as you know, we have split up the photos of the day by numerical order and its just your luck that i got the really boring ones to comment on. nevertheless, i will try my best.

We have decided to have a small competition. Every day, we will take a photo of the most mangy, rabid looking dog that we can find on the streets of India/Nepal/Pakistan. At the end of the trip, you, the reader, will get the chance to vote for the Dog of The Day (whole trip). The person who predicts the most mangy, god-forsaken dog will win 100 rupees.

Without further ado, here is The Dog of the Day:



isn't he handsome?

anyway, further down the road, we came across a man sharpening a blade on an ancient grindstone... he glared at Roger while rog was getting his picture so that kinda put roger off a bit, hence you don't get to see his intense face of rage and anger. but you do get to see his murderous hands.




this is the indian equivalent of Peninsula plaza. generally speaking in india, the shopping malls have security guards and metal detectors situated outside to deter the general populace from entering. hence, you wont get touts or beggars trying their luck on you all the time.



we found copies of Mien Kampf and the Tibetian Book of the Dead in a bookstore within the arcade.



for some reason, we decided it was best to pass the day watching a movie in calcutta. it was a bad idea because the only movie showing was Street Kings by keanu reeves. in typical fashion, we had no idea what the plot was at the end of the movie.





here are the movie tickets. the most expensive tickets are 100 rupees (about 3 bucks), followed by 80 rupees and 50 rupees. We opted for the 100 rupee tickets but there is no real difference in seat quality and arrangement really. the seats are hard leather like those damn lock cock and old sbs transit buses (think buses you sat in kindergarten).



to pass the time we went into one of the supermarkets there (also with security guards and metal detectors). prices in an indian supermarket are much cheaper than in singapore, even accounting for the exchange rate. a jar of marmalade costs 1 SGD for example.



As you can see, 1 kg of PARADISE Basmati Rice goes for 72 rps and that is the most expensive commodity there. (72 rupees is approx 2.10 SGD)



indians also have a good concept of leather goods going.




finally, the weather is so hot we had to keep ourselves cool by drinking tons of juice. a small glass of watermelon juice goes for 15 rupees (50 cents) and one with pomergranate goes for 30 rupees (1 dollar). this is fast becoming our favourite juice cafe in the New Market area. It is the only one that has great air conditioning with soothing lounge music. As you can see, water indeed is life here.


also, here are some shots of the local architecture. they are interspersed with slums and half broken down buildings. truly, india is a land of extreme contrasts. we live 80 metres from a slum. and also 80 metres from a LAN shop, upmarket district, eateries, money changers and a wet market.





we will attempt to visit a museum and just chill out more tomorrow. it is really very hot, with not much to do here, unless you are a saint. then you have the busiest job in the whole world.