Our tough little guy Bruce is/was a late talker.  It has been something that has always worried John and I as he always seemed to be "behind" his peers in regards to speech.  It was confusing because he learned to crawl and walk early.  His motor skills always seemed ahead of the curve and he was good at pretty much everything except talking.  When he did finally start speaking "a lot"  we noticed there were words and sounds he absolutely could not make.  As frustrated as we were that his speaking was not coming along, imagine how it must have been for Bruce.  We finally took him to a speech therapist who after testing him pointed out what we had so clearly missed.  Our boy was tongue tied.  His tongue was literally tied to the bottom of his mouth.  A little clip could have been made when he was a baby, and that would have been the end of it, but it wasn't and so for Bruce the tongue tie issue was now extreme.  He literally, physically could not lift his tongue.  No wonder he could never say words with "L" in them or T's or "th" sounds. Our speech therapist  asked if he had done things like bang his head when he was younger (yes.....he did.)  She also knew that he was probably an aggressive kid (right again).  All signs of someone who wants to but physically cannot communicate well with those around him and the banging of head and aggressive behavior were classic symptoms of frustration.   This tongue tie issue also made him a very picky eater.  For some reason, his tongue could not tolerate certain textures and his diet although varied enough had been a constant source of tension for us as well.  So, he's tongue tied. What next?  If he were a baby, a simple clipping of the frenulum would have been done, no problem.  But for Bruce, his tongue was literally so tied that a little clip was now out of the question.  He would have to be put "under", and a minor surgery would have to be performed.  It would still be a day in/day out surgery, but anytime your little one has to "go under", it's a big decision and we thought long and hard about which doctor we would trust and where we would get this done.  After many consultations and lots of research, we elected to do this surgery in Singapore.  A friend of ours knew of an excellent pediatric ENT there and via phone calls and  emails we set up a consultation in which we would decide whether to go forward with the minor surgery for Bruce after we met. The ENT is Dr. Luke Tan at Mount Elizabeth hospital.  We can't say enough about him and his staff and the day surgery team at Mount Elizabeth.  They were absolutely incredible with Bruce and with us!  They made sure we knew exactly what the procedure would entail, how long Bruce would be "out", how long it would take him to wake back up and kept us informed every single step of the way.  For Bruce, well.....they treated him like a rock star.  They made it all seem like one fun activity to the next from wheeling him into the surgery room, to giving him a balloon to blow up while they took his vitals, then giving him a sharpie to "decorate" his balloon (whom he named Oscar by the way) while they continued to prep him, and then made a game of him blowing up another "balloon" when really he was inhaling the sleeping gas that would put him "under".  We did try to explain to Bruce that we were there to fix his tongue, but in his mind, his tongue didn't need fixing but he was happy to go along with all the fun things we were doing.  I got to stay by his side for all of the prepping until the actual surgery began.  The surgery probably lasted about twenty minutes.  It took a little longer because Bruce's tongue tie was so severe that more cutting and stitching was necessary than the doctor had initially thought, but the good news is that the doctor thinks that since the tongue tie was soo bad, his speech problems might be self correcting.  Bruce woke up about ten minutes later than we all expected him to (and yes I was nervous) but when he finally came to, it took him no time to really "wake up" and become the usual tazmanian devil that he is.  We were discharged from the hospital a few hours later and this is no joke, no exaggeration, he started working his tongue and sticking it out and up and really noticing the difference in mobility he now had.  Here are pics of us getting ready for the surgery.  As you can see, Bruce is in a good, cheerful mood, thanks to the day surgery team at Mount Elizabeth.  They were so kind and sweet and funny with him.  I should have taken pics of the staff...but my heart and mind were all putty that morning.  

During Bruce's full on ENT check up, we also found that he will be needing a follow up surgery to remove his adenoids.  Like his big sister Tori at his age, he has trouble breathing at nights and always sounds like he has a cold.  We will return for that surgery in summer, but I can honestly say that I am no where near as anxious and nervous about it as I was this first one. We have now had the experience of getting a procedure done with Dr. Tan and his staff and the day surgery team at Mount Elizabeth and I know Bruce will be in the best hands. 


The rest of the trip to Singapore was a blur.  We had been to Singapore quite a few times when we lived in Malaysia, but being back there after our time in India, I can tell you we were seeing Singapore again like a long lost friend.  It was wonderful to be driving around in streets with no cows, and no potholes.....and well it was just nice to be in a different scene.  We had a wonderfully funny cab driver who fell in love with John and told us what a beautiful man he was!  He told us John was as handsome as Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdink (sp) put together, lol I agreed! He also commented that John had amazing "waterproof hair".. heehee, a new phrase that I had not heard before but will never forget.  We did of course the touristy things like the duck boat tour (Bruce insisted), where we saw the most amazing views of "the ship stuck on the hotel" and the Singapore zoo and of course we hit Clark Quay one evening and to John's delight we had hot wings at the first "Hooters" in Asia.  We also did a little bit of shopping, not near enough as I had planned (I came down with a wicked cough/flu bug right after Bruce's surgery) but a little shopping none the less. Yikes! Can't believe I almost forgot to mention the really cool "Art of the Brick" Leggo exhibit.  By Nathan Sawaya?....(forgot his last name) anywhere pics will be shown below.  Tres cool.  Scratch that, I just reviewed the pics, and that will be a post all on it's own.  It was FABULOUS.

 It's been a full week since the surgery and the improvement in speech for Bruce has been like night and day.  He still struggles a bit as he is using a muscle that he never had use of before, but now it's all about showing him how to use it, the difference is, he CAN now.  He can say "L" sounds now too,  and for the first time in his life he was able to tell me that he was "thirsty"....he would always tell me he was "hungry" when he wanted something to drink.  Happy does not describe.

That's all for now folks, till next time.  

Cyn

Before we headed out to Bangkok our friends had collectively given us lists and lists of places to visit for specific items.  For art, silverware, snakes, etc hit Chatuchak market, for electronics MBK, for purses call "boy".  We had lists, business cards and phone numbers, we were set.  So, on Friday, our first full day there, we woke up and headed out to MBK.  All agreed that we could use small cameras to carry around and none of us had small point and shoots, rather we all owned big lens fancy cameras that we didn't bring on this trip.  Off to MBK! It is a beautiful hot and muggy day, we were all in good spirits and looking forward to our camera shopping. While enroute, a very nice lady stopped us to ask if we knew where we were headed.  She told us she was a tourist officer, even pulled a yellow badge very quickly to show us, and asked us where we were headed.  When we told her our destination she informed us that there had been a fire on the first floor the day before at MBK and that it would open later that afternoon  She knew of a wonderful jewelry store where we could shop at in the interim.  What a lovely lady we thought as she hailed a tuk tuk for us and got us a good price for the ride and sent us on our way to the jewelry store.  Ha!  Once we got there we were immediately escorted into a very high end jewelry store.  We are talking $50,000 rings and so on.  It dawned on us that we had been hustled. We stayed for about fifteen minutes then headed back out to MBK and sure enough, there had been no fire there, the Mall was opened and we just had to laugh at us three savy travelers having been hustled. Oh well, it was still early and when we walked into the 4 floor at MBK. Our puny plans for cameras turned into a full day of shopping of everything you can imagine. And I kid you not we had a ball wheeling and dealing and bargaining for the best prices, we were like junkies going from one high of deal making to the next.  We purchased mini ipads, smartphones, Boise noise cancelling headphones, portable chargers, adapters, cameras....you name it we probably purchased it.  Finally after the shopping buzz was exhausted, we headed to the food court there, we had been told the food was good and so it was. It also offered a full on bar with a lovely small band playing while we ate.  All in all it was an amazing day and we were completely satisfied with our purchases and a day well spent.  When we finally headed out, we were amazed to discover that it was now night time outside.   I have never done that before , gone into a mall at lunch time and come back out in the evening. It was awesome! If you ever make your way to Bangkok...head to MBK!

After the most awesome day of shopping ever, we went back to the hotel to get shower and  dressed for an evening at  Skybar!  It's the location that is featured on Hangover 2, a rooftop bar that is supposed to have the most lovely  view of the city.  The place was as advertised, beautiful view, classy outdoor bar, nice beat band playing, but it was pretty boring.  Not much going on there though we did stay till about 12:30a.m?

It was late, and the Skybar though absolutely beautiful was a little bit of a disappointment as far as party factor went, so while waiting for our taxi we decided to ask the taxi getter guy if he knew of a fun place that was open this late.  He responded with yes, Mixx bar is open till 6 a.m., we asked if it was far away to which he responded it is at the Intercontinental hotel basement.  Well duh....we were only staying at the Intercontinental hotel!  Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! You know where we were headed!  None of us could believe that we were going to go dancing at a bar that was not only open till 6 in the morning but was at our hotel!  Score.  We did stay out till very late, or is it very early the next morning? Here are some pics.  It was a very fun time.

A few hours later, literally, it's Saturday!  E's birthday.  Next shopping location, Chatachuk market! We heard that it would be crazy hot and muggy at Chatachuk market so with no showers, and no makeup we headed out (okay, I cheated and showered when we came in that morning as my hair STUNK!)!  Anyway, the Chatachuk market was all that we had imagined and more. The best part of it for me was their open area restaurant and bar where they had an older woman and tye dyed man taking turns at the djing.  They were both awesome and it was an amazing way to spend a few hours between shopping.  Amazing people watching and a fantastic way to just shoot the breeze with friends! Loved it.  LOVE LOVED it.

After another amazing day of shopping, E purchased her "precious", J got a steal on beautiful silverware and both E and I picked some really cool evening purses along with other random items. As we all kind of took off in different directions our meeting place was back at the outdoor restaurant/bar.  It was now a little after 6p.m. and they had a troop of cute guys dancing up there with cut up tanks and short shorts.  I requested a shout out for E's bday and they all came over to wish her a good one and shared their yummy long iced tea with us.  Hilarious!  What an amazing day.

As I mentioned, it was Saturday night and E's bday!  We left the market, returned to the hotel for a fun night out.  We hit a really cool place called Bedsupper Club. It reminded me of being in the movie Tron.  Just really cool concept but our very inept waiter got us moving along quicker than perhaps we would have liked.  Just couldn't take anymore of his screw ups on our time. We then hit a really huge bar called Levels, as the name suggests it had different levels of the bar, with different music.  Very nice place, really enjoyed it and watching E dance to her Techno music.  E decided that J and I probably had enough of techno dancing the last few nights, so she suggested we call it an early evening (it was about 2:00a.m.) and head back to the hotel.   So we hopped into a tuk tuk and made our way back. Once we arrived however, we were all in agreement that we were not ready for the night to end.  Again, asking if there was anything "fun" to do that late at night (morning) the driver asked us if we wanted to see a patpong show. Now remember, we had already seen a show that wasn't quite what we were expecting but this one he said was open all night, fun and if we didn't like it he would bring us back to the hotel. So off we went to the Patpong show!  Look, when you go to Bangkok you expect to see weird shit.  You just do.   And we had all heard about the women who could dispense ping pong balls from their hoohaws, etc.  What girl isn't curious to see what one can shoot out of her privates? A friend asked if I was going to keep this part of the blog rated PG and gloss over it like I did the "Fresh Boys".  Okay I won't gloss over.  I will give you the blow by blow, no pun intended.

Sincere warning.  Do not read beyond this line if you want a rated PG version of what we saw.  This is the real, deal sad lives of real sex industry workers in Bangkok.  It's not pretty, it's real. Whatever you think on this kind of thing, I can hear it now, "why would you go to such a place? Being there just condones and supports it blah blah blah"....it's there in abundance, more than abundance......it's a sad reality.  Seriously, stop reading now, it's graphic.

We arrived to a show in progress. Pftt, Pft. Woe.  Ping pong balls were flying, and you could hear the "pop", "pop" and "swoosh" sounds of the paddles as people in the audience swung them trying to hit the ping pong balls to the stage.  If any of you men reading this think that would be incredibly hot, let me assure you this was the most unsexy show you can imagine.  The ladies looked bored (all except Rosey who kept us in stitches all night with her fun wacky behavior and bodyguard antics protecting us all night), and seeing a woman in a lobster crawl dispensing ping pong balls from her privates was just not a sexy thing to view.  Seeing an obnoxious man then trying to catch those ping pong balls with his mouth was just gross.  I was given a paddle by our pal Rosey but gave it E as it was her birthday and thought she might enjoy the "honor". She told us after the show that the paddle was sticky and gooey but when she made a face Rosey assured her it was just KY jelly.  Yeah, go ahead and picture our faces.

Next up was "dead eyed lady". A song came on and she danced very unenthusiastically until it was her cue to start her talent. She rolled down her undies, tied them in a knot on her leg and proceeded to pull a string of garland from her privates. The garland had razors "sewed" on it. To prove they were real razors she took a sheet of paper and then proceeded to "cut out" snow flakes or something like it. The razors were real.

Rosey tried to keep the show interactive.  Engaging with the audience and making us laugh.  She was really sweet and funny and again, no matter how we felt about this show in the end, we knew this was her way (and all of the ladies on stage) of making a living and we tried not to show any judgement on our faces and laughed with her and appreciated her humor and the work she was putting into trying to make sure the audience had a good time.

If I remember correctly the next talent up was a woman who could open coke bottles and spray them all over the guys in the front row.  Best we could figure was that she had an ergonomically fit "bottle opener in there" somewhere. 

Rosey took the stage again and all of a sudden we saw and heard balloons loudly popping.  Yep. Our friend was squatting on all fours aiming her privates at the balloons on high tied to the poles of the stage and I believe she popped every one. We ducked.

Next up was razor lady once again pulling something else out of her privates, these parts of the show were just boring and by this time I was struggling with waves of guilt and shame that had been on the edge of my conscienceness since we walked in.

Writing someone's name perfectly and with pretty "handwriting" came next.  Only the name was written by hand. 

Smoking with one's vajayjay was next.  This "talent" was horribly fascinating.  Could just not turn away.

Blowing out candles was next......kegals.  The woman must have been really good at kegals.

I think the rotation of the acts started shortly after and we collectively decided it was time to call it a night. E tipped Rosey generously and we headed for the hotel.

The tuk tuk driver who took us there as agreed, had waited for us and then got us back to the hotel safely.  Yes, lots of conversation on what we saw on the ride to the hotel.

Back at the hotel after each night out, was for me, the best part of each evening.  There we would recap the day/night and had good old fashioned girl talk and engage in pillow fights!  Okay no pillow fights but as the above show was sooooo unsexy thought I would try to perk this post up a bit. We would order tons of breakfast from room service (the food was sooo good) and then would climb into bed exhausted. 

It was our last night there and what a full, INTERESTING night it was.  More shopping the next day before we caught our flight the next evening, dadadaduh....our trip was over. 

Home. Over this past week I wouldn't tell John about the "seedier" parts of our visit to Bangkok.  I wanted him to read about it on this blog to see if he could "see what I saw" through my writings.  I found that while writing this post, I was struggling with writers block and I admitted to him that I was a bit worried what friends and family would think of those patpong shows we saw.  "Not going to a patpong show in Bangkok would have been like going to Houston in March and not attending the Rodeo", is how John put it.  That made me feel better and I was able to complete the tale of our time in Bangkok. 

That's it folks.  That was our long weekend in Bangkok.  It was amazing, it was disturbing, fun and strange, sad and fabulous, a most INTERESTING trip. I can't wait to return.

Oh dear, the alarm just went off its 5:20 a.m. We are leaving for the airport in 40 minutes...but good lord I think, no I am positive I just heard loud screeching of a monkey outside, no way that could have been a bird. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Where were we? Oh yes. After a lovely dinner, we head out to find a lady boy show.  We all have heard of the Thailand lady boys. How beautiful and sexy they are and that not only are they gorgeous but SO gorgeous you would not be able to tell them apart from "real women".  All three of us were excited to see this phenomenon for ourselves. We all agreed we would meet lady boys, perhaps chat with them, engage in fun conversation and maybe even share beauty tips.  We went into this with open minds and were excited, and I think I even felt a naughty sort of thrill that I would soon have a really cool story to share.  Neon signs screamed "Fresh Boys", as opposed to stale ones we joked as we walked down this alley seeing all these signs advertising all kinds of "boys" that were available. There were numerous bars on either side of us with signs regaling the freshness and the beauty of the boys inside.

As we continued to walk along the street, different guys tried to lure us into their establishments with promises of great singing and dancing entertainment, etc. It was getting late and we wanted to sit and enjoy a show so we finally gave in to a smooth talking criminal and let him lead us to a club at the very end of the alley.  (Here is I where I will tell you that the feelings we had when we walked in and while there, ranged from soul crushing, shocking, comedic, disturbing, back to comedic, to apathy, horrific, gross, etc, etc, etc.).  Entering the club, the "runner" guy who lured us in handed us over to a head waiter kind of guy, with a small flashlight he directed us to a corner sitting area with a great view of the stage, took our drink orders and made sure we were comfortable and took off to get our drinks.  While we were checking out the club and our sitting area, we noticed a box of tissue on the our shelf/table area, we soon discussed what kind of cleaning our pants would need after sitting on those couches. Very soon our head waiter guy, returned with our drinks and with a grand "tadaaa" wave of his hand directed our attention to the stage. On this stage there were about 15 "fresh boys" on display. All in tight Calvin Klein short shorts/underwear with a badge pinned to the shorts displaying their numbers. This first set of boys seemed really young.  So young in fact that I could not look at the stage. I'm thinking maybe 14, 15 years old? Maybe they were really older but some of them had their hands crossed and looked hostile and or sad to be there. Some of them just laughed and joked with each other while the music was going on seemingly oblivious to the people checking them out.   We soon learned that every two or three songs there was a rotation of the guys on the stage. Each rotation was a new set of boys, it seemed the boys would be grouped age wise, and the next set was older, and so on.  They would stand around with their numbers on display for those in the audience who might want their attentions and affections.  I think they were supposed to be dancing but only the two guys in the outermost corners of the stage were actually dancing.  They were numbers 22 and 26 and they were extremely fit and danced really well.  They were also the only two wearing cowboy boots and who actually looked like they were having fun. The stage was a "fresh boys" smorgasbord.  If a boy/guy onstage caught your fancy you would relay his number to the head waiter guy, and he would arrange a "tryst".  Or whatever. When we finally saw how this was working out, we signaled to the waiter for our check and he persuaded us that the show was about to start and that we should sit tight and wait as it was a good show! We figured what the hell, our souls were already blackened and damaged and we were already there, we might as well see the show. In the midst of all this I also had to pee.  I was crazy scared to go to the bathroom but i absolutely had to go and told the girls to come looking for me if I did not return in five minutes. I needn't have worried, the toilet stall was immaculate and I was given every courtesy by the attendants.  I can't remember in what order things happened but finally the show started.  A couple of different shows.  One, was finally the lady boy kind of show that we had hoped to see. Basically your usual wanna be vegas type show with cool songs and fun costumes that made us smile and laugh and for a few minutes feel that it was okay to be there.  Then when E had to hit the loo, J and I were treated to an aquatic number which featured a large Asian guy in a fish tank swimming to music, nekked.  Yup. Very nekked and there was a lot of him to see if you know what I mean.  At this point we were standing just waiting for our friend to return so we could go ahead and head out.  There were "things" happening between the old western farts (who were the real customers in this place) and the fresh boys that we didn't need to see. That was the most disturbing part. Watching these men pick their numbers and then leave with their "fresh boy".  With nervous laughter on our parts, we quickly asked for and paid the bill and finally made our way out.  All I remember is each one of us saying out loud, all at once, various phrases of  "not what I expected".  It was hard to talk about this even as we left the place because we didn't know what to make of it.  WE were sad to see such young boys selling themselves to such old ugly fellas who wanted the "fresh young scared looking boys".  So many questions filled my head that night.  Were those boys really as young as they looked? Were they there of their own accord?  Were they perhaps playing to their target market audience? The whole scene was disturbing and yet we sometimes found our selves almost having a good time in the audience (I enjoyed the ladyboy's singing).  Regardless of how we feel about that experience today, that night it was soul crushing and we left very disturbed. We had set out that night looking for a fun, burlesque lady boy type show.  We ended up with a real, deal view of male prostitution in Bangkok. And I still don't know what to make of it.  Readers that was just our first night there.

Part 3 tomorrow.  MBK, a gadget nerd's paradise!

Going to start right off by saying, as you can see from the opening line, this post is not rated PG, not for the judgemental, prude or uptight.  This is going to be a hardcore, open and honest account of my experience in Bangkok.  It's sometimes funny, and sometimes not so funny, but always interesting and hardcore.  Read at your own risk.

Our direct flight to Bangkok was supposed to leave at 1:00AM, Thursday morning. We four, lovely ladies all arrive at the airport within fifteen minutes of each other very excited about our first trip to Bangkok.  Not one of us had been there before and we were looking forward to this trip very much. It was also our good friend Erika's birthday on Saturday, a great excuse for a girl's weekend!

Not surprisingly the flight was delayed.nNo problem, bar was just a few feet away from out gate, so we grabbed a table and some drinks and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  First the flight was just delayed an hour.  Then it was canceled.  Then we were told that we would be re-directed to Bangkok thru Hong Kong.  It would take two hours, it would take ten.  No one knew.  The Thai Airways officials were not giving us information.  Any and all our information was mere speculation amongst the other travelers.  At one point one of of the Thai Airways reps was surrounded by a mob of people demanding answers and she literally turned around and ran away.  Smart girl.  It was complete and utter chaos. Misinformation after misinformation ensued.  At the pretense of herding us disgruntled passengers to another flight, we were told to follow some TG (Thai Airways) representatives.  They took us straight to baggage claim where we were told to retrieve our luggage. Nothing else, just get your bags. I can't describe how frustrating it was to want information, any information and not receive any.  It took more than an hour at baggage claim to get our luggage.  Apparently the "baggage crew" was upset that the same ten or so bags that were circling around on the carousel were not retrieved in a timely fashion so they refused to put more bags on until those were taken.  Finally some disgruntled passengers took the bags off and the rest of the bags finally started coming out. After we all had our bags we asked the reps, "what is happening, will we be able to take an alternate flight, what time is that alternate flight supposed to arrive in Bangkok, what is going on?!!!!!!!!" the same reply of  "two more minutes, we will give you more information in two more minutes"....it was so laughable because at no time whatsoever were we given one straight answer. A very visibly upset man actually took a swing at one of the airline representatives.  It was like watching a train wreck. All of a sudden soldiers came and surrounded the passenger and I'm not sure what happened to the guy as our little group was at the information desk trying to obtain any info that would help us decide on our next step. I don't know how it happened but finally someone said to us "our flight is back on, the same flight will be leaving at around 6!"  Now keep in mind, our flight was originally supposed to leave at 1:00AM, after the delay, cancellation, and retrieval of our luggage we were told all was for naught, we are now going on the same original flight, so let's get our bags re-checked in, get new boarding passes and wala! We will be on our way shortly.  Easy, peasy! We are told all this while just hanging out by the baggage claim area.  A TG rep tells us, not to worry, all passengers and luggage will be re-checked in and all is very well and good to go!  This is where we lost one of our four.  None of us could blame her for giving up and calling it a day as we still did not know whether this was for true or not....were we really going to get to Bangkok? 

See this pic?  No ques, no counters with ticketing machines, yet we were supposed to be rechecked in a timely fashion? Somehow during all this chaos Erika and Jma discover that a bit further down the airport area, where there were actual check in counters, TG reps were sending a few passengers down there at a time.   When we asked what was going on, we were finally told "yes, they are checking in people over there, but do not go over there, because if you do, people will follow you and we don't want too many people queing up and making a big line for the check in over there (where it was orderly and efficient) so please remain here, we will check you in shortly".  Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.  We three, all had trolleys loaded with our luggage, very nonchalantly and in unison wheeled our trolleys around and took off in break neck speed and with the wind flying in our hair headed directly to those counters!  Once there we all had a fit of the giggles and the biggest smiles.  We were laughing and joking and all of a sudden we just knew we were going to get Bangkok!

Within about fifteen minutes we were re-checked in along with our luggage and headed back to that same bar where we had started off our early morning departure. In less than an hour we were on our way!  Total delay time was between five and six hours, but totally worth it once we were sitting in our seats and on our way to Bangkok.

Okie dokie,  here is where you should stop reading if you would like to end off this read with a happy, rated PG ending.  Let me back up by saying that we didn't indulge in any drugs, orgies etc...but we did see some things that were disturbing. Go big or go home and folks....after what we went thru to get to Bangkok, "holla land of squalla"......we were open to all experiences.

Again, no one gets shot, mugged or sick......but although we joked and teased many times before the trip over the things we were sure to see "Ladyboys, PatPong area", etc we were determined to see "the real Bangkok".

So......a couple of hours on the plane, we get to city of squallor.....get checked into hotel, blah blah blah, we are finally ready for the first night out!  We took a taxi to the Patpong district. Which is also know as the red light district, anyway, we head that way and decide to look for a restaurant as we were all pretty hungry. For some unknown reason we head into an alley. There Jma and I see a man squatting with his pants pulled down and wiping his ass because he has just taken a dump on the sidewalk. Maybe not the street we should be heading down for a nice dinner? Whatever. We continue on our way and we quite literally bump into what seemed like a nice restaurant.  Yada, yada, yada, we eat, lovely dinner, head back out to experience Patpong!  When we were driving into the area we couldn't help but notice these loud, big, neon signs....see below:

That might not make sense to most of you. Of course the road was paved you must be thinking, aren't they all? Well not quite. Not here in Bangalore anyway. There are very few well paved roads here in Bangalore that don't contain hundreds of potholes, strewn with rocks and where drivers don't follow any kind of traffic rules, etc. So you can imagine mine and John's surprise that once we arrived in Delhi, we immediately noticed the difference in the roads.  They were paved and there seemed to be a little more normalcy in the road rules (just a little) than we have become accustomed to. And once we got out of Delhi and were on the road to Agra we were even more stunned to see that the highway seemed fresh and new and so beautifully paved.   A wonderfully "unbumpy" journey.  And though the ride was smoother than the daily rides we have in Bangalore, I wondered if we were missing out on the real scenic views on our way to the Taj Majal because of the new roads we were riding on.Was there an alternate route and if so how would  it differ from what we were seeing on these beautiful paved highways?

No matter. 

We planned the trip to the Golden Triangle where we would get to visit  Delhi, Jaipur and Agra to coincide with the visit from John's parents. The idea was that they would get an amazing visit to places in India that we wanted to see as well and so we took off for the Golden Triangle a day after they arrived for their visit. 

It is becoming the norm for me that I am going to highlight my favorite parts of the trip and not write about the hiccups we experienced, those stories are best told in person anyway:), ok I might write "a little bit" about those hiccups.....but let's start from the beginning.

Day1 Delhi.  First thing that hit me about Delhi was the smog. The weather was pretty nice but it remained smoggy the  whole time we were there.  At first we weren't sure if it was cloudy and foggy or if it was indeed smog. So we asked our tour guide about it and she assured us that "Delhi is 100% pollution free"......and went on with some government line that they have abolished all forms of pollution and Delhi was completely free of smog. That the smog that we were actually seeing and feeling (wasn't long before we were all coughing continuously) was indeed just the weather.  Okay, sure.
Your eyes are not playing tricks on you, this was how smoggy it was in Delhi. Most of my pics look like that not because I am a bad picture taker but because that is how it was there. Smoggy. But not from pollution. Hmmm. Let me say this. Delhi streets were alot cleaner and alot more modernized than Bangalore.  I was surprised to come to that conclusion because Delhi is quite bigger and I guess I expected alot more chaos with that much more population but it indeed was more impressive than I imagined.  And there was so much to see. Unfortunately for us, the majority of our sight seeing was in our car,  while our guide would point and say "and there's the Red Fort" etc.  She did however take us to an amazing restaurant for which I cannot remember the name, but can tell you that tthe food there was fantastic.  We did get out at two places, the India Gate (google it, pretty cool) and the government Palace.  John and I hope to visit Delhi again, because via the "drive byes" we saw that there is so much more to see and discover.  Next time.  Below are some pics:)

I'm going to fast forward to our first evening of this trip. Blah, blah, blah, we were lost for a bit but when we finally made it to our first hotel on this journey we were indeed excited.  The hotel was called the Neemrana Fort Palace. It was amazing. It was truly like going back in time.  No great amenities or anything like that, but what the hotel lacked in luxury it made up in ambiance and wonder.  It was super cool. We got in really late at night so it wasn't until morning that we truly saw how beautiful and interesting this hotel was.  A re-do is definitely in order.

We left the Neemrana Fort Palace way too early that morn, we would have loved to have spent a full day or more just exploring the hotel itself.  Next time.  Anyway our journey continues...next stop Jaipur!  I think, see, this is what happens when you wait till months later to try and tell a tale.....

I honestly cannot remember the name of the hotel, let me look it up quickly...Samode Haveli, at the risk of this sounding like a tripadvisor review.  Service at this hotel was fantastic.   Hands down.  And the hotel, lovely and large.  At this point I have to add that we arrived at our hotel late as our driver got lost again.  So ended up checking in, had a very hurried lunch then set out to see a few sights before we ran out of daylight. Our first stop was at Jantar Mantar.  It is a huge observatory that includes a 90ft high sundial,  a device that predicts eclipses and much, much more. It was pretty amazing.    Basically it had alot of cool ancient scientific instruments.  They had instruments to determine the Zodiac, instruments to forecast the upcoming year and they built a large sundial that was only about a minute off.  This was considered unsatisfactory,so they built a much larger one,perhaps 30 meters high that is extremely precise.

After the observatory we excitedly headed to Dera Amur.  This was to include a sunset ride on elephants as well as dinner al fresco at the old fort. We had previously experienced an elephant tour during our first visit to Thailand a few years back.  I had vowed never to do one again. At Dera Amur, the elephant handlers did not carry those hammer looking things to steer and direct the elephants, the elephants had no marks on them at all and seemed quite playful with their handlers as well as with us.  So I changed my mind and for the second time in my life hopped on an elephant for a tour around the fort grounds.  It was a lovely afternoon and there was even a pitstop where we given our choice of beverages, we chose wine of course!

Upon our return from the elephant ride, we got to do some traditional painting on the elephant trunks, it was pretty dark by that time and a little chilly. So right after the painting party, we were led us to a welcoming bonfire where we relaxed with wine and appetizers until the main course was ready.

It was a lovely afternoon and relaxing evening.  So relaxing that I think we were all in bed about ten minutes after we arrived to the hotel. 

To be continued.......

Yikes!!!! Watching the clock.....my mobile spa should be here any minute......way too much going on today and never enough time.  So letting the mobile spa, lovely ladies who come straight to the house to mani, pedi and or wax your lady parts!

John wanted to know why I needed my "lady parts" waxed when I was going out of town with a bunch of girls.....silly husband don't you guys get that we ladies dress to impress each other?  I'm going out of town with three lovely ladies, I must try and keep up:)

Yup, going to Bangkok with those three lovely ladies......see you in a few days and hopefully NOT on the next episode of Locked up Abroad....

Most of you know that Shankar is our driver.  What you are probably wondering is who is asking Shankar if he has cash? Why that would be Bruce of course!  We took Bruce to school this morning and as it is his birthday we asked him if he wanted anything special for lunch as I would also be picking him up from school today (he normally takes the bus) after I drop off his birthday cupcakes.  His response was directed to our driver whom he asked very loudly "Shankar do you have cash?".  John and I looked at each other and mouthed "WHAT?"  Shankar chuckled and told us that every time that I am not with him when he picks up Bruce at the bus stop, Bruce will ask Shankar to take him to McDonald's. To "get out" of that situation without a fuss, Shankar simply replies to Bruce "I don't have any cash".  According to Shankar that settles the matter and Bruce forgets about McDonald's and all is well.  I started thinking about all the things that we find funny about what our  little expat kid has become "used to" and expects.  For example, Bruce picks up his toys after he plays with them, but if he spills a drink or makes an unexpected mess he will call out for Watchme (his name for Lakshimi).  Also whenever we discuss things we are going to do as a family, he always include "Shankar, and Watchme and Gatri".  Whenever John and I discuss "home" pertaining to Houston, Bruce is quick to correct us that our home is in India.  Our little guy even loves Indian music and I get a kick out of hearing him sing to Indian songs on the radio. He is no longer shy to dance in front of people and especially loves dancing when we are out shopping and will put his hands in the air and say "look at me dancing mommy". Bruce is still alot to handle but I sincerely believe he is sympathetic to those who are less fortunate. He does not hesitate to give up a toy or something that he has when we are out in the city and little ones come up to the car to beg.  Some beggars scare him but more times than not he'll tell us to give them something (no, we don't always, that's another story).  On a daily basis Bruce see so many things that he would NEVER see in the US and I honestly think when we get back to Houston a simple drive to school will be quite boring for him. He is 5 years old today and I'm sorry that I don't write more about him because everyday he truly is a joy and quite the character to behold. 

Happy Birthday Bruce!

Cool banner huh? Not sure how many years ago, but a good friend Erik Olstad, sent pics out of his little boy's birthday party.  They had made race cars out of card board boxes and raced them around in their backyard. Seemed like a really cool, fun idea and I remember thinking wow I wish I would have thought of that when Vincent was little.  Years later, I have another little boy who is really into fast cars, I knew EXACTLY what kind of party to throw for him. Welcome race fans to the first annual BDS (Bruce Daniel Specht) Grand Prix!

This time last year, Bruce's birthday was on the weekend that we had just moved into our "new home" here in Bangalore. We had literally been in a Bangalore for a month and didn't know many people, Bruce wasn't enrolled in any school and well, his bday party consisted of us going to Hard Rock Cafe and him blowing out a candle on the brownie dessert. "Bad" does not describe how we felt this time last year, we vowed that "next year" we would throw him a proper birthday bash.  What a difference a year makes!

I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't start the planning of this party until two weeks ago. But I am blessed to have made some really good friends and a wonderful staff who helped me put this party together.  Thank you Erika, after I struck out on boxes day1 of party planning got her driver Jraj on it and by day2 we had boxes (people you have no idea how frustrating that was initially).  Also, when I shared my vision for this party with Erika she got really into it and made the super cool Texas license plates and dashboard stickers too....you'll see what I mean when you see the pics.  She also procured my tablecloth, as well as some of the painting supplies.  Thank you Hirwan, who wasn't able to make it to the party but helped with the cutting down of the boxes and came up with the idea for "racing sunglasses" for the kids.  Thank you Jma for the lead on where to get a really cool birthday cake for Bruce on short notice. Thank you Katie for telling me where to go for party supplies on Commercial street and being such a pal and bringing the Krispy Kreme donuts all the way from the city. Thank you to our excellent driver Shankar, who when I said "I wish we had a banner", asked me to sketch what I wanted, took that sketch and five hours later came home with the birthday banner! Thank youGayathri and Lakshimi, for the love and detail they put into helping make Bruce's party a success. Thank you to the California Burrito boys for being our "pit crew".  LOL, yes it sounds like I'm making an academy award speech here by thanking so many people but it truly was a group effort and it meant so much to us, to have a birthday party for Bruce that he would enjoy and sort of make up for a lack of a birthday party for him last year. Thank you to all our friends who came out on a Sunday and who really made our day so special by participating wholeheartedly. 

Anyway, here are some pics of Bruce's BDS Grand Prix birthday bashdI don't know who had more fun, the kids or us parents.  One of the highlights of the races was when the Dads got to race each other.  The Moms race was fun too, but unfortunately no pics of that heat.  It was a great day and I am so happy that everything went according to plans.  No hiccups, not "fails". It was pretty awesome. There are alot of pictures in this post, mostly for Tori and Vincent because I know that they would have loved to have been here. Hope you are enjoying a great Superbowl Sunday!  Till next time.

Me