Out of My Suitcase and Into....

Traffic and being impounded

2010-10-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

I forgot how terrible the traffic is to get out of the aiport. I think it took 15-20 minutes just to get onto the main road. There's a lot of construction in the area, which makes things worse. While the ever-present dust was expected, the persistent horn honking was also lost to memory. Something to get used to since everyone uses their horn. Lucikly, the hotel driver wasn't one of them. The driver taking us to work and on our weekend excursions also isn't a heavy horn user. But he is a pretty aggressive driver, which comes after 14 years of driving I guess.

The traffic going to a shopping mall on Saturday was quite heavy, but it allowed us to have a glimpse of the city. We've been impounded in our walled apartment/hotel complex that such a venture out is welcomed. Our compound has one entry/exit point, which is a number of security guards are stationed. They use a mirror to look under every car. The hood and trunk is opened for inspection, along with the doors of the car so that a dog can sniff the interior. If everything is OK, a round concrete post is lowered so that we can pass. I appreciate the security, but I dislike being imprisoned. I miss having an apartment and being able to walk to restaurants, shops and buy fresh produce from the local vendors.

After just one dinner in the hotel, I've been ensuring our schedules are arranged so that we can dine outside. It's a bit tough when most restaurants don't serve dinner until 7 or 7:30. We've decided we would rather work late during the week and get a late start on the weekends to be able to remain outside the walls a little longer and experience life as it should be lived.

Sunday Times of India, October 17

2010-10-17T20:56:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've ever seen an article like this in a newspaper. How interesting. I guess it's not typical otherwise it wouldn't have been newsworthy.

Seen on page 16 of the front section of the Sunday Times:

Guj man seeks hubby for his 50-year-old live-in partner
Ahmedabad: Ramnik Parikh, 65, is a busy man these days. He is looking for a husband for his live-in partner of two years - 50-year-old Sunanda. Just this week he brought Sunanda from Nadiad, some 60km away, on his motorcycle to meet three prospective grooms.

"Sunanda is very warm and loving. She and I are having compatibility issues because of difference in our educational backgrounds", Ramnik told the prospective grooms, all in their 60s. He will return with Sunanda to the Veena Mulya Amulya Sewa (VMAS) marriage bureau in two days to meet more prospective grooms.

At a matchmaking fair for divorcees in Ahmedabad early this month, Sunanda said she had divorced early in life in Bangalore. In 2008, she was approached by Ramnik's sister after Ramnik found her address from an all-India marriage meet for seniors. Sunanda liked Ramnik and they sighed a Maitri Karaar', a sanctioned live-in relationship in Gujarat. However, their relationship is on the rocks.

"I am highly educated, while she is just Class VIII pass. It has become a mental mismatch," said Ramnik. Sunanda claims Ramnik is under his daughter's influence.

Wheelchair through the airport!

2010-10-17T00:20:00.001-05:00

I arrived Wednesday evening after a terrific direct flight from Newark, NJ (love the near-flat beds in business class and the shelves in front of each seat, which was perfect for propping up my foot) and was whisked through the Mumbai airport by a hard-working wheelchair attendant. The flight attendants on the airplane convinced me to travel by wheelchair after they saw me hopping out of the bathroom (at one point in the trip, my foot hurt and I wasn't able to put any weight on it). As one of the flight attendants put it, "It would take you 6 months to walk through the aiport." She wasn't joking. It's long and there are a number of small inclines and declines (which are problematic when your foot isn't flexing properly).

This guy pushed me while also wheeling my 4-wheeled carry-on bag and was huffing and puffing up the slight inclines. I offered to hold on to the carry-on bag myself, but he declined. As we waited for an elevator to descend to immigration, he did put the bag between my knees and that worked out well.

Immigration was a breeze when you're in the handicap line! My attendant took my passport and entry form to the immigration officer and came back immediately to whisk me to baggage claim. No questions asked! It was also comfortable sitting in a wheelchair at baggage claim since it seemed to take forever for the bags to appear.

After my bag finally arrived, we headed to customs (by this point, I'm holding the handle of my 4-wheeled suitcase is in front of me as he continued to push...what a sight it must've been!). I was greatful I didn't have to lift my bags onto the x-ray machine since my hard-working attendant took care of that as well. Just before we left customs, he asked for the customs form and his tip. I gladly gave him a nominal tip and fretted that I should've given him more.

He continued pushing me to the car waiting for me in the parking garage. The car driver was carting the luggage so the load did lighten up a little. Luckily, it wasn't a hot evening and once he deposited me into the Mercedes Benz, he was off.

I'm glad I listened to the flight attendants. If not, I probably would've still been limping through the airport by the time I arrived at the hotel! Thanks Continental!

Nearly 6 months since last entry?

2010-10-09T23:18:00.000-05:00

Can't believe it's been that long since I last traveled internationally. Don't get me wrong, there has been plenty of travel in these past 6 months, but they've all been to domestic locations - Midland, Michigan; Philadelphia; Honolulu; Vermont; and 2 weeks of touring farm country in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.

I long to not understand a word people around me are saying. Or to order from a non-English menu. And soak up the sights, sounds and smells of unfamiliar places.

If all goes well, I'll be back on the road on Tuesday. I was supposed to depart on Friday but a nasty cat bite turned into an infection, which has kept me in bed for nearly a week. The swelling is slowly going down. I can put more weight on my foot and walk very slowly. I'm doing everything in my power to get better quickly so that being on an airplane for 18 hours will be possible with some comfort.

If all goes well, Tuesday will have me on the plane to Mumbai. It's been 2 years since I was last there. Two years since the terrorist attack. I look forward to seeing how the city has recovered and being able to soak up the sights, sounds and smells of a familiar place.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that all goes well!

3:1 Ratio?!

2010-04-27T20:30:00.000-05:00

One of my colleagues and I were discussing something I've noticed here lately. Why are so many beautiful Brazilian women married to overweight, unattractive guys? I met the wife of a former colleague this morning....he's pudgy and she's thin and very attractive. And last week this guy said he expects his wife to remain slender! Over the weekend we visited the house of my girlfriend's aunt and uncle. The cousins with their spouses were also there. Once again, icky, fat, lazy guys and lovely women.

So I asked my female 23-year old colleague about this during our after-lunch walk. She said that it's really hard for women to find a guy in Sao Paulo, and possibly the entire country. The women to men ratio is 3:1. Yikes! And of course if you narrow your criteria to exclude guys who couldn't provide for a family, are bad men, etc. the ratio is even worse! She said it's gotten so bad that the women are really aggressive at the clubs and will go after the guys. Therefore she has an American boyfriend.

Weekend in the country

2010-04-25T20:11:00.001-05:00

I'm grateful to have friends in a number of cities around the world so that I'm able to experience life as a local in the 3 weeks I am able to spend in a location. I have a girlfriend who used to work for our company that invited me to spend the weekend at her family's farm outside of Sao Paulo. She promised me a weekend of walking, relaxing and fresh air. How could I say "nao"?

We left at 8:30 pm Friday night and drove north for 3 hours. Silvia has 2 kids (6 and 2) and a nanny that came along with us. Having help is pretty typical in Sao Paulo. Silvia has a cook/cleaner and nanny during the week and often one of them helps out on the weekends. For this trip, the best part was having the nanny in the back seat taking care of the kids, who quickly fell asleep (Silvia's strategy is to leave at night so they would fall asleep), so that we can chat.

Her family's farm is north of Sao Paulo near a town called Mocaca. The farm was originally a coffee plantation, but is now sugar cane and vegetables. The advent of mechanical harvesting machines has relegated coffee to flat lands. Much of the area we traveled is hilly. Her farm is in a small valley, but has too many hills for coffee. Most of the family isn't interested in maintaining the farm so most of the land is rented to other farmers. There are 5 houses on the farm. One that her grandmother still owns, which is where we stayed. Caretakers and domestic help live in the rest. There are some cows, horses, chickens, quail and one pig on the farm. There's no internet access and no cell phone service. The farm road is unpaved and red dirt gets everywhere.

The family home has 5 bedrooms, a wonderful porch, a pool, and a private church next door where Silvia started the tradition of family members getting married. The church was built in 1909, although Silvia didn't think the house was that old. The ceilings in the house were extremely tall and the home was filled with antiques - furniture from France, flow blue pottery, china cabinets full of stemware. The windows have blue shutters and no screens. Lucky for me, the mosquitos were not in full force. Although the housecleaner who made my bed every morning closed my shutters in the afternoon I opened them up at bedtime. It was wonderful to sleep with windows open after being in a hotel for two weeks!

We woke up after 8 on Saturday. Breakfast was homemade bread toasted in a cast iron pan with homemade jabuticaba jam , a honeydew melon, and coffee com leite (warm milk). Silvia and I went into Mococa to buy some groceries for dinner and I got to experience a real meat counter in Brazil. The display case was no different than what one would see in the U.S. But inside the case, huge cuts of meat hung on hooks. You ordered the type of meat you want (such as sirloin, rump) and how you want it cut - thin, thick, ground, pounded, cubed, etc. It was fascinating watching the butchers skillfully trim the beef and cut the meat. With 4 butchers and a long line of people buying quantities of meat for the Sunday barbeque, it took us awhile to get served. But since Silvia doesn't cook and isn't used to buying meat like this, it was good for us to observe what others were doing. We ended up with ground meat from the same cut of meat that I saw another guy request to be ground. Why not!

After our supermarket experience, we drove into the heart of Mococa to see the old town square, church and houses. The church was lovely from the outside, but nothing spectacular, but beautiful on the inside. As Silvia explained, people in Brazil are very supportive of their churches and take good care of them.

We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids and farm dogs, reading on the porch and took an afternoon walk for 1.5 hours while the kids listened to music at the neighbor's house (the cleaning lady) with the nanny. The neighbor was having a barbeque and her son had friends over to play the guitar and sing. The cook made us lunch and dinner so meals weren't a hassles (except getting Sofia to eat was sometimes a challenge....why do kids dislike eating so much?!).

Sunday morning Silvia and I took another walk in the morning to check out the lake. This is one of the roads we walked and the vista we enjoyed. It was a truly relaxing and special weekend. I really appreciate Silvia showing me a slice of her life.

First Futbol Game ..... GOL!

2010-04-25T19:07:00.005-05:00

Quick impressions..... wow .....50,461 people in a stadium that holds 55,000 in a residential neighborhood with streets going in every direction imaginable. The poor people who live nearby has to put up with boisterous people partying pre-game (no alcohol inside the stadium so people sell beer from coolers or alcohol from the back of pick-up trucks pre and post game), plus the street vendors selling food and souvenirs and people parking on any street remotely close by. And this was a 9:30 pm game! We were lucky in that one person in our party of 10 had a membership and was able to park in a special space at the stadium and our driver dropped us off (the joys of having a driver!).

It's a sea of people making their way to their assigned stadium gate. Many drink outside until close to game time. We quickly drank our beers (Skol - pretty bad beer) and made our way inside.

Although our tickets have seat numbers printed, there is no assigned seating ... that is, the seating doesn't matter. It's first-come, first-serve. We were sitting in the blue section, which goes from the goal to the center of the field. We arrived about 45 minutes early to secure decent seats and ended up near the goal. The game was the Sao Paulo Libertadores against Colombia's Once Caldas. It was a critical game for Sao Paulo because they had to win to stay in the race for the World Cup.

Because the opposing team was from another country, 99.99% of the attendees were rooting for Sao Paulo. This was the section assigned for Colombia and it was pretty deserted.

In contrast, here's the section where the fanatics sat (one level above us and to the left). This section cheered throughout (lots of singing with a drum beating in the background, stomping, and jumping up and down) and it looked like many were standing the entire time. After Sao Paulo scored, there were a few sparkler-type fireworks going off in the section. Quite a fun section.

The game was rather boring since both teams played terribly. I don't know much about soccer, but I know enough about how it's important to set up shots in hockey and to pass to open basketball players to know that the home team did not do either well. But somehow they did score a GOL! in the first half. The game ended 1-0.

We made our way to the streets with the hoards of people and were able to get out pretty easily and were home by 12:15 am. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to experience futbol in Sao Paulo!

Lunch, then a walk

2010-04-19T19:38:00.000-05:00

I love that almost everyone in offices in São Paulo walks around the block after lunch. The narrow sidewalks can get a bit congested, but how wonderful that they get out and move. Walking around the block takes 15 minutes with little congestion. I look forward to the walks almost as much as lunch!

The canteen is a good one. They're pretty health conscious at work so there's always a brown rice option for rice and beans. Grilled chicken, steak and salad bar are always available in case the entree choices aren't appealing. For dessert, there's always fruit (e.g., watermelon, persimmon, orange, pineapple) in addition to something sweet. And best of all, the calories are posted for all items!

Although I do farily during lunch, eating a pão de queijo (cheese ball) for breakfast isn't really healthy. But how can I resist? They're soooooo good! At least I only eat one!

Dental hygiene in Brazil

2010-04-12T18:59:00.000-05:00

It's been 6 years since I've last been to our offices in Sao Paulo and to my surprise I see this on the wall in the bathroom. Yes, it's a dental floss dispenser! You push down on the lever on the left and out pops a thread of floss. Many Brazilians brush their teeth after lunch, as evidenced by the number of cubby holes containing small purses with toothbrush and toothpaste. So why wouldn't they carry their own floss? Perhaps the floss vendor made an offer the company just couldn't refuse?!

Swiss Civility

2010-04-11T15:20:00.000-05:00

A couple of friends who live in Switzerland described the Swiss as being very civilized. Their ski resort areas are very civilized (mountain top restaurants to serve the skiers and hikers are common), their train system is civilized (always on time, orderly, with routes that make sense), stores are not open on Sundays so that everyone can enjoy being with their family outdoors, assigned seats at movie theaters are reserved in advance....you get the picture. A Canadian friend thinks the Swiss are like his countrymen - boring.

I enjoy the beauty of the country and the civility of its people. It's one of my favorite places to visit.

Virgin Rail Trip

2010-03-19T04:13:00.003-05:00

I can’t say enough good things about Hotel Krebs. Not only was the price right, staff very friendly, and the rooms well appointed, but the breakfast was delicious and they even had champagne to make mimosas! Too bad we had to head out early to catch the 8 am train to the Jungfrau region and beat the crowds. These are the 3 mountains we will get to see.

First of all, this is a VERY expensive day trip. We had no idea what the cost would be. Imagine our surprise to see 354 CHF first pop up on the screen at the train station…..oh, that’s for 2 people and includes a discount for tourists. Still, at 177 CHF that’s more than thewell appointed hotel room in Interlaken! But this is something we want to do, so we get our tickets and start on our journey. Most of the time is spent on trains in awe of the gorgeous scenery.

The first leg of the trip was a train ride up to Grindelwald (left yellow route) at about 3300 feet (Interlaken is at 1860 feet). It’s about an hour to get to Grindelwald with a few stops in between. One stop is to uncouple the train going to Lauterbrunnen, which we’ll take on the way down the mountain. The other stops are “upon request.” A lot of the snow has melted at the lower elevation. The view is lovely and we can see the mountains in the distance under a cloudless blue sky.

At Grindelwald we transfer to another train to Kleine Scheidegg (6762 feet). There are a lot of ski areas nearby as evidenced by the number of lifts we see. At this point, there’s definitely a lot of snow around us. We also see 3 hot air balloons floating way up in the sky. They look so tiny and don’t even appear to be moving.

The train to Kleine Scheidegg is smaller than the other trains and takes about 20 minutes. It’s also full of skiers and tourists. Skiers are usually wearing their ski boots and carrying their poles and skis. There are also kids and adults with wooden sleds. There are even smaller trains with wooden seats and an open cart in front for the skis.

Kleine Scheidegg is full of skiers. There are trails everywhere around us and lifts in many different directions. There’s a beginner’s hill here so a line of kids were ready to make their way downhill. The amount of snow up here is incredible. There’s a good 3 feet on the rooftops and even more underfoot. The air is refreshingly cold and clean. There are hills and mountains all around us and vast open areas for skiing.

We transfer to yet another train to go up to the Top of Europe through the mountains. Almost the entire trip is in tunnels, but we stop 3 times. Once at Eigergletscher (7612 feet) where there’s a restaurant and the start of a ski run. Eigerwand (9400 feet) has a “view point” for a photo opportunity and Eismeer (10368 feet) where we get yet another photo opportunity. I think they make these 5 minute stops to also help us get a little acclimated to the elevation. The trip takes about 52 minutes. The train is comfortable with a flat screen showing information about the history of the tunnel, the first people to climb the face of Eiger (Ogre) mountain and subsequent climbers, and what to expect at the top. In the tunnel the temperature was 2 or 3 C.

When we finally arrive at the top and it’s -15.8 C with 45+ kph wind speeds. Thank goodness the place is enclosed. But there are 2 opportunities to venture out in the cold and take photos (we did and froze our fingers). We were both a little dizzy from the altitude and tired easily when climbing stairs. We saw everything we could – the ice palace (walls, ceiling and floor of ice), the Sphinx where the observatory is (and the highest point at 11,782 feet), the outdoor plateau (brrrr!). We were limited in what we can do because of the cold and snow. Apparently in June they allow skiing and Husky dog sledding. Yes, there’s still snow up in that elevation in June! W took lots and lots of pictures in an hour then grabbed lunch and took the 12:30 pm train back down to Kleine Scheidegg.

Kleine Scheidegg was now full of skiers but it never felt crowded. I think the vast openness of the area disperses the people well. As we descended toward Lauterbrummen skiers were all around. There were lots of kids being pulled on sleds or riding face first among cross country skiers. I loved slowly pullin into Wengen (at 4180 ft) and seeing skiers ski through town between the hotels. Some could even get off the run and walk right to their hotels!

The trains back to Interlaken were full of skiers leaving for the day. Most were day trippers with no bags, just equipment. We arrived in Interlaken at 3 pm. Yes, we spent 6 hours on trains and about 2 hours walking around at the Top of Europe. Was it worth the 177 CHF? Yup! I’ve now been to the highest altitude train stop in Europe and froze my fingers in -16 C weather while taking in the beauty of some incredibly tall mountains. Plus watching all the skiers around me made me think that it would be fun to give it a try. So David….you may have to get me out there!

More photos are on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54364&id=1134000222&l=7881739a6f

Interlaken....not to be confused with Interlochen, MI

2010-03-13T15:33:00.002-06:00

I'm spending the weekend (Saturday & Sunday) in Interlaken, Switzerland. It was a good 2+ hours on the train from Thawil....after changing trains in Zurich, Olten and Bern (actually I didn't have to get off the train in Olten because my train continued to Bern....luckily I had enough time to get back on after figuring this out).

I love the Swiss trains. They run on time (like clockwork!) and it's easy to navigate their train stations and figure out where to stand to catch the second class cars. It's not cheap, but then everything in Switzerland is expensive. My roundtrip train ticket cost 130 Swiss Francs, which is about $123. A roundtrip ticket from Thawil (about a 10 minute express train) to Zurich is 12 Francs. But the system is so well coordinated that the connecting trains arrived after a 5 minute (or so) wait.

Interlaken is in the southern part of Switzerland between 2 lakes that are a beautiful crystal clear green-blue in color thanks to the mineral content of the water. We're surrounded by tall, snow-covered mountains. It's known as the Jungfrau region. We're here to go up to the "Top of Europe" at 3454 meters and see the 3 surrounding mountains - Eiger (Ogre at 3970 meters), Moench (Monk at 4107) and Jungfrau (Virgin at 4158). The Moench is between Eiger and Jungfrau so that he can protect the virgin. We'll take a 2-hour train ride up into the mountains and stop at Eigergletsher (2320 meters) before taking a cable car up to the Top of Europe. It'll be cold, but should be spectacular....if the skies are clear.

Today we walked around a small portion of Brienzersee lake to take in the sights. There are lots of walking trails in this city and people were out getting fresh air and sunshine. The mountains are absolutely beautiful covered in snow. I've played tourist in Luzern in the fall when the caps were covered in snow, but this was breathtaking.

Interlaken appears to get a lot of Asian tourists. The shopkeeper across the street said they get a lot of Chinese, Korean and some Taiwanese tourists. There are a LOT of watch stores here, obviously catering to the Asian tourists. My friend Ken says that people stay in Interlaken and ski during the day nearby because it's cheaper than staying in a resort town (he just skied in Zermatt for a week and spent $3,000 for a hotel, food, and ski passes). We're staying at Hotel Krebs for 150 CHF, which is incredibly reasonable for Switzerland. Breakfast, internet access, and a tourist card (ride the bus and train between the 2 Interlaken stations for free) are included. A perfectly situated hotel near the train station. I highly recommend it to anyone staying here.

Overall, Switzerland is a pricey place to stay and especially to eat. All week we've been spending about 50 CHF to 100 CHF for 2 people to eat dinner. The inexpensive end is for 2 soups and salads and wine (wine is usually less than 10 CHF) or a pizza and pasta. Tonight we went to an Indian restaurant (typically inexpensive in the US) and spent 81 CHF for 2 vegetable dishes, 1 chicken dish, 2 orders of bread and 3 glasses of beer (at 3.50 CHF that's inexpensive). Might be better to drink more and eat less. I'm so glad I'm on an expense account!

I have more photos of Interlaken and from the train ride at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53773&id=1134000222&l=2f6a98efc2

Cold, Snowy Switzerland

2010-03-11T01:30:00.001-06:00

It's been frigidly cold since we arrived on Sunday. -3 Celcius upon arrival and every morning it's below 0 - between -1 and -5. As I write it's snowing. Small flakes gradually coming down with bursts of more rapid movement in between.

We've been working long hours and I've had no time to blog. But a quick post....

We love the coffee breaks during the day and coffee time after lunch. If you eat with a European in the canteen (cafeteria), at the end of the meal he/she will ask if you'd like to have a coffee. We bus our trays and walk over to the "cafe" side of the canteen, get a coffee and sit around small round tables. Because the Lindt chocolate factory is not far, eating Lindt truffle balls with your coffee is common (dark chocolate is a favorite). It's a wonderful way to relax, chat and digest before returning to the office.

I'm heading to Interlaken on Saturday to meet-up with a friend. It's a 2 hour train ride into the Alps. I'm looking forward to seeing another side of Switzerland. Too bad I don't ski!

Busy year for blogging

2010-02-27T22:06:00.000-06:00

This is beginning to look to be a heavy travel year for me. I've already spent a week in Brazil in February and am getting ready to spend 2 weeks in Horgen, Switzerland (about 30 minutes outside of Zurich). I leave on Saturday, March 6 and look forward to seeing friends, the food and the wine. Of course the surroundings are incredibly beautiful (mountains, Lake Zurich), especially when covered in snow. I like to stay in a small town called Thawil in a modern hotel across from the train station, which makes popping into Zurich easy.

April I'll be back in Brazil for 3 weeks. This time in Sao Paulo. I hope good friends will release me from the confines of the hotel so that I can enjoy seeing more of the city on the weekends. And take me shopping. The earrings I bought (see 2 posts below) could use a necklace to go with it. ;-)

It's likely that I'll be back in Mumbai later in the year and possibly Shanghai as well. Although experiencing a location for the first time is always fun, repeat visits allow me to delve deeper and better understand the culture. Plus developing cities such as Mumbai and Shanghai never stay the same. They're both growing like wildflowers and seeing the changes firsthand will allow me to make my own assessment whether or not the changes are for the better.

Stay tuned!

Ribeirao Preto Airport

2010-02-12T14:04:00.002-06:00

There was a downpour when we left Rib Preto on Thursday afternoon (typical summer afternoon downpour) and the power did go out! Luckily the generators kicked on so they could still check us in. It was only out for 10 minutes or so. And they did bus us to the plane because of a little rain.

This photo is of the air conditioning system at the Ribeirao Preto airport. There was a whole row of them in various sizes. None were on when we were there, although the temperature was in the low 80's and humid. I wonder how they manage all of the remote controls for these units?

Ribeirao Preto Hotel

2010-02-11T09:12:00.000-06:00

OK, the photos of this hotel's pools may make this look like a terrific place to stay, but we were discussing its drawbacks last night and had a good laugh.

1. Two of my colleagues have been "spit" on with ice from the air conditioner! One actually called the repairman and found a solid block of ice within the components! Both also complained that the A/C wasn't keeping their room cool. I was lucky because my A/C worked great and could get the room down to 70.

2. Two of them also report that the TV or cable box isn't working. One could only get 2 stations (one showed Brazilian Big Brother in the evenings, which she wasn't enjoying). The other was stuck with one (he called the repair guy a number of times and is now on a first-name basis with him!). Although I didn't watch TV, mine seemed to be operational and offered a number of stations.

3. The beds are really firm. One wasn't able to get a good night's sleep since he arrived 3 weeks ago. I' ve actually slept on worse (in one hotel I slept on the comforter to add some cushion to the bed). This same guy also said the pillows were terrible because they were so high. He failed to notice that there was a Pillow Menu on the desk with 6 differerent types of pillows available (from "Sleep and Health" to "Firm Support" to "Goose Feathers" and " Baby") until we brought it up last night.

4. The desk chair is all wood with no cushion. It's probably the most uncomfortable chair I've ever sat in (no indentation for your butt). I don't think they really want us to work at night because the ethernet cable isn't long enough to work on the bed.

5. Every day Housekeeping would remove the comforter from the bed, fold it up nicely and store it on a shelf in the closet. Every night two of us would put the comforter back on the bed. I prefer having the weight of a comforter on me when I sleep. Housekeeping must think Americans are nuts because we can't sleep with just a sheet and a cotton blanket.

The positives were 2 heated pools and apparently one had a bartender that made the best caipirinhas and it was easy to get onto the highway to drive to work (which then meant we needed a driver to go out and eat each night). That's about it. We had a hysterical discussion about the hotel last night while driving home from dinner. Had everyone's complaints surfaced earlier, we probably would've changed hotels. I give my colleagues bonus points for making it through 3 weeks in this hotel. We saw our option, located across the street from last night's restaurant, and regretted not changing hotels earlier. Oh well, at least we could laugh about it!

6 x 48?

2010-02-09T18:42:00.001-06:00

After dinner at a churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse) and in a meat stupor, we took a walk at the shopping mall where the Walmart is the anchor store (the other anchor is a furniture store). It's a typical mall filled with lots of clothing, shoes, electronics and jewelry stores, food court (with McDonalds) and a cinema. What was unusual was seeing a Toyota dealership. And beer cafes in the middle of the walkways, much like one would see a Starbucks kiosk. There were quite a few people sitting at little plastic tables and chairs and enjoying their beer with carrot sticks? Yes, carrot sticks served in a glass with ice. Maybe they know something that we don't?

The jewelry lover that I am, I had to peruse the stores and window shop. Large dangly silver earrings are easy to find. The most beautiful pair was in a jewelry store with no prices (red flag....expensive items!), but some items had tags with "6 x 48" or "6 x 52". I asked my colleague why the pricing was tagged such that the shopper had to perform their own math in their head and he had no idea. I couldn't resist trying on the earrings and finding out their cost. Second red flag.....I had to sit in a chair and try on the earrings. They really were beautiful and cost 1,100 Brazilian Reais (a bit more than $600) - ouch! Considering they were white gold with some small diamonds, I guess it's a good price but I passed. We asked about the reason for the pricing in the window and immediately remembered that in Latin American countries breaking up payments on a credit card was common. For example, in Colombia you're always asked how many installments you would like to break the charges into when you pay by credit card. Even if the bill was $5 at a grocery store, they would still ask, "Cuantos pagos?" I guess I could've paid for the earrings in installments, but I can't justify paying $600 for a pair or earrings that I would be afraid of losing. But I could always change my mind before now and when we leave on Thursday......they were quite unique.

P.S. OK...I ended up buying them on the last day we were in town. Too gorgeous to pass up.

Rain = no electricity and internet?

2010-02-08T18:49:00.002-06:00

So my colleagues who have been here for the past 2 weeks tell me. That would explain why the airport didn't have any power when I arrived. And apparently busing to the terminal was because it was raining a little (still think it would've been faster to give us umbrellas).

I'm typing as a storm is passing nearby and hoping the internet doesn't go down anytime soon. We had 2 one-to-two minute power outages at work during lunch. "It's normal," they say. But it was a beautiful sunny day!

Beef and beer apparently has been the mantra for the past 2 weeks for my colleagues as well. Ribeirao Preto is known for their draft beer - called chopp. The claro (clear) chopp seems to be popular. But chopp escura (dark beer), creme chopp (with a large head), and black and tan were also on the menu (in Portuguese of course). And the beef? Well, the Brazilians like their beef. We'll hit the churrascaria later in the week.

The landscape is beautiful. Rolling hills, green sugar cane and corn fields in red dirt. The city of Ribeirao Preto has lots of high rises and looks big from a distance, but seems to be manageable once you're in it. I hear its population is 500,000. Big enough for a large Walmart and Carrefour anchoring two separate shopping centers. We'll go shopping later in the week as well....only three more days to go!

Welcome to Ribeirao Preto!

2010-02-07T13:50:00.002-06:00

After about 14 hours of traveling, I've made it to Ribeirao Preto, located about 3 hours from Sao Paulo and about a 40 minute flight.

I'm grateful that I had a 3.5 hour layover in Sao Paulo because clearing immigration, customs, walking to the terminal next door, and after 2 check-in desks said I couldn't check in with them, I had about 1 hour left to kill and it was lunchtime.

I got into eating Acai bowls in Hawaii and found a fast food burger place that sold them! Acai are Brazilian berries so I had to try a bowl where they originated (although a burger and fries sounded awfully good!). The Acai bowl wasn't icy as they make them in Honolulu, but still sweet and refreshing with banana slices (no granola). I ordered a fruit cup, which made it a little more exciting than Acai and bananas. It was quite filling and I hope to find more opportunities to eat them since no one in Houston seems to sell them.

I was warned that the flight to Ribeirao Preto was on a small commuter jet and the RAO airport was tiny. I didn't expect that they would bus us from the jet to the terminal when it would've been faster to walk. Instead, the bus made a big circle around the planes and deposited us on the far end of the building. I had to take a picture to show just how close the plane and terminal were. The bus had to return to pick up remaining passengers.

The power appeared to have been out at the airport. The lights inside were off yet they were still letting the planes depart. There're improving the terminal so baggage claim didn't require any electricity - guy in tractor delivers the bags and deposits them one-by-one on a platform. Wouldn't you know it, my bag was one of the last to be delivered.

The hotel van was waiting for me. The guy doesn't speak any English, but listens to pop music in English. The hotel is about a 10 minute drive, shorter if we weren't behind a horse-drawn cart hauling a mattress.

The hotel is a resort with 3 swimming pools (first one is outside of my room, the second one is heated and a fat guy is hiding in the water under the swim-up bar, didn't get to the third one yet). Unfortunately, it's a little rainy today and I doubt we'll be finished with work early enough to enjoy the surroundings. But everything is very green and the soil is red. It's really quite lovely here and I hope to add more photos to the blog later in the week.

Next stop Ribeirao Preto, Brazil

2010-01-22T11:23:00.000-06:00

I'm always amazed that this blog gets repeat visitors checking it out and feel badly that my posting level has decreased.

Since my trip to Colombia, I spent a week in London over Thanksgiving with my boyfriend and returned to Hawaii for the holidays.

2010 looks to be a good year for travel....at least the first half of the year! I'm traveling to Ribeirao Preto, Brazil for the first time on Feb 6. It's a city about a 3-hour drive from Sao Paulo. It's been 6 years since I was last in Brazil and I look forward to eating cheese balls and fresh fruit for breakfast!

We're staying at a resort (yes, it really is for work!), but unfortunately I won't be there long enough to enjoy the weather or facility. But expect to see photos and whatever observations I have time to make so come back in February!

Playing tourist

2010-01-22T11:12:00.000-06:00

NOTE: This is a post I drafted while in Colombia but didn't publish until 3 months later!

On Saturday I had the opportunity to play tourist in Bogota. My bodyguard and 3 policemen accompanied us (one drove the car, the other 2 were on a motorcycle to stop traffic). Felipe and I hit Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) first. There we learned everything from how gold from pre-historic times to its use as ornaments of shamans and tribal leaders. It was interesting to see how gold went from dull and simple shapes to more elaborate forms as people realized it could be flattened into thin sheets, poured into wax forms, and manipulated with tools. I love that the museums here allow you to photograph the works as long as the flash is turned off (versus Buenos Aires when I got scolded for photographing myself in front of a pile of artist-arranged candy). Of course, I took advantage of that!

After the gold museum, we hit the Botero museum located in the old part of town called La Candelaria. This was taken outisde of the Botero museum. I wish we could walk around the area. It's quite charming, even with rain clouds looming.

Botero is a famous artist from Colombia, known for his depictions of fat people and equally fat still lifes. The museum also has a scattering of paintings by European artists such as Picasso, Miro, Monet. Best of all, it's free!

Next to the Botero museum is the coin museum and another art museum primarily of Colombian artists (although there was one Texan in it!). The highlight was a vault containing 3 large decorative objects from churches. They were from the 1700's and the amount of gold, emeralds, pearls, amethysts, topaz, etc. in them were amazing. I wanted to take a photo, but they won't allow it. We had fun trying to find the diamonds after reading the placard. All were very tastefully done. The emeralds were of an incredibly dark green. Some of the stones were huge. No wonder they're kept in a vault!

A friend told us to stop at a French bakery located at the top of one of the streets in La Candelaria. Amazingly enough, we drove by it so we had to stop for the almond pastry and coffee. It was delicious and hit the spot.

The next stop was a jewelry store to buy emeralds. My bodyguard took us to a shop that looked like any other souvenir store, but in the back behind a locked door was the jewelry store. I was looking to buy a ring to go with the necklace and earrings I purchased on my last trip and my mother wanted a pair of earrings. Colombia is one of the largest emerald producing countries in the world, along with Brazil and South Africa. The choices were wide. I easily found the perfect ring. They were kind enough to resize it in 1.5 hours.

While we were waiting for the ring, we visited the Simon Bolivar Home, a short walk from the store. He spent 10 years in the house, although he wasn't there often, from 1821-1830. It's a small home full of period furnishings. The gardens are lovely. There's a large outdoor bath and small pool, which we were wondering how often either were used since Bogota is rather chilly. It was a good way to kill time and wander the grounds.

After we picked up the ring, we grabbed a bite to eat at Sopa de la Madre y Postres de la Abuela. I had a Sancocho - a soup (in this case with ribs) with a potato, yucca, plaintains, and corn and accompanied with rice and avocado. Adding some aji gave the soup a kick. I was stuffed and called it a day...until it was time to go out for the evening!

Shopping

2009-11-05T20:43:00.004-06:00

Thursday evenings the shopping malls stay open until about 9 pm so Felipe and I returned to Andino Mall in Zona Rosa for a quick dinner in the food court and some shopping.

Ever since a visit to Peru, I've come to realize that chicken tastes a lot better outside of the U.S. Far more flavor and juicier, especially the chicken breasts. So I try to eat it when I can. Tonight's dinner was in the food court at the mall at Kokoriko. The Komby Asado plate has beans (basically a chili) and rice, grilled chicken and the ever-present arepa.

I bought a purse at Boots and Bags and coffee and souvenirs at the Juan Valdez Cafe. It was another night of no security escort, just a taxi hired for the night. Perfect!

Security and dinner

2009-11-04T20:55:00.009-06:00

Day 1 is almost over. I spent most of it in the office at my computer or interviewing people in the office. I didn't even get a chance to go out for lunch, but opted to work while eating a salad (chicken, lettuce, zucchini and tomatoes in an Asian sesame seed dressing - yummy!). At least the view from the office window was pretty. I watched the clouds roll in and out throughout the day. Quite a pleasant sight.

The view from my hotel is also lovely. One was taken in the morning and the other at sunset.

Two motorcycles escorted me to work this morning. The best thing about them is that they can stop traffic and let us through in areas where merging can be a problem. It's a quick 10 minute drive to the office. Badging into the office is interesting. At the building entrance my bags are searched and I have to go through a metal detector. Then I go to the Administration window and exchange my company badge for a building badge. This gets me through the security gate to the elevator and I "register" that I am bringing a computer. When we arrive at the company's floor I exchange the building badge for a visitor's badge for the floor. The whole process is reversed in the evening.

Amazingly enough I had no bodyguards or escorts when I went to dinner with a friend (Felipe) of a friend (Michelle). Instead, my guard hired a taxi for the evening. Our driver waited for us while we ate and arrived promptly after we called (using a cell phone from a street corner "business" selling cheap minutes on his 3 phones...the modern day pay phone!).

Felipe and I hit Andre's Carne de Res for a steak. They're most famous for their original restaurant in the Chia, which Felipe says is far from Bogota. The one in Bogota is in Zona Rosa, which is a popular shopping and dining area. The restaurant is designed very industrial with lots of steel, grating and multiple levels with half-levels which overlook the level below. Their logo has a heart so red is used a lot. The pottery is all hand made and decorated (and is available for purchase). Lots of very interesting decor, a band on the first level (with dance floor), bar, fireplace, etc. Here are some photos of the food, which was delicious!

My rib eye steak with arepa (corn cake) and baked tomato stuffed with mashed potatoes. Me and my bib (they place them on us). The jug on the left corner is for my glass of Malbec. And Felipe and his steak.

Getting the bill was actually fun! It came in this MasterCard box. Inside was a flashlight, magnifying glass (is this a hint?!), pen, candy, customer comment card, and the bill inside the large envelope. Totally cool packaging!

We culminated the evening by stopping at the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up a coffee mug for me and a key chain for a colleague at work who collects them. Quite a novelty since not many visitors come to Bogota from the U.S. We saw a pair of Shakira's pants - they're tiny and she's very short! Darn....wish I took a photo of it! Oh well!

Hola Bogota!

2009-11-03T22:23:00.003-06:00

I arrived this evening after a 4.5 hour flight from Atlanta. The woman next to me is Colombian married to an American and lives in Atlanta. She's an immigration attorney who has her own practice and her hubby works for Delta so she flies home as often as she can to visit her family. We got along great and I have her email address and phone number in case I need a dinner or shopping companion.

Security is pretty tight for foreign visitors here. I had a bodyguard/driver and 3 police escorts on two motorcycles for the drive to the hotel. This will be my security team while I'm in Bogota. It may seem like overkill, but my family and boyfriend appreciates it.

Calling it a night....exhausted and I have a busy day ahead of me.

Chao!

Next destination: Colombia

2009-10-15T11:02:00.002-05:00

It's been 3 years since I last traveled to Colombia and I'll return in November for a week. Unfortunately I'm slated to spend time in the same locations as before - Bogotá and Barranquilla. I look forward to seeing more of Bogotá on this trip since I'll have a weekend to spend visitng friends and sightseeing.

Check back in early November for posts and photos!

Airport Limousine Bus

2009-07-03T23:53:00.002-05:00

I flew into the main airport in Tokyo - Narita - but we were working in the southwestern part of Tokyo in Kawasaki. Rather than blow a lot of money on a taxi to the hotel, I caught the Friendly Airport Limousine bus to the nearest airport - Haneda. For 3000 Yen ($30) and anywhere from 60-75 minutes, it's a pleasant trip.

I did the same thing when returning to Narita today. I thought it was pretty cool that the ticket taker bows to the bus as it leaves. I felt honored to be on the bus! Similarly, the security guard at work salutes the employee bus when it arrives every day. What signs of respect!

The bus only took 60 minutes to get to Narita. Of course it departed promptly for a 11:55 am departure. Every bus and train we've taken departs as scheduled. Such reliability!

Arrival into the Narita Airport we had to stop and show our passports. Obviously they take security really seriously here. It only took a few minutes for security to board and also look in the luggage hold area of the bus. I felt just a bit more secure.

Thanks Japan for a great 2.5 weeks. I will miss the great food and shopping (the first time the exchange rate was decent enough for me to buy anything). I look forward to returning again, hopefully with Mom to serve as translator!

Vending machines

2009-07-01T07:37:00.005-05:00

What's with Japan's obsession with vending machines? They're everywhere selling iced coffee in little cans, water, bottled green tea, soda (usually regular Coke or Pepsi, no diet), juice and beer outside of a liquor store. This is next to the train station near work. The store isn't open when we arrive in the morning (I took this after work), but there are always some guys standing around and drinking. They look like they just got off work. I guess if the bars and liquor stores are closed, a mechanical liquor shop is a good alternative.

The other popular use of vending machines is by noodle shops. They're usually positioned outside the entrance. No cashier needed. Just buy your ticket and hand it to the waitstaff. This one is similar to the first food ticket machine I encountered the last time I was in Japan. As you can see, nothing is in English.

Noodle shops are everywhere and always in train stations where everyone stands at counters and eats. It's a quick and satisfying meal.

Working in Japan

2009-07-01T01:20:00.003-05:00

OK...two and a half weeks of working in Japan doesn't make me an expert by any means, but here are some observations from the conference room I've been cooped up in at the facility.

1) Company bus - Love this idea. The bus is in sync with the train schedule, thus we leave at 8:26 am in the morning after the 8:11 am train arrives from the Kawasaki station. You miss your train, you miss the bus. There are earlier departures in the morning, but we seem to be on the schedule to catch the 8:26 one. In the evening the last bus leaves at 6:25, which we usually take. But this last week of work, we're leaving at 6....barely.

2) Uniforms - This is a plant facility and I expected to see uniforms, but I didn't expect to see them on the office employees. The men wear shirts and suits on the bus in the morning, then change into a uniform of a light blue zippered jacket and slacks. The women wear a navy blue vest and matching skirt with white blouses and a flouncy bow tie with navy knee-high socks and loafers. They all look the same. Cute, but the same.

3) Exercise - Every morning at 8:40 am the sound of a grandfather clock chimes and a woman's voice says good morning and something else in Japanese. Then the piano begins playing and a booming male voice starts the exercise program. Ichi, ni, san, shi.....counting in Japanese. It's the same recording every day. It plays again at 3 pm. Today was the first day I happened to be in the hallway and saw people exercising. They're simple stretches - touch your toes, touch your shoulders and raise your arms, twist back and forth, etc. - but it was amusing to watch. It runs for about 8 minutes or so. Maybe I'll join them before I leave!

4) Cafeteria - The plant canteen offers 3 choices each day - a brown curry (Japanese love curry) with rice, noodles (usually cold soba or udon noodles...sometimes ramen), and the daily special with rice. Cost is 210 yen or about $2.10 US. A bowl of soup is included. Milk or coffee-flavored milk (yum!) is 60 yen. Total cost of my lunch is about $2.70. There is no cashier. We pay a vending machine and deposit tickets in a basket. We're usually in and out in 20 minutes. The food is decent. Some days better than others. I've had much worse at other locations - the food in our Germany operations suck (sorry Martine, but it's no better than airplane food) and Italy has the BEST food hands down.

What's great about eating at a canteen is that it's true local food. Some of this stuff I wouldn't have eaten if my Mom made it when I was growing up. For example, I dislike the slimy texture of yama imo (mountain potato). It's white and has the consistency of okra and I've avoided it as a child. But there it was on my plate of udon noodles and I ate it. I still don't like it, but I did eat it.

5) Employees - They're all kind and willing to endure my questioning and requests for documentation. It's been difficult communicating at times. Yesterday the gentleman I've been working with since I arrived told me that Accounts Payable (APAY) was sent the invoice. This was the first I had heard about the existence of an APAY department and I asked him where APAY was located. "Here," he replied. Then later in the afternoon when I asked again, he looked at me dumbfounded and said there was no APAY. Sigh! The joys of working in a different country where you don't speak the native language!

Japan summer sales

2009-06-28T03:14:00.004-05:00

The summer sales in Japan began on Friday and the stores are a madhouse. I was successful and picked up some clothing for a reasonable price (i.e., $20 US), even if finding items to fit can be a challenge. Size-wise I'm considered a Large since Asian women are pretty petite (same problem in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, China). I don't even bother trying on any pants, but I've had good luck with skirts.

The clothes are pretty conservative and shapeless. Lots of baby-doll tops and frills. Way too girly for my taste sometimes. Strapless or sleeveless tops are worn with a shirt underneath or a sweater or jacket covers their arms. Women also tend to wear nude-colored stockings and pedi's with their ballet slipper shoes. It's too warm here (80's) for me to feel comfortable wearing layers of clothes (but I try to), but stockings and socks don't even enter my mind.

I still have 6 more days left in Japan. Six more days of listening to the sales clerks cry out "come in" and lure you in with shouts of their discounts, which can get very loud with many of the stores so close to each other. Six more days of glorious shopping! :-)

Only in Japan

2009-06-24T06:05:00.004-05:00

Toilets with bells and whistles....flushing sound (musical note, with volume control) and "powerful deodorizer" (silver button on the right). What?! No seat warmer? This was taken at the public bathroom in a nearby shopping mall. It's not the fanciest toilet I've seen, but pretty good for a public restroom. With toilets like this I am baffled as to why anyone would prefer squatting, which is still an option in some bathrooms. The ladies room at the Yokohama baseball stadium had both options available.

In the same bathroom are stalls for women to put on their make-up. I took a reflection of them in the mirror. This is a fairly upscale shopping mall.

Lastly, Starbucks are everywhere and I have been in the one next to the hotel a couple of times. What I thought was cool is the stirrer that fits in the hole of the cup. It does a good job sealing the hole so the coffee isn't spilling everywhere. I don't recall ever seeing this in the U.S. Anyone know if they have them in the U.S.?

Sushi in Japan is awesome

2009-06-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

Need I say more? Perfectly seasoned rice with wasabi already on top (no wasabi on the side!) and fresh fish and a bowl of perfect miso soup....can there be anything better?

Requisite Food Post

2009-06-21T03:40:00.011-05:00

I have to have at least one post on food, so here is the Japan installment.

For some reason, whenever I'm in an Asian city I become more Japanese at breakfast. In the U.S. I love eggs and pancakes for breakfast. In Asian cities, I eat more traditional Asian breakfasts although I never grew up on them. I typically eat a bowl of miso soup (with tofu and green onions), a couple of pieces of tofu, the daily fish (mackerel or salmon), steamed vegetables, a salad, some Japanese side dishes (changes daily) and rice. Every now and then I have some yogurt with watermelon (really sweet) and granola (no granola for days now). The photo is of my Saturday breakfast with the yellow stuff some sort of pumpkin salad (similar to potato salad with egg...it sounds awful but it's quite yummy).

As I've mentioned in other posts, eating in restaurants has been quite challenging in this trip because few have English menus or menus with pictures. Most do have lovely displays of plastic food, which help somewhat (if you memorize the price of the item and the first character). A lot of the restaurants are on one or more levels of a shopping building. For lunch today I took photos of my restaurant choices on one level to illustrate the variety of food available and to show how specialized these restaurants are. The specialization makes it difficult to find a restaurant that my colleague and I are interested in (should be even more interesting in week 3 when our reviewer arrives).

Sushi...of course!

This is the tonkatsu restaurant, which is basically fried food. Typically meats and shrimp, but I've also had potato-type tonkatsu as well. Usually served with cabbage and rice. I doubt I'll ever eat here.

This is a soba restaurant, which is a buckwheat noodle. They serve it either in a hot broth with items such as tempura, pork, etc. or cold (top row). I like soba if it's not too whole-wheaty and preferably fried with cabbage and worcestershire sauce (as I had at the baseball game).

Some kind of fish place....I think.

The udon place where I had lunch. Udon noodles are fat and made with flour. I grew up with my mom and grandmother making homemade ones. These were homemade and quite yummy. No English menus but my favorite is tempura udon so I asked if they had it ("Tempura udon aremasu ka?"). It sort of was the item on the far right on the second shelf, but had 2 pieces of fish and some vegetables as well. Yum!

This looks to be a tempura restaurant with chawanmushi (a hot egg custard). I'd love to try this place, but am afraid that I would have to resort to memorizing the character and price of what I want. Plus there are a lot of unknown items in these meals.

We had dinner at this place one night. They had picture menus and I ended up with their cold soba noodles. This place was rather healthy with the calories printed on the menu and oats in the rice. Food was good and very quick and we would consider returning.

In addition to these Japanese restaurants I've found Chinese, Indian (2 of them to quench my saag paneer craving), Thai (excellent Yom Yum soup!), California Pizza Kitchen and lots of Italian.

Plus Beard Papa's (my favorite cream puffs in Hawaii), gelato, and Portuguese donuts (malasadas!) for dessert. I have yet to find my favorite cookies - palmiers - but I'm sure I'll find a bakery with them. I definitely don't starve when I'm in Japan. I'm in dire need of exercise though!

Yokohama-mama!

2009-06-20T08:10:00.017-05:00

I am pleased to report that I successfully navigated the train system and made it to Yokohama. There's a non-stop train from Kawasaki (15 minutes), but the difficulty was trying to figure out how to buy a ticket from the machines when the maps are not in English. I had to default to the ticket office, which was a pleasant experience.

Once I got to Yokohama, I changed to a local train in order to head to the port area (Minato Mirai). The area is supposed to be geared for visitors. There's a lovely park at the waterfront, next to the convention center along with a "boardwalk". Most people were sitting, having lunch and watching the boats in the water. I was surprised to see this guy in his suit actually laying on the concrete step. I know Japan is clean but I couldn't even sit on the step in white pants without first sitting on something!

The tallest building in Yokohama is located in the area (left photo), which I had originally thought I would go visit. But after walking down to the waterfront I thought the huge ferris wheel would be a better way to see the area. It's like the London Eye - a leisurely one rotation ride. I got to have my own pod - whoo hoo!

After a wonderful sushi lunch (sushi in Houston pales in comparison....how will I be able to eat that stuff again?), I went looking for the Hard Rock Cafe in order to pick up a key chain for one of my colleagues who collects them. I figured I had about 2 hours to kill before I should head to the baseball stadium so the Yokohama Museum of Art seemed to be the perfect place. They had a special exhibit of French 19th century art, much of it from Japanese collections, including Yokohama's museum. Nice to be able to see pieces that aren't in the Musee de Orsay.

Around 4:30 pm I took another local train to the baseball stadium. Thank goodness I found a blog earlier that explained which station to get off. There were a number of people on the train going to the game even at 1.5 hours prior to game time. I heard that baseball games are quite well attended in Japan so I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't be able to get a ticket. No problem when you get there early!

4,000 yen later and I have a seat in the left field line...my favorite section. Unfortunately the ticket office only takes cash (they aren't even automated....you tell them which section you want and they flip through printed tickets to find a seat for you) and I needed to find an ATM to get more cash or else I would be hungry all evening. I also read in the blog that people bring their own food into the stadium and there were street vendors outside of the train station selling bento boxes and other items for hungry fans. So off I went to look for an ATM that accepts international cards (not easy).

Oh thank heaven for 7-11! Not only did I pick up some cash, I got my beverages and some inari sushi along with lots of other fans stocking up on food and beer to bring to the game. Made me wonder how the stadium could any sell food when everyone brings their own. Besides my goodies from 7-11 I bought some fried soba from a street vendor (he had a fancy move to fill the container) and teriyaki chicken from another. I love this idea of bringing food to a game!

The Yokohama Bay Stars were playing the Fukuoka Sky Hawks. Fukuoka happens to be the city where my mother is from. In fact, I've seen their stadium. What I didn't know when I bought the ticket is that the left side of the stadium is for the guest fams. So I'm sitting with Fukuoka fans. Pretty cool! Both teams have a small band consisting of a drum and trumpet players sitting in the outfield seats (left photo is of the Fukuoka outfield section). They pretty much play the entire time their team is batting. The fans in the outfield are also singing with the music, which got a bit annoying because it's the same song repeatedly. I do like the Fukuoka's celebratory song (after a runner scores) which ends with three "banzais!" The fans cheer using plastic bats and noisemakers, a very civilized way to express joy! Because I was in the opponent's section, the souvenir stores in the stadium only sold the opponent's merchandise!

For those of you who care about these things, the pitchers bat in the game, which I think makes for a better game.

The home team lost. It was a bad night for the pitchers of both teams....5 home runs in the first 25 minutes. I think there were 8 or 9 in the entire game (I lost count after awhile). I made it through the top of the 9th, which was 3.5 hours into the game. All in all, a good visit to Yokohama!

More photos can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26305&id=1134000222&l=59cee78a10

It's Friday!

2009-06-19T06:54:00.003-05:00

After putting in 10 hour days for 3 days, I'm exhausted. A 3.5 hour meeting that started at 9 pm on Thursday night put me over the edge. I stayed awake thanks to Starbucks (there's one next door) and woke up tired on Friday morning. I'm looking forward to a weekend of touring somewhere. Maybe Yokohama to catch a baseball game (their team is infamous and it would be cool to experience baseball in Japan). I need to do some research tonight an decide. Saturday's weather forecast is supposed to be quite nice, whereas Sunday it will be rainy.

I have no idea what the temps are here. I believe they're in the 70's during the day. This morning it was quite humid, but dissipated by the time we left work. It's cool and comfortable right now.

I've had 2 bottles of the Diet Coke with green tea flavoring. It's not sweet as U.S. Diet Coke and I can't taste the green tea at all. I'd buy it again.

Eating in Kawasaki has been quite a challenge. Menus here are in Japanese. Some have pictures of some of the dishes, which is what we've been relying on. The staff don't speak English either. Tonight we went to a place where you grill meat on a small gas grill. The beef was highly marbled and melted in my mouth. Sublime. We rolled the meat up in lettuce leaves and dipped them in a miso-soy sauce. My colleague added some chili paste for heat. It's the best meal I've had so far.

Lunches at the company canteen have been OK. You have 3 choices for lunch. One is a curry. The other is the daily special - something with rice. The third is a cold noodle dish such as udon, ramen or soba in a small amount of cold broth with vegetables on top. You pay via a vending machine in advance and take the ticket to the counter. Our guest auditor tells me which button to push because it's all in Japanese of course. I get flashbacks of eating at a ramen restaurant in Tokyo every time I have lunch (for those who haven't heard that story, my friend and I had no idea what we were ordering and we selected based on price...he got a steaming bowl of noodles and I got cold noodles and a chilly December day!).

I have to take a photo of the vending machines here this weekend. I'm always amazed at what one can buy from the vending machines that seem to be on every block. Like the beer and liquor machine at the train station. Who needs a 7-11 when a machine will do.

We've been taking the train to and from work for the past 2 days. It's always silent in the mornings and livelier in the afternoon. Guess it reflects how people feel about going to work.

I took this photo on the train this morning. Could someone please explain why this sticker on the train door would be written in Portuguese? Would there really be enough Portuguese speakers to warrant a sticker like this?

Blending in with the masses

2009-06-17T09:02:00.006-05:00

Today I experienced first-hand what it feels like to work in Japan. My colleauge and I took the train to work. The hotel is across the street from 2 or 3 different train stations. The one that we take is about a 5-minute walk...along with all the other Japanese either walking to their train station or going to work. I took this photo after work, but it looked similar in the morning with twice as many people.

What struck me most was the sea of black hair, white shirts and black slacks. A splash of color was sorely needed. I now wish I packed a bright colored shirt so that I don't have to blend into the sameness that Japan is known for. The evening I arrived I noticed that everyone had black umbrellas, as if that was the only color available for purchase. Unfortunately, it's the rainy season in Japan and I forgot to bring an umbrella so I'll blend in even when it rains.

The train was clean, quiet and about $1.50 for a ticket. My colleague was actually silenced by a passenger because we were making small talk (he put his hand on her arm and shushed her, then sat down and closed his eyes). And so we learned that many use the time to sleep. Not surprising since some spend hours commuting. We have a guest auditor from Tokyo who lives in the far eastern part of the city, near Tokyo Disneyland. It takes him 2 hours each way and 4 train changes to get to work. Luckily this only a 3 week audit and he'll be back to a 1 hour commute to the office.

Upon arrival at our destination, we board a company bus to take us to the plant. It leaves at precisely 8:26 am. I made sure I synchronized my watch to their time. We missed the afernoon bus by a minute and ended up taking a taxi home rather than wait an hour for the next bus. The taxi cost $39 so I'm sure we'll be on time from now on!

This morning 4 Middle Eastern mafia-looking guys had breakfast in the hotel. Two of them wouldn't take their sunglasses off the entire time. They sat at the table behind us and didn't speak. They were oddly out of place. It'll be interesting to see if they're back tomorrow.

After dinner I stopped into Krispy Kreme and picked up a donut. How could I resist the "Hot Doughnuts Now" light? They pulled KK out of Texas and I have to come to Japan for my fix? Even better, they were giving away a free donut to eat while waiting in line. I only wanted one but ended up with two. What a great dessert!

The last words for today's blog will be "Coke Plus with Green Tea flavor." It was such an unusual combination that I HAD to buy one. I can't wait to try it tomorrow!

Kawasaki, Japan

2009-06-16T08:42:00.004-05:00

The travel blog is back in business, now that I’m on the road again! Whoo hoo! I’m spending the next 3 weeks in Kawasaki, which is an industrial area near Tokyo. I was asked to fill in for an auditor who is ill and is not allowed to travel. The decision was made on Tuesday and I flew out from San Diego on Monday (the day after my niece's wedding). This was possibly the most short notice I've ever been given. Since I've been complaining about being grounded this year for no good reason, I couldn't pass up this opportunity now could I?

I arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday night after spending 12 hours on the flight from Los Angeles. The virus scare is evident as I saw face masks worn by many of the airport personnel. Passengers staying in Japan had to fill out a health questionnaire. Not only do they want to know where you're staying and how long you'll be in the country, but whether or not you've been running a temperature or have been coughing, have a sore throat or runny nose. Plus the form asked for your seat number. I hear it's a lot worse in China where they actually take your temperature!

I’m writing while on a bus to the city airport – Haneda – as it’s the easiest way to get closer to Kawasaki, after which I’ll either take a taxi to the hotel. Flying into Haneda was either ridiculously expensive or way too long (no direct flights from the U.S.). The bus ride will take 75 minutes, especially since it’s 8 pm and we’ve missed rush hour traffic.

Narita is the international airport in Tokyo. Although I’ve flown here a number of times before (mostly to connect to other cities in the region), this is my second visit since 2006. I have to comment on the awesome baggage carousel, which is a great example of Japanese Ingenuity. There are sensors on the end of the carousel where the luggage comes off the conveyor belt. The bags stop if the sensors detect there are luggage on the carousel that’s turning. The belt quickly starts up and drops the waiting bag into an empty slot on the carousel. I watched my bag patiently waiting for an opening. It took a perhaps a minute but no double-parked bags on the carousel! How cool. I wonder why more airports don’t have these installed.

As I type, I’m listening to a high-school aged girl from Colombia (from Bogota no less) talk with a woman sitting next to her on the bus. She lives in North Carolina and speaks a little Japanese. I think her comprehension is about the same level as mine. Luckily the woman speaks very good English. She’s here for 6 weeks, staying with a host family. She says she’s always been fascinated by the country and is looking forward to learning about the country. I can hear the excitement in her voice. It's so cute that she's comparing everything to Colombia. For example, she asked if there were stalls where you buy fruits and vegetables as there are in Colombia (nope). She's just trying to get her bearings.

I'm now in my tiny hotel room. Probably the smallest room I've ever had on a business trip. But internet access is included along with breakfast. It's across the street from the train station (no horns blaring as they are in Houston) and there are lots of restaurant and shopping options within walking distance. Still, it'll be a cramped 3 weeks in here.

The taxi ride to the hotel from the airport was about $40 US. Most of the taxi drivers wear white hats, white gloves, white shirts and black trousers. The doors open by a push of a lever so they don't have to get out and you don't have to touch the door. :-)

I look forward to adding photos and being a better blogger than I was in Thailand. I hope to get out to Yokohama one weekend since it's only 4 train stops away and supposed to have lots of sites to see. And perhaps see more of Tokyo the second weekend. Since I'm pinch-hitting for an auditor, I am not leading the audit and should be far less busy than normal. :-) Stay tuned to this space!

P.S. It's weird logging into blogspot.com and seeing Japanese characters where Sign In should be!

More

More of Sleazy Pattaya

2009-01-26T08:06:00.012-06:00

It's too easy to write about the sleazy side of Pattaya, plus I don't need to write much because the photos do a great job in conveying why this is the sex capital of Thailand.

Walking Street is where many congregate among the neon lights, guys peddling the sex shows (they shove a piece of laminated paper at you which lists what goes on in the show, primarily women and household objects), and scantily dressed women try to entice passers by to check out the show/bar. A lot of the places have themes - Airline Club has women dressed as flight attendants in short skirts. There's a gangster themed place, another where the women dress in schoolgirl outfits, another with European women, etc. They do their best to distinguish themselves from other clubs.

Of course, this is all catering to the oversexed male who are typically old, fat, ugly and want to feel like they're 20 again with young Thai women (or men). It's pretty disgusting. The phenomenon isn't limited to white males. There are plenty of Middle Eastern and Indian men to boot. The number of Indian restaurants in the sleazy area confirms what I see.

Pattaya isn't just for straight men. There's Boyz Town as well as a number of other gay-oriented streets. The first night we were in Pattaya, we were walking home from dinner and hear some dance music coming from a vehicle. We thought nothing of it until the truck passed us. And there were three young men dancing away in skimpy outfits. They were quite a change of pace from the scantily dressed women. We weren't the only ones snapping pictures. They were stopped in traffic long enough to take at least one good shot. Not surprisingly, they were advertising a gay bar.

Ladyboys are popular here and caberet shows are a big tourist draw. Many look pretty darn good as a woman, such as these two seen on Walking Street. There was an ad in the weekend Bangkok paper for sex change operations for less than $2,000. Amazing!

We're getting immuned to what goes on around us. How sad....nothing shocks us anymore.

For more photos of Sleazy Pattaya, check out http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14794&l=27497&id=1134000222

Hiya Pattaya

2009-01-22T09:15:00.005-06:00

An hour and a half south of Bangkok and on the water is Pattaya. One would think it would be a pretty place....seeing that there is a beach. But alas, this place is sleaze city. U.S. soldiers used to come here for R&R during the Vietnam war and Pattaya has never outgrown their reputation.

Pattaya is full of men of all ages and sizes and their young Thai playthings. Not only old white dudes and their young Thai girlfriends (or pick-ups), but dudes with their young Thai boyfriends. Plus there are a lot of Russians running around and the women dress as poorly as the Thai women (high heels, short shorts).

Having dinner and watching the world go by is pure entertainment. There is a walking street full of bars, restaurants, jewelry stores and clubs. What a bizarre mixture.

The Beer Garden on one end of "Walking Street" has a sign that says "Single ladies welcome." Sure enough, there are lots of Thai women sitting on bar stools waiting for a sugar daddy or a "date." Note this bar is "Lucky Bar No. 3."

On the positive side, the food is cheap and good. Because of the wide variety of tourists that come here, there are restaurants serving Russian, Japanese, Italian, Indian, steak, seafood, Thai, Chinese, etc.

There are cheap massage parlors on each block (i.e., $5 for an hour Thai massage fully clothed) and facial salons everwhere. Dental clinics are also prevalent. Laser teeth whitening is about $300. I got a new bite guard for $140.

Shopping (my favorite topic) is also cheap, but so are the clothes. But silk items are inexpensive so I'll probably pick up some pieces before I leave. And definitely a visit to the tailor to custom make clothing is a necessity. Nothing beats a pair of pants that was made to fit you!

I am spending 3 weeks in Pattaya before taking off on a Thai beach vacation. I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about!

Placeholder for Bangkok

2009-01-22T09:15:00.001-06:00

will post this weekend

Photos from India

2009-01-02T00:27:00.005-06:00

I got too lazy to add India photos to my blog so here's a link to where they can be viewed (or click on the link from the title of this post):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12678&l=abbbb&id=1134000222

Next trip is Thailand in a couple of weeks. Hopefully there will be no technical difficulties and photos and comments can be posted in a more timely manner!

Fast food chains

2008-12-06T10:48:00.003-06:00

Ordinarily I never eat at American fast food chains outside the U.S., but I'm glad I've experienced the Indian versions of familiar restaurants. Surprise....it's not exactly the same!

Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut - Because of the large number of vegetarians in India, pizza restaurants are heavy on the veg pizzas. And non-veg choices are usually with chicken rather than beef products. On Pizza Hut's menu, pepperoni was the only meat pizza available. You want Indian spices in your pizza? How about a chicken tikka pizza?

McDonald's - There's a McD near the apartment in the shopping area. Unfortunately in that area the food choices are either street food (looks good, but I don't want to chance getting sick) or McD and KFC. Both have A/C and seating with a view of the street so they're quite inviting when you're tired from shopping. I stopped at McD today thinking I would get a burger (I haven't had meat in 3 weeks!) and found that hamburger isn't on the menu at all! Burger choices are chicken, veggie and filet-o-fish. I ended up with a mexican chicken wrap, which was pretty good.

KFC - Last weekend I gave KFC a try since I was on that side of the street. Just like McDonald's, the menu is different. Fried chicken (dark meat only) and chicken nuggets were familiar, but instead of fries you can have rice with veggies in it. They also had fried veggie pieces for the vegetarians. KFC does deliver (virtually every store delivers for free here!) and has a number of scooters ready to go.

Subway - My lunch choices at work is either Subway, Pizza Hut or Coffee Day. Subway sort of tastes like the U.S. version. Turkey is available, along with chicken ham, lamb salami, tuna, and chicken meatballs. The veggie sub is obviously quite popular. There's no oil and vinegar or italian dressing. They do have honey mustard, mayo, teriyaki sauce and some other sweet sauces. I found that the best choice is asking for very little mayo and salt and pepper. Actually, the best lunch is leftovers from home!

Indian weddings

2008-12-02T09:44:00.003-06:00

One of the cool things about spending 3 hours a week with my yoga instructor is learning about all things Indian. She attended a wedding today so we talked a bit about Indian weddings.

I've learned a few things about them since arriving in Mumbai:

1. Winter is wedding season. How terrible for those whose plans were disrupted due to the recent terrorist attacks!

2. They can be held on any day of the week. The day and time is selected by looking at the birth charts of the bride and groom. In fact, the charts are also used to determine if the couple should be married at all. They're usually held during daylight hours.

3. They're a massive, festive event. A colleague was invited to a wedding of someone he didn't even know. When asked if it was going to be OK with the bride and groom, he was told that there were going to be 1,000 people in attendance so how will one more guest matter? The more the merrier!

4. I've seen restaurants and fields decorated to host a wedding. It's a bit difficult to miss as lots of colorful fabric is used to decorate the entryway. It's a wonderful sight next to so many dirty and gray buildings in the city.

My teacher wished we had discussed this earlier because she would've invited me to come along. I hope that one day I can experience an Indian wedding because they're steeped in ritual and fun. For now I guess I can watch movies like Monsoon Wedding and get into the spirit of the event.

Lunch in Mumbai

2008-11-30T06:09:00.003-06:00

I had lunch at my yoga teacher's house this afternoon. When I arrived it smelled so good and she told me that she was making an eggplant dish for lunch. I just bought an eggplant on the way over to her house because I was planning on making eggplant parmesean for dinner. So she invited me to stay for lunch. How could I say no to such an invitation?!

What I smelled when I arrived was her maid's masala, which contains Indian spices (tumeric, cumin, coriander, peppercorn are what I remember) and coconut and onions. Masalas are the basis of Indian cooking (as I learned in a cooking class I took in Houston in October). They're added to dishes along with water to make a gravy, which we would call a sauce. She fills the small eggplants (about the size of a thumb) with the masala and steams them in the masala and water sauce. She also added some potatoes.

Every Indian dish needs a dahl, which is lentils. She pressure cooked the lentils with some cumin and later added them to some tomatoes and onions along with water. It was soup like.

Some rice and roti (bread) rounded out the meal. We ate in the traditional manner with our hands. Even the rice. Everything was fabulous. And over the meal I learned about Indian culture. Every class I learn more and more. There's nothing better than spending time with a local to learn about a location, its traditions, and its food. I'm grateful for having found such a great teacher.

Life is back to normal

2008-11-29T08:44:00.003-06:00

I just returned from spending the last 4 hours outside in my neighborhood, Bandra West. I picked up some water from a small grocery store (there is no such thing as a big grocery store here), some eggs from the corner kiosk, ate an ice cream cone and a snack at the KFC while overlooking a busy street corner from the second floor, had a Thai foot massage, bought a pair of flip flops to wear in the house, some beautiful pashmina shawls from Kasmir from a sari store and a couple of bags from a street vendor, and window shopped (oh...the bedspreads here are beautiful!). There are lots of people shopping, street vendors are selling their sandals and clothing, sellers are hawking food, autorickshaws clogging the streets.....life is normal in Mumbai.

The ordeal is finally over and the news stations are now speculating on how the terrorists got away with wreaking havoc in this major city. I'm sure the speculation and the accusations will go on for the coming days. I only hope that security gets tightened here. I still can't believe that the National Security Guard (equivalent to the U.S. Special Forces unit I think) doesn't have a unit stationed in Mumbai. Clearly the police force isn't trained to contront terrorists ... at least one of their cars were stolen by the terrorists!

I learned that the guards stationed at hotels and businesses here aren't even armed! In contrast, the guards in terrorist threatened countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Colombia are heavily armed. I like Mumbai enough to hope that another attack doesn't occur again. Let's hope the government will learn from this event and put stronger security measures in place.

I'm not afraid to be on the streets. I don't plan on cutting this trip short and have not been asked to do so. I still have 2 more weeks of enjoying life in India and continue blogging.

Update to the terrorist activity

2008-11-26T21:39:00.003-06:00

It's after 11 am and over 12 hours since the activity began, it's still going on. There are terrorists holed up on a floor in one hotel and they're still at the Taj Hotel as well.

By now you may have seen pictures of the Taj Hotel on fire on TV or the internet. It's a beautiful Colonial structure from the early 1900's and a major landmark for the city, much like the World Trade Center was for New York.

The news here is predicting that tourism will be impacted by this. They're calling it Mumbai's 9/11, which will mean that they'll take a harder stance on security.

I thought security at the JW Marriott was fairly tight. Similar to what I saw in Malaysia and the Philippines. All guests must go through a metal detector to enter. They restrict the cars that can drive up to the lobby and first inspect the trunk and hood of each car. I don't see bomb sniffing dogs here.

I'm a bit baffled as to why it took almost 6 hours for the army to storm the hotels where the terrorists have taken hostages. It doesn't appear that the government was really prepared for such an attack, although relations between Muslims and Hindus have been strained for some time.

And how on earth did two police vehicles get stolen by the terrorists? Makes me question the competency of the police force here.

The office is closed today and I've been told to stay in the apartment. Although there was one day that I wanted to give up on the idea of staying in an apartment, in hindsight I'm grateful that I had the resilience to not give up. It was meant to be in order to secure my safety.

Wow...a walking shrine on a cart just made its way down the street with its loudspeaker blaring a song. I wish I could post a photo. What a blessed sight....

Terrorist Attack in Mumbai!

2008-11-26T13:47:00.002-06:00

I've been awakened by calls at midnight alerting me of a terrorist attack in Mumbai. The areas affected are not close to where I am staying, but I have been instructed to stay put in my apartment. My driver has also called to tell me he's not coming to pick me up in the morning. He sounded freaked.

All of the affected areas are in a very touristy area, where I visited this weekend. This includes the Taj Hotel (kind of looks like the real Taj), central train station, a hospital, and a dockyard. There are even hostages of tourists in the Oberoi hotel and shots heard in the Taj Hotel. I'm thankful that I'm not in an hotel tonight.

Quite interesting to watch it all unfold on TV here. It appears as if it's mass chaos. The TV is reporting 230 injuries and 60 deaths. I wonder if it's like the U.S. where the estimates are higher than reality.

Apparently a terrorist attack as big as this is unprecedented in Mumbai. Stay tuned.

Much happier

2008-11-25T09:32:00.002-06:00

Life is definitely better in the new apartment. My cleaning lady cooked dinner today. How wonderful to come home and find dinner waiting in the refrigerator. And it was quite good! I'm going to look forward to Tuesday and Friday nights now.

The building across the street is under construction and I came to the realization that the workers are living there. There are no walls yet, the concrete is being poured on the 5th level. I noticed a guy brushing his teeth on one of the levels one morning and assumed he brushes his teeth at work. Last night I noticed a small TV was on. This morning I noticed the corregated steel shacks next to the building. They do seem to start work early and end late so living so close to work probably is good for them. This would also explain why a sheer green covering is only on part of the building. I think it provides them with some privacy from my building across the street.

Two buildings down is a cricket field and the workers sometimes stop working to watch a game. There's usually a game every night and weekend mornings. I haven't spent any time watching a game. It looks similar to baseball and the cheering can get a bit loud...as it is right now.

If it's not the fans cheering, it's the traffic noise. It's only peaceful between 1 to 5 am. Then the crows start making a racket and the honking starts not long thereafter. Rather typical for a big city like Mumbai.

New Apartment Improves My Life

2008-11-22T20:25:00.002-06:00

After spending 4 days with no internet access (a userid and password is needed to access a web page to open up the internet connection), no pots and pans and other kitchen necessities, a static filled phone, borrowed linens, and crazy hot water heater switches (I had a decent hot shower for one day), I moved into a different apartment. The relocation specialist lived around the corner and was moving back to the U.S. I gladly took her offer to move.

I still have a 3/3 apartment, but now I'm on the third floor facing an apartment building under construction. It's a little noisier during the day, but the bedroom window faces what looks like a mango tree and is quiet.

This apartment is stocked in the kitchen thanks to the numerous ex-pats who have lived here, a home theater sound system, rugs, and one switch for the hot water heater. :-) I kept her cleaning lady/cook on the same schedule. I ate leftovers for lunch yesterday (a chicken patty and vegetable yellow rice) and it was quite good. I'm looking forward to dining in.

The food in Mumbai is surprisingly good and dirt cheap. Lunches are ordered in - either a veg or non-veg box of Indian food. I recognized paneer in spinach (I made it in cooking class in Houston) and masalas. There are lots of Asian style restaurants and Thai restaurants are popular. There is also a KFC and McDonald's nearby. I did get a veggie pizza from Domino's one night. It was far better than any Domino's in the U.S.

Obviously vegetarian choices are abundant. One of the guys at work is a Jain, which believes in non-violence to the point that they won't eat root vegetables because insects are killed during harvesting. That severely limits what he can eat.

I am eating well, haven't gotten sick yet (knock on wood), and am finally happily settled in Mumbai. The remaining 3 weeks here can only get better. The worst is behind me and I didn't let my troubles defeat me!

Living Like an Ex-Pat

2008-11-22T20:16:00.002-06:00

I finally got a key to the apartment on Monday. It’s a 3 bedroom, 3 bath apartment on the 6th floor. My driver helped bring the luggage up and the first thing we noticed was the light switch in the hallway didn’t do anything. Uh oh. Inside the apartment it was more of the same – no power. Did someone turn off the electricity?

I call the relocation specialist and she says to check with security. Sure enough, they go turn on some main switch. Still no power. I send the driver back downstairs to talk to security as I looked for my flashlight. Security comes up and they’re looking for something. Nope, not in the bathroom or kitchen, but success! They found a breaker box in the hallway. The main switch was in the off position. Whew!

The A/C unit in the living area was cranking out cool air as I took a quick assessment of the apartment. One bedroom had a new bed, but I couldn’t figure out where the switch was to turn on the A/C. The other bedroom had a functioning A/C unit, but the light switches didn’t turn on any lights. The third bedroom had the A/C on and the lights working. I felt like Goldilocks.

I then noticed that none of the beds had sheets, blankets or pillows. A quick check in the closets confirmed no bedding other than a blanket. Yet another call to the relocation specialist (I was having dinner with her that evening) and she offered to bring some bedding when she picked me up. She was smart enough to also bring towels, which I also lacked. She did show me how to find the multiple electrical switches each room seems to have. None of the switches are marked. They control the electriacl outlet, fan, lights (many lights), A/C, etc.

She also told me that the hot water heater has to be turned on about 20 minutes before showering, but we’re not sure which switch is for the hot water (there’s no hot water for the sink). Thank goodness she mentioned it or else I would’ve been taking a cold shower in the morning. Alas, I did end up taking a cold shower (for 2 days). I tried the switches in one bathroom with no luck. I did the same in the other bathroom, which was warmer to begin with, and accepted the room temperature water as being bearable. I’ll figure out which combination of switches will turn on the hot water heater by the time I leave!

The apartment is really spacious. The honking horns cannot be escaped, but the wrap-around balcony is cool. The apartment takes up half of the building and there’s a balcony around the entire apartment. The exterior wall is floor-to-almost-ceiling windows. The views are of other apartment buildings, but it’s great looking out at the city. In the morning I watch the guy in the next building pray facing East as a woman in another building does a walking circuit on the small rooftop terrace.

Grocery shopping in a big store is non-existent here. The closest market is teeny, but has staples like bread, butter, water, chips, yogurt, milk, cereal along with Indian staples. A guy follows you with the basket, which makes the store even more crowded. He also tries to sell me things. Try this dip, try this sweet. Then when you check out, he reads the prices to the cashier and bags everything. Fairly efficient since the store doesn’t have scanners.

Fruits and vegetables can be bought off the street, right outside the apartment door. Some vendors have stalls. Others sit in the road and sell produce off a blanket. My purchases have been limited to bananas and eggs so far.

Driving: The traffic is as horrendous as I’ve heard. With three-wheeled taxis (rickshaws) buzzing everywhere, along with the 4-wheeled versions, buses, goods carriers (aka trucks). It’s not the vehicles that I fear, but the pedestrians that seem to dart out of nowhere right in front of you...and there are LOTS of people walking everywhere!

To make things worse, there are vendors selling on the side of the road everywhere and forces more people onto the streets. I don’t know how these drivers do it. It’s frightening being on the road. The honking doesn’t help either. It seems that they honk at virtually anything, but I guess it makes sense when people, cars, buses, trucks are all trying to get somewhere. I think the driving has to be some of the worst I’ve seen, beating Shanghai with no doubt.

Dust: Dust is quite pervasive, which is why cleaning ladies come daily. My apartment feels like a dust bowl. I normally am barefoot in my house, but here I have to wear slippers otherwise they soles of my feet would be black by the end of the day.

Mumbai Beach Life

2008-11-22T20:12:00.002-06:00

On Sunday I did nothing but lay by the pool. I didn’t bring a swimsuit since I thought I was going to be in an apartment, but I managed to get some sun nevertheless.

I spent about 15 minutes walking on the beach. At 10 am it was populated by so many men playing games of cricket that made me feel uncomfortable walking around on my own. In one direction I sort of followed a young Indian couple for safety. Then I got to the “boardwalk” where the coconut milk guy tried to sell me a drink and a wood flute vendor started to follow me around as he played his instrument. At that point I figured I had experienced enough. The “boardwalk” was amusing as it had small carousels for the kids and food booths where the smell of curry was strong (I think I prefer smelling vinegar fries).

Apparently the beach gets quite crowded on the weekends with families coming out, especially in the late afternoon. I assume it’s because the wind picks up and makes the heat bearable (it was actually a comfortable day, probably in the mid-80’s).

I spent the entire day at the pool and closed the day by watching the sunset. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy for a really nice sunset, but I can add yet another sunset picture to the blog when I'm able to post photos again.

Holy Cow ... I'm in Mumbai (Bombay)!

2008-11-22T19:55:00.002-06:00

Six days after returning from Argentina, I was once again in the air on a nearly 24 hour jouney. I arrived on Saturday night thinking I would be staying in a corporate apartment. Unfortunately, no one arranged for a transfer of the key. I assumed the driver or building security would have it. Nope. After a few calls and about a half-hour wait, someone booked me a room at the JW Marriott for the weekend instead. It actually worked out well as I now didn't have to worry about how to explain to the driver that I need a grocery store where I could buy breakfast food and water (store...to buy food...for kitchen...to cook...fruits....vegetables .... blank stare). Those are activities that best dealt with after talking to other ex-pats or locals.

The Marriott is in a suburb called Juhu and is on the beach (on the Arabian Sea). It was beautiful and fabulous. The place smelled of jasmine as it was everywhere inside the hotel. I guess on the weekends they string it and hang it, and place blossoms on floors, tables, etc. Flowers in the jasmine family are extremely fragrant and I was in heaven taking big whiffs as I toured the hotel.

Saturday night at the Marriott was hopping. I noticed quite a few young people dressed up and dance club music blaring. One of the doormen at the club convinced me to go in and take a look. Although it was past midnight and I was tired after a long day of flying, I figured what the heck. I'm glad I experienced the Mumbai club scene. I immediately understood why he wanted me to go in ... the male to female ratio was heavily slanted on the male side and the place was packed.

What’s unusual were the guys were all singing, pumping their fists in the air, and dancing with each other or by themselves. Other ex-pats later confirmed that this is typical, and no this wasn't a gay bar (homosexuality is frowned upon). In the hour or so I was there, not a single guy asked a girl to dance. They seem to be content watching the scene, singing and dancing. The girls danced with each other, the guys were doing their own thing. There were some mixed groups and they danced with each other in a group.

The singing was especially fanatical when the songs were native dance hits. They play a lot of western songs, of which I only recognized Daddy Yankee’s Gasolina.

I also noticed a lot of guys drinking out of brandy snifters, and I doubt it was brandy. Some had ice, others had a straw and the drink didn’t look like brandy. The guy next to me either smelled of cloves or his drink (in a snifter) did. He seemed to enjoy using my hip as an arm rest. Given how crowded Mumbai is, Indians' size of personal space is quite small.

As I left around 2 am (amazing that I stayed up so late on the first night), I noticed a little podium with a charge card machine. Ah ha...the bar only makes the drinks. Payment is handled at the “cashier” station and it seemed a bit frantic at 2 am as people started to leave.

Day one first impression: smell. Everyone always remarks about the smell of India. As I stepped onto the jetway, it smelled like insecticide. Hopefully it’s to kill mosquitoes....I'm taking malaria pills just in case.

P.S. My card reader isn't functioning properly so I can't post photos at this time. :-( But I'll add them later.

Mate

2008-11-07T18:40:00.007-06:00

Mate? No, it's actually pronounced mah-tey. It's basically tea, drunk throughout the day in vessels. We spent a lot of time with 2 Argentines who drank the stuff all day. They have bags to carry their thermos of hot water and their mate cups and straw.

It's an art pouring the grass into their vessel, shaking it to remove some of the dust, then slowly pour the water, stop, then pour more. In meetings they pass the mate cup around and everyone takes a sip. A very social activity.

Leandro let me try his mate and it's bitter, tastes a little like grass and similar to a very, very strong green tea.

It was 90 degrees outside and they still drink their mate throughout the day. In Uruguay it's common to see people drinking it while driving.

On the drive back to Buenos Aires we stopped at a gas station to take a bathroom break. Outside of the bathroom I saw this vending machine, which dispenses hot water for mate. Just insert your thermos, drop in your pesos, and the Argentine can continue to drink their mate.

I wonder if Mate Annonymous exists to help them kick their addiction?

Colon, Argentina

2008-11-07T17:33:00.011-06:00

My second week in Argentina was for work and it required me to travel to Colon (we were about 30 minutes away) for a week. Colon is a 3-hour drive from Buenos Aires. The drive could've been through any farm state in the U.S. Lots of wheat fields and the corn was barely sprouting.

The entryway to the plant is lined with huge eucalyptus trees. Driving in, I felt like I was in a movie and going to a resort! Too bad it wasn't.

The accommodations in Colon were in the plant's guest house, right next door. This was probably the shortest commute ever on an audit. The house is rather large. Our wing (left in the photo) had 7 or 8 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. There is a formal dining and living room, a pool room, a TV and dining room, and kitchen. We have no idea what the other wing's accommodations look like.

We were served breakfast of toast and fruit for breakfast. A huge lunch was served at the plant cafeteria. And a home-cooked dinner was served back at the guest house (at 8 pm, while the Argentine guests ate at 9).

On Thursday night we had a parrilla - barbequed meat. That's beef ribs, blood sausage, chorizo, and chicken on the grill.

I wish we didn't work 14 hours a day because this place is a great retreat. Very, very peaceful. Birds wake me up at 6:30 am. Sometimes we can hear cows mooing from the next farm. The night sky is full of stars and a clear moon. There are grapefruit and tangerine trees on the property and the blossoms' sweet fragrance is intoxicating. Lots of areas to sit, relax, and enjoy the surroundings.

Cats and kittens roam free (unfortunately they're not fixed) and catch mice and birds. The dogs lay around near the cafeteria to be fed. This dog is soooooo friendly and starved for attention. The cat is the ONLY cat that would allow anyone to pet it and she too is starved for attention. She even let me pick her up. There are lots of cats were hanging out and hiding from the heat behind the cafeteria.

All the animals were waiting for Friday's lunch, which was cooking behind the comedor (cafeteria). And here's what it looked like on my plate. This is a small portion. Most of the guys also have rice, bread, and a dessert (jello or flan).

Yup, the food in Colon was an extention of what was started in Buenos Aires. I'm a very happy girl who is in need of a diet.....or a trip to India. Looks like India has won out. I'll be leaving for Mumbai in a week.

Back to Buenos Aires - art and food

2008-11-03T18:38:00.019-06:00

Friday was spent going to yoga in the morning, having breakfast, then going to the MALBA, the modern art museum of Latin American artists. It's a really beautiful museum with some unusual artwork. They were showcasing one artist who had red, white and blue lollipops piled in a corner and the audience was encouraged to eat the display. Of course I complied and took a photo, which the guard said I couldn't do. Como? We can eat the display, but we can't take a photo of it?!

He had a similar display of candy in silver wrappers spread out on the floor of a large room. Three other displays had posters on the floor (one was red rectangular with a black border titled NRA, as in National Rifle Association) and again the audience is encouraged to take them. Truly a modern museum.

In the evening, hotel proprietor Jim and I went to a Spanish restaurant and had the best fish he's ever had in Buenos Aires - and he's lived here for 2 years! While I had crispy pork ribs. Absolutely delicious. It was nice trying a restaurant that he's never been to, yet he's been recommending it to guests. It was definitely perfect for people who are tired of eating red meat.

On Saturday I soaked up some sun at a very big and local Centenario Park (after walking for MILES to get to the place). People here love to go to parks and lay out. Some are in swim suits, others are fully clothed. I didn't photograph any of the sun worshippers, but here's the pretty lake that was in the middle of this park. There's a small artists feria there (along with numerous flea market-type booths) at which I had to buy more jewelry. Since this one tends to cater to locals, the items were pretty inexpensive but lovely nonetheless.

On my last night in Buenos Aires, Amanda (one of the auditors) came out to Palermo and joined me for dinner at La Cabrera. It's a well-known steak house a few blocks away from the hotel. We couldn't get reservations, but we got a table around 9:30 pm when we arrived - que suerte!

Although the couple next to us from San Francisco kept on offering us their leftover steak, we declined and ordered our own ojo de bife (rib eye). As you can see, it's larger than my hand!

Plus all of the little side dishes that comes along with the steak were so yummy. Who knew that baked apple, pumpkin, or pear would be good with a steak? Plus there were side dishes of lentils, beans in a pesto-like sauce, olive paste, garlic, and red peppers just to name a few. The steak, a mixed salad to share, 2 bottles of water and a generous glass of Malbec totaled $37. A bargain! We were stuffed, but it felt good to eat every bit of that steak.

The variety and price of food in Buenos Aires is amazing. I had lunch at an Armenian restaurant on Saturday and had a wonderful plate of rice pilaf and seasoned shredded chicken all for $5. Pretty much every kind of food is available here and it's generally inexpensive. On Sunday a friend of my mother's and I went to a buffet that's run by Chinese people. Dirt cheap with grilled meat and a good variety of other dishes (like fried rice, noodles, and other Chinese items) and dessert.

Of all of the things I'll miss in Buenos Aires, it has to be the food....and the shopping! ;-)

Punta del Este, Uruguay

2008-11-01T15:05:00.010-05:00

I'm still a couple of days behind in the blogging. On Thursday, I took a 2 hour bus ride to Punta del Este to have lunch, walk around, and see what the fuss is about this resort town. Although the trip is "direct" it still dropped people off in the middle of nowhere and made a stop in a small town outside of Punta del Este. I assumed it was the bus terminal for Punta del Este so I got off (no announcement and almost everyone got off). Ha! Was I wrong! Luckily the next bus arrived in about 10 minutes and took me to where I wanted to go.

Right outside of the bus terminal is quite an unusual landmark. As you can see below. It's right in front of the beach. I think the fingers up close kind of looks like Stonehenge!

I admit, Punta del Este is a great little beach town on a pennisula on the Atlantic Ocean. The "fingers" side of the water is rather windy (it is spring and about 65 degrees outside). I got my feet wet and found the water quite cold. The surfers were out and they were all wearing full wet suits.

On the other side of the penninsula the water is much calmer. And the yacht club is at the tip of the penninsula.

In all, I spent about 3 hours in Punta del Este. I would definitely go back if I were in the area in the summer.

I got back to Montevideo in time to depart on the 7:30 pm ferry back to Buenos Aires. It's a 3 hour trip and I was able to say adios to Uruguay and my last sunset over the Rio Plata.

Montevideo, Uruguay

2008-10-31T16:54:00.015-05:00

On Wednesday and Thursday (days 5 and 6) I took the ferry to Uruguay. Here's my breakfast at the ferry terminal - two medialunas and cafe con leche. I love medialunas. Just the right amount of sweetness (i.e., not too sweet).

The last time I was in Argentina I went to Colonia and spent about 6 hours there. This time I took the high-speed ferry to Colonia (50 minutes) then spent 2.5 hours on a bus to Montevideo. It was a good way to see the countryside.

I guess Uruguay must be pulling in good tourist dollars because I saw a lot of road and building construction. Colonia is getting a new immigration terminal where the ferries arrive (sorely needed) and a divided highway outside the city. Considering the number of buses that travel these roads, I'm glad to see such infrastructure improvements.

Montevideo is the largest city in Uruguay. It's not very big ....kind of like a mini-Buenos Aires with pretty tree-lined streets in the residential neighborhoods. They have a nice walkway (Ramblas) on the Rio Plata, which is where my hotel was located. This is a view of the walkway from the hotel. And me on the Ramblas at sunset.

I love the buildings in Montevideo. Lots of art deco. Great character.

I spent the day just walking around the old city and enjoying the beautiful day and architecture.

Like most South American cities, horse drawn carts are not unique.

Day 3 and 4 - Buenos Aires

2008-10-29T20:20:00.009-05:00

Day 3 in Buenos Aires had me downtown buying ferry tickets to Uruguay.

The ferry terminal is in Puerto Madero. This is a fairly new area that screams tourists. There are lots and lots of restaurants and a few pricey stores in the brick buildings (there are several).

It's quite picturesque and full of business people enjoying a lovely spring day along with the tourists walking about and snapping photos.

I ended up sitting outside and dining on a lovely lunch of beef carpaccio while frantically trying to access my hotmail account with the free wi-fi. I needed to find my passport number in order to make a ferry reservation. It's not like I haven't been to Uruguay before on the ferry....I knew better but it slipped my mind! All was not lost...dining al fresco meant that I would get a sunburn on my shoulders. Yet again, I forgot that the sun can be brutal down here.

I spent a part of day 4 at the office. I was only going to have lunch with a friend, but stopped by to meet some people. I'm forever networking!

Obviously labor is inexpensive here because I saw 4 guys carrying small billboards on the side street next to the office. There were two on each side of the street. When the light turned red, one or two would stand in the middle of the crosswalk and raise their sign for drivers to see. And when they weren't standing in the middle of the road, they just hung out on the side chatting. What a job!

I did more shopping after spending some time at the office by hitting Calle Florida, a pedistrian mall many blocks long. I ended up with a great leather jacket for half-off because I paid in cash. The entire store obviously has a problem with cash flow....so I helped improve their cash situation! :-)

Day 2 in Buenos Aires

2008-10-26T19:42:00.011-05:00

OK Ginger...I'll play hand model and post a photo is for you. My jewelry finds from today (2 rings and the bracelet which is a fork) and yesterday (the circle ring). The bracelet is a fork (note the tines) with a lapiz or some sort of stone. I had a tough time trying to decide which one to buy. They were all incredibly creative.

I've been buying jewelry primarily at the many fairs in the city. Today's purchases came from the fair in Belgrano. It's a small fair, but the artisans are quite good and it's not very crowded with people.

Lucas and I walked for miles today. Luckily the weather was perfect...not too sunny and not too cool. Belgrano has some pretty tree-lined streets, but since it's early spring some of the trees have yet to return to life. But the barren trees still make for a pretty cool photo.

Avenida Juramento is a major cobblestone lined streets. What I really liked about it is that the cobblestones are in a semi-circular pattern.

After eating a perfectly grilled piece of beef for lunch, we headed back to Palermo and stopped at Freddo's for an helado. The dulce de leche helado is amazing. So was the chocolate with almonds. And I'm not even a chocolate lover, but I do love my ice cream!

We got back around 4:30 and I headed back out to go looking for the shop with the blue boots. I never made it there! I stopped at a bunch of clothing boutiques of up-and-coming designers. There were also a bunch of storefronts that had many, many designers together. One was clearly a bar that they turned into a designer clearinghouse. I noticed later in the evening that it was a bar with tables in it. I guess they make more money renting space to designers during the day than as a bar. It was a madhouse everywhere I went. Although the effects of the U.S. recession is starting to be felt here, you wouldn't know it by the number of people shopping and buying.

I didn't bring a whole lot of clothes with me so I picked up a lot of great items at reasonable prices. At this rate, I may not need to do laundry!

Tomorrow I've decided I'll head downtown, visit Puerto Madera and look into my options for traveling to Montevideo later in the week. All of the boats depart from Puerto Madera and reservations are needed. The shopping spree will most likely continue tomorrow. I remember walking down a pedestrian street full of stores the last time I was here. Let's see if I can find it!

Day 1 in Buenos Aires

2008-10-25T20:52:00.002-05:00

Well, after a long overnight flight I made it into Buenos Aires (otherwise known as BsAs). I got to the hotel around 11:30 am, had a coffee, took a shower and had lunch with my friend Jim.

The hotel looks fabulous and is doing great. Amazing what this place looks like considering 10 months ago it was still a lot of unfinished plaster walls. This is a very small, 6 room hotel in Palermo SoHo. Jim has some great people working for him. All are very friendly and speak great English and they all think I need to convince Jim to take a vacation day and go to Uruguay with me.

He finally got smart and outsourced the restaurant so that's one less thing to worry about. It's incredible that he's still dealing with some construction issues with this place. The A/C is his biggest headache. Today's issue with the A/C was that it wasn't blowing air (OK...it was for a few minutes), but sucking in the air instead. After a few tries of turning the system on and off, we said screw it and went to lunch.

He's ready to call it quits. The city is getting more and more dangerous. He was been robbed at gunpoint at the hotel a couple of months ago and he was telling me that a number of guests have been robbed while out touring. So that's my goal for this trip....to not get robbed. It was not like this 10 months ago. It's a pity that the crime rate has increased. There's talk that it's a way to show displeasure with the government so that they would get booted out. But we're unsure if anything would really be better with a replacement government.

The rest of the day was spent shopping the many, many boutiques in the neighborhood. I'm pleased that I never got lost, although I did get turned around a couple of times. Not bad considering I don't have a map. There are lots of brand new designer shops (i.e., not yet discovered) and fairs in Palermo. I picked up a silver ring, a necklace, wallet, and silver bookmarks today. I'm debating whether or not to buy a pair of blue ankle boots. They're comfortable and unusual. I certainly don't have a pair. I wish I took a photo so that my friends could counsel me on the purchase!

For dinner, Jim and his business consultant, Thomas (he's Polish), went out for a bite to eat. It's still pretty inexpensive to eat here. The wines are wonderful, of course. My favorite white is a Torrontes. I need to pick up a few bottles to take home with me. I almost forgot that licuados are perfect for a warm day (think fruit smoothie). I figured that I have all week to drink them.

Tomorrow, my friend Lucas is taking me out to Belgrano to walk around, eat an asado and top it off with a helado (ice cream). It's supposed to be a beautiful area so I expect to post a photo.

So that's pretty much my first day. Sorry to be boring tonight, but I think I'm doing pretty well on 4 hours of sleep!

Chao from BsAs!

Argentina!

2008-10-22T20:33:00.002-05:00

After a 10 month absence, I get the pleasure of returning to Argentina for 2 weeks. One week of vacation in Buenos Aires and one week of work in Colon. Since this will be my second time in BsAs, I hope to escape for a couple of days to Montevideo, Uruguay to check out the big city. Too bad it's springtime because I could use a beach right now and Uruguay has some great spots (oh yeah, and the guys are much better looking than the Argentineans).

The blog will be revived sometime on or after Saturday, October 25. I have no plans for Saturday, but I already have a friend taking me on a tour to Belgrano on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the steaks, wine, seeing friends and sharing all of this fun with blog fans. Chao!

You know you're in Japan when....

2008-05-26T21:44:00.004-05:00

The air is clear and clean and the restrooms have a fancy toilet that's heated, has a bidet and other water wash options, the sound of running water (in case you want to be discreet) and a deodorizer all built in.

This is actually the first time I've landed at the Nagoya airport, which is where my mother is from. Much smaller than Narita, much less walking from the gate to security to the lounge and to the gate again. I like this much better!

But Narita does have a great Northwest business lounge with Mac computers and 19" screens. On the other hand, Nagoya doesn't have wireless but I have a lovely view out the window (impeccably clean of course) of a Hello Kitty covered Eva Air plane. How cute! The characters even have Eva Air hats! LOL!

This is only a two-hour layover (which really means 1 hour since boarding is always an hour before departure). Too short to enjoy the lounge, but just enough time for me to write a blog post.

What a vacation!

2008-05-26T12:49:00.003-05:00

It's now 1:50 am and I am not sleeping tonight. I'm back in Manila and I have to take a taxi at 3 am in order to be at the airport three hours in advance as recommended. I think this is crazy, but everyone (people at work, taxi drivers, hotel staff) tell us the same thing so I think I should listen to them.

Ken and I arrived in Manila around 6 pm. I spent the morning reading on the balcony of the cottage and watching the fish below. We brought the rolls from dinner and fed them in the morning. Feeding the fish is quite an entertaining show.

After we checked out and had lunch, we took a kayak to a small beach near the hotel. It was about a 10 minute ride and spent about a half hour swimming. The beach was pretty deserted except for a local boat, a guy and a dog (sounds like a song!). It was quiet and we were able to see some birds that we had not seen before. I also heard some odd animal noises in the forest....I'm glad we didn't hike to the beach and decided to kayak instead.

The day really flew by and we were back on the boats and plane back to Manila. Once back in Manila I could feel the stresses returning....the traffic, the high density housing, the noise and pollution. I longed for the clean air and water. I miss peacefulness and slow pace of Lagen. We decided that the resort must be a great employer. So many happy employees. They all wanted us to enjoy our stay, tell others, and come back.

If anyone is interested in vacationing at Lagen, check out http://www.elnidoresorts.com/ I would recommend Lagen over the sister resort, Miniloc. Yes it's pricey, but it's an unbelievable getaway. We didn't book online, but searched and found an online travel agency in Manila that had the best rates (http://www.asiatravel.com/).

By Tuesday afternoon I will be back in Houston. I'm saddened to be leaving, but I'm also glad to return to my cats.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog. Stay tuned for more episodes. I should be in Argentina in October and will resurrect the blog!

Relax

2008-05-26T12:18:00.007-05:00

Our third day at the resort was more leisurely. Ken decided to skip the dive so that he could sleep in. No alarm clock today. Just breakfast before 9 and catch the 11 am boat to one of the islands (Entalula) where we would have lunch, rock climb and sail.

Leisurely meant lounging by the pool for me while Ken swam laps. The infinity edge pool is long enough to get a decent workout. We were there long enough to see new guests arrive (and hear the welcome song again) and join us at the pool (as we did on our first day). Lots of families with kids. More Japanese tourists. And a beautiful Filipino girl and an older (maybe 10 years) fat Filipino guy. Ick. Luckily 11 am arrives and we’re off.

There’s no set schedule and we’re allowed to lounge, swim and snorkel (without vests) for as long as we want. The water is beautiful and inviting. There are a few people on the beach with us, but not many. Too bad they’re blaring music that’s more appropriate for a trendy hair salon than a beach.

We eat the buffet lunch (the grilled meats and shrimp are awesome) and rock climb. To go to the ledge is free and going farther is an extra 300 pesos. We watch a bunch of Filipino girls try it. The first ledge looks pretty do-able to me. The second would require some work.

I opt for the ledge. Brian (in yellow) was our teacher and he did a great job (move your left foot up to your leg…what?!). The tree that I'm grabbing is the ledge where I call it quits. Yeah, it's not that far from the ground, but I knew the second ledge is a lot tougher and this was bad enough!

Ken easily scales up to the ledge in about 10 seconds and tackles the next climb with ease (about twice as high). He then tries a different climb and got about 2/3 of the way up. It was definitely more difficult and required him putting his left foot up onto a hold that he just couldn’t find.

By this point we were pretty much the only guests left on the island. Everyone else had gone off to take part in other activities.

After a dip in the water to cool off, we decided it was time to sail or we would run out of time. It was a Hobie cat and we’re accompanied by one of the staff. There’s not much wind, but we make do. After we get moving Ken steered the entire time. It was nice being on the water without hearing a motor. I’ve always enjoyed sailing and I should try to do it more often.

We were able to lounge around for another hour before the boat came to pick us up. There was no one to bother us. The remaining staff members were hanging around talking while we read under our hut. This is the life.

Once again, we get back in time for a quick shower and a massage in the massage hut. Our massage ladies were late so we missed being able to watch the sunset. But we could still sit at the bar and take photos of the ever changing colors of the sky. This was our last sunset and possibly the prettiest. I could watch it every night. I look forward to comparing this sunset to the ones in Hawaii later in the year. The ones here are spectacular though.

We leave tomorrow afternoon. We’ll spend the day lounging around the pool until it’s time to take the boat back to El Nido’s airport.

They left a marketing CD for the resort in the room tonight, along with our Good Night leaf and chocolates. The leaf is a really nice touch. We get one every night...one had "good night" another "sleep well" and "sweet dreams" with our names painted on the leaf. It's the little touches like this that make us love this place.

Ken will take the CD to China with him since it’s more likely that folks there will express an interest in vacationing here (I did pick up another copy at checkout). We did run into 3 Americans at dinner tonight. They look like fraternity boys. I wonder how they found this place.

Old guys, young girls

2008-05-26T12:15:00.004-05:00

The only thing that I dislike about this place is the number of old guys and their Filipino girlfriends. Yesterday there was an older guy (probably in his late 50’s or 60’s) beaming because his girlfriend is pregnant. There was at least a 30 or 40 year age difference.

Today a table of 3 Japanese men (50’s, and 60’s) and 3 young Filipino girls sat next to us at breakfast. It was absolutely disgusting. One of the girls could speak rudimentary Japanese. The guys spoke Japanese. Ken thinks they could have “hired” the girls for their trip. We saw no evidence of girlfriend/boyfriend like behavior. Two of the guys and all of the girls accompanied us on the snorkeling trip. Big “ewww” factor.

This is something I did not see in Malaysia. I’m not sure if it’s because Malaysia is primarily Muslim or if they’re not as poor as the people in the Philippines. I would rather be back at the Malaysian resort just for the guests.

Most of the guests here are Japanese, Chinese, Australian/New Zealand, Middle Eastern, French, Italian, and Filipino. It’s nice hearing different languages during mealtimes. Americans rarely come to Asia for a beach holiday. I was the only American vacationing in Malaysia last year and the manager confirmed that they don’t get many Americans. Too bad….Americans don’t know what beauty they're missing. This place is incredible. This photo is taken from the balcony of the water cottage one morning.

More fun in the sun

2008-05-26T11:56:00.006-05:00

Day 2 of our vacation had us getting up early to eat breakfast and get out for our excursion. Today it’s snorkeling, kayaking and swimming with the jackfish.

We spend a lot of time on boats. It usually takes about 20 or 25 minutes to get your destination. And always, we take a powerboat to a larger boat for the trip. The time goes quickly when you’re admiring the view. The water is so blue and clear. I love to sit in the front and feel the air and sun.

Before we hit the lagoon where we would snorkel, we made a “drive by” into a smaller lagoon. There’s one guy in the front of the boat to direct the captain around the rocks. Another guy is on one of the beams to navigate around the rocks as well. This lagoon is on the scenic route as evidenced by a line of boats waiting to get in.

Then we finally get to the big lagoon where we would be able to snorkel and canoe. I’m not much of a swimmer, but we’re required to wear a life vest so I quickly got comfortable snorkeling in pretty deep water (they let Ken snorkel without one after another guy also dove in without one). There were so many fish around the reef. Colorful parrot fish, angel fish. surgeon, and countless fish that I can’t identify. Some were colorful, others had interesting patterns. I would just float and watch what was going on below me. As you can see, the water is incredibly clear and blue.

After snorkeling Ken and I kayaked in the lagoon. We made a good team and went into a smaller cove through a hole so small that it took some work for us to maneuver ourselves inside. Ken had to lie down in order to get through. We saw 2 large guys swim and push/pull their kayak instead. But it was worth the effort. Very few people were in the cove so it was quiet and there were tall rocks around us.

After kayaking we went to the sister resort for lunch and swimming with the jackfish. Mineloc is an older resort (built in the 1980’s), but they have a great lagoon for snorkeling. They don’t have a pool and only have open air dining (we have an air conditioned room and outdoor seating). The buffet is very similar, but they had a great green mango salad and blueberry cheesecake.

Our guide Chris (same guy as yesterday) left us with a lot of bread so we could feed the fish. Ken loved feeding the fish as evidenced by the photo. One of the little fish even bit his finger instead of bread.

They would swarm even if you’re in the water and just swimming. I let him feed, I would snorkel. The jackfish are HUGE! Some were a good 3’ or larger. They are mean-looking too. They just hang out in the lagoon. They don’t each much of the bread and the schools of fish clear out when they swim by. They seem to like swimming in a clockwise pattern. It was awesome.

The tide was going out so I laid on the pier. The perfect conditions…..cool water and a late-afternoon sun.

At 4 pm, they took us back to our resort. Just in time for a quick shower and a massage in the massage hut. Afterward we picked up a drink from the bar and walked out to the jetty to watch the sunset. The skies were a bit different than the day before. I think it was even better! I stayed until the last ray disappeared and the stars became visible. Just in time for dinner.

We’ve decided that this is the best beach vacation either or us has taken. The staff treats you so well here. The water is clean, the fish plentiful, the weather is warm and sunny. Palawan is very eco-friendly and we’re asked to keep everything clean as we found it. We don’t look forward to leaving in two days.

El Nido's Lagen Resort on Palawan Island

2008-05-26T11:21:00.012-05:00

I made a promise to not go online while I was on vacation, but I can still write my blog and post it later. ;-)

I am vacationing with my friend Ken (old friends from work...he lives in Shanghai) on Palawan Island at the El Nido resort called Lagen. Getting to Palawan requires a 75-minute flight on a chartered plane (departing at 7:30 am), then a transfer to a speedboat (after a quick snack of sticky rice…basically mochi rice that you sprinkle on coconut and sugar – I had 3!), which then takes us to a larger catamaran boat, then another transfer to a speedboat again to get us to the dock. Whew! Lots of boats, but we remained dry.

We land on an unpaved runway. Yes, we feel like Indiana Jones in this airplane!

As we skim the clear blue waters en route to the island, Grace, our activities coordinator is helping us selected some activities we want to book. This is an all-inclusive resort so the activities are generally included. We agreed to the island hopping tour in the afternoon, and in subsequent days kayaking, rock climbing, snorkeling, sailing and diving for Ken.

We pass plenty of islands. Similar to those seen in Malaysia (Ken thinks it looks like Vietnam). Most of the islands are just large rocks in the water. The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands.

The Lagen resort is in a U-shaped cove. Talk about picturesque! There are 51 rooms in this hotel built in 1991. The landscaping is beautiful. The view from the pool is unbelievable.

We’re welcomed with a fish-shaped lei made coconut tree fronds (they make these in Hawaii too) and the employees singing a traditional Palawan march. Yes, we’ve arrived in paradise and we're being treated like royalty.

After checking in and getting settled in our water cottage (thank goodness we splurged to stay in one of them), we looked out at the fish under our balcony and I lounged by the pool for an hour while Ken swam in the water and did laps in the pool.

Lunch is a large buffet with an amazing selection. The fish was really good and the black bean crab was tasty, but too much work. There’s also a stir fry, grill, and shabu shabu station. We’re certainly not going to starve on this trip.

After lunch we took the island hopping tour. Chris was our tour guide (he's in the green shirt) and took us to a cave where we had to climb through a small hole (there are bats inside!).

Then we went to Snake Island…no snakes, but a sand bar connects two islands and the tide was out so we could walk across. We also could swim in the clear water, but Chris made us wear our life vests (party pooper!). You can see the sand bar pretty well in this photo.

And the last island was a "drive" into a small cave - yawn!

After we returned, we got a massage in the room. We wanted the massage hut, but it was already booked. We did reserve it for the next day though.

The massage ended just in time for the sunset. And a spectacular one at that. We sit on the concrete jetty and enjoy the show.

A drink at the bar, then dinner outside next to the pool (we got there early enough to ensure a table next to the water). The staff puts on a nice little show of national dances.

One dance uses two long bamboo poles and the dancers jump as the poles are being struck in rhythm. We used to learn this dance when I was in elementary school and I forgot all about it until seeing it again. After they dance, they recruit audience members to learn it. I decline, remembering how many times I used to get my ankles stuck between the poles. I’m too uncoordinated for this dance.

By 9 pm we were exhausted and crashed. We had an incredibly busy day, but at such a relaxed pace. We were just grateful that we didn’t get sunburned and can enjoy our activities tomorrow.

Alize

2008-05-21T10:47:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday night, after a 12 hour day, we hit Greenbelt Mall for dinner and took a different route home through the mall. One of the restaurants had bottles of liquor displayed on the bar and there were some that caught our eye as being different. One was Alize (accent mark on the "e") Gold Passion. "What was that?", we wondered.

We passed another bar and they had Gold Passion and Red Passion in the window. Cool. The restaurant manager talked us into coming inside for a drink. Sure!

So we had Alize on the rocks. Brett and Emily wanted to try the Red Passion. I thought Gold would be better. Wow! It was sweet and the taste of cognac wasn't noticeable in the Gold, although it was evident in the Red. The bottle said it was 16% alcohol. Holy cow! It was a French liquor. We really liked it!

Fast forward to the morning when an email from a friend tells me how ghetto Alize is. LOL! Even better was the link to the website, which shows just how Alize is in the US. Take a look and see for yourself - http://site94.synbeta.com/ECard/

What's funny is how this liquor is marketed to blacks in the US, but not in the Philippines. We just thought it was a girly drink. The bartender told us it's best drunk on the rocks and he too said it was more for women (and at 16% alcohol it's an easy way for women to get drunk!).

So I guess we have to enjoy drinking Alize in the last night we have together in Makati City because we doubt we will drink it in the U.S.

Wednesday night is now history here.... we have one more day remaining before my team heads home to Michigan and my vacation here begins.

More stories and photos to come from Palawan Island. If you want a preview of where I'll be, check out this website - http://www.elnidoresorts.com/ I'm staying at Lagen Island Resort. They tell me that wireless internet is free so I should be able to continue posting.

More shopping

2008-05-18T08:11:00.002-05:00

And when the weather is still bad, we shop....which is an experience in itself here.

After spending more $ today at the mall, it's time to write about what shopping is like in one of the department stores here (think an equivalent to Macy's or Kohl's). There are a TON of people standing around to help.....but they're usually bored and are talking to each other than helping. Or they're following you around as you're browsing. But they're only responsible for a small section of the store. It could be a brand or type of clothes. And if you're interested in buying something, they have to go with you to the central cashier (there are usually a number of them on a floor).

At the check-out desk, there is usually only 1 cashier whose sole responsibility is to use the cash register. So on a busy weekend, there's quite a backlog of clerks with their customers. In one store, I probably waited 10 minutes or more to check out. In one store, we walked past a number of check-out stations before we found someone working at the register. It requires patience to check out.

Emily and I were checking out at one store (I found inexpensive belly dancing skirts!) and for whatever reason they had to ring her 2 blouses separately. We have no idea why. And they put her purchases in 2 bags. Made no sense.

But the prices are pretty good for non-US branded clothing. There are plenty of US-based stores such as Gap, Zara, Lacoste, Mango, but the prices in them are no bargain. On the other hand, the department stores or the local boutiques have some really nice clothes at much more reasonable prices.

I keep on saying that I'm tired of shopping, but yet my purchases continue. I'm so glad I brought my larger suitcase and had lots of extra room in it!

Only 4 more shopping days before I go on vacation!

Tropical Storm Cosme

2008-05-17T23:47:00.006-05:00

A tropical storm in the area has wreaked havoc on our weekend plans. We weren't able to go see the volcano as it would require taking a boat to the island and the water is too rough and the weather is too bad for us to do so. It's also impacted the weather in Manila. Lots of off and on rainstorms for most of the week. :-( NOTE: Cosme killed 8 people in the northern part of the island we are on (Luzon). My sympathies to their families for their loss.

When the weather is bad, we shop. We returned to Green Hills Mall on Saturday to buy more pearls. Green Hills has a middle section of the mall where it's 2 floors of stalls of vendors selling stuff - knock-off purses, tourist items, clothing, cell phones and accessories, furniture, and pearls. The photo below doesn't quite convey what it's like, but just imagine the image x 50. There are lots and lots and lots of vendors. Everything looks the same after awhile, but upon close inspection are some product differences between vendors.

Bargaining is expected here. I admit, I'm not very good at it. But to me, when you're haggling over a one dollar, it just seems silly. It's still cheaper than what you'd pay in the US.

I need another strand of pearls like I need a hole in my head. Shopping tip - go to Shanghai if you want to buy inexpensive freshwater pearls, especially since the designs are more creative than they are in Manila. But I did buy a bunch of bracelets for gifts.....now let's see who will be on the receiving end???

Security, Part 2

2008-05-17T01:33:00.002-05:00

The Philippines has had its share of terrorist activity by Muslim separatists in the southern island of Minandao. But there have also been isolated incidents further north as well. So security here is pretty tight, with armed security guards and bomb sniffing dogs *everywhere*. Since Makati City is the business center for the Philippines and contains lots of ex-pats, security is even tighter than other parts of the city.

Our hotel and office has a good view of the flight path. I noticed 2 black military helicopters hovering around the airport area. Apparently they escort certain planes (maybe international flights or flights coming from a certain city?) landing at the airport. It was pretty amazing watching the plane land, then the helicopters landed as well. I haven't seen the escorts often (a lot of international flights arrive in the evening) and don't see them with departing flights.

That's how serious security is in this country.

Friday Night in Makati City

2008-05-17T01:04:00.010-05:00

It's 2 pm and I'm recovering from my Friday night.

We (yes, all 3 of us!) started with a series of facials at a clinic in our building after work. Everything from a facial to microdermabrasion to oxegenation peel left us with clean faces that were smooth as porcelain. All for $120. I even tried a laser resurfacing technique. The changes were quite dramatic. Who knew our faces were so filthy to begin with (although we knew the pollution here doesn't help)?

We found a restaurant in our building that is now our favorite place for lunch. It's called Gaster Deli and it's never busy. We're able to get a great meal (e.g., wagyu burger, pasta, salad, sandwiches) quickly and with great service. On Friday nights they have a wine buffet for $14 per head (for some reason they don't say "per person" here...it's "per head"). Last night it was 4 wines from Argentinia's Santa Julia winery and 2 from Spain's Rene Barbier. And canapes of tuna kebab (very tasty), smoked sirloin, eggplant bruchetta, salmon and egg crostini, etc. "Buffet" meant that we could eat and drink as much as we want, which we quickly realized was going to be a problem.

The first 20 minutes had us flying through 4 wines and at least 2 or 3 plates of food. Every time we finished a glass, our waitress (this was our third meal in 2 days here) was there replenishing. We were feeling pretty good! The favorite wine was the Santa Julia Shiraz/Malbec, which we could buy for $7. Either the exchange rate is really good or this was an incredible value. Too bad I just bought 15 bottles of wine from my Sonoma wine trip in April.

To top off a great meal and wine, we found out they sell Cuban cigars. Since I've never had a Cuban, Brett had to introduce me to them. So I had a Punch Coronation and Brett taught me how to properly smoke a Cuban (in the 4 times or so I've smoked a cigar in my life, no one really showed me how - thanks Brett!).

The wine plus the cigar buzz = me having to put my head on the table as the world was moving just too fast! An hour of drinking water while laughing with my head on the table (there are photos....not sure if I'll post them), I felt much better. At least I didn't pass out or get sick. Yeah, the Filipinos walking by were staring, but so what?

Here's a photo...I'm not that embarrassed about this b/c I was not passed out and I do have a smile on my face. :-) I needed to use Emily as my post. Probably the world was spinning to some extent. LOL!

Brett bought Romeo y Julieta cigars for the road since the restaurant closed at 11. We then proceeded to the Hard Rock Cafe across the street since we heard a decent band covering Journey the night before. The Hard Rock has a nice smoking section with closed circuit TVs to watch the band. The first band was decent. The second band was the Filipino of the Pussycat Dolls. Beautiful women, skimpy clothing, suggestive dancing and the same songs to boot. They also favored singing Fergie and getting people to dance with them. We have photos and videos of the girls...how could we not? Here's a link to a video shot by Emily.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=ngsqhk&s=3

Addendum: The group is called Mocha and they're considered to be one of the hottest girl groups from the Philippines. They're made up of girls named Mocha (lead), Bambie, Hershey, Grace and Bez. LOL!

We closed the joint at 2:30 am and the cigar buzz returned with a vengeance. I couldn't sleep. I felt like crap. Plus my room was freezing because I turned on the A/C before I left since they sprayed my room for cockroaches earlier in the day (I've seen 2 and had to complain). Luckily our volcano tour was canceled today due to rain and I finally got some sleep. I just woke up at 2 pm, feeling much better.

Not sure what we'll do this afternoon and evening. May be doing some shopping since there's not much else we need to see in Manila. We hope the tour will take place tomorrow. Let's hope for better weather!

Food, food, food

2008-05-14T09:36:00.004-05:00

We've now been here for a week and a half and have eaten so many different foods. Tonight we had shabu shabu (Japanese style of cooking thinly sliced meats and vegetables in broth) after an evening at the spa (facials for the girls, foot massage for the guy).

Some observations about food thus far:

We had dinner the other night at a Chinese noodle shop for less than $15 for 3 people. Two bowls of won ton noodle soup and seafood chow mein and we were full. Plus 2 watermelon shakes (very refreshing) and a can of San Miguel Pilsner. The beer cost less than the shakes.

The Filipinos must love garlic. It seems to be everywhere. On the breakfast buffet we've seen garlic rice and fresh corned beef with garlic (it would've been perfect without the garlic). Even the butter at Outback Steakhouse had garlic in it.

Pork is also plentiful, but we understand that they raise lots of pigs here and not many cows.

Iced tea tastes like it was made from powdered Lipton iced tea. The fruit shakes (no milk) are much better than the tea. I had a pineapple one tonight and it tasted like pineapple sherbet. I had a watermelon, strawberry and grape shake this weekend and it was a great combination. I need to try a green mango shake before I leave.

The country controller thought we were staying late at work last night and brought us hamburgers from a Filipino burger chain. It was good but loaded with a very heavy mayo. And it was a little on the sweet side and I don't know why.

They have Shakey's pizza restaurants here and they're quite popular for lunch. I haven't seen or eaten at a Shakey's since growing up in Hawaii. The thin crust pizza is really thin and pretty darn good! Made for a great lunch.
Starbucks has something called coffee jelly, a sweetened iced coffee shake with small coffee cubes (similar to bubbles in bubble tea). Apparently they're only available in the Philippines.

A number of people have been trying to get me to try balut, which a Singaporean colleague describes as "a half cooked duck egg that is about to hatch." Now doesn't that sound delicious? I'll try magenta salted eggs, but I don't know about this!

This post needs a photo....here's one of Brett at the ATM. Note the raised platform he's standing on because the Filipinos are rather short (5'3" is the average for women). Brett is 6'2" so he would have to bend down to see the screen.

Jeepneys

2008-05-11T07:00:00.010-05:00

What the heck are Jeepneys you ask? They're made in the Philippines (we'll go on a factory tour next Saturday) and is the public transport for most Filipinos. It costs 7.50 pesos (about 18 cents) to hop on (literally) for a ride.

They're everywhere. Some are really pimped out. Others are really plain. Because they run on diesel, the pollution here is terrible. My eyes are bloodshot every morning.

The license plates here are pretty.

The monument to Jose Rizal, on which the license plate commemorates. Rizal was executed for treason against Spain on December 30, 1896. His execution inspired a revolution for Filipinos to fight for their freedom.

World Pyro Olympics

2008-05-11T05:21:00.005-05:00

The Mall of Asia was our destination to be able to view the firewords of the World Pyro Olympics. Our driver looked quite nervous when we told him to drop us off (around 4 pm) and pick us up at 10 pm. Especially since we didn't have a cell phone to contact him in case of problems.

We were fine....no cause for alarm. We were starving so we immediately looked for somewhere to eat. Because we were still overheated from being outside for 2 hours, we wanted a sit-down restaurant with A/C. It was Emily's turn to pick a restaurant and Italian it was.

We lucked out because we spent the next 5 hours in the restaurant and had a perfect vantage point for the fireworks without having to pay for a ticket! They closed off the section of the mall about two hours prior to the first show at 7:30. But since we were in there eating, they didn't kick us out. We were right across the street from the barge where the fireworks were being shot from. Here's a photo taken at sunset. The barge can be seen right under the setting sun.

We had a big lunch, ate dessert, watched the first fireworks show (as well as the lightning show from the big storm that passed through), returned to our table for a light dinner and watched the second show at 9 pm. Given the restaurant didn't have many patrons, they gladly allowed us to stay there for 5 hours. We tipped them well and the manager told us to come back for next week's show!

The event was held every Saturday in the month of May. The first show was Canada's fireworks and the second was France. Canada had lots of boom, color and excitement.

France used lots of white and was a bit dull at times.

Next week it's Venezuela and Italy. But we will be on an 8-hour tour of the volcano next Saturday. Don't think we'll be able to make the show for a second week.

Historic Manila

2008-05-11T04:25:00.015-05:00

On Saturday we hired a driver for 10 hours for $70! The only extras we had to pay for were gas and parking. In the 10 hours we spent about 3 outside touring Intramuros (meaning "within the walls") and Fort Santiago.

Facts: Intramuros was built in the late 1500's by the Spaniards and consists of stone walls, bulwarks and moats. The walls streched 4.5 km enclosing an area of about 64 hectares. It protected against invasions by the Chinese, Japanese, Dutch and Portuguese pirates.

The British invaded Intramuros in 1762 and ruled for almost 2 years before returning the country to Spain. It was surrendered to the Americans in 1898 in the Spanish-American War.

Here's a map of the area:

We took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Intramuros (the driver thought I was a beautiful Filipino and asked if I spoke Tagalog!). There used to be 6 churches in this area, but only 2 remain standing. Church #1:

Church #2:

Within a corner of the wall is the Baluarte de San Diego, a circular fort.

The oddest thing about Intramuros is seeing the golf course that surrounds one side of Intramuros. It's one long and skinny course.

At the end of our ride, we toured Fort Santiago. The fort is especially significant to the country because it was occupied by the Japanese in 1942 where hundreds of Filipinos were killed. There is a memorial within the Fort for the 600 bodies that were found to be buried a nearby dungeon. I had to pay my respects.
One of the guard posts overlooking the Pasig River.

And me with the guard:

I may look cool, but it was bloody hot outside. Probably in the 90's and the humidity made it feel as if it were in the 100's. I felt overheated. Even my feet, in flip flops, felt as if they were on fire. The A/C in the car was a respite and we ended up driving through Chinatown, took a quick photo of a the Rizal monument and headed to the Mall of Asia.

More fruit!

2008-05-09T19:44:00.015-05:00

The hotel has added to the plate of fruit in my room. I keep eating the bananas, but haven't touched the others because of the mess I know they'll create. One of the huge guavas has been taken away only to be replaced with a fat papaya (that is not yet ripe), more bananas and an orange.

They leave a papaya (which I love), but they don't offer it on the breakfast bar - go figure! Maybe I can get them to do it for me?

One of the waiters asked whether I was here the day before (ummmm....we've been here since Sunday...the hostesses recognized us on day 2) as he held the lids of the bamboo containers holding the shumai and pork buns for me.

I admit...I've been eating dim sum, noodles and mango every morning (and usually miso soup as well). I did break down and had an omlette as well, but I think I can noodles and dim sum every day.

Which leads to my new rule with my audit staff - we all get to take turns in picking where and what we eat. Otherwise I'm sure they would be stuck with eating some form of noodles every day.

I found a great little fast food noodle shop in the mall for lunch. The fried noodles with beef were awesome and made Brett very happy. I was in heaven with soup noodles with won tons and beef. Too much fat on the beef, but it was still good.

We did break down this week and eat at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. We were dying for a salad and they have a nice selection. The CPK is across the street from the office building...along with the Hard Rock Cafe (you won't catch me dead in there). This photo was taken Friday night.

Yoga and Thai Massage

2008-05-08T10:57:00.004-05:00

In every Asian country I've been in, I've had really good luck in finding great Ashtanga yoga studios. My favorite is the one in Shanghai just because the instructor is one of the best I've ever had.

Toyko was in a small little room, but it felt good after being on a plane for 12 hours.

Now Manila (or Makati City)....it's about a 10 minute walk from the office, but at 6 pm there are so many people in the walkway (there's one street that is uncrossable via sidewalk) that you can only move in a slow pace.

The one here, like in Shanghai, is in an apartment building and the A/C is not on. So it's 90+ degrees and we're on the 9th floor. You're sweating after the first sun salutation. But I must admit, it's a great little studio and for about $4 a class this is a bargain!

My colleague, Brett, joined me on Tuesday night and I must admit he was a trooper. He liked it enough to want to return. The hardest part is walking back to the hotel carrying the laptop bag. After exhausting my muscles, that bag is incredibly heavy to lug around for 15 minutes. Ugh!

Last night Brett and I decided that we needed to recover from yoga and had a 2 hour Thai massage for $16. The set-up is similar to what I've found in China - they give you pajamas to wear and more than one people are in a room. But since this is Thai massage, we're lying on the floor.

I proceeded to fall asleep within the first hour. Brett was telling me about how he fell asleep when she gave him a facial massage....ummmm I don't remember that. Nor did I remember our ladies changing after the first hour. And he was commenting about the awesome last foot massage. Nope, don't remember that either!

This will be a weekly activity for us...and next time I'll stay awake!

Security and Taglish

2008-05-08T07:59:00.005-05:00

Fun fact: Spanish was the official language of the Philippines until 1974. But I haven't heard much Spanish. Tagalog and English are heard widely in Makati City. Also heard is Taglish, similar to Spanglish.

It's amazing how conversations mix Tagalog and English words easily. You can hear it on TV on the news. And we came across an example of it while reviewing approvals for sample orders:

By sea na lang. I forgot na by air ung nauna.

We hve no idea what this says, but the prior email asked if the order should be processed via air.

I mentioned earlier that there is Security everywhere. We even go through metal detectors to enter our office building and have to x-ray our bags. But these are all private security guards. We haven't really seen any police officers in the 5 days we've been here. In addition these metal detectors beep and they don't ask to take a closer look at your bag or subject you to additional searches.

The guards at the doors of the shopping mall are especially worthless. There's always one door that's open for people to exit the mall, and the other open door is an entrance. On at least occasion I walked right in through the exit door without being stopped. I have to remind myself to not go through the exit door!

It seems that everyone walks through the shopping mall as a pass through to another destination. We do it a lot because the air conditioning is welcomed!

The temperature has been around 90 degrees. It's not too stifling. We're managing. Except when we go to yoga....no air conditioning, 9th floor, we're soaked in sweat after just 5 minutes. It's great!

Magenta colored eggs

2008-05-08T07:49:00.005-05:00

While my blog was put on "spam blog" block, I took some pictures of the mysterious magenta colored eggs, which are hard boiled salted eggs.

I tried an egg. And they are aptly named. The yolk is extremely salty. The whites have a strange texture to them....very granular. One bite was enough to know that this isn't anything I will crave in the future.

Breakfast at the Hotel

2008-05-05T08:46:00.003-05:00

I would never have thought that I would be posting about the breakfast at the Intercontinental (a US based hotel), but it was just too good to ignore.

The breakfast buffet is large with a selection of western, Asian, and Filipino foods. I'll post a photo tomorrow, but picture this....

An omlette station that will also make eggs benedict and other eggs to order....ho hum right? How about magenta colored eggs? I have no idea what's special about them but they certainly are a vibrant and beautiful color. I tried to take a photo with my cell phone, but I seemed to have lost it. I promise to post one tomorrow and I'll also ask the chef what's the story behind the colored eggs.
Typical western selection on the buffet - Bacon (we think deep fried in oil), sausage, corned beef (looks homemade), pancakes, hash brown, scrambled eggs, and sliced to order ham (awesome!).
Cereal station - Delicious muselix, yogurt in containers, and various cereals.
Asian - Siumai (a favorite so of course I had to try them), bao steamed bun (I think pork...will try tomorrow), chow mein noodles (another favorite), miso soup with tofu, scallions, ume, and other stuff added as you please (pretty good miso soup), congee (I'll try it some other day). I know there were other Asian delights for breakfast, but I can't remember what they were.
Filipino - A couple of fried fish and pork dishes, along with a number of other strange stuff I don't recognize.
Cold platter - A selection of cheese, salmon, and meat along with salad greens and fruits (watermelon, mango, pineapple, melon).
Breads - All sorts of sweet rolls, croissants, buns, donuts, etc.

Luckily I'm always starving in the morning when I travel to Asia, thanks to my body thinking it's dinner time. Therefore eating chow mein noodles and shumai for breakfast sounds pretty good!

Overall, I think there's enough selection on the buffet to keep me satisfied for 3 weeks. Although this isn't the largest breakfast buffet I've seen (the one in Malaysia at the Hilton was even more extensive), it's pretty darn good.

Now if they could only improve the quality of their coffee, I would be totally happy. But there is a Starbucks at the office so I can get better coffee later in the morning.

Sunrise and Still Life

2008-05-04T16:17:00.005-05:00

The sunrise at 5 am from the hotel window. Not a great view of a Shell gas station.

As usual when sleeping in a new time zone, I woke up every hour from 1:30 AM.

The hotel left a plate of 2 bananas (already ate one...very sweet and full of flavor, unlike the ones you get in the US...kind of like the ones Dad used to grow), a mango and 2 guavas (the biggest guavas I think I've ever seen!).

It's interesting that they give you a knife since the typical place setting here is a fork and tablespoon (just like Malaysia). The Filipinos use the spoon like a knife. And if they gave me a spoon, I would eat that mango!

Manila (Makati City), Philippines (Day 1)

2008-05-04T08:19:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my travel blog! It's time to start jotting down impressions of what I see when I travel around the world. So here we are in the Philippines for day 1 in Manila.

After getting 8 hours of sleep (waking up at noon!), I ventured out and immediately went shopping. It's a little hard not to go shopping when there is a HUGE mall right across the street from the hotel.

Apparently there are 3 or 4 malls connected into this monster of a shopper's paradise. Even better, there are no duplicate stores! But I've only seen perhaps a third of it. I figured I have 3 more weeks see the other third.

The mall has your typical American stores (e.g., 9 West, Nike, Gap, Esprit, etc.) and some UK stores (Marks & Spencer's, Debenhams, Zara). Lots and lots of food courts and restaurants, although I've only seen one Starbucks so far. Happily, I found a Papa Beard's cream puff store although it's just not as good as the one in Hawaii.

My colleagues tell me the mall is across the street from the office so I believe we will be eating here a lot. I found the Japanese restaurant for lunch and a Hong Kong noodle shop that has a selection of my favorite soups. Food is cheap. Lunch was less than $8 for a bowl of tempura udon, plate of edamame, and iced tea.

Sure it's a mall, but here are some observations that are a bit unusual.

You have to go through a metal detector at all entrances. Some higher-end stores have an additional metal detector at the entrance.

There are security guards everywhere inside and outside the mall. At the hotel we not only have to go through a security check to enter, the undersides of vehicles are searched with a mirror (they do this in Malaysia as well) and dogs sniff all suitcases.

There are lots of store personnel ready to help you, but there's usually only one cashier to check you out, which creates a bottleneck. To an auditor having one cashier is a good control, but bad for customers who have to wait to checkout.

The ATM machine had 2 choices for languages - English or Taglish (I guess it's a mix of Tagalog and English!)

Everyone wears jeans when it's 95 degrees and humid outside. I'm comfortable in a skirt, but I can't imagine wearing jeans in this weather. Ugh!

There are no maps whatsoever of the malls. No directory, no information desk. It's a maze and trying to remember where you saw that cool store (or the alterations shop) required mental mapping capabilities.
Stores close at 9 on Sunday and 10 during the week. It's like shopping in Shanghai!

After lunch I met a fellow Houstonian, Desiree, at a kiosk getting her cell phone pimped with a decal and jewels. She's been here for 6 months and is leaving on Tuesday. She was here getting the Chase customer service department off the ground (interesting....a guy I met on my flight to Minneapolis was doing the same thing, but for Shell Oil).

She passed along her knowledge of Manila such as where to buy knock-offs and jewelry (pearls and jade), the spas she frequents for massages, mani-pedis, facials, etc., and sights to see (the volcano nearby, the fort where the Filipinos defeated the Spanish). She bought an extra suitcase (you can bring 3 in business class) because she's bought so much in her 6 months here.

Ohhh...this is not good! I immediately got a decal added to the back of my phone (they can put decals on anything including cameras, laptops, game boys) for $19. I then decided to go get my eyes checked since I noticed that my distance vision has been getting worse at night. The eye exam and a pair of cute red glasses cost $90! Then the clothes shopping began in earnest. I even got the jeans altered for $4 and I dropped off a pair of shoes to be reheeled for about $8.

Here's the back of my cell phone:

I am so glad I decided to bring my larger suitcase with lots of room for my purchases. I'm also considering getting my teeth whitened since I've heard it's really cheap to get it done here.

I think you're getting an idea of how I'm going to be spending these next 3 weeks - work, shopping and the pool (the mornings are nice, but it usually rains in the afternoon). There are also a couple of yoga studios nearby and one of my auditors practices so I will get some exercise as well!