incredibly, India: Day 2, part 1

From Day 1- browsing at Dilli Haat

Before I begin my recounting of day 2, let me start with how day 1 ended. With a shower. Because I am a night shower-er. I just like getting in bed and feeling clean. Anywho. I get in the shower and begin testing all of Anusree’s shampoos. Just kidding, Anu! But I start washing my hair, and going through the normal shower rituals. Until icy water begins to flow in abundance from the showerhead. Now, I have been in the shower all of 53 seconds when this happens. Needless to say, I am not ok with this. My fingers and toes are starting to turn blue. I urgently call out to Anu, “Um, the water is REALLY cold.” And she says, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, if you turn the water pressure high, the hot water runs out fast.” Great. I can barely move my fingers because they’re frozen and I’m shivering. Long story short, I had to go get into another shower that was in another bathroom in another bedroom. Wearing only a towel and having shampoo in my hair (I’ll give you a moment to laugh; it’s ok). Good thing no one else was upstairs. I've never been so appreciative of a hot shower.

Another thing I learned over this first night is that Nikka likes the covers. She may be small, but girl can steal covers like it’s her job. Though how she could use all that cover by herself is beyond me. I slept with just Anu the next night. I learned my lesson.

About an hour in, the sun started peeking above the horizon. Oh, and
that's not early morning foggy dew-- it's smog.

So, back to Day 2. We got up before the crack of dawn, got dressed in warm clothing and ate a little breakfast before heading out.Well, I dressed in warm clothing. Meaning a turtleneck. But it turned out to be really warm. Go figure. To start the day, we meant to leave at 6:30, but the driver we’d hired had trouble finding Anu’s house, so it was more like 7am. We piled into the backseat and got cozy with blankets and pillows. I wanted to stay awake to look at the sights we were passing on the drive, but it was dark, so I wasn't getting much.

There was a lot of dozing on this drive, with a few interesting pictures scattered in there, but other than a stop for gas and a stop at a rest stop where we ordered masala chai, it was uneventful.

We passed these two gentleman on the drive.

Something that I found interesting was that there are specific rest stops for tourists. They have walls that surround the restrooms and the shop and parking lot. We made separate stops for the driver-- I guess they aren't allowed to use these facilities. The tourist facilities have restrooms where you tip the ladies who are inside handing out paper towels (I don't know about the men's rooms, since I obviously didn't go in there), and browse shops that are filled with items that are targeted at tourists. With Anu's inside information, it was helpful to know we could find everything at cheaper prices elsewhere.

Eventually, we started getting close to the Taj Mahal (eep!). This icon was really the only sight that I had prior knowledge of before coming to India (hello, ignorance), so I was excited to get this tourist thing going.

The Red Fort

We passed the Red Fort on the way to the Taj and it was beautiful. The Red Fort is also in Agra, and apparently, you can see the Taj from the Red Fort. It was so named because (I'm assuming) of the red stone that was used to build it. There was also a Red Fort in Delhi, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Not to be confused, this was the Red Fort that we did NOT enter.

The cow.

In my excitement, I had my lens sticking out the window, snapping pictures of anything and everything (trust me, I had over 600 pictures in 3 days), when the driver made a turn and started driving through a herd of cows. Cows roam freely in India, so this was not unusal. I just wasn't expecting it, and nearly got cow nose juice on my camera. Needless to say, I got a very detailed shot of this cow. He (or she) could use it for their profile picture.

Here is where we got dropped off. Do you see the Taj? No? We didn't either.

The women, waiting.

Our driver dropped us off after the cow encounter, and we headed towards the Taj. We got a ride on a bike rickshaw and we were off! Until we got dropped off... on the opposite side from the entrance. I actually think we could have entered from that way, but Anu knows best. And we got to see a little more of daily life around the Taj. So we walked around, purchased our tickets, breezed through the short "foreigner women" line (guess February isn't a popular time for tourists) and headed in.

Nikka and I started taking pictures at the gate to the Taj and I think Anu was a little puzzled. She was probably thinking something along the lines of "guys, this is just the gate... the Taj is INSIDE." Eventually we went in, and saw it. The famed Taj Mahal. It was grand, beautiful and a testament to creative ingenuity and an emperor's love for his favorite wife.

The Taj Mahal, taken by yours truly, because I stood here!

Proof that she was there, looking straight at the Taj

We walked all around the Taj and up into the mausoleum. What was majestic from afar was intricate and meticulously crafted up close. There was detailed carving and inlaid stone everywhere. We had to wear coverings over our shoes or go barefoot to actually enter the Taj-- they wanted to keep it clean and shiny.

A detail shot of the inlaid stone-- designs like these covered the building. There were not only flowers, but inlaid Arabic script flowing up and down windows and columns. I believe it was from the Quran.

A view from the side as we walked around to enter
the Taj

There were a couple instances where people asked to take pictures with me (because I am clearly a foreigner), but eventually I just had to learn to say no. It was actually a little uncomfortable-- I'm not really anybody famous and it was a little awkward. This happened a few times, so I tried to be gracious but keep it short. I wonder why they wanted a picture with me. Is it the idealized conception of the west? Was it their impression that movie stars are often white? Was it because they had never seen a non-Indian in person and wanted proof? Was I a spectacle to them? I'm not unaccustomed to being stared at-- growing up as white looking child in a foreigner-sparse part of China made me accustomed to that, but going to places like India and the Philippines (which both have western colonization in their histories) and evoking a similar response intrigues me. I don't feel any ill will towards them, but I am curious about their perspective.

There was another set of these buildings and they
flanked the Taj- I wonder if there are or were living
spaces here.

As magnificent as the Taj Mahal was, I was struck by the building itself-- it centered on the mausoleum. Both the emperor and the wife for whom he built this palace were entombed there. There were no other rooms; all alcoves and nooks surrounded this tomb-- there were no living quarters at all. I know that the emperor built this for his wife after she passed away in childbirth and it is a symbol of great love in India, but I was saddened by this. Though the world knows, she never knew the length that he went to build this for her. Did he tell her how much he loved her when she was alive? Did she know?

The Taj, while it is now a national treasure and source of tourist income, never housed families. The emperor couldn't take it with him when he died to show her. How did it make his other wives feel to see him build this for one woman? Was building this structure an expression of how they felt about death? The afterlife? For me, it was a reminder of how temporal this world is-- how, no matter what we do, build or accomplish, we will one day die. And this makes me think-- I don't want to leave an elaborate and beautiful tomb behind me. Something to think about.

Any way. We took many pictures, and got some pictures taken and printed by a local vendor. I can't seem to find mine at the moment :( but hopefully they will turn up somewhere. I'll keep you posted if they pop up. 

Courtesy of Anusree :)

And here is where the intermission comes in. I know I have only covered the first part of this day, but I didn't want to overload on pictures or words; neither did I want to leave out details, because I want to be able to look back and remember as well. I spent a whole post talking about my first half day in India, so I thought this would be fitting as well.

Through my words and pictures, hopefully you'll see what I saw in this incredible India. 

Stay tuned for the rest of Day 2!

incredibly, India: Day 1

Possibly one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.
I love you guys! This was right after getting back
from picking me up at the airport.

I know this post has been long awaited by the three people who read this blog, so thank you for your patience! It's kind of wordy, but I threw pictures in, so get comfortable! Maybe with a cup of tea?

When you read or hear about India, what images come to mind? The Taj Mahal? Gandhi? British Trading Companies? Saris? White safari suits with elephants and camels? I ask because I am a visual person. Often I have to picture something to understand it or remember it.

India was, as the title of this post implies; incredible.

I saw so much over a short three days that it's hard to believe that I saw so much and encountered so many new and wonderful things.

It wasn't perfect, by any means, but to me, that is why it was, and is, beautiful.

I'll start at the beginning, shall I? I think it'd be easiest for me to go chronologically because I don't remember the names of all the foods we ate, or even all of the places we saw (the ones I do remember, I hesitate to say because my pronunciation is atrocious and does nothing for the beauty of Hindi). Perhaps my friend (hint hint* anusree) will read this and supply names for me to add so that I can try to order them here. Or you can try them.

I started from Singapore. The planning (here) and first legs of my adventures (parts I, II, III) can be found on previous posts listed above.

My family left at midnight, and the sadness of their departure was offset by my excitement of leaving for India at 8am on the same morning. The airport was, for the most part, sparsely populated but the waiting area for our flight was not. Mostly, there were Indian couples and families and a few non-Indian businessmen. I felt a little out of place with my clearly non-Indian, female, unaccompanied self. But that's ok, seems to happen a lot, so I just go with it. I knew going into this, with my two friends who are Indian and Filipino, that I was going to stick out any way.

I dozed some on the plane, since I hadn't slept much the night before. That is, until a violent dipping and jerking of the plane woke me and made me very thankful for my seatbelt. One of my neighbors muttered that the pilot must have dozed off. As scary as that possibility sounds, that was a very good way to describe it; like veering on a road, except in air, not on a flat plane (pun unintentionally intended).

I arrived with no other mishaps around noon local time, got through customs and got my luggage with no complications and proceeded out. I was a little unsure what to do from here because I had no rupees (Indian currency) and wasn't sure how to find my friends. Anu had initially mentioned one place, then emailed a last minute switch. I figured if I couldn't find them, I would just have to find a money changer, and make a phone call. I walked out and saw a large crowd of people waiting. I didn't see them at the front of the crowd, where I knew would be the only place they were easily recognizable since they're...shorter in stature (I love you Nikka and Anu!), so I passed through the crowd and circled around it to see if I could find them.

There they were. Tippy-toe-ing to see over the crowds. Their backs were to me so I decided to wait and see how long it would take them to see me. They were gesturing to each other, deciding where to go to get a better view of the arrivals. They turned to circle around and... started walking right past me (seriously guys, how many lone white girls are there at the Delhi Airport?)! So I politely asked, "Are you guys looking for someone?"

In a slightly annoyed manner, they turned to brush me off, and that's when the squealing and shouting began (good thing I actually knew them otherwise I might have gotten an earful). After much hugging and laughing and expressions of disappointment at not being able to use their sign to wave me down, we loaded up and headed to Anu's home.

These are pani puri shells. You can see the lime-y juice in the bottom
left corner and the tangy sauce directly above the shells.

Then I proceeded to have my first authentic, made in India meal. Oh. My. Satisfied. Digestive. Organs. Where has this food BEEN my entire life? Apparently what we had is normally eaten as an appetizer, but we had two appetizers as one meal. Let me just say, I could have eaten pani puri every day that I was there and still want more. Pani puri was this potato and bean stuffing in a crispy egg-shaped shell with this lime-y juice and tangy sauce over top. A perfect combination of crispy and soft, savory and tart and a little sweet; moist and so "MMM" evoking (that's the sound you make since your mouth is preoccupied with keeping all the food and drool in your mouth). We also had these round crackers that were topped with yoghurt, potatoes, cilantro and spices. So crunch-tastic. I didn't want to look like a pig so I tried to control myself, but I really wanted to scarf down the whole plate (I'm not kidding, you know I would). Anu also made Tiramisu for us and as much as she said it was terrible, I really enjoyed it, and I'm not a coffee fan (see how she helped me with my own rendition; here).

These were the crackers covered in yoghurt, corn, potato, cilantro and spices.

Can't you just feel her distress? This was the scrumptious, absolutely wonderful tiramisu that Anu made for us.

Then we were introduced to masala chai. Magnificent. It was a milk tea, but it had flavors of cardamom, ginger, mint and cinnamon. It was fantastic. We got it every chance we could.

Then Anu almost made me take a nap, but c'mon, I was in INDIA. Girl can sleep on the plane when she leaves. I had to take advantage of every minute!

So for the day, Anu had planned Sarojini and Dilli Haat (pronounced sah-row-gin-ee and dilly-hut, as far as I can hear. I might be way off). These were a street market and a craft bazaar, respectively. Hooray for bargaining again (Even though Anu did most of the bargainning because I speak zero Hindi)!

We took a subway into the city, since she lives on the outskirts. I took some pictures while the train was above groud. For those of you wondering about the poverty, it definitely existed, and quite often right next to the well manicured lawn of a mansion. This juxtaposition really struck me because it was common, whereas I feel like in other places I have been, officials and people try to hide the poverty, or push it out; that didn't seem to be the case here. It may have been because the population was just too high to do this or it was an accepted way of life.

Here is one example. Sorry for the blurriness-- our train was moving. It was common to see something like this, then right past the right edge of the photo, there would be a wall and a green backyard, maybe even with a fountain or a pool set in front of a large house.

Something else that struck me was the subway system. There is a lot of violence and sexual harrassment against women in India. It often goes unpunished and it is commonplace-- I would never consider traveling around India as I did, by myself. Unless I earned a blackbelt and invested in mace and a teleportation device. Then I'd consider it. Just kidding. But only a little. Back to the subway. The first car of every subway is a women's only car. Asking Anu about it, she said that women spoke up and demanded it and the subway officials had to put this in effect if they wanted to be successful with their customers. If ever a man above the age of about 6 stepped into the car unaccompanied by a woman, the glares they got were borderline comedic, and they would be curtly informed that this was the women's car and they had to move down. Even when an adolescent boy got on the car with his sister and mother, women stared at them for a long time. This was very seriously enforced. For lack of a better word, I thought this was a cool concept.

Sign denoting the women's car. It's sad that a woman traveling on her own feels unsafe, but this measure put in place to protect women was neat.

We got off the train and took a three wheeled motorbike to the markets. I like to see where the locals shop and some of the handcraft that is unique to the area. I laid down some rupees for jewelry (I'm a sucker for cute earrings) and scarves (so pretty and practical at the same time). I saw so many things that I loved, but didn't get. There were beautiful hand crafted leather shoes (I caved later in the trip), leather lamp shades that were handcrafted and painted, kurtas (tunic style shirts), saris, fabrics, metalwork decorative pieces and many more.

Sarojini; Here they have a mixture of branded clothing and local goods. I thought these three ladies were striking.

We went on to Dilli Haat. We had to get tickets to go in. Here, the price was the same for everyone, though in most every other place we went, foreigners paid a hefty bit more than nationals. As it should be, I suppose; I would want the opportunity to visit these places more often if I was a native and not have to spend a fortune.

All these pretties. I could have browsed this eye candy for hours.

Metalwork decorative pieces. I really have no place to put them, but I wanted to take 5 home with me, they were so pretty!

Leather, handpainted. This was one on a string of similar pieces. I think this design might be religiously affiliated, but I can't say that for certain.

This was something neat. There was a booth that sold miscellaneous items (laptop cases, small bags, decorative items,purses, mats) that were all made from recycled materials. This bag was made with cassette tape film. They were made by a people who were deaf or mute or had another disability. I was encouraged to see a social cause as a part of the bazaar.

I could have stayed for hours, just looking and taking pictures. I would say for most of this trip I wish I had more time, if only to take more care with my pictures. As it was, I kept my camera out most of the time. It got bumped against doors and other things more than once, but it's still intact and I have some priceless (to me) photos I wouldn't have caught if my camera had been safely tucked away.

I'm not sure exactly what time we headed back, but I want to say around 8:30ish. We were pretty hungry at this point, but Anu was pretty adamant about not letting us eat street food (except for two occasions, which I will tell you about later) because she wanted us to avoid all possibilty of Delhi Belly. Which, as much as I often think street food is the best food, I nonetheless obeyed her edict since I didn't have the time to adapt by going through the runs and didn't want any of my precious time taken away by an upset tummy.


It was dark and kind of late at this point, so we ordered pizza for dinner (yes, it pains me to admit I ordered pizza in India, but it's the truth). This pizza was not your average pizza. Again, much of India is veg, so the pizza options catered to that. We had one that had paneer (a type of cheese) and veggies, and one with just vegetables. It wasn't too bad. Though, I still like regular Indian food better than Indian pizza.

This was the paneer pizza. And I'm pretty sure this was either a large or regular size order-- you can see the difference in serving sizes.

Wooden birds.

We finished off the evening with masala chai and cuddled up in her big bed. Maybe it was just big because those two don't take up a lot of space (KIDDING. you guys are perfect as you are. and you are very slim). We went to bed a little early because our morning was scheduled to start at 6:30am. But, you'll just have to wait for the adventure to continue.

All in all, a very good start to this wonderful trip. As always, stay tuned!

I leave you with one last photo from Dilli Haat.

tiramisu

Yes. The dessert for my Valentine's dinner was tiramisu (See what I made for dinner here).

A little background on this. I had already decided what to make for dinner, but I was stuck on dessert. I was just about to give up and go with the ice cream I already had in the freezer, when I got online with my friend Anusree (yeap, the one mentioned here) and she immediately suggested tiramisu. This is why friends are beneficial. They help you out of ruts and moments of stuck-ness.

She actually made tiramisu for us in India, but she didn't like how it turned out so she added strawberries. I personally thought it was AMAZING, and I'm not big into coffee. So when she suggested it, it was a done deal because she said it was easy to make AND it's one of the boyfriend's faves.

So she, being the awesome person that she is, found me a recipe that was close to what she had made and sent it along to me. You can find it here.

For the most part I followed the recipe, but I made a couple changes, so I've included my version below. I also made this the night before Valentine's Day.** This recipe fills a 9x9 dish.

FYI: I didn't actually use the stove, I'm just short on
counterspace, so I set my dish here.

Ingredients:
1 box of strawberries (a quart I believe? you can always eat the leftovers!)
1/4 cup white sugar (plus a little extra)
1 cup mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
20 ladyfingers (give or take)
1/2 teaspoon of cocoa powder
a cup of coffee (I used instant)

To Create:

1. Cut the tops of the strawberries and slice them lengthwise. I put the two end pieces of the berry off to the side for decorative purposes.
2. In a bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup sugar and 4 tablespoons of coffee (more coffee for more coffee flavor). Beat with an electric mixer for a minute to a minute and a half or until thick
3. In a glass dish, dunk and lay ladyfingers to cover the bottom. Don't dunk for too long, you don't want them to disintegrate.
4. Spread about half the cheese mixture over the lady fingers. Add a layer of strawberries (as many or few as you'd like)
5. Repeat 3,4 with remaining mixture and strawberries and top that with lady fingers.
6. In a bowl (I used the same one that had the cheese) mix 1/4 cup heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat for about a minute until whipped. Spread over the top.
7. Dust cocoa over the top (I used a wire sieve)
8. To garnish, I took the strawberry ends and laid them down red side up to form a heart (Valentine's Day, after all), but you can garnish however you like. With whole strawberries, if you prefer!

**According to the original recipe, you can cut and serve pretty much immediately, but I let it set and cool overnight and I think it helped. This also saved me time when I was making dinner.

Good thing his hopes weren't dashed when he took a bite!

Notes:
I couldn't actually find lady's fingers because I was in a rush, so I used these biscuit/cookies that said Europe liked them with coffee. They disintegrated a little more than I would have liked, but they still tasted good in the tiramisu and held up well enough. I can't say that it was beautiful once I cut into the tiramisu and moved it to the plate, but I got a 99/100 on it, so I'd say it was a hit!

I must say I'm glad dessert turned out better than dinner (in my opinion), because it was a good note to finish the meal.

I only added 2 tablespoons of coffee to my cheese mixture and my coffee flavor was very very faint, so I think it would have been better if I had added more, so I added more in the recipe I gave.

Hooray for success!

The original recipe called for a more equal ratio of mascarpone cheese to cream and sugar, but I didn't want it to be too heavy or sweet, so I changed my ratios and really liked the result. Not too heavy and not too sweet. Obviously you can adjust to your own palette.

I omitted the strawberry puree part of the original recipe because I didn't think it would add too much to the dish since there was already strawberries in it. I'm sure it made for a classy presentation, though, so let me know if you decided to include it and what your results were.

So I tried two new recipes that I'd never tried before, and they ended up being quite the adventure. Let me know if you try it and what your results are!

Update: This recipe does NOT contain any liquers or alcohol. The one that Anu made for us, tasted like it did, but actually didn't since neither of her grandparents eat/drink alcohol. I think it was the higher concentration of coffee and sitting overnight that created the flavor, but again, that is just my own little theory (in case you were wondering).

chicken and dumplings

Sorry for the picture quality. Bad
lighting. I'll just keep working on
it, shall I?

Allow me to interject a brief interlude from my travel stories. Thank you for your patience!


I made dinner on Valentine's Day. Since the boyfriend had already taken me out to a delicious but very expensive dinner over the weekend, I wanted to do something for him the day of.

Enter chicken and dumplings; one of his favorite foods. Seriously, watching him eat this at a restaurant called Mama Dips in Chapel Hill, you would have think he had died and gone to heaven and Jesus had given him his choice of BMW.

I've always been a little confused over this dish, because to me, "dumplings" have stuff in the middle. So I find my version of dumplings more satisfying, but hey, that's what you get when he grew up in the South (of USA) and I grew up in China.

Moving on. I've never made this dish, but since he loves it so much, I decided to try my hand. I gave it a "ehh" and he gave it a 94/100. I guess that's reasonable for a first go.

Here is the recipe I based my cooking on, but I sort of altered it as I went. I'll do my best to reconstruct what I did. I doubled the recipe because the pot I used was bigger than it was supposed to be, so to compensate, I just added more! Here is my recipe with a few alterations to the original (the recipe here is not doubled).

Note: there are larger quantities of ingredients pictured here
than you'll actually need. Unless you're feeding an army.
Or a hungry boyfriend.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 + 1/3 cups of milk (extra for the dumplings)
1 cup of frozen corn, peas and lima beans (you can add a little more if you'd like)
1 cup cut up cooked chicken (I just bought some rotisserie chicken)
about 1 cup of cooked potato (also to your preference of potato ratio)
1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup of normal Bisquick
dash of thyme and paprika (optional and to your flavoring)


To Create:

1. Prepare ALL your ingredients ahead of time (seriously, very important)
2. I used small red potatoes- boiled them, then sliced them into quarters; set aside
3. Prepare your dumplings- mix Bisquick, 1/3 cup of milk and some thyme; set to the side. (Note: when I made it, I think my dough was too moist, so in hindsight I would have added more Bisquick to make it firmer. You don't want the dough to stick to your hands too much)
4. For this serving size, use a 3qt saucepan. Heat 1.5 cups of milk, soup, vegetables, potato and chicken to a boil. STIR A LOT
5. Gently drop in dollops of dough to your mixture. Sprinkle with paprika. I don't think you need to stir. I stirred and my dollops started to deconstruct a little. It turned out fine, but I believe your dumpling-biscuits will be more intact if you just let them sit.
6. Cook uncovered on low heat for 10 minutes, then cover and let it cook for 10 more minutes.

You can make yourself a comforting
honey and lemon hot drink to calm
yourself in this process, as I did.

Voila! Home cooked southern chicken and dumplings!

Notes:
It really would have helped to have everything prepared ahead of time. Since I was cooking on my own, I couldn't stir and prepare at the same time, so the soup and a little of the chicken burned in my pot, resulting in a smoky flavor throughout my dish. If you like smokiness, then my all means, let it sizzle a little (just a little-- I am not responsible for any fires or calls to the firemen), but otherwise, turn your heat down a little and keep that spoon stirring (P.S. letting it sizzle a little may or may not cause your apartment to smell smoky for hours and ruin a pot--consider yourself warned).

Abraham actually liked the smokiness, so the meal wasn't a catastrophe, but I would probably make it in this order next time as opposed to the order of the original recipe. And have him help me. And keep my stove on low heat.

Not actually on the menu. Abraham got me orchids!
He once got me potted tulips and so he says that once you
go live, you can't go back!

For those of you wondering, to combat aforementioned smoky scent, I turned on my stove's vent and put dryer sheets around my kitchen. Consider yourself absorbed Super Stubborn Smoke Smell! There's probably a better way to do this... but this worked.

But wait! That's not all. I couldn't have Valentine's dinner without dessert. So that'll be next up. What did I make? Well, you'll just have to wait and see!


Let me know if you decide to try this and how it turns out!