my quaint world

March 21 - 24, 2006

Full Name : People's Republic of Bangladesh
Capital City : Dhaka
Area : 143,998 sq km / 55,598 sq miles
Population : 138,448,210
Time Zone : GMT/UTC +6 ()
Languages : Bengali (official) English (other)
Religion : 83% Islam, 16% Hindu
Currency : Taka (Tk)
Electricity : 220V 50HzHz
Country Dialing Code : 880

Touched down in Dhaka at 10.35pm. Phew, almost missed my flight AGAIN! Hehehe...

Pretty slow flight. It was quite empty. Met lotsa people in the flight. I guess the industry is small and everyone is going to the same event.

Well, Dhaka - firstly, imigration was slow. Airport is pretty basic, yet clean.

Traveled about 20minutes to Dhaka Sheraton Hotel. Checking in was slow.



Hotel was ok but the bed was fantastica! Really comfy! Didn't feel like waking up many mornings ;)



A view of the city, Dhaka!

Traffic jam, traffic jam, traffic jam. Almost 24 hours of traffic jam, man!



Most popular common tranport - Baby Taxi!

Its everywhere...



A stall by the road side.

Pretty little girl.





And her friends came to join her!



And they laughed excitedly after I showed them their pictures.



And then, more kids came to join the fun!

I think they are really poor kids. Perhaps homeless? We couldn't communicate as there was no common language except smiling and waving.

But they are lovely! And just happy the way they are! Playing playing playing all day long...



Lovely trees! Gives me a mellow swinging feel. See how the leaves are droopy.
(But somehow the picture doesn't capture the right sense... sigh)



Yep, this is the steam-boat that we were gonna take. Cruising slowing down the-damn-huge-river - River Buriganga!



I call this a "sink-boat" - look as if the boat is sinking but in fact, its not!

Its used for transportation of sand, bricks, fruits... saw many bobbing along the river.



They are curious. Stared for a moment, then they started waving at us hehehe...




A lone boatman...

Good take eh!



After the long boat trip, we were back to land. While we were waiting for our bus to pick us up, a huge crowd formed and surrounded us. They were just staring and staring. I guess, pure curiousity! But it was indeed a sight!




A young boy making his living.




We took a Baby Taxi to the nearest shopping centre! I forgot the name :S




And it fitted 3 of us in perfectly!



A modern shopping centre.

Oh yea, I did some shopping. Couldn't resist it! I bought 3 very nice shirts for me men! And a set "salwakamis" (think the spelling is err) for meself :)


Overall, people in Bangladesh gave me a very nice and warm feel. They are gentle and soft spoken. Country is still developing and still need lotsa development. And education for the people is a must,for a more rapid progression!

It was a short trip. Spent 3/4 of my time in the hotel attending meetings and conference.

But its was a nice glimpse of Bangladesh I had!

Ma ladee is too busy to write.

She says to have a good week all of you...

Woof, NaM

Dhaka - Capital of Bangladesh. Land of 140 mio people!

I am here for a week to attend GSMAP meeting. A technical tourist I am! ;)

It's not bad, lotsa people from the region attending... customers customers customers.

How's Bangladesh? I guess, the people here makes a big difference. They are warm, friendly and pretty gentle people. Poverty is still amass. Kids peddling, begging, knocking on the windows of the cars passing by...

Gulp - I looked ahead, couldn't look at them. If I start giving, it'll be endless. Nevertheless, I can't help hearing the plea, noticing the barefooted, the clothes that clads them BUT they do smile at times and those smiles are real!

Anyway, I'll do a proper post of Bangladesh with pictures soon ;)

I also learnt - Bollywood dance made simple :
1) Flying kite
2) Riding bike
3) Pumping a bicyle
4) Fixing the lightbulb (Kindly contributed by Siva!)

I'll do a demo next time ;)

Food? Mostly yellow in colour. My boss told me that they love the tamarine.

Ok, gotta catch some winks. Tomorrow we are going on a slow steam boat ride, down the river of Bangladesh...

Good nite!

Just had my job evaluation :)

And its very positive! That is INDEED a great source of encouragement!

As Ikeda Sensei always remind us, "Be indispensable wherever you are!" - and I've always remembered and worked with this phrase kept in mind.

For me, this is indeed proving Buddhism in my daily life! Yay!!!

Although, I know I can still do much better becuz there is the teeny lazy bit part of me that can't help indulging into these little guilt-ridden fun during office hours :

- MSN-ing (until my IT dept blocked all possible access) but I still have my PDA. Using that stupid stylus give me finger cramps, so I gave up eventually!
- Updating my blog (can't help it, when the ideees come, it comes!)
- Surfing the net for all sorts "fun" stuffs
- Reading "all-kind" of blogs
- Checking my hotmail, gmail
- Sending funnies to my friends
- Chatting via emails (Last resort!)
- And occasional drinkin binge in the office (with camouflaged wine glasses!)


Allez! Time to work now...

How was your weekend?

I went home to my parents @ Klang, my hometown where I grew up and have lotsa wonderful family, friends and major part of my sweetest memories was formed there.

It was a fabulous weekend, well spent but I am absolutely drained out!

Left work slightly earlier on Friday, got a ride with Cat and her hubby back to Klang. There was a unexpectedly heavy traffic at the causeway, so by the time we arrived in Klang it was almost midnite!

And all my friends have left to Sri Hartamas for Nihal's birthday bash! So being a good friend as I am, I did a quickie makeover ;) and drove myself up to Sri Hartamas. The drive kindda intimidated me because I had no idea of the twirling roads in KL. But anyhow, I survived and managed to give Nihal a nice sweet suprise.

I came without a birthday pressie though, so he shall have to make that up with my presence! Muahhahah...

Anyway, we partied till 5am! (Phew, I thought I am getting a little too old for these late-nite-outties!)

Next morn, my parents woke me up at 9am for breakfast! :( Hehe, being as a good daughter as I am, I dragged myself outta bed and went breakfast and ran some errands with em.

Attempted to be a line dancer entire afternoon at my ma's studio but well, look more like a lost rodeo-girl. What a hilarious sight of myself! But I still aspire to be a dancer! In the evening, caught up with the girls for over 2 hours coffee chat and then attended a last-minute notice wedding dinner of the most beautiful couple, Mike and EH. (It was so last minute, I had to donne on my mom's most stretchable dress and hell, she was grumbling because she said I will outstretch her dresses with my extra size heheheh)

Then, the supposedly quiet night that I planned (wanted to go to bed after wedding dinner), the girls was all dressed up and ready to go for some beers and boogies. So off again I am to Sri Hartamas (this time, being driven!) and partied till 4am!

Oh by the way, me bestbud, Ian is gonna star in the upcoming local production, Homecoming! Be sure to watch!

Its Mambo nite! And I am all ready for some boogie-ing. Hehehhe

Its Benny's birthday! This is the 3rd year I am going for his birthday bashes. Usually, there'll be a great crowd, lotsa drinks and night will end up funny! (What else, after many drinks he!)

Cheers!

Yippee, passed my medical examination! (no crawlies inside me)

And no more thyroid (but have to check every 3 months la!)

Anyhow, its celebration time!



This is by far my funniest picture - it did cheer up a good fren, perhaps it will for you too now???

Yesterday, (as I do each morning with a slight hint of guilt! Hehe), I hailed a taxi to get to work. After giving the usual directives, the taxi driver, unexpectedly offered me a candy.

And I took it. Its a just a normal mint candy in fact.

But for a second, my mind made an instantly fast calculation. Calculation of risks : The face of the driver, his expression, his name on the card exhibited, his driving style, the little ornaments displayed on the dashboard.

Then I looked at the candy, read the tiny prints, and finally popping it into my mouth! And it melts. And 5 minutes later I am still enjoy the sweet refreshing taste. And still have clear awareness!

I know its a silly realisation but I was amazed of my own thoughts! How my mind has been trained to work!

I guess, its how we were brought up. My ma used to tell me, "Do not accept gula-gula from strangers, they'll drug you, kidnap you... bla bla". So, I became automatically PARANOIA ;)

Anyway, it does feel good to know that I've just met a nice soul. I mean he is nice! He tried and did make a difference to my daily ride. He even had a small box prepared for throwin of the candy wrapper!

Well, the usual notion in a taxi - driver and passenger in cold silence. Passenger caught up in one's own world while the taxi driver maneuver his way thru the crazy traffic to save a couple of precious seconds.

** As she steps outta the taxi, she did a little twiggy shake!

Sigh, its really a blue Monday.

Looking out from my seat, across the view of the city, sky is cloudy.

Don't feel like working, don't feel like doing anything at all.

Just feel like curling up in bed and hide under me blanket the whole day.

BUT I can't. I have to come to work, have to pretend to function, have to force my mind on work... Sigh. But that's life!

Weekend was ok, gone a little overboard. While everyone was crooning to songs, I was drowning in beer. Then had to nurse a terrible hangover on Sunday. Not good at all!

Bad girl!

"You are as young as your faith, as old as you doubt;
as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear;
as young as your hope, as old as your despair."

- Samuel Ullman (1840 - 1924)