tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34306933309038544682024-02-07T10:52:28.469+05:30It Never SnowedLife with a family originally from the UK, now US citizens, and now on a two year assignment in BangaloreAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-61171445867811696212012-10-20T15:34:00.002+05:302012-10-20T15:34:34.547+05:30Running in Bangalore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
About three years ago I realized that I was getting really unhealthy and overweight, and knew that action really needed to be taken. One of my neighbors used to be in the Army and had done tons of running but hadn't run in ages and was really missing it. So one slightly drunken evening we decided that we would try learning to run and see how we got on. The following morning we just about managed half a mile, but through perseverance, going out three or four mornings a week and gradually increasing our distance, we began to feel that we were OK at it. I had another friend who ran longer distances, and he encouraged me to run with him at weekends. The first time I ran five miles it felt like something of a miracle, but I found that it was easier than I expected, and also a lot more fun, especially running round the beautiful lakes of Minneapolis. After a couple of years of this I would wake up in the morning ready to go, and was in probably the best shape I've ever been in - I could do 10-15 miles without a ton of effort and it was really enjoyable, and lost about 25 pounds without having to cut back on what I was eating or drinking.<div>
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When we moved to Bangalore I unfortunately stopped running regularly. I was getting used to the overall upheaval of moving, and also getting used to the different work and life schedule, where I'd be up at 6:45 to get the kids ready for school, but work till 6 and then have several evening calls a night. I was so wiped out that I felt I had no energy for exercise, and whenever I did (rarely) try to go running it was way harder than I remembered and therefore really demoralizing. Part of the reason it's harder to run here is that there's a lot more pollution and we're at 3,000 feet, so just getting breath is harder than the clear, sea-level air I was used to. The other reason is that I totally love Indian food and was ballooning - I put on over 15 pounds - so it was much more effort to get myself moving.</div>
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Once again friends came to the rescue - a couple of guys here were feeling the same way and wanted some encouragement to get running, so we arranged to start going three mornings a week. We live in a gated community where it's nice and safe to run - clean, well-maintained roads, quiet traffic and no wild dogs - but we thought it would be more fun and interesting to run outside along the local roads. It was a bit daunting at first because of all the traffic (the sidewalks are too crumbly to run along without paying tons of attention so we have to run in the gutter of the road), plus the concern of getting lost, and of being attacked by dogs. There are loads of wild dogs in Bangalore and especially at night or early in the morning they can get pretty aggressive, especially towards runners or people on bikes. I know one guy who was biking and was chased down by a dog, which must have been really scary. When we're running and dogs start having a go at us, the best thing is to stop, face them and shout, or even pick up stones to throw at them - that usually does the trick. Also the local folks here are great about also shouting at the dogs, so although it's sometimes unnerving we haven't had any injuries. But anyway, the challenges are far outweighed by how fun it is to get out of our bubble of the gated community and to see "real" India. We run through villages and see the local people starting their days - lighting fires to cook breakfast, looking after their cows, goats or chickens, and generally living life. The houses are very small so a lot of life is out in the common space. We often get waved to by smiling kids, who love to shout hello and sometimes will run after us for a bit. Because we're on the eastern edge of the city, we're really close to fields and rural areas, and it's wonderful how quiet it gets as we run past rice paddies or banana fields. One of the guys is thinking of getting a small wearable video camera to record what we see as we're running. It's also made me much more confident about getting out and about and exploring the side streets more.</div>
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On the fitness side it feels like things are coming along pretty well now that I've been doing this for three months. Last month (with the aid of my Nike running watch) I saw that I'd run over 90 miles, and I'm on for beating that this month if I stick with it. I'm getting back to the point when I actively enjoy it again and often feel like I can just keep going for ages. A couple of weekends ago I did 8.5 miles on Saturday and 13 on Sunday - kind of exhausting but not killer. I've shifted a few pounds but still have another ten to go before I get closer to where I feel I should be. But overall it's been great to get moving again, and a fantastic way to enjoy India in a whole new way.</div>
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Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-90954673046236065042012-09-29T12:35:00.000+05:302012-09-29T12:35:08.019+05:30Doing Well by Doing Good<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Toby has always been a caring little guy, he often asks about how he can help out and he always showed a big interest in my non-profit related work and our giving as a family. At the end of last school year we were going through his documents and we found a certificate of appreciation for his involvement in CAS - the school community action group. We had no idea that he had signed up for this and spent the whole year working with fellow students to raise awareness and solicit donations of time & treasure to support the community school and orphanage. Looking back we should have asked more about it when he did his speech about a donation drive, but we had assumed it was a classroom thing rather than extra-curricular. He got some lovely feedback on his end of year report and we were really inspired by the fact that he did this all on his own and never looked for recognition from us or others.<br />
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When school started in August I encouraged Toby to sign up for CAS again this year. His two best friends were no longer in India and I think that partly because of that, and also because there was a new teacher coordinating, he decided not to do it. Typical Toby style, I didn't find out about that until after a few weeks when I asked what they were up to. I didn't want to push it, but told him that I was surprised as he had enjoyed it so much last year and that at the very least he should go and meet the new teacher and find out more. The subject never came up again...<br />
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... until this past Tuesday when the following conversation happened about 7:00pm -<br />
T: Mum<br />
E: Yes<br />
T: I need 50 cupcakes for a fundraiser at school on Thursday<br />
E: Oh, where are you planning to get those? It is pretty late tonight and you have after school swimming tomorrow<br />
T: Um... I thought you would make them for me... please?<br />
E: I guess I can do that, a fundraiser?<br />
T: yes<br />
E: Fine - but you'll have to get on your scooter and head down to the shop for butter, eggs and some sugar<br />
T: OK... Mum?.. thanks [hug]<br />
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There was, of course, no written notice about any of this in his school diary, so I resorted to Facebook to ask if any other Indus parents has been asked to magic up said cupcakes, or if it was merely a ploy to get better snacks. Somewhat unhelpfully I got no confirmation, but a lot of status likes.<br />
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So, Wednesday morning I get going and churn out 50 assorted cupcakes:<br />
<img alt="Photo: Toby's snack... choc with white choc and gems; choc with choc chips and lemon with gummi bears." src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/c0.0.403.403/p403x403/264246_4624626057224_1548287645_n.jpg" /><br />
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Small digression on the odd 5 chocolate ones. I made two sets of batter, one chocolate and one lemon. I glazed the lemon cupcakes with a lemon glaze and added gummi bears as they were all I had and I thought they would attract kids to buy the cake. The chocolate ones I did with a white chocolate frosting and gems, as I had some white choc left from Dara's birthday cake. Turns out, I was 5 cakes short with the frosting needed and was too lazy to manage another set of buttercream, so just semi-melted some choc chips and mixed with some icing sugar for an emergency glaze. Oh, and ways to annoy your housekeeper #457: spend all morning baking in the kitchen, make a huge mess and insist on cleaning it up yourself. At one point she was pulling my hands out the sink as I was trying to wash up a bowl...<br />
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When Toby staggers in after swimming at about 7:15 he goes straight to the kitchen to inspect the cakes. Over the evening meal we try to get more information. Turns out this is not a class thing, but a CAS project by a small group of 3rd, 4th & 5th graders.<br />
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E: I thought you decided not to do that this year<br />
T: Well, I did what you said and I went to see the new teacher and I thought that she was very organized and would probably be a good coordinator and so I joined and the sale is what we are doing.<br />
E: Oh, well that's good<br />
T: yes, we had to see Miss Arpoorva (head of primary school) and tell her about our plan and she said it all sounded really good<br />
E: are you only selling cakes?<br />
T: No, mostly cakes, but one kid can make origami ninja stars and so he'll sell those for Rs5 and I think there are some pencils too. I'm bringing cupcakes and Shrikar is bringing brownies<br />
E: I have not seen anything about the sale how are kids finding out?<br />
T: oh, well we went to the computer place and asked the man there to design and print some posters and we have put them up around the school, and then some of us went to the middle school classrooms to make an announcement. The thing is it is at lunch and so I won't get to have a lunch break, but that's OK.<br />
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It was a two day sale and they had a goal of Rs 2000. Day 1 (cupcake day) they sold out of cakes in 15 minutes and made Rs 1958. Apparently the emergency choc glaze sold out first... typical..., and they pretended they were brownies as the actual brownies were forgotten at home. They said they just had low stock. (I got very careful feedback about the cakes. The choc white choc were very popular and tasty. Students thought the gummi bears were a nice touch on the lemon cakes, but that the glaze was not that tasty.) Day 2 went less well as there was ice cream for dessert at school so fewer kids looking for a tasty treat, but they still exceeded their goal.<br />
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Leadership is a core part of the curriculum at Toby's school - one of the reasons were are happy we chose it and we got a lovely email from Toby's class teacher:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">I just wanted to let you know how proud I was of the way that Toby and his team conceptualised, planned and executed their fundraiser today. We do have some budding entrepreneurs in our midst! I would really like to help them develop these skills and look forward to working with them on this in the coming months. Many thanks to you as well for supporting them in their endeavour. Seeing their enthusiasm has inspired many other students in our class too. They are already discussing their ideas for taking action and some of their business plans have already come in. I am so looking forward to seeing them come to life. </span><br />
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Toby is reluctant to take credit for leading it, he says that they really all did it together and that the 3rd grader was "really very helpful". Well, we love that our Toby is really very helpful - at least some of the time.<br />
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Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16316407918785078560noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-11676091396446794212012-06-16T21:53:00.001+05:302012-06-16T21:53:27.446+05:30Thinking Ahead<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There's an interesting relationship here between a driver and the people he drives around. On one hand the driver is really in charge when we're on the road - in theory he knows exactly where he's going and the ability to survive in Bangalore traffic is incredibly impressive. On the other hand it's not uncommon for drivers to be subservient to a fault.<br />
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Our driver, Mahesh, is quite young, in his mid-twenties, and he's a very nice chap and very capable driver. We really trust him, especially with the kids and our other valuables, and as a family we rely on him hugely - I'm not allowed to drive at all, so whenever we need to go somewhere we have to have him there. On the whole he's very capable indeed, but today he showed me that kind of subservient, eager to please attitude which can very easily make you crazy.<br />
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We have some friends from Minneapolis coming to visit in late July, they're flying in to northern India and will have a week or so there before coming down to Bangalore. I'm actually off to Minneapolis later this evening (early tomorrow morning - all the international flights leave overnight) and will be seeing them next weekend, so my friend asked if I could bring him over an Indian SIM card so that he can use his phone as soon as he arrives in India - great idea. I spoke to Mahesh about it yesterday, and it turned out that while you can buy SIM cards almost anywhere, you need several types of ID, most of which I don't have, so I asked him to get a pre-paid one in his name. Today while we were going into town he gave me the card, and said that it should work just fine in the phone - I asked a couple of times if I should just pop it in my phone and was told that it was all set. A friend of mine was in the car at the same time, and he asked what we would do when the phone company calls this week to verify the name and address associated with the SIM card. Apparently in India you can't just buy and then use a SIM card - there are various background checks, and if the phone company can't get hold of you to validate your details within a week they just switch the card off. I'm told that it's a security thing, but like lots of bureaucracy and supposed security checks in India, it ends up being incredibly annoying without actually providing any kind of improved security whatsoever.<br />
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Anyway, I asked Mahesh about this call from the phone company and he said "yes sir, they will call." I asked what the call would be, and he said "They will ask for my name and address which you should tell them [so I would have to pretend to be Mr. Mahesh] - I will give you my address sir." Aside from the unlikelihood of someone with my accent being called Mahesh, I had to point out to Mahesh that he knew that I would be out of the country for the next two weeks, seeing as he will be driving me to and from the airport, and how did he think that the phone company would be able to get hold of me? He didn't have an answer for this, so after a while he suggested giving me one of the SIM cards from his phone (which strangely has two SIM cards) and they could use his number. I guess that's the only way we can make it work, so now I have his SIM card and he has mine.<br />
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So we kind of have it worked out, but it is one of the facets of life here that when you are the "sir" there are a lot of people who want to say yes to you (like when you ask "do you know where such and such an address is?") but they actually have no idea of the answer; or tell you that they have fixed things when actually the things are not fixed. I totally get that Mahesh wanted to do the right thing and show me that he had gotten the SIM card, but if my friend hadn't been there to ask about a fairly crucial detail it would all have been a waste of time. It's one of the things about being a newcomer to a country that lots of little details aren't immediately obvious and navigating even basic things is tricky (the same thing happened when I moved to the US) but it would help if the people who are supposed to be helping me would give me the whole story without me having to keep asking questions or somehow stumble on a potential problem.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-55670639883405076042012-05-12T09:18:00.000+05:302012-05-12T09:18:14.534+05:30Chez Mariannick<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of our favorite restaurants here is fortunately quite close to where we live so on a Friday evening we don't have to face tons of traffic to get there, or we can take a 20 minute walk. It's called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003102826587" target="_blank">Chez Mariannick</a>, and is a place with so much unique atmosphere I had to post about it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8B9UatF-u2KWgnRJVJmI50lj8aIfivlgjOMBpn_e7khKCr3TX1Y4QgMDbFttny3pG2Kvl2EQRTOQXkOZ32wH6eEyfxl7uGfX8XWtPCMHYJpIjiBFcSj2VG_8dFV81a1-qyes64jJXZFr_/s1600/P1070894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8B9UatF-u2KWgnRJVJmI50lj8aIfivlgjOMBpn_e7khKCr3TX1Y4QgMDbFttny3pG2Kvl2EQRTOQXkOZ32wH6eEyfxl7uGfX8XWtPCMHYJpIjiBFcSj2VG_8dFV81a1-qyes64jJXZFr_/s320/P1070894.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was created and is owned by a lovely couple, Shashi and Mariannick - he's from London and she is from France. My understanding is that they built the place themselves, it's basically in a field off the main road, and it has a lovely rustic feel to it. The centerpiece is the amazing brick ovens, where they make bread, quiches, desserts and some of the best pizza I've ever had. During the week they're open for lunch and dinner and serve all those goodies - they even deliver croissants and other things to local residents:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRr6HR6ZTzKGNUHqosnUXlMMUSRyoVpv0tUiMBv7xKmjZtQVrON5KwOVJKRu_swYd8shQwwI8D8eD4e_r5F_saMDnoIRoYIYLU8sZ1wxsAXBwnaHUNw2kxaFl2MXB394KhYhRwxxuSKTHS/s1600/P1070933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRr6HR6ZTzKGNUHqosnUXlMMUSRyoVpv0tUiMBv7xKmjZtQVrON5KwOVJKRu_swYd8shQwwI8D8eD4e_r5F_saMDnoIRoYIYLU8sZ1wxsAXBwnaHUNw2kxaFl2MXB394KhYhRwxxuSKTHS/s320/P1070933.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making pizza</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleaning the oven</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The patisserie case</td></tr>
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On Friday and Saturday nights they also make amazing crepes, so that's when we love to go. It's such a great way to wind down after a busy week. As soon as you arrive (after an effusive welcome from Shashi) you get fresh bread and huge bowls of salad with the excellent French vinaigrette.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bread and salad</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite crepe, La Dijonnaise. Cream, mustard, chicken and mushrooms</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Cheers<br /> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIEkKpI-U-YTkdzMOJLdi1Q4xkn7-iPCugAiulY0nBvLYCX-LP0RKFX1Mms8I8fSLX0Wq42dVGRZPwGTS7AwQAeEwxsYXqyiSo_LQgc77vHkDkiTyf0yOe4qzYxU5HMaGC4ICkBhJMzGK/s1600/P1070923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIEkKpI-U-YTkdzMOJLdi1Q4xkn7-iPCugAiulY0nBvLYCX-LP0RKFX1Mms8I8fSLX0Wq42dVGRZPwGTS7AwQAeEwxsYXqyiSo_LQgc77vHkDkiTyf0yOe4qzYxU5HMaGC4ICkBhJMzGK/s320/P1070923.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thumb of approval from Toby</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmPvvImlBTZ7Po8TLDjc2sehXkRyGgjnExy9WruM9yLhDGVQyjbjGdRDzj0dxNj-CLK_Zee5Zg_tAzevkIAe4UChzo-gQR62XHKcIPF-JzKqObqkJcOLBTGmaD_GUmCPA7deNklRCCBnF/s1600/P1070902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmPvvImlBTZ7Po8TLDjc2sehXkRyGgjnExy9WruM9yLhDGVQyjbjGdRDzj0dxNj-CLK_Zee5Zg_tAzevkIAe4UChzo-gQR62XHKcIPF-JzKqObqkJcOLBTGmaD_GUmCPA7deNklRCCBnF/s320/P1070902.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara prefers a plain buckwheat crepe</td></tr>
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The main course pancakes are made from buckwheat flour. Apparently they had some trouble sourcing the right kind of flour at first, but now the quality of the crepes is consistently excellent. The dessert pancakes are to die for:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaZW-DOMOo7vwHL-S21ArygmV-jv0O6F6HgT3VrSDDNmIcqOVxqcLgnda5vhB5p-vv2eBP_MKSDYG8OW8v7UMgw9kQYAs21F8lOftJufTOSLK_YWIoXIyXR-ZOXn1MnH2nNIBZBUHhnup/s1600/P1070929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKaZW-DOMOo7vwHL-S21ArygmV-jv0O6F6HgT3VrSDDNmIcqOVxqcLgnda5vhB5p-vv2eBP_MKSDYG8OW8v7UMgw9kQYAs21F8lOftJufTOSLK_YWIoXIyXR-ZOXn1MnH2nNIBZBUHhnup/s320/P1070929.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peaches and cream crepe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gq1Hs5fXU9wbIPUzjACTB7VQ9F4jggrnApn86Jz-xGcgsXhp2rZ4I_gJlGMTJIaCenlkrExdcCVunu5DFL7JM9rh-ZjQucbHjtp7nKhqFwDU-lImV9aTOoxRia9FmwqtA_rRmFwq9jpx/s1600/P1070930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gq1Hs5fXU9wbIPUzjACTB7VQ9F4jggrnApn86Jz-xGcgsXhp2rZ4I_gJlGMTJIaCenlkrExdcCVunu5DFL7JM9rh-ZjQucbHjtp7nKhqFwDU-lImV9aTOoxRia9FmwqtA_rRmFwq9jpx/s320/P1070930.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Belle Helene: pears, chocolate and cream</td></tr>
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<br />Look at the amazing texture on the edge of that crepe! Yum. <div>
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They also have a really nice outdoor section with granite tables and benches, and a cool climbing fort for the kids. Toby and Dara always make new friends when we're there. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKXdeNOWIr-IDUAJ_LfdFs3TUVonPGVsAr7caJJRtNJeOWASzlVbca1vjfcATIwo7FKYlnoix7L_s6bYT4Z5WVOVvsBhqbZqqa_C0-Sf2MsiX6dKTvLf9F0Wie75Ww8GwHTJmezpz_1uY/s1600/P1070935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKXdeNOWIr-IDUAJ_LfdFs3TUVonPGVsAr7caJJRtNJeOWASzlVbca1vjfcATIwo7FKYlnoix7L_s6bYT4Z5WVOVvsBhqbZqqa_C0-Sf2MsiX6dKTvLf9F0Wie75Ww8GwHTJmezpz_1uY/s320/P1070935.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the restaurant</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_QAhKnhXpXB7enZRLmuezQM2sgP3UGsWuIWKfuSuyG7_V2q36RGVc2Z4BR6XStn2NHkJYGa-HKyPkfrxT3H4c1hw1cJyHMSUMxsIIj2csE8T57ao1AIeumrgbQG1q_hpL5iakj66oSwm/s1600/P1070928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_QAhKnhXpXB7enZRLmuezQM2sgP3UGsWuIWKfuSuyG7_V2q36RGVc2Z4BR6XStn2NHkJYGa-HKyPkfrxT3H4c1hw1cJyHMSUMxsIIj2csE8T57ao1AIeumrgbQG1q_hpL5iakj66oSwm/s320/P1070928.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shashi and Mariannick</td></tr>
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<br />We've taken a lot of visitors to the place, and if you're in town I highly recommend a visit.</div>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0Palm Meadows, Varthur Road, Whitefield, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560066, India12.962227 77.73877512.946753000000001 77.719034000000008 12.977701 77.758516tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-13166270956083267632012-05-03T20:40:00.003+05:302012-05-03T20:40:13.137+05:30Stormy Weather<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We got back from Singapore to a huge storm. Fortunately the plane landed before it got bad, but as we were waiting for our driver at the airport the power in the terminal went out, and we could see loads of lightning flashes in the sky. While we were in Singapore there were quite a few storms, it being a rainforest and all, but everyone took it in their stride - no power cuts, and while people drove a little slower, the traffic still moved calmly and efficiently. Not the case, of course, in Bangalore.</div>
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On the drive home a lot of the roads were flooded. We're fortunate we don't have to ride in a rickshaw or on a bike - they must have been totally soaked. Within five minutes of getting home the power went out. We actually have two circuits in the house - one for low-energy appliances like lights, ceiling fans, the fridge and regular power outlets; another for high-energy like the kettle and kitchen appliances and the hot water heaters and air conditioners. The lights etc came on pretty quickly but the high-energy power stayed off until late in the morning so it was a cold shower for me before work in the morning.</div>
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Mahesh, our driver, was very late to pick me up in the morning - loads of underpasses on the main road from his house were really flooded so the traffic was terrible for him and on the drive to and from work. The power has been shaky for the last couple of days - we did get high-energy last night but it's been on and off all day so we had to have unheated lasagna for dinner. It was tasty enough but would have been better warm.</div>
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The other aspect of the rain starting has been the wildlife. We made the mistake of leaving the porch light on last night and this morning the porch was totally covered in dead beetles and flying ant things - apparently they hatch like crazy when the weather gets like this. It's a bit strange to see so many discarded shells and wings all over the place when you leave the house in the morning.</div>
<br /></div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-73882529083302808712012-05-01T13:55:00.000+05:302012-05-01T13:55:20.140+05:30Singapore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Neither Emma nor I have written anything for the blog in ages. I knew from various friends who have done the expat life in Bangalore before that after a few months it's just kind of life, and you stop noticing all the differences from your home country, like the traffic, the trash, the sights and sounds etc. Actually you do still notice the traffic and trash, but it becomes redundant writing about it all the time. It's just home and where we live and work. The kids are still really enjoying school and we're very happy with it, my work is going really well (although it's pretty exhausting, especially with the arduous commute on each end of each day) and Emma's going great with friends and exploring the city.</div>
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What's possibly more interesting is that we're starting to explore this side of the globe a bit more. We really enjoyed our week in Sri Lanka, and we're planning to go back again sometime, maybe to the south of the island. A few weeks ago we went for a long weekend in Goa which was wonderful. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Resort, and ended up not even leaving the resort the whole time. This was partly because we so enjoyed not having to drive anywhere, but also because the resort and its beach were so wonderful - great food and services too. Also it was really hot for exploring - we're thinking of going back sometime when it's cooler to take a look at the old city - when we got too hot we just jumped in the ocean, which was loads of fun.</div>
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This weekend we're taking advantage of the May Day holiday to do a weekend break in Singapore. It's somewhere I've wanted to go for ages, and it's a wonderful change from the chaos of Bangalore. Everything is incredibly clean and it all just works efficiently. The traffic is busy but everything runs smoothly and calmly - we've only heard one car horn in the four days we've been here. The sidewalks are also clean and despite the heat and humidity it's really pleasant to walk around (compared with Bangalore where the sidewalks are strewn with trash and there are often whole paving stones missing, resulting in a hole through to the drainage ditch below. A few weeks ago I saw a sidewalk in downtown where the trash under the paving had actually caught fire, resulting in four foot high flames coming out of the paving, which everyone just seemed to ignore). There are high rises and malls all over the place, all of which are clean, have nice public restrooms, and loads of food and coffee places. We've had Starbucks for breakfast each day - it may not be the absolute best coffee in the world, but when you don't have anything close in the country you live in, you do miss it. The food's been really good and it's nice to be able to have salads and drinks with ice and not be worried about food poisoning! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-59oDUFNsuBNz56hv3cFj2RF0nJiB7-_Q7vnUGBgNUwrQ3TiPuxXBh-le7LlBGk-9GoyQYD04KjQNEcK9fxM6AH5Z7sO3jbeKarBuWK0EzOs8nEZ6YzzxAtuOPR5gyYG7mlxb6Gkge5O/s1600/P1070402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ-59oDUFNsuBNz56hv3cFj2RF0nJiB7-_Q7vnUGBgNUwrQ3TiPuxXBh-le7LlBGk-9GoyQYD04KjQNEcK9fxM6AH5Z7sO3jbeKarBuWK0EzOs8nEZ6YzzxAtuOPR5gyYG7mlxb6Gkge5O/s320/P1070402.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Singapore from the top of the Marina Bay Sands</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CDXo9b-8X4ypvSnJS6rjENAcCaQJrXeMd7mdAENvcaFaAgc4KEwEmImFA-S7dlWOYCY-BQStn9ni4ReFhMAfcFKLfttQXtOxf1wfvHTinyQxKD-EkoM4Ym26EGA39PxcLAb0eI71OcDc/s1600/P1070419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8CDXo9b-8X4ypvSnJS6rjENAcCaQJrXeMd7mdAENvcaFaAgc4KEwEmImFA-S7dlWOYCY-BQStn9ni4ReFhMAfcFKLfttQXtOxf1wfvHTinyQxKD-EkoM4Ym26EGA39PxcLAb0eI71OcDc/s320/P1070419.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying a drink 57 floors up</td></tr>
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Which brings us to the only downsides of this trip. Firstly the cost. Singapore is insanely expensive. For example at Starbucks for Emma and me to have coffee, the kids to have hot chocolates and us all to have a muffin or bagel, it comes to almost $40. But this is a bargain compared to the breakfast at the hotel, which would run to over $33 each. A beer at most places is about $15, and although the malls are excellent all the clothes are super-expensive too. Today we went to Sentosa Island, which is a big resort location, and each attraction was about $120 for the four of us. We did get a reasonably good deal which included the aquarium, butterfly and insect park, and ten minutes of fish spa, where they have the little fish who nibble at your feet. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRwkBT-x0BYlWTRDYgHBAdSR_IFMDBxioC-8Vr3r9mYIb8T2HiOFROBHmbthdRJUp7pCkWDDCTsGQFkmo-o1CQvnuVR22pQR0JxgABnZjyW50JUhvwLh8epMLryi-GtSePfKznvRHf4X2/s1600/P1070791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRwkBT-x0BYlWTRDYgHBAdSR_IFMDBxioC-8Vr3r9mYIb8T2HiOFROBHmbthdRJUp7pCkWDDCTsGQFkmo-o1CQvnuVR22pQR0JxgABnZjyW50JUhvwLh8epMLryi-GtSePfKznvRHf4X2/s320/P1070791.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birds at Sentosa Island</td></tr>
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I'd never done it before and it was really fun. By the time we got to Universal Studios and saw that it would have been $250 we decided enough was enough, so we're having some downtime in the hotel before we go out for dinner later. However we have seen some cool stuff. The zoo was excellent - we made it there in time for their special breakfast with the orang utans, then had almost the whole day trekking around and got loads of photos of all the tropical animals. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_SG848HnnQQg8J-syQovqTDIwfYvdIyUw2zu0nM2vD67u64hHVE3OA9JUvdgqIqud8HMx7TK3P3mssMiH5dknRKjuxsB-oJZMqAcF4tmA0yjWEU5yFtEqCidE_UuNJPUYYct4GS-EdY2/s1600/P1070557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_SG848HnnQQg8J-syQovqTDIwfYvdIyUw2zu0nM2vD67u64hHVE3OA9JUvdgqIqud8HMx7TK3P3mssMiH5dknRKjuxsB-oJZMqAcF4tmA0yjWEU5yFtEqCidE_UuNJPUYYct4GS-EdY2/s320/P1070557.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having a snack</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxfI4-nIoAhyWrv33x4Cgl-e2PsV5IQJuLpkrufHVmSV-_eE_RsdnytTdw6WdTLP2wPiWUm6o4oqKLkC43SYImij9aZTB2Tm_PEPbbVYJA7Wz_TADhGogKpiZokVVzig5R1ijdT7M-Urd/s1600/P1070517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUxfI4-nIoAhyWrv33x4Cgl-e2PsV5IQJuLpkrufHVmSV-_eE_RsdnytTdw6WdTLP2wPiWUm6o4oqKLkC43SYImij9aZTB2Tm_PEPbbVYJA7Wz_TADhGogKpiZokVVzig5R1ijdT7M-Urd/s320/P1070517.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blending in</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBriYwXfgoIbfDPuWmff-VGd2oZn0AqI_hWsC5zsarIh0KvZZuII1mnSO55sXTimqULgFPaoQ9JSrfaS8Qu9bjQqR53ZbNA_Bt01JXyRUeLY66reSh4DtKMDXNnn-hEXWskNBIcqxHpkoC/s1600/P1070458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBriYwXfgoIbfDPuWmff-VGd2oZn0AqI_hWsC5zsarIh0KvZZuII1mnSO55sXTimqULgFPaoQ9JSrfaS8Qu9bjQqR53ZbNA_Bt01JXyRUeLY66reSh4DtKMDXNnn-hEXWskNBIcqxHpkoC/s320/P1070458.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having a swing</td></tr>
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We also did a bus and river tour of the city and got to see how it all fits together, and enjoy different foods. There's a food court near our hotel in the Marina Bay Sands Mall which has food outlets from all over easter Asia, so Toby had Chinese fried rice, Emma had Vietnamese noodle salad, Dara had freshly made udon noodles, and I had Hong Kong roasted duck and pork noodles.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsxRc2mlgg6pcAM0Lexzo8BrznrV-rSFnxUQYJ9iBjDQl-X9i2Q-17GJb4SibYOHmPun1o9zalIOXYUHU-pzgm4_VjGdmjb0sJKYJR3e-KJ7ZJray3jI4soHo4JClg_0vtEgWBt-xRsHf/s1600/P1070384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsxRc2mlgg6pcAM0Lexzo8BrznrV-rSFnxUQYJ9iBjDQl-X9i2Q-17GJb4SibYOHmPun1o9zalIOXYUHU-pzgm4_VjGdmjb0sJKYJR3e-KJ7ZJray3jI4soHo4JClg_0vtEgWBt-xRsHf/s320/P1070384.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh ramen noodles</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSf_aXA-ADsedwYc52zQDpQjLIm2cskxFXJIL1HcHBADNAE_a07c0F1CbZ9pSlqHSYlypDCUnWpoJEtyW8vxxFYHhklcMNg8BEmDniW_u93Ajv5WmGYhPep2j5vqY8HfM3-UJGMGVIbXY/s1600/P1070841.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSf_aXA-ADsedwYc52zQDpQjLIm2cskxFXJIL1HcHBADNAE_a07c0F1CbZ9pSlqHSYlypDCUnWpoJEtyW8vxxFYHhklcMNg8BEmDniW_u93Ajv5WmGYhPep2j5vqY8HfM3-UJGMGVIbXY/s320/P1070841.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hong Kong roast deliciousness</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15tnU8taODO5zrSsuKkSF9PCn8B9lkE9qcoV7mtEkmHI3C0xpbk-s6Wk9psFJxMoUasPjdKkzD6BSyD5ZIXmDTPGe86Bo_quUJFWB4tWwKeCvza_C_xchFje_fmFJM1LBA0mcN_-i4p75/s1600/P1070842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15tnU8taODO5zrSsuKkSF9PCn8B9lkE9qcoV7mtEkmHI3C0xpbk-s6Wk9psFJxMoUasPjdKkzD6BSyD5ZIXmDTPGe86Bo_quUJFWB4tWwKeCvza_C_xchFje_fmFJM1LBA0mcN_-i4p75/s320/P1070842.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frog leg porridge?</td></tr>
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Yesterday we made the most of the British influence and had delicious fish and chips along with a couple of pints at a quayside cafe. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9QamaSj1biBCq3oB9fJ-cKSDjTbMyG4bzJffOncWLJl0Qd-0oTs4qmG6EbSgyyDS85ewawd7dbBTg35ol-XiziKsRQbKv0cNxtcRB37JdFVfrpEkPs9Z3CG20OECKkTiCOrZwuYD1j9F/s1600/P1070614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9QamaSj1biBCq3oB9fJ-cKSDjTbMyG4bzJffOncWLJl0Qd-0oTs4qmG6EbSgyyDS85ewawd7dbBTg35ol-XiziKsRQbKv0cNxtcRB37JdFVfrpEkPs9Z3CG20OECKkTiCOrZwuYD1j9F/s320/P1070614.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">River tour</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheIG71BEtjNpUZ7ZUrVufKxTWlow1TZe_gKSxsgm1o8gB1T9SSpDX4-KT2yFtTFTmNsZaGmygDmzb0S0YZAF9tLq1Xsf3rnyCoEwzZ97cVnY0zCpO7WTNLH3qN6Tey_PSU3azTObS5O4m/s1600/P1070607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheIG71BEtjNpUZ7ZUrVufKxTWlow1TZe_gKSxsgm1o8gB1T9SSpDX4-KT2yFtTFTmNsZaGmygDmzb0S0YZAF9tLq1Xsf3rnyCoEwzZ97cVnY0zCpO7WTNLH3qN6Tey_PSU3azTObS5O4m/s320/P1070607.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cricket</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODtFcT7i6V_H570SyPhyphenhyphenOWM9wXk4Be-T5McwyIKJhVL-stJNcGj7unyAp46OBc_km-0iLQZWGVnU6gA_a_A6ywyX_J6ZdoGK_W4ug7rRCq499drFkzdilbu4vZ44042CocTpvzuR6PCYj/s1600/P1070671.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODtFcT7i6V_H570SyPhyphenhyphenOWM9wXk4Be-T5McwyIKJhVL-stJNcGj7unyAp46OBc_km-0iLQZWGVnU6gA_a_A6ywyX_J6ZdoGK_W4ug7rRCq499drFkzdilbu4vZ44042CocTpvzuR6PCYj/s320/P1070671.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish and chips!</td></tr>
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The other downside is something we experience each time we return from a trip. We do really like living in Bangalore - we've made good friends and there are a ton of positives to being there. But the place is so frustratingly chaotic that it takes a few days to readjust to the noise, traffic and dirt. Hope it's not too rough a re-entry this time.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dUCCzRUtKdaQYNM8Gw8odu-KZFQmI0sMW-mHZ-cdFboiS2D9CSUbQVbDHgPOpwGwXadGn0D85d2kGXLkFPgP15_0Dd9b7jqOJE_-1efFsMdWwoUrz6cK8GEUYZ8_8EShCXNXCQdbdmJu/s1600/P1070676.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dUCCzRUtKdaQYNM8Gw8odu-KZFQmI0sMW-mHZ-cdFboiS2D9CSUbQVbDHgPOpwGwXadGn0D85d2kGXLkFPgP15_0Dd9b7jqOJE_-1efFsMdWwoUrz6cK8GEUYZ8_8EShCXNXCQdbdmJu/s320/P1070676.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Andrew's Cathedral</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_HhFtEI10375hTvvtIoxH08Tz1ZRrAz4zyw-gXL3l_RQtBDxIeV4ZkbWe7AzWu2tkF2gw00nvrnen7a4BQx8XN-3JODmfa8BjhFlQ-zuDehjVJEnh6XEzd2l6EhXAKz2I_bRlhduo3cJ/s1600/P1070685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_HhFtEI10375hTvvtIoxH08Tz1ZRrAz4zyw-gXL3l_RQtBDxIeV4ZkbWe7AzWu2tkF2gw00nvrnen7a4BQx8XN-3JODmfa8BjhFlQ-zuDehjVJEnh6XEzd2l6EhXAKz2I_bRlhduo3cJ/s320/P1070685.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddha's tooth temple</td></tr>
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Anyway it's been a really nice break. We're at the Conrad Centennial Hotel which is nice and central, easy to get on the bus tours, explore places and walk to the Raffles Hotel, where we stopped for a Singapore Sling a couple of days ago. A bit cliched I know, but you have to do these things. Emma actually got quite emotional about it - she said it was something she'd always wanted to do, but then spoiled the effect a bit by saying that it was like having KFC in Kentucky. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwI2Jr7I4454QwP5ynMxudBOVmRVf3zXFPUJ2Ue-a4OOuTjJ08bAmLYEaWYuIL9vV_wCDHzInZU9B7UNk06rpbV7lSKDnzDZ77u-XGrNybH_H1G5D_XNJUsrb6-JDdDsrV1AY34d2ds0qJ/s1600/P1070695.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwI2Jr7I4454QwP5ynMxudBOVmRVf3zXFPUJ2Ue-a4OOuTjJ08bAmLYEaWYuIL9vV_wCDHzInZU9B7UNk06rpbV7lSKDnzDZ77u-XGrNybH_H1G5D_XNJUsrb6-JDdDsrV1AY34d2ds0qJ/s320/P1070695.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raffles Hotel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyZZ4z81zOr2KDewQDy_CwvE4cSj-eKbcRwV5leAeUksDzctgvElo7q6sPA24b-SvfAg6dBsAX5hYC-1AMuMLKsEMx0yWeC6KGGDu8f8H2lntcoW5hPKPfvaE65551kQgpvxLSHurJkmP/s1600/P1070725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyZZ4z81zOr2KDewQDy_CwvE4cSj-eKbcRwV5leAeUksDzctgvElo7q6sPA24b-SvfAg6dBsAX5hYC-1AMuMLKsEMx0yWeC6KGGDu8f8H2lntcoW5hPKPfvaE65551kQgpvxLSHurJkmP/s320/P1070725.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Singapore Sling</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNuluBwPvmLlvK3reRgyjliGcZpnZnzBFiAUc2jJOb9xTQzU-vQMdWbWJivWM9WLbLse-CmKaEAgl4rQZHgGRg10j13aTN2c_-4DLwL3g9JZ9sbJi_80Ap4zAgQZ07aI5X4WbgZGHhux3/s1600/P1070738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNuluBwPvmLlvK3reRgyjliGcZpnZnzBFiAUc2jJOb9xTQzU-vQMdWbWJivWM9WLbLse-CmKaEAgl4rQZHgGRg10j13aTN2c_-4DLwL3g9JZ9sbJi_80Ap4zAgQZ07aI5X4WbgZGHhux3/s320/P1070738.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raffles stairs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAb0YUM9FvB12epzJTPj9DVzKX82yK5WIDKtRHIrPEz8zvkgXIpuD_c1Wjtg259Xbe0QAoXqpzBF-FcF4FZTxOyixz-Yjpd7k6rkQQSBwyetxUMWLX5vDeL_lOoWRp_9lnbAkicFekHIf/s1600/P1070740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAb0YUM9FvB12epzJTPj9DVzKX82yK5WIDKtRHIrPEz8zvkgXIpuD_c1Wjtg259Xbe0QAoXqpzBF-FcF4FZTxOyixz-Yjpd7k6rkQQSBwyetxUMWLX5vDeL_lOoWRp_9lnbAkicFekHIf/s320/P1070740.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Singapore chocolate milk</td></tr>
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The Conrad has also been great with the kids - they had a coloring activity pack in the room for Dara, as well as Dara-sized bathrobe and slippers. A couple of nights ago we got room service for the kids, which they thought was awesome.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNCM41jl3ZcRQAsVRJLlNPc1Gp0VIijcoj6l3S2dh3JOUGwZbzWMH6aVtQTwSmexfw-8qTmI2X0BXUdV5Y8pbnaQRCCKW4jqB9ZnRO4ubWMg0e_Q491DHPpBCYmpsP3jMxmt3zryGbzjK/s1600/P1070748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhNCM41jl3ZcRQAsVRJLlNPc1Gp0VIijcoj6l3S2dh3JOUGwZbzWMH6aVtQTwSmexfw-8qTmI2X0BXUdV5Y8pbnaQRCCKW4jqB9ZnRO4ubWMg0e_Q491DHPpBCYmpsP3jMxmt3zryGbzjK/s320/P1070748.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-72717981053509789582012-02-21T14:40:00.000+05:302012-02-21T14:40:11.079+05:30Snow at last<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I titled this blog because I was hoping to be able to do lots of gloating about the bad weather in Minneapolis compared with here. Unfortunately (for this goal at least) this winter has been really mild back home, especially compared with the crazy amounts of snow and cold we experienced last year. But finally today there's been a decent snowfall in Minneapolis, and at the same time it's 86F and sunny here. </div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-30393025288732617202012-02-20T22:20:00.000+05:302012-02-21T09:07:59.482+05:30Sri Lanka<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We just had a totally great family vacation to the beautiful island of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_lanka" target="_blank">Sri Lanka</a>. Emma went there a couple of months ago on a girls' weekend, and loved the place, and seeing as my mum and brother are visiting, we decided it would be great to go back and explore a bit more. Emma designed the itinerary and did a totally great job. It's a very quick flight - about an hour and a half direct - so super easy to get to. When Emma visited she stayed only in Colombo, but we thought that a trek to the center of the island would be excellent. It's a fairly long journey from the airport, about four hours, so we stayed the first night close to where we arrived.</div>
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Because of the flight schedule, we arrived quite late at night, and stayed at the <a href="http://thetamarindtreehotels.com/index1.html" target="_blank">Tamarind Tree Hotel</a>, a 10-minute bumpy ride from the airport. We were slightly concerned when our driver wasn't obviously waiting for us after we got through customs and immigration, but we eventually found him thanks to some surprisingly nice guards who let us back into the airport terminal to hunt him down.</div>
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The Tamarind Tree is pretty nice in that all the rooms seemed to be mini-villa style on beautiful grounds with gorgeous trees, but it is quite basic - the rooms and food were quite utilitarian, but it was great for one night near the airport.</div>
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Next morning our driver from the Heritance Hotel, Mohan, showed up in a very neat van, and looking very neat too. He was very friendly and he took us the 4 hour drive to the Heritance. We stopped at a touristy coffee shop/restaurant on the way - different from India in that it's all very clean and we weren't descended on by people asking for money. This theme continued all through our stay - the roads were all in really good shape, and unlike India there was no garbage around, and no speed bumps on the road! Also different from here was the fact that cars generally stay in their own lanes, and people only cross the roads at marked crossings. It was all very civilized.</div>
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The <a href="http://www.heritancehotels.com/kandalama/" target="_blank">Heritance</a> is stunning - it's built into the rocks by the side of a lake - with green roofs (cactus and other plants growing out the top) and rocks along all the walkways outside rooms (no enclosed corridors). Lots of wildlife too - geckos everywhere, slightly too many bugs near the lights, swifts and bats zooming along the hallways, and loads of monkeys around. The snack restaurant is open-sided with amazing view over the lake and the monkeys stole a lot of food from people, including from David! The staff were all very friendly, however, and took it in their stride. When David's sandwich was swiped, they brought another one really quickly and a waiter stood guard near his table for the rest of the meal. </div>
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(by the way you can click on any of these pics to see them full size in Picasa, and you'll also be able to see the whole photo album, not just the pics in this post)</div>
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We were fairly worn out after the drive so we had a relaxed late afternoon, and enjoyed the buffet <a href="http://www.heritancehotels.com/kandalama/browse.php?catId=11" target="_blank">restaurant</a> for dinner. There was a dress code and quite a few visiting bus tours of older people, so it felt a bit cruise-like. Great food though.</div>
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For our first full day we got up early for a bird watching walk. We had a really nice old guide who was very proud of his English skills. Saw lots of birds on the lake, tons of egrets and ibises as well as stunning kingfishers. Also saw the Sri Lankan national bird, the jungle fowl, which looks a bit like a cross between a rooster and a turkey. Some beautiful birds as well as deer, more monkeys, and tracks by the lake from a fishing cat.</div>
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Later in the day we went to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dambulla_cave_temple" target="_blank">Dambulla Cave Temple</a>, only 15 minutes away. Quite a climb up a rock in the heat, but well worth it. The temple is built into caves, as you would expect from the name, and had lots of buddha statues and frescoes on the ceilings. Very old and beautiful, and the general feel was what I imagine Egyptian pyramids to feel like, with the ancient paintings and statues. There were quite a few traders along the way, one of whom sold us beautiful lotus flowers to give as offerings, but we had to be careful how we held them so that the monkeys wouldn't steal them from us - they seem to like to eat them like they're artichokes. The humidity broke with a big rainstorm, but we found a good place to shelter on the way down the hill. The rain stayed on most of the evening, with some spectacular thunder and lightning. </div>
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We were booked to do a balloon ride the next morning but it was called off because of the weather, so we decided to make the longer trip to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigiriya" target="_blank">Sigiriya</a> rock fortress. It's a UN Heritage site with lots of fairly recent excavation of the gardens, swimming pools and palace rooms. We got a great guide who took us right to the top. It's a really long climb - over 1,000 steps, including some in very rickety metal spiral staircases and walkways tacked on to the side of the rock. One good thing about the guide was he made us stop every now and then to show us stuff, which meant that we could have a bit of a breather - it was really hot and hard work. The final climb was up a crazy metal staircase to the peak - I made it about 1/2 way before chickening out, although David found that there were guides specially to help people who were anxious. David and Toby made it to the top and said the view was totally stunning. Getting down was almost more scary than going up, and our thighs were burning by the time we were done. Cool thing to do though. </div>
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Later that afternoon mom and Emma went on a boat ride across the lake, while I took Toby and Dara on a pony ride. It was Dara's first time and she really enjoyed it. We got to see the four other hotel ponies at their stable, and also saw the hotel snake catcher in action as he caught a large cobra.</div>
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Back at the hotel, swimming at one of the three pools. Loads of monkeys came down to the water - around 40, and many of them were drinking from the pool, so we could be only 3-4 feet away.</div>
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Next day we got up at 5am for the <a href="http://srilankaballooning.com/" target="_blank">hot air balloon ride</a>. Toby, David and I rode in the back of a very bumpy jeep to a muddy field where they were inflating the balloon. The pilot was an English bloke who has been flying in Sri Lanka for 7 years, and in other places for many years before. Great sense of humor and no-nonsense style, which really helped me get over my nervousness about heights. It was a truly amazing feeling to take off and go above the trees and just float along above the palms and paddy fields. Loads of people waved at us as we floated by - it was almost Disney as they would come out of their houses and smile up and shout good morning. The pilot said he took Prince William up five years ago - he said all the waving was good practice! We flew for about 50 minutes and landed in a rocky clearing, and immediately loads of people appeared to watch us and say hello. Kind of strange to be in the middle of it drinking champagne, but really fun.</div>
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After breakfast it was time for the drive back to the coast, again with Mohan. We stopped at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnawela_Elephant_Orphanage" target="_blank">Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage</a> - it was amazing to see so many large and small elephants up close. It sounds like there have been questions about how well the elephants are looked after - most of them seemed pretty happy and healthy, but obviously I'm not an expert. The only thing I really didn't like was that after paying a large fee to get in (which seemed fair enough if that's what's helping look after the animals) the elephant herders asked for money for allowing us to be near the elephants for photos. However it wasn't that big a deal, and the guy I gave money to turned out to be great with ensuring that we got good pictures with the kids.</div>
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After we'd met the elephants we got to see them take their daily trek down the road to the river for their bath. This means that they have to cross the main road of the town, and down a lane lined with tourist shops. We saw a couple of elephants try to swipe things from the stalls! </div>
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We eventually got to Colombo fairly late and checked into the <a href="http://www.gallefacehotel.com/" target="_blank">Galle Face Hotel</a>, which is where Emma had stayed previously. It's a bit of a strange place - it was opened in 1864 and has quite a reputation as a grand old dame of Asian hotels. There are plaques all over the place featuring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galle_Face_Hotel#Celebrity_Guests" target="_blank">dignitaries</a> who have stayed, especially in the <a href="http://www.gallefacehotel.com/html_classic/home_classic.htm" target="_blank">Classic win</a>g, which is where we non-celebs stayed. It was a bit creaky, but we had quite a view of the Indian Ocean from our window:</div>
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The restaurant, bar and pool are right by the ocean, so we actually ended up spending a lot of time just hanging around there. I stupidly got sunburned (still recovering a bit) as the ocean air and cool salt water of the pool meant that I didn't realize how much sun I was getting. We did have excursions to a couple of places in town - quick auto rides to the Sri Lanka national museum, which was really beautiful, and for some touristy shopping. The second evening David and I wandered round the corner to an Irish pub, which unfortunately didn't sell Guinness or indeed any beer darker than Carlsberg, but we did OK. There were a couple of guys playing guitar and bass who were surprisingly good, but it was quite surreal being there as they played the theme song from Friends.</div>
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All in all it was a totally great time. Really friendly people, easy to get around, very safe-feeling, and beautiful. We're already planning our next trip!</div>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-18283126392415951122012-01-27T18:20:00.000+05:302012-01-27T18:20:11.668+05:30Toby update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a little while since I've written about the kids, and seeing as it was Toby's ninth birthday on Wednesday, I thought it was time for an update.<br />
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Actually both the kids are doing really well still, but I'm going to focus on the birthday boy. He is still really enjoying school, and each morning he gets to the bus stop at least ten minutes before the bus comes so that he can hang out with his friends and climb trees. Last week I was finishing my morning run and passed by the other side of the street from the bus stop, and saw him horsing around with his buddies - he was having a grand time. He seems to be doing well at school too, judging by the quality of his homework and although he never really wants to do it, it seems to be a lot less of a struggle these days. He's always liked doing math and other things where the answers are either right or wrong; the challenge was often in more creative topics where he didn't like the ambiguity, but he's getting through it.<br />
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One things we're really liking about his <a href="http://www.indusschool.com/" target="_blank">school</a> is that there's a really good balance of academic and sports, and Toby's enjoying that too. Last term his chosen sport was tennis, but seeing as he already does taekwondo and swimming we thought it would be good for him to do a team sport this term, so he's signed up for soccer (which he already insists is called football now). His reports of matches seem a little random, including kids switching teams partway through matches, but it sounded like on his first session he scored a winning hat-trick, and the following week in goal he saved every shot. Assuming this all to be true, I guess he's doing well! He's also enjoying swimming class, and a couple of weeks ago was in an inter-school swimming tournament where he won his backstroke heat, and came fourth in the final which he was pleased with, and most importantly really enjoyed the experience.<br />
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Anyway, he seems quite happy to be nine. Somehow he seems bigger than he was last week! He got great presents from family, including a box set of Tintin books, some more Asterix books to add to his collection, and DVDs of Harry Potter 3 and 4. I watched some of part 3 with him last night, and it was a treat to see his face and how into it he was.<br />
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One thing we didn't know about is that in Indian schools apparently on your birthday you don't need to wear school uniform, but he was fine being in uniform on Wednesday. Today is the last Friday of the month, so they have "mufti day" where the kids can wear casual clothes, or they can dress in the theme of the day. This month it's role models, so Toby decided he would wear a red t-shirt and khaki trousers, so that he looked like a Target team member, just like his dad. Very flattering!</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-5606153762315170292012-01-27T10:28:00.002+05:302012-01-27T10:28:17.260+05:30Countries for Expats<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of my friends here found this <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/01/06/the-worlds-friendliest-countries-2/" target="_blank">article in Forbes</a> about countries for expats, which I thought you might like to see</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. Overall it looks like Australia and New Zealand come in very high. And here’s what they had to say about India for countries most challenging for expats:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">India ranked in last place for the second year in a row.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“India is simply a minefield of relentless mental, emotional and practical daily challenges for most non-Indians,” according to Denmark native Pia Mollback-Verbic, the director of a Mumbai-based qualitative market research firm who relocated there via the U.S. in 2007. “It’s nothing less than a riddling obstacle course, which only can be navigated with a healthy dose of humor, expansive capacity for patience, and tolerance for the illogical.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sounds about right to me, and I think this explains why I'm totally exhausted by Thursday morning every week!</span> </div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-65059117810428749012012-01-21T21:48:00.001+05:302012-01-21T21:48:14.311+05:30Jobsworths<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I haven't been shopping here in ages, partly because Emma has been taking care of the household things so well, and partly because my long work hours, including a couple of hours of evening calls two or three times a week and my travel schedule, have meant that I haven't really had time. Today we decided to go out to a new mall which just opened and is fairly close to where we lived - <a href="http://www.phoenixmarketcitybangalore.com/" target="_blank">Phoenix Market City</a>. As you can see from the website it's pretty nice, and while it's still filling up it has some decent stores, including Zara, Marks and Spencer, Aldo, Bebe, and some restaurants - our first California Pizza Kitchen being one of them. Not exactly the high life - certainly not the amazing shopping we saw in Hong Kong - but not bad.<br />
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We had a good time looking around and a really good lunch at Cafe Nero, which is a local French-style chain, and got a couple of shirts for the kids at Zara. Then Dara and I went to a couple of shops to get specific things we needed, like a new speaker thing for iPods as our current one is on the wane, when I realized the annoying side of Indian shopping.<br />
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There's always tons of security at Indian malls - you have to go through metal detectors to get into the store (although they never seem to beep, and on the rare occasions they do, nobody does anything) and there's security guards at every entrance. I suppose with Things These Days it's kind of fair enough. However what really bugs me is the fake security at loads of stores. This starts with the fact that many shops make you leave any bags at a bag drop place round the corner from the main door. I always get kind of riled at this but I was particularly maddened by it today, when Dara and I were going to go into <a href="http://reliancedigital.in/" target="_blank">Reliance Digital</a> to get iPod speakers, and as soon as I walked in, carrying a very small bag from Zara, the "security" guy at the door barked at me to leave my bag at the bag drop place. Everything at Reliance is either locked in a display cabinet, or it's a big TV which would be impossible to get into a 6" x 10" bag, but apparently I look like some kind of criminal so I had to leave my bag if I wanted to enter the store. So I left. Sale lost to the jobsworths at Reliance. Congratulations, guys.<br />
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While Dara and I were apparently shiftily shopping, Emma and Toby had gone to the <a href="http://www.myfoodbazaar.com/" target="_blank">supermarket</a> in the mall to get some things - it's actually a really nice supermarket with tons of fresh stuff really nicely displayed. However once again at the door the little security guy told me I couldn't go in if I was carrying my little bag. I was pretty mad by this point by this ridiculous nonsense but I took my bag round to the bag drop place and slammed it on the counter. The guys behind the desk didn't really seem to notice my hissy fit but it was a little cathartic for me I suppose. I'm not sure what would have happened if I'd just refused to drop my bag off - would he have tackled me or something? But I had to go in because Emma and Toby were already in there and didn't want to cause too much fuss because Dara was with me.<br />
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This kind of thing is made worse by the fact that there's always another "security" guy at the exit of supermarkets who has to check your receipt and for some reason punch a hole in it. I have no idea what he's actually checking for - at the checkout the assistant will have already bagged your stuff, and in the case of Food Bazaar will have tied the bags and even put zip ties around the top, so nobody can even see in the bag. But oh no, man in uniform has to make you stop and get your receipt checked. Again I'm not sure what would happen if you just ignored him - I must try sometime - and maybe that'll be another blog post.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-17531263295460077142012-01-16T16:38:00.001+05:302012-01-16T16:38:44.200+05:30Malnutrition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I must confess to something bad which I've done since I arrived in India. I've gained a few pounds. Not a million, but a few, as a consequence of not running four or five times a week as I was doing in Minneapolis, and the fact that I really like the food here. Plus I'm driven door-to-door to and from work every day, so any exercise isn't really happening. I need to get moving a bit more.<br />
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What makes me feel especially bad about this, however, is that I work in a city which is booming because of companies like mine, and at least for somewhat well-off people the food is good and it's plentiful. But of course it's not like that throughout India, or even throughout Bangalore. In fact a recent study found that an almost unbelievable <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/world/asia/malnutrition-in-india-is-widespread-report-finds.html?scp=1&sq=malnutrition&st=cse" target="_blank">42 percent of Indian children under age 5 suffer from malnutrition</a>. Think about that for a moment. With over a billion people in this country and what seems like cheap and plentiful food, tens of millions of children don't have enough to eat. This results in all kinds of things: stunted growth and lack of education being key. In fact <a href="http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/indias-chronic-battle-with-malnutrition/?scp=2&sq=malnutrition&st=cse" target="_blank">20 percent of all Indians are malnourished</a>, worse than many developing African countries. The most recent "<a closure_uid_ulyunv="677" href="http://www.ifpri.org/pressroom/briefing/2010-global-hunger-index-crisis-child-undernutrition" target="_blank">Global Hunger Index</a>" shows that two-thirds of the 122 developing countries studied had reduced hunger levels in recent years, but that hunger levels in India have increased.<br />
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India does have a large food program, but of course like almost all other government programs here it's rife with corruption and mismanagement. You can see evidence of government corruption and ineptitude almost everywhere, especially the pitiful state of roads and transport, the piles of trash everywhere, the crappy (literally) water supply, the shaky electricity supplies, the obscene wealth of politicians, and ineffectiveness and indifference of government officials you interact with. Almost every day I get mad at the traffic and how long my commute takes, and when we're travelling we find that tourist facilities are pretty pathetic - those are our little frustrations. But that's really nothing compared to the important things, like starving children.<br />
<br />
Another thing which got me thinking about this was on my recent trip to Lucknow, interviewing business school graduates. We had them do group discussions, and one of the questions was whether the amount of money in cricket is impacting other sports. The really surprising thing for me was how many of them talked about the government's investment in cricket and the government as a solution to funding other sports. Not one person talked about what the government's real priorities could be.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-17877961549012592542012-01-12T15:35:00.001+05:302012-01-12T15:35:15.497+05:30Work travel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In the last week I've been zooming about for work to a couple of cities in India, visiting college campuses. Last Friday I went to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_India" target="_blank">Hyderabad</a>, which is about 6 hours' drive from Bangalore, or an hour on the plane (which was my mode of transport). It was a really long day, getting up at 5am and not getting home till 1am, but interesting to go to a new town and to visit the business school campus which was very new and smart. What I saw of Hyderabad seemed pretty nice - good roads and interesting rocky scenery - and although it's not that far from Bangalore it seemed a lot more northern India, with the houses looking a lot more middle eastern, more mosques, and signs in Urdu as well as English and Hindi. <br />
<br />
After a weekend of recovery, I went to another business school on Monday, this time in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucknow" target="_blank">Lucknow</a>, which is near New Dehli. This meant a 2 1/2 hour flight to Delhi, and another hour to Lucknow. Although it's the capital of Uttar Pradesh it did seem a lot more shambolic than Bangalore, although we drove past some pretty impressive buildings and parks. The roads were a lot more crumbly, the traffic was much less car-based (lots of horses, oxen, bike rickshaws etc) and lots of roadsite tents. The college campus was older than the one in Hyderabad, but in a nice big estate - all very green, and I saw a couple of peacocks wandering around. The main problem was that it was really cold and foggy, only about 15C, and there wasn't much heating in the rooms, so a rather shivery day. Long days too - leaving the house at 7am Monday, working and interviewing till 11:30 that night, starting again at 8am Tuesday and not getting home till about 1am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of either place, but I did stop at a market in Lucknow to get a couple of shirts for Emma, and tried some delicious food from a tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe on the way to the airport.<br />
<br />
The main challenge of the trips were the way people behave on the planes here. The pushing and shoving in the airports is insane, in every line. It's a battle to get through security, and the security guards really frisk you - it's rather over-personal. Lucknow airport is pretty rough and ready, kind of like Bangalore's used to be, with loads of mosquitos and disgusting toilets. It's sort of an adventure but also kind of gross. Also as soon as the plane lands loads of people undo their seatbelts, which seems crazy to me - even when the plane is taxiing you can have sudden stops, and surely it's not too uncomfortable to wear a belt for a few minutes till the plane has stopped? And when the plane does stop everyone jumps up and starts getting their bags down much more aggressively than plane travelers in the US do, to the extent that a guy hit me in the head with his elbow and his bag, and I almost punched him back. I should be used to the fact that there's not much personal space here, but it was a tad over-crowded. </div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-10204929366809460652012-01-07T14:13:00.000+05:302012-01-07T14:13:00.280+05:30Podcasts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I spend a ton of time in the car in India - it takes around an hour to and from work every day, sometimes considerably more. Some of my friends are able to work on their laptops while they're commuting, but with all the bumps and potholes I can hardly look at my phone's screen for more than 20 seconds. So apart from chatting with Mahesh, my driver, I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts. Here's a list of what I am listening to these days:<br />
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From the <a href="http://maximumfun.org/">maximumfun.org</a> stable: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn (formerly The Sound of Young America - a great list of interviews with popular culture figures); the Judge John Hodgman podcast, and My Brother, My Brother and Me</div>
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fricomedy" target="_blank">Friday Night Comedy from the BBC</a> - best when it's The News Quiz</div>
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Also from the BBC: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc" target="_blank">The Infinite Monkey Cage</a> - comedy and geeky science</div>
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<a href="http://themoth.org/" target="_blank">The Moth</a> - storytelling live on stage</div>
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<a href="http://www.hbo.com/real-time-with-bill-maher/index.html" target="_blank">Real Time with Bill Maher</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/gabfest.html" target="_blank">Slate's Political Gabfest</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast" target="_blank">This American Life</a></div>
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Do you have suggestions for any others I might enjoy?</div>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-79468183566413302012-01-03T22:29:00.001+05:302012-01-03T22:29:12.103+05:30Tooth Fairy and Science<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While we were on vacation Toby mentioned several times that one of his molars was loose. I was a bit skeptical - I thought that you would be older than 8 before losing a back tooth, but he was convinced. Then the night we got home he yelled out that the tooth had come out, and sure enough there was one healthy molar, with a new one already growing in the gap in his gum. He put the tooth in a little plastic bag and put that under his pillow for the tooth fairy.<br />
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We weren't sure if the tooth fairy visits kids in India, or even what the going rate is for a tooth here - it turns out that yes she does visit, and Rs100 (about 2 USD) is the rate. When Emma told Stella, our housekeeper, about this, Stella was kind of amazed at the tooth fairy thing - apparently Indian kids bury their teeth in the ground, although I'm not sure if they get anything for this.<br />
<br />
At this point I should mention that Toby is a highly rational person - he's always been very literal and he's really into science and learning about the world and what makes sense. He's had some great questions about gravity lately, so I suggested this evening that he should read the chapter "How Stars Work" in the wonderful book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Reality-Know-Whats-Really/dp/1439192812/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325609725&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The Magic of Reality</a>" by Richard Dawkins, some of which Toby had already read and enjoyed. This chapter has some cool stuff about the cosmos, but the neat thing was the questions it brought out in Toby - like if you're on the other side of the Earth from the Sun, does the Sun's gravity pull you through the Earth? Or how were the planets formed, and have they always had the same orbits?<br />
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Anyway, we've been a bit surprised at how Mr. Rational was so into the idea of Santa visiting us in our Disney hotel, and the tooth fairy visiting this week. Emma in the end just asked him outright if he really believes in the tooth fairy. His answer, after a bit of a pause, "When I have a loose tooth I do."</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-49641744602645123522012-01-03T16:47:00.000+05:302012-01-03T16:47:48.816+05:30Ocean Park<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
New Year's Eve dawned sunny and mild, so we decided to spend the day at Hong Kong's biggest theme park (yes, bigger than Disney) - <a href="http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/html/en/home/" target="_blank">Ocean Park</a>. After a healthy McDonald's breakfast we caught the ferry across the harbour, then the express bus to the park - a nice easy trip.<br />
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The park's a little strange (as you may have seen from their odd and very slow website) in that it's a bit of a mish mash of styles and stuff:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaptluH__VlMrBinQ9E_MPaD0ea2SG0WY-QNBhKYM5COlEvPZfX_ohTq5f8RKRnuANpIZrBnXenYOAs7JsGsvJ8jVQN2-gpbTwm5v56EGbGOM3AmS1DrkhS_d0bmig0qlQPlRYZSWRY3A/s1600/P1060231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaaptluH__VlMrBinQ9E_MPaD0ea2SG0WY-QNBhKYM5COlEvPZfX_ohTq5f8RKRnuANpIZrBnXenYOAs7JsGsvJ8jVQN2-gpbTwm5v56EGbGOM3AmS1DrkhS_d0bmig0qlQPlRYZSWRY3A/s320/P1060231.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main park plaza</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But at the same time it was fun that it had so many things to do. On the educational side there's a pretty decent aquarium and a huge panda enclosure:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJB1WdAQAHoxgN78YWZAMMj61pNYX83uM6543AO64PD2roKZxtPdINNcWgwVQmIuw4okOQHfrjASznm42gXJgpp93qYGJQYmnOpRyCtnfEePjflGhL22EsCDg1tAz2H3_Xw-VbE0M1e6aF/s1600/P1060258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJB1WdAQAHoxgN78YWZAMMj61pNYX83uM6543AO64PD2roKZxtPdINNcWgwVQmIuw4okOQHfrjASznm42gXJgpp93qYGJQYmnOpRyCtnfEePjflGhL22EsCDg1tAz2H3_Xw-VbE0M1e6aF/s320/P1060258.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy panda</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaAqwdOyh6XFIjRlOcjV7YU0WswACLPVQmpQ8ymxdy910BkekAmWe3w_vxcf9JKH_rvJUxlvmaYiqm8RqCho0pbUjibGitRm20DiV0gZKt0bTTvFpslYCT8aKuvD-OLlsL9zIM5UkFGmr/s1600/P1060251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaAqwdOyh6XFIjRlOcjV7YU0WswACLPVQmpQ8ymxdy910BkekAmWe3w_vxcf9JKH_rvJUxlvmaYiqm8RqCho0pbUjibGitRm20DiV0gZKt0bTTvFpslYCT8aKuvD-OLlsL9zIM5UkFGmr/s320/P1060251.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red panda</td></tr>
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Lots of info about conservation, which is a good thing. They also had a nice Chinese garden area:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguba_b-ZMkVktZcO88Gk3ENUgfNZ6mgONBNtkQXyEHFgoKOUySaWUn33kC4n6J8ruAp139lWEOO2Crvhvn1OUJx_ym1nh8HpnU0ZOUk0u20wC-ECytM0qJKijLTa2s6ENAUQ0061YL05oc/s1600/P1060273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguba_b-ZMkVktZcO88Gk3ENUgfNZ6mgONBNtkQXyEHFgoKOUySaWUn33kC4n6J8ruAp139lWEOO2Crvhvn1OUJx_ym1nh8HpnU0ZOUk0u20wC-ECytM0qJKijLTa2s6ENAUQ0061YL05oc/s320/P1060273.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
and in the main section a lot of rides and a playground for little kids. Dara was obsessed with the frog hopper ride:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiejRrIjGAAMg_N-rZtZrlQWFt5BMeZ1SmpyACvKL7tOUNCeUvpY_CNt_xsNjFu_-CVsDxLlejWaeawXmp2Mv_opnL95M7pWMOgGaNJ5fa0PFuCKUfLLTIDTBUlgjEluCSOqK9F464oMBMq/s1600/P1060275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiejRrIjGAAMg_N-rZtZrlQWFt5BMeZ1SmpyACvKL7tOUNCeUvpY_CNt_xsNjFu_-CVsDxLlejWaeawXmp2Mv_opnL95M7pWMOgGaNJ5fa0PFuCKUfLLTIDTBUlgjEluCSOqK9F464oMBMq/s320/P1060275.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strange dragon statue thing</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4fYfyKSXht4JvpYjF72bXZAfyv5JcbUhwwcRwFLPVesFo_XO0gn1YZI-dzEoFP2-JwZFO5qy89FjE12XyNe5wTu5CXOOKqawjURPWcVV3bz-Fi6__fN_VaR4fb5BnQR0AGvC3dsIYFsaJ/s1600/P1060278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4fYfyKSXht4JvpYjF72bXZAfyv5JcbUhwwcRwFLPVesFo_XO0gn1YZI-dzEoFP2-JwZFO5qy89FjE12XyNe5wTu5CXOOKqawjURPWcVV3bz-Fi6__fN_VaR4fb5BnQR0AGvC3dsIYFsaJ/s320/P1060278.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nH5HsQeFQKNsgeSwqe9zTxwKff5tU2ZlXPZ17MP3Grnnw3XaSwDgXQctRJEI8g8RdPow13NuntSlCvNNW4caFv3xG7Qraoa2nHVAo5nOrVEXOMcmpHmBXil1xhJ_MLLH5u_j7iGO0loM/s1600/P1060280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nH5HsQeFQKNsgeSwqe9zTxwKff5tU2ZlXPZ17MP3Grnnw3XaSwDgXQctRJEI8g8RdPow13NuntSlCvNNW4caFv3xG7Qraoa2nHVAo5nOrVEXOMcmpHmBXil1xhJ_MLLH5u_j7iGO0loM/s320/P1060280.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our favorite moment was when the kids shouted "Wind the frog!" Nice movie quote</td></tr>
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They spent a long time on these rides, which was really fun for them. Once we peeled them away it was time to visit the other side of the park, which we'd seen from the bus tour a couple of days before as we went past Repulse Bay. It's on the other side of the mountain and built into the cliffs next to the South China Sea, and to get there you have to take a cable car, with really stunning views. Having said that I'm not great at all with heights so this was a Big Deal for me, in fact I'm getting sweaty palms just writing about this. So I'll let the photos speak for themselves before I short-curcuit the keyboard:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj612gjCKnKuV18bELhEKadJSDXv4f_ie14i4V7BtEKtmVOu3we24z7mfoh3w2XJJQCH3ABm0i-LKKUOFblcm-gwR3grQY8HQXihpQaL99lPG0V3LmFnJQjTTkbzir-9rvINbRyC08vzdWy/s1600/P1060282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj612gjCKnKuV18bELhEKadJSDXv4f_ie14i4V7BtEKtmVOu3we24z7mfoh3w2XJJQCH3ABm0i-LKKUOFblcm-gwR3grQY8HQXihpQaL99lPG0V3LmFnJQjTTkbzir-9rvINbRyC08vzdWy/s320/P1060282.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The takeoff point</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6orUM7gDr3ELZLdLdb5ZSVtf4hCWcouT_yac6yKMYDNdhZV4bWMQall2Rd4RCaU3ckecfB8HldfMhngPBCk1sLdpz-Q3WGRz2HCur_UeN2kLTt6MYoO4t_bzhv89tUZdpoPVPhp2HaNxD/s1600/P1060284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6orUM7gDr3ELZLdLdb5ZSVtf4hCWcouT_yac6yKMYDNdhZV4bWMQall2Rd4RCaU3ckecfB8HldfMhngPBCk1sLdpz-Q3WGRz2HCur_UeN2kLTt6MYoO4t_bzhv89tUZdpoPVPhp2HaNxD/s320/P1060284.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View as we left the cable car station</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_JcjoBFBFhwcMq8QJoTWEaG8OWrgiUami9u4d3LNRnB5YfnXu4yKzsWSnfK1MkLeFHocMUTeHJ8aXsRfbxg3X9377L8rc9JSPX8gR6E_pLq-VUhZTT406FcaH4iN-r3qEZiVxzEFgvfL/s1600/P1060285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_JcjoBFBFhwcMq8QJoTWEaG8OWrgiUami9u4d3LNRnB5YfnXu4yKzsWSnfK1MkLeFHocMUTeHJ8aXsRfbxg3X9377L8rc9JSPX8gR6E_pLq-VUhZTT406FcaH4iN-r3qEZiVxzEFgvfL/s320/P1060285.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toby spent his time telling me that it was really fun and not scary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31IMidF2dy1oE0qFxwMI6Y24KVPfMw1bIYVFheSuibLkX1TVLIsCSMlgxD_GyZdojIx-O6CcTqyXLUajIHngSk7yqCuy6QqkYjNpPEbbBOxAuGrZPIN4uv7VmHEPV4CAyFebNez878VRK/s1600/P1060286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31IMidF2dy1oE0qFxwMI6Y24KVPfMw1bIYVFheSuibLkX1TVLIsCSMlgxD_GyZdojIx-O6CcTqyXLUajIHngSk7yqCuy6QqkYjNpPEbbBOxAuGrZPIN4uv7VmHEPV4CAyFebNez878VRK/s320/P1060286.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're happy because they don't mind heights</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0z6YWd6eczYKUFmHTVZ0f37ZIv-OS5dI2VpBA3xwl7Dxwdi-JZ6QEw3rgtIb6O1jb_ChvpU2eQwAPEAXis2geDGKmrJmbcct2J9n9AEfAhpiJoz0yPizcps6IERRQEgqepVJVCp1xZARn/s1600/P1060287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0z6YWd6eczYKUFmHTVZ0f37ZIv-OS5dI2VpBA3xwl7Dxwdi-JZ6QEw3rgtIb6O1jb_ChvpU2eQwAPEAXis2geDGKmrJmbcct2J9n9AEfAhpiJoz0yPizcps6IERRQEgqepVJVCp1xZARn/s320/P1060287.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up the mountain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEm-pEjdWy0z6Bmx4KBSugBL1b3JNeY7uU5B4XVeJ-idOHReKpXwdoP5uy7UfWwme6nu6hZb1VvBlPNKMxDf3oetZAfLn_e1ybhYjH1vp6Ta9N5WBmGPodM2FbrJeRD8qzUz32G1EoDZE/s1600/P1060289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEm-pEjdWy0z6Bmx4KBSugBL1b3JNeY7uU5B4XVeJ-idOHReKpXwdoP5uy7UfWwme6nu6hZb1VvBlPNKMxDf3oetZAfLn_e1ybhYjH1vp6Ta9N5WBmGPodM2FbrJeRD8qzUz32G1EoDZE/s320/P1060289.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm sure climbing the stairs would have been worse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdnZwHNOZMWy339nfaSP-wyzRR6_gVNrUZZNgEjCkqA-Pqy0YZZSh_pei5Mxp8xpcFgr_PiSrstGQYavr1QPU9t3W4nNUdT11WQfT3AfO-Nyf3zxKXUG0ERtd0rOYzXmFto4_GP5xuEM1/s1600/P1060290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdnZwHNOZMWy339nfaSP-wyzRR6_gVNrUZZNgEjCkqA-Pqy0YZZSh_pei5Mxp8xpcFgr_PiSrstGQYavr1QPU9t3W4nNUdT11WQfT3AfO-Nyf3zxKXUG0ERtd0rOYzXmFto4_GP5xuEM1/s320/P1060290.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View across Repulse Bay</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifIPzorrT-FbQCYyxUr-HisLnNvEv_pnYOd3kJmZUBp7WsJ3PQnjBISxURAvQQVvHTWZ-vbEJQUguyFDDyL-cxNlfQpEXtGA7HMqbVv0oqWpu4AQOwSaTXkxbbZJyQclJYFlwpDcITRgPh/s1600/P1060292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifIPzorrT-FbQCYyxUr-HisLnNvEv_pnYOd3kJmZUBp7WsJ3PQnjBISxURAvQQVvHTWZ-vbEJQUguyFDDyL-cxNlfQpEXtGA7HMqbVv0oqWpu4AQOwSaTXkxbbZJyQclJYFlwpDcITRgPh/s320/P1060292.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traversing the side of the cliffs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNO0w-hKrHwlMIIP3lgMPORogoaQXdBAGkwMqY_Ztf8ko0LF4CHCJG7q59m9Nnv1VqoKx7RcBcFM1kfM1WsiWokh4tI45tZl18-wFNhrDcN7cvwzYtEXRStgN3C6cGnd-3MTKUAqKHYJ-/s1600/P1060293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNO0w-hKrHwlMIIP3lgMPORogoaQXdBAGkwMqY_Ztf8ko0LF4CHCJG7q59m9Nnv1VqoKx7RcBcFM1kfM1WsiWokh4tI45tZl18-wFNhrDcN7cvwzYtEXRStgN3C6cGnd-3MTKUAqKHYJ-/s320/P1060293.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ride was a fair bit longer than we had expected</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74nwqDGUGn66DSB-bXHa4G4qG2am8tGqAxrvFKFQ7qBsQWhWWsh7lU3TevZ4W5g10CJ41idkFa3bzept1R89zDXLDk4eeOYLQimSISHkITlR-vOR3FZZoVcBGDtZgs6gqKjkQJPiWAHfy/s1600/P1060294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg74nwqDGUGn66DSB-bXHa4G4qG2am8tGqAxrvFKFQ7qBsQWhWWsh7lU3TevZ4W5g10CJ41idkFa3bzept1R89zDXLDk4eeOYLQimSISHkITlR-vOR3FZZoVcBGDtZgs6gqKjkQJPiWAHfy/s320/P1060294.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I kept taking photos to keep my mind off the height</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZuC_Pr9YPqN3yqecikKjr3DtObr1zIUA3j4uqGFp7XhvQMquQvu1fpq36zxaDyK6uj0PT4z2ZZx4p7BtvmTRI-AnyAaKOZEzH_XxjxrF4dilgUIqLg-XD93-iSLRQavZV7-Hn2P7S88DI/s1600/P1060295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZuC_Pr9YPqN3yqecikKjr3DtObr1zIUA3j4uqGFp7XhvQMquQvu1fpq36zxaDyK6uj0PT4z2ZZx4p7BtvmTRI-AnyAaKOZEzH_XxjxrF4dilgUIqLg-XD93-iSLRQavZV7-Hn2P7S88DI/s320/P1060295.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not looking nervous at all</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-te6pShDm84RXj633vepjMEjPw_RYGVEzQBkIjmmnyL8Z7l12f2SWR4X5BW5nfvNugsOoxhft04XktmHSC_o_nZPyXPtiTWJvVkaxVO9P5UHvWLofk7Yl-xSDN0Id-HuEvtGZvXE3cXs/s1600/P1060298.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-te6pShDm84RXj633vepjMEjPw_RYGVEzQBkIjmmnyL8Z7l12f2SWR4X5BW5nfvNugsOoxhft04XktmHSC_o_nZPyXPtiTWJvVkaxVO9P5UHvWLofk7Yl-xSDN0Id-HuEvtGZvXE3cXs/s320/P1060298.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By this point I had sweat running down my arms from my hands</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Obviously we made it safe and sound, and I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. My rational side reminded me that there were loads of cable cars going back and forth all the time, and to enjoy the amazing view of the bay and the South China Sea, but the nonsense side was still a bit freaked out.<br />
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Anyway, this side of the park was a bit more exciting - lots of amazing looking rollercoasters and big rides. Even Toby the daredevil wasn't about to try the really extreme ones, but he did go on a whirly thing:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDtEXOOq0i0K9Dgc0HanB9P9wKmLqAYDf1UQG8FEQNY7bdqmqMTNw9e3AKNj9ebF7mWocfNXK_nrvxzAahOr8PX0Rb8j3t2W6-vcQhyn1tZYaFw78YNmVDmUpTdAhHiDmYr9VohGQSRc3/s1600/P1060318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDtEXOOq0i0K9Dgc0HanB9P9wKmLqAYDf1UQG8FEQNY7bdqmqMTNw9e3AKNj9ebF7mWocfNXK_nrvxzAahOr8PX0Rb8j3t2W6-vcQhyn1tZYaFw78YNmVDmUpTdAhHiDmYr9VohGQSRc3/s320/P1060318.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfOrNYY_icifvDrgl_lfB9T3ySFLD_LZY-aJumCv9crGuqaZNMHS6cWsP6o7BCQRGmeYNMiCrFrtH1vHJX-7Jp3R6S5UIn4i21nNhJOAbl8nlgOmejiQ4QO7nLXDB6c66X5MHRb-S9vxl/s1600/P1060326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOfOrNYY_icifvDrgl_lfB9T3ySFLD_LZY-aJumCv9crGuqaZNMHS6cWsP6o7BCQRGmeYNMiCrFrtH1vHJX-7Jp3R6S5UIn4i21nNhJOAbl8nlgOmejiQ4QO7nLXDB6c66X5MHRb-S9vxl/s320/P1060326.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Dara used the time more for photo opportunities:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1NLc_anqrmCf5rnCt9gnMdVHUfjF5ro7Kj9WJajeFd5__4u2tmTTzI62A0CEZyqF2N25x3EEu990IzqK3GGOWiL2ePRHj9deFyrfNify8VAsuqG1aBZpSOG1-IMGiMGlih2Sevc06Q3A/s1600/P1060305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1NLc_anqrmCf5rnCt9gnMdVHUfjF5ro7Kj9WJajeFd5__4u2tmTTzI62A0CEZyqF2N25x3EEu990IzqK3GGOWiL2ePRHj9deFyrfNify8VAsuqG1aBZpSOG1-IMGiMGlih2Sevc06Q3A/s320/P1060305.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfexYpDC5ErDHw-rAP-wueWlOGBkUUOCOuP1Gw9VCV9UNnqyGLxKc8tJjZ-byD6KWIxv7hwUujmnIgFY-kaERcXC9OFHwAA7z1CyLdy1cKrmKgJyZa1R7n3YPanzoplTpbTyCe4DHqhiJ6/s1600/P1060306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfexYpDC5ErDHw-rAP-wueWlOGBkUUOCOuP1Gw9VCV9UNnqyGLxKc8tJjZ-byD6KWIxv7hwUujmnIgFY-kaERcXC9OFHwAA7z1CyLdy1cKrmKgJyZa1R7n3YPanzoplTpbTyCe4DHqhiJ6/s320/P1060306.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
After a spot of lunch we made it to the auditorium to see the dolphin and sealion show. I never know what I think of these - I know the theory is that the dolphins enjoy doing this kind of thing, but who can say for sure. Anyway it was fairly well done, not quite Seaworld level but still pretty good, and the kids enjoyed it. I think for Emma and me the band playing before the show was the highlight:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPkPVRD2S6gVAuDUsX5Fxj_mPRfhI0Ggz86XdqrEe9WGEa4bBacYz67LFmOfw3ITGLEjS68YIYPodbpbzgdwWLogwecDJLmuu3AhrX5hIe-TVftCjLUtafXbWtlbKCp9fryjpqSv6n_5K/s1600/P1060309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPkPVRD2S6gVAuDUsX5Fxj_mPRfhI0Ggz86XdqrEe9WGEa4bBacYz67LFmOfw3ITGLEjS68YIYPodbpbzgdwWLogwecDJLmuu3AhrX5hIe-TVftCjLUtafXbWtlbKCp9fryjpqSv6n_5K/s320/P1060309.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing view from the auditorium</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabIZD6M8U9eLRrGJVK2NgyYzsfv3pPN01ewtwKy_tw1pKdBuEF09teh6-Sa1IzQ45ZP5dU-KLbqVHDT8cIZ368PdKeKG6WiyGd2ee16Jkn8NSikchYDMdEVh4NBysjsYe5jhW1-KLJMHe/s1600/P1060311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabIZD6M8U9eLRrGJVK2NgyYzsfv3pPN01ewtwKy_tw1pKdBuEF09teh6-Sa1IzQ45ZP5dU-KLbqVHDT8cIZ368PdKeKG6WiyGd2ee16Jkn8NSikchYDMdEVh4NBysjsYe5jhW1-KLJMHe/s320/P1060311.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cha-cha versions of Christmas carols</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdRxErGiFrkUGcO8YEjqpFi-TXtPXFtdg4DcGd83rN_gCJJVLfvl2EcuVYfRv25g6v2LVJe2dSmB8v_8w3xqW0-wHrJKtBSjQ0sXOxddd-8Ld2SFrcUFVj0oGzBurz6DegHCzB2pA-BLs/s1600/P1060313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivdRxErGiFrkUGcO8YEjqpFi-TXtPXFtdg4DcGd83rN_gCJJVLfvl2EcuVYfRv25g6v2LVJe2dSmB8v_8w3xqW0-wHrJKtBSjQ0sXOxddd-8Ld2SFrcUFVj0oGzBurz6DegHCzB2pA-BLs/s320/P1060313.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The drummer was awesome. I've never seen a pedal-operated cowbell before!</td></tr>
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Eventually it was time to go back to the main park. It turned out there's a train ride through the mountain, and it was done in a really awesome Captain Nemo/steampunk way:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front of the train</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBuDXtHm5fBtiPaCsgyBIs2VFSNqj61Ef8I-g4I6Rtqtd3aVpOlI5glrwXsKYMR9-N_nKTWY2vKHn9anKCdMh04q270iFOTcVf9L19TUvW9ouoSD0EzAsFq4KnsqKcwL2OB5XKnD6s7piy/s1600/P1060328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBuDXtHm5fBtiPaCsgyBIs2VFSNqj61Ef8I-g4I6Rtqtd3aVpOlI5glrwXsKYMR9-N_nKTWY2vKHn9anKCdMh04q270iFOTcVf9L19TUvW9ouoSD0EzAsFq4KnsqKcwL2OB5XKnD6s7piy/s320/P1060328.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior of the train</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZyI9Jck-Hjsg00-ckIm_PevOTLQ5anJZ013HSPcx__3ocSVI5hYGGvmfwbgWyKNVb53aRAV85lF-JbWvdfhbIQdx4o67CC8Vk3Se_uY85Wd_Af6MaNYz52_BKJWXU37EHPu3iiY0u7G8/s1600/P1060329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZyI9Jck-Hjsg00-ckIm_PevOTLQ5anJZ013HSPcx__3ocSVI5hYGGvmfwbgWyKNVb53aRAV85lF-JbWvdfhbIQdx4o67CC8Vk3Se_uY85Wd_Af6MaNYz52_BKJWXU37EHPu3iiY0u7G8/s320/P1060329.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Train gateway</td></tr>
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Dara insisted on going back to the frog jump ride, and we also went on the kids' ferris wheel and a couple of very sedate carousels before watching the Vegas-style lighted fountain show, then getting on the bus home. Unfortunately the bus didn't go down to the ferry piers, probably because of the New Year's Eve celebrations, so we had to get off at the Admiralty stop. Emma had a brainwave for us to take the MTR train back to Kowloon, as it's an underground system at that point, and it worked a treat. It was really packed but great atmosphere as it was about 8pm by that point and there were a lot of partyers out. We had some delicious room service food and a bottle of champagne in our room, then took the very tired kids out to the street for midnight. Again, tons and tons of people, but all really fun and good natured. Here we are in the hotel lobby at about 12:20<br />
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</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-61027836090736315522011-12-29T18:50:00.001+05:302011-12-29T18:53:02.890+05:30Exploring Hong Kong<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So it had to come to an end - on the 27th it was time for us to leave the magical world of Disneyland and move to our hotel in Kowloon. Fortunately it's still quite rarified here - we're staying at the <a href="http://hongkong.langhamhotels.com/" target="_blank">Langham</a>, which is really nice, and located very near the harbor, plus round the corner from Canton Road which I've heard described as the Rodeo Drive of Hong Kong:<br />
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The service is fantastic, and the rooms are incredibly comfortable. It's also nice that they were able to put the kids in a connected room to Emma's and mine, so it feels like we have a mini-suite. None of us has been to Hong Kong before, but so far we're really impressed - it seems very easy to get around, it's incredibly clean especially considering the concentration of people, and the food and shopping are phenomenal.<br />
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Yesterday we took some time to find our bearings, and did one of the things we'd heard is pretty much required for tourists - going up the Peak to see the panorama of the city. We had to wait a long time to catch the tram to the top, but the view once we got there was amazing:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down at a winding road</td></tr>
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We had a very expensive Japanese meal at the top (which was balanced out by the fact that we'd just had Starbuck's for breakfast and got sandwiches from the 7-Eleven for dinner), and the time at the lookout station was marred only slightly by the fact that Dara was complaining that she wanted a robot dog she saw in one of the totally over-priced shops. We did see a cool temple near the top, and I thought it was cool to see the road markings which look so British, but have Chinese characters too:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was also a really nice playground where the kids were able to play and Dara made some friends</td></tr>
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We got back across the harbor in time for a beautiful sunset, then explored the Ocean Terminal shopping mall - it's busy but totally great, loads of brands we know, including alarmingly expensive kids' shops - kids' versions of Prada, Gucci, Paul Smith etc. But again really neat to see after the shopping deprivation of Bangalore.<br />
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Today we decided to have a good old explore of Hong Kong, so we bought tickets for the <a href="http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/hongkong/custompage.aspx?id=hong_kong_sightseeing_tour&gclid=" target="_blank">Big Bus tour</a>, which gave us 48 hours of riding open top busses, plus ferry rides on the Star Ferry, a sampan tour of Aberdeen Harbour, and the Star Ferry tour of the main harbor. It was so incredibly easy to get this organized, and the bus tour guy was so helpful - it's such a difference from India, where you feel that you're getting scammed by everyone in sight. For example last time we did touristy stuff in India at Mysore Palace, I asked a guy where I could find something - he showed me but then told me I needed to pay him 20 rupees. By contrast here it just feels that people are actually being helpful because it's nice to be helpful - it's very refreshing. The only downer was we found that our bus tour ticket would also get us tickets for the tram to the peak - we could have saved a bunch of money, but it's a good reminder to do bus tours on the first day you arrive in a new city.<br />
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Anyway, we had a good ride across the harbor to Hong Kong Island on the Star Ferry, and got on the bus. It was a lovely day - probably around 20C, and with a bit of a sea breeze it was really refreshing. The bus has built-in audio so there was some good info about where we were going, and we had a nice chat with some guys from New Zealand who were sitting next to us. Emma had been told that Stanley Market was a good place to go, so we took the green route to get us there, and sure enough it was a really cool market. Loads of different shops along alleyways, some of which were kind of crappy, others were quite high-end, and Emma got a couple of really nice dresses from Monsoon, one of her favorite clothes stores from the UK.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only store in the market which was closing</td></tr>
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We had enjoyed the awesome buffet breakfast at the hotel, so Emma and I didn't need anything for lunch beyond a Pepsi, but the kids had a wee sandwich, then we hopped back on the bus to go past Repulse Bay (beautiful and if Emma and I ever get incredibly rich we're going to retire there) and to Aberdeen Harbour. For me having grown up in Aberdeen, Scotland, this was rather amusing - I'm pretty sure it was a lot sunnier and warmer than the Scottish version:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHP8HuqfF4ESML0DOiAHYLrxSJypoConG-ySghoQzhNtQ8YUGm2FVtZvDv3Qz2uDKAe2kOFM7yQ60iLuEWxGrPgDJakrxPC7orRdvsXfHkXGKlo2t4D55Em7eknBa5aBnRn4XIf0Fn4j2l/s1600/P1060102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHP8HuqfF4ESML0DOiAHYLrxSJypoConG-ySghoQzhNtQ8YUGm2FVtZvDv3Qz2uDKAe2kOFM7yQ60iLuEWxGrPgDJakrxPC7orRdvsXfHkXGKlo2t4D55Em7eknBa5aBnRn4XIf0Fn4j2l/s320/P1060102.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road to Aberdeen</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8rM5VtlUG9J3PfdMFufyQ6q1b9plLFMEZYJdIaamEY2pmypR8lZmQE6Hf3rXhT0LH_flFoHknglum8dQbGhqyjjtrp3RaurGeztFxJZ6duvPZyQwRHa4LdscvqBew1J067t8NRWzQvBh/s1600/P1060112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8rM5VtlUG9J3PfdMFufyQ6q1b9plLFMEZYJdIaamEY2pmypR8lZmQE6Hf3rXhT0LH_flFoHknglum8dQbGhqyjjtrp3RaurGeztFxJZ6duvPZyQwRHa4LdscvqBew1J067t8NRWzQvBh/s320/P1060112.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing apartments at Repulse Bay</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTRGKQI-KdrRu8dVTxJfBniPsf8kE6HXqM5iI9lsTwhXDs-hVBF5lzysySJXDRsHF58pF-jIzofZGjf-GuXJR6uwKnPTgkIVrUEOOvyyBbOOzh8eDUnW3eEIYu3zqhC7qHbNfvjDExPjy/s1600/P1060130.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTRGKQI-KdrRu8dVTxJfBniPsf8kE6HXqM5iI9lsTwhXDs-hVBF5lzysySJXDRsHF58pF-jIzofZGjf-GuXJR6uwKnPTgkIVrUEOOvyyBbOOzh8eDUnW3eEIYu3zqhC7qHbNfvjDExPjy/s320/P1060130.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our sampan pilot</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTtmNSa5d8J0j5uVjfePYAOYljnQQyGC5HMw2Ka9L6ui_JbC2sFFpD_S0IrxLSsduBVTpB5kStgfYx1k3LjsBdgBr2_AZ39MsafT85a2avjxMq5G13Rwcp2X1Lei1VChyphenhyphenbl0tY4tTiaLL/s1600/P1060133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTtmNSa5d8J0j5uVjfePYAOYljnQQyGC5HMw2Ka9L6ui_JbC2sFFpD_S0IrxLSsduBVTpB5kStgfYx1k3LjsBdgBr2_AZ39MsafT85a2avjxMq5G13Rwcp2X1Lei1VChyphenhyphenbl0tY4tTiaLL/s320/P1060133.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aberdeen boat club</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8klkiGNm7JxVuRHUTZuk6RnM61v-DTRAFzpLYDzJBtOmXS-xE6iMAwsFNKHS2hVQN3cH9qKOYsWyEjJIzRW7klCUkHfBdj7Xo8UEbZxl_D93GX7b6CQ6WgHQlq6gOO9PIMWiTaZf87EE/s1600/P1060140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8klkiGNm7JxVuRHUTZuk6RnM61v-DTRAFzpLYDzJBtOmXS-xE6iMAwsFNKHS2hVQN3cH9qKOYsWyEjJIzRW7klCUkHfBdj7Xo8UEbZxl_D93GX7b6CQ6WgHQlq6gOO9PIMWiTaZf87EE/s320/P1060140.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the sampan outside the Jumbo floating restaurant</td></tr>
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Once we were done with the sampan we got back on the bus through towers of buildings, then to visit St. John's Anglican Cathedral:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6p5uze2aXfneLfHu0oNJOMQGFC8M9tcKuYCJmpR-8Y2Lfa2eEhClv5OhZ8sIEdU3IgbQ0lzNQdAHDVU9juFeSZJhyphenhyphenq2BxosStVNHQVIH7e6NHjf-YdXn3pFkypIimfI3E0rhGp8LN1fv/s1600/P1060153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji6p5uze2aXfneLfHu0oNJOMQGFC8M9tcKuYCJmpR-8Y2Lfa2eEhClv5OhZ8sIEdU3IgbQ0lzNQdAHDVU9juFeSZJhyphenhyphenq2BxosStVNHQVIH7e6NHjf-YdXn3pFkypIimfI3E0rhGp8LN1fv/s320/P1060153.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then back to the Ocean Terminal, where I had to get some stuff from Marks and Spencer's - Emma and I got very emotional at the food and wine offerings! We also saw the coolest Christmas tree ever:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0m6LTujAUnQ2t6ZG-7CvcaSwgovgDH8Eabbml87c0LOi09hq1jyW08YurJeW29LDWZcV5d0yUhyphenhyphenA0l0gMTDv-do2zFyDjtzTtfh33z5Qx8s54geTV6Jx0d-uBiynt5EB6VVXkt-pZ-Ht/s1600/P1060162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0m6LTujAUnQ2t6ZG-7CvcaSwgovgDH8Eabbml87c0LOi09hq1jyW08YurJeW29LDWZcV5d0yUhyphenhyphenA0l0gMTDv-do2zFyDjtzTtfh33z5Qx8s54geTV6Jx0d-uBiynt5EB6VVXkt-pZ-Ht/s320/P1060162.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We wanted to get a fairly traditional dinner tonight, so after a couple of glasses of Marks and Spencer wine in our room, Emma asked the concierge about something good and inexpensive nearby. He recommended the <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2010/02/26/2003466684" target="_blank">Sweet Dynasty</a> which was just a couple of blocks away. We were the only westerners there, and there were some pretty crazy dishes - lots of pigs kidneys, cow innards and tendons and jellyfish. We went a bit tamer, but Emma did try the pork and shrimp dim sum - even though she doesn't like shrimp she really liked it. Toby did really well with his chopsticks and we all ate tons. I'm sure there are cheaper places around but it was very reasonable compared to other places we've been, and it certainly hit the spot.<br />
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So far we're really liking it here - Dara asked four times if she could go to school here. Now I think it's time for a drop or two more vino!</div>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-49255446852199218922011-12-28T08:11:00.000+05:302011-12-28T08:11:23.833+05:30Hotels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I forgot to mention in previous posts that Dara's initial stay at the Palm Meadows club hotel when we arrived in Bangalore has somewhat skewed her impression of travel. We stayed at that hotel for four weeks while we were waiting for our house to be ready, and I think that was her first experience of being in a hotel, at least in her active memory. <div>
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So now she has been telling us that any hotel we stay in is actually not a hotel, it's called a club. And every day we were staying at the Disney hotel she was asking when we were going to get into our real house, and when was our sea shipment going to arrive. Clearly she thought we were in the process of moving to Hong Kong (so far Emma and I would be pretty happy with that, although we'd have to have a considerable pay raise to be able to handle it). I hope Dara is going to be OK when we go back to Bangalore and she realizes we're not staying.</div>
</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-50457092371628525662011-12-27T16:26:00.000+05:302011-12-27T16:26:11.424+05:30Dara's Princess Makeover<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One thing Emma and I discussed before we went on this trip is that it was going to be really pricey. However we agreed that this is OK for a few reasons: Firstly we've all been working really hard as a family over the last year as we've prepared for our move to Bangalore and have worked on settling in. Secondly, we wanted the kids to know how much we appreciate them as we've kind of foisted this major life change on them, some of which has been better but a few things have certainly been more challenging (not that money means appreciation, but we wanted to allow them to have some cool experiences while we're here). Also we felt that if you're at a place like Disney and are watching the pennies it's just not going to be as fun, and although clearly that means we're falling into their nefarious trap we're OK with it.<br />
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Anyway, a result of this is that we thought it'd be neat to sign Dara up for the princess makeover experience at the hotel - we felt it was something she'd really appreciate at her age, and would be really happy to look back on when she's older. The hotel has a boutique where girls (and I assume boys if they want to) can choose a princess dress and get the full makeover experience, including a big photo shoot. Dara was thrilled that Emma took her along, while Toby and I stayed in our room and watched some of the second Harry Potter movie, which he got from Santa. She had quite a time:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtu9cpT04U-WHlaRjLrafmQAnmn4TH8G5utySQKwTx6gmPLp8Mv6LlpPBwOWdyp3gikL5kerPZ6ZWgD4g9QPcUql381zrdCDXfu9EMGtqyN0IoYP2R_6VCP99jXPw_hFAZrA0aGyIdPXvM/s1600/P1050876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtu9cpT04U-WHlaRjLrafmQAnmn4TH8G5utySQKwTx6gmPLp8Mv6LlpPBwOWdyp3gikL5kerPZ6ZWgD4g9QPcUql381zrdCDXfu9EMGtqyN0IoYP2R_6VCP99jXPw_hFAZrA0aGyIdPXvM/s320/P1050876.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rapunzel dress selected, and in the makeup chair, ready to go</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60sjfuwJ926pDoW27UdtefJiqf2o4agvB5P7Rk2DOIcWtSGkrNpG2YG_Yo4wHTCqjL9nZZTJPSb-CWd8HRsXz4k0KxKTLgNPrWp6go1_nNXkZyY2wVFxY8xz7BLhSUvIRdBLi-amPwVvG/s1600/P1050883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60sjfuwJ926pDoW27UdtefJiqf2o4agvB5P7Rk2DOIcWtSGkrNpG2YG_Yo4wHTCqjL9nZZTJPSb-CWd8HRsXz4k0KxKTLgNPrWp6go1_nNXkZyY2wVFxY8xz7BLhSUvIRdBLi-amPwVvG/s320/P1050883.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting her nails done</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fQEce7_N5T0vVnZHKcTfS_tAY658R4xrQb9XZ_o8yO_p4td-q3yM6jKlhSyRTj1XxAnakoBnT-L7a-PrGrmLXEoklI7itKdOQtGHhxY8sYNv8CvsALBuRr8bpsSx9FWWc3H1Tpcj3i05/s1600/P1050890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8fQEce7_N5T0vVnZHKcTfS_tAY658R4xrQb9XZ_o8yO_p4td-q3yM6jKlhSyRTj1XxAnakoBnT-L7a-PrGrmLXEoklI7itKdOQtGHhxY8sYNv8CvsALBuRr8bpsSx9FWWc3H1Tpcj3i05/s320/P1050890.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having her hair pulled back. This was the one bit she wasn't crazy about until they put glitter spray in</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmOV7aVkuMQ4YLfUCkD4nUDE6aFZQV0lOFK3O4djDKXKgkqOV3nUubh8PLNtJW3Z-HLZ6IBSIHA58VNUjVqiFeo_J1QEloyIWmIb-uu1q4RC1si64EQI9K7JpXVWnX08AmRb3JP8pdXtv/s1600/P1050896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmOV7aVkuMQ4YLfUCkD4nUDE6aFZQV0lOFK3O4djDKXKgkqOV3nUubh8PLNtJW3Z-HLZ6IBSIHA58VNUjVqiFeo_J1QEloyIWmIb-uu1q4RC1si64EQI9K7JpXVWnX08AmRb3JP8pdXtv/s320/P1050896.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eyeshadow being applied</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyuKfG9oS7TMaaSnbeI3AkOLILKtxtD6mmb-Gjv5XBks3ceYqMKFX4R8QfBGJ03eFFqkIfcoQqDd2f-DqREOJ78FkZEY-XKvYahHQQPc_xYyXSAsr6Ujqt5pdgQXMe8NvXana1nQRx9zv/s1600/P1050901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyuKfG9oS7TMaaSnbeI3AkOLILKtxtD6mmb-Gjv5XBks3ceYqMKFX4R8QfBGJ03eFFqkIfcoQqDd2f-DqREOJ78FkZEY-XKvYahHQQPc_xYyXSAsr6Ujqt5pdgQXMe8NvXana1nQRx9zv/s320/P1050901.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hair and makeup being done at the same time</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PH3BPk8cMRDnbETwvgg5KDrKB2kEgjrhrZ7g2AZh30NPqUtNzfx9gG00GOzNemtJNEEYWY3nfjOg71zbRilZMwSHhIfd9gUIQZmwqLxB9PXiG-DI0iIGGLnpxeLGE9Pg_jHbnihDkkUI/s1600/P1050909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PH3BPk8cMRDnbETwvgg5KDrKB2kEgjrhrZ7g2AZh30NPqUtNzfx9gG00GOzNemtJNEEYWY3nfjOg71zbRilZMwSHhIfd9gUIQZmwqLxB9PXiG-DI0iIGGLnpxeLGE9Pg_jHbnihDkkUI/s320/P1050909.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add some blusher</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVckRhH5MvH4dVi4MN10nGIzt9ffe4A3RaJYQbEGLTucvqwrqeXazGy9YLY4LPeVbIUkwVZ-KtJIhLae4DMCx1QGSNFbVDFwCmaZMZbTZJ12FU-GyTYY67RHXo6dlX2q8IhPIvh4a4Vd8/s1600/P1050914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVckRhH5MvH4dVi4MN10nGIzt9ffe4A3RaJYQbEGLTucvqwrqeXazGy9YLY4LPeVbIUkwVZ-KtJIhLae4DMCx1QGSNFbVDFwCmaZMZbTZJ12FU-GyTYY67RHXo6dlX2q8IhPIvh4a4Vd8/s320/P1050914.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And apply the Rapunzel hair!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEIqYapSXAafwIO00OEcbjrVRHsBhy_jkqE4HNt6zpXJvmtuSRrFIaSOFAPjy1-1ZvHqXgfHn5ZrFsTVPXwTtGtH9WAXBGzQNMiB7XwzHmy67NMCInESOzLD6pS2hum-VmkYWzABDRcLN/s1600/P1050915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirEIqYapSXAafwIO00OEcbjrVRHsBhy_jkqE4HNt6zpXJvmtuSRrFIaSOFAPjy1-1ZvHqXgfHn5ZrFsTVPXwTtGtH9WAXBGzQNMiB7XwzHmy67NMCInESOzLD6pS2hum-VmkYWzABDRcLN/s320/P1050915.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here is Princess Rapunzel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyN6pzUuNjS6DS7onfublvdX1vhlfHej1k0BQjWY3Rrn8-LWBF97PCILaXsK-tHKzbG5Veb4mrnov0I_YI7kisvS9P51oUkFiWMu3Cet_fYB5_COcer1FkuhvK3woFv5j1hrGJEaTsdXeh/s1600/P1050916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyN6pzUuNjS6DS7onfublvdX1vhlfHej1k0BQjWY3Rrn8-LWBF97PCILaXsK-tHKzbG5Veb4mrnov0I_YI7kisvS9P51oUkFiWMu3Cet_fYB5_COcer1FkuhvK3woFv5j1hrGJEaTsdXeh/s320/P1050916.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the back</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rV80tH_OcNJbMyDJPXInukk7g8pluXcWh49ssog57aRxxKJB298DvmPyQVQy2-LK7ojhfSrhYZaVKuHNaViedtZzA45xILncjD5VVfkvyTzVSzXSJ6NWNx-ajEYREYsHXUCL5FQ6Z-Ik/s1600/P1050922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3rV80tH_OcNJbMyDJPXInukk7g8pluXcWh49ssog57aRxxKJB298DvmPyQVQy2-LK7ojhfSrhYZaVKuHNaViedtZzA45xILncjD5VVfkvyTzVSzXSJ6NWNx-ajEYREYsHXUCL5FQ6Z-Ik/s320/P1050922.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara tells the photographer that she's four</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photoshoot in progres</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_5bU469VNqwJW306s6nVGXI_JcWJiMWXbtNWPr9uqqsI_egzNArF0Rfj_XLXn0wWLf8mo7TC6dh8lK8Y3xNHo5rnGrshA9gJ78zS1Z1Syt9PXkwLvM2maS6jlVEEVk8_Jpz9HMOyzQmO/s1600/P1050936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_5bU469VNqwJW306s6nVGXI_JcWJiMWXbtNWPr9uqqsI_egzNArF0Rfj_XLXn0wWLf8mo7TC6dh8lK8Y3xNHo5rnGrshA9gJ78zS1Z1Syt9PXkwLvM2maS6jlVEEVk8_Jpz9HMOyzQmO/s320/P1050936.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Posing</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floor shot</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the princess chair</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZiUEGrrdcm1ulJ14kzQRfWrG-LwZNk7AhZQSMPqjp_Rnzu6FAZYKS5DoBLj8jYHqcYBoC9jpfrJ83EDmgOt81ufljK6HzjXu_JwxwxMjBc_SNmUTkBRS2Ti7h7Le6pttVFtw5cniPvs5/s1600/P1050951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZiUEGrrdcm1ulJ14kzQRfWrG-LwZNk7AhZQSMPqjp_Rnzu6FAZYKS5DoBLj8jYHqcYBoC9jpfrJ83EDmgOt81ufljK6HzjXu_JwxwxMjBc_SNmUTkBRS2Ti7h7Le6pttVFtw5cniPvs5/s320/P1050951.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afterwards, in the hallway. She felt much better once her hair wasn't pulled back so tight!</td></tr>
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The whole experience took over an hour, and I think she had an amazing time. It seems a little ridiculous but a special thing for her to have done. We got four photos in total to take home, something neat for her to remember. Afterwards it was time again to go to the park - there were some rides we wanted to do again, and some we hadn't tried before, including seeing the Golden Mickeys musical show, which was totally great. The singers and dancers are so professional and it was really enjoyable. Toby discovered the Space Mountain rollercoaster ride and loved it. They do a photo while you're zooming along, and he did a great pose with the Hong Kong-style v-for-victory fingers, and we got a copy to take home. Later in the day when he did it again he was in a totally laid back pose with his hands behind his head. It was hilarious as everyone else in the car was screaming and he looks like he's chilling out on the sofa.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGN3wWqybgcH8DVcNpLmOtCl15-rhHudNmle4Ojde5XJYad27tntRX7k9OCS6_cCrVoDaJcrfHRmA6JQ1O44BcoqdKhP41N3lKgZSTjaMy-PM1EM3QSDUwFn1EC3sAPg5X8shXhVB7E93/s1600/P1050954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXGN3wWqybgcH8DVcNpLmOtCl15-rhHudNmle4Ojde5XJYad27tntRX7k9OCS6_cCrVoDaJcrfHRmA6JQ1O44BcoqdKhP41N3lKgZSTjaMy-PM1EM3QSDUwFn1EC3sAPg5X8shXhVB7E93/s320/P1050954.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara waiting for the flying saucer ride</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uPQVx8Apv9EsCj9VeUP7nFKb_ju0rodSh2B-Qhw1AkwL5v8lPs0Zl6SOeweyni2zsasJb2ldXgp6zmHybzVxKxGTQy9iif20nxgWcY-H3m8AD52yui-nMLGv38OuaFFenyZaNjfT2-nl/s1600/P1050956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uPQVx8Apv9EsCj9VeUP7nFKb_ju0rodSh2B-Qhw1AkwL5v8lPs0Zl6SOeweyni2zsasJb2ldXgp6zmHybzVxKxGTQy9iif20nxgWcY-H3m8AD52yui-nMLGv38OuaFFenyZaNjfT2-nl/s320/P1050956.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara and me on the flying saucer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara in her 3D glasses</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara gets her groove on</td></tr>
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On the way home we persuaded someone to take a photo of the four of us:<br />
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Then it was time to go back to the hotel for a nightcap. There's not much booze at Disneyland, but the hotel lobby sold some, and we felt we deserved it:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toby giving Dara a ride home</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Disneyland hotel lobby</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara dancing to the jazz band</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well deserved glasses of bubbly</td></tr>
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We're a bit sad to leave Disney, although we feel like we really made the most of it. Hopefully we can go to the Orlando or LA park one day - it'll be interesting to see how different it is from the Hong Kong park. But for now it's time to head to our next stop - Kowloon in central Hong Kong for five days!</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-71672653914367578512011-12-27T16:01:00.001+05:302011-12-27T16:01:10.334+05:30Disney Christmas Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We've been busy so I hadn't had time to write posts since Christmas Eve. But we had a great time in our last couple of days at Disneyland Hong Kong, and although we do like Bangalore, it's been such a treat to be somewhere so clean and fresh. Also we have enjoyed not having to drive or be driven anywhere - after a couple of days we worked out that it's actually quicker to walk from our hotel to the park than to walk to the bus terminus and ride back, so the only vehicles we've been on have been park rides. Bliss.<br />
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The thing the kids were most concerned about was whether Santa would know that we were in Hong Kong, but of course they needn't have worried:<br />
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(as a reminder, you can click on any of these pics to see the full size versions)<br />
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They were very happy with what they got. I got a pretty fancy haul - a beautiful Italian silk tie and pocket square, some Paul Smith socks, a pair of pewter haggis cufflinks, and some Cuban cigars! I've never smoked a cigar in my life, but I've always fancied the idea of at least just having one, so I'll be looking for someone in the know to help me with technique.<br />
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Anyway, I had booked for us to go the the Enchanted Garden buffet for a Disney character breakfast, and it was a lot of fun. The food was awesome - a great mix of Asian, American and European, and totally delicious. And the kids really enjoyed meeting Mickey etc:<br />
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It was a totally beautiful day - about 19ºC and sunny, so it was a great time to head down to the park. Dara was in quite a hurry:<br />
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There were absolutely tons of people, including a large tourist party from India:<br />
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We ended up at the starting point of the daily parade, which meant we got to see things a lot more clearly than the first day - here are some of the highlights:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UrPHMoESrwkPQytr5ksqe5lR3RdUBAmBgH11WaZMmpcGnsodqYQswsV0Oy_RAXVcnQPqjtkvcEvlAL0Knd1kLtx0HuunatnEM6vnXkMh0-t-hioNQJ0BDZE7BYfXIiKUTIcXj5vfRRNK/s1600/P1050745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8UrPHMoESrwkPQytr5ksqe5lR3RdUBAmBgH11WaZMmpcGnsodqYQswsV0Oy_RAXVcnQPqjtkvcEvlAL0Knd1kLtx0HuunatnEM6vnXkMh0-t-hioNQJ0BDZE7BYfXIiKUTIcXj5vfRRNK/s320/P1050745.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marching Band</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj642WhpXEzr1eSGM4kxneTI8lgq6T5sa0gscktikRLo7Qv7XSNparJE8vuVo5RfB8UYpxTHYWivbs9gI2LG5193EBEuUXyXmvIZ7uf2cp7r2Z5OrklE8rD8tc-3hBq4yCDEbXbIQ2bklhn/s1600/P1050764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj642WhpXEzr1eSGM4kxneTI8lgq6T5sa0gscktikRLo7Qv7XSNparJE8vuVo5RfB8UYpxTHYWivbs9gI2LG5193EBEuUXyXmvIZ7uf2cp7r2Z5OrklE8rD8tc-3hBq4yCDEbXbIQ2bklhn/s320/P1050764.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buzz Lightyear dancers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGiMvEfw0n7NzY_M3X6wucR-mUwfGrvHX4fi36Knn7SfgDjgPL7u4PKIzf-mOhFZtTbHiWOOdYoOq-gK4KOY1Ve5XF1aV7xS6V5sU2T81QOWSUS7a8RkCwNaXxtXY-khNdIDoN4wdkWlK/s1600/P1050739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQGiMvEfw0n7NzY_M3X6wucR-mUwfGrvHX4fi36Knn7SfgDjgPL7u4PKIzf-mOhFZtTbHiWOOdYoOq-gK4KOY1Ve5XF1aV7xS6V5sU2T81QOWSUS7a8RkCwNaXxtXY-khNdIDoN4wdkWlK/s320/P1050739.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toby and Dara on Main Street USA</td></tr>
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After the parade it was time for our Christmas lunch:<br />
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Following this Dara had a bit of a dream come true - she got to meet two real live princesses. Afterwards she showed that princesses have to be strong as well as pretty:<br />
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We decided not to stay late after such a big day, but Toby and Emma did have time to do a last flying saucer ride, and got in a good Hong Kong pose for it:<br />
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Merry Christmas, everyone!</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-27544620990865379242011-12-24T20:35:00.000+05:302011-12-24T20:35:12.880+05:30Hong Kong Disney day two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1">It turned out that we really needed the sleep - we all slept for over twelve hours! We live in a relatively quiet area of Bangalore, but even so, because we have single-glazed windows we are usually woken by the sound of squawking birds, squeaking squirrels, the local mosque's call to prayer, or the little kid next door complaining at his parents. Being in a room with double-glazing makes such a difference! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNm73XSE_ULNIQIn1RsQGZOmFGTH3L4EcbGOfgEtoc4_dSsrQUoKtdY0uiEB_hDb_eKIVMGqgOooSy8P34PACswCBtGj-oDRQ53uz51NaxykIcbUQUhW2yr9oZbtp8DvPAKafYwm4A561F/s1600/P1050680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNm73XSE_ULNIQIn1RsQGZOmFGTH3L4EcbGOfgEtoc4_dSsrQUoKtdY0uiEB_hDb_eKIVMGqgOooSy8P34PACswCBtGj-oDRQ53uz51NaxykIcbUQUhW2yr9oZbtp8DvPAKafYwm4A561F/s320/P1050680.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hotel provides several different sizes of bathrobes and slippers</td></tr>
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<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We staggered down for breakfast which was decent enough - with all the efficiency and polish of Disney in evidence pretty much everywhere here the service in the hotel restaurant was surprisingly slap-dash, but it was good enough for us. One thing we learned: if you ask for a glass of water it'll be warm; if you want cold water you have to ask for a bottle. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We had quite a bumper day at the park today. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so there will be no pics from today, but it was nice to enjoy without thinking about taking photos. In fact because our phones don't work here we've been very technology-free which is really refreshing. We started at Toy Story land, where Dara, Emma and I stood in line for about 45 minutes to ride the Slinky Dog ride, while Toby went off to do the daredevil rides - the soldier parachute drop and the RC car loop, both of which looked too crazy for either of his parents to go on. The staff were great - they let him get to the front of the line really quickly because he was on his own, so by the time we were about to get on our ride he was already done. However when we saw him he was walking along a path looking pretty distressed due to a combination of not being able to find us and not inconsiderable nausea from the rides. However once he saw us he chirped up a bit, and we were set to try more things. Highlights were the It's A Small World ride - a kind of canal boat ride with musical animatronic puppets showing scenes from all round the world; a fun car ride and the African boat river ride. It was a lot of queueing and to be honest although I'm not one for crazy fairground rides they were mostly pretty tame, but it was good fun just to be there with the family, and to enjoy people-watching.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As with yesterday we're really enjoying the food, and being in a place with decent standards of food hygiene. It was great to have safe cut fruit and breakfast, and we had delicious American-style hot dogs and corn dogs for lunch, with no fear of food poisoning (the hot dogs threatened to be less authentic when they were offered with either chili topping (somewhat authentic) or with mushroom sauce (um…) but we just had them plain with onions and relish. For dinner we went to a more Chinese place where we had great soup, rice, sweet and sour pork, and Toby and Dara shared a beef noodle dish - it looked not at all like what Dara would like as it had a lot of sauce but she was a big brave girl and tried it and loved it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Speaking of Dara she once again got tons of attention from people here. Lots of people waving and saying hello to her and taking photos. She's not totally crazy about it although I think being in India prepared her for it and she's not too bad at ignoring the attention. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We decided to stay till closing time to see the firework show, which meant getting pretty chilly after the sun went down. It probably got down to about 10ºC which is the coldest any of us have been in ages, but it was worth it for the great fireworks over the castle - a fun way to end Christmas Eve. Of course it's all a bit saccharine and made up, but it was fun being in the big crowd oohing and aahing at the display, then all heading together for the exits. Now we're back in the hotel room the kids are pretty wiped out and my arms hurt from carrying Dara so much of the day, but I hope that it's been a pretty decent day for us all.</span></div>
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</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-74171012216553534762011-12-24T20:33:00.001+05:302011-12-24T20:33:05.875+05:30Hong Kong Disney day one<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="s1">Once I got back from Minneapolis I had to take my first day off work sick since we moved to India (which is pretty good going - over four months without having to take a day off) as I'd picked up a nasty cold. Just needed a day of taking it easy and feeling a bit rubbish. But it was important to get better, as I had one more day in the office before we went on our big family Christmas vacation to Hong Kong.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Back in September I'd booked this trip - it felt that by that time we'd probably need a break from India, and Emma and I wanted to give Toby and Dara (and ourselves) a big Christmas treat, so we figured that Christmas at Disneyland would be pretty awesome. We got a direct flight on Dragonair - just under five hours, but like pretty much all the international flights out of Bangalore it left in the middle of the night - 3am to be precise. Somehow we all got to sleep at 8pm, then up again at 11ish to get to the airport. Having done all my work jet setting lately it felt really strange to be in economy class seats, and I think that Dragonair's seats are also particularly cramped and small. But it was a nice smooth flight with really friendly service, so no problems really. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">When we arrived at Hong Kong airport we just couldn't believe how clean it all was. In fact the first thing Toby did was to get water from a drinking fountain - he was thrilled! There was quite a wait in line for immigration, but it moved pretty well and gave lots of locals the chance to smile at Dara and take pictures of her - there aren't many people here with blue eyes and blonde curly hair, although I'd expected she'd be a bit less of a novelty than in India. We got a cab from the airport to the Disneyland Hotel and were really impressed at how smooth and clear the roads were. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">There are two Disney hotels here - one is the Hollywood Hotel and kind of art deco, and we're staying in the Disneyland hotel which is more Victorian style. Obviously they're both totally fake but really well done at the same time. Immaculately put together, really really clean, and amazing attention to detail. We have one room for the four of us - it's not huge but really comfortable. The bathroom is totally lined with marble, and there are Disney touches everywhere. Even the tissue box has a picture of Sneezy next to it. We hung around the hotel for a couple of hours till it was official check-in time, which meant we got to walk along the waterfront for a bit and enjoy some fresh sea air, and we had an amazing Chinese lunch - totally delicious noodles, shrimp and pork, just what we needed. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We headed over to the Disney park around 4, and got in right as the parade was going through Main Street. It was pretty amazing to walk right into, and perfect timing for the kids to see all the dancers and the characters right in front of them. It might sound ridiculous but it was kind of overwhelming to have this Americana right in our faces after being away for such a long time - Emma confessed later that she was also a bit emotional. The parade was really well done, and I was really impressed with the performers - they must have done this a million times, but they were all really smiling and into it. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">We spent some time wondering around, and of course the first thing the kids wanted was some food. We found a bakery, where we got some coffee, and a Christmas market food stall where they were doing roasted chestnuts, turkey drumsticks, pizza on a stick and Mickey Mouse waffles. As well as packets of Korean dried squid. The kids shared a waffle and pronounced it to be good. It was certainly great to be able to have iced drinks and cut fruit without being concerned about getting sick, as we've had to do for the last five months. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An elderly couple prepares to ride a flying saucer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wearing 3D glasses (they're referred to as opera glasses)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara meets Tinkerbell - a dream come true</td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Once we were refreshed we went off to look at some rides - nothing too crazy but good fun. This first day we wanted to get the lay of the land, so we saw the future world stuff, flew some flying saucers, went through the princess castle and on the carousel. We also found a great 3D musical movie show, Dara met Tinkerbell, and we explored the new Toy Story section. We finished up with some pretty good fish and chips, then got back to the hotel. I wasn't sure if the kids would be totally wired and impossible to get to sleep, but they conked out pretty quickly, as did us grown-ups.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dara being cool in her new Toy Story hoodie</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some monkeys</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main Street, USA</td></tr>
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</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-15879018714814779062011-12-19T05:43:00.002+05:302011-12-19T05:43:59.098+05:30Going "home"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well that was a busy week! I've just finished a week in Minneapolis, and am in a lounge in Dallas Fort Worth airport, waiting for a flight to London, then another to Bangalore. As noted in my last post, it's an incredibly long journey from Minneapolis to Bangalore, but at least I'm by myself and don't have the kids being all exhausted - I wouldn't blame them for being cranky on this length of journey.<br />
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The week was great, despite being away from Emma and the kids. I think I made the most of it - packed days at the office, and saw a number of friends too and let them know how we're doing. The first couple of days were pure culture shock, it was really strange to be back in a cold, dark place, but also to experience such clean shops and sidewalks. At the risk of sounding like a pure consumer, shopping at Target was frankly a joy. I think we forget to appreciate how difficult it is to run a store so efficiently, but when you're in a place like India and have to deal with even the more modern supermarkets here, they are years away from how well we do it. I might do a retail geek post sometime in the future where I'll write more about it. My bags are totally packed with stuff - I took an empty huge case, and have completely stuffed it with toys, clothes, towels and medical supplies. Fortunately it and my two other bags came in under the 70 pound weight limit, but only just.<br />
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Anyway, work was good - it was the primary reason for my trip after all. Lots of time meeting with leaders, my peers and former team, and my calendar was packed every day. I think I learned a lot by talking about my experiences - it was a good way to reflect and find themes in what I've been doing, and to hear other people's ideas. It did make things like time with my boss quite intense - we get on extremely well, but when you don't work in the same place as someone it makes interactions much more focussed than they would be if I could just drop into his office anytime. We had some great chats, and it also gave me the chance to let him know how much I appreciate his support of what I'm doing. <br />
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One of the strange things was that I wasn't staying in our house - I was at a hotel downtown. We have great renters in our place, and I didn't want to be nosey by visiting them in what is now their home. It was strange, though, to be at our neighbors' place and to see the house with lights on and other people living there, and to be around the neighborhood. But that's OK, and I'm glad the house is in such great hands.<br />
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So now I'm on the way back I'm trying to work out where home really is at the moment (made stranger by the fact that I'm travelling through London, another former home). I have to say that being in Minneapolis for a few days made me really appreciate it and (most of) the people too. And in fact one of my hopes for our time in Bangalore is for us to re-appreciate Minneapolis, and I hope that Emma and the kids will feel this way too. We're certainly really happy in Bangalore, but I'm not totally sure it feels like home, or if it ever truly will, but it is where our stuff is, and we've made a good lot of friends there. I know that I don't feel at home when I'm not with my lovely little family, that's for sure. We'll find out more this weekend - we're off to Hong Kong for just over a week, and we'll see how we feel when we get back to Bangalore.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-6286176360719473022011-12-10T23:22:00.001+05:302011-12-10T23:56:07.175+05:30America<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm back in Minneapolis for the first time since we moved. It's a bit of a strange feeling, not least because I'm here by myself (just here for a week of pretty intense work) and I'm staying in a hotel (interesting history can be found <a href="http://www.lileks.com/mpls/hotels/rad/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Both of these facts mean that it would be miserable for the kids to be here, plus they have school, so it's just me.<br />
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I'd forgotten what a long journey it is to get here; it is almost halfway round the world, but even so it's quite a schlep. Usually I'd go with Air France and Delta, meaning just one stop in Paris, but that flight was all sold out, so I went with BA through London and Chicago. The bonus of this was having the Bangalore-London leg in a 747, and being in the upper deck. BA's business class is pretty nice, and I did appreciate how their seats go totally flat so I got a few hours' sleep in both of the long flights. It was really strange, though, going through Heathrow. Terminal 5 is very nice, but after being in sunny Bangalore for the last few months it was a total culture shock to be in what feels like a shopping mall in London with Christmas decorations all over the place. It was surprising how early it got dark - around 4pm - in Bangalore the sun sets between 6:30 and 7 every evening. Also being there for only a couple of hours and not having the chance to see friends or family made me feel quite rootless, so all in all it was a strange experience. Chicago airport was quiet by the time we arrived, and I had a few hours to hang around. I got some free wifi at the American Airlines Admirals Club. Their literature didn't seem to feature any apostrophes in "Admirals", and there was a noticeable and disappointing lack of admirals, or indeed any seafaring theme - just an obnoxiously loudmouthed guy at the bar.<br />
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Anyway, I got into Minneapolis on schedule at around midnight and cabbed to the hotel. It was about 14ºF, quite a shock after not having experienced anything below 60ºF since May. That morning there was a meeting scheduled for 8am, and I figured if I was going to be totally dazed anyway I might as well attempt to go. I did manage to get up around 6:30, and room service breakfast arrived at 7 - an omelette with hashed browns, which seemed like a good idea when I ordered it the night before. However I think that the tiredness got to me, and the fact that the food was a lot greasier than anything I've eaten in months, so the food only stayed down for five minutes. It seemed ridiculous that I had never been sick in India, but within 12 hours of getting back to America I should be throwing up, but there we are. I went back to bed for a couple of hours after which I felt much better, so went into the office.<br />
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Got loads done, really good to see so many old friends and have the chance to chat with my boss and colleagues, and have time to discuss all kinds of stuff, not just a quick half hour phone call. I've got a packed calendar for this coming week, and really looking forward to working out lots of stuff. By the evening I was feeling pretty good, and had a delicious dinner and got to bed around 9pm. I did wake up a bit in the night but slept pretty well. This morning I got to Skype with Emma and Dara, and had a totally great breakfast in the hotel restaurant - Dutch apple pancake and amazing local back bacon. Yum. Now I'm going to nip over to Target to pick up some stuff to take back home, and this afternoon I'm going to visit some really good friends for dinner - really looking forward to it, even though it's probably going to be a bit strange to be there without Emma and the kids.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3430693330903854468.post-48831939692692117602011-12-06T13:09:00.001+05:302011-12-06T13:16:29.318+05:30Beeps<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
India's a pretty noisy place. Music is played loudly, people speak loudly, and the traffic is loud. People use their car horns instead of turn indicators - one honk to indicate "I'm about to pass you", one to say "don't move - I'm passing you", and another just to say "thanks". Trucks have signs on the back asking people to honk. Then there is the racket when the lights turn from red to green and everyone just wants to get moving. It's incessant. <br />
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So as a result this noise has been sneaking its way into our lives, but unexpectedly in Dara's speech. A couple of weeks ago she had to visit the doctor, and when she got back she told me that the doctor had checked her heart beep. Then last night Emma and I told her and Toby about our Christmas holiday plans - we're going to Hong Kong for a week and a half - a few days at Disney, followed by a stay in a hotel by the harbour, which should be awesome for New Year fireworks. We're all really excited and were chatting about it for a while, when I realized there was something odd about how Dara was pronouncing Hong Kong - she thought that we were going to a place called Honk Honk.</div>Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01881214847751382668noreply@blogger.com0