CURRENT MISSION

Current Mission: Ready myself for the next adventure - building a life at work again - after these wonderful last months of wandering.

ABOUT ME

I'm figuring myself out... occasionally I actually feel I'm making progress! I'm a bit like little Simba from the Lion King before he gets his mane - subconsciously this is probably why I have let my hair grow to its current ridiculous length.

I try to be cheerful, generally. I have quiet moods and a tendency to take myself too seriously. But I am rarely stressed either, and am always up for adventure. I like listening to other people's stories.

I'm on this journey to understand myself better, to find the strength to make real commitments in life. Yeah.

PHILOSOPHY

Do not be tied/attached to anything in life. If you want to live free, you have to learn how to live without any strings controlling you. Money, love, ambition are all superficial. Once you recognize that fact, your life changes forever.

Nobody explained this to me better than a bunch of college kids I met in Manila for a gimmik (drinking) session at a dampa (waterhole). They said cheers to me in the following manners. First they tipped the top of their beer bottles (cheers to love). They they tipped the bottom of their beer bottles (cheers to money/career). Then they rubbed their bottles against each other. (Cheers to good sex). And then they gulped the whole bottle down.

Essentially, what the above means, is that all of the above (love, money etc) will happen when they have to happen, but I gotta finish this damn beer right NOW!!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I started CS in Jodhpur, where I knew no one and was on neutral gear. In 2 months, the number of friends I made in a very claustrophobic jodhpur, is just so amazing!! I find myself travelling somewhere or doing something every single weekend with these guys. I cant believe myself when I sometimes give out my house keys to people I just met an hour ago. If anything CS has taught me, it is to trust people unconditionally, until they start playing with the kitchen knives

Interests

1) Certified shutterbug. You tell me its ok to click you, and I will follow you like a paparazzi, making you look good in every click!
2) I love to play quizmaster, and the Singapore quizzing community can attest to that. If I am in your country, let me know if you want me to set up a quiz for you. ;-)
3) Getting inked. 13 and counting.
4) Blogging or writing about my perspectives on life. Medium is not important. What is important is the damn message.
5) Having a good drink at any beach.
6) Any beach.
7) Generally very sporty, and will try any sport with you. This point is forgotten whenever I wake up with a hangover

• writing
• photography
• festivals
• dancing
• beer
• drinking
• boating
• traveling
• blogging
• sports
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

All movies of Tarantino. Park Wan Chook's vengeance trilogy. All movies by Luc Besson. City of god. All movies of Mani Ratnam.

My taste is music is mainly world music and alternative rock. I listen to anything, from Balkan beatbox, to radwimps, to Gotye to third eye blind. If I like a song, I keep it in my playlist, and rape the repeat button!

As for books, generally love all books by by Puzo, Leon uris and Khaled Hossieni. So, you can say that I love fiction, which also teaches you about a particular cultural history

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Plenty to recall, but cant really call some of them as achievements though :-D

1) Chartered a boat to see the smaller islands of Singapore, and it ended up crashing head-first into another boat. Worse, it happened to be a coast-guard boat!
2) Went on a bicycle trip to Jeju, South Korea in October, and packed only shorts and singlets assuming it is going to be hot. Freezed my nuts off for 4 days, and slept in Saunas each night.
3) Watching glorious dawns at AnkorWat, (Cambodia), Bagan (Myanmar) and Zambales (Philippines).
4) Getting lost in the rice terraces of Banaue, Philippines in the dark, and being assisted out of it by NPA members. (A rebel army outfit in the Philippines)
5) Brought in alcohol, and smoked in public in Brunei (where both are illegal). Was trying to look badass, but ended up scared shitless.
6) Went searching for this secret waterfall, somewhere outside Grenada, Spain, based on internet and forum clues. Hiked a lot, trespassed private property, all in the August summer heat. And no, didnt find the waterfall.
7) Witnessing Silom Rd in Bangkok during the songkran festival, narrowly escaping a stampede after a bomb-scare.
8) Couchsurfed in a bedouin cave in Wadi Musa, Jordan. Actually, I insisted on sleeping OUTSIDE the cave, because i wanted to sleep under the stars. It was probably the best night of my life.
9) Despite all warnings of rockfall, visited the Taroko gorge in Hualien, Taiwan during the rainy season, and walked through the TG national park, narrowly missing several small rocks that were falling.
10) Love riding a motorbike, and rode some really long and difficult terrains in East Timor, raced against the rain in Bolaven Plateau (Laos), taught the vietnamese how an Indian rides a motorbike, and rode 1400kms in Bali before getting pulled up for riding without a license.
11) Getting stranded in Karachi, Pakistan due to flight issues for a day, while travelling from Oman to India. This was during the Kargil war between India and Pakistan, so almost shat myself during my stay there.
12) Eating turtle testicles in the Hua Xi night market in Taipei, Balut in the Philippines, crocodile meat in Singapore, horse meat in South Korea, and Frogs in Cambodia.
13) Travelled by foot, ferry, taxi, bus, train and even cable car, to see entire HongKong in just 12 hours

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach travel photography :-) And how to set up wordpress blogs.
I am a geek at heart. Ask me to conduct a quiz, and you are almost giving me an orgasm.
And how to dance the chicken-dance and make it look like salsa.
How to thumb-gun a beer. (a shot-gun's so passe!). :-D

Countries I’ve Visited

India, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

India