Hebitch in the Exotic Orient

City of Victory?

2009-08-14T01:55:00.000-07:00

Next visit was to Fatehpur Sikri, an hour cab ride away from Agra. It means 'City of Victory', ironic because this ancient city (built in 1570 by Mughal emperor Akbar -yes, Hrithik Roshan played him in 'Jodha Akbar'!) was abandoned 14 years later in 1585 because of reasons unknown (maybe because it was in the middle of nowhere and there was no water source?).

Coming out of the Agra district was hell... massive traffic jam every inch of the road and at every junction...

Of course, these holy cows hog the overtaking lane...:

Once we got out of the built-up areas, we were greeted with field after field of crops:

BLOW HORN!:

The beginnings of the ruins:

We had to alight from the cab and take a bus to the old city compounds. Ignore all the touts there who claim to give free-of-charge guided tours (but later take you to their shops nearby to coerce you into buying souvenirs). Only pick guides with those ID tags around their necks at the old city compound if you need a guide. We just depended on our guide book (thanks Lonely Planet!).

The Buland Darwaza (Gate of Magnificience) to the Jama mosque there.

The ruins of Fatehpur Sikri:

I cannot remember the names of the buildings... but hey, enjoy the pictures.

Tired and dehydrated:

Somehow the ruins remind me of Angkor Watt..

I love Lonely Planet!:

More of the compound:

Check out the intricate carvings!:

That is one hell of a pillar!:

Baths maybe? Or a reservoir

Kinda low...:

The ruins on the perimeter:

The side entrance to the Jama Mosque:

The 'Gate of Magnificence' mentioned earlier.

It is indeed magnificent! Being the largest gateway in the world, it towers 53.63 metres high, and a flight of 42 steps greets you before reaching the gate!

We were pretty much shagged after the whole trip... Lien was falling sick. So no Agra Fort... Instead we chilled at the hotel.

We took a train back to Delhi but not before getting our train delayed at Agra.... So we had to stay for at least 4 hours at the train station... pestered by the child beggars there and all of us huddled together to feel 'safer'. It was so bad that a Caucasian couple actually inched closer to us before joining our 'huddle' to ignore the kids who where scratching us to get our attention. They were a nice couple from Germany on their way back to Delhi on the same train as us. I know, we risk sounding really evil ignoring those kids, but yeah, once you entertain one, many will flock to you and pester you for hours! They are relentless!

And never ever buy bottled water from the shops in the train station! I felt sorry for this handicapped boy (didn't stop him from being quite fiesty with the other kids though) who was crawling on the floor and he asked for my empty bottle. Thinking that they would get some cash for recycling these bottles, I relented and gave him my bottle. Little did I know that what I thought was only half correct!

Yes, they do get cash for the bottles. But not to some recycling company BUT the shopkeepers at the train station! These kids will refill the bottles rom taps at the train station and the shopkeepers buy them from these kids! Yes.... Lien saw them actually filling them up (exactly at 7pm) when he went to the loo! OMG....

Seriously, we felt so sick to our stomachs, we drained the water and crushed the rest of our bottles. Our train finally arrived 4 hours later and we went back to Delhi where we stayed in the international airport's cafe to wait for our morning flight back to Singapore.

I miss Singapore. I surely thought I wouldn't miss India anytime soon then. But now I do. :)

Quick, my visa expires this December!

Mission Accomplished.

2009-08-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

We reached Agra just before 10pm and checked into our hotel - Saii Palace.
The next morning, we woke up bright and early to see... what else? The Taj Mahal during sunrise.

Mat (my friend) recommended Joney's Place for breakfast, but breakfast can wait:
'Where sia? Lost...':
'Looks like we are on the right track':
I was told by the ticketing people that I could pass off as an Indian and could just buy the cheaper ticket but nah... 750 rupees for entry to the Taj Mahal for tourists (includes some 'discount' to other places of visit in Agra). Believe or not, that is the ticketing booth:
After security checks, we went through the West Gate:
South Gate:

The Darwaza gate leading to the Taj:

Can you see it?:
Tease you a bit more... look sunrise!:

Read first...:

Finally... Mission accomplished. The Taj Mahal.

You heard about the Taj being described as 'a teardrop on the cheek of time'? Well, that describes the Taj beautifully...

Cliche shot!:

Yes lah!:

The white pure Taj... sigh... it was such a perfect day too...:

Okay story goes (like you wouldn't have already known), the Taj is a mausoleum built (1632-53) by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal who died during the birth of their 14th child (no wonder lah)!

Everything in the Taj Mahal compound is perfectly symmetrical (that is, except for the tombs in the Taj Mahal itself - the Emperor's is added on beside his wife's tombstone in the centre). So you have two red stoned buildings flanking the two sides of the Taj, the one to the west is a mosque and the east, a 'jawab' or guest house for the visitors to the tomb years ago...

Gorgeous marble carvings, stucco and stone inlays cover the whole entire Taj:

Shoes need to be taken off at a certain point. You can carry it around in a bag (bag and bottled water provided at the ticketing booth).

The mosque:

Yamuna river to the north of the Taj (behind it):

Okay, there is a myth about the Black Taj Mahal, supposedly to be built across the river from the original Taj by Emperor Shah Jahan for his own tomb. There would then be a bridge linking the two mausoleums together. But alas, he had to be imprisoned by his own son and he died before he could realise the black Taj. All that is visible now is the foundation for the unbuilt black Taj. How true is the myth? Who knows...

More of the Taj Mahal... The sky is bluer now... and the tourists were starting to throng in.

One of the four minarets:

Quranic verses around the main 'iwan' and the side 'pishtaqs'.

Video cameras are not allowed in the Taj Mahal compound at all. Cameras are allowed into the compound but not the mausoleum itself. I managed to sneak a few shots. Check out the detail:

More!!!!:

From the 'Jawab' (building to the east):

The Taj was starting to glow a beautiful golden hue with the rising sun:

We finally got to take our picture at the 'Princess Diana' bench:

Goodbye Taj... You were truly the most purest and breathtaking piece of architecture I have ever seen:

Oh... That was our hotel.. Saii (not 'shit' hor) Palace. Nice staff. Great food on the rooftop. Not bad rooms.

F*cking great view of the Taj from the rooftop:

Jantar Mantar.

2009-08-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Remember that playground-looking thingy we saw from Hawa Mahal? Its the Jantar Mantar - a collection of large architectural astronomical instruments built by the Maharaja Jai Singh II in the early 18th century. We paid the compound a quick visit.

Huge! Looks like a slide doesn't it?:

What time is it now ah? Its a bitch to wear that on your wrist, no?:

The Hawa Mahal in the background:

The 12 horoscopes are represented. Don't ask me how they work!:

V for Virgos!

Eagle!:

Next it was time to get ready to take the night train to Agra!!!!!!!!!!
So we hung out at the beautifully decorated lounge. Lien checking the status of our tickets to Agra (still on the waiting list but we decided to try our luck anyways, since there would be cancellations)

Pearl Palace Hotel. If I had multiple arms, I would rate this hotel 4 thumbs up! Awesome!

Amber Fort.

2009-08-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

We woke up early the next day to see Amber Fort (around half an hour ride away from Jaipur). The other 3 chose not to follow us because they were kinda sick of seeing forts (they saw the fort in Jodphur and said it was breathtaking).

The Jal Mahal aka Water Palace / Floating Palace along the way to Amber Fort (closed to public):

And we finally got to Amber Fort!:

Nothing beats an elepant ride up the fort!:

Beautiful golden fort, smelly elephants and clear blue skies:

The gateway into the fort:

The central courtyard:

Took turns to take pictures:

Well, even though we had paid earlier on at the ticketing booth below, the elephant guy asked for more 'tips'. I gave him some spare change and unsatisfied, he asked for more from Zhongx. Zhongx gave him a S$1 dollar coin and the dude had the WDF-expression... LOL. Mean...

The forts kinda huge!

Some really really old looking city within the compund; there were peacocks there!

The gate:

Inside:

Gorgeous marble - not unlike the Taj Mahal:

'Jacuzzi' thermal baths which reeked of piss:

Decided to fool around inside:

So it was time to leave the beautiful Amber Fort.. via the stairs, had to be careful not to step on some elephant dung along the way!

Jai- ho pur

2009-08-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was Jaipur.

After the horrible experience with the hotel in New Delhi, we were pleasantly surprised and relieved with our choice of hotel at Jaipur. Hotel Pearl Palace, rated the best backpackers' hotel by Lonely Planet. Why?

Because it doesn't really feel like a backpackers lodging in the first place. Packed from the rooftop to reception area with Indian furniture, paintings and deco, you would be forgiven if you thought that this was a palace.

Speaking of the rooftop, there is an awesome restaurant, the Peacock Restaurant. Best place to enjoy the food, the company and the sights...:

It is conveniently located beside a lesser-known ancient fort:

The rooftop consists of the restaurant and a few more storeys above for dining.

Scenic view of the surroundings:

We totally felt safe there. To me, nothing else matters - not the hotel's cleanliness or location - but that feeling of security you get when you stay in a temporary accomodation.

Guess who we bumped into over at the rooftop? Another bunch of NUS students! Yeekiat, Jieming and Valerie were all hallmates from Eusoff Hall and they were friends with some of our friends back in Singapore. It was such a small small world. They had been travelling the western part of Rajasthan and south India in Bangalore a few weeks before. We immediately decided to explore Jaipur together.

Our surprisingly huge room:

Jaipur's many gates into the old city:

Jaipur is known as the 'Pink City', yeah, I know what you are thinking, its not really pink...:

Monkeys!:

We walked around the old parts of Jaipur till we came across one of the landmarks - the Hawa Mahal:

Built in 1799, it is known as the Palace of the Winds and is an extension of the City Palace for the women's chambers. The windows you see allowed the royal women back then to observe what was happening on the streets of Jaipur without being seen since they had to observe strict 'purdah' or cover. The whole Hawa Mahal looks surprisingly small from the front, but there is a whole lot of palace ground behind.

The entrance is at the rear through all the sourvenir shops...:

The City Palace:

Entrance to Hawa Mahal:
Courtyard:
One of the windows, the royal women peer through:

That is the Jantar Mantar in the background (more on it later):

Omm....:

Yeekiat and Valerie:

The larger group of 7 - Lien, Faith, Valerie, Shazi (me), Ming, Zhongx, Kiat:

So after that we decided to walk around Jaipur a bit more:

Holy Cow!:

There was even the hugest elephant I have ever seen but I did not take out my camera in time. Another holy cow:

Kiat, Ming and Valerie convinced us to watch a Bollywood movie. At first we were hesitant but it was such an experience!:

They of course treated us foreigners better again by letting us cut the super long queue to buy tickets and we got to sit at the balcony with the other tourists and locals with families. But before the movie started we got to try India's MacDonald's.

What??? No beef? No problem!:

We watched 'Kambakkht Ishq' featuring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor.

Ironically the story was shot entirely in Hollywood (there were cameos by Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards and Brandon Routh) and there we were, trying to experience a Bollywood movie in India. I have never felt so cheated by Bollywood movies. They are simply not real, if you know what I mean. There they were, the locals (cramped in the auditorium below the balcony), cheering for their favourite actors or actresses acting out their wildest fantasies living it up in Hollywood, owning yatchts, mingling with beautiful people, marrying Denise Richards...

Like come on...

The old New Delhi.

2009-08-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Before I start with the next entry on Delhi, let me advise all of you who are thinking of 'backpacking' in India, or anywhere for that matter. Have a guide book in hand. Especially 'Lonely Planet Travel Guides and Information' book. Totally a godsend. It 'saved' our lives... but more on that later.

The streets of Delhi to be continued:

That's our destination, the Jama Mosque:

I know I risk sounding like a pampered brat, but man... the way to the mosque smells extremely bad... Imagine sewage, dried fish and faeces...

Cool place to hang out...:

Okay, so here's the thing about visiting mosques in India (and all over the world for that matter), you have to be covered up. For both guys and girls, no berms are allowed and a scarf is necessary for girls. If you wear bermudas, they will loan you a sarong. Yes, LOAN you a sarong or headscarf. And its not cheap. Nor is it very useful to cover yourself up with. And certain mosques (and mausoleums) in India, will not allow free photography and video-recording in the compounds. Again, its not cheap!

I found it ironic that being the only Muslim out of the 4 of us, I had to pay for a sarong because I was wearing berms that day.

But Jama Mosque in Delhi is a must-see if you are in Delhi:

You can pay for a detour up the south minaret:

They take the wudhu (ablution) at the pool in front of the central prayer hall of the mosque:

Then we took another trishaw down to the subway station... Yes, all 4 of us squeezed into the trishaw. We tipped generously to that guy who ferried us there. God bless his calves.

It seemed that the only respite from the Delhi heat and stench is the time we had in the subway stations. We even took time to sit at the platform to chill.

Not just anyone can go into the subway stations. There were not just entry barriers but also metal detector gates and hordes of security guards at every entrance! Security is very tight. Beggars and the homeless are turned away from loitering in the stations. And thankfully the stations are free from the stench you get out in the streets.

Our next stop was at Connaught Place in New Delhi. We really had enough of the old parts of Delhi. We needed a change of scenery... prompto.

So when we reached the subway station of Connaught Place and saw an escalator going out of the station, and as we went up the escalator and saw a streetlamp... and we saw the colonial buildings and paved roads, we were extremely thankful.

But inspite of that, the poor community still managed to rear its pitiful head in the rather posh district of Delhi. For example there were a couple of families of half naked construction workers restorating buildings in the district. One of the family even had a baby tied to a brick as both the husband and wife worked in a construction site nearby. And there were the few odd beggars on the streets.

I saw this really old and frail woman with cataract in her eyes and vitiligo in her skin, begging on the street. I had to give her some money and instead of smiles, I got stares from the well-to-do Indians who were walking past.

That is just the tip of the iceberg of my bad Indian experience. The experience that left me jaded happened a few hours later that night before we took a train to Jaipur. Here's what happened:

We were at New Delhi Train Station, a short walk from our hotel in Paharganj, and since it was the first time we were travelling on an Indian train, we had no idea that our e-ticket that we printed after booking the train rides online, were sufficient as boarding tickets to be shown to the conductors. And we were just about to clarify with one of the counter staff at the train station when a guy intercepted us. Dressed in shirts and jeans, he introduced himself as an officer at the train station. He said, "Tourists should go to the Tourist Information Bureau counter at the second floor". He was persistent on helping us despite us waving him away. And he lied (the first of many lies), "don't have to pay me, I am officer here at the station."

So up we went to the second floor, and as expected (cause we were there at 4am in the morning), the office for the Tourist Information Bureau was closed. Plus, there were about a dozen guys sleeping on the floor. A guy, equally sloppy as the first one, came out from around a corner. The first guy saluted the second guy. Yes, SALUTED. "Good morning, sir," he said. "Impressive," I thought of his acting, "can be a Bollywood star..."

The second guy said, "You have to go to another Tourist Information counter. Our 24hours office. Let my friend here show you the way."

Alarm bells rang in my head. Thank God, I had read 'Lonely Planet' guide book cover to cover. I knew this was a scam. They would convince us that the official service centre was closed or burnt down. Take us to another 'official' office. And get a 'high-ranking officer' there to sign and stamp our e-tickets to be 'approved'. They would then charge you a bomb for their services...

So my friends and I followed the first guy down. True enough, he brought us away from the train station and across the carpark and across the road to a row of 'official' and 'government-approved' tourist information offices... Before I could stop my friends, an idea popped in my head, "Let's jus see what's going to happen..."

So that's what I did, I just tagged along for the ride. And it was indeed interesting...

In the office, there were another dozen guys sleeping. On the floor, on the chairs, on the tables... Even the 'high-ranking officer' with his own cubicle was sleeping with his feet on the table. He explained to us, "I don't want you to get into problems when you board the train, you need your tickets signed by me... blah blah blah..."

I turned to the page where they were showing the scam in the 'Lonely Planet' guide book and enlightened my friends. The scammers, who were probably aware that we knew they were cheating us, simply let us out of the office without asking for payment.

Except for the first guy we met at the beginning and brought us all over the station... He asked for a 'tip'. The cheek of that douchebag!!!! I almost flipped! You scammed us and now you want us to tip you for scamming us??? Oh puh-lease!!! ...

Li-En gave him 10 rupees (30 cents) and the jackass went away. That was not the end of our drama. When we finally asked the official counter guy at the counter, he told us that though the location of our train station (according to the e-ticket) is New Delhi, it wasn't New Delhi Train Station but Delhi Train Station a.k.a. Old Delhi Train Station. Oh man... because of the scam, we already wasted half an hour and had less than an hour before our train departs from the Old Delhi Train Station.

So we dashed out to get taxis or tuk-tuks to drive us there. For the next 10 minutes was extremely hair-pulling crazy. None of the drivers there wanted to take us there because according to them, Old Delhi Station was an hours drive away and we would miss the train anyways. Instead, they insisted, we cancelled our tickets and rebooked from the New Delhi Station (again a scam for us to book at the 'official' tourist centres and pay a ridiculous amount).

Bullocks! We took the subway train the day earlier and we knew that the New Delhi subway station and Old Delhi subway station were one after the other!!!! How could it have take an hour to drive us there?! And, we saw a couple of the taxi drivers secretly talking to the first original scammer...

After 10 minutes of 'Amazing Race'-I'm-about-to-lose-hope moment. A true Bollywood hero came forth. He told us he would drive us there and it would later take us barely five minutes to reach the Old Delhi Train Station. Our savior.... but of course we overpaid him...

Finally... we managed to take the overnight train to Jaipur.

Air-conditioned and bunk beds. Second-class is sufficient. And nothing less!

Incredible !ndia

2009-08-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

So we left Dubai for India. We were extremely excited and relieved to be leaving the hot and expensive Dubai for the very incredible India.

But never did we imagine that 24 hours later, we would be having the culture shock of our lives. Imagine you were stinkin' filthy rich one second and in the next, you are surrounded by stink and filth.

Little that we know that the large and spacious hotel rooms we had in Dubai were going to be a distant memory. Or the huge monster-SUV that ferried us to the airport in Dubai would (ala Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight) transform into a tiny half-dying 'tuk-tuk'.

Yes, India was indeed incredible. And I am not going to mince my words when I say that Delhi is a shithole... with a couple of gems...

Yes sure, Paharganj (an area in New Delhi) might be a backpackers paradise (in alot of guide books), but we ain't backpackers... we are wussy Singaporean brats... And the word 'paradise' should never ever be used this loosely.

Our seriously humble 'motel' room, which had a huge-a** padlock and zero windows...:

The streets of Paharganj is literally a shithole. There are human and animal faeces... so watch your step, please.

I, to be honest with you, was gagging half the time...
We kinda got lost after a few turns as we headed to New Delhi train station. Men, not little boys, but full-grown men, were peeing everywhere - on walls, on curbs, at the junction, beside a building, in a lane - anywhere and everywhere. We were crossing a busy junction when one of the 'gallant' citizens stepped out of a 'tuk-tuk' and peed against this blue mosaic wall which suspiciously resembled urinals with some partitions but without doors... Oh man, the stench of that outdoor urinal...

Aside from the usual train system that runs across Delhi and the rest of India, there is also the subway system in Delhi called the Metro. Its extremely efficient and yes, according to Jay Shah (whose father was involved in Delhi's Metro as well), it was modelled after Singapore's SMRT.

So we took a subway ride from New Delhi station to Old Delhi station (both of which are in the district of Delhi called New Delhi... confused? So were we, but more on that story later).
We got lost the moment we stepped out of the subway station. We were trying to search for the Red Fort complex. And seeing our lost 'touristy' faces, there were many taxi and trishaw touts pouncing on us... After giving up trying to search for it ourselves, we got a guy and his trishaw to ferry ALL four of us to the fort... inexpensively of course... or maybe we thought it was inexpensive. Zhongx and I sat at the back of the trishaw, yes, the back!

Chandni Chowk - one of the oldest and busiest markets in Delhi:
Finally the Red Fort: Tourists would be charged differently for the entrance fee. VERY different... You just have to get used to that if you are not a local in India.

The Lahore Gate:

Past the entrance, Chatta Chowk, where there are sourvenir shops:
Another gate to the complex - Naubat Khana - which also houses the 'museum'.

The Diwan-i-Am:

Love the 'Moorish' arches:
The internal compound of the Red Fort with the Rang Mahal, Rumtaz Mahal and Khas Mahal. See here for map.
The peripheral landscapes are adorned with gardens and 'floating' pavillions.
We had brunch at a restaurant in the Fort. Waiting time took forever but the food was okay.

Having seen enough of the Red Fort, it was time to get out.

The Desert.

2009-08-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

Finally, the day I have been waiting had arrived. I went on the desert safari 2 years ago and it was an experience I can never forget.

I think I might have given the rest really high expectations.

Finally we reached the scorching hot desert:

Beautiful sand:

Lone ranger, Li-En:

The huge convoy of SUVs (a far cry from 3 SUVs per convoy two years ago):

Not only is the convoy larger and less 'intimate', the desert is really littered with alot of rubbish!:

The five of us:

Time for jump-shots!

Street fighter shot!:

Look cicak!:

The campsite:

While others went on the camel rides, we rushed to try the sand surf which is a damn difficult and sandy thing to do!:

Tired:

Our turn for camel rides:

Wuss... :

The guy scolded Zhongx because he didn't 'take hand' while the camel stood up:

Going down now:

Tried our hand at making sourvenirs:

And trying the costumes:

Buffet dinner!:

Helluva belly dance! Alot of flesh, alot of her molesting boys and men and alot of entertainment:

I was out-danced by her boobs:

After that it was off to Burj Dubai for another round of water fountain action. This time from TGIF balcony on the fifth storey of Dubai Mall.

Dubai, almost impossible to discover on foot.

2009-08-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

The next few days we were free to roam around Dubai and do our preparation for our research. Again, the skies were blue and damn it was hot as hell.

Our first stop was Dubai Mall and Burj Dubai:

Cannot reach!:

Err... aren't we supposed to be working?:

Look its Erik!:

The Address:

I can't seem to take a picture of the whole damn thing!:

Why conserve energy when you can waste all your 'oil' money on waterfalls that shoots up instead of flowing down?:
Again guys, shouldn't we be working?:

Luxurious... seems like anyone can go into the Address and hang out at the pool. The staff there were kind enough to let us intrude and explore the hotel/residence:
I still can't take a picture of the whole damn thing:

Next we decided to head to Deira City Centre:

That building with the golf ball is the Etisalat Telecom building. There is one here in Deira and another new one along Sheikh Zayed Road complete with the same golf ball!

The National Bank of Dubai and its beautiful convex glass facade:

You can see the new city centre across the creek:

Poor guys trying to escape the scorching heat:

Next we went south of Dubai to the Festival City Mall. Yes, that is Ikea:

Interesting water feature cum grand staircase:

The port behind the Festival City Mall:

Those two are mine...:
Dream on...

Jay Shah's party!

2009-08-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

The sky was finally clearing the next couple of days. We could clearly make out the skyline from our balcony:

We headed down to Madinat Jumeirah to meet up with Jay Shah.

Along Sheikh Zayed Road:

Finally you can see the Burj Dubai glistening:

At Madinat Jumeirah:

Finally you can see the Burj Dubai!:

The fruit basket we bought for Jay Shah's family:

Jay Shah, her dad and her sister's boyfriend Moumen picked us up from Madinat Jumeirah in three cars back to Jay Shah's house which was a stone's throw away from Burj Al Arab!

It started slow in the beginning but soon the party was in full swing. With food, karaoke, beer and a lot of laughing and teasing, the party was an unforgetable one.

The night view of Burj Al Arab from Jay Shah's house. Gorgeous, ain't it?

Sharjah.

2009-08-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

We decided to pop by a neighbouring emirate - Sharjah. Sharjah is famous for the Sharjah university campuses and for being the most uptight and strict Islamic emirate of U.A.E..

On the way there... Its amazing how a desert can be transformed into a golf course like this (The Tiger Woods Golf Course u/c is reportedly using 4 million gallons of water a day!):

The university campus:

It totally beats Washington's boulevards!:

The male campus for University of Sharjah:

The American University of Sharjah:

Tourist!:

Then it was off to the Islamic Museum of Sharjah:

Been there, done that!:

Going there! (In INDIA!!!):

Seen that too!!:

One of the major mosques of Sharjah:

The next part of our trip was to this really lame shopping 'mall' called the Blue Souk.

We initially thought that lunch was included in the tour but there was a miscommunication; so we were left to search for food on our own. But the stupid tour guide gave us only an hour stopover. We left the lame Blue Souk to find a restaurant here:

We found a Chinese restaurant which was really cheap but took hours to prepare our meal. Inevitably we were going to be late to be picked up by the tour bus. Knowing that, our dear Binghui called the tour agency to inform the tour guide of our location and situation. Apparently the agency didn't inform the guide until the guide called him after waiting at the rendezvous point at the stipulated time and realised we were not there. That tourguide found us later at the restaurant just as we were about to tuck into our lunch.

He then screamed at us. YES, HE SCREAMED AT US! Threatening to dump our bags at the hotel in Dubai and leaving us in Sharjah to find our own way back! Totally unprofessional and irrational. We of course argued our points across before we hurriedly finished our lunch and had a rather uncomfortably quiet ride back to our hotel.

Forget about your tip, Mister...

NaKHHeeel...

2009-08-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

The next day it was off to see another one of Dubai's real estate developer - Nakheel (pronounced Nakkkkkhhhheeelll * think evil villain with flammy sorethroat).

'Nakheel' means 'palm trees' in Arabic. I already gave it away what they famously built, right?

On the way there, we saw the Emirates towers:
Along Sheikh Zayed Road:

Dubai's Metro station (u/c) in the foreground:

Nakheel's portfolio of properties includes the Palm Islands (Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Deira), The World Islands, The Universe Islands and 'land' projects like The Gardens, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Dubai Waterfront to name a few.

Palm Jumeirah Islands:

That glowing 'building' is supposedly the Trump Towers (date of construction tba):

The Atlantis:

Next we were priviliged to take a yatch to the Palm Islands (a privilage solely reserved for potential buyers). Buyers of the properties (and islands) from the Nakheel Island projects include celebrities like Brangelina, the late MJ, Shah Rukh Khan, the Beckhams, and other BIG stars...

The girls being girls...:

The boys being real men - withstanding the heat:

This standalone island has been bought by one of the emirates' royalties:

The many apartment blocks (not your typical condos):

Titanic? ... No, just suakoo:

One of the many hotel resorts (Atlantis is just one of many):

There are HUGE villas at the end of every 'frond'. The villas are the only ones that can be designed according to the owners' preference and design; the designs of the other houses on the 'fronds' are restricted to 6 pre-designed templates:

Then it was back to the hotel room to escape the heat! Many of us were feeling sick from the weather...:

Emaarrrrrrr....

2009-08-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

The next day we had a tour organised by Emaar. Emaar Properties is one of the major real estate companies in Dubai. It is one of the largest in the world and the company is responsible for the world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai.

We visited some of the properties produced by Emaar.
This is Emirates Hills:

Huge villas surrounding huge man-made lakes:

Then it was off to Arabian Ranches:

Notice how they have to water the 'desert' landscaping...:

The lanes and lanes of houses can pass off as those from Wisteria Lane:

Then it was off to see the world's tallest building/structure, the Burj Dubai. When I went there 2 years ago, it was only half built. Now, two years later, and they have yet to finish it... though they have reached the final height. The official height is not revealed (and will never be released I think, to prevent competitors from topping its height):

The current world's largest shopping mall, The Dubai Mall, with a total of over 12 million sqf (5.9 million sgf indoor) floor space - thats 50 soccer fields!
Designed by a local Singaporean architectural firm - DP Architects!

The 'Old Town' residential estates around the Burj Dubai:

And many other condominium projects too:

Emaar logo:

Emaar office:

The projects surrounding Burj Dubai:

That is Dubai Mall in the foreground:

The fountains you see in front of the Burj Dubai can supposedly shoot up to 150m - or a fifth of the way up the height of Burj Dubai.

Next it was off to shop at the Dubai Mall. The large Dubai Aquarium and Discovery Centre houses over 33,000 marine life including sharks such as this one:

This world's largest acrylic panel is 750mm thick and can withstand the pressure of over 10 million litres of water used in the aquarium:

A picture to show that man did evolve from fish:

Dubai Mall! Where I met this overly friendly staff at Banana Republic... I wanna shop NOT chit-chat...

The Dubai Ice Rink where we skated for two whole hours!

Once outside, it was back to the sweltering heat!

I can't even 'reach' the tip!:

Nice try Wenhui:

And this was what we were all waiting for!
The Dubai Fountain show - Time to Say Goodbye:

The Address, across from the Burj Dubai:

'Old' Town:

Inside the mall where the more atas things are sold:

The sun, sea and shopping...

2009-08-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

We took a free shuttle service from our hotel to Jumeirah Beach Park the next morning.
This doesn't look like Dubai with all the greenery, no?
The sun was out but the skies were still dusty from the minor sandstorm. Only Zhongx and I took advantage of the waters and had a dip.
We met Evy's friend Jay Shah who ferried some of them to Souk Madinat Jumeirah:
Li-En cracks me up all the time...:
The insides... fake, air-conditioned and expensive souks:
The outsides... fake wind towers which act as lanterns at night:
It was so quiet...:
Another group shot with Jay Shah:
Then we decided to walk towards the Burj Al Arab:
Wild Wadi water themepark (120 AED for the whole day):
HOT!!!!!!!!!!!:
Then it was off to Mall of Emirates a.k.a. M.O.E.:
The Ski Dubai where billions are spent to keep the temperature at -1 to -2 degrees Celcius:
Where the toys in the toy stores are LARGER than life!:
Then we took cab to the Metro for Palm Jumeirah:
Jay Shah's dad used to work with SMRT while they were living in Singapore. They then lived in Delhi where he was also working for the Metro. And now they are here while he works for the Metro in Dubai as the consultant.

Do these look familiar?:
The ride on Palm Jumeirah:
The symbol on the train:
The 'trunk' of the palm has apartment blocks:
The 'fronds' have single unit houses and there are huge villas on every tip:
The Atlantis...:
The water themepark with the rides (the one where you 'dive' into a pool of sharks; entry 200 AED for the whole day):
Inside:
The huge-*ss marine-life aquarium:
Yes, that is a whale shark:
Zhongx:
Wenhui:
Binghui:
Weiqi:
Me:
Me again:
While we seperated so that each group can do whatever we want and to travel around Dubai, Jay Shah drove us (Weiqi, Zhongx and I to Jebel Ali area) since she had time to spare (and we are so grateful!).

Back on the Metro:
The division, the privileged and the not-so-privileged:
Dubai Marina, home to 180 skyscrapers from which a handful are above 100 storeys:
Jebel Ali, the port town, 35 km from Dubai city:
Apart from the Jebel Ali port, there is the Ibn Battuta Mall:
The petite driver and the monster truck:
Ibn Battuta is unique in that the shopping mall is divided into 7 huge malls with Asian themes. This is Chinese obviously:
This is Indian:
This is Persian:
Egyptian:
Tunisian:
And then we went back to our hotel.

Speaking of hotel, lemme show you my humble room:
And the huge-*ss tub!:

Dubai, the 'old' city.

2009-08-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

We went to the Bastakia area of Dubai early in the morning. It was built in the 19th century by Persian traders who were attracted by relaxed trade tariffs, so hence, the name was taken from Bastak, a city in Southern Iran.

It has since gone under 'conservation' and what you get is an empty shell. Don't snigger, Singapore has equally screwed up.
The wind towers that captures the winds and cools the interior.

It used to be where the richer people of Dubai lived. It has since become a ghost town after the conservation.

Some buildings house art galleries:

Yes, that's a sheikh:

The only original original part of the Bastakia area 'conserved' from the early 19th century is the Dubai wall:

We went to a 'museum of architecture':

A peek at the mosque there:

Beautiful narrow alley ways are actually useful. Winds are channelled through and they provide excellent shade for most of the day:

Then we decided to walk along the Creek:

And to one of its famous souks, the Grand Souk:

Our hero Li-En:

Another hero Zhongx:

We had to do this:

Then we went to Al Fahidi Fort:

It now houses the Dubai Museum (fee = 3 AED):

Walk into traditional architecture with traditional wind towers:

I have the same picture taken two years ago:

Finally a group shot:

We rushed to the underground part of the museum which was air-conditioned and had many creepy life-like mannequins...:

Me teaching one to read:

Did you drop something? Lemme help you:

Another shot outside:

Then we took an abra ride for just 1 AED per person. Don't get cheated for an 'exclusive' abra ride or 'cruise' along the creek (you might be paying more!).

Where we went to the Spice Souk in Deira:

And we went from another museum to another... Until we were quite sick of it:

So we were cam-whoring most of the time:

Even Erik joined us:

We went to the Heritage House:

Fake wind towers:

Next was a former school-turned-(you guessed it)-museum, the Al Ahmadiya School:

We had so much fun:

While some were sick of seeing the same old thing and went back, some decided to trek more. The Gold Souk in Deira:

The dates market:

The fish market:

Singapore Emporium?:

Singapore House?:

And we took an Abra ride from Deira back to Bur Dubai.

Where we shopped for sourvenirs and clothes in the Grand Souk:

That night we decided to walk to a shopping mall 'closeby'... We should have learnt our lesson: Nothing is actually closeby:

That's it!

Dubai, the first night.

2009-08-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

So we reached Dubai to join the rest (who had reached 4 hours earlier) after what seemed like an eternity of flying and waiting.

And the temperature that night was... 35 degrees Celcius. Yes, you read correctly, 35.

We were chauffered in a f*cking huge SUV, lemme rephrase that, we were picked up from the airport by a f*cking huge tank. When we reached our hotel, Majestic Towers Hotel, the plan was to rest in our hotel rooms and wake up early for the next day BUT the rest of the guys who had reached Dubai first wanted to have a walk from our hotel (which was in Bur Dubai) to the creek (which was further than it seemed on the map!). And the four of us decided to follow suit (big mistake!).

After more than half an hour of getting lost and 5 kg of perspiration later, we reached the Creek.
The tutor who brought us there, Erik (he also happened to be my tutor in year 2):
The night bazaar: While some decided to walk back to the hotel to call it a (HOT, F*CKING HOT) night, some of us decided to trek a bit more along the creek to Al Shindagha, a historic city centre where the ruler used to live till the 50s.
The Saaed Al Maktoum (former ruler of Dubai) House which has now been converted into a museum:
The Diving Museum is one of many museums in that area. Dubai's rich historical past includes pearl diving, boating (see the mast behind) and fishing:
The 6 who braved the summer night heat...

Indian Transit.

2009-08-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

We flew off on the 3rd of July for Dubai from Singapore. We were to transit at Chennai and then Mumbai (long story... it was supposed to be just Mumbai but the airline f*cked us up) and who did I happen to meet but none other than my dearest arki professor Dr Uma at the Changi airport on his way to Chennai to visit his sick father.

Anyways, back to our journey from Changi airport, being the kiasu Singaporeans, we felt that the airport is not really safe from the H1N1 threat (being the epicentre of all the infections back then) so we all donned masks... and got really weird stares from people.

But its better to be safe than sorry, no?

Our plane was really tiny... And it was parked beside SQ's A380... It looked like a flea.First picture of me on Indian soil in Chennai a.k.a. Madras. The masks were getting a pain in the ass... and I believe the number of H1N1 infections in India was under 30 back then...Met 'Sri'.
We decided to walk around the airport since we had to wait for almost 2 hours.

Did I forget to introduce these guys? They are Li-En, Faith a.k.a. Xinni and Zhongx.
The taxis look exactly like those in the Tamil movies! Duh!
Then we left for Mumbai, where they filmed most of 'Slumdog Millionaire'.Though we had 3 hours of waiting time in Mumbai we couldn't leave the airport. But that didn't stop us from seeing the million closely packed slums on the perimeter of the airport and beyond.

Our first taste of India and its slums, but we had to leave that for another time. First up, Dubai!

Countdown.

2009-05-31T05:48:00.000-07:00

Countdown To The Exotic Orient - Dubai & India