Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Great travels and vacations everyone!

And check out new blogs I posted this week too.  More adventures to come in the new year...

Kolkata

So we went to Kolkata for the wedding reception of our friend Jitu from graduate school.  Sandip and I spent a lot of time discussing the differences between Kolkata and Delhi.  They are both huge, but Kolkata felt more accessible, more small town.  There are less “big sites” to see in Kolkata, and therefore far fewer foreigners.  We also noticed that the streets of Kolkata were clean by comparison to Delhi-trash was here and there, and also in designated trash areas.  Delhi it is far more widespread.  Much like Delhi, Kolkata has some colonial buildings in concentrated areas, some of which are better kept than others.  Both have different types of air pollution-Delhi it is from people burning things to keep warm, Kolkata is from the diesel engines on the cabs and buses.

Wanderings on a Saturday 

On Saturday we walked around the city, got a tour of the Consulate, and had a lovely and very tasty lunch nearby the consulate.  We also saw New Market-put in by the British-an indoor market that has just about everything you could need.  Men followed us around inside either trying to direct us to booths, or offering to carry things we buy for a small fee.  We were just there to look. Here are some pictures from our walk.

 Because the two always go together.

 Street food vendors were everywhere!

 Walking near the Consulate.

 I think I mentioned to some of you that electricity distribution is a problem in India. 

 This guy was just napping on the sidewalk underneath a makeshift tent.

 This is getting a good view of some of the older buildings.

 And men carrying things on their heads in front of St. Thomas church.

 The clock tower outside of New Market-one of those crazy places with a maze inside. (we didn't take any photos inside, sorry!) Built by the British.

Bess and Alex-our gracious hosts-outside the entrance to new market.

 Hard to really see the scaffolding on this, but it was pretty amazing in person.

 Walking along=clean streets!

 The original rickshaw. This is carried by a person in the front (as opposed to a four legged animal) and 1-2 people sit in the back.

Wedding Reception

Many of you know Jitu, our dear friend from Maxwell.  Though he is posted in DRC right now, he had two weddings-one in Nebraska and one in Kolkata where his family lives.  So we were very excited to be able to go to Kolkata.  The wedding reception was at the Taj Bengal, and like I mentioned was pretty well populated.  There is a lovely outdoor garden at which the reception was held.  After the formal events, some of us hit the bar in the hotel and actually there was a really good singer.  The bar was quite fun and I got to spend time talking with Janet’s mom and sister who were awesome.  I did laugh out loud when I heard the first 4 notes of a song.  Sandip asked what I was laughing at…then she starts belting “you know I can’t smile without you!”  I sang along (thank you, I think, mom!)  see pictures below.  

M

Janet and Jitu

Me, Jitu, Sandip

 Scene from the garden

Sunday day

On Sunday we went to the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.  Lonely Planet tells me that it is like US Capitol meets Taj Mahal and that is about spot on.  Built for Queen Victoria, it wasn't completed until like 20 years after her death.  Inside there is a museum with lots of Kolkata and Indian history and art.  Some of it was better than others, like any museum.  Some of the work was sort of out there not as well preserved as you would expect, but it was still cool.  There was a lot of the goddess Kali-the female counter to Shiva the destroyer.  Haven't looked her up yet, but she was totally someone you want in your corner.

 Us outside the memorial.

 The grounds around the memorial.

Statue (obviously) of what I have no idea.

 Unfortunately a lot of the lights at the memorial were a like this.  Looked like the work of bored kids.

Who doesn't need a good topiary of animals at their memorial?

From pre-Singapore: New House, stuff arrived

All-I realize this is WAY overdue.  As of late November, we have a new place.

We moved out of our apartment into a new one.  Basic reason is the old place had too much construction going on, and it was likely to go well into December.  There was an open apartment so Embassy relocated us so they could finish up the other place. 

So Friday (the Fri before Thanksgiving) we moved to a place that is much closer to work (5 minute walk) and actually bigger and better laid out.  We have a front garden area with a nice table and back courtyard as well.  There is also tons of storage.  It is an older place, which means it is a bit sturdier and has a lot more character.  Hopefully we will be able to fix it up nicely, including the stairway to nowhere.  I am calling it our tribute to Alaska, but we love it.  You'll see once we get unpacked and get pictures up.  This is still a work in progress.

There are a few pictures to include on the blog and that is from the stuff we unpacked.  Most of our things arrived here unharmed.  We lost one piece of art.  Otherwise a bit of scratching here and there and a bit more wear to a couple cushions.  Could have been a lot worse.

A few pics:

Getting the couch in took about one and a half hours. 

Unloading the truck

Proof they pack everything.  My coffee from day of pack out.

Singapore Post #3-Christmas Lights, Chinatown, random stuff

Ok, this is the last post on Singapore.  Where was I?  Oh yes, it is awesome.

Shopping and Lights
Another national pastime is shopping, and Singapore has Orchard Street-sort of like 5th Avenue but glitzier.  It had a lot of really high end shops, but also Christmas lights and music.  It really put me in the spirit (yes it seems Christmas=commercialization).  So here are some nice shots of the beautiful Christmas lights.

Nice lit tree

This is a great shot of Orchard Street.

Another great shot

Beautiful, but apparently dangerous!

No Christmas decorations are complete without men on stilts.

Chinatown

The pictures below are from Chinatown.  It had the best food and was also where we stayed.  I should also mention it is the one place we saw a person peeing on the street.  There are hefty fines for this, but I can't say I blame the person we saw-it was a three year old boy who just couldn't hold it anymore, so his mom whipped down his pants and he peed right there.  

There are lots of what is called Buddha's Tooth Temple, which purports to have a piece of Buddha's tooth, but I am skeptical.

The outside of the temple

It had walls and walls of Buddha statues.

Inside the temple.

Street view of Chinatown-see how clean!

Our hotel from outside

 Inside the hotel lobby

Our hotel from inside by the room-see how Alice in Wonderland it is!

Randomness
The last set of pictures are random shots from around the city that either don't fall easily into a bucket, show something interesting or different, or are just funny!

I took this picture for dad who loves Dunkin' Donuts.

I took this picture for mom in case she ever wants to open a restaurant in Singapore-she already has a sign.

I took this picture for all who remember our old lamps in the house.  Still ugly in Singapore.

Thanks for the warning.

This is Netball, which we saw in a random park. It is basically basketball without a backboard basically.  It is like ultimate Frisbee in that you can only take 2 steps after catching the ball.  Also if you are shooting, the defenders are not allowed in your face.
 

 

Sandip contemplating Singapore from the escalator to a fort we visited.

 Me at the fort

 Me at the same escalator

 Mosque in Little Arabia

This is taken while standing on the spaceship-I can't believe I left this one out earlier!

Looking dapper.  See that strange white building in the back?

Inside the new performing arts theater (remember the fly eyes?)

This is the ad campaign urging people to give up metro seats to elderly and pregnant women.

Irony here is that we just walked down a back alley that was really hard to find, but had several "nail salons"

And my favorite-to cross the street, press for green man!