Shubh Diwali!

No, I have not gone native.  Today is Diwali Day, a Hindu high holiday that starts today and ends five days forth.  I learned about this today when people from the office sent me the above greeting.  Hindus are a minority sect here but not so in India, Singapore and Fiji.  Most people here are atheists since religion was forbidden from 1921 to 1990 when the Communist Party was in control.  Buddhism has made a comeback, however.  Christians are not more that one half of one per cent so one of the smallest minorities.

But again I digress.  The above pic is of the State Department Store which was founded by the Communists as a shopping place for the elite of the party.  It was founded in 1921, then went private in 1990 and was heavily renovated with a lot of glass utilized for the facade.  Note the Christmas tree that just went up this weekend. They tell me that Christmas is the number one holiday here (but apparently disconnected from any religious theme). This building sits about two blocks from the GI office so my shirts are laundered here as this store has every service that one needs in order to survive.  The first floor has an excellent grocery store with all things that might be needed. The other floors house items with brand names and things like cashmere products, dishware, fur coats, kids clothing, all quite similar to Penney's.

I plan to go to the Blue Sky in a few minutes  to have dinner at the Jade Palace which is the top Chinese restaurant in the country.  Again, I thank Don for giving me this luxury.  And so it goes...