Hey hey people!

I just moved into the Tata's hostel quarters. Finally! Regular internet connection.

People! This is important ok? So listen up. If I EVER complain about my broadband connection back home EVER again....kick me HARD.

By the way,
Did I ever tell you about the cuisine in India? Well, everything tastes a little bit different in India. Our little group (now officially christened "Batch T35" by Tata) has a little "in-joke" about this.

On our first night outing, some people had a dish called "Masala". This was literally a mix of spices, but it's taste was a little odd to our palates. From that day on everything that was a little "off" was Something Masala. It never fails to raise a few chuckles. We have "Coke Masala" (otherwise known as "Thumbs Up", a coke clone), "Notebook Masala" (little notepads we were issued had a funny smell) and even "Towel Masala", although the last was probably due to some hygenically challenged joker in our group.

Oh yeah, remember Winnie? I hadn't realized just how much a 16000 Rs stipend was until Winnie said that she was getting by on just Rs 3000 with a rent of Rs3500. Umm...I hadn't expected AIESEC to allow companies to pay trainees so wretchedly. I mean come on...the stipend should cover most of a trainee's expenses.

Awa, had her little "National Geographic Moment" today. Unfortunately, it was "When Ants go Bad". Her Laptop suddenly started to spew ants when she turned it on today. Even more unfortunately, she was deathly afraid of "ants in groups of more than 5". I know it sounds a little evil, but it took everything I had not to laugh out loud (yeah I'm BAAAD, so shoot me ;P). The poor girl was so distressed. Awa was always a little highly-strung, but she was hysterical....

Our Hostel facilities were nice...well...I mean nicer than the Hanoi Hilton we were placed in on the first day of our arrival in Trivendrum. It's not the new NUS's hostel, complete with swanky air-conditioning but it was CLEAN. My my, how people change....

Darn...getting late. Talk to y'all later.

For those who have waited for updates, my apologies for being silent so long. Apparently, although internet connection is widely available in India, the new hotel (A luxurious 5-star hotel called Lotus Suites) I was moved to from Colaba charged rs150 per hour. Other than the Hotel, the surrounding area of Andheri Kurla road had only one internet connection that was less than stable.

It rained EVERY single day of the week I was at Lotus.
Here's a little something I've come up with to help you imagine the condition I was in. Come on try it, it would be fun. ;P

Take a heap of milo and add water to it slowly, (not too much mind you, we're not making milo drinks here) when it become a pile of brown mush, heat it up in a toaster. The resultant muck will resemble the state of the road called Andheri Kurla. At times it almost looks like a gigantic mars bar.

The Singaporean part of me had died and gone to hell. It screamed bloody murder and expired the moment I set foot into the brown sludge. Sure, there were auto-rickshaws everywhere picking up passengers, but no one actually likes to go to Andheri Kurla, and you were obliged to make a journey on foot sometimes.

I can understand this. Andheri Kurla is India's giant moving carpark. Almost at any time you would care to mention, the roads are jammed packed with vehicles of any description, taking every opportunity to make good use of their horns. If the driver dropped you off at any point on the road, he would most likely be caught in a three-hour-jam afterwards, thus losing any hope of making more money.

It's so jammed that pretty often you could stop your vehicle, go to a stall on the side of the road, have a cup of tea, come back and the traffic would still not have moved. That actually happened a few times.

Oh yeah, I've finally have had an explanation of why the people like to use their horns so much. A fair number of vehicles don't have side or rear-view mirrors. They horn everytime they make a move, so that people behind are aware that something's about to happen, be it a turn or a stop.

We were undergoing Induction at Banyan Park, a Tata facility maintained by the company. Yep, it's a park alright. Trees, birds, flowers, bats. Place is run like a holiday resort and even has it's own resident staff cooks. The induction focused alot on providing information and background of TCS and a few short interesting self-improvement talks.

et voila the first pic of the day. That's taken on the day we had a short introduction to Indian food culture. Here's the cast of characters sharing my little adventures so far.

From the left to the right
First Row, (Canada)Maixim & Guillaume (Ireland) Carl, (Chile), Avarro,
Second Row, (Brazil) Paulo, (Singapore) Yours Truly, (Canada) Abid, (Italy) Silvestre, (Senegal &Canada) Awa, (Brazil) Natalia
Third Row, Crouching, Daniel (Nigeria)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we had ANOTHER party sometime in the week Also in a place which would burst your ear-drums to be there, celebrating the birthday of Marco from Uruguay. It was ...well...noisy, but I came away with treasure beyond measure, another friend.
(My, I sure am piling up with friends...)

She's called Winnie. Hi Winnie! If you're reading this, you got my message about the wrong blog address I gave you. Sorry. She's from HongKong and is working with United Way as an AIESEC trainee. She was an AIESEC officer too before...you know her Triin? ;p

It was a little too noisy at the party to talk much, but I managed to nab her contact details and set up for a little dinner on the Friday before I was scheduled to end my stay in Mumbai and fly to Trivendrum. More alittle later, I'm in Trivendrum right now and getting a slow death by mosquitoes. Now where are my malaria pills?

Whew what a long day!
Just got back from an overnight party, and still feeling a little woozy.

Let's start from the beginning shall we?

Despite being only 2+ hours behind Singapore, I still had a little problem adjusting to the time difference.

Woke up at 6 a.m. yesterday, took a walk outside to see what new things I could discover about Mumbai. Had a "National Geographic moment" when I stumbled upon a flock of crows systematically dismembering a rat which had died in the middle of the road. Yep, Mumbai sure had an efficient garbage disposal squad courtesy of mother nature. Nothing like our pansy Singaporean crows, always slinking around Hawker centres looking for easy pickings.

Had some breakfast with the group and headed off to Elephant isle. This was an island about 9km away from the harbor - a short walk from our hotel. The sky had grown overcast and it was raining by the time we stepped onto the boat which was to carry us to our destination. For once, the temperature had dropped a fair bit. Little did I realize this rain heralded the start of the monsoon season which was to wash away (pardon the pun) my previously held impressions of Mumbai weather.

The journey was pleasant and uneventful. The place was crowded with storekeepers hawking a variety of wares with a vigour and tenacity unmatched by any of their counterparts in Singapore. Actually, this is not limited to storekeepers. Beggers, dogs, crows, all have the lean and dangerous look and go about their business with a furious intensity.

India is one of the most capitalistic society I have ever encountered, and everyone is busy looking out for themselves. The sad fates of beggars are immediately apparent, since there are so many of them. I guess noone wants to be beggars.


Elephant isle contained a number caves in which statues of gods and goddesses were carved into the walls of the cave. Quite nice, if you like that sort of thing. But I don't think it was quite worth the 250 rs I paid to get in. Indians citizens could enter for 10 rs. The rain had brought about alot of changes, as we were to find out. The soil had been softened by rain and the island had basically become a one big glop of mud. The constant fertilization of the island by assorted goats and cows didn't help much either. The danger of mud-slides became even more apparent when a tree came crashing down right on top of us. Luckily, the tree landed on a stall we were walking by and noone was hurt.

We got back to the hotel a little tired, and decided to sleep it off. We had a party appointment at 8 p.m. which we didn't want to miss. The trip to the party place is a story worthy of it's own story. It involved auto-rickshaws (thanks thievani!), cabs and trains but I'm really far too wrung out to elaborate, it was just a bloody difficult place to find. Maybe some other time.

Luckily, Daniel, knew how to get there, so we got there in more or less one piece. What we didn't count on was the monsoon weather. It kept raining on and off all through the journey. The party place was a bar(at least I think that's what it was). The jukebox appeared to have just about every single dance track ever made, and was blaring out ear-drum shattering music. I take that back, it wasn't music, it was a freaking lobotomy. Yes, it was a night of wild gyration and seriously obiang dance moves.

Maybe alittle more after I sleep it off zzzzz......

I always pick a window seat whenever possible when I travel. I like to look at the land pass below me, stare down and wonder what kind of lives the people down there lead.

The plane was flying overland to Mumbai from a stopover in Chennai when I peered down.
It was all so brown.

This was a little unnerving at first. As a Singaporean, I was used to green forests and stretches of trees. The brown bareness of the land below suggested to me that it was going to be very hot. I had no idea...

The temperature hits you like left hook to the jaw. I like to think myself accustomed to hot humid climates, since I myself live in the tropics. I will NEVER admit this to my mates but, Maaaan. Felt like wearing a sauna....

Arranged pick-up didn't happen, so I took a taxi to my host company's offices in Mumbai. Nice system they have there, you pay a fixed fare at the counter and the taxi takes you to your destination. None of that haggling and cheating business. Wonder if we can do this in Singapore?

Indian roads are dominated by small vehicles. Small four wheelers or three wheelers (I forget what they call 'em, they look like tuktuks). They have to be. I don't think larger vehicles can function properly here, and from the way they drive, an accident with a large vehicle could kill ALOT of people...and cows. Yes, all ye singaporeans, cows are used to draw carts and stalls.

On the back of all the three-wheelers and some four-wheelers is this "Please-horn-OK?" sign. Singaporeans eat your heart out! They actually invite you to horn at them! Indians definitely take the invitation seriously. I'm going to ask someone about this some time soon. So stay tuned.

Soliciting (I could say begging,but soliciting sound nicer doncha think?) is another feature in India which we don't get very much back in Singapore. Don't know what I think about this yet. Maybe more on this later.

Found the host company's offices,schmoozed my way up past the security. Regular little fortress, the Air India building. X-ray machines, metal-detectors, guards with aging kalashnikovs, the whole kit and caboodle.

Thankfully Maciej & Co were in.

I got taken to the hotel where all my mates were lodged. A regular mini-UN. Czechs, Canadians, Brazillians, Chileans. No people from the US though... figures. Four to a room with blessed air-conditioning. Then, like a true-blue-dyed-in-the-wool Singaporean I find it too cold and dry.

Had a nice long dinner with my people. Food was good. Company was excellent (I can practice my french now...yay!). Music was louder than an artillery barrage.

Noticed another thing about India. Cows are plentiful, more milk than they can use. They eat lots of yogurt. They get creative with milk products. They have a "Live" Culture in more ways than one. But they don't have CHEESE. Rats.

Post a pic of the dinner as soon as I can persuade awa to give me a copy.

'till next time...