Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xinjiapo

After the 5-hour flight, we descended into Changi, just in time to say Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xinjiapo or Happy New Year Singapore - Xinjiapo is the way the Chinese call Singapore.

For some reason, the Chinese in Singapore prefer saying Gong Xi Fa Cai instead of Kung Hei Fat Choy, as the Mainlander Chinese prefer... Probably it's distance from the Mainland and local influences that brought about the change, much like how ethnic Indians in Mauritius, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana have adapted and modified traditional Hindu names...

The flight into Changi was quite smooth, barring a moment or two of turbulence. The crowd o board was interesting - there were Chinese Singaporeans returning home to celebrate the New Year and the rest were cricket-crazed Indians headed Down Under to Australia to catch up with the ICC World Cup.

The meal service was quick and efficient. I had pre-booked a seafood meal which was quite disappointing - it was a sea-bass gravy, with rice and bhindi or okra... I had hoped for something different, something interesting. I must confess that this was the worst inflight meal I had on Singapore Airlines... but redemption for me lay in the delicious classic concoction, the Singapore Sling, which was bitter-sweet and tangy. It was the right cure for my throbbing headache, or was I bit high? I could not figure that out... 

I followed my meal with two cups of Japanese Sencha green tea and then snuggled in my blanket to watch a delightful, feel-good Italian movie, Allacciate Le Cinture. The protagonists Elena and Antonio do not seem made for each other, they are opposites. However, they are overwhelmed by a mutual attraction they try hard to avoid, but succumb to. The movie came with a very delightful soundtrack...

It was just before dawn when we landed into Singapore. It was dark and ships lined to get into Singapore and Johor Baharu dotted the view from the window. Landing was ultra-smooth and we docked up at Terminal 2. We disembarked and were directed to T3 by the Skytrain.

At Terminal 3, the lady officer from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore greeted me cheerily as I handed over my passport and e-visa and true to my style, I responded greeting her with Gong Xi Fa Cai. That was a bit unexpected for her and she beamed back at me, promptly stamped my entry and wished me a great stay in Singapore. Indeed, that was incredibly welcoming and warm, that is something that I have found unique to Singapore...
Treating that as a good omen, I moved on to collect my bags. And the ritual to buy a SIM card and get a cab to city. I picked up a local SIM from the RHB Bank counter and the first thing - I called up Neeti...
And it came as an avalanche... my tummy started churning. The food I had on the flight did not agree with me and I rushed to the nearest loo to answer the most important call of the moment...
I had planned on having a kaya-toast at the airport before heading out to my hotel, but my achy tummy needed a few hours rest before hogging again, so I gave it a pass and headed to get a taxi to take me "home" to Balestier.
The taxi would have cost me about SGD 20 and I realised it would be quite cheap to take hotel shuttle. I was told that would cost just SGD 9 - the saving of SGD 11 would mean a good two meals for me in Singapore, for I am here on a shoestring budget!
As I wait for my shuttle to turn up here, I realised how comfortable I here, just like home... As I head to the city, I reminded myself to say Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xinjiapo!!!!

The Magical Baofeng Lake!

After paying our obeisance to the Yellow Dragon in the Belly of the Earth, it was time to move forward. 

Sam, our guide, was famished and he talked us into visiting a very touristy restaurant, and we had a tough time choosing stuff from the menu, which was full of exotic meats - snake, partridge, wolf, bear, wild boar, salamander and what not....For a change I was not in an "experimentive" mood this afternoon, as my lovely breakfast was still getting digested.

I let Neeti do the ordering....

Neeti asked for a bowl of fried noodles with vegetables and look this is what got (sic!) - a tasteless noodle soup with a few spinach leaves thrown in....
That left me infuriated with Sam's translation........

The omelette was quite yummy....

Shredded chicken with onion shoots and Sichuan peppers was fiery and nice!
During the meal, Sam sensed our irritation and started talking of Bollywood, yes of all things Bollywood!
Sam went off on Hrithik Roshan and the way he "lovingly" spoke made me wonder he was a gay!
He showed us a clip of Hrithik from the movie Kites that he had on his cellphone!
And then it had to come to Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and 3 Idiots - Sam claimed to have seen the movies umpteen times!
Indeed Bollywood is a potent weapon in India's soft power that does thrive in alien lands, especially in Zhangjiajie, where we were the first Indians for many locals!

Our next stop was Baofeng Lake. Nestled in the midst of mountains, this lake is surreal, green waters and has an indescribable calm

Is that why Baofeng is called the abode of immortals....?

The area was pristine - lush green and misty!

We had to climb up a steep slope, along the mountainside and then descend to the lake side...

We took a ride in one of such boats

The boat guide - the chirpy young girl in blue gave a sing-song description of the lake and its surroundings that enraptured our fellow passengers...

Sam's unenthusiastic description meant a lot was lost in translation!

The pretty Miao girl in the boat behind us sang to all the men in our boat, leaving the old man blushing away to glory!

Misty, mystical and magical!

I would love to live and die for this amazing scene each day of my life!

There she is again! Enthusiastic and energetic!

That's my newest Chinese friend.... He kept looking at me.... 

Placid!

After the boat ride, we descended some thirty - forty metres from the pavilion on top....

Back to the base, from where we were to head to the Zixia Taoist Temple and then to the airport to head to Shanghai!

Cast Away!

Thirteen years back I saw this amazing movie. Despite the time that has passed, I still cannot get it out of my mind. 

Yes, Cast Away is forever etched in my mind.

The movie is all about a Federal Express employee, Chuck Noland, a role played to utmost perfection by Tom Hanks. Chuck is marooned on an island after his plane crashes into the ocean. Far away from his home, his love, and any human contact, Chuck is tested to the hilt - mentally, physically and emotionally in order to survive. He constantly engages in a battle of wits with himself all along. 

For emotional support and companionship, Chuck clings on to his inanimate companion, Wilson, a volleyball that is washed ashore from the debris of the crash.

And today I realised that his name, C. Noland, could literally also be "see no land", perhaps to convey the protagonist's despair!

The emotions that Chuck experienced at that beautiful island paradise in the Pacific are no different than what  we sometimes experience in our lives.

While we may have a modern lifestyle with amenities and conveniences do we really enjoy them? How many times do we "see no land"? Don't we get tossed and turned around in torrents and avalanches that the environment thrusts down on you? Don't we sometimes feel like castaways and cling on to our very own "Wilsons" for support?

Chuck moved on, so would the rest of us! 

And for my dose of inspiration, I will watch Cast Away again, when I reach home tonight!

"Roll With The Punches! Tomorrow Is Another Day!"

After a long sleepless night, which is rather unusual for me as I do sleep like a log, I mustered the courage to sneak out of bed and literally smell the coffee.

Here I am sitting in front of my computer. The windows are open - a cool breeze is blowing in. The sounds of the night, those of crickets and other insects are as melodious as can be. And I stumbled upon a webpage, on one of my favourite movies of all times, on IMDB - Jerry Maguire.

The protagonist, Jerry Maguire, played by Tom Cruise, is a successful sports agent. During one sleepless night, Jerry gets an epiphany, a serious crisis of conscience. That makes him pen down a mission statement, which implores his firm to think long term - think of the ultimate interest of the clients rather than milking clients today! 

What follows isn't any surprise - Jerry is fired! And he walks away with Flipper, a goldfish and Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger), an accountant, who also happens to be Jerry's secret admirer and at that moment is deeply moved by Jerry's "memo".

What follows is a struggle that Jerry has in getting his first client, as a solo agent - that client happens to be  Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a football player whose pride and arrogance hindered his path to success. Tidwell's character is a stereotypical Hollywood depiction of an Afro-Americans, but his and Jerry's frequent encounters on "showing him the money" pepper the film with appropriately spaced comic sequences.

Jerry has a hard time convincing Rod to play from his heart, and not to play for the money. Jerry believes that greatness (and money) would follow from playing with the heart. (There's message for us here!)

Rod does achieve his moment from glory after doing just what Jerry had always said - play from the heart! And he does see the money.
Paul McCartney's instrumental piece, Momma Miss America, somehow defines the sense of purpose that Jerry Maguire chases through the movie.

But without doubt, the most enjoyable comic sequences in the films are between Ray, Dorothy's  precocious six-year old kid, played by Jonathan Lipnicki. Ray is an quintessential epitome of cuteness with his spiked blonde hair and round spectacles. (Neeti thinks that as a kid I would have been a lot like Ray!!!!)
Some of Ray's quips are particularly heartwarming and endearing, like the ones here from YouTube.

And then there are those memorable gems by Dicky Fox:

Look I don't have all the answers. To be honest, in life, I failed as often as I succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success. 

Roll with the punches. Tomorrow is another day.

Jerry Maguire is a good mix of entertainment and inspiration and certainly a must-watch for all those who are pursuing corporate careers. I must confess, I have seen this movie at least 20 times over, thoroughly enjoying it end to end. Each time I feel somewhere, somehow, parts of the movie resonate with my life. And I always end up inspired.

The Romance is Back!

After months of staying away from cinema, partly because we were focused on ensuring a smooth shift to our new home, we reignited our romance with movies. There was no better way to do it than to head out to watch the very pretty, Vidya Balan's tryst with Kolkata in Kahaani!

The first time I saw Vidya's performance in Parineeta, I had predicted that she would leave an indelible mark on Bollywood. Her successive power-packed performances have indeed proved that she can pull it off, solely on her own.

Kahaani kept us gripped, as "Bidya Didi" weaved a magical performance, that threaded right into the finale. Some people claim that the climax of Kahaani had been lifted from the 1994 Hollywood mystery-thriller, "Taking Lives" starring Angelina Jolie. Frankly, even if that is true, I feel no one else, no other female lead,  other than Vidya Balan could have breathed life into the role of "Bidya" Bagchi.

But we watched  Kahaani way back in March. After we completed the elongated settling-in process at the new house, it was time to freak out again and what better way than to get back to the nearest multiplex. Even though that's become somewhat of a task - the nearest multiplex, PVR at Oberoi Mall is a good 3 kilometers away, unlike earlier when we had three multiplexes within a radius of a kilometer - we used to finish dinner 10 minutes before the scheduled time and then leisurely walk across. We don't have that luxury anymore.

But after many recommendations, we drove across to PVR, at Oberoi Mall, to catch up with Vicky Donor. All the actors did a marvelous job of entertaining the audience, especially Annu Kapoor, who played the role of Dr. Chadha, as well as the mother and grandmother of the lead character, Vicky Arora.
Yami Gautam was refreshing, while Ayushmann Khurrana played his part as a pro. The plot, though an excellent comedy, was an exciting way to communicate the importnce of sperm donation the audiences.
Besides the social message, this movie is indeed a tribute to Punjabiism - the very fact that  Vicky Donor was directed by Bengali shows how well filmmakers can pull it off, commercially, setting the story in a Punjabi household! Imagine how the film would have bombed had it been set in the all so proper Bhadralok household - it would have been scored a big zero on the comedy meter. Or, even a Gujarati setting would have rendered the movie unwatchable for over 75% of India.

Most Indians may hate to admit it, but contemporary Bollywood proves how chilled out the Punjabis are! And we Punjabis, will undoubtedly remain proud of who we are!

Then rustic-ness of Uttar Pradesh was wonderfully captured in Ishaqzaade, a welcome break from an overdose of Punjabi-isms. We watched  Ishaqzaade back-to back with  Vicky Donor.
Ishaqzaade beautifully captured the election time machinations of local politicians. Woven around these machinations was a beautiful love story where the parts were played by the two newcomers - Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor. They both played their roles to perfection and set sparks flying with their amazing on-screen chemistry.
Arjun Kapoor's depiction of Parma, a young lad in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh was real, true and honest.  Parineeti who played the role of Zoya, was both fiesty and spunky at the same time - its rare to have an absolute newcomer have that kind of spunkiness. It was after a long time, that I did genuinely feel that debutante (in a lead role) would go a long way in filmdom. The last time I felt this way was for Vidya Balan, after her debut in Parineeta.

I am not kind, at all, on slapstick Hindi comedies and avoid such movies at any cost. I did think my romance with Bollywood was over when in the mid-2000s there was a quick succession of slapstick stuff. However the evolving, experimental genres which are lent a different twist by some talented newcomers have truly rekindled my romance with Bollywood!

Smooth As Silk!!!!

Long back Thai Airways had adopted "Smooth As Silk" as their commercial tagline. Those who know me as an aviation freak would think this post is about Thai Airways. No it isn't! (Sorry to disappoint aviation freaks!)

This post is all about Vidya Balan in her role as Silk in the latest Bollywood blockbuster, The Dirty Picture, which succinctly depicted the life of the southern star, Silk Smitha.

When Vidya made her Bollywood debut in the 2004 hit, Parineeta, I could tell that there was something about her acting that was unique. She got into the character of Lalita making the movie feel real.

Many men were actually smitten by her then. A close friend jovially remarked that she was the ideal "marriage material"!!!! I certainly did not go that far but I too did admire her a lot!
Then came Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which I saw on a DVD when I was travelling to Satara in January 2008. She played the role of a woman, suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder to perfection! She deserved the Filmfare Best Actress nomination for this movie.
Then the same month, I travelled to Delhi on a Kingfisher flight. She was on the same flight, in the forward first class section. For some reason, after landing she stayed back inside the cabin, presumably waiting for the rest of her retinue, while we all deplaned -that is when I got a glimpse of her. Later at the baggage claim, she waited, fidgeting with her mobile, while her bags were being collected. She looked stylish, pretty and quite slender but was quite conscious of all the attention she, the "Parineeta-wali", was getting - that forced her put on her shades.
She acted in a few movies after that but was majorly panned for her dressing style, after which came Ishiqya, which saw this southern belle getting into the role of crafty, expletive-spewing North Indian widow, who manipulated two horny crooks, played by Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi to make her ends meet. And "Ch...ium Sulphate" became the essential part of the expletive folklore!
Paa was next, which again proved that she had it in her - the ability to play non-conventional roles with an uncanny finesse. Though I have not seen No One Killed Jessica, I am told she did pack in quite a punch. By any stretch of imagination, the glamdolls and size-zeros of Bollywood could not have done even half of what she had rightfully achieved.
And this week, The Dirty Picture, a biopic on the southern siren, Silk Smitha, opened to rave reviews and record breaking collections. The portrayal of Silk was not only brutally honest to the character but was also replete with the typical 1980s' heaving bosoms and thunder thighs. From a viewer's perspective Vidya performed brilliantly, just as smooth as silk!
And already I can visualise Vidya Balan "Ooh La La-ing" her way to presentation ceremonies at award functions.

The Paradise That Is Pangong Tso!

In the final leg of our tour of this icy wilderness, we left Leh city for Pangong Tso, yesterday.
The route to Pangong Tso goes through the Changla Pass, which is at an altitude of 17,586 feet. The Changla Pass was as snowy as Khardung La, but as we had acclimatized by then, we were a lot more comfortable at the Pass!

As we descended from Changla Pass, the environs gradually turned from drab to absolute pristine with each passing mile.

As we were approaching the forward area, we passed by a number of military bases, some small, some big. These establishments are some what like mini-cities of sorts, sustaining the local economy. Each garrison has a uniform shop, a grocery supplies shop, a phone booth, tea stalls, and many more providing employment to locals. No wonder, the armed forces form a significant contributor to the Ladakhi economy, besides tourism.

These army establishments are showing the way to environmental consciousness by using solar and wind energy for use during the day. The garrisons have installed quite a few solar panels and windmills.

We passed by the Tangtse Garrison, which had a practice range named after Major Shaitan Singh, a Param Vir Chakra awardee and martyr of the 1962 war with China. Major Singh had single-handedly and successful defended the Chushul sector, at over 14,000 feet against the invading Chinese. His exploits were proudly mentioned at Leh's Hall of Fame, lest we forget!

We also passed by Durbuk Garrison, which had a firing range named after General Zorawar Singh, a pioneering military campaigner who brought large parts of Ladakh under the Kingdom of Kashmir in the 1800s!

At Durbuk Garrison, we came across an Indian Air Force helicopter, a Mil Mi8, which was being loaded with supplies, presumably for some forward posts.

After crossing Tangste, we entered Changtang bioreserve. Changtang has a few pristine and verdent pastures with gushing streams running through. We came across herds of sheep, mountain goat, bovines and yak grazing around.

At one particularly picturesque pasture we stopped at, there was a teenage girl tending to her grazing sheep and goats. On seeing us watch the grazing animals with curiosity, she brought a goat calf for us to hold in our arms. I am told that it had velvety, soft and smooth hair. After a while, the little thing got a bit restless and when Neeti was holding her gingerly, the restless creature jumped from her arms and made a dash to the rest of the flock. It all happened in a split second, and the incident left us a wee bit shocked. The cute Ladakhi girl went all giggles and reassured us that nothing was amiss!

Another interesting sight was that of a marmot, a large ground squirrel coming out of its burrow, when it got the aroma of Parle G biscuit!

Relieved we proceed to our car, where Palges was anxiously waiting for us. I suppose he was a bit hungry or he wanted a pee-break. We were pleasantly surprised to experience that Ladakhis have a very keen civic sense. Leh city was spic and span, there was no garbage littered around. We never saw anyone peeing outdoors. Shops in the city also do not give plastic bags to shoppers to prevent contamination.

After sometime, beyond Lukung, we encountered a painfully bad patch of road, the worst (or rather the first bad road) we had encountered in our travails across Ladakh. (Roads in Ladakh are maintained extremely well by the Border Roads Organisation, which ensures that the frontiers are accessible all throughout the year to the armed forces!)

As we gained altitude, the mountains revealed how they have been weathered by the elements, the wind and rain. Some of the mountain-sides showed some very interesting patterns.

The anticipation of reaching Pangong Tso was a kind of analgesic, relieving us from the pain. Then it appeared - a signboard said "The first view of Pangong Lake". Truly that was a sight to behold - a shimmering pristine body of blue water a few kilometers away.

Pangong Tso is a 150 kilometer long salt-water - nearly 120 kilometers of the lake lies beyond the Line of Actual Control and is illegally occupied by China, ever since the 1962 war. The Indian Army maintains a constant vigil over the lake. In fact, Pangong Tso was opened to tourism only a few years back. Till then this was an area out of bounds for civilians.

The lake is surrounded by snow-clad mountains on all sides. Given the usually clear weather in these parts, the lake can be seen in magical colours depending on the time of the day.

After a short drive, we reached the shores of the highlight of the trip - Pangong Tso. Honestly I had never seen anything prettier than the lake before.

Despite the brightness of the sun, the air was rather cold. But we dared the elements and spent the rest of the afternoon by shores of the lake, peering into the crystal clear waters and the lofty mountains and imagining we were in Heaven, a rare feeling of true bliss, a feeling of oneness with the Almighty.

By evening, the clouds reappeared and we missed the riot of colour the riot of colour that Pangong Tso has to offer.

Before settling into our tent for the night, we walked along the campsite gazing at the stars. This was the first occasion in nearly 25 years that I could distinctly see the Milky Way!

Temperatures at night were sub-zero, but our tent was pretty cozy, though without heating arrangements.

Today morning it was time to head back to Leh city. Before leaving Pangong Tso, we stopped by at that long sandy strip where the closing scene of the Bollywood blockbuster, 3 Idiots, was shot. The panoramic views from this strip were postcard perfect! Looking into our territory illegally occupied by the Chinese, I could only speculate how beautiful the other side would be! And when would we reclaim that territory from the Chinese?

Leaving this paradise was heavy on our hearts, but leave we had to!

On the way back, we took the same route - Lukung, Chantang, Tangste, Durbuk, Changla, Tsoltak, Karu and Thiksey. At Changla, we had our snack - Maggi and bread-omelette, the latter was the best I ever had!

The journey to Leh was otherwise pretty uneventful, perhaps because this was the last day of our vacation and we were dreading the mindless grind that lies ahead in Bombay! But we were kept entertained by witty (or rather saucy) one-liners that the Border Roads Organisation had put up on the highway to caution the drivers to take care. One said "Lower your gear, the curve is near" while another was more overt "Be soft on my curves!" But I wonder if Palges or other drivers really get the embedded wit.

It was nearly 3PM when we reached Leh. Just as I would normally do, I insisted on visiting the famous Pumpernickel German Bakery in the main market of Leh city. The eatery finds a mention in most guidebooks and travel shows. We ordered lasagnas and pastas alongwith tea. The food hardly tasted Italian and was rather cold. I had to get my tomato and olive lasagna reheated. Then when the bill came, to my horror, I found we had been overcharged for the tea. In short, we regretted visiting the Pumpernickel German Bakery, any other place would have been better, by most standards.

After a round of the Tibetan markets, where we picked up a few curios, we retired to the hotel for our last night at Leh.

And the thought lingering on in my mind was that it would be back to the hopeless and mindless grind of the metropolis.