There are so many things wrong with this picture, but the big one is my coffee intake. I'm currently enjoying a cup of hazelnut coffee. Maxwell House brand (As in from a can) flavored coffee. It was brewed yesterday at school for the faculty meeting (which of course i did not attend) so i filled my travel mug with the juice of life and brought it home. To sit in the cup all night and be microwaved this morning.
The real problem with this situation is that its still one of the best cups of coffee i've had in all of Japan (outside Starbucks). Pathetic.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Too Much To Say - India in a nutshell
There are too many stories to tell. Too many fabulous places to describe. Too much fun to relate. Too many wonderful meals eaten, great beers drunk, shopping done, cups of chai savored, moments of laughter and exhaustion and pure happiness. The job of describing my three weeks in India is just too bug and there are far too few words to do it. So i'll let pictures speak for now.
Delhi city tour:
India Gate
Humayun's Tomb (ruler/architect of the Taj Mahal)
Agra:
THRILLED about the 6am train departure on Christmas Eve
the main gate to the TAJ MAHAL!
and here it is.... the main event... the Taj!
and again with the fabulous colors of India
and last one, i swear.
Jaipur:
our little Xmas celebration thanks to Molly!
in old days, when Muslims ruled Jaipur, women were not allowed to be seen. The richest women in the town (including the wives of the king) sat in this gate behind screens to view the town without showing their faces. honestly.
Pants and Mol on their elephant
the gate to the Jaipur Fort (ancient palace). Women again sat in the windows on the top floor to see the village people and statesmen who came to hold meetings with the king.
Jaipur observatory
view of a regular scale-sundial, accurate to 20 seconds. taken from the ginormous sundial, which happens to be the biggest sundial in the world, accurate to 2 seconds!
Back to Delhi for our own excursions:
a bar called Rodeo- complete with saddles instead of chairs
Jama Masjid. Beautiful but too many birds.
we noticed this bazaar from the mosque. and decided to check it out. and wound up walking through half a mile of goat shit mixed with water. Seriously. Turned out tourist shopping and cleanliness were not the goals of this market, rather selling and buying goats. And adding water to their poo rather than scraping it away. And unfortunately i was wearing sandals :(
and we finally shopped for bangles. We spent 45 minutes and many more than 45 rupees, but walked away very satisfied with our bright and sparkly purchases.
Mumbai:
Gateway of India
Mosque built on an island. at high tide the walkway to get there completely disappears.
cave carvings on Elephanta Island, an ancient example of Hinduism in India
enjoying coffee at 'Mocha Bar.' The name is a bit misleading as actually lots of people were there to smoke the hookah, not have coffee.
part of the campus of Bombay University. The architecture was amazing (and clearly not Art Deco, which Pants' loved to talk about :)
"watching" Cricket at the Oval Maiden, a big open field in the middle of the city. There were maybe 12 impromptu games going on at the same time. But our players were at least wearing all white, which i think is some sort of rule in cricket.
Chowpatty beach, common hang out spot for locals in the evening.
sunset from marine drive. we watched and had beer and pizza. yummm.
Goa:
the beginning of our days in goa, complete with delicious food and disappointing cocktails. Warning: avoid all beachy drinks when in India.
spices at the Flea Market in Anjuna. If only it weren't so sketchy to take home baggies of powder.
the last straw on beverlies - salty dogs that were actually salty... ewww.
attempted sunset shot. thank GOD they got the NV beach shack sign in the background!
Old Goa:
Bangalore: Pants and I said bye bye to molly and hello to our final days in India.
In one of the awesome pimped out rickshaws
one of the Bangalore government buildings. and me making a trademark Stiff move.
busy shopping street near our hotel
visiting some temples -
after this our cultural experiences in India were limited to shopping, eating, and movies. And the only place i felt it necessary to capture on film (the amazing theater where we saw Casino Royale) was the only place it was illegal to photograph. to figure.
So thats my trip to India. For now anyway. Feel free to ask me questions to fill in the holes, cause i just dont have the energy to do it right now.
Delhi city tour:
India Gate
Humayun's Tomb (ruler/architect of the Taj Mahal)
Agra:
THRILLED about the 6am train departure on Christmas Eve
the main gate to the TAJ MAHAL!and here it is.... the main event... the Taj!
and again with the fabulous colors of India
and last one, i swear.
Jaipur:
our little Xmas celebration thanks to Molly!
in old days, when Muslims ruled Jaipur, women were not allowed to be seen. The richest women in the town (including the wives of the king) sat in this gate behind screens to view the town without showing their faces. honestly.
Pants and Mol on their elephant
the gate to the Jaipur Fort (ancient palace). Women again sat in the windows on the top floor to see the village people and statesmen who came to hold meetings with the king.
Jaipur observatory
view of a regular scale-sundial, accurate to 20 seconds. taken from the ginormous sundial, which happens to be the biggest sundial in the world, accurate to 2 seconds!Back to Delhi for our own excursions:
a bar called Rodeo- complete with saddles instead of chairs
Jama Masjid. Beautiful but too many birds.
we noticed this bazaar from the mosque. and decided to check it out. and wound up walking through half a mile of goat shit mixed with water. Seriously. Turned out tourist shopping and cleanliness were not the goals of this market, rather selling and buying goats. And adding water to their poo rather than scraping it away. And unfortunately i was wearing sandals :(
and we finally shopped for bangles. We spent 45 minutes and many more than 45 rupees, but walked away very satisfied with our bright and sparkly purchases.Mumbai:
Gateway of India
Mosque built on an island. at high tide the walkway to get there completely disappears.
cave carvings on Elephanta Island, an ancient example of Hinduism in India
enjoying coffee at 'Mocha Bar.' The name is a bit misleading as actually lots of people were there to smoke the hookah, not have coffee.
part of the campus of Bombay University. The architecture was amazing (and clearly not Art Deco, which Pants' loved to talk about :)
"watching" Cricket at the Oval Maiden, a big open field in the middle of the city. There were maybe 12 impromptu games going on at the same time. But our players were at least wearing all white, which i think is some sort of rule in cricket.
Chowpatty beach, common hang out spot for locals in the evening.
sunset from marine drive. we watched and had beer and pizza. yummm.Goa:
the beginning of our days in goa, complete with delicious food and disappointing cocktails. Warning: avoid all beachy drinks when in India.
spices at the Flea Market in Anjuna. If only it weren't so sketchy to take home baggies of powder.
the last straw on beverlies - salty dogs that were actually salty... ewww.
attempted sunset shot. thank GOD they got the NV beach shack sign in the background!Old Goa:
Bangalore: Pants and I said bye bye to molly and hello to our final days in India.
In one of the awesome pimped out rickshaws
one of the Bangalore government buildings. and me making a trademark Stiff move.
busy shopping street near our hotelvisiting some temples -
after this our cultural experiences in India were limited to shopping, eating, and movies. And the only place i felt it necessary to capture on film (the amazing theater where we saw Casino Royale) was the only place it was illegal to photograph. to figure.
So thats my trip to India. For now anyway. Feel free to ask me questions to fill in the holes, cause i just dont have the energy to do it right now.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Welcome Home
Having just returned from a glorious three-week vacation in India (about which i'll post details soon, i promise) the real world is a little hard to handle. Especially when the real world comes with some out-of-the-ordinary problems like broken bed frames, spider infestations, leaky ceilings, and a fever/cold combo that everyone at work is keen to blame on the third world country i'd just visited (and when i say blame i more mean take a step back to try to avoid catching my foreign illness).
But sometimes, when real life seems to do nothing but get you down, something can surprise you. Today i came home from work ready for a nap or a movie only to find my bathroom/laundry room area covered in water. It took some detective work and lots of towels, but I managed to find a leak (in the ceiling), clean it up, and get on the phone with the only people i knew who could fix it. No, not a plumber or a landlord, but my friend Yuko and my bosses at the BOE. I'm constantly amazed at the care they take of me here. Within an hour and a half a plumber, the landlord, 2 workers from the BOE and Tsuji-kacho, my favorite old man ever had come to my apartment, photographed the water marks, investigated the leak upstairs and informed me that everything was taken care of. When they left they apologized about 20 times and gave me 3 different numbers where i could reach them if any other problems arose. And all of this on a Friday evening.
But sometimes, when real life seems to do nothing but get you down, something can surprise you. Today i came home from work ready for a nap or a movie only to find my bathroom/laundry room area covered in water. It took some detective work and lots of towels, but I managed to find a leak (in the ceiling), clean it up, and get on the phone with the only people i knew who could fix it. No, not a plumber or a landlord, but my friend Yuko and my bosses at the BOE. I'm constantly amazed at the care they take of me here. Within an hour and a half a plumber, the landlord, 2 workers from the BOE and Tsuji-kacho, my favorite old man ever had come to my apartment, photographed the water marks, investigated the leak upstairs and informed me that everything was taken care of. When they left they apologized about 20 times and gave me 3 different numbers where i could reach them if any other problems arose. And all of this on a Friday evening.
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