Monday 8 June 2009

Wall Street owned Congress

As if the bank bailouts weren’t proof enough that Wall Street owned Congress. History will likely show that these bailouts involved the largest transfer of wealth ever — from the working class to that small group of billionaires who own the corporations.
This fact is recognized by most people now and is such common knowledge that even the mainstream media feels comfortable discussing it…matter-of-factly.
These corporations have also exerted tremendous influence in other realms of politics, working towards destroying Obama’s campgain promises of health care, job creation, civil liberties, the Employee Free Choice Act, peace, etc.
In each case, the promised reform was gutted of its essence, and “compromise” versions of the bills are now being discussed: instead of universal health care, we will likely be universally mandated to purchase health insurance; instead of “job creation” we are told that the stimulus has “saved jobs” (contrary to the evidence); while troops are “drawing down” from Iraq, the war in Afghanistan/Pakistan is being escalated; instead of allowing workers to organize unions easier, a compromise version – Employee Free Choice Act, minus card check — seems more politically “pragmatic,” etc.
Even Obama’s smaller reforms face similar partial abortions in Congress. For example, Obama recently signed into legislation the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. But, as The New York Times pointed out, the bill “was missing its centerpiece: a change in bankruptcy law he [Obama] once championed that would have given judges the power to lower the amount owed on a home loan.” ( Ailing, Banks Still Field Strong Lobby at Capitol, June 6, 2009)
Obama was not demanding that foreclosures cease, or that those who’ve recently lost their homes — because of the economic crisis — be allowed to return to them; he was merely advocating that those who can still afford mortgage payments be allowed to lower their balances.
Even this small crumb for homeowners was rejected by Wall Street, whose profits would have suffered.
The New York Times explains: “… the [bills] real threat was to their [the banks] profits. The proposal would have shifted negotiating power to the millions of troubled homeowners who could use the threat of bankruptcy to wrest lower monthly payments from lenders.”
This truth prompted an oddly blunt reply from Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse:
“This is one of the most extreme examples I have seen of a special interest wielding its power for the special interest of a few against the general benefit of millions of homeowners and thousands of communities now being devastated by foreclosure.”
The New York Times article also quieted those apologists for Obama who claim that he is an honest leader held back by an unreasonably conservative Democratic Congress:
“Throughout it all, the banks took advantage of the Obama administration’s seeming ambivalence. Despite its occasional populist rhetoric, the White House was conspicuously absent from weeks of pivotal negotiations this spring.”
And:
“While Mr. Obama reaffirmed his support for the proposal shortly after becoming president, administration officials barely participated in the negotiations, a factor that [corporate] lobbyists said significantly strengthened their hand.”
It must be noted that the corporation’s next big demand on the government will be to eliminate the tremendous U.S. debt, which they rightly view as a destabilizing factor for making profits. The problem lies in how they will propose to correct the problem: through the gutting of the U.S. social safety nets such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that benefit working families and the poor.
This government debt is the direct result of trillion dollar bank bailouts and wars of aggression that benefit only the rich. The working class, however, is being enlisted to pay for these polices.
The New York Times article ends with an important lesson:
“There was no counterweight to that [the banks] legislative muscle. Bankrupt homeowners do not have a political action committee or lobbyists.”
And while labor unions do have lobbyists, they cannot compete with the purchasing power of the banks. The fact that these two groups are both members of the same political party — vying for the ear of the same politicians — is utter lunacy. This tactic has yielded absolutely zero results for workers: every progressive promise of Obama’s has been butchered beyond recognition, or outright ignored.
This is because the Democratic Party is a party of big business, now more than ever. This fact is especially important in these times of economic crisis, where corporations are — because of shrinking profits — becoming louder in their condemnation of unions, while being emboldened by Obama’s horrendous anti-labor handling of the General Motors and Chrysler bankruptcies.
The political power of the corporations is dramatically exposing the rotten nature of America’s political and economic system — represented by the Republicans and Democrats — where the tremendous wealth of a small group allows them unprecedented power at the expense of millions of others. Without an independent political voice, the working class will continue to be “betrayed” by Democratic politicians whose pie in the sky campaign promises fail to yield even crumbs.

Saturday 6 June 2009

Amritsar, Punjab

I read this book "Shame" by a British Punjabi woman, Jasvinder Sanghera, talking about the force marriage and "live for the honour of the family", which are still existing in the Sikh/Indian/Pakistani community in Britain. She herself is borned and raised in Britain, but ran away from home to resist the force marriage at the age of 15, to a man in India who she has never knew or even met. She is disowned by her own family and been an outcast ever since. With her determination to help the other women who went through the same trauma as her, she set up Karma Nirvana, a community-based organisation to support the South Asian woman afected by domestic vilence and honour-based crimes. She araised my interest to see this holy place of Sikh, Amritsar.

I met with this young Hindu couple and visited the Hindu temple with them. There were on their honeymoon and were there to receive their blessing from the priest. They said, they had to run away from home due to the family objection for their marriage. They are from different caste.

What to see:


What else but the holy golden temple? The most significant place of worship of the Sikhs and one of the oldest Sikh gurdwaras. The temple is surrounded by a large Sarovar (manmade lake), known as the AmritSar (Lake of Holy Water or Immortal Nectar). All, man and woman, sikh or not, have to remove shoes and cover hair to enter the temple compound.

The worker or volunteer were preparing the chapati for all the devotees and visitors.

Go to the Indian-Pakistani border to feel the heat of the border ceremony.

What to drink: Chai!

Indian Chai is irresistable!

What to eat:

All are allowed to eat for free in Golden Temple. The atmosphere in the dinning hall was great. Queue up with the devotees and sit on the floor. Eating the simple rice and dal with hand. This is the generosity and equality preached by this religion.

What to do:

Shop for the cooked snacks, fresh fruits and vegetable from the small merchants!

Shoveling Billions

Our Economy Is Going to Keep Tanking Until We Stop Shoveling Billions to Rich People !!

For the past eight months, we have been a nation focused on bailouts and bankruptcies. For the past ten years, we have been a nation ignoring massive wealth transfer and wealth concentration through a rigged Wall Street.
As simple and clear as this picture is, some of the brightest minds in this country are unwilling to connect the cause and effect of wealth in too few hands to bankruptcies and a tanking economy.
Wealth-deprived consumers can’t buy the goods and services being produced. This leads to repetitive cycles of layoffs and growing unemployment which leads to more wealth-deprived consumers leading to more overcapacity in production plants, more layoffs, more shrinking purchasing power.
The accompanying, and equally dangerous, problem is that concentrated wealth stifles the very innovation that is necessary to create new industries, new jobs and lead us out of the downward economic spiral.
Let’s think about the individuals who tapped into Wall Street’s rigged wealth transfer system and what they have done with their ill-gotten loot: typically, they own three or more homes, fancy cars, multiple country club memberships, airplanes, yachts, and numbered offshore bank accounts. The problem is, they just can’t buy enough to compensate for the purchases they have deprived hundreds of thousands of other consumers from being able to make.
Goods sit on shelves, new orders get cancelled, leading to production cuts, layoffs, plant closings and bankruptcies.
In a nutshell, it’s the $1 Billion that Sandy Weill extracted from Citigroup as its former CEO and Chairman that’s the problem; it’s the $42 million condo he bought that’s depriving 140 other people from having $300,000 to buy a home ready to go into foreclosure for want of a buyer. It’s the hundreds of millions Weill is throwing around to plaster his name and his wife’s name on buildings that could be in the hands of 10,000 consumers going out to buy Chrysler and GM cars now gathering dust on the lots of dealers about to go bust.
It’s also that Sandy Weill and his colleagues of that era on Wall Street did not do anything worthy or smart in exchange for extracting that wealth from the system. They repealed the regulations that had kept the system on a more solid footing, then looted the system and left it a basket case. We have no residual benefits of innovation to compensate for all that missing wealth.
And that is the real and overlooked attendant danger: too many billionaires sitting atop too many billions tied up in mansions and yachts means that millions of budding innovators and entrepreneurs are being deprived of adequate funds to create the breakthroughs that will lead to new industries and future job growth.
And let’s not forget about the trillions of dollars of wealth that evaporated in bogus ventures that Weill and his fellow Wall Streeters brought to market on NASDAQ. Add those trillions to the bailout trillions and you’re looking at a lost generation of funds for innovation.
What all of this means is that President Obama has precious little time left to stop rewarding failure and bad behavior before his own Presidency is deemed a failure. It was difficult enough to countenance the reappearance in his administration of all those Wall Street faces who failed to rein in the Wall Street abuses or, worse, aided and abetted the actual creation of the opaque system that permitted the looting and pillaging. But this past week’s news that the President might be considering a pivotal role for the Federal Reserve in the new regulatory structure planned for Wall Street crosses the line, if true, from hubris to outright contempt for the American people.
The inherent cronyism of the Federal Reserve renders it utterly useless as a watchdog. (Why is it even necessary to have to state that obvious fact when no one can shake loose from the Fed what it’s done with trillions in taxpayer dollars or why it failed to police these Frankenbanks in the first place.) The same thing is true of the U.S. Treasury, which can’t auction its own debt without the goodwill of its Wall Street primary dealers.
According to March 31, 2009 data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, there are 8,246 FDIC insured institutions with total assets of $13.5 Trillion and domestic deposits of $7.5 Trillion. Four institutions, Bank of America Corporation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc., four institutions out of 8,246, control 35% of all the insured domestic deposits and 46% of the assets according to the March 31, 2009 figures from the FDIC.
Has the Federal Reserve taken steps to reduce this massive concentration since the financial crisis began? Quite the contrary. Bank of America was allowed to purchase the investment bank and brokerage firm Merrill Lynch as well as subprime lender Countrywide Financial; JPMorgan Chase took over the investment bank and brokerage firm Bear Stearns as well as Washington Mutual; Wells Fargo & Co. took over Wachovia.
The Federal Reserve’s answer to concentrated wealth is to concentrate it further. The Federal Reserve’s answer to unmanageable, dysfunctional banking institutions is to make them more unmanageable and more dysfunctional.
President Obama needs to do three things quickly to get the country back on course: he needs to separate investment banking/brokerage from commercial banks. This will restore risk taking and innovation to where it belongs, in non FDIC insured institutions. He needs to put new faces that Americans can trust in charge of real regulators with real powers. He needs to stop funneling money to zombie institutions that haven’t created anything of innovative value in a decade and channel those funds into innovative research and development projects.
President Obama needs to step up to the plate and stop listening to conflicted advisors. The fate of a nation, as well as his place in history, hangs in the balance.

Friday 5 June 2009

RBS Connections !! WOW !!

Gosthy Links are when one of Barclays’ largest Middle Eastern greedy shareholders announced plans on Monday night to offload its stake in the British bank, pocketing a large profit less than seven months after making its £3.5bn investment. Khadem Al Qubaisi, managing director of IPIC, adding that the sale did not represent a lack of faith in Barclays, its management or current strategy.

And by the meantime in the Southern arab world ; Egypt's Orascom Telecom Holdings and Rojhan Capital have expressed interest in acquiring the Pakistani operations of the Royal Bank of Scotland while Obama is Singing poetry ( Moneterization ):

The State Bank of Pakistan had granted in-principle approval the companies to conduct due diligence, RBS said in a letter to the Karachi Stock Exchange.
The central bank earlier gave approval to Habib Bank Ltd and MCB Bank Ltd, Pakistan's two largest banks, and Jahangir Siddiqui and Co Ltd to conduct due diligence.
Orascom Telecom owns Pakistan's biggest mobile company, Pakistan Mobile Communications Ltd (Mobilink).
RBS is selling assets in Asia, including Pakistan, because of its capital constraints and the need for the bank to reduce the size of its balance sheet.
RBS bought into Pakistan last August through its acquisition of Dutch ABN Amro Ltd. It operates 79 branches. RBS Pakistan has a loan book of 68 billion rupees ($840 million), deposits of 79 billion rupees and assets of 108 billion rupees.
RBS Rocks !!

Wednesday 3 June 2009

Jaipur (Pink City)

Jaipur also popularly known as the Pink City. The city that once had been the capital of the royalty, now is the capital of Rajasthan. Today it has a population of more than 5 million residents. The city was planned according to Indian Vastu Shastra (Vedic or Pouranic Planning for the comfort and prosperity of the citizens). The directions of each street and market are east to West and North to South.

I travel in a very basic way. I did not spend much on accomodation. There is different kind of accomodation in Jaipur. Jaipur is one of the most sought-after tourist destinations of India. Every year, this pink city greets thousands of people from across the globe. To serve the best, there is no problem regarding accommodation in Jaipur. Actually, this first well-planned city of India offers numerous places to stay. Jaipur is a majestic land of royal forts and palaces. Today, many ancient palaces have been converted into the heritage hotels, which offer immaculate hospitality to guests. Jaipur has plenty of hotels well equipped with all modern amenities. The city comprises variety of luxury, deluxe, heritage and budget hotels, one can choose the place of accommodation according to one's requirement and budget. The luxury hotels offer the world class ambience matching the international standards. The rooms are spacious and airy with proper ventilation. The hotels in Jaipur provide excellent services to serve as a perfect base for one's trip. The best part of accommodation is that, most of the hotels are conveniently located, near airport and railway station. For visitors seeking decent accommodation at an affordable price, there are innumerable budget hotels and guest houses. Moreover, Jaipur has a remarkable infrastructure that makes it comfortable to stay and explore Jaipur. Here are some Luxury Hotels in Jaipur :

Rajvilas - An Oberoi Hotel
The Rambagh Palace Hotel
Jai Mahal Palace
Rajputana Palace Sheraton
Man Singh Towers
Hotel Jaipur Palace
Chokhi Dhani - The Ethnic Village Resort
Hotel Maya Inter Continental


From my experience, you get good service in indian hotels. You can get a nice double room from 500 RS

There are cheaper options for accomodation. The Three Star Hotels in Jaipur:

Hotel Maurya Palace
Holiday Inn
Maharani Palace
The City Palace
Hotel Maya Inter Continental
Exclusive Royal Meal Venue


The Three star Hotels will provide you cleanliness and the sense of safety. The hotels are always well kept and clean. There is no reasons to be scared about your belongings. From 200 RS you can get a nice room.


When I visited Jaipur, I slept in cheap hotels and guest houses. There is many Budget Hotels in Jaipur:

Hotel K.K. Royal Days
Samode Bagh
Shahpura House
The Gold Palace & Resorts
Bissau The Retreat
Hotel Park Plaza


The best way to choose whice hotel is the best for you is to compare. When you compare Indian Hotel make sure you:

- compare cleanliness
- compare price
- compare comfort
- compare the people that own the place
- compare the location

Many hotels and cheap accomodation will tell you things that may not be true. I suggest you to go in small guest house that you can find by walking on the streets.

What to eat: Indian Sweet & Chapati


There are many activities to do in Jaipur. One of my favourite is to observe the life going there. It is a very different lifestyle than where I grown-up. In Jaipur, there is many Tour available. You can book some Tour with some tourist agency. All the tours are quiet the same. The only thing here that we should be aware of is the honesty the people that sell you the tour. make sure they are reliable so you will not end-up in a junk tour situation. My suggestion here is to design yourself the perfect tour and find out the wat to make it real.

Rajasthan the royal city of India is one of the most exciting tourism destinations of India . This amaging romantic state is well known for monumental beauty, marvelous forts, lakes, sizzling desert, harmonious traditional music, rich culture, colourful festivals etc. Considered as one of the most famous tourism destinations in India as well as in world. There are a lot of places of tourist interest in India having numerous eye catching attractions. Delhi - Agra - Jaipur - Pushkar - Ranthambore - Kota - Bundi - Chittourgarh - Bijaipur - Udaipur - Kumbhalgarh - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer - Bikaner - Mandawa - Delhi

Make sure that you got medical insurance if traveling in Jaipur and india. Medical insurance can save you time in India. Medical Insurance should be bought previously your arrival. Medical Insurance cover many aspects of healthcare. The price of a cheap medical insurance starts from 5000 RS.

Freshly made chapati in a small shop.


The worker was cooking milk to make sweet on the street.

Workers in India have to be fit. The work in India always requires exercises. Now we can see a new generarion of gyms in India. People in India want to be fit and look good. Womens want to loose weight and get fit. In india people want to be healthy . The best way to get fit in India is the same as every where. You need to do exercises. There is many way to exercises in India. First at work or at the gym. If you dont have a gym nearby, there is many exercises that can be done from Home. Many exercise programs can be found online.

If you are looking to get fit at a facility tested the nation over, a gym chain may be the one for you. To ensure you don't end up worse off then before you were trying to get fit, check out the stretching and warming up exercises that will help prevent injuries. Taking your first steps to exercise can be a bit daunting - everyone else looks like they know exactly what they are doing, the equipment is strange, there's even a new language to learn. But there are simple things you can do to make it easier. Where do you find motivation? It's a necessary ingredient of any exercise program, but can prove remarkably elusive at times. There all different kinds of fitness classes, so it's worth checking out a few to see which one is right for you. What are beginners' workouts? While anyone can do the same type of workout, someone who is new to exercising will want to do shorter, les intense workouts until they have gained some experience and conditioning.What sets beginners' workouts apart from those that more experienced exercisers might do? The biggest differences will be duration and intensity.

For runners the rule is to increase your weekly mileage by no more than 10% per week, and you can apply this rule to the total time you spend working out.For intensity, either use a heart rate monitor, or rate the effort of your workouts. You should get a couple of months steady endurance work under your belt before beginning more intense workouts such as intervals.

Boost your metabolism by including physical activity into your daily routine. A brisk walk, a swim, or participation in a sport will instantly make you feel more alert, and ready to take on the day ahead. Begin by introducing fun activities that you enjoy, as they will keep you motivated. If you are pressed for time, you may even consider ways of making slight adjustments to your existing daily activities by replacing the elevator with the stairs, or cycling to work rather than driving.

In effort to gain more energy, don't forget about exercise. When you exercise on a daily basis, your body releases a substance called endorphins throughout the body, which help to improve your energy levels and put you in a better mood. The best type of exercise for increasing energy levels is often something that gets your heart working harder. Such examples would be intense cardiovascular activities such as running, kickboxing, or cycling, or else hard weight lifting.

Both will send a surge of adrenaline throughout the body, helping to 'wake' you up, so-to-speak, and give you plenty of energy for hours afterwards. The other variations you may want to perform are those geared towards stress relief. Stress is a huge zapper of energy and when levels are high, you are, without a doubt, going to be feeling it. Activities to try that will help to take care of this problem include yoga, pilates, stretching, and deep breathing exercises . All of these can be done at the end of a tiring workday to help give you more energy for your evening hours. Keep in mind that if you are just getting into physical activity, you may feel more tired at first and not want to continue. Try and keep going though because after two weeks or so of being physically active, you will notice the benefits start to kick in.

Jaipur is now offering many fitness options to get fit or loose weight. India has a lot of qualified people like Physiotherapist to help you reach yout target.

What to see: Animals on Action


Most buildings in the city is redish brown in color. Take note that, the goats were on the roof and the children were feeding them.

What to do: Shopping

Small shops like this selling all kind of sourvenirs to tourist are all around the city centre.

The open stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables on the street is a convenience and cheap way to buy daily fresh greens.

Thursday 28 May 2009

Jaiselmer (The Golden City)

The Hill Fort of Jaisal (name of its founder)

Jaiselmer stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. Many of the houses and temples are finely sculptured. It lies in the heart of the Thar Desert.


Camel is a mean of transportation, of course! Many tours in Jaiselmer are available. Beware which one you choose. Some cheap tours in India does not worth it.

The town is covered by a think layer of sand.

Women working at construction site. In Rajasthan, women wear different kind of "sari" than those that we normally see at the other part of India.

The old city or the fort is a bit 'run down' and not very well maintained. The jain temple is worth a visit though.

What to see: Desert

The desert looked it the sand wave. There are some small merchants carry some cold drinks all the way to the desert in order to sell it to the tourists who are on their camel/desert safari. Price is of course slightly inflated, but still reasonable.

Sunset at the desert.

Sunrise at the desert.

What to do: Desert/Camel Safari

Good sun protection is very important for camel safari! After days or even just one day of riding on the camel, it is normal to feel sore all over the body!

Most part of the desert is actually looked like this, with a little bit of the plants growing.

Water feeding time for the camels. You will feel grateful to no ride on the camel after a couple of hours!

What to eat: A bit of sands ...


The camel man or the safari guide is the cook. Eating a bit of sands from the desert won't do much harm!

Where to Stay: Above of the well, under the open sky.


We slept on top of a piece of cement on the well, not realising that, until the guide removed that piece of the cement. Sleeping under the moon and open sky, in the middle of desert is an amazing experience. These two hungry and skinny dogs had been following us all the way half way when we were in the desert, waiting to share a bit of our meal and water.

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Jophur (Blue City)

The Sun City

Jophur is the second largest city in Rajasthan. The city is known as the Sun City for the bright, sunny weather it enjoys all year. This means, it is real real hot during summer. It is also referred as the Blue City due to the indigo tinge of the whitewashed houses around the Mehrangarh Fort. The old city of Jodhpur is surrounded by a thick stone wall.

i heard a few theories of why the old city is blue:
1. The colour blue absorbs very little of the sun’s heat and this keeps the houses cool.
2. They started out as just being painted blue to mark the presence of a brahmin, but when it was discovered that the blue pigment used was an effective mosquito repellent, everything suddenly went a little blue around here.

Mehrangarh Fort is just around 125 meter above the city. It was an easy climb up just from the one of the small walking path around the city. Beware of dogs!


The fort spreads over an area of 5 sq km in the heart of the city. This 7 gates fort is a beautiful landmark in Jodhpur. I would said, this is the best fort in my whole journey in India. Magnificient, beautiful and well preserved.

What to see:


The narrow small street in the old city. There are many shops and activities going on in these small streets.

Donkeys prove to be a useful mean of transportation in the small alleys.

Small street performer with a huge turban in the fort. Don't forget to pay for his entertainment services.

What to eat:


The mangoes from the street stalls or bazaar. Sweet, fresh and cheap.

What to do:


Shopping ...


Join the local for a snack or drink : pakora, bhaji, chai ... (forget about the coffee though. It will taste like tea.)


Enjoy the luxury of beard shaving and massage by the barber. He could do eye liners and ears digging for your as well!

Friday 22 May 2009

Udaipur (White City), Rajasthan

Romance in Lakes City


One of the most romantic cities in Rajasthan, Udaipur is also known as the city of lakes. The marble palaces, beautifully laid out gardens and the lakes make Udaipur seem almost like a mirage in the desert.


The founder of Udaipur, Maharana Udai Singh, was overcome by the misfortunes that his old capital of Chittaurgarh had to face due to repeated attacks by the Mughal armies. On the advice of a holy man, Udai Singh shifted his capital to the banks of Lake Pichola- the city was named Udaipur after him.




Udaipur is famous for it's Lake Palace, which covers an entire island in the Pichola Lake. Many of the palaces have been converted into luxury hotels. Some of the best Udaipur Heritage Hotels are :Amet Haveli ,Fateh Garh , Fateh Prakash Palace, Inder Prakash ,Jagat Niwas Palace, Jaiwana Haveli, Kankarwa Haveli, Karohi Haveli, Laxmi Niwas Palace, Mahendra Prakash, Mewar Haveli, Hotel Natural, Rangniwas Palace, Hotel Shikarbadi, Shiv Niwas Palace, Shree Jagdeesh Mahal, Wonder View Palace . These are some of nice Hotel in Udaipur. The city of Udaipur is know to provide ood accomodation in India. Some luxuary hotels are available in Udaipur, India. Here are a few to help you to compare:

Lake Palace, Trident Udaipur and Udaivilas.

Udaipur has some Deluxe Hotel which is a good price. Here are some hotels that are available in udaipur, India :

Hilltop Palace,India International, Lake Pichola, Oriental Palace Resorts, Panna Vilas Palace, Paras Mahal, Radisson Plaza Resort, Raj Darshan, Rajputana Resorts, Ram Pratap Palace, Royal Retreat, Shilpi Resort, Udai Kothi, Vishnupriya.

Udaipur offers a nice range of cheap accomodation for an Indian city. Some of the best cheap accomodation in Udaipur are :

Ashish Palace, Baba Palace, Govindam Palace, Padmini Palace, Kajri - RTDC Hotel, Krishna Niwas, Krishnalila Regency, Saheli Palace, Sarovar on Pichola, Swaroop Vilas.

The best way to save your rupees is to choose a cheap accomodation in Udaipur. India got a wide range of cheap accomodation:

Balunda House, Haveli on the Lake, Mountain Ridge and Pahuna Haveli.

Please contact me for my personnal advices.

Standing on the east bank of Lake Pichola is a massive series of palaces built at different times from 1559. The balconies of the palace provide panoramic views of "Jag Niwas" (the Lake Palace Hotel), Jag Mandir on one side and on the other the city of Udaipur.

Where to Stay: Lake Palace


The Lake Palace is now a luxury 5 Star hotel.
If you can't afford to stay here, there are many many small hotels and motels within walking distance at a very affordable rates. (Low season: 80- 150 Rp for lake views room, up starts at least at 300 Rp during high season.)

People in Action:

i haven't see many women doing construction job. But over here, children and women both take part in the building construction.

There are a lot of activities going on by the lake. People bathing, washing, swimming ...

The devotees heading to the temple. Some temple like this one, allowed only Hindu to enter.

What to do:

Join the local to bath and swim in the lake!

What to see:

i think the colorful trucks look very sharp and interesting. i linked bright color with sari and the trucks looked like wearing their sari.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Mumbai

Mumbai, formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtr. The city is the second most populous city in the world with approximately 14 million inhabitants. Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment centre of India. The city also houses India's Hindi film and televison industry, known as Bollywood. Mumbai's business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a better standard of living, attract migrants from all over India.

The best way to enjoy Mumbai is by having a nice hotel to calm down. I just came back from Mumbai with a very unpleasant experience behind me. I had 6 hours to kill and had been hussled into booking into a hotel rather than staying at the airport: the Hotel "shuttle"took me there only to find out that the fee was 9900 rupies- no choice of rooms were given. The hotels'name: hotel Solitaire! Room given had airco running on one speed only blowing me off my bed. Complains got to nothing. I stongly recomment against using this hotel.

There are many hotels in Mumbai. Mumbai Hotels are from different range of prices.

Ascot Hotel can be found at 38 Garden Road in Mumbai. Located right in the middle of Colaba, it is a wonderful location for any traveler who wants to explore the sights. The rooms are spacious, modern, clean and (most importantly) cool – which means you can retreat to your oasis of calm after a hard day of sightseeing. Staff is accommodating and friendly, the breakfast is basic but plentiful and if you are still hungry there are plenty of places in the vicinity to choose from.

Residency HotelResidency Hotel is located on the corner of DN Road and Rustom Sidhwa Marg. Another hotel with a central location (located in the Fort of Mumbai and just 20 minutes away from Colaba) it can serve as a great base for further exploration. The rooms are basic but clean with fridge and water provided (although to be on the safe side you might want to buy your own water). If the hotel restaurant does not meet your expectations breakfast-wise there is plenty of places to choose from in the area. Excellent for any traveler looking not to overstretch their budget.

Chateau Windsor Hotel can be found 86 Veer Nariman Road. Located a short distance from the Marine Drive and about half an hour on foot from Gateway of India it means you can explore the sights comfortably during the day and enjoy the sunset views in the evenings. Chateau Windsor Hotel might not look like much on the outside but it does have all the qualities that make a good value hotel – clean, comfortable and spacious rooms with affordable breakfast and good location. If you want to treat yourself you might want to invest in an executive room, which also represent good value for money but offers more luxurious surroundings. Breakfast can be had on the roof top terrace but there are plenty of places in the area to choose from.

Hotel Suba is located at Apollo Bunder (minutes away from the Gateway of India). The central location means Hotel Suba could serve as an ideal base for any first time visitors looking to explore as many attractions as possible.Since the hotel went through a revamp recently the rooms are spacious, clean and comfy while the staff is accommodating. Breakfast is basic but because of hotel's central location there are plenty of restaurants, cafes and shops to choose from in the area.

This Hotels are not cheap. The best way to find some cheap hotel is by walking in the streets and looking for cheap guests houses.

Something Different from Back Home ...




Dharavi is routinely called "the largest slum in Asia," home for one million souls, where as many as 18,000 people crowd into a single acre (0.4 hectares).
Ask any longtime resident—some families have been here for three or more generations—how Dharavi came to be, and they'll say, "We built it."




Here, the traffic never stops and the horns always honk.
Its location has also made it hot real estate in Mumbai, a city that epitomizes India's hopes of becoming an economic rival to China.
In the narrow lanes, it is very easy to get lost in the slum. Ask the children for help!






Haji Ali Mosque. This early 18th century shrine contains the tomb of HAZRATH HAJI ALI, a Muslim Sufi saint.
One legend says that he was an Afghan mystic who lived and meditated here. He specifically ordered that after his death , his casket should be cast off into the sea off the shore of what is today Pakistan. However , the casket surfaced intact at the spot where the shrine is today.
The Haji Ali shrine is located on a small island on the Arabian Sea. There is a walkway which connects the shore to the shrine. This walkway is the only way to enter the shrine and it can be used only during low tides. High tides and monsoon rains completely cover the walkway.
Although it is a famous Muslim pilgrimage site, non-Muslim visitors are welcomed.


Dhobi Ghat, literally means washing
place in Hindi, from Dhobi - literally meaning washerman or one that does laundry and Ghat - generically meaning a large open space.
Typically in India, Dhobis call on regular clients, collect their dirty clothes and then take them to the Dhobi Ghats. At the famous Dhobi Ghat of Mumbai, India, which has rows of concrete wash pens, each with its own flogging stone. The Dhobi sloshes dirty linen into a soapy water mixture, thrashing them with the flogging stones, and then puts the linen into huge vats of starch. After which being dried, they are ironed and delivered to the owners. Now India likes washing machine. There are many models and brand of washing machines in India. There is many people that Iknow that did buy a new washing machine in India.





Crawford Market. It is fun to compare the market from the one back home. Actually I like to compare things. The insurance company in India are now very attracted with some western policies.There are fruits, spices, kitchen untensils and a wide selection of different products just under one roof.










People in Action:




It is not uncommon to see people, children especially, wash themselves up by the street. Beauty is now very important in India, especialy in Mumbai.

Beauty Clinics and Slons in Mumbai have internationally trained staff, offer personalised hair cuts, colouring consultancy, spa scalp & hair treatment system, rejuvinating facials, stimulating & energising footbaths, Aroma therapy and anything to make you a little more beautiful. Below is a list of the best beauty and health clinics in Mumbai.

Here are some nice place to visit to refresh your day with Indian Beauty centers!

Urmila's ,Sushila Vaswani's Shaman Beauty Salon ,Shahnaz Hussain Herbal ,Kit N Sam ,Berkowits Clinic ,Vandana Luthras Curls & Curves,Clarabelle ,Enrich Salon ,Fingers Hair & Beauty Salon.Hakims Aalim Hair Lounge ,Nalini & Yasmin Sagar Fortune,Neelam Natura ,Shahnaz Shop, The Taj Salon and
Urmila's Hair & Beauty Salon .














It is interesting to see the cow carts/carriage, bicycles, car, auto-rickshaw and any other form of tranportations to be on the same road.













What to Eat:

Do not really know what is the name of this, but it is a kind of common food that people sell in the train. Chick peas with onion and lemon. It taste very good and sometimes it can be spicy. The merchant will wrap it with newspaper.








What to Drink:








Many small merchants are making their living from selling snacks or drink by the street.
Do not miss the masala chai (tea with milk).






What to Do:





Sunbathing with the sea birds and children at Chowpatti Beach.











Where to Stay: Taj Mahal Palace & Tower (if you can afford :)

The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is a prestigious luxury hotel located in the Colaba region, next to the Gateway of India. This iconic 105-year old heritage building was commissioned by Tata.
It was in the eyes of the world as one of the targets of Mumbai 2008 terror attack.
If you can't afford here, stay at at the Salvation Army nearby then. But beware of bed bugs there.