The travel guide was a fine gentleman named Mr Peter, and he's really friendly and told us stories about the city. Finally we get to sit on a comfortable coach after the sitting on the cramped seat in the budget airline. Packed dinner was served to us and it is pretty alright, being the first meal in Bangalore for us. Shortly, we were in our room in St. Marks Hotel. It was quite a luxurious hotel to me, and for the first time I'm staying in a proper hotel.

And the first day of our trip started. After buffet breakfast, we visited Sri Sri College of Ayuvedic Science and Research. They showed us how they used herbs they plant and the dissections of various preserved human body parts. We went into a class that was studying on a actual dead person that was preserved.We were also showed how they have to identify the herbs from the sample herbs kept in a room. Ayuvedic Science existed more than 5000 years ago, all in Sanskrit, and students are supposed to learn the common herbs that is in the Sanskrit. There were lots of portraits and pictures of Ravi Shankar around the college, and he was the founder of the Art of Living and had done a lot for his people in India. After the tour, we had our lunch in the college. We all used our hands to dine, and it was a decent meal. Butter milk was also served, and it is supposed to help in our digestive tract but the taste and smell of the drink, let's just say it's unbearable. They also had a prayer room beside the dining area and I went in to take a look. I really felt a sense of calmness when I was inside the room. We continued our tour after waiting for arrangement because there was some unseen circumstances that delayed the tour an hour or so after lunch. The bumpy bus ride was an enjoyment, and we soon got to the garden that they plant their herbs. For different plants, there are different parts used for different purposes, using different methods. And we had our first cup of chai after we got back to the college. We were already tired out. Buffet dinner at St. Marks hotel before first day was over.

Day 2 was visit to Mallya Hospital and Hosmat Hospital. The hospital was really different from the ones in Singapore. The two hospital was pretty near to St. Marks Hotel. and the tour wasn't really long, and that left us some free time for shopping and stuff. We had our lunch in a Chinese restaurant, but 3/4 of the food was Indian food and curry. I followed my friends around but did not really buy anything. We went to the hotel's lounge after coming back from the shopping to drink. We had a good time chatting. They have statues of Mary and Jesus around the hospital of Mallya. Shopping time yet again. We went to M.G. road and commercial street.

Bull temple visit and Sri Radha Krishna Temple Visit on Ganesha Chaturthi Festival for Day 3, and it was really one-of-a-kind experience. It was quite a waste that we couldn't go to the Ganesha temple because of the long queue due to the festival. They really pray to countless god. After the temple visit, we headed for Orion Mall at Brigade Gateway. It was a pretty nice mall with a nice condo beside it, and I bought myself a top, while accompanying the people who were buying sarees. The sarees there were awesomely beautiful. I went to get my lunch, a piece of pizza. And then more shopping, We went to commercial street again, and I bought some souvenirs and a Levi's jean, which was way cheaper than if I were to buy in Singapore. We went to a supermarket to 

Day 4 was such a waste because we were trapped in St. Marks Hotel because of the Bharat bandh. Activities were boring while we discussed about the bandh. They chosed the day because of the previous days were Ganesha Chaturthi, and most people declared holiday, and the streets are empty throughout Karnataka. The Bandh was up because of mainly 2 issues, the protest against diesel price hike and protest against Tesco and Carrefour to be set up in Karnataka.

Day 5

Narayana Hrudayalaya is really a hospital that has inspired me by a huge extent. I was so touched to tears by the amount of charity the hospital has given, and is giving still.They're doing 32 heart surgery on average, and this number of surgery is never seen in any other cardiac hospital in the world. They've got people from more than 65 countries and because the hospital had this system that the patients can pay-as-much-as-they-can, fulfilling the motto and mission of the hospital "To bring healthcare to common men". The hospital is really up to standard, and comparable with hospitals in Singapore.They've also a special space for paediatric heart patients, from 1 day old to 12 years old. And because even those who could not afford can get heart surgery, especially the poor people like farmers, they sees this Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty as god. Because common men can get surgery, they really did not care about the money, but only the number of people they can save. We also saw one of the best facilities of healthcare, which is the telemedicine. It can deliver healthcare to many rural parts of India and other parts of Asia, and they've 15 to 20 video conferences a day on average. They've also set up hospitals with a total of 14,000 beds all over India, and they're going to expand into US. 

More information about this awesome heart surgeon, the director of Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital.

(http://www.thesmartceo.in/growth-enterprise/narayana-hrudayalaya-from-the-heart.html)

We also visited Biocon which showed us to the procedures of how the pharmaceutical products are being made, and the place is quite polluted with nasty smells. After the tour we went back to St. Marks Hotel to have the last meal in Bangalore and we were on our way to BIA. I was already missing Bangalore already. We greeted goodbyes to the tour guide and then here I'm, at home again, back to boring reality. I didn't really get anyone any souvenirs as I was too hesitant during the shopping time I had, sort of regretted. 

Overall thoughts

To witness so many beggars in Bangalore, I really appreciate so many more small things in life, and I will strive to complain lesser and work to help more people who are in need. I really felt their pain and even more when I can't even help them in anyway. It really made me realized how fortunate I'm, and I really dislike how people can give no sympathy at all to these unfortunate people.