India and Thailand - Part II

On Sunday we decided that we would go into town on Monday and play the role of tourist in Mumbai. The last time we did this was my first trip to India back in December 2007/January 2008. Mo's father arranged a car and driver for us for the day which cost about 1,300 Rupees (approximately $26) for eight hours--what a bargain! If you've ever visited India you will understand that it's not a place where you want/should attempt to drive if you aren't used to it. There's very little observance of the rules and regulations of the road. After the car was arranged we figured why not plan the day or at least make a rough list of the things we wanted to see and do so that we could put it into some meaningful order so as not to waste time in the car going back and forth. On the way to town our first stop was Dhobi Ghat where most of the cities laundry is done. The hard labor of washing and rinsing happens in the morning so we missed that part but we saw all of the laundry hung out to dry. Kind of strange to think that the towel you use in a Mumbai hotel room is likely sent here for cleaning each day.

Dhobi Ghat

Next stop was Crawford Market, the oldest and liveliest market in Mumbai, mostly selling fruits and vegetables as well as other necessities like toiletries. We had a look around and returned to the car so that we could make our way to Cafe Britannia for some lunch before it closed.

On our way to Cafe Britannia, we drove by Victoria Terminus now known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. A beautiful structure designed and built when the British ruled India and one of Mo's favorite Mumbai landmarks. Today it continues as a public transportation hub and thus a lifeline of the area.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

We arrived at Cafe Britannia around 3:30 in the afternoon with a thirty minute buffer before closing time at 4. The restaurant is Parsi owned and specializes in Parsi cuisine. It is one of the few remaining restaurants of its kind and is located in the business district of Ballard Estate. We had their signature berry pulao, fried Bombay duck (which is a soft fish) and dhansak. The gentleman running the place was easily in his eighties. He was so happy to chat with us and find out where we were from. He also had a few stories to tell of his own.  He has such a colorful personality and was full of energy.  Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of him or the restaurant.

Next, we drove around the extreme south of Mumbai, Navy Nagar.  A military area established in 1796 and currently shared by the Indian navy and Indian Army.

With our bellies still full, we were ready for a little walking...or some browsing as it turned out along Colaba Causeway. Mo tried his hand at a little bargaining with one of the street vendors for a couple of pair of counterfeit Ray-Ban's (one for him and one for me). We ended up purchasing two pair for 320 (about $6) after an initial quote of 350 for one.

The shopping didn't end there, we also hit up Cottonworld, probably my favorite Mumbai clothing store. Most of the styles are western with a hint of Indian detail.  Think Indian Gap. I was on the hunt for a pair of linen capri pants but ended up purchasing a linen skirt and t-shirt instead. Indian sizes just don't work for me when it comes to pants...skirts are no problem and I wear the same size as I would wear in the US or UK. Regardless our shopping was a success and concluded for the day.

Our next destination was Leopold's Cafe, a well known establishment among international travelers. It was one of the places targeted by the terrorists during their attack on Mumbai on November 26, 2008. The bullet holes are preserved as a reminder and a warning that the city, its people, and the patrons of Leopold's cannot and will not be broken so easily.

After Leopold's it was nearly dusk so we got in the car and took a driving tour of a few more of the iconic sights of Mumbai including The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and Gateway of India. We drove along Marine Drive also known as Queens Necklace after the illuminated curve of the bay front road at night.  We continued on  through Malabar Hill and also passed the tomb of Haji Ali which was all light up at night and busy with pilgrims crossing the narrow causeway between the mainland and the tomb which is only accessible at low tide.

No trip into town is complete without some major traffic.  We headed home via the Worli Sea Link highway before abruptly stopping in classic rush hour traffic that Mumbai is known for.

Nearly reaching home, we decided to stop for dinner at Regency Hotel for old time's sake. It was the site of Mo's birthday celebration when he was about five or six years old. They feasted on Chinese food (though they also offer Indian) and so we did the same.  Sadly, most of those present at the birthday party are no longer with us but Mo and his father share fond memories of the place and that night.  I've heard it mentioned so many times before so it was good to experience it myself. There was nothing remarkable about the place per se but it was a nice detour down memory lane that just happened to be on the way home. 

Upon reaching Regency, we settled up with the driver so that he wouldn't have to wait for us through dinner so after dinner we took a rickshaw back home for a good night of rest after yet another busy and fun day.

Yay! Vacation Time - India and Thailand - Part I

Our flight out of Heathrow on Saturday, April 21st was at 6AM. So, while the rest of London was sleeping or still partying their Friday night away, we headed to the airport at 3:30AM. On the prior Thursday, Mo arranged for a car to pick us up outside our flat. Wouldn't you know that when they had not arrived, Mo gave them a call and discovered that there was no record of our booking. I witnessed the booking, so I knew Mo hadn't dreamt it, but obviously this was not the start to our big vacation that we were hoping for. Fortunately, we are believers in packing light so it wasn't much trouble to walk over to Piccadilly Circus and hail a cab. 45 minutes later we were walking up to the ticket counter of Swiss (formerly Swissair). A very nice gentleman checked us in and tried to make sure we had the best seats available for the flight to Zurich and onwards to Mumbai.
After a quick stop by the restroom, a coffee from Cafe Nero, and the compulsory browse through the duty free shop, we went on to find our gate and board the plane. Our flight to Zurich was only about a third full which was a relief because our layover in Zurich was brief and less people equals a quicker deplaning process. Our flight got off a little late and we subsequently landed approximately 30 minutes behind schedule. Still we had adequate time to make our next flight. The approach into Zurich airport was amazing. Gorgeous views of the snow capped Swiss Alps against the brilliant green forest, deep blue of the lakes, and the sunshine, made it a landing to remember.

We boarded the plane for the leg to Mumbai and settled in to our seats for the next 7 hours. The plane was quite nice and roomy compared to Delta so that was a nice surprise. The plane was equipped with individual televisions with an array of movies available on demand. Typically I've seen most of the movies that are available and of interest to me, but this time was different. I wasn't sure what to watch first. I decided on The Descendants and Mo chose Sherlock Holmes. Our movies carried us all the way through dinner service. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed our movie choices. I don't know what it is, but it seems the older I get the more easily moved I am...I cried enough during the movie that at one point Mo looked over at me and asked if I was okay. After dinner I moved on to movie choice number two and proceeded to fall asleep almost immediately...I woke up to credits rolling. I still need to see Iron Lady. As most of you know, my falling asleep had less to do with the quality of the film and more to do with my narcoleptic tendencies. By this time we were about 4 hours into the flight. Next on the movie reel for me was War Horse. Such a good movie and once again, a tear jerker, at least for me. Shortly thereafter the lights came on, snacks were served and we began our initial descent.

We landed about twenty minutes early and thanks to rapid movement through immigration and baggage claim we were united with Mo's father minutes after we were supposed to land.

We were both wearing our signature travel outfits consisting of running shoes, jeans, a t-shirt for me and a collared dry-fit for Mo, and light fleece pullovers. The heat and humidity of the Mumbai night enveloped me and the pullover had to come off. We arranged for a cab and began the ride to Mo's childhood home ("home" for this leg of our trip).

We reached home put our luggage away and headed out to dinner. By this time it was almost 11pm.  We walked over to Urban Tardka, one of our favorite, local, Punjabi style restaurants. In true Indian fashion there was still a wait but as soon as the host caught a glimpse of my milky white skin, a table became ready. Probably unfair for the other patrons, but I may never tire of the special treatment I've received over the years while visiting India. It's the only place in the world that views me as a VIP and I will take it as long as it lasts.

After a tasty meal of dal, roti and chicken, our bellies were full but not to full for my favorite Mumbai treat...Natural's ice cream. We caught a rickshaw to Juhu and the ice cream shop was packed! They were out of my first choice (choco almond) and also Mo's (custard apple). Most of the flavors at Natural's are fruits, but a girl loves chocolate. I actually went back four other times and they were still out of choco almond.  This was my first trip to India without having my favorite ice cream.  Definitely a disappointment.
After ice cream we headed home, took a much needed shower, and went to bed.

I woke around 10:30 on Sunday morning. I don't know what it is about India but I could sleep forever here. We went over to the next door neighbors house, Auntie and Uncle's, for breakfast consisting of South Indian cuisine of idlis, mango lassi, sambar and coconut chutney. Once again our bellies were full and we were content.

Now we needed a walk after all this food. Where better to go than our favorite shopping destination...Star Mall. Mo and I think it's related to Tesco, our UK grocer, because they had some Tesco products available. Star Mall is an Indian Wal-mart of sorts. I was on the hunt for some linen capri pants since my favorite ones, holes and all, got thrown out when we moved to London. I tried quite a few and nothing was quite right but I can say with confidence that in Star Mall sizes I'm a XXL ...yes a double extra large and that's after shedding a few pounds since being in London...nothing like a little Asian sizing (no pun intended) to dash your hopes about the way you look, or more specifically your size! We picked up a few groceries and toiletries...yes, I did say this place is like Wal-mart, and headed home.

Around 1:30pm we headed to Andheri station to catch a train to Bhayander to visit Mo's uncle, Vilas (his mom's younger of two older brothers). This was a momentous occasion as it was my first local train experience in Mumbai. To give you some context, it was a Sunday, the least busy day for train travel, and we had first class cabin tickets, and we still had to stand up for most of the journey. We also met a fellow Deloittean along the way who was headed home after a Sunday morning in the office...go figure!

On the train returning to Mumbai

Mo's uncle lives in an old age home among about two hundred other folks. He was thrilled to see us. We only called him once we reached the station as we didn't want to excite him too much or cause him much trouble in the way of preparations to meet us. We visited with him for a bit and gave him some treats that we had brought him. After a while he walked us to the main entrance where a rickshaw was waiting to take us back to the station. It was a very emotional goodbye especially for Vilas.

Being an XXL already , we figure what the heck, we would stop by Natural's on the way home from the station for a little pre-dinner treat. I still got ice cream though choco almond was still unavailable. I got anjeer (fig) this time and Mo got jackfruit. Many of the fruit flavors available at Natural's (or in India for that matter) I had never seen or heard of prior to my trips to India. Once we reached home, Mo's dad prepared a delicious dinner of fried fish, cabbage, dal and chapaties. We settled down for the evening, Mo watching cricket and me with my current book. Another lovely day of vacation and it was only Sunday, so by my count it was still the weekend and official vacation would begin tomorrow.

Procrastination

Okay, enough procrastination already.  A little background for you...I keep an ongoing list of the trips/events, etc. that I want to post about or have already partially written a post about but not finished editing or adding photos to.  I initially was dead set on keeping this blog in chronological order, but now I give up.  I'm just going to have to try to catch up over time.  I've got posts on my list that date back to December that I haven't yet completed!!!  So without further ado, I'm going to be posting a series from our recent vacation to India and Thailand.  Just bare in mind, you might find a post from May 2012 followed by one from December 2011. 

India

We had already booked our tickets to the US for Christmas but I still had some unused vacation leftover.  So, I decided to go back to Mumbai for 6 days before our trip on December 22^nd to Atlanta. Since it’s only an 8 hour flight from London as opposed to an 18 hour flight from Atlanta I thought, why not? I was very excited about the Mumbai trip as this was the first time back to the place I grew up in over 2 years.  These days it’s just easier for my dad to come visit us now that he is retired.

It was great to see my dad at the airport although I whizzed through immigration and security and ended up waiting for him.  The 6 days went by super fast as they always do.  One whole day was spent visiting my relatives in the small village where my dad grew up and another half day was spent with my uncle outside of Mumbai. The rest was really good, quality time with my old man including spending time at the school where he volunteer teaches. It’s a street school for underprivileged yet, absolutely amazing kids.

Train ride on our way to visit relatives

I’m not sure if your parents are like mine, but to get my dad out to a somewhat decent restaurant is like pulling teeth.  It is just not in his DNA… but I somehow convinced him to go to a couple of places. I must also say that my dad is a really good cook and I really enjoy his food but it is nice sometimes to take in what Mumbai has to offer.  In this case some incredibly delicious seafood for a quarter of the cost in the US and UK.   

All in all it was a great trip and Mumbai never fails to serve as reality check on how fortunate I am.  It’s funny…growing up I never once batted an eye at the homeless, the stark poverty, or the struggles of average Joe to put food on the table.  It was just part of the world I lived in, but now that I get to see it from a different point of view (for better or for worse), it most certainly shakes me to my core and reminds me about the big bad world we live in.

Monte Carlo & Nice

We had a free night’s stay at any Starwood Resort property that was going to expire December 21^st if not used, so Mo did a little detective work to find out that there was a Starwood Resort property in Monte Carlo and we could get a cheap flight via Easy Jet to Nice which is about a 20 minute bus ride from Monte Carlo.

Mo’s detective work consisted of doing a flight search on www.skyscanner.net.  This website is a great tool for determining the cheapest flight from any of the London airports to anywhere that you can fly on a given weekend or other range of dates.  We routinely use it during the week to determine if there are any deals on destinations that we may want to visit for weekends when we don’t have other commitments.  So far we haven’t actually done a trip that last minute, but it’s only a matter of time, I hope!

As with most Easy Jet flights, the cheapest ones are either first thing in the morning or late at night so we decided to book for first thing Saturday morning.  Our flight was at 7:20 AM which meant we arrived in Nice around 9:30 which was 10:30 local time.  After taking a bus to Monte Carlo, we checked in to our hotel.  We were upgraded to an ocean side room which is a nice perk of being gold status with Starwood. 

We didn’t waste much time. After dropping our bags and picking up a map from the front desk, we began a leisurely walk towards the city center.  Our hotel was on a beach just outside of town, but Monte Carlo is not large (about 3 kilometers) so we were able to cover all of the areas of interest on foot.  Our first stop, and not too far from our hotel were  several fancy car showrooms including McLaren, Ferrari and Bentley.  After gawking at the fancy cars and taking a few touristy photos, we continued our walk. 

The next site worth noting was the McDonald’s Restaurant, which I have bestowed with the award for the McDonald’s with the best view.  Imagine looking out over the Mediterranean while you chow down on a Big Mac and fries...does it seem as funny to you as it did to me?  Needless to say this was one McDonald’s we had to visit during our short stay in Monte Carlo, so we had breakfast on the rooftop terrace overlooking the Mediterranean on Sunday morning.

Next we walked through the Christmas markets and began the steep climb (via very pedestrian friendly staircases built into the cliff) up to the Old Town where The Prince’s palace is located.  We wandered the quaint, winding, stone streets for about an hour or so and had lunch at one of several cafes.  We made our descent down a different pathway for variety and ended up by the Monte Carlo Yacht club.  I’ve never seen so many superyachts in one place.  We wandered a bit more including walking by the famous Monte Carlo Casino as well as the high-end retail district and made our way back to the hotel for a short, afternoon nap.

After our naps, we got ready for dinner.  We chose a place that the hotel recommended.  Both our dinner and the restaurant were very nice.  It was located across from the Art Center so they had a fair number of patrons having dinner before the night’s performance.  After dinner we walked back over to the Monte Carlo Casino to check it out.  They observe a dress code, which we knew, and since we were dressed for dinner we knew that we would not be refused entry.  But we were wrong!  We needed our passports in order to enter and had left those in our in-room safe at the hotel.  It was okay though because we debated whether or not to go in since the tables were likely to have high minimum bets and it was 10 Euro per person just to walk in and look around.

Instead we stood outside the front doors of the casino and took in the Christmas decorations and the fine automobiles that filled the casino’s parking area. 

Sunday morning, as I mentioned, we went to McDonald’s for breakfast.  After we got ready, packed up and checked out of the hotel, we decided to walk to the train station.  I was not at all prepared for the stairs.  We went up too many steep staircases to count and though it was a nice cool 60 degrees or so I was sweating profusely by the time we made it to the train station.  We took at train from Monte Carlo to Nice and the views were amazing.  On the train ride, we decided that we needed to come back and rent a villa for a week at some point.

Our time in Nice was really uneventful.  We had about 4-5 hours before we needed to be at the airport to catch our flight back to London. We stored our bags in luggage lockers at the train station and set out.  We had lunch and did a little window shopping.  There were lots of people shopping.  Besides being the weekend there were only about two weeks left until Christmas so that should explain the crowds.  We walked along the Mediterranean where there were Christmas trees for sale.  We had a coffee at one of the cafes directly across the street from the Mediterranean around sunset.    I have to say that thought both Monte Carlo and Nice have similar natural surroundings, I prefer Monte Carlo.  It seems more secluded, is cleaner and calmer. What a beautiful part of the world.  Too bad you have to be a millionaire many times over to be able to afford to live there.  It reminded me of the best parts of California and Florida combined and now I dream of retiring there!

Driving Miss Daisy

Since we live in the area of central London called The West End, which is home to London’s live theatre—much like Broadway in NYC, it’s quite easy to keep up with the shows that are coming and going at any point in time.  When we moved in October, I made a mental note that Driving Miss Daisy was playing, starring Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones.  I decided that for the casting alone, this show was high on my list of ones to see.

In early December I saw an ad announcing the closing of the show on December 17^th.  Almost immediately I began monitoring the discount ticket booth (TKTS) to score discounted tickets before the show was gone.  One Thursday evening, I checked the listing online and discovered that tickets were available for half off.  I gave Mo a call and we agreed that if decent tickets were still available when I walked by the TKTS booth on my way home from work, we would go that night.  Fortunately there were tickets available and they were in the center section approximately 15 rows back from the stage.  Just before I made the purchase I was told that Vanessa Redgrave may or may not be performing the part of Miss Daisy that night and that it wouldn’t be determined until just before the show would begin at 7:30 PM.  I decided to go for it anyway and I’m glad I did.

The show was amazing.  It was such a neat experience to see Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones together in a live performance. Our seats were amazing and Mo and I very much enjoyed it.  Unlike the other shows we have seen to date, it was not a musical.  The set was very simple and if anything that only made the performances stand out even more.  Yet another great theatre experience.  We are really getting spoiled living so close to so much live theatre...and the TKTS booth isn’t bad either!

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Tour

With some regularity, when we don’t have any set plans for Saturday morning, we head over to Borough Market which is to the south of the city (and the Thames).  On this particular Saturday, that is what we did.  Borough Market is always fun to walk around, there are many interesting things to see, and delicious things to try.  The market was selling fresh Christmas trees and wreaths which were really pretty, however we didn’t purchase either since we would be spending the holidays in the US.  Side note:  I know it is possible to get a “normal” size (6-7 foot) Christmas tree in the UK because I have seen many that size or larger, however all of the markets that we saw around town selling them were selling the 3-4 foot variety.  It makes sense because many people have to carry their tree home on foot or via public transportation, but nevertheless an interesting observation. Also at Borough Market, of particular note, were freshly killed wild fowl such as pheasant and duck, available for purchase, intact with feathers and all.  I assume that they would prepare them for you, but I’m not really sure of that.  Perhaps you do that part at home.  At any rate, I was amused enough to take this picture.

After walking around the market a bit more it was time for lunch.  We settled on sandwiches of chicken (for me) and lamb (for Mo) that we ate amongst the other hungry market-goers in the neighboring church courtyard.  It was very cold and windy, so we ate quickly and got on our way.  We wandered along our usual path back to the Thames which we walk along on the south bank until it’s time to cross back over to get home.  On prior visits, we had seen Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre along this path and I had thought that it would be nice to visit.  Since we really didn’t have anywhere to be, we walked in and got information on the tour and decided to sign up.  There was an exhibit about theatre in Shakespeare’s day that you could peruse at your own speed, with a personal audio device, as you waited for the guided tour to begin.

The tour was really interesting and mainly touched on the 3 Globe Theatres that have stood in the immediate vicinity over the years. The original Globe stood just a few hundred yards from the current site.  The first was destroyed in a fire and subsequently rebuilt. The second, like all theatres, was closed under England’s Puritan administration in 1642.  It was demolished in 1644 to make room for tenements, as it was no longer of use.

The theatre is open-air so the theatre season is limited to the summer. This summer, in honor of the international guests that the city will host due to the 2012 Olympic Games, the theatre is putting on a production of all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays, each in a different language. I’m definitely planning to try to make it to one, as I think it would be a great way to experience the theatre.