After Saturday's cautious exploration near the hotel I decided that I felt confident enough to brave more of Calcutta.   I had promised Subrata to not go to the Kolkata Book Fair, but I didn't promise to not go anywhere else.  After grabbing lunch at the hotel (I had slept in until about 10:30), I hailed a cab and instructed the driver to take me to the Dum Dum Metro station.  This station is the northern end of the Kolkata metro (subway) system.   With my hand holding the GPS out the window we took off and winded through all sorts of streets that seemed to be almost exactly the same.  From the GPS I could see we were going in the general direction of Dum Dum.

Along the way I ran into the one of the very few things I didn't want to run into in India.  My Lonely Planet Guide, Come Back Alive and the State Department website are very explicit about staying away from political protests.   On the way to the station we got snarled in traffic (not an unusual occurance), but this time I heard lots of loud voices chanting or singing something and I see a scene right out of Doctor Zhivago or Reds.  A column of men, four across and carrying large red flags with hammers and sickles was marching down the street.  I considered my options and decided that staying in the taxi was my best option.   As the procession marched right by the taxi I just kept looking forward.   I really wanted to take a picture, but thought that wasn't the best idea.   I know that the government of West Bengal and Calcutta are leftist/socialists and I had seen plenty of communist symbology already in the city, and I also know that West Bengal is higly prone to labor unrest, so I am sure that this protest was purely a labor protest or something similar.   I also figured if confronted my in-depth study of communism in high school and college would allow me to appear as a sympathetic American comrade.  If all else failed I would thrust my fist in the air and shout "Chandra Bose" as I ran for my life. :)

Getting past that we arrived at the Dum Dum Metro station.  I could only laugh as I looked at the closed and locked gates of the station.  I said to the driver "No Train?" and he said "No Train.."   He called over a bystander who explained that the metro doesn't open until 3:00 PM on Sunday.  It was 1:30.  I considered hanging out with the crowd for 90 minutes, but decided instead to just take the cab downtown.   With the command "Victoria Memorial", the taxi took off and headed downtown. 

Again monitoring the GPS I found a problem with a map in my guide. The map on page 434 of the Lonely Planet Guide implies that the Metro line runs along J Mohan Ave, but in fact it runs along Chittaranjan Ave.  This kept me busy trying to figure out where I was because we kept passing Metro stations and the signs on the shops all listed Chittaranjan Ave addresses.  About the time I figured this out we emerged from the congested streets and were surrounded by a large open park.  I knew that this was Kolkata's version of Central Park, the Maidan.  A few minutes later we were at the Victoria Memorial.

The following are pictures from the Memorial:

Statue of Queen Victoria

Leaving the Vic Mem I headed across the street to St. Pauls and then up Cathedral Street in search of the US Consulate.

Statue of Indira Ghandi, with TATA Steel headquarters in background.

I paid 50 Rupee ($1.25) to see a monkey dance.

One of the many ironies of India.  Noting my mention above of the socialist government of West Bengal, I think it must of brought them great humor to rename the street that the US Consulate is located on to Ho Chi Minh Sarani.  The street was blocked off by armed soldiers, and considering that today is election day in Iraq, I figured that I this was not the safest place to be, but now I know were it is if the opposite were to prove true.

I walked back to Jawaharal Nehru Road and found the Maidan Metro station.   For the steep price of 8 Rupee (17 cents) I bought a ticket back to Dum Dum station and made my way to the platform.  As the train pulled up right on time, I had a moments hesitation as I saw how packed the train was.  But, not wanting to wast 17 cents, I pushed on board.   By the time we got to Dum Dum the train was less packed and I made my way out of the train.  I had a really hard time finding my way out of the train/Metro station and after about 10 minutes made my way through a market and out onto a street.  I found a taxi and returned back to the hotel.

After my initial hesitations and uncertainties I am really starting to enjoy India.

One of the platforms at Dum Dum station, taken from an overhead walkway.

When I woke up the first morning I decided that I would cautiously venture out and get a bit sure of myself before straying too far.

From the hotel I am looking northwest (it took a fair amount of research to determine that).   Across the street are some newer buildings and some older buildings that are best described as shacks or shanty's.

This is the view from my room.

After a quick breakfast I set out to the street in front of the hotel.  I turned right and walked to the next intersection.

There were many street vendors selling food, tobacco and offering shoeshines and haircuts.  Along the road were apartment buildings.

On the otherside side of this road is the Kolkata Stadium.  Once I saw the stadium I new that my first guess at direction was off be about 45 degrees.  

Not wanting to stray out of site of the hotel, I turned around and went past the hotel the other way, turning southeast on the East Metro Bypass road.  

A building under construction across the EM Bypass from the hotel.  The workers were standing on some pretty shaky looking bamboo scaffolding.

A pavilion setup for a bible study service on Sunday.  Stadium is in the background.

Again turning around I headed back north along the EM Bypass and crossed it near the hotel.  On the other side was a park with a lake in the middle.   I decided to walk along the lake.

In the middle of the lake is a little island with a hut on it.

Island with hotel and stadium in the background.

Continuing around the lake I came across a boat house that looks like it was once quite nice, but now looks like it is suffering from decades of neglect.

The boat house with two boats tied up.  

The sign on the front of the boat house.  I wonder how long it has been closed.  The area around this park is very poor.  The park itself is covered in trash.  People were bathing and washing clothes in the lake.   There were several other buildings that seemed to have been part of a nice park decades ago, but now seem to be closed and locked until they fall apart.

Returning to the hotel I decided to further venture out by taking a taxi to see the buildings where I will be working on Monday.   It didn't start off so well.  The taxi driver could not understand anything I said, so he called over the guard at the hotel who translated.  He did this by saying "SDF Building, block EP", which was exactly what I had said.  So we started off and took what seemed like an illogical route.  Finally we made it and I made things worse for my driver by giving him another address.  Again he called a bystander over to translate.   We took off and found the next building.  When I didn't get out he looked at me like I was crazy.  I told him "Hyatt", "Hotel", "Back" but he just stared at me and shook his head.  He must of thought I was insane.  I figured I would just guide him back and motioned for him to start driving.  I guided him back to the East Metro Bypass (EM Bypass).  He kept looking back at me trying to figure out where I was wanting to go.  Finally I said "Stadium" and he nodded and took me to the far side of the stadium from the hotel.  Then, he realized where I wanted to go and said "Hotel, OK" and I finally made it back.  

The view from the backseat of the taxi.  This vehicle probably dates from the 1950's.  For those of you who had the pleasure of riding in my Land Rover, it was about the same.  The engine sounded really rough and the taxi never went more than about 30 MPH.  Note the meter on the outside of the vehicle.   The rate is not correct, to get the actual rate you double the meter and add about 25%.

Back at the hotel I promptly fell asleep at about 4:00PM.  The jet lag finally caught up with me.

It is 5:30 in the morning.  I have been awake for about 2 hours.  Last night I fell asleep at about 4:00 and slept for most of 12 hours.  I took two sleeping pills in an effort to sleep until about 7, but they are not working.  I just posted the pictures from the flight and from Singapore, so now it is on to Kolkata.

After leaving the immaculate and modern Singapore, it was a bit of a shock to walk off the plane in Kolkata.  The airport was old and musty, but the people were very friendly.  I was a bit worried about Indian immigration/customs because there were so many restrictions on the embarkation/disembarkation form, but I passed through without any problem.   After collecting my backpack I went outside to a throng of people.  I immediatley say a man holding a sign with the logo of one of the vendors I am visiting, his name is Ismail and he will be my driver for the next couple of weeks.   With him was Shamil and Subrata, also employees of the vendor company I am visiting.   Subrata is the team lead and Shamil is a relationship manager.

On the way out of the airport a young girl, probably 7 years old, came up to me and said "please sir, just a little money" and kept repeating it as I walked to the car.  I was so taken aback by her that I almost reached in my pocket and gave her some money.  Good thing I didn't because all I had were 1000 Rupee notes (about 23 dollars).   I have refrained from giving money to beggars since a confrontation with a homeless advocate in San Francisco about 12 years ago.   In that incident I talked/argued with this man for about 45 minutes about the cause, plight and possible solutions homelessness.  He convinced me that giving money to beggars does not help them in the long term (ie giving them a fish vs. teaching them to fish).   My guidebook also discourages it and lastly, but not least, I promised Arnab that I would not give in to temptation and give money to beggars, no matter how compelling their case.

We climbed into a TATA Sumo SUV (nice vehicle) and made our way to the hotel.  There are only minimal traffic control features, occaisional stoplights and very few road signs.   There are not any clearly marked lanes, so the road accomodates as many vehicles as can fit on it.   The drivers are pretty expert in squeezing through gaps in the traffic.  There is constant honking of horns, which means "I am going to pass you".   At first glance it is pretty chaotic, but it is actually governed by a discernable set of driving rules.  

We finally arrived at the hotel, I was really nervous about getting checked in because I knew that my credit card had been locked in Singapore by BankOne's fraud detection program.   Luckily they didn't run the card.  I got checked in and after a quick login to send email queued up on the flight and to call home on the Vonage soft phone, I fell asleep.

An empty Oil Tanker, one of about 50 ships at anchor off Singapore.

Western end of Singapore, from the plane.

At Tanah Merah train station, waiting for the MRT to downtown Singapore.  I caught a train from the airport to this station, then transferred to a train to a station called "Bugis" pronounced "boogeys".  Total cost $1.50, total time 40 minutes.   I took a cab from Wheelock Plaza on Orchard Street to the airport, total cost $21, total time 20 minutes.

Everything about Singapore seemed so friendly.  Many things were accompanied by cartoon characters, like this sign at Tanah Merah.

Inside the taxi, going from Sim Lim Sqaure to Wheelock Plaza.  The taxis all seem to be later 80's model Toyota Camry's.  They are meticulously clean and the driver was very calm and non-agressive.  In Singapore and later in India it took some getting used to going down the left side of the road, instead of the right side in the US.

It seems that the whole city of Singapore is covered in different construction projects.   The entire time I was there I didn't see a single piece of litter or any sign of disrepair on the public facilities such as sidewalks, curbs and roads.  This picture workers are hand mixing concrete to patch a curb.

Along the roads there are designated taxi queues.  At this point I am third in line.  I end up taking the third blue taxi in the picture.

Downtown Singapore, as seen from the freeway to the airport.  The buildings are all modern looking, with a distinct asian/chinese influence in the architecture.

Another view of downtown Singapore.

At the airport, looking for my flight on the departures board.

The route I took on the plane is called a "Great Circle Route".   After leaving Los Angeles, the plane turned north and followed the coastline all the way to Alaska, gradually moving to the west.  Once near the Aleution Islands the plane turned west and gradually turned south until we were following the coast of the Kamchatka Pennisula, then traversing Japan, then going south to Taipei.  This is actually the shortest route to take.

 I am a very frequent flier on America West and Southwest.  I usually consider myself really pampered when I get an exit aisle seat and a full can of Dr. Pepper (instead of a half can).   Singapore Airlines was a kind of luxury I hadn't thought imaginable in air travel.   Each meal (I had 4 meals between LAX and Kolkata) had an appetizer, main course and desert, all served on "Singapore Airlines custom designed bone china".  The portion size was great and the service was better than at most restaurant's I eat at.   After each meal they bring you a steaming hot wash cloth (after 10 hot face scrubs I feel exfoliated and a year younger.  

On the LAX - Taipei leg I was laughing with the woman sitting next to me.  There were so many service offerings that she could not get to sleep, until we noticed that some travellers had a "Do Not Disturb for Service" sticker on the top of their chair.   She asked for one of those and finally got to sleep.

I took a photo of the "passenger console" on the flight.   You get 60 movies and about 40 TV channels on demand.   I watched "The Village", "Forgotten", "Cellular", "Paparazzi" and most of "Dodgeball" (which is onscreen in the photo).   The only complaint I had is that I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the Chinese subtitles.

I was periodically checking position with the GPS, more on that later.  I am not sure why I brought a water bottle.  The flight attendants would refill my glass when it got down to half full.

This was taken by Amy just before we left for the airport.  Josh (10), Sarah (8) and Abby (9 months).  

The first leg of the journey was a Southwest flight to LAX.   That flight was as uneventful as always.  It seems like I have conditioned myself to sleep on the Phoenix - LA flights over the past 6 months, because I was sound asleep a few minutes after takeoff.  The only difference on this flight (other than flying to LAX instead of Burbank) was that I had to check my pack.  The backpack weighed in at nearly 50 pounds.  The scary part is that the pack has capacity for quite a bit more stuff.   It earned a "Heavy" sticker from the gate agent.    

Once in LA I walked from the Southwest terminal to the International Terminal.  There is such a noticeable difference between the two.  Just walking in the International Terminal you get so many different languages.  It also seems much more crowded.   Many people have huge suitcases and boxed up steroes and microwaves.  

After finally getting checked in I made my way to the "Business Class Lounge" and found a wireless connection, and here I am.

LAX - Taipei departs in one hour.

Omar, Scott Hanselman and the other contributors to the dasBlog project have released version 1.7, just in the nick of time for me to setup a blog.  

I had used a previous version with a lot of problems.   I read Scott Hanselman's blog on a daily basis and was amazed at the performance improvements he was able to get in the 1.7 enhancements.  I decided to wait as long as I could to get the 1.7 release, and if not then install 1.6.   At the last possible moment I noticed that 1.7 was out.