Autumn updates

They called it “The survival”. It was a fun-game planned by my team. I had no clue what it was all about even when all of us in my team reached the picnic spot. Obviously because I was the only Indian girl apart from 2 other Indian guys in a group of 22.
The Korean instructor received us and made us do exercises for warming up. Then he started explaining the game. All three of us (Indians) would just blankly look at each other and burst into giggles while others laughed at the instructor’s jokes.
I wonder why the Koreans assumed that we understood all of what the instructor had told us. This went on for about 30 min. Later on, the instructor gave us T-shirts and jackets to wear. And of course, plastic helmets. It was all very funny for me actually. Little did I realize that the gun would weigh over 2 KGS! Yeah….it was like a military game where two teams would spread over in a forest set up and shoot at each other. What was even more interesting were the bullets. They were made of paint! The moment it hits you the ball bursts and the watery paint would splash over and you are considered dead. The forest set up was way too cool, spread over a hilly region and realistic with tyres , drums and stuff behind which we could hide.
Since I never understood the instructor, the first round went in vain. I hardly shot a bullet or two as I didn’t know how to operate the gun :D Later on a Korean girl in my team told me how to use it. Yet again in the second round even before I could aim, I was shot right on forehead :( and my helmet was splashed with blob of green. OK…then I was not gonna let go off the last and final round. I entered the battle field and shot continuously for about 10 minutes with great enthusiasm (Dunno how many were hit !!). See what happened….I ran out of bullets! All my teammates were presumably dead and I was left alone on my side. Now without bullets I was just hiding behind a faint sheet and everyone were trying to shoot me. I couldn’t escape for long and surrendered pretty early :P
On whole, it was so amusing and was quite difficult running through woods with that heavy gun. Soldiers’ life seems like a nightmare….alas.

More updates from my side:
Missed Sum’s big day….waiting for ma’am to get back! So much to gossip and ponder over :P

Trying to come out of ‘DOR’ hangover. What a movie! Feel like watching it yet again….atleast for the photography and for Ayesha with her innocent little face.

Yuppie! 5 more weeks to reach home. Enjoying my last few autumn filled days at Seoul….

Last but not the least Happy Children's day!

Good times

I very well remember the way me and Sum were having a ball around the same time last year at Seoul. Things have changed drastically in the past one year. After all that’s what is life all about :) I really wonder how it would be the next year and the next and the next…….! Am really looking forward for that…..
Now coming out of the nostalgic mood, it was a really pleasant week for me. Especially when the thought of visiting home tingles my mind and soul, it’s an awesome feeling. I just can’t wait to meet my loved ones. It’s the countdown time!

Things that made my week cherishing:

One of my dear friends took pain to post his wedding card all the way to Seoul. I hadn’t received any posts since a year or so. This one made me happy!

My close friend revealed that she is going to have a baby soon. Just couldn’t resist having a small party at home with my roomies! Isn’t that a cute moment?

And I was not ready to let go off the opportunity to celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi this time as it fell on a weekend especially. I am totally surprised the way things fall into place when we want to celebrate this festival. On Saturday evening I just remembered that I had some clay with me. And that triggered the idea of making the Ganesh idol. We weren’t sure as to how it would turn up. But definitely wanted to give it a try. As we proceeded making it, it slowly started shaping up in a lovely way. Then, I got more eager to apply colors to the idol. Finally we had spent a good 6 hrs to make it and it indeed was nice! The next day morning we set off on the flowers and leaves hunt just as we had done the previous time. Later on, we performed the puja in a truly traditional manner with all mantras and songs.
After the puja it was the food preparation. We managed to cook quite a few dishes. In the evening few of our colleagues joined us and we had a small tea-party at home. Haldiram’s Bhujia Pav, Pudina Tea and a bunch of mouth-watering hot mirchi bujjies added to the fun of the party. The most interesting part was the Ganesh Nimarjan. We performed it in cooker as that was the biggest vessel we had at home and that too with lid! Check out the snaps below to find out more….. :)

Peek-a-boo !

The tricolor tends to rejuvenate the spirit of patriotism no matter where we are. I was mesmerized by the same feeling when I recently paid a visit to our Indian embassy on the occasion of Independence day. I had a great time there as I watched many Indians flock to the embassy as a small tribute to their passion for nationalism. I was much more surprised when a middle aged woman beside me was asking her 10 yr old son if he remembered the national anthem. Well, no comments about that :) People did make mistakes when they sang “Jana Gana Mana” but the sense of devotion towards India that persisted in the Hall was strong enough to overcome all such minor flaws. I was keenly attracted by a few Indo-Korean couples…it’s cute to watch the way they gelled amazingly. The Korean ladies were seen in Indian outfits which added to the cuteness!

The Indian Ambassador addressed the gathering and read out a few excerpts from President Mr. Abdul Kalam’s speech to the nation. Our president has framed a seven point Oath for the youth of India in a beautiful way. We took the Oath as the Ambassador read out to us. Here I am quoting the points again which are definitely worth a glance.

1. I realize, I have to set a goal in my life. To achieve the goal, I will acquire the knowledge, I will work hard, and when the problem occurs, I have to defeat the problem and succeed.

2. As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my tasks and enjoy the success of others.

3. I shall always keep myself, my home, my surroundings, neighborhood and environment clean and tidy.

4. I realize righteousness in the heart leads to beauty in the character, beauty in the character brings harmony in the home, harmony in the home leads to order in the nation and order in the nation leads to peace in the world.

5. I will lead an honest life free from all corruption and will set an example for others to adopt a righteous way of life.

6. I will light the lamp of knowledge in the nation and ensure that it remains lit for ever.

7. I realize, whatever work I do if I do the best, I am contributing towards realizing the vision of developed India 2020.

These points do sound simple but have much greater impact when put to use by each one of us. An excellent proposition from our President.

Ok…coming back to the my sweet little world, there haven’t been many adventures of late...I wonder why! Oh yeah…we are on an experimenting spree in the culinary section these days at our apartment. I should tell you about our Gulab Jamoon Saga (why a Saga…you will know now). It was the first time we were actually making it. And obviously the output…:P. Particularly, it was the sugar syrup that created the trouble. We started making the sugar syrup with some water and considerable amount of sugar. The sugar melted away easily, but we couldn’t figure the thickness in the liquid. So, we went on and on adding the sugar. It was too late before we realized that we had emptied about a KG of sugar in the process of preparing the syrup. Ahem….well, after that we fried the jamoons and put them in the semi-solid sugar paste which became hard (as hard as a rock) after cooling down. I must mention that the jamoons tasted real good except for the digging part to bring them out.
As part of fixing-the-bug procedure, we diluted the syrup again and shared the jamoons with our fellow Indians (yes….they are pretty much alive :D). The remaining syrup lasted till yesterday and was used to prepare coffee/tea/juice and yet jamoons again every weekend. Thanks to the microwave for helping us melt the rock down everytime!

To be precise, we elevated from the “how not to make jamoons” stage to “how to make mouth melting delicious jamoons” stage over a period of 2-3 weeks. Isn’t that a smart way of learning?

Bangkok yet again

She bought me some delicious thai food (I forgot the name) and an ice cream candy on our way back to the Airport. She even had a raincoat for me just in case it rained. She kept apologising for the untimely traffic jams at that hour. Finally, she gave me some discount coupons for shopping inside the airport and bid goodbye to me. A sweet lady in her mid-forties. Ms.Rada was my tourist guide at Bangkok. Well...the story goes like this.
I had about 8 hours of transit at Bangkok this time. I had planned way before hand that I would go out and get a glimpse of the city. I had collected information from the internet regarding this and was all prepared to freak out. As always, I was travelling alone this time too. Once I reached Bangkok, I got in touch with the Transit Tour desk and discussed the tour details. In no time, I was taken for transit visa stamping by this gentleman who was assisting me with the tour plan. Soon, we cleared the immigration and were outside the airport. He introduced me to Rada and left me with her from there onwards. Rada took me to a huge car and we set off. From the airport, into the city it was all highways and I was already cherishing the conversation that we struck upon. Once we were in the city, I found it so much like India with colorful Auto-Rickshaws and Taxis. She took me to a couple of Buddha temples which were magnificent. Will post a few pictures in here. The amazing part was these huge idols of Buddha that I saw were made of gold. The best one was the sleeping buddha which I loved a lot. Adding to these, the Pagodas that the kings constructed were artistic and exceptional. The river seperating 2 cities was a beautiful sight to watch. The width of the river was hardly few meters. By the time we covered these places we had spent about 3 hrs. Later on she took me to the world's largest jewellery store. I could see the workshop and the adjacent store. I only bought a diamond studded silver ring for Him(*blush*). It was getting dark and we quickly moved on to the highway leading to airport. On the way back, I saw the huge King's palace and also the men's university spread over acres of land.
A very short trip indeed, but a pleasant memory:)

Check out a few snaps!

The gaint leap!

On a cold sunday morning, me and sum set off to the Seoul grand park. We had no clue about this place. It was supposedly very huge with lot of entertainment locations including theme parks, lakes, zoo and many more. Now that we had already reached the place late, we had to make the most of our limited time outdoors. It was pretty cold and windy too. Finally we chose to spend our day in the amusement park.
This place was really cool with tulips theme that day. Colorful, bright and lovely. No wonder both our digicams were in fulltime use, without a break. I must mention that the new tripod stand that Sum had bought occupied our special interest. What a thing it is....just gets the snaps close to perfect! We have been really nurturing our passion for photography in a handsome way.
Apart from the click sessions, the other things to watch out for were the scary rides! Sum was a bit apprehensive in the beginning though she paced up her enthusiasm after a couple of rides. Very soon, both of us were enjoying our day to the core. The sad part was food. Being hard-core vegetarians we had to stick to veg burgers the whole day.(Of course, we did hog the veg salad and yummy sesame topped potato pizza like hungry wolves once we got back to our place :D...Mind you! we weren't even talking to each other that time)
Okay, now you must be wondering about this 'giant leap' thing, by now. There was this really big 'Sky-X drop' which could be seen from any corner of the park. We terribly wanted to go for it...but kept postponing it till about 4 in the evening. We really needed that much time to make up our minds to go for it, you know! Oh yeah, because it was more or less like bunjee jumping! We could do it either single or double. You should have seen the way I encouraged Sum for this sky-drop..."Our kids would feel proud one day that their moms were dare-devils! come'on Sum...let's go for it!" :D Ain't I smart?
Finally, we took individual tickets for the drop and moved in for the slots. The guy at the entrance gave us a slot at 7.40 PM to our surprise. it would be dark by then and we wanted to do it while it was bright. Requesting...begging.. didn't work. So, we thought since it's going to be dark, we might as well do it in a double and booked the slot at 7.40. But the shivering began way too early:D....partly because of the to-be-done leap and partly because of the chilling weather.
At about 7.20 we got inside and we were dressed in those special jumping costumes or whatever. With our digicams in hand, we were still searching for people who could shoot the glorious moments! As it was already dark..the head count around had gone low. We still didn't give up. We caught hold of the couple who were just done with the drop before us. We clearly gave them the instructions and in no time we were hanging in air!
I was assigned the task of pulling the tug (my right hand side..beneath my waist) while they say..'1..2..3..GO!' Pulling the tug would release the rope and we would fall down and swing..that was the arrangement. Me and Sum held each other hand in hand and we were slowly moved up. I cannot really define this 'up'. We kept going higher and higher and higher. It was pitch dark below and terribly silent above. We didn't speak to each other either. Tensed about the leap.
A very funny thing happened when the lady shouted '1..2..3..GO!' from below. I tried hard to release the rope and it just wouldn't give in. So, we were hanging around there for about 4-5 seconds:)) The rope got loosened somehow and we did fall.
Oh my God! It was a terrific experience. Though initially it was scary, we were enjoying it in a great deal. I felt like I was flying like a bird high in the air. The whole thing was awesome. After getting down, we got to see our video and the korean couple had done an excellent job! They had made our day:) We had a lifetime memory to cherish and of course, to show our kids too :P
Hey...next time if you happen to speak to either of us, just don't forget that we are 'SKY-X-DROP' certified!

Here's the Video!


In long Shot..

Touch the sky!

How does it feel being a celebrity? Especially when a fan comes over and expresses his/her love for their work! Yeah...I did that.
In the wee hours of a sunday morning, I was waiting at Mumbai domestic airport to catch my next flight to Bangalore which was scheduled at 6.40 AM. It was still about 4 AM. I sat there in the waiting lounge and was carelessly dozing off. Inbetween I would snap up, just to make sure that my cabin bag was safe. A muslim family had sat next to me with two cute kids. They must have had fun looking at me taking a nap in a weird way. Oh god! I was really tired because of my previous flight. Somehow I mustered enough strength to walk up till the rest room to freshen up. I asked the kids' mom to take care of my luggage and I left with my back pack. It was a 5 minute walk to the extreme end of the newly renovated Mumbai Airport. I was already amused of the interiors. Slowly I made my way to the restroom. Brushed my teeth, combed my hair and there I was all fresh!
On my way back, I started gazing at the airport crowd and moved like a snail, trying to while away time. And one face attracted me unusually. She was cute and moreover familiar. Do i know her? Then suddenly as if a bulb flashed in my sleeping head, I realised who she was. I turned around to spot more familiar faces..and there were the remaining three in the baggage screening counter waiting in queue. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Am i dreaming or are they really there? Why is it that nobody is noticing them? The rest of the crowd were normal as usual to my surprise. But I couldn't control my adrenaline rush! There stood the Aasma band with their musical instruments. It was more than an extravagant sight for me to see the stars live in front of me.
My liking for the band dates back to the channel V pop stars show. I used to devotedly follow all the episodes starting from the initial auditions, followed by screening and finally the selection. After which this band was given training in all aspects. The entire thing was being aired on TV. I hadn't missed a single episode. Vasudha, Neeti, Jimmy and Sangeet...the awesome four!
I approached Vasudha first. Wished her and introduced myself. I told her how much i loved their songs. This would have been a normal thing for her. But not for me! Then came Jimmy...beaming a radiant smile. He shook hands with me and I was already flying in air. Slowly, Neeti and Sangeet joined in. I was just so happy to talk to them. You won't believe my hands and feet were shivering in excitement. They were very friendly and I had a great time speaking to them. As usual, expect a camera with me irrespective of any occasion. It's a mandatory gadget for me, whenever I am out. So, we did have a brief photo session. Hurray! What a great way to start my day.
That was it...my excitement didn't come down for a few more days and I was busy spreading it across over to my family and friends!
Listen to my favorite number in my blog played by the Aasma band. My best wishes and good luck to the band. May they reach greater heights just as they call themselves "AASMA".

Bangkok Blues

Incheon is the name of the airport at Seoul. It is about one hour drive from the city. I was all excited as I took the airport limousine to reach Incheon. I have always loved the ambience in Airports, especially Incheon which is huge and convenient and of course for the reason that I get a "go-home" feeling. I quickly moved on to the check in counter and waited there in the queue. This time I had too many transits. Incheon-Hongkong-Bangkok-Bangalore. At least I had thought so, until the lady in the counter told me that my ticket destination is to Chennai. And she had not got any intimation regarding the re-routing to Bangalore (This is supposed to be handled by the travel agency).
Actually the problem had occured because the travel tickets are booked to and fro in the very beginning and given to us. I had traveled to Chennai to take the Bangkok flight due to unavailability of seats in Bangalore-Bangkok flight. So, naturally the return tickets showed Chennai as the final destination. Now..isn't that confusing?
So, the lady in the counter told me that she would check-in my luggage only till Bangkok. And I was asked to sort out the confusion there itself. What else could I do apart from just saying okay! From the airport I called up my colleague to inform him what had happened. He promised to take care of it by getting in touch with the travel agency.
So, back to the excitement mode, I enjoyed my travel. HongKong was a beautiful airport and i had a great time shopping there. After reaching Bangkok airport, I coolly walked on to one of the ladies who was in uniform.

Me: Excuse me..Could you please tell me where I can collect my luggage? I am arriving from Seoul.
The lady: You need to pass the immigration check before you collect your luggage. I hope you have the Visa stamped to enter this country.
Me:(Head reeling) What? I don't have a Visa.
The lady: Oh..that's easy. You just have to fill out this form and get your visa stamped at that counter.
Me:(totally perplexed) This is only a transit for me. I am traveling to India. My next flight is about 2 hrs from now.

Till then, I hadn't even thought that to collect my luggage I have to pass the immigration check (Did I drop my brain back at Seoul???) Immediately, the lady took me to the airlines private office and I explained them my problem. Ok...now what? They checked and rechecked if they had got any fax regarding my re-routing to Bangalore instead of Chennai. But no intimation at all.

Lady in the counter: I'm sorry madam...but this ticket cannot be used to travel to Bangalore. The air fares are different.
Me: Ok...can i travel to Chennai atleast? When is the next flight to Chennai?
Lady in the counter: The next flight is at tomorrow evening.
Me(to myself): What??? What am i going to do till tomorrow evening at Bangkok! And i don't know how to make calls from here...Mummmyyyyyyy (almost in tears)
Me to the lady: Ok...can i just pay the difference amount and travel to Bangalore?
Lady: I'm afraid..that's not possible. You may have to buy a new ticket.
Me: And that costs me?
Lady: 14,000 THB (that's approximately 14K INR). Let me check if there are any vacant seats in the flight.
Me(to myself): My God! Now please let there be some seat in the flight...plz plz plzzzz( praying hard)
Lady(smiling): You are lucky..There is a seat. Please pay the amount in the counter and I'll recheckin your luggage. You don't have to collect it here now.
Me: Are you Sure???

Fortunately, I had my international card and there was some amount in that to buy the ticket( for a change..:D). By the time, all this got over there were just 30 minutes to catch the flight. I ran to the security check and then to the waiting lounge. I was relieved from all this tension only when I got my luggage at Bangalore.
My parents did not have the slightest clue as to what had happened when they received me(Well, i had expected unusually tensed faces..:D) Thanks to my residence phone which had gone dead. My colleague could not convey any information. And a special thanks to the travel desk incharge who was supposed to take care of the fax. She was as cool as ice the other day at office only to tell me "I was on Leave!"

Wallet ballet!

On my birthday, me and my roommates went out in the evening. We went to a restaurant and had pizza. We had a hearty meal and great time gossiping away for a couple of hours. We took a bus back home. We had to change buses inbetween. Just when I was about to get into the second bus, I realised that my wallet was not seen! I remembered that I had the wallet with me when I was in the bus. So, I was sure that it might have slipped out of my jacket in the bus itself.
Time for some tension. We began the search way back to the first bus stop. But all in vain. It was already 9 in the night by then. And i was not ready to give up. I had more important things in my wallet other than some money and bank cards. First thing that struck us was to tell the driver that my wallet was lost in the bus. That itself was a huge task. There were about 12 buses with the same number in that route. We managed to cover 8 buses trying to identify the driver and also telling each one of them that we lost a purse. The biggest problem when it comes to this place is the language. Very few people are well verse with English. Out of all the drivers whom i met, none of them knew english. I had to bring in my drama skills to let them know what had happened. We were three of us. One would stop the bus, the other one would check the bus in the last seat(That was where we were sitting!) and my crazy action would begin in front of the driver. I still remember the puzzled look on the drivers' faces...what a bad actor I must be!
What a sad thing to happen...and that too on my birthday! I was feeling awful and helpless. Finally one of the drivers understood our problem and he gave us his contact number. He asked us to call him up the next day. We walked back home feeling bad about the incident. I was disappointed but couldn't do anything else at that moment. It was almost 11 PM.
One of the roommates couldn't accompany us for the treat and was at home. The moment we reached home, we saw the panic on her face. She said that police had called for me!!! Though she hadn't got the scenario, she managed to convey that my credit cards were with them. Now isn't that surprising???? May be this is what is called LUCK. They had left a contact number and I made a call. Then I realised whom I had called!
A few months back, I had met an indian family at a shopping mall here and had exchanged business cards with them. They had given me their phone number along with other details and also invited me to their home. I had called them a couple of times later on and still had their card in my wallet. Some divine personality had handed over my wallet to the police and the police had called this family to confirm my identity. The next day, one of our korean colleagues accompanied us to the police station and helped us with the formalities there. Oh boy! I got my life back or what:)
I don't know the anonymous character who handed over my wallet to the police. Whoever it is, I am very much grateful to that person and owe a lot to him/her. The presence of such human beings makes the world a better place to live. Isn't it?
So, time and again I proved that I am known for such adventures.

Seasons

Dear Friends,

I am back here at a new spot. If i could explain why I was away for so long, well 'change' would be the word. Sometimes so many things happen in your life that you would just want to lie back and enjoy every moment of it, as if it would never occur again. I bet, it's worth it:)
Am here to update you on the happenings in my little world.
Hope to be more regular from now onwards...:D

Cheers,
Hema