Lombok and Gili islands
India (Delhi/Gurgaon and Hyderabad)
China
Lombok is a sister island of Bali. It's supposed to be the up and coming Bali. We didnt really explore here because we used it as a hop off to Gili island. The "Gili islands" are 3 small islands between Lombok and Bali. I took 2 days off work and it felt WEIRD because we did NOTHING on this island. So if you know me, i started to get restless. Thinking of all the emails piling into inbox, feeling behind, not getting things done on time. In fact, i'm stressing myself out NOW!
India: I went for a week and planned to work out of our offices at this time. I thought it worked well because Daniel was in India for Nikesh Arora's visit and Aliza was in China anyways. BUT, i got super sick (shocker!) and ended up staying in my bed for like a day and feeling tired and behind on work. BUMMER! But, its always nice to be out of Singapore and in a new place. I was able to eat some good food, see the crazy streets of India, meet people in the office, enjoy nightlife of Delhi/Hyderabad, do some shopping at Dili Haat and other markets.
China: Went for work for our management offsite which I had organized. I really liked China! Maybe it helped that I was able to stay at a decent hotel near office and that my really cool colleague C was there to go out with. But yea, everyone was nice, it was clean! I expected Chinatown in San Francisco. But no, streets were cleaned up and i didn't see any homeless people / beggars. There was a language barrier issue FOR SURE. Most don't speak English so i had to carry around paper with addresses for every cab driver. I saw the olympic stadium, great wall, Tiananmen square... night life was also fun and met some cool expats. Cool man!
August 15, 2009
Virus
=====
My computer has a freaking virus.
=====
Last night me and some friends threw a party. Pretty good turnout, good speakers. and guess what? I made Hummus! I got good feedback!
I used Stephanie's blender. to mix the following
1. Put in the Tahini that Ima brought me. I think it must have been 1.5 cups.
2. Mix in water until smooth and creamy
3. Add juice from 3 lemons
4. Salt and olive oil to taste
5. Garlic to taste
6. Blend in the garbanzo beans (i used canned because too lazy).
Simple as that! Ima and Aba, did i miss anything???
=========
Friday night I also made soup. I called it root soup because it was made of 3 root vegetables:
1. Bangkuan (aka Jicema)
2. Beets
4. Daikon (Japanese radish)
For broth, used veggie base, pepper, ginger powder, chili powder ...
========
I made a kick butt salad but havent eaten it yet because i want to go to gym first.
Includes: Spinach leaves, watercress leaves, corn, yellow bell pepper, tomato, sprouts, garbanzo beans, feta, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper
=======
I also just prepped some veggies that i plan to grill on the pan when i get back from gym. The three ingredients come from 3 different continents! I was thinking of the people who harvest and collected my food and how far it came. My portobello mushrooms are from Malaysia, so more or less local (i try to do local when possible), my brocollinis are from Kenya! I have never bought veggies (that i know of) from Africa. Anyways, even though far, i thought it was kinda cool. THEN my asparagus is from the US. I believe they have asparagus from thailand/malaysia as well but i was at Cold Storage so just went ahead and bought them. Anyways, i plan to grill with a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper. YUM!
Do all portobello mushrooms have a funky smell? I think they smell funny. I read/heard somewhere that you're not supposed to full on wash portobello mushrooms because it makes them soggy or something. Anyways, i try to follow this rule more or less. So i run water over the top only (i mean, it rains on mushrooms, righ?) but don't wash the bottom where are those flaps are. Then i use a paper towel to wipe the top/sides. And i cut the bottom of the stem.
My computer has a freaking virus.
=====
Last night me and some friends threw a party. Pretty good turnout, good speakers. and guess what? I made Hummus! I got good feedback!
I used Stephanie's blender. to mix the following
1. Put in the Tahini that Ima brought me. I think it must have been 1.5 cups.
2. Mix in water until smooth and creamy
3. Add juice from 3 lemons
4. Salt and olive oil to taste
5. Garlic to taste
6. Blend in the garbanzo beans (i used canned because too lazy).
Simple as that! Ima and Aba, did i miss anything???
=========
Friday night I also made soup. I called it root soup because it was made of 3 root vegetables:
1. Bangkuan (aka Jicema)
2. Beets
4. Daikon (Japanese radish)
For broth, used veggie base, pepper, ginger powder, chili powder ...
========
I made a kick butt salad but havent eaten it yet because i want to go to gym first.
Includes: Spinach leaves, watercress leaves, corn, yellow bell pepper, tomato, sprouts, garbanzo beans, feta, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper
=======
I also just prepped some veggies that i plan to grill on the pan when i get back from gym. The three ingredients come from 3 different continents! I was thinking of the people who harvest and collected my food and how far it came. My portobello mushrooms are from Malaysia, so more or less local (i try to do local when possible), my brocollinis are from Kenya! I have never bought veggies (that i know of) from Africa. Anyways, even though far, i thought it was kinda cool. THEN my asparagus is from the US. I believe they have asparagus from thailand/malaysia as well but i was at Cold Storage so just went ahead and bought them. Anyways, i plan to grill with a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper. YUM!
Do all portobello mushrooms have a funky smell? I think they smell funny. I read/heard somewhere that you're not supposed to full on wash portobello mushrooms because it makes them soggy or something. Anyways, i try to follow this rule more or less. So i run water over the top only (i mean, it rains on mushrooms, righ?) but don't wash the bottom where are those flaps are. Then i use a paper towel to wipe the top/sides. And i cut the bottom of the stem.
July 01, 2009
Tardiness and cleanliness
I've been super bad about tardiness, so I suppose I shouldn't complain, but these people are LATE!
oops- they came right when i said that. Some people just came by to look at my apartment. Well, it was an Indian girl and an Indian guy who was accompanying her. She seems nice and I think we'd get along. She seems independent (works long hours, travels, has hobbies, friends, etc). Anyways, i dont feel like too much in a rush to find a roommate (ive gotten used to living alone).
My apartment is sparkling clean right now. Boss A's live-in maid is trying to make some extra cash while the kids are away for the summer so I asked her to come here. When i first moved in, I thought I would do all the cleaning myself, but that has changed. Anyways, she is doing a great job and most importantly, i trust her :)
I am super tired right now and dont really know what i feel like saying, so good bye!
oops- they came right when i said that. Some people just came by to look at my apartment. Well, it was an Indian girl and an Indian guy who was accompanying her. She seems nice and I think we'd get along. She seems independent (works long hours, travels, has hobbies, friends, etc). Anyways, i dont feel like too much in a rush to find a roommate (ive gotten used to living alone).
My apartment is sparkling clean right now. Boss A's live-in maid is trying to make some extra cash while the kids are away for the summer so I asked her to come here. When i first moved in, I thought I would do all the cleaning myself, but that has changed. Anyways, she is doing a great job and most importantly, i trust her :)
I am super tired right now and dont really know what i feel like saying, so good bye!
June 14, 2009
Major catch up
Ima reminded me about how bad I've been about communication... and it's true! I haven't posted in 2 months and a lot has happened!
1. I've moved apartments.
2. Been to Koh Phangan for take 2 of Full Moon Party
3. Bali, take 2
4. And the most exciting... Ima came to visit for 2 weeks and we spent a week in Cambodia (both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh)
5. We had out SEA office conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia... spend a weekend at the hilton with friends (think: yummy yummy breakfast buffet).
6. Now I am in Tokyo with L... and loooving it. We're at a McDonalds on the 2nd floor looking over the streets of Romponggi... the party area, duh.
Other small things...
-I'm working on a very simple sunflower painting. It's like 3/4 done and I've only spend like 2 hours on it. :-) but you know that's how i do
-My hair is growing out, so im in debate of whether i want to restraighten or try to grow it our curly again.
Argument for rebonding: so much easier in the morning (i dont even need to blow dry... just wash and go) and i dont need to go through the growing out stage. Right now, I'm just wearing hairbands every day. i bought a bunch of cute ones with K so im not always wearing those wide bands i also use to work out with :)
-Ive been only half assing Chinese class so my Mandarin sucks. I go with my laptop so end up doing work half the time, i dont practice, ive missed like 2 classes... and im about to miss 2 more. i am, however, doing a lot better than most of my other colleagues who just never show up.
TOKYO SO FAR:
-L and I left Saturday (yesterday) at 11 am and landed at 9:00ish. Then we took a bus to Romponggi where we decided to stay the night.
Accommodations: I mentioned Romponggi is the party place, so you have to notice our logic! The bus from the airport takes 1.5-2 hours, so when we get to Tokyo, we may as well be where we want to go out. So, we are staying at this place called like VIVI Super Sauna... everyone we showed the address to laughed at us. It's a capsule hotel. If you don't know what this is, search it. It's basically a place to stay the night and the beds are like all in one room and theyre a tiny box. Capsule hotels are mostly used by business men who work in Tokyo but live far away. If they work late or go out drinking with friends, it doesnt make sense for them to take hte train all the way back, so they just stay at one of these decently priced capsules. We have curtained beds, but some places are actually boxed in rooms which you can see into! i suppose they have curtains though. Anyways, this place is actually super cute! Of course you take your shoes off before you go in. We pay like 4,400 Yen for a place from like 5 pm to 10 am (though they didnt seem to charge us for the time we spent in between both nights since we're staying another night). Everyone gets a locker in a common room (robe, PJs, towels are provided). There are common shower/bath/sauna areas. They provide the shampoo, conditioner, shower soap (all Shiseido brand), razors, brushes (which are already "pre-toothpasted"). They also have the really hot bath (basically a hot tub) but you can only go in after youve showered. Our luggage we're storing in the back office. This place is filled with random women who just come for the day. Women and men areas are totally separate, duh. There are also massage chairs and a little restaurant.
2. So after we showered we headed out at about 12:30 am. We were told people stay out all night, so we aimed to do the same. This is like the circus nightlife of Tokyo. Lots of randoms, foreigners, but also funny locals. We mostly people watched in the street but also went in and out of all the bars/clubs making fun of people. We even managed to talk our way into a club which is said to have a strict entry fee. Anyways, we are seriously staying across the street from all of this so it was perfect!
3. At 4:30 amish we decided to have ramen. We split this at one place and then went to another place and had creamy udon with scallops. also inari with eel. YUM. (we came back to this place for dinner today).
4. we woke up at 2 pm... and made it to Hojuko (sp?) by like 5 pm. This is where all the people who dress up in costume hang out. They dress up in anything from cartoons to goth. THere were also some CRAZY-like 50's style men dancing around like drunken maniacs. throwing beer cans around and spitting the beer in each others faces. But i think we missed the peak hour at Hojuku because supposedly most of hte costumer goers come out in the morning. These people who dress up are said to be teens, mostly, escaping their real lives
5. Then we stayed in that area and watched other people shop since it was too expensive. we also got delicious choco banana ice cream crepes. it started to pour.... came back, had dinner. now im here. going to work tomorrow should be fun. the train is said to be unbearable at peak hours. yay.
1. I've moved apartments.
2. Been to Koh Phangan for take 2 of Full Moon Party
3. Bali, take 2
4. And the most exciting... Ima came to visit for 2 weeks and we spent a week in Cambodia (both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh)
5. We had out SEA office conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia... spend a weekend at the hilton with friends (think: yummy yummy breakfast buffet).
6. Now I am in Tokyo with L... and loooving it. We're at a McDonalds on the 2nd floor looking over the streets of Romponggi... the party area, duh.
Other small things...
-I'm working on a very simple sunflower painting. It's like 3/4 done and I've only spend like 2 hours on it. :-) but you know that's how i do
-My hair is growing out, so im in debate of whether i want to restraighten or try to grow it our curly again.
Argument for rebonding: so much easier in the morning (i dont even need to blow dry... just wash and go) and i dont need to go through the growing out stage. Right now, I'm just wearing hairbands every day. i bought a bunch of cute ones with K so im not always wearing those wide bands i also use to work out with :)
-Ive been only half assing Chinese class so my Mandarin sucks. I go with my laptop so end up doing work half the time, i dont practice, ive missed like 2 classes... and im about to miss 2 more. i am, however, doing a lot better than most of my other colleagues who just never show up.
TOKYO SO FAR:
-L and I left Saturday (yesterday) at 11 am and landed at 9:00ish. Then we took a bus to Romponggi where we decided to stay the night.
Accommodations: I mentioned Romponggi is the party place, so you have to notice our logic! The bus from the airport takes 1.5-2 hours, so when we get to Tokyo, we may as well be where we want to go out. So, we are staying at this place called like VIVI Super Sauna... everyone we showed the address to laughed at us. It's a capsule hotel. If you don't know what this is, search it. It's basically a place to stay the night and the beds are like all in one room and theyre a tiny box. Capsule hotels are mostly used by business men who work in Tokyo but live far away. If they work late or go out drinking with friends, it doesnt make sense for them to take hte train all the way back, so they just stay at one of these decently priced capsules. We have curtained beds, but some places are actually boxed in rooms which you can see into! i suppose they have curtains though. Anyways, this place is actually super cute! Of course you take your shoes off before you go in. We pay like 4,400 Yen for a place from like 5 pm to 10 am (though they didnt seem to charge us for the time we spent in between both nights since we're staying another night). Everyone gets a locker in a common room (robe, PJs, towels are provided). There are common shower/bath/sauna areas. They provide the shampoo, conditioner, shower soap (all Shiseido brand), razors, brushes (which are already "pre-toothpasted"). They also have the really hot bath (basically a hot tub) but you can only go in after youve showered. Our luggage we're storing in the back office. This place is filled with random women who just come for the day. Women and men areas are totally separate, duh. There are also massage chairs and a little restaurant.
2. So after we showered we headed out at about 12:30 am. We were told people stay out all night, so we aimed to do the same. This is like the circus nightlife of Tokyo. Lots of randoms, foreigners, but also funny locals. We mostly people watched in the street but also went in and out of all the bars/clubs making fun of people. We even managed to talk our way into a club which is said to have a strict entry fee. Anyways, we are seriously staying across the street from all of this so it was perfect!
3. At 4:30 amish we decided to have ramen. We split this at one place and then went to another place and had creamy udon with scallops. also inari with eel. YUM. (we came back to this place for dinner today).
4. we woke up at 2 pm... and made it to Hojuko (sp?) by like 5 pm. This is where all the people who dress up in costume hang out. They dress up in anything from cartoons to goth. THere were also some CRAZY-like 50's style men dancing around like drunken maniacs. throwing beer cans around and spitting the beer in each others faces. But i think we missed the peak hour at Hojuku because supposedly most of hte costumer goers come out in the morning. These people who dress up are said to be teens, mostly, escaping their real lives
5. Then we stayed in that area and watched other people shop since it was too expensive. we also got delicious choco banana ice cream crepes. it started to pour.... came back, had dinner. now im here. going to work tomorrow should be fun. the train is said to be unbearable at peak hours. yay.
April 06, 2009
Avocados
I love avocados. I buy 3 for 5 dollars almost every week. I usually eat half for breakfast on a piece of wheat toast with some salt and the other half in my salad.
I love avodacos so much that i'm painting them! this saturday i went to Bugis to Bras Basah complex with K and dug through an art store. I bought 12 tubes of paint + one larger white one... a 12X16 canvas... some brushes... and voila! im back to oil paining. ive been wanting to paint avocados for awhile... 1. they're pretty easy. draw a circle, right? 2. i love the colors! Anyways, im 1/3 through.
What else did I do this weekend? Friday evening I went to hip hoppening Arab St with some colleagues for middle eastern dinner plus shisha/hookah/nargila... whatever! Saturday i got my hair cut and then headed to paint store.
sunday i did my grocery shopping and cooking. I bought lentils, carrots, celery. eggplant. bell pepper, chilis... I heated up all the veggies and boiled the lentils and mixed them up. I always make in bulk and then divide into 12 or so small containers. This way I can freeze them and they last forever. Plus, theyre already prepacked and ready to grab on the way to work!
I just watched 2 episodes of Entourage... it's a sick sick addicition.
I better head to bed because Im waking up at 6 am for 7:15 power yoga! I love working out in the mornings. If i dont work out in the mornings or at lunch, it's no good...
Also, 3rd day of chinese class. hopefully ill be able to hold a conversation in a few more weeks.
gnight
I love avodacos so much that i'm painting them! this saturday i went to Bugis to Bras Basah complex with K and dug through an art store. I bought 12 tubes of paint + one larger white one... a 12X16 canvas... some brushes... and voila! im back to oil paining. ive been wanting to paint avocados for awhile... 1. they're pretty easy. draw a circle, right? 2. i love the colors! Anyways, im 1/3 through.
What else did I do this weekend? Friday evening I went to hip hoppening Arab St with some colleagues for middle eastern dinner plus shisha/hookah/nargila... whatever! Saturday i got my hair cut and then headed to paint store.
sunday i did my grocery shopping and cooking. I bought lentils, carrots, celery. eggplant. bell pepper, chilis... I heated up all the veggies and boiled the lentils and mixed them up. I always make in bulk and then divide into 12 or so small containers. This way I can freeze them and they last forever. Plus, theyre already prepacked and ready to grab on the way to work!
I just watched 2 episodes of Entourage... it's a sick sick addicition.
I better head to bed because Im waking up at 6 am for 7:15 power yoga! I love working out in the mornings. If i dont work out in the mornings or at lunch, it's no good...
Also, 3rd day of chinese class. hopefully ill be able to hold a conversation in a few more weeks.
gnight
February 20, 2009
Birthday
When everyone asked me what I was doing for my birthday, I told them that I had just come back from Bali and that was good enough! Even though I am not a huge fan of Bali. Anyways, my bday landed on a Tuesday and I already had evening plans for Wednesday and Thursday.
I flew into Bali by myself - super early on the 14th (yes, valentine's day) and flew out super late on the 16th (so spent my bday at the airport). Kim and AM were already there and Loubna was meeting us later.
On night of 16th...actually 12:10 am on the 17th, I guess it was some other kid's bday and while we were in the waiting room to board the plane, a big group started singing Happy Birthday and for a second I freaked out. Phew, not me!
Remember how last time I went to Bali I bitched and moaned about that stupid airport tax you have to pay on your way out? Well the security guard remembered me from 3 months prior. lol, i think i really scare people.
anyways... on Tuesday, our tech stop guy IMed me to tell me that I had a virus and that it was urgent so I had to come see him NOW. I freaked out because I had been downloading tons of mp3s and thought I'd caught something. When I walk up to the tech stop, it's super dark through the glass door and when I open it, my colleagues sing me happy birthday and there is delicious cake. and i mean DELICIOUS cake. as much as I say that I don't care about this stuff, it was really nice. And my friend Loubna bought me perfuuuume! Armani Code baby! My favorite stuff. Woo hoo!
It's Friday night and 10:30 pm. I've decided against going out tonight!!! I'm TIRED.
I flew into Bali by myself - super early on the 14th (yes, valentine's day) and flew out super late on the 16th (so spent my bday at the airport). Kim and AM were already there and Loubna was meeting us later.
On night of 16th...actually 12:10 am on the 17th, I guess it was some other kid's bday and while we were in the waiting room to board the plane, a big group started singing Happy Birthday and for a second I freaked out. Phew, not me!
Remember how last time I went to Bali I bitched and moaned about that stupid airport tax you have to pay on your way out? Well the security guard remembered me from 3 months prior. lol, i think i really scare people.
anyways... on Tuesday, our tech stop guy IMed me to tell me that I had a virus and that it was urgent so I had to come see him NOW. I freaked out because I had been downloading tons of mp3s and thought I'd caught something. When I walk up to the tech stop, it's super dark through the glass door and when I open it, my colleagues sing me happy birthday and there is delicious cake. and i mean DELICIOUS cake. as much as I say that I don't care about this stuff, it was really nice. And my friend Loubna bought me perfuuuume! Armani Code baby! My favorite stuff. Woo hoo!
It's Friday night and 10:30 pm. I've decided against going out tonight!!! I'm TIRED.
February 12, 2009
Agra, Himalayas, Mumbai, Goa, Kerala
Taj Mahal, Agra
Loubna and I went to the Taj Mahal by car. This is about 4 hours. To be honest, it's quite pretty, but I was expecting to be blown away. Instead, I was like, yeah, eh, let's take some photos. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's really pretty! I love that it's all white and it really does look pure. They don't allow polluting cars within a certain radius to drive around the taj mahal in an effort to keep it nice and white and pretty.
After L and my trip to agra, we decided that we just wanted to go through a travel agency to book all our flights/trains in advance. Pros/Cons:
Pros:
-When you know you have to be somewhere, you can relax where you are and enjoy it vs. trying to plan the next thing or making a decision for how long to stay.
-You don't have to worry about flights selling out, etc.
-The processes in India can be quite annoying and tedious (think: long lines and language barrier), so she relieves a lot of stress
Cons:
-if you DO really like a city and you want to stay longer, you're kind of stuck. At the same time, if you hate it, you're also stuck
-you have to trust the travel agent, and i prefer to trust myself
-our travel agent also caused us some stress...see below
SO - when we get back to Agra, we stop by a Delhi tourism office. It's about 10:30 pm and theyre closing at midnight. By now, we had failed with Rajasthan (i.e. Jaipur incident) so we decided to go ahead and do other things that interested us and if we had time left at the end, we would return.
So we told the travel agent how much time we had left (2 weeks) and what cities we wanted to see (Mumbai, Goa, Kerala). Some other folks we befriended were doing the Himalayas and wouldn't stop raving about how fun and beautiful it was. And when the travel agent recommended it himself, L and I took this into serious consideration. We had our mind set on the other cities, and we did not want to travel to too many locations, but we were convinced! A houseboat with the gorgeous backdrop of the Himalayas, we couldn't say no for long.
So we ended up going by car (BAD idea). The drive took about 13 hours so it "wasted" a day. But at the same time, I did enjoy the ride. Why?
-Traveling by land gives you a much better perspective of where you are and how the land changes before you reach your destination. The journey is a very important component. if you fly, you blindly go from one city to another, with much less context. So despite the painfully long drive, in a way, it proved to be worth it.
While driving, I finally decided to pull our my tour book to see what they had to say about the Himalayas. That's when it hit me that we were going to Kashmir!!! EEEEK! I kinda freaked out in the car but did not want to say anything to Loubna. First of all, my coworker S, who had given me a lot of advice on India (she was working for the UN for ~ a year), told me that the ONLY place I shouldn't go is Kashmir. And she was serious! And it didn't help at all when the only thing my book said was something like "no bloodshed in history has taken place in such an beautiful backdrop as in kashmir. due to recent political battle and crossfire, we highly recommend that you do not visit Kashmir. because of this, we will not talk about it in this book."
Ok, so now I was really freaked out. At first I was silent in the car but then started to ask the driver a million questions about what the situation was like and he reassured that nothing has happened in year (i believe it was only in 94 or 97...). My book was from 2005 (which gave us an extra 3 years of cease fire).
Anyways, I was a bit edgy upon arrival. When we arrived, it was pitch black and it was FREEZING. Not only that, but we had to get into this small rocking boat to get to our houseboat. So right now, I had no idea where we really were. I had NOcell phone reception (which freaked me out the most). I was in a country where two trustworthy sources advised me NOT to go. L and I are two women... No one really knew I was in Kashmir because we decided to go in a whim. UGH... but the delhi tourism company sent us here, it has to be ok, right?!
Anyways, there was a man waiting for us who tended to the houseboat and the guests. He put our t hings in our room and give us these big rubber balloons. These balloons were LIFE SAVERS. it was soooo cold outside and they were filled with hot water. You lay with them in bed to keep warm and they keep warm almost ALL night! So L and I were under abotu 10 layers of blankets and went to sleep. I was hoping to wake up the next day.
Kashmir
Morning. Beautiful! Crisp air. Shopkeepers selling goods on their little boats, going from house boat to house boat. Women laughing in their boats, traveling from houseboats to street side. Our housekeeper made us breakfast which consisted of really really fried eggs. I mean, it looked like they were dropped in a tub of oil and scooped out. We ate this with some hard bread that looked like thick lavash and washed this down with masala tea. From here, we took a 3 hour tour of Dal Lake (spelling?).
The next three days involved boat tours, inland shopping and even a dinner at a newly made friends house! The goods that they sell in Srinagar, Kashmir include Kashmir shawls, paper mache vases/bowls, saffron, walnuts, cashews, apricots, tea... yummy.
We met a fellow by the name of Ali. He took us to his home for dinner. It was his aunt and uncles house, where he was raised. I must say, it is always an honor to be invited to someones home for dinner, especially as a stranger. THe evening included sitting around on the floor. The family eats on the floor in the same room as they prepare food. I dont think this is necessarily because they can't afford furniture (they had a big home), but because that is just how it's done! They sat us down and gave us blankets and those rubber balloons to keep warm. They had a "helper"/servant who came around with warm water and poured it over our hands to wash. The family ate with their hands. L and I opted for forks. Eating with ones hands it already quite tricky, and when you have to crouch over your food while sitting on the floor, it seemed even tougher! So, they made plain rise, rise with peas, some curry veggies, and some meats in curries. The woman of the house plopped a big piece of chicken thigh on my plate and I did not want to say no! I nudged L and when she thought no one was looking, she grabbed it off my plate. The family was really quite nice but the only person that really spoke to us in english was the uncle... who was interested in Obama...
By the end of the trip, I wasn't worried about my safety.
We flew out of Kashmir. A LOT of security. About 4 pat downs and rummaging through our bags a few times.
Mumbai.
We went to our prebooked hotel. The first day we called some friends in Singapore to ask them to give us their contacts in Mumbai. We decided to meet them for drinks later in the evening. In the meantime, Loubna and I went to Causeway... the street that Leopold's is on. Leopold's Cafe is the restaurant that the terrorists attacked and killed. We decided not to eat there and opted for a cheaper place down the street.
Then we met the friends at a bar in Baga. L and I decided to take the train to Baga instead of taking a cab. Train is 6 rupees = about 10 cents. It was much faster than a cab!
Mumbai is a bit weird. Several expat men with their Indian girlfriends. The people are pretty sophisticated and fashionable. It seemed like the Los Angeles of India, where people care about image. Well, this is home to Bollywood! as LA is home to Hollywood.
The next day L and I went to the India Gate on Marine drive. This is opposite the Taj hotel. Also a landmark which was attacked by terrorists. Then we had lunch and went to see a Bollywood movie called "Luck by Chance". Although it's in Hindi, there is a lot of English interlaced and the plot is simple enough to follow. It was fun!
GOA
Then we had an overnight express train out to Goa. I had SUCH a good sleep on the train to Goa. I thought I would die and be extremely tired the next day, but I slept so well! The "cabins" are set up so there is a bench that turns into a bed and a lofted bunk bed on top. There are three of these in one room. We had a Muslim family with baby girls, sitting across from us. When it came to sleeping, we let the family take the two lower beds and loubna and i went to the top. The whole night you have chai-wallas going up and down the corridor saying 'coffee, coffee....tea, tea.... sandwich, sandwich..."
Goa is an interesting place! There didn't seem to be too many tourist tourists. I say tourist tourists because there were A LOT of white people. Almost every person on their scooters were some old hippy white people.
Let me correct some stereotypes about Goa. It is not the crazy party place that it was in the 60s/70s when the hippies "discovered" it. It is not some paradise. It is not the place from the 90s with beach raves.
Instead, it was pretty peaceful. Also, most people credited the Mumbai attacks for low tourism. So most of the time L and I wandered from beach to beach and enjoyed a lassi here or there. Goa is also famous for its cashew and coconut 'fenny' - an alcoholic beverage. I didn't like it too much.
Kerala
Kerala is the state further south of Goa. Portugese/Dutch influence. Kerala houses some of India's few jews. And when I say few, I mean about 4 families and 11 people. I forgot why the jews came here in the first place (probbaly some sort of persecution) and then picked up the spice trade. of course, merchants :) there is even a small jewish cemetery and temple which we visited. Most of the jewish families who lived here moved to Israel in 1948 when Israel started allowing immigration to all jews.
This is all in old Kochi (fort Kochi) which is a ferry ride away from where we were staying on the mainland. Here, they also have a dutch cemetary, some cathedrals, and chinese fishing nets. I did not enjoy the food so much in Kerala. At this point, I also got a bit sick actually. The last day in Goa, Loubna got up to go shopping and I layed miserably in bed. In fact, I'm feeling a bit sick now. I don't think working 12 hour days is very healthy. (i.e. im in office and it's almost 10 pm....)
L and I also decided to see a movie in Kochi. We saw Slumdog Millionaire which takes place in Mumbai. Great movie, you should see it. The man at the ticket booth told us "yes, English".... but it was only half english. there was no translation during the Hindi part. Ah well, I have the movie on my computer.
We also spend a day touring the back waters. This is what Kerala is famous for. There are some "back waters" which comprise of canals and a LOT of palm trees. Homes line the shore and you can sneak a peak into village life as you wade down the canals. We stopped to visit someones "backyard" and our tour guide gave us a small lecture on the different vegetation and edibles. My favorite was this small green juicy cucumber looking thing which grows on trees in bunches. REALLY sour. It tastes like the stems of those yellow flowers I used to eat. Anyways, with a bit of salt, it was fabulous! Makes you pucker, but in a good way. I love my sour and salt.
After this, we were basically done with India. Our flight to Delhi was delayed so we only arrived at 11 pm. We were supposed to meet up with coworker K and friend to celebrate our last night in India, but they opted for sleep instead. L and I decided to go out, since she had not yet seen Delhi nightlife. With a flight at 8 am, we did not sleep a wink!
Ok, time for me to leave this office. Hope you enjoyed my India adventures and I hope that you too will be able to visit one day
Loubna and I went to the Taj Mahal by car. This is about 4 hours. To be honest, it's quite pretty, but I was expecting to be blown away. Instead, I was like, yeah, eh, let's take some photos. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's really pretty! I love that it's all white and it really does look pure. They don't allow polluting cars within a certain radius to drive around the taj mahal in an effort to keep it nice and white and pretty.
After L and my trip to agra, we decided that we just wanted to go through a travel agency to book all our flights/trains in advance. Pros/Cons:
Pros:
-When you know you have to be somewhere, you can relax where you are and enjoy it vs. trying to plan the next thing or making a decision for how long to stay.
-You don't have to worry about flights selling out, etc.
-The processes in India can be quite annoying and tedious (think: long lines and language barrier), so she relieves a lot of stress
Cons:
-if you DO really like a city and you want to stay longer, you're kind of stuck. At the same time, if you hate it, you're also stuck
-you have to trust the travel agent, and i prefer to trust myself
-our travel agent also caused us some stress...see below
SO - when we get back to Agra, we stop by a Delhi tourism office. It's about 10:30 pm and theyre closing at midnight. By now, we had failed with Rajasthan (i.e. Jaipur incident) so we decided to go ahead and do other things that interested us and if we had time left at the end, we would return.
So we told the travel agent how much time we had left (2 weeks) and what cities we wanted to see (Mumbai, Goa, Kerala). Some other folks we befriended were doing the Himalayas and wouldn't stop raving about how fun and beautiful it was. And when the travel agent recommended it himself, L and I took this into serious consideration. We had our mind set on the other cities, and we did not want to travel to too many locations, but we were convinced! A houseboat with the gorgeous backdrop of the Himalayas, we couldn't say no for long.
So we ended up going by car (BAD idea). The drive took about 13 hours so it "wasted" a day. But at the same time, I did enjoy the ride. Why?
-Traveling by land gives you a much better perspective of where you are and how the land changes before you reach your destination. The journey is a very important component. if you fly, you blindly go from one city to another, with much less context. So despite the painfully long drive, in a way, it proved to be worth it.
While driving, I finally decided to pull our my tour book to see what they had to say about the Himalayas. That's when it hit me that we were going to Kashmir!!! EEEEK! I kinda freaked out in the car but did not want to say anything to Loubna. First of all, my coworker S, who had given me a lot of advice on India (she was working for the UN for ~ a year), told me that the ONLY place I shouldn't go is Kashmir. And she was serious! And it didn't help at all when the only thing my book said was something like "no bloodshed in history has taken place in such an beautiful backdrop as in kashmir. due to recent political battle and crossfire, we highly recommend that you do not visit Kashmir. because of this, we will not talk about it in this book."
Ok, so now I was really freaked out. At first I was silent in the car but then started to ask the driver a million questions about what the situation was like and he reassured that nothing has happened in year (i believe it was only in 94 or 97...). My book was from 2005 (which gave us an extra 3 years of cease fire).
Anyways, I was a bit edgy upon arrival. When we arrived, it was pitch black and it was FREEZING. Not only that, but we had to get into this small rocking boat to get to our houseboat. So right now, I had no idea where we really were. I had NOcell phone reception (which freaked me out the most). I was in a country where two trustworthy sources advised me NOT to go. L and I are two women... No one really knew I was in Kashmir because we decided to go in a whim. UGH... but the delhi tourism company sent us here, it has to be ok, right?!
Anyways, there was a man waiting for us who tended to the houseboat and the guests. He put our t hings in our room and give us these big rubber balloons. These balloons were LIFE SAVERS. it was soooo cold outside and they were filled with hot water. You lay with them in bed to keep warm and they keep warm almost ALL night! So L and I were under abotu 10 layers of blankets and went to sleep. I was hoping to wake up the next day.
Kashmir
Morning. Beautiful! Crisp air. Shopkeepers selling goods on their little boats, going from house boat to house boat. Women laughing in their boats, traveling from houseboats to street side. Our housekeeper made us breakfast which consisted of really really fried eggs. I mean, it looked like they were dropped in a tub of oil and scooped out. We ate this with some hard bread that looked like thick lavash and washed this down with masala tea. From here, we took a 3 hour tour of Dal Lake (spelling?).
The next three days involved boat tours, inland shopping and even a dinner at a newly made friends house! The goods that they sell in Srinagar, Kashmir include Kashmir shawls, paper mache vases/bowls, saffron, walnuts, cashews, apricots, tea... yummy.
We met a fellow by the name of Ali. He took us to his home for dinner. It was his aunt and uncles house, where he was raised. I must say, it is always an honor to be invited to someones home for dinner, especially as a stranger. THe evening included sitting around on the floor. The family eats on the floor in the same room as they prepare food. I dont think this is necessarily because they can't afford furniture (they had a big home), but because that is just how it's done! They sat us down and gave us blankets and those rubber balloons to keep warm. They had a "helper"/servant who came around with warm water and poured it over our hands to wash. The family ate with their hands. L and I opted for forks. Eating with ones hands it already quite tricky, and when you have to crouch over your food while sitting on the floor, it seemed even tougher! So, they made plain rise, rise with peas, some curry veggies, and some meats in curries. The woman of the house plopped a big piece of chicken thigh on my plate and I did not want to say no! I nudged L and when she thought no one was looking, she grabbed it off my plate. The family was really quite nice but the only person that really spoke to us in english was the uncle... who was interested in Obama...
By the end of the trip, I wasn't worried about my safety.
We flew out of Kashmir. A LOT of security. About 4 pat downs and rummaging through our bags a few times.
Mumbai.
We went to our prebooked hotel. The first day we called some friends in Singapore to ask them to give us their contacts in Mumbai. We decided to meet them for drinks later in the evening. In the meantime, Loubna and I went to Causeway... the street that Leopold's is on. Leopold's Cafe is the restaurant that the terrorists attacked and killed. We decided not to eat there and opted for a cheaper place down the street.
Then we met the friends at a bar in Baga. L and I decided to take the train to Baga instead of taking a cab. Train is 6 rupees = about 10 cents. It was much faster than a cab!
Mumbai is a bit weird. Several expat men with their Indian girlfriends. The people are pretty sophisticated and fashionable. It seemed like the Los Angeles of India, where people care about image. Well, this is home to Bollywood! as LA is home to Hollywood.
The next day L and I went to the India Gate on Marine drive. This is opposite the Taj hotel. Also a landmark which was attacked by terrorists. Then we had lunch and went to see a Bollywood movie called "Luck by Chance". Although it's in Hindi, there is a lot of English interlaced and the plot is simple enough to follow. It was fun!
GOA
Then we had an overnight express train out to Goa. I had SUCH a good sleep on the train to Goa. I thought I would die and be extremely tired the next day, but I slept so well! The "cabins" are set up so there is a bench that turns into a bed and a lofted bunk bed on top. There are three of these in one room. We had a Muslim family with baby girls, sitting across from us. When it came to sleeping, we let the family take the two lower beds and loubna and i went to the top. The whole night you have chai-wallas going up and down the corridor saying 'coffee, coffee....tea, tea.... sandwich, sandwich..."
Goa is an interesting place! There didn't seem to be too many tourist tourists. I say tourist tourists because there were A LOT of white people. Almost every person on their scooters were some old hippy white people.
Let me correct some stereotypes about Goa. It is not the crazy party place that it was in the 60s/70s when the hippies "discovered" it. It is not some paradise. It is not the place from the 90s with beach raves.
Instead, it was pretty peaceful. Also, most people credited the Mumbai attacks for low tourism. So most of the time L and I wandered from beach to beach and enjoyed a lassi here or there. Goa is also famous for its cashew and coconut 'fenny' - an alcoholic beverage. I didn't like it too much.
Kerala
Kerala is the state further south of Goa. Portugese/Dutch influence. Kerala houses some of India's few jews. And when I say few, I mean about 4 families and 11 people. I forgot why the jews came here in the first place (probbaly some sort of persecution) and then picked up the spice trade. of course, merchants :) there is even a small jewish cemetery and temple which we visited. Most of the jewish families who lived here moved to Israel in 1948 when Israel started allowing immigration to all jews.
This is all in old Kochi (fort Kochi) which is a ferry ride away from where we were staying on the mainland. Here, they also have a dutch cemetary, some cathedrals, and chinese fishing nets. I did not enjoy the food so much in Kerala. At this point, I also got a bit sick actually. The last day in Goa, Loubna got up to go shopping and I layed miserably in bed. In fact, I'm feeling a bit sick now. I don't think working 12 hour days is very healthy. (i.e. im in office and it's almost 10 pm....)
L and I also decided to see a movie in Kochi. We saw Slumdog Millionaire which takes place in Mumbai. Great movie, you should see it. The man at the ticket booth told us "yes, English".... but it was only half english. there was no translation during the Hindi part. Ah well, I have the movie on my computer.
We also spend a day touring the back waters. This is what Kerala is famous for. There are some "back waters" which comprise of canals and a LOT of palm trees. Homes line the shore and you can sneak a peak into village life as you wade down the canals. We stopped to visit someones "backyard" and our tour guide gave us a small lecture on the different vegetation and edibles. My favorite was this small green juicy cucumber looking thing which grows on trees in bunches. REALLY sour. It tastes like the stems of those yellow flowers I used to eat. Anyways, with a bit of salt, it was fabulous! Makes you pucker, but in a good way. I love my sour and salt.
After this, we were basically done with India. Our flight to Delhi was delayed so we only arrived at 11 pm. We were supposed to meet up with coworker K and friend to celebrate our last night in India, but they opted for sleep instead. L and I decided to go out, since she had not yet seen Delhi nightlife. With a flight at 8 am, we did not sleep a wink!
Ok, time for me to leave this office. Hope you enjoyed my India adventures and I hope that you too will be able to visit one day
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