india thru my compact

i have so much pictures from my recent trip (India and Dubai) but to encapsulate the entire trip, i must as well post photos from my G10 and coolpix compacts so to not leave them under the rug.


i thought as i was looking thru the photos, they were slices and condensed version of the entire trip ( a few hit and miss here and there).

***

My indian album: via my compacts..

we arrived in india, at 3AM. the airport at Thrivananthapuram (old name: Trivandum, easier to pronounce,hehe).

their airport was much smaller than any airport that ive been to ( bar caticlan's).








we were so tired from the flight, that we couldnt care anymore of how we look



as soon as we got out, this was waiting for us.."Mr. Ragen Stevart",lol.





that's Vivek, the groom's brother, and who was also the groom on the second week..

we arrived before the groom in India. we arrived on Sunday morning, while he got there the next day.









their airport was quite busy too at such early in the morning.

we travelled for more than 3 hours from the airport to the lodge where the groom booked for us..

we ate breakfast bread and jam groggily in the lodge , and went to sleep, for 4 hours to get some energy..



***

around 5 pm, we decided to roam the town for some good indian grub.



we had some dahl and chappatis




and this was the vegetarian restaurant we went in.




this one's their breakfast special..the "puto" looking one is called idly. they have that for breakfast.


***

by the evening, we had food at one of the hotels..






right now, im salivating thinking of the parathas, masala chicken and fish fry's ive had.




***

the town we stayed at was Tamil Nadu. Its the very tip point of India so its near the coastline.

Tamil Nadu is known for its sunsets and sunrise. apart from Cape Town, apparently, they have the best sunrise and sunsets as consistenly perfect.

a few blocks from where our lodge was, was the coast, so we went and saw their beachline.





just across these waters is Sri Lanka..we could have hired a boat, and went there, but obviously,we were advised not to.







remember the big tsunami of 2004? this coastal town was hit by it too. hundreds of people died during that tsunami, but it wasnt as mentioned in the news as there werent much tourists there compared to Thailand and the rest of the Tsunami hit countries.



***

We also celebrated Phillip's birthday, one of Chelson's mountain climbing friends who attended the wedding at Chelson's/Thilak's house.









we had a cake and all... (phillip said it was his first birthday with a curry as food).



***

we toured around (South) India in between weddings.


our first trip was to a town called Cochin.

on the way there, we sampled some great restaurants..




this photo was after sampling a rooftop restaurant that featured mutton lamb curry..i also first tasted Lime Soda here.



we watched the Kathakali show which was an ancient show in Kerala, quite popular for its ancient history and lessons. its similar to the Kabuki (it doesnt feature any female actor, only a male actor could take part and do even female characters), and it was alot of drumming, singing by background voices/instrument,while the actor do acting by pantomime.





the next day was a stop at another town, and a visit to the viceroy's museum..



**

and we went to the mountains..

we went to the tea plantation and stayed in a mountain hotel.





we also went to tea museums, sampled some good cardamom tea, and went around the mountain towns.




back in our hotel, thats how haggard we looked. drenched from the rain too.



..

more sightseeeing the next day: tea plantations everywhere










in this trip,we were told to bring garments that will be cool enough for india's hot climate, as well as something to wrap us warm, when we were up the mountains..a schizoprenic advise on clothing for this holiday will end up someone looking like that.:-)





Adrian doesnt feel the cold.




we went to see the Kovalam river and dam





awww..




oops! this wasnt me getting angered by a local..thats me winning over everyone's lousy shot. there was a ten-rupee game, where you get to shoot balloons and you get to use the air rifle. everyone, joined in including our young driver, and played the game, but i came out top by hitting three balloons out of 5 shots. the young driver hit 2 balloons, and elaine shot 1.

everyone cheered. little do they know i have aversion to guns for that matter. i think it sends wrong messages to anyone.




we also ate at the most unusual places (using our hand)..this one was a typical meal in the region..banana leaf, rice, papads, and mini servings of different veggie dishes.

we were having it everyday..i must say, i got used to it in the end..


**

after the mountain trip we stayed in a wildlife reserve. the hotel was in the middle of the reserve,









and there was advise not to come out after 6 pm due to tigers might harm us. we were scared, but that did not stop our driver from taking us out of the gates to see a show,lol. and no, i havent seen any tiger.

i did however saw bisson's, deer, antlers, and wild boar.. no tigers in the reserve.

we saw those animals when we we joined a two hour river boat trip on the reserve.




we had to run really fast to catch this boat. they were closing the gates by the time we got in.




the good thing about riverboat trips in India, they always ask everyone to wear a life jacket. no lifejacket, no ride.




those are antlers.





we also fondled and befriended elephants. (more story about the elephant adventure).




and we hired a boathouse, which has three airconditioned bedrooms, and staff.the river boathouse sailed in Vempanad lake, the biggest lake in India, and we had breakfast,lunch, dinner,and breakfast in the place.




it was an experience which capped off the 6 day trip beautifully.


on the way home, our driver for the trip, said he will introduce us to his parents (thats how hospitable they are).


the next day, we went home, and had a relaxing day, to get ready for Vivek's wedding.




thats Binyl and his parents.they were so nice, they fed us tea and cake.

the driver's mum showed us how to wear a saree.





..but we also had a stopover for saree and clothes shopping to wear for his wedding.


**

the next day, i shot the wedding.











me, wearing a Punjab outfit for the wedding..





us, trying to dress like the locals.

the whole day was spent at the wedding reception and in the evening, at the evening reception at the groom's house.


**

the next day,we flew for Dubai.

last minute hi-ho

on my last day before we fly,im supposed to be packing and arranging the last minute stuff. but here i am answering phone calls and emails from my university. they have emailed me regarding my essay (remember the dining table saga?), well i got really good feedback (and grade! woohoo!!) from that, and im absolutely ecstatic.

also, a phone call asking me if im interested in working in Learning Disabilities for Adults. DUh! would i just! absolutely, i am! Jobs like these comes once in a blue moon, and the learning opportunities are massive=) i spoke with the Clinical Lead and she told me the benefits and the responsibilutities,but i was too excited to concentrate. besides, the lady said, she thinks its tailor-made for me, *happy*.


the catch? i had to submit my application ASAP, as the deadline is the week after (and im in India). so the moment we ended the phone call, i had to submit my CV and the tedious process of filling up forms online.

talk about BUSY, i am really not exaggerating.


The good thing too, that means, i will have more time to entertain Kharla when she's here in September while waiting for the things to get finalized! (WOohoo again!)! September, roll on in=)


Technically, i dont have THE job thats being offered yet (as the powers that be has to go through red tape) , but its not a worry, as i currently am still working (well semi working as im in university too),and if i get the job, i will just slide into the new one from the old one. Praying it will be given to me too, as one of their requirement was flexibility working in the weekends (if needed, but swapped with weekday off), which can be a tough case, but lets see.


So, in between, answering emails, sending job applications,tidying up, blogging,haha and banking transactions, life is hectic..yet, life is good.


***

Flying to India in a few hours...

Excited for the possibilities that await me.


***


Things im looking forward to in this trip:

-a whole body massage at an Ayurvedic centre in one of the lodges we will be staying at

-Elephant safari

-the Keralan backwaters (which i heard is an out-of-this world experience)

-the safari lodge where we are booked to stay at

-the Tea plantation in one of India's peaks

-the authentic Indian food we will be served from our hosts

-the weddings im attending (and capturing,be still my heart, and Lord, please help me rise to the challenge)

-the Riverboat lodge cruising through the backwaters, where we are also billeted for two nights

-the castles and museums that were booked to see

-Ashrams were planning to visit and meditate at


-the Kathakali cultural show-- a highly costumed stage play reenacting the triumph of Good over Bad (the make up and costumes, i am so looking forward to see)


-the backstreets of a very rural Indian town

-the culture that im about to sample and witness (disclaimer: but obviously thru a visitors eyes)


-although i am sad, i wont be able to see jaipur and the pink city and the Taj Mahal, but i hope there will be a next time to visit it. for the meantime, i will be concentrating on the Southern part of India (the not so often featured part of India and apparently has the best seafood) specifically Kerala and Tamil Nadu, its food,its colours, its smells (Aileen, i will bring the pinchers as promised,haha),and its taste..


I am grateful for all the good things i am given, i just wish i can take you all with me=)



**

Thank you heavens, for always for knowing what i need before i do.

Thank you family and friends, for always being there.

x

Eat,Pray, Love (ok, copyright to Ms.Gilbert,haha).


The Rage
x




***

this is a sample of a video i saw for Kerala--often called as God's Own Country






copyright to ClaudioSilvano's Youtube account

in prison

the woods at work... where i normally park my car.. iphone photo, using "lomob apps"...


***


i havent been talking about my present work/placement: the prison service for alot of reasons.

i am bound by legal and ethical premise to my profession, and i really wasn't sure of what to say, without giving too much away. well, you can guess, the best bits to share, are the ones which would give away which place i am.

but me, being me, i cannot resist a good chinwag about what i am currently busy about, and getting so worked up every morning for.

so here are some interesting bits i want to remember about my current place of practice without making a distinct point to which HMP (Her Majesty's Prison) prison i am in.


-the first day i arrived at the prison, i was searched from top to toe. well everyday i am searched thoroughly. but because, my face has been familiar to the guards, they have stopped searching me like a fugitive, or someone with a plot to hostage the place.


-on the first day, i immediately learned that i am not allowed the following: mobile phone, USB drives, camera, tin foil (yes!, tinfoil!). i had to unpack my sandwhich and wrap it with a tissue, and put it in my bag (*sob*). and warned every single day that a chewing gum is not allowed in. i had to walk back to the carpark and leave the "goods"--mobile phone, USB, camera,etc..in the car.


-whenever a Vietnamese inmate sees me, they immediately speak to me in Vietnamese and think that i could immediately translate for them to the doctor. i apologize and say "im sorry,i do not speak Vietnamese. Im from the Philippines", and most often than not, they look disappointed (even annoyed) and even sometimes insist, that i should speak Vietnamese,LOL.


-i feel safe inside the confines of the prison. there are alarms and cameras everywhere. the sad thing is you cant pick your nose, or fix that knicker-wedgy lest the officers checking the cameras 24/7 will put it on YOUtube, LOL.


-eversince i started working there, i have been getting alot of water infection.

as a temporary staff, i am not given the set of keys to make me move from one part of the building to another. every part of the place has doors which are locked. if you're the secretary,and you need to photocopy some papers, you need to unlock your office to come out. once youre out, you need to shut it close and lock it with your keys. go to the end of the corridor to where the photocopier is, but in the middle of the corridor (between your office and the end of the hallway, there is another locked door, so on and so forth). you cant walk a few metres without having to unlock/lock doors.

so you can imagine how many doors we need to lock and unlock to get to the toilet to pass urine. and because i don't own a set of keys, someone has to come with me, to open and lock doors, walk to another part of the building, and lock/unlock doors again, and wait until i finish with my toilet business, and walk me down back again.

tiresome! and totally embarassing.

this made me think before drinking water (so i end up dehydrated) and i end up holding my wee until someone wants to go to the toilet. not good for someone who has diabetes.

thank goodness, i have won the hearts of the staff that they are happy to walk me through around 5 set of heavy doors, unlock and lock them, then wait for me while i pass water. oh! the joys. i know how it feels to be prisoner somewhat now. imagine not having control when to have a wee, or when to eat, or when to go out? its quite dehumanising.


-i hate closed claustrophobic work spaces. it has been a consideration eversince i started working, that i normally am better and more functional in places with access to big open windows with more light coming in. and guess what!

the health department office is quite small, and there are tiny windows. no wonder my migraine has been setting off every morning since i started in the prison service only because 'fluorescent' lights does that to me. it triggers migraine attacks. and boy do i suffer every day. no fail.

-the prison is hidden behind vast countryside, and you have to go through a walk of woods. the parking lot is quite a distance to walk to the big gates, where a guard meets you, then lets you go to another set of gates where another guard meets you, asks for your drivers license, writes your name,and asks to ring the department where you're going and asks someone to pick you up from the bottom of the building. that routine i know by heart now.


-the first few weeks when i first started working, i always walked quickly to the gate as i was scared if there was any escapee prisoner lurking around waiting to jump on me and asks me for my car keys to do a runner. now, i'm beginning to feel safe with my solitary walk.


***

a classmate of mine woke me up with a phonecall. we chatted about our present practice, AND they were worried why i erased all of them (16 classmates,and 11 schoolmates) on my FB.

i lied. i said, i'm keeping FB for family only now.

truly, i unfriended them in december because i didn't ask permission that i was going to be a week late from my placement because i was planning to overstay in cebu. i didnt want them to see photos of me happily enjoying the sun, while they were slugging themselves in the middle of winter being dedicated students. although my lecturer knew, i just felt it was too unsensitive of me, asking special consideration for a holiday while the rest aren't given he privilege.

plus, everytime they update their status' of how hardworking they are, i cannot update my status with glorious appreciation of blue waters and powdery sand. and the fear of tagged pictures of myself from my siblings looking worse for wear.

i didnt want the questions, and the reminders when i'm trying to unwind.

oh, and i think i got the second highest mark for my DVD/reflective work in december, so thank you to my lovely sister who taught me how to jazz up my DVD and my brother Roi, who was splendid actor in the DVD. (my lecturer commented: commendations to the actor who portrayed the role very well).

plus, thank you to myself, for the hardwork. *self hug*


rare, but it happens.


***

one day, i will post my video here. you'd find it funny and hopefully, informative about occupational therapy and adaptive equipment,LOL. x

i gotta ask consent from the main actor first.

new year, new challenge

My placement educator,Louise, has been emailing me when i was in cebu. She was updating me on which placement i was getting for the new year that will help towards my hours of internship to complete my degree.

When i got the word from her that i was going to be assigned in a prison hall (a very popular one in the country) to do my placement, i was a little bit frazzled. One of the things i specifically asked them that im not keen to do, is a placement in prison (im scared of the aggressiveness of prison inmates. Adrian said i watched too many "Bad Girls" episode,LOL).

Succeeding emails with her, she said, that i was the one HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by our course director (our equivalent of DEAN) in the university,i felt, i needed to say 'yes'.


but truth be told, i am still nervous. flattered, but nervous.


when i got back to the UK, i spoke with my placement educator on the phone, and she said how 'all praises' the Dean was about me, and that when this placement came up to their list, the first name the dean said was my name.


I told Louise, that's very flattering, unless of course the Dean thinks i should be put in prison, i have all the reason to be highly honored.

Louise went on to explain that this placement is the hardest out of the roster this year. Apart from this placement is unique in its own sense, this placement is a ROLE EMERGING placement.

Louise said, the very reason F, the Dean, thought of me was because, a role emerging placement means the OT practiitioner has to make the OT model in the prison, and that I would have to evidence why there is a need for Occupational Therapy in the prison.


Dang.

If anything could make you sweat in the middle of winter, are words from people who will give you your grades and pressure you into something you find too daunting.

She ended our phone conversation by giving me a rundown of the responsibilities i needed to go through and a brief background of the prison.

One word: yaiks!


Tomorrow is the start of this new journey into 'knowing myself more' whether i could hack it.

You will know soon. I will be pouring my heart (and guts) in here, whether i'd love it or hate it.


Watch this space.

research mode

i have been bitten by this research bug.

i started doing this university research at 5 pm.

had dinner, and watched a little tv.

resumed.

next thing i know its almost 3 am.

gaaahhh, and i still have work tomorrow (today!).


*yawn* another day started.


another sleep lost.


**

the cross i chose, is the cross i bear.

this university thing, i am enjoying it this year.

its hardly a cross. more like a little accessory..

(an accessory that sometimes gets in the way of fun---and sleep).

thank goodness for caffeine.

quick heads up

from the time of my last entry and today, so many things have happened.

i dont know where to start.

some good, some bad.

some, are just irritants to my already 'crazy schedule".


-on monday night, my brother jojo was rushed to hospital. on the night of papa's birthday celebration.

-tuesday went to uni, received two queries for photos (dont even go there, daghan kaayo'g demands ang babaye, so i said NO, not available...because,that is the truth. the partial truth..and the other truth isthat, i cannot work with a stressful client, and im stressed as hell myself). this phone call was in the middle of class, so i was given really bad stares by THE DOCTOR...ngiii.. i actually had goosebumps..

-tuesday night.received a phone call that my sister in law (john's partner died on monday night, again on papa's birthday)..we were so sad for john. even if hazel was sickly and bedridden, john adored her. hazel went peacefully in her sleep.

-wednesday, went to uni my brother still in hospital, and would need a standard operation for his kidney...(stones), but maka taghoy ka's kamahal..gipaningot ko'g popcorn kadiyot...they want outright cash before they would even touch him...i was in the carpark during my breaks doing phonecalls to adrian, to mama, to karla and back again..haaay, buhay sa usa ka OFW.


-wednesday night, went to london pick up the albums...i should be happy, that families of the brides have ordered extra albums..but there are times, i find it a hassle.. sometimes, dili worth it ang money coz im so tired, stressed and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. i didnt know how to say "no " ..i need to sit down and think things through, and redo my business model...this album/prints business is making me a bit irritable..what with uni,and family troubles happening around me.

-thursday..work, and frantic phone calls..

-thursday night...immediately after work, dropped off the albums,and went to visit john at his house. adrian and i were devastated to see him and how he's (not) coping.


-adrian has a chest infection..luoy kaayo. tinuod gyud diay ning stress.


so how to combat stress?

comfort eating...

and now, im stressed, coz i got nothing to wear for being too fat.


as of today, i probably am the most luoy woman in the world..im stressed, fat, overworked and broke.

everyone has a sob story. mines just like a broken record.

i badly need a hug..and, or a slap, either way, i need something.






*a lil chaos at a lil girl's party*

girls of my heart

had a nice evening out with friends tonight.

most of them know, it takes alot of coaxing for me to go out nowadays as i have politely been declining evening for noisy clubs and dancing. i prefer talking and eating (of course!) to anything. and if there is dancing involved, id be partial to that done at people's homes than in clubs. clubs are such meat markets (another blog altogether).

tonight, we talked about our respective work, (sidelines,lol), men in our lives, buying houses, promotion and babies...and advised one of us who needed some guidance on the track where her lovelife is going.

the restaurant (Marco's Tapa's bar) wasnt all that.it was overpriced and not at all tasty...we moved to a family owned cafe (a better atmosphere) for coffee..but for all the booboos with dinner, the laughter and the topics we talked about just made up for it all.


food and friendships never fail to give one a good night.

wishing you a lot of nights like this.




me after putting the make up on





i was picking up eve from her house




lisa and eve wishing sarah a healthy baby=)




beautiful and inspiring beings




tash and i





im caught in between smiles=)




my coffee had a star..the waiter said, because i am...awww.im gullible.