28/01/2011
Hotel Airport International - Mumbai First impressions are everything, right? My first impression of India? Well I've arrived in Mumbai for all of 2 hours and so far these are my thoughts... 1. They need to do something about their airport. It's so congested and it seems like departure and arrivals are all together and all over the show. That said, it was fairly organized chaos. Ahhh, such is India. 2. I have no idea what they are saying. And yes, they were speaking English to me. I am going to have to get use to that! 3. Besides not being able to understand them clearly resulting in many of them having to repeat themselves several times, they have been super friendly to me, the first time visitor. 4. The airport I booked near the domestic airport sent a young boy to wait for me at arrivals. I'm so glad I was going with him and not some of the other dodgy looking people. 5. Are there traffic lights in India? I didn't seem to see very many, and when I did, there were cars going in all directions whether the light was red or green or flashing amber to them. I'm confused as to how their roads work so far. 6. A LOT of dogs. Oh look, there's a black one. And a white one. Ha a brown one. Wow a pack of them, rummaging or eating something over there... Hmmm and a topless man standing next to the pack of dogs as if they were his. 7. Huge mosquitoes. There's no ways that I will forget to take my malaria tablets! I have no idea when I'm gonna post all these onto my blog but I promise to write everyday that I am here. It still seems kind of unreal that I am here all alone. Princess Karen in India. Yeah so I'm not that much of a princess compared to some of you reading this (yes you know who you are haha), but still I live a pretty comfortable and pampered lifestyle back home. Looking forward to Chennai tomorrow and settling in over the weekend! xoxo
K
28/01/2011
10:15 Mumbai Domestic Airport
Curry for breakfast? Um no thanks, I think I'll stay with toast for now. The service is so good in India thus far, but I think that's probably because they were expecting a tip or something. I didn't manage to exchange money until this morning so didn't have any money to tip anyone. Plus, an Indian expecting a tip from a Chinese? Well that's just silly. Travelling alone as a woman is a bit intimidating I must say. It will take some time for my courage to build up. But I must also remember what my dear friend Emic said, "Remember you are just a little girl, don't be brave and go do stupid shit on your own.". Leaving all my dear friends and traveling on my own also introduces some loneliness. Suddenly I don't have my girls with me to laugh and gossip along the way. But that is the point of this whole trip right? For self exploration, for the challenge, learning to be truly independent and being totally out of your comfort zone. I sure picked the right place to do that. The upside to traveling as a woman in India though is that at the domestic security check, you have your own queue, which happens to be much shorter! 28/01/2011
20:48 AMJ Raj Palace Sundar room 305 - Chennai
This is my home for the next 4 weeks. Besides the choice in decor I cannot call my own, this feels like home! Mossies are at a minimum level and shower works like wow. I chose the right place. One thing I've noticed since I arrived is that some of the people working at the hotels are really young! They look like they could be in grade 10 if not younger and that makes me feel a bit sad. Most of us, if not all of us reading this, are so privileged yet sometimes we struggle to see it. We complain about the smallest of things and think to ourselves, "Oh what a hard life I have!". Seriously? Sure things don't always go our way, but when you look carefully, we are surrounded by privileges. Oh and I know why people say you must bring earplugs when you come to India. Gosh the hooting does not stop! Like ever! Hooting on the road here is a form of communication on the road. "Get out of my way", "You're coming into my way", "I'm gonna move into your lane now so get out of my way", "fuck off", "no, you fuck off!". Sitting at the hotel room, you can hear the constant hooting going on outside in the streets. Taxi drivers back home seem so tame in comparison. One thing about Chennai, as the plane was approaching the city, I gazed out the window and saw a wonderful mix of colored houses. Buildings were painted pink, purple, green, yellow, blue etc. It was such a pretty sight. The roads are undeniably chaos, but appeared to be a little better than Mumbai. Shit I need to sleep and fix this jet lag! XOXO
K
Hotel Airport International - Mumbai First impressions are everything, right? My first impression of India? Well I've arrived in Mumbai for all of 2 hours and so far these are my thoughts... 1. They need to do something about their airport. It's so congested and it seems like departure and arrivals are all together and all over the show. That said, it was fairly organized chaos. Ahhh, such is India. 2. I have no idea what they are saying. And yes, they were speaking English to me. I am going to have to get use to that! 3. Besides not being able to understand them clearly resulting in many of them having to repeat themselves several times, they have been super friendly to me, the first time visitor. 4. The airport I booked near the domestic airport sent a young boy to wait for me at arrivals. I'm so glad I was going with him and not some of the other dodgy looking people. 5. Are there traffic lights in India? I didn't seem to see very many, and when I did, there were cars going in all directions whether the light was red or green or flashing amber to them. I'm confused as to how their roads work so far. 6. A LOT of dogs. Oh look, there's a black one. And a white one. Ha a brown one. Wow a pack of them, rummaging or eating something over there... Hmmm and a topless man standing next to the pack of dogs as if they were his. 7. Huge mosquitoes. There's no ways that I will forget to take my malaria tablets! I have no idea when I'm gonna post all these onto my blog but I promise to write everyday that I am here. It still seems kind of unreal that I am here all alone. Princess Karen in India. Yeah so I'm not that much of a princess compared to some of you reading this (yes you know who you are haha), but still I live a pretty comfortable and pampered lifestyle back home. Looking forward to Chennai tomorrow and settling in over the weekend! xoxo
K
28/01/2011
10:15 Mumbai Domestic Airport
Curry for breakfast? Um no thanks, I think I'll stay with toast for now. The service is so good in India thus far, but I think that's probably because they were expecting a tip or something. I didn't manage to exchange money until this morning so didn't have any money to tip anyone. Plus, an Indian expecting a tip from a Chinese? Well that's just silly. Travelling alone as a woman is a bit intimidating I must say. It will take some time for my courage to build up. But I must also remember what my dear friend Emic said, "Remember you are just a little girl, don't be brave and go do stupid shit on your own.". Leaving all my dear friends and traveling on my own also introduces some loneliness. Suddenly I don't have my girls with me to laugh and gossip along the way. But that is the point of this whole trip right? For self exploration, for the challenge, learning to be truly independent and being totally out of your comfort zone. I sure picked the right place to do that. The upside to traveling as a woman in India though is that at the domestic security check, you have your own queue, which happens to be much shorter! 28/01/2011
20:48 AMJ Raj Palace Sundar room 305 - Chennai
This is my home for the next 4 weeks. Besides the choice in decor I cannot call my own, this feels like home! Mossies are at a minimum level and shower works like wow. I chose the right place. One thing I've noticed since I arrived is that some of the people working at the hotels are really young! They look like they could be in grade 10 if not younger and that makes me feel a bit sad. Most of us, if not all of us reading this, are so privileged yet sometimes we struggle to see it. We complain about the smallest of things and think to ourselves, "Oh what a hard life I have!". Seriously? Sure things don't always go our way, but when you look carefully, we are surrounded by privileges. Oh and I know why people say you must bring earplugs when you come to India. Gosh the hooting does not stop! Like ever! Hooting on the road here is a form of communication on the road. "Get out of my way", "You're coming into my way", "I'm gonna move into your lane now so get out of my way", "fuck off", "no, you fuck off!". Sitting at the hotel room, you can hear the constant hooting going on outside in the streets. Taxi drivers back home seem so tame in comparison. One thing about Chennai, as the plane was approaching the city, I gazed out the window and saw a wonderful mix of colored houses. Buildings were painted pink, purple, green, yellow, blue etc. It was such a pretty sight. The roads are undeniably chaos, but appeared to be a little better than Mumbai. Shit I need to sleep and fix this jet lag! XOXO
K
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