Bombay Part Three

Just this cool sign I saw while walking in the Colaba shopping district of Mumbai. Walking around Colaba can be a overstimulating. People come up to you and want to sell you drums (not drugs) and oversize balloons. At traffic stops, women and children may come up to you asking for mula. But the best part is that people will come up and want to sell you books! I wish we had that in LA.


Yes, Virginia, there is toilet paper in India. Why did I listen and bring baby wipes? Most bathroom ahave a pressure pump/ bidet type sprayer AND toilet paper. Very refreshing for the privies. Though the mini Charmin toilet paper rolls I brought did come in handy, as they would in every city. Every time I go out to see a band, I swear I'll bring a little roll with me. A full on toilet taper assortment at the Crawford Market:


This cool little shrine thing I saw walking near the Taj President Hotel. Uh, I forgot what it was. To keep away evil spirits in the trees? In LA, you'll find little candles and flowers on certain street corners everywhere on the Eastside because of drive bys. Are there ganstas in Bombay, too?


Bombay taxi cabs are these cool old Fiats- and taxi cab drivers adorn their cars in ways we never would. Check out these little pasties hanging from the bumper- cool or what? I need some of these for my car. Also, the mudflaps were amazing. Flowers and deities would adorn them, we all need some of these. Don't even get me started about the truck drivers! Opium and hookers- boys after my own heart! Crazy kids.


I also just want to say that I usually miss out on the big picture when I take pics and travel- and just get some silly details. Hope you enjoy.

Bombay Part Two

This bomb ass couple I snapped while I was at the Crawford market in Mumbai. I want to be like them when I grow up:


Sorta touristy, kinda cool horse drawn carriages you'll find around some parts of Bombay.


I have way more to say, I'm just sort of jet laggy- so probably more will spill out later about various experiences in this great city.

Bombay Is Tha Bomb!

Almost the minute I landed in Bombay (the newer nationalistic title is Mumbai, but many still refer to it as Bombay) I felt completely at home- despite the 23 hours of flight time it took from Los Angeles to get there. My first impressions of Bombay was like this mesmerizing buzzing metropolis, totally living and breathing, completely alive and thoroughly dynamic. It really is the New York of India. I love it.

I also want to preface my photos by saying- I am the lamest ever and didn't take nearly enough photos to fully express the fullness of Bombay and India in general. But I was working! So my photos are really little snippets in passing....


This was my view from the Taj President Hotel where we were staying:


Just a street view while passing:


One morning I arose to this total ruckus. Later I asked the front desk what it was- it was a vegetarian protest! Protesting the eating of meat- how cool is that?? Only in India! As far as my simple American mind knows...


I scrawled my name on the wall of the nightclub, called the Ghetto, in Bombay, where we worked. Go before they paint over it! It's on the wall you face as you walk in. Go! Feel my heat...I was there, baby, and no dull Sharpie could stop my graffiti...Beat Street, King of the Beat...I am a tagging queen. Y'all suckah MC tagging crews better check it, 'cause mama's been to India...shiiiiiiiit.


The gateway of India across from the Taj Palace Hotel


That's all I have to show...totally lame. But whatevs...

Love,

Lolo

This Tramp Just Came Back From Switzerland Yesterday

I have to admit, I have felt like a jet setting tramp this past month and a half. I went to India for a month, went back to LA for a week, then off to Switzerland to have a holiday visit at my husband's parents in Zurich, the main city in the Swiss German part of Switzerland. I thought I was going to be blogging like a maniac while I was gone, but I surprised myself by just focusing on the moment.

So we just got back yesterday, and I'm experiencing some cranky headache-y jet lagginess, along with innapropriate cravings for red wine and espresso at all the opposite and wrong times of the day. I'm a tramp on the edge! Dare a raccoon or possum cross my path while plundering and I might snap like the twigs and pine needles that have covered my backyard!

I have more to say on India and Switzerland, gardenwise and otherwise and photos as well, and will post things a little later when I'm more refreshed and unpacked.

Cheers to 2007!