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."