The Pacific or The Hindustan ??

Hi All !!
I had put my leg into the Pacific Ocean on April 8, 2005!!! Here is the complete coverage :-)

I had to go to another office for a meeting today. So Eddie, from my client's office had come to pick me up in the morning. We first went to the American Express Bank as I had to exchange some money (in fact quite a bit, around 110,000 NT$ !!, for settling my hotel account). Then we went to the place where we were supposed to go. The office building was really massive. I am really quite impressed with the infrastructure here (if at all, it matters !!). The meeting was over just before lunch time. I was planning to have my lunch at the Indian restaurant. Before I suggested this to Eddie, he asked me whether I would be interested to go and see the Pacific. I WAS THRILLED !!!!

But great things in life come only if we make sacrifices. Here is the option given to me.Go to Indian restaurant, have a great lunch. I was even mentally prepared to have Tomato soup, naan, Malai koftha + Bindi masala, Subzi biriyani and kulfi... That's it !! that's what I normally have when I go to the Hindustan (The name of the Indian Restaurant here). Or, take some sandwich or something and go to Keelung island, where the Pacific is accessible. The Red and the Blue pill !! Doing both is not possible due to various reasons like distance, time etc.

Believe me !! It was a very very tough decision to make !! There are two ways of thinking about the given situation. One is, " (1) What is there in the Pacific Ocean ? The same blue, salty sea water. H2O + NaCl. Should I sacrifice a nice food after starving for nearly a month without good food ? After all we live and earn to eat properly :-)" or " (2) Still one more week. I am going to have Indian food once I go back to India. After a month, if I feel like eating a Biriyani, I can. But if I feel like going to the Pacific ... Can I ? For that matter no sea coast is close to Bangalore :-)." Number 2 won. No Indian food :-( !!

So we packed a Spaghetti + French fries and started to Keelung. The ride was through mountains and tunnels. Very picturesque. We even passed the port where a ship bound for Japan was about to start and then the National Taiwan University (where Eddie did his Bachelors degree) and the bridge that marked the end of Taiwan Strait and the beginning of the Pacific !!! At last we were there. It was not some kind of a beach but was a rocky sea shore where people can take some snaps, pick sea weeds, catch crabs etc. It was a great sight to see the sea surrounded by rocks and mountains. We had our Spaghetti sitting by the rocky shore. Not good :-((. Since the water had a lot of sea weeds it was really slippery. So I carefully went in and stood in a place where the waves can kiss my knee :-). Took some snaps as a proof and waved adieu to Prashanth (Hey, Pacific is called Prashant Maha Sagar in Hindi !!)

Thanked Eddie for his suggestion and time and rode back to work, with the sense of achievement, bidding farewell to the Queen of Oceans !!