Taj Mahal

Qutub Mina

New Delhi: Rajpath and India Gate

Rajpath or King's Way is kinda like the ceremonial avenue of India. New Delhi boulevard is lined on both sides by lawns with rows of trees and ponds. This is considered the most important road in India. The Rajpath goes straight towards Raisina Hill, India's administrative center. After the long climb up Raisina Hill, one can see that Rajpath is flanked by North Block and South Block. Rajpath ends at the gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan which was once the Viceroy's residence. Now, Rastrapati Bhavan is the offical residence of the President of India.





At the start of the Rajpath is the India Gate. It is India's war memorial arch in honour of those who died in the first World War and second Afghan War. It is also India's memorial of the Unknown Soldier. It was originally called the All India War Memorial and was to commemorate the Indian soldiers who died in World War I and the Afghan Wars. The names of the soldiers who died in these wars are inscribed on the walls. Standing right beside this gate, one would feel rather small. What I liked about the India Gate was that it actually looked like L'Arc de Triomphe of Paris. This was inscribed on top of India Gate :

“ To the dead of the Indian armies who fell honoured in France and Flanders Mesopotamia and Persia East Africa Gallipoli and elsewhere in the near and the far-east and in sacred memory also of those whose names are recorded and who fell in India or the north-west frontier and during the Third Afgan War. ”

A lil bit of trivia about the India Gate, the opening scene from the movie Gandhi starring Ben Kingsley was filmed here.



Underneath the arch of India Gate is a shrine called Amar Jawan Jyoti (the flame of the immortal warrior), which marks the Unknown Soldier's Tomb. The shrine is a black marble cenotaph with a rifle placed on its barrel, crested by a soldier's helmet. Each face of the cenotaph has inscribed in gold the words "Amar Jawan" (Immortal Warrior). This cenotaph is itself placed on an edifice which has on its four corners four torches that are perpetually kept alive. When we arrived there, there were a lot of soldiers preparing for a ceremony that was going on the grounds.

Old Delhi: Raj Ghat and Masjid-i-Jahan Numa

The Raj Ghat, a simple black marble platform that marks the spot of Mahatma Gandhi's cremation on 31 January 1948. It is left open to the sky while an eternal flame burns perpetually at one end. It is located on the banks of the river Yamuna. The memorial has the epitaph Hē Ram, ('O God'), which was believed to be Gandhi's last words. Raj Ghat was very serene and peaceful, made even more enchanting by the lush greenery and flowers that fill the landscape. We were in awe as we walked around the memorial. Apparently the next day after we visited the place, a woman who was with her boyfriend, was slapped by a police officer and was jailed. According to the news report the police officer felt that it was improper for her to be there with her boyfriend. Hmmm I know that it is a sacred place, but what was the wrong done here. If it was a muslim country, it'd be understandable, my friends and I were perplexed at what the problem was.






Masjid-i-Jahan Numa, is the main mosque of Old Delhi in India. It was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and was completed in the year 1656 AD. It is one of the largest and best-known mosques in India. Masjid-i-Jahan Numa means "the mosque commanding a view of the world", and the name Jama Masjid is a reference to the weekly congregation on Fridays at the mosque. As we climbed up the stairs of the mosque, we viewed with wander this magnificent place of worship. In the massive courtyard, there was a huge pool, where I believed Muslims took their ablutions at. Looking up into the morning sky, there were birds flying around the minarets. We stopped by Chandi Chowk afterwards and looked for bangles of multi hues.

Shanghai JiaoTong University

This is what the campus looks like. Its massive but nothing beats the University of Western Australia's campus, the buzz, the people lying on the lawn in between lectures, running off to Matilda Bay or the beach just to escape. It's not the same but hey its the experience right?!

Hangzhou - There is heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below

"There is heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below."

The capital of Zhejiang province, Hangzhou is famed for its West Lake. I saw it at night and I saw it in the day, and both were different sights to behold. In the morning it was misty and dreamlike, and you can see the islets in the middle of the lake, and the majestic towering pagodas. At night it was mysterious, and as I walked along the lake (damn long walk I must say) I was treated to another view that was captivating of white lotus flowers contrasting against the dark waters. Folk stories surround the West Lake, one of which was of the legend of Lady White Snake, the story is about the relationship between a scholar and a spirit of a snake which has taken the form of a beautiful woman. Lady White Snake met Xu Xian on the "broken bridge" in the rain and they fell in love with each other and an umbrella they used became the symbol of their love. Xu Xian falls in love with Lady White Snake but a monk intervenes and destroys and traps her underneath Leifeng Pagoda.The bridge was also the scene where they made up after a long series of ups and downs.

There is also a tomb of Su Xiaoxiao who was well known for her intellectual talent and great beauty. As a courtesan she pursued the values of love, beauty and humanity. There is a story that tells of her meeting a young scholar travelling in a state of dire poverty, hoping to reach the capital to sit the official examinations. She gave the scholar several nuggets of silver from her purse, but he never returned to her after completing the examinations. She did not wish to be a man's wife or mistress, preferring to share her beauty with the common people while showing a certain contempt for the wealthy. In her late teens, Su Xiaoxiao developed a terminal illness, during which she took the view that heaven was giving her the special opportunity to leave a legacy of beauty in her memory through her death at a young age. She died at 19 years of age and for more than a thousand years, her tomb was situated at the Xilin Bridge beside her beloved West Lake.

"Song of the West Tomb"
I ride in a decorated carriage,
My darling rides a blue-white horse.
Where should we tie the knot for our heart?
Under the Xiling pine and cypress.


We went on a riverboat cruise on the West Lake in torrential rain. Although it was raining and misty, it didn't hide the beauty of the lake. It felt as though I was in a dream, transported back to one of those dynasties back in the day.


The tree 2m high stone pagodas in the south of the island were construted in 1621 after the model of the original three pagodas built by Su Dongpo. There are five small round holes in each pagoda. When there is a bright full moon in the sky, and a candle is placed into each of the pagodas, you may see the candle light mingle with the moonlight. Thus it was named as “Three Pools Mirroring the Moon”.One can also see the pagodas on the back of 1 yuan note.

Lou Wai Lou was one of the most famous restaurants in Hangzhou, and we were able to try out the famous "West Lake sweet and sour Carp", very different from the normal sweet and sour stuff that we've tried back home. The owner of Lou Wai Lou was Hong Ruitang, a scholar who failed in the imperial examination. He and his wife moved from Shaoxing to Qiantang after the death of their parents, and lived at the bank of Xilin Bridge under Gu Mountain. They made a living by boating and fishing and had skills in cooking fresh fish and shrimp as they came from Shaoxing, a place flowing with fish and rice. When they noticed that there were no refreshment rooms along that West Lake area, they began to save money and opened a small-scale one-floor restaurant located between Yulou and Xilingyinse near Liuyi fountain. The fish was "interesting", a lot of vinegar and something else that I couldn't put my finger on it. Something weird about the restaurant was that the chairs were too low, one wonders why that is.

Why Fairy-Duh is never in one country for too long?

I like to travel 'nuff said. I get bored when I'm stuck in one place for a long time. I like learning about new cultures and places and the excitement of getting lost and trying to get my bearings right. I usually just travel with a backpack wherever I fly to. As long as I have my passport and credit cards, the Fairy-Duh can just jump on a plane and go. I guess I've done what the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w has advised us to do, I up and went off to China to do part of my MBA.