As my flight is currently making its way from Shanghai to New York City, I want to dedicate the Monsoon Diaries’ first ever trip to the following people, because frankly, you were pretty much everything what this trip was about:
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- Yiru Li, my friend from NYC…for a WTF moment when you recognized me better than I recognized you as we got off the same flight from Shanghai to NYC, even though we’ve only met once before, and being curiously interested in possibly being my next travel partner. See you around NYC! 8/11/10
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- Kevin Fan…for making small talk while waiting in line at JFK airport that eventually led to his saving my ass when I realized I had no cell phone to call my mom to tell her that I was home and I needed her to unlock the door for me. Thanks for the call and see you in Gainesville! 8/11/10
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- Lillian Ying and Andrea Lee…for meeting me for dinner in Singapore only hours before my flight back to NYC. 8/11/10
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- Saniya and Malika…for letting me crash at their place in Singapore, taking me out for its National Day, and partying it up at their apartment without judging my intolerance for alcohol. 8/9/10
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- Jamie Fleming…for a WTF moment when we recognized each other while waiting for the bus to Mamallapuram, despite only meeting for 5 minutes about 2 weeks prior in Hampi, for accompanying me all the way from Chennai to Mamallapuram and back, then seeing me off as we coincidentally both departed India for Singapore at the same time after many months abroad. See you in Australia! 8/8/10
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- Arjun…for hosting me last minute in Chennai, knowing perfectly well what a travelblogger needed to be happy, and for taking me out for breakfast the morning after. See you in Mumbai! 8/7/10
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- Jean Pak, my friend from Columbia…for accompanying me on my weekend trip to Mamallapuram without question and being one of the most helpful travel buddies I’ve had all summer. See you back in NYC! 8/7/10
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- Supraja Sudharsan…for waking up at 5am in the morning waiting for my call so you could pick me up from the bus station in Chennai. You’re a trooper. 8/6/10
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- Vineet Devaiah and Chidambar Kulkarni…for a WTF moment when you responded to a mutual friend’s facebook message only a few hours before you came to meet me for a really awesome dinner in Bangalore, and this was all about 2 hours before my bus departed for Chennai. See you back in Bangalore! 8/5/10
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- Anna y Inés…for letting me practice my spanish with you as we hung out around Mysore, Srirangapatnam, and Brindavan Gardens together for a whole day. See you in Barcelona! 8/4/10
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- Natasha and Holly…for hanging out with us in Hampi and for a WTF moment when we ran into each other a week later in Bangalore on top of a rooftop bar. See you in London! 7/30/10
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- Lakshmi…for blessing me with her trunk when I gave her a coin. 7/29/10
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- Claire and Fiona…for a WTF moment when we coincidentally had the same itinerary as I did as we spent 5 days together from Hampi to Goa. I’ve learned so much from you. See you in Scotland and Ireland! 7/29/10
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- Rahul, Hansika & Ashi…for being Saraswati’s amazing friends who provided fantastic company that made me want to skip the Gocunda Fort just so I can hang out more with you. See you in Punjab! Balle Balle! 7/27/10
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- Nikita…for a serendipitous morning conversation on a shuttle bus that led to a 2 hour lunch and then a post-midnight heart to heart on the ISB campus on conservatism, religion, philosophy, and everything else. Then you saw me off to Hampi the next evening; you didn’t have to say anything. Looking forward to our time machine and see you in Singapore (which we did 2 weeks later). 7/27/10
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- Vaibhav Shah and your friends at the Indian Business School…for getting me to drive out here an hour away from Hyderabad and staying up with me in the wee hours of the night. 7/26/10
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- Madhurya Reddy…for being Saraswati’s fun and amazing little sister who took care of me every step of the way from gelatos to bus tickets. Good luck on the GREs and see you in NYC! 7/26/10
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- Saraswati Reddy…for embodying the ultimate concept of “Guest is God” by being one of the best hosts I ever had. Words cannot describe your unceasing generosity and unlimited capacity to make sure I made the most out of my experience in Hyderabad. See you in Pune! 7/26/10
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- The Barodawala Family…for taking me in as one of their own as I arrived late to my train, for introducing me to their wonderful 5th grader son Adam, for staying up with me in our train compartment/berth engaging me on our lives, international politics, India, America, China, for encouraging me to go to Goa the next week (which I then did, thanks to you), and for offering me a place to stay if I ever end up in Abu Dhabi. See you in the UAE! 7/25/10
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- Adrian…for having a delicious brunch with me and liking my first impression enough to facebook friend me immediately afterwards. See you in Beirut! 7/25/10
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- Dave Levin…for taking me around Mumbai at night to the early morn’ and for being one of the coolest like-minded dudes I’ve met on this trip. See you back in New York! 7/24/10
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- Gillian Grossman…for being my food companion and pretty much having dinner (and that one brunch) with me everyday I was in Mumbai. See you back at the restaurants in NYC! 7/23/10
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- Jazba Singh…for being one of the best dance partners I ever had on the floor when I was partying it up in Mumbai’s China House. Where have you been in all my life? See you in Toronto where we’ll form our own dance team! 7/23/10
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- Nishant Dixit, my friend from Columbia…for finding me in Mumbai, hanging out with me at the Columbia send-off party and partying it up at the Hawaiian Shack. 7/22/10
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- Thommen, my friend from Columbia…for finding me in Mumbai, hanging out with me at the Columbia send-off party, and offering help and advice on Bangalore. See you back in India! 7/22/10
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- The accepted Columbia College Class of 2014 from India…for being the future of Columbia! See you in New York! 7/22/10
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- Mrinal, my friend from Columbia…for finding me in Mumbai and hanging out with me at the Columbia send-off party! See you back in NYC! 7/22/10
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- Avanti Maluste and Shivani Khatau…for being my two favorite people in Mumbai. 7/21/10
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- Random German lady living in India…for riding with me into the countryside of Udaipur. 7/20/10
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- Shyam Singh…for the late night conversation on the rooftop of Nukkad Guesthouse in Udaipur. See you in Dharamsala! 7/19/10
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- Julia Grochla…for staying up with me in the Nukkad Guesthouse in Udaipur as we talked into the late hours of the night. See you in Frankfurt! 7/19/10
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- Ana, Gabes, Adria, and Arnau…for a friendly conversation at the Nukkad guesthouse rooftop restaurant in my first morning in Udaipur. See you in Barcelona! 7/19/10
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- Raju (left), the owner of Nukkad Guesthouse in Udaipur…for showing me the way around the outskirts of Udaipur and being one of the best hosts I’ve had on this trip. 7/19/10
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- Ryu Hyeon Joo…for thinking I was Korean when we met in the early morning as I arrived into Jodhpur, a WTF moment when we coincidentally found ourselves on the same bus to Jodhpur later that night, and then spending the next 2 days together in Udaipur as we communicated via hand gestures and broken Koreanglish. See you in Seoul! 7/18/10
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- Priti…for being one of the most gracious hostesses I’ve had by waiting for me at midnight when I arrived to her guesthouse in Jaipur, offering me free chai and cookies despite how late in the night it was, and pretty much planning my entire trip in Rajasthan in 5 minutes. 7/16/10
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- The Kingfisher staff at Amritsar Airport…for joking around with me while I checked into my flight for Jaipur. Good luck getting into UCLA! 7/16/10
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- Kitty van’t Geloof…for a memorable lunch in Amritsar only minutes after a random conversation in an internet cafe. See you in The Netherlands! See you in Amsterdam! 7/16/10
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- Jackson Gore…for the random chat while waiting for our delayed flight to Amritsar that eventually led to a great dinner and exploration of the Golden Temple the day after. See you in London, mate! 7/15/10
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- Rebecca Joseph…for the great company during my journey from Varanasi to Delhi, getting me to stay at Rajputana’s Guesthouse a few days later, and exploring the city of Jaipur with me the day after. See you in New Zealand! 7/15/10
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- Mic, XiaoXiao, Rebecca, Andy, Mathilde, Alice, and David…for becoming fast friends at the Ganpati Guesthouse in Varanasi that led to an unforgettable dinner, music show, and late-night conversations. 7/15/10
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- Carl and Tara…for joining me for lunch at Brown Bread Bakery in Varanasi and sharing travel experiences. See you in Saratoga Springs! 7/14/10
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- Tanmay…for introducing me to his hometown of Calcutta at night and getting me to meet his awesome actor friends, and being quite possibly the coolest/funniest/best host and brother from another mother with all our conversations in a span of a few hours. Good luck in England! 7/12/10
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- Steffi…for randomly approaching me for a cup of coffee while I was half-dead/asleep arriving into the Calcutta International Airport, and then hanging out with me the next day in blatant support of social networking and Facebook. See you in Berlin! 7/11/10
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- Lydia and Danielle…for striking up a brief but memorable conversation about their work fighting human trafficking, helping me out with finding the counter for my flight to Kolkata, and even managing to track me down on facebook when it seemed like we were never going to see each other again. See you in Calgary! 7/11/10
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- Erin Meyer…for randomly being there to say hello to when I arrived at the hostel and coming out with me the night after for a shameless adventure involving karaoke, shisha, toilet humor, and the fact we were the two coolest Americans in Singapore. See you in Beirut for New Year’s! 7/11/10
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- Sajni Mehta, my friend from NYC…for a WTF moment when we ran into each other in Singapore (this being the 2nd time we’d run into each other overseas), for almost getting in trouble by staying up late, having drinks at the rooftop bar of New Asia Bar, and then grabbing shisha by Arab St. See you at our next international destination! 7/10/10
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- Mr. Scottish Arms…for chatting with me about India at the hostel in Singapore and offering advice on plane tickets and Hindi phrases. See you in Mumbai! 7/10/10
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- BeiXian “BX” Tang, my friend from Columbia…for showing us around all of central Singapore in less than 3 hours and then taking me out karaoke’ing the night after. See you in Singapore, again! 7/9/10
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- Our guide at Mesjid Istiqlal…for guiding us around the grandest mosque in Southeast Asia in less than 15 minutes before we had to catch a flight to Singapore. 7/9/10
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- Kevin McLaughlin…for meeting us at our guesthouse in Jakarta and giving helpful advice on airline rewards and membership. See you in Ireland! 7/9/10
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- Our host at Bangka B&B…for not judging us for staying only 12 hours in Jakarta. 7/8/10
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- Borobudur Sunrise man…for taking us at the last minute up a mountain to catch an exquisite sunrise, even though we didn’t see Borobudur past the fog. 7/7/10
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- Etri and her little sister…for showing us around Yogyakarta, being a great host and translator at the last minute, and sitting next to me as I type this out. 7/6/10
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- Sebastien…for meeting us randomly at the train station and helping us find our place to stay in Yogyakarta without charging us a buck. 7/6/10
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- Our driver in Surabaya…for driving us 8 hours to the Bromo lunarscape, being patient with us, and then not fretting when we haggled him down and then refusing his prices. 7/6/10
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- Naomi Bishop…for getting us an AMAZING place to stay at her former home near Yogyakarta. 7/5/10
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- Tiff Qua, my friend from Columbia…for almost meeting up with us in Manila and planning to meet up with us anyway in Singapore but not before providing us loads of information on what to see and where to eat. 7/4/10
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- My family Uncle Raymond, Auntie, cousin Edward, and my new cousin-in-law Felicia…for inviting me to their wedding reception in Taipei! 7/4/10
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- Helen Wu…for partying with me in Taipei and thinking I was 35 years old. You flatter. See you in Chile! 7/3/10
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- Cindy Chang…for a WTF moment when we ran into each other pretty much the moment I landed in Taiwan, then for partying with me that very night at Primo hours before my flight back to Indonesia. See you in Tokyo! 7/3/10
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- Lisa Lim…for being the only guesthouse/hotel manager who figured out how find and add me as a friend on facebook, and for being a great host at 88 Inn in Kuala Lumpur; you made me feel at home by talking with me in Chinese. 6/28/10
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- Soe Lin Aung, my friend from Columbia…for a WTF moment when we met up at the Thailand/Myanmar border at Mae Sot out of all places and for showing us around and feeding us Burmese food. 6/25/10
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- Som Yai, Ye Yang, Thong Si and other friends…whom taught me a lot about Laos culture and lifestyle and for letting me converse with them in English. 6/22/10
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- Sok Cheat, our fantastic tuk-tuk driver in Siem Reap…for taking us around for 3 days from sunrise to midnight. 6/17/10
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- Van and her brother Lam…for a WTF moment when we ran into each other in Saigon and then for showing us the nightlife! See you in Virginia! 6/14/10
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- Helpful Pipe man…for getting Annah a REAL pipe instead of a touristy one. 6/11/10
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- Nicholas & Phillips…for the good company from Ha Long Bay to Hue, and the free Advil for Annah. See you in Quebec! 6/11/10
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- Harn…for invaluable advice on Malaysia and free AirAsia.com tickets. 6/9/10
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- Ally Paclisanu…for giving us advice on Myanmar visas while randomly bumping into us at Rose Hotel in Hanoi, and for meeting me again in NYC a few months later! 6/11/10
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- Rose…for solving all our problems and being the friendliest caretaker from Liberty Hotel we have ever met. 6/8/10
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- Advika…for eavesdropping on our conversation at Saigon Airport and giving us great advice on Hanoi and Jakarta. See you in Chicago! 6/7/10
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- Heather Eidinger…for brutally honest advice on Vietnam and for the late night company at Friendly’s Guesthouse in Manila. See you in Canada! 6/7/10
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- Claire R & Charles Blaxland…for being great company at Rita’s in Batad and giving us invaluable advice on Tagaytay which we later used. See you in Australia! 6/4/10
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- The Man of Batad…for telling us that we were going in the wrong direction on our way back from Tappiya Waterfalls. 6/4/10
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- Rita’s Boy…for making us dinner the old school way. 6/4/10
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- Rita…for hosting us in Batad and teaching us how to prepare rice. 6/4/10
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- Germaine…for hosting us in Batad, cooking us food, and giving us advice on how to reach the waterfalls. 6/4/10
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- Shyama Rajendran, my friend from NYC…for meeting up with us in Manila, getting us bus tickets to Banaue/Batad, and for taking us to Club Icon for a crazy night out! See you back in NYC! 6/2/10
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- Mrs. San-a-jong…for a WTF moment (before the trip even BEGAN) when you recognized me as your daughter’s preschool & high school classmate as you checked me into my flight to Manila. 5/31/10
- At time of posting in Somewhere across Russia, the North Pole, or the Atlantic…, it was n/a -
Humidity: n/a | Wind Speed: n/a | Cloud Cover: i’m above the clouds right now
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