so that brings me to the third element of death. The train platform. Since the guys are hanging from the train, they tend to jump off to the platform before the train comes to a full stop. Some of them, those who knows nothing about the elements of death, jump off while the train is still going close to full speed. So if you are standing too close on the platform while the guys jump off, guess what would happen ? Nothing pretty.
That pretty much sums up how safe the Bombay train of death is. When I asked Rohit's brother-in-law whether people die from the train ride or not, his response was "Yeah .... about 10 to 20 per day".
Hmm ..... 10 to 20 people die PER DAY, EVERYDAY, and the government doesn't do anything about it ........ ahhh, the wonders of India .......
For me, I wanna talk about the interesting stuff that I've experienced back in Bombay. I call it ..... "Bombay Train of Death" !!
Bombay Train of Death .... the next station is ....... point-of-no-return
Bombay itself is a big city. It is separated into many regions. In order to travel from one region to another, you will need to take the train within the city.
Now, this train contains many elements of death that can readily take away the lives of innocent foreigners who are not smart and quick enough to adapt.
First, the train is packed. No no, I don't mean pack. I mean, PACKED PACKED ! Is it rush hour packed ? No. We went on the train on a weekend afternoon, and it was crazy packed. You can easily suffocate in the middle of the crowd during the summer time in the Indian summer heat.
Try not to focus on how stupid I look, but more on the crowd ........ hey, I said the crowd, damnit !
So, what do the locals do if the train is packed and they still need to get on ? That is where the second element of death comes in: they hang from the train. I kid you not.
Technically, the train itself do have doors. But since the doors are pretty much opened 24/7, I won't considered them as doors. People hang from the door of the train while the train is moving at a speed of 80+km/hr.
What do they hold onto ? Well, there are basically 3 choices :
a) the pole near the door
b) the door frame
c) other passengers
Can't picture this ? Neither can I. So, as always, a photo says it all.
I almost got hit by one of those guys because I was standing too close when taking the picture.
Ah, so that brings me to the third element of death. The train platform. Since the guys are hanging from the train, they tend to jump off to the platform before the train comes to a full stop. Some of them, those who knows nothing about the elements of death, jump off while the train is still going close to full speed. So if you are standing too close on the platform while the guys jump off, guess what would happen ? Nothing pretty.
That pretty much sums up how safe the Bombay train of death is. When I asked Rohit's brother-in-law whether people die from the train ride or not, his response was "Yeah .... about 10 to 20 per day".
Hmm ..... 10 to 20 people die PER DAY, EVERYDAY, and the government doesn't do anything about it ........ ahhh, the wonders of India .......
Diwali Fireworks
I've finally recovered. Still need to finish the remaining 6 days of the 12 days anti-biotic pills thou, but I feel a lot better now. Thanks for all those who called / emailed and asked about my health. Apparently, the doctor said that I do not have the built-in immunity of the virus / bacteria that are in India, that's why I'm more vulnerable to infection compared to local Indians.
Anyways .... so for the past 5 days I've been doing basically nothing other than staying at home and watching movies. The past weekend was the Diwali loong weekend, so Fri and Mon are off. And I toke Thurs off also cuz of my sickness.
But Diwali at Hyderabad is amazing. For those who dunno what it is, it is the festival of light. It is a big holiday, kinda like X'mas in the western world. Houses will be decorated with light, candles, flowers, and drawings. On the Diwali night (Friday), people will play fireworks thru out the city.
People drawing religious symbols in front of their house.
The type of fireworks that they have here is not the sissy weeny ones that you guys do during Victoria Day back in Canada. It is the kind that they will have at Toronto city hall or Niagara Falls during New Year. And yes, people play with those kinda bigass fireworks in their own little backyard or on the street.
Bigass fireworks
Is it dangerous ? Hell yeah. Especially majority of those who light the fireworks are little kids.
Run forest, RUN !!
Hold it in your hand and turn ..... wait until it explose in your hand ....
But is it beautiful ? I can tell you, it is probably one of the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced in my life.
Kids.
I've seen the fireworks at Niagara Falls. I've played with fireworks during Victoria Day while I was small. I've even seen the fireworks they have back in Hong Kong which costs the government millions and billions of dollars. But all of them is nothing compared to what they have here. Because for those fireworks, you usually only stare at one direction for 30 minutes and everything is done. But the ones they have here happens everywhere within the city, in any direction that you see, throughout the whole night.
Happening all around the city ...
That night during Diwali, me and the housekeeper guys climbed up to the roof of our house (which as pretty high up in the city) to see the fireworks. In all 360 degrees direction around us, the sky was filled with the light and sound of fireworks. All of your senses can feel the presence of the joy and happiness of the festival. Continuously, non-stop, for the whole night. It started to die down around 1am.
One of the housekeeper guys at the roof top.
Anyways, that's all for now. Later.
Anyways .... so for the past 5 days I've been doing basically nothing other than staying at home and watching movies. The past weekend was the Diwali loong weekend, so Fri and Mon are off. And I toke Thurs off also cuz of my sickness.
But Diwali at Hyderabad is amazing. For those who dunno what it is, it is the festival of light. It is a big holiday, kinda like X'mas in the western world. Houses will be decorated with light, candles, flowers, and drawings. On the Diwali night (Friday), people will play fireworks thru out the city.
People drawing religious symbols in front of their house.
The type of fireworks that they have here is not the sissy weeny ones that you guys do during Victoria Day back in Canada. It is the kind that they will have at Toronto city hall or Niagara Falls during New Year. And yes, people play with those kinda bigass fireworks in their own little backyard or on the street.
Bigass fireworks
Is it dangerous ? Hell yeah. Especially majority of those who light the fireworks are little kids.
Run forest, RUN !!
Hold it in your hand and turn ..... wait until it explose in your hand ....
But is it beautiful ? I can tell you, it is probably one of the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced in my life.
Kids.
I've seen the fireworks at Niagara Falls. I've played with fireworks during Victoria Day while I was small. I've even seen the fireworks they have back in Hong Kong which costs the government millions and billions of dollars. But all of them is nothing compared to what they have here. Because for those fireworks, you usually only stare at one direction for 30 minutes and everything is done. But the ones they have here happens everywhere within the city, in any direction that you see, throughout the whole night.
Happening all around the city ...
That night during Diwali, me and the housekeeper guys climbed up to the roof of our house (which as pretty high up in the city) to see the fireworks. In all 360 degrees direction around us, the sky was filled with the light and sound of fireworks. All of your senses can feel the presence of the joy and happiness of the festival. Continuously, non-stop, for the whole night. It started to die down around 1am.
One of the housekeeper guys at the roof top.
Anyways, that's all for now. Later.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Back From Bombay ...
and sick again !! Can't believe it !! Just finished my 12-days cycle of anti-biotics on last Sat, and I'm sick again from the Monday night bus ride back to Hyderabad. This time I've even worn extra clothings. But the travel agency that we've got our tickets from isn't the same one that we've always used, and this new one didn't provide us with blankets for the ride. I'll have to go see the doctor again tonight ..... errrr .......
The trip to Bombay was ok. Nothing really exciting to see the Bombay. I guess the best experience I had there was the hookah pipe and the train ride. Now I wanna buy a hookah pipe back to Canada. And no, we didn't use the hookah pipe to smoke weed, only tobacco. :)
Hookah pipe.
I'll put up the pictures tomorrow after I do some post-processing to them.
After being here for nearly 2 months and getting sick for the 2nd time, all the initial excitement are pretty much gone ..... starting to think about what I'll do when I get back to Canada ...... hmmm, not good ..........
Btw, last week (Oct. 28th) is my gf, Mun's, birthday. Wanna say happy birthday to her again here ..... shit, now I miss Canada even more ....... crap, I'll stop here. Happy Birthday Mun !
The trip to Bombay was ok. Nothing really exciting to see the Bombay. I guess the best experience I had there was the hookah pipe and the train ride. Now I wanna buy a hookah pipe back to Canada. And no, we didn't use the hookah pipe to smoke weed, only tobacco. :)
Hookah pipe.
I'll put up the pictures tomorrow after I do some post-processing to them.
After being here for nearly 2 months and getting sick for the 2nd time, all the initial excitement are pretty much gone ..... starting to think about what I'll do when I get back to Canada ...... hmmm, not good ..........
Btw, last week (Oct. 28th) is my gf, Mun's, birthday. Wanna say happy birthday to her again here ..... shit, now I miss Canada even more ....... crap, I'll stop here. Happy Birthday Mun !
