Halloween 2009

Last year Oliver was a (very cute!) pirate for Halloween, but it was a pretty quiet day for us since it isn't a big thing Down Under. But this year, in the US and with lots of cousins around, it was a much bigger event. Although we are patching Ollie's right eye even more now than a year ago (6 hours a day), I thought he should dress up as something different for Halloween. I thought about it, and finally had an idea. I found some red fleece pajamas in a box of hand-me-downs, and I bought some blue socks for his feet and hands. My mom helped to sew a fox snout and ears onto a red fleece hat we had, and made a red tail to match. Voila, the cutest Fox in Socks ever! (For those of you not familiar with Fox in Socks, he is a character from one of Oliver's favorite books by Dr. Seuss.)

I am not sure how much of the concept of Halloween Oliver grasped, but we had fun talking about it beforehand. I told him how children dress up in different costumes, and that he was going to be Fox in Socks. I explained how they go out and knock on neighbors doors and say "Trick or Treat" to get yummy candy that they like to eat. When I would ask him what he was going to be: a pirate? an elephant? a robot? he would shake his head No No No... until I asked, Fox in Socks? and then he'd give a big grin!


So in the evening I suited Ollie up (he didn't fuss too much, luckily!) and we went out Trick or Treating on our street with some of his cousins. I recorded "Trick or Treat" onto one of his talking buttons, so that he could say it himself. Some of the neighbors who are not familiar with Oliver's cerebral palsy probably thought it was weird, but I guess I have to get used to that, or at least try not let it bother me so much. It was both a fun and sad time for me, watching the kids running, playing, talking and collecting candy. I wished things were different for us, and especially missed Shami, who was away for the week at a meeting in England. But I did my best to put on a happy face, and I think Ollie had a fun experience. And he was an awfully cute Fox in Socks!

In the photo: Jeanine, Eliza, Sean, Devon, and Kieran in the back. Caitlin, Shannon, Oliver, and Mariah in front.

Happy New Year again

It's official: 2008 is finally over, after dragging on for an extra leap second (2008/12/31, 23:59:60). Happy New Year to everyone, and let's hope the year ahead is a better one.

Although we didn't have the iconic backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge or the Opera house, we saw spectacular fireworks over the Iron Cove from the comfort of our own deck. (A brief 19 second video clip below.)

(Our previous New Year's eve posts are here for 2008, and here and here for 2007.)

Obama!

After Meghan donated money and sent in her absentee ballot, there wasn't much else for us to do about the US elections besides obsessively following the twists and turns of the campaign. On November 5th (late night 4th in the US), we all watched with an overwhelming sense of relief as the results came in. Here's Oliver congratulating President-Elect Obama as he gives his victory speech!



Throughout the election campaign, the news coverage was dominated by trivia like flag pins, tire gauges, and wardrobes, but did you know that the candidates had actual positions on policy issues such as disability? As this post on the blog Crooked Timber says,

Disability policy never swings an election. And why should it? Unless you yourself have a disability, or unless you know someone with a disability, or unless you’re concerned about things like employment or health care, or unless you might get sick or injured someday, or unless you’re planning on aging, disability policy is irrelevant to you.

Well, it turns out that Senator Obama had some really comprehensive and smart disability policies. On the other hand, Senator McCain merely wanted to cut costs, so his policy could be summarized, more or less, as "Don't become disabled." (Again, if you're interested, this post is worth reading.) I guess we'll see how President Obama's plans survive the ongoing economic crisis.

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrated our first Mother's Day this year, in anticipation of Meghan becoming a mother in a few months! After a laid back day, I treated Meghan to dinner at the revolving restaurant on top of Centrepoint Tower, the tallest building in Sydney. We enjoyed a leisurely trip around 360 degrees of the Sydney skyline and admired the twinkling city lights as we had dinner. There are big, exciting changes afoot in our life, and this was a chance to share a relaxed and leisurely moment for the two of us...

Left: "Mum" and "Bub" (we're picking up our Aussie lingo); Right: the Tower.
Below: The Sydney skyline at sunset from the Manly ferry.

Above: Us at dinner, high above the city.
Below: Views of the city (blurry, because the restaurant was moving!)

The Reception

Shami's parents arranged a big reception for the four of us: the newlyweds, Shouri & Uttara, and not-so-newlyweds, me & Shami. It was an all day affair, with family gatherings for breakfast and lunch, and then the big event that evening. Luckily I was able to sneak away with Shami and Caitlin for some much needed rest time in between the events!

Walking to lunch, photo by Caitlin: Shami, Shouri, Uttara, Meghan, Chumki and Kaki. Kaki helped me out very much by dressing me in all my saris! This silk red sari was given to me by Lalmashi.

Uttara and I, as the new brides, ceremonially served a sweet rice dish to everyone at the lunch, including Shami's parents (left) and Pishis (right).

Below, at lunch with Shami and Maini.

It was such a wonderful thing that my sister Caitlin was able to travel all the way to India and share all these experiences with me. Her amazing husband Jamie took care of their 4 small kids back in Ithaca for the 10 or so days that she was away. Thanks Jamie! It meant the world to me.

For the evening reception I wore an amazing golden sari, chosen by Shami's father, and all sorts of gold jewelry to go with it. It was truly spectacular, and very much fun to wear.

A group photo with Shami's parents, and Uttara's parents.

The reception was an incredible affair. About 300-400 guests were expected, and even more than that showed up!

There were countless people to meet, but everyone was extremely nice and generous. There were many welcoming words, and gorgeous flowers, and many gifts as well. All the time and effort Shami's parents put into the planning paid off, as it was a wonderful, if exhausting, evening.



It was very late at night when we finally wound down. Caitlin and I carried home some of the beautiful flowers at the end of the evening.

Tuku gets married!

Weddings are festive affairs in India, and this was especially true for my brother's marriage to my new sister-in-law Uttara in New Delhi. This is one of those infrequent occasions when I get to meet my cousins - here's a group with all six of us brothers and five better halves (one couldn't be there) at the pre-wedding reception.





The gathering was a sparkling affair, with flowers, music, guests in fancy clothes, and excellent food. But most important, it was a chance for friends and family to meet, mingle, catch up on old times, find common acquaintances, and generally establish how small a world it really is.

Meghan and her sister Caitlin were special guests at the wedding, since it was the first trip to India for both of them. Despite the culture shock, they dove right in, dressing up in gorgeous Indian salwar-kameezes and getting their hands decorated with traditional mehendi, intricate patterns in henna. (See the post below for more.)





The ceremony itself started late at night, with traditional Sanskrit chants as the priest conducted the rites in front of the sacred fire as a witness.





It was very late into the night and most of the guests had long gone to bed by the time the proceedings wound up and the newly-wed couple got a bite to eat. And after all that, my poor brother had to bribe his new sister-in-law and cousins to get his shoes back...

Mehendi

The day before my brother's wedding, his fiancee Uttara's family hosted a mehendi party, in keeping with the Punjabi part of her heritage. (The wedding itself was in the Bengali tradition, reflecting the other half of her ancestry.)

At the party, the women had their hands decorated with traditional designs in henna. It was fascinating to watch the artisans as they created unique works of art on the hands and arms of guests, which would only last a week or two.





The bride got the full treatment, of course, and her hands and feet, arms and legs, were all covered with intricate designs. The rest of the crowd indulged in some serious dancing, but Uttara had to wait patiently for the designs to be completed before she could join in.



The results, though, were simply spectacular...

More from New Year's Eve

The New Year's Eve fireworks in Sydney are famous, and we heard that over a million people come out to watch them. We headed out to Sydney harbour and hoped to find a good spot to watch the display, but even with a start in the early afternoon, everything was simply jam-packed. Barricades everywhere, jostling crowds, lost tourists - it felt like a madhouse! Luckily, thanks to Jeanine, we had a backup plan: we took a bus to the zoo, where she had special staff tickets for the evening. The zoo was pretty full, too, but we found ourselves a nice picnic spot next to the giraffes, and settled in for the evening. (Notice the person sticking out of the tent next to us - that's a sculpture!) Our spot had a rather nice view of the opera house and the bridge, which displayed a flashing question mark where the evening's motif would be revealed.


As dusk settled in, boats gathered in the harbour for the best views, like a thousand glittering points of light...


And then, on the dot of 9 pm, the family fireworks began, lighting up the harbour and the skies overhead. It was a short display, but quite spectacular.


The question mark became a coat hanger, which is the nickname for the bridge, and later on, a diamond motif was revealed to commemorate the Diamond (75th) anniversary of the harbour bridge.

After we enjoyed our picnic and the early fireworks, we decided to head back. The streets were swarming with revelers as we made our way home. As midnight came, we rang in the New Year from the comfort of our own deck, with spectacular fireworks over the Iron Cove...

Happy New Year!

I guess we beat most people to it...



Happy New Year to all of you from Sydney, Australia!

Sydney to Hobart

Australians love sports of all sorts, and there is much anticipated sailing race that begins in Sydney and ends in Hobart (in Tasmania.) It begins on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, and takes the fastest yachts about two days to complete. The current record for the fastest time to the finish line is 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds, set in 2005 by a yacht named Wild Oats XI. Thousands of Australians make a day of it, and go out to watch the start of the race. We met Andrea and her twin girls, and set out to see what all the excitement was about. We were not disappointed!

A satellite view of Sydney harbour.
The Yellow arrow points to our apartment in Rozelle.
The Orange arrow points to Circular Quay (pronounced "Key"), the ferry hub of Sydney.
The Red arrow points to South Head, from where we watched the beginning of the race.

We took a ferry from Circular Quay to Watson's Bay, and then walked up along the shore to South Head, where Sydney harbour opens up into the Tasman Sea. We got there early enough to find a great spot, and put down our blanket. Then we enjoyed a picnic lunch, watched small planes skywriting, and waited for the 1:00 pm start. We had a great view of North Head, and were only steps away from a great city skyline view as well. The weather was perfect, but our sunny spot required the application of sunscreen, and hats!



Some historic sailing ships started things off, sailing majestically down the harbour. Andrea's husband Steve volunteers for the Heritage fleet, and was lucky enough to earn a spot aboard the largest of them, the James Craig.



At 1:00 pm sharp we heard the cannon boom, and the race was on. All the picnickers got to their feet to watch!



Here you can see Wild Oats XI, last year's winner, leading the way out of the harbour, turning South on the treacherous voyage down to Tasmania - a trip that would take them over two days.



There was a buzz of activity, with at least 7 helicopters flying around, and hundreds of private boats zooming all over. The racing yachts (78 in all) had a clear channel to sail in, but outside the channel was fair game.



We got our fill of the yachts, and then stayed and enjoyed the amazing scenery for a while before heading back for the day.



The Sydney to Hobart course is a difficult one. As it turns out, Wild Oats XI kept her lead, and won the race again, although dangerous seas claimed several boats, including one that had just overtaken her. There were some injuries, but luckily no loss of life. Wild Oats XI took 2 days and almost 9 hours to finish the race this time, and became the first back-to-back winner since 1964.

Vertigo: U2 in Sydney

It's on... After a cancellation in March, U2's Vertigo tour comes to Sydney's Telstra Stadium today.




(Later update:) Well, that was a great concert, even from our seats at nosebleed altitudes. It was a full-house crowd of 70,000+ at Sydney's Telstra Olympic stadium. Beginning with references to Sydney in "City of Blinding Lights" and ending with a didgeridoo player on the final encore ("Kite"), U2 kept the crowd electrified.

A few bits from the set that stuck in my mind: The concert started in the rain, and Bono sang a few lines of "Here comes the sun" as the showers ended. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was dedicated to the memory of the Bali bombings, particularly resonant here in Australia, with a plea not to become the monsters we are fighting. And there was "The Saints are Coming", marking Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans.



(Cameras were forbidden in principle, so the only pictures we have are small fuzzy ones from my cellphone camera...)