2012 Trips (Part II)

Left the hotel, and went to the airport for my flight for going home! Whooohoooo!!! Yes, I was that excited until I went to the counter to check in, and was told that the flight would be delayed.

My flight was originally scheduled to leave ~2:00 AM, and now it got pushed back to 6:45 AM. What am I going to do with those extra hours???!!!?? I was too tired to walk around. If only I didn’t come this early, I’d totally be taking my time and sleeping in the hotel. I guess my only choice is to take napS until it’s boarding time.

Let me take you back to the hotel.

Bathroom entrance at hotel

I know! uh huh, it was really necessary to take a picture of it and post it here. I do seriously like the wood element they added to the bathroom though

I had a chance to go to one of the supermarkets (Big Bazaar?) and got one of the things that I definitely could not live without.

Just had to try this! (Sorry, it’s blurry)

After trying this out, I definitely and absolutely certain that Doritos in the middle east is a lot better. My sister can testify!! Need to check with her what flavor it was again (Just did, she said it’s “Sweet Chili Pepper“)

For the real treat of the local food, I got this on my way to Mysore:

Rava Dosa (at the bottom) and another Dosa (at the left)

Dosa is one of the things that I can see myself having it for lunch and dinner. The reason is because it’s up-to-me how I’m going to eat it — whether I would dip it to the sides or eat it the way it is

While at Mysore, I had a chance to take a picture of the palace. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t do it while I’m inside the palace itself though

Mysore Palace

I got a story that goes with the trip to Mysore Palace. Visitors are not allowed to wear any kinds of footwear to walk around the palace, and I was fine with it because the floor was nice and cool inside the palace. Once we have circled the palace, my friend and I wanted to exit and went back to the location where we store our shoes. I followed people’s guides, but they were leading me to another section of the palace! They have a section where visitors could ride elephants or visit a museum, but I wasn’t interested in it at the time! All I ever wanted was my shoes! and to get to where my shoes were, we had to walk quite a bit, and the ground was hot! It was ~11 AM, and we were stepping on concrete! I was totally pissed and had to run to get into shades to avoid the feeling of getting my feet burned. At last we got back to our starting point; I picked up my shoes, and I was happy See, easily satisfied! If they had given me back my shoes first, I would totally consider visiting (and, of course, paying to enter) the museum.

The next thing that I did was going around the palace to take the picture of it from the outside.

Palace from the side

I am grateful to be able to visit these places. If only the pollution and traffic weren’t that bad, perhaps I would be more satisfied. Human beings.. never get satisfied

Till next time

Alex

2012 Trips (Part I)

I’m currently as close as I can be to home since last year. Never would I have thought that I’d visit this place, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not enjoying my current trip.

Out of all places I’ve visited before, this place resembles my home country the most. The traffic (and the rules and how people follow them), the pollution (both air and sound), the heat (and a little bit of the humidity), all of them seem very familiar. Yet I am no where at home.

One of the things that is different is how people in Indonesia are concerned about the food being Halal or not, while here it’s more about vegetarian or not. The way to tell whether something is vegetarian or not is by spotting a sign: a square with a green dot in it. For non-vegetarian food, the color will be red instead of green (for both the square and the dot).

Food that is sold needs to show whether vegetarian-friendly or not

While in here, I managed to go to two fast food restaurants so far: KFC and Domino’s. I actually like the KFC here more than the ones in the US or Indonesia. The chicken is not as oily, and its peppery flavor is just right. (FYI: I’m a huge fan of pepper-y food). I’m, however, less impressed with the pizza.

The thought of going to fast-food restaurant was never there until a colleague mentioned that he had gone to multiple McDonald’s in multiple countries just to see and taste the differences, and I thought that was an interesting thing to do.

Given the chance to stay at one of the best hotels in the area, I have nothing to complain about.

Placed here for some number of weeks

One thing that I probably wish they pay more attention to is the variety of breakfast menu. Been here for weeks, I have become worried that by the end of my stay, I wouldn’t touch anything. Well, of course I’m going to eat, but I have become very selective by day.

The waffle is one of the best I've had

The trip is going to end soon, and I’ll be home for real this time. Will update again once I’m actually out of this area and take more pictures with the real camera

Till then..

Alex