Mumbai

Hey everyone I decided to make a post after the recent events in Mumbai, India. It was a very unfortunate what unfolded there. They hit a bunch of the tourist locations and we visited almost all of them while we were tourists in Mumbai. Below is a description of the pictures I posted in order- 1. The Taj Hotel in Mumbai on fire during the attacks, we took many pictures in front of this building and we tried to book a room, but it was WAY out of our price range ~$400 or 1700 INR . 2. A picture of Leopold's cafe a couple days after the attacks. Zak and I ate there (I ate the garlic bread) and we ran into our flight attendants from our flight from JFK. This is very very popular with tourists, it is a must see, I do no know why, maybe because it is so old (1871). 3. A picture we took of the Taj Hotel it was founded in 1903. 4. Zak in front of the Taj Hotel. 5. Zak and I in front of the Taj Hotel.

B-Bite Free and Preventing Malaria

Throughout my travels in India, Panama, and the mountains of Puerto Rico I have not found a better insect repellent than B-Bite Free - www.bbitefree.com . This product is the longest lasting, best performing bug spray I have ever used. B-Bite Free contains 98.11% Deet, which is the only proven ingredient to repel bugs especially mosquitoes and ticks. The higher percentage of Deet the longer the product will last. B-Bite Free lasts at least 3 times longer than the other insect repellents that I have used. In India, I decided not to take malaria pills because I knew I had the best prevention to mosquito carrying diseases like Lyme Disease, Malaria, and West Nile Disease. Malaria pills tend to have very adverse side-effects. India is one of the hardest hit areas by Malaria in the entire world, and I persevered due to this long lasting product, B-Bite Free. Also, I noticed on their website - www.bbitefree.com - that it is a veteran-formed small business. I always prefer to give my business to veterans and small business owners because they are the backbone of our society. The company's name is Faulkwood Chemical LLC, it is based somewhere in Florida. I pulled this pictures of the product off of their website- www.bbitefree.com -

The blog will be temporarily out of service until our next adventure...

Please add comments suggesting locations for our next adventure.

Jeff & Zak

We are on the plane

We are walking onto the plane as I type. We will be in Atlanta @ 6:50 Am. Thank you for your support!!!!

Returning to the States...

Our ETA to ATL is 6:50 AM Tuesday morning. If things change, then we will note the changes.

Desert Safari

While in Dubai we took a 5 hour Desert safari which included sand dunning, camel riding, shisha, and a bbq. Here are some pics and a video of the experience. The video and pictures do not accurately depict the experience.

View of the Burj Al Arab

So here are some pictures of a night out right next to the Burj Al Arab . This is the most ridiculous hotel I have ever heard of, I also heard that it is the only 7 star hotel . We took these pictures from the closest possible hotel. The Burj Al Arab is the tallest building that is soley used as a hotel. Here is an articule about when Roger played Andre in Tennis on the Helipad http://gargles.net/tennis-on-the-burj/ this place is crazy. Dubai is the biggest playground in the world. The people here are an entirely different type of wealthy. This night we were just smoking Cubans on the roof top of some 5 star hotel. Can it get any better? Well maybe, the next night we went on a desert saferi then watched the sun rise on some random beach on the Persian Gulf with 2 beautiful Emirates flight attendants.

Zak zooming by

Here is a video of Zak hitting the slopes hard...

Skiing in the Middle East

When we arrived in Dubai we were given 2 recommendations: 1. go snow skiing 2: go on a sand safari with camel riding and sand dunning. We knew we had to do those two endeavors. We woke up one morning wearing capris, sandals, and t-shirts with the mission in our heads to go snow skiing in the middle of the desert. We showed up at the Mall of the Emirates, walked over to the indoor ski slopes and proceeded to rent our ski's, winter clothes, and lift ticket. They do not include hats or gloves, but we could buy them for $20 each. We made the executive decision to save a couple of $$$ and not purchase either. We were very sceptical of how cold it would actually be on the slopes and whethor or not it was actual snow. We immediteally regreted the because it was -4c and it was real snow. It was so much fun, but a little too cold so afterwards we went straight to the beach where it was 110 degrees.

Out and about-

These are some pics around the city.

Dubai's Beach

Literally, a one minute walk from Kevin's apartment is the Persian Gulf-

Here we are

We clanked our crystal glasses in customary celebration; we were surrounded by old friends, after all. We had cheered hundreds of times together, but never in a locale as exotic as this, and surely, never with just Evian water in our glasses.

The cool summer breeze of the Arabian air engulfed us, the stars twinkled overhead, and the palm trees bristled quietly as they glowed from strategically placed colored fluorescent lights which made them look like pieces of art.

Yet, to my surprise, we were not in an outdoor setting, although it was difficult to tell. It took straining to see that the sparkling overhead was merely canopied electronics reminiscent of a planetarium show and the cool breeze, although we were just steps from the sea, came from craftily hidden air condition units, whose absence would have transformed this opulent courtyard hookah lounge into a muggy and uncomfortable sauna. It was hard to remember we were in the middle of the desert.

We had been in Dubai for only a few hours, and there had not been one second where we had not been absolutely astonished. The city is spotless and modern. It is bigger, larger, more opulent and excessive than any city I had ever visited, rendering venerable cities like Shanghai, Las Vegas, or New York, as mere children looking up to a cooler and more sophisticated older brother that is personified in Dubai.

Just that morning we awoke in a sweltering Bombay hotel on the outskirts of the city. The walls were decrepit and peeling and the lone fan in the corner seemed to only oscillate upon a few taps of encouragement. We had no idea that in just a few hours, we would be smoking sheesa with an old friend on the shore of the Arabian Sea in one of Dubai's world class hotels, not to mention enjoying it all with the newly acquired number of a very cute Emirates Air stewardess in our pocket.

Ramadan had descended onto Dubai just a day before we arrived, condemning us to sipping on water, rather than an alternate drink of choice. Clubs and Bars are closed for the holiday, and the normally raucous city exercises its interpretation of restraint for a whole thirty days. Nonetheless, both Jeff and I were blown away by what we saw - we can only imagine what transpires when the government decree of religious devotion are lifted for the other eleven months of the year.

We were excited to be sharing such an incredible experience with our mutual friend Kevin, with whom we both went to High School back in comparatively lowly Sarasota. Serendipitously, he had just arrived here two days earlier, to assume the role as an analyst at a very prestigious business consulting firm here in Dubai. He graciously offered us his futon, complete with a 12th story view of the Dubai Marina and the Persian Gulf.

As I sat across from Kevin and admired our surroundings, I thought back to my last extranational adventure I was on with Kevin, one of a much different sort, through the unpaved jungle roads of rural Guatemala, almost five years ago. I remember him and I shared a desolate and concrete floor for a week in that tiny town, complete with roaches, mosquitoes, and any other rodent or invertebrate that wandered in attracted to our flashlight, which served as our only light source throughout the night. We entombed ourselves deep into our sleeping bags at night, sacrificing comfort for the protection from such pests. How different our surroundings presently were, how foreign they might seem to our generous hosts back in Guatemala, because after all, they seemed foreign even to us.

We finished our sheesa and wandered to the valet stand by the entrance to catch a cab. It was almost midnight, but the heat was palpable and sweating was unavoidable. A silver Lamborghini pulled up and out emerged a valet driver, and Egyptian man who had been here for four years and had come from a very impoverished section of Cairo.

"That's quite a nice car, is it yours?" quipped Kevin jokingly, trying his best to make friendly conversation.

I expected a humble answer from the valet. I thought about how incredible it must be to be born in a seemingly dead-end place and end up with the opportunity to be consistently driving cars worth more than $100,000.00, only if it even more a moment. What he responded, surprised me, and I think, is indicative of the decadence and excess which defines Dubai.

"Lamborghini? For me? No." he coyly responded.

I bit my lip, concerned Kevin had offended the lowly valet driver with his query. Surely and obviously, it was not his car, and perhaps his comment had made the driver self conscious and embarrassed.

But I was wrong. He pointed over to a shiny red Ferrari sitting just feet away and gave a big smile, "I like this one better, more my style. "

ANNOUNCMENT: ANNOUNCEMENT TO COME!

We have a grand announcement, one arguably rivaled in scope and anticipation only by Ty's cryptic announcement they were retiring the Beanie Baby line at the height of their popularity in the December 1999.


We will announce shortly our announcement. Stay Tuned.

coming home soon?

we've been thinking about it but flights have been booked. no real hurry to get home - we are having a great time. Everyday we think we are leaving tomorrow but we find ourselves having one incredible "last night" experience which keeps pushing back our departure.

We have really settled into Bangalore and have made a ton of friends, in addition to making a lot of progress on our work. We will keep everyone posted (but expect us state side in the next 1-15 days)

Our Iranian friends

ever



So, you think its hard trying to develop a relationship with an Iranian girl?
Even if she is into you, its still hard to know where to go with it, what is the expectation?

Actual conversation:

Girl: "I don't know what it is about you Zak, but I really like you. You are really different than all the other guys I've ever liked..."
Zak: "Well, how so?"
Girl: "Well, see, all the other guys... they hate freedom. and you... you love freedom,"
Zak: "Thanks?"

Our favorite late night food joint

This place is the only place in Bangalore that is open past 11:30 Yada Yada Yada I'm glad I found some ciprofloxaci pills (one of the most powerful and versitile antibiotic medications available to treat a multitude of infections.)
Please post comments on what you think we Yada Yada'd over.

An afternoon stroll

This is a 7 minute walk from our hotel-

Jeff's Indian haircut

Jeff's first haircut abroad, ever.

I woke up yesterday and realized that I needed to get my ears lowered. So I went to down then street (a 5 minute walk), strolled by 7 cows, 4 stray dogs, 3 stray roosters, and 2 stray cats (today I decided to count how many stray animals I could see on my street). Normally in the states I get the cheapest haircut as possible, $10 (for a couple years I cut my own hair), but I wasn't in the states so I decided to not skimp of quality. walked down a side street to find Schwartzkopf Unisex Salon .
The actual experience:
they washed my hair - I drank tea while my hair dried - the actual hair cut about 25 minutes- my face was massaged for 5 minutes - they washed my hair again - they sprayed my hair with hair spray - 1 hour- cost 70rs (about $1.8 ) This was the best hair cut experience I have ever received and it was 1/5 of the price I pay the cheapest barber in Sarasota.

-Jeff (don't worry I do not really have a mohawk- that is how the guy styled it, I look like normal me)

We would like to thank Jerry for being an avid reader and comment contributor.
We will be departing from India in the near future.... :(
We have not decided the day or from which country we are coming home from. We will make an official blog announcement when the decision is made (we will probably be in the states come labor day).

still alive

hey all - been settling in real good in Bangalore - sorry for the lack of updates.

bangalore is an amazing city; the disparity between developed and undeveloped, priviledged and unprivileged, and the future and the past is clear and evident in all that we do and in all that we see.

well have more updates for you later. hope all is well

61 years of Independence

Over the weekend we witnessed India's independence day August 15th. There was mayhem in the streets and millions of Indian flags everywhere. I always find it interesting how other countries celebrate their independence. We posted a video clip of our ride downtown during concert (notice how close the people are to the road).


Jeff

Desi Nights

I sat back in my seat and pondered my surroundings. It was almost one am, and we were sitting in a open air bungalow as the cool fresh night air gently breezed through our hair, sitting outside, post curfew, at the Royal Orchid Hotel. Here, the town's trend setters brazenly violated the local post 1130 PM ban of alcohol consumption and ban on live music, as the glow of the moon cast long shadows on the heir and heiresses to tomorrow's promise.

It was a small yet distinct crowd, with people from all over the globe, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Holland and other exotic locales.

But despite the relative deluge of modern and attractive women there, all eyes were set on our small table. There we sat with our newest friends, whom we had arrived with just about thirty minutes earlier, from an equally posh hotel lounge.

There were four of them, dark haired beauties, all from Tehran, here on holiday. Each of them more beautiful than the next, they were each dressed like the Persian princesses they were, their dresses worthy of praise even if attending the Oscars. Long and beautiful, they were made from the finest silks of the Middle East and conservatively hugged their bodies; and the dark red lip stick of one was outdone only by the piercing eyes of another.

I thought back to the social scene I had left behind just two weeks ago in Sarasota, Fl, and how foreign this place was to it.

What had been common back home; drinking Bud Light and watching the Devil Rays, had been seamlessly replaced by the soothing sounds of our private (and illegal) live gutarist, the stars in the sky, and the company of new friends, all set within the confines of the most luxurious hotel one might hope to encounter.

We chatted politics and laughed about stories of our mutual escapades - a similar experience we might have had in Roma, or our disdain for food in mainland China. My attempt to learn a few words of Farsi kept them entertained for sometime, as they laughed at my ineptitude, but appreciated my effort.Our conversation even turned serious, discussing implications and interpretation of Sharia law, and I asked delving questions about their ability to be 'a modern Muslim woman,' . They had interesting questions about back home in the United States, and I too had questions about Tehran. I asked what life was like, and the excitement of them to share their stories with us warmed the entire group and enlightened both Jeff and me to the realities constraining the people of an entire land.

As I intently listened to their tales, I leaned back in my chair, and sipped by drink. The night was cool; much cooler than in Florida, and the stars were bright. I looked around and my surroundings, the opulence of the location, the beauty of the locale, and the diversity of the present company.

The euphoria of the relaxation and comfort I felt, mixed with the knowledge I had no where to be, no one to call, and nothing to worry about was overwhelmingly soothing. I was just enjoying myself in Bangalore, drinking in the moonlight, learning about new places and new cultures, without a care in the world.

"This is what I want my life to be like one day," I pondered to myself, as our friends chatted in Farsi.

then, it only took a moment, but I came to the realization.

this is what my life is like.


-Zak

We are still alive

Sorry everyone for the lack of posting on our part. We are still alive and still in Bangalore. We have found some international friends to share our leisure time with. We also have been exposed to the nicer side of town. We also get to watch the Olympics live, but they do not have the same type of Olympic coverage over here. For example, there is only 1 channel that shows the Olympics and half of the time it is in Hindi. They rarely show any basketball or baseball. We get to watch a lot of table tennis, boxing, and shooting. We are still working very hard and we have settled in the outskirts of Bangalore at a very nice hotel (check out the pictures). Ok, there will be many more posts in the next couple days. Stay tuned.

-Jeff

Singh is King, our first Bollywood experience

Check out these video's to get a better idea of Singh is King
Music video preview
Movie trailer


Singh is King, our first Bollywood experience. Since we have arrived to India we have seen hundreds/thousands advertisements for this new movie that was coming out call Singh is King. So it finally debuted in India and we decided to see what all the hype was all about. So we stroll up to a completely backed 1-movie movie theatre @ 9:30 for the 9:45 showing. We are not sure if there are still tickets available because there are hundreds of people standing outside, but we try anyway. We ended up getting 2 of the last seats in the Balcony. We thought that this movie would be like other Bollywood movies and have English subtitles, but we were wrong. So we start watching this movie and the first sentence was in English and we were delighted. After the first sentence we did not understand another one for the rest of the 3 hour film. There was a packed theatre and they were a crazy bunch. During the previews the theatre was filled with whistles and yells when a pretty girl appeared on the screen. This was an amazing experience, to watch a summer blockbuster in Hindi without subtitle and still kind of understand the movie. I do not know how familiar everyone is with Bollywood movies, but they are a lot of fun to watch. It is a hybrid between a chick/flick and a musical with better dancing. I recommend searching youtube for Singh is King and you will see what we mean.

That is all for now.

Ladies?

if there is one characteristic quality of our time so far in India, it is the sever lack of women; well, even woman, in our day to day life. yes, we have been focused on our work, but even back home when under the same impetus, it still leaves time for socializing with those of the opposite sex. Here, though, the culture is so different that it is unlikely to find girls in the common places; the bars, the coffee shops, or even the side of the road.
Dancing here has been banned in Bangalore by official decree, not to mention the closing time of 1130 PM of all bars and clubs, making our social endeavors all the more complicated.


its amazing how sensitive I have been to the absence of women in my daily interaction - perhaps it is indicative of the presence of girls in my life back home - and how much they play apart. gone is the playful flirting or texting which fill so much of my social time, replaced with bars, cofee shops, and street corners in guy to girl ratios easily over 100 to 1.

its amazing how both jeff and I now turn when we notice a girl in jeans; we pause, turn and stare - something which calls no attention back home in the states.

more rarely, we'll catch a glimpse of a girls' shoulders who is scantily wearing a sleaveless tee shirt, and it stops both of us in our tracks... we stare not only in amazement, but partially in disgust, as if we have been offended that a girl would dare wear such clothes... strange how we have adapted so quickly.

it seems, unfortunatley, that this trend of lack of female interaction will continue without abating and there is nothing we can do. we just have to wait, i guess, until we get home

Into Bangalore

It's been a few days since Ive written, but thanks to Jeff, you all haven't been out of the loop. The last few days have found us becoming more and more accustomed to the lifestyle here - habitual and random power outages, friendly yet unhurried service, and the craziness of the traffic, which, by its very nature, seems to condemn us to a swift head-on demise each time we get into a car or autorickhsaw; yet now we seem unsurprised when we emerge at our destination unscathed, with all our limbs, and most importantly, breathing.

Work has brought us to Bangalore, the IT hub of India. We were greeted by a glistening and shiny new airport worthy of a spread in architecture digest, which, we thought, was a harbinger for what to expect for the rest of Bangalore. It wasn't completly accurate, but wasn't completely wrong either. In Bangalore, the tree lined beautiful tech campuses of Fortune 500 companies like Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, etc sit unceremoniously ajoint to a congested road filled with the sites and sounds we've already discovered across India - cows blocking the road (today we even saw a camel doing the same), suffocating exhaust fumes from the buses, and the general mayhem that is normally present and which Ive already described. Next to these campuses still lie the tin roofed shack, the dilapidated building, or the isolated farm house - all reminders that the development praised here in India is not yet complete nor equally affecting everyone.

Cribs- Bangalore edition

Cribs Bangalore edition- Look how pimp our pad is!!!! Also, notice the picture which is outside out apartment door. The picture is on me pointing at the falling-down, tiny tin roofed hut that is connected to our beautiful brand new building.

Landing in Bangalore's sweet airport

This is us landing in Bangalore. This airport is the nicest/newest airport I have ever been in. We flew on KingFisher airline and had a very enjoyable meal during our 40 minute flight.

Off to Silicon Valley

In 10 hours we will be in an Airplane headed to the Silicon Valley of India- Bangalore . We do not know if our hotel has internet yet, so stayed tuned. We will hopefully have internet in our hotel/apartment.
The pictures: 1. Here Zak samples some of the local ice cream while we enjoy some time @ the beach. 2. This picture is of us and our Pizza Hut. After a long day of work we relaxed with some Pizza Hut- we ordered the full Punjabi Teekha Chicken pizza . We are also watching an episode of the office during dinner. What a great way to relax.

Sorry for the lame post, but it is wicked late here and I just booked the tickets (3 am) and I wanted to let everyone know where we will be tomorrow.

Jeff

St. Thomas the apostle

Today, we went to the St. Thomas the Apostle - 's cathedral.

No Big deal but this is only 1 of 3 churches in the world that can say they are build above an Apostle's remains. (the other 2 are in Spain and Italy)