I don’t know why I think that but overall I preferred the imaginary Brazilian side better. However after doing the Devil’s Throat, the power and the fury is amazing. Anyway time for Pizza…. let’s see what adventure awaits in BsAs tonight
Back in BsAs….and I still think the Brazilian side was better
Posted by rishi on November 11, 2009
Posted in 2009, Buenos Aires | Tagged: Buenos Aires, Foz de Iguacu | Leave a Comment »
Foz de Iguacu – I think I like the imaginary pictures from that side better.
Posted by rishi on November 11, 2009
When one gets to the Falls, both the Brazilians and Argentines ask you which one you liked better. Now having not seen the Brazilian side of the falls (since I only imagined what it was like to be over there yesterday) and only seen the Argentine side, one would assume that I would actually like the side that I actually saw rather than a side I imagined I saw, but I guess such is the power of imagination that I actually prefer the falls that I imagined yesterday. It’s unfortunate that there was a raging thunderstorm all day yesterday and it made imagining quite difficult, tedious and very tiring.
It also made proper shooting quite, quite difficult since driving imaginary rain tends to do a couple things to you and your camera
- Gets in your eyes
- Gets in your camera
- Gets in your lens
- Causes misting of the lens
- Causes misting everywhere
- Causes your feet to melt off because in imaginary rain, it has imaginary sulphuric acid
One reason for preferring the imaginary side, is because the Brazilian trail is clearly marked and for the “floating” walkway into the Devil’s Throat. It feels like you’re floating on the falls. The trail consists of a single circuit of walkways facing the falls. The overall panoramas truly give you a feel for the power of the complex set of falls, from the Argentine side of the falls, you get up close and personal also but it is difficult to get one clear picture of all the falls, since in your perspective shots, one set of falls will either overlap or block the other falls.
After walking the runway, then one completes the trail by going to the viewing elevators higher up and getting more personal with the falls 
At the top of the viewing elevators, you are treated to a wonderful sight of the river pouring down. It really does make Niagara Falls look pretty petty by comparison, but to be fair good ole Niagara Falls is a “horseshoe falls” with one main cascade (One doesn’t really count the American Falls). It’s like comparing apples to oranges.
Note the “floating platforms” down below and one always needs a fact or two
Walking back through the trail, the rain stopped and go better lighting and visibility conditions.
The weather started changing again for the worse…. but I did manage to get this pic before the rain started pouring again
And meet my friend the” Coatil”
Time to see the Devil’s Throat on the Argentine side… maybe I’ll change my mind.. granted when everything is imaginary, it is pretty easy to do that
Photolog link : http://www.rishisankar.com/Travel/Brazil/Foz-de-Iguacu-2009-11th/10280518_2Sh5E
Posted in 2009, Brazil, Foz de Iguacu | Tagged: brazilian falls, brazilian side, Foz de Iguacu, foz do iguacu, Iguazu Falls -, Is the Argentine side of iguazu falls better?, Is the Brazilian side of iguazu falls better?, thunderstorms in iguazu falls, which side of iguazu falls is better? | Leave a Comment »
007 ain’t got nuthin’ on me…How to get from Iguazu Falls to Foz de Iguacu without a visa!
Posted by rishi on November 10, 2009
Important note : The following post depicts purely imaginary events that could have happened at some place in time. Any resemblance to actual events, whether real or imagined is purely coincidental. By reading and replicating the imaginary events described, you absolve the author of any possible responsibility.
I woke up quite early and headed to the gym to work out – I tried calling David in the next room but no answer. After the usual workout, I saw the guide advertising tours and events on the Foz de Iguacu. Naturally, I was interested especially since I wanted to see the Brazilian side of the falls, but I did not have a Brazilian visa, as I didn’t want to spend 70$ USD just for a visa to see the falls and I didn’t have the time prior to leaving Toronto to walk to the Brazilian embassy to get the visa. If I had my Trinidadian passport, I would not have needed a visa to get to that side of the falls. Probably, the only time in my life where a Trinidadian passport would have been more useful than a Canadian passport.
So in two minutes, I made the decision to get to Brazil by any means necessary and I probed the guide for answers to my questions.
- Question #1 : Can a Canadian get to the Brazilian side without a visa?
Guide : Canadians cannot, Trinis can!
My response : #@#@#!@$#$# - Question #2: What if I have my Trini dual citizenship stamp in my cancelled old passport.
Guide : Let me call the consulate….. 3 mins later…..it is still a Canadian passport. See question#1
My response : $!$!$!$$$!$$@@ - Question #3 : Is there anyway that you know of to get there without a valid Brazilian visa
Guide : NO! I cannot help you!
My response : Oh please kind sir, it would make my vacation, if you could help out a poor Canadian student out.
Guide : Mr Sankar, you’re staying in Room 370, which is the best room in the hotel. I have never seen a poor student in this hotel before.
My response: So does that mean, you’re not willing to help me?
Guide : (Sighs and rolls his eyes, but pauses and…….) A fact I can give you is that there are some taxi drivers who have Brazilian friends and are able to pass through the border without being checked, also I heard that the Brazilian border police does not check all buses going back and forth.
My response : I need to get breakfast!
Guide : I can call the Sheraton driver to get you to the Brazilian consulate. (It’s 9.35am, it takes 20 mins to get from the Sheraton to Puerto Iguazu and I need to get pictures and the consulate only processes visa from 7am-10am, no exceptions!!)
My response: Ok! Sure!
What transpired next, is a bit beyond me, but I made my mind up to get across and no little border and international agreement and politics was going to get in my way of seeing the Brazilian side.
We got to the Brazilian consulate…we were late by 2 mins, the Brazilian guard shut me down, shut the driver down and shut his face. End of story! I tried doing the right thing and it didn’t get me anywhere. Here are the steps I discovered on how any unnamed person could go to the Brazilian side.
Going from Iguazu Falls to Foz de Iguacu
- Take the “El Practico” bus from your hotel in Puerto Iguazu or the Sheraton to the Puerto Iguazu bus terminal. The “El Practico” is 5 pesos and everyone takes this bus.
- Once you get to the Puerto Iguazu bus station, then look for Gate 7. All the bus companies that service the Iguazu Falls to Foz de Iguacu route leave from this gate. It costs another 5 pesos (seriously)
- The bus will cross the river, and reach border control. You have to leave the bus and go through Argentinian customs to get an Exit stamp (SALIDA), this is easy and takes 3-5 mins and then you reboard the bus.
- Note that there is NO secondary entrance check on the Brazilian side. This is a key point!
- Continue on the bus, till there is a fork in the road. Your choices are either to get off the bus at the fork or continue towards the town of Foz de Iguacu – it is important to continue on that path, till you see the Bourbon Cataratas Convention Resort. Get off in front the hotel.
- Cross the street, so that you are going the opposite direction. You are now looking for a GREY commuter bus. When boarding, ask for ‘Cateratas just to make sure.
From Foz do Iguaçu buses run every half hour from the bus terminal to the visitor’s centre at the national park entrance, passing many of the main hotels in the city along the way. The face is R$2.20 or 5.5 pesos. From Foz do Iguaçu buses run every half hour from the bus terminal to the visitor’s centre at the national park entrance, passing many of the main hotels in the city along the way. The R$2.20 flat fare makes the bus a very cheap way to visit the falls and it’s also easy to use.
- Once you’re at the falls visitor center….do your thing and go see some falls.
Going from Foz de Iguacu to Puerto Iguazu then the Sheraton
- Reversing everything you just did, should be fine with one critical difference.
- Get the grey bus from the falls back into town.
- Stop off again at the Bourbon Cataratas Convention Resort.
- Cross the street, so that you are going the opposite direction. You are now looking for shuttle bus between Iguazu Falls and Foz de Iguacu. Look for the sign in front the bus, it should say “Iguazu Falls/Foz de Iguacu”
- Continue on this bus. At Brazilian customs, the bus driver will ask everyone who needs to go to immigration to head out, meaning “if you don’t need immigration, because you are Brazilian” then stay on the bus. Hence stay on the bus! Going to Brazilian customs without an entry stamp or a visa if you are Canadian will result in a series of unpleasant experiences. (I’m only guessing here). Basically, stay on the bus.
- The bus will then stop at Argentine customs. At this point, you must get out of the bus, since you have exit stamp, you need a new entry stamp, else when your flight out of the country back to Canada is ready, you might find that Argentine customs might have questions.
- Do not overthink the situation, the Argentines really could not give a damn about whether you have or had a Brazilian visa, but they do care that you have an Argentine entry stamp.
- Line up, get your stamp.
- Get to the Puerto Iguazu bus station
- Take the “El Practico” bus from the Puerto Iguazu bus terminal to your hotel in Puerto Iguazu or the Sheraton. The “El Practico” is another 5 pesos.
Total trip cost
- 5 pesos + 5 pesos + 5.5 peso + 5.5 pesos + 5 pesos + 5 pesos = 31 pesos
- Cost of 3 month Brazilian visa = 273 pesos
End result:
Take savings and buy the following:
- Bowl of Spaghetti Bolognese with bread
- 8 empanadas carne
- 1 bottle of sprite in a glass bottle
- A new backpack for your massive stones!
Anyway, hope this imaginary account of something that could have happened will be useful.
Posted in Brazil | Tagged: canadian, Canadian going to Foz de Iguacu without brazilian visa, How to get from Iguazu Falls to Foz de Iguacu without a visa!, no brazil visa for the brazilian falls, no visa, see brazilian falls with no visa | 1 Comment »
Iguazu – no words necessary.
Posted by rishi on November 10, 2009
Posted in 2009, Argentina, Iguazu Falls - | Tagged: 100 things to do in Iguazu Falls, i, iguazu, Iguazu Falls -, iguazu falls sheraton, things to do in iguazu | Leave a Comment »
Why it pays to have things go wrong, sometimes!!!
Posted by rishi on November 10, 2009
In our everyday passages, we spout idioms and cliches;
“It is, what it is”,
“It’ll work out for the best”,
blah blah blah, thinking that sometimes a misstep or misadventure will some how work out for and have a completely positive result. I typically find that one must set and put things in motion for positive results to occur.
Tonight, was one of those mythical nights where good things came out of a complete mistake. After running around the jungle photographing everything in sight, I was starving and had no intention of dining at the Sheraton, with its overpriced buffet. So I thought that I would grab the 5 peso bus into Puerto Iguazu, get a couple snacks and meet up with David and his mother for drinks at the hotel. Wait! Who??
Well it happened that while I was getting into my room, they occupied the suite next door. David and his mother Nadine, were both traveling through Argentina. She happened to be working in the HR field and David is a young lad who works at JP Morgan in NYC. We chit chatted, had a glass of champagne and made plans to share travel stories over dinner at 9pm.
So after getting into town with the 5 peso bus, I was informed by the bus counter staff that there were no more buses back to the Sheraton that evening, even though I specifically asked the front desk staff to confirm that there was bus coming back from town. Naturally, I was livid as this meant that I had to spend 60-70 pesos to get back to the hotel. So I thought to myself, “Well I’m in town, I might as well look for a nice dinner in this place … make some lemonade from lemons” and started walking down the street looking for a place to grab a bite.
So I stopped in front this restaurant named Color Parilla Pizza and it looked nice enough, even though I was dressed like a complete backpacking bum. It was 7.30 and the restaurant looked like this.
This was a blessing in disguise as I sat at the two seater table and proceeded to decipher the menu. At that point, the manager/owner Louis comes over and starts chatting and asking where I am from and of course he was quite happy to hear the Trinidadian in Toronto story coming all the way to Puerto Iguazu for a bite. So we continue chatting and he takes me behind the grill to show me the meats and shows me the meat locker and how they store all the river fishes prior to making masterpieces of them.
So order the Bife de Chorizo, which was basically TWO huge tenderloins on his recommendation. The meat that was I had upon completion, ranks in the top 3 pieces of beef I have ever had in my life – an almost spiritual, revelatory application of fire and spice to meat with perfect aging and cooking. Upon experiencing this beef epiphany, I asked Louis to grant me a favour and allow me to use the house phone to send a message to David and Nadine. Sure enough, I get David, we make arrangements and I spend the next hour savouring the rest of my meal, while having a couple very generous drams of Chivas Regal. All this time, there was a live singer going at his craft with some very respectable renditions adding to the overall dining pleasure.
All this time, the restaurant is packed with diners, Louis grants me another favour and moves from a 2 seater table to a 4 seater to accommodate David and Nadine. He also let me occupy the 4 seater table during a busy time that he could easily have asked me to move to accomodate the diners who had lined up. That never happened! Eventually, we all got together and had more food with tons of stories and conversation.
Now another two young ladies were eating at the table across from us, when this huge flying cockroach (it is a jungle, this happens) flew on top of the women. Of course, we all know what happened … so of course, I make a joke of it and have a couple chuckles and next thing you know, I invited the two young ladies to dine with us. So now the table had gone from 3 to 5… I was still sipping my 4th or 6th dram of Chivas.
Of course, we can’t forget our screaming lass Paloma.
Of course, dinner and conversation continues till 12.30 i.e my 5th hour at dinner, when Nadine decided to head to hotel and left David in “my care” …. additionally Louis gave us free drink pass for two other bars in the area. So Paloma, Itzy (I can’t spell her Basque name), David and myself set out looking for new places to drink. In the end, we decided to head to the Casino in the area, but it was hot and we had walked a bit, so instead we camped out at this complete local dive where we got these massive bottles of Quilmes Cristal. By the time that all was done, it was about 2.30am and David and I still had to traipse back to the Sheraton.
All in all… one wrong bus ride turning into an amazing night of restaurant tours, new friends, good liquor and spectacular food. This is why I travel!
Posted in 2009, Argentina, Puerto Iguazu | Tagged: Parrilla Pizza Color, Puerto Iguazu, Review Color Parrilla Pizza, Review Parrilla Pizza Color | 1 Comment »
Two days in Buenos Aires and waiting for Iguazu
Posted by rishi on November 8, 2009
First impressions do go a long way anywhere in the world, but after two busy days in Buenos Aires, I’ll add and expand to my impression list.
- There is quality food all round, even in the tourist ghettos of Florida St. The Marriott happened to be at the end of this long pedestrian corridor filled with tourist shops, street performers, sidewalk vendors and heaps of different languages. No matter where I went and sampled, the meat and sausage was pretty much spectacular, the juices fresh squeezed and tons of porteños were gorging on meat, sweets and wine.
- Drinking coffee is not one of my favorite things to do, since I’ve never really gotten into the whole Starbucks liquid confection culture (good lord, how much fatter would I be, if I did like those stupid “triple espresso, venti, super fat-skinny, tall-short lattes” ?). However the Argentines have this very good practice of serving you plain coffee with a little bar of chocolate. Adding chocolate to coffee is just a good idea… now one would ask, “How is this different from drinking another hot liquid confection?” … well it isn’t, but I would just rather have a good cup of coffee in another country while sitting on the sidewalk, than running between 6 meetings with 5 cups of coffee in between.
In drinking coffee in Buenos Aires, every country seems to have its own coffee culture, terms and idiosyncrasies; BsAs is no different. As I learned from a native porteños, she ordered a “submarino”, of course I thought it was a sandwich, but it really is Submarino is a tall glass of hot milk, served with a chocolate bar. I also learned that there are certain rules to consuming this drink, in order to look like a porteños
- Break the chocolate bar up into smaller pieces
- Drop it into the milk
- Let it melt
- Then stir it in to the milk, basically making a thick and creamy hot chocolate drink
How NOT to take a Submarino
Eating and ‘dunking’ the chocolate bar, like the English do with biscuits in their tea (awwhh, the English!), is the way forward for taking this beverage correctly. Avoid looking like an uncultured, mis-informed swine at all costs when supping at an Argentine coffee house on a submarino. This is very important as coffee, to the Argentines, ranks as highly on their list of cultural customs as beef and wine.
- This food talk leads to my next point…either the Portenos pray to be slim all day to make up for all the food and drink that they seem to consume without stopping. If Trinidadians ate like porteños, we would have bigger pot bellies and die the typical diabetic death by age 35. For culture that is seemingly obsessed with appearance and vanity, they do love their food. Even the high levels of sports, seem to contradict what I see people eating here, especially since they eat very very late here. Dinner is truly served after 9pm, but more likely 10pm , so that unless they’re going to bed at 5am – there is no hope of digesting a meal of sweets and meat with 3 glasses of wine. However, it seems to work for them. Amazing!!!
- On weekends, it appears that the city is overrun with craft fairs. After one bus tour yesterday, we passed four different areas that each had their own craft fair. I stopped in Recoleta and there was the craft fair (Feria Artesanal de la Recoleta), the cemetery (Cementerio de la Recoleta) and the Basílica Nuestra Señora Del Pilar
It is considered to be one of the most beautiful works of Buenos Aires Colonial architecture. It is a second oldest temple in the city and of the few that keeps all its imagery, ornaments and a series of historical pictures. It owes its name to the patron saint of the city of Zaragoza in Spain. A very rich trader, Juan de Narbona was born there and was authorized in 1716 by Royal Decree to build on this land. The first chapel was started in 1732 by Italian Jesuit architect Andrés Bianchi and it was completed by Juan Bautista Premoli.
The order of the Recollections (Recoletos) was expelled in 1821 by Governor Martin Rodriguez and his Home Minister Bernardino Rivadavia and their property expropriated. In 1834 the convent was assigned to be a mendicant’s home and then and old people’s home. Pope Pio XI declares it a Basilica in 1936. May 21 1942 it was declared National Historical Monument.
- After the craft fair, it was on the bus and we passed the Floralis Genérica sculpture. Although they are completely different, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Atomium in Brussels : the picture I took was from far away of course. I’m hoping to take some shots of the flower at night, but I’m not sure how safe it is!
Of course, they are only similar in that they are shiny, but hey that’s how my brain works. The flower “sculpture” is cool from the aspect that it begins to open at dawn and closes at dusk, when the setting sun turns its mirrored surfaces a glowing pink.
- After the bus tour, it was on to Plaza de Mayo. This is possibly the main square in BsAs and it is close by to the National Bank, Metropolitan Cathedral as well being the cross point between Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets.
Of course, one should take the tour of the Casa Rosada. There are some of the guide who spoke English, which was quite useful as my Spanish is what it is……
- After the Casa Rosada tour, I wandered over to the Metropolitan Cathedral. Definitely a must see once in the Plaza itself, but strangely enough, it wasn’t a stunning piece of architecture, since I expect Cathedrals to have more stained glass, domes and more ornate decorations. I was not surprised to discover that this is partially the result of design changes that happened during the multiple renovations and actual rebuilding that the Cathedral has undergone.
- Finally after Plaza De Mayo and wandering around, it was back to the hotel down the Florida tourist ghetto (Calle Florida)…..
Overall, not a bad second day introduction, I am looking forward to bit more of BsAs later tonight and then my trip to Iguazu
Posted in 2009, Argentina, Buenos Aires | Tagged: a trini in buenos aires, Basílica Nuestra Señora Del Pilar, Buenos Aires, Calle Florida, drinking coffee in buenos aires, Floralis Genérica, Metropolitan Cathedral, submarinos | 1 Comment »
I’m too old for pub crawls….
Posted by rishi on November 7, 2009
As one gets a bit older, there is the undeniable, inexorable passages of time. In my 20’s, I loved the drinking and partying, one could find in random cities across the world; however the more cities I see, the more I realize that the world is slowly creeping towards one vision. Thank the effects of globalization!
A mega club in Milan, is similar to one in Hong Kong, is similar to one in New York, is similar to one in Trinidad; all one has to do is change the alcohol, the dance girl costumes, insert the same Euro-pop or Caribbean infused hip-hop music and you have the true global vision.
For the past 2 nights, I went on BsAs pub crawls and I had two different experiences. The first night, there were not enough people for an official pub crawl, so it ended being a Trini, English girl, Aussie boy and an American in Buenos Aires. This was a rocking good night, in that it made for new friends, good drinking and good chatter!
I did realize that the portion sizes here are conducive to huge guts or bodybuilders… it is all highly dependent on how much gym work one puts in. So starting the night, I ended up looking for a hamburgersa. What I ended up with was a one pound sirloin steak with peal meal bacon with two tortillas and a bucket of fries for the grand price of 7$ CDN ..woot!! After taking the meal back to the bar, and trying my best to eat it all, what I ended up with was the following. As one can see, I did a piss poor effort of attempting to finish this meal… no matter that it was one of the best pieces of meat you could have for only 7$ CDN!!!!!! I’d like to see the Keg in Toronto make a steak sandwich for this value.
so the night proceeded and we met more and more people…. and the three of us (Phil, Sally and myself) continued on our “impromptu” pub crawl with Chris (American) in the background!
This pic represents what’s good about travelling.. meeting new people. Notice how drunk Sally looks…. she was flying to Ushuaia the next morning (She made it, but she broke her finger when she was trying to climb into her bunk bed – NEW rule of travelling – never ever use a hostel top bunk bed, if you’re drinking)
Of course, for me, drinking also must be accompanied by some sort of ridiculous eating at the end of the night. Of course, the end of the night happened to be at 5.45 god damn AM – so the next quest in BsAs was to find food. This was remarkable easy as Chris, who helps run the BsAs pub crawl took us for Hamburgesas and Super Panchos!!
This is what I ended up eating:
Note the bowl of chopped salsa… that disappeared in the mix of it all…..but I don’t know what is so super about the pancho… aside from saying “Tengo SUPERRRRRR pancho???” … I should tell them to bring an Icelandic hot dog to Buenos Aires… now that would be a fricking SUPPPPERRRRR PANCHO!!!
Now I’ve described a pretty fricking great night out…. note here that there was no GOD DAMN club!!! The next night… was the following… a bunch of random people … and random cool bars and probably the most awesome spicy vodka drink I have ever had. The CHILLI Bomb!!!
An invention of La Puerta Roja this lethal concotion consists of a shot of vodka that has been mixed with chopped chillis and Speed, an energy drink. A full shot glass is plunged into a large glass of Speed and then expected to be downed in one foul swig.
La Puerta Roja is recognized only by its red door, as it is not signposted. It is reminiscent of a sixth form college common room with poor lighting, shabby walls, worn leather seating and a pool table. Yet still it is a comfortable and cool place to hang out. Despite its inconspicuousness it attracts a mixture of locals and travelers. Large crowds from hostels come regularly as part of “the buenos aires pub crawl” to invade the joint.
This was all fun… but then the final stop of the night was your typical mega club as seen by the pics
That last picture tells it all…..I am too old for pub crawls and I definitely too old for this type of club!!!!!!!!
Posted in 2009, Argentina, Buenos Aires | Tagged: Buenos Aires, Chili Bombs, Chilli bombs in buenos aires, Compare an Iceland hot dog with a Buenos Aires pancho, crobar, La Puerta Roja, SUPER Panchos | Leave a Comment »
Buenos Aires….maybe the Paris of South America eh?
Posted by rishi on November 7, 2009
Well after a full day of walking through BsAs, with a hangover from last night’s theatrics and drinking olympics; I have come up with the following facts:
- Taxis are cheap – like seriously cheap. Any cab ride gettting around the city regardless of the traffic should never cost more than30 pesos (8.50$ CDN)
- Beer is cheap – not seriously cheap, but cheap enough. Like anything else, it all depends on where consumes the said beverages. The curious thing is that finding a regular 333ml beer is quite difficult. Finding a 750 ml bottle of beer on the other hand seems to be the norm.
- Meat is cheap, good and ridiculously well valued – If you ever want to find the capital of the Atkins diet, look no further. These people eat anything on 4 legs, and they eat every part of the animal. Waste not, want not. Right?
- Portenos love their rugby, football and everything to go with it.
- There are many good looking people here. Maybe it’s that Italian cross breeding thing from generations ago Another reason for cross pollination
Well I had dinner at this gaudy looking place.
I have realized another thing : I love well done Chorizo sausage, but this asado bullshit… I’m not down with. Hopefully, I’ll have it a couple more times in the distant future, but anywhere else over done fatty ribs, tastes like crap. The Quilmes Cristal however went down smoothly! I like this beer a lot 
Photolog Link : http://www.rishisankar.com/Travel/Argentin/Antigua-2007-2nd-April-2009/10240530_gDaxF
Posted in 2009, Argentina, Buenos Aires | Tagged: asado in buenos aires, Buenos Aires, cerveceria in buenos aires, quilmes in buenos aires | Leave a Comment »
Buenos Aires, Colonia, Montevideo and Iguazu Falls Planning
Posted by rishi on October 9, 2009
Moved to http://wp.me/P57p2-8d
Posted in 2009, Argentina | Tagged: 100 things to do in Iguazu Falls, Buses in Iguazu Falls, Buses in tri-border area, Busing in Iguazu Falls, How to plan a trip to Iguazu Falls, Plan a trip to Iguazu Falls, things to do in Iguazu Falls, What to do in Iguazu Falls | 1 Comment »
Toronto Nuit Blance 2009 – Ridiculously overrated!!!!
Posted by rishi on October 4, 2009
As I write this, I can’t help but be a bit confused about my thoughts regarding Nuit Blanche 2009 – the Toronto edition.
On one hand, it was amazing seeing so many people wandering the streets, energized by the prospect of seeing “Art” and seeing things that they hadn’t seen before. The mood on the street combined with the sounds, alcohol and urban chaos all mixed together to form this rather ethereal product. Like absinthe, it can make you a bit drunk and a bit mad…who figures out the difference, is up to the person.
On the other hand, I have to say that I haven’t seen so much “dogshit” claiming to be art, since that guy who put up a blank canvas and said it was a reflection of the emptiness of society and sold the the piece for a couple grand – American dollars of course. I have to admit that after we left the hotel room, we wandered a bit but seeing what passed as “the art” between Yonge and Spadina and Gerrard and King, definitely left me thinking, that the emperor has no clothes.
This guy doing his little streetact juggling chainsaws, was fine to me for Buskerfest, but not Nuit Blanche.
What about the amazing 4 letter machine!! Once again, had this been the “Industrial Light Show”, this would have been a great exhibit for all those structural and lighting engineers to get their ‘giddy’ on; at Nuit Blanche.. not so much. It was quite hilarious to see all the people looking and pointing skyward at an old school light sign! SERIOUSLY!!
The couple cool things that were truly worth a visit, were also surrounded by lines involved 3+ hour waits. Seriously?? There are better wait times at goddamn Disney World – which has climate control and distractions in the waiting line. If I want to see a 20 wrestler “Battle Royale” in a train station, I’ll bring my Playstation and load a WWF game.
Wondering if you will ever see an inflatable faux bunny in the Eaton Center lobby? Wonder no further, your dream has come true! Is Nuit Blanche part of the economic stimulus plan? Does Stephen Harper intend to lobby the ’starving’ artist vote for his next failed coalition government? How is this art?
I assume that many of the project would reflect some type of altered perception like the putting of drunk people in hanging baskets project at the Witches’ Cradles. People were suspended from the ceiling of Brookfield Place. Volunteers climbed into these gently swaying pods while their heart rate was monitored with hospital equipment to ensure their safety. These cradles were originally used to torture and punish potential witches through sensory deprivation, but were later reclaimed and utilized to induce prophetic visions. While I think the premise is good one, I don’t understand the symbolism of such a thing in the overall vision of Nuit Blanche.
Really in the end, I was underwhelmed to say the least by what I saw in Zone B of Nuit Blanche. Aside from actually transforming the business and financial district of Toronto into a kinda Zombieland carnival, complete with rides and food stalls was different.
Do I think that it represents some drop into chaos and departure from order… not really? It really struck me as a big marketing venture by Scotiabank that is pretending to be culturally relevant.
I was glad for the opportunity to walk around Toronto aimlessly at night, trying to take interesting pictures and practice using my lenses.
The idea of opening the city and providing an opportunity to interact with areas that are normally inaccessible or clogged with the urban mass of humanity is a noble one. If this was the main goal of Nuit Blanche, then it was quite successful; however if the main goal was to put ‘art’ in urban places, then Nuit Blanche has to fall in the highly overated category.
Photolog link : http://www.rishisankar.com/Friends-and-Family/Toronto/Nuit-Blanche-2009/9860561_W6e4D#670933087_QyYai
Posted in 2009, Canada 2009 | Tagged: how was nuit blanche 2009, Nuit blanche 2009, nuit blanche 2009 overrated, Nuit blanche in toronto | 1 Comment »
Fireworks… Disneyworld… Magic Kingdom… meh. Ok! Ok!…. it was pretty good!!!
Posted by rishi on September 6, 2009
I have to admit that my initial feeling about going to Disneyworld was not one associated with little kids, a Disney cartoon and my hands waving uncontrollably; I’ll leave that to Diane. I had been to Disneyworld twice before, each time for a day only and it was only for the Magic Kingdom. Upon telling people that I really couldn’t care less for Disneyworld because the rides were “softer” type ride for little kids and I had no desire for a “character” breakfast or sitting at Cinderella’s table, people felt bound to tell me that my feelings only came about because Magic Kingdom is the least favorite park.It was as though, people had been brainwashed by the overload of Disney cartoons, toys and paraphernalia into being Disney spokespeople.
Diane being a teacher of young kids/developmentally challenged students however seems to have a particular affinity for most things Disney, whether there is a proportional relationship between rugrat proximity and Disney affinity, I will never know. ( Can someone do a study on the effect of Children upon Disney fascination and let me know the results?)
However, no matter how jaded an adult I am, note the picture of the fireworks at the top of the blog, they serve a valuable purpose. No matter how old one gets, gorgeous and elaborate fireworks displays will always make you feel young and small and within our Disney experience, there were two jaw dropping fireworks displays.
- “Wishes” display on Sunday night at Cinderella’s castle. It definitely was a showcase of pyrotechnics and lighting effects.
- “Illuminations” display Saturday night within Epcot Center . I linked to a short video below
http://www.rishisankar.com/Travel-Videos/USA/6910799_5fw8L#646130147_HbMQi-A-LB
The overal complexity in synchronizing fireworks, lighting, laser lights and building lights to music must be quite high. In my brain, I’m sure there are hundreds of PLC circuits and some type of sophisticated software that would synchronize the pyrotechnic timings with the music. It reminded me of the fireworks display that I had seen in Hong Kong harbour two or so years ago, where they synchronized the Hong Kong skyline with fireworks, music and laser displays – shown below.
The other thing I realized is that no matter what your brain tells you, having great fitting sandals/shoes is absolutely essential for wandering and exploring Disneyworld. I put more thought about cramming in as much of the “Disney” experience as possible than I did for going to the World Cup in Germany (btw, there is only ONE “World Cup” I could possibly be referring to.)
Swollen feet after 12 hours of walking on hot concrete is definitely not high on my “Experience List”, but going to see the fireworks displays, was totally worth any pain I had to endure… even the pain of incredibly high priced food and snacks to my wallet.
Posted in 2009, Disneyworld, US 2009 | Tagged: Disneyworld, disneyworld fireworks pictures, hong kong fireworks, hong kong harbour, illumination, video, wishes, wishes fireworks pictures | Leave a Comment »
Flowers are nice to look at.
Posted by rishi on August 16, 2009
So after a nice long drive from Nichael’s, we decided to head back to the Botanical Gardens for three reasons.
- Photographing flowers in great sunlight is great practice for someone fairly new to DSLR photography.
- It was a beautiful, warm summer day.
- It was FREE!
It’s a shame that I didn’t spend more time in the Gardens while I actually lived in Montreal. The grounds are wonderfully kept, it is free from 5pm to midnight and it is free to Ville Montreal residents. Of course, I think the drinking, partying and liming around in Montreal had something to do with me not really seeing the gardens much. There is always the Chinese Lantern festival going on in the fall, which is lovely. Anyway, while reminscing about my time in Montreal, the gardens, settings and landscaping do provide lovely pictures and can make rank amateurs look positively amazing.
Photogallery Link : http://www.rishisankar.com/Travel/Canada/Montreal-Botanical-Gardens/9334999_zFrgy
Posted in 2009, Canada 2009, Montreal | Tagged: Free Montreal Botanical Garden, Jardin botanique de Montréal, Montreal Botanical Garden, walking in Jardin botanique de Montréal, walking in Montreal Botanical Garden | Leave a Comment »
Basilicas have given me unrealistic expectations of what a church should look like.
Posted by rishi on August 15, 2009
For a couple years, everytime I passed by St James United Church in Montreal, it was closed for renovations. In fact, it was closed since 2005. So today, I decided that I would take Diane to the church to see the restoration work. I don’t why but I was quite underwhelmed with what I saw. I have seen some magnificent churches in other places, but I would assume that for the 8 million dollars of work over three years that they put into the church, that there would be something a bit more spectacular in the lines of this :
Of course, the Notre-Dame Basillica in Montreal, is quite the stunning work of art, when it comes to Basilicas in North America, but for all the work, I didn’t really expect this:
Maybe I just expected more. Of course, Anglican churches are supposedly more austere than their Catholic sisters, but this is the effect of unrealistic expectations.
So after being thoroughly underwhelmed, we (meaning I) decided to walk down St. Catherine Street. towards Place des Arts to see the fountains. I always love that particular part of Montreal, as it reminds me of Jazz, Dairy Queen and midnight by the lights. I had not ventured this way, in about a year but stumbled upon this public art piece made of recycled oil barrels.
In the sunlight, it was quite the little sight. This was what I found on it at http://laplacedesarts.com/medias/communique/oeuvreephemere-arcenciel.en.html
Montréal, May 26, 2009 –Philippe Allard and Justin Duchesneau are the winners of the 7th edition of Place des Arts’ Ephemeral Artwork Competition, with a work titled Rainbow, an installation made up of 60 coloured steel barrels, which will be on display in the Esplanade pool at Place des Arts over the summer.As socially engaged artists, sculptor Philippe Allard and architect Justin Duchesneau have designed a work whose goal is to liven up the Esplanade and raise awareness at the same time. “The sound made by water contacting sheet metal brings to mind the industrial world, its rhythm and efficiency, but the use of barrels on a black sea recalls our dependency on fossil fuels and the environmental disasters that follow as a result,” explain the artists
Now of course this would be called Rainbow…. ah the Francophones…. masters of the obvious!
It was quite a nice public art piece that really suited the summer heat. It was a scorchingly hot day, so we decided to head over to Chinatown. Now Montreal’s chinatown is definitely not as large as some of the other North American chinatowns ala San Francisco, New York, Vancouver or Toronto, but for some reason the little 5 block radius has tremendous charm to it. Of course, with the translations of some things, you get mishaps like this BEER GARDEN that was named
But at least you can bring your own wine. It’s so tough to find these “BYOW” places in Toronto, but in Montreal, it is definitely the norm. Montreal’s chinatown is definitely quaint, if nothing else.
By the time we had walked all the way from the St James Church to Chinatown and then up through Complex Desjardins,
we were completely sopped from the heat, so it was back to the air conditioned comfort of the car. Next stop was the Botanical Gardens and Olympic Stadium.
Photolink : http://www.rishisankar.com/Travel/Canada/Montreal-walking-2009-15th/9354258_EsiqA#626005556_MMB3t
Posted in 2009, Canada 2009, Montreal | Tagged: esplanade pool, montreal chinatown, mtl chinatown, place des arts, rainbow, rainbow in esplanade pool, st james united church | Leave a Comment »
Review of Grand Bahia Principe, Runaway Bay, Jamaica
Posted by rishi on July 17, 2009
Disclaimer: This review is based on my first time experience in an all-inclusive resort. As a backer-packer or adventure tourist, I typically couldn’t care less about the amenities, room service or the number of ala carte restaurants that are on the property but I have been told (my significant other is my all inclusive expert) that these are some of the key differentiators between “all-inclusives”.
1. Entertainment:
• The lounge area where the nightly performances take place is a piazza style space with a stage at the end. The chairs are all standard plastic furniture and have waiter service. The performances are generally average, but this isn’t the reason for going to an all inclusive, so it gets a pass in my mind for just have some live entertainment.
• There is a piano bar off the main lobby where there is a performer between 8-10pm. This was a nice lobby, but again small touches could have made a significant difference – fans for the uncovered general area would have made a huge difference to guests who were sweating out there.
• The disco is a nice area except that the DJ who works there should be coached on how to use turntables and figure out some good songs. The music was generally not good for the crowd (and I love reggae and soca – there wasn’t enough of anything good i.e. People left the dancefloor or never got on)
2. Beach Area / Pool
• There are two separate beach areas within the resort: Nude and Regular. I cannot critique the nude area but within the regular beach area, the resort created an artificial beach and they trucked in the white sand. This is clear since the sand hasn’t been refilled in the last two years and washed away leaving the rough sharp sand and concrete patches below. Walking on the beach is fine, but once you get into the water, the sand in the water is quite rough and shallow and doesn’t make for the greatest beach experience. In addition, there is a significant reef area between both the nude and regular areas. There were not many people in the beach swimming but rather tanning.
• The swimming pool is large, well connected with enough pool bars with good service. There was tons of construction at the far end of the pool but our bartenders blasted the music, so we had a great time. If you’re going, look for Jerome or Timmoy – those guys were tons of fun.
3. Room Service:
• As clients who signed up for the “Gold Package”, one of the biggest selling points to us was the 24hr room service. I understand that kitchens cannot run 24/7 with a full menu as this is not economical from a cost and staffing perspective. However, when a gold member gets into a room and looks at the room menu – it lists five items (I didn’t copy the menu down for this review- but the items are accurate as of this morning)
i. Hamburger and Fries
ii. Ceasar Salad
iii. Margarita pizza
iv. Ham and Cheese Sandwich
v. Garden Salad (Greens, Tomatoes, Olives, Onions)
vi. Hot Dog and fries
vii. Fruit or Veggie Platter
The room service menu lists at the top (10.00am to 7:00am), so there are three hours in the morning where you cannot get room service. I don’t care about this – who orders room service in the morning – you can easily go for breakfast. We do care that at 2:00 am in the morning, you cannot get anything but a ham sandwich and a hot dog. (Diane and I tried twice to get the hamburger at night and we couldn’t – we had to actually go to Burger Principe to get a burger. Also Burger Principe does not serve fries – I spoke to the chef there at night a couple times)
From the hotel perspective, I asked the front desk about this mystery and of course in true Jamaican style, they had no clue about any changes (I think Tennisha Peters, was the clerk’s name). The chef mentioned that there should have been an insert in the room’s menu for all “Gold” guests. I surveyed 6 other couples who also had “Gold Status” and they of course could not locate this “mysterious”: insert.
The room service menu was acceptable in our opinion by day. It had some variety and provided some healthy options for those who prefer. The menu would have been great , had it been available for the advertised 24 hours. This was not the case. When we tried to order from the menu late night, we were told that that was not possible. Even though our room service menu clearly stated that it was available from 10am until 7am. (it’s apparently closed for three hours…meaning room service for only 21 hours), we were told that we must not be seeing the “insert” that should be in the menu. The insert included 3 possibilities
• Hotdog
• Ham and cheese sandwich
• Veggie tray. Nothing else!!
When we asked friends who were also gold status if they had this “insert” they had never seen it. In fact, when we asked front desk about room service and this “insert” they also had no idea about it also and assumed that room service included everything on the menu.
Regardless, the discrepancy in the room service, the lack of consistency in answers about this was completely unacceptable to us, especially when the 24hr room service was trumpeted. If a hotel is going to serve a limited menu, communicate that properly to all your “Preferred members”
4. Check In / Tours
• Check in was no problem, as part of the “Gold Club”, this was already taken care of. This was well coordinated.
• We organized our own tour with Richard Hosang at the front. He is a knowledgeable and safe driver, who will help navigate the roads. I would highly recommend him and his rate was quite reasonable. Going through the hotel tours is extremely expensive and in my opinion a rip off. There were 6 of us, who went on our day-trip (8.30am – 7pm) which included
1. Visiting Bob Marley’s mausoleum at Nine Miles
2. Lunch at Scotchies (Best Jerk chicken around … period!)
3. Dunn’s River Falls
4. Shopping in Ocho Rios craft markets
5. Impromptu stop in St Ann’s for some reggae CDs
6. Driving through the rural center of Jamaica
Total cost per person was about 80$ with tip included. Lunch and tickets to attractions (15$ each for Bob and Dunn’s River Falls) were included. If we did this through the hotel tours, it would have been about $170 a person.
5. Restaurants/ Drinks
• Orchid Buffet: Decent with good variety of food. Decent service. No complaints here. Overall food quality was averageCheck in was no problem, as part of the “Gold Club”, this was already taken care of. This was well coordinated.
• Drinks/Bars:
1. Food available at the hours between breakfast & lunch and lunch & dinner.
2. No real snack options or service at the bars for munchies etc.
3. Bars did not have many drinking options in the “all-inclusive” menu, if you want premium, you will have to pay extra (BTW An example of “premium” vodka was Absolut – so think about that, if drinking is a main thing, you should know.)
Posted in 2009, Jamaica | Tagged: gran bahia principe runaway bay review, grand bahia principe runaway bay review, review gran bahia principe, review grand bahia principe, review of gran bahia principe in runaway bay, review of grand bahia principe in ocho rios, review of grand bahia principe in runaway bay, review of grand bahia principe in runaway bay jamaica, review of grand bahia principe jamaica | Leave a Comment »
Dunn’s River Falls…..
Posted by rishi on July 7, 2009
So after the lunch at Scotchies, we were off to Dunn’s River Falls. Now for all the comments and reviews about Dunn’s River Falls, in retrospect, it is actually a very nice tourist attraction. The falls definitely make for great pictures and the experience of climbing the falls was definitely an enjoyable one.
Going down the path to get to the bottom of the falls, you are faced with the bay and the view from the trail.
Of course climbing the falls, Diane was our intrepid photographer… hence we had the chance to pose for pictures
The view of the falls were quite pretty indeed
More posing
And of course a nicely framed picture done by Diane ..
On to St Anns for some reggae CDs
Posted in 2009, Jamaica | Tagged: dunn's river falls, falls in jamaica, pics dunns river falls, pictures of dunns river falls | Leave a Comment »
