The birth of a new blog!

Well, I'm currently on skype with Janice..and we decided to set up a blog for the 3 of us! http://battleofthelims.blogspot.com When three of us talk...we fight...so let's hope this will be interesting! We kinda of miss the fighting (both verbally and physically) since all 3 of us are in different countries right now. Me in Barcelona, Janice in Perth, and poor little Eunice in Singapore with our parents...hahaha...

Anyway...I'm going through depression! Graduation blues! Just got news that I passed my last exam (barely though)...Where am I going to go from now? It complicates matters that I'm physically situated in Barcelona, and I want to work overseas for a while. Plus...I don't freaking know what I want to do for a career! Having interests in both business and social science doesn't help either. I'm a confused individual. The corporate world or the social world? For profit or for society? Multinational or small business? Work or travel? You know..the usual...

Enough of these depressing stuff..Im contemplating about what I should do with this blog of mine...It could be a travel log; but I have facebook for that...It could be an update about my daily life; but thats very narcissitic and boring for people who do not give shit about every small detail of my life (see above paragraph...haha...reading it makes me feel kinda childish)..It could be random rantings about the world and people around me; but that's so...common and bimbotic in some sense...haha...

I've decided. I'll make this blog about issues...being a slightly (or extremely depending on who you ask) opinionated, stubborn and expressive individual, my rantings about issues could be interesting for some no? haha...Many thoughts are floating around in my mind now...once I've consolidated some of them, I'll make an entry=) Till then!

besos,

denise

The Revival

Half a year has passed...went through the most horrendous of terms in SMU (5 social science credits!!), got a binging disease (self-diagnosed), went to Kolkata 3 more times and built a school...and now i'm halfway across the world in Barcelona doing my exchange...

Life, I would say, is treating me well. I've met muy bien amigos in Barcelona..people whom i can't bear to leave..so much so that I've extended my stay here for another 3 months=) Let me introduce the closest people I have here...

My SATC girls Mandy, Natasa & Irena
With whom I share everything=)and mr Lester who forms the table of late night conversations with Mandy and me

Of course, there are many others that I enjoy hanging out with...but uploading all the photos will be a chore...let's just get to know them through a few photos of my actividads in the past 2 months!

Chinese New Year Dinner at Tom's place...4 hours of cooking..28 people...meet the Italians, Mexican, Turkish, Polish, Peruvian??..Finns and Norwegians, especially my partner-in-crime (of not attending lessons) Lene!

Introducing Tom, our favorite polish guy who is always so kind with opening up his place. I miss going over Tom; where are you!!!

My nightly activity - Clubbing...haha...as all would know, clubbing starts at 2am here in Barcelona...and lasts till after 5am..wtf? haha..favorite club here? Opium Mar! Alex makes an entrance here...my sexy polish carino (on my left in the photo)...roar~ no photos of my other favorite polish Zofia=) (she's a sexy one too!)

Clubbing in Opium Mar - with Xiaopu and Alex if I remembered correctly..

(notice mandy's asian blush...hahha)

We had crazy parties like the one in Sitges where we all dressed up for the Carnival!

and took photos of us doing weird and crazy stuff:

Let's not forget to mention skipping school to travel to fabulous places like Italy and portugal=)

Lisbon

It was so hot and sunny that we went around in skimpy attire. The sun was great, and we all got a tan...It was miserable coming back to cold Barcelona..haha..

Well..I spent an entire hour procrastinating by uploading these photos...haha..Last exam on tuesday (Financial economics 2), and its very very hard...given that I did not go to class....hahha...anyways, I passed corporate finance! I was laughing when i saw my grade because it was so unexpected..Let's hope I repeat it with financial economics!

Oh, what made me revive my blog was actually the realization that I have friends who really care. Was kind of in a bad mood last night and got multiple hugs from my friends! Special mention to my housemate Dave who came into my room with his guitar and sang me songs to cheer me up. It was so very sweet. I need to pick up the guitar now!=) Let's end this entry with the one I share the most with here in Barcelona:

Oh Mandy...

been a long time since i last blogged, judging by my entries. so many things happened in that short period of time. my camera got lost, my heart suffered and recovered, i fluctuated between depression and enthusiasm, i learnt to dance , got to know people...got more broke...drank, shopped...seems like i've been through alot! learnt much about myself along the way...

1. I'm a very optimistic person (and sometimes unrealistic)

2. I exude happiness! (when im not depressed that is)

3. I have great pride in me that helps me survive and recover from anything; the will to survive!

4. I'm very easily influenced by others!

5. I can do girly stuff like putting on make-up, painting my nails, have a girls'day out, dance, talk to girls...

anyways, im getting a little depressed at having to leave india and the friends i've met here. zoe, azusa, annie, shanker, shamaun, gurshaan etcetcetc...or maybe im sad to leave this fun and exciting lifestyle! hmm...im really not used to writing about my feelings and thoughts on a blog...hahaha...so i shall change to my travel plans:

Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Delhi, Leh (himalayas!)...this is a desperate plea for funds! need about S$700 for the 2 week trip..mummy...if u are reading this...=p

really bored now..........................shall put up some photos when im in the mood. tata!

Azusa's birthday was on the 5th of July, and we sort of had a 3-day celebration for her! Every night for 3 nights, we went out partying in our best clothes..haha..it was wild...and crazy...and so damn tiring..anyways, here are some photos from our wild nights out:

(1) Party at Shamaun's place where things started to get wrong...

Introducing Annie from England! And Shamaun

Shamuan, Gurshaan, Me & Azusa

Zoe's and my favourite in India Lay's chips! Magic Masala for me, Spanish Tomato and American Sour Cream for Zoe. We should be hired for their ads!

Hmm...

(2) Party @ Tantra with MOS deejays - Azusa's birthday countdown!

Me and Shankar, the nicest man i've meet in India! He's 40 years old, and a damn good dancer=)

Shamaun - One thing to remember. Never trust playboys! I should learn that...

Was dancing with Azusa the whole time, and Sharon was scandalized!

Me, Azusa, Annie (Zoe was depressed and was at home, though she came for 5 mins in her sleep wear! haha)

(3) Azusa's birthday cake @ City centre, after which we went out at night again..not much photos of that though...

What I wore the next day we went to Roxy, Underground and Seesha. I love that top! That's all for now!

Part 3
Day 7 and 8: Jaipur to Agra
5.5 hoursNon-AC bus

After Jaipur, Agra just seems so…bland…We sort of went there just to take that ‘all-important’ Taj Mahal photo. It’s a very ‘tourist’ city, which takes away some of the flavor of the place. The boss of our hotel (Sai Palace) was very very perverted; more about that later. Oh, we met up with Juro again! He was there for the night, and we had breakfast with him the minute we reached agra because his train left in 30mins, haha=) It was so nice to meet up with people you travelled with in other cities. Notice the Taj Mahal in the background!

We paid 750 rupees to enter the Taj, and I felt that it wasn’t worth the money. The inside of the Taj was nice, but it was like…that’s it? Haha..the view of the Taj is much more majestic than the Taj itself, but here are the photos. We dressed our best for these photos btw, and everyone wanted photos with us, haha. It was so crowded!

The place was huge though; notice my size!

We were so bored that Zoe made me dance around for artistic shots. So embarrassing! Notice the guy behind laughing at me…haha…

Anyways, here is the photo everyone has of the Taj and its reflection…haha=)

Here’s the Agra fort:

Anyways, back to the perversion of the hotel boss. He kept putting his arm around me and hugging me when he made a joke, as if we were best buddies. That’s not the worst! We asked him to hire some masseurs for us that night for 150 rupees an hour, and he said he will get some people from the beauty parlor down the street. It was pretty late when we got home that night…in the end, him and his 3 employees ended up massaging us! Wtf…he said the masseurs were coming…the first one came, and I was like…he looks familiar…but didn’t think much about it. The second guy came after 15mins, and I definitely saw him working at the hotel. He was the cook for bloody sake! And the third guy, and the boss himself. I found it pretty funny at that point in time, because everything was so unprofessional (they even had to borrow Zoe’s moisturizer), and they did not know how to give massages at all! One guy was like caressing the whole time! I kept saying, harder! Also, the 4 guys rotated among us, as if they wanted to ‘feel’ all 3 tourists. In the end we got ‘massaged’ by the cook, the boss, the rubbish man, and the receptionist; the boss insisted they were masseurs…wtf…we even had to pay them! At least the guy that massaged Zoe was good. The other 3 were horrible. No wonder she didn’t complain. Poor Azusa and me though. It was so uncomfortable, yet funny. I just treat it as an interesting experience, haha…The boss had the cheek to ask us to not tell others about it, because he normally doesn’t provide such services, but did it because we were friends…haha..wtf…

That’s the boss and Zoe. When do we ever have to put our heads on the masseur’s lap when getting a massage? Just so wrong, haha…Such a perverted look...

Anyways, weird experiences aside, here are some photos of us in the city, and getting caught in the rain.

Day 8 and 9: Agra -> Kolkata
20 hrsNon-AC train (Sleeper)4 hours late

We made a huge mistake. We were on the train on the 29th, but our ticket was for the 28th. So we were ‘ticketless’! Our 2nd illegal train ride home. Luckily, we were in the tourist cabin, and the Bangladeshis there helped us talk to the conductor. Being a tourist had its privileges, though Zoe and I had to share a bed. We had a huge fight with this guy on the train because he accused us of stealing his stuff and not being grateful that he helped us out with our ticket, and was almost thrown down the train (because he was childish and called the conductor, saying we were disturbing him). Luckily, some guys from the other cabin came to help us. There was this particular Indian guy who was really really cute (maybe it’s because he came to our rescue), and it was such a pity I didn’t get to talk to him or say goodbye when he left. I’m such a sucker for nice guys, haha.

Part 2
Day 4 to 6: Varanasi -> Jaipur
19hrsNon-AC train (Sleeper)4 hours late

Here comes the exciting part. Jaipur was originally not on our itinerary; our train ticket was from Varanasi to Agra. On the train, we met our second pick-up, William from US. He was on his way to Jaipur, which was 6 hours further than Agra on the same train ride. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly, we decided that we will ‘miss’ our stop and spend a night in Jaipur! Haha…it was totally spontaneous and crazy; what if we got caught! We made many plans, like how we were going to pretend that we overslept, or hide in the toilets when the conductor came, or bribe him (we had 500 rupees prepared). It was hilarious, with Azusa worrying so much about getting caught by the police, me being super excited and Zoe simply remaining cool and sleeping. In the end, nothing happened and we had our first illegal train ride in India=p

Here is William and us (Azusa with her eyes closed again!)…He’s 20 this year, studies agriculture at Cornell, and is going to Jaipur for an agricultural internship at a farm.

On the train, we witnessed my first and most fantastic sunset in India. It was mesmerizing…

Anyways, Jaipur was the best stop of the week. Also known as the pink city (because the maharajah supposedly painted the whole town pink to welcome the Prince of Wales in 1876), Jaipur is the gateway to the desert state of Rajasthan.

I’m glad we decided to make that illegal train ride. First, the hotel we stayed at was simply beautiful! Hotel Pearl Palace, with intricate designs on its walls, superb décor, and a magnificent rooftop restaurant. 4 of us shared a room for 800 rupees. There was even free wireless connection!

We went to tiger fort that day, and it can rival any place I’ve ever been to! The view from up there was orgasmic (seriously)! Imagine the vastness of the city and the desert, friends and beer! I was so happy up there that day. Very very happy, as you will see in the following photos, haha.

Advertisement poster for Godfather beer: Beer without international boundaries!

(Sorry mummy, don’t scold me!)

Jaipur’s buildings have one of the best architectural designs I have ever seen. Where ever we went, we were awed by the intricate carvings and paintings on the ceilings and walls.

The Hawa Mahal

At the Maharaja’s residence; Look the peacock designs!

We went to Amber fort the next day, and it was another fantastic place! Jaipur just kept getting better and better=) It sort of reminded me of the Great wall of China. We took many crazy photos there!

Thanks to William’s proficiency in Hindi, we got to know this lady and her kids. She was 23, and already had 5 kids. Her husband died, and she is having problems feeding her children. I think that she’s probably from the lower caste. The more we stayed there, the more we felt for her.

Conversing in Hindi. So cool!

Her 3 boys

We promised to send her the photos that we took. Azusa’s gonna do it!

It’s goodbye Jaipur and hello Agra now!

22nd – 30th June 2008
VaranasiJaipurAgra

This week long journey is filled with memorable incidences, including illegal train rides, arguments and spontaneous activities. Had so much fun with Azusa and Zoe, us 3 girls picking guys up along the way to travel with us, haha=)

Part 1: Varanasi
Day 1 to 3: Kolkata -> Varanasi
15 hrs Non-AC train (Sleeper) 2hrs late

Our first pick-up: Juro (pronounced Euro) from Slovakia. He was in the same cabin as us, and we struck up a friendship in that 15 hrs, well, at least Zoe did at first. Juro had been traveling for the past year and a half (if I remembered correctly), and our group had much to talk about as we are from such different places! Btw: The Indian railway office has allocated seats for tourists, so we often meet new people on the train.

Anyways, let’s come back to Varanasi, India’s holy city! Situated long the western bank of the holy Ganges (pronounced Ganga) river, this is a city that all Hindus come to wash away their sins and burn their dead. Around 80 ghauts border the river, and one can witness anything from people washing their clothes, bathing, brushing their teeth, praying and scattering ashes of the dead. A very interesting sight!

Of course, no one can miss the holy ganga aarti ceremony that took place at sunset at the Dasaswamedh Ghaut when they are in Varanasi. 7 Brahmin priests perform puja everyday, offering their respects to the Ganges. We made a trip down there for the 1 hour ceremony. It was holy, and the fire was indeed mesmerizing…but I was bored out of my pants!

Anyways, Varanasi is the dirtiest city I’ve been to in India. There are animals, dung and rubbish everywhere, and because it is close to the river, the air is perpetually damp and wet, giving the place a ‘dirty’ feeling. Imagine alleyways and cramp housing, and the cows! haha. And of course, I stepped into cow dung. According to Juro, that’s lucky!

A common sight, bulls on the street

On our way to the Dasaswamedh Ghaut

The next day, we took a 2hr boat trip along the Ganges river in the wee hours of the morning. It was a very calm and spiritual journey; the Ganges river is great! The cool air, colorful ghauts, interesting sights. I saw the Ganges dolphin twice! Must say I was really lucky=)

Me trying to row the boat! (and get some exercise to lose the calories I’ve put on!)

Us girls=)

We visited some temples after that, but the highlight of the day was the romantic night on the rooftop with Juro playing Slovakian songs on his guitar, and Rob, a Russian guy we met at the hotel. Music, candlelight, the moon, great view, cool air and Indian Rum!…what more can one ask for! I became so high that night that I put caution to the wind and went out with Rob to the Ganges river at 3am in the morning. Just the 2 of us, walking on the empty streets of Varanasi. It was quite the experience! Wonderful adventure I must say=) Walking around Varanasi in the night was great…

Juro left early the next morning, and we spent our last hours in Varanasi with Rob. He brought us to a ghaut with the most amazing view of the Ganges.

Fantastic view

Rob had the most amazing blue eyes btw. Was totally mesmerized and tried to get a perfect shot of them, haha.
Something new I picked up from the Europeans – drinking beer in the afternoon! Haha…It was really strange, buying beer in the afternoon, but actually, it was very enjoyable! Azusa felt weird about beer too, but it was fun, and it made the hot weather bearable=)

Wait for part 2 and 3 of the trip (Jaipur & Agra)! Didnt have time to blog everything..and uploading is uch a chore..so im doing it in parts..the smart way! =p