DAILY PHOTO: Little India Fountain in KL
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Category Archives: Tourism
DAILY PHOTO / FUN FACT: Malaysia’s Flag
Taken December 21, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian and U.S. flags have a common ancestor in the East India Company (specifically the British EIC) flag which flew from 1707 to 1801. Hence, their similar design scheme. The Malaysian flag has one more bar, but started off with two fewer than the US flag. (On the US flag the 13 bars represent the original colonies, but in the Malaysian flag they represent the number of states–which has grown.)
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A Brief Hiatus
I’ll be traveling in Southeast Asia for the better part of a month. During this time my posts will be sporadic at best.
However, upon my return I should have plenty of photos and a few stories from my visit to Malaysia and southern Thailand. In addition to hanging out on the beach and visiting temples, shrines, and restaurants, I’ll spend a couple of weeks training muay thai and bjj in Phuket.
Best wishes,
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DAILY PHOTO: Temple Dancer
Taken November 23, 2013 in Belur, India
This may be my last Daily Photo post for almost a month. If I do get any in, they’ll be sporadic. However, upon my return I will have lots of new posting fodder from Malaysia and Thailand.
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DAILY PHOTO: Commercial Street Storefront
Taken December 7, 2013 on Commercial Street in Bangalore.
This is one of the more ornate and less modern storefronts on Commercial Street.
Commercial Street is the heart of a market district in central Bangalore. It’s a short street that runs parallel to, and a few blocks north of, MG Road.
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DAILY PHOTO: India Gate
Taken October 16, 2013 in Delhi.
The India Gate honors 70,000 Indians who died during World War I fighting on behalf of the United Kingdom. Beneath the arch is India’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
It’s India’s answer to the Arc de Triomphe, and it sits at the opposite end of the Rajpath from the President’s house, i.e. the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Like the President’s house, the Gate was designed by Edwin Lutyens, a famous British architect.
The India Gate is among the must-see sights for visitors to New Delhi.
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BOOK REVIEW: Top 10 Phuket by DK Publishing
Top 10 Phuket by DK Publishing
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I bought this book in Kindle format both because Amazon was having a sale on the series and because I will be traveling to Phuket soon. The sale included many—if not all—of the books in the series, not just the one on Phuket.
I’m pleased with the book given the sale price that I paid, which was substantially less than Amazon’s usual price and vastly less than list. I don’t think I would be pleased with the book at all had I paid list price, however.
As you may have realized by the title, this book contains a series of lists. The publisher tells one what they believe are the top 10 beaches, temples, bars, travel tips, etc. These lists are arranged in three sections: geographical (best of Phuket Town, best of Patong, etc.), topical (best entertainment venues, best outdoor activities, etc.) and practical (best transportation advice, best money advice, etc.)
The strengths of this book lie in its organization. It’s easy to find what one is looking for. First one finds the list one needs, and then skims the brief text of the particular enumerated items for what one wants to see. This is facilitated by hyperlinking of the table of contents and the index. There are also maps in the back that are connected by hyperlink to the text. I found the maps to be of limited use due to their small size, but I have the baseline model of Kindle, so your results may vary. The maps do put the numbers in large type, so it’s easy to find where a site is in a general sense and relative to other sites.
The weaknesses of this book have to do with lack of information and redundancy. One isn’t going to get more or better information on a given subject from this book than one would from the free tourist information one picks up at the tourism office, from a hotel rack, or online. If you’re expecting any depth or insight, and you would be if you paid the list price of $14, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
The book is only 128 pages, but, on top of that, there’s a great deal of redundancy. Because of the way the book is arranged, one will find out about the same subjects in more than one section. For example, one will read about the Phuket Vegetarian Festival in both the Phuket Town and the Festivals chapters.
A more nit-picky complaint has to do with the arbitrary limitations of the 10-list format. I suspect that some of these subjects could have benefited from longer lists, while others could have been shortened without doing harm.
My bottom line is if you can get this book on sale, like I did, you’ll probably be satisfied. If you pay list, you’ll likely be displeased. Of course, DK Books are largely about the graphics, and my black-and-white, small-format Kindle doesn’t support pictures well—so, again, your experience my vary.
Given the consistency of DK Books, I imagine the same could be said for the other books in the series.
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DAILY PHOTO: Garden of Fatehpur Sikri
Taken October 13, 2013 at Fatehpur Sikri.
Red sandstone dominates the scene at Fatehpur Sikri, a 16th century Mughal city near Agra. The architecture is beautiful, but the view can be a bit drab. There are two areas where this monotony of hue is broken. One is the white marble in the Tomb of Salim Chishti (as well as some decorative accent white marble on the mosque itself.) The other is this little garden which inserts a field of green and rose-red into the mix.
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DAILY PHOTO: Tomato Lantern
Taken November 2013 at Queen’s Restaurant in Bangalore
I took this in a dimly lit Bangalore restaurant with a cellphone. Needless to say, it did not turn out well, but it’s something different for a Sunday. My chicken tikka came with a cool tomato lantern. It looks like something that fell out of Iron Man’s chest in this photo, but was a pleasant piece of ambiance in person.
Queen’s is a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Church St. I’ve found the food to be consistently good, though the decor might keep the faint-of-heart out.
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DAILY PHOTO: Connaught Circle in Delhi
Taken October 15 in Delhi
Connaught Place is a bulls-eye in the heart of Delhi. The inner circle is Rajiv Chowk and the outermost loop is Indira Chowk. The name Connaught obviously goes back to India’s colonial past. It was named for the first Duke of Connaught, Prince Arthur. Today it’s a popular hangout, has one of the busiest Metro stations in the city, contains a keyhole shaped park, and is surrounded by many corporate headquarters. Careful though, it also has one of the highest concentrations of shysters and con men in the city.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 