What?

Our house is in a gated community that is located next to a water buffalo farm. We are lucky enough to be the last house on the street and are directly next to the farm separated by a wall.

I noticed the strangest sight this week. Apparently one of the cows had given birth to a still born calf.

I'm sure there is a reason for this, but the farmer has hung up the dead calf on the shed where water buffalo eat.

I'm confused...why would he do this...it seems a little mean?

Singapore

My parents recently came for their 4th visit to Hyderabad...
I felt there isn't much to do in Hyderabad that they haven't seen so we took them to Singapore.

I like to call Singapore the anti-India. (By the way this yam flavoured ice cream tastes like captain crunch cereal.)

Singapore is known for it's orderliness. (Is that a word?)

Here is a picture of us crossing the street. Everyone waits (like they should) until the light says they can cross and it's a mad dash to get to the other side so they will be on the other side before the light changes...It was kind of thrilling and felt good to be so exact.

Here is the night market...people crowd into the narrow aisles to hunt for bargains.

This guy was at a fruit juice stand. Art is subjective.

I don't know what kind of fruit this was but they were everywhere...I love the color.

We were in Singapore right before Chinese New Year (welcome Year of the Ox). It seemed everywhere we looked you could see red and gold lanterns. There was so much excitement in the air...it felt a lot like Christmas.

One night John and I stopped at a stand for a snack and took a picture of a crab escaping from this basket... Looking back it might have been more friendly to the stand owner to tell him his crabs were escaping instead of sitting there taking a picture.

Here is John with his 'nerd' glasses he just bought at the night market...they are clear glass with no prescription (sometimes I cannot figure out what makes this kid tick).

My parents were really impressed with how well John uses chopsticks...He was really impressed with how well they use silverware.

Here is a picture of the hotel we were staying at. The Intercontinental is adjacent to the Bugis Junction Mall and across the street from the night market. It's such a nice hotel...this was our fifth/sixth time visiting and this is our favorite place to stay.

This is a picture I like to call "keep that teenager in line!" I will threaten to show this picture to John's friends when he is a teenager if he doesn't...clean his room...come home on time...just say no...

More colorful lanterns.

Mom and Dad having some fresh squeezed sunshine.

John, Scott and Robyn at the dim sum restaurant.

Can you guess what this is?

Who said octopus balls? You're right!

We saw this restaurant at Bugis Junction mall...it's theme was the U.S.A. They had these standees of Obama and McCain to invite people into the restaurant...finally a use for politicians!

Yummy Asian sweets!

Mike and Scott on the crowded subway.

A peaceful bamboo garden.

What vacation wouldn't be complete without a trip to Starbucks?

Mike...What's in the cup that's making him smile like that?

Three Smiths on a fountain.

Chinese New Year Lanterns.

Just outside of the Chinese market was a Hindu temple....I had to take a picture.

Here is the Chinese market... I don't think it is normally this crowded, but people were stocking up for the New Year celebrations.

We decided to go back to the American-themed restaurant and see what they had. Here is a picture of the two Johns.

What could be more American that deep-fried food dipped in melted cheese (ahh to be young again).

Here is a picture of John and me having a pedicure via sucker fish.

The fish nibble at dead skin...yes it tickles.

We went to the night safari at the zoo. This is such a clever idea. You ride a tram around the zoo and see the nocturnal animals frolicking in natural settings...It was interesting how many Indian animals they had.

John, Scott, Donna and Mike on the tram.

John and I enjoyed the fish pedicure so much...we talked Scott into going back and trying it.

Here is a picture of Scott's feet.

This explains how the fish work...if you can read it.

We stopped for some late night satay and were visited by this little gecko. He was very friendly.

My guys.

Singapore is only 1 degree north of the equator. It is very tropical - reminds me a little of Hawaii.

The Smiths would not go to Singapore without going out for conveyor belt sushi. It was interesting to take Mike out for his first sushi...couldn't talk Donna into trying it.

John took a picture of one of his favorite things to eat. Edamame swimming in soy sauce.

Singapore has such interesting architecture. This is a glass building where they strategically placed sun shades to counteract the green house effect. This building has many nicknames, but it's twin next door makes the buildings look like fly eyes.

This is a relatively new attraction in Singapore...the Singapore Flyer was shut down for repairs while we were there.

Ancient banyan trees.

I love how they painted these shutters different colors.

We stopped at the famous 'Long Bar' at Raffles Hotel. This is where the Singapore Sling drink was invented. Here is John doubling up (there is no alcohol in these ones but lots of sugar). Really expensive... but the peanuts are free.

Robyn, John and Scott at Raffles.

I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but this building is so thin it looks like a piece of paper.

Gesundtheit.

John insisted I take this picture...He thought it was the best Mona Lisa he's ever seen (and he's been to the Louvre).

We took a cable car to Sentosa Island. This (non-operational) one is made out of legos.

Scott and John on the cable car.

Scott and John gearing up for the street luge.

My Mom never seems to age.

Scott and John on the chair lift.

Robyn, John and Scott on the street luge.

Donna's Post

Hi kids, co-workers and friends. I thought I would borrow Robyn's blog to send you some of the pictures from our visit to India. Here is a picture of the traffic in India.

Here is a picture of a man selling chaat on the side of the road.

Here we are at 10 Downing Street. It's a restaurant in India with a British theme. Yummy fish and chips.

Here is a picture of us at the local craft village called Shilparamam.

This young guy was selling glass beads in the village. He would only except U.S. dollars from us. He was a good sales man but he should have been in school...not working.

Here is a picture of us at my favorite Restaurant in Hyderabad, Ohris. I love the crackling spinach (shh... don't tell the doctor, but what kind of doctor puts you on a no vegetable diet?).It seems like all of the traffic circles or round abouts have a statue in the middle.

We were there for the kite festival. There is a lady flying a kite here, but you have to look closely.

Here is a picture of someone making a delivery on his bicycle.

Family of three on a motorcycle.

We went to Charminar where you can buy a lot of things at a cheap price. Most of the vendors set up on the side of the road.

Here is a picture of a clothing store at Charminar.

Here are some fancy shoes... only $1.50 a pair!

Charminar is famous for their bangles.

This is a picture of a mosque.

India can be quite crowded.

Here is a picture of Mohammad. He is Scott and Robyn's driver.

Family of five on a motorcycle. So far the most we have seen is 6.

Here is a picture of a lady begging outside of our car while we sat at a red light. The beggars here are very aggressive.

Here is a picture I took of an auto rickshaw while we were stuck in traffic.

One night we went out to play some pool and some other games.

This is Scruff doing an impersonation of a mermaid (would that make him a merdog).

Some of the laborers set up tent villages.

This was the biggest chicken I've ever seen. This chicken was as big as some of the kids who chasethem at Dixie.

Another family on a motorcycle. Women usually ride side saddle on the back of scooters.

This is Robyn, John and Scott posing at f cafe. Scott wants a chair like this.

This is a very interesting way to take your bicycle for a ride. If you can't tell it's two men on a motorcycle with a bicycle.

In the News

There are a few big stories happening now in Hyderabad...
There was a lorry (British talk for big truck) strike. The most obvious effect this has on us is that gas is not delivered to petrol stations (British talk for gas stations).

I was driving down the street in my gas guzzling SUV to find queue ups (British talk for line ups) kilometers long of cars waiting to get into the stations in hopes that petrol would be delivered soon...(I don't know...maybe by camel). The strike only lasted a few days but caused enough havoc that I have a new found respect for lorry drivers.

The other even bigger story is that one of the IT companies (Satyam) has been unethical and looks as if it will collapse.
A lot of people may be out of jobs...flooding the market with c.v.'s (that's British talk for resumes).

Yesterday there was a short story in the Times of India that I found...disturbing...but interesting enough to blatently plagiarise (British talk for plagiarize) and copy the story word for word on my blog... (My comments are highlighted and not part of the original story)

Satyam lies kill teacher (Those teacher killing bastards!)
A teacher committed suicide at Phagwara after losing around Rs. 14-15 lakh (Indian talk for 100,000) in stock market. According to his family, he was depressed for the past few days after losing money, but on Wednesday when the Sensex dipped further after the Satyam shock, all his hopes crashed. A teacher of mathematics at Guru Har Rai Public Senior Secondary School in Dosanjh Dalan, Harsh Kumar, 35, was a resident of Urban Estate area. (Wow...He worked at Guru Har Rai Public Senior Secondary School in Dosanjh Dalan? I have a friend that went to Guru Har Rai Public Senior Secondary School in Dosanjh Dalan... I love Guru Har Rai Public Senior Secondary School in Dosanjh Danlan. I want to send my son to Guru Har Rai Public Senior Secondary School in Dosanjh Dalan! Guru Har Rai Public Senior Secondary School in Dosanjh Dalan football rocks) "He had been in a state of depression for quite some time after losing a lot of money in the market," said a member of his family. On Wednesday night, he went to a nearby grocery shop and consumed celphos tablets there. (Clean up on aisle 3) He was rushed to two private hospitals that refused admission seeing his serious condition. (I guess that hospital has a different meaning in India) He was then taken to DMC Hospital (not to be confused with Run DMC Hospital), Ludhiana, where he succumbed on Thursday. He's survived by wife and a year-and-half-old son. Sadar police SHO SS Bal said family of the deceased said he had lost money in the stock market, which drove him to take the extreme step. "It is not yet clear in which companies he had invested. We are also looking into the possilility of the Satyam shock precipitated the tension," he added.

Depression is a serious disease but can be treated...maybe this guy should have spent less time playing the market and more time in therapy.

My condolences to his abandoned wife and child and I hope anyone else thinking they should go to the grocery store and kill themselves to show Satyam how upset they are will reconsider...

Here is a photo of Ramalinga Raju, the disgraced promoter-chairman of Satyam...I got the photo off of the internet...The top of the picture is cut off to hide his devil horns.

Peeping Tom

We have windows next to our shower in our bathroom. The glass is frosted for privacy, but we open one of the windows a little for ventilation. Our shower is on the second floor, and the window is high so I thought I was safe from prying eyes.
On the other side of the window is a tree. I was looking out the window today while I was washing. I noticed something in the tree moving. I'm always looking for the monkey because he makes the dog go berserk.

The more I looked at the tree the more my eyes started to focus on what was making the branches move. It was a bright green parrot. He blended perfectly with the leaves of the tree. Then my eyes focused a little more....

It was a tree full of bright green parrots...talking and hopping from branch to branch...putting on a show for my entertainment... then I realized they were watching me as much as I was watching them.

It was one of the things I love about living here. Good or bad, small or big... everyday offers an experience that is different from anything I would witness back in the U.S.