Bye-Bye Bharatpur

The mustard fields of Bharatpur

This update is long overdue.

It has finally come to the time when I had to leave the gorgeous wonderland of Bharatpur with its horde of birds and beasts, and mosquitoes, and my friendly smartass managers; and yeah, a few friends.

…That was more than a month ago. Since then, I’ve been back to my nomadic lifestyle, jumping from place to place, from the dust fields of Rajasthan to the green valleys of Assam, from the traffic jams of New Delhi to the traffic jams of Kuala Lumpur, from the Malaysian High Commission in India to the Indian High Commission in Malaysia, from the Ipoh Immigration Department to the UAE Embassy in KL, from Wisma Putra (in Putrajaya) to Butterworth, from Genting Highlands to Pangkor Island, from Ipoh back to the desert, and this time a real sandy one, in the Arabian Fantasy World called Dubai… Bloody expensive place! Let’s leave it at that for the time being since I’ve just started work, don’t wanna give my new employer the impression that I use company’s time and resources to surf and blog. Anyway here’re some pictures of Bharatpur… just to show case how ‘nice’ a place Bharatpur can be… cameras, they can do wonders huh?


Entrance to Bharatpur's Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary (aka our jogging ground prior to bloody winter freezing over) - entrance is free before 6am


In the grounds of Bharatpur's King's palace at Deeg village


Our landlord and his wife at the house during the Karva Chauth festival - dunno the significance of the festival, but it's supposed to bring good fortune and blessings to the husband. The wife has to fast for a whole day (which should be quite a feat for our landlady), wait for the moon to rise (hard luck if there're heavy clouds but luckily this was Rajasthan, bloody dry Rajasthan), see husband's face indirectly (i.e. from the reflection in the water, or through a sieve), touch husband's feet, ...pray for husband I suppose, and then she can eat. The husband in return, just needs to hang around doing nothing, great festival ...if you're male huh?

The Lost City of Akbar

This is Fatehpur Sikri, a city commissioned and built by Akbar, one of the greatest kings of the Mughal Dynasty – the dynasty that built the Taj Mahal and ruled most of India until the British kicked them out. Fatehpur Sikri sits smack within our Agra to Bharatpur Highway Project, so there’s no chance not visiting it.

Fatehpur Sikri was for a short time, the capital of Mughal India until Akbar found it near impossible to channel water to it despite the engineering marvels of the time. He promptly moved the capital back to Agra (about 40km away), and abandoned the city to the ravages of time – No, it was not a folly, he knew from the start that it’d become a tourist attraction in about err... 400 years time and then the foreign tourists would have to cough up about 20 times the amount that a local would have to pay, and generate loads of revenue for his country, apart from generating job opportunities for the local boys (as tourist guides), who would generally bug the shit out of you, and tell all how great Akbar was, how he was very respectful and tolerant of all religions, so much so that he had a Hindu wife, a Muslim wife and a Christian wife all at the same time, living in the same place ...i.e. this place. Now, that’s what you call, a king.


Anu's sister Manju, and her son, Kunal at Fatehpur Sikri


Anu glaring at the countless guides, touts and you name it at the Buland Darwaza (literally Huge bloody Gate - ...my translation)

Introducing the In-Laws

Hi everyone! I’m back, with some pictures. Nothing important to write about except that I’m very very very busy. So here’re some pictures of Anu’s family to keep all entertained for the time being.

This coming general election will be another election I’m gonna miss, %#%$^@! For the records, I’ve never voted in my life! I resolve therefore, to vote in the general elections after this one. But first of all, I’ve gotta get my registration transferred from a boring, no-contest constituency like Hulu Langat (where Bandar Sg Long is) back to my beloved hometown of Ipoh! That’s the place to be man! Anyway for the empat-ekor enthusiasts (like Jipek and Jiko), my voting serial number is 2377.


Silchar Airport, Assam
From left to right – (top) – yours truly; brother-in-law Gopal; Anu; Anu’s 2nd eldest sister Sandhya; (bottom) – nephew Jeeva; niece Sweety


Anu & Sandhya on the ‘highway’ between Silchar town and Anu’s village during the monsoon – yeah lots of fun, …and fish


Anu’s home in Fulertal village, Assam
From left to right – Anu’s mom; legs (of Anu’s 3rd eldest sister Rekha aka the shy one); Anu’s eldest brother Ramesh; Ramesh’s son Raja; niece Karisma; Ramesh’s other son Rohan


Ramesh’s wife Sumitra and son


Our little doggy Rani, in Silchar, still as adorable as ever


A typical view of the area – with betel nut trees all over the place (on the road between Silchar and Shillong, somewhere in Meghalaya state)

New Year in the Doldrums

It’s Chinese New Year! And I’m stuck in Indian-land with not a single Chinese face in sight for as far as I can imagine. I’m at the office, dressed in a blue & black woolen jacket (which I’ve worn for the last 2 months) and jet black pants with not 1 inch of red on my body (wait, let me check, …no, not even on my underwear). I told Anu yesterday that we’re not supposed to sweep the floor on the 1st day of the New Year. I told her on the 2nd day, so whatever that should not be done, has already been done, ...no big deal. I watched Dragon-Tiger Gate (Loung Foo Moon) on the first day just to listen to some Chinese (Cantonese in this case), and to see the creative English subtitles that the writers come up with. How did Fire Cloud Evil God (Fo Wun Che Sun) come to be named Shibumi just beats the shit outta me? And how did Sek Huk Loung turn out to be Turbo???

Not really in the mood for writing, but what the heck, it’s Chinese New Year, and I want to write on Chinese New Year. And writing has been on my mind since the first day of the New Year.

On the work front, nothing has been better. I’ve finally delivered on my promise to submit an important assignment to my stingy boss, and a few other assignments on top of that. It seems that my strategy to impress him, didn’t really make an impact, or it impressed him big time. Whatever it is, it didn’t get me any special ‘favours,’ except for a notice. To keep all in suspense I have decided not to talk about the notice now. I will post pictures to keep you guys occupied OK?

Anyway, here’s to a Great and Successful Year of the Rat! May good fortune follow you wherever you go, and whatever you do! May there be Prosperity, Abundance and Happiness in your household!

Koung Hey Fat Choi, Man See Yue Yee, Sum Siong See Sing, Loung Ma Cing Sun, Pou Pou Kou Sing, Sun Neen Fai Lok!

Back with a vengeance! hehe...

Wow, time flies! January’s coming to an end and I want to maintain my resolution of posting at least 2 entries per month. I’ve been extremely busy, partially trying to impress my stingy boss (so that I can gain some favours from him, what else? (at least I’m forthright), but I don’t think it’ll work, since he’s only concerned about trying to keep the Project ‘within budget’). I’m the Quality Manager, so the budget’s got nothing to do with me, hehehe.

I also feel that I’ve not been giving my best in this Project, so it's about time I give it a go, and see whether I still have the grit and the anything-goes attitude I used to have last time before the intricacies and politics of this stupid Project (yeah, it is the Project, and the weather, and the people, the god-forsaken place…)… Anyway, it’s about time that I buck up and show some results (…but what sort of results do you expect from Quality? 1001 Non-Conformances? That’ll just mean Quality suck, right? 0 Non-Conformances, that’ll mean we’re not doing anything! …Quality is indeed …err complicated).

On the home front, I’m back with full force. The cluster headaches are gone. Anu’s happy (and contented… ahem). I’m registered with the Foreigner’s Registration Office (without participating in any enrichment scheme). The satellite TV’s fixed (and hopefully, it’ll stay fixed for the rest of our stay here). The bloody mosquitoes still hover around and bite despite near-zero temperatures (and I thought we could do away with insecticide in winter!) Everything is still bloody cold, especially my room in the office. I can’t put a bloody blower in there because the bloody electrical circuits were not wired for that type of load, and I can’t be bothered with getting our electricians to fix it coz I figured winter’s coming to an end very soon, and none of my other colleagues are using any heating device anyway, so what the heck, I’m a man! (…hmm, maybe that’s why the colleagues spend a lot of time at site nowadays…)

Anyway, I’ve gotta get back to work, gotta to show them who’s Gary Ong… Will post pictures to keep the blog updated ok?

India Update: A Great Start to 2008

2008 has started off pretty well. Bharatpur is bloody freezing. The daily power cuts have sharply increased and some times last the entire morning (on and off, according to its own liking). They still routinely happen from 6.20am to 6.50am every morning without fail. That’s about the same time I wake up and take a dump at the freezing toilet every morning. The sun doesn’t really come up till 7am in winter which makes reading while I shit a bloody hassle (not impossible, after all I have a candle! hehehe). I have nightly headaches; …looked up the internet, it may be cluster headaches, it comes every night and goes away in the morning, (interfering with more pleasurable nocturnal activities, shit!) Not that the occasional pegs of whisky, rum or / and tequila help. Everything is bloody cold – the toilet seat, the woolen jacket (just before I put it on), the pants, the drinking water, … as opposed to summer when the bloody shower is hot even at 5am in the morning.

Coming to the office is a bloody drag. My room must be in the colder part of the office, opening the door to the office room feels like opening a fridge door, and then a flick of a switch and the feeble tube light comes on (also like a fridge). The room only starts feeling warmer after lunch, thereby affecting the ever-strong performance of the very efficient Quality Manager for more than half of the day (yeah, IT IS the bloody weather!)

The mosquitoes are still around, but they hardly bite. Most of the time they just float around slowly (like they’re high on something) in front of your eyes, while you’re watching TV. The few nights when the temperature went up a bit, they actually bite, the bloody critters. The lizard should be having a field day if they’re around but there’re no signs of them – nature sure is kind to mosquitoes here.

The crooked TV Technicians of Bharatpur pulled another one on us, again. We found out that the recently replaced satellite dish is also a low-quality dud, and so are the cables connecting the dish to the box. Bravo! The local foreigner’s registration officer (aka the police, not all, only one greedy a#%$&le) was giving yours truly a hard time, thanks to the unbending (read, stupid) principles of yours truly of not wanting to comply with his local enrichment scheme. Screw him!

All else here is fine otherwise (thank God). Anu’s as sprightly as ever (but not too contented…).

And that sums up what a wonderful year it’s been so far. Things can only get better right?

New Year Greetings!

To all my friends and family whom I’ve not contacted for ages, I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year. May the year ahead be filled with joy, love and success. May you and your loved ones be blessed a thousand fold and be protected from harm and temptations. May good health follow you wherever you go. May there be peace and harmony in your household and work place. May God guide you to overcome the trials in your life, so that you will rise up again with new hope. May you forgive your brothers and sisters who have hurt or wronged you and may you be forgiven for the wrongs that you have done unto others. May all that is good come true for you. May God be with you wherever you go.

Happy New Year! Selamat Tahun Baru! Xin Nian Khuai Le! Naya Saal Mubarak ho! Manigong Bagong Taon! Kum Thar Chibai! (still my favourite hahaha).

With love, Gary

I just came back from a hectic break from work (I will not call it a holiday, it’s just too tiring to be called one) in Malaysia. I know I’ve been an asshole for not looking up any of my friends, (except one, Wai Yen, you’re the unlucky one, see?) I know this should not just be brushed off lightly, what sort of friend is this when he comes all the way back from overseas after a very long time and doesn’t even call up his friends, huh? Anyway, he has very valid reasons – such as parading his never-before-seen wife to his enthusiastic family plus plus, such as attending (and trying to assist, somewhat disastrously in) his good brother Jack’s wedding, such as shopping for and buying Christmas presents for everyone in the family plus plus (and that’s not all – you have to wrap the darn things up – and with my family, it felt like there’s a present-wrapping competition). We wrapped most of it up (creatively) in newspapers (it’s the heart that counts, no?), plus this is my first Christmas with the family at home after err… 6.. no 9 years (I think) don’t really remember the last time… and my first year buying presents, so understandlah huh? And then there are the 101 errands, my work visa, the bloody banking matters… And lastly, and most importantly, I have to show off to the wife the frequently boasted state-of-the-art attractions and the fabulously delicious food of my beloved home, Malaysia, right? Just say that she’s not too impressed (thanks mainly to the hectic schedule I put us through and family pressures hehehe).

Anyway, to those who sent me Christmas greetings, here’s a belated Merry Christmas to all of you. I miss you all and would have loved to meet as many as possible. Thanks for keeping in touch, may all your souls be blessed. Cheers, till we meet again, Gary.

Our Other Homes in Mumbai

OK, it's December. And I've just completed another sparring match on email with a %#$*! at the office, ...and this time I 'won', ahem. And I'm feeling just a little pleased with myself, so here's to giving myself a little time-off to bask in my 'victory' and post more pictures of our homes in Mumbai, since my brain is still stuck on combat mode...

Our other homes in Mumbai aren't too bad either. Our 2nd home, compliments of the Reliance Industries Group (flagship of the richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani, at last count worth about err …49 Billion USD) at Chuna Bhatti, Mumbai: -


Our bedroom at Reliance Towers


The playground where we used to have our evening walks, except when the breeze blows from the direction of the river, …and carries the stench of a million pollutants…

Our 4th home, Leighton’s Guesthouse in Kalina, Mumbai: -

The common living room


The view from the roof of the Kalina Guesthouse with a Gurdwara in view

Our 5th home: -

...Hahaha (kidding), ...Kim of the slums

Anyway, good times never last forever right? And that’s why we’re here now, in Bharatpur, staying with evil monkeys and #$%^*$^% ^#$*%$^ #%^%#$*!!

The Generosity of My Employer: Example 2

And here's more... Our 3rd home after rejoining Leighton.


The modernistic museum-like Grand Hyatt, Mumbai


Poolside, Grand Hyatt

Anu doesn't like this place because it has a hospital-like appearance, because of its ultra-cool atmosphere (or more like it's always bloody cold in the lobby), and the ultra exclusivity of its food (e.g. like having its mineral water priced at 10 times of the price outside). Not much complaints from me or especially from the rest of my colleagues though - nice Western food, and the Company's paying for it after all - hehehe.


The view from our room




Some of the 'museum' displays in the ultra-'cool' lobby


The courtyard of the Grand Hyatt

No, ...we didn't stay there for too long, 'only' about 10 days, ...unlike our other long-term staying colleagues...

The Generosity of My Employer: Example 1

I can complain a lot about some of the things in the Company (the people, …especially the people). As an organization, I think we are one of the most self-centered group of employees found in a working culture, a far cry from the days working in RBM when the lack of resources perhaps, forced us staff to have a rapport to sort things out amongst ourselves, and to share things. (…Except when it had something to do with Chairman Mao hehehe – see previous entry Depression Mode).

This place, it’s all for yourself, very individualistic, no trying to understand others, no team spirit, etc. The organization could do with some initiative to inject a little more fun, team spirit and morale into the works. It could for example, put me in charge of the organization hahaha…

Anyway, when it comes to generosity, RBM cannot even smell the whiff of a fart of this place. See pictures below of my first home after joining Leighton –


The Marriot Lakeside Chalet, Powai, Mumbai - part of the Renaissance chain of hotels


The view from our living room, with Powai Lake in the background


Our bedroom


The adjoining Renaissance Hotel, Powai, Mumbai


Anu and the 'eternal guardian' of the Nawab Sharif Indian Restaurant, Renaissance Hotel


The interior of the Renaissance...

How much is the cost of this thing? You wouldn’t even want to imagine… And we stayed there for more than a month!