Day 5: Heading to Siem Rep / Angkor Wat

It's super early on a Sunday morning and I just took a cab from my cousin's place to Changi airport. There's free internet terminals at the boarding gate for my JetStar flight to Siem Rep. Looking forward to visiting Angkor Wat over the next few days!

Day 4: Lexus Cup

My cousin is an avid golfer and wanted to encourage his seven year old's interest in the sport he took us to this weekend's LPGA tourney: the Lexus cup, hosted at the beautiful Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) towards the central part of the city-state. While I was unsure how I'd hold up strolling around the golf course in such hot and humid weather, I was excited at the prospect of watching golf live for the first time.

We arrived first at the old horse race track and polo fields of "Turf City" to park our car and take an air conditioned shuttle to the actual course. Turf City is something else. It has this post-apocalyptic feel because it's a monumentally sized building that used to seat thousands of horse racing spectators, but those days have now passed and it's a dilapidated old concrete structure with various retail shops and a grocery store. Lot's of expats here because they tend of live in the nearby Bukit locality of the city. So it's an odd mix of foreign-affluence and abandoned warehouse charm.

After finding the shuttle pick up we  boarded the oh-so-amazing AC bus. I brought my camera to snap photos at the tourney even though they're banned from the tourney. The tourney was awesome! We were lucky enough to start at the 8th hole following who else but the soon to be retired Annika Sorenstam. It wasn't too crowded so we got great views of her drive and could vaguely overhear conversation between caddies and players. The tourney started in 2005 and attracts only the best LPGA players. It's a team event with Team Asia versus Team International. Asia is largely made up of Korean pro golfers and International is largely made up of California based pro's. Other golfers we watched included 2005 rookie of the year Paula Cramer (from mountain view, ca) and Natalie Gublis. 

Does anyone follow women's golf? I don't follow golf at all, but this live event was still really fun and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of spectators as well as the lush grounds situated next to a large reservoir and Singapore's largest rain forest preserve. Singapore's really got it going on when it comes to all the finer things in life!

The Hunt for Elusive Mt. Faber

After spending half of Thursday watching CNN and processing the terrorist attacks as they unfolded in Mumbai, I decided to explore the tech savvy, eternally muggy, efficient nanny state that is Singapore. The lonely planet guide suggested a visit to Mt. Faber (elevation: 117m) for great views of downtown, the city port, and Indonesian islands to the south. I didn't want to shell out the 10 Singapore dollars a taxi ride would've cost, so I decided to try out Singapore's highly praised mass transit system. There are clean efficient buses on every street corner that also connect to an awesome subway system known as the MRT. Taking the MRT seemed to be an excellent decision, until I got off at Redhill station, that was just a little too far away from Mt. Faber. I later found out that Harbor Front station would've put me right at the foot of this neat little park and could've saved me nearly 2 hours of walking 4.5 unnecessary miles in humid 90 degree weather!

At least I got to know the City a little better! So word to the wise, do not skimp on local transit maps or more detailed city maps, also if you have an iphone on you, do not hesitate to use it to plot your location (you can do point to point directions in Singapore).

When I finally did find Mt. Faber, I was pleasantly surprised to see the small hill was largely unspoiled tropical forest. I was also surprised to see that you can drive straight to the top. Somewhat reminiscent of Mt. Diablo (but way smaller). At the top there were great vistas of the city and also a bar/restaurant, some Singapore history depicted in fresco form and a touristy restaurant and cable car facility known as the "jewel box". The cable car takes you a mile or so across to Sentosa island, which is a resort/theme park weekend destination for Singaporeans and their families.

Afterwards I took the MRT to the uber-trendy, uber-hip Clarke Quay (pronounced "key"). The Singapore River runs thru this swank village of upscale shopping, dining, and clubbing. high concentrations of expats and tourists here. Lantern laden boats take patrons out for dinner and drinks on the river. It's very reminiscent of Santana Row (minus the river that runs thru it). More on Clarke Quay later.

Day 2: I wake up to news of bomb blasts and airport closures

This morning's Straits Time's headlines: Protesters wreak chaos; Army chief's poll call shot down; Tourists trapped. Oh wait, but then my cousin tells me to check out CNN: Terrorists take over Mumbai, bomb blasts rip thru the city; 80+ dead 200 injured in terrorist attacks.

What's going on in South & SE Asia? It's a grim welcome at the outset of my 2 month vacation. There's a lot of real time information on CNN right now who's doing 100% coverage of the Mumbai blasts, but the gist of it is that the venerable Taj and Oberoi hotels were targets of bomb blasts and the Oberoi has the added bonus of a hostage situation in which terrorists have singled out American and other Western passport holders. These are India's 5 star hotels, and large tourist areas. There were also blasts at a hospital and train station among many other reports of violence in the western peninsula section of the city.

Here's a timeline by the WSJ, textual, not visual. For some reason it excludes the Dec bomb blasts last year in Mumbai.

I'll have to wait it out and see what happens in Thailand before deciding to go to the south. I'll def be avoiding Bangkok at all costs. The main airports are shut down as 1000s of PAD protesters organized a sit-in. They're upset with corruption in the current administration which they feel is simply a proxy for Takshin Sinawatra's previous regime (the former king and PM stepped down and is in exile right now). The current PM refuses to step down and the military as it did in 2006 may step in and forcibly remove the current government to appease the protesters. The current PM is at an APEC summit in Peru and making all his comments from there, I wonder if and when he'll return to Thailand. A few violent clashes have broken out, but no violent steps have been taking by the government in suppressing protesters... yet.

Day 1: Changi, Orchard Rd. & National Television!

Customs was a breeze, it took less than 10 minutes to get stamped in (US passport holders get 90 days in Singapore w/o a Visa requirement) for my check-in to emerge from the carousel, and for us to exit through the unmanned "nothing to declare" exit at customs. Sona (my cousin's wife) was waiting for us at the arrival area and I was very surprised that she recognized me with my large afro & big scuba diving goggles (my prescription eye-glasses). We did a little unwinding at my cousin's house before taking a taxi over to Orchard Rd. This is Singapore's main shopping strip with all the up scale western shopping you've come to expect, Prada, Gucci, Yves St. Laurent, you name it. Nice hotels with lobby bars abound, not to mention the packed streets. Young people showing lots of skin flood the sidewalks.

Customs was a breeze, but boy is it hot here. A cool 86 degrees F with HIGH  humidity and scattered showers. That's the standard forecast in Singapore throughout the year. We retreated  several times into AC'ed hotel lobbies and malls to beat the smothering heat. However, at one point on our walk down Orchard we were stopped by a young reporter and camera  crew. This "street team" for a Singaporean national tv station showed us just the face of an Asian woman and asked for our opinions we commented on her beauty and then they revealed the rest of her body. She was Singapore's premier female body builder and they were getting "opinions on the street" of how people felt about female bodybuilding as socially acceptable, a sport, etc. We'll get our 5 seconds of fame on national TV next Tuesday between 8:30-9PM (sorry for all of you out there who don't subscribe to the Singaporean networks).

En Route: 19+ Hours from SFO to Singapore

Ravi and I boarded quite smoothly at SFO for our midnight flight to Singapore. Most flights to India from SFO depart late in the night so there were few lines. At the departure gate the most striking feature was the large number of elderly Indians seated in wheelchairs, lined up to board the plane before all other passengers. After 10 or so wheelchair bound elderly passengers boarded, another pattern emerged; 15-20 families with young children (several babies would subsequently find seats next to me and cry the whole flight) lined up for pre-boarding. It was quite a contrast to the typical New York or LA domestic flights to which I'm more accustomed.

Traveling Economy Class on Singapore Air is not bad at all. In fact Travel & Leisure, among other publications consistently rank Singapore Air as a top International Carrier. TV screens behind every seat, with audio/video/gaming options have been standard ever since my earlier memory of flying Singapore as a young boy. The quality of food is good and there are great snacks and cocktails available at any time. I'm thinking of living largely as a vegetarian on this trip, so I kicked off our in flight meals with the tasty "Indian Vegetarian" option. I got about 5 hours of sleep, otherwise I mostly read thru my India and SE Asia Lonely Planet guides.

After a 1.5 hour layover in Hong Kong we continued on to Singapore. Ravi and I each sipped our own refreshing  "Singapore Sling", the only cocktail either of us consumed on the whole 19 hour journey. The last, and perhaps most important point to note with Singapore Air's service is that essentially all the hostesses are demure, extremely polite, and beautiful, and they all wear a traditional one piece Singaporean dress. Also essential to my sanity on what was a very pleasant 19 hour flight (can't stress the duration enough, folks) was the awesome selection of in flight entertainment including such titles as Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Wall-E, Entourage, so forth and so on.

On the Phone with "Aggi" (that's Kannada for Grandma)

I rang my uncle a couple nights ago, to let him know that I'd be visiting the city also known as B'Lore or The Silicon Valley of India. Instead the housekeeper picked up the phone recognized I was a foreign caller and gave it to my grandmother who's been living under the same roof as my bachelor uncle for many many years, in a nice residential neighborhood of B'Lore. I told her it was "Guru" and she took a second to recognize my voice and responded "oh-ho, charana!". She prefers to call me Charana.

In my broken Kannada and her vastly superior command of English we conversed for 15 minutes about my upcoming trip to Asia. She told me my uncle was at work and that I should call back later to arrange pick up from the airport. Perhaps I should email a cousin as well, she suggested, who'd do a better job relaying the message as my uncle doesn't check is email that often.

I asked her if she'd ever visited some of the places I'm trying to see on this trip: hindu ruins at Hampi, himalayan foothils in Darjeeling, Goa beachs, Rajasthani lake palaces. She responded with a short sigh, "No." My grandmother never really travelled outside the vicinity of her home cities of Mysore and Bangalore, which comes as a surprise to me considering her politician father who was of considerable means. She explained to me that she married young and started her family early (we're among the youngest of her grandchildren as my mom was her youngest of 6 children). My grandfather was a succesful lawyer, but with a large family and perhaps cultural reasons I have yet to understand, their discretionary spending was quite limited.

At the end of our conversation we reminsiced about the time I spent with her while she was recovering from hip replacement surgery on a trip I made to India 5 years ago. I told her I was looking forward to seeing her and half jokingly suggested that she join me for some excursions to ancient ruins. She laughed heartily, but as I epxected declined. It was totally out of the question she indicated, at her age and with limited mobility (she uses a walker). It's astonishing to me that she's scarecly seen the rest of India. Maybe she's forgotten, I'll have to ask her when I show her pictures at the end of my trip.

Pre Trip: Western Union & Goa NYE '08

What do they have in common you might ask? Well, for the first time in my life I wired money and I used Western Union. And it was scary. I have a vague impression of western union ads from the 80s and 90s, and I remember really liking them. Fast forward to November 19, 2008. You don't really see Western Union ads anymore, but they did a good job branding so I think of them after I've finally booked new years accommodations on Calangute beach, the epicenter of Goa's beach life. It's a small place (only 6 guest rooms), run by a local couple Max & Jessica. They offered the best rate I could find on the whole 2 mile stretch of beach. It's a 5 minutes walk to the beach and they're asking 3000 rs/night for a double (that's about $60). Even that seemed expensive to me, and by average Indian standards it is, but we're talking Goa's highest of high seasons here! After doing some research, I discovered that the going rate for rooms in other, larger hotels are anywhere from $200-650/night and even higher for the most luxurous accomodations! India! Where I've never paid a dime for hotels because I've always stayed with family. Guru, I say to myself, we're not in Bangalore anymore.

So back to Western Union. The couple running the hotel (it's really classified as a B&B, but don't tell Ravi) requests that I send the full amount for the 4 nights I'm booking via wire, I was skeptical so I called them up to ask them personally, and see if they take credit cards. They don't have a credit card machine and of course, they asked me to wire the money via Western Union. Now I start to think of Nigerian lost relatives and deposed military leader email scams. But that's me getting paranoid, I look up the local Western Union and find there's one on the other side of my town. On the WE website I find that wiring money to india costs $30+, and you can use credit card, however, it's only $10 for amounts under $1000 at the WE location itself (cash only though) and it sends the money instantly to hundreds of thousands of WE locations worldwide. 320,000 locations to be exact. If you clicked on the 80s commercial with "George" from Seinfeld in it, you'll notice they said 15,000 locations. Now that's growth. And growth means a Harvard Business Case Study.

So I get the cash from an ATM and drive over to my local WE agent. Turns out standalone WE's don't really exist. The location was a "Cash and Go" payday lending, check cashing service. Just then I recall that there was a WE agent on the corner of 16th and Valencia in the Mission District in San Francisco. Lot's of immigrants send money back home, I thought to myself. I remember hearing a stat on NPR, something like $2.2 Billion dollars was sent back home to Mexico from US relatives in August 2007. They're called "remittances". The other thing about these payday loan come wire service facilities is that they're located in the relativey shadier areas of any town. In Tracy, CA that's on 11th St. and Tracy Blvd. In Dublin, it's the northwest side. So forth and so on... When I approached the counter, I saw two female clerks sitting behind a thick glass barrier, but ready to conduct business.

I wired the money to the inn-keepers at Goa and quickly emailed the inn-keepers the pass code they needed to receive the money on their end. And that's when they officially confirmed my reservation in Goa! Hoo-ray!

Pre Trip: The Context*** of it All

I'm leaving the country in 4 days. I hope to visit 5 countries over 48 days. The first 20 days will be devoted to South East Asia; my home base will be Singapore. The latter half of the trip will be 28 days in India. It's an ambitious trip for several reasons: (other than the obvious ones of duration and mileage**)

1) I'm rather oblivious. While I've been to India 9 or 10 times since I was a wee babe, I've usually always had everything taken care of in terms of itinerary, flights, etc. My mom and dad always planned our family trips and we never strayed to far away from Bangalore, save for a couple of visits to Bombay which I hardly remember. My most recent visit to India was in the summer of 2003, where I spent 3 months living in the Domlur neighborhood of Bangalore as a Stanford Asia Technology Initiative Fellow working for a biotech company in the area; AKA, we partied a lot, but I didn't leave my comfort zone in South India. I haven't quite spearheaded my own international trip until very recently when I attended my friends wedding in Peru. The other places I've visited are the Bahamas (cruise), Canada (for like 5 hours), and Tokyo, Japan (Lions Club Exchange Program).

2) I'm somewhat lazy. I quit my cushy advertising gig at Google a little over 6 months ago, and I've decided not to work again... for as long as possible. Good luck in this economy right? Actually, things weren't looking so bleak back in May, but I may be in dire straits upon my return to the states. We'll just have to see! So travelling during my self-imposed sabbatical seems to make the most sense. The catch is that I've procrastinated on almost every aspect organizing my Asia trip. I pretty much decided to make this trip a year ago, but only booked my ticket last month (October 1st to be exact). I used miles so maybe it wasn't such a huge deal, but if I had been bargain hunting, earlier ticket purchase would've been better! On a positive note, just yesterday I wired the deposit for the Goa beach hotel we're staying at for New Years. But folks, that's all I've contributed towards my 48 days: a 4 night stay in Goa. 1/12th of my trip planning complete, check! Only 11/12ths to go.

3a) I'm not a fan of flying. Nuff said.

3b) I always get sick in India. And let's just say it always involves copious water-loss. Double nuff said. Crossing my fingers. Trying to make a deal with the patron saint of Protozoa.

4) I've never really traveled alone (and I'm somewhat paralyzed with fear). And I'm not traveling alone for parts of this trip, but there will be times when I'll be totally on my own in a foreign land, perhaps with a tour group, but perhaps not! I anticipate solo travel in Thailand and Cambodia and certain legs of my India journey. Just missing out on that extra brain scares me a bit because you can never have too many extra brains to help you decipher maps, languages, customs, or expat style party stratagem. I know, I should have said "strategery", but it's been played out.

If you've gotten this far, thanks! I hope you enjoy my onslaught of posts. And I hope I can actually keep up with the foreign correspondence from internet cafes in Asia. This past August I learned first hand that Peru had funny Spanish keyboards that screwed me up while IMing. Japan's keyboards are a menace to society. India should have US friendly keyboards since everyone who can use a computer probably speaks a decent amount of English. SE Asia, I have no clue.

I said earlier that I'm not traveling alone for parts of my trip and I wanted to provide details. I'm flying out on the SFO-Changi, Singapore leg with my college buddy and bandmate, Ravi. On Nov 26th we'll separate while I stay in SE Asia and he continues to India. In mid December we'll be crashing a wedding in Pune, doing toursity stuff in Rajasthan, a rolling the dice for a wild card Indian destination (Darjeeling, Darjeeling, Darjeeling! please!) Oh and how can I forget, the impetus for this whole Asia tour: New Years in Goa. Let's just say that it started with a young man's dream and a summer of 2006, travel article in the San Jose Mercury. And by that I mean I read a cool article in the newspaper 2.5 years ago and have wanted to visit Goa ever since. That's with Ravi, for the rest of my trip I'll be meeting up with family in places like Singapore and Bangalore. There's also a chance I'll be catching up with old Stanford friends in SE Asia.

Phew, that was long! Cheers!

** notice "cost" is not included in this "obvious list" that's summarized by the wise words of Jermaine Dupree, "Money ain't a thang."
*** did I really provide enough context here? maybe I'll host a poll asking people if they had any understanding of my motivations for world-travel based on this first post...