Taj

Jo likes to gloat that she's been to the Taj Mahal and I haven't. Finally fixed that.

I didn't quite know what to expect. Being the most beautiful building in the world for over half a millennium isn't an easy billing. I was nervous. The five-hour drive from Delhi was unpleasant. Then it lost some of it's shine for Jo when she heard that Shah Jahan built it because Mumtaz Mahal was his favorite wife. And the guide was terrible. He said things like "On a full moon night the Taj Mahal is like a beautiful tear drop on the cheek of eternity." Evan pooped early in the game and we didn't have a diaper bag (security measure). Soon both he and I were smelling pretty bad.

But the old lady pulled it off. I'm ready to see it again when we go there next week. Yes. Really.

Delhi

We were in Delhi twice - once the night Aaron and Peyton arrived from the US and then again the night before they left. Jo and I have fond memories of Delhi. I visited the city frequently in the early 80's and lived there for the first half of 1985. Jo worked the summer of 1999 in Delhi. Jo and I ate lunch at a Japanese restaurant in August of 1999 - long before we started hanging out. But Delhi has moved on and is barely recognizable.

We did some of the sights. Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, Jama Masjid. Butter chicken and tandoori at Pindara Road and Mothi Mahal. Jalebis from Chandni Chowk. At Pindara Road a snake charmer convinced Aaron to sit amongst a nest of cobras. The girls got mehndi at Dilli Haat.

We stayed with old friends of my dad's. I hadn't seen them in over 30 years but they invited us to stay when they heard we'd be in Delhi. Evan, Vivian - long after you have forgotten the sights I hope you remember the hospitality of the Indian people.

Back Online

My apologies - been offline more-or-less since Kuala Lumpur. Beginning to feel like I had some sort of bad internet karma. Home, hotels and friends internet would stop working as soon as I tried to connect. But today I'm feeling like I have finally shaken it off. I'll start posting stuff from the remainder of our trip in Borneo and the next trip to Delhi/Agra/Jaipur in India. Meanwhile here are a couple of pictures.

Kuala Lumpur

Ostriches have two toes. The king's palace has mounted guards (the King of Malaysia is elected for a five year term by rotation among the nine royal families of Malaysia). Ducklings are cute and soft. Jalan Alor is THE street food capital of the entire world. The Pertonas towers are well-lit. These are some of the things we learned today.

Yes- that's Vivian walking with her arms outstretched in the middle of the photo above. If she looked up she would see what's in the photo above that.

Singapore Zoo

I don't want to see the insides of a zoo again. We decided to go the zoo on a hot and humid afternoon. Vivian hadn't napped and was in a whiny mood. Evan could not sit still. We quickly gave up the idea of seeing any animals and instead rode around on the tram (slow as it was, it created a breeze). Vivian enjoyed her ride on an elephant - we palmed her off on some lady who had three boys. And Evan took off his shirt and shoes and charmed the crowds with his spring-break act.

Their Room

In Singapore the kids had their own room for the very first time. It was a connecting room decorated with toys and accessories in an age and gender appropriate manner by the hotel staff. They must have an Ikea close by.

Vivian and Evan liked having their own space and their toys and coloring pencils and toothbrushes and all that. But what they enjoyed the most was their bathrobes and house slippers.

Two Months

Austin's been in the rear view mirror for two months now. We have all gotten used to traveling. Vivian has been an exceptional traveler - but we expected that. Surprisingly Evan has traveled well too.

We have been living in an apartment in Hyderabad for about half of the time, and at Sharath's for quite a while before that, so it's with a large grain of salt that I say this - but we've been living without most of our "stuff" for a while now. We left home with four suitcases, most of them containing children's travel accessories and their clothes. I have worn about half the clothes I packed, and have bought two new shirts. On this fifteen day trip to Singapore and Malaysia, we have one suitcase. There will be some house cleaning when we are back to Austin. That is my lesson from Month Two.

Interesting Pictograph

You get used to this sign after a while. It's plastered all over Singapore. There are variations - sometime the guy with the gun is colored green - in camo fatigues. He holds the gun up at his shoulders sometimes, and once we saw the intruder was pictured stumbling back after being shot.

Singapore

More pictures from Singapore. We stayed in the tallest hotel in town - so it was easy to find. The kids had their own room. We took a picnic lunch and lugged Evan to the top of Fort Canning.Vivian walked up every step. A walk through the British WWII command center - the Battle Box, was interesting and eerie.

We ended up on Orchard Road after a visit to Takasimaya to eat Japanese food. It was weird to see so many designer stores selling the same things. Every other block had an Armani or a Channel with Tods and Prada and Tiffany and Cartier thrown in as filling. The F1 had finished the day before we got to Singapore. Force India's car was parked out on the sidewalk and Evan wanted to drive it.

One morning we hiked to the top of Bukit Timah - the highest natural point of Singapore. When we finished we walked back to Bukit Timah shopping center to find a cab. We entered through a door in the back and found ourselves in the strangest shopping center. They sell maids. Every kind. "Christian Indonesian Maids", etc.

This afternoon we dragged the kids to Singapore Zoo. It was prime nap time for Vivian and we paid dearly for the poor planning. But we got the obligatory kid-on-the-elephant picture. We slipped Vivian into a group of three boys and their mother - if no one had noticed I would have been tempted to leave her there.