Sultry Singapore

When I looked up sultry in the dictionary it was the perfect description of Singapore. There is something sexy about the architecture and the beautiful young people, the sleek quality of newness on every corner. And the heat. That's the best part of this definition. characterized by oppressive heat and humidity; "the summer was sultry and oppressive"; "the stifling atmosphere"; "the sulfurous atmosphere preceding a thunderstorm". I can't imagine living in a stifling heat like that all year round. That's all that I could think of in that heat: 'it's like this the whole year round'.

I enjoyed Singapore. It was clean and I felt like I was in a city that I could relate to again. It wasn't much outside of my comfort zone, an idea that was personified by all the of the western expats. We spent two nights in a classic hostel which was very central and pretty clean. On the 3-6th nights we stayed with a friend of Alex's, Lorrie. Lorrie worked with Alex in Ware at GSK. She was just transferred to Singapore for a year. Although Lorrie and I got along really well and I was very glad to have gotten to know her and spend time with her, it was also so nice to stay with her as we got to stay in a home. It's amazing how a home can feel after 6 weeks on the road. We got to do laundry and have music playing in the background, skype our families and generally feel safe and happy.

We ate some fantastic food, both at hawker centres and in restaurants. It is a very nice to place to visit, sorry Dad. Some of the sites we saw: Botanical Gardens (so georgeous, and free), National Singapore museum, Little India, Boat Quay, Clrke Quay, Colonial district and Central Business District, which really felt like Canary Wharf. Two things I want to see if we go back: the zoo, I was sorry we didn't get a chance to see that. and China town.

On our second to last day we went to Parasilk, an electronics store that my father found on through his online research to be the best store in Singapore for such things. And low and behold when I arrived, Lorrie confirmed this to be true. Well done, dad! We had a chat about cameras and we decided on the Panasonic LX3 Lumix. We took the camera out to play the first night and it takes some great photos. It is not as powerful as the proper SLR but because of the size I am so happy with it. We compared the processors with a couple of other small SLR-like cameras and this one had the best processor. It is not a large optical zoom, 3 I think, but the camera is 10 mega pixels, so we can always crop the picture after the fact. I feel like the size is the most important part of it, it is not only small, but it seemed to have better specs than some of its peers. The guy said it was good for night shots. And the brilliant thing is that it does do good photos in low light. If we want to open the shutter for longer, we can, but since it is not a real SLR you can't feel the shutter opening and closing. The result is that it doesn't quite do it as well, but I am so happy with this. The lens is also 24mm so we can take wide angle. The aspect can be changed from 4:3 to 3:2 (original 36mm film aspect) and 16:9. And of course, you can manually change all of the settings if you want. oh and you can set it to auto so it chooses the best setting, eg portrait or macro. Murphy was right about having a camera that takes good pix, it makes the world of difference.

On Tuesday morning we took a very early morning train out of Singapore and into Malaysia. it was a fine train ride other than the fact that we had said a proper goodbye to Lorrie with lots of drinks. It felt like an eternity on the train. We arrived in Jerantut around 1pm. We found a hotel and crashed. Jerantut is only a stopping point on your way to Taman Negara. We are currently in the little village that serves this national park. Taman Negara is apparently the oldest rainforest in the world, at 130 million years it survived the ice age. We hired a guide and went with a couple we met on our way up to the park. The couple, two Aussies, at the beginning of their year of travel, were the perfect hiking companions. The boys carried the heavy packs and the girls trudged along in our day packs. We trekked for 7 hours and made it to a hide, which is as it is described, a hut on concrete stilts to hide from animals. It was 12 wooden bunks and that's it. The toilet didn't flush. If no one is going to go out there every day (and they shouldn't) the park should put in squat toilets. It's much cleaner. Unfortunately we didn't see anything more than a Tapir, but it was worth the trek and the excitement of going out there. Today we hiked another hour to a jetty and got motorised canoe back to Kuala Tahan where our hostel is. Most of the last 36 hours can be better described with pictures. I haven't downloaded them yet, but I will, hopefully. I think one thing that can not be fully described is the amount of liquid our bodies expelled in this heat. It looked like each of us had gone swimming in our clothes. Alas it was only sweat. literally dripping. quite a picture. Canopy walkway tomorrow then off to KL.

If I have forgotten to tell everyone about anything in particular you were looking forward to hearing about, maybe I mentioned it to you or someone else? feel free to remind or ask me.

Off to bed to sleep in a mediocre mattress that will feel like the softest foam mattress after the wooden planks last night.

And then there were two...

After 2 days in Delhi, with a whirlwind tour of the sights we headed to Agra.  We saw the immense but incredibly beautiful Taj Mahal.  It was crowded, with mostly Indians, but the awesome presence was still there. The sheer amount of work that went into it is just amazing and totally pretty. That afternoon we were very skillfully tricked into going to look at a man's shop.  He was a very sweet man who showed us his entire collection of old coins and money from around the world.  We did end up buying a little necklace from him, well mom did.  but he was so sweet I just had to share him with you all.  The next day we went to Fatepur Sikhri.  This was one of the capitals of the Mughals.  If I remember correctly, Akbar was not producing heirs so he went to visit a holy man to bless his wife.  When she had three sons after that, he moved his capital there and built an immense fort (as all of them were immense).  The fort was only maintained for 13 years as there was not a great water supply.  Then back to Delhi.  NO MORE GUIDES!  we were totally guided out at this point. Our final day we went to see the red fort in Delhi.  And had the first rain in 6 weeks! Had a lovely final dinner at a revolving restaurant in Connaught Place.  It's a little hokey, but worth seeing Delhi from that viewpoint.

Today will be our first full day without any family.  We left Aleen yesterday, albeit at 5 in the morning, for the international airport in Delhi.  We had a painless flight to Singapore.  My first City-State.  Is that the right term for a city that is also the country?

The aiport is by far the nicest airport i've ever seen.  Now, it's possible that since I came straight from India the cleanliness surprised me more than I thought it would.  So if that was the case, it is in my top five nicest airports.  The design, cleanliness, layout, cleanliness, amenities, and oh yeah, cleanliness were all so beautiful.  I know the clean impact wasa reaction from India.  Alex has a friend who is on a graduate trainee program here with Glaxo Smith Kline so we first made our way to the McDonald's after Customs and Immigration to check our email, for free.  We couldn't stay with her immediately, so we headed to the Backpackers Cozy Corner on the edge of the colonial district.  The MRT was easy to navigate, and cheap at S$1.48 to go for a half hour to our stop from the airport.  Upon arrival, they had my reservation (Sorry dad, I had to book somewhere the first time, to ease leaving you guys, but you should know I don't have any others booked).  We freshened up and headed out.  We ate in one of the food courts.  Delicous food! I could be happy eating in Singapore for a long time.  The culture here is from many Asian countries so the food here is usually pretty good.  We had Bibimbab and a duck noodle dish for S$11 total.  We then walked around for about an hour.  Alex said a few times how he really felt like he was in the USA.  The feel of the streets has a strange western feel. But when that humidity wave comes over you, you remember you must be in SE Asia.  We are meeting up with Lorrie, Alex's friend this afternoon after work.  And hopefully we'll stay with her for a few more nights so we can afford to stay in Singapore. 

That's all for now.

love,
K

Correction

I would like to make it absolutely clear that the fantastic term "Globalia", used in my last entry was not created by me, but my witty brother Murphy.  On our second night in Kolkata, five of us went to dinner in a nice restaurant in a mall.  Yes, it is fairly normal to have nice restaurants in malls as it is where the upper crust go shopping. Opon arrival in the mall, we were all quite surprised that the stark difference between outside and inside.  The mall and its contents could have been anywhere in the globe.  When we entered the restaurant (Oh, Calcutta, it was named), Murphy declared: "oh, it's Indian Night at Globalia".  By far one of the best quotes from the trip.  I have now appropriated the term for the homogenising places around the world in my vocabulary.  Thanks Murphy.  And now it's clear who the term belongs to originally. 

K

Mumbai

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive of coming to Mumbai after the attacks.  I was in NY and London during their respective terrorist attacks.  I'd like to think that I have come a ways forward since I was so negatively affected in 2001 and 2005.  Retrospectively, I probably should have been more worried about going to Goa, as that would be a prime target for western tourists.  Now that I'm here I think this is my favorite Indian city.  Granted I have not been to most of the Indian cities, but I like this so much, I don't think any will surpass it.  I enjoyed Kolkata, it challenged me to be there, in a good way, and I came to appreciate the city, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't live there.  Mumbai on the other hand, I think I could live here.  Leave it to me to like the most expensive Indian city, where you end up paying half a million dollars for a flat! There is just the right mix here of cosmopolitan Globalia and traditional Indian. 

 

We are staying in Colaba, a trendy shopping area in the southern part of Mumbai.  We are only a few blocks away from the Taj Palace, which of course we had to go in when we saw it.  It is a huge imposing building on the waterfront opposite the gateway of India.  I loved that the tourists (all Indian) on the first night we saw it were taking two photos.  First, one with everyone in front of the Gateway of India, then another with everyone in front of the Taj.  (Then sometimes a third,  with us.)

 

Although the internet cafe I'm in is cool, why travel if I'm going to sit on the computer? so I will just mention a few things I'd like to share. 

 

The Dhaba-Wallahs, go look them up.  They are amazing.  They deliver lunches all over Mumbai and despite making 5000 deliveries a day, their system is so well designed, they make one mistake in 6 million. 

 

The dhobi ghats - a laundry place.  I can't describe the place, you've gotta look them up, hopefully there will be a picture. 

 

Tomorrow we are taking a tour through Asia's largest slum.  I know that sounds a little strange, but you do it with a guide company that puts 80% of its profits back into the community.  And I should also mention that even though it is a "slum", because of its lack of infastructure, it has a turnover of $700 million due to the small scale enterprises run within the slum.  We can't take pictures inside, which I think is fair enough, so I'll try to explain more once we see it.

 

We have seen more and eaten fantastic food, but I think that's it for now. 

 

All the best,

Katie

Alex's birthday

We went to a spice plantation two days ago which was wonderful to see the different kinds of spices all around, but i'm pretty sure it was almost identical to the one we happened to walk through in Kerala a few weeks ago.  oh well! the elephants up close made it worth the 6 dollars. 

Yesterday was Alex's birthday so we went to a south beach in Goa.  I'm pretty sure this beach (Utorda beach) will be in the top 5 best beaches I ever go to, if not the best.  it was idyllic, hot, free sun beds (with the purchase of drinks) with an umbrella, delicious seafood that i even enjoyed and last but certainly not least the arabian (!) sea was the most comfortable temperature with soft soft soft sand.  It was such a lovely day.

More to come soon. 

K

Taking photos

On my birthday, Murphy thought long and hard what he wanted when he traveled for 10 months in China in 2002.  He decided that it was a sophisticated camera, with more capabilities than a point and shoot.  After just buying a beautiful SLR just before he left for India, he SO graciously and kindly offer me his Nikon digital SLR.  Alex and I accepted to try it out for a week (Bob, Ashton, Morgan and Davi were leaving in a week and could return it).  I taught Alex the basics of an SLR and we each took a number of photos on it.  I loved taking night photos with it and motion photos with it.  I took an awesome one of a little girl at a reggae concert that we went to.  She was dancing around a bunch of dancing adults.  but for one moment, long enough for me to take the photo, she stopped dancing while they all continued.  I love the picture.  It wouldn't have been possible with a little point and shoot.  I should mention though that the first night in Pondicherry that Alex and I came uncomfortably close to losing the camera.  Thankfully it was India and as usual our stuff was very safe.  So we sent home the camera.   I think the camera is too big for us to take, but since I really enjoyed the camera for this week, I would like to look into a camera that I could buy in Singapore, if we can find the right one.  Here is where everyone comes in to help: perhaps if you like cameras and have done research or know someone who can help, let me know.  I was thinking of maybe one that can turn off the auto focus and also open the shutter longer in darker shots.  Is this only possible in a SLR or can we find something in between Murphy's camera and a little point and shoot in terms of capability and size? I will arrive in Singapore on Feb 11 and prob leave Feb 13.  So that's my timescale.

Lots of love and affection,
Katie

My birthday in Chennai

Last I left you we were rushing to the train station in Shoanur in
Kerala to make our way to Chennai. The travel agent we had used had
not secured confirmed tickets for our overnight train from Shoanur to
Chennai. The train we had 4 out of 12 confirmed tickets for was the
17 hour train, despite there also being a 9 hour train! So we went to
the station in hopes that our brilliant driver Sabu could get 8 more
beds for us. When we arrived our train was annouced 25 minutes late.
Sabu assured us that the train would be there for 15 minutes once it
arrived and he seemed very confident that he would be able to get
enough beds/seats. Keep in mind this also meant that he wouldn't have
to make the 16 hour drive there and back. So we waited on the
platform, all a little dismayed at what was to come next. Like a lot
of things in India if I hadn't seen the trains being used with my own
eyes, I would have thought they were completely derelict and hadn't
been used in 25 years. In fact, they seemed to run fine, if not a
little smelly and overcrowded. A train arrived on the platform we
were standing. There were some pretty funny guys who came over to say
hello, ask It wasn't our train. After 1.25 hours and much discussion
and speculation we realised that not only was this definitely not our
train, but ours was actually on the platform over the bridge. We all
hauled ass to the other platform. It was just pulling in. Sabu said
we should get on, so we got on. There were only beds with no doors
separating out the sections or even curtains. Some people were
already sleeping at 3 in the afternoon. We had all of our bags in a
very cramped area. After only a few minutes on the platform and just
as we heard the word from the person closest to the door to abort the
plan and we'll drive, we notice it's moving! Word travels, Sabu: "Oh
shit!" If it weren't for the obvious surprise and the urgency with
which he got off we would have thought it was his plan all along to
dupe us on the train and wave us goodbye.

So we all sat down, with a little help from our Indian compartment
mates, and hoped for the best. I would be lying if I said there
weren't some very nervous people in our group that thought we might be
sitting all night. There were about 8 areas with beds in them in each
car. Each area had 8 beds: two tiers of three and 1 tier of 2 along
the length of the car. The middle bed came down to make seats on the
bottom bed. We were a little spread out at first, but everywhere in
the car everyone made a huge effort to help us. Some moved to make
room for us and many made conversation where possible. I was really
touched and surprised how little they were annoyed by our crowding in
when we so clearly didn't have seats. Although they didn't know this,
we had paid for all the seats, we just didn't have them, we were
numbers 1-8 on the waiting list. There were many stops all the way up
to 10pm and even a few through the night. The ticket man, who was
called TT, knew about us and was extremely gracious about finding us
seats. There were three TTs through the night. The second one gave
us four more beds at about 9pm. Then at about 11.30 we recieved 3
more. Morgan and Davi were able to share a bed until 3am when the
(most dapper) TT gave us our final 12th bed! Just as we were all
getting in to bed and about to fall asleep Morgan, Davi, Murphy,
Ashton and Alex all came to my bed and sang Happy Birthday to me. We
spent the night of the 18th on the Train. At 6am we pulled into
Chennai. Even though it was a little scary that we wouldn't have the
beds to sleep on and it was pretty stressful, the whole experience was
amazing. The people were kind and really pleasant to talk to, the TTs
were helpful, and it was my Birthday!

I scoped out a breakfast place in Chennai. We went to a restaurant
called Saravana Bhavan. There are 17 of them in Chennai and a few
around the world, including one in Sunnydale, CA. Their food was
fantastic. They have huge dosas about 2 feet in diameter, and
everything we ordered was super tasty. Despite having Indian food for
the last 3 weeks, I still enjoy all the tastes. I'll probably be sick
of it after 6 weeks, but at the moment I'm still loving it. And for
someone who wouldn't eat it as a child, I think I've come a long way.

It's late but a quick update on the other places we have been. After
one day in Chennai, Murphy, Heidi, Luke and Liz went home to NY. The
remaining people went to Mamallapurim the next day for two nights.
Georgous stone temples and bas-reliefs but a little too many hippies
for me. Lovely little town and nice to be in for a little time,
especially nice to see the Ocean. Hilarie left to go home to LA the
same day the remaining 5 travelled to Pondicherry. After three nights
here (I am about to go to sleep on the 3rd night) we head back to
Chennai where Bob, Ashton, Morgan and Davi will be going back to NY.
Then there will be only three!

This was very quick and I certainly haven't shared all my thoughts,
but I wanted to get the basics down to let everyone know what's going
on. Please get in touch about specific things if you are interested.
I'd be happy to write more, even if it takes me a while to respond. :)
and as always, I'll try to write more as soon as I can.

Lots of love,
K