This is home, truly....

Its now a year and 1 month and counting since I moved to Kolkata. It has been a rollar coaster experience I must say. I had my fair share of medical concerns like contracting something as unpronounceable as amebiosis and streptococcus, etc. True, you can live life here royally with a strong currency to your advantage, there are many more things out there which have made me realise Singapore's worth, which have made me realise how we in Singapore have taken so many things for granted. We only know what we are missing when we get the exact opposite elsewhere.

I am not saying i hate or even dislike India. In fact, in all honesty, India is a beautiful country, with lovely food, history and culture. I love being in India each time I visit. Even in Kolkata, food is awesome, the city has a colonial look left behind by the British legacy, shopping is cheap and great. More importantly, have managed to forge friendship with many here (though they are colleagues, both V's and mine). But I guess after all, I am still the spoilt Singaporean. No wait..I take back what I said. I am not spoilt. Its basic human right to expect top quality standards of living. My experience in Kolkata has opened my eyes to various issues. To issues that will stop me from taking the things we have in Singapore for granted.

Education
Being in the education industry here in Kolkata, I have been fortunate enough to visit schools in Kolkata as part of my work. Whether I have been fortunate in other aspects of my work deserves a posting of its own and I wont even begin to whine. So, ya at these schools, you instantly get an idea of the studying environment of the students. The majority of these schools are far from what you get back home in Singapore. I wish I had a picture to explain it all. Anywhere between 40-60 students squeeze in one classroom which inevitably has either broken, dusty wooden benches or rusty metal ones. The power goes off at times. Lessons continue in the sweltering heat, yet students always have a smile on their faces, and never fail to greet anyone who passes. Even if you are not a teacher in that sch! Yet. the children as well as parents seem contented with the environment they are in. In Singapore, each student is entitled to his own table and chair, clean classrooms, whiteboards, a huge field to play in, and technology to make education a high tech process. How blessed we were or our school kids are to have the best of facilities. But are we thankful for all that we have? No! Parents are constantly complaining and students using that to their advantage to gripe at the slightest discomfort. All having said, nothing beats the experience of having visited non-English medium schools like Bengali/Hindi medium schools. The kids in such schools learn English from Class 5 which is equivalent to our Primary 5 and continue learning it till Class 12. How the kids struggle to learn, speak and write English is a painful sight. English is taught in Bengali and kids literally struggle to speak the language. So much for education!
Getting things done
Well, for months together, I had a problem with my landline. Try as I might, I was not able to make outgoing call and receive incoming calls. Tried various avenues to make a complaint till I got through a guy who said "pleese come down to office with problem". I cursed and swore about the sheer inefficiency especially since I was so used to getting my problems solved over the phone or internet. To begin with, I don't recall having any problems at all with my landline, internet or even mobile phone connection. One fine day, the phone works. God knows how! Then, we were both having network/connection problems with our mobile phones. Wen on a call, we had to literally walk around the entire house just to find a spot with good connectivity. We lived with the problem for a year till I decided enough was enough. Called up the mobile phone service provider to complain abt the problem. After a few days of waiting and visits by engineers, the problem was rectified. So now we have a connectivity that allows us to speak even a remote corner of the house. We constantly have problems of toilet bowl leaks, light fuse, hard water, cable TV box breakdowns (due to lightning according to cable guys). Things do happen here but they just take time. This is probably how people get by. By waiting endlessly for people to look into your problems. Back home, there is hardly reason to complain. Things hardly go awry and even if they do, repair or rectification is almost immediate.

Despite coming back home often, there are still many things that I miss back in Singapore. FRIENDS. Despite chat technology, there is nothing like having friends around to meet during weekends or even for a quick dinner after work. I miss the food so much that Prima mixes seem heavenly. Chilli padis, hokkien mee, mee goreng, carrot cake, chicken cutlet, fish n chips, and many more. I have resorted to freeze packing some of these- tried with hokkien mee and fried rice. And I make sure I have my constant supply of chilli padis and POST cereals. I missed the National Day Parade for the 1st time in my life. I had always taken the parade for granted, and this time I saw to it I wore my Singapore tshirt, albeit a little late. Wore it on India's independence day! I miss the peace and quiet on the roads, where there is no noise, where people dont jostle when all you intend to take is a leisurely stroll. Traffic is systematic, roads top quality, although some major highways in India are as good.

Nonetheless, I am enjoying India. I love the warmth and solidarity that people have despite clashes, riots, blasts and strikes. I love the food which is as authentic as it gets. I love the shopping, especially the Indian wear which is comparatively cheap! I love the street food! I love the home i am in. These and much more..I am pretty sure I will miss this experience once we get transferred out. Whenever that would be....

So long......

Yassas!!

Before i say anything further, I need to apologise to those who keep scolding me about not updating my blog as frequently as I promised to. I admit I have been lazy to do this and will try to update as regularly as possible. Nonetheless, I am happy people missed me at least online. :)

Greek Trip

We did a Greek trip for our first anniversary in April. A spectacular 7 day trip that was. I came back stuffed with delicious food which I then began to get sick of, slightly roasted and completely refreshed for another holiday ;) It is hard to describe how lovely Greece is, especially the islands.
We flew into Mykonos, an island on the same day we flew into Athens. Spent 2 days there and was instantly attracted by the town. We stayed at Portos Mykonos which overlooked the Aegean sea. A walk down to the centre completed the entire experience. Since April was off-season, the island was relatively quiet with many shops closed for winter. I really enjoyed the lack of large numbers of tourists. We did a trip by ferry to Delos. Delos is a sacred island of Apollo and Artemis and archeological monuments that stand as one of the most important museums in Greece. Its many ancient remains include the temple of Apollo and the terrace of the lions. In Mykonos, we walked around the windmills. I have no idea why these windmills are so famous. Anyway, the centre of the town is affectionately known "Little Venice" I guess because of its waterfront view. After Mykonos, we headed by the mini aircraft to Santorini.

Santorini is heaven on earth in every sense of the word!! What a romantic place to be in. We stayed at Suites of the Gods which was the only hotel to overlook the entire Aegean sea. Rest of the hotels were situated in Fira or Oia which had land all over. We rented a car as it was close to impossible to find any mode of public transportation in that part of the island. Wat a pleasant experience this proved to be.

We headed by car to the Red Beach. It got its name from the red rocks n boulders which were a result of volcanic eruptions. We also took a day trip to an active volcano situated in the sea. Woah! It was unbelievable. Walking up to the crater proved to be a test of your physical stamina. Once up there, all fatigue instantly vanished. We even got to see smoke ( a combination of sulphur n god knows what nots) coming out from the crater. The view from the top of the volcano was SPECTACULAR! Thereafter, we headed to the hot springs. Of course, i didnt plunge into the water but was worth a sight. Once done, we headed to a mini island called Thirassia for lunch. It was a seaside lunch and food tasted heavenly. Then came the moment I was eagerly waiting for - Sunset at Oia. Its a place famous for its breathtaking view of the sunset. Of course, it lived up to its name. Once that was done, we headed back to the hotel to rest n relax.

Our last stop was Athens, where we covered the usual rituals; Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, Delos, Delphi, etc etc. We also met up with a friend and got to see wat the suburbs looked like. The entire trip felt like a dream come true, all thanks to my hubby :)

As I write this, I am thinking about when I wud blog about the next trip that i had....perhaps soon....

For pics taken in Athens, do check out http://sheelnvin.myphotoalbum.com/

Cheers

I welcome myself back

Its been a long time since I blogged. Not coz there was nothing going on at my part of the world, but because I've been lazy. Plain lazy.

Since December 07, I have done quite a bit. Over New Years, both of us went to hill of Eastern India- Darjeeling. We also spent some time in Sikkim, specifically Gangtok. We took a flight from Kolkata to a place called Bagdogra. After which, we had to endure a 4 hour drive on pot-holed roads. Once arriving in Darjeeling, it was all worth it. Darjeeling was freezing cold and we had adequately equipped ourselves with warm clothings.

Darjeeling has a couple of sightseeing spots. Tiger hills however captivated my heart. One goes to Tiger hills to see the spectacular sunrise and the peaks of the snow-clad Kanchenjunga (I think this is how its spelt) in the bitter cold.
After Darjeeling we headed to Sikkim, another state in India. Gangtok promised to be prettier than Darjeeling, especially the trip up to Changu Lake. We passed by the then India-China trade route and soon found ourselves 12k plus feet above sea level. As it was winter, parts of the lak were frozen...An amazing sight I tell ya.

Click on the link at the right sidebar should you wanna see pics.

So New years was spent exploring the hills. Jan was a quiet month with nothing to much to rave about. February was Vinod's birthday and I wanted to give him something special and different. After much research and consultation with a friend, I decided on Boracay. Boracay what, you may ask me.

Boracay is a beachside thingy off Manila. This place is reachable from Manila. Just takes 35min by a small propeller plane. This was the first time i was on a small propellor and the turbulence scared the wits out of it. From the airport in Caticlan, we boarded a boat and sat through 20min of a ride on the sea to reach the pristine and sparkling clear beach in Boracay.

I'd booked a honeymoon package so we were naturally pampered. Ate, drank, etc etc etc all 3 days there. Below is a picture of the beach from our resort. We spent 1 day in Manila before heading back to Calcutta. February was also the time my mom and aunt visited from Singapore. I had such a good time with them here and shopped everytime they shopped :)

March was a quiet month again with my in laws visiting us this time round. Since I was home most times, I showed my culinary skills, which I must admit most humbly has improved since moving here. Otherwise, been attending a number of interviews. Landed with a job...in good ol' TEFL. Mid april should know how that goes.

April is an exciting month and I am sooooooo looking forward to it. Its our first year wedding anniversary and we're gonna be spending it in GREECE!! Yes, greece. I am so excited and can barely wait for March to pass. April is also wen i start work. That would mean less travelling. :( But I am not going to let our posting go by without frequent travelling.

Till then,

Ciao & Take care