India: Part I
# 24 May 2008 19:18
So, first impressions of India after the 8hr flight, plus at least an extra hour of flying around in the stack waiting for landing permission at Mumbai, and another 20 mins sat on the ground waiting for a space for the plane to pull up and let us off:
Mumbai airport is basically a dump. My initial reaction was that they haven't finished building it, and then as I went inside I thought maybe we'd stopped at some disused terminal as the building was grotty and the walls were plain untidied concrete with a ceiling that looked like it was supposed to have suspended ceiling tiles, but instead had electrical cables hanging down from it.
Security coming into the country seemed almost non-existant: A quick look at my passport, then claimed my baggage and that was me free to roam India. lol
Anyways, so I get outside and as my dad had said their driver, Sheike (sp. to be corrected later, lol), was there to pick me up, holding an A4 sign with BEARD written on it. Fair enough. Then I had to push my way past (the words 'excuse me' did nothing) to reach him then came the 3 hr drive from Mumbai to Pune.
What an experience. At first I had thought "oh they drive on the left like us", but now I know better: Sure they drive on the left; but not like us. lol. Driving in India is dangerous, IMO. I felt like I was risking my life--not that the driver was bad, just that nobody seems to have any road-sense.
In most places there were no road markings or pavements at the side of the road. People drive wherever they want, and people walk around the edges of the road and cross without looking all the time. Other road users are an equally hazardous thing too; with cars weaving in and out of eachother, constantly beeping their horns to get past, say thanks, or just plain say 'hello', it seems. Traffic lights do not seem to mean anything either as they appear to be mostly ignored. Pedestrian crossing might aswell not exist.
I can't adequately describe the roads in words; it is something you have to see for yourself to believe.
There is also a randomly large amount of wild dogs roaming the streets, but they don't bother you at all. Less can be said of the children begging in the streets downtown, who will hound you until you enter a shop and wait til they pick on someone else to make your escape.
Other than that it's nice to be with my family again, but I am missing David terribly. So that's abit of a double-edged sword, really. :(
Jenn's birthday today... 18, woo! Got to sleep first though, so I'm not entirely sure what we are doing tomorrow, although I think we will go to the local bar, which should be interesting...
At some point I need to check out the local McDonald's which doesn't serve meat other than chicken, apparently. Also there is a pizza place nearby that apparently does a Hawaiian pizza, but fails to mention that there is no ham on it....so it's a ham & pineapple pizza without the ham, basically. Oh and no tomato sauce on the base either... Crazyness. Indian's obviously haven't got the hang of pizza yet. lol
We had Chinese today, which was nothing special. I wouldn't be surprised if it was wild dog meat instead of chicken though... Hmm... lol
Anyways, hope you are all missing me ;)
Laters!
Andy xx
OMG: It's a blog post!
# 22 May 2008 23:24
Yeah, so I'm currently at Birmingham Airport... which sucks.
It's like half midnight and the whole place is closed... Not really sure what to do lol.
I want a drink but the Costa Coffee that seems to be open has nobody there to serve anyone; which is great. and stupid me forgot to bring any change for the vending machines... yay!
Also, airport internet is REALLY expensive! :(
Anyways what else can I say seeing as I have 20 minutes left and I'm rediculously bored already and my flight isn't for another 6 hrs...
Oooh yeah, my new job!!!
Finally managed to leave McDs after 8 years, thankfully before I lost my marbles completely... lol
I'd seen "Internet Moderator" advertised on Fish4jobs and decided to apply for it... cos--let's face it--what do I do in my spare time anyways?
So I applied and they were impressed and I got the job!
I am enjoying it too which is always a bonus. I do miss some of my friends from my old job though, but still managing to get the occasional drunken night out with them... and many of those with Duane lol.
Went to see Iron Man the other week... it was pretty good. Will look awesome on Blu-Ray lol. Talking of Blu-Ray I just bought the Sweeney Todd... Typically it's due to arrive tommorrow while I'm in India... Oh well...
Ooh and sneaky mister David booked a hotel in Earl's Court last weekend and took me to see Avenue Q! It was pretty good....very funny, lol. So now my ban on sneakiness is lifted so I must thing of something...
Although cos of this trip to India I won't get to see him again until his birthday on 8th June... will have to make it extra special! ;)
Oh yeah, that thing about Costa Coffee reminded me... I've started on coffee again, but hopefully I'll be able to keep it in moderation. I haven't been having ANY hot drinks at home recently, so it's just work that must be a bad influence. :P
Anyways, I'm running out of things to say... so... seeyas!
'til next time (whenever that may be--I'm not doing too well on this once a month thing, lol).
Take care,
luff yhooz!
Andy xx
Labels: coffee, david, dreams, drunkeness, family, films, friends, london, travel, work
Happy New Year 2008!
# 04 January 2008 16:11
So, I kinda forgot to do me usual summary of last year post.
2007 went pretty fast... lets have a mini summary right now...
Started off abit rubbishy, and the first half was littered with Hollyoaks-style boy problems, hehe.
In May I went to Los Angeles for Star Wars Celebration IV... There were supposed to be a bunch of us meeting up but in the end it was just Ana and I, lol, oh well we had mucho fun driving around to random restaurants and forgetting to take return directions! hehe
In June one day I got bored and on a spur-of-the-moment decision I decided to drive down to Enfield in London to meet a lovely guy I had been talking to online for a month or so... Best decision I ever made! Six months later and we are still together and wouldn't want to be with anyone else. We are still separated by distance but we do our best to see eachother as much as we can. It's difficult sometimes - but who ever said love was easy? We got to spend New Years together... Yay! :D
I've also had a couple of chances for jobs during this year but am somehow still at McDonald's... oh, yay. lol
And New Years Day I had an argument with a bush alongside the Warwick Bypass just after taking David home... Whoops! So missed a DOUBLE-PAY day at work and had to spend £50 on getting my car fixed... all because I SNEEZED! I mean, honestly... How on earth.... *sigh* lol oh well all is good now.
So then, goals for this year:
1. Get new job. (or win lottery, lol)
2. Move out.
3. New car.
4. Spend lots of time with David
5. Post on my blog at least once a month.
I have a special couple for work while I'm still there too:
1. Be a bastard - no more mister nice Beard! :P
2. Re-organise stockroom (whether people like it or not)
hehe
so thats it in brief.
Hope veryone had a good Xmas and a happy new year!
Take care!
Andy
xx
Labels: boys, car, Celebration, david, family, friends, new year
| David | Alexander | Ana |
| Amanda | Jon | Theresa |
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© Andrew Beard, 1997—2008.