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We celebrated Shellie's BDay over the weekend at the jorge bar in Brisbane City. Her Birthday isn't till the 23rd, but since Shellie's friend Natasha's BDay is two days before hers on the 21st, and both celebrate their BDay's together each year, the weekend seemed an appropriate time to gather family and friends together. Here is a picture of the two ladies cutting the cake together (Shellie is on the left).
.. so screams the giant billboard on Centenary highway. Yes, right. But don't talk to me about the daily traffic jams to get there and out of there.
It is quite ironic that the billboard sits right at the spot where I daily start waiting for the traffic to move. The Centenary highway intersects with the Ipswich Motorway about 2 Km from that spot, but it's not really this intersection, but a traffic light further on Centenary highway, that causes the problem.
Somehow, I think some of the planning for Springfield Lakes and beyond was done without thinking about this crucial piece of infrastructure, and somebody somwhere got it wrong.
I admit that they are doing something about it. An underpass is being built that will get rid of the traffic light. But this is a classic case of cause and effect, something being done after a whole year of traffic delays and frustation. Surely, when you get a whole township built, you would think that there would be some thought put into how people will actually get there and any bottlenecks removed prior to that.
The next bottleneck? The massive traffic that will come this way when the Orion shopping center goes up. The Centenary Highway will need to be double laned. I just hope that they plan for it before the traffic jams start.
The race riots in Sydney, that have made headlines across the world, are not on the scale of the recent French riots and are, so far, isolated to a few suburbs in South Sydney.
The spark for these riots was ignited when three Middle Eastern men bashed some white lifeguards on a Cronulla beach. This irked several white supremacist groups and they cajoled white Australians into a day of revenge last Sunday on that beach.
What is surprising is the number of people who turned up for this event (nearly 5000) and the rioting that followed fuelled by alcohol and blazing sun. Some men of middle eastern origin were rounded up and beaten viciously.
The next day, men of middle eastern origin wanted revenge and went on rampage around a mosque in Sydney.
So far, thankfully, no one has been killed and I commend the police and the politicians for taking a firm stand against the rioters. Rioters have no religion or ethnicity and have been correctly identified as hooligans and thugs. There is too much drinking and hot heads are getting carried away by innuendo and baseless propaganda.
I hope that calm returns soon to Sydney. Australians pride themselves on their multi-ethnic society and it would be a shame for that image to shatter because of this anomaly.
Well, what's new this time, is that 11 of them were caught taking bribes for asking questions in the Indian Parliament. Sample some of the (ridiculous) questions that they put up (some of these were eventually tabled in the Parliament!)
"Is it true that while NRI firms such as India Uncut of USA, Sepia Mutiny of Britain and AnarCapLib of Netherlands have been allowed to invest in Indian SSIs, the reputed German investment firm Desipundit has been denied permission? If so, the reasons thereof? Is the Union Government of India planning to make automatic the long procedure of permission for SSIs to import new technologies such as Trackbacks, Pingbacks, Blogrolls, Splogs and Hitcounters?"
The NRI firms mentioned are prominent Indian blogs.
"Whether the Railway Ministry has placed any order for purchase of the Yossarian Electro Diesel engine from Germany? Is the ministry aware that the Tom Wolfe committee report in Germany has halted its induction into the Euro Rail system?"
"Whether the Government has given sanction for the seed trial of Salinger Cotton of Monsanto? If so, has a report been prepared on Catch 22 cotton so far?"
"Has the ministry lifted the 1962 ban it imposed on the book “For whom the Bell Tolls� by Ernest Hemingway and the 1975 ban on Ken Kesey’s book “One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest� and Hunter Thomson’s book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas�? If so, when were the bans removed?"
It would all be so funny if it wasn't so pathetic. What annoys me is that this is so pervasive that it doesn't surprise me anymore. And one wonders why India hasn't progressed in the last 50+ years of Independence. You know where all that development money goes. Sheesshh...
You can read the full account of the expose by one of the main journalist, Aniruddha Bahal, who has made a career out of exposes like this.
In the morning, we leave for Brisbane. It's been a slow and tiring few days, and I am happy to be going home. Just before that, some final facts and observations about Copenhagen continuing from earlier posts..
1. Most taxi drivers are Pakistanis. Most seem to have arrived here exactly 35 years ago.
2. There is a higher population of Pakistanis than Indians.
3. I love the Danish greeting of ‘Hi’ (‘Hej’) which is a sort of mixture of a greeting and a question at the same time. Wherever you go, the attendants at the shops, the receptionists; everyone says the greeting with a smile and it comes out a bit different than what I can say.
4. The trains, I noticed, were terrible for strollers. I saw several women and men struggle with them, and wouldn't have been able to get on or off if people didn't help them.
5. I couldn't find an English language newspaper, despite being told that one is published in Denmark. Not that they should publish one, but I would have loved to read a local newspaper to see what local people are getting up to.
That's probably it for now. This brings to an end a wonderful trip but tiring trip to beautiful Copenhagen. I hope to come back here in summer to enjoy it fully.
Farvel!
I have and the temperature was about 1 degree Celsius too. Where? At the Tivoli in Copenhagen of course!
The magic of Tivoli is hard to describe, without actually experiencing it first hand. It is a high end amusement park, romantic couples interlude, a children's fairy tale, and a shopping bazaar rolled in with plenty of excitement, thrills and open air shows. It is magic within the city.
There are some pictures here, but to be honest, they don't do the place any justice.
Yes, I know, things should not be left till the last moment, and this being the last day here in Copenhagen, we couldn't see all the things that we wanted to see because we ran out of time and another piece of bad luck. We decided to buy the Copenhagen card to go around the city, which for 199 kroners, gives you unlimited travel on trains and buses, and free entry to most attractions. The card is bought from most tourist centers, but not the attractions themselves, and it is best if you buy it at the airport tourist centre, the central station one, or the main tourist centre in the central square. This is where we bought the pass ourselves.
The first thing we decided to see, after a little shopping on Stroget, was the Rosenberg Slot, one of the main residences of the Queen. We trudged up there in pouring rain, and were aghast at the fact that it was closed on Monday. The walk had been exhausting, and the disappointment was severe. We then decided to keep walking till we got the Amlienborg Slot, the other residence to see one of the residence that has been turned into a museum. Just before you get to that place from the city, the beautiful Marble Church or Marmorkirken that I had talked about earlier comes up and here is one more snap of this gorgeous monument.
It was disappointing when we got to the residence. For starters, we had to pay 10 kroners to keep our bags in storage. Fair enough. Then we couldn't take photographs without paying a fee of 20 kroners. This was told to us, after we had taken a few photographs, by a kindly old lady in a very subtle whisper. This is on top of the 199 kroners that we had already paid for the Copenhagen Card. Lastly, the museum was very very small, and almost a waste of time and effort, with hardly anything of interest.
We then wanted to go to the Christinaborg Slot, which contains some ruins. A change of bus, and a drenching rain later, when we got to it, we found that it was closed. On Mondays! Arrgghh.
Our spritits sapping, we decided to do the one thing that we knew we could do. Take the bus to Tivoli in the city, and make the most of it for the rest of the day. This is what we did and that devotes its own post.
Another slow day today. We are leaving everything for the last moment and perhaps that is not the best thing to do, but what could we do. We didn’t leave the hotel till nearly 12 and it was too bloody cold to do anything. Anyway, Damian had to drop the keys to his previous apartment at the Pussy Galores café so we went there first. While there, there was a guy there setting up Xmas trees for sale. Here is a picture of me in front of them.
The banner behind me says Christmas Trees. There is another shot from the other side.
After, this we walked back to the city and I came upon this familiar scene across the world.
Yes, Yes, you were right, I was wrong.
And now a shot of the canals across which we had to go to cross into the city.
We then had lunch at an all you can eat Chinese café for 49 kroner. Good value, but the food was a bit ordinary.
Next we went to a place called Rundetårn (Round Tower), which is supposed to be the oldest working observatory in Europe. It is attached to a church, and I took some photographs inside but somehow, none of them came out right. The Church was pretty awesome, but the main attraction is views of the old city when you get to the top of the tower. Here are some photographs.
Before you get to the top a sign warns against letting little children out of sight..
We trudged back to the Tourist Centre at RÃ¥dhuspladsen, to get the Copenhagen card, but the centre had closed by then. Why close the tourist centre at 3 in a major tourist city? Anyway, lacking things to do, we went to the Illums Bolighus and Illums shopping centres. Pretty impressive centres, but way too expensive. They have a lot of Georg Jensen stuff and more contemporary Danish artists as well. Some photographs from inside:
With this done, we strolled to the Nyhavn and looked at the roadside shops, but didn’t buy anything as we felt that there may be cheaper stuff in Tivoli. Coming back from here, we reached Kongens Nytrov, a square where there is an ice rink and it was bustling with activity. We watched for a while and then decided to eat at an American style eatery where we finished the night watching soccer. Walking back, I saw this sign and thought it was funny..
and I don't even smoke. The hotel that I am staying in Copenhagen, Denmark has got a ventilation system that transfers the smoke from the smoking rooms to your non-smoking rooms with great ease. And due to the windows being closed to keep the cold out, I am drowning in somebody else's cigarette smoke. Actually, this has been one of the irritating aspects of this trip, anywhere I go, bars, restaurants, trains and.. hotel rooms, smoke nearly kills you. I hope the Danes bring forward their no smoking in public places rule soon because it is a great country and I would love to come back here.
try the Ankara Turkish restaurants. There are 4 around, one near Stroget. For 39 Kroner (aprox 5-6 USD) lunch buffet, you probably won't find a better deal. The only caveat is that the place is crowded (at 39 Kroner, why wouldn't it be), and that you have to buy a drink to go with the meal. But with the lavish spread, who can complain? I am still bulging at the seams with the lunch that I had an hour ago.
In the last few weeks that I have been here in Copenhagen, I have eaten at several places, including some Indian/Pakistani restaurants. In all, I have been to 3 Pakistani and 1 Indian.
This post is not about the food at these Indian/Pakistani places, which was generally very good. Instead, I am seething with anger at the general disdain with which I am received at these restaurants. It’s not a welcome, it’s not a greeting. I immediately get the feeling that I am not welcome in those restaurants. They look at me suspiciously and with a question in their eyes. Why?
Don’t these Indian and Pakistani restaurants cater to Indians and Pakistanis? Do they live in a class society where they don’t welcome Indians and Pakistanis? I just don’t understand it.
Perhaps they are not used to Indian and Pakistanis coming to their restaurants. Perhaps they only want to cater to Danish people and want to keep it that way.
The biggest culprits were Shezan and Indus in Vesterbrogadde. In Indian Monsoon, the waiter was Indian Uni student who was friendly, but the owner was a sulk.
The only time any of them flash a smile is when I take out my American Express Gold card to make the payment. Money talks. Even over class and racial prejudices. So not fair.
Continuing from the previous post, here are some more observations..
1. Cyclists are kings (and queens) of the road in Denmark. Cars give way to them, they have their own dedicated lane where pedestrians don't walk on, they have parking for cycles all over, and even pedestrians don't get the same preferrential treatment.
2. When I talk of own lane for cyclists, I mean a real lane, almost 3/4ths of a car lane. Not the pissy ass 2 cm wide lane for cyclists that we have in Australia.
3. I see too many cyclists on the roads here, but I see an equal number of cars. This is really surprising considering...
4. That buying a car in Denmark for private purposes attracts nearly 200% tax. So with all the disincentives for buying cars, there still are heaps of them here. I personally wouldn't ride a bicycle to work, if I lived here for a longer period. But then, maybe I wouldn't be able to afford a car either.
5. I have seen a few Hero cycles from India here.
6. The first time I sat in a taxi here, I realized that I was sitting in a Mercedes. Ok, so most taxis here are Mercedes. Don't keep gloating over that and enjoy the ride.
More to come...