Exploring the streets of Singapore

I wanted to share a few more sights from Singapore. Our few days there were like a world tour. We spent time in Little India and Chinatown, which was complemented by drinks at the colonial Raffles Hotel. We skipped many of the usual sights like the zoo, the night safari and Sentosa. Instead, we spent most of our time walking around the different neighborhoods, enjoying the food and exploring the malls.

Little India - Almost like the real thing

Chinatown

Raffles Long Bar - Home of the Singapore Sling

In front of the Merlion Statue

Atop the Singapore Flyer

We were also there for Christmas and got to enjoy the festive lights and holiday decorations, along with the frenzied crowds doing their last minute shopping.

Finally, there were a few things about Singapore that I just loved, all dealing with a woman's place in society. First, I thought it was refreshing to see women wearing shorts. Personally, I haven't worn a pair since moving to India and I only see the occasional tourist wearing them. I will admit that even I think, "What is she thinking?" when I see it. Second, we saw many female bus drivers. Again, not a big deal, but definitely something you never see in India. And maybe my favorite was the visibly pregnant host at the restaurant in the Marriott. Again, working pregnant women are not a sight you see often enough in India.

I realize that these comments will only be appreciated by a few (and most notably, Brooke) but I think they are worth sharing anyway.

So, I guess that wraps up Singapore. I still have to write a few posts on Bali, as well as my upcoming adventures to Sydney and Hong Kong.

Eating our way through Singapore

I'm WAY behind on posting about our travels, so you probably already know that we spent Christmas in Singapore and then New Year's in Bali. We liked Singapore so much that we went twice! Well, not really, but we did get to continue our exploration of the city with a day and a half on the way back to Delhi from Bali.

And we loved it. Singapore was clean, modern, cosmopolitan and had amazing food. We basically ate our way through the city, enjoying seafood, Chinese food and really anything that we thought looked interesting.

Some of our favorites were:

• Prawn noodles and char kway teow at Food Republic in Wisma Atrium. I don't know the name of the stall that we went to. We just picked the one with the longest line. This was a great idea because the food was yummy.


• Chili crab at Jumbo Seafood. We liked this so much that we ate at the one at Clarke Quay AND the one at East Coast Seafood Park.


• Dimsum at Din Tai Fung in Raffles City Center. It took us awhile to locate the restaurant, which was at the back of the basement food court in the mall. But once again, looking for the big line helped us out. We *tried* to eat here twice - but it closed just as we arrived for one last ride of dimsum before our flight out. Boo.
  

Prawn Noodles at Food Republic

Char Kway Teow

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Chili crab at Jumbo Seafood - yummy!

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We also did several rounds at many of the popular hawker stalls in Singapore where we samples some of Singapore's most favorite foods.

Tian Tian Hainese Chicken Rice at Maxwell Food Center in Chinatown

Duck Rice at Maxwell Food Center, Chinatown

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Chili Crab at East Coast Seafood Center (taken from a moving car)

Satay at Lau Pa Sat

We're looking forward to returning one day and continuing our culinary tour of the city and all that it has to offer!

It's about time

Anyone who has traveled to India has likely witnessed numerous men peeing along the side of the road. It happens in the city and rural areas alike.

Part of the problem is certainly poverty - many people do not have access to toilets and running water. Alongside railroad tracks, it's a common sight to see men, women and children bathing and conducting other activities in full view of passing trains.

But there's a huge social problem where people (ok, men), think it's fine to do this in public. In the evening, you'll see men stop their cars or bikes to relieve themselves in not so private places.

Last weekend in my neighborhood, two stopped in the middle of a bridge. A guy who used to work in my office told a story of how he stopped on his way home one night. (He was subsequently hit by a motorcycle and slightly injured, so I guess he learned his lesson).

It seems that the New Delhi government is finally taking steps to curb such behaviors. Of course, it's mainly because the city doesn't want to be embarrassed when it hosts the Commonwealth Games next year, but that's fine with me if that's what it takes.

The city is launching a new ad campaign on billboards intended to "shame" people into proper behaviors to help clean up the city. It will tackle spitting, littering, and my personal favoring, urinating in public, all accepted norms here.

New Delhi launches no peeing in public campaign (CNN.com)

I don't know if it will actually work, but it's worth a try. And it's definitely better than doing nothing at all.

Back in India

We returned to Delhi last Tuesday and I returned with a cold. A nasty cold and a chest infection. I still haven't fully recovered, but I'm feeling much better.

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And fortunately, I recovered enough to spend some time with my cousin Randy who was in town. As you may have heard me say before, Randy has the best job ever. Ever. He works for Sports Illustrated and originally worked on their website. But a few years ago he stumbled upon the opportunity to be the "On Location" photographer for the swimsuit edition. So now, he travels with the team as the shoot each year's swimsuit edition.

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And that's only half of it - he also gets to travel to amazing locations around the world where they receive star treatment. This year he's been to the Maldives, Portugal and India. And he has another international trip coming in a few weeks, but I can't tell you where. Oh yeah, and he gets to hang out with the models.

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In any case, after spending 2 weeks at Amanbagh Resort in Rajasthan, Randy added on a few extra days to his trip so he could visit Ani and me in Delhi. On Friday, I was a pretty worthless tour guide and hobbled my way through a visit to Humayun's Tomb and Khan Market. And on Saturday, I bailed on a trip to the Taj because I didn't think my body could take 8+ hours in a car. So Randy had to venture off on his own, but fortunately he was in the good company of Raju, our driver.

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But I think on Sunday, I was back in action as a hostess. First, we ventured to Connaught Place where we hopped on the metro and headed to Old Delhi. The metro was incredibly crowded for a Sunday afternoon, but it still proved to be the most efficient way to reach Old Delhi. Once there, we took cycle rickshaws through several markets to reach Jama Masjid. And of course, we ate at Karim's, a requirement for any trip to Old Delhi.

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We continued on through a bunch of other markets: the firework market, the motor markets, the silver and jewelry market, the spice market, the pan market, and of course the paper market. And like all good trips to Old Delhi, we stopped for dahi bhalla and ended in Haldiram's to buy sweets.

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On our way back home, we intended to make a brief stop at Ani's house. This turned into a much longer, but incredibly enjoyable visit where Randy got to meet most of Ani's family and enjoy the hospitality of an Indian home. Randy also took about a million photographs of the kids and the rest of the family.

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Later that evening, we said goodbye to Randy and dropped him (and all of his equipment) off at the airport. Now, we're patiently waiting for the next visitor (Brooke in late November), so we can continue to show our friends the wonders of India.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Delhi has finally emerged from 4 days of straight rain. Monsoon rains, you may say. But actually, it was about two months too late for the monsoon season. June and July were unusually dry for much of India, resulting in drought conditions across the country. While many of my friends and colleagues rejoiced at the cool, wet weather, I exclaimed that it was gross and nasty. Rain + dust makes a lot of mud.

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But the worst part is definitely the traffic. Delhi still suffers from poor infrastructure, including crappy roads and non-functioning drainage systems. Heavy rain, even for a few hours, leads to lots and lots of flooding. And I'm not sure what they use to build roads here, but it seems to disintegrate with a drop of water.

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Last Friday was Day 2 of the continuous rain and I was headed to my office in Gurgaon. On a typical morning with traffic it takes about an hour to get to the office, despite the fact that it's only 25 km (16 mi) away. One of my colleagues had warned me that it took her well over two hours to reach the office and she'd left home before 7:30am. I didn't attempt to head out until 9:45am thinking that traffic would improve. But on this day, I spent about 45 minutes in traffic and barely ventured 10 kms from my house. Fortunately, my boss called me from his car to say that he was stuck in traffic and was turning around and heading to our other office. I promptly replied that I was going to do the same. It only took about 15 minutes to make a u-turn in the traffic.

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And then the rains continued and continued...

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The sun finally emerged on Sunday and things returned to normal. And by normal I mean that yesterday we were stuck behind a procession of villagers traveling on about 20 carts pulled by oxen. Oh, India.

Back in Action...maybe

I just realized that it's been almost three months since my last post and I don't really have a good excuse. I can't really blame it on Bravo, our wonderful puppy. I was also away for a few weeks in late June/early July for my trip to DC/Chicago/Turkey, but I've been back for well over a month.

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Four days at home was not enough, but it was certainly better than nothing. The best part was that I flew home for free (and business class!) thanks to my training session in Chicago (well, outside Chicago) the following week. All of this was capped off with a week in Turkey with Kelly and Brooke. We met in beautiful and "central" Istanbul from our respective homes in the 3 Ds - DC, Doha and Delhi. I won't be able to do justice to the amazing trip here, so I will refer to you Brooke's blog where she's done a wonderful job of capturing the sights, sounds and culinary delights of Istanbul and Bodrum.

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Now back to India, where I've been since early July. Things are hot-hot-hot, as Indian summers usually are. And this summer has also been quite dry. Many parts of the country are experiencing drought conditions, crops are failing and prices are rising. Despite the serious impact this will have on the economy, it is not the main news story of the week.

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Instead, all of India is up in arms about the treatment of their biggest Bollywood star, Shah Rukh Khan, during a recent trip to the United States. US Immigration officials allegedly gave him a hard time when he was entering the country at Newark Airport. They did this by asking him questions like, "Why are you entering the US?," "Where are you going?" and "Can anyone vouch for your identity?" Sure, he's made nearly 100 films and is one of the most recognizable faces in India, but how many people in the US really know Bollywood film stars?

Oh, and there was a similar uproar a few weeks ago when a former president was subjected to additional screening by Continental Airlines on a flight from Delhi to Newark. I think there's more merit in this uproar, but to keep it in perspective, this is all coming from a country where stars and politician always get VIP, or even VVIP treatment. (Do you think those with only VIP status feel inferior)?

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VIPs and VVIPs don't get screened at airports, they don't pay tolls, they are given around-the-clock security guards and motorcades that block traffic for hours. In case you can't remember just who qualifies for this status, you can check the lengthy list of "special" designations on display at airport security or the entrance to a toll plaza. Yes, these lists really exist.

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So, that's my update for now, but there's more to come. I swear.