A Noisy Night in Buenos Aires

I was warned the day before that this would happen, but on the night I arrived in Buenos Aires last week, massive street protests against the government had been planned.  Violent crime, runaway inflation and endemic corruption have become major issues in this country and more than a few Argentinians appear to be fed up.  My hotel was around a mile from the gathering points, but there were many people marching past the hotel carrying flags, banging on pots and pans and shouting.  As interesting as this would have been to see up close, I thought it best to stay inside the hotel (dissidents have not always been warmly greeted by the Argentine government).

The following day, the government estimated the crowd to be around 700,000 people.  All remained peaceful.

To Push, or Not to "Puxe"?

As I am approaching a door with my Brazilian colleague in Sao Paulo, I see a sign on the door which reads "PUXE".  I asked my friend "how do you pronounce that?", to which she replies "Poosh".  Of course, push!  I march into the door and give it a vigorous push but the door doesn't move, I slam face-first into it, and my friend is practically peeing her pants laughing.  "WTF?"  As it turns out, "puxe" may sound like "push", but it means "pull".

It's funny how the brain works some times.  I now know that the portuguese word "puxe" means to pull, But every time I approach a door in Brazil with a "puxe" sign on it, I still want to push...



Found the image at http://www.scottkirkwood.com/2007_09_01_archive.html.  Fitting!

My Brazilian colleague has the same problem in America, except when she sees a "push" sign, she pulls...





Brazil Haiku #1

Driving through Brazil

Finally out of traffic

Oh S#!%, a speed bump!

Most places around the world use speed bumps to prevent accidents in high traffic areas like parking lots, apartment complexes, schools, etc...  In Brazil, not only are the speed bumps huge, but they are everywhere; before and after nearly every insection, in the middle of open stretches of rural roads, randomly placed in towns and countryside alike.  It seems like you never get up to the posted speed limit for long before - "Damn - another one!".  And it's not like you can just glide over them - not unless you want to compress your spine, break your teeth and perforate the roof of the car with your skull.  My local colleague tells me that without these in place, people in Brazil drive too fast and have too many accidents.  Maybe this is true, maybe not, but they do add considerably to the amount of time it takes to get anywhere. 

A Few More Pictures from Atibaia, Brazil

They don't play "slug bug" in Brazil...  Too bad!

A fixer-upper

Caipirinha - Maybe the Perfect Drink on a Hot Day!

I was introduced to the caipirinha on my first trip to Brazil and I was hooked!  I am not sure why I like this drink so much.  Perhaps it is the right combination of tart and sweet.  Maybe it's just the simplicity of it - lime, sugar and cane rum and ice - thats basically it. But sitting at a rickety sidewalk table outside of a bar in Brazil on a warm sticky tropical evening, it just tastes perfect! 

Welcome to Atibaia, Brazil (closed on Sundays)

I arrived in Sao Paulo on an overnight flight from Minneapolis via New York.  I managed some fitful intermittent sleep on the plane thanks to Vicodin, but arrived drowsier than ever, probably thanks again to Vicodin...  My contact in Brazil mercifully met me at the airport,  and after a quick breakfast of I don't remember and holy s#!$ strong coffee, she dropped me at the tiny Vilaverde Hotel in Atibaia (pronounced ah-chee-bye'-ah). 

This hotel room, typical in Brazil I am told has no alarm clock, a door which uses metal keys, no hangers in the closet, the smallest TV I have seen in years, and several switches on the walls which seem to control nothing.  I asked for an iron and ironing board at the front desk - this required some pantomime, and the desk clerk arrived 30 minutes later with only a well worn iron.  His english is only slightly more useful than my 4 words of portuguese, but he apparently thought I had my own ironing board - the hotel has none.  I thought of asking "why do you have an iron but no ironing board?".  I really wanted to say "dude, did you see me carry in a f&*#!!) ironing board", but I thought it unproductive in the end as he could easily come kill me in my sleep.  I attempted instead to iron my clothes on the bathroom counter (not recommended) and eventually settled on steam from the shower.

By the way, I really like the hotel - the place is clean and the view is pretty nice!

Even in my groggy state I could not sleep so I decided to find some lunch.  I wandered the streets of Atibaia which is full or shops, restaurants and bars for a full hour- all of these are apparently closed on Sunday.  I did manage a bite at the hotel later.  Anyway it was a good walk around a scenic town.

Notice the shuttered doors and lack of people - kind of an "I am Legend" moment...



"All's well that ends well"...except for the headless guy!

News stories from the local paper are a good way to learn something about the culture wherever you travel.  Not quite sure what this one tells me about India, but you can judge for yourself.  I read this in the Hindustan Times last week while in Delhi:  Here is also a link to the online article  just incase you thought I was making this stuff up.

A Class 10 student, whose “death” triggered a spiral of violence in Bihar’s Madhubani district and left two people dead, was found in a south Delhi tea stall on Monday with his girlfriend.

The boy and the girl, both minors and classmates at Madhubani’s Indian Public School, eloped on September 7 as they come from different castes.


Their disappearance led to violence in their home district after the boy’s family mistook a headless body as his. Students and locals fought pitched battles with the police on October 11 and 12 and the opposition called a Bihar bandh on Monday.
“Their pictures were being flashed across Bihar-based TV channels,” said a police officer, who refused to be identified.
Mehrauli resident MN Jha, who is from Bihar, recognised them and alerted the police when he saw them at a tea stall, the officer said.
A police team, after verifying their identities, brought them to the Mehrauli police station. After leaving home, they went to Ranchi in neighbouring Jharkhand then to Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) and from there, to Darjeeling in West Bengal, the teen couple told the police. Sunday they boarded the Brahmaputra Mail in Kolkata and arrived at the Old Delhi Railway Station at around 6.15am Monday.
“I have spoken to Mehrauli police officer Jarnail Singh. He has told me that the boy and a girl had been found,” Bihar DGP Abhayanand said.
The development blunted the opposition's attack, especially that of Lalu Prasad-led RJD, on the Nitish government. “All is well that ends well,” chief minister Nitish Kumar said in a statement.

OK - seriously, "All is well that ends well"?  What about the headless guy and the two people who died in the rioting - didn't end so well for them I dare say!

India Haiku #1

One billion people

Fifty-five million autos

Eight traffic signals

My epic journey to Agra and the Taj Mahal

Last Wednesday, my Indian colleague asked "While in Delhi, do you want to see the Taj Mahal?" - I am quite sure I gave a very enthusiastic "YES" before the last sylable had left his mouth.  I remember clearly seeing a picture of this amazing place when I was 8 or 9 years old and thinking I had to go there someday.  That day finally came this past Sunday.

The Taj Mahal is located in Agra, around 125 miles or so from my hotel.  According to Google Maps, this trip should take just under 3 hours.   I will have to have a word with them about this estimate...  Nothing against the capable folks at Google, but I think they need to add a few steps to their algorithm which calculates travel times.  Some suggestions:

Are there more than three of these per mile?

If so, reduce average speed by 5 mph.

Is the average occupancy of an auto rickshaw on this road greater than 12?

If so, reduce by another 5 mph...

Will any villages be encountered along the way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJJP0ROo_K0

If so, add 5 minutes per village - 10 if it is market day



I could go on and on...  The trip took 5 hours which comes to an average speed of 25 mph on what is for India, a major highway.  Apart from the road being in overall poor condition in most stretches, the traffic is heavy, and all manner of vehicles are sharing the same road - cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, pedestrians, wandering cows, tractors, carts being pulled by horses, oxen, and camels, auto rickshaws, and even herds of sheep.  Add to this the total disregard for lane markers, turn signals, right of way, etc..., I even saw numerous cars and trucks going the wrong way down divided sections of highway.  After 5 hours of this I was exhausted.  I squeezed the "oh s#!t" handle in the back seat of the car  so hard and for so long I think I left my palm print impedded in the plastic. 

The Taj was incredible - worth the journey anyhow.  Sadly I left the cable at home which connects my camera to the laptop, so I will have to upload pictures and post them when I get home.

Animals in Gurgaon

Camel ride anyone?

Here is a partial list of the animals I have seen either in use or wandering in Gurgaon, India where I have been for the past three days:

Cows - lots

Buffalo

Pigs - many

Donkeys

Horses - pulling carts

Oxen - pulling carts

Camels - pulling carts and giving rides

Monkeys

Dogs - all strays

Peacocks

Sheep - herded

Gurgaon is not rural.  It is part of the Delhi metro area and is apparently the only city in India that has run electricity to every one of its apartments.  This is not to say the electric grid is reliable - the power goes out at my hotel here around 4 times per day...

"Two all chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese...

Sad to admit I still remember the entire Big Mac song from the 1980's commercials...

In Indian manufacturing plants, there are often no places nearby to have lunch.  In addition, most workers do not have their own cars so the company provides a cafeteria.  I had lunch a few times this week in such places, and the food was not bad, at least by my standards.  On one day, my meetings lasted through lunch so food was delivered to the plant - McDonalds.  Perhaps they did this because they thought I woud like it, or perhaps they order from here often.  At any rate, a Big Mac is clearly not the same thing here, made with chicken patties in place of beef.  I have to say it was surprisingly good - the chicken was spicy and the sauce had a nice smokey flavor.  Otherwise, it was just like its American counterpart.  I think I would take this over its beef version any day.

If you like spicy foods, you will likely enjoy India.  I have had nothing that was painfully hot, but everything has been flavorful, well prepared, and I am glad to say recognizable - with a couple of exceptions.  The dipping sauce pictured above was apparently made from cilantro and lava.  Wow!!  Following dinner Saturday night, an amazing plate of rogan josh, my Indian coworker offered me an Indian after-dinner item - it looked like a mint leaf wrapped around something.  My friend popped his so I followed, popping the entire thing into my mouth and biting down...   I think the leaf was wrapped around a urinal cake.  As after dinner mints go, this was maybe the worst ever.  I smiled, chewed and swallowed....  Hey, I'm a pro after all!



Beware of wandering cows!

In Ahmedabad (pronounded ahm'-da-bod), cows and stray dogs are everywhere; wandering in fields, lying at the edge of the road, foraging through piles of garbage which I am sad to say are numerous here.  While riding through town in a taxi, we passed 4 lying in the middle of the road with busses, taxis and auto-rickshaws whizzing past.  They all have rather menacing looking horns too...

I asked Samir, my Indian coworker how the cows survive here - there seems to be little for them to graze on.  Samir told me that some people will give them food, but mostly the feed on whatever they can find.

There seem to be a lot of donkeys too.  I tried to snap a picture of one standing in the median of a busy road from my speeding taxi - but I think I hit the shutter a half second too soon...



Just another ass on the road!



Hotel Security in India

When I arrived at my hotel in Delhi late Monday night, I was surprised to see the hotel access road blocked by a heavy gate manned by guards.  As my driver approached the gate, he popped the hood and trunk of the taxi before stopping.  One guard opened the hood and inspected the engine compartment with a flashlight while the other opened the trunk and ran a metal-detecting wand over my suitcase.  After the guards waved us in we drove to the hotel entrance where I had to put my backpack through an airport type scanner and I had to walk through a metal detector.  I suspected, and my local contacts later confirmed that these security measures were put in place following the terror attacks in Mumbai last year where Pakistani extremists invaded three hotels and killed many hostages.  The Indian Government now mandates that all hotels in the country be secured in this manner.  Sure enough, every hotel I have stayed in this week so far (4 and counting...) all had similar measures in place. 

Secured entrance to the La Meriden in Ahmedabad

Airports in India are also heavily secured.  You are not allowed inside the terminal building at all if you dont have ID and a printout confirming you have a ticket.  Every passenger gets a full security scan and pat down, and they have segregated security lines for men and women.

I suppose this should make me feel more secure, but it doesn't...

The Trip to Delhi

It wasnt an unpleasant journey from Minneapolis to Delhi via Paris, but I wouldnt call it fun either.  I couldnt sleep on the 8-hour overnight leg to Paris, arriving dazed at 6:00 AM to a nearly empty terminal for a 3 hour layover.  At least Starbucks was open...

At 6:00 AM, DeGaulle Airport looked about this blurry...

The Air France flight from Paris to Delhi was mixed.  On the plus side, the food and wine were not bad by airline standards.  However, Air France has somehow managed to pack this 777 10 seats wide when every other airline goes with 9.  They accomplish this by making each seat more narrow, and by shrinking the aisle width.  The result of course is that I have to lean towards the aisle to avoid shoulder contact with my neighbor, placing my other shoulder well into the aisle where is gets slammed by every passing body, suitcase and service cart.  8 hours of that was quite enough.  Next time I will fly KLM!  I arrived in Delhi at 11:00 PM, sore, exhausted and needing a bed. 

A driver had been arranged for me, a short young man with barely decypherable English who played 1940's pop songs on the car radio.  At least he knew where to go. 

The hotel was not far, at the end of a badly rutted road leading to an even more rutted parking lot which contained no cars.  the room smelled of mildew, the power across the hotel failed twice within the first half hour, the furnishings were worn and shabby, and I didnt care a bit.  All I needed was sleep which came around 1:00 AM.  

I was wide awake at 4:00...

Hard to see through the dirty windows of the Pllazio Gurgoan Hotel...

"Ah Beef! I will miss you most of all..."

This morning I finalized the details of my upcoming trip to India, my first time going there.   This is a place I have always wanted to see.  I will be there for 8 days with stops in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Ahmadabad.  If I can squeeze out any fun time while in the Delhi area, I hope to get to Agra.  We will see.

I got the needed shots and malaria pills, now if I can just survive a week and a half without beef and avoid anything that will make me sick, it should be a great trip!

The Chinese take couterfeiting to a new level...



Electronics market in Shenzhen

 Counterfeit products are everywhere in China.  Last year several bogus "Apple Stores" were discovered.  I wrote a few weeks ago about counterfeit taxis.  The list of fake products you can buy for a substantial discount seems endless, and occasionally the Chinese government makes an attempt to do something about this.  Here is my favorite news story from my most recent visit to Shenzhen:

It seems that bogus Apple products, iPads, iPhones and the like have been making their way from mainland China to Hong Kong, and catching shipments of these products at the border has become a priority for governments on both sides.  Recently, one such shipment was discovered near a border crossing between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the goods seized and arrests made...but this did not go down the way you might think.   As it turns out, the smugglers, who were in reality undercover police arrested the police, who were not policemen at all but theives disguised as cops trying to steal the counterfeit merchandise to sell for themselves.  Fake smugglers of fake goods arresting fake cops!  You gotta love this place...

Get your moon cakes while they last...

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching in China and everyone is selling Moon Cakes...even Dunkin Donuts!



From the Dunkin Donuts in Shekou


Saw them at Starbucks too.  If you are not familiar with these, they are small cakes with a "surprise" inside.  The "surprise" is a filling of some sort.  Maybe some fruit, perhaps an egg, maybe some fish, or who knows what else.  Kind of like Cracker Jack, only stranger.

Gangnam Style!




View from the Novotel in Gangnam



After spending a week in Chinese cities, I really appreciate Seoul.  This city is huge.  At 20.5 million people, it is the second largest city by population in the world behind Tokyo.  But despite its size, it bears little resemblence to places like Shanghai.  For one thing, and I noticed this immediately,  Seoul is much cleaner.  Shanghai seems to be perpetually covered in dust, there are little piles of rubble everywhere you look, and the grime makes even new buildings look shabby and poorly maintained.  Also unlike Shanghai, Seoul traffic actually flows, drivers seem to actually obey things like stop lights and lane markers.  Driving here does not resemble a blood sport.

I am staying in the Gangnam neighborhood, probably best known to Americans (at least those under the age of twenty) from this video - a humorous dance and song making fun of the rich people in this part of Seoul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

I was only in Korea for two days, but had a very enjoyable time.  My Korean colleagues took me out for a traditional Korean dinner; shoes off,  sitting on the floor,  and maybe a dozen different dishes - all of which were quite good and nothing too strange.  The best was something that required assembly - a sesame leaf onto which you place a piece of roast pork and some kimchee, You are supposed to roll it up and eat in one bite - using only your chop sticks, including the rolling part.  I apparently have a lot to learn about mastering the use of these - the Koreans made it look easy - mine looked like it had been run over by team of horses.

After dinner they took me to a Karaoke bar.  Yes, I sang....sort of.   Two pieces of advice here.  If you can't sing worth a damn - like me - you can still sound good on a Bob Dylan song because after all, Bob can't really sing either.  I think I rocked on "Like a Rolling Stone".  The second piece of advice; Freddy Mercury had a great voice so I appologize now to the surviving members of Queen for what I did to "We Are the Champions".  I never really liked that song anyway...

By the way, every toilet I have seen in Korea has a control panel.  Just study the buttons on the photo below.  All I will say is....  well, lets just say this is interesting and leave it at that.



Mission Control!



Riding China's High Speed Rail



Our train pulling into Wuxi East Station

 Larry, my Chinese colleage and I flew Wednesday from Shenzhen to Wuxi, and had to be in Shanghai that same night.  Larry had no car to use for the 2-hour drive to Shanghai - this is a blessing as two hours of Larry's driving is agony for me.  Instead, we rode one of China's new high-speed rail lines.  China has built the worlds largest high-speed rail system over the last decade, linking all of its major cities. 

Unlike American passenger rail service, the Chinese system uses dedicated tracks, not sharing the road with freight traffic and apart from one well publicized and tragic accident last year, the system appears to work well.

This was my first time on a train like this one, and I am quite impressed.  The train arrived exactly on time at the Wuxi East Railway Station, built specifically for this train line.  We also departed on time and arrived at the Hongqiao rail station (pronounced "hong chow") in Shanghai in only 29 minutes.  Even counting the taxi ride from Hongqiao to the hotel, the entire trip was only 1 hour - half the time it would take to drive given typically horrendous Shanghai traffic and equally horrific driving by Larry.  According to the display in our coach, we reached a top speed of 300 km per hour, that's 186 mph!  From the inside, the ride was smooth and quiet.  If you did not look out the window, you would have no indication you were traveling at such velocity.  Check out the video I took with my phone at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFuVbLrdzwc

The best part, no security line, no removing my liquids, laptop or shoes, and the fare was 50RMB, a whopping $8.00.  Including the cab ride, I traveled from Wuxi to my hotel for under $17.00 - far less than it would cost to drive.

A word of advice... Don't eat this!

One hopefully learns a few lessons when traveling abroad.  Sometimes we learn simply by being exposed to things that are new to us - kind of an osmosis process.  Other times we go searching for new experiences.  And other times...we learn by doing things that are really stupid!  Sadly, some days I seem to go the latter route.  So, as a public service, the following is something you should avoid doing:

No matter how late it is...

Regardless of how long it has been since dinner...

...or how hungry you feel...

...or how many adult beverages you have consumed at your favorite Shenzhen bar...

...or how much face you think you will lose with the cute bartender who offered it to you...

Do Not.....I repeat, Do Not eat one of the dozen or so spicy duck feet just brought into the bar from a nearby street vendor!!

It's not that it tastes bad.  It doesn't. 

It's not that it's too spicy.  It isn't - not for me anyhow. 

It's just this; if you want to avoid knowing for the next couple of days what it would feel like to chug a bottle of Liquid Plumber, just say no.



Not the actual foot I ate, but you get the picture...

 I mean "Holy sh...." - well, you get the gist of it - no need for detail

Travelers are often warned to avoid street food, which is kind of a shame as in my opinion this is some of the best tasting stuff there is - but should you venture a try, be warned - your food may bite back!

I am feeling better now...three days later...