Viva La Singapore, My Deadliest Sin: Gluttony

I just returned from a four day whirlwind trip to Singapore, and I had an amazing time. The newness and the buildings of Singapore remind me of the over-the-top feel of Vegas buildings, plus I was a little indulgent. I had been looking forward to the trip for a few weeks for several reasons, most significantly for food and drink (I live in a dry city). And Singapore did not disappoint. I arrived very early Thursday morning and slept until the afternoon. First up: Korean BBQ buffet. I’ve had Korean BBQ many times, but never a buffet of meat where you choose the quantity of every type of meat you want to grill. The restaurant also had some non-meat Korean items which hit the spot for my Korean cravings. Anyway after we stuffed ourselves, we went out for drinks. Drinks in Singapore are ridiculously expensive. Like, really expensive. I’m a lightweight so it’s not a huge deal, but it’s still pricey. My lychee martini was SGD 18, which is about $14. Yea, ridiculous. Anyway we had drinks and I also checked off the next item on my food list: waffles covered in chocolate and fresh strawberries. It was delicious. After debating whether to stay out later, we ended up going home and watching Arrested Development in celebration of the new episodes. We rested up for night #2.

Korean BBQ

After about 4 hours of sleep, I woke up to go to the American embassy to pick up our passports. We had gone the day earlier because we both needed to add more pages to our passports. After that, I shopped in the Orchard area. I went a little crazy; it had been so long since I had been in a Western style mall. Shops in India generally don’t have many Western clothes, and the ones they have aren’t very fashion-forward. That and for some reason they only have like one or two of each item of clothing. The Singapore stores were overflowing with really cute shirts, dresses, and SHOES! I went pretty crazy on the shoes. I spent about two hours in the first store I went to trying on shoes, and forced myself to only buy two pairs. From there we went to sushi. Again, absolutely delicious. I also had udon and donkatsu to make sure I got my fill of Japanese food. From there, more shopping. About 4 more hours of shopping. Then, more Korean food. I love soondubu, it’s my favorite restaurant food. So my friend did some research and we ended up at a restaurant with good soondubu. Then onward to home to shower and go out for the night. We met up with my friend’s friend, and his friends, and went to Zouk, where apparently a big-name DJ from Japan was spinning. That’s cool. My friend’s friend’s friends left at around 4AM to make their 7AM flight (crazy people!) and we went on to a bar for a few more drinks.

 After about an hour of sleep, I force myself awake so we can make our 8:30AM bus to Melaka. I pretty much am a zombie through most of the sight-seeing we did, but we had some good Malay food and satay for dinner. We had planned on seeing the Kung Fu Doctor, this amazing kung fu master who swallows knives and can pierce a coconut shell with his finger. However it started raining pretty heavily so the night market was not very lively. We ended up at a bar (surprise!) where I got some amazing apple pie, check. From there we wandered a few more bars and made it to the hotel.

Trishaws in Melaka.

After my longest night of sleep, 6 hours, we get up to catch our bus back to Singapore. I had a quarter pounder at McDonalds (more meat!), then slept a little while we made our way into Singapore. After a little respite at home, we had ramen at Ramen Challenge. There were six ramen iron chefs from Japan who set up shop in a part of a mall. The chef with the most votes wins the Ramen Challenge gets to set up a restaurant in Singapore. Needless to say, the ramen was delicious. Then onto a building that looks like it’s from Gotham where we had a drink at its beautiful bar. The last stop of the weekend was a bar on the river where we passed out on a daybed while sipping Singapore Slings.

Ramen!

Ok so maybe I didn’t see much of Singapore, but I did have a nice break from my daily grind. I am predictably exhausted and wondering when I can make it out to Singapore again.

View from our daybed at Lantern.

My First Monsoon, I’m a Real Indian Now

After a few posts on traveling, I decided to write about my roots. After months of downpours and cloudy skies, I saw the sun for the first time.  It was great! I actually kind of forgot how bright it could be. This is cause for a celebration of another milestone, I’ve survived my first monsoon. I loved the monsoon, when I didn’t have to go outside. But I loved listening to the rain and the way it would wash my feet when they inevitably got dirty from walking on the street. It made the once brown and dead fields lush and green, right now everything looks like a rain forest and it’s so pretty! The rain also helped keep the dust down so now my eyes are itchy and watery as ever. But it’s still nice to see the sun. This also means that the solar-powered water heater for my building is also seeing sun which means no more ice cold, but lukewarm showers! I am really living the life now. This also means my laundry will get some warm water too. Laundry probably means something different to me than it does to you. I remember being lazy and piling up a month’s worth of laundry and doing five loads over two days. I now do about two loads every week. Laundry consists of soaking my clothes in water, and then wringing them out to get the excess dirt out. Then it requires a nice beatdown with a bar of detergent. From there it soaks in detergent water overnight. Then I have to manually rinse all the detergent out of the clothes, which is the most time-consuming part. What I usually do is squeeze all the soapy water out of the clothes that I can, and then soak them in water, and then squeeze out all the soapy water again. I do about four or five iterations of this until the water in the bucket is absolutely clear. Then I leave the clothes in regular water for about an hour to get the detergent smell out of them and wring them one last time before finding creative ways to hang them in my bathroom. Once they have been hanging in the bathroom for a few hours, they have stopped dripping and I move them out to my kitchen area where there is a long bar that I use to hang the clothes for the next day while they dry completely. One load of laundry takes about three days from start until being completely dry to wear. So I have to plan, running low on underwear now means only having a week’s worth left. I don’t mind it, I actually enjoy it and I feel that there is a lot of energy and water wasted with washing machines and dryers. But don’t get me wrong I will be using those appliances when I get home. I just think it adds to my Indian cred.

The second thing about Indian cred is using public transport. I’ve written before that the bus numbers are in Hindi script and they don’t really stop so you have to know and commit to getting on the bus while it’s still moving. I live near a small mall, but there is a really large one about ten miles away. It has nice stores and good restaurants. So if I need something Western, or am looking for good food, or just want to kill a few hours I make my way over there. I also usually meet friends there for the same reasons. Thus I developed the habit of going over there pretty regularly, and usually by auto or taxi. This costs about Rs. 250 each way, which is $5. Not so bad for a 20 minute ride. But this has been eating into my meager stipend so I decided I would get there by public transport. For me that means I still take an auto to the train station, take the train, and then take another auto at my destination. But I decided I was going to go at it totally Indian style. So I walked out to the point where I usually get my auto because I knew the bus goes by there. The bus started rolling up and I decided to hop on. Indians are so nice, and I knew people would help me if I asked for help. Sometimes I get help without asking for it too! Anyway I asked “rail station?” and the fare collector bobbed yes and I paid my Rs. 4 for my ride to the train station. That’s 8 cents. I got to the train station and was debating whether I should pay for a roundtrip rail ticket because I might change my mind and still come home by cab. Well each way costs Rs. 7 so I would only lose about 14 cents if I changed my mind later. So I decided to get the Rs. 14 roundtrip and spent the next half hour on the train. I got off at the rail station, and I did my research beforehand so I knew I could just walk to the mall. After my shopping, I decided I would take the train back home. I walked back to the train station, took the train, and then took the bus home. We were squeezed like sardines on the bus, and I prepared to get off at my stop. Well the fare collector didn’t have a chance to get to me so he didn’t know anybody had to get off at that stop, and the bus wasn’t slowing down. I made my way to the edge of the stairs, and once the bus slowed down at an intersection I jumped off. Well when I jumped it turns out the bus started moving again so I actually jumped off a moving bus. I was fine though and made my way home. I spent Rs. 19 to get to and from the mall I usually spend Rs. 500 getting to and from. I was grinning while walking home because I did it! I felt authentic and that I accomplished what I set out to do. Part of being here is to have the real Indian experience, and taking air-conditioned cabs just made me feel a little like a fraud and elitist. But now I can navigate the public transport with the best of them. Plus it helps knowing that people will have your back.

Bring on the humidity, Mumbai!

After my first Indian railway experience and an overnight train from Delhi, I have arrived in Mumbai! My first impression: it is HUMID! Delhi has a relative humidity of 34% and Mumbai has a relative humidity of 80% and you can really feel the difference. Add that to 34 degree weather (about 85F) and you just sweat instantly. Just standing outside makes you sweat and sticky. It's gross. My employer is actually based in Navi Mumbai, which is a suburban train ride from Mumbai. I live at the employer's complex and it is pretty nice, which means I don't really have to go outside or have a commute. It takes me about 2 minutes to get to work as I live about 50ft from the office. I share a flat with another volunteer and we're definitely putting some effort into making it homey for the next year. We have done a little exploring and really lucked out with our neighborhood. In one direction we have a 3 story mall with a supermarket (!!!) and McDonalds. In another direction we have roads full of stores of the more traditional Indian fare where we can get good bargains on everything from fruits and vegetables to clothes.

I've also started my role with my employer and right now I'm just familiarizing myself with the organization, its history and its current projects. I have to say I'm impressed with how much the organization has accomplished at the local, state, and national levels. I can't wait to be a part of the change they are already causing.

I know that's not much for now, but I've been taking it easy trying to settle in and make my flat a home. I've also been eaten alive by mosquitoes in the three days I've been here so I'm trying to find a solution for that. Wish me luck!

Shopper's Paradise

Before leaving for India I heard and read stories of how great it is to shop in India and how you can get great clothes at fantastic prices. I had braced myself for being disappointed by these grand expectations, and figured that being in a big city in Delhi the prices might not be as cheap as people claimed. I am so happy that the shopping reality here is better than the stories I have heard. After the colored festivities of Holi, I have made some ventures into Delhi's shopping selection. My first week here I went to the N-Block market in Greater Kailesh and surprised to find that I could buy an entire outfit for about $25. This deflated me a little because this was not the outrageous value that I was told India was going to offer. However, the shops in this market are Western style with showrooms and racks of clothes. I did a little more digging to find out where the locals shop.

Monday afternoon I spent the afternoon and evening at Sarojini Market, an authentic market where locals told me some great deals were to be found. As I started to wander the stalls of the array of kurtas and jewelry, I couldn't believe the beautiful colors and the amazing prices. Many of the prices for kurtas were 150 RS, about $3, and of course that's just the starting point for some hard haggling. The stores at N-Block market had kurtas starting from 600 RS, and those were fixed prices. I went from stall to stall, overwhelmed by the choices I had in style, fabric, and pattern. There was stall after stall along each lane, and then on each side of the lane when going further into the market. There were even more stores and stalls when navigating perpendicular to the main stalls. Stores were selling clothes, shoes, jewelry, scarves, pillows, saris, everything that could be worn or was made from fabric. I'm still getting my bearings on the array of different kurta styles and salwar kameez I could wear so I limited my shopping to necessities. For two skirts, two pairs of shoes, and two pairs of pants I paid about $14. Amazing!

Since I have been struck with a little Delhi belly on Tuesday, I've been taking it easy this week. Tuesday and Wednesday were classes as usual. After being cooped up for two days I decided it was time to find some more shopping. I've been hearing about Lajpat Nagar Central Market from locals so I decided that I had to check it out. I found even more stalls and stores filled with an even wider variety of items, including housewares and silverware. One thing I love about India are the truly gorgeous fabrics and colors and patterns that all the women wear so beautifully. One fabulous store had ribbons of these amazing fabrics and patterns, material to line curtains, sheets, clothes, everything. With all the different types of patterns and clothes, and a question from my language teacher about why I haven't started wearing Indian clothes, I decided it was time to start my collection of kurtas. Prices were a little more expensive here but I walked away with two kurtas, pyjami leggings, and a scarf for 770 RS, about $17.

Before leaving for India I also decided to learn how to sew so I could make some clothes for myself. I can be really picky when I know what I'm looking for, and often I've spent hours looking for something and giving up when not being able to find it. While researching for India, I learned that India has many great tailors and it is affordable to get custom tailoring. At different markets I've received quotes for a pair of pants to be $24, including fabric $9 if I provide the fabric. I haven't done much research at fabric stores, but I'm hoping that buying the fabric separately will make it even cheaper. Now I can have all those clothes that I've searched for!

I'm kicking myself now for not taking pictures of these markets thinking, oh I should savor the experience, and generally I don't take much pictures. But I'm realizing that since I'm leaving Delhi I should be better about taking pictures! I do have some videos from some of the rickshaw rides I've taken. Here is a fairly tame one although you can hear how important the horn is while driving.

Auto (as they are called):

My experience: