Taj!!

We went and we saw!

We got up bright and early and got in the car with dearest Dharminder.

We drove and drove (with two pitstops-one being McDonalds) and arrived to Agra around 1pm. We checked in at an AMAZING hotel- Mughal Hotel. It was just extravagantly beautiful.

We dropped our stuff off in the hotel room and headed out to Agra Fort. Our guide, Shaddab, was so energetic and sweet. Not only did he share a story for every inch of the fort, he also played photographer. He took both roles very seriously, and we have tons of wonderful and cheesily hilarious pictures thanks to him! When we finished with the Fort, Shaddab took us to an awesome local spot that gave us a sneak peak of the Taj from the opposite side!

After spending almost 4 hours out in Agra we went back to our beautiful hotel and went to to spa. As you walk in, there's white marble with pomegranate red inlay and a fountain directly ahead. We both got beautiful massages, but before was almost just as amazing. We each went our separate ways into the men and women's areas which each had an infrared room, a steam room, and a jacuzzi! I spent time in all three and even took a hot shower before (and after) the massage. After our spa session we went got all dressed up, had a few drinks at the bar and enjoyed dinner in the hotel.

The next morning we were out the door by 6:30 AM on our way to see the Taj Mahal! We arrived and Shaddab bought our tickets. He bought a foreign one for Ryan (about $15.00) and an Indian ticket for me (about $0.30). Yes you read that right, the price difference is that enormous. He told me if anyone asked to just say I was from Chennai. I knew that if I even opened my mouth and said one word they would know I was American. Regardless I got in the Indian women's line (about 1/10 the length of the Foreign Men line Ryan was in). I kept my mouth shut and started playing with the two toddlers who were with the woman ahead of me. I stuck close to them and the guard tore my ticket without a second glance. Just behind me he started yelling at two girls (who were speaking to him in Hindi), saying that he didn't believe they were Indian citizens and made them take out their IDs! Needless to say I was really glad I had managed to scrape through!

I waited for everyone to get through the men's line and then we headed in to see the Taj! It truly is indescribable, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

We were still in awe as we headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted from the thrill of the whole weekend. We ordered room service, took a quick nap and checked out. We called Dharminder and asked if he wouldn't mind picking us up a little later than we had planned. We ended our trip with a beautiful afternoon poolside :-)

We had a full day of Delhi tourism on Saturday! We woke up bright and early, packed up our respective bags and headed out to meet Dharminder at his car. Our first stop was the India Gate. It was a beautiful morning, probably in the low 70s. It’s hard to explain the enormity of it, even with the pictures! The gate was built in 1931 and is also known as the All India War Memorial. It honors the 90,000 soldiers who died fighting for the Indian Empire.

Our next stop was Jantar Mantar. When you enter the area, you are surrounded by 13 fascinating structures. All of the structures are astronomical instruments that were used to predict the movement of the sun, moon and planets. It was built around 1724. Ryan and I read every single plaque that explained how each structure was used. We got about halfway in and were entirely confused. Needless to say, we were left in awe.

Also, there were quite a few fieldtrips visiting Jantar Mantar that same day so we enjoyed watching little kids run up and down the structures, the boys throwing a ball around in the grass and the girls skipping around in circles and singing little rhymes. Some things are the same everywhere ;-)

Then we stopped at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial. We walked down a beautiful path to a huge expanse of green grass. When we got near the center we were asked to remove our shoes. The memorial is exactly what you would expect: beautiful, unimposing, and serene.

We next stopped for lunch at an amazing restaurant. We invited Dharminder to eat with us and we each had an enormous Masala Paper Dosa. I think we finished in about 4 minutes without taking a break to drink or breathe!

Lastly we stopped at the Lotus Temple. It was the most grand, yet subtly beautiful structure I have ever seen. Upon approaching the temple we again removed our shoes. We walked barefoot up the bath until we saw the beautiful pools of water. There are a total of nine pools surrounding the temple. The temple is made up of 9 “petals”. The contrast of the teal blue with the stark white of the temple was breathtaking. We sat near the water for about half an hour just soaking in the serene surroundings.

Before we entered the temple, guides (in both Hindi and English) explained that the Lotus Temple is also known as the Baha’i House of Worhip. The Baha’i faith’s principles are the oneness of mankind, independent investigation of Truth, the common foundation of all religions, the essential harmony of Science and Religion, equality of men and women, elimination of prejudice of all kinds, universal compulsory education and universal peace. The inside of the temple had no real focus point or “front” and was silent for the most part. After we spent fifteen minutes or so inside, we again relaxed outside before calling it a night.
And we'll end it with an artsy picture courtesy of Ryan

Ryan and I have now gotten settled into a schedule with work and trying to go to the gym. Trying is certainly the keyword. Ryan is going into the market more, taking the motorcycles with the sales reps, so here is our first showing of how crazy the traffic is here:

And I looked sweet:

Also, this caused some major delays

Ryan has made a friend with a Rickshaw driver.

One day I got off the Metro (train) and got a bicycle driver to take me home. Before we left, we agreed upon 30 Rs. ($0.60). When we got to the house, as he was giving me my change, he left me 10 Rs. short and tried to get me to give him 10 more. Smiling, he finally gave me my change and turned to another rickshaw driver to say something that I can only imagine was "Had to try with the white boy."

A couple of days later, as I got in again, I decided to walk home. Several of the rickshaw drivers were yelling at me to come with them, but one in particular got up smiling and yelling. He held up three fingers so I remembered the 30, so I had to take him. I ended up giving him 40 (an extra $0.20 for laughing the whole way.

Bhaina (older brother, Renu's cousin), Renu and I were leaving the grocery store and walking to the car and there was a rickshaw driver waiting. Sure enough, the same guy puts up three fingers. He was very disappointed to see I had a car this time, but it's funny to see him recognize me around the city.

Ryan and I spent the weekend working on a website and watching movies. What goes better with that than pizza? Tuni, the house help, told us in Hindi that she was going to the market. We said "acha" ("good") and she left. We ordered pizza from Dominoes (I know it's a crime in the US haha) but it's actually a lot better here! As the delivery boy rang the door bell and Ryan went to open the door I heard him start cracking up. We then realized that Tuni had actually locked us IN to the apartment!! So we stood on one side with the money and the delivery boy stood on the other with the pizza. So after we laughed for a while Ryan slipped the money under the door and we convinced him to leave the pizza (in broken Hindi and English) we waited for Tuni to come home. We warmed up the pizza and it tasted better than ever!

While Ashish bhaina got a haircut we got lured in by a familiar scent. We just couldn't help ourselves. We went to Subway. The prices weren't as good as I thought they'd be ($3 for 6-inch) but it was the EXACT same as home. Sometimes it is very nice to be able to get back that home feel. Miss you all.

Also, requisite picture of a cow. This guy was a MONSTER, but extremely "skinny."

Hide and seek

That's a cow, just hanging out in some tall grass to cool off on the narrow road home. I don't think it was pleased we stopped near it for awhile to get the picture.

Back to "Home"

[Sorry sorry for the long delay. Renu and I have been working long long hours at the office during the day, enjoying a couple of drinks and a meal each night, and then sleeping right after.]

As we left Mumbai we had one final day with Renu's mom in Delhi. We made the most of it by doing a bit of shopping at a couple of different places. The most notable was an "underground" market. As you walk down the steps of what looks to be a subway station, there is a hazy heat to rush up and greet you. Caused by the packed crowds and constantly burning incense, it makes it tough to stay for long. The aisles were at most 7 feet wide with garages on each side for stores. In them you could find just about anything, but most were filled with shoes and clothing. And there was the constant sales pitch, people yelling out for you to stop in. Renu found some shoes and her mom bargained them down to about 50% of the original price.

This lady was not one of the ones asking us to stop in the store.

There we unfortunately had to send Dr. Hermon back stateside. After over two weeks and travels to Delhi (twice), Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai we dropped her off very late at Delhi's airport. We certainly miss her guidance here!

Sunday is an off day for Think Tank's workforce, which means celebration. A common brunch spot for Pritinani (Renu's cousin) and Vishal (our boss) is Yum!Yum! Tree in Delhi.

Vishal making a fast break for the table. 

There we had one of the most memorable meals of our lives. For less than 2,000 rupees (under $40) we got our choice of UNLIMITED sushi, sashimi, dim sums, soups, deserts, lamb ribs and more. On top of that, you also got UNLIMITED drinks between beer, martinis, a bloody mary with wasabi in it, and more. We ended up staying for 3 and a half hours enjoying every possible dish, some many times over. Vishal and Priti nani are very well known in that place, and now we know why: - they have to keep coming back or one good lunch and we'll put them out of business.

Dim Sum stacks of duck, chicken, and more. 

As Renu and I told them about our frequent visits to our favorite sushi in Michigan with Ed and Rene, we told them that we had a Volcano roll they had to try on a visit to Michigan. So we had the chefs there prepare their version. 

While it'd be very difficult to overcome the Oh! Tokyo style, this was very different and very very good. 

Monday was Renu and I's first day of work at Think Tank Games. While they've been in a different form for the last eight years, Think Tank itself is a very new company which brings a lot of talent. Renu and I are luckily to have an opportunity with such a young company in an exciting field. The past few days we have been learning their product line, which consists of single and multiplayer puzzles, board games with a strategic twist, and mind challenger style games. Needless to say, we each spent some frustrating time trying to make a square out of rectangles, and trying to line up 5 rows of 4 trees each out of 10 pieces. 

Also, last night Vishal, his mother, Renu and I went to a beautiful buffet at the Park Plaza hotel in Noida, the city just outside Delhi where we live. The items were written as pictured below, and is the reason we joined the local gym today:

I think next time we'll just make a food blog. 

The Bombay Contrast

From Bangalore we flew to Bombay (British name) aka Mumbai. Up to this point, everyone had warned us about Mumbai with how busy and different it was. It was much like the rest of the USA would describe the density and chaos of New York City. We first went to Mahim, which is where Renu's Dad's parents owned a flat for a long while. Luckily, there was an old couple renting the place and (in probably a bit of confusion) let us in so Renu's mom could describe what she remembered.

We then went to Renu's Aunt's sisters flat in Mumbai to see their newborn baby. They lived in an incredible apartment building with marble everywhere and doors that hid the hallway to the bedrooms. The beautiful contrast was the true definition of life in Mumbai (and much of India): a huge high-end complex surrounded by factories, slums, a view of the bay and other large top notch buildings. While there are neighborhoods within the cities, it isn't uncommon to have a beautiful new multi-national corporate building next to one with garbage and concrete dust flowing out of it. While stark and even shocking at first, the unity and flow of India is moving.





We then got back into tourist mode to visit the waterfront in a part of the city known as Colaba. Within one shot you can see the Gateway to India, built by the British, the Taj hotel, where one of the country's worst terrorist attacks occured, and the bay. It was filled with people and street vendors and brought back Renu's mom's memories of playing around the monument as a child.

On the way to dinner that evening, we stopped at the Queen's Necklace part of Mumbai. There is a road that hugs the large 'U' of the Bay and gives you a full view of Mumbai's incredible skyline. Bombay certainly lived up to the hype as one of the most exciting cities that we've visited.

Bengaluru (Bangalore)

Hey everyone! We have been flying all around the country and having a blast. When we were in Bengaluru we met with a bunch of my dad's side of the family. Because so we had a limited amount of time but wanted to see everyone, my mom and Divya set up a huge luncheon. There were over thirty people who came, ate and caught up over the course of the afternoon. It was really wonderful to see so many cousins/aunts/uncles after many years as well as meet some relatives for the first time!

While in Bengaluru we made a trip to the hospital to visit my great aunt. She was looking well and was discharged the following day. She is almost ninety years old and couldn't be more hilarious and quick witted. She was quite taken up with Ryan and whispered something to him that he still won't tell us!

The next day we went to the UB Mall, located within UB City. "UB" stands for "United Breweries", created by Vijay Mallya. He is the chairman for Kingfisher beer as well as creator of Kingfisher airlines. The mall was done in a style very similar to Ceasar's in Vegas and was chock full of high end stores like Versace and Jimmy Choo.

Needless to say that window shopping was all we could afford. We did, however, have lunch on the terrace area of the mall. The restaurant was called "Rajdhani" and served food in typical Rajistani fashion. It was an all-you-can eat meal; the waiters walked around filling up any cup/dish/open space on our plates until we were bursting at the seams!

Afterwards Divya, Ryan, my mom and myself all had a quick drink in another nearby restaurant, "Shiro". As soon as we entered we were greeted by high ceilings lined with bamboo and a strikingly serene statue. We were told that we were't allowed to take pictures so here is an undercover shot Ryan got (you can also find professional pictures online "Shiro UB Mall"):

To cap off our outing, Divya took us to her favorite hangout, a charming tea joint called "Infinitea". We each were given a little pot of our tea of choice and and an hourglass/sandtimer to make sure our tea was perfectly brewed. While waiting we shared some potstickers.

Though we were moving non-stop, I've only shared a few highlights of our time in Bengaluru - we still have to save a few stories to tell you all in person! :-) We were very lucky to be able to spend time and share meals with so many warm, hospitable people. More stories and pictures to come!

Chennai

Hello again! We have so much to catch up on since we didn't have any internet in Chennai! Our trip to Chennai was short but packed full of food and family. We arrived to my Uncle Alex's house in the early afternoon. Their house is beautiful with a full garden in front.

The first night we went to visit St. Thomas Mount where St. Thomas the disciple was murdered. The memorial and church are on a high hill that overlooks the city. I had been there before, but the experience at night was much different especially with an almost full moon above. The city was lit up and the breeze felt perfect.

The next day we spent a lot of time in the heart of the city. We went to visit my Uncle Alex's property/building named "Alexander Square".

That night we made a quick stop at the beach. It takes approximately fifteen minutes to walk from the edge of the beach up to the water! It is one of the broadest beaches in the world which makes for a huge expanse of sand. Though there were quite a few people on the beach, everyone was very spread out.

We were lucky enough to meet up with more of Uncle Alex's family as well as Dr. Hermon's nephew Sunny bhaina at the club they belong to.

We are now in Bangalore, home of IT giants such as Infosys and WiPro. There is a much higher concentration of younger people and it seems to be a very "fresh" city. However, due to the sudden growth the quality of the air is severely diminished. This is the first time we have noticed the smell, which is like following a bad diesel truck on the highway.

We started at my godmother's sister's house in the heart of old Bangalore where we had an incredible South Indian meal: sambar, russum, crab, daal, pickles, paratas, chicken curry etc. They live in a house with four generations of family, from great-grandmother to two little ones.

We had dinner at Kobe Sizzler (the constant food is starting to show), which was a hotplate joint where we could finally reuinte with beef.

There was also an American radio station on, so with steak and Eminem we felt a bit like home. Ryan went with the Pepper Steak, and I split a couple of dishes across the table.

This is Ryan's Pepper steak which cost 390 rupees, or only about $7.50. Some of the prices around here are just incredible.

We have a huge luncheon today with Renu's dad's family, expecting about 35 people to come to the hotel to meet us. We'll send pictures soon!