Indian Adventure (Part 3)- Jaipur

We arrived in Jaipur in the evening and checked into Khandela Haveli, the hotel we enjoyed the most. We seemed to be the one of few guests during this off season and the service was excellent. We had dinner and breakfast at the hotel restaurant and the food was really good. The Jaipur dishes had a distinct taste. We also enjoyed the freshly made pancakes and other breakfast items which were plenty available. The hotel had a courtyard in the middle and a rooftop pool. In the night, there was a free puppet show which featured the famous Rajasthani puppets.

Next morning we had a full day of activities planned, starting by visiting the Wind Palace (Hawa Mahal)which had impressive facade that has been preserved well. Then we
visited the Amber Fort Palace, the first citadel of the ruling Rajputs located a few miles away from Jaipur. Located at a higher elevation and surrounded by Lake Maota, the view of the complex was amazing. From a distance, the surrounding walls of the fort resembled the great wall. We had an elephant ride up which was fun except for the continuous cajoling by our elephant driver for a large tip. The tour of the palace along with the historical caveat was enjoyable. The mirror work on the palace walls from mirrors obtained from Belgium was truly spectacular. The large number of rooms (I believe it is 24) allotted to the queens, each of which had a separate entrance that could be used by the king, was a an interesting feature. On our way back we stopped to take a brief look at the Water Palace, a summer palace build in the middle of a lake.

Amidst the Rajasthani heat, we made our way to Jantar Mantar, the largest observatory built by Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur who showed a great aptitude for maths and astronomy. It contained several large geometric devices, with the world's largest sun dial, being the most noted in my memory. It was too hot to explore each exhibit carefully. Our last stop of the tour was at the City Palace. which is being occupied by the current royal family. The guide pointed the present king's vehicle as we passed by. Part of the palace has been converted to a museum that displayed the history of the Rajputs. One of the display items was the largest silver pot in the world which was used to carry holy water for the Maharaja on his tour to England.

The rest of our evening consisted of shopping at various parts of the city. The walled city of Jaipur which can entered through its majestic gates, was the first planned city of India. The city was painted pink in the late 19th century as a sign welcome to the Price of Wales who visited Jaipur. The store fronts in along the main city roads are still maintained that way. The royal buildings are painted in yellow to make the distinction. We also visited several artisans who practiced carpet weaving, block printing, precious stone cutting and polishing, which are famous industries in Rajasthan. I was very happy to find a sari for the wedding along with other small items, during our shopping spree.

American Idiot!

As an early Birthday present to Nelson, I planned a day in NYC this past Saturday. As I was recovering from a terrible cold, I really would have liked to reschedule the plans,but I had non refundable theater tickets. Our brunch reservations were at Má Pêche, a new Vietnamese French restaurant by David Chang. The best time I was able to obtain online reservation was for 11.30am but we were half an hour late due to the subway construction in Queens, where we had parked. But the hostess seated us immediately and I was surprised to see the place look only about 60% full. I was a little annoyed that they tried to make us share a table with two older ladies despite the number of free tables available. We ended up being seated at the table next to them and had great service for the rest of our meal. We had the $25/per person three course prixe menu. In addition, we had a plate of oysters to start. The squid salad I got as my appetizer was my favorite part of the meal. The grilled trout, my main course, was a but dry, but I really liked the chili sauce on the side. Nelson's rice noodles with minced pork was delicious. I would have certianly had it if not for the pork. The mini desserts left me wanting more and I hence I bought 3 cookies from the milk bar on my way out.

The event for the day was seeing American Idiot on Broadway. Nelson has always liked Green day music while I knew next nothing about them. He said the show was great and I managed to fall asleep even amidst the loud rock music. The costumes and the stage were very vibrant. I hope Nelson enjoyed it as I really wasn't able to relate to this type of rock opera.

In the evening we went up to Queens to meet up with my sister and had dinner at Bangkok Cuisine in Forest Hills. It is a nice little restaurant with beautiful decor and good affordable thai food. The traffic on the Whitestone bridge was terrible as it took us almost 2hrs to get back to Westchester.

Indian Adventure (Part 2)- Agra & Fatehpur Sikri

Our journey from Delhi to Agra was uneventful except for stops made almost every hour to pay tolls. In time for lunch time we checked in to Amar Hotel. After a mediocre lunch at the hotel, we started our sight seeing by visiting the Baby Taj Mahal, the precursor to the Taj Mahal but termed 'baby' due to its small size. It was built by the queen Nur Jahan as a mausoleum for her family members. Made with white marble encrusted with jewels, the only asymmetrical features of the entire complex is that the tombs of her father and mother.

Having refreshed our selves from some petha, a delicacy of Agra, we headed to the red fort (agra fort) in the afternoon sun. This fort was built under the great Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. We mostly toured the living quarters (about 25% of the whole complex) that consisted three palaces for his three wives. The rest fo the fort was occupied by military.The top of the fort and a great view of the river Yamuna though it has nearly dried out in the past few years. We also walked through the tower which had a nice view of the Taj Mahal that was used to imprison Emperor Shah Jahan by his son. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in order to prevent him from building another Taj Mahal in black marble as mausoleum for himself, thus bankrupting his kingdom. The entrance of the fort and the gates were strategically built with many means of keeping the enemy at bay.

Around 6.30am, next morning we were on our way to see the Taj Mahal before sun rise. It was truly breathtaking to see the amazing mausoleum built with white marble set against the grey sky.The entire structure was built so symmetrically with four identical gates on each direction and two mosque like structures (of one which actually funtins as a mosque) on each side. After taking some initial photos from afar we entered the mausoleum by wearing foot covers to prevent dust on the site and spent some time walking about the premises. Built by the Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, it is one of the greatest architectural tributes to love. This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

On our way to Jaipur we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri, a fort built by Emperor Akbar in honor of a Sufi saint who predicted the birth of his son. At the entrance was the sacred mosque which was overseen by a priest who claimed to be a descendant from the family of the Sufi saint. This fort seemed more open and spacious than the Red Fort, possibly due its location and the presence of greenery. This complex also contained three places for his three wives. Though they differed in size, they had been built at the same cost. The pavilion where Akbar met with the general public was still maintained as a beautiful garden. Though this served as the empires capital for a few years it had been abandoned due to its poor water supply that could not sustain its growing population.

Back Home

I was still recovering from travel fatigue so the weekend consisted of a lot of nap time. On Saturday morning, we headed to the Ossining farmer's market for the first time and bought some fresh veges and eggs. There were several stalls with breads and desserts that I plan to explore on a future date. The fruit seemed too expensive compared to grocery store prices from last week. In the afternoon, we ventured out to the Westchester and had dinner at Turkish Cuisine in White Plains. It was a small place with good food. My mum I were able to share a lamb kebab while Nelson had the grilled chicken plate. The salad was especially good and even though I'm not a fan of meat, I liked the lamb. Now I hope that I'm fully recovered and ready for the rest of the summer in NY!

Indian Adventure (Part 1)-Delhi

We arrived in Delhi on the evening of July 3rd after a long, direct flight from JFK. A representative from Castle & King tour company picked us up and drove us to our hotel, The Florence Inn in Karol Bagh, a commercial neighborhood in Delhi. We were within a block from the very busy Ajmal Khan Market with lots of clothing shops, street vendors and some restaurants. Though we found it overwhelming to deal with the dozens of solicitors requesting our business at their stores, we were able to shop for many clothing and jewelery at this market. It was quite easy to find a tailor to get my saree blouses stitched. We had some very good meals at very affordable prices as well. This hotel was quite close to the metro station located near the large Hanuman statue (attached to a Shiva temple) but we didn't have a need to explore public transportation options as we had obtained a car through the tour company.


Our sight seeing started at the India Gate, a prominent landmark in Delhi that commemorates the soldiers of the British Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the British Indian Empire. Next stop was the Presidential palace surrounded by other ministry buildings in the heart of the area known as Lutyens' Delhi. Edwin Lutyens was the leading British architect responsible for the architectural designs of this part of New Delhi during the colonial period. We also visited the Mahatma Gandhi interactive museum which was free to the public. It contained many multi media exhibits that contained Gandhi's teachings and was staffed by very eager volunteers.

The religious diversity of the Indian subcontinent was apparent by the number of Hindu, Jain, Sikh temples along with mosques and churches that we passed by. Among them we had the opportunity of visiting the Birla Hindu temple, Gurudwara (Sikh temple) & the Lotus Temple (Bahá'í House of Worship). Visiting the Gurudwara was a unique experience as we learnt a lot of about the Sikh culture and had an opportunity to be guided through the temple by our tour guide of Sikh origin. We touched the holy body of water and walked through the large kitchen where volunteers prepare lunch for thousands on a daily basis. The Lotus temple was a landmark structure in Delhi. It was very cool & bare inside except for the pews and required everyone to indulge in silence. The bodies of water around was strategically built to keep the marble cool from the scorching sunlight in the summer months.

We had planned to shop for wedding clothes in Delhi, so our driver took us to Kashmiri Haat & Delhi Haat, a clothes & handicrafts bazaar. Though I had requested to go to more everyday shops, the tour guides were keen on promoting these government run establishments that feature artisans from various states. The items were way pricer than we had expected and it was awfully difficult to say no. Upon our arrival, we were offered something to drink and made to sit comfortably as they displayed their merchandise in front of us. We also drove by a large outdoor commercial center known as Connaught Place. But due to the major construction in the city in preparation for the Commonwealth games in september, we didn't get to shop in this area.

Qutb Complex is an example of the earliest Indo-Islamic architecture built by the India's first Muslim ruler. The minaret has been renovated by the various rulers to be preserved as the world's tallest brick minaret. Part of the complex is a former Hindu temple that was converted to a mosque. But namaz prayers have never taken place at this mosque as the depictions of Hindu gods still prevails on its interior walls. The iron pillar is another notable attraction for its high purity, as it stands with no corrosion and inscriptions intact since its erection during the time of the Rajputs.

The walled city of Old Delhi founded by Shahjahan, was my favorite part of the city tour. We saw the Red Fort (similar to its namesake in Agra) from a distance as we drove up to Jama Masjid. The Moghal architecture was very impressive and we walked around the large complex wearing cover ups as we were not appropriately dressed. Then we enjoyed a rickshaw ride through busy streets of Chandni Chowk. Having watched the movie Delhi 6, I was very excited to see part of the city. The large amounts of electrical wiring which has survived since the colonial times was a noteworthy sight.The easy juxtaposition of the old with the new was one of the striking factors about India. I hope to have the opportunity to visit more of India in the future.

Indian Adventure!

We packing and getting ready for our Indian adventure. Can't wait to celebrate with Manjari & Patrik and meet up with other MoHos.

Our sightseeing includes Delhi, Agra & Jaipur. Then heading to Varanasi for the wedding. Updates will follow as much as time and internet connection allows me.