Yep, back from another vacation and we have to jump right into learning Oracle...bleh! But Goa seemed like a much needed break from all of the crap we get from our beloved company. You guys probably don't know what or where Goa is but it's supposed to be the most touristy, beachiest place in India. Well...I didn't really get that vibe but sure...
My mom always comments that going on vacations only serve to remind her how great home (San Diego) is. I entirely agree. I don't think anything could beat my love for San Diego awesomeness. The water is better, the weather is better, the waves are better...everything is better! It's okay though...despite the not-as-coolness, I still had a good time. One of the big perks was the food. Every dinner we had was yummy-delicious and full of seafoody goodness, a rare treat when you're stuck smack in the middle of the country for most of the time. I definitely ate a lot and we definitely ate on the beach on multiple occasions. Now there's something that you probably can't get back in the states... Being able to sit on the beach for dinner without it being ridiculously cold.
One of the highlights was renting scooters for the weekend and driving ourselves places throughout Goa. A bit scary considering the crazy way Indian drivers are but awesomely fun nonetheless! We had only a few incidents...one of them being getting pulled over by corrupt Indian popos who demanded that we show our drivers licenses or else pay a 2000 rupee fine. Psshh...what bullshit. Of course, I was the only one who didn't have their drivers license on them but my buddies and I put up a fight and demanded documentation for this so-called "fine". Eventually they agreed to let us ride back to our hotel to retrieve the license (which wasn't there...haha, I'd left it in Hyderabad) while they continued to patrol area. Bwahaha...dodging the police! But other than that, scooters are sooo fun! It'd be cool if that was actually a reasonable thing to get when I got back to the states...
So our actual primary purpose for going to Goa was to scuba dive or jetski or SOMETHING. We didn't do either of these. Scuba diving in Goa apparently sucks because the Arabian Sea is super murky there. And then for jetskiing, the starting price was 100 rupees per minute. PER MINUTE. Ridiculous. What we DID end up doing was tubing, in which a boat drags a two person innertube-type deal on a crazy ride over waves and through fast turns. It was great. I definitely went twice and I fell out twice and I also got crazy whiplash on my neck, which is pretty sore now, haha. But it was so worth it! It was so fun...I'm pretty sure we went off a wave that dropped us about 10 feet. Woo!
That's pretty much all the eventful stuff that happened on the trip. It was a good getaway. It also made me miss people and home and surfing which I desperately want to do right now. Ahhh!!! Sigh, I can't wait to be done with all this training business and to be HOME! DANG!
So...next trip? Probably sometime in mid-November or Christmas time? Unfortunately, I'm probably definitely not going to be able to make it back home for the holidays...BOO!! =( Instead I might try to go see the Taj Mahal...or perhaps go to Vietnam again. Who knows, anything and anywhere is possible!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Hyderabad
Hello friends! Wow, it's been so crazy busy that I haven't had a chance to really update this thing in a long time. Well, I'm finally in Hyderabad...got here just about a week ago exactly! My how time flies...
After coming back from our beach vacation in Kovalam, things were pretty relaxed for a while as we "studied" for our comprehensive exam. Of course, I only ended up studying the night before and I still got an A, woo woo =P. For our last night in Mysore we ate at good 'ol MezzaLuna (along with the Lemon Tree chicken roll combo) and then danced it up at the club at Sandesh. Ahh...a good last evening. It was sad having to say goodbye to all of the people in Mysore. Thankfully most of my friends were moving with me so that's pretty awesome.
Last Tuesday we packed up our things drove the 4 mile ride to Bangalore airport so we could board our 1.5 hour flight to Hyderabad, haha. Hyderabad is comparable to Bangalore...both are big, dusty Indian cities. It's definitely going to be a different experience than living in Mysore (a considerably smaller city). The actual city center is 45 minutes away and to get to anything cool takes at least half an hour. So that's a huge bummer... Going to "nice" restaurants is definitely going to be way more pricy...but there are also a lot more restaurants to explore! Hopefully we'll find a few good gems without getting overwhelmed by the huge selection. I've already ventured out into the city a couple times...twice to eat (I had steak for the first time in 3 months!) and once over the weekend to tag along with my friend who had a hook up that toured us around Hyderabad. We quickly visited a few sights - Charminar and Chowmahalla Palace - and we got to learn a bit of the history of the city. However, the pollution here is absolutely deathly. I already know I'm going to return to the States with a whole slew of throat and lung problems. Sigh...
One of the best parts of Hyderabad, however, is the campus that we live on. It's SO much better than Mysore! There's no floating restaurant but it's definitely way cooler in every other way. First and foremost, we finally, finally all live in the same building! It's just like living in the dorms again where all of your friends are next door or just down the hall. We can actually hang out in each others' rooms now! Like real adults! The food is actually pretty decent, too. There's a Subway that's delicious, Dominoes is of course present. But there are some new things, like a Chinese food stand called Bowl O' China (haha). I'm actually quite satisfied so far. Even though everything is still ridiculously spicy, I'm liking the selections more than our choices in Mysore. The other big factor is that there are far less people. I'm enjoying the non-crowdedness of the campus. Except during peak hours at the food courts when there aren't even any tables available! Also, my room is awesome. It's even bigger than it was in Mysore and I have an awesome view of the cricket/frisbee field (yes, we're definitely going to take it over...the process has already started, haha). Our classes are on the ground floor of the building we live in so everything is super close! It is great.
Yep, so lately we've been working on learning Java. Unfortunately, the teacher isn't so great so I guess I should be doing some self-study right now...boooooo. But this weekend is Diwali which is going to be cool to see how everyone celebrates it here. Part of me wishes I was taking it easy and staying in Hyderabad so I could experience all the authentic Diwali festivities. However, this is one of our only long weekend so how could we not take advantage? Me and 9 other friends are heading out to Goa this weekend to kick it at the beach again! But this time the goal is scuba diving and jetskiing. We'll see what we can find =P. Goa is supposed to be the big beach attraction in India...I'll see how it compares to San Diego!
After coming back from our beach vacation in Kovalam, things were pretty relaxed for a while as we "studied" for our comprehensive exam. Of course, I only ended up studying the night before and I still got an A, woo woo =P. For our last night in Mysore we ate at good 'ol MezzaLuna (along with the Lemon Tree chicken roll combo) and then danced it up at the club at Sandesh. Ahh...a good last evening. It was sad having to say goodbye to all of the people in Mysore. Thankfully most of my friends were moving with me so that's pretty awesome.
Last Tuesday we packed up our things drove the 4 mile ride to Bangalore airport so we could board our 1.5 hour flight to Hyderabad, haha. Hyderabad is comparable to Bangalore...both are big, dusty Indian cities. It's definitely going to be a different experience than living in Mysore (a considerably smaller city). The actual city center is 45 minutes away and to get to anything cool takes at least half an hour. So that's a huge bummer... Going to "nice" restaurants is definitely going to be way more pricy...but there are also a lot more restaurants to explore! Hopefully we'll find a few good gems without getting overwhelmed by the huge selection. I've already ventured out into the city a couple times...twice to eat (I had steak for the first time in 3 months!) and once over the weekend to tag along with my friend who had a hook up that toured us around Hyderabad. We quickly visited a few sights - Charminar and Chowmahalla Palace - and we got to learn a bit of the history of the city. However, the pollution here is absolutely deathly. I already know I'm going to return to the States with a whole slew of throat and lung problems. Sigh...
One of the best parts of Hyderabad, however, is the campus that we live on. It's SO much better than Mysore! There's no floating restaurant but it's definitely way cooler in every other way. First and foremost, we finally, finally all live in the same building! It's just like living in the dorms again where all of your friends are next door or just down the hall. We can actually hang out in each others' rooms now! Like real adults! The food is actually pretty decent, too. There's a Subway that's delicious, Dominoes is of course present. But there are some new things, like a Chinese food stand called Bowl O' China (haha). I'm actually quite satisfied so far. Even though everything is still ridiculously spicy, I'm liking the selections more than our choices in Mysore. The other big factor is that there are far less people. I'm enjoying the non-crowdedness of the campus. Except during peak hours at the food courts when there aren't even any tables available! Also, my room is awesome. It's even bigger than it was in Mysore and I have an awesome view of the cricket/frisbee field (yes, we're definitely going to take it over...the process has already started, haha). Our classes are on the ground floor of the building we live in so everything is super close! It is great.
Yep, so lately we've been working on learning Java. Unfortunately, the teacher isn't so great so I guess I should be doing some self-study right now...boooooo. But this weekend is Diwali which is going to be cool to see how everyone celebrates it here. Part of me wishes I was taking it easy and staying in Hyderabad so I could experience all the authentic Diwali festivities. However, this is one of our only long weekend so how could we not take advantage? Me and 9 other friends are heading out to Goa this weekend to kick it at the beach again! But this time the goal is scuba diving and jetskiing. We'll see what we can find =P. Goa is supposed to be the big beach attraction in India...I'll see how it compares to San Diego!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Kerala!
So this weekend we took our very first all-out R&R vacation to the beach! We headed out first thing after work on Friday afternoon to Bangalore and stayed at my friend's uncle's Bangalore guesthouses again. As to be expected, food was delicious and the room was eggcellent. Except we had to wake up at 3:30am the next morning to catch our flight to Trivandrum (also known as Thiruvananthapuram). Our resort had taxis waiting for us at the airport to pick us up before it was even 9am we were out on the beach!
We stayed at a charming little place called Coconut Bay Resort - "private" beach, hammocks, a pool, and a restaurant that had the best food ever. Once we arrived, we immediately started beaching it, playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean...it was great (although I couldn't help but think the entire time how much I wish I was in San Diego, surfing it up at Seascape...SIIIIIGGGHHH). Later on, some of us went to Kovalam beach and explored the touristy area. Honestly, it wasn't as good as our "private beach" because it was crowded and dirtier looking. Our beach was pretty cool because a bunch of fisherman landed their boats there every morning, unloading their catches...tons and tons of muscles! It was pretty cool cuz the fisherman boats were basically just made of three big logs.
Later on we made our way to the Leela Resort which is the big, fancy resort in town. It is SUPER nice there. They have a sweet infinity pool, an amazing view, and I'm pretty sure they have a private beach of their own as well. It's also huge. I might have to try it out someday when I'm rich =P. We rested and had some refreshments and then headed back to Coconut Bay for dinner. The restaurant at our resort was SO GOOD. I stuffed myself all three times I ate there...mmmm Chicken Tikka Makhani... Agh, it's making me hungry just thinking about it.
The next day consisted of even more R&R. After a slow morning we tossed a frisbee along the beach (YAY, ultimate...I'd been so deprived!!!) Had another delicious meal and then headed out to a backwater boat tour. We rode this old-school boat down a lazy river until it reached the ocean and then he brought us back up. Our boat driver was so funny and precious - he kept pointing out things of interest like all the eagles flying overhead or the poisonous mangrove trees. He was pretty awesome.
Yep, it was a pretty easy, relaxing weekend. The beach was great. The only thing I realized that I really dislike about India in general is all the burning trash. Awful smoke clouds of pollution clogging up my lungs can really ruin a moment. And they're EVERYWHERE. It really suck and doesn't make any sense to me...isn't that incredibly unhealthy and absolutely disastrous for the environment????
Monday was pretty hectic and full of travel...we didn't get back to Mysore until 3:30pm! Luckily, class is pretty useless, as evidenced by the fact that I got a 95% on my test this morning even though I didn't go to half of the module. Haha...oh man.
Anyway, it's crazy to think that I have exactly a week left in Mysore...and then it's off to Hyderabad! I don't know if I'm quite ready to leave...but maybe I am. I feel like I have so much more left to do!
We stayed at a charming little place called Coconut Bay Resort - "private" beach, hammocks, a pool, and a restaurant that had the best food ever. Once we arrived, we immediately started beaching it, playing in the sand, swimming in the ocean...it was great (although I couldn't help but think the entire time how much I wish I was in San Diego, surfing it up at Seascape...SIIIIIGGGHHH). Later on, some of us went to Kovalam beach and explored the touristy area. Honestly, it wasn't as good as our "private beach" because it was crowded and dirtier looking. Our beach was pretty cool because a bunch of fisherman landed their boats there every morning, unloading their catches...tons and tons of muscles! It was pretty cool cuz the fisherman boats were basically just made of three big logs.
Later on we made our way to the Leela Resort which is the big, fancy resort in town. It is SUPER nice there. They have a sweet infinity pool, an amazing view, and I'm pretty sure they have a private beach of their own as well. It's also huge. I might have to try it out someday when I'm rich =P. We rested and had some refreshments and then headed back to Coconut Bay for dinner. The restaurant at our resort was SO GOOD. I stuffed myself all three times I ate there...mmmm Chicken Tikka Makhani... Agh, it's making me hungry just thinking about it.
The next day consisted of even more R&R. After a slow morning we tossed a frisbee along the beach (YAY, ultimate...I'd been so deprived!!!) Had another delicious meal and then headed out to a backwater boat tour. We rode this old-school boat down a lazy river until it reached the ocean and then he brought us back up. Our boat driver was so funny and precious - he kept pointing out things of interest like all the eagles flying overhead or the poisonous mangrove trees. He was pretty awesome.
Yep, it was a pretty easy, relaxing weekend. The beach was great. The only thing I realized that I really dislike about India in general is all the burning trash. Awful smoke clouds of pollution clogging up my lungs can really ruin a moment. And they're EVERYWHERE. It really suck and doesn't make any sense to me...isn't that incredibly unhealthy and absolutely disastrous for the environment????
Monday was pretty hectic and full of travel...we didn't get back to Mysore until 3:30pm! Luckily, class is pretty useless, as evidenced by the fact that I got a 95% on my test this morning even though I didn't go to half of the module. Haha...oh man.
Anyway, it's crazy to think that I have exactly a week left in Mysore...and then it's off to Hyderabad! I don't know if I'm quite ready to leave...but maybe I am. I feel like I have so much more left to do!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Tragedy strikes!
They closed the frisbee field!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!
So I've been ultimate deprived for the last week and a half because they suddenly decided that they wanted to do construction on the track surrounding the field. BOO. Seriously, I've been in a pseudo state of depression ever since... I also have neglected to do anything active since my sole, reliable outlet has now been squashed. Somehow I'm not surprised that this happened to us...
But in better news, we finally got a timetable for how much longer we're going to be here in India! Looks like they cut out some of the more pointless parts of our training. I am now leaving for Hyderabad on October 14th and I will supposedly be returning back to the US around January 9th! (And Hyderabad will have a free field for ultimate...yayyy!!!)
Also, two of my friends recently got motorbikes so that's pretty cool because now they can take us to places off-campus more efficiently. And it's fun! =P My goal is to find a better place to eat that's cheaper and yummier than the floater...I'm sick of that place!
In other news, tomorrow is a holiday for Ghandi's birthday. I think we intended to make plans...but then never did. However, this weekend we shall be heading to Kovalam in Kerala to hit the beach...finally! I think this is the most land-locked I've ever been in my life!
So I've been ultimate deprived for the last week and a half because they suddenly decided that they wanted to do construction on the track surrounding the field. BOO. Seriously, I've been in a pseudo state of depression ever since... I also have neglected to do anything active since my sole, reliable outlet has now been squashed. Somehow I'm not surprised that this happened to us...
But in better news, we finally got a timetable for how much longer we're going to be here in India! Looks like they cut out some of the more pointless parts of our training. I am now leaving for Hyderabad on October 14th and I will supposedly be returning back to the US around January 9th! (And Hyderabad will have a free field for ultimate...yayyy!!!)
Also, two of my friends recently got motorbikes so that's pretty cool because now they can take us to places off-campus more efficiently. And it's fun! =P My goal is to find a better place to eat that's cheaper and yummier than the floater...I'm sick of that place!
In other news, tomorrow is a holiday for Ghandi's birthday. I think we intended to make plans...but then never did. However, this weekend we shall be heading to Kovalam in Kerala to hit the beach...finally! I think this is the most land-locked I've ever been in my life!
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