Life!!!

Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold Well!!!

An inspiring quote, appreciated by all, but followed by few. I never really appreciated Life, until a year ago. I got sick, very sick and there was a lot I couldn't do.

I only realized the value of what I had, when I had lost it. There was a lot of life lessons I learned during those 7 months.

My time was consumed by complaining about yesterday and yearning for a better tomorrow, what I failed to realize that I was ignoring the present, I was so busy with work, I never had time to notice things around me. 

I've made a conscious effort not to dwell on the past, but to value each day that I have and make the most of it.

Life Summed Up for a Cancer Survivor: Fingers Perpetually Crossed, So live life to the fullest, because living in fear or despair is not worth it. Have Faith!!! 

I believe that "Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe" But it does not mean you just need to have faith and everything else will follow, you need to take that 1st step and try.

I've not been totally reformed, but I'm taking baby steps in the right direction. People who have known me think I've changed (Hopefully for the better) I'd like to think I've improved... only time will tell.  

Euro Trip 2008

My trips are never dull or boring for the audience, and always have a moral to the story. I should start charging for all the valuable advice I provide in this essay. So let's begin.

It was the 13th of April 2008, a calm Sunday morning; I had packed the previous night. All set to go to Moscow and then on to Turkey.

I checked if everything was in order and I checked and rechecked the list. I charged all my devices, camera, electric shaver, I carried my chargers and I also call up hutch to get international roaming activated.

The check list was complete and I was very satisfied. I left at 3am, I hired a Meru cab, and I reached the airport, and was greeted with a lot of smiles. As soon as I arrived things started to move quickly in less than an hour I had checked in and gone through immigration and was all set to board the plane.

I usually click snaps from the plane, but since this was a night flight I did not bother. I boarded the plane and I was seated next to a lady, who was very nervous.

She would get up every hour like a cuckoo bird and go to the loo and since I had the aisle, I had to get up.

I managed to train myself to sleep for 55mins and then wake up for the lady to use the restroom. It was a 7.5 flight and towards the end of it we were synchronized.

I reach Moscow, I was all set to leave the plane I switched on my cell phone and I got connected to beeline the local service provider, I went through customs and I wondered what I would do for 14 hours.

I sat down at a local cafe and ordered an orange juice and packet of chips; I then decided to text message my family and a few of my friends that I had reached. I typed out a message and clicked send.

"Message Failed" I looked at my phone and there was no network, so I switched off the phone and went through manual settings and looked for network. "No network Found" I must have tried it 100-200 times, and it did not work. So I had no phone no way to contact anyone.

I walked around the airport a couple of times and after about 3 hours, I felt qualified to be an airport guide.

The clothes, food, souvenirs were apparently made by, "out of work celebrities" as the quality sucked and they were way overpriced.

A bottle of coke cost $5, a T-shirt cost only $25 and I am talking about the cheap stuff.

Moscow is boring as there is nothing to do, I spent 14hours at the airport and I found out ways to improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs.

There are no money exchange points in Moscow and if you want to buy something from a local vendor at the airport, they only accept Rubles you cannot as they do not accept Dollars or Euros, so you are forced to go to the big restaurants.

If you are traveling via Moscow always carry at least 3000 rubles approximately INR 5000, 
Make sure that you go to the loo on the plane, as the toilets are filthy, thinking about it no wonder that lady was going to the loo so often. 

If you know a little Russian, just be happy and do not show off. 

I always seem to provide valuable lessons for people. However I've learnt the hard way.

I walked around the airport again and visited every shop, it's the 1st time I just window shopped. Things were just too expensive.

After circling the airport a million times, I started to make myself useful by helping lost passengers find their gates, or immigration. 

I did this for a couple of hours and then I decided to go for dinner.

After a frightfully expensive dinner chicken nuggets and fries, oh let not forget the coke ($60)

I stared at the departure board, it was almost 11pm, I was about to fall asleep, when I saw Istanbul 2am.

The flight to Istanbul was short, and uneventful...

Atatürk Airport was nice, much cleaner, but I did not want hang around too much as I wanted to get to the hotel as quickly as possible, so I rushed to get my bag...

I waited... and waited and waited some more ....for my luggage to arrive, nothing. I went and spoke to some airport staff and they checked my ticket.

My luggage was still in Moscow! aargh all I had was a bag filled with shoes, a track pant and a tshirt.

I met a very friendly Indian couple on their honeymoon, we started to talk and we realized that we were staying at the same hotel "Umay"

I offered to give them a lift... the husband didn't seem too pleased, I guess he was already in the honeymoon mood, and probably wanted some action as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately his newly wed wife was already sitting in the car, he was left with no choice but to accept. If looks could kill, I'm sure I would have never made it back.

The hotel was clean, I unpacked my handbag, I had a shower and changed into my ... yeah you guessed it " A track pant and a tshirt"

I was scheduled to go on some some cruise, I honestly didn't care, as my camera and everything I owned was sitting in Russia, I guess my bags didn't want to come.

So I was alone, without a camera, admiring the beauty around me...

I headed back to my hotel after a quick tour...as I entered the hotel I felt a sharp pain around my left shoulder and it got worse.

I went up to my room and now the pain was unbearable. I had no clue what to do. I just sat for a while, until I got used to the pain.

I changed in my shorts and went to sleep. I did not get up for dinner. The next day the pain had subsided and I was happy. 

I tried to mix and match, with whatever I had and went out, I bought some key chains and went out to a local cafe.

The people in Turkey are friendly and make the effort to help you. After a quick lunch I went back to my hotel.

So strange but true, I felt that same sharp pain as I entered the hotel. This time the pain was now tenfold.

I did not make it to my room, I waited in the lobby for some time, trying to shrug off the pain. I could not take it anymore.

I had no travel insurance and I did not want to take a chance. I called my travel agent and got a flight booked for that evening.

I packed my bag and left for the airport. I did not have to wait for a long time. I do not remember boarding, I only remember landing in Russia and waiting for my flight back home.

I reached Bombay and I was just happy to back home.

For all those who love to travel ....get travel insurance.

Till then Adios!

It Doesn't Matter What You Do

The decisions that we make each day set the tone for the future. Every decision has a consequence, and a lesson. 

In my life I've made a lot of decisions that have resulted in great outcomes and on the other hand great lessons. 

Some decisions I have made, I'd like to alter them just a wee bit. I'm a very impulsive person and once I decide something, I try very hard to make it seem right. 

At the same time I am constantly analysing and hoping for things to look up. What I have learnt that some decisions can be undone, but it very hard to do if you've already invested a lot time an effort in making something work. 

I know whatever I've decided, I'm going to remain positive and pray that everything turns out as I expect it to be.

THAILAND THRILLER

My trip to Bangkok was packed with a lot of "life lessons," and I'm glad I learned from it.

My flight was smooth; there were only 30 of us on the plane, so after take-off, we could sit anywhere. I arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport at 6:30 a.m. and started my journey to Visa control.

I filled in my application and was about to submit my Visa when the guy asked me how much money I had. I told him I had USD 200 and a credit card. He said, "NOT ENOUGH, you need a minimum of USD 300 or TBH 10,000." I had about 15K in Indian currency, but INR is as good as toilet paper. I didn't have any more money, so I tried to withdraw TBH 5000 from my credit cards, but for some reason, it didn't work. (I later found out that ICICI systems were down that day.) I was in a fix; my tour operator hadn't told me I needed a certain amount of cash with me.

I walked around the airport for about 2.5 hours, trying every ATM and exchange point to see if any of my other cards would work, but no luck.

I felt like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal"!

I finally went back to the Visa control area and sat down, trying to figure out a way to make it out of the airport. Then I saw two Indians walking. I approached them and explained the situation, telling them I needed TBH 4000 for 10 minutes and would return the money as soon as I got my Visa. They had arrived from the UAE and didn't have any money with them either, but one of them withdrew TBH 24,000 from his credit card and gave me TBH 4000. I got my Visa processed, and after immigration check, I gave him his money back and also gave him TBH 200 for his help.

I finally got out of the airport at 10 a.m. I went to the meeting point, and no one was there. I met another tour operator and asked them to call my tour operator (I didn't have my international roaming activated, so I couldn't make or receive any calls). Finally, this lady said she would take care of everything and guided me to the bus. I sat down in the bus, relieved that this episode was finally over, and decided to click a snap of the airport... but my camera was not there.

OH NO, I had left it at Visa Control in all that commotion (to get a visa, you need a snap, and I had placed my camera down at the photo booth). I rushed back through the airport, through security and customs, and was out of breath. I told them I had left my camera. They asked me to describe it, and I GOT IT BACK!!!! WHEW!

I then rushed back to the bus, my legs aching from running all the way, and finally got into the bus. I clicked a snap of myself to remind me of this experience. After a 4-hour ride, I reached Pattaya, checked in, had a bath, and took a short nap. Around 3 p.m., I went to KFC for lunch. In Pattaya and Bangkok, they mostly have seafood and stuff I can't even pronounce, so I stuck to things I was familiar with. After lunch, I went to the shopping mall and just browsed around. I found some nice pencils with "Pattaya" written on them. I tried to bargain and paid 400 baht for 10 pencils, feeling proud of my bargaining skills as she had quoted 300 baht for 5. My happiness was short-lived when I went to the shopping mall and saw similar pencils for 90 baht (5). Damn, no more shopping on the street. I didn't find anything interesting, so I went to Starbucks and then back to my hotel. After another bath, I took another short nap.

In the evening, I went to Burger King, and NO, I didn't have a burger there. I had the same thing: 1 coke, fries, and chicken. Then I took a walk by the sea, snapped a few photos of the area and myself, and headed back to the hotel. I had another bath and finally called it a night.

As you will notice from the snaps and my narration of the trip, I had A LOT OF TIME on my hands. Looking on the positive side, I got plenty of sleep and had a lot of baths. I clicked every possible angle of my room and rearranged the mini bar so that everything would be in order. Anyway, this story does not end here... I know you must be thinking, "I wish it did." ...but prepare to be bored.

OK, so where did I stop... ah yes, the next day I went down for breakfast. It was supposed to be a buffet, so I was happy as the buffets I had back home were excellent with a wide variety.

I gave the busboy/waiter my coupon, and I sure did see a lot of variety, but none that I liked. They had rice and noodles for breakfast??? And eggs that still seemed to have some life in them. There were a few other dishes that seemed so fresh they were almost alive. They can surely claim that the food is fresh, and you can see it. So I settled for toast and tasteless butter, and a glass of juice (some juice). It was purple and sweet; I have no idea what I had.  

After a scrumptious breakfast I went back to the lobby as I was supposed to get a tour of Coral Island. I asked the receptionist what time it would be, and very confidently, she told me it was at 10 a.m. So I went back to my room, and yes, you guessed it, I had a bath. At 9:30 a.m., I went back to the lobby.

I waited, and it was 10:30, no phone call or pick-up. I checked with them again. That same very confident receptionist was as confused as a toddler in a university. Her expression stated that I had asked her to explain E = mc². I waited in the reception till 1 p.m. and then went back to my room. After another bath, I went back to the shopping mall. I picked up some keychains and souvenirs for my team, and after a lot of browsing and a quick bite at McDonald's, I went back to my hotel.

I spent the next day at the shopping mall, just sightseeing as I hadn't carried enough cash and didn't want to exhaust my credit card for fear of being stranded. So one more day in Pattaya, doing absolutely nothing. In fact, the only difference between doing nothing at home and doing nothing in a foreign country is that it costs a whole lot more.

The only English channel on TV was HBO, so I watched movies I would have never ever watched. I also tuned into the Thai news channel. You can imagine how desperate I was for entertainment.

The next day, I was supposed to leave for Bangkok from Pattaya. I was pleasantly surprised that my tour operator had left a message for me, telling me that I would get a pick-up at 11 a.m.

So the next day, I didn't bother to go and have the exquisite breakfast. I decided to go to KFC and then to Starbucks. I got up at 6 a.m., had a bath, and set out to eat my last meal in Thailand. I came back, had another bath, packed my bags, and checked out at 10 a.m. I waited and waited and waited some more… at 11:30, still no sign of this guy. I thought to myself, "Oh not again, what a disaster!!!!"

Then, out of the blue, like a ray of hope, I heard someone call out my room number. WOW!!!! YEAH... finally!!!!

I later discovered that the guy/driver was there at 11 a.m., but he was looking out for a Chinese man???? (I'm sure you’re confused) So was I.

They had distorted my name; I was now "Jeng Bong," far from James Barnett. So after a 4-hour ride, I arrived in Bangkok, where everything was Bang this and Bang that.

I stayed at the Hotel Unico Leela, a nice hotel; however, the corridors were only 3 feet wide. I clicked a few more snaps of my room, rearranged the mini bar, and had baths. In the afternoon, I went to Starbucks and then headed back to my hotel. Bangkok is more commercialized, with huge buildings and really busy streets.

I received a call from the main tour operator asking for some documents, so I told them they could collect them in the evening. At around 7 p.m., they arrived, looking around as if searching for someone. I approached them and introduced myself as James. They told me they thought I was British, as they had spoken to me over the phone and didn't realize I was Indian.

I then mentioned that I hadn't received the Coral Island tour. The tour operator apologized and offered to make it up by giving me another event, like an underwater world show or something.

The next day, I got a tour of the Buddhist temples. I am guessing that tour guide assigned to me was assigned last minute as she struggled to communicate, the only English words she knew were  “Look, see, there, here, wait, come, stay, I’ll be back, and thank you.” We mostly communicated through sign language. She however was very polite.

The Temple Tour was supposed to last three hours, but everything looked alike, so I managed to finish the entire tour in under 45 minutes.

There was a huge statue of Buddha made of 18k gold, which was awesome. Then there was an even bigger statue of the Reclining Buddha. I clicked some snaps there. This was the first place where someone else clicked a snap of me, as I was alone the other times.

I bought a cup of coins, made a wish, and dropped one coin in each bowl. Since we had plenty of time to spare, she took me to the Gems Gallery.

The Gems Gallery was nice; they showed me how they polish the stones and cut the gems, etc. Again, it was “all see, no buy.”

The tour of the Temples and Gems was done, and my tour guide had no idea what to do next. We had plenty of time and nowhere to go. I sensed she was also bored, so I told her I wanted to go back to my hotel.

She was happy as she got to go home half-day. I skipped the underwater tour as I wanted to spend some time shopping. I went back to my hotel, had a shower and walked to the nearest super mall.

I hadn't shaved in four days, and people kept mistaking me for someone from the Middle East.  They spoke to me in Arabic and kept giving me menus in Arabic.

The street where I stayed was surrounded by Eastern, European, and Indian restaurants—really nice.

I went to this massive shopping complex with nine levels. The ninth level was the food court, where I ate, and then I went down to each level. I saw some really nice things. The electronics were 40% cheaper than in India, but since I was carrying only one bag and didn't want to check in any luggage (to avoid waiting at the airport when I got back), I headed back to the hotel.

I stopped by 7-Eleven to get a packet of chips. All fish-flavored, no regular chips. Finally, I found a packet of regular chips. Whew!

I spent the evening packing all that I had bought (really little) neatly, then went out to dinner. After a bath, I went to sleep.

On the last day, I had a quick breakfast. This time, there were also fruits, so I had that. I checked out of my room and waited for my pick-up.

I went through customs, and surprisingly, they didn't bother to check my bags or search me (the regular security check).

That's all.

It was an experience for me. I'm sure it could have been better with some company.

Again, looking on the positive side, I did what I said I was going to do. I learned some very important lessons and got to see a new country. So no complaints.

Looking back at what happened, it wouldn't have been so exciting if everything had gone smoothly. That's what I keep telling myself.