# Greetings



## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 23, 2019)

Just arrived in Mumbai, India. No good beers in mini bar.


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## begreen (Aug 23, 2019)

As expected. Gin and tonic time?


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## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 23, 2019)

begreen said:


> As expected. Gin and tonic time?


Doing wine now. Indian wine, pretty good. Gin-tonic later.


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## HisTreeNut (Aug 23, 2019)

Kind of jealous...

Sent from my VS835 using Tapatalk


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## Ashful (Aug 23, 2019)

HisTreeNut said:


> Kind of jealous...


You need to travel more.

I only go to India under direct threat of firing... and even then, I usually refuse.  You can have it, Jan!

Watch for the Dehli Belly.


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## begreen (Aug 23, 2019)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> Doing wine now. Indian wine, pretty good. Gin-tonic later.


Good to hear. I've read about some new Indian wineries. That's changed since we were there 15 yrs ago. Back then the wine we drank was mostly from South Africa and Australia. Indian wine choices were very few and poor quality.

We lived there for almost 3 months and loved it. I brought the family and no one got Delhi belly. Actually we ate really well.


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## Ashful (Aug 23, 2019)

begreen said:


> We lived there for almost 3 months and loved it. I brought the family and no one got Delhi belly. Actually we ate really well.



Its a big country, we may be discussing different areas.  We have to regularly send folks over to maintain our systems installed there, and it seems like every one of our employees that has gone to support these few customers in India has gotten sick.


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## begreen (Aug 23, 2019)

Sorry to hear that. I was centered in New Dehli. We traveled a month throughout Rajasthan. Would gladly go back. There is nothing like India.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 24, 2019)

Ashful said:


> You need to travel more.
> 
> I only go to India under direct threat of firing... and even then, I usually refuse.  You can have it, Jan!
> 
> Watch for the Dehli Belly.


Going to Korea and Germany next month. TX in October. November: Thailand/Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia. New Orleans in December. I need to travel less.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 24, 2019)

Ashful said:


> You need to travel more.
> 
> I only go to India under direct threat of firing... and even then, I usually refuse.  You can have it, Jan!
> 
> Watch for the Dehli Belly.


When I was here the first time, a few years ago, I said to myself, never again....and here we are.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 24, 2019)

My top 3 favorite countries: Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand.


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## begreen (Aug 24, 2019)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> My top 3 favorite countries: Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand.


For what reasons?


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## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 24, 2019)

begreen said:


> For what reasons?


Indonesia: I grew up with people from Indonesia, after WWII many people from Indonesia came to Holland. Indonesia has been Dutch "territory" for over 300 years. Been in Indonesia 8 times. In my neighborhood we were one of the few non-Indonesian families. People, nature, food (I like my food hot). The lady of the house has her roots in the Moluccan Islands aka spice islands. See photo
South Korea: People (beautiful, smart, well educated) food. Been there 7 times.
Thailand: food, I like my food hot. People. Been there 5 times.


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## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 24, 2019)

Jan Pijpelink said:


> Indonesia: I grew up with people from Indonesia, after WWII many people from Indonesia came to Holland. Indonesia has been Dutch "territory" for over 300 years. Been in Indonesia 8 times. In my neighborhood we were one of the few non-Indonesian families. People, nature, food (I like my food hot). The lady of the house has her roots in the Moluccan Islands aka spice islands. See photo
> South Korea: People (beautiful, smart, well educated) food. Been there 7 times.
> Thailand: food, I like my food hot. People. Been there 5 times.
> 
> View attachment 246746


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_(province)


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## Jan Pijpelink (Aug 24, 2019)

begreen said:


> Sorry to hear that. I was centered in New Dehli. We traveled a month throughout Rajasthan. Would gladly go back. There is nothing like India.


Let's be honest here. I am in a 5 star JW Marriott hotel and from my room window I see tent city, poverty all over, less than 200 yards from here. People have the same tarps as roofs, we use to cover our firewood. 5 Million cows roam free on the roads, people with absolutely no clothes on have a "house" made of 4 poles and a tarp on a highway intersection. This country is a mess, 85% live under the poverty line. 85% of 1.2 billion people. What are we doing? Well, the people are very friendly and the food is good. We need to change the world, just afraid it is not happening in my lifetime.


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## begreen (Aug 24, 2019)

Yes, India has some real stark contrasts, often all crammed into one big city. I hung out and ate at times with some of the "under the poverty line" people there if this means under what America considers to be the poverty line. What touched me was they were still generous and polite and happy people. I agree that way too much wealth is concentrated at the top, but money can't buy one happiness or love. Like you it was the people and food that I liked the most about India. But also, the history and the ability to touch, walk and even sleep in it was an unprecedented experience. I liken India to a roller coaster where our western sensibilities sit on the back seat. We found it to be a place of incredibly high experiences, sometimes followed by some serious lows only to be followed by another great high. Crazy but we loved it. Every day was an adventure.


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