The plane left on time at around 7pm. I think it was slightly newer than the Delhi to Singapore one. The whole thing seemed a little cleaner and fresher. My tele even worked. As I knew that they staff would be serving dinner shortly, I took in a movie. The children around me were a mixed bag. A few of them dropped off to sleep about the same time the plane lifted off. One little boy was very unhappy for most of the trip. I thought I might take in another movie to wait for the boy to settle. Hmmmmm, maybe another movie? Once I had passed my third movie, my eyes were about to pop out and fall on the floor. The only thing holding them in was my glasses. Even they didn’t seem to be working any more. Somewhere in the flight, I fell into a sleep of sorts. It seemed like a short time later all the lights came on again so the staff could serve breakfast. Oh well, maybe another movie. The movie was just finishing when we landed. Yeeeee Ha!!!!!!!! There’s nothing better than seeing the country where you live lurch up to meet your aircraft and say hi. (Well, there is meeting your family of course.)
Customs was a real breeze. It was so nice to see a New Zealand official, I almost wanted to go up and give him a bear hug but I’m not sure he would see the significance. As I was waiting for my bags, I was watching this little beagle dog racing around sniffing all the bags. He looked like he was enjoying his job. He came over to say hello to my Laptop bag, discovered the bag wasn’t interested and moved on to another.
So now I’m home. It has been a very interesting experience. If you were to ask me if I would like to go again, I would have to say I would not treat this as my prime destination for a holiday. Work maybe. (Its always nice to see something finished and working).
Thanks for taking the time to follow through on this blog. It’s been fun sharing this trip with you.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
25 April 2008
The flight left Delhi at around midnight. It wasn’t the nicest flight I ever had. The video console wasn’t working very well. I didn’t seem to be able to get to the beginning of any of the movies. You may be wondering why I even wanted to? Well, it was a little difficult to sleep. The economy class is quite literal. There’s not a lot of space to stretch out. Then there was the collection of babies surrounding me. (Two in front, two either side, and a couple further back). One little boy was quite mischievous until his mother put him on her lap for takeoff. Just like that he was out to it. It was like turning of a switch. The others weren’t as cooperative. I think at least one of them was sick. When someone is sick on a plane it takes a while for the aroma to dissipate. In this case it took nearly all the flight. (Kinda puts you of your meal and puts a real dampener on sleeping).
Needless to say, by the time we reached Singapore, I wasn’t exactly in a coherent state of mind.
There are certain things you have to know before you arrive at Singapore airport. For example, its really useful to have a change of clothes with you if you are staying in the transit area. I thought that for this flight I would put both my bags in the hold. Save carrying them around with me. I asked the ‘check in chic’ at Delhi to direct my luggage to Singapore and I would pick them up from there. Little did I know that I was required to pick up my luggage after having gone through immigration. Plus I had a time limit. If I didn’t get to the Transit hotel within one hour I forfeited my room that I had reserved for me. Then there was the fact that we had arrived in Terminal two and I needed to go to Terminal three where the hotel was and where I would eventually get the next flight.
I went down to immigration and talked to one of the staff there. She directed me back up stairs to the Transfer desk. The lady there made some enquiries and then escorted me to the luggage carousel. I was only allowed to get what I needed from my bags. The bags would then be redirected to my next plane.
Then I needed to get over to Terminal three. There is a really neat rail system connecting all the terminals. You just hop in the little train which comes around every four or five minutes and within a few minutes you are at the next terminal. Quite cool really. I have to say the staff here at Singapore are really friendly and helpful. When you as blurry eyed as I was and your emotions are a little frayed, it so nice to be looked after so efficiently.
When I got into my room, I had a shower and promptly fell asleep. I think I probably would have slept right through to the next boarding except a family took the room next to mine and the kids were curious as to where a certain door led to. In this case it happened to lead to my room. (It was locked). The rattle woke me up. I didn’t mind. I had done the same thing earlier thinking it was a cupboard or something.
I got up and went for a walk in the Terminal. His is the new one that has been built for the big Airbus. All very flash. Roomy. Full of shops that if you tried buying something from would empty your bank account on one item. But, hey, it was great to have a look around. I even had Burger King for lunch.
Close to the Transit hotel is a cinema. It plays movies all day and is free. I popped in there for a movie. More to pass the time than anything. After that I decided to go back to the room and catch a few more winks. I did (catch some more winks. Its amazing how tame they are after an exhausting six hour flight through the night. They are so easy to catch). I woke with a start wondering where I was. Once I brought things into perspective, I freshened up and left the hotel. I still had an hour or two before the boarding call so I wondered of to Terminal One. I was in search of other shops. There were more shops in in this terminal, but no less expensive. You can get your GST back whilst you are in the Transit Terminals but I think the prices are inflated to accommodate the shop owners.
Needless to say, by the time we reached Singapore, I wasn’t exactly in a coherent state of mind.
There are certain things you have to know before you arrive at Singapore airport. For example, its really useful to have a change of clothes with you if you are staying in the transit area. I thought that for this flight I would put both my bags in the hold. Save carrying them around with me. I asked the ‘check in chic’ at Delhi to direct my luggage to Singapore and I would pick them up from there. Little did I know that I was required to pick up my luggage after having gone through immigration. Plus I had a time limit. If I didn’t get to the Transit hotel within one hour I forfeited my room that I had reserved for me. Then there was the fact that we had arrived in Terminal two and I needed to go to Terminal three where the hotel was and where I would eventually get the next flight.
I went down to immigration and talked to one of the staff there. She directed me back up stairs to the Transfer desk. The lady there made some enquiries and then escorted me to the luggage carousel. I was only allowed to get what I needed from my bags. The bags would then be redirected to my next plane.
Then I needed to get over to Terminal three. There is a really neat rail system connecting all the terminals. You just hop in the little train which comes around every four or five minutes and within a few minutes you are at the next terminal. Quite cool really. I have to say the staff here at Singapore are really friendly and helpful. When you as blurry eyed as I was and your emotions are a little frayed, it so nice to be looked after so efficiently.
When I got into my room, I had a shower and promptly fell asleep. I think I probably would have slept right through to the next boarding except a family took the room next to mine and the kids were curious as to where a certain door led to. In this case it happened to lead to my room. (It was locked). The rattle woke me up. I didn’t mind. I had done the same thing earlier thinking it was a cupboard or something.
I got up and went for a walk in the Terminal. His is the new one that has been built for the big Airbus. All very flash. Roomy. Full of shops that if you tried buying something from would empty your bank account on one item. But, hey, it was great to have a look around. I even had Burger King for lunch.
Close to the Transit hotel is a cinema. It plays movies all day and is free. I popped in there for a movie. More to pass the time than anything. After that I decided to go back to the room and catch a few more winks. I did (catch some more winks. Its amazing how tame they are after an exhausting six hour flight through the night. They are so easy to catch). I woke with a start wondering where I was. Once I brought things into perspective, I freshened up and left the hotel. I still had an hour or two before the boarding call so I wondered of to Terminal One. I was in search of other shops. There were more shops in in this terminal, but no less expensive. You can get your GST back whilst you are in the Transit Terminals but I think the prices are inflated to accommodate the shop owners.
24 April 2008
I think last night had to be the best night’s sleep I have had in the whole time I have been in India. The bed was really comfortable and it was really quiet.
I had the whole day to do something so I spent the morning beside the pool and relaxed in front of a book. (Not sure that I could call it a good book). Around 2pm I hired a car and driver to show me some of the sites in Delhi. There is an amazing difference between Ludhiana and Delhi. Delhi is cleaner, and the traffic seems a bit more disciplined. My driver, for example, didn’t toot his horn once. I found out why later in the trip. He told me that some 16 years earlier he had driven an American couple to somewhere (Can’t remember where). And they told him that he was not to use his horn at all on the trip. To make sure he didn’t, he disconnected the electricity from the horn. The American couple were so impressed that they gave him a $50 tip. He told me that he has never used the horn since.
We drove past all the big embassies and he pointed them out to me. Interesting to note that the Chinese embassy still had a heavy police and army presence. Next was the Parliament buildings. Wow. The British knew how to build monumental buildings. Its an amazing structure. In the same area is the Presidential palace. That was really beautiful. Just of in the distance is the India Arch. We got fairly close to that. Close enough to take a photo.
I was keen to visit a mall. I expressed my intention to the driver. I’m not sure what he thought I meant by a mall. The first place he took me to was a rather flashy shop that sold carpets and jewellery. It was the kind of shop that you have to pay to step over the threshold. I was met at the door by a gentleman who wanted to tell me all about the Kashmir carpets. What an amazing story. According to him, the Kashmir carpets are made by families. They can take up to three years to hand stitch one carpet. They can be made from wool or silk. He and his assistant rolled out all sorts of carpets for me to look at. They were all so beautiful. Each carpet had a story to tell. He showed me how they stitched the carpets and the tools they used. They only use three tools. One is a especially shaped knife that is blunt on one side and sharp on the other. This is used to help tie the knots and trim the excess. The next is something that looks like a metal comb. This is used to pat down the knots onto the base of the previous row. The last is a pair of scissors that is used to trim all the knots to the same length. He told me that this part can only be done by the elders of the family s it can ruin the carpet if not done by the experienced. His was all very wonderful but I wasn’t in the market for a carpet. (Unless of course it could get me home quicker than Singapore Airlines). One thing he said that was interesting. The Indian government will pay for the carpet to be shipped to your home anywhere in the world. I guess that could be possible. He said that they want the Kashmir carpet making industry to survive. That’s why they are sponsoring it. (Sounded good). On the grounds that I didn’t have a clue as to whether he was ‘pulling my chain’, plus I had no desire to own a carpet, I tried as gracefully as I could to extract my self from his shop.
Next we headed to the Red Fort. This is a huge fort that was built over 600 years ago. The driver suggested that I climb out to take some photos and he would drive up the street so he could turn around. This was OK, sort of. As soon as I stepped out of the car I was confronted by a chap who drove a three wheeled taxi. He told me that the driver had told him that he was to take me in his taxi to some temple of other and that he would be at least half an hour. (You gotta love these guys). I crossed the road to get closer to the Fort. Once across I was besieged by all sorts of sales people hoping I might buy something of them. There were hats, postcards, more postcards, hats, postcards, books, postcards, hats, oh, and did I mention postcards. Then there were the beggars. I had finished my photo taking and was waiting for the driver. The beggars and salesmen were like flies. I couldn’t brush them off. Thank goodness he arrived in a short while.
We tried to talk through the idea of going to a mall. We got a bit closer to what I wanted the second time. This time at least the place was called a mall. It still sold carpets, fancy jewellery and other very expensive bits and pieces. If you were in the market for some really fancy things to take home, there was the place. But, no, all I wanted was a t-shirt with something funny on it.
We tried again. This time it was a sure bet. The place sold clothes, he said. Well, no, not really. I stepped into the store and, … You guessed it. Carpets and expensive things. (I wonder if he had some business deal going with the owners of these stores). The gentleman at the door told me that I was looking for a different store and that he would tell the driver where to go. By this stage we had run out of time and needed to get back to the hotel. It was interesting to have a look around. (Didn’t buy the t-shirt).
I got a taxi to the airport. (They are quite distinctive. Black with a yellow roof. They look like Morris Minors and most of them seem like they come from the same generation). The international airport is in absolute chaos at the moment. They are preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. There’s all sorts of hoops you have to go through to get into the terminal and then some more when you are in. I didn’t have a clue where I was going. I had to ask a couple of people where to go. A lady in uniform came up to me and asked if I was looking for Singapore Airlines. Then she directed me back to a luggage scanner. Once I had sorted that out I found the check in counter for Singapore airlines and checked in. Next I had to ask where I was supposed to go next. “Around the corner’ the lady at the desk said. Hmmmmm. Righto then. So off I go around the corner. Ah. I must be on the right path. More hoops. Having got past immigration etc. I was now in the lounge.
I was hoping to change all my Indian money for Singapore currency. I looked around to see if there was any kind of money changer. Couldn’t find anything. I asked a few shop keepers. One guy was keen to change the money for me but he looked really dodgey and unofficial so declined his offer. I asked at the help desk. The lady there informed me that I would have to change my money on the other side of security. Only problem was, security was one way traffic. She did assure me that the money could be changed in Singapore. We will see.
I had the whole day to do something so I spent the morning beside the pool and relaxed in front of a book. (Not sure that I could call it a good book). Around 2pm I hired a car and driver to show me some of the sites in Delhi. There is an amazing difference between Ludhiana and Delhi. Delhi is cleaner, and the traffic seems a bit more disciplined. My driver, for example, didn’t toot his horn once. I found out why later in the trip. He told me that some 16 years earlier he had driven an American couple to somewhere (Can’t remember where). And they told him that he was not to use his horn at all on the trip. To make sure he didn’t, he disconnected the electricity from the horn. The American couple were so impressed that they gave him a $50 tip. He told me that he has never used the horn since.
We drove past all the big embassies and he pointed them out to me. Interesting to note that the Chinese embassy still had a heavy police and army presence. Next was the Parliament buildings. Wow. The British knew how to build monumental buildings. Its an amazing structure. In the same area is the Presidential palace. That was really beautiful. Just of in the distance is the India Arch. We got fairly close to that. Close enough to take a photo.
I was keen to visit a mall. I expressed my intention to the driver. I’m not sure what he thought I meant by a mall. The first place he took me to was a rather flashy shop that sold carpets and jewellery. It was the kind of shop that you have to pay to step over the threshold. I was met at the door by a gentleman who wanted to tell me all about the Kashmir carpets. What an amazing story. According to him, the Kashmir carpets are made by families. They can take up to three years to hand stitch one carpet. They can be made from wool or silk. He and his assistant rolled out all sorts of carpets for me to look at. They were all so beautiful. Each carpet had a story to tell. He showed me how they stitched the carpets and the tools they used. They only use three tools. One is a especially shaped knife that is blunt on one side and sharp on the other. This is used to help tie the knots and trim the excess. The next is something that looks like a metal comb. This is used to pat down the knots onto the base of the previous row. The last is a pair of scissors that is used to trim all the knots to the same length. He told me that this part can only be done by the elders of the family s it can ruin the carpet if not done by the experienced. His was all very wonderful but I wasn’t in the market for a carpet. (Unless of course it could get me home quicker than Singapore Airlines). One thing he said that was interesting. The Indian government will pay for the carpet to be shipped to your home anywhere in the world. I guess that could be possible. He said that they want the Kashmir carpet making industry to survive. That’s why they are sponsoring it. (Sounded good). On the grounds that I didn’t have a clue as to whether he was ‘pulling my chain’, plus I had no desire to own a carpet, I tried as gracefully as I could to extract my self from his shop.
Next we headed to the Red Fort. This is a huge fort that was built over 600 years ago. The driver suggested that I climb out to take some photos and he would drive up the street so he could turn around. This was OK, sort of. As soon as I stepped out of the car I was confronted by a chap who drove a three wheeled taxi. He told me that the driver had told him that he was to take me in his taxi to some temple of other and that he would be at least half an hour. (You gotta love these guys). I crossed the road to get closer to the Fort. Once across I was besieged by all sorts of sales people hoping I might buy something of them. There were hats, postcards, more postcards, hats, postcards, books, postcards, hats, oh, and did I mention postcards. Then there were the beggars. I had finished my photo taking and was waiting for the driver. The beggars and salesmen were like flies. I couldn’t brush them off. Thank goodness he arrived in a short while.
We tried to talk through the idea of going to a mall. We got a bit closer to what I wanted the second time. This time at least the place was called a mall. It still sold carpets, fancy jewellery and other very expensive bits and pieces. If you were in the market for some really fancy things to take home, there was the place. But, no, all I wanted was a t-shirt with something funny on it.
We tried again. This time it was a sure bet. The place sold clothes, he said. Well, no, not really. I stepped into the store and, … You guessed it. Carpets and expensive things. (I wonder if he had some business deal going with the owners of these stores). The gentleman at the door told me that I was looking for a different store and that he would tell the driver where to go. By this stage we had run out of time and needed to get back to the hotel. It was interesting to have a look around. (Didn’t buy the t-shirt).
I got a taxi to the airport. (They are quite distinctive. Black with a yellow roof. They look like Morris Minors and most of them seem like they come from the same generation). The international airport is in absolute chaos at the moment. They are preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. There’s all sorts of hoops you have to go through to get into the terminal and then some more when you are in. I didn’t have a clue where I was going. I had to ask a couple of people where to go. A lady in uniform came up to me and asked if I was looking for Singapore Airlines. Then she directed me back to a luggage scanner. Once I had sorted that out I found the check in counter for Singapore airlines and checked in. Next I had to ask where I was supposed to go next. “Around the corner’ the lady at the desk said. Hmmmmm. Righto then. So off I go around the corner. Ah. I must be on the right path. More hoops. Having got past immigration etc. I was now in the lounge.
I was hoping to change all my Indian money for Singapore currency. I looked around to see if there was any kind of money changer. Couldn’t find anything. I asked a few shop keepers. One guy was keen to change the money for me but he looked really dodgey and unofficial so declined his offer. I asked at the help desk. The lady there informed me that I would have to change my money on the other side of security. Only problem was, security was one way traffic. She did assure me that the money could be changed in Singapore. We will see.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
23 April 2008
I’m on the train heading for Delhi. Khilandeep arrived to pick me up and take me to the station at around 6.30am. He was a little late but it didn’t matter. The train was also a little late. I’m in a rather nice carriage that is air conditioned, roomy and quite. There is ambient music playing. We’ve got the sunscreen down at the moment so I can’t see much of the landscape. What I can see is that it must be wheat harvesting time. There’s bundles of wheat everywhere. So I guessing that the rice growing season will stat soon. Just in time for the monsoons.
I arrived at Delhi pretty much on time. Getting off the train was interesting. Imagine the Wellington Central train station at rush hour. Now multiply that by 10, add in a boiling frenzy of hopeful porters, successful porters and the odd person pretending to be a porter. Now imagine the exit has been narrowed to a gap slightly wider than an airport passenger scanning archway. (Actually that’s what it was except people had found ways around it in order to get out into the city). There was a bit of pushing but on the whole it was more like an unstoppable mass.
This fella called out to me and asked if I wanted a pre-pay taxi. That’s where you pay first then head away. Well that’s about what I wanted. (Keep it simple). So I followed him to the taxi stand. It was all a rouse. We weren’t going to the pre-pay counter at all. About now I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole experience. I asked the fella how much to the hotel. He said IR600. Fortunately I had already been informed that anything more than IR250 was excessive. Here’s where the fun started. ‘No. Too much’ says I. I started walking over to the pre-pay counter. That changed his mind. ‘400’ Says he. I carry on walking. ‘How much you pay’ I stop and say ‘200’. He throws his hands up and looks at me like I’m ridiculous. So I carry on walking. He stops me again ands says ‘300. It’s a good price.’ We haggled a bit but in the end I wasn’t wanting to stay in the maddening crowd to much longer so I agreed to 300. As it happens, he wasn’t even the driver of the taxi. He was finding people for the taxis. The taxi driver was a young lad who was standing close to the taxis.
So, of we went, as fast as the traffic would allow. He wanted to play me his favourite Panjab music. Well that was fine. Their music does have some pretty exciting beats to it. By time we got to the hotel my insides had jellified and turned to much, the sound was so loud.
I thought I might have the window down on the car as it was really hot. Bad move. I got half way to the hotel and had to wind it back up. The wind coming in was so hot, I felt like I was turning into a lobster in a boiling pot of water.
This hotel is amazing. The Hyatt Regency is a stunning piece of architecture. Fairly classical in its lines but has some lovely water features in the foyer and down into the pool area. The bed is so big, I could sleep comfortably side ways. I have so many pillows on the bed, there’s no room left for me.
I arrived at Delhi pretty much on time. Getting off the train was interesting. Imagine the Wellington Central train station at rush hour. Now multiply that by 10, add in a boiling frenzy of hopeful porters, successful porters and the odd person pretending to be a porter. Now imagine the exit has been narrowed to a gap slightly wider than an airport passenger scanning archway. (Actually that’s what it was except people had found ways around it in order to get out into the city). There was a bit of pushing but on the whole it was more like an unstoppable mass.
This fella called out to me and asked if I wanted a pre-pay taxi. That’s where you pay first then head away. Well that’s about what I wanted. (Keep it simple). So I followed him to the taxi stand. It was all a rouse. We weren’t going to the pre-pay counter at all. About now I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole experience. I asked the fella how much to the hotel. He said IR600. Fortunately I had already been informed that anything more than IR250 was excessive. Here’s where the fun started. ‘No. Too much’ says I. I started walking over to the pre-pay counter. That changed his mind. ‘400’ Says he. I carry on walking. ‘How much you pay’ I stop and say ‘200’. He throws his hands up and looks at me like I’m ridiculous. So I carry on walking. He stops me again ands says ‘300. It’s a good price.’ We haggled a bit but in the end I wasn’t wanting to stay in the maddening crowd to much longer so I agreed to 300. As it happens, he wasn’t even the driver of the taxi. He was finding people for the taxis. The taxi driver was a young lad who was standing close to the taxis.
So, of we went, as fast as the traffic would allow. He wanted to play me his favourite Panjab music. Well that was fine. Their music does have some pretty exciting beats to it. By time we got to the hotel my insides had jellified and turned to much, the sound was so loud.
I thought I might have the window down on the car as it was really hot. Bad move. I got half way to the hotel and had to wind it back up. The wind coming in was so hot, I felt like I was turning into a lobster in a boiling pot of water.
This hotel is amazing. The Hyatt Regency is a stunning piece of architecture. Fairly classical in its lines but has some lovely water features in the foyer and down into the pool area. The bed is so big, I could sleep comfortably side ways. I have so many pillows on the bed, there’s no room left for me.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
22 April 2008
It was a busy day today. Some teaching, interviews, phone calls and camera driving instructions. The students were great. They are really into this next brief. One of the lads who started the course very unsure of computers, has already done his photographs for the iPanorama project and is giving it his best shot at editing them in Photoshop. Another student only started at the beginning of the week. Fortunatley he already has some skills in Photoshop.
I needed to interview each student to see which diploma they want to study in NZ. This was an interesting process. The students were really wanting to know what I thought . Its quite hard to get them to not take the submissive role.
We had a possible tutor for my replacement. He has studied in Auckland for two years and has a degree in Design. (Not that you think so based on the work he sent us via email). I talked to him on the phone for a while. He lives in Delhi. Once I had finished, I talked to Khilandeep about him. Khilandeep informed me that he had already told him that he has a job in banking. (Not sure whether he was telling him that to try and up his wages). I guess we will see. He may come up to Ludhiana in the weekend and talk to the team.
Towards the end of the day, I showed Gurpreet how to use the video camera and download the footage.
After work we headed out for a drink and dinner. (I had the dinner, they had the drinks. Well, OK, I had a wine. They have been teasing me all month. I told them when I arrived that I drink an occasional glass of wine. How often, they asked. About once a month, I replied. They suggested that I might want to borrow a few from the up coming months). We went to one place, but they didn’t have a chilled white wine. I was happy not to bother and just have a coke or something, but Gurpreet wasn’t. She wanted the best for me. So, we left and went to another restaurant. This place was quite nice and they did know how to chill wine. Even the glass was cold. The dinner was really nice. I had veges in a white sauce. I could have eaten the whole plate full but Khilandeep wanted to try some. Still, by time I had some icecream, I was quite full and ready for bed.
At the hotel, I took a while to order my suitcases and make sure I hadn’t lost anything. Its amazing how things get spread about when you’ve been in one place for a while.
Khilandeep was organising the hotel bill and discovered the mystery of the two bottles of beer and chicken meal. It turns out that the believe was that I had ordered it. A far cry from icecream. At around 11.30pm the porter knocked on the door and asked for the two bottles of beer back. I still had one in the fridge, but the other one he had opened on the night so the cleaners had taken it away.
I needed to interview each student to see which diploma they want to study in NZ. This was an interesting process. The students were really wanting to know what I thought . Its quite hard to get them to not take the submissive role.
We had a possible tutor for my replacement. He has studied in Auckland for two years and has a degree in Design. (Not that you think so based on the work he sent us via email). I talked to him on the phone for a while. He lives in Delhi. Once I had finished, I talked to Khilandeep about him. Khilandeep informed me that he had already told him that he has a job in banking. (Not sure whether he was telling him that to try and up his wages). I guess we will see. He may come up to Ludhiana in the weekend and talk to the team.
Towards the end of the day, I showed Gurpreet how to use the video camera and download the footage.
After work we headed out for a drink and dinner. (I had the dinner, they had the drinks. Well, OK, I had a wine. They have been teasing me all month. I told them when I arrived that I drink an occasional glass of wine. How often, they asked. About once a month, I replied. They suggested that I might want to borrow a few from the up coming months). We went to one place, but they didn’t have a chilled white wine. I was happy not to bother and just have a coke or something, but Gurpreet wasn’t. She wanted the best for me. So, we left and went to another restaurant. This place was quite nice and they did know how to chill wine. Even the glass was cold. The dinner was really nice. I had veges in a white sauce. I could have eaten the whole plate full but Khilandeep wanted to try some. Still, by time I had some icecream, I was quite full and ready for bed.
At the hotel, I took a while to order my suitcases and make sure I hadn’t lost anything. Its amazing how things get spread about when you’ve been in one place for a while.
Khilandeep was organising the hotel bill and discovered the mystery of the two bottles of beer and chicken meal. It turns out that the believe was that I had ordered it. A far cry from icecream. At around 11.30pm the porter knocked on the door and asked for the two bottles of beer back. I still had one in the fridge, but the other one he had opened on the night so the cleaners had taken it away.
Monday, April 21, 2008
21 April 2008
Today’s paper ad a really interesting article in it. A team of scientists in Manchester UK have developed a transistor that’s no bigger then a molecule. Its made from Graphene. Graphene is the first known material that is one atom thick. It is a single layer of graphite which is what pencils are made of. The scientists believe that this material will replace silicon and it is very stable. They have even found that the smaller the size of Graphene, the better it transmits electricity.They are talking about this new discovery as the basis of the next generation of super computers and that it is the world’s first real nano-technology. (I wonder if AI is just around the corner?)
We headed over to Khilandeep’s house around 12.30pm. They had a ceremony for the naming of the baby and then a lunch was provided for family. I was honoured to join in the meal. Gurpreet introduced me to a number of wives of brothers. Khilandeep’s father introduced me to a number of the uncles. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the introductions. The meal was organised by a catering company. It was probably the best meal that I have had in India. The only downer was that I saw a clove in the rice and carefully put it to one side, only to discover a few mouthfuls later that I hadn’t put it far enough aside. You may know what it’s like to chomp on a clove, especially when you least expect it. It sorta clears your head rather quickly.
I was invited into the bedroom where mum and the baby were to take some photos. Its hard to believe that its been thirteen days since baby was born.
It was really hot today. You step outside and its like stepping into a clothes dryer. The breeze was not cooling that’s for sure. Its dark now and the temperature is still around 30 degrees. I think I’ll be happy to come home. Its been OK up to now.
We headed over to Khilandeep’s house around 12.30pm. They had a ceremony for the naming of the baby and then a lunch was provided for family. I was honoured to join in the meal. Gurpreet introduced me to a number of wives of brothers. Khilandeep’s father introduced me to a number of the uncles. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the introductions. The meal was organised by a catering company. It was probably the best meal that I have had in India. The only downer was that I saw a clove in the rice and carefully put it to one side, only to discover a few mouthfuls later that I hadn’t put it far enough aside. You may know what it’s like to chomp on a clove, especially when you least expect it. It sorta clears your head rather quickly.
I was invited into the bedroom where mum and the baby were to take some photos. Its hard to believe that its been thirteen days since baby was born.
It was really hot today. You step outside and its like stepping into a clothes dryer. The breeze was not cooling that’s for sure. Its dark now and the temperature is still around 30 degrees. I think I’ll be happy to come home. Its been OK up to now.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
20 April 2008
Khilandeep is in Delhi today. There is a fair on that he will represent Can-Able. He will probably meet Sue there. Its her final stop before coming home.
I went to work for a couple of hours today. I think Gurpreet is a little worried that she won’t be able to take over from me, so she called in all the students to have another lesson.
I talked to them about the next brief and went over Layer masks in Photoshop.
At around 2.30pm we finished and headed out for lunch. Gurpreet took me to a small restaurant that is based of an English café. (Ahhhhhhhh. Sigh. Real English food). I had cappuccino, A mushroom pastry and an apple pie.
So now I’m back in the hotel, watching Brendon McCullum and his team play Adam Gilchrist and his team.
I went to work for a couple of hours today. I think Gurpreet is a little worried that she won’t be able to take over from me, so she called in all the students to have another lesson.
I talked to them about the next brief and went over Layer masks in Photoshop.
At around 2.30pm we finished and headed out for lunch. Gurpreet took me to a small restaurant that is based of an English café. (Ahhhhhhhh. Sigh. Real English food). I had cappuccino, A mushroom pastry and an apple pie.
So now I’m back in the hotel, watching Brendon McCullum and his team play Adam Gilchrist and his team.
19 April 2008
Khilandeep’s father is a wonderfully funny man. Its no wonder there is always laughter in the house. Today he rang whilst we were having lunch at his house. (He was at work). He wanted to make sure that I finished my lunch with slices of orange. He seems to think that having an orange at the end of the meal is good for you. I tend to agree with that.
He believes that when he comes to New Zealand in July, he will be as fit as me and be able to chat up all the girls. Well, all I can say to that is it won’t be hard to get as fit as me.
I was watching a man with one of these carts that the Indians push around. He was selling icicles. It was interesting to see how he did it. He would get a block of ice from the little freezer, rap it in a rag, then start to shave of the ice into a cup. Once the cup was full, he would then get a bamboo stick, break it a little at one end and poke it into the cup of ice. Next he would pack the ice down into the cup around the stick with his hands. The final touch is to take the icicle out of the cup and cover it with a syrup from his collection on the cart.
If you haven’t caught up with the latest in IPL, Brendon McCullum had a scorcher of a first game. I think it was 154 not out. (We are talking the 20 20 game) He had something like 13 sixes and the rest were fours. So far he is the top scorer. So he gets to wear the orange hat. Its absolutlely amazing how many people go to the matches. The stadiums are full every time.
He believes that when he comes to New Zealand in July, he will be as fit as me and be able to chat up all the girls. Well, all I can say to that is it won’t be hard to get as fit as me.
I was watching a man with one of these carts that the Indians push around. He was selling icicles. It was interesting to see how he did it. He would get a block of ice from the little freezer, rap it in a rag, then start to shave of the ice into a cup. Once the cup was full, he would then get a bamboo stick, break it a little at one end and poke it into the cup of ice. Next he would pack the ice down into the cup around the stick with his hands. The final touch is to take the icicle out of the cup and cover it with a syrup from his collection on the cart.
If you haven’t caught up with the latest in IPL, Brendon McCullum had a scorcher of a first game. I think it was 154 not out. (We are talking the 20 20 game) He had something like 13 sixes and the rest were fours. So far he is the top scorer. So he gets to wear the orange hat. Its absolutlely amazing how many people go to the matches. The stadiums are full every time.
Friday, April 18, 2008
18 April 2008
A mixed bag today. The students finished their first brief. All went well. Even the shy one in the class had a go at presenting his work. I think they are all quite pleased with what they have achieved.
We bought a video camera today. We needed to get it a little early so I can instruct Gurpreet on how to use it. Looks like we won’t be getting a graphic design tutor any time soon. There doesn’t seem to be anyone here that’s up to the mark.Towards the end of the day, this lady was being shown around the campus as though she was a friend. Turns out that she was some kind of spiritual person who had come to bless the college. I got quite a surprise when she came into the tutor office and started throwing rice all over the place.
Gurpreet and her husband took me out to dinner. On the way we visited a factory that makes woolen garments. They have a part of the factory that sells to the public. A lot of the garments are made from Merino wool. Very nice.
Whilst we were eating the TV was on and the channel was showing the grand opening of the IPL (Indian Premiere League). Wow. What a show. Anyone would think it was the first day of the Olympics. After all the ceremony the first teams got onto the pitch. Our own Brendan McCullan was first to bat. Didn’t get a chance to see how he went. We had finished our meal by then. I tell you, the Indians are absolutely mad about their cricket. The stadium was full to overflowing. Quite exciting really.
We bought a video camera today. We needed to get it a little early so I can instruct Gurpreet on how to use it. Looks like we won’t be getting a graphic design tutor any time soon. There doesn’t seem to be anyone here that’s up to the mark.Towards the end of the day, this lady was being shown around the campus as though she was a friend. Turns out that she was some kind of spiritual person who had come to bless the college. I got quite a surprise when she came into the tutor office and started throwing rice all over the place.
Gurpreet and her husband took me out to dinner. On the way we visited a factory that makes woolen garments. They have a part of the factory that sells to the public. A lot of the garments are made from Merino wool. Very nice.
Whilst we were eating the TV was on and the channel was showing the grand opening of the IPL (Indian Premiere League). Wow. What a show. Anyone would think it was the first day of the Olympics. After all the ceremony the first teams got onto the pitch. Our own Brendan McCullan was first to bat. Didn’t get a chance to see how he went. We had finished our meal by then. I tell you, the Indians are absolutely mad about their cricket. The stadium was full to overflowing. Quite exciting really.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
17 April 2008
The students were busy with their work today. There’s one student who is really creative but doesn’t seem to want to do the manual part of the course. Not sure why. He reminds me a bit of Honey. Full of life and happy to live it.
I told Khilandeep that we needed to have a chat so I would take him out to lunch.
During the morning a photographer whom I had met a couple of weeks earlier, came to talk to the students about what he does and how he uses Photoshop. He was a really successful visit. The students were really interested and they were keen to look at the photographs he had on his laptop.
Lunchtime came, and so did this person, his side kick and another person who I can only guess was a friend of Khilandeep’s, cause I’d have never met him before.
We had a jolly conversation over lunch. The photographer is really keen to study Final Cut Pro and do some music videos. I saw one of his videos. Not bad at all.
I stayed in the hotel tonight. I had some design work to do for Khilandeep. Went to bed around 11pm. At midnight I woke to a sudden blast of music. It was so loud the walls were vibrating. (This is a concrete building). This went on for about 5 to 10 minutes and then stopped. Not sure what that was all about. Maybe an engagement party or something.
I told Khilandeep that we needed to have a chat so I would take him out to lunch.
During the morning a photographer whom I had met a couple of weeks earlier, came to talk to the students about what he does and how he uses Photoshop. He was a really successful visit. The students were really interested and they were keen to look at the photographs he had on his laptop.
Lunchtime came, and so did this person, his side kick and another person who I can only guess was a friend of Khilandeep’s, cause I’d have never met him before.
We had a jolly conversation over lunch. The photographer is really keen to study Final Cut Pro and do some music videos. I saw one of his videos. Not bad at all.
I stayed in the hotel tonight. I had some design work to do for Khilandeep. Went to bed around 11pm. At midnight I woke to a sudden blast of music. It was so loud the walls were vibrating. (This is a concrete building). This went on for about 5 to 10 minutes and then stopped. Not sure what that was all about. Maybe an engagement party or something.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
16 April 2008
Let me tell you about horns. After three weeks of standing outside the hotel in the mornings waiting for a ride to work, you become accustomed to the intricacies and delicacies of the ‘sounds of India’. Now, there’s the little moped horn. This sounds like a cat with a cold, having its tail run over. There is about enough volume in one of these to annoy an innocent pedestrian. (I should point out here that, as footpaths are very rare around these parts, then pedestrians are a part of the traffic. Kinda terrifying really).
Then you get the slightly bigger bikes. There is an Indian built bike that is about as noisy as the Harley Davidson. Its called an Enfield. (I always thought they were rifles). Some of these bikes have horns that are about the same as the moped. Some have upgraded to ‘Car horn’. Riders of some of the bikes that seem to think that the horn is attached to the throttle. The slower they go the longer the horn blast.
Now we get to the car. Car horns are mostly about the same. You have some drivers, like Khilandeep, who use the horn in the spirit of good Indian tradition. “You’re in my way and I am bigger and faster than you, so how about you move over and let me through” or “ yer, I’m on the wrong side of the road but, hey you can see me right? No, oh well, at least you can hear me.” Then you have the drivers who believe it is their ‘god given’ right to use their horn to announce to everyone around that they are in the area. Quite often these drivers will start their horn when the engine turns on and stop when they turn off the car. (Ha!! I see a connection here. It’s the auto electrician. He wired the horn to the starter motor.)
Next comes the buses. (Oh, yay for public transport). The horns on buses, and trucks for that matter, can be quite melodious. They can range from the theme of ‘Beethoven’s fifth’ to the ‘charge of the light brigade’. (I think I may have even heard the ‘ride of the Valkeries’ at one point). The distinguishing feature of buses and trucks is that the horns are normally hitting about 300 db, give or take 100 db. Don’t ever get caught near a bus when it lets rip with one of these. It’ll take the skin of you in less than a second.
Now we get to emergency vehicles such as police and ambulance. Well, what can I say? Police cars will use their sirens to the same effect as everyone else uses their horns. They will try and work their way to the front of the traffic so they can be the first to leave when the lights turn green. Of, course, everyone else is trying to do the same thing, so it kinda pointless really. Which is what most drivers think anyway I’m sure, because no one seems to take any notice.
Let’s say that with the ambulance, your best time to need to of these is between midnight and 6am. If you’re dying at any other time, make sure you have a good will.
The lowliest of all is the humble rickshaw bell. The rickshaw is probably the most important part of Indian transport. (It must be. There’s so many of them). They have a bell. Kinda cute. Its about as effective as setting the alarm to go on a Two Dollar Shop watch.
Ah, the sounds of India. Its no wonder that when the Indians come to New Zealand they are somewhat apprehensive. The quiet must be deafening. Khilandeep told me three weeks ago that when he drove from Taupo to Auckland he was really scared. He said that there were no cars for miles. He only felt comfortable when he came to the motorways leading into Auckland.
Then you get the slightly bigger bikes. There is an Indian built bike that is about as noisy as the Harley Davidson. Its called an Enfield. (I always thought they were rifles). Some of these bikes have horns that are about the same as the moped. Some have upgraded to ‘Car horn’. Riders of some of the bikes that seem to think that the horn is attached to the throttle. The slower they go the longer the horn blast.
Now we get to the car. Car horns are mostly about the same. You have some drivers, like Khilandeep, who use the horn in the spirit of good Indian tradition. “You’re in my way and I am bigger and faster than you, so how about you move over and let me through” or “ yer, I’m on the wrong side of the road but, hey you can see me right? No, oh well, at least you can hear me.” Then you have the drivers who believe it is their ‘god given’ right to use their horn to announce to everyone around that they are in the area. Quite often these drivers will start their horn when the engine turns on and stop when they turn off the car. (Ha!! I see a connection here. It’s the auto electrician. He wired the horn to the starter motor.)
Next comes the buses. (Oh, yay for public transport). The horns on buses, and trucks for that matter, can be quite melodious. They can range from the theme of ‘Beethoven’s fifth’ to the ‘charge of the light brigade’. (I think I may have even heard the ‘ride of the Valkeries’ at one point). The distinguishing feature of buses and trucks is that the horns are normally hitting about 300 db, give or take 100 db. Don’t ever get caught near a bus when it lets rip with one of these. It’ll take the skin of you in less than a second.
Now we get to emergency vehicles such as police and ambulance. Well, what can I say? Police cars will use their sirens to the same effect as everyone else uses their horns. They will try and work their way to the front of the traffic so they can be the first to leave when the lights turn green. Of, course, everyone else is trying to do the same thing, so it kinda pointless really. Which is what most drivers think anyway I’m sure, because no one seems to take any notice.
Let’s say that with the ambulance, your best time to need to of these is between midnight and 6am. If you’re dying at any other time, make sure you have a good will.
The lowliest of all is the humble rickshaw bell. The rickshaw is probably the most important part of Indian transport. (It must be. There’s so many of them). They have a bell. Kinda cute. Its about as effective as setting the alarm to go on a Two Dollar Shop watch.
Ah, the sounds of India. Its no wonder that when the Indians come to New Zealand they are somewhat apprehensive. The quiet must be deafening. Khilandeep told me three weeks ago that when he drove from Taupo to Auckland he was really scared. He said that there were no cars for miles. He only felt comfortable when he came to the motorways leading into Auckland.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
15 April 2008
I saw Harry Potter today. He was biking down the road past the hotel with his broom attached to the cross bar and sticking out the back. (Yer gotta love these people). Today was really hard. It took most of the morning to explain the first brief to a point where the students knew what to do. But, once they got it, they were away and seemed to really enjoy the work. It’s the first brief (iFrame).
When I got back to the hotel, I asked for my usual dinner. (I’ve been keeping it simple. Just an omelette, juice and a dollop of icecream). Well tonight was a real surprise. My omelette arrived and shortly after that the chap came into my room and tried to explain that there was no vanilla icecream. So we agreed that Strawberry would be fine. At around 10pm he came in with a tray of some kind of Chicken stew and two bottles of beer. I’m fairly sure I didn’t order that. ☺ I think it was some kind of generosity statement. Only problem is, Whilst I’m over here I’m sticking to vege meals, I don’t particularly like beer and I can’t eat a heavy meal like that at 10pm. I had half a glass of the beer because I felt bad about the offering. Just reminded me that I still don’t like beer. Oh well, it was a nice gesture.
One thing that happens at this hotel that I have to keep in mind is that the porters will open the door first and then ask if they can come in. If the door is locked, they will then ring the door bell. This happened last night at about 11pm. I was already in bed. I think the porter wanted to clear away my plates.
When I got back to the hotel, I asked for my usual dinner. (I’ve been keeping it simple. Just an omelette, juice and a dollop of icecream). Well tonight was a real surprise. My omelette arrived and shortly after that the chap came into my room and tried to explain that there was no vanilla icecream. So we agreed that Strawberry would be fine. At around 10pm he came in with a tray of some kind of Chicken stew and two bottles of beer. I’m fairly sure I didn’t order that. ☺ I think it was some kind of generosity statement. Only problem is, Whilst I’m over here I’m sticking to vege meals, I don’t particularly like beer and I can’t eat a heavy meal like that at 10pm. I had half a glass of the beer because I felt bad about the offering. Just reminded me that I still don’t like beer. Oh well, it was a nice gesture.
One thing that happens at this hotel that I have to keep in mind is that the porters will open the door first and then ask if they can come in. If the door is locked, they will then ring the door bell. This happened last night at about 11pm. I was already in bed. I think the porter wanted to clear away my plates.
Monday, April 14, 2008
14 April 2008
Its amazing. The power didn’t go off today. Well, certainly not for our building anyway. Today is a Public holiday. In India that means that the government and banks take the day off. Everybody else seems to carry on as per usual.
Went to Khilandeep’s place for lunch. His father was home, enjoying a lazy day. He was happy with it as he was woken by the baby in the small hours of the morning. Sigh. Those were the days. We talked for a while over lunch about India’s involvement in peace keeping and the likes.
I found out when I got back to the office that I had two lunch dates. I was going to go to Gurpreet’s house as well. Ooooops.
Spent a chunk of the afternoon going through the progamme with Gurpreet. Its going to take a while. For the remainder of this week I have to take her through the remainder of the course and teach her Illustrator. I kinda wish this had all happened sooner. Still, never a dull moment.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
13 April 2008
Sunday was looking as though it was going to be a quiet day at the hotel. And I guess for the most part it was. I got some play time on the computer, watched a movie or two. (Thankyou India for HBO and Star Movies).
Around 6pm I was getting a bit hungry, so I trotted downstairs to reception and asked for my usual, Omelettes, Juice and icecream. There was another chap there who started discussing my request with the man at reception. If I interpreted the conversation, There were no eggs and the icecream had melted. (Not sure about that). So I went back to my room and sat for a while. Then this young boy who kooks after my floor came in and tried to explain something about my washing. (He’s a really nice boy. He looks so young. A bit like Honey I suppose). I think he was trying to tell me that a pair of socks were missing and that he was going to pay for new ones. (I hope that last bit is a wrong interpretation.) As I wasn’t really understanding him and he seemed so desperate to make me understand I tried to suggest that he could talk to Khilandeep on the cell hone. I didn’t get through straight away. We left it there with a few nods and smiles.
Khilandeep rang make shortly afterwards. By this stage I got the impression that I probably wasn’t going to get my tea, so I asked Khilandeep if we could go to a coffee bar or something. He suggested that, as he was about to have coffee, then I come around to his place and have something there. When I arrived, I was invited in to say hello to mother and baby. The baby was blissfully asleep. She has amazingly black hair. About as black as when Kate dyes her hair. It was thick and stuck out like a hedgehog.
Khilandeep’s father was quick to grab me and take me to his bathroom. (That doesn’t sound right does it?) He wanted to tie a turban on my head. It seems that Sunday was some Prophet or other’s birthday. It was a lot of fun and I was greatly honoured. Once done he took a photograph and suggested I email it to Fiona. He said I looked handsome. (Not sure about that either). Unfortunately neither he nor Khilandeep could find the download cable or the card reader, so we will have to wait until tomorrow and do it at work. He suggested that I should take home a lipstick pink turban so that I could impress the girls.
We sat and talked for a while. Khilandeep’s favourite subject is the military, but we talked about a number of other things. It was interesting to get their perspective on the British influence on India. They see that there were a number of positives about the British coming. Most of all was that India was Hindistan, a collection of many states ruled by princes and kings. The Brisitsh made the most of the fractures between states and eventually took over, making India the nation.
Around 6pm I was getting a bit hungry, so I trotted downstairs to reception and asked for my usual, Omelettes, Juice and icecream. There was another chap there who started discussing my request with the man at reception. If I interpreted the conversation, There were no eggs and the icecream had melted. (Not sure about that). So I went back to my room and sat for a while. Then this young boy who kooks after my floor came in and tried to explain something about my washing. (He’s a really nice boy. He looks so young. A bit like Honey I suppose). I think he was trying to tell me that a pair of socks were missing and that he was going to pay for new ones. (I hope that last bit is a wrong interpretation.) As I wasn’t really understanding him and he seemed so desperate to make me understand I tried to suggest that he could talk to Khilandeep on the cell hone. I didn’t get through straight away. We left it there with a few nods and smiles.
Khilandeep rang make shortly afterwards. By this stage I got the impression that I probably wasn’t going to get my tea, so I asked Khilandeep if we could go to a coffee bar or something. He suggested that, as he was about to have coffee, then I come around to his place and have something there. When I arrived, I was invited in to say hello to mother and baby. The baby was blissfully asleep. She has amazingly black hair. About as black as when Kate dyes her hair. It was thick and stuck out like a hedgehog.
Khilandeep’s father was quick to grab me and take me to his bathroom. (That doesn’t sound right does it?) He wanted to tie a turban on my head. It seems that Sunday was some Prophet or other’s birthday. It was a lot of fun and I was greatly honoured. Once done he took a photograph and suggested I email it to Fiona. He said I looked handsome. (Not sure about that either). Unfortunately neither he nor Khilandeep could find the download cable or the card reader, so we will have to wait until tomorrow and do it at work. He suggested that I should take home a lipstick pink turban so that I could impress the girls.
We sat and talked for a while. Khilandeep’s favourite subject is the military, but we talked about a number of other things. It was interesting to get their perspective on the British influence on India. They see that there were a number of positives about the British coming. Most of all was that India was Hindistan, a collection of many states ruled by princes and kings. The Brisitsh made the most of the fractures between states and eventually took over, making India the nation.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
12 April 2008
Today was a quite day. I had to work around the power cuts, but on the whole things went well. We didn’t do anything after work. Khilandeep wanted to go back to the hospital. Apparently his wife was due to go home once the baby had her first vaccine injection. I was glad to go straight to the hotel. It makes for a long week when you work Saturdays as well. (That sounds rather obvious really doesn’t it?) Its just that sometime I kinda like time to myself.
Friday, April 11, 2008
11 April 2008
I was extremely honoured this morning to be invited to the hospital to see Khilandeep’s wife and baby. Certainly brings back fond memories of when my children were born. The little girl was born about 9.45pm last night. The photo of her is when she was 12 hours old. She’s so tiny. Didn’t get to have a cuddle. I wanted to be careful that I wasn’t getting in the way of any tradition. I can see that Mum and baby are in the best of care. Khilandeep’s mother was there to look after them both.
Gurpreet and her husband took me to their house for lunch today. What a magnificent place. Its like a palace. You can fit my whole house in the dining room, kitchen and first lounge. They have a servant who cooked lunch for us. They call her ‘Aunty’, which I think is a similar word to ‘Marcie’. Elders are very rarely called by their first name. In this instance, she was being called aunty as a mark of respect.
It turns out that there were three calls yesterday in response to the advert in the newspaper. Each of the tutors couldn’t speak English so they were turned away.
So if things keep going the way they are, we may not have this one solved before I come home. Gurpreet has said that she is going to teach the course. She has been sitting in on the classes where she could. She has also been teaching her IELTS classes. Today she employed a lady that will take over her classes so she can spend more time in this class. This lady was the person who taught her English.
After work Gurpreet and her husband took me to another mall to do some shopping. I think this is the newest mall in Ludhiana. Its only been open for a year. Its about six stories high. It ‘s quite something when you first step inside. Reminds me of the malls in Singapore. Its such a strong contrast between this and the hundreds of little shops around the city. If this is a indicator of where India is going, I think we can expect some major changes in the very near future. I do wonder whether its all to fast.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
10 April 2008
An advert went into the paper today for the tutor that will be needed for when I leave. At this stage there was no takers. Its an interesting way of doing things. Employees don’t seem to have to give much notice. They can say they are leaving and be in their next job the day after. Khilandeep’s next attempt will be to advertise at various other training providers. I kinda hope he finds someone suitable soon. I would like time to train them in the subject and our way of doing things. Saturday was going to be the web day. That’s only one day away. I get this ‘adaptive’ felling coming on.
The class went quite well today. We got as much done as we could. We were restricted by the power going off a few times and the fact that we only had one camera. I guess the power outage is something we will have to deal with until the generator arrives. (Not sure when that is going to be).
Khilandeep’s wife went into labour this afternoon. All very exciting. This will be their first..
After work we headed out to buy another camera and two tripods.
The class went quite well today. We got as much done as we could. We were restricted by the power going off a few times and the fact that we only had one camera. I guess the power outage is something we will have to deal with until the generator arrives. (Not sure when that is going to be).
Khilandeep’s wife went into labour this afternoon. All very exciting. This will be their first..
After work we headed out to buy another camera and two tripods.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
9 April 2008
A new air conditioning unit had been installed in my hotel room by time I got home last night. Not to sure what was wrong with the old one except that it was more noisy than it was worth and if I turned it off I had to wait about two hours before it actually shut down. I think the older ones have some kind of power storage system in them in case of power cuts. With this one I just have to use the remote to turn it off. I’ve been trying to get the hotel staff to fix the fridge. (I think its run out of gas). Each time the fixit man comes in he looks at it, pokes around it for a while, then looks at the air con unit, (This was prior to the new one) as though fixing that will solve the problem. So now I have this amazing air con unit and a hot fridge. Well, we’re getting somewhere. Can’t rush these things. Life is not about speed here in India.
I was a bit late getting to work today. Khilandeep had some last minute phone calls come his way. (Not the most ideal).
All the students were here today. We were able to cover some ground with the session. Not so many distractions. The IT person was trying to work around us, finishing of the computer setup. The Airtel (Their Telecom) people were in the classroom setting up the internet. Ah, well, all in a day’s work.
At lunchtime I was waiting for Khilandeep in his car. Just down the road, there were a few young boys playing cricket. They were having a great time. The boy who was in bat gave the ball a good whack, it bounced of the side of a house, then bounced down the road a few times before landing in a rickshaw that was trundling down another street. (What are the odds?) Four of the boys went running after the rickshaw and came back a few minutes later. That really made my day that did.
I was a bit late getting to work today. Khilandeep had some last minute phone calls come his way. (Not the most ideal).
All the students were here today. We were able to cover some ground with the session. Not so many distractions. The IT person was trying to work around us, finishing of the computer setup. The Airtel (Their Telecom) people were in the classroom setting up the internet. Ah, well, all in a day’s work.
At lunchtime I was waiting for Khilandeep in his car. Just down the road, there were a few young boys playing cricket. They were having a great time. The boy who was in bat gave the ball a good whack, it bounced of the side of a house, then bounced down the road a few times before landing in a rickshaw that was trundling down another street. (What are the odds?) Four of the boys went running after the rickshaw and came back a few minutes later. That really made my day that did.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
8 April 2008
Today is the second day of classes. We have most of the students in the class. Apparently two more enrolled over night. Gurpreet is sitting in on the classes as well. She is refreshing her knowledge and helping out where she can. Her son is on the course.
During the morning a Sikh priest came over to bless the establishment. We all took our shoes off and put something on our heads. I’m not sure what it is about baseball caps, but it seems that its not considered suitable head gear for this kind of ceremony. Mind you, Gurpreet’s husband said that if I wear it around the wrong way, then that was fine. (I kinda looked like the local gangster. The only thing missing was the bling). So the priest said his prayers and handed out what looked like a small tennis ball to each of us. It was food. Like a sweet cake. Gurpreet’s husband put some of his on the edge of the computer monitor. This was a part of the Sikh ritual. Khilandeep’s mother, wife and their little helper were there. I am hoping that all the festivities will be over soon. Would be good to get into a routine. It will help to stabilise the learning.
After lunch the reporter arrived. I’m fairly sure he’s the one that got lost yesterday. He took some photos of the students, Gurpreet and myself in a teaching session. (Not that I was still teaching. We had done that this morning.) He then wanted myself and Gurpreet to step into my office and look as though we were being interviewed by him as he took some more piccies.
So, the classes run from 10.30am to 2.30pm. Monday through to Saturday. They are then with Gurpreet from around 3.30pm for a short conversational time to bring up their English speaking confidence. Not sure what happened today about that. By time Khilandeep and I got back from lunch the campus was locked.
One student asked me towards the end of the day how I thought he handled the class. He wanted to know in terms of percentages. He thought he performed 60%. I told him I thought 100%. He was surprised. I told him that he was the only one who made an effort to try the same thing a few times to get it right and he was the only one to right down the instructions I was giving them. He was the most needy in the class. He may even need to re-learn everything tomorrow, but what is success measured by. One of the other students seems like a born natural. It didn’t seem to matter what button he pushed, the result always really great. (Green fumes of jealousy poring out of Collie’s ears). This student was not pushing himself. Just along for the ride.
After work khilandeep took me to see if we could get a tutor from the MAAC institute. We discovered that the institute no longer existed in Ludhiana. We tried another establishment only to discover they had gone too.
I’ve seen a number of different headdresses whilst I’ve been here, but I saw something tonight that tops them all off. There was a chap that was riding his bike wearing a woollen tea cozy. The only thing missing was the holes for the spout and handle. You gotta love these guys.
On the way home we stopped of at a friend’s studio. He’s a photographer. He did the photographs for Khilandeep’s wedding and engagement. What a really nice person. He has messages in his studio such as ‘smiles are free’ and ‘we are here to serve ‘. His work is really good. It has lots of flare. Whilst we were chatting, he showed me some of his work. To my surprise he offered to have my photograph taken. His colleague took me to the back room where they do the portraits, set up the lights and gave me the royal treatment. 10 minutes later I had a photo printed and some digital files to do with as I pleased. That was a gift, he said, welcoming me to India.
During the morning a Sikh priest came over to bless the establishment. We all took our shoes off and put something on our heads. I’m not sure what it is about baseball caps, but it seems that its not considered suitable head gear for this kind of ceremony. Mind you, Gurpreet’s husband said that if I wear it around the wrong way, then that was fine. (I kinda looked like the local gangster. The only thing missing was the bling). So the priest said his prayers and handed out what looked like a small tennis ball to each of us. It was food. Like a sweet cake. Gurpreet’s husband put some of his on the edge of the computer monitor. This was a part of the Sikh ritual. Khilandeep’s mother, wife and their little helper were there. I am hoping that all the festivities will be over soon. Would be good to get into a routine. It will help to stabilise the learning.
After lunch the reporter arrived. I’m fairly sure he’s the one that got lost yesterday. He took some photos of the students, Gurpreet and myself in a teaching session. (Not that I was still teaching. We had done that this morning.) He then wanted myself and Gurpreet to step into my office and look as though we were being interviewed by him as he took some more piccies.
So, the classes run from 10.30am to 2.30pm. Monday through to Saturday. They are then with Gurpreet from around 3.30pm for a short conversational time to bring up their English speaking confidence. Not sure what happened today about that. By time Khilandeep and I got back from lunch the campus was locked.
One student asked me towards the end of the day how I thought he handled the class. He wanted to know in terms of percentages. He thought he performed 60%. I told him I thought 100%. He was surprised. I told him that he was the only one who made an effort to try the same thing a few times to get it right and he was the only one to right down the instructions I was giving them. He was the most needy in the class. He may even need to re-learn everything tomorrow, but what is success measured by. One of the other students seems like a born natural. It didn’t seem to matter what button he pushed, the result always really great. (Green fumes of jealousy poring out of Collie’s ears). This student was not pushing himself. Just along for the ride.
After work khilandeep took me to see if we could get a tutor from the MAAC institute. We discovered that the institute no longer existed in Ludhiana. We tried another establishment only to discover they had gone too.
I’ve seen a number of different headdresses whilst I’ve been here, but I saw something tonight that tops them all off. There was a chap that was riding his bike wearing a woollen tea cozy. The only thing missing was the holes for the spout and handle. You gotta love these guys.
On the way home we stopped of at a friend’s studio. He’s a photographer. He did the photographs for Khilandeep’s wedding and engagement. What a really nice person. He has messages in his studio such as ‘smiles are free’ and ‘we are here to serve ‘. His work is really good. It has lots of flare. Whilst we were chatting, he showed me some of his work. To my surprise he offered to have my photograph taken. His colleague took me to the back room where they do the portraits, set up the lights and gave me the royal treatment. 10 minutes later I had a photo printed and some digital files to do with as I pleased. That was a gift, he said, welcoming me to India.
Monday, April 7, 2008
7 April 2008
Today was supposed to be a ‘meet the press’ day. Not sure what happened to them. I think I heard some mention of one going to the wrong place. I did meet some really interesting people. Khilandeep’s uncle came for tea. He’s a doctor of great note. Has done a lot of work around the world on all sorts of issues, including heading conferences on nuclear disarmament. I met Gurpreet’s parents in law. I was introduced to a number of other people who are just a sea of faces now.
I met four of the six students today. We spent some time chatting about the course. Couldn’t really do to much until the other students arrive tomorrow. There were to many people coming and going to be able to do anything serious
I did set up the computers, so that they have a nice desktop picture and the files the students will need for their training. I think the biggest challenge is going to be to get past the language barrier. Three of the four students seem to be ok with their English. We’ll see what the other two are like tomorrow.
I met four of the six students today. We spent some time chatting about the course. Couldn’t really do to much until the other students arrive tomorrow. There were to many people coming and going to be able to do anything serious
I did set up the computers, so that they have a nice desktop picture and the files the students will need for their training. I think the biggest challenge is going to be to get past the language barrier. Three of the four students seem to be ok with their English. We’ll see what the other two are like tomorrow.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
6 April 2008
Talk about thunder storms!! We had a whopper last night. The lightening was amazing. The sky was a dance of bolts crisscrossing in all directions. At one point the TV just turned to static. None of the channels worked. Fortunately I had just recently turned off the computer. So, now everywhere you go is mud instead of dust.
Today is sunny, a bit of breeze and not so many horns. Sunday is the one day in the week when most folk don’t go to work.
Well, I’ll be … I just saw a squirrel. It was scampering along the ledge just outside my window. I would not have expected to see a squirrel in India. I just checked on the world’s largest encyclopaedia. It called a palm squirrel. Apparently they also have a giant squirrel. It’s got a long black tail. Doesn’t seem as bushy as normal squirrels. The squirrel I saw was gorgeous.
Around 1 pm Khilandeep and his family arrived and we headed out of town to visit the Tiger Safari. He would have arrived a little earlier but the chairs arrived for the lab and he needed to supervise them being put into place. The trip was eventful. (Good and, … not so good) It was really lovely being with Khilandeep’s family. They are really lovely people. His dad is a retired army Captain. He still works for the military in some capacity. Not sure what. He wanted to tell me all about his army days and cars. Not necessarily in that order. There were a lot of jokes and plenty of laughter.
We were travelling on a flyover when we passed a car that had been left on the road with the back end jacked up and no back wheels. It was hilarious. Right in the middle of the fast lane. I don’t think it had been stolen. All the impressions were that it had broken down and was left part way through it being fixed.
When we got to the safari park, he told me about his days in Africa. It would seem that he and his wife spent about four years there. Not sure why. The animals we saw were mainly deer of some kind. We got on a bus that took us around the Tiger enclosure. That took all of about five minutes. We saw three Tigers shading under various bushes and one was in the tiger house. I think there may have been five in all. The tigers had a reasonably big enclosure. It may have been about three acres. Beautiful cats. The sad part was that I lost my sunglasses. As soon as I realised that I had lost them I retraced my steps. But by time I got back to where I am sure they fell to the ground, they were gone. Khilandeep’s father came and helped me try to find them. After the trip around the tiger enclosure, his mother and wife also retraced our steps. Still, never mind, I wasn’t about to let that spoil and otherwise wonderful day.
We had Chinese for lunch. (Its funny to go to a Chinese restaurant and not see a single Chinese face in the room.) We went to Khilandeep’s house for a relaxing coffee and chatted for a while about New Zealand and, … cars.
To finish the day Khilandeep took me home via work to have a look at the classroom. Wow. What a transformation. The chairs were there, the fans and air conditioning were working. The rooms were, … cleanish. (Still a lot of dust. Apparently a cleaner has been hired as a permanent staff member and will be hovering around all day. I’ve been told he’s a clean-a-holic.) We took some photographs. I may not be able to send them home. The email system I’m using doesn’t seem to be able to handle large attachments. I’ll bring them home with me at the end of the month.
Friday, April 4, 2008
5 April 2008
I decided to stay at the hotel today. You don’t want to go to far away from a decent bathroom when you have an upset tummy. Fortunately tomorrow is Sunday anyway so I take it easy for the weekend. Its about 11am in the morning and the power has been off since before I woke this morning. Its amazing what you feel you can’t do when you don’t have power.
I went down stairs to reception to ask about the electricity. I couldn’t seem to find out anything. I don’t think they understood what I was asking.
11.15am. Khilandeep came over with some medicine and fluids. He also talked to the staff to find out what was happening with the power. Within a minute or two the power was back on. Must have been a circuit blown.
End of the day. Bit tedious. Its not much fun having to sit around in your room watching TV. I would have liked to read a book but I don’t think there’s a book store close by. At least I’m felling a bit better.
I went down stairs to reception to ask about the electricity. I couldn’t seem to find out anything. I don’t think they understood what I was asking.
11.15am. Khilandeep came over with some medicine and fluids. He also talked to the staff to find out what was happening with the power. Within a minute or two the power was back on. Must have been a circuit blown.
End of the day. Bit tedious. Its not much fun having to sit around in your room watching TV. I would have liked to read a book but I don’t think there’s a book store close by. At least I’m felling a bit better.
4 April 2008
So, first thing this morning, I popped around to the internet store. It’s about one minutes walk from the office. The guy there suggested that I take a seat. I thought I might cross over the road to the stationary store to see if I could get some pencils and a sketch book. That was fun. These people are really quite nice. Got back to the internet store and waited for a few minutes. The guy told me that he had fixed it and that I should wait a half hour for it to connect. We will see.
Nope, didn’t work. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Yay. Finally. you know, there a funny little button on the mac that sometimes crops up in settings type software. It’s called ‘Assist me’. Its funny how, if you push that button you actually get results. Khilandeep and I were playing with the laptop over lunch and he decided to try that button.
Nope, didn’t work. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Yay. Finally. you know, there a funny little button on the mac that sometimes crops up in settings type software. It’s called ‘Assist me’. Its funny how, if you push that button you actually get results. Khilandeep and I were playing with the laptop over lunch and he decided to try that button.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
3 April 2008
I'm not feeling so well today. Its probably my body getting used to the new diet. Had toast and coffee for lunch. The computer technician is installing the computers whilst the electrician is finishing off the lights, fans and air conditioning.
The main office is an absolute mad house today. There are people everywhere. It would seem that when one person comes in there is a support crew of at least one, sometimes the whole family. We are supposed to be going out this afternoon to buy chairs and more tables for the teaching space. I guess that will depend on when the crowd thins out.
Khilandeep told me at lunch time that India has the biggest population of stray dogs in the world. We were outside this tiny 'dairy' type shop buying mineral water. There was a whole family of strays living in an abandoned house across the street.
At the end of the day we headed to the internet store to try and figure out the remote connection for my laptop. We got a slightly older unit that seems to work ok for the mac. I tried it when I got back to the hotel. Didn’t work. I’ll have to see if I can go see them again in the morning. Had more toast for tea. Not sure where this tummy thing is going. I’ll see what some sleep will do.
2 April 2008
Sue left for Delhi this morning around 6.30am. I was up so we said goodbye. I thought I might order an English breakfast this morning. Well, that was a big mistake. The menu was cornflakes, toast, butter, jam preserve, juice and eggs. What I got was some kind of chocolate crispy things in a bowl, hot milk in a glass, toast with butter on the thickness of a slice of cheese, tomato sauce, and juice. I certainly regret having had the cereal and I certainly shouldn’t have had it with the hot milk. I had to lay down for about half an hour just to get over the sick feeling. I think I’ll just stick to the Indian breakfast from now on. At least they know what I’m talking about.
The classroom is another step closer. Nearly all the paint on the floor has gone. They are now working on the paint spills on the desks. Cleaning the windows. Its very likely it will be finished today.
Wow, an exciting day today. I was given a ethernet connection so I was more able to check the mail. I was also asked to prepare a press article for Natcoll and the new course here in India.
Last visit to the computer lab before I went home The computers are going in. The technician is starting work on the machines tonight.
The classroom is another step closer. Nearly all the paint on the floor has gone. They are now working on the paint spills on the desks. Cleaning the windows. Its very likely it will be finished today.
Wow, an exciting day today. I was given a ethernet connection so I was more able to check the mail. I was also asked to prepare a press article for Natcoll and the new course here in India.
Last visit to the computer lab before I went home The computers are going in. The technician is starting work on the machines tonight.
1 April 2008
I woke up a bit later this morning. About 6am. Most mornings so far I’ve been waking up around 3 am.
Off to the office around 10.30am. Back to the couch. Yay. Had another look at the classroom. The workers are starting to clean up. Goodness knows how they are going to get rid of all the paint spills.
Sue and I went to visit another agent at 3pm. The head of the company had come from Delhi to meet us. He is what I imagine a ‘jolly fat Indian’. He seemed to be bubbly like his name. This branch has only been open for six months.
At about 6pm, Gurpreet (Khilandeep’s sister) and her husband took us shopping in one of the malls. It’s about the closest we have come to NZ style shopping since I’ve been here. Bought some things for the family. Gurpreet and her family are really nice. They really want to look after me.
Got back to the hotel around 7.30pm. Khilandeep was trying to set up an internet connection for my laptop. Couldn’t get it working at the hotel so he took it with him to talk to a friend of his about it. The software seems to be only for the PC.
Off to the office around 10.30am. Back to the couch. Yay. Had another look at the classroom. The workers are starting to clean up. Goodness knows how they are going to get rid of all the paint spills.
Sue and I went to visit another agent at 3pm. The head of the company had come from Delhi to meet us. He is what I imagine a ‘jolly fat Indian’. He seemed to be bubbly like his name. This branch has only been open for six months.
At about 6pm, Gurpreet (Khilandeep’s sister) and her husband took us shopping in one of the malls. It’s about the closest we have come to NZ style shopping since I’ve been here. Bought some things for the family. Gurpreet and her family are really nice. They really want to look after me.
Got back to the hotel around 7.30pm. Khilandeep was trying to set up an internet connection for my laptop. Couldn’t get it working at the hotel so he took it with him to talk to a friend of his about it. The software seems to be only for the PC.
31 March 2008
Today was a late start. It was 11am before we got to the office. Yay, there was my favourite couch waiting for me. Smiling for a bum to come sit on it. And, … wait. (I’m starting to get used to it now) We had another look at the lab. Things had changed, a little. There were a few more bulbs in sockets; some of the painting looks finished; there are more glass panels. Not sure how they are going to clean up after themselves. There’s paint splashes everywhere and the floor is covered in plaster droppings.
We went to Khilandeep’s house for lunch. It was lovely to see his wife and mother again. His mother came in after we arrived. She had been to a kitty gathering. We keep seeing this word kitty all over the place, especially in hotels. Sue discovered that wives and mothers put money together over a period and one of the wives chooses a venue and organises a party or gathering. Today his mum was at a party playing housey and gossiping. (That’s Khilandeep’s words)
After lunch we visited another agent and showed them the programme we are promoting. I think the councillors were interested but the manager seemed to be interested in stealing the concept from Khilandeep rather than cooperating with him. At the conclusion of the meeting, we were driven back to the hotel by the manager and one of his councillors. You don’t want to be a nervous passenger over here. This guy was driving like a madman.
Later in the evening Sue and I went for a walk. We tried to retrace our steps back to the office. I think we got most of the way there. It was getting a bit dark so we chose to come back. We saw some really fancy houses along the route. Its interesting that you see these houses right next to broken down wrecks and rubble. We went into a few shops. Its really unusual being the subject of attention as you walk around. You get the impression that you are wearing a neon sign on your head flashing bright red or something. I suppose it shouldn’t be so surprising. In most of the tourist books on India they say that Ludhiana has nothing to offer a sightseer.
We went to Khilandeep’s house for lunch. It was lovely to see his wife and mother again. His mother came in after we arrived. She had been to a kitty gathering. We keep seeing this word kitty all over the place, especially in hotels. Sue discovered that wives and mothers put money together over a period and one of the wives chooses a venue and organises a party or gathering. Today his mum was at a party playing housey and gossiping. (That’s Khilandeep’s words)
After lunch we visited another agent and showed them the programme we are promoting. I think the councillors were interested but the manager seemed to be interested in stealing the concept from Khilandeep rather than cooperating with him. At the conclusion of the meeting, we were driven back to the hotel by the manager and one of his councillors. You don’t want to be a nervous passenger over here. This guy was driving like a madman.
Later in the evening Sue and I went for a walk. We tried to retrace our steps back to the office. I think we got most of the way there. It was getting a bit dark so we chose to come back. We saw some really fancy houses along the route. Its interesting that you see these houses right next to broken down wrecks and rubble. We went into a few shops. Its really unusual being the subject of attention as you walk around. You get the impression that you are wearing a neon sign on your head flashing bright red or something. I suppose it shouldn’t be so surprising. In most of the tourist books on India they say that Ludhiana has nothing to offer a sightseer.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
30 March 2008
Khilandeep arrived about 8.15 this morning. We were heading for Amristar. About 20 km from the Parkistan border. He decided not to drive but chose to hire a taxi. Its about three hours drive and can be quite tiring. I’m really not that surprised that he chose that option. Even though today is Sunday, there’s still plenty of people on the roads. Someone was hurding buffalo across the road. Unfortunately one of the calves moved the wrong way into the traffic and a bus couldn’t stop soon enough. The calf got one of its feet run over by the front tyre. It got up and hobbled away. We couldn’t tell how bad it was.
Being Sunday, most people are on there day off. Which means Cricket. Whatever available spot of ground was being used for playing. Whatever available bit of masonry was being used for wickets. They are really nuts about cricket. They have about four TV channels for cricket.
We drove past a mall in the making. I was amazed that this enormous complex was being built using a small amount of concrete and a fantasic amount of small bricks. The ones we use for houses. This mall would be around 3 acres and four to five stories high. The scaffolding was very worrisome. Its perhaps not as bad as some of the other asian countries but it certainly wouldn’t get the nod of approval in NZ. There are virtually no wooden houses in India. Wood is to expensive. You do see a lot of trees here and there. I wouldn’t say forests though. A common tree over here is the Gum tree. Fortunatley in this part of India they don’t have that many earthquakes. Perhaps every nine or ten years or so.
On all of the trucks you see on the road, there is a sign on the tail gate. ‘Blow Horn’. Its quite amusing. They are nearly always hand painted on and often have a real flourish to them. With lots of colours. I’m not sure if it required by law. What I have discovered is that on the most part it doesn’t matter how much you blast your horn, there’s no moving over. SO most drivers will find the quickest way around the truck. That can be inside, outside, footpath, in the other lane with on coming traffic, you name it.
I saw a vehicle today that looked surprisingly like a Combi VW, except it wasn’t. It had a lot of the curves you would expect of a combi but it was smaller and shorter. It was called a Tempo. There are millions of three wheeled scooter-cars in India. It’s the poorman’s taxi. They look like they have a 50cc motor in them somewhere around the driver’s feet. I’ve seen whole families in these things. You also get the cargo versions. They are like mini vans. Today we saw a flat top sports car slightly bigger than the MG of the sixties. It had the driver and 10 other people in it. What was most amusing was that they all managed to fit in without spilling out the sides. Even our taxi driver was laughing at it.
We passed a Police academy. There were hundreds of people in the parade grounds. Some were in brownish uniforms, others in black. Khilandeep said the ones in black are the commandos. Interesting difference with NZ in that they seem more, … military.
There are a number of convent schools in India. I suppose that means they are schools run by a convent. The one thing I have noticed here is that the Indians are very tolerant of differences.
The ‘Seminar’ was in a fairly fancy hotel. Not what we would call a seminar. More like an open day really. The hotel porters wore British style white uniforms and had these mostaches that would win hands down in the Barvarian mostache contest. It was great to look at as long as you didn’t laugh out loud in front of them. We met up with a few potential students whilst we were there. You can never really say that these things are a waste of time. It certainly felt like it for the most part. I did however get to meet a student that is coming on a course in Christchurch in April. He was really nice and is very excited about coming. We showed him the video of the Indian students and he felt much more relaxed.
Around 4pm we packed up and headed out. At first I thought we were heading straight home, but the driver was heading down some streets that we hadn’t come in on. I thought that he was trying to pick an easier path as the trip on the way in was pretty rough. New roading is being put in with flyovers and all sorts. It turns out that we were heading for the Golden Temple.
The Golden Temple is the most holy place on earth for the Sikhs. They will come here from whatever country they are in whenever they can. Some will stay for weeks just to worship. The Temple itself is made of Gold. IT sits in the middle of a big pond. The water is shallow and has a number of what looks like goldfish in it, except these goldfish are huge. (Must be well fed)
Leading nito the temple grounds you take of your shoes and socks. There is a locker area where you can leave them safely. Then you walk over to a range of basins where you wash your hands and face. You go over to the entrance to the temple area and walk through a trough of flowing water. Now you are in the temple area. Devotes will bend down and kiss the marble stones and say a prayer. You can then walk around the grounds. In the corners are stations which provide drinking water. You can also buy some kind of food that you will take into the temple itself and give it to the priests. They will mix it with something in and then share it with others who are in there. Most of it they will give back to you. You can then take it out of the temple and share it with others you meet. When we arrived there were long lines of people waiting to go into the temple. So we decided not to wait. We walked around the perimeter to the food hall. The food hall is for everyone who wishes to eat there. It is free and you can come back as many times as you like. I should say here that its not like any food hall I’ve seen. You sit in lines with your metal food tray and spoon and wait for the attendant to come to you to put the food into the plate. When you are finished you leave with your plate and hand it to the attendants who throw it into a big container ready for washing. Today was not a good day for trying to get food either. The hall was filled to capacity and there was as many again outside waiting. We gave that a miss as well. I think Khilandeep would have liked to have stayed but he was conscious of the late hour. We left back through the water trough and picked up our shoes.
The trip home was probably the worst so far. It was alright until we got to the road works. Then, on the narrowest part of the road the traffic came to a stop. As is usual over here, cars were trying to get around the blockage by all sorts of routes. All this did was completely bloke the road. The police arrived eventually to try and sort it out. To travel 5Km, it took us well over an hour. Then further down the road, we came across the malls. They were still open and boy were they busy. The one thing they Mall builders hadn’t accounted for in their building was parking. There were cars everywhere!!!!!!
What should have taken about 2.30 to get home landed up being over 4 hours. Still at least we got home.
29 March 2008
I should say at this point that the hotel is on a busy road. It’s a four lane road separated in the middle by a barrier. Not that the traffic sticks to the two lanes on their side. More often than not there are three to four lanes of cars, trucks, bikes, well you name it, all heading in the general same direction. Even that can’t be assured. Whilst we were heading into breakfast we saw a bull standing on the barrier looking of into the distance. It was completely non-phased by all the commotion around it. It was still there later when we were about to leave for the day.
We were heading out early to head off to Jalandhar. When I say early, it was 9.30 am when we finally got away. The trip was amazing. I suppose it would be about the same distance from the centre of Christchurch to say Amberley but it took us two hours. The first thing I noticed is that the bull had decided to move on, so he casually walked off against the flow of traffic. And if that kinda weird, well two minutes up the road we found the rest of the herd busy watching the traffic from their barrier vantage point. Along the motorway, we travelled through some countryside. We also went through a few smaller towns. There were also a number of resorts and malls. Some were not yet finished. We passed a fairly big waterworld like park with waterslides, merry go rounds, and the likes. There were a few Hindi temples. They are always really amazing architecture. The Hindi like domes. Similar to the Muslims.
Whilst we were waiting in the traffic, an Indian woman and her child walked through the traffic begging. She had been crying.
We arrived at a hotel in Jalandhar and were directed to ‘Kitty’ hall number two. This was kinda interesting as the hall seemed to be occupied by another event. It was one of the universities in Ireland offering their courses to potential Indian students. It turned out that our room was directly behind theirs. Khilandeep quickly out uo some signs to direct those interested in Natcoll and then we, … waited. There was some interest during the day, but not a lot. Some other agents came and chatted for a while. A couple of potential students. A chap who was Indian, had lived in America for twenty year, had an American/Indian accent and was thinking of coming to New Zealand. One lad the Khilandeep knew came to say hello. He is heading to Perth to study for a couple of years. So in all, it wasn’t an overly productive visit. Still, you get some of those days.
The power gets cut regularly in India. It can occur anytime and around twice a day. Nearly everyone who can afford it has a generator. Some kick in automatically. This hotel lost its power three times whilst we were there. Really interesting when the room you are in is underground with no windows.
Sue left us around 4pm to head to another appointment. She had a two hour taxi drive ahead of her.
We headed home. The traffic wasn’t to bad for most of the trip. There was one part where it slowed to a crawl. That took us about half an hour to get through. It was caused by a petrol tanker rolling and squashing another truck. Quite a mess really.
Khilandeep took me to his house before heading back to the hotel. I had a chance to meet his mother and wife. He showed me his wedding photos whilst we had a coffee and snack.
28 March 2008
We had an Indian breakfast in the hotel. It was quite nice. Today consisted of getting picked up from the hotel at 10.30am and taken to the office. Sue and I resumed our position on the couch and waited. This time though, we got out our laptops and busied ourselves with various things. We had a couple of occasions during the day when people came in to talk about the courses.
We headed out to lunch around 3pm.
We checked the progress on the new classrooms a couple of times during the day.
Before heading home for the evening Khilandeep took us to some of the shops. There is a slow change happening in the style of shops. There are small supermarkets appearing, and large malls. On the whole though, its still much like Israel. Small specialist shops. One we saw was like a chemist except it only sold shampoos and shaving equipment. In the same building as the office, there is a 24 hour ATM machine. Its like its, just there. There doesn’t seem to be any logic or flow. (I guess there would be if you thought about it hard enough.)
Before retiring for the night, Sue and I went down to the restaurant for a drink and nibbles. We chatted for a while.
27 March 2008
It is as well that I body clock is still set to NZ time. I set the alarm on my cellphone, only to discover that it doesn’t go off if the lid is open. Plus, I’d set the local time wrong by about 20 minutes. (That will teach me to cross about four different time zones in two days, your brain tends to turn to mush.)
I waited in the lobby for Sue and we headed out in the taxi at about 6 am. The taxi was what looked like an old Morris. (Drove like one too). One thing you learn very soon after you arrive in India is that the Road rules are somewhat different to New Zealand. The basic idea is that you give way to bigger vehicles and you toot at everything that gets in your way. Other than that, it pays to drive on the same side of the road as everyone else, … most of the time. There are Traffic lights. Mostly on the more busy roads. Its amazing how many people you can fit onto a motorbike. I think I counted 5 at one point.
The streets we travelled down are really dirty. There’s rubbish everywhere. Walls surrounding the parks were broken down. It looks like they haven’t been touched since the English occupation. Still, I guess that will all change for the Games.
A fairly major area of the route was blocked off by the army. We wondered what that was until we drove past what looked like a main entrance. It was the Chinese Embassy.
Being this early in the morning there wasn’t a lot of traffic until we got to the train station. Then there were taxis, bikes, buses, and wall to wall people. It’s the main form of transport for India. Porters were quick to arrive at the taxi. Sue negotiated the fee before they took the bags. I pity the chap that took my bags. One alone was about 20 KG. He put both of them on his head. The other chap had Sue’s bags on his head and off we went. It was a case of ‘Follow those bags’ because that’s about all we saw through the crowd. I’m really glad they knew where they were going. There was about 12 platforms. We were heading for platform 11. The porters took us to the platform but we couldn’t see any indicator that we were in the right place. When we asked them they indicated that it could be either this on or 10. As you can imagine, that didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the situation. Sure enough, the train came to platform 10, not 11.
The porters put our bags on the train in our exact seat numbers, and counted them out for us to assure us that nothing was missing. About twenty minutes later the train moved out of the station. On the trip you are treated to a long breakfast. First there’s tea or coffee. Then comes the cornflakes, followed up by the main course. An Indian dish. (Quite nice). Along the railway tracks there are clusters of … well what could you call them, … huts, houses, tents, … It’s when you see this poverty you get a clearer picture of what life is like in India. Only 30% of the population live on more than US$1 per day.
We travelled through the greater farm land area of the Punjab. Its such a big country. The distance is obscured by a haze that’s partly dust and partly pollution. As the day moves on so the haze lifts a little. You see many little hut looking things in the shape of a cone. These are carefully crafted piles of poo. They have been dried out and stacked to provide fuel for fires. There are some real creatives in the poo stacking business. Some of the stacks looked really well formed, others just looked like they were thrown together.
In this district there are chimney stacks everywhere. These are for making bricks. A lot of food is grown here for most of India. One half of the year is wheat, the other half is rice. (Thats the monsoon season.)
We arrived in Ludhiana about 11am. We were warned a few minutes before arriving that the station was coming up. They also told us that it would only be a 3 minute stop. So we scrambled for the door and waited for the train to stop. Fortunately there were plenty of people to give us a helping hand.
As with the station in Delhi, there were porters to help with the baggage as soon as we got of the train. This time, however, Our host Khilandeep was at the terminal to receive us. So we waited a few minutes for him to get to us, then the porters picked up our gear and off we went.
This is where I saw my first beggar close up. I have to say it was quite disturbing to see a man right in front of me with no hands, asking for money. If I was on my own, I think I would have struggled to think what to do. (I’m still pondering that one)
Khilandeep took us to our hotel. A quaint, very Indian hotel close to the office. Its called Hotel Neelgiri. He worked out the details with the hotel staff and took us up to the rooms.
We talked there for a while and then headed of to the office. Now there’s an eye opener. We arrived at this building that looks much like all the shops in the area, except there is this enormous Natcoll billboard on the side. The office is on the second floor. There are three main areas to the setup. Khilandeep calls his business ‘Can Able’. One area is set aside for teaching English as a second language, another is the office. This is where Khilandeep, his sister and brother in law work and where people come to talk about emigrating. The third area is going to be the main classroom area and reception for the Foundation course. That’s currently being decorated at the moment.
We were introduced to the family members and offered a drink. There are two office boys. Their job is to … well in the cinema world I suppose you would call them gophers. A lot of the time they are sitting around watching life go by. They don’t say much but they respond when asked to do something. We were also introduced to the couch. I say introduced because, as I found out from Sue, he couch is where you seem to spend a lot of the day. We sat and waited. There’s all sorts of things going on around you, phone calls, people walking in and out, others talking. Its quite fun just watching really.
Lunch here is around 2.30pm. You can expect to finish in the office around 6pm.
We had a look around the classroom. Khilandeep was showing us where everything was going to go. For our first look, the renovations were a bit chaotic. There was paint, dust, newspapers, workers, … I’m sure you get the idea. Khilandeep assured us that the work would be finished by Tuesday. Hmmmmm. Well they do work long hours, and they work through the weekend, so I guess we will see.
We went back to the hotel for tea. By this stage my body clock was telling me ‘Why aren’t you in bed, snoring your head off’. We chatted for a while over drinks and nibbles. 8.30 came and I hit my pillow and was out like a light. That was until around 3am. Then I was wide awake thinking, this is going to be a long day.
I waited in the lobby for Sue and we headed out in the taxi at about 6 am. The taxi was what looked like an old Morris. (Drove like one too). One thing you learn very soon after you arrive in India is that the Road rules are somewhat different to New Zealand. The basic idea is that you give way to bigger vehicles and you toot at everything that gets in your way. Other than that, it pays to drive on the same side of the road as everyone else, … most of the time. There are Traffic lights. Mostly on the more busy roads. Its amazing how many people you can fit onto a motorbike. I think I counted 5 at one point.
The streets we travelled down are really dirty. There’s rubbish everywhere. Walls surrounding the parks were broken down. It looks like they haven’t been touched since the English occupation. Still, I guess that will all change for the Games.
A fairly major area of the route was blocked off by the army. We wondered what that was until we drove past what looked like a main entrance. It was the Chinese Embassy.
Being this early in the morning there wasn’t a lot of traffic until we got to the train station. Then there were taxis, bikes, buses, and wall to wall people. It’s the main form of transport for India. Porters were quick to arrive at the taxi. Sue negotiated the fee before they took the bags. I pity the chap that took my bags. One alone was about 20 KG. He put both of them on his head. The other chap had Sue’s bags on his head and off we went. It was a case of ‘Follow those bags’ because that’s about all we saw through the crowd. I’m really glad they knew where they were going. There was about 12 platforms. We were heading for platform 11. The porters took us to the platform but we couldn’t see any indicator that we were in the right place. When we asked them they indicated that it could be either this on or 10. As you can imagine, that didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the situation. Sure enough, the train came to platform 10, not 11.
The porters put our bags on the train in our exact seat numbers, and counted them out for us to assure us that nothing was missing. About twenty minutes later the train moved out of the station. On the trip you are treated to a long breakfast. First there’s tea or coffee. Then comes the cornflakes, followed up by the main course. An Indian dish. (Quite nice). Along the railway tracks there are clusters of … well what could you call them, … huts, houses, tents, … It’s when you see this poverty you get a clearer picture of what life is like in India. Only 30% of the population live on more than US$1 per day.
We travelled through the greater farm land area of the Punjab. Its such a big country. The distance is obscured by a haze that’s partly dust and partly pollution. As the day moves on so the haze lifts a little. You see many little hut looking things in the shape of a cone. These are carefully crafted piles of poo. They have been dried out and stacked to provide fuel for fires. There are some real creatives in the poo stacking business. Some of the stacks looked really well formed, others just looked like they were thrown together.
In this district there are chimney stacks everywhere. These are for making bricks. A lot of food is grown here for most of India. One half of the year is wheat, the other half is rice. (Thats the monsoon season.)
We arrived in Ludhiana about 11am. We were warned a few minutes before arriving that the station was coming up. They also told us that it would only be a 3 minute stop. So we scrambled for the door and waited for the train to stop. Fortunately there were plenty of people to give us a helping hand.
As with the station in Delhi, there were porters to help with the baggage as soon as we got of the train. This time, however, Our host Khilandeep was at the terminal to receive us. So we waited a few minutes for him to get to us, then the porters picked up our gear and off we went.
This is where I saw my first beggar close up. I have to say it was quite disturbing to see a man right in front of me with no hands, asking for money. If I was on my own, I think I would have struggled to think what to do. (I’m still pondering that one)
Khilandeep took us to our hotel. A quaint, very Indian hotel close to the office. Its called Hotel Neelgiri. He worked out the details with the hotel staff and took us up to the rooms.
We talked there for a while and then headed of to the office. Now there’s an eye opener. We arrived at this building that looks much like all the shops in the area, except there is this enormous Natcoll billboard on the side. The office is on the second floor. There are three main areas to the setup. Khilandeep calls his business ‘Can Able’. One area is set aside for teaching English as a second language, another is the office. This is where Khilandeep, his sister and brother in law work and where people come to talk about emigrating. The third area is going to be the main classroom area and reception for the Foundation course. That’s currently being decorated at the moment.
We were introduced to the family members and offered a drink. There are two office boys. Their job is to … well in the cinema world I suppose you would call them gophers. A lot of the time they are sitting around watching life go by. They don’t say much but they respond when asked to do something. We were also introduced to the couch. I say introduced because, as I found out from Sue, he couch is where you seem to spend a lot of the day. We sat and waited. There’s all sorts of things going on around you, phone calls, people walking in and out, others talking. Its quite fun just watching really.
Lunch here is around 2.30pm. You can expect to finish in the office around 6pm.
We had a look around the classroom. Khilandeep was showing us where everything was going to go. For our first look, the renovations were a bit chaotic. There was paint, dust, newspapers, workers, … I’m sure you get the idea. Khilandeep assured us that the work would be finished by Tuesday. Hmmmmm. Well they do work long hours, and they work through the weekend, so I guess we will see.
We went back to the hotel for tea. By this stage my body clock was telling me ‘Why aren’t you in bed, snoring your head off’. We chatted for a while over drinks and nibbles. 8.30 came and I hit my pillow and was out like a light. That was until around 3am. Then I was wide awake thinking, this is going to be a long day.
26 March 2008
It was a long night. I thought I might go straight to bed. First thing I needed to adjust was the pillow. The ones on the bed are reeeeeeeally fat and ‘weight about a pig’. I think it may weigh more than my suitcase. Housekeeping came up with another one that was slightly smaller. I was mostly OK after that. I had to decide whether I wanted to have the noise of the air conditioner going or have it off and get used to the temperature. I left it on. Fortunately it was a constant noise rather than a clatter, so it wasn’t that hard to ignore.
So, Now its morning. I’m watching the sun rise over the skyscrapers. I’ve had breakfast, and am thinking I might go for a walk. I’m sort of waiting for my camera to charge before I go.
Singapore is a really big place. It makes Christchurch look like a village. Its very clean, the traffic is fairly free flowing and I haven’t heard a single horn since I’ve been here.
I went for a walk after checking out of the hotel. It would have been much nicer if I didn’t have to carry my computer case around with me. The hotel didn’t want to take care of it because it was in a soft case. They thought it might get damaged. I walked to the city Mall. It’s huge. There are five towers connected by shops. There are three levels of shops and food places. It was rather amusing. I got there at around 9.20am thinking the shops will be open. No, not a single shop. So I wondered for a while. Around 10 am some of the shops were starting to open.
I then thought I might go off looking for the famous Merlion. I had the general direction, I even had a map. Only down side to that was the street signs were not so easy to find. I went through various plazas and finally landed up on the edge of the Singapore River. Of in the distance was the Merlion. By this stage my feet were being very uncooperative. So I found some shade and parked for a while. It was really nice looking over the river. There’s all sorts of architecture in the area, from British colonial to alter modern. There was even one building the looked like a UFO had landed. The main cultural and arts centre was perhaps the most amazing. Comparable, I think to the Sydney Opera house. The main structure consists of two glass domes covered with multiple squares that are slightly raised through the middle to let the light in. Very cool.
Having had a rest, I took of again to get closer to the Merlion. It would seem that to council had erected it to welcome tourists to the city. There were plenty of tourists there. About five or six bus loads.
Next I headed back to the City Mall for a pit stop and refreshments. By time I got back there I had definitely left my feet somewhere, cause they didn’t seem to be attached to my body. I sat down for a while. (Not such a good idea). When I got up again to search for food, my hip was really aching. I felt like an old man. (Hugh will be pleased. He’ll be able to get his own back from all the times I’ve called him the ‘old man’). My only relief was to walk around a bit, which is of course what I had been doing all morning. Catch 22 really.
I stopped at a Swiss restaurant and had a kiwi burger with chips. (He he) By the end of that I figured that if I hobble to the hotel, I might as well be a little early for the flight to India, so I got a taxi to the airport and found somewhere to sit. It would seem that not everywhere in the world is smoke free. The gate was E26. I saw the sign so I figured I might as well see where it is. You know, you do those sorts of things when you’ve run out of things to do. Its just as well. About a mile down the terminal and many travellators later I found gate E26. I was a bit early but there were plenty of people there already. When we were allowed to enter the waiting we went through the scanners. I took of my belt again to hopefully speed up the process. Well, would you believe it. I still went beep. Maybe I’ve got a bionic something tucked inside my body somewhere. (I feel a conspiracy coming on.)
The flight was fairly bumpy. Apparently there was a fairly major thunderstorm our Kiwi pilot was trying to avoid. I was sitting next to an Indian lady with her son. The boy would have been about four. There was a lot of love between them. The mother was laughing at her son’s humour a lot. He went to sleep quite early on in the flight.
We landed sideways even though there wasn’t much wind. (Not sure what happened there)
We didn’t take very long to get through customs. The time seemed to drag though when it came to collecting the luggage. The signs clearly pointed us to one area, but a while later we were directed to another area. My bags had already been around the circuit once before I got to them. Sue met me through the other side of Customs. There were people everywhere. As we were leaving the terminal there was a huge crowd waiting outside, playing drums. It included a TV crew. They were waiting for us. (No, not really) I think there was some celebrity just behind us.
Sue had arranged for a driver to take us to the hotel. What a change in experience. Delhi is in a major turmoil at the moment. The government are preparing the City for the Commonwealth Games coming up in 2010. Fixing roads, Building Train systems, Flyovers, etc. The Hyatt hotel is amazing. Very fancy. Aparently there’s a pool, but I was so tired that I went straight to sleep. We had to get up early to catch the train.
25 March 2008
I’m at the terminal watching people come and go. Checking my itinery to make sure I know what’s happening. I have about an hour to wait. Thought I should get to the terminal early to avoid the maddening crowd. Customs here in New Zealand was really good. Very pleasant. They asked me to take of my belt so it could go through the scanner. Fortunately I was wearing my jeans, otherwise I think I might have a breezy mid-section. They like to scan the computer separately. They even wanted to have it out of the case.
It’s 10.40am. More people now. Still fairly quiet though. Might head down to the gate shortly. Had to pay $25 Airport tax.
Well, we headed away on time. 12 midday. It’s amazing how many movies you can watch in 9 hours 30 minutes, … or was it 10 hours thirty minutes. It was a long time. There was ‘Elizabeth, the golden age’, ‘Atonement’, ‘Coyote Ugly’, ‘Beowulf’ (I only saw part of that. Not sure they should have made it all CG. It didn’t look very good at all. The animation was on a level with ‘Final Fantasy, a spirit within.’) My favorite movie for the whole trip has to be ‘August Rush’. It’s described as a modern fairy tale. Lots of appropriate music, in fact the music was the winner for me. Its just as well we were having lunch about the time I was watching this one. I needed my tissue a lot, and it wasn’t because I kept spilling my meal. You know how much of a softy I am when it comes to emotional movies. Robyn Williams and Keri Russell are in this one. Its an interesting role for Robyn Williams. Not his usual hilarious, fast talking comedy character. He is more the Fagin type from Charles Dixens Oliver.
The food on the plane was really nice. The hostesses were very helpful. My most amusing aspect of the whole trip was trying to figure out the controls for the in flight entertainment. I was still finding new things when we landed in Singapore. For example, when I switched channels to watch a different movie, more often than not it was already half way through the movie, so I would fast forward to the end to start again. As we were landing I figured out that all I needed to do was press the stop button twice to take me back to the beginning. I can imagine that if my Children had been there, they would have had it sorted in the first half hour of the flight.
We landed from about 3 metres above the ground, which was a bit rough but that was the only down side to the flight. We seemed to spend a lot of time above Australia. Couldn’t see any kangaroos though. For most of the trip, we were travelling at about 1000 kmh.
Going through Customs at Singapore was very straight forward. When I stepped outside into the evening air it was like stepping into an oven. The humidity was close on 100%. I got into the hotel at around 7pm local time. That would have been around midnight NZ time.
It’s 10.40am. More people now. Still fairly quiet though. Might head down to the gate shortly. Had to pay $25 Airport tax.
Well, we headed away on time. 12 midday. It’s amazing how many movies you can watch in 9 hours 30 minutes, … or was it 10 hours thirty minutes. It was a long time. There was ‘Elizabeth, the golden age’, ‘Atonement’, ‘Coyote Ugly’, ‘Beowulf’ (I only saw part of that. Not sure they should have made it all CG. It didn’t look very good at all. The animation was on a level with ‘Final Fantasy, a spirit within.’) My favorite movie for the whole trip has to be ‘August Rush’. It’s described as a modern fairy tale. Lots of appropriate music, in fact the music was the winner for me. Its just as well we were having lunch about the time I was watching this one. I needed my tissue a lot, and it wasn’t because I kept spilling my meal. You know how much of a softy I am when it comes to emotional movies. Robyn Williams and Keri Russell are in this one. Its an interesting role for Robyn Williams. Not his usual hilarious, fast talking comedy character. He is more the Fagin type from Charles Dixens Oliver.
The food on the plane was really nice. The hostesses were very helpful. My most amusing aspect of the whole trip was trying to figure out the controls for the in flight entertainment. I was still finding new things when we landed in Singapore. For example, when I switched channels to watch a different movie, more often than not it was already half way through the movie, so I would fast forward to the end to start again. As we were landing I figured out that all I needed to do was press the stop button twice to take me back to the beginning. I can imagine that if my Children had been there, they would have had it sorted in the first half hour of the flight.
We landed from about 3 metres above the ground, which was a bit rough but that was the only down side to the flight. We seemed to spend a lot of time above Australia. Couldn’t see any kangaroos though. For most of the trip, we were travelling at about 1000 kmh.
Going through Customs at Singapore was very straight forward. When I stepped outside into the evening air it was like stepping into an oven. The humidity was close on 100%. I got into the hotel at around 7pm local time. That would have been around midnight NZ time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
