Happy New Year

So it's 10:30am on New Years day here... and we just got off the phone with some friends in time to watch a live video stream of the ball dropping in in Times Square, NYC.

As some of you know, we have a groundskeeper/caretaker and his family who live in the servants quarters on the property. The family has 3 kids, two young ones and one teenage/university age. Anyway, this morning, Morigesh was anxious to show me something when I took the dog out for her morning biological necessity.

They had made a New Years greeting at our front gate with colored chalk (and another at our front door). Here is a photo of the one at the gate (including the caretaker, and the three children) for your New Years pleasure.

Travel Planning

As most of you know, one of the reasons to go on this crazy adventure was to be able to do some world travelling. So Mel, the kids, and I have sat down and given some thought to our 2010 travel ideas. Should be a year chock full of travel goodness.

I was so taken with Singapore that we've decided to go there first with the whole family in January. We can celebrate January birthdays (Mel, Mackenzie, and I), and get a super booster shot of western convienences and sights/sounds. There is supposed to be a decent zoo, something called a night safari, and shopping to you drop (or until you are broke -- Singapore is not cheap!)

Here is what we are tentatively planning for the rest of 2010.

• March (Easter break) - Hong Kong and Beijing. A few days at Hong Kong Disney, and then to Beijing to see China, the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc...
• June - A stop in Europe on the way home, start in Frankfurt, and try to catch Paris, London, and/or maybe one other spot. Sort of depends on the train schedules and the distances, but maybe a day or two in Italy, Spain or Austria.
• October - (Diwali) - Egypt to see the pyramids and a short trip to the Holy Land.
• November - weekend trip to Dubai.
• December - Singapore for a few days around Christmas, hopefully Mel's parents will be here and we can all go together.

Other places we'd like to go are Australia/New Zealand, Thailand (Bangkok/Phuket), South Africa, and the Maldives. Looks like we'll have a hard time fitting it all in before returning home in 2011. What I am really shooting for is to accumulate enough frequent flyer miles and hotel points to subsidize a family trip to Hawaii in 2012 after we return from the assignment.

Happy New years. Talk to you in 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Well, hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone. On Christmas eve, for something to do, we made a little trip a couple hours south to Pondicherry. Pondicherry is an old French town on the southeast coast of India. The buildings etc... all have a very mainland Europe feeling. It's a popular spot for eating at French restaurants, etc... On the way, we stopped by Mahabalipuram. It has lots of Hindu temples that date to 900 A.D.

For the visually curious... here are some photo's.

Unfortunately, on the car ride back home, Elle got sick. We knew it couldn't be food, since her and Noah, and Mackenzie all ate the same, so we just assumed it was a little card sickness. Driving in India (even on the fairly open road), is not for those with weak stomachs.

On Christmas day, we discovered that Santa Claus was able to find us in India, as we all had a wonderful time opening our gifts. I remarked to Melanie that this was really only one of two Christmases we would get this year, as I am sure that when our stuff shows up, it will certainly feel like Christmas all over again.

Unfortunately, Elle's illness carried over to Christmas day, so the fancy lunch/dinner we had planned in Chennai did not work out. We actually made it all the way there and inside before it was announced that she was going to be sick again. After a short trip to the bathroom, we called Wahid and he came back around to get us. We hastily made a plan B which consisted of a quick trip to the grocery and a stop by Domino's pizza for a couple of pizzas and breadsticks. Maybe a new holiday tradition? Hard to say, but we all got back home to play with our toys, and Elle seems to be feeling much better now.

So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

P.S. Mackenzie has started her own blog, for those interested, you can find it here.

The (Hartland) Eagle(s) has Landed

Well, believe it or not, my wife actually got on a plane with our three kids and flew half-way around the world to live in a third world country for two years...

I imagine that you are just as surprised as I was, but you couldn't possibly be more excited :-)

So for your viewing pleasure, here they are, watching some Christmas shows, just like home...

Welcome to Singapore

Update-- a few photos of Singapore... Lots of pictures of Christmas decorations, they were really impressive, plus lots of Western stuff (24 hour Starbucks, etc... I think Singapore was more "western", than most places in the US.
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I am in Singapore today, and just let me say this... Singapore is sweet! It's almost like that little community in Florida that Disney developed turned into a big city. The city is pretty good sized, but there are virtually no traffic issues, it is so clean that I swear you could eat off the streets. The people are friendly and the whole thing is just so orderly, neat, and well planned that I cant get over it. Sorry that I don't have any pictures to post, but by the time I got out of work it was dark and a little rainy. Maybe I can get some tomorrow before I go. Mel and the kids will definitely enjoy this place as a little break from India, some weekend over the next year or so!

Another week in India

Well, here it has been another week and no blog posting all week long! I have loads of excuses... as Jim Belushi once told Carrie Fisher ...

"I ran outta gas! I had a flat tire! I didn't have enough money for cab
fare! My tux didn't come back from the cleaners! An old friend came in from
outta town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood!
Locusts!! It wasn't my fault"

Well, it was a busy week. Here are a few nuggets from India -- with prices, just to give you some idea about the difference in economics here.
I got the satellite television installed yesterday. It is Tata Sky+ and it's very exciting. It has at least 20 channels out of like 150 that I can actually understand. Here's the fun part, I signed up for the biggest package they have, at a whopping cost of about $10/month. I think there is a discount if you pay for the full year up front. I am looking into that...
The house was full of people yesterday all day as I had some painters here, and a plumber on-site. I am having Noah's room re-painted (it was pink and purple), and I just couldn't live without hot water in the kitchen sink. So three painters for three days (labor only) will cost you something like $50.
And the plumber? Well, he was here for about 9 hours yesterday, I had him do the hot water for the kitchen sink, and then I went and bought a new hot water tank for the upstairs showers (yes, they each have their own separate heaters), and had him install it. He was actually quite good. He got $30 for the days work, but I think a large chunk of that went to his boss.

Well, that's all for now. Next week is the the BIG WEEK! Mel and the kids arrive late Friday night! I will also be in Singapore for a couple of days (Tuesday and Wednesday). Seems like our sea shipment is set to arrive on January 6th, so I need to run out today and pick up a few things that we will need once everybody gets here.

Christmas Presents!

So what an exciting week! First the dog, now, ACTUAL STUFF from home. The air shipment arrived today. See?

There was the unloading...

And the stacking in the house. How appropriate, right next to the Christmas tree that I just put up last night (the tree is borrowed).

In no time it was full on mutimedia extravaganza. :-)

I was so happy I put on a little Harry Connick Jr. Christmas music and decorated the tree! No kidding, see!!

The Eagle has Landed...

Er, well more precisely the dog. Believe it or not, and the dog has managed to arrive in Chennai after two days of travel touching 3 continents. Here is the picture to prove it.She doesn't look to be any worse for the wear.

Bachelor life...

So I have given up the (sort of) rough bachelor life for the much easier bachelor life... :)
This is due to the maid tandem that is now showing up here to clean, do laundry, and cook dinner... as Ferris Bueller once famously quipped...

"It's so choice... I highly recommend it if you have the means."

I was skeptical of them at first, but so far they have done well, especially in the dinner department. It seems like any hope I had of losing weight has now gone completely out the window. Last night was fried chicken and mashed potatoes, tonight -- some sort of vegetable pasta, I know that sort of sounds healthy, but from the taste of it, it was certainly not... I recognize that taste of butter and cheese... mmmm

The real problem now is that the house is pretty much clean, and my laundry pretty much done and I only spend about 4-5 (waking) hours a day here, and I'm the only one, so starting tomorrow I am not super sure what they will do here, but I sure hope that dinner will be good.

The installation and repair work around the house continues, even without me as Wahid (driver) will be my manager tomorrow, to make sure the plumber shows, as well as the pest control folks... we have these little lizards around the house, which are supposed to be good to control insects. I was OK with them at first, but they seem to be getting more commonplace, so I've done the American thing and opted for chemicals to control both the insects and the lizards...