The Unexpected Greeting

This year, Deepavali was a little different from the previous few years. Ever since I left home to study in Taylor's then Monash, I have never had the privilege to come back home to celebrate this special day with my parents thanks to the smart people in Cambridge and Australia that insist on having exams during Deepavali.


Since I have graduated now, I was able to celebrate it with my loved ones. It was just like any other day I would say except for the oil bath and the shows shown in TV.

Every year my dad receives Deepavali greeting cards from his friends. Every year it is gradually decreasing as more people are opting for the call/sms method. As expected, a few greeting cards came after Deepavali the following Monday. As I was browsing through the envelopes, I found this:

What?! A greeting card for me?!!!

And I got excited. It is not always I get greeting cards you know. Some more can write my name just as in my identification card.

I removed the envelope,

Not a bad looking card eh..

I flipped open the card

Upon closer inspection


WHAT!!! The Melaka Ketua Menteri himself signed and sent me a greeting card?

Looking at the card, my dad became tak puas hati because I got a greeting card from a VIP and he didn't.

And so he did some Sherlock Holmes work and came to the conclusion that I received the card because I am a registered voter and I live in the area where the Ketua Menteri runs for election every 5 years. So you know where I am going rite? Or maybe he even knows who I voted for for the election last year around. Hehehe..

As I stared at the card longer, I burst into laughter. Wanna know why?


His signature is so funny...As though he hates his own self.

India

A few weeks back I was in India visiting my relatives. For the uninformed, I am only the 2nd generation living in Malaysia and I have relatives everywhere I turn in India. Just for the record, I have relatives occupying a whole village in India. That is roughly 30 families all in the area of 100 meter squared

But that wasn't a problem for me. It was their lifestyle that I find very hard to adapt to. So to give you some hints on what I went through, I have compiled some facts about India that you will definitely not find in your itinerary when visiting India.

Kissing in public is strictly prohibited


In Malaysia, sometime you can get lucky and people won't notice it. But in India, people are everywhere and you better not push your luck. It is taboo there.

Pissing in public? Sure go ahead. Anywhere you like


Since toilets are very limited over there, you can see people answering nature's call like they have just got a call from their girlfriend/boyfriend.

Road usage

- They drive on the freaking wrong side of the road.


- The most important component in a vehicle is horn


They sound the horn for basically everything: overtaking, entering a corner, exiting a corner. Heck they even sound horn when they are nearing a railway track as though the train is going to slow down for them to pass.

- Priorities in road

1. Cows


If you bang a cow, there are a few possibilities that might occur
~ You die from the accident and the cow walks away as though nothing had happened.
~ Both the cow and you die from the accident.
~ The cow dies and you will be alive for a little longer before the cow owner comes and kill you

So no matter what happens, you will still die.

2. Goats


The same reasoning as the cows

3. Vehicles


It is like riot everyday. I have no idea how they can drive over there. I remember there was one time on the busy main road, we were looking for a landmark and we missed it. The driver just coolly makes a u-turn at the busy street. I as a passenger almost died from cardiac arrest.

4. Pedestrians


I'm guessing since the population there is overflowing, so the importance given to pedestrians is almost zero.

Toilets

Since for most people, the public is the toilet, public toilets are rare commodities over there. Even if you do find one, it will not be clean. Believe me, it was nightmare every time I went to these public toilets as they are dirty beyond imaginable. After thinking long and hard, I have decided not to post the picture of the toilet that I have got.

Now that you know something about India, I would like to wish Happy Holidays and enjoy your stay there to anyone who is intending on visiting India. I hope my guide gave you some insight about India to prepare you for the trip.

VANAKAM. WELCOME TO INDIA

Project Alpha

Russell Peters once said (sounds like he's some big shot politician), "we (Indians) need the f******* deodorant".

How true!

Me being an Indian, am no different from others. Sweating has become part and parcel of me.

I sweat just as easy as 1,2,3. Yes..I am not kidding. Just say 1,2,3 and I am already perspiring and soon after expiring. That is how bad my sweating problem is.

I still remember a few months back when I used to walk to my university that is about a kilometer away from the place I stay, I would have been bathed in sweat by the time I reach my classroom.

Maybe they saw me entering their campus

Of course sweating is no comfort. My self esteem is affected *ahem* and I stink (I am sure some of my friends would say I stink all the time but that is so untrue).

It is not like I have not done anything to lessen the effect, it is just that nothing worked for me. Some worked but left white stains on my beloved football jerseys.

Looks as though I did something naughty with my clothes

Since I am into sports and sports apparels, I make it a habit to drop by any sports shops that I come across wherever whenever I go. That is when I saw this


The Adidas Action 3 Antiperspirant. It caught my attention because all that you can see in Adidas stores in Malaysia are some shirts and shoes. This was something different.


Out of curiosity, I bought one, the Adidas Action 3 Fresh for the price of RM16.90. I have to say, I am quite impressed with its design as well as performance so far.


If you compare to other deodorant available in the market, the price is not that cheap. But believe me, it makes up for the quality it delivers.

First of all, this is the first of its kind that does not have a cap/cover that goes along with the can. This allows people like me to just 'grab-n-spray' instead of 'grab-remove-spray-n-replace'. Now you know why I call myself slacker.


The spray knob can be pressed without much trouble or force and without smearing my fingers.


And it also claims that it will avoid any whitening stains on the clothes. So far I have not encountered any problem from using this. So it must be true.


I personally like the smell. Not too strong not too light. Just nice I would say.

I've always had this bad habit of doing the research after purchasing the product. Some regrettable and some not. I came back home and went online to check about this product and found out the ambassador for this product is none other than Petr Cech himself.

His advertisement cracked me up when he talks at the end of the ad.