A VERY JACK CHRISTMAS

Jack called me this EARLY this morning (Note to young Jack: Sometimes Uncle Boneman heads out to holiday parties at this time of year. Not all of us are back in our cribs with full sippy cups at 8 p.m. Sometimes we don't even leave our cribs until well after 8 p.m. in search of adult sippy cups!) to ask for some more face time on my blog. He e-mailed me this picture, which the young buck referred to as a photograph because it was taken by his talented artist friend Ŝæŋŧóş (the artist formerly known as Santos), and how could I resist posting? He's got that "Yeah, you guys dressed me up as a lobster, you dress me up as an elf, I have to share my clothes with a cat...ha, ha, ha...I'm the funny baby. But how am I funny? I mean funny, like I'm a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh? I'm here to friggin' amuse you?! Hey, I'm cool with that. But Mom and Dad, paybacks are a beeyotch- it's time to get my presents on! Ya better have an XBox 360 up in here. And I'm going to need my own car, preferably a drop-top in 15 years, so start planning now!" look on his face. (Maybe I'm reading too much into that...)

So here you go, Jackpot. Thanks for making our Christmas even more special this year!! And that present under your tree with no name on it....that was from me!

A VERY GEATOR CHRISTMAS

I went Christmas shopping this afternoon and who did I run into? The living legend himself, The Geator with the Heater, the Big Boss with the Hot Sauce! And if you don't know who The Geator is, you better axe somebody! The Geator is a unique DJ still going strong and now as much a Philadelphia institution as a cheesesteak. He's been on nearly every music station in Philadelphia at one time or another and many in south Jersey, playing the music his way. Decades after other stations chained their DJ's to a limited playlist and a tight, canned format, the Geator plays what sounds good to him from the Geator Gold Vault of classic doo-wop, acapella, motown and Philadelphia area dance hits of the fifties, sixties and seventies. You go to a Geator show, you'll have a good time. Check out his pinky ring - classic Geator. And he throws a mean shaka too!

YOU CAN'T HOLD A GOOD SLICE DOWN...

UPDATE: While it's not the time for finger pointing, it's interesting to note that both Mack's and Sorrento's Pizza (posers!) shops on the boardwalk are fully intact, and could open up this weekend if they wanted to. Does anyone else sense a motive here? The dude from Sorrento's tells me that he heads to Flatbush Ave. in the winter, but I want full accountability for both him and Mack! In a non-finger pointing way, of course.

Of all the crapptastic t-shirt stores and Hot Spots serving bacteria-laced corn on the cob starting at 8 a.m., why did God decide to take out Sam's, the best pizza on the Wildwood Boardwalk. I would have even understood if he took out the Lime Rickey store! This and Moore's in one season...I just can't take it. Maybe it is his master plan to rebuild Sam's with bigger pizza ovens to make even bigger slices of that deliciousness!

WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN!

I was driven to JFK in an Escalade, drank $10 cups of coffee in Tokyo, jumped off a perfectly good tower in Macau, was involved in a car accident/pee incident in Beijing, got kicked by a elephant on Thanksgiving in Bangkok, met the Deputy Prime Minister of Education in Kuala Lumpur, drank a Singapore Sling in the bar it was invented in, got chased by a group of teens in Indonesia, bribed a cop (multiple times) to enter and stay in an underground bar in Bangalore, drank with Bollywood stars in Bombay, visited Mosques, hung out with the Hare Krishnas, visited an orphanage, stayed in the same hotel as Arnold Schwarzenegger, learned the true value of a stale Oreo, took a flight at 3:25 a.m., watched entirely too much cricket, slept one floor under the King of Morocco,... all while learning a bit more about myself, appreciating other cultures, and successfully avoiding the Bird Flu. I think I also recruited a few great student to Wharton as well! Is this a great job, or what??!!

Note the soccer ball painted on the nose of this airplane at the Frankfurt International Airport. Germany is getting set to host the World Cup next year, and they are going crazy already!

FRANKFURT

I had a five hour layover in Frankfurt. With typical German efficiency, there is a train that departs from the airport and takes you to the city center in 15 minutes. They had a Christmas village set up, which put me right into the Christmas spirit!

This is an area in Mumbai where the residents get paid to clean clothes. On a typical day, over 2,000 people are working in the cement bins you see. The job is difficult, and only men work here. On the day I was there, it was sunny and 85 degrees - I can't imagine how difficult this must be when the temperature soars above 100.

...I'VE BEEN AROUND THE WORLD, BACK FROM BOMBAY.

You know you have a great hotel when a King sleeps on the floor right above you, and it's not the Burger King!

You are looking at the main entranceway to the building I was using to interview candidates here in Mumbai. The design on the floor was created with colored powder and is an offering to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge. Saraswati represents consciousness and wisdom. It's appropriate, because this is a management training center; an institute of learning for this organization.

BANGALORE

The view from my hotel window here in Bangalore. When one thinks of India, one does not typically think about palm trees, at least I didn't anyway. But they are everywhere, and you can see them in the picutre from my hotel in Hyderabad and at the bottom right of this picture. We are in the south of the country and it is hot - at least 90 degrees today. And this is their WINTER. I can't imagine the heat here in the summer time.

HYDERABAD

Street scenes from Hyderabad. The squarish structure with four towers is the Charminar. Built by Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah in 1591, it is to Hyderabad what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, or the Kremlin is to Moscow. Every side opens into a plaza through giant arches, which overlook four major thoroughfares and dwarf other features of the building except the minarets. The minarets are said to symbolize the first four khalifs of Islam. At the western end of the roof of Charminar is a beautiful mosque, which is the oldest in Hyderabad. The rest of the roof was used as a court in Qutub Shah times. Atop the great monument are 45 prayer spaces for the devout where they can offer worship in an relatively serene atmosphere away from the bustle of the city. The roof is now open to the public (5 rupees for Indians, 100 for westerners, at 45 rupees to the dollar) and I took a few shots from it.

The view from my hotel window in Hyderabad. India is a beautiful country! I threw in a shot of the fruit stands outside of the Charminar as well.

I visited Golkonda fort today, 10 kilometres west of Hyderabad. Golkonda, meaning shepherd hill, was built consecutively by three dynasties, the Kakatiyas, the Bahmanis and the Qutub Shahis, over 800 years ago. Hindu and Muslim architectural can be seen here. Legend has it that Golkonda was the center of a flourishing trade in diamonds and that the world-famous Kohinoor diamond (set in the Queen Mother of England's crown) came from this market. I was fortunate enough to be there for sunset, as you can see by the picture.

s.

NEW DELHI

Didn't have much free time in Delhi, but I did get a few good shots here and there that I thouht I'd post...

HARE KRISHNA

I visited a ISKCON temple today on the way home from my interview site here in Delhi. They are the Hare Krishnas, and ISKCON stands for the International Society for Krishna Con-sciousness. It dates back to the fifteenth century A.D., when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu developed The Doctrines of Krishnaism from the Hindu sect of Vishnuism. Simply stated, Vishnuism believed Vishnu, the Supreme God, manifested himself at one time as Krishna.

I have to admit to being one of those people who made fun of the Hare Krishnas at the airport, etc... I only spent 20 minutes there, but can completely understand what made the Beatles so drawn to this religion. It was one of the most peaceful places on earth as everyone was meditating through the verse you are familar with. The religion is at odds with Christianity, so I'm not about to convert, but it was wonderful to spend some time at their temple.

THANKSGIVING 2005

Really, what's Thanksgiving without an Elephant?! I saw this elephant as I was walking home from Thanksgiving dinner (a phrase I can't believe I just typed...) and had to grab a shot. His owner walks him around the city and accepts money for pictures and to pet him. Right before this was taken, I was standing next to the elephant in the back, and he kicked me! Who knew elephants could kick to the side??

Elephants, the national symbol of Thailand, are of immense importance in Thai culture and the Thai way of life. Elephants in Thailand have always been a symbol of both power and peace. They are smart land mammals and hard-working beasts, providing transportation for mankind. At times of war, elephants played an indispensable role in the war machine of Thailand and other Asian countries. The elephant appears in many Thai proverbs and sayings and is an emblem on regalia of national importance such as prior national flags of Thailand, royal emblems, and royal decorations. The elephant holds pride of place as the national symbol of the Kingdom of Thailand, and they have always been well loved.

UB IN BANGKOK

Of all the places to catch up with my friend Bill....here we are on Thanksgiving night at his friend's restaurant in Thailand, American Rib. I love the cusine here in Asia, but sometimes the food does resemble something from an episode of Fear Factor. It was great to have some delicious American food, and they had a full traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It was great catching up with Bill!

This statue of Buddha sits on the corner of a busy street here in Bangkok. People can be seen all day here leaving offerings of flowers and incense for Buddha for their transgressions during the day. The smell of incense is slightly spicey and sweet, and can be smelled half way down the block. The sidewalk approaching Buddha is lined with carts selling the flowers and incense, and the sidewalk space is "rented" out by the corrupt police force.

MERLION

The Merlion is a symbol to welcome all visitors to Singapore. With its fish-like body riding the waves of the sea, it is symbolic of the ancient city of Temasek (In ancient times, Singapore was known as Temasek which is Javanese for the sea.) At the same time, its majestic head recalls the legend of the discovery of Singapore by Prince Nila Utama in the 11th century, when Singapore received its present name. On seeing a strange beast (which he later learned was a lion) upon his landing he named the island Singapura which is a Sanskrit word for Lion (Singa) City (Pura). I think the prince must have seen a sick lion, because it looks like the lion is puking!

INDO SIDE TRIP...

With a true day off today, I took a ferry to an Indonesian island about 45 minutes away from Singapore. With thoughts of undeveloped sugar-sand beaches and cold Tiger beers, I set off in search of a relaxing day. I found something entirely different, and an interesting experience to add to my travel log.

The island I went to is called Batam. It is what I imagine Central America to be like, although I've never been there. The economy was on an upswing recently, due to gambling resorts on Batam. A few years ago, the government outlawed gambling on the island, and the economy took a nose dive. Skeletons of unfinished buildings are not an uncommon site, looking like they stopped working the day the heard the news. Although they call it a tourist destination, I didn't see too many.

So I found no beaches, but used my hired taxi to stop wherever I asked to take pictures. The best part of the trip was talking to the people. As you can see from some of my favorite photos from the day, smiles were everywhere. I did not see another westerner the entire day on the island, and was probably a bit of a novelty.

Indo Shakas

Never underestimate the power of the shaka. It's a universally cherished gesture!

Doing the math to for the 1 hour time difference gets tricky sometimes! If they didn't post these clocks, I would have been totally lost!! Mind you, the clocks are at the gate leading to the ferry, one floor down from customs. If you made the mistake, you were not going anywhere for the next hour!

SINGAPORE SLING

The view from my hotel room here in Singapore. We went and had a Singapore Sling here tonight. The Singapore Sling was originally created by Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon for the Raffles Hotel, right around the corner from where I'm staying. The exact date is in question, with some people claiming it was in 1915, some 1913, while the hotel itself claims that it was created sometime prior to 1910. There is plenty of disagreement as to how closely the current version of this drink that is served at Raffles is to what was originally served. Apparently the original recipe was lost and forgotten sometime in the 1930's, and the drink that they currently serve at the hotel's Long Bar is based on memories of former bartenders, and some written notes that they were able to discover.

BEIJING HIGHWAY MADNESS

Anyone who has traveled to this part of the world knows that being in a car with a taxi driver or a local driver is....let's say an experience. I was more frightened on my taxi ride in from the Shanghai airport to the hotel than I was jumping off the Macau Tower, and I am not exaggerating. So I decided to take the hotel's car from my hotel in Beijing to the airport, figuring this would be the safest way to go.

Looking back on it now, my driver was driving sketchy from the start, but you tend to calibrate "sketchy" in different terms here. Additionally, it's amazing what the fear of missing the last flight of the day to Singapore does to your judgment. I decided to just put my head down and hope for the best.

So we are flying along the Airport express, six lanes of traffic, three in each direction (think I-95) in this beautiful Audi A-8, which is an enormously expensive car here in Beijing. All of a sudden, another A-8, very obviously another hotel car taking a passenger to the airport, starts to cut us off. We are in the center lane. I'm watching the whole thing from the back seat thinking "This dude sees him. How could he not?" I look at the dashboard - we are doing 85 kilometers per hour. Oh crap! How fast is that? It feels pretty fast! Who knows, I just hope he sees him. No way is this happening...Oh my gosh, we are going to .......

CRASH - I can still hear that hallow thud in my head! Our right front quarter panel hits his rear back quarter panel at relatively high speed, but we are allright. I still can not believe neither car spins out! We pull over to the side of the road.

Now mind you, these guys have great jobs driving extremely expensive cars for 4-5 star hotels, and they just traded paint and put very expensive dents in their cars. When they get out of the cars, I'm pretty sure everyone's gonna be Kung Fu Fighting, and I grab my camera in an effort to tell the story on my blog hit by hit! But they don't do anything like that. They hold a very civil conversation, like nothing happened. They looked like two dudes having afternoon tea! I couldn't believe it....but then it happened.

The passenger of the first car gets out - an Asian businessman in a suit. I'm thinking "OK, it's going down now! Your boy looks bent!" He closed the door, spun around, dropped trou, and proceeded to take a leak right there on the side of the road. Again, this is a very busy road - think I-95 at a busy time! I am sitting in the back seat cracking up, trying to hold the camera still, and not believing the surreal experience in front of me. Thank GOD I always carry my camera for perfect blog moments like this! A classic moment in China...