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Touring New and Old Delhi

After a very light sleep, a shower and breakfast, I was off with Suchha Singh, my driver. We drove into Delhi where I met my guide Arun Baba and the day began.  Our first stop of the day was Gurudwara Bangla Sahib known for its association with the eighth Sikh Guru, Guru Har Krishan, who stayed there in 1664 and is said to have healed many people suffering from a cholera epidemic. There is a holy pool, called the Sarovar, whose water is believed to have healing powers.  Today it is not just a place of prayer and healing but also a place where anyone can come and have a meal three times a day prepared and cooked by many volunteers. You can come and eat as many times as you need to, no one is checking. You will notice that I am wearing an orange head covering during my visit and walking barefoot as this is considered to be a holy place.  Next our driver drove through New Delhi to show me the Red Fort, India Gate (from afar), President House and Parliament House. Arun says t...
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India Storytelling Adventure 2024

 Another storytelling adventure is unfolding and this time it is in India. Beginning with touchdown in Delhi, but more about that tomorrow when I tour Old and New Delhi   I have been invited by the Kathai Kalatta Organization to join international tellers in the ‘Under the Aalamaram Storytelling Festival. I am the sole Canadian Artist!!!  There were many bumps in getting here including receiving an e-tourist visa two weeks before my departure with the date of arrival June 6th and expiration July 6th. The agent messed up big time and I had to jump through hoops to ensure that I would get a new e-visa one week before departure.  Then my husband decided to climb a ladder and cut branches from a tree which landed him in the emergency the Sunday before leaving. But that’s more story than I can share right now, but suffice to say he is alright.  So off I flew yesterday and here I am today!! Immigration, baggage, shuttle and hotel check in were all a breeze. Now I just...
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A Taste of Singapore - November 19th, 2023

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The day was supposed to begin with a bike ride to a local market, but instead we used scooters. It was my first time on a scooter and let's just say, I loved the experience of scooting around town.  The market was full of vendors selling everything from fish, meat, tofu delicacies, a variety of eggs, flowers, dried fish, spices, and a number of vegetables that I have never seen before like Anglo Gourd and fruit called Mangosteen. In the raw meat section there were many cuts of meat including pork which the Chinese love, and a variety of chickens including a small black-skin chicken known as a Spring Chicken according to Pat.  There were many tables and chairs for people to gather and eat a hot cooked meal prepared by the surrounding vendors. Kind of like the indoor food courts in North American Shopping Plazas, but outside in the fresh air. I was intrigued with the vendor who sold hot food in a paper cone!!  This market is situated in the courtyard of public housing whi...
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Hello from Singapore - November 18, 2023

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Hello from Singapore.  It is 4:00 a.m. I am wide awake, so it's a good time to write about my first full day in Singapore. I arrived quite late to my destination after spending an eternity in the Singapore Changi Airport which is beyond vast. After entering the terminal, I followed the sign to the right which seemed to indicate the direction of baggage. Sadly it was the direction to Terminal 2's baggage carousel. Suffice to say, I walked, I went through passport control, and then rode the train back to Terminal 1 where I was supposed to have been in the first place had I chosen to go to the left after entering the terminal.  It took me some time to explain to the officials that I already went through a passport control albeit the wrong passport control in Terminal 2.  It took the officer a little time to locate the information and corroborate my story; only then was I allowed to pass through the control system toward baggage. My suitcase was no longer on the carrousel bu...
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