March 22, 2011

Tourists for the Day

 When you live in a place that has a lot of foreign tourism, it's actually pretty easy to miss a bunch of the fun local touristy stuff.  Not sure why, though!? Maybe in a place like this where the predominant culture is Muslim,  going to the high-traffic tourist areas and seeing the very (to the locals) inappropriately dressed foreigners walking the streets, and being lumped in with them just for sharing the same skin color kinda makes you not want to be "part of the crowd." Also, tourist area stuff tends to be more expensive and when you LIVE in a place, well, you don't spend money everyday like you do while on vacation.  However, last Saturday we ignored all that and went to downtown Georgetown (a British Colonial City if you can't tell by the name) to see some of the sites!  We of course brought PB&J sandwiches from home and spoke the local language if we bought something to make sure we were getting the best price... no reason to pay full price if you don't have to!
Didn't actually go inside the fort this time... but it makes for a good picture!
Instead we played in the little park beside the fort (free!) You can see the walls of the fort in the background. 

I know it's just a pic of a little boy on a slide. But I'm posting 2 of them anyway!

It was HOT! We decided to head toward Little India... (Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun)
Cool tiles!
The man I've vowed to sweat on the equator with for as long as we both shall live. :)
Chinese Tea House doors!
This one's for Andrea... Bangles! You know you're in little India when you see a wall full of bangles!

Stop for a limo-ice...
"Cheese!" But he was waaaay into it and didn't want to take the straw out.
We let Isaac keep the spoon that comes with every drink.
Mama chillin' out too!
Scantily clad. Not what you were expecting right? Still... way too much skin for the locals!
More cool doors. Wonder what they store in there that they need to be that tall?
LOVE all the fabric stores in Little India. Even found a deal on some sari material. I won't be wearing it as a sari though :( I'll have a traditional dress made out of it in order to wear this year for Hari Raya...the BIG holiday here.
Here's my sari material.  My bucket list contains wearing a sari in India (and wearing it to a wedding if possible)
Anthony wasn't crazy about this pic... but one street away from Little India and there's a Chinese Buddhist Temple... this place is so diverse I tell you!
All of us!

7 comments:

Brandon and April said...

HEY! good job being tourists for a day! sometimes it's hard to be motivated to do the touristy things where you live, but it looks like ya'll had fun!
the limo-ice stuff looks YUM!

roger and courtney said...

I totally understand about the tourist thing. All of the tourists here dress all sleazy and dirty and I would hate nothing more than to be mistaken for a tourist in BKK. It's fun to be able to understand Thai people on the train when they are completely appalled at what a tourist is wearing or how they are acting.
We definitely want to come down to your area sometime and check out all the sites. Looks like so much fun!

Emily said...

Fun post, and great pics! You so need to wind up in India one of these days!

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Fun post and fun photos! Those super sweet pictures of that your miniest man on the slide are so adorable, and the street view of the Little India sign and palm trees looks like something from a movie! I take pictures of doors on a regular basis and certainly would have wanted one of those crazy tall doors! That sari material is beautiful. So, so pretty! And last but not least, since you're the only Rivers in jeans, I'm assuming that the "dress code" only applies to girls?

Anthony and Sharon said...

Hamptons- You'll def have to visit! You can even take a superfast (air con'd) ferry to Langkawi Island from Georgetown. Langkawi is considered the last of the islands that Phuket is a part of!

Emily- India! That's in my plans! (hoping some of the friends we have there can help me with that whole getting to a wedding part!)

Elizabeth- Georgetown is Colonial mixed with a Chinatown flare... PLENTY of doors to capture here! And yes, dresscode only applies to girls... which also adds another aspect of being ok if we have another boy... a sister would be jealous of brothers and their shorts!

Craig and Angie said...

Love seeing your painted toes! That is going to be a definite date for us every 2 to 3 weeks!

SouthAsiaRocks said...

FUN!!!