Back home

Singapore Changi this morning.  

And this is the 777 that brought us home. It  was an old plane with crappy screen so gave up watching movies.  But with a lingering cold, I slept most of the way. There was only one spare seat in economy - unfortunately not next to us.

And back we are.  Always nice to be safely home.  Tomorrow is unpacking etc etc. and deciding which Indian recipe to try first. 

Dad's Birthday

We were there to celebrate Dad's birthday, with Wai Zin, Sharon, Chin  Siong and of course Beo Lan.

Saturday we fly back to Sydney.

Singapore

Waiting for the MRT at Expo Station



Ice kachang 2015.  These days the interesting bits are on the outside.  Sadly there is no more coconut milk (santan).  The best you can hope for is Carnation milk - labour costs have caught up. Still a refreshing snack though.

And in a Singapore food court, the range of items that can be used to reserve a table has expanded.  This trip I have seen a lanyard with various security tags and/or MRT card. The advantage is that one lanyard can be used to reserve two places - here the owner only needed one place. Obviously the owners feel confident leaving them there while they go to get their food.   Nice blue tissue packet cover. 

Safely in Singapore

We arrived in Singapore at 5.30am.  Now having some breakfast and waiting for a room.

Some snippets from Kerala

As KM mentioned, we did not see any beggars in Kerala.  Children would wave to you, not ask for money or try to sell you a pen.  They could be seen dressed in their uniforms waiting for the bus.  We were told Kerala has the highest literacy and education rate in India.

There are many kinds of Communist parties in Kerala, and I assume in India.  KM found Marxist, Marxist-Leninist, Maoist - we may have missed some.  This is the youth wing of the Marxist one.  Then we get to the social democratic parties.  A bit hard to argue when they have the best literacy and education statistics in the country.

Kerala has just had its state elections.  One of the Communist parties won it.  These are election posters, Kerala style.  Hope it doesn't catch on in Australia - imagine multiple pictures of Turnbull or Shorten.

I looked again at this signboard the first time we saw it.  No, it wasn't Cheltenham.  Never got to Chellanam though.

Wonder if he will change his sign with the new Google font.

And this one for all Esso ex-employees.  You might get a discount.

Despite its advances, there is still poverty in Kerala.  Such signs seem incongruous when there are waterways to be cleaned.  Such is life.

They are called auto-rickshaws here.  This is their rain gear.

India never fails to surprise. At yesterday's lunch we were greeted by the present owner's son, who looked very Indian and greeted us in a very English accent.  The UK people in our group recognised it as a London accent.  He had indeed lived in London but come home to help his mother run the home-stay. We wondered just what sort of lunch we would get!

Christianity in Kerala

We were surprised at the conspicuous presence of Christianity, in particular Roman Catholicism, in Kerala.  This is due to its history.  The belief is that St Thomas came in 52AD, but people willl tell you there is no actual evidence for that. The Portuguese traders were said to be the first traders who insisted that others follow their religion and made a concerted attempt to establish Christianity in Kerala.  It worked, apparently.

As expected, things take on an Indian flavour.

There are many shrines along the road.

Confessional boxes seem to shrinking.  No privacy for either party in some of them.

Syrian Christians - lunch - and we made it to the press

On our last day of touring our focus went back to religion. Syrian Christians have long claimed that St Thomas arrived in Kerala in 52 AD and there was already a Christian community here when Vasco Da Gama landed.  Today there are two separate orthodox churches as a result of a division centuries ago.  The generosity of a local king allowed a plot to be found for a second church to be built not far from the first, one with links to Damascus the other locally independent., which conveniently allowed us to visit both in the morning.

Original frescoes in Small St Mary's Church - Cheria Palli

This is Big St Mary's Church - Valli Palli

And just in case you had forgotten there are Hindus in India, we went to Mahadev Temple.

Another day another memorable lunch, today's being hosted by a prominent family at their house, which is also being offered the visitors as a home-stay accommodation.

These are the staff who prepared our lunch. A spread of curries and pickles, vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

Towards the end of the day, we were surprised by news that our presence had made it to a local news in the Indian Express.  Despite there being 6 Australians, we were relegated to the etc. category!

http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/638939/The-New-Indian-Express-Kochi/14112015?show=touch#page/18/1

North South Divide

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Like newspaper columnists who become instant China experts after one visit, I venture here to make bold generalisations even before this trip is over.

What you DON'T find in Kerala:
a) Beggars. Definitely fewer homeless and beggars than Sydney.
b) Large Mughal palaces.
c) Family of six on one motorbike or passengers carried on the roof of public buses.

You know you are in Kerala when
a) There are more than half a dozen churches in one small village, all Catholic.
b) Statues of Jesus with a garland around the neck
c) Election campaign posters of the Communist party outnumber all the other parties.
d) You have beef on the menu.
e) Every dish has coconut in it.

As In other parts of India there is no road rage. Traffic seems chaotic to us because drivers don't follow Highway Code rules, especially those regarding right of way or lines on the road. Instead, slower drivers allow faster vehicles to move ahead in the most expedient way, such as cutting in, getting on the wrong side of the road. Once this is accepted there is no confusion or anger especially over right of way.
KM

Aleppey- history, garbage and politics

Today we had a walking tour through Aleppey, south of Kochi.  Our host was a local woman who told us the history of the town. It has a long history of trade and she showed us streets that had housed Gujarati, and Jain traders in particular.  Others groups had traded too.  Sadly these beautiful buildings are in a sate of disrepair and for sale, so who knows what their fate will be.

Decoration typical of Gujarati trader's building.

And door.

Jain temple.

 She was also concerned by the general condition of India and had tried to tackle the issue of garbage and rubbish at a local level.  She said the government was not helping, and she was the first person I had heard say so explicitly that elected representatives simply pocketed money paid in taxes and became rich themselves and were not tackling any of these problems.  She was more optimistic in that the people were becoming more aware and refusing to stand for it. Time will tell.

Having done all this, she explained that she was "married off" after finishing her education and had never worked.  Her children had now left home, and she was involved in preserving Aleppey's heritage.  An impressive achievement given the social pressures she had faced.
K

Today's lunch

Today's demonstration and following lunch (including dishes beyond those we saw cooked) was again enjoyable.




One of today's dishes - ash-melon and moong beans.  And the inevitable coconut.  Today's meal was vegetarian. 

 The complete meal.

Down to Kumarakom

Today we continued our descent from Kumily in the mountains to the coast, more specifically the backwaters for which the coastal region around Kochi is famous for. The land utilisation changed from the tea and spices of the mountains slopes to rubber, betel nut palms and later even rice.

Lunch was another sumptuous "native feast" as someone described, at a richly decorated large household that also serves as home-stay. The hostess and her mother put out an Anglo-Indian spread including fishcakes, chicken, sandwiches Indian style, mulligatawny soup. A dessert of cake, pineapple tart and fruits provided the appropriate finish. Every dish was prepared with local produce, down to coffee gown and roasted in the large property. Equally remarkable was the furnishings and decorations all from recycled materials tastefully assembled.

We found a Christine Manfield connection to the local organisation of this and another visit, which explains the quality of the culinary programs in this part of the tour.

 Lunch hostess - and her mother. 

The table setting for lunch

 First course - Mulligawtawny soup.  Vegetable soup with yoghurt.
 

Second course - starters. Sandwich of coriander/mint/coconut paste; fish cutlet; onions in ,what else, coconut milk.
 

Main course buffet


 And dessert.




It was a long drive to Kumarakom, our final stay of the tour where we will spend the last 3 days,. through one village or town after another, some quite congested. Passing observation from our coach convinced us that the south is definitely more vibrant than the north, with many signs of tourism taking off, with newish roadside stalls and especially eco or more appropriately Agri-tourism attracting tourists to spice "gardens" . KM and photos by K

And one more food item.  Today we had morning tea at an Ayurveda Centre.   The best description I can give is Indian traditional medicine.  The food was banana chips (nothing like  the ones at Coles), tapioca chips and a vegetarian cutlet.

Spicy Kimuly

Leaving our hotel in an array of Jeeps to meet up with our bus.

The means of securing hubcaps should have warned us about what was ahead.

This morning we descended from the mountains that included the highest peak in Southern India,on a narrow road through numerous hair-raising bends, between high cliffs on one side and deep ravines on the other. Our coach built to take 40 passengers squeezed its way, sometimes inching past other large lorries and buses, often the only way was to move to the outer edge on the wrong side to achieve the turning circle. We had to trust the driver and the firmness of the road edge but with the thick fog as well we could only know how deep the ravines were it the coach were to roll off. It didn't.

We are staying at a hotel called the Spice Village another member of the CGH Earth chain (not Changi General Hospital!) like the one we stayed at Kochi. The buffet lunch was course up to the usual high standard, down to the manual frothing of my coffee (south India or Malaysian"Tarik" style) when I asked for cappuccino.  It was Kay's birthday so the management upgraded us to a better "room" meaning that we run the danger of leaving things behind in this bungalow house size accommodation tomorrow morning when we checkout.

Kumily is a bustling town famous for its spice trade, but mainly cardamon ,pepper, and turmeric. The heavy rain eased enough for us to take a walk through a "spice park" making real contacts with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger, pepper and even coffee.  KM

Cardamom pods at the root of the plant.

Piles of cardamom after drying.

 Then being sorted

and finally in bags.  And I pay $5.00 for about 20gm in Sydney. Imagine the value of this lot.

 Yet one more spice - nutmeg.  The nutmeg we use is inside the black shell, which is the seed of the fruit.  The red mace is attached.  It is used by cooks -  and the police.

Munnar - tea and more tea UPDATED

The internet dropped out last night so could not post, and this morning just a quick dash to the wifi before leaving.  We are well, yesterday was tea plantations.  We had a walk, saw the processing and saw an NGO involved in printing and paper making.  The only shopping experience on this tour, which normally refuses to have shopping included.
The mountain air is humid and cool, today we go to Kumily and see a spice plantation.


More later.

Tea and tea harvesters.  We had to go to an alternative plantation because the (usually women) had staged a strike and had successfully improved their wages and bonuses.  A change from the trade union scandals back home, and one for the sisterhood as well.

 Walking through a tea plantation.

Tea arriving for processing.

First stage of processing - drying.

Didn't post anything about the drinking!