2011 Italy and the Opera

Delhi and Beyond

July 28 and I wait to see if my husband has to go back to India on business. If he goes, it will be soon and I won't go back to Delhi, India in the summer. Weather forecast currently is between 100 - 111 degrees F, with thunderstorms forecast. Hmmm, not my ideal weather - heat and humidity. It will only add to the odors, chaos, and filth in India. Not to mention public urinating, crap (yes, real crap) plus other debris in the streets that generate nasty smells and attract dogs, cows, rats, cats, whatever looking for something edible.

Both times I traveled to India were during the winter. The weather was still warm to hot, but it was dry. Both times I missed seeing the blue sky. Smoke filled the air (due to wood/dung burning for warmth and cooking and pollution) and when we landed at New Delhi International Airport around 2:00 AM, the air was opaque. I thought I landed in a war zone!

More about India later... so much to report on.

Shanghai - then and now.

Easter 2010. We spent the weekend in San Francisco - enjoying aspects of the City that we find delightful as well as some touristy things. It is not very often we see people at the vista point called Twin Peaks. If you come to SF, please don't miss that view. On a clear day you can see 360 degrees - but bring a jacket, even in the summer, as the ocean breezes are strong and chilly.

We had brunch at Roy's Hawaii Fusion restaurant - consistently good. Had lobster potstickers - killer good - could have had only those with a little salad and rice for brunch. Afterwards we went to the San Francisco Asian Museum to view the current Shanghai exhibit. http://www.asianart.org/. I traveled to Shanghai in 2009 and of course, the Shanghai of today isn't anything like it was 200 years ago or even like it was in the late 1980's when my husband used to travel there on business.

What I remember of Shanghai were the crowds of people (seemed like each one wanted to sell me something - very capitalistic those Communists I met), the constant construction, and the smog. As I viewed the exhibits today, the 1920's Shanghai appeared to be very exotic and brought back mental images of Bernando Bertolucci's 1987 file "The Last Emperor". Remember the scenes of the lovely Chinese women in white 1920's sheaths lounging after a tennis match, drinking martinis? Seemed like such a decadent life. Then the revolution arrived and life changed drastically for everyone.

When I studied for my Master's in East Asian Studies, the history of the Opium Wars and the Chinese relations with Western countries (circa 1850s) was the most intriguing. If you are unaware of this period of China's history - it explains a lot about where things went rather off between the East and the West.

Two Oslo, Norway airports and miles apart!!!

Yup - this is one of my booking goofs. But who knew there were two Oslo, Norway international airports? Here are the details (that I learned the hard way):

• Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, since 1998 the main airport serving Oslo
• Oslo Airport, Fornebu, the main airport from 1939 to 1998

OK - I missed the announcement about this "new" airport that opened in 1998, and we did travel there 11 years later in 2009 and maybe I did not research it well enough. Travel time between the two airports via bus - 2 hours. One hour from Fornebu to downtown Oslo, to pick up yet another bus to get to Gardermoen Airport. But both are considered Oslo International Airport.

Here is the problem. We were arriving into Oslo at 10:00 PM and I booked a hotel right next door to the airport - within walking distance. Great plan until we landed at the Fornebu Airport and then had to travel 2 hours to get to the Gardermoen airport - just to sleep!!! We arrived at 1:00 AM in time to get an aquavit and an open shrimp/cucumber sandwich. The rest of the Norway trip was great and we decided to fly out of Fornebu Airport because the cost of changing our outbound flight would have been ridiculous. You see - it costs money to be stupid!

We got on the bus and we explained that we had to make our way to the Garrmoen airport - he calmed said "Ah, wrong Oslo airport, eh?" The driver claims this happens regularly and mused that maybe Norway should do something about this naming problem. Ya think?

Later - highlights on the train ride between Oslo and Bergen and the wonderful low key cruise on a freighter up to North Cape, Norway. Great experiences and beautiful, beautiful scenery.

Philippines - first, and so far last time, I was robbed.

Long, long ago I lived in Japan and each August due to Obon (festival of the dead) the country basically stops functioning. Japan during August is unbearably humid. Leather items grow the richest, greenest mold you will ever see. Rigorous cleaning and putting all your personal belongings in the sunshine is the only remedy to this mold invasion. But what do human beings do to escape? They leave the country!!! And that is what my girlfriend, Debbie, and I did for 10 days. And off we went to inexpensive (compared to Tokyo) Philippines.

Immediately upon arriving at the Manila Airport (now known as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) we had cultural shock. Japan runs so efficiently, everyone seems to hustle about with such purpose. In the Philippines it was a 180 degrees shift to people just "hanging out" and watching. We never did figure out what people were waiting for...But we assumed it was nefarious.

Off into the night we sped towards the Manila Hotel - the most beautiful (well, in 1980 it was - maybe that has changed) hotel in all of the Philippines. It also was where General MacArthur used as his headquarters during World War II, or was it the Korean War? A picture says a thousand words so check out the photo of the entrance to the lobby!

We had journeyed from humid confined Tokyo to tropical (albeit hot and humid) Manila. We checked into our room, basically tossed our bags into the room and rushed downstairs to listen and dance to the most incredible band we had heard in a long, long time. We stayed late and ended up having breakfast at 4:00 AM with couple of people we met at the bar. Came back to our room and collapsed.

Next morning we went to check out and voila! discovered that we had been robbed. Not everything, but most of our traveler's checks, cash; but not jewelry, passports, or cameras. Clearly this was an inside job because we had just arrived. We reported the theft and hotel security told us that we were lying and just did not arrive in the Philippines with enough cash. The rest of the day was sitting in a police station (with lots of people just hanging out - were they on the payroll?) all day filling out paperwork so we could get our money back from those stolen traveler's checks (the paperwork was still in Japan, so we weren't going to get that cash for the 10 day trip.)

We had some cash, a few traveler's checks, and one credit card and this was how we were going to travel for the next 9 days in the Philippines. On a tight, tight budget. So we took things like the gaudy jeepney (photo above) which cost about 4 pesos per ride. Our thrills did not end with the robbery (and we did eventually recover financially from the theft) but at one point on the trip we thought we would be murdered. But that is for another posting.

Journey of Motherhood

After 25 years I think I am still suffering from postpartum depression.

Maine - but where are the moose?

We loved Maine. We went for 10 days in May 2009. Not the warmest time of the year to visit Maine, but the crowds were zero. The weather was overcast, but not terribly cold - light jackets and we were fine.

We discovered East Coast fish and especially loved haddock. Apparently the haddock story is a success story, because a few decades ago haddock was pretty much fished out in those waters. But they are back and it is wonderful - light texture and wonderful flavor.

We stayed near Rockport, which is famous for its lobster festival in August (or is it July?). But we enjoyed lobster, clams, Maine shrimp, oysters, crab, etc. etc. We ate fish/seafood twice a day, every day!

We flew into Portland, but that might not have been the closest airport to Rockport. We drove for hours to get to Rockport and decided to just chill and enjoy the drive. Perhaps we should have gone into Augusta (which by the way is a very depressing capital city/town). We did make it to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, which has its lovely spots, but it isn't Yosemite.

The other thing that was a huge surprise is the excellent local beer - a nice variety of good beer. Shipyard, Sebago, Stone Coast, Atlantic Brewing are just a few.

The biggest disappointments is that we were too early to get fresh wild Maine blueberries and we did not see any moose. In fact we see more wild life around our house in Fremont, CA than we saw in Maine. Well, the solution? We need to go in the summer and go farther North towards Canada. Hey, haddock is worth a second trip to Maine.