Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Sydney, Australia 03/30/2010
When i woke up the the weather was terrible. It reminded me of when i lived in London, cloudy, rainy, windy. After breakfast i took the bus into town. I was supposed to watch Wicked in the Theatre however our bus driver got into an accident on the way. An old lady cut into our lane and clipped the side of the bus. We were here for 20-30 minutes. When i got off at town hall, i got lost, i couldn't find the Capitol Theatre. By the time i found it, i was 23 minutes late and missed the show. I then walked up and down Chinatown. Popped in and out of the shops. I had lunch at a thai restaurant on Campbell Street. I then walked towards Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. A part from the weather, it was an enjoyable walk around the harbour. I went into the shopping markets at the Quay - it was like a mini mall. After i visited the War Museum, i learnt how they used to fish sharks and other sea creatures. The difference in technology from present to 50-100 years ago. Around 4pm I met up with Kerri and Andrew and went to the Sydney Aquarium. Andrew has a passion for fishes so it was awesome going around with him. He named all the different types of fishes for me and explained the cool features in each one. We got to see a 10ft croc, numerous sharks, Nemo and other fishes from the movie. After seeing everything, we sat through a private 90 min video about the destruction of the fish race. The video was a fundraiser for protecting our fishes. We learnt that the blue fish tuna, salmon, cod and many other fish are becoming distinguished! Fisherman all around the world are catching 3x's more fish than they are allowed to. This is due to the high number of humans with a high-seafood diet.After the video, we went to a Malaysian Restaurant. I ordered egg and onion roti. This was their specialty.
Sydney, Australia 03/29/2010
I took a train from Cardiff to Central Station on sunday and was picked up by Kerri and Andrew. The journey wasn't as long as the one from Evans head to Newcaslte. This one was only 2 and a half hours. For dinner we went to a tasty thai restaurant. The next morning I took the city bus to Town Hall and walked through George Street to Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. I imagined the Opera House to be much larger. I was also expecting all the boats up and around the harbour with the birds flying up over the sails like i saw in Finding Nemo but there wasn't much of this. After walking around the bay and the Opera House, i spent a couple hours in the Royal Botanic Gardens. The gardens were absolutely beautiful, with a large array of roses, bamboo, palm and many other trees and plants. On one of the trees there was also a large number of bats hanging from the branches. They are nocturnal birds. They have a strong odour and make annoying noises. The garden had areas of plain grass where i sat down and watched tourists as they walked pass. Some were alone, but most were with family. Around 4 o'clock i took the bus back to Fivedock where Kerri lives and went home. In the evening, we had pasta for dinner and Andrew and I watched Thick as Thieves and an episode of House.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Gold Coast and Evans Head
I flew into Brisbane last week and took a train from the airport to Nerang, a station just inside the Gold Coast. Simon Scott picked me up and we drove to his beautiful house on the river. I hadn't slept in over a day, but this didnt stop me to stay awake and go fishing with him in the afternoon. Apparently, Simon had never caught a stingray in his time living there, and in the afternoon, i managed to catch 5. We couldn't reel it in as the stingray and dug deep into the sand. Either the stingray let go of the leur or the line broke.
Fishing was what we did pretty much everyday, a part from the occassional tour of the Gold Coast and going to the beautiful oceans. I would love to live here in the GC. The beaches are faboulous, everyone is laid back and the views are spectacular.
Monday, Simon asked me if wanted to go for a run with his Harriet Hash Group. I thought it was a run on the streets or around a track in a school. We all met around 6:30p.m and the sun was coming down. I was given a head light and we all started running in a line up this road. Minutes later we took a detour into the forest. It was pitch dark except for the faint torch above my head. The grass was slippery and muddy. The leaves and bushes came up to my knees. I was so scared. Some runners went ahead, other maintained a good pace, while many were walking behind. I didn't want to stop running, i was too scared a snake or insect would kill me. My shoes were soaked as we ran through a 1ft puddle of dirty, muddy water. I had mud all over my legs. I thought to myself, are these men crazy, why the hell would they do this every week.
Finally we reached civilization, it never felt so good to run on the road. After 2km of this, we turned around and ran back into the same woods. I thought i was going to die...We eventually came back to the starting place and we all changed our clothes and changed our shoes. Dinner was served in the parking lot. I had brought noodles with me as Simon said the food would probably consist of meat. After dinner, the entire hash group would circle up and the Grand Master would pick out different men for different things. One was Prick of the Week, another was slowest runner of the day, another was newly comers, in which i came in. Each person in the middle had to chug a glass of beer mixed with ginger ale, while the group sang their ritual song.
What an Experience!!
A couple days later, i went with Mrs. Scott to the Zoo. Here we saw the Infamous Australian Kangaroos, koalas, numerous venomous snakes, the 10 foot crocs and many cool birds. I got the opportunity to sit and take a picture next to a kangaroo, scary at first but it was awesome.
Friday morning, Sharon picked me up from GC and we drove to Alix's house in Evans Head. It was his father's 50th birthday on Saturday, so his family were hosting a massive party for him. It was great to see Alix, as we normally see each other only in California during Leadership Camp. Friday night, his family took us all out for dinner in the local restaurant. The next morning, Ryleigh drove in from Newcastle with her family. Again, it was weird seeing her as we only see each other once a year in California. The party in the evening was great, it was at their house - they had a live band outside in the patio. After singing happy birthday at mid-night, all the teens went for a walk down to the beach.
The next morning, we went down to the beach again, this time Alix and his friend went surfing. The waves were really high as a cyclone was approaching the coast of Australia soon.
On Monday and Tuesday i had the opportunity to join Alix in his school classes. I got to sit through a traditional Australian k-12 school classes. Tuesday however, because i was not allowed to sit in his english class, i had to make a speech to year 7 students about my life, where im from and my gap year. I didn't expect to make the speech however i did it. I thought i was going to speak towards the end of the class however, after roll, the teach called me up and said they are all yours. I ended up speaking from Bell to Bell. (50 minutes) I was asked a lot of interesting questions, and a lot of stupid questions. Some questions included, how much was your entire trip, what was the best country you have visited.... others included, how do you drive to all these places, do you buy a house in each country you go to...
Tomorrow morning, i am taking a train to Newcastle.
Fishing was what we did pretty much everyday, a part from the occassional tour of the Gold Coast and going to the beautiful oceans. I would love to live here in the GC. The beaches are faboulous, everyone is laid back and the views are spectacular.
Monday, Simon asked me if wanted to go for a run with his Harriet Hash Group. I thought it was a run on the streets or around a track in a school. We all met around 6:30p.m and the sun was coming down. I was given a head light and we all started running in a line up this road. Minutes later we took a detour into the forest. It was pitch dark except for the faint torch above my head. The grass was slippery and muddy. The leaves and bushes came up to my knees. I was so scared. Some runners went ahead, other maintained a good pace, while many were walking behind. I didn't want to stop running, i was too scared a snake or insect would kill me. My shoes were soaked as we ran through a 1ft puddle of dirty, muddy water. I had mud all over my legs. I thought to myself, are these men crazy, why the hell would they do this every week.
Finally we reached civilization, it never felt so good to run on the road. After 2km of this, we turned around and ran back into the same woods. I thought i was going to die...We eventually came back to the starting place and we all changed our clothes and changed our shoes. Dinner was served in the parking lot. I had brought noodles with me as Simon said the food would probably consist of meat. After dinner, the entire hash group would circle up and the Grand Master would pick out different men for different things. One was Prick of the Week, another was slowest runner of the day, another was newly comers, in which i came in. Each person in the middle had to chug a glass of beer mixed with ginger ale, while the group sang their ritual song.
What an Experience!!
A couple days later, i went with Mrs. Scott to the Zoo. Here we saw the Infamous Australian Kangaroos, koalas, numerous venomous snakes, the 10 foot crocs and many cool birds. I got the opportunity to sit and take a picture next to a kangaroo, scary at first but it was awesome.
Friday morning, Sharon picked me up from GC and we drove to Alix's house in Evans Head. It was his father's 50th birthday on Saturday, so his family were hosting a massive party for him. It was great to see Alix, as we normally see each other only in California during Leadership Camp. Friday night, his family took us all out for dinner in the local restaurant. The next morning, Ryleigh drove in from Newcastle with her family. Again, it was weird seeing her as we only see each other once a year in California. The party in the evening was great, it was at their house - they had a live band outside in the patio. After singing happy birthday at mid-night, all the teens went for a walk down to the beach.
The next morning, we went down to the beach again, this time Alix and his friend went surfing. The waves were really high as a cyclone was approaching the coast of Australia soon.
On Monday and Tuesday i had the opportunity to join Alix in his school classes. I got to sit through a traditional Australian k-12 school classes. Tuesday however, because i was not allowed to sit in his english class, i had to make a speech to year 7 students about my life, where im from and my gap year. I didn't expect to make the speech however i did it. I thought i was going to speak towards the end of the class however, after roll, the teach called me up and said they are all yours. I ended up speaking from Bell to Bell. (50 minutes) I was asked a lot of interesting questions, and a lot of stupid questions. Some questions included, how much was your entire trip, what was the best country you have visited.... others included, how do you drive to all these places, do you buy a house in each country you go to...
Tomorrow morning, i am taking a train to Newcastle.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Jan 27th 2010
This morning we woke up and as usual, took a taxi to our monastery. It was a lot harder to teach the kids today, i felt i was running out of things to teach. Class one was a lot easier then class two. During the first class, i noticed a monk who wasn't writing anything in his book. After asking him several times to write it down, i came realize he didn't know how to write. He was fairly new to the program, so i sat with him in the back of the room and started with the alphabet. I asked him to write the letter A five times and B five times, so on and so forth. I spent 40 minutes with him while Nisha led the rest of the class. I then led class two as it was unfair that she had to teach alone and class two are a lot more difficult to work with. I taught them basic and intermediate conversations, starting with Question and Answers, Ex: Good Morning,How are you doing today?, I am fine, Thank you, How about you?
Soon thereafter, i introduced time and being able to read it and express it. Ironically time ran out so i decided to continue this next class. After class, we met up with Manmeet and she took us to her monastery. It was much larger than ours. Here we ate the traditional Nepalese food: Daal Bhat and Rice. It tasted so good, Nisha didn't like it though. We were also served 3 cups of Indian Marsala Tea. Manmeet then showed us the painting room, she loves art and they asked her to help them paint. The work was amazing. Soon after, we just sat in the courtyard and watched the monks play games with each other.One of the older monks was picking on a young monk. He took his 2 rupee coin and wouldn't give it back. As we left, i folded a ten rupee note and gave it secretly to the little monk. He had a smile on his face and quickly hit the note in his pocket.
When we got back to the guest house, we watched the Hangover on the TV downstairs. We also ate lots of crisps and Haribo. In the evening, we ate dinner at Or2K. Me, Nisha and Manmeet. This was our first time at this restaurant and the atmosphere there is out of this world. The food was absolutely amazing and the staff are so friendly. There was a weird man sitting opposite us, he was just eating from a block of cheese, smoking his weed/cigarettes, burning incense from the cheese, and lastly swaying back and forth to the music. After dinner, we went back to the GH and went to sleep.
Soon thereafter, i introduced time and being able to read it and express it. Ironically time ran out so i decided to continue this next class. After class, we met up with Manmeet and she took us to her monastery. It was much larger than ours. Here we ate the traditional Nepalese food: Daal Bhat and Rice. It tasted so good, Nisha didn't like it though. We were also served 3 cups of Indian Marsala Tea. Manmeet then showed us the painting room, she loves art and they asked her to help them paint. The work was amazing. Soon after, we just sat in the courtyard and watched the monks play games with each other.One of the older monks was picking on a young monk. He took his 2 rupee coin and wouldn't give it back. As we left, i folded a ten rupee note and gave it secretly to the little monk. He had a smile on his face and quickly hit the note in his pocket.
When we got back to the guest house, we watched the Hangover on the TV downstairs. We also ate lots of crisps and Haribo. In the evening, we ate dinner at Or2K. Me, Nisha and Manmeet. This was our first time at this restaurant and the atmosphere there is out of this world. The food was absolutely amazing and the staff are so friendly. There was a weird man sitting opposite us, he was just eating from a block of cheese, smoking his weed/cigarettes, burning incense from the cheese, and lastly swaying back and forth to the music. After dinner, we went back to the GH and went to sleep.
Jan 26th 2010
This morning was our very first day of teaching. It was so nice to see so many kids in their lama robes, however i was really nervous to teach them. Our students consisted of two classes, class 1 and class 2. Class one were younger than the second one. Class one had 22 kids, while class 2 had 13. They didn't speak much english, which was a problem, but thats what we were here for. We first started with their names and went around the class asking them to share who they were and how old they were. I wanted to give them nick-names because their names were way too long and complicated. We then went through numbers, starting with one all the way to 100. We went through fruits, animals and they all seemed pretty comfortable with these. Each class is one hour long. In our second class, we went through similiar things with the exception of, days of the week, months of the year, and shapes. We played Board Rush with them. Splitting the class into two teams, they each had two mintues to come to the board and write as many words that we went through today. Team B, were very slow to start at first as they had four of the eldest monks in the class. And of course, they felt a little childish to play such games against the little ones. However, when they came to realize they were loosing and there was 30 seconds left, their competitive side kicked in and they also started participating. In the End, team A won by 3 points. Class was over and they all left the room saying " Bye, See you Tomorrow." - In their fresh Nepali accents. We took a taxi back to Thamel, there was so much traffic on the way, it took longer than normal.
For Lunch we went to Delicatassen, i had paneer makhini, which was in fact very tasty. After lunch, we walked around Durbar Marg, which is a shopping square, then went back to the Guest House for a nap. On the way back, my foot got runover by a motorcycle. After a two - hour nap, we went for a short walk and it was time for Simone's going away dinner. Simone is a lady from Capetown who had been teaching here for three months. We had dinner at Pizza Hut. It was a treat for Simone and Manmeet, as they havent eaten Pizza Hut in over 5 months. They never knew there was one in Thamel. A girl named Sarah also from England joined us, she had taught at our monastery in Nov/Dec but then went back home for Christmas. She is now back for two months. The meal came for four pounds each, not bad for 4 pizzas and drinks. We all headed back to the GH and went to sleep.
For Lunch we went to Delicatassen, i had paneer makhini, which was in fact very tasty. After lunch, we walked around Durbar Marg, which is a shopping square, then went back to the Guest House for a nap. On the way back, my foot got runover by a motorcycle. After a two - hour nap, we went for a short walk and it was time for Simone's going away dinner. Simone is a lady from Capetown who had been teaching here for three months. We had dinner at Pizza Hut. It was a treat for Simone and Manmeet, as they havent eaten Pizza Hut in over 5 months. They never knew there was one in Thamel. A girl named Sarah also from England joined us, she had taught at our monastery in Nov/Dec but then went back home for Christmas. She is now back for two months. The meal came for four pounds each, not bad for 4 pizzas and drinks. We all headed back to the GH and went to sleep.
Jan 25th 2010
Today we woke up at half eight and walked to Pumpernickel for breakfast. I ate a lovely croissant while Nisha had a coffee. It was a nice restaurant - clean and friendly staff. We then went with Suraj, Student Guest House Head Staff, to our monastery. We took a 15 minute taxi ride there and saw many monkeys on the way. When we arrived we noticed the children were teaching themselves. They were learning the alphabet in Nepali. We met Lama Tenzing, the main monk at the monastery. Lama Tenzing then instructed us what, who and where we were going to be teaching. We then walked back to the Guest House. On the way, we stopped at local stalls to purchase some souvenirs. For lunch we ate at North Palace, we sat on the floor, which was really cool. The food wasn't that great, however the restaurant was nicely set up and the atmosphere was supposed to be amazing in the evenings. We came back to the GH, and i took a nap for two hours. When we awoke, we walked to Basantapur, which is a temple not far from Thamel. The walk seemed really long however it was well worth it. When we came back, the power was out in the GH so we ate dinner at Hotel Vaishini. The food was really nasty, i felt a little sick after eating it. After a few games of cards, we went to sleep.
Jan 24th 2010
Waking up at half nine was a struggle, but we had to. We took a taxi back to the airport hoping that they had brought our luggage on the morning flight. We came to realize the flight was delayed so we had to wait outside the airport for another hour. We met with other passengers who were also in the same situation. Luckily they came on the flight and we were so happy so retrieve them. We went back to the Guest House. Before unpacking, we went to Fire and Ice to eat lunch. Food was great - it was an authentic Italian restaurant. On the way back, we got a Sim card for my phone. When we got back to the room, we each took a shower and put on some new clothes. Night was falling and we went out to dinner to Food Bazaar where we had Paneer Makhini with garlic naan. The food was not that great, however we were really hungry. We then went to the local supermarket to buy soap, shower gel, water and other necessities. Our neighbor, who is punjabi and lives in England came over to introduce herself. Her name was Manmeet. We talked about making plans for our upcoming weekends and our stay here in Kathmandu.
Last Day in London, First Day in Nepal.
Friday Jan 22nd was my last day in London. I packed all my stuff and was ready to go to Kathmandu, Nepal with Nisha to teach monks English as a foreign language. We left the house around half four, anticipating a lot of traffic on the way. Around 3/8ths of the way there, Nisha realized she had brought her wrong passport. She brought the passport that expired 13 years ago. Traffic as i said earlier was bumper to bumper, so it took over 45 mins to turn around and pick up the right passports. The time now was half six and we were heading to Heathrow airport. We were scared that we would miss our flights. My flight was at 10pm and hers was at half nine. Luckily there was little traffic after the M25, and we got their on time. We checked in our bags, i got upgraded to business class with Virgin Atlantic - so i was really excited. Nisha was flying with Air India - so she was expecting a long, tiresome flight ahead. We both went to our gates and boarded the flight. The service on the plane was amazing, i was greeted with a pre-flight drink and snack. Food was great, leg room was plenty and seat size was large. When i landed, we were crunched for time. Our connecting flights were with Air India and i had less than an hour to get my baggage and re-check it in, go through security and board the flight. Luckily for Nisha, all her luggage was headed straight to Kathmandu. When i got off the plane i informed the Virgin Atlantic Ground Staff of my situation and a man named Sunil helped me. He took my tickets, visas, passport and said wait in this lounge and i will come and get you. I started to get worried as they were calling our flight to board and still no sign of Sunil. I told Nisha, dont worry, i trust Sunil - he will handle it - deep down im thinking, shit were going to miss this flight.(Even worse - this guy has taken my passport). Then we hear, final call - all passengers on Air India Flight IC813 to Kathmandu, please make your way to gate 2. Then i started to panic... out of the corner of my eye i see Sunil running towards me waving his hands to get my attention. I pick up my hang luggage and get Nisha and run towards him. He handed me my boarding pass, luggage tags, passport and visa. He took care of everything and all we had to do is wait in line for security.
Our flight was literally supposed to take off in 10 mins, and the line for security was not moving. I asked one of the police officers if we could skip the line and he said no, you have to wait like the others. I panicked again - our bags have gone on this plane and we probably wont be on it. I then asked another police officer at the beginning of the line and begged for us to cut, and he said yes go ahead. We went through security and my bag was stopped for searching. Remember, we are at Delhi aiport and pretty much every bag gets searched. We had to wait even longer, and finally i was cleared. We legged it to Gate 2 and we see a long time coming from the doors. I thought this was the next flight and we already missed out Kathmandu flight. I asked one of the ladies at the podium and showed her my boarding pass, she said - "sir, please sit down, we are still boarding, you have to wait in line." I think this was the first time i actually was willing to wait in a line. My heart relaxed to a normal beat. The flight was 1 hour delayed. We boarded the flight and i fell asleep.
We arrived in Kathmandu airport, and went through visa immigration. We headed downstairs to baggage claim and came to realize Air India had offloading 40 pieces of luggage in Delhi, and both of our bags were part of those left behind. Riots were breaking out as there was no organization as for recording names of passengers followed by baggage claim tag numbers. They told us that our bags would arrive the following morning on the next flight. We left the airport and headed to our Guest House in Thamel. The taxi driver dropped us off on the street and told us the Guest House was down the road and on the right. He couldnt drive there because it was a one way street. It was dark outside and we started walking. For our first day, we felt very unsafe and just couldnt find this place. We asked a rick-shaw driver to take us and he didnt know where it was, but i told him it was near the police station. I try to call the Guest House but couldnt get through. I kept trying and trying and finally, Suraj picked up and i told him to give our rick-shaw driver directions. Apparently, it was just down the street from where we originally got the rick-shaw. He asked for 600NPRs, and we didnt argue as we were new to the country and we were just glad we were safe. We checked in to the room and it was freezing cold. The power was out so the heaters were not working. We had to light a candle to walk up the stairs and settle in the room. We couldn't go to sleep so we played cards for 3 hours. Power came back on, we turned on our heaters and went to sleep.
Our flight was literally supposed to take off in 10 mins, and the line for security was not moving. I asked one of the police officers if we could skip the line and he said no, you have to wait like the others. I panicked again - our bags have gone on this plane and we probably wont be on it. I then asked another police officer at the beginning of the line and begged for us to cut, and he said yes go ahead. We went through security and my bag was stopped for searching. Remember, we are at Delhi aiport and pretty much every bag gets searched. We had to wait even longer, and finally i was cleared. We legged it to Gate 2 and we see a long time coming from the doors. I thought this was the next flight and we already missed out Kathmandu flight. I asked one of the ladies at the podium and showed her my boarding pass, she said - "sir, please sit down, we are still boarding, you have to wait in line." I think this was the first time i actually was willing to wait in a line. My heart relaxed to a normal beat. The flight was 1 hour delayed. We boarded the flight and i fell asleep.
We arrived in Kathmandu airport, and went through visa immigration. We headed downstairs to baggage claim and came to realize Air India had offloading 40 pieces of luggage in Delhi, and both of our bags were part of those left behind. Riots were breaking out as there was no organization as for recording names of passengers followed by baggage claim tag numbers. They told us that our bags would arrive the following morning on the next flight. We left the airport and headed to our Guest House in Thamel. The taxi driver dropped us off on the street and told us the Guest House was down the road and on the right. He couldnt drive there because it was a one way street. It was dark outside and we started walking. For our first day, we felt very unsafe and just couldnt find this place. We asked a rick-shaw driver to take us and he didnt know where it was, but i told him it was near the police station. I try to call the Guest House but couldnt get through. I kept trying and trying and finally, Suraj picked up and i told him to give our rick-shaw driver directions. Apparently, it was just down the street from where we originally got the rick-shaw. He asked for 600NPRs, and we didnt argue as we were new to the country and we were just glad we were safe. We checked in to the room and it was freezing cold. The power was out so the heaters were not working. We had to light a candle to walk up the stairs and settle in the room. We couldn't go to sleep so we played cards for 3 hours. Power came back on, we turned on our heaters and went to sleep.
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