Spring Break Part I - Singapore

This year's Spring Break was the first time in our marriage that we've both had the same week off of school. In Cairo, since we worked in different schools, we seemed always to have different school calendars, which meant that we had to limit our travels to long weekends (as we spend our summers in the US). This was a bit limiting, as there is only so far you can travel in a weekend (and still be back home in time to go to work on Monday). Well, in honor of this, our first joint Spring Break, we decided to venture further afield than ever before - and visit Australia.

Australia is not on the way to anywhere, so flights there seem to be generally very expensive. Luckily, there are a number of budget airlines here in Asia, each of which service different cities in Australia. We found a sale on tickets to Perth (in Western Australia) on "Tiger Airways." To help our American friends envision Tiger Airways - imagine Southwest Airlines then strip away all remaining frills and a fair dose of passenger dignity. Also, imagine the world's tiniest seats (designed, no doubt, with petite Asian posteriors in mind, rather than ample American rumps). That's Tiger Airways.

Tiger is based out of Singapore, and nearly all their flights are routed through there. On our way to Perth, we found ourselves with an 18 hour layover in that city. Usually that sort of layover would be a bit of a nightmare, but we decided to make an adventure out of it. We booked a hostel in the city, where we slept a few hours, then set out for a quick 1 day self-guided tour of the city center. Here are some of the highlights of that day:

I think this is the Singapore most people envision. Tall sky-scrapers, blue tropical skies, and general cleanliness. Those things are all true, although I think most people forget that "tropical" is usually a synonym for "sweaty." Singapore is situated only 1 degree north of the equator, so it is a place of both extreme humidity and intense sunshine. We both lost a few pounds of water weight walking around the city.


I think the second most widely-known fact about Singapore centers around its quirky legal system. As mentioned earlier, Singapore is a city of great cleanliness and order. This situation is no accident, and the city indeed does seem to have a law for everything. Its most famous law is the one centering around chewing gum. It is illegal to possess (god forbid chew) gum in Singapore. Emily pretty much always carries gum in her purse, and on our first morning in Singapore, we discovered that she still had half a packet of the contraband with her. As we were already technically breaking the law by simply having gum in our possession, we decided to fully embrace the lawless lifestyle and chew gum. We tried to be discreet, although I think we attracted a few stares when we took the above picture.

I can't offer much comment on the above picture, except to note that the building in the background is one of the newest additions to Singapore's skyline. It's the "Marina Bay Sands" hotel, with a roof-top swimming pool that's famous throughout the far east. We didn't bother going inside.

Whenever we visit a new country, we try to send a postcard to our nephews Daniel and Benjamin (Rob & Stacy's kids). The twins are two and a half years old, and we've been mailing them postcards since the week that they were born (we were in Thailand that summer). Although they can't yet read them, their mom is saving these postcards for them. We hope that one day these postcards will inspire the boys to be curious about the world beyond their hometown. The above picture is the first time I've been able to capture Emily in the act of writing one of these postcards.


I think that for me (Brad), there are two things that I'll remember about our one day in Singapore. First, the food (it's an amazing mix of Thai, Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Western cuisine. I could definitely see myself putting on a few pounds if I lived in Singapore). Secondly, the architecture. Singapore, like Hong Kong, was a British colony since the mid 1800's. Compared to Hong Kong, Singapore's downtown area seems to have a higher proportion of colonial buildings to modern skyscrapers. It seemed that everywhere we looked, there was a nineteenth century colonial structure (like the police station above) with a modern steel-and-glass office building next door. My favorite, however, was the Anglican Cathedral (below). Surrounded by well-groomed green grass and sweeping banyan trees, it seemed to embody the colonial experience: a tiny piece of Europe transplanted into the heart of the tropics. Note the intense blue skies and gathering rain clouds (the afternoon rains came about half an hour after I took this picture).

That afternoon, after a quick walk around downtown Singapore, we headed back to the airport for the last leg of our trip to Perth. We'll write about our adventures in Australia over several blog posts. A sneak peek at our next post: Rottnest Island.

Feel free to comment on anything you like. If you need some prompting, try this topic: Do you think it was an accident that Emily brought gum to Singapore, or was this a premeditated act, perhaps the first in a pattern of open rebellion against authority in general?

Down under

We are off to Australia in 1 hour....I better get home and make sure everything is ready to go!We are making sure to get to the airport early because with our credit cards we get into the elite travelers lounge, makes me feel like an important person. But then we are getting onto a budget airline and will feel less important immediately. Next post after we get back. Happy Spring Break

Buble, Lama Island and Kousherie

We had a very fun filled weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPUJIbXN0WY
(for your listening pleasure)

Friday: Ruthie (or Anne as she is referred to here in HK) and I went to see Michael Buble in concert. Ruthie was sad to find out that he is engaged to be married, so her chances at marrying him are getting slimmer *sigh* We had pretty good seats and got to sing all our favorite songs. Ruthie and I even had a sleep over at her house and I slept on what I think has to be the hardest mattress in the world!



Saturday: Brad and Rudy met us down in Central and we went on a ferry to Lama Island. Our pup has to be one of the best traveled animals in the world. He has been on planes, ferries, taxis and buses. We all loved hiking around, sitting on the beach and enjoying gorgeous 70 degree weather. We ate in the cutest little vegetarian restaurant on Lama and felt like we were back in Portland.

Sunday: We all headed to church and to our Sunday lunch spot of late (McDonalds, it is a bit scary how much we eat there now that we are in HK). We then went to a different church to meet up with some Egyptians who are in HK as part of their immigration (to some unknown western country) process. It was fun to talk Arabic! Then continuing on in the Egypt theme we had Ruthie and her two roommates over for dinner and make Kousherie (the national dish of Egypt, sorry Tyler).

We are off to Australia on Friday after work and can hardly wait for Spring break to start!

India pt.4 - Pushkar

By the time we left Jaipur, we had already completed all three main cities on the popular "Golden Triangle" route. For the last 2 nights of our trip, we decided to head beyond the triangle to the tiny town of Pushkar (see map). This was the part of the trip that made us all nervous. We had read virtually nothing about the city, and what we had read was cryptic. The guidebooks and websites we had read beforehand described the town as the "Holy City of Rajasthan," a place where meat, eggs, and alcohol were prohibited (out of respect to Hindu traditions). The Lonely Planet Guidebook was the most colorful in its description of Pushkar: "A place where people experiment variously with spirituality, marijuana, and facial hair." It seemed like a town that could be either colorful or terrifying.

When we got to the town, our driver had to let us off some blocks from our hotel. You see, in addition to a total prohibition on meat and alcohol, Pushkar also has a visible lack of motorized traffic. Whether this is an attempt at protecting the peace and quiet of the town, or an unintentional side-effect of the city's narrow, pre-modern streets, it certainly does change the atmosphere of the town. In downtown Pushkar, pedestrians don't have to navigate around cars, taxis, or tuk-tuks... just cows, stray dogs, open sewers, and maniacs on motorbikes.

Our hotel was the most pleasant of our entire trip. Our room was spacious and clean, with brightly colored walls and hand-painted floral murals on the ceiling. The rooftop of the hotel had been set up as a restaurant, from which one could look out over the entire town. Also, Pushkar being such a small town, power outages were quite frequent. Our hotel managed this inconvenience by delivering lit candles to our room every night (just in case of a power outage). Not bad for $15 US per night.

The town itself was small and an ambitious traveler could likely see all of the sights in an afternoon. Having 2 nights in Pushkar, we decided to slow things down a bit. We took long strolls through the marketplace (being a bit of a backpackers' destination, there were loads of souveniers on offer: from hand painted kashmiri boxes to scarves to linen pants). It seemed like just about everything was priced at 100-150 Rupees ($2-3 US). We filled our suitcase pretty quickly.

Brad & Rus decided to do some impulse shopping. These shirts were the result.

Aside from the affordable trinkets and relaxed pace of life, Pushkar's main attraction is the "Holy Lake" at the center of town. Hindu mythology claims that the lake was formed when a lotus flower fell from the hand of Brahma (the chief deity of the Hindu pantheon). Hindu pilgrims come from all over to bathe in the sacred lake. "Ghats" or small temples, ring the lake, most of which have stairways leading down to the water's edge:

One of the "Bathing-Ghats"

The Brahma Temple (there are only a couple of these in the world - one's in Pushkar)

If pressed to account for the time we spent in Pushkar, I would have some difficulty. We slept in
a lot. We ate very long meals. We visited one temple. And, we went for a short hike one afternoon to watch the sun set over the town. Other than that, we mostly just wandered around the town, snapping pictures of scenes from Rajasthani life and haggling with shopkeepers over trinkets. We bought a lot of pottery.

Some highlights of our stay in Pushkar:

Taking pictures of small-town life from our hotel's rooftop.
Late afternoon hike to the top of a nearby hill to watch the sun go down:

Long lunches in the company of friends:
Rickshaw rides:
Watching the local wildlife from our balcony:
Ok, this last one could use some explaining...

We went out for Italian food on our last night in town. The sign at the restaurant's entrance said, "Ask for anything you want... ANYTHING." Obviously my curiosity was aroused. So, when we placed our order, I casually said "I'll have the gnocchi and a beer please." The waiter waggled his head in classic Indian style. Five minutes later, I had a mysterious, foil-wrapped can in front of me. When the waiter left, I carefully peeled back a corner of the foil to discover that I had indeed been served a can of Kingfisher (the ubiquitous Indian lager). Eyeing my frosty beverage with envy, Rus exchanged nods with the waiter. The beer was certainly short of spectacular, but the knowledge that we were breaking the rules somehow made it taste much better.


Our flight home from India was scheduled for midnight on a Saturday evening. We checked out of our hotel in Pushkar at around 10 that morning, and made the long (8 hours) drive back to Delhi. The car ride was long but uneventful, and we made it to Delhi at around 7pm. This left 5 hours to kill in the airport (after having spent 8 hours in a car). Boredom set in fairly quickly. To pass the time, our friend Mel grabbed the camera and led us in a little game. She would outline a set of imaginary circumstances, and we would make faces to match that scenario:


As always, feel free to comment on whatever you like. A special challenge for those of you who are having a hard time coming up with a comment: What was the imaginary scenario that caused us to make the faces in the above picture?

India pt. 3: Jaipur

The "Pink City" of Jaipur, viewed from the Temple of the sun god "Surya"

Most tourists who visit Rajasthan travel a circuit known as the "Golden Triangle." This itinerary includes Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur (usually returning to Delhi). The adjective is confusing, as the only really "golden" portion of our journey was the long drives through blooming fields of mustard (and those were, strictly speaking, more canary than golden). The cities themselves, however, are indisputably arranged in the shape of a triangle. On that point there can be little debate.


When we left Agra, we had already completed one "segment" of our triangle, and Jaipur was up next. We made our way slowly between the two cities, stopping once along the way to buy fruit ("2 rupees per banana?! Are you trying to rip me off?"), once to have a look at Fatehpur Sikri (described briefly in our previous post - refer to the section on the swan dive into the slime-filled pool), and again to enjoy a long (overpriced) lunch in a tourists' roadhouse of sorts. Around 4 in the afternoon, we found ourselves on the outskirts of Jaipur. Rus was riding shotgun with Sumer, and playing the role of navigator.

As we began to approach the city, Rus looked up from our trusty Lonely Planet Guidebook to inform us that there was a temple that we might like to visit on our way into town. The guidebook was cryptic and a little alarming in its description of the place: "Galta Monkey Temple is desolate...barren...evocative.... The macaques converge on the temple by the hundreds.... Prepare to be mobbed." Having recently learned that over 30,000 Indians die of rabies each year, we were a little nervous at the thought of hundreds of (potentially) rabid monkeys "converging" on us. Thus, when we arrived at the temple, we decided it best to hire a guide for about $2US, not so much for informative purposes (he could barely speak English), as to act as our bodyguard (or human shield if you prefer) against the anticipated waves of (possibly) rabid primates.



The temple itself was something out of Indiana Jones. Built into a ravine between two hills, the complex is made up of dozens of abandoned buildings... all of which were swarming with monkeys. Our guide brought with him a small bag of peanuts, which the monkeys immediately recognized. They followed us closely for most of our visit. The guide repeatedly tried to offer us peanuts ("feed monkey - good karma") but we politely declined.

"Feed monkey. Good karma!"

We slowly worked our way up the hill, walking past a number of "sacred" pools (read: stagnant ponds filled with green slime and bits of garbage), in which groups of pilgrims were bathing. We took a number of pictures of these, but upon closer inspection discovered that all but one photo depicted nude or semi-nude pilgrim-bathers. In the interests of propriety, we have included only one photo:At the top of the hill, we came to the Temple of "Surya" (the sun god). The view from the hilltop was magnificent, and we paused for awhile to watch the sun set over the city of Jaipur (and of course to snap a few pictures of the local guru and the "deity" in the temple):

The local guru (I had to pay him 25 cents to take this photo)

The sun god (left) and his wife (right)

Our guide posing in front of the "Surya" Temple (the sun god)

On our way down the hill, I decided to hand Emily the camera so that she could capture my bravery among the monkeys. Here's my best memory of the dialogue that ensued:

"Here Emily, take a picture of me."

"How do you turn the camera on again?"

"The switch on the top. Take the picture. The monkeys are getting closer to me"

"I think the flash is turned off. Do you want the flash on?"

"I'm not worried about the flash - I'm worried about getting rabies. Take the picture."

"Brad, there's a monkey looking at me. I'm nervous."

"There's two dozen of them looking at me. Take the picture."

*CLICK*

"Oh. There's a car in the background. Wait a minute, Brad. Let me take another one."

"Take the picture, Emily; the monkeys are re-grouping!"

We spent two nights in Jaipur, at a clean but simple bed-and-breakfast (more white toast and fried eggs, anyone?). At $15US per night, I was completely satisfied with our accommodation.

On our first morning in Jaipur, we explored the Amber fort:

Notice the elephant in the foreground

Followed by Jantar Mantar, an 18th Century observatory filled with wonderful, enormous sun dials:

We ended our visit with a stroll through the Old City marketplace:

An "autorickshaw," the tuk-tuk of India!

Cheap, delicious, and they throw in the hepatitis for free!

...and of course a little shopping:

Jaipur is referred to as the "Pink City," as the old city is nearly all painted a warm terracotta color. While this made for some excellent photographic opportunities, the crushing poverty and dirt of the city wore us down. By dinner time, we were ready to leave. Thankfully, we had only one more night in Jaipur.

As always, we invite your comments to our blog posts. Instead of questions, this week we have a writing challenge for you. See if you can post a comment with at least 3 of these words in it:

"monkeys" "palace" "rabid" "mustard"

Good luck!