A trip across the northern US (2024)

 In June 2024, I got a chance to attend the CVPR conference in Seattle. It was a week long conference scheduled from June 17 to June 21. It was my third trip to the US, but the first one out of California. My first two trips were mostly spent in the tech bubble of the bay area.

As is customary, I extended my trip to a month. I decided to see more of the "real" USA while also visiting my friends.

June 16 - June 22

Attended CVPR in Seattle. The conference was an intense, invigorating experience which rekindled my love for research. This is the best thing I love about the US - it is ingrained in their (academic?) culture to push the envelope, especially in areas of science and tech. The city itself is quite pretty with big and small bodies of water interspersed across the urban landscape. The state of Washington has strong outdoorsy vibes with three national parks in vicinity of Seattle and tons of countryside to explore.

June 22 - took an overnight flight from Seattle to New York City

June 23-24 - met with D and spent two days in NYC. I stayed with D in Harlem - a neighborhood with a lot of history and good food. Also got to meet some of D's friends.

June 25 - quick meetup with A in Connecticut.

June 26 - took a train from Stamford to Boston. Spent a couple of hours in Massachusetts, esp the MIT Press bookstore before being picked up by S. V arrived later that evening in the wake of an incoming storm and shifty flight schedules.

June 27 - June 28

Spent two nights camping in Acadia National Park with S and V. It is a five hour drive from Boston which goes through the states of New Hampshire and Maine. I was surprised by how well maintained the campground was. Having done my fair share of hikes in Taiwan, I had begun to associate camping with hiking over a rugged terrain while surviving on bare basics in a remote land far away from any civilization. This was not the case here - we always had access to a car and the Bar Harbor town had everything we could possibly need. The place is gorgeous and offers sweeping views of the ocean and pockets of islands dispersed throughout the area. On the second night, the sky opened up to a rare uninterrupted view of the Milky Way.

June 29 - drove back to Boston and met up with G and M. 

July 30 - got to explore a little bit of the downtown but being an early Sunday morning, there wasn't much to see. Had lunch with S and M and then headed to the airport to take a flight to Chicago.

July 30 - July 2

I met up with S. This was the third week of the trip and I had started to work (remotely). This meant spending more time in cafes in downtown Chicago. Also met up with V again and checked out the Art Institute of Chicago and the Harold Washington library with him. S also took me to the north avenue beach. I went there again the next morning and took a long detour back to S's place via Lincoln park and the surrounding neighborhood. 

We also tried out the gummies and for the first time I experienced a somewhat positive effect. I would describe it as having the same feeling of heightened senses as when you wake up after a long and deep nap. Add to it a warped sense of time and you have what one would call a high.

Downtown Chicago has an energy characteristic of Asian cities with a relatively well connected public transport while still maintaining the luxury of space typical of the US with an affordable cost of living. In other words, it is a pretty good balance of different elements which makes it quite likable. 

July 3 - July 8

Took a Greyhound bus from Chicago to St Paul with a pit stop at Milwaukee. This route is quite scenic and offers fleeting views of rustic midwest America. R picked me up at St Paul bus station. We took a quick stop in St Paul's downtown before driving to R's place. St Paul's downtown is pleasantly active and charming in stark contrast to NYC or downtown areas of Chicago and Seattle. 

I was seeing R after 15 years and we had a lot to catch up on. We also got to see the July 4th fireworks in Minneapolis city. I also learnt that the relatively less talked about twin cities of St-Paul and Minneapolis are actually headquarters to General Mills, the Pillsbury company, Allianz Life, Target, Best Buy, 3M and Polaroid Corp. 

I took a flight from St Paul airport back to Seattle. The staff at the airport was the friendliest I have seen in the US. 

July 8 - July 16

I had booked an Airbnb close to Northgate. I lost a pouch with my chargers at the airport and almost ran out of battery by the time I checked in to my Airbnb (which was way past midnight and there was no recourse). I was a little weary of constantly moving, packing and unpacking stuff. I spent the last nine days in Seattle winding down. My favorite part of the city was South Lake where I took long walks and checked out the coffee shops. 

Here, I met up with K with his wife and friend. He was on a trip to the northwest part of the continent starting from Vancouver and ending in Portland. He drove us to the Mt Rainier National Park which is absolutely stunning!

It was only a couple of weeks after returning to Taipei did I realize that A was also in Seattle during this time.  

July 16 - took a flight back home to Taipei.

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So long 2018

Soon after I moved in to my current apartment about eighteen months ago, I scribbled a note and stuck it on a wall:

"It's all in your head."

It was supposed to serve as a reminder to not be affected by occasional bouts of feeling dispirited. I am not sure how much it helped me. But it sure invited some puzzled looks from people I hosted at my place. That is the only personal thing that decorates my room.

--x--x--

For a large part of my life, I found recourse in two things: running and writing. At some of my lowest points in life, I found redemption in moments of breathlessness after an intense run. I have written (quite a bit) about it. There is something soothing about expressing in words an impersonal yet intimate emotion that running brought me.

Well, I don't run that much now. And I don't write anymore. I think I resorted to writing in moments of loneliness. It slightly scares me as I go through some of the old posts here. In these posts, there always lingers a disconnect with people which I never thought I would be able to get rid of. This is what I wrote just a few years ago:

"I notice when people are down or sad or scared, they think of other people. They ring someone up. They talk. When I am down or sad or scared, I think of things to do. I go running. I make myself so tired that I lose the ability to think." (ref: Fidding with Endorphin Levels)

....

"People thought about other people. People thought about things. I just thought about things in my life."

I am (pleasantly) surprised and glad how I have been able to intersect my lives with those of others.

--x--x--

I look around at the walls in my room. Except for the ominous note mentioned above, there is no trace of anything else personal. People decorate their rooms to cherish good memories. I have always tried not to get haunted by my memories.

"My not-so-recent history is largely devoid of interactive elements. There lies no mention of social validation, memorable moments, intimate confessions, pep talks or adolescent curiosity. All I remember is the intensity of things. The last thing I wanted to think about was myself." (ref: Of Winters and Mediocrity)

Ever since I wrote these thoughts down years ago, things have changed positively. 

I have always tried to do everything I did to the extreme. I feel grateful for where this habit landed me today.

I feel grateful that running is no more a purgation of emotions but a celebration of life.

I feel super grateful for some beautiful people who entered into my life. I thank them for the memories which I can cherish and not try to forget.

Wherever I move next, I will probably have sweeter things to stick around on the walls than this:

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Evolution of Indian Cities

Indian cities are not walkable. And the way they are evolving does not accommodate a thought for public spaces. The rise of megacities is driven by commercial aspirations allowing a lifestyle dedicated to indoor spaces only. Any activity assumes shape of a commercial business enclosed within concrete walls. This is specially true in case of fitness.

Walking is an activity I have heavily relied upon regardless of where I lived. 

My lifestyle interlaced with cityscapes in a way that walking and running became the most common ways for me to explore neighborhoods. During my time roving in Asia, I kept myself fit with street workouts in public spaces and running through city alleys. 

I used to work on my laptop in public parks and street side cafes. For me, the concept of ‘home’ or indoor space got reduced to a place where I could sleep overnight and wash up before leaving the next morning.

When I set out cycling the island of Taiwan in 2014, I spent almost all my time outdoors - cycling in the day and sleeping in the night in school or temple foyers, or just in the middle of nowhere. I have the most delightful and profound memories of that time. I had become an extremely outdoorsy person, to an extent that I began to feel low-spirited when at home. During my time in Taipei, I’d go hiking almost every weekend. That was an ideal lifestyle for me - it had richness of challenging myself physically and mentally, and balance of spending time in urban spaces and nature.

All these tiny interactions that involved physical movement in city spaces came down crashing when I began to live and work in Mumbai. And then Bangalore. Any venture into outdoor space would be met by overwhelming traffic. It was surprising to see so few people walk in cities where vehicular mobility was so crippled. 

Fitness, something that I have always associated with outdoors, became associated with indoor spaces (gyms and studios).

The proportion between space to sleep and space to move should stay more or less constant as a society evolves. This proportion is witnessing a wonky rise in arguably every city in India. What makes the matter worse is our cultural propensity to adapt to any deteriorating situation rather than step up and do something about it. This has given rise to a lot of very challenging problems to be solved, the most obvious being transport.

Public transport is in a shambles. The most common alternative to it is a car - something that occupies much more space per individual than any public transport. It is not a sustainable solution. 

I believe the future of transport is going to be multi-modal. 

The way Indian cities are evolving, there is little scope for a multi-modal transport and almost no hope for green and efficient means like a bicycle. Every time I see new high rises being constructed for residential purposes on the fringes of large conurbations, I wonder how this new mass of people will move about in a space that already so choked.

What can be done? Unfortunately not much can be done without the participation of government. Creation of dedicated bicycle lanes, provision of bicycles for public use, better public transport or walkable cities - private sector can't do much without involvement of public sector. And that's what freaks me out.

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How I Should Have Traveled in Asia

「2013年5月起我開始旅行看亞洲的社區。我事後越想旅行的方式越想出不同的旅行的方法來」

Starting from May 2013 I moved constantly for months within the communities of Asia. The more I look back at it, the more the number of things I come up with which I should have done differently.

「那時我應該有做個小的自己計畫 －採訪人，查問東南亞洲的販賣人口，發現各種個的人類被那種事刺激到。我不知道為什麼我沒有做此事。我向隨意性投降，於是我捨不得做不舒服的事情。」

I should have had a side project - interviewing people, inquiring into human trafficking in South East Asia, surveying stimulants of emotions in people across various lands or something similar. I don't know why I never did any of the above. I surrendered myself to prevailing spontaneity but it only led to an increased reluctance to embrace discomfort.

「還好我沒有當志工。亞洲的大部分志工機會就是第一世界人的炫耀冒險。」

I am happy I didn't get into any volunteering project. Most volunteering projects in Asia are merely an extended leg of a first world citizen's swashbuckling summer adventure.

「旅行時我的雙極個性一陣一陣別管地害我沮喪。我本來以為這件事的理由是我的不滿足的在新加坡的工作可是其實是我的基因讓我的內啡肽程度上下。」

Throughout the travel, zaps of bipolar sulkiness kept rattling me no matter what I did. I thought it was an upshot of a highly dissatisfactory way of life in Singapore but it was actually some stupid gene in my cells messing with my endorphins needlessly.

「我很愉快我每逢有機會我去跑。」

I am happy that I ran whenever I could.

「我越探險越意識到我的限度。我的目光應該多客觀一點。我的主觀性沒有經驗而且我的主觀有時非生產性。」

The more I opened up, the more I realized my limitations. I should have been more objective in my approach. My subjectivity is mostly inexperienced and works unproductively.

「我花了太多時間觀光。對我重要的事是人類，當地（藝術）社團還有鄉下。宮殿跟博物館難得吸引我。」

I wasted a lot of time on sight-seeing. Things that matter to me while traveling are people, local (art) communities and countryside. Historical palaces and museums rarely attract me.

「我不喜歡懶惰。我開始覺得不快樂。」

I can't sit idle. I start feeling huffish.

「我應該有比較長的爬山探險。」

I should have gone on longer hiking trips in the mountains.

「再有一年不用工作的機會的話，我會做：

1）學泰拳或是一年住在偏僻的少林寺

2）做紀錄片

3）學在個體經濟裡最窮人的角色

4）社會裡兩段接口的工作「我怕這個句子很奇怪」（在另外一篇文章我要描述這件事）

5）假如各校藝術社團

6）練習跑酷」

Things I will do if I get another chance to take a year-long break:

1) Learn Muay Thai for a year/ spend a year in Shaolin temple in a remote hilltown in China

2) Make a documentary

3) Learn about the role of economically poorest sections in microeconomic theory

4) Do a job that interfaces two different sections of society (more on this in a separate post)

5) Join a small art performance group

6) Learn Parkour

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「我為什麼來台灣？」

我目前的時期該稱做變動的時期變形期。

我去年開始旅遊行的時候想不到我有一天會住在個一點都不熟悉的地方。我第一次來這裡的時候,我幾乎看不懂大家寫什麼，也聽不懂大家說的話。我連一個人都不認識。也許我之所以喜歡這裡，是因為我需要有新奇的氣氛和陌生的感覺讓我好動。我需要當好動讓自己快樂。

上個半年我目睹自己的變化。我這個有陌生的感覺漸漸減少。我有跟這裡的方式多配了。我去年想不到有一天我要幾乎把我會說的語言都不用去年的同個時期，我做夢也想不到，有一天我會放棄使用我原本會說的任何一種語言，想不到我會開始用一種全部新的語言。

我常常在這裡的舊的馬路逛街。我觀看人，攤子，汽車什麼什麼的之類的等等。我常常去爬山。你才座搭乘一個多鐘頭的車，就可以到一片海灘還或是高高的山。台灣人的熱情還沒被消費主義掠奪。這裡的這些方面迷住我來。對我來說這裡是很理想的地方。

我後來發現台灣必然絕對有有點壞處，可是一共似然是很特別的地方。

我超喜歡每天早上去這裡的窄巷上中的早餐店吃飯。我超喜歡這個城市下雨以後怎麼要變成了一個充滿各種顏色的一張畫。我在這裡有很多這裡的難忘的回憶。我不能忘記在花蓮的那一晚。我不能忘記跟很多人說過的話。

某一個人人很少有機會了解一個與其家鄉迥異的地方，了解那裡的當地人。我為什麼來台灣？希望你現在知道。

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Days in Laos: Creeping along the Thai Border

Thakkaek:

"Thailand is so close from this city. You just need to cross the river. Have you ever been there?"

"O yes, many times", the boy at the hostel said excitedly, "A lot of people cross the river and sneak into Thailand. It has more jobs."

"Did you enter legally or did you also sneak into Thailand secretly?"

"I don't have passport. I crossed the border on a boat. I worked in Nakhom Phanom in a shop for a couple of months, then I came back."

I wanted to ask him so many questions about the whole process of going back and forth. 

Then we started discussing the situation of drugs and stuff in Laos.

"Most people go to Thailand to sell drugs there."

"What if you are caught?"

"The police will beat you and put you in jail. But if you are caught without drugs, the police will beat you up and send you back to Laos."

Another guy came to us with the room keys. Knackered and spiritless, I left for my room. Our conversation ended there. 

I reached Thakkaek at night after an interminable journey. While having dinner along riverside, I saw Thailand for the first time. It was right there across the river. Its streets were lined with street lamps, and cars zinged on its roads. The sight of the city instantly incited in me an urge to visit there and spend some time in basic luxuries of the place. I quelled my impulsive desire to cross the border and headed to Pakse - a beautiful place nestled in the hills of Bolaven Plateau.

Pakse:

Pakse was an absolute delight. I found a newly built hostel which has marvelous rooms at dirt cheap price. I was the only one staying in the whole hostel. Apart from traveling, I did a lot of reading here. 

It was in Pakse did I realize that I could not enter Thailand overland when I was deported back into Laos. My re-entry back in Laos was smoother than the exit. My exit stamp was repealed and I even got my exit fee back! At this point I was really itching for some city life. 

I found an Indian restaurant with an Indian owner here. For days, I just had Indian food which made my life even more comfortable. The owner came from Chennai but could speak fluent Hindi. He had spent nineteen years in Laos. He had two sons who had been brought up in Laos itself. He seemed to have mingled comfortably with the local populace. His dad had come to Vietnam long ago and opened a restaurant there. He then decided to do the same in Laos.

After having given up on an almost improbable trip, I decided to go to Savannakhet, the nearest border town from Pakse.

Savannakhet:

I originally came to Savannakhet to apply for Thai visa since I was not given a visa on arrival (so much for holding an Indian passport). I realized getting a Thai visa was even less economical than taking a flight to BKK. I liked Savannakhet since it had its name derived from Sanskrit (Suvarna-Khet, meaning golden land). It was an extraordinarily dull city. It had a marvelous riverside which was the highlight of the place.

Savannakhet is probably the second biggest city in Laos after Vientiane. The riverside had a few tourist attractions which I had totally given up on. A few people could speak French due to its history. They formed the richer upper class in the communist Laos. 

I liked going to a cozy, relatively posh cafe near my place owned by a Laotian couple who could speak English and French fluently. They used to remind me of an old man I met in Luang Prabang. He fled to France during the US-Vietnam war where he raised his kids. All his kids stayed in France, but he came back because of his attachment with Laos. He had a small shop in front of his house which served breakfast. His wife and he apparently lived a comfortable life in that beautiful city. His eyes would gleam with pride and a smile drew contours on his face every time he mentioned his children.

In the end I decided to take a flight to Bangkok reluctantly. If there was some part of Thailand I wanted to see, it was the lesser known edge along the Lao-Thai border. But I missed it due to lack of time and money. 

On my last day in Laos, I walked for an hour to the airport with all my luggage. When I reached the airport, I found it was closed. Except for me, there was no one around, not even security! Nothing was locked, I could even take a walk on the runway if I wanted to. I dumped my luggage and roamed around in parts I wouldn't have been allowed to otherwise.

After about three hours, I left Laos!

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我眼中的反服貿運動 - Taiwan Sunflower Movement: A Unique Spectacle

這篇文章不討論政府的條約。這就是我眼中的被學生主辦抗議簡述。身為一個外國人我得分享這件事。

This post isn't about the contentious pact between Taiwan and China. It's rather parochial in outlook - it focuses mainly on how the students pulled off a strike that left me impressed. 

If you don't know what I am talking about, read this. 

The strike was primarily organized by students coming from various universities across the country. Marked by elements of ingenuity, technical innovation and efficiency, it was the most evolved form of strike I have ever seen or heard of.

Makeshift tents and the protesters 

OB Vans and makeshift tents lined up 青島東路 (Qingdao East Rd). Bootstrapped stalls holding items of daily use arrayed after the OB vans. The area occupied for the protests ended with a row of portable toilets. All of this was interjected with posters, novelties and knickknacks defending democracy and ridiculing Taiwan's president Ma Jeou.

Inside the gates of Legislative Yuan (LY) was a makeshift tent with medical assistance for the needy. For sake of solidarity, passers-by were requested not to take pics of the place. There was another stall on 濟南路一段 (Jinan Rd) offering counselling and other services to those in need of help with psychological problems. At the end was a stall being set up to provide information and services for getting to Taipei from other cities in the country.

On the left at the entrance of Qingdao East Rd was a stall where students could get help with their school assignments and homework. There was a board listing the subjects one could help with.

Top: Placards advertising the availability of free showers.
Center: 課輔教室 (Supplementary lesson teaching unit)
Bottom: Massage for the needy (not sure if it was free)

There were stages set up for people to give speeches and screens erected for projecting videos. Most of the space on the road was occupied by the protesters who peacefully kept on with their usual chores. The big screens often played a live telecast of the happenings inside Legislative Yuan (LY) using simple P2P mobile apps.

The content played on smaller screens was a miscellany of movies related to historic revolutions, short films expounding terms like democracy and freedom, documentaries on past cover-ups of government or on ancient heroes and so on.

At one of the intersections a stall was set up to charge cell phone batteries. A person who wanted to get his phone charged was given a token number to serve as a unique identity. Huddled in a corner was a bunch of routers. One of the students informed me that they had come from Japan as a token of appreciation after Taiwan offered them help when it was hit by Tsunami.

Top: A FarEastZone Vehicle with outfitted with
routers to make wifi available in the area.
Bottom: The tech team hidden in a nook. 

Free WiFi was available in the whole area. A tech based NGO volunteered to set up a network and take care of the wherewithal needed to establish and maintain proper communication with the people inside LY. The team was hidden from public view and the visitors were not allowed to visit the place. I kind of felt sorry for the programmers there for not getting the much needed social participation.

The protest was not getting the much needed exposure and in some cases was shown in a bad light. A group of protesters then came up with a website of their own - 4am.tw where they put forth their point of view replete with photos, videos and links to other articles.

Pylons and ribbons demarcated the area to be used by pedestrians. At the periphery of the protest area volunteers made sure that the traffic was diverted smoothly. The people liaised with a few hotels who offered free showers to the people staying there. The location was kept undisclosed to the public.

Top: Students protesting
Middle: Students hanging out
Bottom: Free coffee for everyone

Taiwanese people got a few things damn right - even in the wake of an extreme situation like this they were sensible enough not to suspend the basic attributes of safety and cleanliness. And they were smart enough to implement things in an efficient manner. Every small piece of litter was disposed of. The whole area remained packed with people all the time. In spite of the overwhelming crowd there was absolute lack of dirtiness and bedlam. 

Trash cans for each type of garbage.
Cleanliness was one thing NOT ignored during the whole protest

The whole area was abuzz with various kinds of activities and had buoyancy similar to that of a fest. People unleashed their creativity on posters, tee-shirts, banners, little crafts and simple contraptions. 

Jinan Rd primarily served stage-shows, live performances and other art related events in the backdrop of the protest. There were coffee stalls serving free coffee. This road had a lesser footfall than Qingdao East Rd.


I can go on describing the multitude of activities that went on there and how well the whole thing was organized. As much as I was supporting their cause, I also had my own set of reasons to spend most of my time there. The place had a lot of things that kept me ticking - constant buzz, a warm presence of people around, all the basic means to get by and a concourse indulging in expression of their selves in various forms. I loved talking to the people there, and they loved talking to me. My newfound room was dull and depressing. I haven't anyway ever spent a lot of time indoors.

Some of the posters
covering the walls

On my second last visit to the place I saw a woman sitting on a bootstrapped bedding with her son. While talking to me she told me she was a teacher in Taichung, and that she used to come every weekend to Taipei to support the students. Everyone in her school had been discouraged from supporting the protest but she had openly stepped forward and made her stance clear. I asked whether her little son knew about what was going on. She replied, "He knows. He is witnessing history."

That night I was happily given a plastic mattress and a thin blanket after I told them I wanted to sleep there. I found a spot near the entrance to Qingdao East Rd under a tree. There was a bunch of girls just down the footpath who had come from Kaosiung. The protesters tried to continue the activities throughout the night but in a much quieter way. There was a big screen playing some movie a few meters away from me. A few hours into the night the volume was turned down.

Top: People drying their clothes in the open.
Bottom: One of the makeshift shops having the wherewithal for overnight stays

I woke up at five in the morning. I wrapped my bedding and as I began to proceed to a counter to return it, a homeless woman came to me and asked me for the bedding.

A week later, the protest was called off. The event got floppy media coverage from international community but it was an unprecedented event in recent history of Taiwan. What puzzles and amazes me is that the people driving the protest had never seen any form of unrest in the country before. They haven't had any encounter with violence or chaos. Probably that's what gave this whole protest the much refreshing elements of technocratic supremacy and pacific execution.

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(Mis)adventures of Overnight Layovers in Airports

Hat Yai is a bad-ass city in southern Thailand where insurgence has militated against all the colorful touristy elements typical of Thailand. Even the airport has been bombed once. As soon as I arrived in the city, I made a beeline for the airport even though my flight was the next day. I snuggled in my newly found sweet spot and fell into a lovely sleep. I was woken up by a policeman with intimidating moustache. He couldn't speak English so he elegantly kicked me out of the airport which was empty now. After inquiring a little more affable lady who, fortunately, could also speak English, I came to know the airport had been closed. Like a restaurant. All my pleas to let me stay fell on deaf pointy ears of the inexorable policeman and his malicious aide. I decided to find a place just outside the airport but the pesky man in uniform balked at the idea. He began to call up a hotel to have me picked up. At this point I uttered with little forethought "No money!!". It was apparent that he understood my words. He mumbled something to his aide who then asked me to follow him. The policeman gave me a very warm smile. I was led to a small prayer room, with a stairway in the corner that led to a toilet downstairs. "Very nice place", he said. I thanked him. He locked me inside and said, "I will open it tomorrow morning. It is the rule." I thanked him again. 

Jinmen is a small, pretty much neglected island that belongs to Taiwan and is a thirty minute ferry ride from Xiamen in China. I spent one night here. I was annoyed to learn that even this airport closes at night. Like a restaurant. With unshakable bullheadedness I decided not to spend money on another expensive hotel. There were no cheap hotels around. In the evening I left for a stroll outside. The slowness and antiquity of the town was intoxicating. I came back at night; the airport was empty, and closed. Fortunately the entrance was open. I went to the security and said "我要去太北明天早上。我想在这里睡觉". The man in uniform said,"沒問題 (no problem)". Sweet! It is a lovely and strange feeling sleeping in such a huge enclosed area all alone.

I landed at Guangzhou airport at night, and I had a flight to catch the next morning. It was a biting winter. I was looking for a tea/coffee shop in the sprawling airport. A tiny man in formal black attire approached me and asked me in broken English where I was going. I showed him the ticket of the flight next morning. "You have to go out", he said constantly nudging me towards the exit. 

"Why?"

"Your flight tomorrow morning. Come tomorrow. Airport closed now."

"But there are people still sitting here inside."

"They have flight now."

A small argument ensued. I was outside the building out in the open now, arguing with him, being a little chary talking to someone in command. He called a shabby van and asked me to get in, "This will take you to a hotel. It's very cheap." Nasty bugger, I thought, he is just a broker. 

"I am going back in." I told him angrily. 

"You can't go back now. It's closed. Go to the hotel."

I tried a few doors operated by optical sensors. None of them worked. "Okay. So I will spend the night here in the open. I am NOT going anywhere. No hotel", I said to him dauntingly. He looked at me for a few seconds. Realizing I was having none of him, he said in a tone of dejection,"Ookayy, go to gate number five." I went to gate number five, and it magically opened. Boom!

I have never seen a city in Asia where real estate is as expensive as Hong Kong. That was one time when I bolted to the airport with a single-minded intent of saving money. And I have never seen an airport where so many people come to sleep overnight. The connection is simple. And the airport security doesn't seem to mind so many people dozing there. 

My overnight stopovers in other airports have been rather uneventful, just the way I wanted them to be. It's interesting how the repetitiveness of even a mundane activity brings forth interesting patterns. And you manage to save a few bucks in the meanwhile!

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Exploring the Creative Fraternity in Asian Cities

I have a clear idea of what the things I like doing are. I have a blear picture of what I will be doing sometime in near future. I keep thinking constantly, getting/creating ideas, building up on existing ideas, gleaning information from different sources but mostly internet. I have my own limitations. I want to evade the corporate juggernaut and I don't want to fixate myself in front of a computer for long hours unless I am doing something really captivating. So this is what I do when I am on my own.

I also meet people - this is where one aspect of all my traveling comes into action. It took me a short while to streamline the process of contacting people. I began with attending a networking event in HK. It creeped every inch out of me. It was strongly suggestive of the stifling atmosphere in typical big firms. There were no meaningful conversations. Everyone was selling themselves. Like a commodity. 

What I do now is much better. In every city I visit, I look for stuff that I find interesting. Then I meet people working on that stuff. It works out in many ways. I don't have to posture to impress others and it's easy to convince what I am doing. The conversations are a lot more meaningful, forthright and sometimes deep too. I try to avoid meeting people in groups. It has rarely worked out. A good chunk of people I meet are expats. 

This quest for interesting pieces of work leads to a low-key, mostly independent section of the economical clockwork - start-ups, entrepreneurs, artists, studios, hacker-spaces, co-working areas and freelancers. A common underlying pursuit of most of these entities is that they want to be heard. Their common theme is that they are not run-of-the-mill, they are not stuck in the groove and they lie on the periphery of comfort zone. This is the kind of people I mostly talk to. 

Some people tend to have one-off conversations while keeping genuineness and interest intact. They never reply to my messages afterwards. It upsets me. It makes me think something's wrong with me. Some of the conversations fizzle out gradually and some of them continue. 

Hackerspaces are interesting spots - they are mostly grungy lab-like co-working spaces where most of the activities gravitate towards geekiness. But the isolation of such little pockets of creativity is a little bit scary. Co-working spaces are much better in terms of being comfy. Art related events are another end of the spectrum - they are more visible, and more diverse. Artists seem to be a happier bunch than where I come from. 

This is a part of what I have been doing for the past couple of months in different cities of Asia. 

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The Naughty Boys of Chungking

Chungking is a word that sends shivers down the spines of most people in HK. Chungking Mansions is inarguably the most infamous and dingy place in Hong Kong. Almost all the inhabitants of this seedy building are people originally from Indian and African subcontinents. Well, they live like a boss. To hell with embracing the local culture of HK; to hell with the rules; to hell with civic sense; to hell with rationality. Enter the building and you embrace absurdity with open arms.

I was one of the backpackers staying in one of the many guest houses here. People from Indian subcontinent speak Hindi/Punjabi so I could understand every word they said. They are hilarious. Even before you enter the building a couple of them try to sell you stuff you will never buy in life even if you are paid for it. As you enter the building many of them pounce on you with unattractive offers of dingy rooms, calling cards, extensions cables and can openers.

They are annoyingly persistent. Marketing lessons are for social retards. Logic is mere intellectual spool. They believe in policy of brute force. As you fight past them to reach the lift lobby, you bump into a queue of people. The amount of time it takes for the lift to come is long enough to turn them into zombies. As you enter the room you realize it's hardly bigger than the lift you were in a few seconds ago.

Sorry I digressed.

The people: 

The people here are VERY insulated from the rest of HK. They hardly do anything that carries a local influence. I used to go out in a very casual attire. It helped me blend in - they thought I was one of them and didn't hassle me. The downside - I couldn't talk at all to the fellow backpackers. They took me for one of the peddlers.

One day there were two Indian guys in the lift, one of them quite new in the city. He wanted to know where he could find white girls in the city for "boom boom". The other guy claimed innocence when he said, "मैं यह सब नहीं करता (I am not into such stuff)". The newcomer's reply was brilliant - "तुम बहुत सीधे हो, बंगाली हो क्या? (you are very naive. are you from Bengal?)". I brazenly burst out in front of them.

On my last night in Chungking, I wanted to see what goes on after-hours in the area. I dashed out of my tiny room in excitement at one in the morning and went to the ground floor, the hotspot of all naughtiness. A few "import-export" shops were still open along with a few internet kiosks. This was one time when I saw African people outnumber the people of my race. I took a roundabout route to the exit. There was police outside questioning an inhabitant - a pretty common occurrence. As I strode away from the exit, I saw an Indian guy still hassling all the passers-by to buy suits or watches. They'll never give up. I think such a thing has now ingrained in their blood. They never think consciously about what they are doing, what time it is, how can they improve/change things or why they are doing it.

A few steps ahead two guys were gawking at a woman in dodgy costume standing across the road. One of them said to the other, "वो तुझे देख रही है  (She's looking at you)". The face of the other guy lightened up as he fixated his gaze on her. I went ahead across the road where an African lady was squabbling with a convenience store owner loudly. The owner had apparently called the police who was trying to pacify the not-so-happy lady. I watched the scene for a few minutes when I got bored and decided to go back. En-route the main entrance, I saw the guy still standing there enamored by the lady in dodgy costume, still staring at her. 

In the lift, an African man was talking to someone recounting the incident of her friend having a brawl with a convenience store owner. I ask him why she was fighting with the guy. He said, "She was fighting with the person." I asked him why. He repeated the same thing. I grew a bit impatient. I raised my tone slightly and asked, "But why?" The guy apparently didn't like the rise in my pitch. He assumed a grave look and said in loud clear words to me, "... because this is Hong Kong, this is not your country." I could sense copious amount of hostility in the air. I said "OK good night" and ran to my room like a hare hopping into her lair. 

The decors:

The extreme inadequacy of elevators forces you to use stairs very often. The stairway is dingy and stinky. The walls are mottled with paan stains and other noisome stuff. There are two narrow alleys flanking the building. They are strong prototypes of a dystopian cityscape. They are choking on trash and the water dripping from above always keeps them wet and smudgy. It's much better inside the building, but the environment looks very sketchy. What's surprising is in spite of a large presence of Africans, there aren't many shops selling their goods whereas you can find every desi stuff from pirated CDs of kitschy Hindi movies to गृहशोभा here.

The positive non-negative side:

Not everything is bad about this place though. The place has got amazing Indian food at a very affordable price. The people at the reception were very hospitable and helpful to me. Not all of them are illegal immigrants. There have been reports of murder and rape in recent past but the place didn't look so unsafe to me. Security has been beefed up. It just has a very strong sketchy character. Certainly a lot of underhand dealings occur on a daily basis but they are not as insolent as some articles claim. I didn't come across anyone who tried to sell me drugs or other dodgy stuff. But would I like to go there again? Probably just for the food. 

[This place has been mentioned in various well known magazines and websites like Time and CNN. It's shady dealings and sketchy character was shown remarkably intact in a very well made movie 'Chungking Express'. Watch the movie if you haven't yet.]

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Walking the crater rim: Gunung Batok

This is one of the more adrenaline pumping activities I have done. The rim is really narrow, and whatever horizontal base you initially have disappears at times. It's slightly risky at some points. You have to be surefooted and focused, and must have no fear of heights. For most of the walk, the fall into the crater is really steep with no obstacles in between. But once you reach the diagonally opposite side, it becomes much less steeper and pretty much safe to walk. 

Once you reach the opposite side, you also get to see stunning views of a valley that is otherwise hidden from public view, and a long chain of mountains. Here is a video to give you an idea of how steep the inner side is (you need not care about the outer side since if you fall you will end up on one of the sand dunes and not some crater), and how it looks like to a bystander. FYI that's not my video and it's not me in the video.

Here is a video I took while walking on the rim and it will give you a faint idea of how it feels walking on the rim. This is the valley I was talking about and the views you are rewarded with once you climb up the peak bang opposite the point of entry.

I backtracked the path since the other half was tougher and required more time to cover, and we were pressed for time. 

Some pics of the same follow -

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Days in Delhi: Some bragging on account of being pissed off

[To the utter delight of those sadists and schadenfreudes, I would like to announce that I am, at this point of time, just too pissed off. And to slake my own sadistic desires, I am engaging myself in pissing you off via this disgruntled epilogue. Thanks to my quicksilver temperament, I actually have no reason to be pissed about. And when I am high, I DO LOVE this bipolar nature of mine.]

Summer of '07: One of the happiest summers of my life marked by some truly exciting adventures which follow-
The first one: I went to meet an asshole batchmate of mine. I was not supposed to alight from the bus there, but I decided I would. And then I decided I wouldn't. And it was at this holy moment that virtues of laziness and procrastination dawned upon me. For the first (and prolly last) time I think to alight from the back door (people board the bus from this door and alight from the front one). Now the driver of the bus and myself are competitively procrastinating. And I win. Yes, he drove off the bus before I could alight. And voila, I experience a fall that fleeces off the skin off my knee, with a lill pout of blood smeared on my shirt and torn pant. Two years hence, I still (very proudly) carry the mark of that gratuitous bravado on my knee.

The second one: My last but one week. For those who don't know, a large area of JNU is covered with dense forest and lush verdure. It didn't take me more than a day to discover some short-cuts through that lovely foliage. We (myself and one of my friends) worked (supposedly) in the day and made our report in the night, and then at around 1-2 am I took that verdant path to my hostel in IIT-Delhi. And then it took about two months to hear about a couple of suicides having taken place there. I very proudly evince the complete lack of fear after hearing this. Two days later, I hear about a couple of murders having taken place there. I get myself a runty Natraj knife and again very proudly evince the complete lack of fear after hearing this. Then one night, I passed through the whole jungle all alone, and was climbing the wall to jump over to the other side. Then it happens- as I hold the bars of the locked gate to climb it, a man in uniform passes by in front of me. We share a (surprised and bummer-where did you come from) glance for a moment or two. And then I find myself ensconsed in the deepest cranny of that jungle for a minute or two. Hoping that man to have gone by now, I emerge out furtively, highly prepared to scuttle back in case of any exigency. Luckily, he is gone. As I jump over the wall, cross the road and walk a few steps, a patrol jeep comes flashing its light. This was one of those rarest of the rare moments - I felt lucky - that I didn't jump in front of them. I then walk a few hundred meters more and reach the closed gates of IIT-D. I must admit that I loved this moment - jumping over this 10 foot high wall near the gate. The jump is followed by a few shambled steps to my room. I had a lovely sleep that night.

The third one: I didn't go to my lab and slept in my sweltering room throughout the day. I wake up at 1600 hrs to find myself soaked in sweat. I have no clue what to do now, and in the next 30 minutes I find myself sitting in a bus bound to Noida (yes, I am crazy). I pass some idle hours roving in Shipra mall. At around 2200 hrs, get a bus bound to Delhi. I don't know where to alight, and keep sitting. I get a bit twitchy to find just me in the whole bus. I alight at the lastest stop. It's 0000 hrs now. I have absolutely no clue at which place I am in Delhi. And I can't find even a single soul to ask about the same. Being clueless, I pick the widest and most lightened road and begin trodding. Then a car stops in front of me. I am a bit jumpy now. I guy calls me out. I approach him. Then he asks one of the most stupidest questions I have ever heard. In the middle of nowhere, at about 0030 hrs, he asked me,"Bhaiya, ye Qutub Minar kahan par hai bata sakte hain?" (Can you tell me where Qutub Minar is?) I almost asked him for a snap of his to enrich my assortment of wierdiest humans on this earth.

PS: This was just an overture. As privy is my nature, all I can say that I have never had such a long tenure of exciting days. Won't disclose much.

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