Singapore Diaries

What comes to your mind when you think of Singapore - Marina sandbay, Merlion - definitely.
A country that is well connected by metros and roads, getting to and fro anywhere in Singapore is not an issue.
So what is Singapore like - a mini NY when you go around Rafales place, very tropical with all the greenery around, very European with the freeness one can move and act with and very Asian with all the hospitality it offers you. It is like a beautiful blend of world culinary.
You will learn about Lee, magic his singing can do in the "songs of sea - light and sound show". You will realise how Singapore is all about technology be it the skyscrapers or the people.
All in all be it clarque or Chinese gardens it is fun and full of laughs.

I like observing people be it cafés or trains. Watching this mega city/country move by was an experience in itself.  A school kid, running well almost flying into the metro. A guy running fast on escalator (it was like watching something in fast forward) to get in the metro that didn't move for next 10 minutes. A lady that would not stop talking, I mean really that was an endless chat. A bunch of colleagues passing by and one of them talking for almost 10 minutes and then asking his fellow colleague - so how are you.

Just the other day, I heard a kid asking his parents what did it mean "being doomed", I am sure that was a new word he had learnt. Little did I know that I could have told him, kid that will be me in couple of hours (obviously in a funny way). Not loosing one but the both bank card in a day, well what else can you say except "I am doomed" lol. Except that doomed episode Singapore was all about winding down, fun and laughter.
Being at Marina bay watching the sun go down and beautiful city lights grow with nice music and drinks - all that makes you think what else can one ask for !!!!!!!

Singapore seems to be an ever changing city, always making the most of what they have, so just when you think you saw it all - it's always there to surprise you.

barish

 इस बारिश से कुछ रिश्ता तो है
मगर क्या पूछा कई बार मैंने दिल से

is barish se kuch rishta to hai,
magar kya, pucha kai bar maine dilese,

ये जैसे बिन बोले बरसती हैं,
बस मेरे ख्वाहीशो के जैसे,

ye jaise bin bole baraste hai,
bas mere kwahisho ke jaise,

कही दिल को सुकून दे जाती है,
कहीं बस पानी बनके बरस जाती है,

kahin dil ko sukoon de jate hai,
kahin bas pani ban ke baras jate hai,

मुझे लगता है बस कुछ मेरे जैसी है,
वो कुछ भी न  बोले सब कुछ कह जाती हैं,

muje lagta hai bas kuch mere jaise hai,
vo kuch be na bole sab kuch keh jate hai,

वो आती है उसी छूके,
मुझे उसके पैगाम दे जाते है,

vo aate hai use chuke,
muje uske paigam de jate hai.

   इस बारिश से कुछ रिश्ता तो है
मगर क्या पूछा कई बार मैंने दिल से !

Zurich <- Vienna <- Barcelona

The plan...hmmm..[The person who invented this world I hope he knew that it is going to toil with human emotions. As we know the plans in theory and how they work in reality ] ..so the plan was to take a flight from Bergen to Barcelona via Oslo.....but...I barely made it for the flight. Thanks to my confusion of "arrival time" in Oslo as "departure time" from Bergen. But, believe it or not, I arrived at 14:45 for a flight that was leaving Bergen at 15:00 hrs and still made it......well it was a lot and lot of adrenaline rush. The tickets were expensive to start with, didn’t want to spend that much money buying them again.

Barcelona – big and beautiful

With my trip already staring at a high note I finally made it to Barcelona. Took a good night rest and charged my batteries for the sightseeing in coming days.

Barcelona as I would say was warm climatically and hospitality wise too. I bought the tickets for hop-on/hop-off bus that was valid for 2 days. My first stop like everybody else who visits Barcelona was La Sagrada Familia. It is huge, magnificent and beautiful. You know, one could buy tickets online and that way you can avoid and that way you don’t have to queue up. Since I had couple of days in Barcelona I almost went to all the major tourist spots shopped for some souvenirs in Las Ramblas, wandered around in Gothic Quarter, went over to Montjuic, looked down on the City from Tibidabo, watched the various highlights at FCB. Park Güell is excellent mix of architecture and garden art. Visited Casa Batllo, one word for it - work of genius. 

One more thing that happened was the Harley Davidson day. It was organized at the MNAC and there were thousands and thousands of HD bikes all kinds and colours. There were food stalls form various places – Brazil, Argentena, America and Spain to name a few.
To sum it all, one thing that will linger in your mind for days to come or anytime someone mentions Barcelona is Antonio Gaudi.

Vienna – easy to go around

Vienna is comparatively small and easy to go around. Did not take a tour bus, instead walked around to most of the places. They are fairly close by. It has really nice café’s be it for pastry or nice hot drinks to start you morning. Lukily we got a very good deal with the hotel which was minutes walk from the St. Stephen's Cathedral, one of the main tourist attractions. Do visit Schonbrunn Palace and take an audio tour, it is definitely worth it. Also you need to take a train for the palace since its quite off-skirts from the central. Mozart was from what is present Australia so if you happen to have time do attend an Opera, some of them are held in the State Opera House and include quite famous Mozard compositions.

Main attractions: MuseumsQuartier, State Opera House, St. Stephen's Cathedral and Schonbrunn Palace.

We also took an hour train to Bratslava, Slovakia. Once you get off the train take a bus to the centre of the town. It has classy architecture.

Zurich – would love to live there

Zurich is the modern face of Swizerland so don’t expect mountains and valleys. At first it might look a little chaotic since they have small roads with trams and other vehicles going around. But once you look closely its all so organized and very well connected. Do visit the central station, they have beach vollyboll matches there during summer, best part you can watch that for free and you might get some promotional samples for gums and hand creams :) .

Main attaractions: Museum of Art, Old Town (Altstadt), UBS Polybahn, Church of Our Lady and Great Church.  

Do try Fondue in Zurich, a lot of local restaurants around tourist places offer it.

P.S: I could have tiltled the blog as Barcelona - Vienna - Zurich but i think its more catchy the other way round :).

   

Love and Rain

On a rainy day, I gazed upon a window pane,

Looking out at the falling drops of rain,

The sound it makes as it touches the earth,

The sounds it makes as it quenches the thirst,

Falling from the sky and meeting the earth,

That’s how it celebrates the birth,

The birth of an endless cycle of love and trust,

It falls knowing there is someone to hold and gust,

From pure to muddy and then to the sea,

Bonding with earth and yet so free,

They know it has been due for a longtime,

No it has been overdue for a lifetime,

Rain and land so far way, yet so close,

Like lovers they meet and then rains flows,

May be that is how love is supposed to be,

Wait, meet, celebrate and set free,

For true love will return like the rain,

When you need it the most its there to enchain.

The Day I Went Back

If Home is where your heart is, then may your Home be blessed …….John McLeod

1990 was the year when my family along with many Kashmiri Pandits left Valley in the so called migration. It was a migration in physical terms and otherwise. I still remember while my parents were trying to put some important things together to be taken along, I was busy trying to pick a dress to wear. I was small to understand what was going on. All I understood was the family was moving somewhere. It turned out to be not for a day or month but years of exile. Before I knew we were in a rented accommodation, what a transition from a big ancestral building to small house.

But as I grew up, Kashmir got more and more close to my heart. All I had was some childhood memories. I grew my thoughts and imagination around them. It was like a fairy tale.

Then the life moved along until this year after few years of thinking to go back to pay visit to Kashmir, we deiced to go back for a week. I was coming back to India for about 10 days to make this trip happen which was long overdue. But before committing to this trip I made it clear to my parents that I do not want to see them getting emotional or anything while we visit various places. It was more like a crash course; visited most of the places and paid the regards at various Temples, Shrines and Darghas.

I was emotionally moved although I had barely lived my childhood in Kashmir. I do not know how my parents managed to control their emotions. Everyday we came back; there was a deep silence for some time – which I knew was their way of expressing their sadness.

We visited our ancestral house; or should I say the place where it used to be. There was a huge dune of clay and nothing else. Quite surprisingly there is a walnut tree or Dune kul at the place. I was thinking may be it grew up from one of the many walnut bags we left back. This reminded me of walnut tree that had its branches gracing out balcony or as we say in Kashmiri “dab” and how we used to pick the green walnuts from it in our childhood.

Traveling through various villages I watched various people working in the fields, some carrying tea in Samawar, kids playing. All these years I used to think we lost twenty years away from our birth place but when I went back most of the villages we passed by were not in good condition either. Villages seemed to have stood still in time, not much development. But all I can say now is that in these two decades people on both sides have suffered loss.

As I fare goodbye to Kashmir; I promised to come back. I hope till then things move towards the betterment of both communities.

River Seine, French Fries and Chocolates

This is how it all started. I had a week between end of my project and a course in Rotterdam. Now thinking what all i can do and where all i can go, was the question.
Paris was on my mind, one of the most visited place in Europe and never been there. More importantly the time was right, just before the winter catches in.
So got my flights sorted but the hotel was still an issue. Got it done few hours before the flight took off.
I don know why I had this impression that no one entertains you much if you speak English (feedback from some of the friends and colleagues), so was little bit skeptical.
But anyways, two hours of flying and there i was at Charles de Gaulle airport.
I decided to drop the baggage at hotel and visit the Eiffel tower the same day. It was like a dream come true, beautiful.
If I am visitng a place for the first time, have not done much research and have enough time at hand, I take a bus tour to decide on the places i want to visit.
There is something about Paris. I have never seen so much well dressed crowd.
There are Cafes and bars all over Paris. One can sit out on nice evening and enjoy.
I could not keep myself away from Eiffel tower so visited it everday.
As far as people are concerned, they try to help with as much english as they can. Learn a few words like Bonjour (good morning, guess we all know that ), merci (thank you), that will definitely help.
Be it fashion, style or luxury, Paris has it all.

Art Prague

My latest weekend trips have taken me to Prague or Praha as the Czech would call it. I have titled this blog as the "Art Prague" after the Art exhibition that was going on there. Another reason is that it truly represents Prague...which is nothing less than a master piece in architectural art.
Visiting Prague is effortless in the sense that once you get to the downtown, all you have to do is walk around and appreciate the beauty of Prague.
Most of the places are within walking distance from each other. The main attractions include Old town square in downtown, The Astronomical clock, Charles Bridge, Dancing House, Power Tower and National Musemum.
Most of the tourist attractions you can find Opera shows, if you have time you can sneak in one. I did attend one in National theater and was good. Best part is you do not need to be dressed in formals, which works for me as a bag pack traveler :).
some information about the famous Charles Bridge. It is named after king Charles IV and crosses the Vltava river. Take your time to look at different statues and appreciate the beauty. You can go for a portrait of yours, as you see quite few artists drawing portraits of tourists.

Make sure you are carrying a good camera to capture Prague to show your family and friends.