One of the things I miss most of India...

Its actually the bollywood movies :)
Saw this through a couple of ppl sending it to my Facebook FunWall...
Its hilariously ridiculous, but no offense to the Indians please, I love you guys always!

A Quick Summary of India...

A visit to India is an assault on the senses. It is a noisy, brash, garish, smelly destination. Yet simultaneously it is a place of great tranquility and spiritual wisdom. One can't attempt to understand it. One just has to take it all in and let it change one. - Quoted from the book The Kama Sutra of Business by Nury Vittachi

This statement I definitely agree! Here are some videos to show u the enormous assault on me! haha..

Scene from the train station at a very un-peak hour, like 11am in a suburb area...
Also, i have not shared my experience of being nearly squashed alive whilst trying to disembark from a train during peak hour yet!

My crazy SSY coursemates who were singing with full gusto the whole 3 hours from the ashram back to Mumbai!

Capoeira performance @ Bandra Beach by Aparna's (whom I couchsurfed with in Mumbai) group. Check out the crowd surrounding us!

Osho International Meditation Resort..

Firstly, the good news..I'm HIV negative! haha..surprise surprise, probably the only meditation centre in the world which has a HIV test as a pre-requsite for entry. Go google it if you wanna find out more. Needless to say, I was kinda curious how they would "break" the news to wannabe participants if they were INDEED HIV positive....hmmm...

Anyway, some pics....as usual of Osho International Meditation Resort

My most luxurious room in India!







The Pyramid shaped Osho Auditorium where we spent most of the time...US$25million!








My Security Pass










How do I look in Maroon? This is worn in the day time mainly...












Or is white better? And only for evening meetings please...

My amazing Welcome Morning group from all across the world!

Photo of the Year! (for me at least...)

Thanks Tara for a fantastic opportunity to have 3 days of teachings with His Holiness, The Dalai Lama...and this photo, priceless! (remember the MasterCard Ads?)
Notice my right hand on His Holiness' left shoulder? (ok..fingers just poking out) :P

Another Quote of the Day...
"Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachments and aversions. Practice good-heartedness towards all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This i the essential point. This is True Spirituality."
Quoted from the book - The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche

Your comments please? I've been living this quote as much as possible during this journey...and it RAWKS! :)

From Pune...

hello all faithful readers!
as it should be, i'm uploading some pics now for u to "enjoy"
firstly, the one that stole my heart the first few weeks in mumbai..and a sneak preview of the road trip from Manali to Leh..
abit of a problem uploading photos here...so, have to wait abit for more pics!

As this is a spiritual journey, just to share a quote which i read in a book along the way..Contemplate on it, and share with me your thoughts :)

The Purpose of Life? To totally immerse yourself in situations that interest you and to explore the inner experiences – the thoughts, feelings, learnings, and growth – that result – Robert Scheinfeld

Namaste from India!

Its been 1 month in India! How time flies..
So far, honestly...been taking it quite easy. Spent 18 nights couchsurfing in Mumbai - land of the amazingly attractive Bollywood Stars (the female kind of course!) and staying quite near them in the Bandra area. Well, the main reason was that I was doing a course in that area. Totally mindblowing...the SSY course

Followed by a 30+ hour overnight train ride to Chandigrah and another 12 hours overnight bus ride to Manali...wah....backside nearly split..:P

Spent a couple of days in Manali and then the backbreaking 2days 400+km ride to Leh (Little Tibet) in Ladakh state. Saw some amazing scenery and will update them soon (I promise!!)

Took the same bus ride back and now in Dharamsala, home of His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. Will be attending his teachings soon, looking forward to it!

Honestly speaking, this journey has been more spiritual and learning about myself and the culture here rather than seeing sights, touristic areas or anything in particular, so forgive me if there is a lack of "visual stimulation"!

Will update u all along the way....take care meanwhile!

A quick Summary of Sri Lanka

Below I depart for India for 3 months (which possibly means no updates till November!), I thought I better write something about Sri Lanka, of which I spent a good ONE solid month there.

The intention was quite clear
1) Experience Ayurvedic Treatment
2) Teach English in a rural school
3) Experience local lives
4) Surf at Arugambay
5) Enjoy the Hill County scenery and climate
6) Evade any LTTE related bombs or aggression and come back in one piece!

Glad to say I achieved all of them and possibly more!

Few key things to note:
1) Sri Lankans are very friendly and accommodating people. No problems asking people around in English, even though they might not really understand, they are more then happy to ask around and assist you.

2) They like to come and talk to you! And its the usual questions most of the time. So, pardon me..I was a bit pissed at some point of the trip as I just wanted to sit alone and have my meal!

3) Power cuts happened at almost all the 6-7 places I stayed throughout! Some took the whole night and day to recover, others a few minutes to an hour. Totally unpredictable. Keep the torch nearby!

Highlights of the Trip
1) Bathing in a local's house, which is next to the National Reserve. Apparently, elephants do casually stroll by once a while. Btw, the bath was completely open air with a shower head attached to a tree. I was quite conscious indeed on who was around me, despite it being around 9+pm at night and it was almost complete darkness around me.

2) Teaching English in the Rural School -> The children were an absolute delight and constantly trying to "grab" me for the next period as they had many free periods due to shortage of teaches. We played some cricket together, they plucked some "tangerine" (don't look like what I know, but at least this is the translation given to me) from the trees (literally a 10yr old kid scaling a tree up 2-3 storeys in the air!) and sang lots of English nursery rhymes..haha

3) Being proposed on a lonely stetch of Arugam Bay while I was walking back in near darkness. Here is how the conversation went when I passed by a group of late teens.
Teen: Konichiwa..(BOW DEEPLY) *notice exaggerated emphasis on word*
Me: No no, me not japanese
Teen: OH!? Where are you from?
Me: Singapore
Teen: AHHHH....Singapore, I LIKEEEEEEEE!! Can I F#%@ YOU??!!

Figured A) they could have learned it randomly and just using it without knowledge what it meant, B)they know what it means and just playing a fool, or C)they really know what they mean and mean what they say. Either way, just kept quiet and continued walking back as calmly as possible.

4) Experiencing the power of WAVES! I did think about the Tsunami quite abit during the 7-8 nights I was sleeping by the coast, both the West and Eastern site which were all hit by the Tsunami in 2005. After experiencing the waves (surfed and got thrown about riddiculously), and the underwater currents (2 different directions while the wave was retreating) when just standing in knee depth water, my respect for nature has gone sky high indeed.

5) Having a free roller coaster ride while sitting in the cheap but life threatening public buses. The bus hardly stops completely, even when picking up or dropping passengers and having secured the prime seat right at the back, I had a couple of "BUTT in the air 30cm above the seat" moments indeed while enjoying the F1 speeds and scenery.

6) Seeing the Room To Read work in Sri Lanka, visiting 2 pre-schools, 1 primary school,1 library and meeting 64 scholarship girls! Photos here. Coming back more committed than ever that education is one of the ways to reduce poverty around the world. John Wood, founder of Room To Read will be in Singapore on 14th September for a fund raising event. Please email me at tayandy06@yahoo.com.sg or drop me a comment if you would like to meet this incredible man (whom I sadly have not and will not have a chance to do so during my travel this year!)

7) Set up my own mosquito net in my final 4 nights in Colombo. OK, no biggie, but to me...was nice! :) Sleeping with spiders and lizards and frogs around me was also quite cool...And chewing the betel nut/leaves. Not my favourite, but still an experience indeed!

8) Hearing Ajit (my travel agent)speak and sharing stories of his business, the corruption in Sri Lanka and the Indian tourists and business opportunities. Truly a mind-blowing evening at a very nice Irish Pub with one of the most fantastic live bands! I would highly recommend you going through Ajit to planning your Sri Lankan adventure! I "used" him for the first 10 days or so, and it was perfect.

Please do drop your comments and if you would like more "crap" while I'm travelling in India, do let me know! For the record, I should be doing the following courses:

1) Vipassana Meditation Course (10 days)
2) Basic Mountaineering Course (28 days)
3) SSY Yoga Course (8 days)
4) His Holiness Dalai Lama's teachings (3 days)

amongst abit of travelling around Mumbai and the north western area of india!
Some of the additional stuff to see and do include:
1) Desert Safari
2) Visit of the "Rat Temple" -> Yes, they worship rats there and they are all over
3) Trekking in Leh -> Little Tibet of India
4) Appearing in a Bollywood movie -> fingers crossed they need a "chinese" face, a chinese brothel owner or pimp or gangster maybe?!?!
5) Meeting the author of Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts. Incredible book, 936 pages long about Mumbai, a convict, the slums and the war...touching, heartwarming, inspiring..they're making a movie soon and Johnny Depp is the star! Apparently, Gregory was spotted in Mumbai already as filming is due to start soon!

OK, enough crap for today, I still haven't packed with 1 hour to get out of house!

7 days in Melbourne

It was a 1hr flight from Hobart to Melbourne and had a really interesting chat with Gary on the plane, giving me the history, the culture, and even advice for the future! Aussies are damn friendly people indeed!

On touchdown, had my dear friend and ex-boss, Manoj and Kumu receiving me and accomodating me for the rest of my trip. They were really nice, my bed, towel and everything all prepared...even the slippers! Weather here was considerably warmer than Tasmania, so I was happy to just walk around in my long sleeve shirt and jeans most of the time.

Some views of Melbourne firstly...Sunset city shots...always lovely :)

These Melbourne experience was really about relaxing, chilling out at cafes, walking along sidewalks, playing some golf and watching a comedy at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the latest Cirque du Soleil show - Varekai (My first ever!) I was told my Manoj that is is even better than the previous 2 he saw! For those in Singapore, hang in there..maybe 2009 it will be here coz its full house till 2008 in Europe! I read an article about Cirque du Soleil thereafter and was really impressed by them, a billion dollar company that continues to delivers what the audience worldwide wants: Happiness, Joy and Incredible Acts!

Manoj getting into the swing of things.....

A rather strange looking dog to me...

A very cool looking building along my long walk to St Kilda's beach...

Similar shot to my first, different colours though...

Street Artist at work....her canvass, the floor!

Check out this happening tunnel! And the beautiful melbourne skyline..

Todd, our driver/tour guide for the day having to change our tyre just 2 hrs into the 2D1N tour of The Great Ocean Road! Really scenic trip and having it spread out over 2 days rather than the typical 1 day rush trips made it all the better. Click onto Todd's Page for more details!

Ahhhhh....the 12 apostles (one of those great marketing names they give for certain areas along the coast :P)

Sunset shot with me...the weather was getting cold now, and penguins were soon spotted waddling up shore! Too far away though..so no worthwhile shots of them!

Had a YUMMY BBQ dinner and looking forward to the next morning. The morning views are pretty cool too!

The Madatory Group Shot!

Instead of numbers, this little cafe used soft toys to "identify" their customers, how cute!
Finally, some action from the surfer dudes on Bells
Beach - the world famous surf site!




And video views too...we had a light lunch at the winery, litterally dozens of them spread out over the suburbs of melbourne, really lovely!

Day 4-6 in Tasmania

2 more tours to go and the 2nd tour was to me, the most interesting of all. We first drove up to the peak of Mt Wellington and we enjoyed some very cloudy views of the surroundings. OK, abit narciccist here with all the individual shots -> notice the close eyes effect! Too early in the morning I say! Next was Animal time! We went to a Wildlife Sanctuary and saw the Tasmanian Devil, Wombat, Quolls (a rodent like native animal), Pademelons (a small breed of kangaroos) and Koala! Even the elusive wild platypus in the river. All so cute and fuzzy!




We then moved on to the Flora of Tasmania where we were face to face with the 'peeling trees' which gave them a very interesting look indeed up in Mt Field. This was beside Lake Dobson.
I also learned about a very unique way of seed distribution...by FIRE! Yes! Bushfires do happen in Tasmania every once a few decades, and when that happens, the seed pods burst out due to the heat and distributes the seeds all over...




Tallest Native Tree. They were quite humongous indeed!













The 3rd tour of the week kickstarted at Richmond Town (a touristy english town lookalike). Nothing really much, just a very old bridge, some ducks, a church and a river..haha..

Along the way, we passed by "Doo Town". Now Doo Town consists of a couple of houses 10+ or so, and every house is signposted "Doo-something" or "Something-Doo", so there was Doo-Me, We-Doo, Just Doo-It, you get picture. Check this one out!








"Doo F#*@ ALL!" if u can't see it!

The Devil's Kitchen & Arch was next where I saw the power of mother nature, the waves eroding the coastline...and just one of their many beautiful formations.
Finally, it was Port Arthur, an old prison in the south of Tasmania. Pretty historical stuff, but not something which was that appealing to me. Nice enough boat ride tho :)
Get me OUT of here!!!

Once I was done with my tours, it was just the final Saturday Morning market to lookfoward too, and boy was I surprised. It seemed like the entire population of Tasmania (just about 500,000) all appeared at the same time! Nice Dalmation dog sitting around :)

Day 1-3 in Tasmania

The overnight flight to Melbourne was quite a torture. Got requested to change seats by an elderly looking lady and was sandwiched between her quite vertically challenged daughter and a pretty stoned looking middle aged man! The plane was connecting through from London you see...

By the time arrived in Hobart, Tasmania about 10am, I was mighty stoned out. Had BORAT to entertain me along the way while I endeavoured to sleep as much as possible. My bunk over at Central City Backpackers. It was AUD$22 a night for a dorm room for 8 people (the most budget)and overall, a decent place.

Check out the empty streets in the morning...

Day 1 was spent strolling around senselessly, going back to hostel to concuss for 4 hours, and having a drink with a new French Friend, Stephane who was surprise surprise...working in Australia while touring around! One of MANY whom came in and out of the dorm doing the same thing.

Day 2 was spend mainly in the library, reading books on my "Gap Year" and just chilling out. Temperatures were in the 13C region, quite chilly really and I booked my 3 days "extravaganza" Smash & Grab tour with Bottombits through the hostel.

Day 3, start of the tour to Freycinet National Park, Wineglass Bay (One of the top beaches in the world) and Kate Berry's farm

Some pics!

The famous Tasman Bridge - it was sliced into 2 sometime in 1976 when a huge ship collided into the bridge. 13 died and cars literally plunged down into the river sending the occupants to a watery grave...














The famous WineGlass Bay, not very glam with my head sticking in, I know..













Video Clip on the actual bay itself

It was actually a pretty tiring climb up to the peak to take a photo of WineGlass Bay from above, and an equally tiring trek down and up again from the beach itself! So..be prepared!
Some "crazy" hikers decided to do the same! with such huge packs! amazing!














Finally, the farm...some nice turkeys and shop front....