New Year's Eve

December 31, 2014

So today, my loves, I made a special journey just for you, risking life and limb. This morning after I woke up, bathed from a bucket, dressed, and stuffed my face with fresh, hot uppma, I rested. Then, after 10 am, when I knew things would be beginning to liven up here in Velachery, I ventured out.

Unlike the last few days, today was sunny and hot. I walked down Velachery Bye Pass Road to Café Coffee Day, which is a chain of coffee shops here in India. I got a cold coffee with ice cream, called Kappi Nirvana (“Kappi” is the Tamil version of coffee. There is no letter F in Tamil. ) Afterwards, I walked down to the sweets and spices shop, “Driving you Nuts,” it says on the sign in front, to buy some sweets and snacks. We will buy more to bring home tomorrow.

After making my purchases, the real adventure began: Crossing Bye Pass Road.

I mentioned before in the early days of this blog that the main rule of Indian traffic is that there are no rules. Or rather, that there are rules, but no one obeys them. There are crosswalks, but hardly any traffic lights. People drive the wrong way down the street , or in between lanes, or in bunches, weaving in and out without regard for others’ safety. Pedestrians are at the most risk, because even a bicycle can run them down.

Crossing the first time was made a little easier because a man was crossing at the same time. He moved between two motorcycles, and I followed him closely, but not too closely, because I didn’t want to be inappropriate.  I stood near him and followed, although I did continue to look around to make sure I was safe. People need to look all around them all the time to make sure they don’t get run over.

After I crossed Bye Pass Road, I had to walk back until I was just past where our flat is (but on the other side of the street.  There is a pizza place there, and just around the corner was what I was looking for. I had noticed it the other night on our way home, and knew I had to return. What was it I braved death to find you?

That’s right…COWS!

A lot with several cows. Sadly, in a city such as Chennai,
cows often eat garbage, as there is more garbage than grass.

A cute calf by the side of the road

This cow seemed interested in me and my iPad.

Got anything to eat?

Never mind then.

A man was trying to lead this calf away, but it was reluctant to go.

Later, as Raja and I were going out to hail an auto, I saw this cow
leisurely eating a fruit  on our side of the street!

 

Coming back across Bye Pass Road, I had to cross all by myself. I did see others crossing, but at quite a distance from me. I had to gauge the distance of cars, motorcycles, and busses, and think about where the safest place to stand would be once I got halfway across where the traffic went the other direction. I ended up choosing a spot by a pole, where I felt I could be seen by motorcycles turning to go the other way. Being a very light skinned person in Chennai gets me noticed, so no one ran over me, although I did get a few stares. I try not to look people in the eye so much (especially men, as it might be considered flirting) but I know that people stare at me a lot. It's a little bit weird.

For lunch we had a special treat: spicy crab. It was delicious, and I also ate fish and mutton curry. We have to eat all the meat in the house, as Mama and Mami are vegetarians right now, and don't want to have to throw away good food. Also, we don't want to eat too heavily tomorrow as we are coming home, and don't want to take any chances of having an upset tummy on the long trip back.

In the afternoon, I went to take advantage of Anni's Christmas gift to me: a facial. The lady at the salon washed my face, scrubbed it,  and put lots of different products on it to make it clean and soft. She also massaged my face and shoulders. It felt very nice. Afterwards, I came home and rested. My mom gave me several books on my Kindle for Christmas, so I have some good things to read.

Tonight is New Year's Eve. We spend time with family. There will be fireworks at midnight, and even though we will probably lie down early to rest, everyone gets up at midnight and takes a bite of cake, to bring sweetness into the New Year. I love this tradition, and I love my family. I am sad to have to leave Mama and Mami, Anni, and especially the boys. I will miss Chennai, and all of its charms. 

December 30

December 30

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written, I know. We’ve been quite busy, running here and there. The weather has been very, very rainy, which is not usual for this time of year. I’m glad I brought rain ponchos (although Raja said “You won’t need them, it doesn’t rain in December.” Ha-HA!)

We went to Higginbotham’s the other day, and as usual, I enjoyed myself. I like to buy books there that I can’t get in any other places. I bought a bunch of books on the Dravidians, who are thought to be the original people living in India (although some people think they originally came from somewhere else…truth is, we probably all did.) Anyway, since my family is from South India, I am interested in the culture and history of South India (which is quite different from that in the North.)

Higginbothams, my favorite bookstore.

The other night, we were taking a strange route home, through all the little side streets. I love that, because it is the life on those little side byways that makes life magical. I keep wondering about the people who go into all those little shops; that hang out at those coffee/tea stalls and “Cool bars.”  I wonder about the taste of the food that comes out of the stalls that open onto the street, or come off rolling carts (although I will likely never taste them, as they aren’t always sanitary, and can make Westerners very sick.) Once I ate a popsicle at a zoo in Bangalore, and when Raja found out, he had a minor heart attack. It did come in a plastic wrapper (although I think there was a piece of grass in it.) 

I have seen a lot of animals here, cows, goats, dogs, monkeys and a big rooster. These are all animals in the city. We don’t see a lot of those roaming around the streets of San Jose, that’s for sure. 

A lot of people ride motorcycles here. Sometimes whole families, even babies will ride on one motorcycle. More people are starting to wear helmets, but a lot of people don’t, or only the main rider does, and his passengers have bare heads.

I had some photos, but they were on my iPhone, and unfortunately, my iPhone died. However, there is an image here showing what I mean.

Since it was pouring rain, I saw a lot of people yesterday trying to stay dry. Some had open umbrellas, not only walking, but while riding on the back of motorcycles. Some of the women covered their heads with their dupattas (scarves) although they do that when it’s dry, too, to keep out dust and pollution. Some of the men had plastic shopping bags tied onto their heads (which, I admit, looked a little funny), and I saw two guys on a motorcycle who made me giggle. They had an umbrella, and they had also wrapped their heads with plastic Saran wrap.

Rainy night in Chennai

The rain nearly stopped traffic, even though cars drive this close
together anyway.

You can't really see the Saran Wrap guys here, but they are the
ones on the front motorcycle, with the umbrella. 

The rain is nice, as it cools everything down. A lot of people wore raincoats and sweatshirts, but still, a lot of kids and men were out in the rain in shorts. Some of the men wore lungis (a cloth wrap that looks kind of like a skirt…it’s usually worn over shorts, and nearly everyone was in sandals, or even barefoot!  I’ve seen guys around here ride motorcycles and drive autos barefoot, and even kids going to school in their perfectly clean and pressed uniforms without shoes. Sometimes people go barefoot at different times of the year for religious reasons. You can't assume anything, because even people who can afford shoes sometimes go without. Some people here, however, are very poor. They can’t even afford cheap sandals, especially as kids have to pay to go to school. Some kids in the villages walk five miles or more every day to go to school. Even poor kids in the U.S. can take a bus and go to school for free. Kids in other parts of the world only wish they had the opportunities we have in the U.S. 

I didn’t wear my poncho yesterday, so I got pretty wet, but I like rain, so I didn’t really care. I did get a bit cold, though, as I was wearing a sleeveless outfit.  

Yesterday morning I went to a nearby shop to buy kurtas for my nephew. Kurtas are long shirts worn with long, loose cotton pants called pyjama. Kurta pyjama are actually where we get the word pajamas from. Some kurta pyjama are fancy, like the ones my brother Conor wore to my Indian wedding in 2011.  A lot are very plain cotton. Indian men would wear these in the evening after they came home from work, and the British took up this habit. They were clothes to relax and perhaps sleep in. Later, pajamas became popular sleep clothes nearly everywhere.

My brother Conor and his wife, Keli at our India wedding, 2011.
He's wearing a fancier kurta, and she is wearing a beautiful sari.

A kurta pyjama, which I bought for my nephew.

Anyway, I bought my nephew a kurta the first time I came here, in 2010. He loved it so much, that I bought him another one two years ago. My brother just sent me a picture of him, and he’s still wearing it! I bought him two more in his size. If he likes wearing them, who am I to stop it? They are very cute on him. I am going back today to buy some things for my other nieces and nephews, too.  I have bought a lot of clothing and stuff, but I also want to buy some more costume jewelry (meaning, not fancy… no diamonds or anything, just earrings, bangles and whatnot.)

Yesterday we also went to the Phoenix mall, near to our apartment building. It’s a very new mall, with an Imax movie theater and a room you can go into with snow in it! (Actually, it’s just ice which is ground up to seem like snow, and is blown around inside. We went there last year. You rent boots, a coat, a hat, and gloves (it never snows here, so people don’t have warm clothes) and you go inside the room. It’s very cold inside, and super slippery, because the floor is pure ice! There is a slide inside, and a bunch of people throwing snow at each other. It’s sort of fun for about 10 minutes. 

Anyway, we didn’t go there for snow fun, but to get haircuts for the boys. Of course, I went shopping instead. Out of curiosity, I went to Starbucks. Yes, there is a Starbucks in Chennai! I had a caramel macchiato, and it was pretty much just the same as in the U.S.  I took a picture of myself at Starbucks. Yay, selfies!

It’s sad to think that we only have a few more days here. I would love to stay longer, even if the streets are flooded with water which hide the potholes, and the skies are gloomy and grey, and everything gets damp and stays damp. This morning, a fat pigeon was sitting right outside my window. I wanted to pet it, but pigeons carry a lot of diseases. Instead, I just said  “purraa, purraa” to it (purraa is “pigeon” in Tamil.) It looked at me with its golden brown eye, its iridescent neck feathers fluffing. 

While many people hang their clothes on a line outside,  Mami hangs her clothes on a line in a little alcove off the living room, which is open to the air. We open a door, lower the clothesline, hang the clothes, and then pull the line up again so that the air can dry them.  We have to hang our towels every day or they will get mildewy and smell bad.  Who wants a stinky towel?

The balcony where we hang the clothes. There are bars there so the
pigeons don't fly in and poo on all the clothes.

Pigeons giving each other a kiss.

This morning, while I was hanging my towel, I could hear a man and a woman having what sounded like a loud argument below. They were talking loudly in Tamil, so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Sometimes people who are speaking passionately in Tamil sound as if they are fighting, but they aren’t, so I’m not sure, but I still sort of wish I knew what they were saying. How nosy of me!

The rain and the warm air make me very sleepy. I have been sleeping quite a bit, and eating, too. I have dosai almost every day. I also have rice, and all kinds of curry. I have eaten chicken curry, mutton (goat) curry, and shrimp curry (the best!). Tonight we will also have crab, which is good, too, but usually VERY spicy.  I have eaten a lot of vegetarian food, too, because a lot of people here are vegetarians (My in-laws don’t eat meat for several months a year.) I’ve eaten idli, sambar, veggie kurma, pachadi, all kinds of dosai, vadai, rice, curd (plain yogurt) and more. Last night, Raja and I went out for dinner together, and I had dosai (of course) and a Chinese dish called “Crispy Vegetable.” It is one of my favorite things to eat. It is deep fried veggies in a spiced batter. Sort of like tempura, only different. It is very, very, tasty. Afterwards, Raja and I shared an ice cream sundae. It was very weird, but delicious. On the bottom was cut up fruit, then six small scoops of different kinds of ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mango, some kind of nut, and some kind of berry) and on top were dried fruits and nuts. There was some chocolate and cookies stuck in the top. It was very, very good. The mango ice cream was the best. I love mangos, and mangoes grow here like crazy in the summer, so mango flavored stuff in India is the best.

Crispy vegetable...YUM!!

Today I’m going to go down to the store and buy some Indian snacks and things to bring home. Maybe I’ll bring some things for the class to try. Indian snacks and treats taste very different. If I can find some Kurrkurre, maybe I’ll bring that for kids who like spicy stuff. I’ll bring some non-spicy things, as well. 

I’m going to read for a little while, so I’ll sign off. I’ll write more tonight. 

Maybe tonight I’ll finish watching “The Lego Movie” too. I started watching it last night on Hulu, but I was too tired. 

They do have American movies on TV here, but they are usually the same ones over and over. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Rush Hour 3, Mission Impossible 3, and Real Steel.  Anyway, I’ll ttyl.

Until then, Be Good. 

December 27

Back at home it’s 7:40 p.m. on Boxing Day (Dec. 26), but here it is already December 27: about  9:10 a.m.

I have been out and about, doing a variety of things. I have wanted to try to get a picture of a cow in the city for you all, but I’m always in a car or autorickshaw when I see one, and my phone/iPad does not take great photos while moving. I didn’t bring my good camera this time because it’s bulky. I won’t do that again. I miss too many great photos.

Yesterday the family went to the Venkateshwara temple to pray.  Venkateshwara is a South Indian name for Vishnu, who is one of the major expressions of God in Hindu religion.  Hindus believe there is one ultimate force of God, but he expresses himself in many different ways. The three major expressions are through Shiva, Vishnu, and the Mother Goddess. All of these expressions also have thousands of other expressions, or Avatars.

Venkateshwara is usually seen as a black statue with a mark on his head. At this temple, they also have a statue of Narayana, or Vishnu before the world was created. He is sleeping on the body of a coiled serpent floating on an ocean of milk. The several heads of the serpent curl at his head, but he is sleeping peacefully, waiting to be awakened by the creation of the world. 

Narayana (Lord Vishnu) reclining. This carving is actually at
Mahabilapuram, a place I have visited twice. 

Lord Venkateshwara

At the temple, I prayed for my family, all my loved ones, and for peace in the world.

There were many many people there. Everyone has to take off their shoes to go into the temple. People bring flowers and fruits to offer to God to be blessed. Some people put money into the Hundi, or offering box. It doesn’t have to be a lot. Many people put between 10 and 100 rupees (about .20-2.00.) The money goes to take care of the temple.

All the people walk in a slow line to the front so that they can see the statue of God. The priest offers the people blessings in the form of a flame. People reach out and scoop the heat of the flame into their head or heart. They are given a small spoonful of a bitter substance, which is tulsi, or holy basil, steeped in water. We drink a little bit, then put the rest over our head.

People are given back the fruits and flowers they gave to be blessed. They take these and put them on their own altars at home.  Outside the temple, they put a dot of kumkum, or red powder, on their forehead, or a loved one does it for them as a blessing.

After the temple, we went to a restaurant for some snacks. Indian snacks are so delicious! I had these little crispy fried things with onions inside. Yum.

On the way to the temple, we passed a park, where I saw a bunch of monkeys swinging in the trees and climbing on the wall. Yes, they were just out in the city, not in cages. I have seen monkeys in India before, but this is the first time I have seen them in Chennai.  I had a ton of great monkey pictures at one point, but my computer was stolen two years ago, and so they are all gone. Some day, I’m sure, I’ll get close enough to monkeys again to take pictures.

Later in the evening, my Monkey and his dad went out for an evening together. Raja takes each of the boys out for a special Dad-Son dinner every year. The rest of us went to the mall. I had some ice cream, and Man Cub went to Domino’s and picked up some pepperoni pizza. (Kids love pizza everywhere.) At the mall, they have a new, fancy restaurant that serves Mexican food! They had a sign to show people how to eat a fajita. I thought that was pretty funny. I doubt the food is as good as in San Jose, because I don’t think actual Mexican people cook it. One time in California, though, I saw a Mexican cook in an Indian restaurant, so you never know.

Today, the boys went to their Uncle and Aunt’s hotel for breakfast. They like it there because they can get bacon and other western breakfast items. Usually we just eat similar things for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This morning I had idli, which I love. It’s like a soft steamed cake made of rice. It’s fermented, which means it has a slight sour flavor, like sourdough bread. Then you dip the idli in sauces such as sambar (a thin lentil soup with tomato and other veggies) or chutneys (sauces made out of cilantro, mint, coconut, or tomato.) The chutneys are usually cool and fresh tasting, but also spicy. Sambar is usually warm, and can be mild or spicy, depending. Sometimes, idli can be served with podi, a spicy powder the locals call "gunpowder" (probably because it goes "bang!" in your mouth.) They mix it with ghee (clarified butter) and it tastes goooooood!

Idli and various dipping things.
The donut-shaped things are vadai, which are savory and delicious!

Turmeric

South Indian food can be very spicy, but it has a lot of flavor. Certain things, such as red and green chilies, cumin, and cilantro are used in both Indian food and Mexican food. However, each group uses different spices too. One of the popular spices in India is called turmeric. The word for turmeric in Tamil is “manjal”  which is also the word for “yellow.” If you haven’t guessed, turmeric is yellow. It makes food yellow. It makes your fingers yellow. It makes your clothes yellow if you drop any food on them (which is easy when you eat with your fingers, as we do here. Silverware is optional) It makes countertops yellow. It stains pretty bad. However, it is very good for you, so it’s in a lot of foods. Turmeric is rumored to keep people very healthy, and to help with many diseases.  It is also used to bless people, so you will see people wearing it on their bodies (on purpose) sometimes.

Raja and his parents have some errands to do, so I am going to just hang out here at home for a while alone. I enjoy having the time to write, read and relax by myself.  Later perhaps I will be able to go out. There are a few places I still want to visit while I am here in Chennai. One of the places is Higginbotham’s, the oldest bookstore in Chennai. It was started while the British still ruled India. The British used to rule a lot of countries, including India, Australia, and most of North America.

Right now, though, I am going to get some rest, as I got to sleep very very late last night.  I’ll write later.

Until then, be good!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Right now, Santa Claus is probably popping into your house to bring you gifts. It's 3:30 in the morning in San Jose. Here in Chennai, however, it's almost 5 pm on Christmas day! This morning, after we showered and ate breakfast, my sister in law (Anni) and her husband (who in Indian tradition is now considered my brother) came over to open presents with us. We all shared some joy and cheer as we opened gifts together.

Last night, each member of our family added an ornament to the Christmas tree.

Afterwards, we sat together as a family as a family friend gave us a blessing to get rid of the evil eye, or any negativity that surrounds our family. It is a Hindu tradition. She lit a flame and circled us with it, surrounding us with the light of God.

I received many nice gifts, including a scarf Anni brought me all the way from Malawi, Africa. She and her husband travel all over the world for work. It's pretty incredible all the places they get to go.

Everyone was curious about the gifts they would get. Here the monkey inspects some chocolates.

The boys were excited with all the things they got. As a joke, Anni bought the Man Cub (who is 14) a copy of the book "The Princess Diaries." He made a funny face. Still, he was appreciative of his gifts. They also got clothes and video games.

I bought my husband a beautiful shirt in Singapore, as well as some nice cologne. He likes cologne a lot, so I usually buy him some every year.

Here I am wearing my silly Christmas hat. Raja wouldn't wear his hat, because he doesn't like to look silly as much as I do. Maybe that's why he's an engineer and I teach Kindergarten.

Later, Raja had to take his dad to a doctor's appointment, so we had KFC for lunch. Yes, they have KFC in India, and they deliver it right to your house! They brought the chicken to our house, and it was very yummy. After lunch I took a long nap. Then Anni, the boys and I had a contest of who could smoosh the other person the most by putting all of their weight on them. I love my family more than anything in the world.

I once saw a billboard here that said "Happy Infant Jesus Festival and Pongal" (Pongal is the winter harvest festival that happens every year on January 14.)

Here I am wearing a beautiful outfit I received as a gift from one of my students.
I felt very special this Christmas!

Happy Infant Jesus Festival to you all. May you enjoy your families today, and realize how lucky you are to have them close to you. I certainly feel lucky to have people I care about at home, abroad, and at my work every day.

I'll write more soon. Until then,

Be Good!

Holidays Part Two: Singapore to Chennai

After being on top of the world, we had to come down. Singapore is a wonderful place for people who like to shop. There is a whole shopping district along this place called Orchard Road. It has tons of malls and stores to wander through. Once again we took the MRT, and got out just before Orchard Road. We went to a huge mall and walked around for a bit. They had a lot of expensive stores selling high-fashion clothes that only rich people can afford. Still, everything was decorated for Christmas, and it was quite pretty.  We had lunch, and I had some Indonesian BBQ chicken. The sauce was sweet, kind of like thick teriyaki sauce. I also had rice with a coconut curry sauce on top. It was very delicious. It came with a thin egg-pancake thing, and the whole thing tasted great.

The first mall was very nicely decorated for Christmas

This is my delicious lunch.  Everything was so good. I could eat this once a week. :)

I thought these decorations were particularly beautiful.

After lunch we walked a bit, and found an old building with lots of tailor shops and little places that sell shirts and clothes for much less. Also, like with sellers in India, you can bargain for a better price. For every U.S. Dollar, you get 1.2 Sing dollars, so you can tell if you’re getting a good price or not. Raja bought some t-shirts for our kids, whom I call Monkey and the Man-Cub on this blog, and I got one too. 

Since Raja has a bad knee, he went to get a coffee and sit down (we drank a LOT of coffee on this trip.) and I went shopping! I bought Raja a shirt for Christmas. He didn’t want me to spend any money on him, but I can’t resist. The shirt is blue and is in a very beautiful South Asian style fabric. It was so pretty I had to buy it. It was very hot out, and I had forgotten and packed my sandals in my suitcase, which was going directly on the plane to Chennai. So I bought some sandals. I also bought a dress, because it was pretty, and I love clothes. I figured I had bought enough things, so I met up with Raja, and we walked to the next mall.

Even Rodrigo has coffee. 

My Kinder girls would have loved this mall because the whole thing was pink!  I even took a selfie with the pink unicorn. The place had Christmas fairies and unicorns and stuff everywhere. Raja went to sit down had have more coffee, and I wandered the mall. Little did I know that this mall was really 2 malls put together, and I got totally lost! I finally found Raja again, and he wasn’t too mad at me, as we had plenty of time to get back to the airport.

The pink mall

Me with the pink unicorn

Rodrigo trying to hide in some pink tinsel: so much pink!!!

We finally got back to the airport, and went through security again. We had to go through security at every airport to make sure everyone is safe and no one has anything that can hurt people, accidentally or on purpose.

We were in a room waiting for the plane, and I realized I had to go to the bathroom (it was an emergency!) so I had to go all the way out and come back through security again!

Eventually we boarded our plane for Chennai. This was a short flight, in comparison, so I didn’t sleep that much. I finished the movie from the last flight, and watched half of another movie.  The interesting thing is that when we flew to Seoul and then Singapore we went forward in time. When we flew to Chennai, we went backwards in time and when we come home, we’ll come backwards in time again. We’re not really time travelers, though. It just seems that way because of time zones. It’s a different time in each time zone, and there are different time zones in different parts of the world there are even four different time zones just in the continental U.S. !

Rodrigo is looking forward to our final destination: Chennai.

By the time we got to Chennai it was getting close to midnight. We had to go through immigration, where we show our passports and a paper, which tells the guy how long we are staying and why we are visiting. We had to do this in Singapore, too, because we were leaving the airport. We just switched planes in Seoul, though, and never went outside the airport, so we didn’t have to go through immigration there.

After the immigration officer checks out passport, he gives us a stamp, and lets us through. Then we have to go through customs, which is where you have to tell them if you are bringing anything into the country. We told them we’d brought a few gifts, but no food or gold bullion, and they let us through, no problem.

We had to wait for our luggage to come out of the plane, then pull it off the conveyor belt, which moves the luggage around and around in a circle (more or less) until the person finds their suitcase and pulls it off.

After we got our luggage, we put it on a cart and took it outside. Raja’s parents had arranged for a driver to come pick us up. He had a board with our name on it. The parking lot of the airport is really crowded, and cars are driving everywhere, so you have to be very careful that you don’t get run over.

We got to the car, and the driver put the suitcases in the back. We got into the car and shut and locked the doors. In India, no one wears seat belts, and they drive like maniacs, so you need to make sure your doors are locked, at the very least, so you don’t fall out.   In India, people drive on the opposite side of the street than we do in the U.S. However, sometimes they drive the wrong way, or they drive right down the middle line. That’s what our driver did. In India there are a lot of cars, so people drive kind of slowly, but they are all smooshed together, and they drive around each other sort of randomly, honking and squeezing into tiny spaces. You’d think there were a lot of accidents, and there are, but a lot less than you might think.

On the way home to Velachery, it was late at night, so it actually wasn’t too crowded. One of the first things I do when I get to Chennai, other than smell the air (I love the smell of Chennai. Some people think India is stinky, and it is sometimes, but it also smells good a lot of the time. I like the smell most of the time.) is look for the first cow I see. Cows roam freely in India, because they are considered holy.  A lot of animals roam free. There are stray dogs everywhere. On the way home from the airport, I counted 27 stray dogs and two cows.

I'll stop here, but write more later. 

Until then, Be good!

Holidays, Part One: San Francisco to Singapore

Hola! Vanakkam! Hello!

It has been a long time since I wrote. Almost four years, but I haven't had students to write for, and many of my adventures have not been fully documented. In that time, I had a computer stolen, and many photos were lost, never to be replaced.

As I sit now, it is a little after 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning in Chennai, India. It is still Monday evening, just after 5 p.m.,  on the west coast of the U.S.A.  Outside the window, I can hear bells ringing and the recorded chanting of Hindu religious songs. The birds are tweeting loudly, as they have to compete with the honking horns from Old Velachery Road.

Velachery is the name of the neighborhood where my in-laws live. We have a very nice apartment with three small bedrooms and three bathrooms. They recently built a brand new mall here, with a lot of stores, and a new movie theater. In the neighborhood, they are taking down a lot of the old crumbling buildings and building new ones.

I've written a lot about India in this blog before (if you look back to August 2010, you will see all my posts from my very first trip here.) but I will happily share this adventure with you, too.

This year, we took a different route to India, flying through Seoul, Korea, and into the island of Singapore, where we spent an entire day. Both flights were extremely long, but I was so tired that I slept through most of the entire flight, both times. I was so tired that I was asleep before the plane took off!

On our first flight, from San Francisco to Seoul, Korea, we flew west, straight across the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean is huge, over five and a half thousand miles. That's like driving from my house to ROMO  ______ times!

We took Singapore Airlines, which is a wonderful airline. The food is good, and the airline hostesses wear beautiful uniforms. They are all very pretty. These aren't the ones that were on our plane, but it's a good example of the uniforms.

When we landed in Seoul, it was cold and rainy. We didn't stay long. We had to get to our next flight pretty quickly. It was strange to think, however, that I was in yet another country I never thought I'd be in, with people so different from me, whose language I didn't speak; I kept thinking how lucky I am to be able to have such experiences.

On the flights, there's not a lot to do. There's not much room to wiggle around, so people mostly watch movies, read, or sleep. Even though I slept most of the time, I watched a bunch of movies, too. I think I watched about four movies, although, if I had been awake, I could have watched a lot more.

When we flew into Singapore, it was about 1:30 a.m., local time. It's 16 hours ahead in Singapore, which means it was about 9:30 a.m. on Friday, which means my calculations were a bit off there in my notes to you. I was forgetting about all of the time changes! So, while you were doing math and reading, I was falling over my feet, carrying my bags off the plane and into the most beautiful airport I have ever seen.

Let me go back a bit. As we were descending (remember that word?) into the airport, there were dozens of boats, all lit up in the bay below, and on the shore, hundreds of tiny white lights sparkled. It was so beautiful. I couldn't take a picture that did it justice.

Unfortunately, my iPad and phone were not charging well, and I did not get many pictures of this amazing airport. It is certainly a work of art. I have been to many airports, and while some are very nice (and some are not nice at all), Singapore was just breathtaking. I'll be sure to take some pictures on the way home to show you what I mean.

Despite the fact that I had slept on and off for an entire day, I was still sleepy. It is not very comfortable to sleep on a plane. Imagine being a little kid and sleeping strapped into a high chair for a whole night. Since it was the middle of the night, my husband had made us a reservation at a travel hotel.

This was not like a regular hotel. Located inside the airport itself, The Haven has tiny little rooms, called "nap rooms." All they have is one small bed inside, and a TV and a small shelf with a box of tissue and a bottle of water. If you need to go to the bathroom, you have to walk down the hall (sort of like at school.) There is also a shower room. You need to get a key at the front desk to take a shower.

The bed in the nap room was the most amazing bed ever, but maybe only because I was so squished up from being on the plane, and the covers were so soft, like a cloud. Even though I had slept so much, I fell asleep almost right away, and slept for five hours. Even after I got up to take a shower, Rodrigo wanted to sleep some more. I don't blame him.

After Raja (that's what I call my husband on this blog) and I took our showers, we checked out of the hotel (and yes, we made Rodrigo come, too) and went off to explore Singapore. We drank a lot of coffee on our journey, and today was no different. We began our day with coffee and a sausage puff (that's like a pastry with a sausage in the middle. I liked it, but Raja didn't) before heading out to catch the MRT, which is the subway train.  It's actually the Singapore MRT, which means it's SMRT (it looks like "smart".)

The Republic of Singapore is a group of 63 islands  in South Asia, between Malaysia and Indonesia. It's not part of the world I'm very familiar with, so I had to look it up. I used the internet as my main source. (Remember that word? The place you get your information.) We were on the main island, called just Singapore. The word "Singapore" means "Lion City," although it's thought that lions never lived here, and the animal the island was named after was actually a tiger.

One of the cool things about Singapore is that it's very multi-lingual, which means that people there speak a lot of languages, and signs are written in four languages: English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil.  Most of the people in Singapore are of Chinese descent, but there are many Malaysians and Indians, as well.

I was excited to see Tamil on the signs. Tamil is Raja's home language, and while I don't speak or understand it well, I can read it. The train station sign below says "City Hall." In Tamil (the squiggly letters below), the words are "Nagar Mandapam." (That means "City Hall.")

We took the train to the Marina Bay area, where there are a lot of botanical gardens. I love gardens, but we weren't able to visit them this time. What we chose to do was to visit the Sands Hotel. At this hotel, you can take an elevator up to the 65th floor where they have a roof. Up there, you can take pictures of the whole city. 

As you can see, Rodrigo enjoyed the sights from so far above. You could see almost all of the city, with the bay, the boats, and the tall buildings. Singapore is very green, as a lot of nature is preserved there. It is a tropical climate, which means it is very hot, and it rains a lot. You can see the clouds in the sky. I thought they looked amazing. Later, on the way home on the train, there was a huge downpour of rain. I was glad to be inside the train when that happened. 

Here are some more pictures of the city. 

Here you can see the boats out on the water. They are all lit up at night. 

Those two silver bumps are botanical gardens there are tons and tins of flowers growing inside.

If you look closely, you can see flower-like structures. These light up at night, too. 

Singapore is a very modern city. A lot of international business is done here.

There are a lot of tall, fancy  buildings

Another view.

The "50" is made up of balls floating in the water of the bay. This year will be the 50th year of Singapore's full independence. It used to be part of the British Empire. Then it was briefly part of Malaysia. Now it is its own republic, and proud of it. 

I made Raja take a selfie with me at the top of the hotel. He always gets this look when he has to squint into the sun. I look relaxed, I think! All that sleep was good for me. I hope you are all feeling relaxed on your vacation, too. 

I am going to sign off now, as I have some more adventures to go on. I will post more later on the rest of my day in Singapore, and our flight into and arrival in Chennai. I will see you later. 

Until then, Be Good!