I packed my suitcase, picked out a nice comfy outfit and checked-out of my service apartment. The 1.5-hour cab ride the airport made me nauseas but I didn’t care because I would wake up to Malaysia and have myself a steamy bowl of Kuay Teow T’ng for breakfast. Got to the Bangalore airport, checked-in my suitcases and got handed my boarding pass. I proceeded to the custom. The man behind the counter asked for some registration letter and I was like, what the eff is a registration letter. Within seconds, his entourage gathered around him, exchanged some Kannada words and next thing I know, I was taken aside to talk to a higher ranked officer.
Apparently, if you stay more than 180 days in India, you have to register with the Police Commissioner of India. I wasn’t planning to stay more than 6 months but my Indian visa is valid for one whole year so there’s a tiny print that says, “register in 14 days on arrival”. I’m f**ked. I begged, pleaded and told them I have left the country once to Singapore not too long ago without any issues, but there was no way out of this especially with all the terrorist attacks going around India.
I didn’t board the plane, but my luggage did, so the airline people had to delay the flight to remove them. When I eventually spoke to (or yell at) my lawyer, I found out the registration process will take about 2-3 working days, and since my flight was on a Friday night and lawyers don’t work on weekends, I will not be able to get home in time for pre-Raya festivities. Bummer.
I don’t know which is more upsetting; the fact that this country is so paper-driven, my overpaid lawyers are incompetent or that I forgot to read the fine prints.
"it's like fine prints appearing out of no where, throwing a curve ball at you", says Joe Win.
Part 2
Just my luck, the India government decided to declare Monday as a holiday. I have to pay a late fee to the nationalized bank as a penalty but the bank is close on Tuesday because of "Half-yearly closing of banks and Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday". Eid (or Adil Fitri in Malaysia is a holiday for Government offices in India) will fall on Wednesday. Thursday is Gandhi's birthday and also a national holiday. In conclusion, the earliest I can submit my papers will be Friday and processing takes 48 hours, which means earliest I can get my registration papers is Monday evening, but that's not even finalized because who knows what else might come up? *vomit*
"Man.. u r getting a taste of Indian red tape ;(", says Sajeed.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
North India - Day 8 & 9 - Taj Mahal & Agra
(It's been a year and a half since this trip to North India but I am obliged to finish posting this trip!)
The four mouse-ketteers in Agra.
5:30 a.m: Alarm rings. Snooze.
6:00 a.m: Alarm rings. Snooze.
6:30 a.m: Alarm rings. Crap! We've missed sunrise!
Ah, the Taj Mahal, sunrise or not, it was still one of the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Yes, it is breathtakingly beautiful. (Does the composition of this photo look familiar? Hint: Lonely Planet 2008)
Before you enter, you are required to cover your shoes with shoe cloths.
Majestic view of Taj Mahal from the side.
The many thousands of people who travelled from far away lands to come visit the beautiful structure.
The walls of Taj Mahal
Windows on the Taj Mahal
More details on the Taj Mahal
Resting at the sides of the Taj Mahal. It was such a sunny day, you could hardly see our eyes!
After the Taj, we dropped Nan off at the bus station, and we continued to explore the other parts of Agra.
Baby Taj
Local boys jumping off the cliff of an old structure in Baby Taj and into the river.
And let's not forget...
A very special thanks to our driver, Bhavan, who has driven us to 4 cities in Rajasthan for 5 days. (Photo courtesy of Joe)
The four mouse-ketteers in Agra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
We didn't see much of Fetehpur Sikri because we thought it wasn't worth the entrance fee to see the ancient city for 15 minutes before closing time. Tired and disappointed, we drove to Agra and checked into our hotel, had an early night in hope to catch sunrise at the Taj Mahal.
5:30 a.m: Alarm rings. Snooze.
6:00 a.m: Alarm rings. Snooze.
6:30 a.m: Alarm rings. Crap! We've missed sunrise!
Ah, the Taj Mahal, sunrise or not, it was still one of the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Yes, it is breathtakingly beautiful. (Does the composition of this photo look familiar? Hint: Lonely Planet 2008)
Before you enter, you are required to cover your shoes with shoe cloths.
Majestic view of Taj Mahal from the side.
The many thousands of people who travelled from far away lands to come visit the beautiful structure.
The walls of Taj Mahal
Windows on the Taj Mahal
More details on the Taj Mahal
Resting at the sides of the Taj Mahal. It was such a sunny day, you could hardly see our eyes!
Baby Taj
Local boys jumping off the cliff of an old structure in Baby Taj and into the river.
Apart from the Tajs, there isn't much to do in Agra. We decided to go modern and ended up watching a movie in a mall. It was our first Bollywood experience and the movie was called "Singh is King". It didn't have English subtitles so I didn't understand what was going on but nonetheless, it was amusing to watch.
It was the 9th and last day of our trip and we were craving for non-Indian foods. Since there were a lack of choices, we treated ourselves at McDonald's for lunch and Pizza Hut for dinner. What a way to end a great trip, huh?
And let's not forget...
A very special thanks to our driver, Bhavan, who has driven us to 4 cities in Rajasthan for 5 days. (Photo courtesy of Joe)
Goa
Prem and I landed in Goa and I can start counting the number of hours I’m sober for the rest of this weekend.
My first drink at Goa - feni, is made of fermented cashews and usually home-brewed but you can get it in almost any restaurants and bars in Goa. We stopped at this hole-in-the-wall and here the bartender is mixing my cocktail of feni with Limca (Indian lime flavored soda, kinda like Sprite except it has a limier taste and it looks a little muddled) into a used plastic bottle.
Mixing a feni cocktail.
We had arranged with Anjuna Hotel at Anjuna Beach to have a car for the whole day. First stop: Old Goa.
St. Francis Xavier Church.
St. Francis Xavier's coffin
Walking on water on Morjim Beach
Sunset at Morjim Beach
BEACH EVENTS
Anjuna Beach. We were looking for a spot to lay and soak in some rays when I pass a few Indian men gawking at some caucasian chick in a black bikini. By the time we got on the other side, they made themselves comfortable by sitting on the sand with arms folded, a few feet from her. The beach isn’t crowded because it’s off peak (peak between October to June, I think) but these men will have a blast during peak season.
Getting a massage on the beach … what a luxury, right? But for some reason, I was so disturbed by what I saw, I have to share this with you. A few feet away from where we laid our beach towels, an Indian woman was changing into her bikini and her boobs were spilling out in front of this small India man. It turned out the small Indian man was a masseuse but would lay his hands on her er, private parts. She then pushes his hands away (or attempt to) and try to cover those parts but he would try again and again. When he was done with her, he walked over to us and asked if Merv and I wanted a massage. Merv politely declined with, “I don’t like to be touched” and he walks away.
On this very same spot, we were also attacked by a group of what Merv calls “scavengers”, who blissfully displayed their products on our beach towels and won’t leave until we buy something.
View from a nice little beach shack on Anjuna beach.
We had dinner and dance at Baga. It’s off peak so we were the first customers at the restaurant and the first (and the only ones for the next 3 hours) to hit the dance floor. The club we picked was pitch black when we got there because there were no power in the area and I guess three foreigners were not important enough for them to turn on the generator.
SPICE FARM
The first 1.5 days was sunny and nice but the rest of our stay in Goa was rainy and gray so we decided to go inland. We visited a spice farm that provided lunch (with complimentary lemongrass tea and on request, a tiny shot of feni) and during off-monsoon seasons, you could bathe with the elephants. I was petting Babu, the male elephant when I heard Prem and Merv snickering behind me. Apparently, Babu’s 5th leg appeared out of nowhere. I wasn’t sure if I should be amused or afraid of an elephant with a hard-on.
Can you spot his 5th leg?
Spice farm
Feni
PANJIM
Panjim is a charming little Portuguese influenced town. We stayed at Panjim Inn, which was a bit pricey and had a bad stench from the river across the street but overall very comfortable and clean.
Celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi on the Goan streets with fireworks.
Must be nice to have an open-air washroom
Little kids hanging out by the window.
I can't remember his name but the man with the hat is the Panjim Inn owner.
A few hours before our flight and what better way to kill time than to have a bottle of Portuguese wine at Hotel Venit. Merv and I shared a chicken Portuguese dish that is pretty tasty but Prem's mac and cheese was a bit disappointing.
Casa Mendes rose
Hotel Venite
More Goa Pictures
My first drink at Goa - feni, is made of fermented cashews and usually home-brewed but you can get it in almost any restaurants and bars in Goa. We stopped at this hole-in-the-wall and here the bartender is mixing my cocktail of feni with Limca (Indian lime flavored soda, kinda like Sprite except it has a limier taste and it looks a little muddled) into a used plastic bottle.
Mixing a feni cocktail.
We had arranged with Anjuna Hotel at Anjuna Beach to have a car for the whole day. First stop: Old Goa.
St. Francis Xavier Church.
St. Francis Xavier's coffin
Walking on water on Morjim Beach
Sunset at Morjim Beach
BEACH EVENTS
Anjuna Beach. We were looking for a spot to lay and soak in some rays when I pass a few Indian men gawking at some caucasian chick in a black bikini. By the time we got on the other side, they made themselves comfortable by sitting on the sand with arms folded, a few feet from her. The beach isn’t crowded because it’s off peak (peak between October to June, I think) but these men will have a blast during peak season.
Getting a massage on the beach … what a luxury, right? But for some reason, I was so disturbed by what I saw, I have to share this with you. A few feet away from where we laid our beach towels, an Indian woman was changing into her bikini and her boobs were spilling out in front of this small India man. It turned out the small Indian man was a masseuse but would lay his hands on her er, private parts. She then pushes his hands away (or attempt to) and try to cover those parts but he would try again and again. When he was done with her, he walked over to us and asked if Merv and I wanted a massage. Merv politely declined with, “I don’t like to be touched” and he walks away.
On this very same spot, we were also attacked by a group of what Merv calls “scavengers”, who blissfully displayed their products on our beach towels and won’t leave until we buy something.
View from a nice little beach shack on Anjuna beach.
We had dinner and dance at Baga. It’s off peak so we were the first customers at the restaurant and the first (and the only ones for the next 3 hours) to hit the dance floor. The club we picked was pitch black when we got there because there were no power in the area and I guess three foreigners were not important enough for them to turn on the generator.
SPICE FARM
The first 1.5 days was sunny and nice but the rest of our stay in Goa was rainy and gray so we decided to go inland. We visited a spice farm that provided lunch (with complimentary lemongrass tea and on request, a tiny shot of feni) and during off-monsoon seasons, you could bathe with the elephants. I was petting Babu, the male elephant when I heard Prem and Merv snickering behind me. Apparently, Babu’s 5th leg appeared out of nowhere. I wasn’t sure if I should be amused or afraid of an elephant with a hard-on.
Can you spot his 5th leg?
Spice farm
Feni
PANJIM
Panjim is a charming little Portuguese influenced town. We stayed at Panjim Inn, which was a bit pricey and had a bad stench from the river across the street but overall very comfortable and clean.
Celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi on the Goan streets with fireworks.
Must be nice to have an open-air washroom
Little kids hanging out by the window.
I can't remember his name but the man with the hat is the Panjim Inn owner.
A few hours before our flight and what better way to kill time than to have a bottle of Portuguese wine at Hotel Venit. Merv and I shared a chicken Portuguese dish that is pretty tasty but Prem's mac and cheese was a bit disappointing.
Casa Mendes rose
Hotel Venite
More Goa Pictures
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