Taj Mahal, Agra Fort

And the pics in the previous post are of Akbah's Tomb, the father of the dude who built the Taj. DOn't you love my historical correctness?

Delhi

Went ot Delhi and Agra to see the Taj Mahal over the weekend. Also saw Akbah's Tomb and the Agra Fort, commonly known as the Red Fort. Pretty amazing stuff, especially considering most of it is well over 4000 yrs old. The Persian architecture is absolutley impressive and the acoustics inside these tombs is awesome. I reckon the Taj would make an excellent vocal booth :)

I found the peeps in Delhi to be a bit scamish, but perhaps as I was a bit more wary being on my own. Would love to bring Emma over to do the journey, maybe later in the year.

The work crew

Optus and Covergys crew.

Poor Dan .. oh, and Goa

The Beach @ Goa. Perhaps India aint that bad . . .

Mauled by dogs, oh actually that was me. The results of too much drink and a high powered scooter :)

Some more stuffs....

Been a bit. A quick throwie aroudn the corner from the hotel. Was a bit wierd when the blue flashing lught came though the tunnel. Made me think I shouldn't be about too long.

Me and Bonnie meet a Lolliphant down in Goa.

Mr Dan

Dan with his newly purchased hat from the Concierge at the Royal Palms.

Bollywood Swinging

Oh yea, Bollywood Swinging. I was singing this before I came over, and damn did I think this would happen here? Hell no!. Kool and The Gang. Live and Lowdown in Mumbai! Dan and I went to catch them at this music festival. Pretty cool I must say. However, we were both disappointed that they cut 'Summer Madness' short, and I didn't get any 'NT'. But they were still dope. 'Kool' rocks the shit in bass. I never thought I'd see such a wicked act in Mumbai, well worth the travel time and it was rather cool being in a dark environmet as Dan and I didn't stick out like dogs balls, as we whities do in India. More gossip and pics in the morning. Maybe.

I thought a little map may be of some use. Hotel to work takes about 45-60 minutes. Dependant on traffic. Hotel to the City (Gateway) is about 1-2 hours. CLoser on the 2 hr side, not because of the distance, but because of the traffic and roads.

An update . . . .

Well, I had a birthday in India. Pretty cool. We went out for dinner in the chinese restaurant here, a bit average, but their prawn dumplings are awesome. More beverages in my room and then off to the Velvet Lounge, which is the club here at the hotel. Average in my opinion but it's the only place open after 1am. 90% men and only seems to be them dancing. I feel sorry for the girls we're here with, as they seem to be open slather for the men here, and they're not shy.

Work is going well according to the bosses and they are happy with the way we're travelling. We get some funny stories to tell a bout the Indianisms, Like "V for Wictor" and "Q for Cubic". As I said previuosly, they are very happy people and very friendly. I've had a cold/flu so the end of the week was pretty hard.

I went out to a club the other night, but they didn't have their lisence for music, but it happens that the first guy I talk to is the resident DJ. Hopefully he'll take me out next weekend to look for records, but they don't seem to be the most common thing here, but that's not really a surprise. The photo attached is from the rickshaw on the way there, my redness shows I was a bit toasted by that stage. They tell me there's something in the vodka here :)

We got followed yesterday after taking a picture of a guy with a cobra and not paying him near the Gateway. I shat myself, I hate snakes at the best of times, but I was so scared he was gonna whip it out. Damn, still get the chills thinking about it. Got some more soccer shirts down there and found some spray paint, so hopefully I'll be going on an art excursion later in the week.

Cabala (Mumbai City)

Some wicked Hindi script. Reminds me so much of graffiti styles.

The Central Train Station. Unfortunately we we just driving past and I didn't get a chance to get out and have a good look. The architecture is awesome, and I love the Gargoyles.

What have I been doing?

Work. Getting up at 315 to start at 5 am. Very harsh. Work is pretty cool so far, with lots of great people, who think we're kind of god like.

I went down to Mumbai the other day, what an eye opener. People everywhere, kind of what I magine NYC to be like, but not as developed. Beggars and kids after money, hawkers trying to rip you off with anythin gthey have to sell. Handbags, jewellery, sunglasses, watches. I got a couple of soccer shirts for 15 bucks. Beats 140 for a real one. Some dude offering me hash, which I wanna get my hands on hile I'm here. Took us 1hr to get there via cab about 2 in the arvo and 2hrs back about 7pm. The traffic was insane, I've never seen anything like it. Such a polluted city, hazy one a good day. I got my International lisence before I came over, now I think I was dreaming, no way I'm gonna try the roads. I think beepng your horn constantly is a part of getting your lisence over here. We have a 40 min - 2 hr drive to work and I reckoing we go through 4 traffic lights on the way. The roads are crap, there seems to be constant work going on, but it doesn't seem that anything gets finished. I can't imagine what this place was like 20 yrs ago!

I went to the tailor today to get some shirts made. Very sweet. 112 for 5 shirts. They'll be ready in 3 days. We were looking at material, I reckon they pulled out 40-50 rolls, they can't do enough for you. All that for 8 shirts allmup. Then they showed me material for suits, absolutely awesome. I'll get them down the track.

Eaten out at a few restaurants, and it's very cheap. Tonights was 15 whihc was a dish each and a couple of jugs of beer. Mike, Megan and I ate on he street down form the hotel for 80 rupees the other day, about $2.40 for us all.

Anyways, out for now as I'm buggered.

Some pics

Well, a few pics. The cheap beer in my fridge :) $15 for a carton of longnecks, delivered to your door. Tidy.

Streets of India.

The crazy bamboo scaffold they use. Check the guys on the left.

The Mickey D's menu. Hows the prices?

And choofing down a hooker in a coffee shop.

India

Wow! Unbelievable so far. Palaces to slums. I couldn't imagine the poverty before I came. I'm having some issues understanding people, but just asking again helps.

The hotel is awesome, but it does seem a world away from the 'real' India. Work has been good so far but tomorrow we start @ 500 am which means up at 330. Takes about 45 mins to get there in the mornig, but homne can be anything up to 2 hrs. The people at work are really nice but I do believe this week will be interesting as they are so desperate to be successful in their role.

It is so cheap to eat and general living expenses, but eletrnoics etc seem to be comparable to home. The weather has been nice, about 25-30 moost days abd cooling down at night. The pool at the hotel comes in handy.

Well, I'll get stuck into this in the next few days and upload some photos. Should reallly go to bed but the Liverpool v Man U game is on. Go the Reds!!!

Finally......

Finally my bad boy rocked. Seems the 7200 rpm drives a quite popular since they were released. I really dig the airport and being able to finally be wireless. Very tidy.

My man Kab got a Ibook the other day also, but strangley he wasn't as keen as me to rip it out the box. I loove the way with Mac you plug shit in and it works. Seriously, if you have no need for state of the art gaming, go a Mac.

I'm still in denail about having to pack up the house before I leave. Emmas getting stuck into it, I trying my best to ignore it :-)

Oh yeah, been getting into checkng out the beach.

http://www.coastalwatch.com/asx/pipeline.asx

Hmmm

Well, seems as though my thirst for technology is killing me. Apparantley another 2-3 week on my Powerbook! But the funny thing is Apple themselves can get me one in 10 days. Very close to demanding a refund and going with them. Tomorrow marks four weeks since I ordered and laid down the loot. Very disappointing.

Em's getting geared up and organised for Vietnam, while I try and get organised for Mumbai. Packing the house is going to be a pain, but, always good to clean out the shit we amass along the journey.

Goddamn Apple

Still waiting on Powerbook.

Had a quick trip to Sydney the other day for some Cultural Prep for India. 'Twas good to meet everyone else who's off with us as well. Digging in Sydney was cool, but I did contain my spending.

My baby Emma is looking at a job in Vietnam at the moment, so it looks as though she'll be off about the same time as me, but for 12 months. Shit.

My work xmas do is tonight, so no doubt I'll be poorly in the morning :(

Waiting, waiting on my Powerbook. C,mon Apple!!

http://www.apple.com/powerbook/

Journey To Anywhere

Getting a bit more organised now. Thailand is looking liek the holiday spot. Oh, and I have ordered my Powerbook to take with me, but have to wait a another week or so..... poo.

Changes

Well, teh trip has been postponed until January now, so a little more time to get my sh*t together. Which also means I'm home for Xmas and New Years, but won't be in India when my mum is. Had my vaccines yesterday, and damn do I have two aching arms, which meant I had a really shit sleep. very poor.