More of Delhi

Meals
More curries everyday. All the Chinese folks were tired of curries already. Last night, I brought a bunch of 10 Singaporeans, HongKongers, Taiwanese and Malaysians to an Asian restaurant about 5 mins away from the hotel by cab. It served Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Cambodian and Japanese. We absolutely enjoyed ourselves and I must say the food was very good. Quite authentic and totally exceeded our expectations. Even the Chinese tea was authentic.

The Socials
As with any conference/meeting/event I attend, there are socials, be they official or unofficial ones. At one unofficial gathering in the evening in the hotel’s lounge, I was “harassed” by an Indian professor from Malaysia. He kept coming on to me and wanted me to dance with him and even asked me to go with him “behind the pillar” (his exact words). I said no, albeit with a small smile because I didn't want to offend anyone, backed away and stayed away from him throughout the rest of the evening.

He then shifted his target to a young 20-yr-old Chinese Malaysian girl who was the niece of a lady delegate. She had tagged along to help her aunt out in the event. This professor told her he preferred Chinese girls and those with smaller breasts. -_-‘’ I mean, seriously??!! You're a professor and you conduct yourself this way? This is a social function but it's still an industry event and there's basic decorum to be followed. Gosh. Both of us avoided him thereafter, with the help of some of our other male colleagues and friends.

Side note: We discovered later on that at 4am that same night, he called the hotel concierge and asked to be sent to the hospital due to some terrible stomach discomfort.

Air/Water/Dryness
Nose poop is blackish at times. Goes to show how dirty the air is. I think my skin’s not used to the water too. I’ve got itchy skin on my legs and part of my torso. :( My thighs have red scratch marks now due to my over-zealous scratching. My skin is dry too….

Room/Weather
Room is rather cold sometimes though the air-conditioning is off. The toilet still flushes on its own from time to time. I'm ok if it happens in the day but it gets a little creepy at night. Lol. There were some knocking sounds coming from the air-con vent last night as well. FIrst time I've heard it in the time I'm here. Oh well...I just mouthed "Hail Mary" in my mind, hid under the covers and went to sleep. :)

Weather's turning cold. Strange when last week was warm. I was freezing last night when walking back from the restaurant.

The Rich, The Poor, And the In-Betweens
You see the rich dressed in fine tailored clothes and driving big cars. Then you see the middle class dressed okay and bringing their children out for some fun in the parks. Then you see the poor and destitute dressed in rags and filthy clothes, barefoot and hanging around scrounging for food or begging for money. You see children with kohl-lined eyes waiting at traffic junctions and when they spot a car carrying tourists, they come running to the car and knocking on the windows and asking for food or money. Or they start dancing in front of you in the hope of getting money.

The disparity between the lives of people. When you see how some of these people live in the slums, you question the way you live your life with its excesses and abundance. And you feel some form of guilt as well. As a Taiwanese friend put it: "Tong Ren Bu Tong Ming". (We are all people, but we have different lives and destinies."

Namaste

That's like a "Hi, how are you" in Hindi.

It's almost my 6th day here in Delhi already. Time flies. I'm very thankful that the hotel room is alright. Much much much better than the dingy old chalet room I had when I went Senegal for a conference last October.

Precautions
Water has been ok so far. We're not taking any ice with our drinks. We only drink bottled water and I've been brushing my teeth with bottled water as well. Oh yes, and washing my contact lens case with mineral water too.

Friends
It's always nice to meet and catch up with old friends at such events. Come to think of it, I've known some of them for 4 years already! Time really flies. I see them more often than I see some of my relatives lol. Kinda sad though, to hear that a Japanese friend will be leaving her organisation at the end of this month, after serving 10 years with them. Pretty lady. Will miss catching up with her at future events.

Food
I've been having curry at every meal. I might end up being a bride who puts on weight before her wedding instead of staying slim! Anyway, thosai, cottage cheese, chicken curry, fried fish are some of the things that appear at each of the catered meals at the event. I have till next Friday here......they'll be serving the same type of food everyday. I'm GLAD I brought cup noodles....Anyway, a bunch of us went out together for Chinese food today hehe. Kungbao chicken, stir-fried vegetables in soya sauce, lemon fried chicken, chinese roast pork, mapo tofu and more. My colleagues and I were so happy!

Taj Mahal & Akshadham
Grand. Lovely. Pretty. Gorgeous. Spent a total of 10.5hours or so travelling to and from the Taj Mahal on my free day on Wednesday. I shan't say more about the Taj. People have seen more than enough photos and pictures of it to know what it is like. I'll talk about Akshadham instead. I

t is the biggest Swaminarayan temple in India I think. They were so strict we spent an hour trying to get into the temple. We had to surrender our mobile phones, bags and cameras. Only wallets, passports, waterbottles and some other items could be taken with us. Then we had to go to separate long queues for men and women. Everyone was frisked. The ladies had extra metal scanners run on them by lady attendants.

So finally after an hour we went in and then had to surrender more things along the way. Shoes had to be taken off from a certain point onwards. And then our water had to be surrendered too after yet another certain point. It was like as if we were being stripped of almost all our material items.

About 6 of us were there and we were awed by the temple which was made entirely of marble (like the Taj). When you step in side, you'll realise that every surface is covered in carvings of patterns and statues. Absolutely lovely. The ceilings had many intricate carvings done on them too. Very very pretty. Much it was a huge pity that we were all not able to snap pictures in the compound.

Errrr.....
My toilet flushes itself every once in a long while. I'm not reading too much into it. It's probably a piping or plumbing issue but my colleagues are teasing me about it and are saying that maybe...there's...something...or....ok, shan't scare myself.

Diplomatic enclave
By the way, a diplomatic enclave is where all the embassies, consulates and international diplomats are situated at. So security in the area is high with many road blocks. Guards check the boot and engines of all cars entering the hotel premises. All hotel entrances have metal scanners (like those at the airport), and guards checking bags, especially that of the ladies. Even when we first arrived at the hotel with our luggage, wee had to run our bags and luggages through a scanner as well.

Traffic
Traffic in the diplomatic enclave where my hotel is in = smooth, quiet and simple. Traffic in main city centre Delhi = mad, chaotic, noisy, dusty, scary. Dozens and dozens of cars, 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, trucks and buses vie for space on the roads. Constant honking seems t be the de facto here. They honk their horns to say "I'm coming up behind you. Beware." or "I'm here." or "WTH do you think you are doing in my space." or "F*** you" or for fun or..... So really, there'd be a honk every 3 seconds or so.

In the smaller towns in the outskirts of Delhi, add pedestrians to the equation. It really takes alot of nerve to drive in such traffic. Being in a car on the roads is also a bumpy affair. I don't know how they lay their roads but let's just say its about as smooth as one bump for every 20cm of road.

CJK
Aside from the folks at the event, I've not really seen any other "Mongoloid" in Delhi. Which probably explains why the locals just gawk openly at you when they see you. When I was at the Akshadham temple, I think my group was one of the rare Chinese/Japanese/Korean who was in the temple. I swear whenever I passed by the locals, about 80% of them would stare at me or my group like as if we were aliens.

Quick update

.....on my plants and projects

• Project Moss - Errrr...turning brown. Not good. Maybe not enough light.


• Project Bonsai - the plant is doing good, with 3 bunches of flower buds appearing. Each bunch ranges from 1 bud to 5 or 6 buds. But the moss covering the soil is turning brown. Think it's not getting enough light in my balcony...And despite the numerous baby spiders I killed a few weeks ago, there are still some left. Good thing is that they are bigger now and I can see the more clearly. I clear their webs everyday and kill one or two each day now. With my upcoming 2-week trip, I think I'd better return the plant back to K's Dad. My mum will feel stressed looking after it haha.


• Project Rosemary & Project Spring - did I mention this already? Can't remember. But both were unsuccessful and have been terminated since just after CNY.


• Project Coriander - from the initial joy of seeing 20 seedlings sprout so quickly from the seeds. Errr I'm now left with 10 seedlings flopping over in the soil. Not quite sure what to do with them or make of them. Some of drying up. Some have grown a little more but remain scraggly and thin. I repotted some but they still remain stagnant. Sigh...

Other plants are doing well though:

• Bowles Mint - growing growing growing. :) New shoots appearing too...fed it with organic fertiliser last week


• Open air terrarium #1 - The fittonias are doing great...the red fittonia has grown a flower shoot. But I read online that if flower shoots appear, they should be pinched off as it does not add to the beauty of the plant...oh well...see how it goes


• Terrarium #2 - It was a closed terrarium but I've left it open now since the plant is outgrowing the container haha.


• Bryophyllum - It's growing very slowly...but I've been waiting for more than a year and little leaves have not appeared on the edges of the leaves. I was told it's supposed to appear!


• Ginseng ficus - growing beautifully. New leaves coming out and old leaves getting rounder and bigger

Tweet Tweet

The folks have gone off again to the highlands for their quarterly bout of casino fun.

So this little birdie has been left alone in the nest to fend for herself lol. Time to whip out the culinary wings again.

I was lazy, so dinner last night was just a pack of kimchi instant ramen with tang-oh vegetables thrown in it.

Tonight's menu will be a bit more exciting. If all goes well at work and I go home on time, then it will be laksa fried rice tonight with egg, baby corn and meatballs in it. Accompanied by some stir-fried baby dou miao with buna shimeiji mushrooms!

Yum yum. :) Looking forward to this evening!

"Eye" spy with my little Eye?

I gave myself a good few days to mope and feel upset about the condition of my eye. It’s high time I pick myself up, get a grip and move on with life. Life goes on. If it’s nothing debilitating (aside from the fact that my right vision is a little blurred from the big floater), I shouldn’t feel upset for too long also.

Besides, there isn’t much I can do and no medication I can take to reverse the condition. And also, honestly, there are people out there who are facing much more challenging medical issues than mine. I shouldn’t be a brat about my condition.

Hmm. My cough and flu came back for awhile because I was feeling down I think.

Anyway, off with the negativity! Getting there slowly but surely. Thanks to K, friends and family for their patience, support and encouragement.

Particulierement pour mon bebe, je t’aime tellement. Merci pour etre avec moi toujours. :)

Hmm

Common reactions I had today:

• Wah you wear specs one ah? Didn't know man!


• Eh? How come today wear specs leh?


• *walks past me and does a double-turn* Oh, it's you? I couldn't recognise you!


• Me: *smiles*. Other party: *stares for 2 seconds* Oh! Haha, I didn't know it was you!


• You look so innocent and decent in specs


• You look like a teacher


• What happened? Why must wear specs?

Not feeling good

The close of the Rabbit Year and the start of the Dragon Year has not been very good for me health-wise.

From delayed menstrual cycles and panic attacks, to fainting spells, tooth decays and tooth extractions. From a long bout of cough, bad skin and a cranky digestive system to now having eye issues.

At Ally's place yesterday and sometime during Kyler's birthday party, I experienced a strange phenomenon with my right eye. I saw some flashes of light and thereafter, my vision was blurred by a big piece of squiggly floater across my central vision.

I thought it would disappear after a night's sleep but it didn't.

Googled about the symptoms this morning. And freaked out when I read about the possible situations this would occur. Had a panic attack but by now I could recognise the symptoms and managed to control it a little through deep breathing.

Went to CGH immediately and had my eyes checked.

I have "posterior vitreous detachment" in my right eye.

I googled about it to find out more. This usually happens in older folks in their 50s and 60s. It happened to me because I am highly myopic. The vitreous is a gel lining in the eye and over time, it may slowly "peel away" from the retina, much like how a gelatin dessert peels away from the sides of a bowl after awhile. In some cases, it may lead to something worse. But I am trying not to scare myself.

All I can do is to wait and monitor the floater in my eye.

And nothing can be done about the floater. I'll just have to live with it. Live with a floating squiggly worm-like thing in the midst of my vision. So when I speak to you and if you feel that my eyes aren't exactly focusing on you. My apologies. I can't focus well at this point in time with that thing in my eye. Maybe as time goes by I will learn how to do it better.

I'm worried. And at the same time trying not to think about it.

I might lay off contact lenses for awhile, not that they are the cause of the condition, but perhaps to let my eyes rest a little more. I do dread going to work in glasses though. The last time I ever did that was 5 years ago. I think I'll look ugly.

Had a crying fit earlier on. Why do things all happen at the same time? Two big projects, my wedding, my 2-week long business trip to India happening in 2 weeks time.....and this has to happen?

stressed? desserts?

2012 will be an extremely busy year for me. I feel stressed thinking about it.

Just received news that I will be part of a core group of people handling a consultancy project for a national agency for a neighbouring country. It is likely to be a 6-8months long project starting from April. And I will need to fly in and out the country a couple of times, albeit for short 2-5days type of trips. Some high-level government officials of that country will likely be involved and we will also eventually need to present to the Minister-in-charge.

Given this project at other times, I would gladly welcome it with open arms. Both for the challenge, the experience and the exposure.

But with my major event in early 2013 and the wedding on the horizon, all I want to do now is sigh and wonder how much time I will have for all these things....

a little disappointed

Sigh. Another cousin cannot make it back from Shanghai.
That's 5 cousins, all male, from both sides of my family, who won't be attending my wedding.

:(

Some of them have families of their own. Including the rest, that's a total of 9 of them not attending liao.

:(