A Monument To Romantic Love

Taj Mahal, Agra (Uttar Pradesh), India

The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj to enshrine the body of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died shortly after giving birth to her fourteenth child in 1631. He was devastated by her death and set out to create an unsurpassed, eternal monument to her memory.

The story is given an exquisite poignancy by the fate of Shah Jahan himself, who became a tragic and inconsolable figure.

Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort, where I took the photo above from with the help of a little zoom. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife.

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My contribution to Julie's Taphophile Tragics

Baja Fresh Has Opened in Singapore

On the way back from Chinese food last night, we noticed that an outlet of Baja Fresh had opened at the Rendezvous Hotel (9 Bras Basah Road #01-03, 6337-7300). I haven't been to a Baja Fresh since back in school, when this Fresh Mex thing was all the rage. But I figured that if it was the same as it was back then, then they should at least have a salsa bar at this outlet.

Fortunately, they did. None of them were particularly spicy, but having it fresh nonetheless was key, even if they were a bit stingy with the chips. And I liked both my shrimp and grilled fish tacos, the latter of which was surprisingly smoky. At the end of the day, it was still just another chain restaurant, but at least I don't need to hover around Spruce's weekday lunch hours if I need a quick taco fix now.

Donkey On A Small Boat

Edfu, Egypt

Beijing Nengren Ju, Tyrwhitt Road

This was a completely random visit. We were originally trying to hunt down a Thai place nearby, only to find that it had closed, and thus stopped by this random northern Chinese place on a side street out of sheer convenience (25 Tyrwhitt Road, 6396-8006).

Fortunately, it was a lot better that we had figured it would be, with string beans spiced up just the right amount, as well as some cold flat noodles that were much better than that Yang Gui Fei place (i.e., nowhere as salty).

The thing above may seem a bit strange, but it was basically a white version of shui zu yu, leveraging some sour pickled vegetables (a bit like the white broth from Wei Lu in Taipei as opposed to the standard red one). I liked it, but it was definitely a lot more veggies than fish. Next time we should give their Mongolian hot pot thing a try.

Mya Theindan Pagoda

Mingun, Myanmar

Udon Factory, Lau Pa Sat, Singapore

Ever since we hit up an outlet of Rakugama in Japan, I'd been hoping to find a similar setup here in Singapore: a fast assembly line where one orders noodles first before progressing to pick up sides of tempura and then paying. So I was pretty happy to come across a place that did exactly that, at stall number 32 of Lau Pa Sat, of all places.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it. The tempura was the biggest disappointment, the batter being off-puttingly thick. Maybe it would have been better had I gone during the busy lunch hour instead, when the high turnover would have forced it to be fresh from the fryer rather than having to gnaw on the cold pieces that I ended up with tonight.

But I didn't care that much for the noodles either. I mean, I suppose that it did the job, but it definitely wasn't the thick chewy stuff from Rakugama. I'm gonna have to stick to Tsuru-Koshi for udon then...and hit up either Ten or Teppei for tempura.

When The River Is The Grave

Cremation at Pashupatinath, the holiest place for the Hindu people in Nepal

A father says goodbye to his sixteen years old son, whose body lies on the ground (top photo), before taking him to the pyre and set it on fire.

The ceremony is not completed until what's left of the body is thrown into the water, but I left before it happened, the smell was too intense.
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My contribution to Julie's Taphophile Tragics