A Day Worth Documenting...

Something BIG happened two weeks ago. Something absolutely monumental. Something that shocked me as much as the day Matt proposed or the day I found out we were moving to the other side of the world...

Matt cooked.

OK, I'm not talking ramen noodles here. I'm talking all out, chef-style cooking. He chopped. He sauteed. He seasoned. And me? Well, let's just say I had to pick my jaw up off the floor before I could start taking pictures. I've been with Matt for seven years now and he's never once cooked (he will dispute this post later by claiming that he's "cooked" poke, a popoular Hawaiian recipe consisting of chopped up raw fish and seasonings...no cooking required!).

Jokes aside, I had a feeling that Matt was capable of cooking a good meal. It's just, well...he's never had to. At least not for me. Imagine my surprise when he came home one night and insisted on making dinner. Why the sudden desire to do it? Enter Chef Curtis Stone, a frequent guest on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" who teaches the contestants how to cook and eat healthy. There was this one episode where he taught one of the contestants how to make turkey chili on a baked potato. Though I didn't think much of it...apparently, Matt did. He just couldn't get it off of his mind!

So family...friends...for the first time ever, it is my pleasure to introduce you to....

Chef Matt! Despite my best efforts, Chef Matt refused to wear an apron. I think he would have looked as cute as can be...maybe next time ;)

Chef Matt can chop like nobody's business!

While I'm no mind reader, I'm pretty sure Chef Matt is thinking "It sure does feel good to be cooking. Maybe I'll do this more often. Maybe I'll even alternate nights with my wonderful wife." Yep, I'm prety sure that's EXACTLY what he was thinking.

Looks like Chef Matt can handle TWO pans at the SAME time. Uh-oh...looks like Chef Kim may have a little competition! Was all of this fancy hand work worth it in the end???

Absolutely! My man can cook!

India, Days 6 and 7 - Back to Delhi we go!

With our shopping in Jaipur behind us, it was time to make our way back to Delhi, the city where the whole trip began. Now I have to admit, by day 6 the things that were shocking to me on the first day became nothing but "the norm" and my camera saw less and less use. In fact, I don't think I took a single picture during our long bus ride back!

For day 7 (our last full day in India) we decided to spend the first half of the day doing what any woman would do when they have some free time...shop! Now that we'd seen everything that India had to offer, it was our final chance to buy the things we'd passed on in the days before. In just one day, my previously light suitcase suddenly got a lot more heavy! :)

Our final site seeing stop of the entire trip was the Gandhi Museum...the very place that Gandhi was assassinated...

Gandhi spent the last days of his life in this room.

There were foot prints leading to the site of Gandhi's assassination with signs walking us through the last moments of his life.

The place that Gandhi was shot and killed.

And that was the trip! It was truly over in the blink of an eye. In fact, a few days after I returned to Singapore I caught myself thinking "Wait, was I in India last week?" I think my senses were so over loaded while I was there that I didn't have a chance to stop and think about it. Well, I've certainly thought of it since then and I will be forever thankful that I had the opportunity to go! If you ever have a chance to go, take it! It may be the most stressful trip of your life, but it will also be one of the best!

India Day 5...The People

This and the next one are Amanda's pictures and I truly love them!

Check out that angry snake...yikes!

India, Day 5 - A day in Jaipur

In keeping up with our previous days in India, we started day 5 early. Yes, we had sites to see, but more importantly, we had shopping to do! :) The buzz around the streets was that Jaipur was the place to be for carpets and jewelery...and I'm pretty sure everyone in the group had their mind on something to buy. Everyone except for me maybe. If there was an award for the least amount of shopping done, I think I would have won it. I'm not impulsive enough to buy something on a whim! Though I must admit, there were moments of temptation. Oh the carpets and their beauty! Be still my heart! More on that in a bit.

We started the morning off right...with a totally delicious breakfast outside in the courtyard :)  Then, since I had a few minutes to spare, I took a few pictures of the hotel and the grounds...

The pool out back

The lobby

The front of the hotel. I have to admit, I kind of felt like I was on a honeymoon...minus Matt and anything that resembled romance.

So anyway, breakfast ended and the day started...but before we went crazy on indulgent purchases, we decided to be proper tourists and check out a historical site first...

 The Amber Fort. Yes, another fort. It seems we hadn't had our fill of forts in the other cities so we decided it was absolutely necessary to check out a 5th fort ;)

Supposedly, part of the fun in visiting the Amber Fort is riding up there on elephant back...but in my opinion, standing in a line this long never equals fun. Plus, I had my kicks on an elephant in Thailand back in September so I opted for a walk up to the fort. An exhausting walk up many steps might I add.

Of course, when I rode an elephant in Thailand, it didn't look quite as pretty as this one did! Apparently there's a big celebration in Jaipur once a year that includes decorating the elephants...and we missed it by one day...darn the luck! :(

So as we waited for the other half of the group to arrive via elephant back, we hung out here inside the fort...

...and ya know, posed for a few pictures. Nothing out of the ordinary. I'm telling you, no matter where I go in the world, people want pictures with me. I guess that's just the price I pay for being super cool.

OK fine, maybe everyone in India wanted pictures with Amanda too. And everyone in our group. And anyone in the entire country that appeared to be an American. Maybe that's true. But honestly, I still think they wanted my picture b/c I'm super cool ;)

Sitting in front of the Ganesh Pol, a gateway built in 1640. (Notice my awesome henna tattoo on my leg from the night before!)

A view from the top!

On our way back down to the bottom, I spotted this little fellow. Obviously, I'm some sort of goat whisperer b/c he totally posed and smiled for me.

Have I mentioned the hagglers and how relentless they were? Ignoring them didn't work. Saying no didn't work. Yelling at them didn't work. Walking away didn't work. They find you...and follow you...and beg you to buy from them. Doesn't Chris look thrilled?

Just your average snake charmers...

A little stop outside the water palace before we started shopping!

After a full morning we arrived at our very first shopping stop of the day...a carpet and textile factory. I'm going to be completely honest here, my first thought upon arrival was "now this is going to be boring." For one thing, I wasn't in the market for a carpet and secondly, I didn't think I was all that interested in how carpets are made. Ummm...it turns out, I was wrong. Carpet weaving is down right interesting. Before they allowed us to shop, they forced us to learn. I guess a little learning never hurt anyone.

The carpets go through quite the process from start to finish. They're hand woven, trimmed, torched and washed among other things...and not in that order. I wasn't listening closely enough to memorize the pattern because...

I was totally fascinated by this. Carpet weaving...by hand. It can take months to finish one carpet, but dang this guy was fast! And because I took such an interest in it...and because he was just a genuinely nice man...

...he let me try it! Sure, it may have taken me, oh, a minute to weave one knot...but the point is I've woven part of a carpet that will end up in someone's home. That carpet should probably sell for at least double now that my hands were involved.

Working on the final details.

And then it was time to actually shop for carpets. So we were brought upstairs and they laid out a million beautiful carpets for us. And then the temptation rose up inside of me. Suddenly I just HAD to have a carpet.

Now if you look really hard, you can see me in the very back of the picture sitting on the couch with a phone to my ear. Why the phone call? I decided to be a good wife and run this major purchase by Matt. To which he said  "use your best judgement." I hate when he says that! I mean, what if my best judgement does not match his best judgement? Oh the pressure! In the end, I decided to walk away from the carpets. I think it was the best decision because an hour after leaving the place, I couldn't even remember what the carpet I wanted looked liked. I guess didn't love it quite as much as I thought I did.

So that was the day. We ended it with a final shopping trip to the heart of Jaipur. You want to know what it was like to cross the street in Jaipur? Have you ever stepped out into oncoming traffic and prayed that the cars would stop for you? If you have, then you know what it's like to cross the street in Jaipur! If you haven't done that, just check out this video that Chris managed to get! It should give you a good idea :)

India Day 4...The People

These are the kids we gave candy to at the water buffalo pond. How could we have said no to these sweet faces?!

There's a story behind this guy! He ran out from nowhere at the abandoned city, stripped down and prepared himself to jump in a pool of murky water...for tips. We all turned our attention away from him so he decided not to jump, ha!