Juhu Beach

Mumbai's beaches are busy places, but there are moments of solitude to be found.

Religious observances can leave a lot of debris

but it keeps the beach cleaners busy

and the pigeons are well looked after too.

A Treat?

Currently appearing on the back of Mumbai buses.

 Hiranandani hospital has an odd idea of what a "treat" is.

Shore Leave

I like holidays and travel, I like historical sites and interesting markets, I like trying new food and finding out about different ways of life.  But I also like sitting with a book and sometimes not even reading it and for that there is not much required, just a shoreline:

Something to sit on:

And if possible an astounding sunrise or sunset, I'm not picky;

Alas this beach is a bit further flung than my old favourite beach in Goa which was voted "Best beach in India" and so got very popular and difficult to book for last minute getaways.  I had to travel all the way to Indonesia for this one so I'm still on the lookout for my own new version of my perfect Indian beach.

If you've got any suggestions, please send them my way. 

Kolkata Quickie

I'm squeezing in one last holiday before work starts again and am in Kolkata visiting friends, eating and taking pictures.

I'm working on trying to take pictures of people from the front, I am reticent doing this as I've mentioned before.

I tend to bumble around new places with the odd google search or tourist map to help me on my way but this time I signed up for a guided tour with Calcutta Photo Tours and can't recommend the experience highly enough.

I was guided around markets, places of worship and residential areas by Manjit, an exceptional story teller and gifted photographer and had an absolutely fantastic time. 

I learned so much about the city and enjoyed the experience so much that I've already decided to do another tour when I come back in December. I went on the Culture Kaleidoscope tour, next time I'll be mooching around markets

Airport survival skills

I'm pretty good at sleeping on the go but I aspire to this level of sleeping skill. 

A member of the ground staff at Surabaya International Airport catches a quick nap and still manages to look pretty professional while doing so.

Theiving Monkeys

 I am not a huge fan of monkeys, thieving little primates that they are.

The Husband however is enthralled by them so when around monkeys I usually snap a few pictures of them to pay him back for the hours he hangs around waiting for me to take pictures of things that he has no interest in.  Above Batu in Indonesia he was as happy as could be with frolicking monkeys stealing food from tourist:

This little monkey liked melon,

  This little monkey liked rice

 

This little monkey liked sweetcorn

 ... and this little monkey masterminded the entire raid.

Indonesian postcards

I'm in Indonesia, one of those places I have called "home" as I spent my High School days here.  It certainly has a comfortable feel about it as so much is familiar.  I'm able to get by in rusty and grammatically simplistic Indonesian, it makes me ashamed of how little Hindi I speak - about a dozen phrases and two cuss words.

However I feel I'm missing out on the usual tourist pictures, yesterday I saw a group of Dutch tourist clicking away merrily at a becak - a cycle rickshaw and I thought "why, it's just a becak?" However, with apologies for  not showing the usual sights - so far not even a paddy field or a water buffalo although I've seen plenty of them, a few pictures from my holiday in Indonesia.  Things you can buy:

You could buy an owl in the bird market

 and caterpillars, presumably to feed to birds.

 

You might fancy a painted, live, hermit crab as a pet.  I had no idea that this was a thing until I googled it, I can't imagine that a hermit crab makes any more interesting a pet if it happens to be spray painted with an angry bird or a hello kitty.

You can buy bubbles in the park, I nearly did that.

You can buy fruit everywhere.

Or a ticket on a twelve hour bus ride to Jakarta complete with live karaoke and a dedicated smoking area.

I have not bought any of the above.  as I've mentioned before I am not a good shopper.

Vada Pav

I'm Scottish so partial to potatoes, fried foods and anything between white bread.  I am unable to understand why the Vada Pav has not ventured into Scotland, it would become the national dish in no time at all.

As a menu might describe it; "A fluffy potato patty enrobed in crunchy batter nestling in a soft bun generously slathered with chutney". Best eaten immediately and often.

Heaven.

Passengers

I love all the patterns and colours and shapes surrounding the infant in the simple white shift.

Waiting zones

Mumbai is a crazy city and I love it.  I like the bustle and hustle and the noise and the smells, well almost all the smells.  I've got very comfortable weaving my way through the people and traffic and enjoying watching and joining in with the masses of people getting on with their lives. 

Recently my eye has been drawn away from the action the business and the activities to the quiet waiting that happens everywhere.  People, entirely comfortable in their spaces just waiting.  I do a lot of waiting too, just standing and watching and waiting to see what happens.  Here are two fellow waiters I watched recently:

Well, it's Mumbai, if  you wait long enough something's going to happen.