Langkawi = Eagle carved in stone: Weekend 4 on Eagle Island

Done with weekend 4 in Malaysia. It was an unforgettable experience. The 3 day study cum leisure weekend tour organised by UPM was worth it.

The journey to Langkawi started on Wednesday night. It all started with a long walk to the International office(IO) from our hostel(Kolej 12) with our luggage. Only after reaching the IO office, we realised that we had forgotten our packed dinner ( roti kosong) at our hostel. After a memorable rather embarrasing one way taxi ride ( 6 RM+"Are you from India?"+"First time in taxi?") back to our hostel, we were smart enough to realise that walking back to IO was the best way to make up our absent mindedness towards a simple roti. Finally, we boarded the bus number 3. The bus departed on time 11:30 pm to be precise.

Some tp . some sleep , some movie in the bus occupied us. After a few brief stops at night for" personal preparation", we reached USM( University Sains Malaysia) at Pilau Penang in the morning. A lecture by the dean of USM followed by an other lecture by the international relations incharge at USM were delivered. I still remember the "transgender" part... lol. Anyways, we caught up with our lost sleep in the auditorium during the lectures. Then lunch followed. A museum at USM was worth watching. It had all sorts of interactive science related stuff ... very interesting for children.We met some student buddies @ USM who supposedly organise different kinds of events. And yes, we met YaYa San , the ever enthusiastic bollywood fan.

By 2:00 pm , we departed from USM for the ferry to langkawi. The study part of the tour was over.. The fun part had just started. but I never differentiated between the 2 :P :P. Btw, Penang is a "green" place. Greenery everywhere all around. Plantations surrounding the roads, peace loving people, no hustle-bustle. I feel its nice to live such a life. After chit-chattin and sleep etc, we finally reached the ferry boarding point to langkawi. At 6 pm we boarded the "New frontier 6" ferry to langkawi island.

The ferry ride was awesum. It comprised of the eternally entertaining arch rivals battling it out for pride more than anything else :P. It was India vs Pakistan Antakshari. We 4 ( Me, Swat Cat, Jatin, AVG) were the Indian team. And the pakistani team included many ppl chipping in with bits and pieces of the song. The result matters ultimately. We won in the end :P :) . India roxx :)
The Langkawi anticipation got us going. Finally after a seemingly half an hour, we reached Langkawi island.

The jetty point at Langkawi was just like any other airport. It was so unique. Different boarding gates, a shopping arena, departure , arrival terminals, eating joints etc surrounding the sea ... It was quite a picturesque scene. Twilight horizon, setting sun, and awaiting beaches ... coudnt hve asked for anything better. We were taken to a beach resort for the night stay. The area surrounding the beach resort was cool. Infy restaurants ( in fact ... all restaurants)... We managed to find an Indian restaurant"Palace of India" ... and had our tummys filled for the night.. overlooking the beach, a bit of tp and ice cream followed... Then we retired for the night...

An unexpected thing happened the very next day. Actually we had planned to see the sunrise early in the morning. We had set our alarms etc and were damn sure to look at the rising sun at the beach. Bechara Jatin got up early ( actually me and jatin were sharing the same chaddar :P ....(pls dont think otherwise).... for the night and it turned out to be insufficient for the 2 of us.... ultimately he gave up the chaddar fight at 7 in the morning... lol ) to look at the rising sun BUT the sun rose from the opposite side of the beach .... Jatin ka popat ho gaya :P ... sorry roomie :(

The beach was awesum... clean sand, waters and less crowded .... very peaceful with only the sound of the waves hitting the shore... a nice beach atmosphere. After bathing in the sea,we decided to go for a ride on the Banana boat. Actually, Banana boat is a floating boat with a capacity of 7 ppl who can sit on it and this boat is pulled by a 1500hp Yamaha Jetski... the speed is like awesummaxx .... It was 15 minutes of pure adrenaline rush and unadulterated fun :P .... There were 2 deliberate falls in that ride as well.... It was the best part of the whole trip .... no words to express .... seriously.... It was just fun...

In the afternoon we went for island hopping. Island hopping is like hopping between islands of Langkawi. We visited 2 islands and saw eagle feeding.Islands are small and cute. well gotta say,our boat was the fastest. We beat the other boats to the finish ... awesum speed ... Boat number 1 proved its power.

A different hotel in town for the night. Missed the beach.. A minor glitch in the availability of rooms but we finally managed to sleep for the night. Saturday morning we departed for the cable car ride. The cable car ride was a new experience. An altitude gain of about 700 meters in 15 odd minutes was cool .... The view from the top was breathtaking. An engineering marvel in the form of a bridge in the shape of an arc was really worth appreciable. It was unsymmetrical though balanced. Jatin and AVG must have taken some civil fundae :P

After kiiling time at the oriental village( its a place from where the cable car ride starts -- a nice chill out location with boating, shopping, restaurants etc) , we left for the ferry back to Penang. Again the ferry ride was something. We 4 were at the center of attention. Again it was India vs Pakistan antakshari with a bit of international touch. People singing from all corners of the ferry in all possible languages ... it was an orderly chaos .... it was sounding nice ... there were a lot more people this time around... all contributing simultaneously ... and suddenly, in between, I heard Urmil saying " yahoo" ... absolutely no idea wat was goin on .... but it was fun ... we enjoyed...

After the fun filled ferry ride, a "chilled" bus ride back to UPM followed. So chilled that I had to change my chadda and put on a pant in the middle of the bus ride :P . We reached UPM at 7 in the morning. We were tired enuf to sleep. Thus ended the memorable Langkawi experience. Thanks to the staff of IO and the whole organising team of this tour, especially Omar and Hafiz .. studd ppl. UPM roxx.

Getting back to normal routine.

Selamat Datang

Everythings on track

Lifes gud

See u in an other life

Till den

bye:)

Tales from the Crypt: It was a "THRILLER" night :P

"Ignorance is bliss" .. Its been 3 almost weeks here @ UPM , Malaysia. All this while, we have been living peacefully in the tranquility of the campus. Our routine here is almost set for the weekdays. Project work (pseudo) in the mornings and lukkha in the evenings. Weekend plans differ.


Now, this is an interesting fact. The history of UPM land is gory. History reveals that World War 2 (a part of this chaos, since world war 2 was chaotic I feel :P ) was fought on the land on which UPM resides currently. And fortunately or unfortunately, many Chinese and Japanese "dudes" were killed in that war and more specifically, at the current location of UPM. Theres a chinese cemetary INSIDE the campus to commemorate these unfulfilled souls. This is sad but interesting. Sad bcause the unfulfilled souls of these "dudes" can find sources of energy in us, the LIVING humans easily, and interesting cos I like such stuff - being possesd, haunted, afterlife kinda stuff :P .... but one thing bothers me ... Why the hell should someone build a university surrounding a goddamn cemetary?? Why?


Ya maybe different ppl with different thoughts .... I like this "someone". He/She must have been a "life after death" fan too like me, a paranormal investigator or a poltergiest fan ... watever ... but I find stuff here cool. There have been frequent tales of sightings of the dead chinki "dudes" ruining everyday life inside the campus. Unexplained forces of nature like sightings of half bodies floating around at night, flickering lights, banging doors, whispers in the night, etc are common as people have experienced at UPM. These seem to be true, reason being the chinese cemetary.

Well, we gotta know these facts from a couple of Indian students doin their PhD in biotech @ UPM, Raksha Didi and Prabhu Anna residing outside the campus in an apartment. They are an awesum pair( "Opposites attract" funda works !!! ). They had invited us for dinner and we got an opportunity to relish Indian Khana after a long time......mmmyummmm .... the food .... awesum .... btw, Raksha Didi, originally from Indore, is a chatter box and a live wire. Her hindi is GOD as compared to mine :P .... and Prabhu is a laid back Tamil tiger( dont get me wrong :P ) .. but he has nice fundae about living in Malaysia ..... and his hindi .. for example "padengi" lol .....is actually cool ..... but not as good as mine :P :P :P :) ..... but one thing was noticable and made me lol everytime i saw Prabhu's surrender expression in front of the overpowering Raksha Didi. The night lasted long .... with aloo ke parathe and gajar ka halwa .... everything else was inferior ... the food we craved for was finally within reach and then we gulped like we were dying of hunger. Infi Thnx to Raksha Didi and Prabhu Anna.... Then Jatin enthralled the audience with his piano skills (:P)... lukkha ,tp and fundae ended the day... then came the final tale from the crypt after dark ... wen the lights got dim and the atmosphrer was set... There was a narrator substitution since Prabhu's hindi sounded comic and Jatin realised it only later that Prabhu was actually narrating a horror story.... lol ... so Raksha Didi narrated it. It was as follows ...

Apparently this is a true story. It had happened with a Phd student from Prabhu's lab. This Phd student was working in the lab in the evening when he heard a knock at the door .... He opened the door to see an old man ... he let him in. Then the Phd student asked the whereabouts of this old man and he got to know that hes retired and was working with his professor and that this old man knew the professor under whom this Phd was workin.... after a seemingly normal coversation, the old man left warning the Phd not to work late in the lab.... nothin unusual for the Phd .... the very next day ... the Phd shared his experience with his professor ... so his professor showed a photo of him with the old man, from the almirah and the Phd identified the old man in the photo. The prof then claimed the old man to be expired 3 YEARS back !!!!! ... OMG .... shit .... the phd student was shaken enough to get unconcious and "coma"ed instantaneously. .... he apparently had a coversation with a DEAD MAN !!!! ... ... the student though shaken, recovered after a while .... but I am sure this experience left a scar in his mind..

Raksha Di and Prabhu Anna evn shared their own experience with the "livingdead". They sounded cool and humourous though their stories sounded true. There were evn tales of how indonesians in the police outfit dupe people, rob stuff and all.....After hearing all this, Swati was shaken .. and I think she still is :P :P ... but hope she gets back to normal :P :P ... the cool cat as we know her ... C'mon swati , u can do it :P :P ..... we r there with u. :P ....Afterawhile ... we were tired enough to sleep... It was an unforgettable experience ... A "Thriller"night to remember .....As Jatin says " India roxx " , feelin proud to be an Indian :) ....

Meanwhile, looking forward to the 3 day trip to langkawi islands... lifes switched on :P .... Malaysian adventure getting wilder :P .... more updates later ...

Got to experience a fact ... "Nothin conquers humanity"

Till I blog again ... Bye :) .. Njoy :)

The Raining Blog: The PAST Revisited

Its raining hard here @ UPM , Malaysia. The weather here is unique. Summer, winter and rainy seasons all in the span of 24 hrs. This weather has inspired me to write this one(blog). Its about life and its seasons.

Life has seasons in it. It all depends on the phisiology of the body,the mind, mood, soul and the individual's nature. Sometimes it feels so different. Dazzling streaks of light and resounding thunder waking me up from a state of trance and self meditation. It makes me think in a lot of diffrernt directions. I dont know why but it just happens sometimes. It sends me back in time, not the kind of time travel u see in the movies( :P )though but the kind that makes you rethink and reanalyse the things of the past and gives a chance to look into the future with THAT different perspective .

I am lucky in a way to have such a life. A life with all kinds of seasons. And here at UPM , its the past which is helping me to live such a life. and I thank my past for helping me out in case of obstacles in the present. A sneak peak into my past guided me to here.... I mean the present and it will help in the future as well. ..... Sometimes u have to look into ur past to get ur present on the right track.... the track of TIME.... time travel is a must in life :P

Jatin's watching " the time machine" as I write this blog. Its an old movie. Its about time travel. A kind of co-incidence I think. But NOT my inspiration to write this blog :P :P ..... but luv my roomie :P ..... gotta learn a lot from him :P , especially dram and dance .... hopefully helpful in singapore :P :P :P :P ...... its about the DuDe thing( not me neway :P ) .....

The present ( soon to be past) has been satisfactory till now.Looking forward to the future @ UPM. A fresh week starting tomorow. Gotta impress Renu Sir( The Athelete :P).... meanwhile .... everythings, everyones fine here. AVG, MuCool, OOrmeal, SWAT cat, JATs and me, all are undergoin an aging process and living lives as u read this.( A kind of time travel- present turned into past).

My fav Music givin me company in case of solidarity and peace requirement. My concentration still good( singapore dreams ruining my endsems :P :P ).... its about mind controlin body....:P :P :P .......

So see you in the future, present, past ...(they are all interconnected)... all 3 seasons of life.... :P

Till den take care, live life and njoy .... in all 3 tenses ...

BYe :)

Of Masjid, Cats, (non)vegg ,Malay pop songs,a chinese cemetary and 6 characters : Its a Malaysian Adventure :)

This is UPM, Malaysia. Its been (only) a week here. Lifes peaceful. So serene and calm that time slows down :P . At the same time its exciting enough to survive with 5 other awesum characters :P. All this time, its been getting used to the surrounding atmosphere, people, campus, kolej 12(our hostel), getting mobile(awesummaxx moutain bikes, fell in love with them, surely takin one to India :) :).

Now, Abt our projects: Swat Cat and me are in the same lab( Renu's aero lab) ... For me, as of now, its more like lookin over the net for research journals and goin thru the readin material given by Renu ( dilike "German" :P ) .... Renu is a nice Prof. .... Swats is busy with MATLAB , gotta say .... her prof is a studd( see her blush :P :P) ... .. Jatin(dramebaaz) is lucky( happymaxx) to get free food in his lab(civil lab) ...... just that we dont like him for he doesnt share his lab food :P...... but i luv him cos hes my roomie( UPM malay roomie) :P :P ( IITB culture :P ) ....... Avani's(Kajol/ AVG :P ) lab is infrastudd but there are people who prefer to keep their mouth shut and work their ass off 24/7...Avani's workplace is decent enough(especially the cubical type area - typical office types) ... but you gotta see her prof's homepage... lol ... its looks as if its been taken straight from a sci fi extra terrestrial kinda movie :P .... Urmil(nonveg dude :P) has a tractor with a robotic arm in his lab !!! coolmaxx ..... his lab is cool and his work looks interesting as well ....... Mukul's(remember metallica- "nothing else matters" except Shubham.... lol) lab is far from ours ..... though his work is interesting .... crash analysis !!!.... plannin to visit his lab this week ...

The UPM campus is really nice and huge...and GREEN , I must say. A chinese Cemetary, A Masjid, temples, infi awesum cars, bikes. There are campus buses but their frequency is low. The traffic rules here are serious. So serious that drivers evn wait at the red signal intersection at 1:00 am in the night for the traffic light to turn green on a desert road ..... such a**h**** I must say ..... (One night it was pitch dark past 12, besides the chinese cemetary ,we were walkin back to our hostels from faculty ..... we cud hear faint noises, my inspiration to shoot a hauting sequence) ..... We are evn plannin to visit the campus Masjid wid a muslim(Omar from jatin's lab ) ....... the songs plyed in the campus buses(they are heaven on earth... I mean the sudden transition to a secluded AC atmosphre) are cool .... the malay ones especially. Evn MJ, Bryan Adams,recently heard Shakira . these are the favourites here i guess. ........ There are Tamil restorans(restuarants) serving thosai(dosai) type of indian food ..... theres nonveg everywhere ....no veg maggi evn .... so veggies facin probs here... ....

Weekend 1 was awesum. We had Ram ( GOD/ Phd student) with us ... he is actually really helpful. He accompanied us to the Batu caves in KL and even the National Museum ...... both were awesum ..... Nature gave me an opportunity to xplore my photography skills :P :P :P ... such awesumneesss..... we njoyed ...... KL city, by the look of it, is very colourful and nice... We evn visited the Mines Shoppin centr in KL. The shopping centre had a river ferry ride through it ..... It was a different exprience ....

And now this is it ..... a weekend comin up .... Petronas towers awaits us .... and evn CHINA TOWN !!!..... infi things to do ...... and evn Singapore (blush :P :P :P :P :P) .....

Look out for more ... and njoy ur summers .... byeah ..... selamat petang ( good night ) :P :P

The In-Flight Blog: Time Travel in Flight 75217 : Its fictitious

Phew!!! semester 4 laid to rest .... sophie no more... Finally, endsems done :) :) ..... after a week long agoniZing wait for the electronix course project ( thank you Amit for the final blow :P ).... here I come....for the malaysian adventure..... Malaysian dream comes true. Gotta say IITB roxx .. Thank you IITB for such an awesum opportunity....

After a tiring week after endsems, THE day has come finally.... Malaysian adventure has started ... Airasia is cool ... infi cheap rates ..... never thot of SUCH cheaper rates .

Jatin and Swati already left 2 days bak. Me , Avani and Mukul are headin for this journey of a lifetym looking forward eagerly to the things to come, intrigued by the uncertainity with the zest to conquer it with all that we hve got :)

Now , heres Mukul, the most calm and composed 18 year old( I cant figure this out.... I mean his age .....)and theres Avani, the Studd TechniC gal with infi things goin in her mind ( I dont know what :P but she is studd :P )

So after goin thru the immigration( interviewed for more than neone else suspecting me infinitely.... the "Kasab" thingy), weight check( we feared for it being more than wat we booked for since Avani had a lot of Khana from Ghar, but it turned out to be enough NOT to cost us extra )

We then waited for the boarding tym, looked around the arena ( the "costliest" brands :P ).... Then came the departure time .... 13:20 IST ...... we boarded the flight 75217 and easily adjusted the seats to get us together ..... ( infi empty seats for the holiday season i thot)

There wer mostly Indians on the flight mostly goin on a holiday to Malay. A slight delay and then we took off. And now we are in flight 75217 goin thru a time zone change wich will take us ahead of time ( by 2 and half hrs to be precise ) ....... so we are still goin thru this tym change as I write this blog...... passing tym but tyms travelling slower than we think it is :P :P

Goin thru tym travel for the first tym is a different experience ...... and looking forward to the "future"

Things ( Tym) slowed down as we are goin to reach Malaysia by 21:00 pm local tym

Chalo bye....