And we are back!!!

We are back from our trip and one word sums it up... WOW!!! It was a fast and furious trip thru 3 countries, 4 hotels, 5 flights over 10 days!!!

First stop: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Here we stayed right in the city, within view of the Petronas Towers. We toured the city, went to see another area where the government offices are located, and we went to a historical site to see some history on Malaysia.

Some Highlights:
Shopping Malls!!!! Yes, just like Somerset Mall back at home.
Food that is familiar from home.... We ate at California Pizza Kitchen... Yep, CPK!!
Highways that are like back at home... and the drivers actually follow the lines in the road and stay in the lane. Coming from India, that is a novelty!!!

Next Stop: Pattaya, Thailand
Here we stayed right on the beach that was about 2 hours away from Bangkok. It was a great break from the city life in Malaysia. We relaxed.....

Some Highlights:
The beach.....
Foot massages on the beach....
Fresh fruit delivered right to you beach chair on the beach (mangoes and pineapple!!) YUM
Vim had spotted some interesting sights on the beach as he went exploring. I will let him tell you all about them. If you do a little research on Pattya you will find that parts of it can be a bit questionable, I will leave it at that. Fortunately, where our hotel was located, we were in a decent area.

Next Stop: Bangkok
We had 2 nights in the heart of Bangkok. The big difference between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok - Bangkok was far more crowded. Traffic was worse, the streets were filled. But a great experience.

Some Highlights:
Shopping.....
The food....
There were temples .... EVERYWHERE!! The best part is that the locals will take the time to pray at these temples. There was one right outside one of the shopping malls. What do you think that they are praying for outside the mall??? Maybe a good sale!!
The night market....there was some great shopping here!!! Knock of purses galore!! This put Canal street in NYC to shame!!
The Buddha temples were beautiful!! We went to 4 temples and the Palace... Very nice!
Did I mention the Shopping???

Low light in Bangkok...lost our camera. Actually not lost.... but stolen!! We left it in the cab that took us from Pattaya to Bangkok. That was the last we saw of it. And of course, the cab company has 'no record' of a camera being left in the cab.

Last Stop: Singapore
Singapore was by far the most orderly city that I have been too. Is it possible to say that it was 'too clean' and 'too orderly'. It almost seemed 'too perfect'.

Some Highlights:
Shopping!!
Good Food!! Mexican food!!! Chips and salsa!!!
Bird Park (like a zoo)
Night Safari

Over all the trip was great! The best part of the trip was that the kids were real troopers!! We did a lot of walking and moving around and they kept up with every move!! They did not complain (ok, maybe a little) but overall they were really good!! Another good part about the trip..... No Indian food for 10 days!!! It was a welcome break from the curries for all of us.

I will post pictures soon!!

Vacation has begun!!!

We are off....

Destinations: Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore!!

We are currently at Singapore Airport. We flew the 'red-eye' from Bangalore, and have a 4 hr layover and then we are off to Malaysia.

I am doing this post from the Singapore airport. Lets just say... a world of difference from Bangalore and India!!

Just to name a few things:
Clean Toilets (Meets Vim's standards)
Free Internet!!!! With walk up computers all around!
Free foot massages!! (ok it is with a machine, but no money required!!)
Free local phone calls!! They have these phones that you can use to make local calls!!

That is just to name a few things!!

Singapore is GREAT!! At least so far... based on the airport!!

I will write more later.... It is time to board the flight to Malaysia!!

Holi......

Holi, also called the Festival of Colours, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, and other parts of the world with a large Hindu population.

The main day, Holi, also known as Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi, is celebrated by people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. Bonfires are lit the day before, also known as Holika Dahan (death of Holika) or Chhoti Holi (little Holi). There are several stories that describe the signifigance of Holi, all of which relate back to Hindu Mythology. Wiki is a good place to go to get the details.

Like true Ozonians, or in true Ozone style, we could not let this festival pass with out a gala celebration.

The Holi celebration was done this past weekend. It was actually a few days past the actual 'Holi' Day, the Ozone celebration was done on the weekend so that it more people could participate.

The Ozone celebration was done in 2 stages. The Bonfire was done on Sat night, and the festival of colours was on Sunday.

Check out the pictures below of the bonfire....





Here are pictures from the festival of colors....

The CREW.... Look at the kids... they are ready to get messy!! In addition to throwing the color powder, they also sell squirt guns that you can use to squirt colored water....



Look at Nayan getting his sister Swati....



Milan is all messy...



Me and Mira....



Off in the side lines.... Eshan and Kaki. Eshan was a little under the weather so he did not partake in the messiness!!



POST Holi.....

Just looking at the pictures, you can get some idea of how messy we were. Now the trick was to get into the house, into the shower, and attempt to clean up without leaving a trail of color all thru the house. Easier said than done..... All the clothes were washed at least 3 times... but thanks to Oxi-clean and Bleach.... all the 'color' came out. Getting the color off our bodies was a little more difficult. I still have orange finger nails and a pink back!!! The kids and Vim still have remnants of the 'color' lingering as well!! Just a note... for those with blonde hair... the color does stain!! A friend of ours has orange and pink patches in her hair!!

So... out of the four of us (Me, Vim and the kids), who do you think most enjoyed the 'messiness'... take a minute to factor in the personalities... the type 'a' vs the easy going..... Any guesses????

Well.... It was Milan that was the first to check out from the 'messiness', followed closely by me. Surprisingly Mira and Vim (the type 'a' pair) were the last to come in and clean up!!! I have to admit, I was surprised!!

We will look forward to the Holi fun next year!!!

Visitors!!! (Surprise!!)

On Friday we had visitors... Nayan, Swati, Eshan and Kaki. Vim and I knew they were coming. However, it was a surprise to the kids!! The kids were sooooo happy when they saw them!! Especially when Milan saw his buddy Eshan!! It was sweet!!

This weekend is the Holi celebration at Ozone.

Last night was the bonfire, and today is the day for the colors!! Like all Indian festivals, there is a religious significance and mythical history. I will post the details later today along with the pictures.

Happy Holi!!

Buzzzzz

Does anyone remember watching the cartoon where the old man is trying to sleep and his restful slumber is disturbed by a pesky mosquito??? I am not sure what cartoon show it was... but it was back in the day.... many years ago!! In the cartoon, the mosquito is buzzing away and annoying the man trying to sleep. The mosquito in the cartoon was getting some satisfaction out of annoying the old man! When I watched the cartoon for the first time, I thought that it was funny! Now, I can relate to the old man!!!

Over the past few nights we have a little mosquito that has made its way into the house. Now, the house is pretty big for a little mosquito. Somehow, consistently night after night, he make his way right to the bedroom, and hovers and buzzes away. You would not think that the buzzing of a mosquito is loud enough to wake you up.... but trust me it is!!! There have been times that I have woken up and started to flail my arms (like the man in the cartoon), hoping the mosquito would go away!!

Just like the cartoon, I am sure that the mosquito is getting some satisfaction out of disturbing my sleep.....

With the monsoon season coming up, and the mosquito population increasing, I am sure that we will have more nightly encounters with the 'mosquito'!! Something to look forward to.... NOT!

The Weather....

I have to say that over the last 2 days.... the weather here in Bangalore has surprised me!!

For over the last 6 months, the weather has been consistent.... SUNNY.... EVERY DAY!!! No Rain, No overcast-grey days!!! Honestly!!!

Yesterday was the first day in a really long time that it was overcast and grey the whole day!! It was a little breezy, almost felt like it was going to rain, but it did not!! I have to admit, it took me by surprise!!

Again today... overcast.....

I don't mind it.... especially since we had so many consistent days of gorgeous weather.... and most importantly, we were spared from the brutal winter that was experience back at home.

The typical weather patterns here anticipate the onset of the monsoon season in May/June time frame! Something to look forward too.....

Mira Making a Rotlo

For those of you from India, you will be able to relate to this post... sorry, it probably does not translate well for the rest of you....

Back in our home town village in Gujarat, called Madhapur, one of the comfort foods that we would eat is Bajra-na-rolta. Essentially it is a thick buckwheat pita bread - loosely translated.

Anyways, when my dads sister and brother were visiting, we had rotla for dinner one day. Mira was getting into the action making the rotla!!

Yummmmm.... it makes my mouth water thinking about it!!

How Many People???

How many people can you fit into a car?? Look at this picture!!

The car is driving on the road.... with the doors open!!! And there are people sitting on top!! This is definitely something that you would not see on the roads back at home!!

Pictures from the Wedding

Entrance to the wedding hall

All the flowers were Real!!  So beautiful!!

The lunch area after the wedding

The mandap...  all the flowers were real here too!!

At the reception in BLR

The lights hanging from the trees looked so magical

Bea

The dining area

Beautiful lights hanging down

Huge flower baskets hanging from trees

The baskets were at least 5 ft in Diameter

Here are some pictures from the wedding in Hyderbad and the reception in Bangalore.

All the wedding events were at 5 star Hotels here in India. That give you an idea of the 'attention to detail' that went into the wedding.

All of the flower garlands that decorated the mandap were real.... they were beautiful... it had jasmine and lotus flowers.

Everything was gorgeous!!

The reception in Bangalore was breathtaking as well. The reception was outdoors in the 'grounds' of the Taj hotel. The grounds had huge trees from which huge flower pieces were hung. In addition, there were lights hanging from the trees. It was absolutely amazing...

The pictures of the reception are at end the end of the slide show... they don't really capture the full effect, but you can see a glimpse of what I was talking about.

Indus Aquatics Meet

Off for the big swim meet!

Ready to go!!

Look who has the lead!!

Milan gets a medal!!

Mira is ready to go!!

And she is off!

See her in Lane 2

And a great finish!!

Written by Vim


“Aquatics Meet on the 4th March 2009 (Prep 2 – Grade 3). These will be full day events for the grades involved. If you plan to attend, please be seated by 9.15 am at the swimming pool and do come prepared for the heat. A reminder that winners are calculated according to their speed. Heats and finals are combined – all children swim and their individual times are recorded. The 3 fastest times are the medallists – just like in the Olympics!”…….

Yes…another day of competition at Indus. The heats involved 25m and 16m races for all the grades, in Freestyle, Breast-Stroke and Back-Stroke. Its was 38°C, sunny clear skies and the atmosphere was filled with so much excitement it did feel like a scene from the swimming meets in the Olympics.

How did M&M do? Milan was up first to race in his year. He did AWESOME for a Prep II kid who only a year ago before coming to India learned to swim and was just barely gaining confidence in the pool, swam the race to 3rd place for 16m. A Bronze medal victory.

Mira, in several heats managed 4th for all 3 styles of swim even though she won, an event her timing we just off. I was still very proud of her achievement. She so dearly wanted a medal as brother had won one. So with dad’s encouragement (OK from the days of soccer at Rochester Hills which many of you know) she also gained confidence and swam the 4x25m girls relay to 3rd place. A Bronze medal victory.

Both kids did very well, in a tough field of great swimmers. Some of the children really showed there potential and I have to say were all amazing. There were glimpse’s of Michael Phelps in our friends son Andrew Patnode Grade 2 and our Swedish neighbour Konstan Grade 3 – both of whom were ‘barge pole’ clear winners in all heats – they swept the medals board in their respective grades as well as the Trophies for best swimmers. I do have to give a BIG CLAP to those kids who did not win and those who came in last, they did there very best they were also winners at this event and best of all they all came out of the pool with smiles in their faces. That’s what its’ about enjoying the moment not winning all the time.