Dagan and Bree

Mumbai Laundry – Pictures

2011-09-18T20:39:00.001-07:00

We were in Mumbai this weekend (some business and some recreation). I ran across the Mumbai open-air laundry, called Dhobi Ghat.

Dhobi Ghat, called the world's largest outdoor laundry, is a well known open air Laundromat in Mumbai, India. The washers, locally known as Dhobis, work in the open to wash the clothes from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals. There are rows of open-air concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone.

Click the image to see a much higher resolution version (search for the Dhobis).

Paris – Video

2011-09-01T04:19:00.001-07:00

Wow… after a long hiatus, I’m back to blogging. Work has kept me very busy for the last few months so I have an enormous backlog of photos/videos to go over. Here’s one that I left off some time ago.

Bree and I were visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Edinburgh when we decided to go to Paris, for a few days. Here is a short video of some of the things we came across.

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Progressive Dinner – Video

2011-05-05T20:41:00.001-07:00

This weekend we had a progressive dinner party.

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Paris – Day 1 – Pictures

2010-10-02T18:58:00.001-07:00

Change in plans... We had originally planned on taking a train from Edinburgh to York, and then after a day in York, taking it the rest of the way to London. Sorry, London. You're cool and everything but Paris seems more fun right now. Off to Paris!

After landing at Charles de Gaulle we took the Metro into the city. The information booth was kind enough to give us the wrong metro stop (approx 2km/1.2miles). Good times. So after a nice walk through the red light district, carrying ~40lbs of camera gear and 50lbs of other stuff, we were at our hotel! It was late afternoon by this point so after freshening up, it was time for some dinner.

Dinner time

Dagan's Meal	Bree's Meal
Escargot	Foie Gras

Steak Tartare	Chicken in Cream Sauce

Camembert & Salad	French Toast & Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Great bottle of Bordeaux

It's official. The food in Paris is awesome. Not only are the restaurants excellent, but there seems to be an unending supply of them. Trying to decide on a café is virtually impossible. A quick google maps "café" search reveals a staggering number of options.

After steak sushi, we decided to walk around and explore our particular enclave of Paris. Turns out it's full of... cafes. The night life is pretty healthy for a Monday evening. So we decide to stop for a beer and people watch.

Ready for some exploring

The view from our beer stop cafe

(Slideshow)

Edinburgh – Day 1 – Pictures

2010-09-22T11:31:00.001-07:00

Day one in Edinburgh, Scotland! We are here visiting Dylan, Jacqueline, and Sebastian (for those that don’t know… my brother and his family).

First up was a walk from our hotel to their house. On the way, we spot Edinburgh Castle.

My nephew, Sebastian. Bree (aka The Wife). Dylan (not really)

Then off to a local church to see some really impressive architecture. i

Riiiight….

Slideshow

Paris – Preview 3

2010-09-18T02:41:00.001-07:00

This is the last Paris preview… We’ll be on a 15hr flight tomorrow, so plenty of time for me to start sorting through photos and have a blog post ready when we land. So, until then…

Ceiling in the Louvre

Paris – Preview 2

2010-09-16T01:36:00.001-07:00

Once we get back to India, I will sort through the many photos I’ve taken. In the meantime…

Paris – Preview

2010-09-14T01:35:00.001-07:00

Stopped for a nice dinner and some wine last night…

Panic at the disco – Pictures

2010-09-12T02:57:00.001-07:00

After a long day of walking around Edinburgh we were exhausted. Bree crashed early, though I was soon to follow. Then around 3-4am we were arroused by blaring alarms/sirens… FIRE ALARM

Turns out that it was a false alarm and all is well. So tired…

Edinburgh Scotland – Pictures

2010-09-11T15:41:00.001-07:00

Made it to Edinburgh, Scotland yesterday. We’re visiting Dylan, Jacqueline, and Sebastian (my brother, his wife, and their son). More pics to follow!

Commercial Street – Pictures

2010-09-09T01:54:00.001-07:00

This weekend we decided to head to Commercial Street to pick up some gifts. Commercial street is packed with vendors, selling just about anything you can imagine. The sheer number of people packed into the small roads is quite impressive. Of course, I brought my camera along to document the trip. I also shot a lot of video, which I will post shortly.

Hungry?

Random sightings…

Time to get out of Dodge.

Magic Beans – Pictures

2010-09-03T23:12:00.001-07:00

So I learned something this morning... If you're going to grind coffee beans (that were purchased in Thailand no less) with a blender, make sure to hold the lid shut. Guess that's another excuse to go back to Thailand.

Super Market – Pictures

2010-08-31T20:15:00.001-07:00

These are a few pictures I took at the Varthur Village street market. A great/cheap place to buy produce and other household goods.

Super Market – Video

2010-08-30T10:23:00.001-07:00

This weekend we hit the local market for some much needed produce. We have a new guest in India and you can see Matt at the end of the video.

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How many miles!? – Pictures

2010-08-26T08:06:00.001-07:00

Just crossed the 1000km mark this weekend! That’s about 650-ish miles of driving through Indian villages, fields, and other unmarked areas. Can’t wait to log the next 1000!

Memories…

Koh Samui – Thailand – Video

2010-08-21T20:44:00.001-07:00

This is a small video of our trip to Thailand. It supplements this blog post.

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Scooter Ride – Pictures

2010-08-16T11:11:00.001-07:00

Our last ride was a quick one. Quick but fun. I was able to take a few snapshots along the way.

Another outing – Video

2010-08-10T22:14:00.001-07:00

Another weekend, another drive…

High resolution download (720p – 1280x720)

We took a much longer scooter ride than usual this time. 20 miles (32km). That doesn’t seem very far but when you’re driving through fields/jungle/etc, it adds up. We brought baseball gloves, which Erik got on his recent trip to the states. Chad supplied the football and we all chipped in on the beverages.

View Scooter Rides in a larger map

Koh Samui – Thailand – Pictures

2010-08-06T04:36:00.001-07:00

This past weekend a group of us decided to head to Thailand for some R&R. Home base was a small island called Koh Samui. We’ve been there many times; enough that I’ve had three hair cuts on the island (interesting metric).

After a redeye flight we were off to the hotel.
Fun with non-acclimated lenses.

Time to check into our bungalow.

After checking in, it was time for some caffeine. We dropped off our bags, rented scooters, and hit the road. Living in India makes you appreciate many of the little things in life… like good coffee. Luckily there’s a Starbucks just down the road from our hotel. I know, I know… Starbucks isn’t good coffee. Well, try living on Indian coffee for a couple years and see if you still have the same opinion :)

Fun Facts

	Population	Number of Starbucks
Koh Samui	48,000	3
Thailand	68,000,000	132
USA	307,000,000	11,068
India	1,200,000,000	0

So tired. must. get. coffee. Ooo, free drink… with jelly :/

Ok then. Breakfast it is.

We tried to get this guy, on the mobile hotdog stand, to follow us around the island on our scooter rides… He did not.

We drove around a bit and found a couple sights.

Time to go back To the hotel and get some sleep.

The next day drove around the island to explore. We found lookouts, temples, restaurants, and lots of amazing sights.

Very High-Resolution Panorama

On one of our restaurant stops, we found our snorkeling guide. With a small deposit we had plans for the next day.

We then took the scooters to the southern tip of Samui to go snorkeling. After the captain loaded the boat, with snorkeling gear and beer, we were ready to go. We drove for about 20-30 minutes to an even smaller island called Koh Taen. It is surrounded by coral reefs and is a great place to check out the sea life. I would show underwater pictures, but my underwater camera turned out to be less than waterproof.

A picture of the beach we departed from.

Which boat, you ask? Second from the left. And yes, that is a V8 strapped to the back.

Very High-Resolution Panorama

Super cool trip. It was then time for some lunch.

The mini pancakes were pretty good, though I didn’t even attempt the fish.

Map of our scooter ride. That bit at the bottom of the map is where we went snorkeling.
If you click the Sat button on the map you will see the islands.

View Koh Samui in a larger map

Time to head back to India. I’ll post some video shortly.

Scooter Ride – Video

2010-07-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

Dagan gets a 60fps camera...

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Bree’s back in India so we decided to take a scooter ride this weekend. Actually, we take scooter rides most weekends. That said, this one was taken with a new 60fps camera and a GPS to map our our rides. Sweet.

View Scooter Rides in a larger map

Sari Giveaway - Video

2010-01-04T08:34:00.000-08:00

Blogging again...

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This weekend, after a scooter ride, we headed off into the villages to check out a little political rally. How does one orchestrate a political rally for villagers? You truck them in with promises of free stuff. In this instance, they were giving out free Sari’s (the dress you typically see Indian women wearing). Here’s a quick video I shot during the event. More blog posts to follow…

Japan – Day 10 - Pictures

2010-01-03T07:08:00.001-08:00

It’s aquarium day! That’s right. We’re doing the total tourist thing and heading off to an aquarium to see some sea life. My understanding is that there is also a dolphin and sea lion show. Sadly we don’t own any “I♥NY” sweaters or any other, equally embarrassing, tourist attire. Oh well, maybe next time. Anyway, off to the aquarium!

Japan – Day 9 - Pictures

2010-01-01T18:51:00.001-08:00

Today we decided to take another stab at visiting the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. Success, it was actually open… both towers. Each tower houses an observatory on the 45th floor.

After the viewing it was off for some lunch and exploring.

We found Tokyo Time Square in a part of town called Shinjuku.

There are lots of interesting building in Tokyo. Too many to shoot.

(Click for really high-res)

Japan – Day 8 - Video

2010-01-01T06:05:00.001-08:00

It’s New Years Eve 2010! We began the day by traveling to a part of town called Shinjuku. We tried to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, where you can see most of Tokyo from their observatory. Unbeknownst to us, it was closed for the holidays. Well, that gave us the opportunity to explore that side of town. Before we left, I snapped a few pictures of the building and generated this panorama (click for high-res).

After that we found a place for lunch. We did some Japanese Barbeque. Turns out our favorite dish was cow tongue… who knew!? After searching around town, and hitting up every high-tech camera/electronic shop, it was time to return for the New Year’s celebration!

New Years Eve in Japan is slightly different than in the states. Rather than having a private party, the Japanese typically celebrate at a temple. We found a local temple, which turned out to be rather large, and decided that would be our celebration point.

The place was packed! When we entered, we were offered ama-sake (A thick, pulpy, milk colored, warm sake). It’s alcohol content is much lower than regular sake and is considered suitable for children. People were also given bio-degradable balloons to release at midnight. How cool.

At this point we really regretted having dinner prior to our arrival. There were a large number of food stalls lining the walkways. Anything you wanted… noodles, seafood, meat, veggies, etc. We grabbed a quick beer and headed off to check out the sights.

There was a huge fire where locals were burning their previous year’s wishes and preparing for the current year’s goods. Monks were chanting and getting ready to ring the temple bell. They ring it 108 times at midnight. They believe that there are 108 desires and the rings are to clear these desires for the coming year.

I have yet to transfer all the photos from the last couple days but I have put together a video compilation of our New Years celebration…

Here it is…

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Japan – Day 7 – Pictures

2009-12-30T18:36:00.001-08:00

Today we decided to leave the city and check out Tokyo Disneyland. I left the camera at home and took Bree’s point and shoot. Of course I don’t have a card reader for it, so no pics until we return. Disneyland is only a 30 minute subway/train ride away. Well, it turns out that Disneyland is rather popular here; incredibly crowded. The shortest line we could find was three hours long (FastPass was also turned off). What a better way to burn a day in Japan than waiting for four hours to ride Space Mountain. Needless to say we decided not to wait in any of those lines. We just walked around the park and took in the sights. Later that evening the line for Pirates of the Caribbean had reduced to about an hour, so we decided to partake in one attraction. After that we were ready to head home. Way to go Disney!

On the way home we decided to stop by a local steakhouse but there were only smoking tables available. Hmm… more walking. While getting ready to cross the street, a woman, who had seen us looking for restaurants, approached and told us about a “wonderful little restaurant that has great food.” Score! A “locals” restaurant. She walked us down the street and into a little restaurant alley where we found… a tapas restaurant. Oh well, no Japanese tonight. The food was pretty good though so I suppose we can’t complain.

Tomorrow is New Years Eve and we’re planning the festivities. Should be a busy one. We’ll keep you posted.

Random pictures from earlier…

Japan – Day 6 - Video

2009-12-29T19:06:00.001-08:00

Well, today was somewhat of a bust in terms of pictures. We changed hotels today (moving to the other side of town). As we were not entirely familiar with the surroundings our little exploration walk ended up taking a few hours more than planned. Thusly, I only took about three pictures… a building, a tiger made of legos, an a misfire that captured a tree. So instead of the daily photo post , I’ll post some video of day 5 instead. Our fish market experience. Enjoy…

Japan – Day 5 – Pictures

2009-12-28T05:58:00.000-08:00

The Tokyo fish market… We woke up early to head over to the Tokyo fish market. This is the place where the daily catch comes in and the seafood is auctioned off to the highest bidder. The average price for a bluefin is around $12,000 but one recently went for $105,000 (298 lbs). These fish are huge; weights can top 400 pounds. That said, a wealth of seafood is available for sale, though tuna seems to be the most glamorous.

There are a few on-site restaurants that also purchase the daily catch and serve it up, starting at 6:00am. The lines to these restaurants are seemingly endless and can take hours to navigate. We weren’t about to let that stop us! We waited… and waited… and waited… Then it was time for some sushi breakfast! We ordered some fresh toro (tuna), tako (octopus), and the rest was the chef’s choice. It was amazingly fresh. An awesome experience indeed.

Waiting in line… Success, sushi!

Time to enter the fish market.

All was going well until one of the tuna attacked Bree. Mmm, fugu.

Crabs aaaaand octopus!?!?! Yes, please.

We explored all day. After all was done we headed off to the Tokyo tower to see the city from the observation deck. Below you see our approach and a shot I took of Mount Fuji. I have some panoramas that I’ll post shortly.

Japan – Day 4 -Pictures

2009-12-27T05:43:00.000-08:00

The day begins with another walk…

Hey a blimp!

Today we decided to take another boat to Odaiba (an artificial island in Tokyo Bay). The island is rather large and houses many attractions. Some of those attractions include, The Rainbow Bridge, Fuji TV studios, Aqua City shopping center, a replica of the Statue of Liberty and many more.

The Rainbow Bridge in daylight (island in background). Fuji TV Studios

We first saw the Statue of Liberty replica from a distance. Being that we are well versed with the actual statue, we opted for the next closest attraction. That turned out to be the Aqua City shopping center. After walking around for a while, and deciding not to shop, we came across their cineplex. They were playing 3 screens of Avatar so we figured now was as good a time as any to see a movie.

Congratulations guys. The visuals were fantastic! The hard work really paid off.

After the movie, we walked over to Fuji TV Studios to take a look from their observation deck…

Entrance to Fuji TV studios outside escalator.

There’s a restaurant in that sphere. It may very well be fantastic, however, we didn’t bother as it seems like a gimmick.

After leaving the observation deck, I took off to take a couple long exposure photos. The trip was cut short due to rain but here you can see the slow turning Daikanransha Ferris wheel as well as an aircraft landing at Haneda Airport.

Well, it turns out that we hadn’t really contemplated how we were going to return from the island. By the time we were done exploring, the boats had long stopped running. Lucky for us, the light rail system was still running. We guessed correctly and it let us off relatively close to the hotel.

On our walk home we stopped for some dinner. A chicken/rice dish and some chicken yakitoi… skewers of chicken hearts, livers, crispy skin, and gizzards. All were great, though, the gizzards are a little tough.

Ahh, the Tokyo Tower. Our beacon home…

Tomorrow we’re getting up early… Tokyo fish market!

Japan - Day 3 - Pictures

2009-12-26T20:12:00.001-08:00

Today we decided to walk into a section of town with a dense number of restaurants. We found a little noodle shop and stopped in for a bite. They have little kiosks where you insert money and receive a ticket for your meal. Good thing there was a guy ahead of us or we would have had no idea what to do. Only two of the thirty buttons had pictures. I know what we’re getting…

After Lunch we walked to the Tokyo Bay for a boat ride to Asakusa where we would see the Sensō-ji (Buddhist temple). The ride to Asakusa takes over an hour. You get a nice view of Tokyo via this route.

Walking along Tokyo Bay.

Some crazy boat/submarine/spaceship drove by along the way.

We ran across this little gentleman who shared his candy with us.

We finally arrived at the temple. The main building is under renovation and is covered in scaffolding and cloth.

It was time to go so Bree ordered a fish waffle. Sounds worse than what it really is… It’s just a fish shaped waffle with chocolate in the middle.

On the way to the subway we ran into this guy with a bucket full of fugu (puffer fish). If not prepared properly, the poison from the fugu can kill you. We’re thinking fugu would be good this week.

We then took the subway to Ginza again for dinner. Everything was closed or closing so we opted for some continental fare…

Pasta and pizza it is!

Japan – Day 2 – Pictures

2009-12-25T09:42:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas! Apparently, today required some sleeping in. We initially intended on going to the local fish market at 4am (requiring that we wake at 3am); which didn’t happen at all. In fact, we didn’t become mobile until around 10am.

Like any Christmas day… we decided to eat tons of food. We began by scouring our local restaurants for something to eat. Soon we found a wonderful sushi joint where we stuffed ourselves to the gills. Sushi in Tokyo is fantastic.

We then went exploring. The sun was falling fast, as well as the temperature. Our next goal was to find some warmer jackets. We hit the local subway and headed to Ginza (the local shopping district). Bree and I both found jackets, as well as some hot, American, coffee. Warmer, and with a lighter wallet, we walked the streets on Ginza.

It actually started to feel like Christmas

After our jacket acquisition, we found a pub that served Guinness. As Guinness is a rarity in India, we figured it would be in our best interest to partake in a pint.

Next was dinner time! We looked high and low for a noodle shop… Chinese noodle soup.

Dior… and Mexican food! Perhaps next time.

After shopping we walked into a little place that turned out to be one of the coolest Scotch bars I’ve seen. They had a wonderful selection as well as a very cool atmosphere.

On the way home I found my Christmas wish…

Japan – Day 1 - Pictures

2009-12-24T20:02:00.001-08:00

Ahh Japan… Our original plan was to spend our Christmas vacation in Vietnam. Due to some difficulty getting visas, we decided to go to Japan. Tokyo is our home base. The trip is pretty unscripted so we’ll be putting our travel plans together as we go. If anyone has any ideas, let us know.

First impression of Tokyo: Awesome! I mean, when you take an airport limo to your hotel and it has wireless internet… well, that just speaks to me.

After a good night’s sleep (14 hrs of travel will do that to you) we decided to explore. We had a small list of things that we needed to get. Power adapter, SIM cards for our phones, and cash. The power adapter was easy. We then stopped off for a coffee (major US coffee chain), only to find that they do not accept credit cards; or Indian Rupees for that matter. Hmm… need to find cash fast. After visiting about 10 ATM’s we gave up. Hmm, this trip is going to be interesting if we can’t get some cash. More on that later…

Hunger over took us and we decided to find a place for lunch. It was a small restaurant and we were the only patrons. The menus were all Japanese (no pictures either :)) and our communication was a back and forth of awkward gesturing. Awesome. We then pointed to two items on their special menu and they turned out to be delicious. Rice, seaweed, chicken, with a raw egg placed on top, a side of miso soup, and a small salad of sprouts. Bree’s was the same, though her dish was missing the egg white.

With full bellies were were off to find SIM cards. Well, turns out you can get cards for old iPhones. Now I can justify a new phone purchase to Bree! We explored a bit more and then headed back to the hotel to do some quick research of our surroundings. With a game plan for the next day, we headed out to explore some more. I read that post offices have ATMs that allow for international withdrawal. Thirty minutes later we were outside a large post office and I tried my luck… Success! We now have cash. Two of our three tasks are complete. Not bad.

Tokyo is a fantastically clean city. Very orderly and structured. Perhaps I’m just too used to India, as these things really stand out to me. If you were traveling from New York or San Francisco, you probably wouldn’t notice at all.

Our Hotel. A view from our Hotel. The Tokyo Tower which is beside our hotel.

Getting ready to explore

Dinner was fantastic as well. We found a little place that does tableside grilling. Beef, pork and chicken. So far this has been a fantastic first day.

It’s dinner time!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas... mmm… spaghetti hot dog!

Back home for some rest.

Birthday

2009-12-24T00:34:00.001-08:00

I had a wonderful birthday this year and it was, of course, all a surprise. Although I have only one year left to enjoy my twenties….I still feel way to young to be 29! Dagan began the day with making my my favorite breakfast, vegi scramble…mmmm. He invited a bunch of the guys from the office over to our place to play volleyball with me. We played for about 2 hours…then it was off for a scooter ride in the Indian villages. Dagan, Erik, Jenne and I scootered around for about 3 hrs. Then it was home to take showers and get ready for dinner. Dagan took me to Royal Afghan, a restaurant in the Windsor hotel in Bangalore. It was fabulous food!

Had a lot of fun…Thanks Honey!

We’re in Hong Kong

2009-12-22T22:08:00.001-08:00

Next stop Tokyo…

Bree’s Birthday - Pictures

2009-12-21T11:45:00.001-08:00

It’s that time of year again… Bree’s Birthday!

This one was slightly different than years past. The only similarity being the morning breakfast (veg scramble). After which point we were off to the Volleyball court to play a few hours of *amateur* ball. We then took to the scooters and drove through the Indian countryside. A few hours later we were back home and BBQ’d some lunch. After some R&R, it was dinner time and we were off to the Windsor Manor for dinner at The Royal Afghan. We were able to pack quite a bit in for a day. All in all a great day!

Our seats at the restaurant

Afternoon scooter ride through the villages

Did somebody say grade school volleyball?!?

Jaipur

2009-12-16T16:42:00.001-08:00

A short video of our trip to Jaipur. Pictures to follow...

Taj Mahal - Pictures

2009-12-14T04:22:00.001-08:00

One of my photographic endeavors at the Taj Mahal was to shoot a bunch of close up photos and stitch them together to create one large panorama. Rather than doing it by hand, I found an application written by Microsoft Research that automatically stitches panoramas together and also allows you to post your uber-high-res image on your website in an internet friendly format. Click the image below to check it out. Your browser may prompt you to install a plug-in to view the content. Keep in mind, this image is 21,000x9000 pixels, so you can do a fair amount of zooming in. More pics and videos are on the way…

Link

Taj Mahal - Agra - Video

2009-12-11T03:12:00.001-08:00

A short video of our trip to Agra. Pictures to follow...

Thanksgiving in India

2009-12-01T00:04:00.001-08:00

While planning our Thanksgiving feast, it became apparent that celebrating on Thursday would be too difficult. Evidently, Indians don’t celebrate many of the American holidays… Who knew!?! It was decided that Saturday would be our best bet. We arranged for a restaurant, The Only Place, to cater the event (Thank you Helen).

Imported turkeys… check
Pumpkin pie… check
Cold Budweiser… check
Pre-recorded Green Bay game, streaming from the states… check

Thanksgiving is a go!

Food is ready

Time to carve the turkey. Good thing I brought our knives from the states

Showing off my world famous carving abilities. August doesn’t seem that interested in turkey

Watching the Packers

After a great meal it was time to play some soccer and throw the football

Bree gets a back massage

Ramen taking Shogun for a walk/run

Bree decided to teach these guys a thing or two

Video

Hyderabad – Fortress of Golkonda - Pictures

2009-11-09T01:28:00.001-08:00

I spent the weekend in Hyderabad (~600km or 370 miles from Bangalore), speaking to artists/students about Monsters vs. Aliens. The rest of the DreamWorks crew presented the show we just finished, Merry Madagascar. After the presentation, most of the crew flew back to Bangalore, however, a few of us stayed back to speak at a college the following day. We had some free time on Sunday evening so we decided to get some sightseeing done. The Fortress of Golkonda was our destination. We arrived after 7:00 PM so pictures were pretty difficult (it was very dark and lighting was very limited). Inside we found a narrated light show. Soon I realized I had no idea what they were talking about, so I decided to explore the fort and shoot some pictures.

The fort itself is huge and only a small portion of it is lit (basically the walkway to the light show). The rest of the place is either moonlit or pitch black. Below are some pictures I took along the way. Some of the pictures look bright due to the long exposures. Trust me. It was dark!

Getting our tickets.

Entering the fort.

Now it’s time to explore some of the random caverns.

Nothing like the sound of growling wild dogs to get you out of a dark room.

Alleppey - Day 1 - Pictures

2009-11-06T05:14:00.001-08:00

I’ve finally gotten around to posting pictures of our first day in Alleppey. It was such an amazing trip. As Bree stated in an earlier blog, it was a little rough in the beginning but after we got on the boat, everything really fell into place. Here are a few pictures I took on day one.

Shoving off from port and hitting the open water.

We saw many more churches in Kerala than in other regions of India.

Fishermen and boat builders along the journey to open water.

Stopping for a light lunch.

In the early evening we went on a canoe ride through some river villages.

This is our boat and here is Bree doing the leg work in the canoe while I take pictures :)

Just like Los Angeles!

We encountered many families on our canoe trip and everyone was extremely friendly.

Slideshow

Standing in Line

2009-10-29T04:16:00.001-07:00

Standing in line…something we take for granted when growing up in the US. When I think about standing in line, I am taken back to my most early memories of preschool, kindergarten, and every grade thereafter…..every time you go to the grocery store, go to a theme park, wait at the DMV, buy a ticket to the movies, stop at a red light…I could go on and on and on! So…..what is it about India that makes it so difficult to understand what a LINE is?!?!?!

Waiting in line is not even a concept here….I was cut in front of at the grocery store this morning…..as it has happened many times before (and it WILL happen many times again). I am all for allowing someone with only a few items in there hands to go before me when I have a huge cart of groceries to buy….but there is also a concept missing here…and that is “ASKING” if you can cut in front of someone.

As I walked up to the counter this morning with just a small basket of things to buy…10 items, maybe….a man steps right in front of me with his two items. Now….if I was new to India…I probably would have let this rude man take advantage of the situation….but I have grown quite tired of this practice….and so I said “EXCUSE ME"……the guy gestures to his two items and gives me a look like “what is your problem I only have two items”…..and I give him the same look back and throw my big thumb in his face gesturing that he get behind me in line. Because people in India don’t like confrontation much…..he steps behind me.

Ding ding ding!! I win!

Engaged in Alleppey

2009-10-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

I know this is long overdue (since we were engaged on October 3rd, 2009)…..I got lazy and let Facebook be my means of communication. But…I will never forgive myself if I don’t post our engagement pictures and story on our blog :)

So…without further ado….

We headed to the State of Kerala again…different area…for another adventure..this time instead of a tree house for our sleeping arrangements, we were floating down channels on a house boat in Alleppey, India. We had heard many great things about the house boats…but everything on this trip surpassed our expectations..except for maybe one thing.

We had arrived in the airport and taken a taxi in a torrential downpour to our destination town. However, timing was off by a few hours and we were very tired, as we had taken a evening flight to Kochi, and not slept much. We arrived in Alleppey and were pushed out of a taxi into this “hotel” lobby. For 300 rupees (approx. 6 dollars) we could hang out in our very own luxurious hotel room for three hours, until the boat was ready. What were we going to say…..”NO”?!?!…it was raining really hard and we wanted to rest. They showed us to our room. It smelled really really bad….the guy came up and sprayed room spray for us…..there was no toilet paper (typical India)….and rat droppings on the window ceil. But we did get TV (the travelers channel)..and much to my dismay I finally rested on the bed and took a nap. Ewww!

ON OUR WAY IN OUR LUXURY TAXI!

We were both looking at each other thinking, “what did we get ourselves into??”. A few hours later…we were off to the loading dock…where there were about a thousand boats waiting to be boarded. But first…we stopped at a local juice vendor for some fresh squeezed juice. The guy went into the back and came out with a bottle of orange foamy frothy weirdness. More on that later.

At the loading dock four guys came running and grabbed our suitcase…and we headed to the boat. They greeted us with a necklace of flowers and a fresh cup of juice. We explored our two bedroom boat and decided we needed a drink to start our vacation off right. We had remembered to bring a bottle of vodka with us…and good thing we did, because the day we boarded the boat happened to be Gandhi's birthday…and therefore it is illegal to sell alcohol in India. This is where the mysterious juice comes into play. We grabbed the bottle of juice, noticing that the juice had severely expanded the hard plastic bottle until it was taught….we were kind of afraid to open the bottle….Dagan twisted…the bottle let out a huge burst of air …and we sniffed it questionably. Dagan had thought to grab a bottle of regular minute maid orange juice…and thank god for that…because whatever was in that “fresh juice” bottle smelled like paint thinner. Of course we were not going to drink it at this point..but we had to wonder what the guy was thinking when he made us this special concoction. Yikes!

ADVENTURES ON THE BOAT

Our trip began and we floated down the beautiful channels. We were both really excited to finally be on the boat….relaxed and happy! Each meal on the boat was amazing…….the best Indian food we have had in India..and it was like a feast…with about 7 different dishes served for breakfast lunch and dinner…we were absolutely stuffed to the gills the entire trip. Oh..and did I mention that we ate tons of fish and prawns (something we can’t really do in Bangalore due to the distance to the ocean). Each day on the boat consisted of about 6-8 hrs of boating time…where the boat floated slowly down the channels… stopping at new spots for lunch and dinner. We arrived at our final destination for day one…where our chariot was waiting (a private canoe). We were guided by a local who canoed us through smaller channels that ran right up to the front door of villagers homes. I like to think of it as a village like Venice, Italy/Planet Earth Style! Magnificent! We then ate dinner and played some Yahtzee….I won!!! We finished the night off by fishing with a homemade bamboo rod, fishing line, a hook, and a ball of dough. We actually caught a bunch of fish but they were very small so we threw them back. I think I caught 6 and Dagan caught 4.

Day two: We woke up to the sun shining and clear skies. We were served a local Kerala dish for breakfast and we were ready to start the sight seeing. Most of the day we relaxed on the boat…fished a little…again ate a lot, and waved to the villagers and boats passing by. The rest of the day is kind of a blur…until dinner….

Dagan had apparently booked the “honeymoon” package deal..because it was a better package…I had no idea the whole time…so when we were served a cake after dinner…I was quite surprised. I actually had a moment where I looked at the cake and thought…maybe there is a ring on it or something??? But….then I quickly erased that from my mind…because I knew there was no way that Dagan had purchased a ring in the US before we left for India. I was quite certain about that! We started taking pictures of the moon…and Dagan got very sweaty?!?! I asked him what was wrong…he brushed it off and said he was really hot!! That was understandable given the level of humidity and temperature. Dagan asked me to take the camera and try to shoot the moon…this was going to be his moment….but he was afraid I would drop his precious camera….so he decided not to ask while I was holding it. About 30 minutes later we started fishing off the side of the boat…and I asked Dagan if I could come sit between his legs and fish with him. I am sure we was relieved…because not 30 seconds later, a ring came into my peripheral vision and he said “Will you marry me, Bree?” I thought it was a joke…or maybe I was just in shock….but I finally said yes.

ENGAGED!!

And there you have it….

Thailand - Koh Samui - Video

2009-10-24T20:37:00.001-07:00

A short video of our trip to Koh Samui, Thailand. Pictures to follow...

Dasara - Video

2009-09-29T00:15:00.001-07:00

The Festival of Dashera concludes the festival of Navaratri, and the holy day also commemorates the triumph of good over evil.

On Sunday morning, our driver, Venkatesh, arrived with Pooja (religious offerings such as flowers/paint) on the car. It was to celebrate Dasara. We walked over to Erik and Helen’s where their driver, Gopi, and our cook, Jayanti, were beginning the decoration and blessing of their vehicles. The vehicles were covered in flowers, banana leaves, and paint. A lemon was then placed under each tire of the unblessed vehicles. Some fire and a few smashed coconuts later, the vehicles were then driven and the lemons smashed.

Bree and I posing with Venkatesh

Jayanti blessed us with Tikka (stripe on forehead).

Our sweet rides

Venkatesh and Gopi decorating scooters. Annika walking Shogun.

Jayanti blessing the vehicles.

Venkatesh starts Erik’s bike

Lemon crusher

Erik gets a Tikka.

Bree, Jenne, and Helen

Annika and August hanging out

Video of the event:

Navratri - Video

2009-09-24T04:00:00.001-07:00

'Nav' means 'nine' and 'ratri' means 'night'. Thus, 'Navratri' means 'nine nights'.

We attended one of the nine nights where Hindu’s celebrate the Goddess Shakti (Hindu Mother Goddess) and her various forms. Basically lots of music and dancing.

As it turns out, they didn’t take kindly to photography. I saw security practically tackle a woman who was trying to take a picture with her camera phone. I snuck around all night trying to avoid security and was terribly unsuccessful. By the end of the evening there were five security personnel assigned to keep me from taking pictures. Apparently I did not blend into the crowd; big white guy, giant lens, etc. I’ll have to work on that for next time.

Without further ado…

Below is a video of the festivities.

Tic Tac

2009-09-17T03:57:00.001-07:00

Realized today that my candy fetish is only getting worse in India because…as I have mentioned before, I love Mentos (20 Cents in India)….as well as Tic Tac’s (also 20 cents in India). All candy, with the exception of Snickers, Twix, and Mars Bars (45 Rs= 90 cents) is cheaper than in the US. I think I should lay off or I may have to visit a dentist in India….ahhhhh!! Straight from my Dentist’s mouth “DO NOT GET DENTAL WORK DONE IN INDIA, DO NOT”.

Since we are on the topic of food….our new cook is AMAZING!!!! Erik and Helen pointed us in the right direction and man are we pleased! She is and International cook and took lessons for 1 year…..So far she has made Italian (Lasagna), Mexican (Burritos), American (Cheese Bake with Fried Chicken), and Chinese (Manchurian Chicken with Fried Rice). We have her Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and we are happy little clams! Mexican again tonight…we are inviting friends over to see what they think?!?!

So now I will go full circle with this blog and tell you that I was going to include a picture of her with the post, but she has had a tooth ache, her cheek is bright red and puffy and she only today told me that she has been in pain for three days….so she said “No picture, Madame”. I felt so bad…I told her to tell me next time so I can give her some pain killers. Tooth aches are the worst :(

Okay, so I might also mention that she makes good desserts too…maybe I should lay off those too!!

Next stop on our travel list….Thailand in October for 4 days!!! It is just a four hour flight across the Bay of Bengal. Can’t wait….I have heard it is one of the best places on earth.

Wayanad - Video

2009-09-14T05:08:00.001-07:00

A short video of our trip to Wayanad.

Weekend in Wayanad - Pictures

2009-09-10T20:16:00.001-07:00

This is the beginning of our road trip to Wayanad.
I’ll be honest, this is the first time I’ve seen and elephant riding in a truck.

We stopped in a bamboo forest to snap a few photos… That and to deal with the 6 cups of coffee consumed along the way.

Lunch break at Hotel Rolex. Hey, Rolex, that sounds fancy.
Turns out their sanitation standards are just slightly different than the states.

More pictures along the way.

The aqueduct just outside Mysore.

Finally, after 8+ hours we arrived at our destination. Bree and I got the tree house suite!
That’s right, there’s a toilet in that tree.

I decided to go on a hike to see what there was to see. Bree didn’t go due to fears about leeches. I returned unscathed (though I was doing leech checks every 3 seconds).

Time for dinner and a group photo. There were over 30 of us on this trip.

Time to get out of dodge.

Tea and a goat sheltering itself from the rain. Did I mention it rained all weekend.

Before we officially left for home we stopped at a waterfall. I decided to hike to the bottom for some photos.
Mental note: Hiking down a steep muddy hill, clinging to trees, carrying tons of camera gear is less than ideal. Also, sometimes you almost die.

Ahh, good times. This was a fun trip. Next time we will have to do more than a weekend. 8+hrs each way makes for a pretty rushed experience.

Slideshow

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Trip to the Tree House

2009-09-06T19:46:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we headed to our neighboring state, Kerala, for a little adventure. After getting up at 3:15am to complete a approx. 9 hr trip, driving over what seemed like…and might have been a million speed bumps, passing an elephant on the way, asking every person we saw for directions, and two kilometers of what I would consider off road “jungle driving” (there was approx half a road total, it might have seen its last repair in 1975…so it was like driving in the jungle"), we finally arrived. This place was out in the middle of NO where. All in all, there were about 30 people…..half rode in cars and half rode motorcycles….props to the motorcycle guys for dealing with the lengthy trip, road conditions, and lots of rain!!! Oh..did I mention that this was a “MAN TRIP”…meaning there were three women on the entire trip.

We had arrived at our destination, a coffee plantation. We stepped out of the car to muddy red soil, rock pathways and little hut like rooms. It was lunch time when we arrived and the plantation owner/manager greeted us with an Indian lunch…yummm!! They served snacks in between lunch and dinner…and after dinner was over the party began (one of the guys had a birthday while we were there and the guys decided throw him a party).

I was dead to the world when all this occurred…sleeping in our room for the night, the Tree House (with a shower, sink, and a toilet…can you believe they put a real toilet in a tree?). It literally rocked me to sleep as it was only held up by 8 bamboo rods and a partial tree…ahh!! I wasn’t too sure about this whole tree house, swaying in the wind, thing?!!?!

We woke up at 4:00am to a little rotten monkey playing on the roof of our tree house. Dagan and a few of the guys took off to explore the jungle…I was not about to go trekking through the jungle when I heard that the night before, two guys had gone hiking and came back with leeches on them….eeewww!! Oh…and did I mention that this is leopard and “large” cat country (not sure exactly what kind of cats..I assume some kind of bobcat)….no way was I risking it!! The guys came back leech free with no scratches…. we ate a quick breakfast, I showered in a tree, and we were off to the waterfall.

We found this waterfall after 2 hrs of driving…..the guys hiked down to the waterfall while I read a book in the car. After the waterfall ,we ate lunch at a little hole in the wall (which is kind of scary in India, btw), and then headed home for another 9 hrs in the car, ugh. We finally arrived home at 10pm. Needless to say..I don’t think I will be driving to Kerala any time soon! But this was an experience!

Clear and Smoky

2009-09-03T20:16:00.001-07:00

Was looking at the weather in Pasadena today. The fire that is in Altadena (a few miles from our house) is still reeking havoc on Los Angeles. So the forecast is “Clear and Smoky”……it is very sad…but I had to laugh at that prediction…how can the weather be clear…and smoky at the same time?? I mean…I get it…but is just sounds funny…right?

Well back to life in India. We are still setting up our house…it is a complete disaster right now…but we could care less…we are just happy to be here!! We had a baby gecko crawling around last night (in our house), Dagan saw a one foot long lizard (outside) , and we also saw a wild green parrot in our backyard. Also…we can’t hear a bit of traffic so we are ecstatic and sleeping well!!! Although…since we have never been in such a quiet place in India…we are constantly wondering what the little noises are…I guess that is just something we have to get used to :)

We are hiring a maid today….which is approx. $80 US Dollars a month…six days a week….a few hours a day……it is crazy! I feel like I am stealing…but I will take the help. I have been cleaning like a mad woman and am barely making a dent. Our place is 2040 sq. feet and frankly I am just not used to having to clean a place from top to bottom that is that big. We also have a gardener who works for approx $16 dollars a month…..WONDERFUL!!! Oh..and a pool, gym, spa, and clubhouse….life is really good right now!!! Glad to be back…..

We Are Back in India!!!

2009-09-01T10:02:00.001-07:00

Hello All~

It has been way too long since I updated this blog……SORRY! So the next few days I will fill you in on all the details of our vacation back in the US. We got into Bangalore today at about 4am in the morning…..this time we got all our bags through London…but the guitar case didn’t make it :( It will show up tomorrow morning at our door….just hoping nothing happened to it on the way!! We are now living in Ozone….we have taken a few walks already….and had dinner at a neighbors/friends house….Thanks Vignau family! We have a lot of cleaning ahead of us and tasks….# 1 on my list…call the exterminator ASAP!!! Also…buy a couch. Just one of the many nice perks of our new house…Dagan brought a projector…so now we have a TV the size of a small movie screen in our living room….yeah!

Next fun thing on our list of travels…..Tree House Weekend! This weekend it is off to visit Kerala and stay the night in an actual tree house. Don’t I feel like an 8 year old kid again.

More to come!

Leaving India – Video

2009-07-31T04:20:00.001-07:00

As I sit here in the Bangalore airport (4am), the only thing I can think is…

Wow.

Sorry, that’s the best word I can come up with to describe the fact that I’m leaving India and heading back to Los Angeles. It’s somewhat hard to believe.

We arrived in March and here it is, August. I can’t say time has flown by, however, I can’t say that it’s dragged either. The experience of living in India is, in so many ways, hard to explain. There are certainly ups and downs but I must admit that I feel privileged to have experienced it. I’ve learned a lot. More accurately, I’ve learned a lot about myself.

Before coming to India, someone told me, “You will either love it or hate it. There is no middle ground.” Truer words have never been spoken. Well, I’m here to say that I do not hate it. India is an incredibly fascinating country. It’s more than the sights and sounds… It’s the experience.

My return trip will be short (under 4 weeks). Just enough time for us to pack up the house, find renters, and ship the remainder of our belongings. We’ll be living in India for another year! I accepted DreamWorks’ offer for Head of Effects. The project, Scared Shrekless, is going to be very cool. We’ve got an excellent team.

In addition, we are moving to a new house when we return. Far, far better than the place we’re living now. It’s in a gated community called Ozone. We will have a small front and back yard as well as a courtyard. The back yard will most likely turn into a garden while the front yard will be for entertaining and BBQing. We will also have a pool, gym, restaurant, and spa (the spa is awesome). The community looks like any suburb in southern California. Not bad when you need a break from reality.

Exciting times. We’ll continue to keep you posted.

With that, I leave you with a video of some memorable moments in India.

More to come!

Indian Farmers Market - Video

2009-07-30T20:57:00.001-07:00

Here are some short clips of video I took this past weekend.

Indian Farmers Market

2009-07-28T11:05:00.001-07:00

Sunday started off like any other day… Recovering from a 14hr working Saturday (that and a beer fueled, late night, dinner with friends). My original intention was to do laundry and pick up some food for the rest of the week. I was able to complete one of my two tasks, which is pretty stellar in India! After starting my laundry (thanks Erik) we went for some lunch at Herbs and Spices. Afterwards, we decided to head down the road to a farmers market. That’s where the weekend got cool.

We arrived to lots of noise, drums, yelling. I tried to get closer to the action and was greeted by a crowd or Indian spectators who basically pushed me into a bamboo corral… A bamboo corral inhabited by a man who was slicing coconuts, in mid-air, with a sword!

From that point is was off to the farmers market. Sadly, the open air meat market wasn’t as appetizing as I would have liked.

The other side of the market was much larger. The selection was fantastic.

After leaving the market, it was time to trek through the local village.

Time to return home.

These are the days that make living in India so very cool. Interesting people, places, and things…

Slideshow

Penang - Day 4 - Pictures

2009-07-16T01:17:00.001-07:00

This is the final batch of photos from Penang. Our last day and the Snake Temple.

From left to right: A shrubbery, Jacqueline, Dylan, Dylan

Indian Band - Video

2009-07-15T08:08:00.001-07:00

We decided to head to a local place for some dinner. Turns out they had a live band. I quickly ran home and grabbed my camera to take a few shots and videos. I have no idea what they were singing.

Penang – Day 3 – Pictures

2009-07-12T07:20:00.001-07:00

This is the Jackfruit tree by our poolside lounge

This is the view from poolside as well as our view while dining

Holy giant bug!
I wish I had something in frame to show the scale but trust me, it’s about the size of your palm.

Obviously Taco Bell is reaching out in different ways, on this side of the globe

Penang - Day 2 - Pictures

2009-07-11T05:34:00.001-07:00

Breakfast!

Time for some more temples

Now we walk…

Just like home – McTucky Fried Chicken!

Prawn Mee (noodles) my favorite dish. Can’t get enough..

Penang - Day 4 - Video

2009-07-09T23:42:00.001-07:00

If you follow this blog then you’re probably wondering what happened to Day 3. Well Dylan and I golfed while Bree and Jacqueline kicked it by the pool. So no video for day 3. That said, I did take some photos of our nightly excursion (to be posted soon). On day 4 we had just enough time to pack up and head to the airport. We got to the airport pretty early and had some time to kill. Dylan and Jacqueline decided to pick us up and take us to another temple… the Snake Temple. So very odd… and poisonous snakes roaming all over the place. Ahh Penang, we miss you.

Fletcher Robert Pollard

2009-07-07T21:17:00.001-07:00

Exciting news from the States….….my nephew was born, weighing 7lbs 14 oz and 20 inches in length. I haven’t heard many details yet….only that he has big feet. Seems to run in the family…at least our side :) Not really sure what Stella (big sister) thinks yet. The jury is still out on that one. Congrats to my Brother Bart and his wife Melissa. So excited that the family is growing! And the family name will live on……

Penang - Day 2 - Video

2009-07-07T10:27:00.001-07:00

Penang - Day 1 - Video

2009-07-06T03:33:00.001-07:00

Assorted clips from day 1!

Penang – Day 1

2009-07-04T01:21:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting photos... Work has been pretty busy lately so I spend most of my free time sleeping :)

As Bree said earlier, we took a redeye from Bangalore to Penang. For those that don’t know… Singapore Air rocks. We met up with our driver and were off to our new home in Batu Ferringhi.

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We slept for about an hour on our redeye flight to Penang. Everything got better when we saw our view.

We did a little exploring before heading off to meet Dylan and Jacqueline.
We also picked up a nice bottle of wine for dinner.

After checking out our new surroundings, we drove into Georgetown and met up with Dylan, Jacqueline, and Jacqueline’s mom. They took us to a few temples and then to an open market to check out the local foods.

After leaving the temples, we left for the market. There are lots of interesting foods in Malaysia so the market was a pretty cool experience. Shark fin or Salted Eggs anyone? While the sanitation at the market was very good, I found it funny that some of the butchers were smoking over raw fish.

After the market we went into town to check out the street market. They sell all kinds of things including baby turtles (~$1 USD) and Kopi Ice (iced coffee in a bag).

After all this we got some much needed sleep. Next up… Day 2 and some video.

Ahhh…Penang

2009-07-02T04:28:00.001-07:00

Well we did it! We traveled 4 hrs by plane on what is arguably the best airline in the world (not sure it is an argument though)…Singapore Airlines. We had a quick stop in Singapore (airport only) and took a huge plane (747) into Penang. Got off the plane and entered a tropical paradise. Oh, how nice it was to see clean roads (lack of trash build up on the side of the road and everywhere else for that matter), nice flat roads (we did not hit a speed bump while in Penang or any gigantic potholes), and greenery!! The instant I got of the plane I sensed I had been here before….hmmmm??? Oh yes…just like Hawaii…but after all is said and done…I think it is better than Hawaii! Got to our 5 star hotel….ahhh…was even better than I expected. Bed that doesn’t feel like sleeping on bricks, clean, clean, clean, oh and did I mention clean, and the most friendly unobtrusive staff I have been around……..again, what a nice change!

We flew all night so we had had barely any sleep, but this was not stopping us from heading out. We headed to the beachside bar and had our first Guinness in what feels like forever (In India, good beer is either very expensive or cannot be found)!! Man was it good…and it has a higher alcohol content than in the US…..BONUS!

Then off to meet up with Dagan’s brother Dylan and sister in law…might I add pregnant sister in law….Jacqueline. And we were off to do the favorite pass time of anyone living in or visiting Penang…..EAT!!!

Holy Moly is there some good food in Penang! Since we were with locals (Jacqueline grew up in Penang and her mother still lives there)…we went to a local restaurant. We had about 6 different dishes….I can’t even remember all of them…but the highlight was a mound (I am talking large mound) of small crabs in this awesome sauce that was kind of spicy and sweet all at the same time…and fish head soup. The funniest thing was that I was a little hesitant to eat the soup…and it turned out to be one of my favorite dishes! Fish head is actually tasty…yumm! Food was great..I cant say that enough.

Then we headed out to the night market which is a local market where you can buy just about anything you want from street vendors. From hair accessories to kitchen accessories…the vendors go on and on. Jacqueline overheard a local call us “Read Haired Monkeys”…which is apparently what they call big white people…at least that is what I think she said?? We had a good laugh over that…then headed to get Kopi Ice….probably the best coffee drink I have ever had…iced…and in a bag! Sounds weird…but it is coffee and condensed milk and sugar….mmmmmmm!

We walked around a bit more..exploring what night markets are all about in Penang…then headed home for some much needed sleep!

More to tell about Penang…plus Dagan’s pics….On the way :)

Korean BBQ

2009-06-20T22:28:00.001-07:00

We went out to Korean BBQ last night. Soo Ra Sang is quickly becoming one of our favorite restaurants in Bangalore. I should have taken more pictures to show the ambiance but take it from me it’s super relaxing. It’s a small place (five or six tables) and is located on the top of a hotel. We ordered way too much and had a great time trying to taste everything.

On the way in, Bree made a new friend.

Sunday and the Missing Bathrooms

2009-06-16T21:39:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted…I guess that means I have been busy! Yeah for me! Dagan and the rest of the expat crew had the day off on Sunday and our day was completely full! Literally. We had two brunches to attend…we took the opportunity to eat ourselves silly. The first brunch was crepes made by our french friends…we had both savory and sweet….to die for! Then off to the second brunch which was a spread of everything…with my favorite, Mango Margarita’s or…some delicious mango drink with alcohol…maybe I drank too many I forgot the name :) Anyway…Cheers to all of those who fed us on Sunday!

Went to volunteer at the school again. I am teaching the 1st and 2nd graders…very difficult because we only have 1.5 hrs a week, one day a week, to teach them English. We haven’t got past “Hello, My name is” and “I am ____ years old” yet….but what can I say…at least they are having a lot of fun and learning a little bit. I have to say, though, that this is a very eye opening experience. I often wondered where the children went to the bathroom at this school because there is no running water or proper restroom. Well…I found out. I showed up a half an hour early yesterday and was sitting in the car, just in front of the school. Children came pouring out the classroom doors and out just 20 ft. in front of the school….practically right outside my car door. Next thing you know..they are all pulling down there pants and “using the facilities”. Some kids were so young that the older kids were helping them. Then once finished..they pulled up their pants and went back into the classrooms.

Needless to say…I will not be shaking any hands from now on. The children like to have you shake their hands…but I gotta say…that is pretty gross now that I think about it! So…again..I have to reiterate how good our public schools in the US are..and what a blessing it is to have them. Bathrooms and all!

Long Weekend

2009-06-12T21:03:00.001-07:00

That's right. A long weekend! Well, getting Saturday off now makes the weekend seem long, ha. So we tried to fill it with as much as we could. We had a DreamWorks party at the Taj Hotel on Friday evening. When the party started to die down, we met up with some friends and all drove over to Seven Hotel to eat at their French restaurant. The food was good as usual. Bree and I both had duck confit with a potato mash.

The next day we decided to go downtown and explore. We decided to pickup a few items from a local bookstore. After that we found a bowling alley/arcade. Later we found a market that had yellow mustard! Yesss!

Early next morning, we were off to Embassy Riding School to ride some horses. Sadly I couldn't carry my camera and ride at the same time so we are without pictures. After a long morning of riding, we decided to hit Leela Palace for champagne and sushi lunch. A rough life indeed.

Fishy Business

2009-06-03T09:12:00.001-07:00

While driving done a street a week ago, I saw a sign that said Fish Therapy. Could it be? I had seen a special in the United States about Fish Pedicures (when you submerge your feet into a fish tank and tiny little fish eat the dead skin off you). Apparently they outlawed this practice in the US due to the fact that they did not know if it is hygienic....but that was not stopping me from trying it...this is India...it doesn't get more unsanitary!
So Helen and I were off to have our toes nibbled. We got there...got our feet scrubbed and stuck our feet into a pool of fish.....ahhhhhh!! I let out a few screams... it felt like putting your feet in a carbonated soda...with the bubbles popping on your skin. I have to admit....I did kind of want to pull my feet out at times...and I had to look away for most of the experience...just because it felt so weird! It was like an out of body experience....I was thinking "oh god, are those really my feet feeding those fish?" After it was all said and done, Helen and I were not really sure it worked...my feet kind of felt the same as they did when I walked in....but at least I got to experience this fishy business :)

Two Can Play At That Game!

2009-06-02T04:45:00.000-07:00

Cheers to me and my Bacardi Breezer...first alcoholic beverage I have had since I was sick...over 10 days ago......after today...I think I deserve it!
Got up early for me...8am...I know, I know...but I am really lazy here, okay :) Got ready for my big day of volunteering. Did I mention that I am volunteering at a government school in a slum village area? Well, I am...and I had no idea what that actually meant until today. My first task...counting the so called books. They are spiral bound copies with some sort of theme...and guess what...there aren't even enough for all the children. So some books we had a count of 4 and others a count of 12...but purely a mish mash of "books". Did I mention that the books were located in a empty room where clearly mice and bugs had been crawling all through the boxes...oh and cockroach's....ewwwww! So after we assessed the book situation we walked into the classroom of about 20 children, 1st and 2nd graders....all together with no seats, no pencils, no paper. Nothing that would actually make you think, "ahh yes, these kids are at school". On top of that, a sick boy was sitting on a small pile of wood in the back of the classroom shivering, coughing, and looking like he was about to die.....he was sent home....hopefully I don't get that!! The only thing that reminds me it is a school....well...if we were in the year 1850, the teachers and the headmaster carry around a large stick to hit children with. And we thought school's were going downhill in America.....ha!

Todays theme: Me, Myself, and I....and we tried to get them to say "My Name is....and My Father's Name is...My Mother's Name is.....and so on. These simple phrases seemed a bit much and after a lot of shy children dodging questions we ended up singing Hoky Poky and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. They brightened up very quickly.....they LOVE singing!! One hour went by and it was lunch time. Now it is time to plan for next weeks lesson....Hmmmm....

On the way home I was asked by another volunteer if I would like to go to Indian lunch at her house....she grew up in Bangalore and came back to Bangalore after living 10 years in Germany. Her house was very nice and the food was excellent...of course she has a cook, but she also makes her own yogurt.....I have never even thought of making my own yogurt?? We had Dahl...which is a mixture of lentils and it usually has rice mixed in with it. Yumm!! Also this wonderful vegitable dish, and salad. Salad in India means raw cucumbers, raw onions, and sometimes raw carrots...and it comes with every meal. It was really exciting to have lunch in an Indian home and I made my first Indian friend...yeah!

I then headed home and was off to the store. Where, after reading the prices at the store, very quickly calculated that I have been getting totally RIPPED OFF!! I usually buy vegi's from the locals...however....the other day things seemed unusally spendy...so, I checked out the prices...and now I am ready to bargain with anyone. Ha.....Two can play at that game!
Wish me luck!

Bree finds a baby store

2009-05-31T01:15:00.001-07:00

Seriously, do not read into this.

We’ve been on the lookout for cheap baby clothes due to two new additions to our families. Anyway, this all begins with a hike we decided to take. To give you an idea how out of place this store is, let me show you a couple pictures I took along our hike.

Termite Mound Random Street

Empty lot Hey, a cow!

Next thing you know… baby store. Ahhh India, so very random.

Networking

2009-05-27T18:49:00.001-07:00

Ever wonder how you get power to a new building in India? Yeah, me neither. Apparently you just run a giant extension cord down the side of a street.

Footloose

2009-05-21T02:38:00.000-07:00

Fun Factoid of the Day:

I feel like I have taken a step back in time....like 1984. I just found out that it is illegal for women to dance where alcohol is served, in Bangalore. Seriously? Why? With these kind of laws...I never would have made it through college.....haha. Anyway...kind of reminds me of the movie Footloose! Oh Kevin....could you please come help us out in Bangalore!

7-11

2009-05-19T18:58:00.001-07:00

We had a BBQ on our roof this weekend. I’m not exactly sure how many people showed up but we went through 15 chicken breasts, 15 drumsticks, 18 burgers, and 4 veggie burgers. So a good number. Bree sent me to the local 7-11 for extra supplies:

Dinner With Friends

2009-05-18T04:28:00.001-07:00

We typically don’t go to the Hard Rock Cafe but when you’re 12,000 miles away from home, in a country that worships cows, and you crave a burger… Hard Rock is pretty tough to beat!

We left straight from work to brave the traffic. Our 16km (10 mile) trip took about 1.5hrs. A few co-workers decided to join us for our late-night dinner and we had a great time. There was a band performing on the other side of the restaurant so the place was packed!

Below are a couple photos and a video I took while we were dining.

Botanical Garden

2009-05-15T21:17:00.001-07:00

On the way home from feeding monkeys at the banyan tree, we decided to swing by the local botanical garden.

Indian Taxi

2009-05-14T22:48:00.000-07:00

Bree and I went for massages at Ozone (a small gated community) and decided to take a rickshaw. If you’ve never ridden in a Bangalore rickshaw, I imagine it’s like strapping yourself to a lawnmower and racing down a crowded street.

Perhaps it’s easier just to show you…

Nandi Hills and the Gross Bull!!

2009-05-14T04:43:00.001-07:00

Was getting a bit tired of hanging out in Brookefields....that is the section of Bangalore that we live in...so off we went to Nandi Hills. Helen and I made our way out to a group of hills, two hours from home, near the airport. In case you don't know what Nandi means.... Nandi=Bull in Hindi...and is one of the many gods in the Hindu religion. As far as I understand...Nandi is the main reason beef is not eaten by Hindu's...it just wouldn't be right eating a "God". Don't quote me on that one, though!

So after driving about 10 minutes on a curvy road up the side of a small mountain...we made it to the top. We got out of the car and inhaled a breath of fresh air....a rare experience in India....we were finally above the level of smog....yes, smog...apparently it is not just in LA...it is actually worse in India...a lot worse.
So....we are on the top of these hills and we start walking around...and of course the first thing we do is go to a temple and get blessed. Of course there is a temple at the top of a 4851 ft. hill.……why wouldn’t there be?? They are everywhere here....there is no shortage of places to practice religion! See the pics of me with what Helen calls my "new boyfriend"...notice he puts his arm around me....no arm around Helen...what is that all about. Then he says he wants copies....like how are we supposed to get this guy a copy?? Funny!
So then a "guide" which is really a guy living at the top of these hills, shows us around the top of Nandi Hills. We walked out to the edge of this mountain which is called Tipu’s Drop. In the 1700’s a Sultan used to make prisoners climb the 1175 steps to the top and throw prisoners off the side of this cliff…...the guide kept telling us to “go”…which meant to get closer to the edge….we were not getting too close to the edge of this mountain…not without a parachute!

The guide showed us a few more interesting places and we finally asked him to leave so we could explore on our own. We ended up walking around the top twice before we found the main attraction…the bull temple. Man did it stink! It was completely covered in ghee, which is clarified butter....and smelled rotten. We quickly took pictures and got out of there as fast as we could!
It was really nice to get away for a day....no horns, no traffic, no smog...just pleasant people, lots of playful monkeys, and good company!

Helen and I at Tipu’s Drop

Views from the Top of Nandi Hills

The holy man apparently likes me…No arm around Helen….Hmmmmm??

Outside the Bull Temple The Grease is so think someone drew a tear in it..yuck!

Petting Nandi

Monkeys feeding monkeys

2009-05-13T11:27:00.001-07:00

A relaxing day feeding the monkeys at the banyan tree.

Goa pics

2009-05-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

I forgot to post some of our pictures from Goa…

Monkeys!

2009-05-11T07:40:00.001-07:00

Monkeys, Boars, and Deer…. oh my

Wedding Season

2009-05-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Dagan’s Birthday

2009-05-08T07:24:00.001-07:00

Soooooo…I am a horrible girlfriend and have not yet blogged about Dagan’s first…and maybe only…birthday in India. Well…April 28th, 2009, his 29th bday and it was really uneventful ….unfortunately. Well what can I say…he went to work…and I planned dinner at Leela Palace, Zen Restaurant. The meal was awesome! The restaurant is supposed to be Thai fusion, however like every restaurant in India you have your pick of Asian food. Usually it is just Chinese and Indian food…but at Zen you have your pick from Thai, Chinese, Korean, or Japanese…all full menus……each type has its own cook. Four head chef’s at one restaurant…that must get interesting! This is not a menu for someone like me…indecisive when it come to food. But alas…we finally settled on Thai…after all…Thai curry is our favorite of all the curries. Delish! We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings, good service, and Dagan enjoyed perusing the elaborate drink menu….see the 40 year old Scotch pic below. Unfortunately Dagan has not had the time to experience the next part of his gift…which is a day at the spa. Hopefully this Sunday will be the day.

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Mysore

2009-05-07T06:09:00.001-07:00

Mysore Palace Rock formations on the way to Mysore