Victor Feinman

This weekend I went o the great state of Kerala. I went with Aayush, Myra, Easther, Faisal, and Samira (whifch we renamed Samiria). Kerala is also known as God’s country. Aayush made a joke upon entering Kerala, “Let me know if you see God around, this is his country.” It didn’t take long to realize what was meant by God’s country. There seemed to be Christian paraphernalia everywhere. In every city was a large church. Kerala is one of the more modern states we have been to. There are times when crossing a long bridge looking at high rise apartment complexes when we would find ourselves thinking this looks a lot like back home. At other times of the trip the conditions weren’t so good.

Our Journey began on Wednesday evening. Thursday was a day off for us so it was a good time for us to leave. We planned to leave at 6:00, then it was 6:30, and by the time I got all my things together and the others were ready it was 7:30. It was ok because Kerala isn’t a 4 hour journey and you’re there, it is more like 15 hours. It isn’t easily accessible by flight or train so we took a cab. That’s right 15 hours in a car. We left at night expecting to get some shut eye, but very little was actually obtained. When we arrived at Thekkady the next day, we were already spent.

We got to Thekkady pretty early in the day and went straight to the Hotel, we all took liitle naps and before we knew it, it was 3:30. The wildlife tour we wanted to go on in Tekkady was at 4. We hurried up and got there before the tour started but it was already full. Unbeknownst to us there was an 8 person cap on the tour and reservations was highly recommended. This put a damper on some of our trip because Tekkady was an extra 5 hour drive and it wasn’t even a hot spot in Kerala. I didn’t mind too much, the hotel was nice and relaxing. We asked for the best place to eat in the city, everyone said the hotel we were staying at. We complied with local recommendations and ate at our hotel, but there was a very limited desert menu and we were hungry for desert. So after dinner we went on a mission to find desert. The frist place we looked at was the Taj Hotel. No dice, they only offered a buffet and no deserts a-la-carte. The next place we went to was just as nice as the internationally renouned Taj Hotel chain. They had desserts, but better yet, they had a spa. We all decided to relax from our stressful cab ride and get a massage.

It was my first full body professional massage. I felt a little uncomfortable going in, but eased up during the massage. It was a good first experience and glad it was inexpensive. I wonder what the differences are from Indian techniques to American techniques?

The night was over. We got up the next morning very early to make it to the houseboat in good time. It didn’t matter what time we got there but we would have to get off at 9 the next day so obviously we wanted to get there as early as possible. We left at 6:30am and arrived at around 11:30am. I had no clue what to expect from this houseboat. Along the way I saw really nice ones and was afraid we were going to get a little dingy. As it turned out, the house boat was very nice.

We undocked and started our journey on the river. It was very relaxing: cool breeze blowing by as I sat in a big comfy chair reading a book. I wouldn’t have it any other way. The crew offered us a couple deck of cards and we killed some time by playing. The food on the boat was sub par and had a lot of coconut in it, which made it uneatable to me.  The next day we were off by 9 and on to our next destination: Kochi.

On a tip from Samir’s friend, we went straight to the Rivera Suites. From the sounds and looks, it was bound to be expensive. But Samir’s friend helped us find a nice room and got it discounted for us. The room was really nice. It was definitely one of the best hotels I’ve stayed at so far. The day was young so we went straight to the fort in town. The fort, unlike they Hyderabad fort, is just an area full of antiques and other shops. Around the fort is a small place called Jewtown. Of course I had to visit. At Jewtown there was a very old Synagogue that was historically certified. I believe the only reason why people called this area Jew Town was because of this synagogue, no Jewish life/culture was evident in town. Time flew by and we stopped at a place for snacks, we had already made plans to eat at a Diwali festival at 7. The snacks, because we were all very hungry turned out to be more of a mini meal. Because of how much we ate, we decided it would be a good idea to stop off at our hotel room for a while to relax then head out.

It was time to go. We left for the Diwali festival which happened to be at the next apartment complex over. Samir’s family friend tipped us off about it and got us free food coupons. We were told there would be dancing there, but what was neglected was the fact that the dancers were all of the kids of the residents of the apartment building. It was ok, we didn’t mind and found ourselves watching the show. As it turned out dinner was being served to 9:30 anyway so the snacks were actually appropriately sized and timed. After the show ended fireworks lit the sky. These weren’t like public fireworks but very impressive for a such a small community (and India). We sat around drinking after the fireworks to wait for the food line to die down, then went to town on the buffet.

After eating we were asked to dance with the rest of the party so we happily complied. I was really excited, because it made me learn a new dance called Dandiya. Dandiya is unlike any other dance that I know because it involved the usage of sticks. Two circles are formed, an inner circle and an outer circle. The inner circle moves clockwise and the outer circles counter clockwise. Once you shift over the dances starts between you and the person across from you and ends when the sequence of moves are finished. I was really enjoying myself.

“Indria,” as Ted says, “is a country full of red tape, bureaucracy, and arbitrary annoyances.” This quote/post fulfils my promise. Take that Ted!

Unless it is your first time at my site you should have noticed the new layout / design. I encourage you to partake in the poll on the right side so I know if I should keep it this way or move to a more conventional look and feel. I have also added some more features such as the digg badge at the end of each post. If you don’t know what digg is, find out here: http://www.digg.com/about. Basically, if you liked the post, then click on the digg icon/link. On the other side of the digg badge is the “Share This” link. When you click on “Share This” a popup will be displayed giving you the option to send the post to a site, or to email the post to someone. There are a lot of new things on the back end that help me get my pages out to you quicker and easier. Take a look at the new pages: Photos and mp3 search. MP3 search is a tool I developed while at Temple to search for mp3’s on a Chinese mp3 hosting site. I’d say 75% of the time you get your expected result. Its far from complete and feel free to leave feedback. The other new thing I’d like to point out is the photos section on the right side, the photos that you see are a random selection of my most recently uploaded photos to flickr. Enjoy all of the new features. -Victor

Last weekend I went to Hyderabad, India. I went with Aayush Jain, Rohan, Samir (all Indian-American) Ester aka Ichen (Chineese-American), Faisal (Pakastani-American) and Gaurav Gupta (Indian). A mixed up group to say the least. Gaurav went to school in Hyderabad so he was able to show us around. It was his girlfriend’s birthday so celebrated with her and her friends at a nice restaurant.

We left campus on Friday Night at 5:30 and took taxi to the train station outside of Bangalore. From there we took a sleeper train to Hyderabad. Gaurav already booked a hotel for us, so once we arrived in Hyderabad, we went direcly to the hotel to drop off our bags. We were supposed to do a bounch of activities but ran out of tim and only got to eat lunch, walk around Paradise, Hyderabad and meet Gaurav’s girlfriend for her dinner party. That night was un eventful in that after the dinner party we just went back to the hotel to sleep. The hotel wasn’t up to my standards and would not stay there again. The beds were not clean and I woke up with bug bites all over my body. The shower and the toilet area were one of the same. They did not believe in toilet paper in this hotel and thankfully Ichen brought a roll for us.

The next day was more fun. It was Sunday and better then that it was Aayush’s birthday. If you understand what happens in India when it is someone’s birthday you would understand why I was so excited. After breakfast at this place called Dadu we went to Runway 9 more information can be found http://www.runway9.in/karting.html This place is a small amusement and family center. Once we paid the Rs.20 entry fee we all made a B line for the Go Karts. The go karts here are actually real racing go karts. They are a lot more fun then the go karts back in the US. Before I left for India I took a trip to a grassroots race (Thank you Bob and Terry Hoops!!!) so I was on a racing high which intensified when I got in the cockpit of the kart. The first time we went around 4 times and of course I won the race I thought four laps wasn’t a sufficient number of laps to give my competition a fair chance at the title so I purposed to race again. This time six laps, but the catch was that the losers had to pay for the winners ticket. They agreed even after witnessing my performance the last race.

From the moment we started the race, I was out in front and led the pack for all six laps. I had Gaurav videotape the race for me so I have proof that I won.

After we traded racing stories we went into the building to play foosball, air hockey, and table tennis. Ichen and I left a little before the rest to shoot archery. I haven’t done that since Summer camp (so long ago I don’t remember what year). On the way out of Runway 9 we decided to give Aauysh his birthday bumps. We all took turns holding him and kicking his ass. It was funny he didn’t take it well. Haha.

As soon as we left Runway 9 we went to eat at the Paradise Hotel where supposedly they have great Chicken Biriyani. We ordered two chicken and two Veg biriyanis. They weren’t all that good. Right after the waiter took my order, Gaurav and I snuck off to buy Aayush a cake for desert. I chose the cake, chocolate, I swear it looked good, but in the end it wasn’t. I snuck it into the restaurant and gave it to the staff to hold onto it for us. When dinner was over we had the waiter bring out the cake American syle. We all sang Happy birthday then immediately smeared cake all over his face, Indian style.

After dinner Ichen, Samir and I wanted to go out for drinks, but apparently the bars all close early and we didn’t have any time to make it out. Instead we went to the closest liquor store and settled for a few beers, rum, and some coke. We went back to the hotel and played “never have I ever”. A Childish game, but it was a lot of fun. That was Sunday.

The next day, Monday, we had a lot to do on our list and we were already running late. Ichen and I were the first ones to get ready and check out of the Hotel. Aayush and Rohan went to a travel place to book a cab for the day. I got upset because of how long it was taking everyone to get ready and decided to walk off by myself to get some cash and breakfast. Our agenda originally had the local temple then the Buddha statue, the fort and finally go back to paradise for some last minute shopping. Well that all went to hell when the taxi took over an hour and an half to arrive. I was adamant about seeing the fort. It was the one thing I really wanted to see.

Man was I glad that I made everyone go. It was awesome. I saw ancient ruins and we paid a tour guide to explain what everything was. The fort was for a whole community, but the king and queens quarters were huge. The king had over 100 wives which he only saw one of them at a time and each night it was a different queen. Each queen would be able to meet with her king 3 times a year. This pretty much concluded our trip in Hyderabad.

Since I had a bad experience on a semi sleeper bus from Hompi to Bangalore and we reserved tickets back to Bangalore on a semi-sleeper buss, I picked up a sleeping pill from a chemist. On the way back I took the pill and invariably fell asleep. I don’t’ know if it was the pill or not, but I actually slept. I did, however, wake up a few times along the way and I am still pissed at Gaurav for actually booking a semi-sleeper bus.

See my photos from Hyderabad on flickr… Click here.

You are only young and in Mumbai once. So why not spend 1/2 of my monthly paycheck on my drink/food/hotel bills for four nights and four days?

We started our fist day in Mumbai by sheepishly walking down the tarp enclosed walkway filled with makeshift street vendors. It was nice for the first minute or two to listen to the street hustlers trying to sell “hand made” drums, but that got real old real fast when I realized they were not giving up. The group decided to enter the first place we saw, which very nicely turned out to be a world famous café – Leopold’s. See http://www.outlookindia.com/photoessays.asp?serial=7&foldername=20060510&filename=shantaram&storyid=1&mode=1 AND http://dhruti.blogspot.com/2006/05/leopold-cafe.html for the Leopold’s story. At Leopold’s we ordered a few glasses followed by a huge cylinder full of beer with a tap on the bottom. I wasn’t planning on drinking, but they ordered this huge thing of beer and we needed to go so I had to help finish it. This was the start of the demise of the old Victor in India. After Leopold’s Café, we continued our walk, but not for long, because the next stop was Cafe Mondegar. At this café we drank a few pitchers as well. It was here where James got us dates for the night. After we were finished at Café Mondegar we went back to the hotel for a nap before our dinner reservations at Indigo. Indigo restaurant was great but since I drank a lot and ate at the café, I didn’t get to enjoy the meal. Before going back out to party, we went back to the hotel for some pre-gamming. We went to red light club, had a bunch of drinks, stayed until they closed, tried to get into another club, but they were charging way too much for too little time so we went back to our hotel to crash and exchange stories. The night was fun.

The rest of the weekend was more timid as Indians don’t go out to party on Sunday – Friday. A bunch of shopping was accomplished and plans were made for dinner with a NY Times reporter based in India. The NY Times reporter previously did a story on us being in India and as I understand it his article was ranked #1 on the website and was ran on the cover of the paper. Well this very young reporter invited us all out to dinner. When we all sat down he ordered food for everyone at the table and ordered bottles of wine as well. He also told the waiters to refill glasses automatically and bring out Wine bottles when they were finished. I was esthetic dinner and wine on NY Times. Awesome. Well when the bill came he took at and divided it up and asked Rs. 2000 from everyone ($50). I was pissed. I mean I wouldn’t have drank as much as I did. Also, he ordered from everyone EXCEPT for me. I ordered my own meal because I was the only one uncomfortable eating the seafood. So not only would I have not drank that much, but I wouldn’t have split the bill with everyone, I would have just paid for my order (aprox. Rs. 300 – a big difference from Rs.2000). On top of having to pay for my meal, I didn’t have money so I had to borrow it (which I don’t like to do) AND to top it all off the ATM wouldn’t accept our cards that night so I had to wait for the next day to get money to pay back my debt. Urgg did it make me mad.

The flight and subsequent cab ride back was fine. All in all I had a wonderful time in Mumbai and cultivated relationships I wouldn’t have done otherwise.