My Indian Visa Drama

My flight to Mumbai leaves in 12 hours. At this moment, I am sitting here with no passport, no visa, but only my plane tickets. Getting a visa for India has proven to be very difficult in my case. I can only share my stories below and hope others (i.e. you) would have better luck.

1^st trip to Indian embassy. About two weeks ago. That was my first attempt to get a visa for India. We were told the visa service has been outsourced recently (is there anything that can't be outsourced?!) and is at another location, but of course the information was not updated on their website. Oh well ran out of time so had to do it another day. Damnit.

1^st trip to Indian visa office. 10 days ago. A smiling head-bobbing staff explained to me that my Canadian passport only had one blank page and it was not sufficient for visa processing. I needed two blank pages, i.e. a new passport!

1^st trip to Canadian embassy after reaching out to the emergency service immediately. Filled out application form for a temporary passport in addition to a regular passport as a regular would take twenty work days to process, whereas a temp can be printed in Abu Dhabi and ready in five. The staff casually mentioned at the end of the conversation that she was the only one that can print the temp passports, and she would be away on personal holiday for five days, but “don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.” Uhmm, right.

2^nd trip to Canadian embassy. 4 days ago. Picked up 8-page temporary passport. Noticed that it was only valid for six months exact. Thinking to self if that it might be a problem to enter India because there’s a requirement of 6 months validity upon arrival. But no time to waste. Need to hand in visa application form FAST.

2^nd trip to Indian visa office. 4 days ago. Filled out visa application form. Was told “no problem, madam. Visa will be ready in one day. Two days maximum.”

3^rd trip to Indian visa office. 2 days ago. Just when I thought everything was going to be sorted after all. I received a phone call Friday (weekend) night from the visa office, telling me that my application is not complete. I had to go in and fill out an additional form because, take this, I was born in China! “Additional five work days will be required.” So India and China don't get along, eh? Who knew!

3^rd trip to Canadian embassy. After Q’s nudging I decided to follow up on the six month passport validity situation. Canadian embassy staff agreed to give me a copy of my new passport (which arrived yesterday), and a letter explaining my situation. You see, I can’t get the new passport yet because I can't carry around two valid passports at any given time, and my visa would be on the temp. Get it?

--- Insert dozens phone calls to Canadian and Indian embassies between trips. ---

Latest update: Just called my friend Sashi at Indian embassy, yes, we are friends now since he's on my speed dial. I was informed that my security form was just faxed to New Delhi, and now I must wait for security clearance. You gotta love the protocol though: if they doesn’t hear back from New Delhi after five working days, they can assume everything is okay and proceed to issue me a visa, but not before. The staffs can't afford risking their jobs over failing to folllow procedure and that is it.

I’ve done the upset-and-bitching part, so what now. "All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope.” I think I will do just that. Actually, add "blogging" to that list.

New latest update: Still no visa after another day of waiting. I was told that Indian embassy will be closed tomorrow due to Indian public holiday, so there is no chance for me to get a visa and get myself to India before my course starts. This is it. My India trip is off.

Couchsurfing in the UAE in our newspaper!

As most of you (should) know (by now), we’re avid CouchSurfers, by both hosting surfers as surfing ourselves. When we first travelled to UAE, the website was blocked (censorship, but why?!), and the number of CS hosts in Abu Dhabi was less than 10. But since the huge influx of people in the country, and the fact that the website is now off the blocked list, the amount of CouchSurfers has sky-rocketed to almost 1000!

Our newspaper, The National (and here the online version), recently published an interesting (full page, and on page 3!) article on CouchSurfing in the UAE. One of the the interviewees is a good friend of ours here in Abu Dhabi! Couchsurfing is how we got in contact in the first place!

You can read the article by clicking on the ‘read more’ link below:

---

A cushion in hard times

The National - News
28 Mar 2009

ABU DHABI // When their passion for music brought the Aflaki brothers to Dubai from Iran, they were faced with a major challenge: where to stay on a shoestring budget? Nima and Sina’s pursuit of their idols Iron Maiden, the heavy metal band, saw them...read more...

Tech Tags: The National - News newspaper Page Three

String quartet performance

Shu and I were invited to a small string quartet performance last Saturday. Two of our friends, Rachel and Emma, play in this quartet. The performance was a small hour or so, with beautiful pieces being played. The crowd was mixed, with kids and elderly, and everything in between, around 30 people or so in a gorgeous 15th floor apartment on the Corniche (the word that is used in this part of the world for the promenade/esplanade).

 A collage of the photos I took during the performance

It was my first time to take pictures again since my accident with my leg. Usually I’ll be all over the place taking pictures, but with my leg, and of course the small scale setting of the performance, prohibited me from moving about. I ended up taking all the pictures during the performance from the same chair :)

Nevertheless, good to be photographing again! Have a look at all the photos here!

  Cello being played

A big thanks to all who sent in emails, instant messages, snail mails, etc, wishing me all the best with my leg. It’s always good to know that being out of sight doesn’t have to mean out of mind.
Please drop us a line to let us know what you have been up to! We’d love to know!

One small thing, contrary to what Shu mentioned in her previous post, I will not switch to a brace when this cast comes off in 10 days. Instead, I will get a walking cast for another 6 weeks, after which I will start with my physiotherapy. This is actually the part I’m not looking forward to; having to learn to walk again after not having used my leg for 3 months! But I’m sure I’ll be fine in the end…

Cello case in the hallway

And finally, as some of you observe in these pictures, I have re-started putting ‘copyrights’ on my pictures. I publish them under the Creative Commons license, a license which lets people use my work under certain conditions. If you would like to use my pictures, please read what this particular license entails.

Jogging, Tai Chi and Vipassana

Maybe it has something to do with hitting the big THREE-O age bracket, maybe it is driven by the stressful and lazy life style in Abu Dhabi, maybe it is the urge to be responsible for my own well-being... Regardless, I have become more active with my spare time since beginning of the year.

I started jogging along the water front as a late-night exercise regularly. Every time I manage to drag myself out to the Corniche, it always amazes me how the refreshing sea scent relaxes me instanteously. It is surprisingly peaceful and tranquil. I encourage every Abu Dhabian to give it a shot! :)

Corniche at Night (image source)

A while ago Q and I started taking Tai Chi Chuan (太极拳) lessons together. We both enjoyed it, but Q had to bail out after a few lessons with a pretty valid reason. I continued on my own and have now learnt 7.5 of the 24 forms Yang-style Tai Chi. It's so cool! I feel so cool! As our friend Steph calls it, I can finally let out my inner Jackie Chan! :)

Image courtesy of Q's photoshop skills

Compared to the above two, the Vipassana development is rather bold. Just a bit of background, a few years back I had this idea of being silent, blind and deaf for one day - just to see how I would react to the loss of the senses and how my other senses would be heightened. Then a while ago I read a book called Eat, Pray, Love (thanks for the book, Em!), in which the author described her extended meditation experience in an Indian ashram. I knew right away that was what my heart desired.

After much consideration and with Q's support, I signed up for a Vipassana meditation course in mid-April in India. The course will require me to stay in a meditation centre near Mumbai, where I will learn and practice ancient meditation techniques with a few hundred other practitioners! The task is very simple yet difficult: sit still and observe noble silence for ten days (see the code of discipline here). The idea is self-discovery - physically, emotionally and spiritually. Now that I've booked my trip, I find myself absolutely excited and happy with these two thoughts: "This is gonna be *such* a challenge!" and "I am sure you can do it!" Regardless I know it will be a one-of-a-life-time experience and I will have a great time! More will follow, so stay tuned. Oh, the part that I'm looking forward to *most* is to eat Indian food non-stop for almost two weeks. YIPEE! :D

Golden Pagoda at Dhamma Giri (image source)

Vipassana meditation (image source)

Haha, isn't life so exciting!?! :)

p.s. Many thanks to those who were concerned about Q's leg, you will be happy to know that Q is on his third and final cast before moving to a foot brace. The healing is taking a long time, but it's getting there - langzaam maar zeker (slowly but surely).

Correction: Apparently Q will have a fourth and final walking cast after the current one as the doctor thinks the risk of re-rupture is too high with just a brace.

Abu Dhabi Greetings

If you were a Chinese woman living in Abu Dhabi like me, you are likely to hear the following greetings from strangers:

- During the day in taxis or streets or restaurants, it could be "Where you from?", "Where you working?" and/or "Married?" A complete stranger even went as far as stopping me in the middle of street and asked, "Are you Malaysian?"
- In the streets at night it's often "How much?"

They are in your face and there is no running away from them. The best I've learnt to do is to ignore them. I've become stranger-unfriendly.

Welcome to Abu Dhabi - This is Not My City

Twice now I've been rubbed the wrong way on my residence status here in Abu Dhabi.

Recently I had a chat with a manager who is here for a year-long assignment and has been living in a furnished apartment for several months himself. We talked about getting more resources on the team and that's when he went on saying "you know, we need more local-based expats like yourself." "Local-based expats"? What oxymoron! I wouldn't think it makes me more local just because I came here a year earlier!

Another slight irritation came at the end of walking around Abu Dhabi with a friend who came here three or four months back. He sincerely thanked me for showing him "my city". "My city"? What, because I actually took interest to get to know it better when a lot of expats are more than happy to just hang out at the beaches and hotels?

Abu Dhabi is merely where Q and I live. It's interesting to see none of us expats have a sense of belongingness!

...which makes an interesting question - if not Abu Dhabi, which city is my city??? Hmm...

What are Pockets Made For?

What are clothes pockets made for? According to a 20-year-old UAE resident, carrying around FOUR cell phones "impresses girls. Carrying around many mobiles is not easy, but that is what pockets were made for.”

Although UAE's "steroidized" consumerism doesn't sit well with me, I thought I got used to it. Well, it still managed to amazed me to read the consumer culture on why there are almost twice as many phones as people in this country. Some of interview quotes from the article include:

"It is cheap to get a new [N.B. cell phone] number and it impresses people if you are seen having many phones."

"I have four mobile numbers. I use two Etisalat and two Du numbers. I use one for my girlfriend, one for family, one for work and one I keep in case I need to transfer credit to another phone."

Image from The National article.

"I sold a number about a year ago for Dh25,000 [N.B. 5000 euro or 7000 dollars]. He [the buyer] was only about 17. His family paid for it."

"They [N.B. teenagers] don’t necessarily want their parents to get their telephone bill and see who they are calling. So they get a new number and a new phone that they pay for, which they can keep secret."

As for Q and I, we each have one cell phone and an extra number for visitors. None of those multiple phone nonsense for us - our pockets are quite happy to be empty!

Walking Like an Indian

One of the less-known facts about Abu Dhabi is the abundant and rich cultures from South and Southeast Asian countries like Philippines, Pakistan, Bangalore, Sri Lanka, and, one of my favorite, India! Besides authenticity, one of the best parts is how much more affordable it is compared to say Europe or Toronto, where you'd pay much more for the exotic experience.

I went to the Christmas dinner last December (organized by the Canadian Business Council) fashioning a $40 salwar - that's a typical South Indian dress. Upon hearing this, one of my Indian colleagues was only too happy to drag me to her home and lend me a deck of tikkas to accessorize - that's the twinkling bits between my eye brows. I love how pretty and festive it turned out! Here is a photo of Hallie (left), Meg (right) and I from the event. Great fun!


Of course Indian food is another favorite part. Indian Thali is, essentially, the equivalent of Japanese bento box: a collection of small servings of soup, salad, curry, sweets surrounding bread and papadum (that's a crunchy wafer-thin fried bread slice!) served in a big metal plate. Soooo amazigly delicious, all for $4! Chhappan Bhog and Anjappar are two of the best Indian eateries within walking distance from our home and my work place - which makes me a regular naturally and the friendly staffs at Anjappar would only be too happy to offer me an extra papadum! :) Here is a photo of Q presenting the thali meal with a content foodie's smile.

We <3 it walking like an Indian!

Surgery done - Q back home

And I'm back... from hospital, that is.

Thank you all who sent very sweet messages to me or to Shu. Always good to know so many people care and will reach out to us!

The update, I went into surgery on Sunday already, and after spending one night in hospital, they have discharged me. So I'm back home, in a brand new above-the-knee-cast, ready for people to sign :)

Coming out of surgery was ok, I did feel the occassional discomfort with the wound, but nothing more than is expected. The first cast they put on after the surgery had a lump below the knee, which was uncomfortable, so they replaced it with a new one. After that, I could go home!

And now, time to recover! This cast will stay on for 2 weeks, after which have a new appointment with the doctor who will replace the cast with a new, shorter one.

That's all folks!

Not 19 any more...

Finally an update from me... it's been quite a while. And yes, I'm quite behind blogging about my past trips, Minsk (Belarus) in November, Kerala (India) in December and Cape Town/Garden Route (South Africa) just two weeks ago! But first, I thought I'd fill you in on a more recent event... (and seeing the result of that, I will have plenty of time to blog about my recent trips!)


So, what's up? Last Tuesday, for the first time in a long, long while, I played a game of squash. I love squash, I love running around the court trying to get every ball my opponent plays at me. I used to play quite a lot, on and off, in The Netherlands, but for the past 2, probably 3 years, I had not played. A friend of mine said he played here every now and again, and my interest was sparked! We decided to play a game.

Here's the 'result':
No, didn't break my leg. Yes, that is a full leg-length cast (gips) you see on me. Quite fresh in that picture, the doctor had only put it on only 5 minutes before that.
What happened? I hear you ask :)
I ruptured my achilles tendon (achillesspees gescheurd, for all the Dutchies reading this :), completely, like 9cm apart. Ouch, yes, well, at least when it happened, now it's sorta ok. The doctor thinks it's serious enough to operate as soon as possible, and most likely this will be tomorrow already! (it all happened on Tuesday, so all is not as quick as I just made it look... Tuesday we went to First Aid in the hospital, had an X-ray, saw the orthopaedic surgeon. He wanted to have more info and ordered an MRI, but since that requires pre-approval from my insurance company, I had to wait until today. MRI was done, later the same day saw the surgeon again, and that's where we are now.

What then?
First, surgery tomorrow, then a above-the-knee cast for 2 weeks, 2 weeks of a below-the-knee cast with my foot angled slightly more upright, 2 weeks new below-the-knee cast, again slightly more upright. Then onto a brace for 6 weeks on which I should be able to walk again. Of course, only then will physiotherapy start, so full recovery in 3+ months from now. Hello May!


Upon hearing the story from Shu, a friend of ours spoke these wise words:
"Tell Q he's already had his 19th birthday."


=)