From GRRRL Traveler Diaries

On Sunday, June 14, 2009, the Honolulu Advertiser reported that the King Kamehameha floral parade held “50 vehicles, 10 floats and 8 bands”. Was I at the same “sprawling pageant”??? Did the parade thin out within the span of where this article was written and where I stood waiting with my camera on Ala Moana Blvd? Perhaps there’s a gross misinterpretation as to what’s defined as a “float” or maybe the reporter, Michael Tsai, fell asleep at the wheel and wrote his article based off of the original program.

The truth is- this 93rd annual King Kamehameha floral parade was a bit of a disappointment for an excited crowd of tourists (more…)

Occasionally when I tell people that I love bollywood films, I get a confused look.  I tell people these films are my “best Friday night date”… and then I get “curiosity” from them. What is it about these films that keep one addicted to them? The typical formula of Bollywood films, in a rough nutshell, tend to be :

1) 3 hr long
2) Plot: Romance-Tragedy-Romance
3) Song & dance numbers
4) A level of “cheese” or “suspended disbelief” as to the reality of things.

My top 13 recommendations for Bollywood 101 newbies are listed below.
If you have a favorite that i’ve not listed, add it on and share the Bollywood craze!

1) IQBAL (overcoming the odds, no song/dance but love it love it love it.)

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2) VEER ZAARA (* romantic* timeless love & beautiful songs)
Starring SRK & Preity Zinta

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPvIui-4WBc]

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3) VIVAAH (* romantic* beautiful)
Starring: Shahid Kapoor & Amrita Rao)

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4) OMKARA (serious drama- Bollywood’s version of Othello)
Starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Karina Kapoor

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5) NAMASTEY LONDON (contemporary romantic set in London- fun!)
Starring Akshay Kumar & Katrina Kaif-  You cannot NOT love this jodhi-couple.

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6) SINGH IS KING (fun, funny and romantic- Akshay at his funniest & finest)
Starring Akshay Kumar & Katrina Kaif

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7) CHORI CHORI (Bollywood version of “Housesitter”)
Starring Rani Mukerjee & Ajay Devgan

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LAGAAN (overcoming the odds & Academy Award winner)
Starring Aamir Khan and only Aamir

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9) HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM (heart wrenching romance)
Starring Aishwarya Rai, Ajay Devgan, Salman Khan

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10) KUCH NAA KAHO (cute, funny  & good song & dance numbers)
Starring Abhishek bachchan  & Aishwarya Rai

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11) MONSOON WEDDING (Mira Nair film)

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12)  AAJA NACHLE (fun, about reviving a dance/theater community in a small town, cute)
Starring: Madhuri Dixit, Konkona Sen Sharma, Akshaye Khanna, Kunal Kapoor

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13) JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM (received lame reviews. Has a thin and cheesy storyline & but great songs, funny, and there’s a beautiful music video of w/ Abhi & Preity at the  Taj)
Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol,

Delhi does have a nightlife that’s young, pretty sparkling and happening (i’m assuming that this is the half of Delhites that you don’t see on the streets because they don’t spend much time on them but above them in offices). Sandeep took me out on the town to Shalom Lounge and Urban Pind. Both were hotspots & my type of place that were as hip, with a sensual yet classy appeal, spinning my kind of vibes… very happening and where the beautiful people go. As per my review on Urban Pind on tripadvisor.com:

“Finally, a nightclub that redeems the notion of a nightlife in Delhi!”
Loved this restaurant/bar- from the moment you enter the door, see the handsome host dressed in a white suit and catch the perfumed scent of orange in the air, you feel like you’ve found the spa resort of Delhi bars! The music is pumping but not deafening and there is an air of class, culture and urban hip to give you the illusion that Delhi has been delivered into the 21st century of cool. The faux Khujurao sculptures add to subtle, sexy undertones to the dimmed atmosphere, while rooftop bar lends itself to open conversations, fun mingling and crowd watching. The Indian spiced drink (they could use a larger menu of these kinds of mixed drinks) was a little on the heavy side but nonetheless, a wonderful signature touch of its own.

Oct 12, 2008 Review on Tripadvisor.com
Varanasi: Ganpati Guest House
“Rough start but smooth sailing after “
3.0 of 5 stars 

My first room the first night was a nightmare! I initially wanted a room w/ a balcony overlooking the Ganges. It was post monsoon season so it was hot & humid as hell. My room had no AC (but a ceiling fan), no windows for ventilation, 2 ginormous residential lizards which I thought were going to swallow me whole as I slept and if that wasn’t enough, the lights in my room attracted a “swarm” of gnats! If I could have camped out on the tables outside, I would’ave cause I was my most uncomfortable evening ever. The very next day, I complained and switched to a room with AC and windows. While I didn’t have a “balcony view”, my room was 10x more liveable, spacious, opened to the main patio & even came with with a TV! I paid 100Rs extra for this upgrade and it made ALL the difference in the world. ( I was in room #12 and I LOVED it!)

Some of the staff is friendly while some make you feel like either they’re hawking you with charges for every additional minute on the internet or that you’re going to run away from paying your bill! Where the reception lacks a hospitable warmth that’s essential guest relations (if you need directions to places, prepare them in advance, cause you won’t get any help with that here), the wait staff makes up for it in charm and the guest house still carries with it very good vibes. The guest house is conveniently located on the Ganges so getting a boat isn’t difficult.

Boat cruises: I would avoid Ajay’s boat unless you don’t mind seeing other boats speed by you as you become aware that you’re paying by the hour (Ajay seems to be the slowest & was often preoccupied with his beetel nut. He’ll also try to drop you off to take a 10 minute tour of the nearby burning ghat!

*Beware of the burning ghat tours- they are a scam and people will try to take you there. While you get a short walking tour of the ghat, they will ask pressure you for a donation to assist families in purchasing wood. The rumor is that these people use the money for drugs. Not sure what the truth is, but if locals hear you’ve gone there, they’ll surely ask you how much these people got out of you.

o Liked — The AC, fan, window & TV in my spacious 2nd room
o Disliked — The heat and insects in my first room w/ the shared balcony

Oct 4th: Varanasi

I flew into Varanasi in the afternoon today. When i got off the plane, my hotel driver was surprisingly there to greet me holding a white paper with my name written on it. I was grateful for his timeliness as M&D had quickly bailed on me before I could collect all my bags. My driver and I went to the car and well… it didn’t start. For an hour, the driver and his buddies entertained me (not purposely, mind you…) by attempting to jump start the car in ” typical Indian” fashion . How many indians it take start to a car?”…5! One to steer the car and 4 to push it) . Which ironically isn’t too different from the number of indians it took to wash the windows of my hotel at Godwin. 5- one to wash the window and 4 to watch him! Needless to say, they had to send another car for me.
Cricket is a popular national sport in India just as Basketball or Baseball are the national sports for the US. When my driver stopped pushing the car around the parking lot, the airport attendants took a break to play cricket there.

The new driver weaved and dodged traffic and There’s no rule to driving in India but one– HONK (on the back of most pickup trucks it requestes it “Please Honk!”). Bikes, rickshaws, autorickshaws, pedestrians, cows, taxis… a honk is essential to letting people know to get out of the way

Varanasi is very congested, crowded… and polluted. I have a slight cold and this will not help it… BUT the festivals have me looking forward to this visit. Durga Puja festival and celebrations are continued and carried over from Nepal and it has the entire city electric! I look up and to see kites flying and kids attached to the strings holding them (this is a bit more than Kritipur). This is not only kite flying but in part a friendly festival competitions- as you fly your kite you attempt to cut another kite’s strings!

I’ve finally reached the Ganapati Guest House after a 15min sweat-walk through winding street alleys and complex maze of dark homes and guest houses closer to the Ganges River, where cars and rickshaws cannot drive.

(the receptionist and staff were actually morose when I arrived. This was taken when I left the guest house!)

I check into my new double occupancy room w/ a “Ganges view” shared balcony and frankly, i’m inches close to calling in my hotel points at the Hyatt or Sheraton.It goes without saying, the place i booked is kinda a bit of a dive, really… it looks better in pictures because it feels like a wooden stable situated above the river. It’s neat but doesn’t seem clean (probably cause its feels aged and worn) . No windows, one ceiling fan circulating… heat and it’s shitty humid (being above the Ganges river doesn’t help). I am literally drowning in my own sweat but this isn’t the worst part…

I’ve 2 resident geckos the size of 5 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide on the wall above my bed & I’m afraid they’re going to eat me alive as i sleep! Being from Hawaii, geckos “come” with the house…they’re light fixtures! BUT these “VARANASI Geckos” are GIGANTIC FAT and look lethal, very UN-harmful, UN-innocent & UN-Hawaii-like (I predict, it could swallow a Hawaii gecko whole in one gulp!) And if worse can’t get worse-R, my bed sheets are horribly dirty-looking and the flourescent lights in my room attracts huuuge flying ants, termites and random bugs in large quantities. The word i’m reaching for is SWARM … we’re talking like “infestation quantities!!! ”

(the room looks misleadingly better in pictures!)
So, its 12A, the last hotel light went out in my hotel, all is dark & i’m outside my room smoking cigs to kill time w/ my room light off . I’m seriously contemplating how genius but weird it would seem if I brought my sleeping bag out and slept on the tables outside…. (“weird” won out) so I go back in & attempt sleep. Here I am, wrapped tight in my silk liner like a mummy, sweating profusely as i’m paranoidly afraid to reveal ANY skin cause the moisture on it might tempt the bugs (i even tried pulling the liner over my face but it was just too hot)! My hair is wrapped in my mosquito-sprayed bandana & every little “itch” grows bed bugs in my mind. Right now i feel like my room is worse than M& D’s trekking tour where they had to deal w/ leeches.

I’m a bit overwhelmed with my situation. Nepal seemed so much slower and dare I say, …cleaner???

Right now i’m not too crzy about being apart from the group, but some people have said that it will take a couple of days for me to adjust to Varanasi and get the hang of it. They say the city is really FUN but right now all i see is crazyness & yuck! I kinda wondered what the difference was between a “Guest House” vs. “hotel” …this could probably be the quintessentially worst definition.

Sleeping with one eye open…