Click the Image above to View the full Album.

Now known as “Mumbai“.

Only here for a day. Hanging with my Sis and her kids. Woo !

My short trip to Bangalore was fun. I was in town for the Nokia N-Tourage event for the launch of the Nokia N97 Mini.

As usual, it was a really fun ol’ experience. Didnt really get to see much of Bangalore as I went straight to the Hotel from the airport, and vice-versa.

Oh yeah, having my own Suite in the Lalit Ashok Hotel wasnt that bad either.

Delhi’s been fun so far. I havent been able to do everything I planned though.

Been taking a couple pictures (as usual). Click on the Image above to view the Album.

About Freakkin time too eh ?

I’ve had it on Facebook for a while. But I’ve started to use Flickr as my Main Online Photo Album now, so I’m still in the process of slowly getting some of my Pictures onto it.

But here they are finally. My Pics from my Coorg Trip 2008.

Coorg Day One :

Coorg Day Two :

Finally uploaded all my Kuwait Trip Pics. Only 2 months late too hehe. I tried to take a picture (or bunch of pictures) for every day I was in Kuwait. So that I was making the best of being back home, and so I could remember every bit of it.

Click the Image below to see the Albums y’all. You might want to get nice and comfy in your chair first.

Eeeeek Today I took 384 Pictures in just 4 short hours. At the rate I’m going I’m never going to be able to upload and blog about them !

What series of incidents lead to this many images ?

Well simple. I went to the Kuwait Towers, which is basically a huge Tourist attraction here, and as usual I went picture crazy. My N82 became freakkin hot because I had GPS and the accelerometer constantly being used, along with the camera. Also the 50 Degree C Kuwaiti heat did not help things either.

Nonetheless the N82 lasted about 4 hours on that, with the backlight on maximum brightness. Gotta love that camera-phone.

Now I have to get on watermarking those pics and uploading them all up. Egads.

Egads. After days of running around, hanging out with friends, and generally being way too busy, I finally had absolutely nothing to do today haha.

So what did I do today then ? Well I slept.

Ah and such a good sleep it was. I was so pooped from all the crazy fun I had in the last couple of days that I really needed a good “day of sleep”.

I swear my bed is way more comfortable than it looks btw.

Today I checked out Diet Pepsi here in Kuwait.

Why does the can have flowers and butterflies all over it ? I want MANLY DIET PEPSI thank you !

Meh. What can I say ? Tastes like Diet Pepsi would lol.

Also bought a Lion Bar.

I used to love these when I was a kid. Dont quite know why, they dont taste that great lol.

Oooh and artsy picture of the day. Fils y’all :

The local coins of Kuwait. The picture didnt turn out anywhere as good as I hoped it’d be. I blame the lighting lol.

So there you have it. Finally a day of sweet nothingness. Of course I did step out with a couple pals to get some Pani Puri (is that how you spell it?) with them earlier in the evening. Funny how I’d rather die that eat that back in India, but here it’s aite Haha.

That’s all folks !

Just came across the Incredible India tourism commercial for 2009. Check it out :

Y’know, it’s crazy how much beauty this one country offers. Even after traveling around so much of it, I’ve only experienced about a quarter of the things in this ad.

I havent been able to travel much this year. I really need to get back on that wagon, but work and the extra responsibilities I’ve taken on have ultimately often resulted in me deciding against it.

Still, there’s a lot of places here that I havent seen, and hope to check out one day.

Ah Incredible India.

Just got back today morning. Been in Bed all day sleeping off the crazy fun last 3 days I spent with a buncha pals in Goa.

SO completely different from the last time I swung by when tourist season just got over lol. Now all I have to do is upload and tag the 539 pictures I took.

*Gulp*

For the weekend, Richard, Phil and I figured we’d swing by Kerala.

It turned out be an amazing and very beautiful place ! We spent Day One lazying around on a Houseboat slowly cruising down Kerala’s Backwaters , while the crew waited on us, hand and foot. And Day Two on Varkala Beach, which in my opinion, is one of the best beaches that I’ve seen in India !

I took a ton of pictures with my Nokia N82 along the way. Check them out, after the jump.

Like I said earlier, we spent Day One on a houseboat, drifting along Kerala’s Backwaters.

It was so incredibly peaceful ! I cant even describe it. Our cook was great, our Houseboat was HUGE, had continuous electricity, hot water and even Satelite TV (Which we never switched on!). Literally the only thing missing, for geeky ol’me, was WiFi ! Haha. Definitely a must-do, when in India.

Day Two, was even more eventful. We hung around the Houseboat a couple hours in, until it was time for us to leave, then took a couple buses to Varkala. A couple hours later, there we were at Varkala Beach .

I just gotta say, this is one of the best beaches I’ve seen in India. The view from the Cliff overhead, is breathtaking. To add to that, the beach is kept very clean , same for the water. Yet another amazing place. And the fun doesnt stop when the sun goes down. Varkala beach also has an amazing nightlife with its hundreds of restaraunts and cafes dotted along the cliff.

I have officially fallen in love with Kerala ! To know more about what I’m talking about, feel free to check out the pictures in my albums below :

Facebook albums :

Trip to Kerala – Day One: Kerala Backwaters

Trip to Kerala – Day Two: Kerala Backwaters

Trip to Kerala – Day Two

Trip to Kerala – Day Two: Varkala Beach

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Trip to Kerala

Related Blog posts :

Traveling to Kerala

In Kerala

At Varkala beach , Kerala

In the Train back to Udupi

I totally loved Kerala ! I’m definitely swinging by there again soon to check out more of it. Till then, I have these pictures to remind me about how awesome the place is, eh ?

-Teh Cj

After going from Jaipur to Agra, and then to Varanasi, I was pretty much lovin North India. Finally it was time to get back, so we caught a train from Varanasi and chilled in Bombay (now known as “Mumbai“) for a day, on the way back.

We reached Bombay late evening. Nothing much to do so David and I headed straight to my Sister’s house to stay for the next 2 nights, before catching our train back to Manipal.

I’ve always loved Bombay. Its the place that I called Home for a couple of years. Many awesome memories in this city.

We only had one actual “day” of being in Bombay sadly. Apologies to my friends whom I couldnt meet ! We were really pressed for time.

You can check out my full albums below. All taken with a Nokia N82 :

Facebook albums :

A Day in Bombay

Share on Ovi album :-

Related Blog posts (related to or while on the move in North India) :

Leavin Varanasi . Mumbai here I come

In Mumbai

-Teh Cj

After Jaipur and Agra, the 3rd stop on my Trip to North India, was Varanasi.

Varanasi is a city situated on the left (west) bank of the River Ganga (Ganges) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, regarded as holy by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, and one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.
The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the River Ganges and the river’s religious importance. The city has been a cultural and religious centre in northern India for several thousand years.

We reached pretty late in the afternoon so there wasnt much we could do on day one, other than check out a Night Ritual at a Varanasi Ghat.

Day two was more eventful. We woke up at Dawn to catch our Boat ride down the Ganges. An amazing way to start the day.

Unfortch I fell ill for the second half of the day, so the guys I was travelling with, left me along in my Hotel room. I made it out for a brief walk though.

Day Three of Varanasi was the least eventful unfortunately. I was pretty ill so I confined myself to our Hotel Room, while the other people I was traveling with went around.

Got a couple morning pictures from our Hotel’s rooftop restaurant before catching our Train to Bombay.

The place is definitely amazing.

You can check out my full albums below. All taken with a Nokia N82 :

Facebook albums :

Trip to Varanasi – Day One

Trip to Varanasi – Day Two

Trip to Varanasi – Day Three

Share on Ovi albums :-

Related Blog posts (related to or while on the move in North India) :

In Varanasi

Leavin Varanasi . Mumbai here I come

-Teh Cj

After Jaipur, the second stop on my North India Trip, was Agra.

Agra is a medieval city situated on the banks of the river Yamuna in India. Its a city I’ve heard about ever since I was a kid. The Taj Mahal,The Baby Taj, the Agra Fort. So many things to see here.I took a ton of pics with my Nokia N82. Read on to check them out.

Agra has so many amazing medieval buildings to look at, its insane. Its like Disneyland for a photographer, really. Some of the more Touristy spots were :

The Taj Mahal :

Since we reached Agra at about 5am, we checked into our Hotel and headed straight to the Taj Mahal to catch it at Dawn and beat the Tourist crowd.

Agra’s Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan’s favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is one of the New 7 Wonders of the world, and one of three World Heritage Sites in Agra.

It was really amazing. Not sure how to describe it as it is something that I’ve seen pictures of since I was little and now all of a sudden I have pics of myself in front of it.

I learned that there were guest rooms outside that anyone could stay in and that Shah Jahan was working on a Black Taj for himself on the other side of the river, but his son Aurangzeb imprisoned him in the middle, so it was never complete. His daughter then decide to bury him next to his wife, which broke the symmetry of the place. All the rest is completely symmetrical, hence why there is an identical building opposite the mosque that wasn’t used. The one on the west is the mosque because it is in the direction of Mecca. Also, the script on the Taj, which is from the Koran, gets larger higher up to make it appear to be the same size.

The place is amazing. Words really cant describe it. Corny as that may sound.

The Agra Fort :

The Agra fort is massive. It was built in the 15th century by the 3rd Mughal ruler and is where Shah Jahan, the fifth, was imprisoned/under house arrest by his 3rd son, Aurangzeb for 8 years until he died. Aurangzeb was upset as his older brother was to inherit the throne, so he killed the 2 older and next younger brothers so that he could. There were 14 children total and the wife died while giving birth.

There were great views back to the Taj from the fort.

The Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daulah (The Baby Taj) :

Empress Nur Jehan built Itmad-Ud-Daulah’s Tomb, sometimes called the Baby Taj, for her father, Ghias-ud-Din Beg, the Chief Minister of Emperor Jahangir. Located on the left bank of the Yamuna river, the mausoleum is set in a large cruciform garden criss-crossed by water courses and walkways.

The walls are white marble from Rajasthan encrusted with semi-precious stone decoration.Many of Nur Jahan’s relatives are interred in the mausoleum. The only asymmetrical element of the entire complex is that the cenotaphs of her father and mother have been set side-by-side.

The Tomb of Akbar the Great

On day two of our Agra trip, we headed to Akbar’s Mausoleum after breakfast.

Akbar’s tomb reflects the completeness of his personality. The vast, beautifully carved, red-ochre sandstone tomb with deers, rabbits and langoor monkeys is set amidst a lush garden.

Akbar himself planned his own tomb and selected a suitable site for it. To construct a tomb in one’s lifetime was a Tartary custom which the Mughals followed religiously. Akbar’s son Jahangir completed the construction of this pyramidal tomb in 1613.

The place was almost as peaceful as the Taj Mahal, really.

Honestly, I had an amazing time in Agra. I think its officially one of my favourite places in India.

It was really enchanting. I didnt get to see any flying carpets though ! Bummer. You can check out my full albums below. All taken with a Nokia N82 :

Facebook albums :

Trip to Agra – Day One

The Taj Mahal at Dawn

The Agra Fort

Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daulah (The Baby Taj)

The Taj Mahal at

Sunset

The Tomb of Akbar the Great

Trip to Agra – Day Two

Share on Ovi albums :-

Trip to Agra :

The Taj Mahal (at Dawn) :

The Taj Mahal (at Sunset) :

The Agra Fort :

The Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daulah (The Baby Taj) :

The Tomb of Akbar the Great :

Related Blog posts (related to or while on the move in North India) :

In Agra

The Taj Mahal : Photographed with a Nokia N82

Panoramas of the Taj Mahal using an N82

-Teh Cj

Over the next couple of days I’m going to try and upload all my pictures from my North India trip. All shot on my Nokia N82.

Our first stop in North India, was Jaipur.

Jaipur, also called “The Pink City”, is the capital city of the state of Rajasthan in India. Founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, a Kachwaha Rajput, who ruled from 1699-1744. Initially his capital was Amber (city), which lies at a distance of 11kms from Jaipur. He felt the need of shifting his capital city with the increase in population and growing scarcity of water. Jaipur is the first planned city of India and the King took great interest while designing this city of victory.

We saw some pretty interesting sights here. Some very stereotypical images of India.

Some of the more touristy sights were :-

The Jantar Mantar :

The Jantar Mantar was built in 18th century by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the huge masonary instruments were used to study the movement of constellations and stars in the sky. Enormous sun-dial still provide accurate time.

The Jaipur City Palace :

Situated in the heart of the old City, it occupies about one seventh of the old city area.

The palace is a blend of Rajput and Mughal architecture, it houses a Seven storeyed Chandra Mahal in the centre, which affords a fine view of the gardens and the city. Diwan-E-Am (Hall of public audience) has intricate decorations and collection of manuscripts, Diwan-E-Khas (Hall of private audience) has a marble pawed gallery Mubarak Mahal has a rich collection of costumes and textiles. There is a Clock Tower near Mubarak Mahal. Sileh Khana has a collection of armory and weapons. It has now been converted into a Museum.

The Hawa Mahal :

Built in 1799, by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh,it is the most recognizable monument of Jaipur. The 5 storied stunning semi-octagonal monument having 152 windows with over hanging latticed balconies is a fine piece of Rajput architecture. Originally designed for the royal ladies to watch and enjoy the processions and other activities, on the street below. Now it houses a museum.

Temple of the Sun God at Galta :

A steady 200m climb through a rocky barren gorge leads you to the Temple of the Sun God, also known as “The Monkey temple”. The view of Jaipur from the top is amazing.

Jaipur was honestly, a very interesting, but tiring city. The heat was a little too intense for me. I think I spent a fortune on liquids to keep me from dehydrating. It wasnt my favourite place that I’ve been to, but I still loved being there. Jaipur is definitely an experience.

Do feel free to check out the albums. Like I said earlier, all pictures were taken with a Nokia N82 :

Facebook albums :

Trip to Jaipur – Day One

The Jantar Mantar – Jaipur

Jaipur City Palace – Jaipur

Temple of the Sun God at Galta – Jaipur

Trip to Jaipur – Day Two

Share on Ovi album :

Related Blog posts (while on the move in North India) :

Incredible !ndia

In Jaipur

-Teh Cj