Singapore Suitcases: Week 12 - Of letting Saigon's be Saigon, Marketplace turn-ons & a New Year full of more wanderlust!

1. In addition to our own suitcases, each one of us brought pre-established notions with us, when we arrived into Vietnam. Hubster thought it would be even cheaper than Cambodia, Daughter thought it would be even more loving and I thought it would be as warm (climatically & personably speaking), since it's still just next door to China, not really China itself (You can tell how I've been prepared for China already by the rest of Asia) Of course, all three of us were wrong!

Breaking News - Vietnam is not as cheap as Cambodia. Expecting the Vietnamese to be as nice as the Khmer, is pure arrogance with respect to their history and political alliances. Plus there's something about having more money that makes one lose their innocence perhaps? And Northern Vietnam, especially Ha Noi and the foothills of mountains near it, are much colder than most of SE Asia. Something I had totally skipped in my pre-travel research. And for starters, our hotel charged us a whopping sum of 82 USD for an airport pick-up, which we thought was for free until we checked-in; an unheard of scenarios in any of our travel itineraries thus far. Welcome to Vietnam, we told ourselves!

While we overlooked the above, we did do our homework when it came to certain other facts - Vietnam's strict communist regime, it's North-South divide stemming from it's troubled past of war within and of course it's limited, hesitant American-isation as compared to other Asian cities; a still lingering effect of the US-Vietnam war! Also most Cambodians we had met, did not think highly of the Vietnamese. According to them, if seen on the map, Asia starts getting ruder, meaner and more selfish as one inches closer towards China. Since Vietnam borders China on its North, the people act and even look more Chinese. An interesting fact, that an Asian traveler learns very early on, when traveling in the non-Chinese parts of Asia.

2. Ho Chi Minh City (aka HCMC, lovingly referred to as Saigon even today) was our first stop in the country. We brought in the New Year here.
Saigon is Vietnam's largest cities, which had to embrace communism and a new name -  HCMC, after it lost in war to Communist Northern Vietnam. On an urban level, Saigon is divided into several Districts, District 1 being the main CBD area, where most tourist destinations are located, within walking distances of each other. My research appropriately pointed out that a day and a half is more than enough time to see/ savor this city.

The first thing the Hotel concierge told us when we were ready to step out was, to avoid carrying a sling bag and a huge camera, for fear of pick-pocketeers. A small Q&A session later, I decided to take his advice, thrusting cash in my shorts' pocket and convincing myself an Iphone camera will do! Of course a few hours later, I felt as though I could've totally overlooked what he said, but it's an important tip all the same, to keep in mind when one is here.
Our over-the-top gaudy 5-star hotel (We went with Hubster's 5-star preference over mine this time) - The Windsor Plaza, in Saigon, was located in the Heritage district/ Chinatown area of the city. Instead of resorting to the hotel's buffet breakfast, we decided to take a walking tour of the area and grab breakfast like the rest of the city; at a local 'Pho' restaurant. Needless to say, it was the most delish Pho we've ever had. The daughter, like us had never had Pho for breakfast before and when she slurped it down to the last drop, we knew this was going well.
Coffee however took some getting used to. I must confess that living in Singapore, I've still managed to steer clear of 'Kopi tiams', the only reason being I am not into as much sugar. For some reason, SE Asians love their sugar so much, they start their morning with dark coffee in sweetened condensed milk. Vietnamese coffee shops serve you the above (only in a fancy drip-coffee apparatus, where the black coffee drips drop by drop into sweetened condensed milk), when you order a coffee with milk. Ordering it 'black' with milk on the side, is not an option, since they rarely stock regular milk (forget fat-free). Though I haven't ditched my java completely, this is another reason why after having moved to Asia, I prefer herbal tea over coffee.

3. You know how I wrote in my last week's post about the whole city of Phnom Penh coming at you on two-wheelers? Well, that times 2 in the case of Saigon. So much so, that it's impossible to cross the street here. I finally understood what my expat friends in Mumbai went through, the first time they tried to cross a street there. Only, in Saigon, it's so bad that even a oversmart Mumbaikars such as Hubster and I, found ourselves cluelessly playing dodge, with the traffic, that too with the daughter in a stroller.

4. Once we'd learnt the art of navigating ourselves with stroller through two-way traffic, we were the kings of the road. We went sight-seeing everywhere possible on foot and ended up at that spatial type which gives me the biggest high - Markets. Saigon has a large central market called "Old Market" and the afternoon was spent walking through it's various stalls selling spice, coffee, tea, fruit, meat, vegetables, flowers, jewellery (Lovely additions to the global trinkets box were made here), artifacts etc.

5. Traveling with a baby entails stopping at local supermarkets at times, (another spot to soak into local life), to stock up on those essentials that might not be available in temple-shops, mountain-top shacks or street-side local vendors (where we usually eat when on the road), such as Pure Milk. You'd be surprised how rare it is to find 'Pure Milk' tetra-packs (the to-go kinds with straws stuck on their backs) while traveling in Asia or even in the States for that matter. Unsweetened, unflavoured, just regular, Plain Milk (not fat-free or 1% or 2%) - Jeez, that certainly isn't asking for a lot now, is it? But most of the world (Singapore, Mumbai and some other parts of Asia thankfully excluded from this list), believes in drinking altered or flavored milk, on-the-go. Its a good thing we gave up on using just 'organic' in her case a long time ago or we'd have to end up flying with extra luggage each time.

6. We decided to ditch our hotel's elite roof-top New Year's eve soiree, for a randomly chanced-upon, last minute dinner place we found through our research, called Monsoon. This restaurant, first established in Yangon, Burma in 2004 had recently opened in Saigon, earlier this year. Specialising in pan SE Asian cuisine, they serve a delectable variety of dishes from the regions of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar & Thailand. There could not have been a more appropriate last dinner of the year for us, going by the current travel agenda of our life. The daughter, as she cleverly does on certain important occasions, called it a night early, leaving Hubster and I to celebrate our phenomenally dynamic year (year-end especially) over a brilliant dinner and some rare, good Asian wine! As was becoming the norm with us on this trip, what with a non-traditional Christmas day spent biking in the Cambodia countryside, we thought why should the first day of the new year be any different? So the plan was to take another similar early am trip, through the Vietnamese countryside, the next morning.

7. January 1st, 2013 saw us rising at 5:30 am, when most others perhaps go to bed; for a day trip to the Vietnamese part of the Mekong River Delta & the village of My Tho. We boarded the bus from the city centre, the first stop of which was at - a Buddhist temple called the 'Vin Thrang Pagoda'. The temple complex welcomes one with a spectacular, towering, huge statue of Buddha. Once one decides to take eyes off of it and look to it's left, one sees another similarly towering, stark white statue of the Laughing Buddha, a few metres away (The Hubster was templed-out by the end of this trip, I think). But humongous Buddha statues have a draw about them, one that even non-religious 30-somethings such as us, cannot be spared of. To top it, the daughter's insistence on wanting to go see what she thought was the "Moon" from far, as she pointed to the shiny, round white, bald head of the Laughing Buddha (I swear this has nothing to do with the way we talk about bald people at home), left us with no option but to inch closer to the statue. At some point the Hubster had to drag me by the hair, back to the bus to stop my portrait-shooting frenzy.

The tour group moved on, to board the bus which took us to a ferry next, to sail through the extensive network of rivers and waterways, which are a result of various headwaters throughout SE Asia, that ultimately reach the South China Sea. This region, we were told harvests three different kinds of rice annually and its rice production is more than that of Japan and Korea put together!
Afternoon lunch was with local farmers, at a village eatery where we visited an in-house factory that made products from all parts of Coconuts. Post-lunch was spent playing with the village's pet python (Well the Aussies among us did) and drinking our soothing herbal teas.
While Hubster once again proclaimed his 'Been there done that'-ness to me (he's grown up seeing coconut factories, rice-fields etc in his native village, thus seeing these on our Asian adventures seems mundane to him), the daughter seemed to have taken our 'going local while going global' mantra to a whole new level. We found her sitting in the lap of a random village woman, happily being fed, what was supposedly lunch meant for her own children. The woman's poor kids gave me a "What just happened.." kinda look, which in turn made me wonder, if I should be feeding them lunch now, in what would only seem as an appropriate and fair exchange. Thankfully before I could consider this seriously, the local farmer band appeared out of nowhere and decided to belt out some folk-lore, happily distracting the daughter away.

The tour concluded in private canoe rides, where being true tourists we all donned our Non la's (the conical Vietnamese leaf hats) as we sailed through a small tributary of the great delta.
On the way back to Saigon, the daughter had made enough friends on the bus (read babysitters, for us), so the return journey was a relaxed and a mostly seated one! After all, we had a plane to catch to Ha Noi after all this.
The first day of 2013 was not really planned such, but turned out to be spent on an extreme travel note - since it started off with us riding a car to a bus to a ferry to a canoe to a bus to a car to a plane and to a car again, finally until we reached our last hotel of the itinerary, in Ha Noi. They say what you do on the first day of the year is symbolic of how your year is going to turn out to be. Amen to that!

8. Non La's (the conical leaf hats) are omnipresent in SE Asia, more so in Vietnam. While they serve as intelligently and ergnomically designed, devices to defend against the heat and rain, they have adaptable uses; as baskets to carry light groceries, as hand fans if it's too hot and even make stylish hair accessories! They have become the quintessential souvenir, a must-pick-up, when one visits Vietnam.

9. Tired from our 12 hour long day trip, we barely noticed that most of our co-passengers on the flight from Saigon to Ha Noi, were carrying thick jackets. Once we landed at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, is when we realised that we were perhaps the only ones under-dressed in shorts and t-shirts.
All we could see around us were puffer jackets, gloves, hats, mufflers, boots hiding human faces behind them. On coming out of the airport and into the city, we realized these temperatures were pleasant, more like at the onset of Fall, far from the winter temperatures we are used to, having lived over a decade in North-East USA.
Interestingly, most of Asia feels cold really easily. I remember my Mom telling me last year, how she needed to take out her woollens/ shawls in the month of December, in Mumbai. I've jeered in the past, at women who've been on my flight to Mumbai in December and emerged from the aircraft wearing boots, as I strode past them in flip-flops. I mean, Really?
But one man's Fall is another man's Winter. As we walked around Ha Noi, baring our half-naked selves, we saw some locals sitting around bon-fires and others shivering underneath thick woollens. Startled shop-keepers, much to our amusement, tried to usher us indoors, to buy fake branded jackets. (We finally caved in and being precautious, bought the daughter one for the next day's trip up further North to Ha Long Bay. Of course she refused to wear it all the time there as her 'cold' quotient takes after the Hubster's. Both have eskimo-like tolerances to the cold).

10. Ha Noi is the capital of Vietnam and perhaps that is why, it has a more disciplined, two-wheeler culture, making it easier to cross the streets here.
The Old Quarter, which is the heart of the city, is a maze of streets, laid out in a millenium-old plan, lined with  family-owned shops that sell everything under the sun. Bargaining is key here. One look at the market and Hubster knew his 'bargain-loving' wife is going to have a blast here. You bet, he wasn't wrong.

Most Old Quarter streets are lined with shops selling similar wares; so while one street sells only shoes, there was another that sold only curios and a third that only dealt with clothing/ fabric/ silk and so on. This is an interesting remnant of a historic event - When the emperor Ly Thai To moved his capital to Ha Noi over a century ago, a community of craftsmen followed him here and set themselves up in the format of each guild-per street. That explains the segregation of trades by streets, which makes for an interesting precursor to modern day commercial space planning.
While most of the shops have adapted to present-day needs and sell pirated goods, one can also find a few stores that sell 'rejected' export cotton apparel with labels such as H&M, Gap etc on them.
To think all these years I wore clothes that were tagged 'Made in Cambodia/ Vietnam' and here I was, in these countries, seeing them made at source!

The Old Quarter is merchandiser/ buyer/ shopper/ tourist heaven, especially as the ratio of the USD to the Vietnamese Dong is 1:20,000 making the dollar stretch very far, here too. However unlike Cambodia, Vietnam can also be more expensive, so one needs to be a little careful, especially if you come here after visiting Cambodia, like we did. Suddenly everything seemed expensive (If I had to do this all over again, I would probably visit Vietnam first and then go to Cambodia, to end my vacation on a pocket-pleasing note!) 

11. I missed tuk-tuks here. Cyclo-rickshaws are more popular in Vietnam, the kinds driven by a cyclist driver; only unlike the cycle-rickshaws in India, the passengers sit in front of the driver in this case. That might be scary considering there's nothing between you and the traffic, but it seemed like a fun experience. We didn't end up taking one, as they are too small to accommodate two adults and a half.

12. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the Quang Ninh Province of Northeastern Vietnam, bordered by China on the North. A day trip to the Bay and back from Ha Noi, is a 12 hour affair, as it takes one 4 hours each way, to and fro, in addition to the 4 hours on a cruise ship/ kayak ride that winds through the mammoth limestone monoliths of the bay. (Another deja-vu occured with a similar day-cruise we'd taken a few years ago - through the Matanuska glaciers in Alaska. Except those were ice glaciers and islands, while these were limestone. And of course, that sail really required puffer jackets, for this one a thin jacket was plenty).

Lunch was a traditional yummy Vietnamese fare, served on a boat - a local fish steamed with scallions and garlic, pork shumai, fried tofu and a hot, clear sea-food and clam soup, with 'Hanoi' beer, followed by fresh watermelon, mangosteen and dragon fruit as dessert. (SE Asian beer of choice on this vacation was 'Angkor' in Cambodia and 'Hanoi' in Vietnam, although Cambodian local red wine is pretty good too). 

The limestone monolithic islands have vegetation growing on their tops, as they make a grand emergence from the sea. Most islands hide hollow caves within, one of which is the Hang Dau Go - the largest grotto in the islands, with several stalagmites and stalactites within. Since this was my first stalagmite/ stalactite experience, I was excited to see this grotto, until we entered it and saw it lit up in multi-colored lights (The closest analogy I could draw was of a 'Ganpati pandal' in one of the Sarvajanik Ganesha's in Mumbai). Its a pity when man decides how nature should be presented to the rest of mankind. Lit up in a plain simple yellow neon, could have done the job too. Adding colour to the caves, honestly only took away from their largeness and surrealism.
It seems like the daughter didn't appreciate the color either as she napped on top of Hubster's head, while we explored the cave.

13. Being previous French-Indochine colonies, both Cambodia and Vietnam have colonial remnants. I found it interesting that in both nations, the older generation speaks fluent French, while the younger generation speaks the local language and gets by with broken English. Imagine if that would've happened in India? All our grandparents would speak impeccable English while we would be hard-core Hindi/ regional language speaking youngsters?
In Cambodia, almost everyone speaks broken English, whereas in Vietnam, almost no one does. Thus, getting around in Vietnam highly relies on how good you are at playing 'Dumb Charades'. After a point I found my subconscious hands doing a descriptive dance every time I talked, much to the amusement of the Hubster. That's how much sign language you will end up using, when speaking with locals in Vietnam.

14. I could'nt leave the country of 'Banh Mi' without having one atleast, (Yes I know my fellow foodies are going to be disappointed to know I had this just once in my entire time there. But one cannot afford to replicate one's lunch, in a land that has so much to offer on it's plate, quite literally).
For the few of you that don't know, the Banh Mi is the Vietnamese term for a single baguette, although it is used to describe the entire sandwich. The single baguettes can be bought off of street vendors and make great snacks to munch on-the-go, being crisp and freshly baked. A symbolic remnant of the French, the single baguette, is stuffed with delicious meat or vegetarian fillings topped by handfuls of cilantro, making for absolutely incredible sandwiches.

15. Our flight back from Ha Noi to Singapore was the sixth and last flight of this two week long itinerary. While we were happy to be back home, there was also the feeling that a lot still needed to be seen.
There are several other places within Cambodia and Vietnam we wished we could' ve visited. Hence going back there, at a later date in the future is unavoidable. Perhaps when the daughter is slightly older. Traveling with a baby on this trip and having only two weeks in hand, left us with no choice but to fly everywhere, as much as we would've loved taking the train or bus intermittently. We cannot wait until the daughter grows up a bit more, to begin doing the latter with her and hope to return to these countries as backpackers.

For now, it's time to begin the New Year on a new note. I see exciting time ahead, what with all this travel, a new occupation in the works and the baby starting school soon. More on that in the next update! Hope you've had a very happy start to the New Year too!
Love,
Shweyta

Singapore Suitcases: Week 11 - Of Cambodian generosity, Khmer cuisine & an unforgettably non-traditional Christmas!

1. Our flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia was from Changi Airport Terminal 2, where to our unexpected delight we found an 'Ananda Bhavan' - one of Singapore's premier South Indian food houses. Nothing spells breakfast better than hot idlis and a crisp dosa washed down by the irresistible brew of a filter coffee. Naturally, the vacation began on a delicious note.

2. A breezy couple of hours later, we landed at Phnom Penh International Airport, which reminds one of the smaller airports one sees in island-nations mostly. Visas were to be issued on arrival and entailed standing in a short queue, to submit our paperwork and photographs, after which we were politely shoved to the side and asked to wait until we heard our names called out loud.
This 'non-formalization of the formal process' comes as a good break from the rigid norms one gets used to, living in the West.

3. In my email communications with multiple hotels/ travel agencies/ tour guides in Asia, I am often referred to as Mr. instead of Ms. or Mrs. Albeit unknowingly, I guess, finally someone recognizes who wears the pants in this house. (Hubster barely reads my blog posts, so this claim can easily go un-defied, me thinks)

4. Our first impression, after landing and leaving the at airport at Phnom Penh, were the uber-clean wide roads with disciplined in-lane drivers. As I overlay this instance with my similar experience of driving out of Delhi's IGI Airport, I reminded myself, that this was not the real city. Airports and Airport-cities tend to do themselves up, in order to appear like their international counterparts, to the best of their abilities. They cant help it, as in their similarity lies their efficiency. They are hardly representatives of the multitudes. The inner bylanes & streets, markets & eateries, shops & pavements are where the city's real soul lies. And each time I visit a new city, I can't wait till I navigate through its make-believe, disciplined, structured Aerotropolis to peer into its soul. Coming from someone who's made a living from designing airports for the last decade, this might seem surprising. But as I always say, I am an Urban Designer/ Planner first and an Airport Designer afterwards.

5. Cambodia is poor, much poorer than India. Yet its clean. Even in it's poorest parts, its surprisingly well-kept.
Most urban or rural areas, that I've been to, on my recent trips in Asia, are litter-free, especially when compared to their Indian counterparts. As if everyone makes it a point to throw their trash where it belongs. There are no traces of plastic all over the place, as one sees often in rural India.
It makes me wonder what a sense of social cleanliness is really related to? Is it as simple as a good, responsible upbringing or not taking-for-granted one's physical surroundings? Is it the instilling of a sense of civic ownership & pride in the citizens or a 'recycle-everything' kind of approach? In rare cases like Singapore, it could be a by-product of a government-mandate that fines you each time you litter? Granted, India does not have its numbers going for itself in this case and keeping such a large country clean is one herculean task, but civic-cleanliness if instilled as a habit at the grassroots, can surely ensure a less littered surrounding in the first place. The kind one sees in Cambodia.

6. Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and also one of it's largest cities. It is located on the banks of three rivers - The Mekong, Tonle Sap & Bassac.
The first thing one notices about entering the city centre is how the entire city comes rushing right at your face, riding on top of one another in two-wheelers, maneuvering themselves through narrow, haphazard, traffic-lightless, inner city roads. The rest of the city can be found seated on pavements; on low seats, savoring hot, yummy delicacies, in the multiple street-side restaurants. A small part of the city, lounges on the steps (their version of the Indian 'ghats') overlooking the riverfront, watching life go by while some others run on treadmills or bike on stationary bikes, placed in parks. (Yes, you got that right. Exercise equipment placed in parks; a new take on running/ biking outdoors if you don't have the space, because it's better used up as two-wheeler parking area)

7. On all our travels, while the Hubster prefers the usual Starwood properties, on account of their guaranteed level of service, a 'no surprises' kinda stay etc, I go the different route and book ourselves in unique, contextual and more locally-originated hotels/ b&b's/ homestays etc. (My approach being more inside-out than the outside-in. The only 'special' requirements I bear in mind, while picking accommodation offlate is, it needs to have a swimming pool/s for the tadpole offspring & a baby-sitting facility for us party-hard parents)
The Plantation Resort & Spa is a brand new, modernly designed, compact yet elaborate, oasis-like resort, right in the heart of the city. While their multiple pools, elegantly designed spaces and central location serve as clear advantages, their warm & hospitable staff is their real asset.
(A striking feature of most Cambodian hotels is how they publicly value their employees. While the corridors surrounding the central courtyard at our hotel in Phnom Penh, displayed creatively shot, life-size b/w photos of each of their employees, the lobby of the hotel in Siem Reap, had a wall dedicated to the employee activities, interests & fun pictures. The latter is also Cambodia's first hotel to have made all its employees into partner/ owners last year.)

8. Christmas eve was spent over a delicious five-course dinner, provided by our very generous hotel, on-the-house. Christmas day, was celebrated non-traditionally by doing a half-day bike ride through the Cambodian countryside.
The ride started from the city centre, winding our way through the swarm of two-wheeler traffic and went along the banks of the Mekong river, through lotus ponds, silk farms, mango fields & villages before bringing us back into the city. We started at 8 am and ended at 2 pm, after several stops enroute to taste fallen fruits, look at natural vegetation, pluck lotus flowers to sample their seeds (a favorite in this part of the world), try our hands at silk-weaving on looms set up in rural homes and meet and greet with the friendly, warm locals. (It was as if the village was full of Zoes'; every child excitedly yelled out "Hello" at us as we rode past them, a direct reflection of the fact that most public schools are now gradually introducing English as a second language. The baby was thrilled at finally meeting other kids, as gregarious as herself. She was so happy, she nearly stayed back with a silk-weaver's family)

It was close to 35 deg C; we were scorched yet excited, dusty yet eager and tired yet enthusiastic, throughout the 25 km bike ride. However, we were a little anxious that we may have perhaps stretched the baby's adventurous side a bit much? But she proved us wrong, and how!
The heat didnt seem to bother her, as she smilingly sailed through the ride, strapped in a baby-seat at the back of Hubster's bike. She napped at some point, sang and danced at times, yelled out "Wow..nice'" at pleasant sights and "Awwww..ed" away like only an American girl can, at little dogs, cats, cows, bugs, babies....anything cute that came along the way. She hi-fived passers-by, peek-a-booed with locals, shamelessly stormed into their huts, sampled everything we did; from fallen fruits to local delicacies shared by locals and drank water-mixed-with-dust, from our very dirty water bottles. She lunched on white rice with a local fish curry served to us at a road-side shack, like the rest of us and later snacked on another local fave (banana and sticky rice steamed in banana leaves), sourced from a street vendor.
Our tour guide at Grasshopper Adventures - The Vicious Cycle and our fellow-tourists took pictures with her claiming they had'nt seen another adventurous infant traveler such as her. We, her parents stood gushing on the side, silently hi-five'ing each other at having successfully created our very own adventurous little Dora, at 18 months of age.

This post is dedicated to this little nomad of our lives - Zoe, who seems to be taking her name very seriously (It means 'the spirit of life' in Greek) as she shows us and the rest of the world, how it's done, one act at a time!

9. A cruise along the Mekong river, one evening, revealed the real side of Cambodia to us. Most of the country resides in floating villages, that sit on stilts in the middle of the river. As we floated past these, we saw schools, hospitals, grocery stores, toilets, eating-places, kitchens - everything, sitting on stilts in water. Some of these are habited by the 'Chaams', another name for the Muslim tribe in Cambodia. Since the Mekong river runs through multiple countries, (Tibet, China, Burma, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam) it's not strange to find boats with different flags furling on their decks, as one sails by. A strange incident was when a small two-person speed boat emerged out of nowhere, suddenly next to our private boat. A young girl holding cold cans of beer jumped right in, hoping to make a sale. When we refused, she jumped back into her speed boat which she had temporarily hooked up to ours and rushed off to the next private boat that she could find. Our driver later told us, this was a classic case of the 'Vietnamese' trying to make a quick buck on Cambodian waters.

As we toured mobile floating homes as shameless touristy bystanders, with our big bulky SLR's thrust in their business (as though we were in a Zoo), the locals waved out friendly 'hellos' to us. They were clearly used to foreign intrusion. After all, this was the poor man's Venice! Interestingly, after the floating village ended, came up a couple of slightly more sophisticated looking, large floating shacks, with young, sunscreen and designer shades-wearing tourists, holding 'Angkor' beers in their hand, rocking to world music. These were The Bungalows - Sunset Bar; that promised romantic young tourists, splendid views of the sun setting over the river. My voyeurism could'nt help but snap a picture of these wild animals as well, smirking at the dichotomy I had just seen in this ride.

10. 'Photo Phnom Penh' is a photography festival hosted every year in the city, sponsored by the Institut Francais du Cambodge. It was interesting to spend a few hours, looking at the work of various Khmer and International photographers, put together on the same platform. While foreign photographers exhibited works that were visibly hi-end, the locals showed work which was at best basic and generated a 'so-whats-so-great-about-that' kinda response, in general. This show needs better curation next year, that's for sure. 

11. Night markets are the heart of Cambodian cities. One can usually find anything there; toys, books, clothes, household items to Cambodian silks, handicrafts, paintings, curios and souvenirs. And ofcourse delicious local food (The Phnom Penh Night Market, aka Phsar Reatrey, had a large eating area, with large mats strewn on the floor and one set of 'salt-pepper/ spice/ soy sauce' arrangement, per four mats. Locals and tourists alike, sat on the floor, sampling delicacies from the various stalls surrounding them). Since they are only open on weekend nights, we were lucky to be able to see them in both Phnom Penh & Siem Reap.

12. Siem Reap would be an otherwise sleepy, riverside town (the river lends its name to the city), had it not been for its proximity to the Angkor region; a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That makes it Cambodia's most visited city, hence as touristy as it can get. We flew here after spending the first three days of the week in Phnom Penh, to wrap up the rest of our stay in Cambodia.
We were welcomed by a rude episode with the hotel manager of Royal Crown Hotel & Spa, (I am working on writing a strong negative review on them), that almost made us lose faith in the Khmer people, whom we had started growing so fond of. Until we were told that the hotel manager was a Chinese immigrant. That kind of explains it. (In the otherwise 'gentle' & submissive countries of Asia, the Chinese are infamously considered to be snappy, rude and harsh)
Our spat with the hotel manager left us checking out of there, quicker than one can spell K-H-M-E-R. After an unsuccessful check-in at the next hotel on our list - Reflections Boutique Hotel due to a reservation availability mismanagement issue, we hoped to be third-time lucky when we walked into a third one, next door, called The Soria Moria Hotel. This one, proved to be a great find, what with their superlative staff, an easy-on-the-pocket tariff as compared to other hotels around, its 'sustainable development of tourism' outlook, it's close work with various local organisations to benefit local communities and an applaudable, democratic business idea (Established by a Norwegian couple originally, this hotel made all their employees into partners/ owners of the hotel in 2011, making it the country's first employee-owned hotel).

13. Our stay in Siem Reap, in a nutshell, was full of day-trips/ short hikes up and down mountains; to temple complexes such as Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Banteay Srae, Kulen mountain etc. Most afternoons were spent admiring ornate temple carvings and spatial complexes interspersed with numerous courtyards, decorative colonnades and intricate stone carvings of various Hindu mythological characters on endless stone corridors and even dry, step wells in some case.
Angkor Wat, is the largest elaborate Hindu temple complex ever built, ironically located outside the country which boasts of the highest number of Hindus - India. Built in the early part of the 12th century, this is one Hindu temple that breaks away from the norm and is dedicated not to Lord Shiva but to his friend, Vishnu. The temple is clearly the face of the country to the outside world, even finding a place on its national flag.

I felt rewound to my undergrad architecture school days, when we visited architecturally rich complexes such as these in India, to document and measure draw them, line by line, arch by arch. I wondered how long it would take to conduct a similar graphic exercise with Angkor Wat.

We also did an uphill hike on the steep slopes of the Kulen Mountain, with Zoe on Hubster's back, through a winding tropical forest to go see Kbal Spean aka 'The river bed of the 1000 lingas'. As the name suggests, this is a small tributary of the Siem Reap River, underneath the bed of which lie numerous stone carvings in the form of the 'shivalinga'. While it was a beautiful site, once we were done huffing and puffing post-climb, the Hubster gave me a "This is it?" kinda look, seemingly underwhelmed at what he saw. On our way back down the hill, he explained that we are probably sensing a different kind of a 'travel fatigue' - something one senses after having traveled a lot; that sights considered fabulous by others, hardly seem appealing enough, because one has seen better somewhere else. It's true! Sights that blow our mind are rare to come by, especially on our recent travels, perhaps because we are always subconsciously comparing them to other really enamoring ones, we've been to in the past (This happened with us in Bali too).
Of course there is always that 'first time' effect but still.
For example, Angkor Wat, is a world-renowned temple site which might seem grand, majestic and beautiful at most, (not amazing or out-of-this-world or anything) to someone who's already been to the elaborate temple complexes of South India, Khajuraho, Mandu, Ujjain, Hampi, The Sun temple in Konark etc. Granted there's still a new context and a unique style and that there's no charm like the 'first time' charm, but still. It seems that we need to work harder to not make comparisons and delve into each sight we go to, in isolation, to really appreciate its worth.

14. Cambodia's largest reclining Buddha (70 m long and 12 m high), part of the Baphuon temple, lies atop the Kulen Mountain, in the Angkor region. We trekked our way up countless stairs to go see this wonder, which was our first ever reclining Buddha experience. Monks at the temple sat in prayer, some meditating, while others chanting and playing soulful music for the deity. Not one to differentiate between prayer or rap, the daughter's body started making its moves. Tourists and locals that were busy praying or taking pictures/ videos of the reclining deity, did a U-Turn to film and capture this strange child, freely dancing away to the monk's tunes. This, as we noticed later, was the first of many such performances to come, during this trip. All it takes, is putting the daughter down, near any musical note and the show starts. I've been stormed by permission requests to film or photograph her in the act, by too many tourists/ locals we've met over the course of the two weeks and am beginning to feel this might be the time to get her an agent!

15. A tuk-tuk is to Cambodia what an autorickshaw is to India. While a tuk-tuk in Phnom Penh is merely a motorbike attached to a large cabin in the back (super spacious and can accommodate upto 4 adults easily) in Siem Reap, they are a more designed, decorated and sophisticated version of their Phnom Penh counterparts. A tuk-tuk does not run as per meter, but on pre-decided rates that are a general norm in the city (One can stretch a US dollar to it's last penny in Cambodia, so a lot of foreign tourists tend to overtip and overpay). Tuk-tuk rides are extremely enjoyable, especially for urban voyeurs such as yours truly. Cross-ventilated and airy, open cabins at the back of a motorcycle, letting a city come in and out of you, as it takes you swiftly from one end to another in record time - whats not to like? Now if only our autorickshaws back home in Mumbai, were as spacious and well-ventilated as their Cambodian versions (and as cheap, dare I say)...Hmmm!

16. Coming from the States, one is no longer used to PDA (Public display of affection) towards babies; such as random strangers squeezing a baby's cheeks or petting their head. Growing up in India though, this kind of physical carefree behaviour towards children is not so rare. In the rest of Asia, likewise. Why, even in Singapore, some Tamil locals have planted a gentle pat on the daughter's head and passed by, before she could wonder who that came from.
In Cambodia, as in some other parts of Asia, it is not surprising for a tuk-tuk driver to promptly hold your baby, while you climb into or alight from his tuk-tuk, without you asking him to do so. While some Americans would freak at such casual, innocent acts, there are others who're better traveled and laid back enough to accept this as a pleasant difference in culture.

I mentioned in my Bali travelogue, that the Balinese are a very child-friendly clan. The same can be said about the Khmer (Cambodians), who are a very baby-loving, gentle, respectful, accommodating clan with an inherent non-violent temperament (owing it to their Buddhist religious background). From a polite "Hello baby" to a full-fledged friendship struck over a tuk-tuk ride, there was not one Khmer we met, who did not try to have a conversation with our daughter. While in some parts of the world where people have no time to talk to each other, let alone regard children, this child-friendly attitude comes as a welcome change and a gentle reminder, in our everyday fast-paced lives, to regard everyone we meet - irrespective of their age.

Since Cambodians love and respect children so much, they naturally have ended up having too many of them.
Every time we looked out of our car/ bus/ ferry/ bike/ tuk-tuk, into the Cambodian landscape, be it urban or rural, we found in our visual spectrum, locals with children. At one point, I sprang upon the Hubster, a mini-exercise - to look outside his side of the window and count the number of babies he sees in a minute. He easily counted to double digits. Child healthcare in Cambodia is free, which is another reason people don't mind having large families.
Everywhere one turns to look in Cambodia, one sees children. More than half of Cambodia's children are under 15 years of age. Naturally, there is much concern regarding serious issues such as primary education, health care, human trafficking and child labour. And the biggest issue of them all - Orphan Tourism.

17. Orphanage Tourism has largely picked up in cities like Cambodia and Siem Reap, where one visits for tourism and then seeing so much poverty around, decides to go help out, only causing more harm than good, inspite of their noble intentions. Tourists often pay small sums of money, to volunteer as teachers in orphanages, for short periods of time, causing confusion and constant emotional loss to already traumatized children. Some tourists like visiting orphanages, making small toy donations and taking holiday pictures before leaving, satisfied that they've helped out in some way. No wonder then signs such as these - 'Children are not Tourist Attractions. Think before visiting' were common everywhere we went.

18. The Khmers' fave lunch or dinner accompaniment is a simple, comfort food usually referred to as 'Morning Glory' by tourists/ locals alike. This simple recipe involves a garlic and oyster sauce saute of Cambodia's fave forest herb - the morning glory. We all, especially the daughter, loved this dish so much, we ate it at all our meals, wherever we went, in the country.
There are some places that know how to make a way into your heart through their food. Khmer cuisine surely is one of those. Its a pity there are few Khmer restaurants to be found, outside of Cambodia. This cuisine is as simple, soulful, comforting and heart warming as it's people. No wonder then, we decided to stuff our faces with it, during our stay since, there's a fat chance we'll find it elsewhere. I got back a few spices and dried herbs and plan to replicate recipes that I learnt from some locals, in my kitchen, one of these days.

19. We wound up our Cambodian visit with a tour of the Cambodia Cultural Village, just before bidding our final good-bye to the country. Conveniently situated close to Siem Reap International Airport, the cultural village is a showcase of everything Khmer - arts, culture, lineage, royalty, geography, history, architecture etc. Here we saw a local dance performance, with sets so glorious and music composition so melodious, that it could give several Broadway shows a run for their money. The musical portrayed one of the most important chapters in Khmer history - of the much revered King Jayavarman VII and his reign, battles and expansion of the Khmer empire. Once again, we had to try and control the daughter, who I think needs lessons in 'not-stealing thunder', especially at performances where music of any kind, is involved.

20. The Cambodian currency is the Riel but the US Dollar is widely accepted and exchanged offically, thus making it easy to get around for most tourists. Sometimes when one pays in USD, the change is returned in Riels. Roughly 1 USD = 4000 Riels. Once again, we got our cheap thrills being millionaires in this nation. The Dollar goes a real long way here. Example - 1 USD can buy you any of the following:
A great 1 hour long body massage, a luxury manicure + pedicure, a really long tuk-tuk ride across the city, delicious local fare fit for a king, fresh fruit juice, incredibly beautiful jewellery and even serves as a generous tip for service. Cambodia truly makes you realise the Dollar's worth!

21. Cambodia is generous!
From random street vendors who make you sample their wares and refuse to take any money in return, to top-notch hotels that provide on-the-house gourmet dinners for all their guests on Xmas eve or those that put their employees above everyone else turning them into partners/ owners; from beautiful, genuinely simple people, across the board, who treat your daughter even more specially than you treat her sometimes, to the incredible level of service with extras thrown in for free almost everywhere you go -  this is perhaps the most giving nation I've ever been to.

After what had been a week full of physically strenuous sight-seeing, topped by addictive massages (sometimes twice in a day), we are now ready for part deux of our vacation. The Kingdom of Cambodia has won our hearts like no other country we've visited in the past and made us fall in love with its simplicity, warmth, niceness, happiness, self-contentment and generosity, across the board, in every Khmer we met. (Their babies teach them well, I think).
This country has easily made its way to the top of our list of 'Round 2 worthy' nations to visit.
Next up is Vietnam! Stay tuned for more!

Love,
Shweyta

Singapore Suitcases: Week 10 - Of Mannerless Continents, Bilingual Pre-schools & Lover-less Cities!

1. Week 10 saw us land back in Singapore. This 'Rest Week' was our hiatus before we take off to our next destinations - Cambodia & Vietnam for the Christmas & New Year respectively. Our original travel plan was to head to Australia & New Zealand, which had to be scrapped on account of not having enough time to get our Visas. Since moving base to Singapore, we've barely lived here longer than 7 consecutive days (You might call it our '7 day itch' with this city-state, perhaps). Thus, the need to pick another destination that would warrant a two week long trip & get us expedited visas/ visas on arrival. Thus Christmas shall be celebrated in Cambodia & New Year in Vietnam, this year.

2. Indian & American citizens can get a Visa on arrival in Cambodia. However, for entering Vietnam, ctizens of both nations need to pre-apply for a visa, that gets issued via email, but stamped when one enters the country. So some home work needed to be done with respect to the Vietnamese Visa, in our case. Yet it was one of the most easiest Visas I have ever applied for, having done all the paperwork virtually, sans a single trip to the Consulate.

3. Asia lacks manners, me thinks. No surprise there, but it's just one of the 'habitual contrasts' that hits you right in the face, sometimes literally, when you're fresh off the Western boat here. I find myself using the ever so polite "Excuse me" each time I so much as step into the personal physical space of others, while the entire continent goes by nonchalantly and unapologetically elbowing, shovelling and pummeling their way through me. As much as I believe in "In Rome do as the Romans" this indecency is something I will need to be wary of picking up, while living here. Although, on second thoughts, this might just prove to be a super training ground for getting back into the 'local train commuter culture' when we move to Mumbai next. Hmm..

4.  Errands to be run this week included taking care of two things:
i) All the legal paperwork with respect to the live-in maid-to-be who would start with us, on our arrival back home after vacation and
ii) Zoe's pre-school. A decision we have happily procrastinated since she was'nt of eligible age yet (Of course we completely overlooked the fact that in a miraculous example of time-flies-with-children she would be nearly 18 months old once we get back from vacation. Yes we are last-minute parents).

Anyway, so as it would turn out, our chosen maid-to-be's employer decided to stay longer in Singapore, thus bringing us back to square one on our search. Again, I did the rounds of my fave maid-agencies in the area, re-interviewing potential candidates and finally picking one I thought was most appropriate. Having all our paperwork ready helped and we filed for her transfer papers with the MOM (Ministry of Manpower) literally a day before we flew out. If all goes through, we ll have ourselves a lovely New Year present when we are back.

Errand No 2 was much easier. The criteria for picking Zoe's pre-school was straightforward: i) It had to believe in the Montessori approach, ii) It should be a short walk from home & iii) It needed to be bilingual in its medium of instruction.
After touring nearly 10+ pre-schools, I was happy to learn that Happy Kids Adventure Club, in our hood, (where Zoe has been attending Holiday Sessions) has plans to start their very own Montessori-approach pre-school program, January 2013 onwards. And while the main medium of instruction will be English, the second language taught will be Mandarin. It's like Errand No. 2 just went and did itself.
Zoe starts Pre-School on January 21st and we are all very excited about this already! Except my Mom perhaps, for fear of having to pick up some Mandarin herself, in case Zoe uses it as her first langauge of choice.

5. Singapore is big on Christmas and New Year celebrations. Naturally, shopping is at an all time high and elaborate, gaudy displays/ decorations have popped up all over the city. Not surprisingly, other extravagant, over-the-top cities such as Dubai & Las Vegas come to mind, right away.
Since we live in the heart of all this commercial materialism (in the Orchard Area), we've been warned of the traffic nightmare (both pedestrian & vehicular) here, during the next few weeks. Thankfully we leave town then, as we discover, is the case with most of the population here.

6. The transient nature of this city-state is most apparent at the end of the year, when one sees a sharp decline in the 'expat' faces around. An Expat lifestyle brings with it perks, of more-than-average vacation days/ home country visits, especially in the festive season. Hence patterns such as the natural outflux of the Caucasian and a sudden influx of the powerful Indian tourist occur (I need to make a special mention here of this one particular type of Indian tourist one sees very often here - the sophisticated, high-class, large designer sunshades wearing, fashionably dressed, middle-aged all-women groups). And of course there is the omnipresent Singaporean/ Chinese local who has nowhere to go. Who really didnt celebrate the Calendar New Year until commercialisation made it absolutely necessary for them to do so.
I must mention however that the upside of living in Singapore is that every kind of New Year is celebrated here, (Hindu, Tamil, Chinese, Western and what say you) which translates directly into more public holidays, hence more travel ops. You get my drift....

7. We wound up the week with a series of 'last dinners of the year', with Hubster's colleagues and our other Ex-NewYorker friends, all of whom were migrating out of the city for the holidays. While spirits were high in general, the 'sense of not-belonging here' was evident in everyone we met (Most being non-Singaporeans).

Sometimes I feel bad for Singapore. Because everyone wants to have a temporary love affair with it, yet no one wants to call it home. (A stark contrast from cities like NY, that everyone wants to be a part of, whether they live there or not).
 I have moved here to Singapore, after living in three other cities; all of which I still call home. Because to them I belong as they belong to me.
Home is where the heart is, they say. And everyone here, seems to have their hearts in other cities. So Singapore gets no love. Perhaps that is why it chooses to mask itself, behind its overt materialism.
It works like a rest-stop, sort of like an extended layover for most; to do exactly that - stop, relax, enjoy a little before it's time to pack-up and leave, for the next destination.
People come and people go; a few willingly stay here forever. So much so that all household services such as cable TV/ Phone/ Apartment leases/ Domestic worker contracts are designed specifically to suit the average duration of a 'transient expat stay' - 2 years.
I hope to forge some sense of belonging with this city before I leave. So that I can call this my 4th city home. Not only because I've lived here at some point in my life, but because it kept a part of me and gave me some part of it in return.

Thanks for reading,
Shweyta




 

Singapore Suitcases: Week 9 (aka the finale week of 3 homes in 3 consecutive weeks) - Of Travel Bugs, Intrusive neighbors & a lovely destination wedding!

1. There's something addictive about the habit of travel. The more you do it, the more you want to do it.
Week 7 was spent in NYC, Week 8 in Singapore and this one, Week 9 was be spent in India. It can get tiring, cause dis-orientation and involve a lot of packing/ unpacking. Yet if you ask me, I can keep doing this for a long time to come; that's how much I enjoy multi-city living. And with an almost 18 month old who seems to have joined the bandwagon sportingly enough as well, who knows we might just be at the onset of this habit transforming into a lifelong practice.

2. A trip to Mumbai is always fun and forever looked-forward to. Not just reuniting with the family & friends but the sights, sounds, smells and most importantly the street-food are always incentives that pull me back there, as often as possible. Not to count the relaxing (on the scalp & the pocket) head oil massages that I've been a big fan of, ever since I discovered them eons ago, which have become an essential indulgence in every Mumbai trip so far.

3. Zoe met L'ill Reinaa and I met Sumi, one evening in Mumbai, over yummy samosa's, dhoklas, chai & whatnots, courtesy: Sumi's generous Dad who brought these home especially for our international playdate (British/ American babies were meeting in Mumbai, India).
Sumi and I (who happen to have a gazillion common friends from all walks of our lives) are modern-day pen pals. After having met just once in person when we both lived in NY, we've stayed in touch since, over emails and social media. Naturally, a reunion in Mumbai was a must, when both of us realised that we were going to be in the city, at the same time. More so, to introduce our two little daughters to each other, who spent the evening babbling & dancing while their Mommy's bonded over life, cities, careers & motherhood.

4. Mumbai trips are filled with reunions, be it with friends, family or acquaintances, some of whom one is happy to meet up close & personal and others whom one flees from, having spotted from even far across the road. Each trip back home, brings to the fore curious cats (Read neighborhood uncles & aunties usually) with questions that one has forgotten the art of answering, after having lived in the States for as long as we have. Thankfully being married with a baby provides an impenetrable shield of sorts to intrusive queries, although it does not guarantee a completely non-intrusive conversation at the very least. Unless of course one does a quick, "Oh Uncle I forgot something....." and cuts it short by rushing off in the middle of a chat.

5. The Father-In-Law has indulged in a new set of hot wheels; the purchase of which was deliberately timed by him, to overlap with Zoe's visit to Mumbai. While he hoped his grand-daughter would auto-start the car for him, she appeared to be more interested in moving to the music belting out of the car's stereo system. The 'green bicyclist' in me let out a silent 'Yay'. There may be some hope that she's taken after her 'would-rather-bike-the-earth' mother than her 'I-love-my-BMW' father. Am just saying you know!

6. 'The Village' (as we appropriately call ourselves) is a group of fun-loving, spirited, high-on-life, young 30-somethings (well, averagely speaking) that all came together over the past few years in NYC (but now live in the city & everywhere else) and went from being friend-of-a-friend to becoming local family for each other. For us (Hubster and I), The Village is also known as the biggest fan-base of our daughter. To them, she is a communal responsibility, with whom each member has forged personal relationships over the past year and a half of her life.
Two of our fellow Villagers met and fell in love in NYC and decided to tie the knot this December in Mumbai. The wedding was to serve as a mega-reunion for all of us and that is exactly what it turned out to be.
The daughter and I joined other Wedding guests in boarding the 'Wedding Bus' that took us to the venue - Silent Hills Resort on Friday morning, from Mumbai. Hubster joined us there, a day later.
The entire weekend was planned meticulously by the organizers and special kudos goes to the bride's lovely Mom, who left no detail unplanned. From the delightful catch-up sessions with old friends and a plethora of self-volunteered baby-sitters/ dance partners for the daughter, to the delicious fare served for every meal; From a dynamic setting that matched the mood of every function to a variety of foot-tapping music beats that kept us grooving all weekend long; From giving me my first ever 'Nauvari' draping experience to seeing the daughter drool (literally) all over the groom or steal the bride's thunder with the photographers (Not that the bride would mind that), this was a memorable wedding weekend, for sure.
Oh and of course, after all that gluttony, my wedding lehenga still fit, which was an added bonus!

7. Our last few hours in Mumbai were spent with Hubster's side of the family, doing what we do best at his place; shamelessly devour Fried Pomfret, Sol kadhi with Rice, Shrimp Curry among other delicacies. Being married to a coastal Maharashtrian ensures that my periodic cravings for Fried Pomfret are taken care of, courtesy M-I-L's lip-smackingly good Maharashtrian fare.

On that gluttonous note, we left Mumbai once again to get back to Singapore. The next week is going to be a 'Rest Week' as per our self-imposed mandate, after which the plan is to elope again, for another two week long international escapade. Visas need to be taken care of and travel-kits need replenishment. On to these tasks and many more, I will be back next week with another update!
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Shweyta

Singapore Suitcases: Week 8 - Of plane-spotting, 'Rest Weeks' & Narcissistic pleasures!

1. Strangely no planes fly in our sky. The sky we view from our apartment balcony, that is. Our sky stretches out all the way to the other end of the city, yet planes are few and far between. Naturally, as Changi is almost at the outskirts of the city. A sheer contrast to our sky in Jersey City, where planes/ copters dotted the horizon so often that the baby's favorite hobby growing up was plane-spotting. She misses doing that now, it seems as she stares up at a blank sky. So we, her parents have come up with the next best solution, to always keep her in a plane, a strategy that seems to have worked out nicely for all of us, what with our incessant travel offlate. Needless to say "airplane" and "airport" are the two most oft repeated words in her vocabulary.

2. The week that could've started on a jet-laggy note, luckily failed to do so. Our flight back from JFK was much shorter, thus easier. The daughter slept throughout the first leg and a warm shower at the Star Alliance Lounge in Frankfurt made sure she was well-rested even on the second one. Landing back in Singapore during the day, only helped blend the two timezones further. I cannot stop raving about Changi Airport's efficiency once again. With every single time that we land here, this airport beats its own past record and gets us out (landed, processed & immigrated) quicker than the last. By the end of our stint in this city-state, I am convinced that what I will miss most about living in Singapore is this airport!

3. The week is an important one; a classical indicator of times to come. It is what we term as the 'Rest Week'. In designing our travels, since we've moved here two months ago, we've made sure to intersperse two consecutive itineraries with a 'Rest Week' in between, (for both ours & the daughter's sanity's sake). A 'Rest Week' is spent locally in Singapore, unpacking, running errands, doing laundry, re-packing etc before we jet-set again to the next destination, at the end of the week. This week was one such, aka known as the week between NYC & Mumbai.

4. Zoe had Holiday Playgroup Classes all week long at her now fave haunt - Happy Kids Club Adventures. A win-win for her and me, as we got our much-needed 'away' time from each other. While I spent my precious few 'alone-time' hours running important errands and checking-off tasks from the insatiable to-do list I seem to have offlate, she happily came home with new art-works every day, that now compete with each other for display-space in her room.

5. It could be their defence mechanism towards the humid & hot climate here in Singapore, but all enclosed spaces (Read mall) feel the need to have their own unique scent. Usually floral, every air-conditioned space here (which virtually means every space here, since they are all air-conditioned), feels the need to dispense into it's re-circulated air, some kind of whiff, that while intelligently warding off body odour can also make one nauseous to the core. Perhaps that explains why half of Asia roams around wearing air-purifying masks.

6.  Happiness can manifest itself in ridiculously narcissistic ways; such as the pleasure one feels when fitting into one's wedding lehenga, 5 years of marriage & 1 C-Section later. The week revealed that while my metabolism could be counted upon for maintenance, it seems to have forgotten how to cause weight loss. So a lot of prodding it, is in order, in the next few weeks.

7. The coming week will witness another first for us; the first time ever that I take a flight with the daughter alone. I decided to bite the bullet on this one and experiment flying solo with her, on the short leg between Singapore - Mumbai, with one of our preferred 'baby-friendly' carriers, Singapore Airlines.  I caved in though, to the lure of flying Business Class, in hopes of extra 'special' treatment. And of course I had my fingers crossed, hoping for a stroke of luck in finding that overtly-fond-of-kids kinda air-hostess who could babysit the daughter inflight. How that one turns out, you ll know in my next week's update.

The next week will be spent in Mumbai, capped with what promises to be a fun reunion weekend at the wedding of two of our fellow villagers from NYC. Looking forward to having the global village descend upon us to take the daughter off of our hands for the entire weekend (Clearly we love delegation as you can tell). It does help that our little attention-hogger cares two hoots who she's hanging out with, friend or a stranger as long as it's playful company. Bringing this little mingler to social events is thus always a win-win-win only because she enjoys herself, constantly entertains everyone around her and keeps her parents scot-free as they get to mingle around without her.

Thats all for this week as its now time for me to go try on some more traditional attire to pack for the wedding. Here's hoping to continue pleasing the inner Narcissus!
Until next week, stay well and take care!
Shweyta

Singapore Suitcases: Week 7 - Of Manhattan hotels, a home away from home and a frequent flyer baby!

1. We flew an A380 from Singapore to NYC. A first for me. So far Ive only designed gates at airports for the plane, this time I got to travel by it too.
Unfortunately for us direct flight lovers, Singapore Air decided to terminate their direct flights from Singapore to Newark, aka the world's longest direct flight, which used to be entirely business class. The hubster has had the fortune of flying that one before, but the daughter and I have'nt sadly, as much as I'd have loved to. So we make did this trip with a 24 hour flight journey with a 2 hour long stopover at Frankfurt. Yes I know just reading that is tiring enough.
The daughter was both co-operative and out of control at times. Naturally the entire lower floor of the A380 knew who Zoe was and rode in terror at the prospect of having her show up yet again, peeping into their business, every few minutes.

2. Singapore Airlines is a very baby friendly airline. As is KLM. Not only does the crew make it a point to know the baby's name but are also helpful/ resourceful with food, milk, toys etc. Note to Self: The next time you fly on either of these, do not bother carrying anything baby-related except diapers, since most baby supplies are on the house. Now if only they could provide baby-sitters on board, that would be any Mommy's dream come true.

3. Just the air in some cities has the power to spark off a drunken euphoria and give one goosebumps sometimes. Needless to say, NYC does that to me. And the aerial view of flying into JFK, (albeit not as scenic as flying into LGA or EWR), brings a sense of home-coming that can only compare to what I feel each time I fly into Mumbai.
As we piggy-backed onto the little one's passport and cleared ourselves out of the 'US Citizens' line at Immigration, the officer's "Welcome Home" greeting brought instant smiles on our faces and a spring in our step.

4. I had forgotten how it feels to come visit the US after living outside it for a while.
Comparisons are but natural, considering we were now coming from 'Let-me-spoil-you-Asia'. Even though we've lived in Asia for only 2 months, as compared to the 10+ years in the US, the differences were strikingly apparent.
Our home for the week was the W Hotel on 50th and Lexington in Manhattan, conveniently located close to everything that we would need for the week.
Be it the curt DIY attitude at the Manhattan hotel Vs the 'I-bow-before-thee-my-lord' attitude at our Singapore one, the skimp perks of a bagel-breakfast at the former Vs an all-inclusive multi-culinary breakfast buffet at the latter, the meagre comforts of a Starwood Group Manhattan Hotel (I do not mean the lack of space here, since space in Manhattan is obviously at a premium, so to expect roominess here would be being ignorant)  Vs the over-the-top lavishness of the Starwood group Singapore one, it was quite clear we were now in NYC.
The lack in all of the above, however, was made up for by the reception/ attention that the little one garnered at the Hotel, by staff and guests alike. Whoever thinks New Yorkers are not warm/ friendly enough, should try living in Singapore with gregarious babies.

5. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. And that fond heart then spoils you silly too, in the process, as we saw in our one week in NYC.
While Hubster worked from his Manhattan office, the daughter and I struck off one reunion after another with friends, ex-colleagues/ ex-school mates etc. It is always nice to be a visitor at home. People bend their schedules to catch up with you more often than not. The unwritten rule of 'pay-for-the-guest' would apply to me in NYC, I did not know of, until now.
A big Thanks to everyone who made it a point to come see us/ have us over, be it for a few minutes or multiple times throughout the week. It is because of you that we left the city knowing it has missed us and hope that it knows how much we miss it too!

6. I've often been asked how we manage to take the baby with us on such frequent, short international trips.
On-flight the key has always been to let-her-be. If she wants to walk, we walk with her and for take-off or landing we make sure she's intellectually occupied with books or random airplane-seat paraphernalia. We've always carried limited toys on flight, making toys out of objects we find on board usually. So far that has worked fine. However, that might soon have to change.
As her frequent flyer miles shoot up gradually, airplane gadgetry has lost its novelty on her, so here on perhaps its time to innovate. And of course a big chunk of the credit goes to friendly co-passengers who are usually at the receiving end of her stares/ drools as they eat and hence out of sheer compulsion end up sharing their food with her.
"What? You dont use Benadryl?" asked her pediatrician, this week when we went to meet her in Hoboken. Sheepishly I nodded, saying I prefer to not medicate unless absolutely necessary.
"90% of children get drowsy after Benadryl while the remaining 10% get hyperactive. So make sure you try it out first, if you do decide to use it" she said.
Not fully convinced yet, I managed the courage to try it one evening at our hotel room, only to see that the daughter outright refused it. That was the end of the Benadryl discussion as far as we were concerned. Since she has'nt really driven us up the wall yet on flights, we figured let's keep things as un-medicated as we can for now.
Our other travel secret with the baby is hiring sitters wherever we go. This trip was going to be no different, except of course instead of relying on the hotel baby-sitter, we got our close friend's future baby-sitter to work with us for our last few days and nights out in the city.

7. Considering we are on the road/ in a plane more often than ever now, that too with surplus baggage allowance, we've realised it is only convenient if we run our errands, wherever we can. These vary from everyday needs such as buying the baby's cereal in one country & shampoo in another to getting a haircut in one country and making a doctor's appointment in another. Surprising; how easy it is to actually have errands done on-the-go like this.

8. An important errand was to go meet the European models, aka the current residents of The Original MD House, to pick up our mail. Besides no visit back home can be complete without going home really, now can it? The house seemed happy, perhaps because its current residents are such great caretakers. I gave Hubster the 'See-how-well-these-men-keep-house' look only to receive his classic 'Whatever' response in return.

9. In the batting of an eyelid this trip was over with. We found ourselves heading to JFK, dreading our relatively shorter (by a few hours, since we were flying East) flight back to Singapore. I convinced myself, as I did most of my friends in NYC that I would've stayed longer, had it not been for the unnecessary hassle of travelling alone with a child. As a policy, I ve kept myself exempt from the above, until absolutely necessary. In fact my maiden voyage with the daughter will be two weeks from now, when she and I fly to Mumbai. The 5-1/2 hour journey I might be able to live with, me thinks. More on that in the next write-ups to come.

Thus ended a fun but quick trip back to one of our homes. We left with the promise of returning again in a few months, to meet some who would've turned newly weds, others who would've become parents, some newly arrived babies and others that would've grown up to become toddlers.

As of now, I need to get back to doing what I do best these days; travel research followed by
flight & hotel bookings for the next itinerary on the charts.
Until next time, stay well!
Love,
Shweyts