Flight to Vizag - Personal Space

On this day we took a flight from Delhi to Vizag. I want to take the opportunity during the days that we traveled to explain a little about the culture that I noticed. On this trip I wanted to talk about the Indian concept of personal space. NONE. As I explained in my entry on one of the first days at McDonald's and my uncle, they don't hold the same idea to personal space as Americans do. Another example is when we went to Akshardam (a big new temple). While we were in line for one of the events my brother was behind me and behind him was the rest of India (a really long line). After being forced to get into a single file so that no one would have the opportunity to cut someone else, the gentleman behind Deepak (my brother) continued to get closer and started pushing his back. Keep in mind, there are attendants there making sure nothing happens and some room behind that man himself. Yet, they find that they need to push forward as much as possible. While that would be enroaching our personal space, our sacred sphere we have around us that we understand no one will enter. It is kind of our haven, we know no one will touch us, unless they need to get our attention. In India, your senses are thrown all out of whack, everyone is knocking into you and pushing and they find it completely normal. Now, I am in no way privledged to judge others, all I am doing is taking note of how the culture there evolved into so much personal contact. In addition, the male-male contact is much different. I am not homophobic but the American culture of gender contact has switched roles in India. They have the same male-male contact as we do female-female; from sitting close to each other while not necessary to holding hands or speaking close to the other persons face. And it is totally normal to them, as it should be. There is no homophobic fear, except between females, which may not be fear as much as it is just the way their culture evolved. No one is to blame, I just felt like talking about it.

Day 3 - Agra and such

This day was set up to complain and moan about the horrid road system set up in India. We left the house that morning with a full minivan + Tanvi(2 years old) so we didn't take the driver. Instead we trusted Sridhar mama. On the road we saw animals and taxi's so full that children hung on to the back to fit into it for a cheaper ride. Then we finally got out of Delhi/Noida and closer to Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) and realized just how bad the roads and signage was. As we got closer to where we thought we had to turn a sign said go further ahead, when we got to that area there was no sign. So we asked a local- actually more like 4 of them- and they said go back to where the sign was and turn there. So we went back and then tried maneuvering through the smaller, more rural-looking, torn up streets. When we finally found the entrance (still couldn't see the huge monument) we were harassed into hiring a tour guide. And something important to note about tourism in India is that it almost always 20x more expensive to go as a non-resident of India. They have two different rates, 35 rupees for Indians, or slightly under 1800 for visitors. I understand that this allows a chance for poorer Indian residents to explore their countries' history, but the staggering difference is immense and even more expensive than many US museums after conversion. And this was not only at the Taj Mahal but the difference was found at all tourism sites.
Back to the trip, once we walked in the main gate and got a little info we passed into the entrance of the main grounds and I was so unpredictably amazing at the massive-ness of the picturesque landscape with the centerpiece as one of the 7 man-made wonders of the world. Only at this time did I truly appreciate all the credit that it received. It was then, and throughout the tour that I saw and understood what kind of effort really went into this massive project which was so expensive that the son of the builder put his father into jail for taking so much of public's funds.
After the Agra tour we headed back towards Delhi with the plan of stopping at Madura (birthplace of Krishna I believe). The roads and especially traffic was so bad there that after 3 full hours of driving and asking the police and the locals to find the place we finally gave up. Mainly because we were tired of going in circles and started to get hungry as well as realize that Sridhar mama had been driving for more than 8 hours that day with the horrid India traffic. On the way back we stopped at a little restaurant boutique at a train station. It was weird but nice at the same time to see so many people- mainly teens- there eating/talking/hanging out at 11PM.

Day 2 - Akshardam

(In case you didn't beleive there were animals on the road).
The main attraction of this day did not allow us to take camera's in, unfortunatly. But it was one massive temple called Akshardam. Sculpted completely by hand, out of red Sandstone, this modern Indian temple was more of an amusement park than holy structure- ignoring the awe-inspiring actual temple structure. The temple had a walk through diorama that told the life of a saint (a famous one who's name I forgot), then you go to the IMAX (no joke) theater to see an 1 1/2 hour movie on another sait, then to the water ride that explains science and religion in India. That last part was the most impressive and informative, I very much appreciated it. Once we were through the energy consuming part of it, at nightfall we sat to watch the bellagio style water fountains. Then we finally walked to the ashram, took off our shoes, walked up 40 or so steps and stepped inside the massive structure that housed artifacts and statues of gods. The affair took up a full 4 hours.
Before all this started, around 5PM, we also had a full day. That morning I drove across the street to buy bread, yes I can officially say I drove in India no matter how few drivers there were at the time. We then went to the Great India Mall. Which really was great. They had all types of higher end stores, including a sit down KFC and sit down Pizza Hut. The clothing stores had very nice Indian clothes, and a large selection of American clothes (not so great). But one of the best parts of the mall was the Theatre's and how it transformed into a teenage haven at night. Also, those theatre's are very nice, with a nice lounge in the entrance, and the theatre has a nice big widescreen, okay audio, and huge chairs with lots of leg room.
The last important thing we did that day was eat true, real, kili (paan). The fresh ingrediants made me have an isatiable feeling for them.

First day in India

The night after Singapore we arrived in Delhi International Airport. And it is sad to say that it was my first taste of India. I would hate for anyone who has never been there to have the Delhi Airport as the first taste. It is cramped and dirty and not very well organized (though I must admit that all the airports get your baggage to you much faster than anywhere in the US). Once we got out of the terminal and to Sridhar mama (uncle) the rest of the ride home was smooth and comfortable- as long as you ignore the ridiculous thing they do on the streets that they call driving. I will have a short discourse on that later.
The next day we woke up nice and early, had sambar and idli if I remember right and went touring. We started off with the Humayun Tomb (as shown). There is a nice long mythological/historical story to this place as well and you can wiki it if you'd like. But, my brother, father, uncle, and I walked around here through the sultry weather. Once we finished we went back to our driver and he took us to India gate and the Parliament house. The India gate is exactly as it looks on tv and movies, I didn't find it that great. But the Parliament house was comparable to Britian's, or what I can remember of it. It far surpasses the White House and is a impressive view for all visitors.
Then I had an eye opening experiance, one I never expected, "McDonald's". I knew it was everywhere and I knew it was in India. But it was amazing how well they adapted to India. From the food, pretty much beef patties switched out with potato patties and fake mexican wraps, to the way they treat customers, cutting in front of them to the bathroom and seemingly shrugging them off as they give their orders. One instance that captures one cultural difference in India is the concept of personal space. As my uncle was in line to order, the man behind him - who had no one behind him- crowded my uncle and almost had his chin over his shoulder to look at the menu. Instead of taking one step back or to the sides he had to get as close as possible for absolutely no reason. Seeing how my uncle was unaffected by it, I take it as a common place idea that they beleive. But overall, I must admit I like McDonald's there so much more than here, it just tastes better.
Then, in the evening we picked up Tarun (cousin) and Kavita atha (aunt) and went shopping. I ended up getting the only t-shirt I would buy in India and it was expensive, though good quality. Here I also noted differences of lifestyles for different income ranges. For example, my aunt bought her son a balloon for a minimal 5 rupees. Now, imagine the child who was holding it on the street corner. If he sold and average of 2 an hour throughout the 16 hours he was awake he would make 70 rupees on the day, that's a little less than 2 dollars a day, not including the cost of goods. Then again costs of food/housing there are quite different. but seeing those two very different lifestyles so close in contact is interesting to see. There is much more to talk about on this issue, but I'll leave that to another discourse of mine.

Singapore

This will be by far my longest section (because I already had it written)

We got into Singapore airport at 2am. That place was ridiculous; the best airport I've been to by far. At this 2am time they still had a couple of kiosk kind of food vendors still open. So after touring the airport and viewing the amazing (and real) gardens, free internet and computers to use, and lounge style chairs and big screen tv's, we went to get some food. We wanted as much authentic Singaporean food as we could get. So we looked for a name we did not recognize and ended up with the kaya toast (the place predominatly served different types of toast). Kaya is traditionally singaporean and includes butter, sugar, and coconut on top of white bread. It tasted amazing, and after Deepak finally got back from the restroom he agreed. Then we figured we should try one more so we got the Oaha toast, which deffinatly did not stand up to the Kaya, mainly because it was some kind of spicy seafood toast. On the other hand, nanna's coffee was amazing. It was a simple, sweet coffee that was served perfect, no sugar necessary nor milk. After a short nap we TRIED leaving the airport. Amma was decided on getting the discounted bus tickets so we went to at least 5 different stalls, from singapore airlines tourism to the immigration window, to try to find it; in the end we found out we had to get it from the bus itself. So at 7am or so we boarded the skytram to terminal 2 and then got the train to the city…FINALLY.The train to the city was pretty simple, yet nanna was surprised how I could get it done so quickly, and we ended up in Little India because that is where the 24 hour mall that all Singaporeans were so proud of. But once we got out of the train station, we were starving and after giving up on singaporean food for breakfast we settled on an indian resteraunt that was reccomended by the locals. It was actually pretty good, pretty spicy, and pretty cheap- a good triple threat. Then we went into Mustaffa…I'll give you a head start, kill all expectations you have. This place was decently big but packed to the brim with stuff to sell. And it wasn't even cool stuff, this was all the things you would find at the common sav-on's around the corner. And the worst part is that nothing was cheap like it used to be, so we didn't buy anything except for the laser pointer Deepak really wanted. After finally leaving that boring place we entered our ardous trek to the infamous Singapore Airlines discounted bus. After trying to get the locals to help us find the stop and getting turned every which direction and Amma getting a turn at the map it was my turn. All we had to do is make a U-turn and a 3 minute walk. When we finally got to the bus stop and then noticed we had another 20 minutes until the first bus came by. So we went across the street to a cool looking building and took some pictures. Then we got on the bus, saw the big wheel thingy, and landed at the marina. After a very boring 30-minute boat tour of the city by me and Deepak (automated tour guide at certain locations and the person that was there wasn't in the mood to really talk to us or the whole other 4 passengers, we went to scavange for food. Now this little part of the story really pissed me off. I should have known that everywhere they will rip us off, especially if they ALL had 50% off signs. After 10 full minutes of convincing us, the sales guy in front of a singaporean resteraunt conned us into sitting down and then mysteriously dissapeared. Our goal with this resteraunt was to get Deepak the crab he wanted so much, so he ordered the chili crab with 50% discount promised. 5 mintues later was the (not emotional but the other one) climax, the waiter tells us there is only a 15% discount on the crab. We, stupidly, decided to stay. After finishing what I have to admit was quite a good meal, even though the waiter was convinced no asain resteraunt serves rice and we had to order it seperatly. We ended up paying some US 90$ for it, including the extra charges for 5$ water, 1$ peanuts, .30$ napkins, and NO discount on my meal, instead of 13$ off. We left the resteraunt pissed and got onto the bus again. Got off 2 stops later and boarded the metro to get back to the airport.I must admit, Singapore's public transportation is quite good. We got the the airport eaaaarrrrlllyyyy, just the way nanna likes it. But we were able to enjoy the airport some more. From the interactive projector soccer screen to the 108+ inch tv to the free video games and we got to our terminal and took a quick nap while listening to the ipod for the first time on the trip. Then we got onto the plane which again was amazing. Personal tv's with plenty of leg room even for me. And back to the tv's, they have 180 movies on demand, and a total of some 550 shows and music also on demand. The food was good, and you can get as much as you want. Only on this flight was it a little slow to come. After watching Juno and the Bank Job I took a quick hour nap and ended up in India.