Saravana Bhavan

New Dehli -  Our second visit to this Southern Indian Vegetarian restaurant - Saravana Bhavan.   It near to the India Gate and at the time of our lunch, there was not much crowd. 

This is my lunch Thali...

This was Lesley lunch - Masala Dosai...

As we left the restaurant, the huge lunch crowd was gathering outside the restaurant entrance.

India Gate

New Dehli - India Gate is a national monument of India and situated in the heart of New Dehli.   When I saw it, it reminded me of Arc de Triomphe in Paris - looks similiar.    This prominent landmark commemorates the 90,000 Indian soldiers of the Indian Army that lost their lives fighting for the British Empire. 

That's Lesley and me

Surendra and me....

Burning in a shrine under the arch of India Gate since 1971 is the Amar Jawan Jyoti (the flame of the immortal soldier) which marks the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The shrine itself is a black marble cenotaph surmounted by a rifle standing on its barrel and crested by a soldier's helmet. Each face of the cenotaph is inscribed in gold with the words "Amar Jawan" (Immortal Warrior).

It was a very hot day - 36c and the ice-cream man is out in full force...

I took this picture of 2 waste bin that sits near the India Gate that says ' Keep India Clean' - whilst the place was strewn with litter.

Agra Fort

Agra - After lunch, we went to Agra Fort and it's a UNESCO World Heritage site.   Mughals Emperor made this Fort their home.  

Walking up to the fort, the weather is very hot - around 36c.

Admission fees.

There is big bathe tub for the queen to clean herself....

Steps to go down the bathe tub.

Taj Mahal

Agra - By the time we reach Taj Mahal, it was already 11am - it took us more than 5hrs to reach here.   This place of interest is the must see for many visitors to India and it was crowded.   There is a entry price discrimination for foreigners paying Rp750 (S$ 18) whilst locals pay Rp20 only.   

Taj Mahal is located in the city of Agra and approximately 204 km south of New Dehli.    It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of the World.   The building is really beautiful and was built by the Mughal Emperor - Shah Jahan in memory of his Third Wife. 

It took 20,000 men 20 years to complete this white marble mausoleum.   It was completed in 1653 - as such there are 16 gardens and 53 fountains to be found on the grounds of Taj Mahal.

The entrance to the Taj Mahal - the Western gate entrance.

I am touching the top of the Taj Mahal....

Looking through one of the marble lattice to peep at the Mosque. 

The whole Taj Mahal is symetically in design - the left wall is the same in design as the right wall.

This is an optical illusion.   The marble with the design has actual flat surfaces but when you look up from a distance this is what it appears.

Sikandra - Tomb of Akbar the Great

New Dehli - Woke up @ 4am to prepare for the driver to pick me up for the journey to Taj Mahal.   He was on time and we set off @ 5.10am.  The driving conditions and traffic on the highway is bad - there were many trucks speeding and weaving from one lane to the other to avoid the many road hoggers.  This was one of the many accidents we witness along the way.

Notice the badly damaged compartment of the driver.  Locals were pulling the metal to rescue the trapped driver within the damaged compartment.

We finally reached Sikandra - Tomb of Akbar the Great., the third Mughal Emperor. 

The South Gate is the largest with the 4 white marbles towers.

That's me in front of Sikandra.

Locals pay Rp10 and foreigners pay Rp110. 

Our Entrance tickets.

The entrance to the tomb.   Sitting in front are the many con men which prey on foreigners - if you take off your shoes it free but these men insist we wear shoe protectors of which we paid Rp100 for both Lesley and I.  Then came the guide that followed us around and later asked for tips - Rp50.

The Tomb of Akbar the Great.....

Satvik Restaurant

New Dehli - We walked to the nearby mall - Select CityWalk to have our dinner.  Just next to Sheraton Hotel, there is a side gate which opens to the mall.   I walked around and came to this Indian restaurant - Satvik.  Once we sat down and look at the menu, we found a food item amiss - where are the meat dishes.  So, we called the waiters and were told this is a vegetarian restaurant, but since we opened a bottle of mineral water - might as well continue.

I would say the food is really delicious and the ambiance is great.  We had Dal and another vegetarian dish plus Galic Naan.  The Garlic Naan was so good we ordered another round.   This dinner cost Rp 1120 (S$ 27).

Barrique

New Dehli - We spent our morning in meetings at Cyber City Gurgaon and later went to lunch at Barrique - a fusion Indian and Western restaurant.  This restaurant serves Tex-mex, Italian, continental and Indian cuisine.    Surendra, Lesley and I had a taste of every type of cuisine.  For apetitiser, we had Vegetarian Quesidilla.  Lesley ordered Penne Murano - which according to Lesley was below average.    Surendra had Grilled Chicken Pizza - tasted good.  Whilst I had an Indian dish - Chicken Makhni Platter.  

It tasted very delicious and I like this dish.   The desserts that we ordered were also below average - Chocolate Chiffon (which does not taste anything like chiffon) and Apple Nut Pudding.

Busy with meetings

New Dehli - I had breakfast at the Sheraton executive club floor but the spread was so sparse.  The view from the executive floor.

Our meeting would start at 10am and was picked up at our lobby @ 9am.  It will be quite a journey to our meeting place furthermore we are expecting heavy traffic jam.

Our lunch location was a popular Southern Indian Vegetarian restaurant - Saravana Bhavan.   It was crowded during the peak lunch time but the waiting was not too long.

A big lunch crowd gathering outside this restaurant.

Thaili dish of Southern Indian vegetarian dish...the price is very cheap @ Rp200 per person (S$ 5).
Dinner, I wanted to try a good chinese restaurant.   I surfed Trip Advisor website and saw that 'House of Ming' restaurant had good reviews and one of the Top 10 restaurants.   It was quite a distance away about 30 minutes via taxi and located at Taj Mahal Dehli Hotel.  

We arrived @ 7pm and was told that the House of Ming opens at 7.30pm so we sat at the Lobby and wait and water.   The waitress walked to our table when the restaurant opened and showed us our table - very professional.    When we were looking through the menu - the Chef Zhang came to our table and spoke to us in Mandarin and we ordered our food 'customized'.

Bowl of cantonese style spicy and sour soup with prawns and slices of bamboo shoots - taste was good.

This chicken dish is stir-fried with fermented been curd, onion and green peppers.   This dish was too salty, we left half the dish unfinished. 

Brocolli and slices of carrots stir fried with garlic - the best dish of choice.   It was presented nicely but this photo was taken after a number of prices of brocolli was eaten.

Seafood fried rice using basmati rice - the fried rice was too dry and would have tasted much better with Thai rice.   Chef Zhang said using basmati rice is better; well this time he is wrong....
Expensive for this standard of food - visit once is good enough.

2nd Trip to New Dehli

New Dehli - I had a SQ flight to New Dehli but I nearly missed my flight.  The check-in counter allowed me to board the flight with only less than 30 minutes to spare.  I was literally running to the gate and reach it within 5 minutes, panting and catching my breath.  

The flight was uneventful as I was seated in the middle of 3 seats, fortunately it was a very new plane of 777 and the seats were wider.   It was a full flight to New Dehli.    I manage to catch a movie - War horse - a good movie directed by Steven Speilberg.

Lesley arrived 1 hr earlier and waiting for me at the airport.   He already booked the airport taxi and it was extremely small and the ride was bumpy all the way to the airport.

My porter....haha, Lesley carrying the bags.    The taxi driver cannot speak a single word of English and do not know where Sheraton New Dehli Hotel is but know the road the Hotel resides on.  I had to call Hotel reception for the taxi driver to speak to them.

Bun Cha

Hanoi - I was woken up the 2nd day by the din of cars honking.   It was really annoying.   For bunch, Lesley and I walked over the shopping mall next building - Hanoi Tower.   Sat down at Papa Joe cafe -

Bun Cha is a Vietnamese dish, thought to be originated from Hanoi - Grilled Pork Noodle Soup.  I dip the white rice noodle (bún) in the broth and eat it with the gilled pork and vegetables. 

I wanted a Vietnamese coffee but Papa Joe ran out of Vietnamese coffee - unbeliveable - lunch time and they ran out of Vietnamese coffee but no choice choose a cup of cappuccino.

Lesley order a Vietnamese baguette (french loaf) with chicken terriyaki.  After our lunch, we packed and ready to go to the Airport.   Coincidentally, both out flights on MH and SQ were delayed by 1 hr.

Bun Bo Nam Bo

Hanoi - We went to Hoan Kien Lake, which has an extraordinary and calming presence amidst the heavy Hanoi traffic.   Locals and foreigners alike stroll along the perimeter of the Lake.  For me, I wanted a good Pho - and Pho 24.   

We walked to Hanoi Old Quarter a short 10 minutes walk - a very densely and crowded area with many old shops selling shoes, bags, and other tinkets.  Many foreigners roam the alley and streets of this Old Quarters.   The weather was humid and hot, a good cuppa of coffee would be good.  So we poped into one of many Vietnamese coffee shop for a good ca phe sua da or Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk.

The left ice coffee is stirred up but not enough to dilute the thick sweet condensed milk.  The right ice coffee is what was served to me.

For dinner, we went to a popular restaurant frequent by locals - Bun Bo Nam Bo located @ 67 Hang Dieu.    This local restaurant served only one dish - Bun Bo Hue from the locality Hue city.    Eating here is an eye opener as there are many long tables and you just sit where there are vacant seats, eating next to many locals.   Without even ordering your food, a big bowl of hot Bun Bo Hue will arrive within 5 minutes.   Of course, drinks are ordered separtately.  

Hygiene should not be a consideration when you eat here as the floor is littered with debris and left overs from previous diners, even when there is a large waste basket underneath the table.

This is Bun Bo Hue - white thin noodles served in rich beef broth, with bean sprouts, carrots, slices of beef and peanuts. 

Sen Restaurant

Hanoi - After our meeting together with our channel partners we went to dinner @ a famous Hanoi buffet restaurant called Sen Tay Ho (West Lake Lotus) located @ 614 Lac Long Quan.   The restaurant is huge and wildly popular with local and foreigners alike because of the wide variety of Vietnamese cuisine at an affordable price.  For the 4 of us with 4 bottle of beer cost us VND 1,080,000 (S$ 67).

The garden in front of the restaurant.

The entrance to the restaurant....

This is the area for fresh sea food to be picked and the cooks will BBQ or broiled the seafood for you.  There was a long queue at this station waiting for the big prawns - I just skipped this station.   This restaurant was crowded with both foreigners and local alike.  There are so many stations to choose from.

Can you guess what this is?

It's a decoration arrangement of Ginger stems...