Jan 12; i'll keep my eyes fixed on the sun

Day 7

Last day at my cousin's house. The fog left and the sun has FINALLY decided to shine. I shit you not, this was the first time I saw the sun in 5 days. I went 5 days without seeing sun.
Here are some pictures I took on the balcony.

house is under renovation

I've seen flyers in Canada that guarantee the job done in two days. It'll take two months for these guys.

soaking up the sun.

boars eating garbage

kites are cool

goodbye bonfire

another piggie eating out of garbage

hello goat =)

corrupted tax sales man

it is what you think

So when I was taking this picture, I thought it was a goat. When I uploaded it and brightened up the picture, things seemed a little clearer.

kid X kid

On my way to the capital of India, Delhi.

This train was not the like the one I imagined. I imagined a Hogwarts like train with cabins and all. Oh well, the seats transformed into beds so that was quite fascinating...and each train had its own name.

train schedule

train washroom

train walkway

Vaishali 

011; My favourite season: Concert Season

Concert season starts at the end of March and goes on till mid November.

(I know, it's practically the whole year.)

What I'm looking forward to this year:

The Black Keys - I don't like the venue very much BUT 

Cage The Elephant - is the opener so how can I say no. Really. Two birds with one stone.

Rise Against - new CD means new tour. They're doing Edgefest (music festival) this year but I don't know whether to wait it out for their own show or just go for the festival. I feel like they won't have enough time on stage if it's a festival, but I don't know...

Go Radio - The last time I saw them was 3 years ago and they only had a 6 track  EP. They've grown a lot and I would love to see them again because a) they're really good live b) I want to hear them sing "goodnight moon" live, and c) the last time I met them, they were really nice guys, especially Jason. They're opening for A Rocket To The Moon and I dread the thought of teenboppers. 

30 Seconds To Mars - they're coming back! I saw them last year so i'm kinda debating on whether to go or not.... It'll all depend on the openers I guess.

What I've already missed out on (Sold Out Shows):

Adele - her tickets sold out within a few hours. boooo.

A Day To Remember - should have got the tickets when i had the chance - dammit!

I'll probably be adding to the list as more shows get announced but until then
I wish you all a very happy concert season.

010; book based on a movie

No not really...
Dreamworks bought the rights to the film in June 2009.
A year later, the first book of the series came out on Aug 2, 2010.
wtf?

I Am Number Four is a teenbopper's sci-fi. It's entertaining I guess, but pretty predictable and straightforward. Nothing special, but a nice movie for the family day weekend.

Something that the director should have thought about: iPhones and projectors don't go together. The main character uses a iPhone and there's a scene in the classroom where the students are watching a film from a projector.
wtf?

Would I recommend the movie? I would recommend the soundtrack. Right off the bat, Kings of Leon's Radioactive was in the background, then right after that Tighten Up by The Black Keys. Hearing these two songs (especially the second one) got me in a pretty good mood. Throughout the movie, the songs don't fail to impress with tracks from Adele, The Temper Trap, and The xx. So it really didn't matter how much I liked the film. music will also be my saviour.

Jan 11; colony loving

 Day 6

Kushinagar: a mini profile (about the place I'm staying in)

• Location: Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh
• Food: I saw a lot of sugar cane trucks and a sugar factory
• Things to do: tons of temples
• Known for: Buddha had his last meal here.

There's nothing to do here - or so they keep telling me. For me, there's everything to see and experience. The simplistic lifestyle of the locals amazes me. I'm living with my cousins right now. They live in the most sought after "colony" (or community) in Pedrauna (which is a small town in Kushinagar). Most sought after? I got to thinking: my first night was rough - freezing cold, hot water is not available until you turn on the geyser to heat it and that takes about 15 - 20 minutes, slept on a bed without a mattress, dark washroom... Um, it's really different from my regular lifestyle. When I went to town yesterday, I realized what I had was a mansion. 

People lived in one room shacks, no washroom, no door. Now that's rough. To see people living this kind of life and still be able to smile and play is absolutely heart warming.

Update: cold, dark showers don't scare me anymore. 

Jan 10; BRB, going out of town

 Day 5
I did a lot of sight seeing out of the town today.

monuments locals made

Place # 1

the shuanglin buddhist temple

respect.

monastry

keeping warm

I wanted to take her home. She sings and smiles. ( I can do without the begging)

Place # 2

entrance to the Mahaparinirvana Temple

Inside this building lies the reclining buddha. Since it was my first time, I was allowed to make a wish under the following condition: walk around the building five times. No biggie.

reclining buddha

I was told to make a wish inside too. The ritual: walk around the statue three times, and once a round you stop at the feet and make a wish. (One thing about me, I like making wishes)

Place # 3

Place # 4  (Gorakphur)

movie theatre!

dead end at City Mall

I finally got to go to a real mall. I mean, I wasn't planing to do any shopping there, but I just wanted to see how it looked. There's a store called Spencer's which is our equivalent to Wal-Mart. I picked up two new flavours of chips: Spicy Tomato Tango (which is ketchup chips) and Magic Masala, pictured below.

Taste: Not bad, but I like all dressed better.
Speaking of taste, I had dosa for lunch and it was quite nice.

Masala Dosa = 45 rupees = $1

(i really wish decent food was this cheap in canada!)

India's To Do List:

Dosa ✔

Animal Count: 6 + 1 (cobra)

009; Happy _____ Day

a) Valentine's
b) Single Awareness
(yes, i'm a day late)

I spent my evening in a steamy room with 200 individuals, in perhaps the most boring class ever.
I also got a origami rose from this nice random stranger.

Valentine's Day Playlist:

• secret valentine, we'll write a song
• you're every line, you're every word
• i wanna feel you from the inside
• you feel like heaven to touch
• my path has lost direction

Enjoy

Jan 9; let's take a shower in the cold, dark, cemented floor washroom

Day 4
I got to ride a motorcycle for the very first time! I admit I was kinda shaky at the beginning. You would be too if you saw the way people drive... I went along anyway seeing I didn't see any accidents so I thought it was relatively safe. and hey, I spoke too soon. The first ride went well so I didn't mind going for another round. It was during that second round where this guy speeding on a bike collided with my cousin and I. Luckily we weren't going at an immense speed so we didn't get hurt, thank God, but the bike did (the mirror fell off).  Oh and as for the other guy, I don't know what happened.

fog city - view from the balcony

Going back to the topic of cold. Freezing! Seriously, I felt like I needed a Canada Goose. There's no central heater, so the only thing that's keeping us warm is layers of clothing, blankets, and a portable heater that works well only when there's electricity.

Oh yes, and the issue with electricity..... The electricity comes and goes whenever it feels like it. Throughout the day, there could be no electricity from the morning until afternoon, then it will come on randomly for a few hours, and then it will go out again. Lucky for me the electricity seems to come on during the night when the weather gets even colder. (yay heater)

When you put cold weather and no electricity together, do you really want to take a shower in the dirty dark? It reminds me of a jail cell.  I swear I'm not a dirty person, but it's just so uncomfortable!

In the evening, I went out the the town to look at my cousin's school and buy some fresh veggies for dinner.

the school

board from the "yellow house" even though it's on blue

So being a Harry Potter geek, I found it intriguing to the see the house divisions. There's even the whole point system and sports tournament!

Animal Count: 4 + 2 (boar and monkey)