Sunday, May 30, 2004
Selected pics from Bul-guk-sa.
Twilight at Bul-guk-sa.
A shot of a small tower right opposite the main tempe.
A cute kid during the prayers.
Rows of lamps. Would've done a field of depth experiment if I had a manual focus camera.
This was a great shot. Damn the Digicam!
All these pics were taken with some crappy Digicam I borrowed from the lab. It was a battery drain - 8 of them! I should've taken my film camera.
Korean Photoblogging :-)
I finally figured out how to get Hello Bloggerbot to work with a non administrator login on Windows. So, it's photoblogging from now on. All photos on my Yahoo! photos account and Topcities account and some selected ones here on the blog.
I think I'll start with the Bul-guk-sa pics. I've already posted the b/w snaps here. I dont think that they qualify for this blog though... they're more of general photoraphs than photographs from Korea.
I think I'll start with the Bul-guk-sa pics. I've already posted the b/w snaps here. I dont think that they qualify for this blog though... they're more of general photoraphs than photographs from Korea.
Saturday, May 29, 2004
The Bug-yeong-sa Picnic.
Another saturday. Another outing. And true to the Indian blood running in our veins - another picnic :-D
Packed food - rice, indian curry (that's what it was - an amalgamation of potatoes, onions lots of turmeric and chillies with tons of indian taste - ah heaven!), bread, jam and bananas.
Caught the 11:00 AM bus to Bug-yeong-sa (remember sa=temple in Korean) after much deliberation by Joshi, in his limited Korean, with the man at the ticket counter. Somehow managed to get the tickets!
It was a pleasent 1 hour bus-ride to Bog-yeong-sa through the suburbs of Pohang and some neighbouring villages. I was busy with the manual mode in my Canon T70 camera - trying to get some shots of the lovely landscape from the moving bus.
Modern Trash
Saw a car dump for the first time. It's sorta freaks you out. Hundreds of cars stacked together on top of each other. All trash. All bashed up. Just like junk toy cars. Why, is all I ask?
The Sa
Right at the beginning of the trek there was the Sa. All these Buddhist temples are very typical. Same architecture. Same kind of statues and idols. The paintings on the roofs and walls/gates are rather intricate and interesting. Have tried taking some close up shots of them - let's see how they turn out. Even this temple had celebrated "Booda's Birthday" - there were hordes of lamps all around.
The Trek
Started off the short trek to the waterfalls. Trekked up the rocky 2.9 km way up (and obviously back again - ha ha). There are about 12 waterfalls on that mountain/hill - but we saw only 5. Two of them were twin waterfalls (2*2=4)- one beside the other and one big huge one.
At about 2:00 PM we started off with the grub. It was really soothing having nice Indian food in the cool shade next to the gurgling waterfall. After about an hour we started off back.
Reached Pohang at 6:00 PM.
Just Googled a bit about Bug-yeong-sa... here are some "tourist" kind of links -
Bogyeongsa 12 waterfalls and Bogyeongsa Temple - ENJOY!
Finished a role (~36 shots). Let's see how the pics turn out - will turn them in to the FDI (Fujifilm Digital Imaging) Lab on Monday. Tried out a lot of experiments.
Later.
Packed food - rice, indian curry (that's what it was - an amalgamation of potatoes, onions lots of turmeric and chillies with tons of indian taste - ah heaven!), bread, jam and bananas.
Caught the 11:00 AM bus to Bug-yeong-sa (remember sa=temple in Korean) after much deliberation by Joshi, in his limited Korean, with the man at the ticket counter. Somehow managed to get the tickets!
It was a pleasent 1 hour bus-ride to Bog-yeong-sa through the suburbs of Pohang and some neighbouring villages. I was busy with the manual mode in my Canon T70 camera - trying to get some shots of the lovely landscape from the moving bus.
Modern Trash
Saw a car dump for the first time. It's sorta freaks you out. Hundreds of cars stacked together on top of each other. All trash. All bashed up. Just like junk toy cars. Why, is all I ask?
The Sa
Right at the beginning of the trek there was the Sa. All these Buddhist temples are very typical. Same architecture. Same kind of statues and idols. The paintings on the roofs and walls/gates are rather intricate and interesting. Have tried taking some close up shots of them - let's see how they turn out. Even this temple had celebrated "Booda's Birthday" - there were hordes of lamps all around.
The Trek
Started off the short trek to the waterfalls. Trekked up the rocky 2.9 km way up (and obviously back again - ha ha). There are about 12 waterfalls on that mountain/hill - but we saw only 5. Two of them were twin waterfalls (2*2=4)- one beside the other and one big huge one.
At about 2:00 PM we started off with the grub. It was really soothing having nice Indian food in the cool shade next to the gurgling waterfall. After about an hour we started off back.
Reached Pohang at 6:00 PM.
Just Googled a bit about Bug-yeong-sa... here are some "tourist" kind of links -
Bogyeongsa 12 waterfalls and Bogyeongsa Temple - ENJOY!
Finished a role (~36 shots). Let's see how the pics turn out - will turn them in to the FDI (Fujifilm Digital Imaging) Lab on Monday. Tried out a lot of experiments.
Later.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Happy Birthday!
Indian: Happy Birthday Buddha!
Korean: Happy Birthday Booda!
May 26th, was Gautum Buddha's birthday - for the uninformed (you lowly peasents), one major Korean festival, a national holiday (yeay!)
Like in true Korean tradition we (Avi and me) kicked off the birthday with 3 bottles of Soju (the traditional Korean vodka) and one helluva mega-super-duper-genetically-modified chicken! (Well, OK - not Korean tradition, but what the heck!) Totally drunk, we were trying to make sense out of "A Big Fat Greek Wedding" :-)
Conked off at about 5:00 in the morning. Got up at 1:00 in the afternoon, with a sick taste in my mouth - what a crappy way to start a national holiday... had bananas to calm my stomach and headed for the lab.
I was barely five minutes into my work (alright, I was checking my mail - so what?!) and Joshi popped in [Ed: I forgot to tell, he was drunk like a stone last night - before Avi and I had even started drinking. Apparently he ended up with a bet in a bar and you can guess the rest...] So we go down for a coffee - Joshi, Me, Ganeshan & Ganesh Kumar.
One thing led to another and before I know it, I had borrowed a digital camera from the lab (Thanks Jung Eun), and the four of us were on a cab to Bul-Guk-Sa. Struck a deal with the taxi driver at ee-man-o-cheon Wons :-D Muahahaha - you measly, lowly non-Koreans - dont know counting in Korean do you - that's 25,000 Wons.
Well, Bul-Guk-Sa is a temple in Kyeong-Ju (the capital of the ancient Shilla Dynasty) and that's all I know about it :-) Well one more thing actually - "Sa" in Korean means temple.
I know I'll fail at describing the sight at Bul-Guk-Sa, but I'll give it a shot. It was BEAUTIFUL. Thousands and thousands of round balloon shaped lamps. Rows and rows of lamps - all around. In the gardens, along the paths, on the trees. Every-fucking-where. And an equal number of people in that temple there. It was crowded.
We went inside the main temple, it was a big square thing, with the main temple in the middle flanked by corridors on all four sides. Rows of lamps hung from ropes supported by sticks all around the courtyard.
As soon as we stepped in - a monk started playing a huge drum rhythmically and after that they started their prayers. A monotonic chant while beating a small round "pot" making a high pitched percussion sound. It could've been soothing had it not been for the crowd there.
As it began to grow darker the temple became prettier. Everyone started lighting candles in the lamps. I chipped in and must've lighted aroung 50-60 lamps. It was fun.
As night fell, the view became breathtaking. Impossible to describe. You should take a look at the photographs probably.
The snaps are not really good cuz the digital camera really sucked! It took down with it 8 AA batteries. It was a real hog and had space for ~30 snaps only. And the focusing was not great either. Anyways I tried some stuff and the snaps are lookable - nothing great though. I'm carrying a regular film camera wherever I go next time.
Take a look at the snaps here.
Have fun.
Korean: Happy Birthday Booda!
May 26th, was Gautum Buddha's birthday - for the uninformed (you lowly peasents), one major Korean festival, a national holiday (yeay!)
Like in true Korean tradition we (Avi and me) kicked off the birthday with 3 bottles of Soju (the traditional Korean vodka) and one helluva mega-super-duper-genetically-modified chicken! (Well, OK - not Korean tradition, but what the heck!) Totally drunk, we were trying to make sense out of "A Big Fat Greek Wedding" :-)
Conked off at about 5:00 in the morning. Got up at 1:00 in the afternoon, with a sick taste in my mouth - what a crappy way to start a national holiday... had bananas to calm my stomach and headed for the lab.
I was barely five minutes into my work (alright, I was checking my mail - so what?!) and Joshi popped in [Ed: I forgot to tell, he was drunk like a stone last night - before Avi and I had even started drinking. Apparently he ended up with a bet in a bar and you can guess the rest...] So we go down for a coffee - Joshi, Me, Ganeshan & Ganesh Kumar.
One thing led to another and before I know it, I had borrowed a digital camera from the lab (Thanks Jung Eun), and the four of us were on a cab to Bul-Guk-Sa. Struck a deal with the taxi driver at ee-man-o-cheon Wons :-D Muahahaha - you measly, lowly non-Koreans - dont know counting in Korean do you - that's 25,000 Wons.
Well, Bul-Guk-Sa is a temple in Kyeong-Ju (the capital of the ancient Shilla Dynasty) and that's all I know about it :-) Well one more thing actually - "Sa" in Korean means temple.
I know I'll fail at describing the sight at Bul-Guk-Sa, but I'll give it a shot. It was BEAUTIFUL. Thousands and thousands of round balloon shaped lamps. Rows and rows of lamps - all around. In the gardens, along the paths, on the trees. Every-fucking-where. And an equal number of people in that temple there. It was crowded.
We went inside the main temple, it was a big square thing, with the main temple in the middle flanked by corridors on all four sides. Rows of lamps hung from ropes supported by sticks all around the courtyard.
As soon as we stepped in - a monk started playing a huge drum rhythmically and after that they started their prayers. A monotonic chant while beating a small round "pot" making a high pitched percussion sound. It could've been soothing had it not been for the crowd there.
As it began to grow darker the temple became prettier. Everyone started lighting candles in the lamps. I chipped in and must've lighted aroung 50-60 lamps. It was fun.
As night fell, the view became breathtaking. Impossible to describe. You should take a look at the photographs probably.
The snaps are not really good cuz the digital camera really sucked! It took down with it 8 AA batteries. It was a real hog and had space for ~30 snaps only. And the focusing was not great either. Anyways I tried some stuff and the snaps are lookable - nothing great though. I'm carrying a regular film camera wherever I go next time.
Take a look at the snaps here.
Have fun.
Sunday, May 23, 2004
Nanda's Day Out.
I must say, today has been one of the most enjoyable days I have spent uptil now in Korea...
The Grand Lunch
It started off as a lazy sunday morning with me getting up at 12:00 in the noon (I was watching some crappy movie till 3 last night). I had been invited by Ganeshan over for lunch at his apartment. Ganeshan is a pass out from IIT Chennai doing his post doc research here in POSTECH. He's living in the Nakwan Apartments (the married students apartments - much like the SBRA Hostel we have in IITK).
So, at about 1:00 PM I go over to his place. Joshi and Ganeshan had put all their culinary skills together and churned out sambhar-chawal and raita, though Joshi was insisting that it wasnt sambhar but some Marathi dish made out of besan. Whatever - it was food - Indian food - and without beef or pork! In short - it was heaven!
After the sumptious meal, we walked back to our dorm and I went out searched for Ankur Dhamija (yes - he's here with me in POSTECH too). So, all three of us - Joshi, Dhamija and me the great - get our act together and plan an evening out - Bukbu beach, and then downtown for fried chicken.
The Beach
Off to Bukbu beach - on Bus #105 from the POSTECH gate. It was my first outing, first ride on the public buses here in Pohang - actually a lot of firsts today :-)
On the beach side we're greeted by rows and rows of boats/ferries/small ships - call it what you may. It was looking more like a harbour or dock - I was disappointed. But then we walked around and hit the right spot - the Bukbu beach! It was rather small - and right off the road. The beach must've been about 100 metres wide - between the road and the sea. I was not impressed - but I was in for a pleasent surprise ;-)
We walked around the beach - and to my dismay there were not girls in bikinis and no beach volleyball :-(. The beach was beautiful though - we could see HUGE ships on the horizon. Flanked by small hills on both the sides, with an overcast sky and the vast expanse of the ocean in front of us - it was a beautiful sight. All this scenic & poetic beauty was suddenly shattered by the loud sound of motors. There were some people on water scooters skidding on the water.
We went knee deep into the sea for a pic and came out yelping in icy cold pain. The water was frrrreezing. It must've been beloe 5 degrees celcius. Walked towards the gang with water scooterd with our bare, numb feet.
Yeeehaw!!
"We can do this?", I asked one of the fellows who looked incharge. (Don't ask me about the grammar - that'll be on some other post). With my past experience in Rishikesh, I thought that these were some tour agents/operators who organized such adventure sports. I was exepcting him to quote a hefty price for that water scooter. I was in for a surprise.
"Yes. You can do this. But water too cold. You get all wet", he said.
"How many Won?", I poked.
"No. No. No pay. Korean men very good." And yes - they indeed were.
So before we knew it, Joshi and I were wearing life jackets with our jeans folded till our knees we were ready to ride that water scooter! One of the Koreans took the wheel (or handle bars, if you wish) with me and Joshi in the rear. After the scooter started - all I know I was holding onto the Korean for my life and was shouting on the top of my voice. It was sheer excitement. More than any freaking Appu Ghar or Essel World ride. The way the scooter banked when he used to turn it - we used to be almost touching the water! I really cant describe it - it was one helluvan experience!
Going Bananas
We got out alive - and thanked them profusely. And then we were in for more!! There was this big banana shaped inflated boat - one big banana in the middle and two small ones on the side (photographs due). You had to ride it cowboy style - five people on one banana - pulled by that water scooter. There was absolutely NO WAY - I was gonna go on that thing. I dont know what made me agree to do it - and I really thank god that I went there. I had the time of my freaking life!
On that banana, Joshi, me and two other Korean. I was bang in the front. Riding the damn thing while the scooter whirred along at what seemed like insane speed at that time. The turns on this were even more life threatening. And to top it off - the one thing I was praying for not to happen - happened. The whole damn thing tipped before we knew it - and bam - we were in that chilled water in the middle of the ocean. For a second I lost all control - I was shocked! And then almost on an impulse I started swimming towards the shore and so did Joshi. And these Koreans were shouting "Stop! Stop!"
We finally did stop - the life jackets kept us afloat. But not without getting mouthfuls of that awfully salty water right down our throats. Anyways, another scooter came for the rescue. It pulled the banana back upright - and I tried to mount it - toppling it off again! These Koreans got on top first and pulled us up. And we hit the shore after that!
I've never ever had so much fun in my whole freaking Korean life. Anyways, we came out all drenched in that water - shivering like hell - but enjoying every moment of it. These folks then offered water melon - which neutralized the pathetic salty taste in our mouths. We caught a cab and came right back to our dorms and took a hot bath and off again... downtown :-)
Bad Boys Downtown
Back onto Bus #105 and off at downtown. We were just looking around. The markets here are pretty good. All American brands. Nice showrooms. Nice footpath shops just like in India.
There was this promotional thing going on at one of the crossings, stupid games a huge inflated cartoon characted. Nothing interesting until we got back after completing one round of window shopping. Man - it was great! 4 scantily dressed girls gyrating to some cheesy song - "Yo baby! Yo Baby! Yo!" - yeah right! Yo, baby! [Ed: I know you're dying for pics to this one - dont worry I've clicked one ;-)]
Had PFC (Pelican Fried Chicken - yeah, I know) - freaking HUGE chicken these Koreans have. That was one kind of meat I had eaten before and I was actually relishing and not forcing down my throat.
After the chicken and the chicks - we got our asses back home.
Well, as they say - That's all folks!!
The Grand Lunch
It started off as a lazy sunday morning with me getting up at 12:00 in the noon (I was watching some crappy movie till 3 last night). I had been invited by Ganeshan over for lunch at his apartment. Ganeshan is a pass out from IIT Chennai doing his post doc research here in POSTECH. He's living in the Nakwan Apartments (the married students apartments - much like the SBRA Hostel we have in IITK).
So, at about 1:00 PM I go over to his place. Joshi and Ganeshan had put all their culinary skills together and churned out sambhar-chawal and raita, though Joshi was insisting that it wasnt sambhar but some Marathi dish made out of besan. Whatever - it was food - Indian food - and without beef or pork! In short - it was heaven!
After the sumptious meal, we walked back to our dorm and I went out searched for Ankur Dhamija (yes - he's here with me in POSTECH too). So, all three of us - Joshi, Dhamija and me the great - get our act together and plan an evening out - Bukbu beach, and then downtown for fried chicken.
The Beach
Off to Bukbu beach - on Bus #105 from the POSTECH gate. It was my first outing, first ride on the public buses here in Pohang - actually a lot of firsts today :-)
On the beach side we're greeted by rows and rows of boats/ferries/small ships - call it what you may. It was looking more like a harbour or dock - I was disappointed. But then we walked around and hit the right spot - the Bukbu beach! It was rather small - and right off the road. The beach must've been about 100 metres wide - between the road and the sea. I was not impressed - but I was in for a pleasent surprise ;-)
We walked around the beach - and to my dismay there were not girls in bikinis and no beach volleyball :-(. The beach was beautiful though - we could see HUGE ships on the horizon. Flanked by small hills on both the sides, with an overcast sky and the vast expanse of the ocean in front of us - it was a beautiful sight. All this scenic & poetic beauty was suddenly shattered by the loud sound of motors. There were some people on water scooters skidding on the water.
We went knee deep into the sea for a pic and came out yelping in icy cold pain. The water was frrrreezing. It must've been beloe 5 degrees celcius. Walked towards the gang with water scooterd with our bare, numb feet.
Yeeehaw!!
"We can do this?", I asked one of the fellows who looked incharge. (Don't ask me about the grammar - that'll be on some other post). With my past experience in Rishikesh, I thought that these were some tour agents/operators who organized such adventure sports. I was exepcting him to quote a hefty price for that water scooter. I was in for a surprise.
"Yes. You can do this. But water too cold. You get all wet", he said.
"How many Won?", I poked.
"No. No. No pay. Korean men very good." And yes - they indeed were.
So before we knew it, Joshi and I were wearing life jackets with our jeans folded till our knees we were ready to ride that water scooter! One of the Koreans took the wheel (or handle bars, if you wish) with me and Joshi in the rear. After the scooter started - all I know I was holding onto the Korean for my life and was shouting on the top of my voice. It was sheer excitement. More than any freaking Appu Ghar or Essel World ride. The way the scooter banked when he used to turn it - we used to be almost touching the water! I really cant describe it - it was one helluvan experience!
Going Bananas
We got out alive - and thanked them profusely. And then we were in for more!! There was this big banana shaped inflated boat - one big banana in the middle and two small ones on the side (photographs due). You had to ride it cowboy style - five people on one banana - pulled by that water scooter. There was absolutely NO WAY - I was gonna go on that thing. I dont know what made me agree to do it - and I really thank god that I went there. I had the time of my freaking life!
On that banana, Joshi, me and two other Korean. I was bang in the front. Riding the damn thing while the scooter whirred along at what seemed like insane speed at that time. The turns on this were even more life threatening. And to top it off - the one thing I was praying for not to happen - happened. The whole damn thing tipped before we knew it - and bam - we were in that chilled water in the middle of the ocean. For a second I lost all control - I was shocked! And then almost on an impulse I started swimming towards the shore and so did Joshi. And these Koreans were shouting "Stop! Stop!"
We finally did stop - the life jackets kept us afloat. But not without getting mouthfuls of that awfully salty water right down our throats. Anyways, another scooter came for the rescue. It pulled the banana back upright - and I tried to mount it - toppling it off again! These Koreans got on top first and pulled us up. And we hit the shore after that!
I've never ever had so much fun in my whole freaking Korean life. Anyways, we came out all drenched in that water - shivering like hell - but enjoying every moment of it. These folks then offered water melon - which neutralized the pathetic salty taste in our mouths. We caught a cab and came right back to our dorms and took a hot bath and off again... downtown :-)
Bad Boys Downtown
Back onto Bus #105 and off at downtown. We were just looking around. The markets here are pretty good. All American brands. Nice showrooms. Nice footpath shops just like in India.
There was this promotional thing going on at one of the crossings, stupid games a huge inflated cartoon characted. Nothing interesting until we got back after completing one round of window shopping. Man - it was great! 4 scantily dressed girls gyrating to some cheesy song - "Yo baby! Yo Baby! Yo!" - yeah right! Yo, baby! [Ed: I know you're dying for pics to this one - dont worry I've clicked one ;-)]
Had PFC (Pelican Fried Chicken - yeah, I know) - freaking HUGE chicken these Koreans have. That was one kind of meat I had eaten before and I was actually relishing and not forcing down my throat.
After the chicken and the chicks - we got our asses back home.
Well, as they say - That's all folks!!
Friday, May 14, 2004
The Cultural Fest!
I was probably lucky enough to witness the Korean equivalent of what Antaragni is to Kanpur IIT-ians. It was in no way grander than our cul-fest but I'm sure it had a higher percentage of the fairer sex (actually - both the sexes are equally fair here in Korea :-)
While we were away eating beef, coccoons and black noodles (my welcome party!), I had missed quite a lot of the festivities. When I reached the Jigok Community Center it was time for the prof show - the only problem was that the pro had not yet arrived. So the amateurs were at it.
I was mildly drunk with a mug of beer and two shots of Sojo, and was in a jovial mood. Ran to my room and got hold of my point and shoot camera.
Well, there was this trio on the stage with two guitarists and a crooner and were singing some soft rock/pop number in Korean. It was good. And then there was another "band" consisting of a guitarist and a "lead singer". I guess they were all just students who had their own (sort of) bands.
Then came the big daddy of them all. The institute's official band. Man, they rocked! They rocked real good! One on the axe, one on the bass, a drummer, a female keyboardist and of course a frontman - a five member rock band.
After the mandatory sound check - those guys started with a bang - "Aint My Bitch" by Metallica. They were really good. More rock numbers. A couple in Korean. Oasis. Metallica. Iron Maiden. They did them all. And they kicked ass.
After about 8 songs - the stage was taken up by some famous Korean Pop Singer. That's when I split. The guy was singing without a live band - so that sucked quite big time for me.
Anyways - it was fun for my second day at POSTECH. And yeah - I clicked a lot of snaps - more than 20 I guess.... waiting for the reel to finish!
Laterz...
While we were away eating beef, coccoons and black noodles (my welcome party!), I had missed quite a lot of the festivities. When I reached the Jigok Community Center it was time for the prof show - the only problem was that the pro had not yet arrived. So the amateurs were at it.
I was mildly drunk with a mug of beer and two shots of Sojo, and was in a jovial mood. Ran to my room and got hold of my point and shoot camera.
Well, there was this trio on the stage with two guitarists and a crooner and were singing some soft rock/pop number in Korean. It was good. And then there was another "band" consisting of a guitarist and a "lead singer". I guess they were all just students who had their own (sort of) bands.
Then came the big daddy of them all. The institute's official band. Man, they rocked! They rocked real good! One on the axe, one on the bass, a drummer, a female keyboardist and of course a frontman - a five member rock band.
After the mandatory sound check - those guys started with a bang - "Aint My Bitch" by Metallica. They were really good. More rock numbers. A couple in Korean. Oasis. Metallica. Iron Maiden. They did them all. And they kicked ass.
After about 8 songs - the stage was taken up by some famous Korean Pop Singer. That's when I split. The guy was singing without a live band - so that sucked quite big time for me.
Anyways - it was fun for my second day at POSTECH. And yeah - I clicked a lot of snaps - more than 20 I guess.... waiting for the reel to finish!
Laterz...
The Welcome Party.
I guess, from this post onwards I'll change the way I write - from a day by day account to an incident-wise write-up. It's easier and makes more sense that way.
It's sort of customary to give a welcome party to each new member in a research group. So I was in for it, but the only glitch was I wasn't aware that it was meant for me - and no one considered telling me that small little bit of detail :-)
We were driven off in the POSTECH mini van (Prof Choi, and the research group - about 10 of us) to some swanky downtown restaurant.
Sitting around a small table on the floor, the first course consisted of some sort of salad in small bowls. Some Korean weed and cabbage and lettuce topped with bean sauce (I think). AND fried/baked coccoons. Yes - they were coccoons - silkworm coccoons. They're a delicacy here in Korea. Everyone was relishing them - and I was on the verge of puking (without even tasting them). I stopped looking and concentrated on my lettuce.
Along with this came the customary Sojo - that's a native drink of Korea. They're really crazy about it and I think it's drunk on special occassions. It's made of potatoes and tastes much like Vodka. Around 21% alcohol. That's one thing I enjoyed - and oh, before I forget - it's supposed to be taken neat ;-)
Next was the turn of beef. They had these coal barbecues built into center of each table. The waitress brought big "slabs" of beef which were put directly onto the barbecue with some (massively sized) onions. One of us was chopping the beef into smaller chunks using a pair of scissors. I was having a tough time with the beef. It was less of meat and more of chewy fat. The others were simply gobbling up the chewy mess - and I was busy ripping apart the fat from the meat.
Almost everything tasted the same to me. Every damn thing had some common spice/herb which was overpowering all other flavours.
The waitress kept the beef coming and I'm sure we must've had one full cow, when my Prof asked - What next? Rice or noodles? And I'm like - Huh? There's more to come?! Noodles - I say. And after about 5 minutes - there comes one big bowl of black noodles. And that's not all - the thing is called Icy Noodles - it is filled with ice. Great! Now I'm stuck with this big bowl of ice with noodles somewhere in between. These noodles are black cuz they're not made of wheat flour - they're made of bean flower. And probably that's what makes them like chewing gum. I just couldnt chew them - had to swallow them whole! My poor stomach - must've cried that day.
Done with that, we were served with some sort of dirty white cool liquid in a small bowl. I was just about to dip my fingers in it when I saw the others drinking it (!!). I followed suit - and was tasting a sweetish liquid. On inquiring I came to know it was a traditional drink made out of barley served after a meal. It had some rice (or barley) settled at the bottom and based on my experience in the immediate past it looked more like larva (yuck)!
Well, onto the mini van and back to POSTECH. We walked our way to the Log Cabin - that's the campus bar! You heard me right - it's a bar on the campus - and man - it's beautiful. A small little hut kind of thing made completely out of wood - sorrounded by lush greenery. It was almost 9:00 PM and after the heavy rounds of Sojo we were here for another round of beer. That's when I exclaimed - what! more drinks! I was told that today is special. We dont drink so often. And I (innocently, of course) asked about the "speciality" of the day. That's when I was enlightened.
"I dont know how to say this in Korean - but thank you - all of you" - those were my daily words of wisdom before the drinks began to flow!
A round of beer with some side dishes of fried fish (with scales still in them - it was yucky) and almonds (ah! familiar grounds at last).
(Finally) Done with all the drinking we started walking back to our dorimtories when on the way I saw the POSTECH festival in full splendour! More on it in the next post...
It's sort of customary to give a welcome party to each new member in a research group. So I was in for it, but the only glitch was I wasn't aware that it was meant for me - and no one considered telling me that small little bit of detail :-)
We were driven off in the POSTECH mini van (Prof Choi, and the research group - about 10 of us) to some swanky downtown restaurant.
Sitting around a small table on the floor, the first course consisted of some sort of salad in small bowls. Some Korean weed and cabbage and lettuce topped with bean sauce (I think). AND fried/baked coccoons. Yes - they were coccoons - silkworm coccoons. They're a delicacy here in Korea. Everyone was relishing them - and I was on the verge of puking (without even tasting them). I stopped looking and concentrated on my lettuce.
Along with this came the customary Sojo - that's a native drink of Korea. They're really crazy about it and I think it's drunk on special occassions. It's made of potatoes and tastes much like Vodka. Around 21% alcohol. That's one thing I enjoyed - and oh, before I forget - it's supposed to be taken neat ;-)
Next was the turn of beef. They had these coal barbecues built into center of each table. The waitress brought big "slabs" of beef which were put directly onto the barbecue with some (massively sized) onions. One of us was chopping the beef into smaller chunks using a pair of scissors. I was having a tough time with the beef. It was less of meat and more of chewy fat. The others were simply gobbling up the chewy mess - and I was busy ripping apart the fat from the meat.
Almost everything tasted the same to me. Every damn thing had some common spice/herb which was overpowering all other flavours.
The waitress kept the beef coming and I'm sure we must've had one full cow, when my Prof asked - What next? Rice or noodles? And I'm like - Huh? There's more to come?! Noodles - I say. And after about 5 minutes - there comes one big bowl of black noodles. And that's not all - the thing is called Icy Noodles - it is filled with ice. Great! Now I'm stuck with this big bowl of ice with noodles somewhere in between. These noodles are black cuz they're not made of wheat flour - they're made of bean flower. And probably that's what makes them like chewing gum. I just couldnt chew them - had to swallow them whole! My poor stomach - must've cried that day.
Done with that, we were served with some sort of dirty white cool liquid in a small bowl. I was just about to dip my fingers in it when I saw the others drinking it (!!). I followed suit - and was tasting a sweetish liquid. On inquiring I came to know it was a traditional drink made out of barley served after a meal. It had some rice (or barley) settled at the bottom and based on my experience in the immediate past it looked more like larva (yuck)!
Well, onto the mini van and back to POSTECH. We walked our way to the Log Cabin - that's the campus bar! You heard me right - it's a bar on the campus - and man - it's beautiful. A small little hut kind of thing made completely out of wood - sorrounded by lush greenery. It was almost 9:00 PM and after the heavy rounds of Sojo we were here for another round of beer. That's when I exclaimed - what! more drinks! I was told that today is special. We dont drink so often. And I (innocently, of course) asked about the "speciality" of the day. That's when I was enlightened.
"I dont know how to say this in Korean - but thank you - all of you" - those were my daily words of wisdom before the drinks began to flow!
A round of beer with some side dishes of fried fish (with scales still in them - it was yucky) and almonds (ah! familiar grounds at last).
(Finally) Done with all the drinking we started walking back to our dorimtories when on the way I saw the POSTECH festival in full splendour! More on it in the next post...
Thursday, May 13, 2004
The Odyssey Continues...
Off at Bangkok and onto (again) Thai Air to Seoul. The Bangkok airport was really superb. Huge - and sparkling clean. Had to wait there for about an hour - and got talking with these cute girls (taiwanese girls - I came to know later).
Sardars Galore
Boarded the flight - and guess what - this time too I got a sardar next to me. But he was different - he had short hair. But still - once a sardar always a sardar. Man - the kind of conversation they make! It was nice time pass.
Taking off from bangkok I saw almost a kilometer long line of cars on one of the crossings. And no - I'm not exaggerating - it was probably more than a kilometer. And we say Delhi suffers from traffic jams! You should've seen that. It must've been over 500 cars all back to back!!
Just before touching Taipei (for a one hour break) the view from the window was breathtaking! We were flying over the ocean - and it was amazingly beautiful. Especially when the plane was at quite a low altitude... the ripples on the sea. You could actually _see_ the coastline through the crystal clear water. And the cars & roads - all sparkling and neat. Taipei was beautiful - from up in the air atleast.
Off from Taipei to Seoul. Got off at Seoul. Here again - I was told immigration and all would take 2 hours. But it was all over in 20 minutes.
Rendevous with Technology
Right at the International Airport I was greeted with kind of technology that I would be dealing with throughout my stay in Korea. I got a 100 dollars exchanged for about 1,14,000 Won (yeah - that's right - that's what the Korean currency is called). Got over to the telephone booth to make a call and I'm greeted by this big huge touch screen with a conventional handset on one side and a keyboard placed at the bottom. WOW! I called up the international affairs office at POSTECH but the lady who picked up the phone couldn't speak English. So I access the Internet from the kiosk itself and mail the international affairs incharge about my arrival. Man - that piece of work really impressed me! It was freaking great!!
The rise of the Civil Engineer
On my way from the International (Incheon) Airport to the Domestic (Gimpo) Airport aboard a Limousine Bus - I witnessed all the Civil Engineering that I had ever studied in my text books down back home. There was everything - right from land reclamation from the sea to geotextiles & geomaterials, from smart cars to sexy transportation engineering, it was all there. The much touted latest civil engineering technology at work. I was ashamed of our level there in India. What the hell do we study all this for? I've never ever seen it being applied there. It's really a shame.
Well... from the Gimpo Airport I took the flight to Pohang and at the Pohang airport I was greeted by two of my labmates from POSTECH.
Welcome to Pohang
Or Phu-hung - funny pronunciation. That's what I realized right from Incheon International. Now that I'm learning Korean I know why!
Okay - two of my labmates picked me up from the Pohang airport - and (surprise, surprise) one of them owned a car. I'm greeted by an (almost) deserted airport - and the streets in the city are not crowded at all. And it's 9:00 PM in Korea... I guess all of them must be watching some crap doled out by Eakta Kapoor and her Balaji Productions! (why do I have to crack such jokes?)
So, they drive me to POSTECH (about 20 mins - nice drive) - chatting with me all the way. After the regulars - the first question they ask me is - what is your age?! Well, I tell them (look up my profile if you're curious)! And splat - the next question is - "Do you have a girlfriend in India?" (orkut profile for this one :-)
The main POSTECH entrance is awesome - with a steep 30-40 m ramp going off the road leading to a wonderful main gate. I cant describe it here cuz I ain't no great writer - but I'll let the pictures do the talking - when I get the reel developed.
The HOT Stud in town?
Into POSTECH - we're waiting in front of the SEE building (that School of Environmental Engineering for the uninitiated) - waiting for labmate #1 (I still dont remember his name!) to call an Indian by the name of Joshi from the the 4th floor. Labmate #2 (ditto :-) tells me - You're handsome. Huh?! I mean - I'm dumbstruck. All I can say is a polite and meek - Thank You! He continues - Yes! You're really handsome. Not like other Indians we have here. AWRIGHT - I suddenly feel elated - immediate Hot Stud status within the first hour in Pohang. Woooohoooo!
After a long wait - out comes Joshi. We go to our dormitory room. Here in POSTECH they dont call them hostels or halls of residence. It's called Dormitory. I'm in dormitory #18 and my room number is 101. I'm given a key to my room - a booklet (Student Housing Guide) - with all the rules and regulations concerning life in a POSTECH dormitory.
Well... it's pretty chilly out here in Pohang - with the outside temperature around 20-25 celcius - and when it rains it is lower. So the labmates (#1 and #2) have already "rented" out a set of blanket, bed sheet and pillow from the dormitory office. Coola - I think.
My shack for the next two months
The dormitories are really nice. Much better than the ones we have in IIT. The shower rooms/toilets are better. The corridors are better. I dont know - probably I like them because of their contemporary feel. Most IITK halls were built way back in 1960 - but POSTECH was set up aroung 1985 - so that's pretty recent.
I'm sharing my room with two other Indians - Joshi and Avishek. Joshi is from Maharashtra and Avishek is from Calcutta (though he's done his Bachelor's in Civil Engg from Nagpur).
Well - the room on it's own is pretty big - but just like typical Indians do - it's been stacked with stuff - toasters, electric ovens, a frigde, a television (YES - all in one dormitory room!) - and that leaves us with very little space left to walk around and jump around - and do all funny things that you are not supposed to do in a dormitory room.
Say hello, the Korean way
At the very onset I was told by Joshi about the strict "seniority" system that Koreans follow. Even if a person is a year older - you are suppoed to respect him/her in the Korean way. Like - you have to address him as Big Brother (hyung) or Big Sister (nu-na) - and the way you greet the person changes. For example if you're greeting a person your age, you say an-nyong-ha but if you're greeting a person senior to you, it's an-nyong-ha-sei-yo [Ed: Well Joshi didnt give me such details - but my lab mate Park gave me a Kor101 lecture today :-)]
Do you eat....?
That's the second question [Ed: Do you remember the first?] any Korean would ask a foreigner (especially Indian) - Do you eat beef or pork? Cuz they do. And they love it. And so do the supermarts, the cooks, the industries - EVERYBODY in Korea. The third question is - Do you drink? Well say "Yes" to #2 and #3 - and you're a national hero. They'll love you. That's what I've been doing for instant popularity (the sneaky me - muahahaha ;-)
The 13th and the 14th (of May) was the student festival in POSTECH aka Antaragni in IITK. Joshi and Avi (my roomies - remember) didnt seem too keen to go down and enjoy the festival - and I was dying to. I bottled up my emotions - cuz I didnt want to sound too persuasive right at the beginning.
After talking the let's-get-to-know-each-other-as-fellow-Indians-in-a-foreign-country kind of talk we went down to the Jigok Community Center to grab a bite.
The Cheesy Burger
Oh yeah - almost forgot this one. At the Gimpo Airport, Seoul I went to grab a bite just before the flight. I was sick of having meat/pork all throughout the flights - so I ordered a Cheese Burger (and it was the cheapest too - Won 1400 - yeay!). I'm sure you must've guessed it by now - some cheese burget it was. It had a slice of cheese (thank god for that) - plus they threw in a pork cutlet for free! Ah - so delightful. Well, to a starving stomach that was heaven. And I gobbled it up.
So, I was saying that we went down to the Jigok Community Center to have a bite. The students are all making merry there - in the hall (Students' Festival - you forgetful earthling) - but my roomies prefer to sit in the Cafeteria. The menu is limited - though I wouldn't have known a burger from a pizza (if they had it) - it was all in Korean. The experienced roomies helped me out on this one - and ordered rice and pork cutlet for me with Kimchi.
To put it mildly I had a tough time - a really tough time with the food. But then - at 1:30 in the night I should be grateful for food. I pushed (more like shoved/hammered/hydraulically pumped) it down my throat to fill my poor stomach up. I was aching for some sweet - ah - the saunf and mishri we get in our mess seemed like a delicacy now. Anyways went down to the Community Store and bought a strawberry flavoured yoghurt there (no pork/beef in this one - VICTORY!)
Then we went down to the pond. POSTECH has a beautiful pond. And sat down beside it discussing cross-cultural differences between Indians and Koreans much like professional cross-cultarists.
Then we went to our dormitory room (home-sweet-home) and slept! And yes - I sleep on on top bed of the bunk bed.
More - tomorrow.
Sardars Galore
Boarded the flight - and guess what - this time too I got a sardar next to me. But he was different - he had short hair. But still - once a sardar always a sardar. Man - the kind of conversation they make! It was nice time pass.
Taking off from bangkok I saw almost a kilometer long line of cars on one of the crossings. And no - I'm not exaggerating - it was probably more than a kilometer. And we say Delhi suffers from traffic jams! You should've seen that. It must've been over 500 cars all back to back!!
Just before touching Taipei (for a one hour break) the view from the window was breathtaking! We were flying over the ocean - and it was amazingly beautiful. Especially when the plane was at quite a low altitude... the ripples on the sea. You could actually _see_ the coastline through the crystal clear water. And the cars & roads - all sparkling and neat. Taipei was beautiful - from up in the air atleast.
Off from Taipei to Seoul. Got off at Seoul. Here again - I was told immigration and all would take 2 hours. But it was all over in 20 minutes.
Rendevous with Technology
Right at the International Airport I was greeted with kind of technology that I would be dealing with throughout my stay in Korea. I got a 100 dollars exchanged for about 1,14,000 Won (yeah - that's right - that's what the Korean currency is called). Got over to the telephone booth to make a call and I'm greeted by this big huge touch screen with a conventional handset on one side and a keyboard placed at the bottom. WOW! I called up the international affairs office at POSTECH but the lady who picked up the phone couldn't speak English. So I access the Internet from the kiosk itself and mail the international affairs incharge about my arrival. Man - that piece of work really impressed me! It was freaking great!!
The rise of the Civil Engineer
On my way from the International (Incheon) Airport to the Domestic (Gimpo) Airport aboard a Limousine Bus - I witnessed all the Civil Engineering that I had ever studied in my text books down back home. There was everything - right from land reclamation from the sea to geotextiles & geomaterials, from smart cars to sexy transportation engineering, it was all there. The much touted latest civil engineering technology at work. I was ashamed of our level there in India. What the hell do we study all this for? I've never ever seen it being applied there. It's really a shame.
Well... from the Gimpo Airport I took the flight to Pohang and at the Pohang airport I was greeted by two of my labmates from POSTECH.
Welcome to Pohang
Or Phu-hung - funny pronunciation. That's what I realized right from Incheon International. Now that I'm learning Korean I know why!
Okay - two of my labmates picked me up from the Pohang airport - and (surprise, surprise) one of them owned a car. I'm greeted by an (almost) deserted airport - and the streets in the city are not crowded at all. And it's 9:00 PM in Korea... I guess all of them must be watching some crap doled out by Eakta Kapoor and her Balaji Productions! (why do I have to crack such jokes?)
So, they drive me to POSTECH (about 20 mins - nice drive) - chatting with me all the way. After the regulars - the first question they ask me is - what is your age?! Well, I tell them (look up my profile if you're curious)! And splat - the next question is - "Do you have a girlfriend in India?" (orkut profile for this one :-)
The main POSTECH entrance is awesome - with a steep 30-40 m ramp going off the road leading to a wonderful main gate. I cant describe it here cuz I ain't no great writer - but I'll let the pictures do the talking - when I get the reel developed.
The HOT Stud in town?
Into POSTECH - we're waiting in front of the SEE building (that School of Environmental Engineering for the uninitiated) - waiting for labmate #1 (I still dont remember his name!) to call an Indian by the name of Joshi from the the 4th floor. Labmate #2 (ditto :-) tells me - You're handsome. Huh?! I mean - I'm dumbstruck. All I can say is a polite and meek - Thank You! He continues - Yes! You're really handsome. Not like other Indians we have here. AWRIGHT - I suddenly feel elated - immediate Hot Stud status within the first hour in Pohang. Woooohoooo!
After a long wait - out comes Joshi. We go to our dormitory room. Here in POSTECH they dont call them hostels or halls of residence. It's called Dormitory. I'm in dormitory #18 and my room number is 101. I'm given a key to my room - a booklet (Student Housing Guide) - with all the rules and regulations concerning life in a POSTECH dormitory.
Well... it's pretty chilly out here in Pohang - with the outside temperature around 20-25 celcius - and when it rains it is lower. So the labmates (#1 and #2) have already "rented" out a set of blanket, bed sheet and pillow from the dormitory office. Coola - I think.
My shack for the next two months
The dormitories are really nice. Much better than the ones we have in IIT. The shower rooms/toilets are better. The corridors are better. I dont know - probably I like them because of their contemporary feel. Most IITK halls were built way back in 1960 - but POSTECH was set up aroung 1985 - so that's pretty recent.
I'm sharing my room with two other Indians - Joshi and Avishek. Joshi is from Maharashtra and Avishek is from Calcutta (though he's done his Bachelor's in Civil Engg from Nagpur).
Well - the room on it's own is pretty big - but just like typical Indians do - it's been stacked with stuff - toasters, electric ovens, a frigde, a television (YES - all in one dormitory room!) - and that leaves us with very little space left to walk around and jump around - and do all funny things that you are not supposed to do in a dormitory room.
Say hello, the Korean way
At the very onset I was told by Joshi about the strict "seniority" system that Koreans follow. Even if a person is a year older - you are suppoed to respect him/her in the Korean way. Like - you have to address him as Big Brother (hyung) or Big Sister (nu-na) - and the way you greet the person changes. For example if you're greeting a person your age, you say an-nyong-ha but if you're greeting a person senior to you, it's an-nyong-ha-sei-yo [Ed: Well Joshi didnt give me such details - but my lab mate Park gave me a Kor101 lecture today :-)]
Do you eat....?
That's the second question [Ed: Do you remember the first?] any Korean would ask a foreigner (especially Indian) - Do you eat beef or pork? Cuz they do. And they love it. And so do the supermarts, the cooks, the industries - EVERYBODY in Korea. The third question is - Do you drink? Well say "Yes" to #2 and #3 - and you're a national hero. They'll love you. That's what I've been doing for instant popularity (the sneaky me - muahahaha ;-)
The 13th and the 14th (of May) was the student festival in POSTECH aka Antaragni in IITK. Joshi and Avi (my roomies - remember) didnt seem too keen to go down and enjoy the festival - and I was dying to. I bottled up my emotions - cuz I didnt want to sound too persuasive right at the beginning.
After talking the let's-get-to-know-each-other-as-fellow-Indians-in-a-foreign-country kind of talk we went down to the Jigok Community Center to grab a bite.
The Cheesy Burger
Oh yeah - almost forgot this one. At the Gimpo Airport, Seoul I went to grab a bite just before the flight. I was sick of having meat/pork all throughout the flights - so I ordered a Cheese Burger (and it was the cheapest too - Won 1400 - yeay!). I'm sure you must've guessed it by now - some cheese burget it was. It had a slice of cheese (thank god for that) - plus they threw in a pork cutlet for free! Ah - so delightful. Well, to a starving stomach that was heaven. And I gobbled it up.
So, I was saying that we went down to the Jigok Community Center to have a bite. The students are all making merry there - in the hall (Students' Festival - you forgetful earthling) - but my roomies prefer to sit in the Cafeteria. The menu is limited - though I wouldn't have known a burger from a pizza (if they had it) - it was all in Korean. The experienced roomies helped me out on this one - and ordered rice and pork cutlet for me with Kimchi.
To put it mildly I had a tough time - a really tough time with the food. But then - at 1:30 in the night I should be grateful for food. I pushed (more like shoved/hammered/hydraulically pumped) it down my throat to fill my poor stomach up. I was aching for some sweet - ah - the saunf and mishri we get in our mess seemed like a delicacy now. Anyways went down to the Community Store and bought a strawberry flavoured yoghurt there (no pork/beef in this one - VICTORY!)
Then we went down to the pond. POSTECH has a beautiful pond. And sat down beside it discussing cross-cultural differences between Indians and Koreans much like professional cross-cultarists.
Then we went to our dormitory room (home-sweet-home) and slept! And yes - I sleep on on top bed of the bunk bed.
More - tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
The Odyssey Begins...
Welcome to this blog about all my trials and tribulations during my trip to Korea. I'm here for my summer internship at the POSTECH University in Pohang in the School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering. I'll try my best to jot down all the interesting (and not so interesting) indcidents that I have in Korea - though my memory might fail on me time-to-time.
It all begins in Delhi. After I messed up with my brand new Delsey suitcase. I was trying to change the number lock code... and the damn thing broke. Now I couldn't lock the suitcase neither could I shut it. Deep shit - right at the beginning. So, I go to the market and buy a big (plastic) rope to tie the damn thing up - and it started looking really really stupid. One smart suitcase with a dumbass rope on it. But hey, what the hell - at lease it got me here.
So next - I get dropped on the the airport by my folks. Righto - I'm on my own from here. First thing - I get the baggage "security wrapped"... now that's one thing you'll kick your ass for getting done. It's one big cellophene they'll put on your luggage and charge you a 100 bucks for it... you'll feel foolish!
Everyone was out there telling me that the baggage checkin, immigration and all will take quite a lot of time - so you must go to the airport early. Alright - I went at 9:00. Flight was 5 minutes past 12:00. I got through the whole damn affair in 30 minutes. I had to wait in there for 2 freaking hours. Man - was I bored.
The "Native" African
I saw this African family out there... I dont know where they were heading to - cuz there was no flight to Africa at that time. And I was staring at this small kid - all black with typical curly hair. She was about to say something to her brother (I guess) who had been making these awful noises for the past minute or so. I was expecting some weird sounding language to hit my ears and I hear.... Badtameez - Aisee awaaz nikaaloge to bahut maaroongi.... In the purest of Hindi accents that you would ever have heard!! Man - that was so funny!
Bangkok in a nutshell
Well... more to come for me... I boarded the plane - window seat. 5 mins getting comfy and - plonk! onto the seat next to me what do I have - A SARDAR - from Haryana. A typical Jat he didnt know a word of english. He was going to Bangkok (and so was the flight - Ha Ha - bad joke). He kept talking about Bangkok being a badhiya jagah - and then when he saw a smooch scene on the inflight movie - he goes nudge-nudge wink-wink - "yahi sab hota hai wahaan... koi rok-tok nahin hai. Pehli baar koi nahin karta - lekin doosri baar sabki tamanna hoti hai...". Well in a nutshell - that was Bangkok for me!
It was the first flight experience for me for as far as I can remember - I had flown once or twice earlier too - but that was waaaay long back. It's nice to feel a plane take off the sudden rush when the place accelerates down the runway and when you can feel it lifting off the ground. And when it turns in the air. It feels like a mild roller coster ride. And it was really nice looking at Delhi - from thousands of feet up in the air.
The flight was nice and comfortable - though I had trouble all along cuz my nose started bleeding. Well - the air hostesses suck! Thai Air - a big NO for air hostesses. I saw sassy Malaysian Airlines hostesses at the Delhi airport. They were wearing a nice traditional and colorful dress and were all semi-models. In Thai air from Delhi->Bangkok they showed us "Along Came Polly" - stupid movie.
It all begins in Delhi. After I messed up with my brand new Delsey suitcase. I was trying to change the number lock code... and the damn thing broke. Now I couldn't lock the suitcase neither could I shut it. Deep shit - right at the beginning. So, I go to the market and buy a big (plastic) rope to tie the damn thing up - and it started looking really really stupid. One smart suitcase with a dumbass rope on it. But hey, what the hell - at lease it got me here.
So next - I get dropped on the the airport by my folks. Righto - I'm on my own from here. First thing - I get the baggage "security wrapped"... now that's one thing you'll kick your ass for getting done. It's one big cellophene they'll put on your luggage and charge you a 100 bucks for it... you'll feel foolish!
Everyone was out there telling me that the baggage checkin, immigration and all will take quite a lot of time - so you must go to the airport early. Alright - I went at 9:00. Flight was 5 minutes past 12:00. I got through the whole damn affair in 30 minutes. I had to wait in there for 2 freaking hours. Man - was I bored.
The "Native" African
I saw this African family out there... I dont know where they were heading to - cuz there was no flight to Africa at that time. And I was staring at this small kid - all black with typical curly hair. She was about to say something to her brother (I guess) who had been making these awful noises for the past minute or so. I was expecting some weird sounding language to hit my ears and I hear.... Badtameez - Aisee awaaz nikaaloge to bahut maaroongi.... In the purest of Hindi accents that you would ever have heard!! Man - that was so funny!
Bangkok in a nutshell
Well... more to come for me... I boarded the plane - window seat. 5 mins getting comfy and - plonk! onto the seat next to me what do I have - A SARDAR - from Haryana. A typical Jat he didnt know a word of english. He was going to Bangkok (and so was the flight - Ha Ha - bad joke). He kept talking about Bangkok being a badhiya jagah - and then when he saw a smooch scene on the inflight movie - he goes nudge-nudge wink-wink - "yahi sab hota hai wahaan... koi rok-tok nahin hai. Pehli baar koi nahin karta - lekin doosri baar sabki tamanna hoti hai...". Well in a nutshell - that was Bangkok for me!
It was the first flight experience for me for as far as I can remember - I had flown once or twice earlier too - but that was waaaay long back. It's nice to feel a plane take off the sudden rush when the place accelerates down the runway and when you can feel it lifting off the ground. And when it turns in the air. It feels like a mild roller coster ride. And it was really nice looking at Delhi - from thousands of feet up in the air.
The flight was nice and comfortable - though I had trouble all along cuz my nose started bleeding. Well - the air hostesses suck! Thai Air - a big NO for air hostesses. I saw sassy Malaysian Airlines hostesses at the Delhi airport. They were wearing a nice traditional and colorful dress and were all semi-models. In Thai air from Delhi->Bangkok they showed us "Along Came Polly" - stupid movie.
