Calcutta

Got up at cock's crow and made myself ready for a day sightseeing. After a quick cup of tea I headed for the Metro and bought a ticket for Kalighat station. Once there I started asking directions to the Kali temple the station is named after. Eventually I got to some kind of temple but it looked more like a park and next to it was some complex that was closed. Later I learned later that I had been in the wrong place. After walking around in circles there for awhile I took a taxi to College Road.

Sachin Mitra Lane

Sachin Mitra Lane

At College Road, as the name says, are a lot of learning institutions as well as book stores. Was hoping to buy something interesting to read but unfortunately I was out too early. Walked around and watched students having a dip in the pool that I suppose was dedicated for student sports. I came across a tram line so I grabbed a tram and rode over to the Esplanade.

Close to Shyambazaar

Calcutta traffic

Near Kalighat

College Road

From there I started walking towards Park Street and I was suddenly hijacked by a shopkeeper to come and look at his wares. I was totally non+committed but to humor him I decided to go and have a look. He had me sit down and offered Indian chai and started pulling out stuff that I was not in the least interested in. I was interested in Nepalese Gurkha knives, they had obviously been hand made, probably made in Nepal too but buying one in Calcutta was not my deal. I want to buy one in Nepal when I hopefully travel there someday.

Inside the tram

Calcutta tram bogie

My Tamil breakfast

Museum of India

Finally he presented some batiks and I took a fancy of a tapestry that was abt 1.5 x 2.0m long, it depicted Krishna with his women. The asking price was horrendous, something like 3800 rupees so I just took my bag and started to leave and the Owner became frantic and told me how much do I want to pay? I told him that I have no idea what these kind of things cost but I can't afford his asking price. He pleaded me to say something so I told him 1000 rupees. He went into another fit and I told him goodbye and started down the stairs, after 3 steps he said "OK, take it". As I was his first customer of the day he could not afford to have me walk out on the street without buying anything, it would spell disaster for the rest of the days business. I paid him and got my tapestry. I felt quite ruthless but nonetheless I think he made a profit.

Ceremonial Kali Mask

Mammoth found up in Punjab

LP's manufactured by lacquer produced in India (bug excreta)

Opium samples

Kali painting

Miniature of a Parsi "Tower of solitude" 

Next I stopped in a antique store that was displaying brass figures. Being a sucker for such stuff  I had to go in and see what was on offer. There were a lot of brass figurines from the smallest 1 inch to the biggest abt 1 foot tall. The shop Owner was an elderly fellow who loved to talk about his pieces and gladly showed them as well. Finally I settled on 3 figures from the Hindu mythology and the price came to abt 6000 rupees. It was a fair price as I had been earlier in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa & Cochin buying several similar size statues for same price more or less.

Calcutta Architecture

Old gramophone player in an auction shop

As I walked on I came across the Museum of India, the building was imposing and looked interesting so I ventured inside. The entry fee was a pittance and I started walking the halls of the big building. Even to try and explain what was on display would be worth of several novels, but in short I could say it is sort of a Smithsonian of India. There is a lot to see and learn although the building is in dire need of repairs and some of the exhibits are not least to say "tired". I spent there a few hours and started to suffer from culture shock so I decided to leave. I was walking around the streets aimlessly and eventually ended down south of Calcutta and my feet started aching so I took the Metro back to Shyambazar.

Rickshaws & bicycles were still popular ways of transport

Metro art @ Shyambazaar station 

The evening was spent chatting with Priyak while we emptied his fridge of beer. The sleep was excellent after such a day.

Trip to Calcutta

On the 29th I flew to Calcutta from Bangkok with Kingfisher airline. Service was excellent and they were not stingy with the beer, King of Good times...

In Calcutta the taxis are yellow

I landed in Calcutta late afternoon and took a cab to Shyambazar where Priyak Mitra lives. He is the brother of a colleague, Ms. Tushita Patel, that I work with. Shyambazar is one of the oldest townships in Calcutta and I could well see that judging by the narrow and winding lanes that would make you loose orientation in no time. When I arrived Priyak's house only the housestaff was present as the patrons had gone for a function. I left my bag there and went out for a walk after a cup of tea.

Downtown Calcutta

Took Metro to Park Street where I walked around gazing at the architecture and various shops and street stalls peddling their wares. After awhile I arrived the Esplanade station and took the Metro back to Shyambazar. Once back at the house I was given dinner and I exchanged some news with my friendly hosts.

After awhile the elctricity was cut due to blackout so it was a good time to retire for the night.

Shyambazaar 

Singapore

Woke up again early morning and got myself packed up and had some breakfast at the hotel before checking out. Then I rushed  to the Thai embassy to pick up the letter for my ex and mailed it from nearest post office.

Thai embassy in Singapore

From there it was straight to Changi airport where I went to claim the GST for the camera I had bought. As it was in my hand luggage I had to go through immigration and claim it in the tax free area of the airport, not at the counter before immigration. I guess they are afraid the goods will come back onto the Island. Well, I went through immigration & went to the GST counter there and got my claim back in cash without any problems.

In the MRT on the way to Changi

After this I browsed the expensive tax free stuff for sale and waited for my flight and eventually the time came to board. I was lucky as I go the emergency seat and had plenty of leg room. Otherwise Silk air is not an airline to shout much about at home.

Inside Changi airport

Singapore

In the morning Lena dropped me off to Larkin bus station where I took the bus into Singapore. I arrived Queen Street at 0930hrs from where I took the MRT to the Thailand embassy as I had been asked urgently to provide a letter of consent to my deranged ex for applying new passport for our kids.

The neighborhood near the Cameron Hotel

MRT station, no rush hour yet

One of Singapore's Canals

After sorting out this issue I took the MRT to Simei station. I went to see my old agent and friend Angie Ng at her office. She gave me a hand in booking a hotel for me, Hotel Cameron 65SGD/ night, and then she invited me for lunch.

One of Singapore's shopping heavens (or hells)

We had a dim-sum lunch at the Kam Boat House, as usual the Cantonese cuisine is best when eating like this. After lunch we parted ways and I continued to my hotel for check-in. After this I ventured out on town and my first stop was at Golden Mile shopping center. Here I walked around and could see that the Thai hangout mall had changed into a Thai-Vietnam hangout mall. Could not see anything interesting here so I continued to Funan Center.

Orchard Towers

At Funan I splashed out on a SLR camera, Canon 550D EOS complete with flash and objective and filters. After burning my VISA with this I continued to Wheelock Place to look for some books at Borders, big store but mediocre selection in sci-fi, fantasy & horror. Maybe the genre doesn't sell with the squeaky clean Singaporeans.

Chinese God in front of Hilton

After Wheelock Place I went to Orchard Towers for a couple of drinks and could see that it was business as usual over there but quieter than it used to be when I went there first time some 10yrs ago. After the whole day of walking I decided to call it a night and took the MRT back to my hotel.

Johor Baru

Once again it was time to get on the move early morning. I packed my stuff and started towards the metro. It took awhile to find the station but thanks to some helpful denizens I managed to find it pretty easily. I arrived Bandar Tarik Selatan in good time and checked into my bus & got my boarding pass. When it was time to board the staff discovered that the card reader was broken so we got to walk onboard just like that.

Malaysian ladies getting into their car

On the way we stopped for lunch at a highway restaurant where i had some Nasi Ayam, quite delicious Chinese style dish. Then the journey continued and we arrived Johor Baru abt 5pm. I was met by my friend Lena and her son Syafeeq.

I spent the evening in their house in Pasir Gudang and played monopoly with Syafeeq and eventually lost, apparently I am not very business minded or maybe the dice did not favor me. Then I had dinner with Syafeeq and his father Zul. I had Nasi Goreng Kampong, very delicious dish compared to the ordinary "city" Nasi Goreng.

Then it was time to hit the sack as next morning I was going to Singapore.

Kuala Lumpur

Next morning I got up early and moseyed over to the bus station and bought a ticket to Kuala Lumpur. It was just opposite the Chinese temple. Thats the benefit of a small town, no need to take a taxi anywhere, everything is walking distance. After abt 45min waiting the bus arrived to the platform and we rolled towards KL.

Downtown KL

The trip was uneventful and we arrived to the Puduraya bus station. It is huge and organised like an airport. Upon walking out of the station I saw some guesthouses on the opposite side of the street so I just walked over and took a room for 50RM/ night (common shower & toilet). Decided to buy a ticket to Johor Baru for next morning so I got that sorted before doing anything else, discovered that the bus is departing from Bandar Tarik Selatan, quite a distance from Puduraya but the clerk explained it would be easy to reach by metro. Oh well, could have waited before buying the room for the night.

Chinatown

After that I went walkabout in Chinatown on Petaling Jalan and noticed most shops selling fake and copied goods, quite pathetic actually as it is supposed to be a tourist attraction. The area is made up quite nicely and it resembled a bit like Singapore.

The Junk Book Store

I also stumbled across a bookshop selling second hand books that was stacked to the rafters with books on 2 floors. The shop was managed by 2 elderly Chinese ladies that had a remarkable sense of where everything was. I only needed to tell the name of the author and 5 minutes later she had a pile of books in front of me to choose from. Later I found they even got a website where they are touted as Malaysia's biggest second hand book shop. I can believe that.

The KL landmark, Petronas towers

Later I met with Angel, a cyber friend and she took me to Amway mall for some more cheap book shopping. Great shop and cheap prices. After that we had seafood dinner in Petaling Jaya at a Chinese food court. I had sting ray. After that it was already time to go back and Angel dropped me off at the guest house and I retired for the night.

Diving Sembilan

Woke up next morning at 6am to get to my pickup. Ah Kong picked me up and we went to get some breakfast and duck for lunch. Soon enough we headed for the Lumut yacht club where Steven was now storing his boat. Last time it was at another location but I was told the Owner had gone off his rockers and was charging crazy money nowadays so all his customers had opted for better solutions.

Local fisherman

We went on with filling the boat with water, food and beer. After that followed dive gear, tanks, BCD's and the works. Then fuel and engines were checked. Soon enough all people were gathered and the boat was pulled in the water and off we went. The weather was very pleasant.

Pulau Hitam

By 0830hrs we were in position at Black Rock (Pulau Hitam) and we geared up. Chan handed me a spear gun and wished me luck. We all jumped in and dived Black Rock. The viz was not the best around and I eventually got a small snapper while Chan and Kong brought in 8-10 fish with the biggest being abt 4kg.

The fishermens catch

When moving to the next venue we came across a local fishing boat that was hauling in his net so we stopped and bought some shrimp, mantis shrimp and crabs from them.

Pulau Putih

Next in the program was White Rock (Pulai Putih) and same procedure followed. Unfortnately at 10m I noticed that I had forgotten the loading handle for the spear gun on the diveboat so I had to get up and went down again. In all haste I descended to 30m but came up to 10-15m. This time I did not kill anything as I did not come across anything interesting or I just simply missed.

Elvis cleaning shrimp

After the 2 dives we had enough fish to feed a platoon so we headed over to Pulau Lalang camping area and started unloading utensils and provisions. Soon enough the kettles were boiling and appetizing aromas were wafting through the air. It was time to feed. Fresh seafood as good as it gets. We all let loose on the delicacies and soon enough we were all sitting around contemplating the sumptuous meal.

Ah Kong and Ah Chan doing the tom yam

Tasting session

As other sat down and rested and chatted in Cantonese I took off to walk around the Island. I strolled down the beach looking at all signs of civilzation in the shape of discarded plastic bottles, slippers, tins, plastic bags and whatnot. After awhile the beach ended in a rocky outcrop and I found a path leading inside the Island. I did not need to venture far before the terrain started ascending steeply and I was going on 4-wheel drive in places. The higher I came the denser the brush became and I was crawling under the bush and over where it was suitable.

Pulau Lalang beach and mangroves

More jungle

Another view from the top

After some time I came to the top of the Island but could not see much anything as my view was obscured by the trees around me. I decided I was too old and heavy to start being Tarzan so after catching my breath for awhile I started back down again. Needless to say it was much easier and faster and eventually I lost my cap in all excitement and while hanging onto tree branches as not to go into free fall down the slope.

One of the rainforest trees

It's a jungle

View from top

Once down I was bathing sweat so I just continued straight into the sea for a cooling dip. It was so refreshing. Same time I could see that the guys had started breaking up camp so I ventured back to the camp site and came just in time to leave. On the way back we stopped at a few buoys and tried some fishing but it turned out nothing. Soon enough we made it to the Lumut Yacht club and were towed up on land.

On the way back home

The loot

Towing the boat into the boat shed

Fish had to be cleaned, dive gear rinsed and the boat engines flushed. The boat was flushed with freshwater and cleaned out of garbage. Then the loot was divvied up and everyone headed home for a shower to later meet in a karaoke.

Sunset over Pulau Pangkor