Amy's Travel Blog

Planning for "Tour de Dan"

amyr62 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:00:00 GMT

We synchronized 6 calendars involving multiple arrival & departure points, maximized our use of loyalty programs, negotiated with William Shatner, ordered tickets to a show, pinpointed key tourist sites, and performed some genealogical research. Now let's see how closely this trip matches our vision!

Gallery: UK

amyr62 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:58:00 GMT

Fly home!

amyr62 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:17:00 GMT

Canterbury

amyr62 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:14:00 GMT

Canterbury Gate

Excursion to Canterbury, especially the famous cathedral, headquarters of the Archbishop of Canterbury, global leader of the Anglican Church. Stained glass throughout, medieval through modern. The first cathedral on this site was established by St Augustine in the year 597, and a few original columns remain. Features are still being added (“spiral development” in my company’s lingo) – the Italian region of Val d’Aosta contributed a black marble altar in the year 2006. Coincidentally, that’s one of the ski areas I visited with the pals mentioned in Saturday’s blog entry. It’s also the place where Thomas Becket was murdered in the year 1170. Particularly interesting treasure is the tomb of the Black Prince with his so-called “Achievements”, a tunic, armored gloves, “chapeau”, etc. On top of his sarcophagus is his bronze effigy, complete with spurs, his feet resting on his dog and his head resting on his helmet. In the 1300s he participated in the Hundred Years War and was mentioned in Shakespeare’s “Henry V”.

Rye & Hastings

amyr62 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:03:00 GMT

Rye's Water Cistern from the 1700s (with level gage)

The trains are so clean, quiet, and smooth-riding… You can get to lots of interesting towns from Royal Tunbridge Wells, including the town of Rye, where we lunched at Fletcher’s, originally a vicarage dating back to the 15^th century. Across from Fletcher’s there’s a shop window promoting the local environmental group and displaying typical shorebirds found on the “shingle”, British for a riverbank covered with water-worn pebbles. Rye was a fishing community in the 11^th century. Since then, the sea has retreated two miles. Now sheep graze where the waves once broke on the beach. Walked about the town, including the water tower from 1733, Ypres Tower (1249) and Church of St Mary (early 1100s). Another train to Hastings for tea and a look around.

London

amyr62 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:50:00 GMT

Fun for me to say, “Great, Dad, see you at Leicester Square!”, referring to a particular London subway station. Traveling from India to the UK is a historical segué with a climatic contrast. Dad & Kathryn helped me put my luggage in storage and then we hopped on a double-decker bus for Hyde Park (nabbed seats in the very front of the top level, don’t you know). Kodak moment at one corner of Queen Victoria’s monument to Prince Albert: the corner representing the Americas. Brisk walk through the park rewarded by tea in the Orangery, a high-ceilinged room, gleaming white, bathed in soft overcast light. At the Victoria & Albert Museum, we saw some incredible tapestries and the Great Bed of Ware, which was mentioned in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. Enjoyed lunch in the V&A’s William Morris room, then saw ice skaters and a dinosaur skeleton at the Natural History Museum. Off to meet friends from International Space University -- reminisced about ski trips with the European Alumni Association, and caught up on career and personal happenings. Hooray for Old Speckled Hen Cask Ale. Made our way back home to Royal Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, about an hour train ride south of London.

Outside the Victoria & Albert Museum

Inside the Victoria & Albert Museum (glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly of the Seattle area)

Skaters outside the Natural History Museum

Gobind Sadan Institute

amyr62 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:26:00 GMT

On this day I had the opportunity to visit the aunt of my friend and colleague Mike, Mary Pat Fisher of Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Study of Comparative Religion. Gobind Sadan is a spiritual place encompassing lessons of love from all religions. Mary gave me a tour of the Institute’s shrines to Jesus, Buddha, Judaism, Krishna, and Hanuman, their mosque, their large Sikh complex capable of accommodating 5,000 people, and a sacred fire temple according to ancient Indian tradition. There, Mary led a ritual involving blessing of offerings before placing bits of them in the sacred fire. The bananas were especially dramatic – Mary chopped an entire bunch in half with one blow of a machete. The remaining offerings of chapatis (flat bread), jaggery (sugary mix), yellow sweets, and bananas are shared among the worshippers afterwards. Delicious nap in a cool quiet room of the guest house followed by a tasty lunch of eggplant, potatoes, yogurt, salad, and chapatis, enjoyed with three women visiting from Russia. Thanks to our interpreters on a project from a few years ago, I managed a very few words in Russian. Intimate chat with Mary, then she let me help out in the office, typing a couple of pages for a children’s version of one of the institute’s books. I also became the proud bearer of an envelope full of Indian children’s art being sent in exchange for a similar envelope received from Mary’s daughter’s pupils in Maine. Savored some tea and a sweet embrace from Mary, then headed back out into the honking car horns of Delhi.

Baba Virsa Singh Ji, your blogger, and Mary Pat Fisher

Gurdwara Guru Ka Taal

amyr62 — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT

On the way back from the Taj Mahal in the dark, my driver pointed out a building in the distance brilliantly lit by colored flashing lights. Did I want to visit? Having checked the Indian holiday schedule before the trip, I had been on the lookout for signs of Guru Nanak’s birthday, the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. Here was my chance to join in the celebration!

We were met by a kind young volunteer tour guide, a mechanical engineering student named Iqbal Singh. He showed us all around the Gurdwara Guru Ka Taal temple complex, a holy place of worship for the Sikhs, where four of the Sikh Gurus have visited. It retains elaborate stone carvings and 8 of its 12 original towers. Originally a reservoir for rainwater built in 1620, the current temple was built in the 1970s over the place where the Guru Tegh Bahadur was arrested for protesting religious persecution perpetrated by the Mughal King Aurangazeb, who eventually beheaded him in Delhi. Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth Sikh Guru and is also remembered for his religious poetry. Iqbal Singh showed us the Guru’s tomb, a display of his weapons, an equestrian statue of the Guru, the place where he was imprisoned, the altar where his writings were being read, the mechanical relay controlling the flashing lights, the beautifully landscaped garden, and people lighting candles at the base of a pole called nishan sahib. Speakers broadcast the sound of reading / chanting and drumming.

Taj Mahal

amyr62 — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:34:00 GMT

My tour guide Sanjay said there are two kinds of people in the world, those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who haven’t. He earnestly urged me to save my ticket with the date stamp in case I’m ever challenged to provide documentation. In addition to the iconic white marble visible from a distance, this wonder of the world also has exquisite designs inlaid with multi-colored semi-precious stones. Sanjay pointed out the significance of the number 22: 22 doors in the courtyard, 22 minarets, 22 years to build, and the height of the finial: 22 feet. I didn’t have the heart to ask him if those Persian builders used units of feet back during the Taj Mahal construction years 1631 – 1653 (do the math!). Look past the rumpled American tourist at the beautiful Indian women in their colorful saris.

A little shopping afterwards – the impossibly handsome salesguy held up one inlaid marble plate on each side of his Bollywood-star face, lit up an enormous grin, and asked, “Which of these three is your favorite?”

Workshop - Day Three

amyr62 — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:17:00 GMT

On the way to work we saw some water buffaloes with their horns painted red, then later we passed a roadside procession celebrating Guru Nanak's birthday. Later we saw huge billboards promising "WE'LL MAKE YOU FAMOUS". But I forgot to write down the phone number at the bottom.

Arrived in the new industrial area of Talegoan to see our hosts’ new factory, which meets platinum-level LEED standards of greenness. The skylights are so effective that they use only natural light from 7am to 7pm. The lavish landscaping is irrigated by the latest technology from Israel. There are signs by some of the palm trees with the names of company executives who planted them. Windows are generously placed to allow employees a view of the greenery. There's a series of bulletin boards with "Lean" metrics, safety statistics, and photos of employees who are being recognized for suggesting process improvements.

Happened to notice that many of the bikes around here have double top tubes; some even have double down tubes. Also noticed that the trucks have sayings painted on them, including "Blow Horn", "Use Dipper at Night" (meaning flash your high beams), and "Keep Distance".

Back in the car for a ride to the company headquarters in Powai, near Mumbai. Tasty buffet in an elegant dining room with a sweeping view. More meticulous landscaping (a company policy, perhaps?). Now for the moment we’ve all been working towards – each project team briefed results to senior executives from both companies. Some frank discussion about the nature of the cooperation desired by each company, and some insight into the Indian government contracting process. Naturally our team was praised, partly because of our relatively credible schedule and plan for next steps. Gifts and handshakes for all! One of those handshakes came from an executive of my company who is related to Mahatma Gandhi. So anybody who knows me has three or less degrees to the great humanitarian. I remember my late yoga teacher Bill Mitchell quoting the Mahatma during our practice, as well as Dr. King, Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Harriet of Bingen, and others.

Not content to rest on our laurels, the other teams left for the day but our team continued on for a tour of our hosts’ network operation center and data center. Very modern and also green. As you’d expect in a city of 18 million people, we encountered some traffic on the way to the airport, but still had a few minutes to catch up with colleagues in the lounge. Flew to Delhi and here I am in the Taj Palace (definitely a palace).

Workshop – Day Two

amyr62 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:01:00 GMT

Managed to shoot a guy and kid on a bike from my hotel room:

We continued working with our counterparts to lay out a schedule of customer meetings, hopefully leading to a series of product demonstrations. Here we are during one of our breakout sessions:

After lunch, we were treated to dozens of types of chikki (click here for a Mumbai resident’s blog entry about chikki in Lonavala). My favorites were a soft fig/pistachio roll and a crisp brittle of mixed nuts (including pistachios). More work, now focusing on our big presentation for the finale of the workshop. Our company hosted a social time by the pool (complete with a guy singing soft American pop songs), then a buffet dinner with birthday cake for one of the senior members of our host company.

Workshop - Day One

amyr62 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:59:00 GMT

The workshop is being held at our host company's Management Development Centre, a beautifully landscaped campus with a stream running through it (straight out of the Jungle Book, complete with birdsong). During the introductions, a couple of people mentioned "Yes, we can!" and the concept of "Change" -- the positive tones of voice seemed to show approval of our president elect. The workshop was officially opened by the traditional "Lighting of the Lamp", a gleaming brass bird with 5 wicks. Women are associated with learning, so my colleague Stephanie & I and three of our male hosts were given the honor.

During the tea break we learned that one of the founders of their company left his fortune to an orphanage when he passed away, and is ranked just below Mother Teresa among Indian philanthropists. We enjoyed an international lunch including Hawaiian Salad and Mexican Vegetables then broke up into project groups. After the outbrief we were treated to an outdoor reception with music, drinks, and snacks -- including a type of chaat, a thin crispy cracker-like shell with tamarind juice, eaten in one bite. Tasty dinner included butter chicken and rose-water ice cream for dessert.

Getting to India

amyr62 — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 07:10:00 GMT

Set new personal record for most hours spent sealed in an aluminum tube (15 from Chicago to Delhi), but at least the food was good (halibut marinated in coconut & mint, steamed in banana leaf, with saffron rice and saag paneer (mustard greens, spinach, fenugreek greens with ginger). Blubbered through an incredibly sentimental Indian movie "Mere Baap Pehle Aap" of an aging widower who has a chance meeting with a woman he loved years before. Their reunion is facilitated by young prankster relatives. It's. About. Love. A glutton for punishment, I follwed that with "Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic" about a yuppie, four orphans, and an angel.

Leaving the airport we saw a camel loping along in the dark. My generous company put me up at the Shangri La hotel (see photo) where a staffer applied a red powder bindi just as I entered (also a photo).

Delhi to Mumbai to Lonavala

amyr62 — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 17:01:00 GMT

Leaving the hotel we saw monkeys outside the Ministry of Defence. Flew Delhi to Mumbai to meet the rest of the delegation for the bus ride to our workshop destination, the Lagoona Resort in the hill station of Lonavala. From the bus we saw a gleaming silver buggy pulled by two white horses. Greeted on arrival with a flower garland and a bindi. Combined a buffet dinner and strategy session, including jamun for dessert.

Departure

amyr62 — Sat, 8 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Off on the first flight leg...