A well-earned vacation

It was with rather a jolt that I realised that for someone whose job

is to make people relax, I have never really had a complete holiday

for over twenty years! My justification for this has always been that

my work is so deeply satisfying that I’m always on holiday, doing

what I love. Meditating also helps keep stress at bay despite insane

travel schedules. Thirdly, my work involves music, travel,

photography, food, yoga and meditation — which are what most

peoples’ vacations are all about. So my idea of a hobby or a holiday

has usually been to catch up on sleep, since most days I work about

15-20 hours 🙂

Anyhow, Tina and I finally just packed our bags and came over to my

cousin Arnab’s house in Singapore, and believe me it has been

absolute bliss — the body and mind have been thanking us profusely,

reminding us of how hard they have worked. I had promised Tina a

“different” view of Singapore, since I have mostly interacted with

the locals, and know a lot of places that tourists would never have

heard of. In fact, there were a couple of places which my cousin had

never heard of, and he is a permanent resident here!

Also, we went off to Yogyakarta last weekend, and spent a beautiful

time exploring the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan, learning about

batik printing and silverwork that the region is famous for, and

getting a couple of really good massages! We also saw the Javanese

Ramayana, quite different from the Balinese form, and actually quite

gripping — it was a refreshing change for us to see our epics

through the eyes of a different culture, who have in fact done more

to promote them than we ourselves!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures, and don’t miss the fish spa,

where dozens of tiny fish come and nibble at your soles, supposedly

giving you a pedicure in the process by eating up your dead skin! It

was a bit ticklish and pretty novel, but its cosmetic benefits are

dubious 🙂