The Yellow Brick Road: April 2007

Friday, April 27, 2007

The Two Sides of Cinci

Day 7 in Cinci and I’ve added a few things that have depressed me further:
1) Dinner at “The Phoenix,” supposedly one of the best restaurants in town. Zagat rated and all that, though I didn’t see the ratings outside the door. Despite making a reservation, I waited a good half-hour for my table, which gave me more than enough time to understand what “smart casual” dress code means here. The number of men in black slacks (smart) AND tennis shoes (casual) was overwhelming.

2) So far, all the apartments that I’ve seen, suck. What is this American love affair with fully carpeted flooring? The entire apartment is covered in a drab beige carpet, which wouldn’t be all that bad if there weren’t previous tenants with who-knows-what-germs. Don’t even get me started on the vertical-blinds-most-commonly-found-in-hospitals look that seems to be here to stay.

I also checked out some of the houses in the nicer areas, but the idea of me having to mow the lawn and clear the driveway of snow is not very appealing. Neither is the thought of living in suburbia surrounded by American flags.

3) The nearest gimik place is in KENTUCKY! Granted, Newport in Kentucky is only across the river, but it’s the principle! I have to go to another state to find a decent watering hole. Sigh.

And lastly, though I admit this is an affliction that is not just limited to Cinci,
4) The boundless and ever-annoying perkiness that is evidenced by high-decibel greetings of “how are you today?” and sentences punctuated with terms of endearment which are, in other cultures, reserved usually for relationships which have lasted more than 2 seconds. I’ve never said “I’m good, thanks” or been called “hon,” “darling” or “sweetie” by complete strangers more than in one afternoon of shopping in the US.

God, I hope perkiness isn’t contagious.

But on the flip side, I’ve also discovered some things which, surprise, surprise, show that maybe Cinci isn't that bad after all:
1) I found out that they have a (I'm not kidding) Procter and Gamble theater hall that was playing "The Lion King" at the time I was there (fantastic show, by the way. The opening number will blow you away.) Turns out they actually have a full season of shows coming that includes “Wicked,” “Mamma Mia” and “Jersey Boys.” Hurrah!! For sure I’ll be buying season tickets.

2) “Historic” Mt. Adams, about a 10 minute drive from downtown. My pick for my future address. It’s quite surprising to find cobblestone streets, trendy bars, an art museum, community theater and a park all conveniently located in one charming locale. I’m not quite sure yet what makes it historic but I’m not complaining. I can definitely picture myself living here.

3) Good restaurants with the ambience to match. After my disastrous experience at “The Phoenix,” I was ready to call it quits. Dead city, I can take. But bad food? Sacre bleu! Good thing that a little more diligent research over the Internet yielded some fantastic finds. If you ever find yourself in Cinci, the “Napa Grille” (2444 Madison Road), “Celestial” (1071 Celestial St.) and “Bararresi’s” (4111 Webster Avenue) are worth a stop, for the wine, the view and the veal, in that order.

I guess nothing is ever perfect, particularly when you’re moving to a city that is so far away from home. I’m still on the look-out for the perfect Chinese restaurant where I’m going to become “suki.” And I haven’t exactly found the perfect home. Nor the right car (suggestions anyone?). But it’s comforting to know that there are bits and pieces here and there that I might eventually learn to love. And that New York is close enough to escape to if I don’t.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Cinci-Going-Nutty

Whew... I feel like I just stepped off the treadmill. Since my last post, all I've been doing is moving from one activity to the next. I went through a seminar on 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, had friends come over for a visit, flew to Manila and back to Singapore, went on vacation in India with my sisters (more on that in future posts), finished off my last assignment and flew to the US, where I'm currently writing this entry.

No wonder I haven't had time to write! I've just been so swamped wrapping up the last 6 years of my work life in a digest-able format that I can pass on to the next generation. Add to that the stress of a last-minute vacation in India! It was so last minute, I was booking hotels for our stay in Jaipur just 2 days before! I don't think my heart rested a single beat this last month.

But suddenly I find myself in Cincinnati... and everything stops. I'm sure it naturally does that when you find yourself in-between jobs. But it's still a little strange to go from 100-odd emails a day to get this, five emails. FIVE EMAILS!! And that's including spam, which is kinda sad. On top of that, Cincinnati is actually a city where everything literally stops.

I was shocked, and more than a little depressed, to find two cars on the road on a Friday evening at 9pm. And that the malls are closed by 6pm on a Sunday! Coming from the shopping bag of the East that is Singapore, it was almost the last straw.

Thank God for Barnes & Noble, which is where I'll probably be hanging out all the time. That and Prime Outlet, which is a fantastic outlet mall I discovered, just an hour away from downtown.

I'm seeing more of the city in the next few days and I'm trying to keep an open mind, withhold judgment and keep the tears in check. It just says a lot about the city when you ask people how they like Cinci, and the reply is "well, it's only 4 hours away from Chicago by car" or "It's fantastic! Just 1.5hours away from NY by plane!"

Wonderful.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Udaipur Day 9: The Lake City and The World's Biggest Turban

Groan… another early day that starts with a 730 flight to Udaipur. We move from the Pink City to the Lake City, and despite being in the same state, these two could not be more different. Udaipur looks very very European and is sometimes called the Venice of the East. In fact, the hotel restaurant looked so much like Santorini, we started to call it Santor-India. Corny, I know, but we were mad from the heat. :)

The cheapest means of getting to the city is booking a taxi from the airport. No need to pre-book a ride. All of it is regulated by the government so it’s a flat fee. Just make sure to get a taxi with A/C or the heat will really kill you. Once in the city, we quickly realized that we could actually just walk the entire length of the main city without needing the taxi driver to wait for us. In fact, it's better to do it this way to explore the winding roads and maze of shops that abound here. The size reminds me of Florence, very manageable, unless of course you pick a hotel up in the mountains that nicely border the picturesque city.

The main tourist sight is really just the City Palace, though you could stop by at Jagdish temple, about a 5 minute walk from the entrance of the palace.

Steps leading up to the temple flanked by stone elephants

Exquisite intricate carvings on the side all around the temple

Colorful shamans waiting at the foot of the temple

The City Palace is famous for the beautiful glass and mirror works inside. It took us 2.5 hours to go through the entire thing! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, this is apparently the biggest palace in all of Rajasthan.

The entrance... what an imposing palace. Get your walking shoes out.

Great views from the many windows around

Maharani dreaming of her prince?

Famous for the Rajput wall paintings

And the many mirrors

You could explore the entire city in a day, which is what we did. Out of sheer diligence, we went to a bunch of other minor sites, like the Bagore Ki Haveli museum for the world's biggest turban (only if you absolutely must)...

The thing actually looks quite gross in reality

Yotch getting into the spirit of turbans! :)

and the Sajjan Niwas Garden with the many fountains and water lily ponds.

But at the end of the day, Udaipur is not really a city for sightseeing. There is not much to see, it is more a place to soak up the ambience and the views. And our lunch at Jagat Niwas offered a great vantage point to enjoy this.

Santor-India

Posing ala-MTV

Nice views behind us

And of course, why visit the Lake City without going on a cruise! The price is quite reasonable for 30 minutes and is the perfect escape from the heat. And because most of the palaces are either closed to the public or require expensive lunch reservations to visit, the cruise is also a good way to see these as close as possible.

I miss my sisters already...

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Jaipur Day 8: Amer and Jaigur Fort

After a quick stop at Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds, for some life-risking photos (you had to cross the busy street for the best shot), we were off to Amber (Ah-mer) Fort, about 11km from the main city.

Once closer to the fort, we are grateful for the advantage of hiring a private car. He drives us all the way to the top, stopping for pictures at the most opportune places, vs. leaving us at the entrance to walk in (as with a government bus) or ride an elephant. Some stops include photo ops with the requisite snake charmer

heehee... Yotch is so scared...

and the mysterious temple on the way to the Fort.

The Amber Fort blows you away and is easily the 2nd highlight of the trip after the Taj. The palaces are absolutely stunning and the intricate workmanship is amazing.

A guide here is so worth it – he will explain how the medieval air-conditioning system works (ingenious), help you navigate the concubine quarters (which are meant to be a crazy labyrinth) and if you’re lucky (like we were), he will even show you a bonus… the tunnels the maharajah used to link up to Jaigur Fort. This is off the beaten tourist path so we had to huff and puff our way through rubble and down dim, dodgy basements that are littered with empty condom wrappers. What an utterly delightful spontaneous adventure!

We also made a stop at Jaigur Fort, too bad we didn’t see Jude Law who was there the same day! We declined a guide since we thought that the only thing to see was the largest cannon in the world.

Which is also why we took a lot of silly pictures to maximize the entrance fee.

Flying high...

The FPJ pose is contagious even in flight!

We don't even get lift-off!! Hahaha...

More funny pics...

Turns out there is so much more to see, thanks to our tsuper toyo Mukesh, who ended up acting as our guide around the fort. The view alone is already worth the price of entry.

Lunch was at the Rambugh Palace, the ex-residence of the maharajah which has since been converted to a hotel. This is our fanciest meal yet and in the nicest setting imaginable. Of course, all this just gave Yotch more fodder to feed her maharani delusions of grandeur.

Funny side story. Wong unexpectedly gets her period while we’re in Jaipur. She calls the hotel housekeeping department to request for sanitary napkins. We couldn’t believe our luck when they offer to send someone to our room with the requested items. And there he is, this bellboy carrying two rolls of tissue paper. Hahaha… we couldn’t stop laughing!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Jaipur Day 7: City Palace

It’s not hard to see why Jaipur is called the Pink City. The old city is entirely enclosed by a fort made out of pink sandstone. This remarkable city was founded in 1727 and is the first planned city in India. I wish the government would continue that and impose a rule that new buildings carry on the pink sandstone tradition. What a sight that would be!

Jaipur is a lovely city, easy on the eyes and easy to like. Driving around was a pleasure, traffic wasn’t too bad, roads were wide and the buildings were grandiose (cue Albert Hall).

But for today, we decided to take it easy… After a grueling week of heat for the girls, all we wanted to see was a few sights and spend time shopping for gifts. The first stop was Jantar Mantar right across the City Palace, a collection of astronomical clocks and devices that used to belong to the maharajah. Tickets are cheap (Rs.10) but the park is impossible to appreciate without a guide to explain how the devices work. You have to pay a fee for your camera too but trust me, there is nothing to take pictures of. We snuck one in and just had fun with the shots.

Spot the Wong...

Yotch beside Virgo

Wong beside Pisces

Me beside Libra

The City Palace is the real jewel, a part of it is still the home of the current maharajah, though his actual residences are of course, restricted from public access. The palace itself is really lovely, inspiring Yotch to believe she was a maharani in her past life. And the museums are interesting as well, offering a glimpse of the opulent lifestyle the maharajas and their court enjoyed.

The guards are extremely competent, exhibiting a knack for creeping stealthily, undetected and unwanted, right into our pictures. I guess this now-you-see-‘em-now-you-don’t prowess is a useful skill to have as a guard to secure the City Palace.

And he just wouldn't leave!

He's making his way slowly...

Tadah!!

Insider info from Rupma, my ABM who is from Jaipur, proved to be indispensable. Thanks to her, we discovered the best naan of our life at Nykos – fluffy, not too oily and absolutely delicious!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping at Bapu Bazaar where we met a bunch of characters, from the burping salesman to the devious old salesman to the passive-aggressive salesman. We went home lugging boxes of bangles, wonderfully colorful shawls/scarves and a throw for me, a bag for Kenny, 2 matching traditional Indian kurtas for the bwibbers, Rajasthani hand paintings and 4 pairs of Mohori shoes we hadn’t intended to buy at all! Retail therapy at its best, when it’s at its cheapest!

That night, we trooped to Choko Dhani, a representation of a traditional Rajasthani village, constructed mainly for tourists. Still giddy from our afternoon of bargains, we happily tried everything from mehendi to Bollywood-type dancing to Indian vegetarian fare.

About the only thing we didn’t try was the human hamster ferris wheel. Hahaha…

We ended the day with a poignant visit to Mukesh’s home where his entire family warmly welcomed us into their 1-bedroom flat. After a brief tour, he offered us water, explicitly mentioning that it was bottled water, and chai tea. Noticing our mehendi, the sister dabbed our tattoos in sugar water, to help prolong the color. Most of the hour’s visit was spent playing with Lucky, Mukesh’s son, who at 8 months, still could not turn by himself or support his head.

It really was humbling to be so graciously received by a family who did not have much to give. This act of kindness is the most powerful image of India that I take with me from this trip.

The Yellow Brick Road