Miss Tourism Queen Asia- The Journey That Was






Finding My Sunshine

Written - may 19, 5:03pm 

View from my window seat in the plane


I am stuck in a plane...yes inside an airplane for the past three hours now. I have to catch a connecting flight to kathmandu from Guangzhou that leaves at 7 pm. And I am here at Shanghai airport, inside a plane listening to Taylor swift on loop and trying my best to avoid worrying.


'Worrying never solved any problems so why do it? ' said Buddha. He be a wise guy like that and I love abiding by his sayings. 


And as it is my Chinese co-passengers talking to each other in Chinese, flies right above my head anyway. But hey wait, the pilot just announced that due to bad weather people wishing to cancel this flight may do so. Slightly entering the panic zone now. Panic because I don't have my organiser's contacts nor is there internet around.

(They ask us to walk out to the lobby and wait for the flight)

Funnily though, I am happier to be outside here than inside the plane really. Of course I am gonna miss my flight to home because its already  6:15 now. At this point of time reaching Guangzhou or not, I am screwed either ways. 

But thank god I am out here because the overtly friendly gentleman sitting beside me was ....well....acting a little too friendly for my liking. And I would have agreed to return his friendly advancements  if he just wasn't so dumb to understand that I am not CHINESE, although I admit, I may look like one :/

And it's amazing how he can continue to make conversations with me in Chinese for hours ...despite of my relentless 'no speak Chinese. I no Chinese. Only English please' . Don't even get me started about the god awful breath he brought along in his 'delightful?' convos. Lol 

But hey, the man got my writing juices flowing, because I started pretend-writing on my ipad just to shut him up on the first place. Also listening to swifty again, after so long, made me realise how I miss writing my own songs too. So you see, everything happens for a reason, and the reason is always good. This would be my blog update after the longest time and I guess i have the bad-breathe dude to thank for it ;)

That said, let me tell you what happened at my finale last night. Miss China won. China had invested so much to fly in contestants from 37 countries, keeping them in a 5 star hotel and putting up a great show, with massive audience and a gigantic stage--  crowning their own delegate for the title seemed legit, I think. 
Miss China the winner of MTQA


And complaining about how the results of beauty contests are pre planned is such a boring cliche. So I will just leave it at that. The only thing that matters to me right now and the one thing that I know from my heart is that Nepal did good. Really good. Gave it her heart and soul and had a jolly good time all along. 


And guess with what title was Nepal adorned this time? They crowned Miss Nepal with yet another international title, the glorious crown of ....wait.....hear the drumrolls......PRESS PRINCESS!!! In all honesty, when us girls were first informed about the contest's subsidiary titles ... I had cracked up saying 'jeez what funny titles they have- miss charm , miss press princess??? Puhleez' and we all let out a hearty laughter. 

So you see when I was called out to receive the title, my gal pals were giving me these giggling glances and I really couldn't stop smiling the whole way when receiving it .... Giggle is what I wanted to do really. But hey an award is an award and this one's for you Nepal. Although I would've wanted to go for the big crown....ah well.

So, my first reaction when they called out my name? - ' Did I hear that right?'. Then my uber positive personality rushed in to my rescue, convincing me that I couldn't have been given a better suiting award than that. If you think of it, I started working as a journalist since the age of 17 and participated in pageants ever since 18, and interestingly have been very active in both till date. So really, I am the ultimate press princess ... One who is both behind and infront of the world of press :)




Love that flowy gown by my super talented pal Subu aka Subexya Bhadel :) 


It is times like these that i so enjoy the universe's sense of humour, really! And I can't be thankful enough for all the joys it brings along in my life from time and again. 

Reality though, Press Princess title stands for the contestant who manages to be a darling of the Chinese media coverage. And the fact that I earned maximum press attention among all the contestants makes me happy too. Donning the sash with my country's name across my chest oh-so-proudly... I had the time of my life here. 
As I now sit flipping through the pictures of my 10 days in the contest, I realise how badly I'm gonna be missing everything. And how lucky I am to be given an opportunity to be a part of something like this, twice in a row. As the driver drove me to the airport I couldn't help but regret how I couldn't bid a proper goodbye to some of the  good friends I made there; how i will probably never meet these girls with whom i shared one of the most amazing phases of my life. 

When with a Korean, pose like a Korean!
This morning as I left my hotel room with my Korean room mate dozing off in her bed, I got all teary eyed. Didn't have the heart to wake her up as all of us - the victims of final night partying that we were, had gone to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. And there I was leaving for my flight as early as 7 am. So I left her a note - THANKYOU for being a great room mate...I will miss you (smiley face). And I left. 
In a state of gratefulness, I can't skip mentioning the amazing love and support from everybody back home. THANKYOU so much everyone. To be supported like the way you did was my only real strength. True, how Nepal may not have huge sponsors to back up national contestants or have so much money to purchase title crowns ... but we have genuine love here. And that is a special gift to have. A priceless gift. 

Oops... HOME!?! thinking of home reminds me,  how tensed my family and friends must be right now , as I have been out of contact for exactly 32 hours now. They have no idea where I am, and I have no means of communicating with them either. 

Falling in love with Chinese babies ...so easy <3


But if they know me well, they know that wherever I am, I am safe, calm, happy and smiling. Notice that smile in every single picture of mine? It is so hard to wipe off that smile -honest. And for this life that I have been gifted with that I work to make amazing for me and everybody around me, everyday... Smiling is the only option that's up for grabs anyway :)




One of my favourite gals in the contest- Miss Mongolia


That said, I am back on the plane to Guangzhou. It's 8:45 pm now. If my connecting flight is also delayed, it'd work out great or me. If not? Well, I trust myself enough to find my ray of sunshine there too. I trust myself to reach home safely somehow and manage to successfully post this post.

Only .... The bad breath guy is back on my side, worse... he has started to let out big, durgandhit yawns this time, and I have no clue in hell as to how to deal with that.

And as much as I'm tempted to say 'I shall keep you all in the loop'. Believe me you wouldnt want to be in it. Its a miracle enough that im not nauseating already..... not just yet at least.  Yikes!!!


A big THANKYOU from the heart to all the supportive designers whose amazing designs I got to wear everyday at the contest. Special thanks to Subexya Bhadel who guided me in the contest's wardrobe selections like a true sister <3 love you Subu :)


Dress by Tenzin Tseten Bhutia 
Dress by AIRA 
Dress by Subexya Bhadel
Dress by Bishwo Gautam
But since the organisers had us wear sponsored clothes most of the time, I really couldnt parade much in my Nepali designer labels :( however a big, big thankyou to designers Mamta Gurung, Antee Gurung, Nuzhat Qazi and Swornim Rai for their unfailing support and love. Really guys, thankyou so much :')  





























Finale night dinner with the ladies 
The pivoting factor of the MTQA contest was the promotion of the hosting city Xitang in China. If you ask me, very Venice like, really. Loved and enjoyed every moment while it lasted :)




Update: The cancelled flight came as a boon in disguise. Got an entire day to explore the city of Guangzhou and do a little shopping along the way. Touched down KTM Tuesday night :)









Comments

  1. First of all a heartily CONGRATULATIONS! :) your journey is very inspiring and your ability to take every challenge that life throws at you with grace and sense of humor is phenomenal.. I will not lie. I didnt think it was fair to send you again for yet another international pageant. I though some other girl should have gotten the chance to represent Nepal. But I am glad you were the chosen one. Not only because you were successful again to bag yet another prestigious title but you bring in more enthusiasm and experience to help other hopeful Nepalese girls to represent out country and shed some positive light. I hope you continue to shine and be the source of inspiration for many in the days to come.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello there ,

      THankyou for your response :) But yes, got this question a lot from others too, and I guess if I were them I would be questioning the same thing as well. But me going to this contest this time was not on the basis of any selection procedure. The organisers of the contest in China specifically invited me back to the contest to celebrate their 10 years anniversary. And believe me as much as I had wanted another young, vibrant girl to represent Nepal, this offer I accepted as an honour to be summoned like the way they did. I hope this clears out most of the people's doubts out there... thankyou so much for giving me an opportunity to explain it all :) cheers

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  2. Yes , you really made us proud SAM djuu :)
    following back & hope you ll drop by mine as well:)

    Regards,
    RAJSHREE

    http://vintagegirlcorner.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. awww Bahini .... following you right back too ... thankyou so much for your comment ... <3

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  3. hello samriddhi di,
    I am not a regular blog reader, buh i do love to read ur blog wherever possible.u write so well...keep writing!

    n ya CONGRATULATIONS for ur success :)

    love,
    divya

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi :)
    You're like one of those people who can inspire others within a flick of a time. A hearty congratulations on your title di. You've made Nepal proud:)
    Much Love
    Kriti
    PS. I love your blog and I'd be looking forward in reading more from your blog pages)

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  5. A big congratulations to you for the award !!
    It's really nice of u too share your story with us.
    I enjoyed going through your blog.
    You are a great inspration to many young girls from Nepal.
    Keep shining !
    Much love
    www.colour3d-vogu3.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Miss tourism queen Asia is so beautiful.I like her and the blog also.


    Lakeview Lodge bed and breakfast gidgegannup

    ReplyDelete
  7. First of all hello Samriddhi:) I am just going to say a few things here OK? I recently came to know about you from your indeed very catchy and inspiring song "Biswas" and I am absolutely in love with you(lol as in someone I look up to).Living in Canada I actually don't really listen to many Nepali songs nor am I very fond of Nepali media and entertainment industry. Although you have absolutely been an exception to this in my case. I have watched all your available interviews and YouTube videos. You are indeed a big hope and inspiration to Nepalese youngsters and a valuable gem to our country. Keep shining:)
    (P.s- my name is samriddhi as well though lol) ;)

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. UR Posts are Inspiring n enjoy readin them. I nw words are not enough to describe the true moments and can only imagine hw awesome those moments must have been. Jealous !!! Everest Skydive OMG!!! I truly respect ur thought that life needs to be lived to the fullest n in every possible way.
    Abt Subek, even though we just had a 15min of moment together as a complete stranger to one another, that moment to me defined hw great a person he was. I met him in the hills of Larpark village during Earthquake relief mission a week before the accident. Fortunately being an aviation enthusiast myself, i happened to be doing air marshalling for him during landing on the slope helipad. He had people of MAF flown in at ground zero n was waiting . All of a sudden we connected over a cigarette n had a wonderful chat, over aviation hw his flying hours had exceeded , the scale of destruction in the area n things like wat i was doing. I happened to be delivering all essential basics to the villagers and had been living there for a week or so on behalf of BELIEVERS as man on the ground,waiting for more supplies, helping villagers build temporary tarpaulin shelters etc. Then all of a sudden Believers happened to b a friend of his also. Then the talk went even smoother and comfortable. And this I'll always remember of him "Timisanga Churot cha ?" then i showed him a filter less cigarette Brand Name "Sahara". I said "i ranout of Surya and this is giving me Sahara Now." He Laughed in a giggly way and went into the cockpit pulled out a mini Pack of Surya from his Jacket and said u can have it. So this is hw i remember him and the kind of guy he was. That Packet of Surya for me at that moment n situation, was the most Luxurious item i possessed in that rural 2700m hill which i am very grateful.
    Subek u'll always be remembered n Farewell until we meet again for a puff.

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