Day 77 of 100: The Taj Mahal

Probably the only reason to visit Agra is to visit Taj Mahal. When you come to India, you pretty much have to come to visit it in person!!

  



Totally white marble with colorful gems



Day 73-76: Jaipur adventure (India)

After the millionaire's wedding last nite, i had the driver pick me up at 4am to go to the New Delhi train station. so not much sleep there. These pics showed what i had to deal with at 5am at the New Delhi station.....wowwwwwwwwwwww.....thousands were sleeping on the ground and the board showing the train platform wasnt working. Whats worse was that there were many "fake" station officers to tell foreigners the train was canceled or the e-ticket required confirmation. Fortunately i read the story of the guidebook and didnt buy in to any of those. At first i was still communicating with those fake officers in English and later on, i was like why should i talk to them in English so they could understand what i was talking about. I realized that communication wasnt the objective. so i switched to speaking cantonese to them and they didnt know how to respond and they walked away..i saw a poor japanese girl who fell into the trap and she followed those fake offcers around. according to the guidebook, those fell for the scamp would eventually miss their trains and ended up having to buy a 10x more expensive train ticket to get to the destination...i.found my platform and taghed along a dutch lady who was in the same carriage...so we stayed together to defend ourselves from the indians.

When i got to Jaipur and arrived in my hotel, i was ok. The hotel was actually quite nice from the outside. i hired a tuk-tuk driver to drive me around but then i realized how dusty the city is. I then felt sick and
ended up going back to my hotel room and stayed in bed for more than 20 hrs. I kept coughing and my throat was killing me. it was all from the polluted and dusty air. This was what i looked like when i went to the hospital the next day...

After i went to hospital, i slept for another 20 hrs. I felt a bit better on my last day in Jaipur. Therefore, i had the tuk tuk driver to drive me around visiting the pink palace, wind palace, city palace, amber fort.

Day 15 of 100: US$800 dinner for 2 without wine?

 

Yes, Conrad Maldives has the world's one and only undersea restaurant. They only served 6 tables per nite and it is a set menu without wine....it costs about US$800 for 2 persons (again without wine! but a bottle of water  was free :-)

Wanna see what's worth $800??? here you go:

Course 1:
BUTTERNUT PUMPKIN SOUP WITH CRÈME FRAÎCHE,
“ROVES DES GARRIGUES” SOFT GOAT CHEESE WITH PISTACHIO BRITTLE

Course 2:
HOME MADE TERRINE OF “MI-CUIT” FOIE GRAS WITH PAIN D’ÉPICES,
FRESH FRUITS WITH CASSIA BARK
TASMANIAN LEATHERWOOD HONEY WATER BUBBLE
TOASTED BREAD WITH SALTED PECAN NUTS, MICRO LEAVES, WALNUT DRESSING

Course 3:
GELÉE OF OYSTER WITH AYALA “DEMI-SEC” CHAMPAGNE,
AVOCADO, CRAYFISH CONDIMENTS, SWEET CORN SORBET

Course 4:
OCTOPUS AND LOBSTER “EN SOUS VIDE”,
BINTJI POTATO COOKED IN ÉCHIRÉ BUTTER,
PIQUILLOS AND CHICHARRONES

Course 5:
ROASTED WILD DUCKLING FROM VENDÉE,
WHITE ASPARAGUS, TAMARIND,
FRESH BERRIES AND MANGOSTEEN JUS

Course 6:
WILD DEER FILLET WITH BALINESE LONG PEPPERS
POMEROL WINE SAUCE WITH TARRAGON DIJON MUSTARD
FRICASSÉE OF CEPS

Course 7:
FINE CHEESE SELECTION

Course 8:
CHOCOLATE SOUP WITH WILD ORCHID “FEMME”,
CHOCOLATE BAR WITH MACADAMIA,
VANILLA AND CINNAMON ICE-CREAM