Last week is becoming a blur very quickly. There was Wednesday at Kosmaderma....lol which turned into one big appointment for five fabulous ladies! Thursday which started out as a cocktails on the roof shindig that turned into a wonderful potluck dinner with the kiddos, and Friday night that John and I finally discovered Modern Family. Heehee we watched all of Season 1 and enjoyed every minute of it.
Saturday was a night on the town with some very fun friends at the Blue Bar at the Taj West End hotel. The DJ played some very cool tunes and though I told myself over and over that I would not dance as I could barely walk in my very high favorite red heels, I couldn't resist and danced the night away with John and our crowd. As most of you know, the bars close way too early in Bangalore. When the lights come on we no longer ask "is there an after party?" but rather "where is the after party?", this time though, we had a busy Sunday ahead of us so this time, it was "no" to the after party and we headed home. Another blog soon on the after parties....they can be very interesting.
Sunday morning came way too soon and my two fellas were sweet to let me sleep in. Bruce and John presented me with a home made mother's day card and proceeded to let me sleep and only woke me when I absolutely needed to get up and dressed for our Mother's day celebration and to help pack for our road trip to Chennai. Our Mother's day bash was at the Windsor with the Martin's and as it does every time we see Britten, Jennifer and Stella the afternoon went by too quickly. Brunch was really cool, the chef kept popping over to our table making sure we had everything we needed. Cocktails are included in the brunch price so of course we helped ourselves to martini's, bloody marys, mojitos and sparkling wine:). Yes, the food choices were good too. Pasta, seafood, pork, lamb, chicken, veg and non veg dishes.... a very good spread. Bruce and Stella would skip off to the kids area and by the end of the afternoon we had quite an animal balloon collection. Bruce is crazy about Stella. Stella"s crazy about John, lol, and she tolerates Bruce as he is a year younger but she is very sweet and patient with him (when she's not irritated by him) and we owe her for always stepping up and playing with him so we grown ups can have some chat and drink time to ourselves.
Immediately after brunch, we changed clothes and headed out on our first trip to Chennai! See, my passport has no more pages. Completely full and we are going to Abu Dhabi in two weeks (with the Martin's woo hoo!) to see the Material girl in concert! So excited about that trip...but before that trip can happen a trip the American Consulate to get more passport pages was in order.
I wish I could say that the road to Chennai was exciting, (it wasn't) but it was really interesting. Every fifty miles or so we would come to these areas of the freeway where it was almost party like....people hanging out, literally on the freeway. There would be these little pockets of freeway where there seemed to be hordes of people and small shops. All right smack on the freeway and people would be sitting out right alongside the road as all these cars zoomed by. I could not get a good shot with my camera as it was night time and we were moving along too quickly but it was an interesting thing to ponder. As in "aren't they afraid they are going to become road kill?" See, it's really, really dark on those roads and seeing those people in the middle of the road at all hours, well just seemed mighty dangerous to me. And though we had to pee....we never once felt comfortable enough to stop at the Indian reststop (i.e. the side of the road).
We got into Chennai about five hours after we left Bangalore. The hotel was a short distance from the Consulate but as there was a lot of road construction, it took us about forty five minutes to find the hotel. We stayed at the Raintree, which is known for it's eco friendliness. It was a nice hotel but I gotta tell you I didn't like that it was a glass see thru window that separated the bathroom from the rest of the room. I know we've been married 7 years but still....I like the door closed thank you very much with no audience please. I did finally see that there were blinds in there thank goodness, but still not a fan of that set up.
I am very happy to report that the whole Consulate, passport page errand went very smoothly. Bruce and I had made our appointments, filled out our forms and pages were added to both our passports and we were in and out of there in less than 45 minutes. Why can't all of India run that smoothly? (John just piped in "because it is run by Americans!")
I wish I could say that the road to Chennai was exciting, (it wasn't) but it was really interesting. Every fifty miles or so we would come to these areas of the freeway where it was almost party like....people hanging out, literally on the freeway. There would be these little pockets of freeway where there seemed to be hordes of people and small shops. All right smack on the freeway and people would be sitting out right alongside the road as all these cars zoomed by. I could not get a good shot with my camera as it was night time and we were moving along too quickly but it was an interesting thing to ponder. As in "aren't they afraid they are going to become road kill?" See, it's really, really dark on those roads and seeing those people in the middle of the road at all hours, well just seemed mighty dangerous to me. And though we had to pee....we never once felt comfortable enough to stop at the Indian reststop (i.e. the side of the road).
We got into Chennai about five hours after we left Bangalore. The hotel was a short distance from the Consulate but as there was a lot of road construction, it took us about forty five minutes to find the hotel. We stayed at the Raintree, which is known for it's eco friendliness. It was a nice hotel but I gotta tell you I didn't like that it was a glass see thru window that separated the bathroom from the rest of the room. I know we've been married 7 years but still....I like the door closed thank you very much with no audience please. I did finally see that there were blinds in there thank goodness, but still not a fan of that set up.
I am very happy to report that the whole Consulate, passport page errand went very smoothly. Bruce and I had made our appointments, filled out our forms and pages were added to both our passports and we were in and out of there in less than 45 minutes. Why can't all of India run that smoothly? (John just piped in "because it is run by Americans!")
Our driver Shankar is (and no that is NOT him up there with the orange hair) from Chennai and very graciously asked if we would be so kind as to have lunch at his parents' home. We were delighted to accept his offer and headed over there right after we left the Consulate. It was about 11 a.m. when we headed towards his parents home and though we had been warned about the heat in Chennai it hadn't affected us just yet. Don't worry it would later...
About half an hour later Shankar and I are in a textiles shop as I refused to go to visit his mother and father without a gift. We could not find flowers so instead I bought two packages of sari material for his mother and a shirt that Shankar just knew his father would love. I'm usually very selective when picking gifts, and this time was no exception....but it was getting hot and I knew I had to hurry it along. We picked out some gifts and we headed to meet his family.
I'll be honest. John and I were worried about eating home made food in a "local's home". Would they use tap water or filtered water? Where would they have gotten their meats and veggies? Our worries increased to a high level of alert when we entered the alley of the neighborhood to which they lived. I had always wondered about these small apartments that were stacked up right on top of each other in these lively neighborhoods...wondered how big they were, did they have toilets and kitchens? Well I was about to find out!
Shankar's parent's apartment was tiny. Their whole three room apartment was smaller than Bruce's bedroom. The had a living area which became a bedroom at night, a bedroom with a sink and tiny bathroom area, and a kitchen. But don't feel bad because they were very proud of their home as they should be. It was spotless and seemed roomier than it really was. They had a daybed in their living area that doubled as a couch and bed, they had a small entertainment table that they rolled from against a wall to use as our dining table, and a wall that that was also a shrine devoted to Ganesh. Shankar seemed so proud to be introducing us to his family and they in turn seemed so happy for us be there. The minute we walked in we were treated like celebrities, or VIP's. They were so nice and happy and really made us feel welcome. The mother took my gifts and gave me a small bouquet of roses. We felt comfortable and at ease as soon as we stepped into their home. It was with great relief that John and I both eyed the bottled water dispenser and it was with empty stomachs that we sat down to eat a lunch consisting of fried fish, mutton of lamb and chicken gravy over rice.....well all I can say is it was the best food we have had since we moved to India. So we dug in....and John and I shared a secret chuckle over how much food "momma Shankar" was trying to put on John's plate. The food was delicious. And I mean it. Why can't I find a cook who can cook like that? Damn. It was soooo good. The weird thing though was that they were all just standing around watching us eat and smiling. We had to beg and insist that they join us! When in Rome do like the Roman's right? What I mean by that is Indians don't use silverware to eat. It reminded me of growing up with tortillas and tex mex food, you would tear up a tortilla and scoop up the meats, rice and beans and and whatever else on your plate and just shove it in your mouth. It's a little different here in India as sometimes there is roti and other various Indian breads to scoop up your food with, but most of the time they just move the rice around and pile it up after it's mixed with veggies, chicken gravy, or whatever else is on the plate and scoop it up with their fingers and eat it with one hand. John couldn't understand how his food was falling all over his face and I was very lady like and pristine even while only using my fingers as well, haha! The food was truly good and we had a fun time trying to outdo each other without silverware. Shankar's mother, was so pleased that we were enjoying our food that she insisted on sending us home with leftovers and we did not argue:). It was a very nice lunch and even though it was a bit on the spicy side we kept filling our stomachs as it was just that good! After we ate our fill, we started to notice how hot it was starting to get in that small apartment. After lunch was finished and the dishes were cleared I noticed that I was sweating. They had two fans going, one on each end of the small living area and yet it was starting to get mega hot. There were only two very small windows with no breeze. I looked at John and he was sweating too. We knew we had a long road trip ahead so although we hated to eat and run, the sweltering heat of the day was upon us and eat and run we did. But first Bruce had to go poo poo. Here is where we got to find out if they had a toilet or what....and yes! They did have a toilet! Whew. You will understand my elation when you visit :-~.
About half an hour later Shankar and I are in a textiles shop as I refused to go to visit his mother and father without a gift. We could not find flowers so instead I bought two packages of sari material for his mother and a shirt that Shankar just knew his father would love. I'm usually very selective when picking gifts, and this time was no exception....but it was getting hot and I knew I had to hurry it along. We picked out some gifts and we headed to meet his family.
I'll be honest. John and I were worried about eating home made food in a "local's home". Would they use tap water or filtered water? Where would they have gotten their meats and veggies? Our worries increased to a high level of alert when we entered the alley of the neighborhood to which they lived. I had always wondered about these small apartments that were stacked up right on top of each other in these lively neighborhoods...wondered how big they were, did they have toilets and kitchens? Well I was about to find out!
Shankar's parent's apartment was tiny. Their whole three room apartment was smaller than Bruce's bedroom. The had a living area which became a bedroom at night, a bedroom with a sink and tiny bathroom area, and a kitchen. But don't feel bad because they were very proud of their home as they should be. It was spotless and seemed roomier than it really was. They had a daybed in their living area that doubled as a couch and bed, they had a small entertainment table that they rolled from against a wall to use as our dining table, and a wall that that was also a shrine devoted to Ganesh. Shankar seemed so proud to be introducing us to his family and they in turn seemed so happy for us be there. The minute we walked in we were treated like celebrities, or VIP's. They were so nice and happy and really made us feel welcome. The mother took my gifts and gave me a small bouquet of roses. We felt comfortable and at ease as soon as we stepped into their home. It was with great relief that John and I both eyed the bottled water dispenser and it was with empty stomachs that we sat down to eat a lunch consisting of fried fish, mutton of lamb and chicken gravy over rice.....well all I can say is it was the best food we have had since we moved to India. So we dug in....and John and I shared a secret chuckle over how much food "momma Shankar" was trying to put on John's plate. The food was delicious. And I mean it. Why can't I find a cook who can cook like that? Damn. It was soooo good. The weird thing though was that they were all just standing around watching us eat and smiling. We had to beg and insist that they join us! When in Rome do like the Roman's right? What I mean by that is Indians don't use silverware to eat. It reminded me of growing up with tortillas and tex mex food, you would tear up a tortilla and scoop up the meats, rice and beans and and whatever else on your plate and just shove it in your mouth. It's a little different here in India as sometimes there is roti and other various Indian breads to scoop up your food with, but most of the time they just move the rice around and pile it up after it's mixed with veggies, chicken gravy, or whatever else is on the plate and scoop it up with their fingers and eat it with one hand. John couldn't understand how his food was falling all over his face and I was very lady like and pristine even while only using my fingers as well, haha! The food was truly good and we had a fun time trying to outdo each other without silverware. Shankar's mother, was so pleased that we were enjoying our food that she insisted on sending us home with leftovers and we did not argue:). It was a very nice lunch and even though it was a bit on the spicy side we kept filling our stomachs as it was just that good! After we ate our fill, we started to notice how hot it was starting to get in that small apartment. After lunch was finished and the dishes were cleared I noticed that I was sweating. They had two fans going, one on each end of the small living area and yet it was starting to get mega hot. There were only two very small windows with no breeze. I looked at John and he was sweating too. We knew we had a long road trip ahead so although we hated to eat and run, the sweltering heat of the day was upon us and eat and run we did. But first Bruce had to go poo poo. Here is where we got to find out if they had a toilet or what....and yes! They did have a toilet! Whew. You will understand my elation when you visit :-~.
It was a bit after 1pm when we said our goodbyes. It was extremely hot out and by this time all we wanted to do was get into the air conditioned mini van and head home. Shankar's sister and his son were visiting his parents, and they were planning to take the train to Bangalore the next day. We had two empty seats in the car so of course we offered to let them ride home with us and within five minutes they were packed and ready to go.
This worked out really well as Shankar's son "Daviraj" sat in the back and watched movies with Bruce. Shankar's sister "Sushman" sat up front with Shankar and kept him company and John and I reclined in our seats with full tummies and tried to nap. Well I know I did.
Seven hours later......traffic on the road home was insane in the membrane.........we finally made it home.
John asked me shortly after we returned home if I were going to be up for another road trip soon....I say BRING IT ON.
That's all for now folks,
Later
This worked out really well as Shankar's son "Daviraj" sat in the back and watched movies with Bruce. Shankar's sister "Sushman" sat up front with Shankar and kept him company and John and I reclined in our seats with full tummies and tried to nap. Well I know I did.
Seven hours later......traffic on the road home was insane in the membrane.........we finally made it home.
John asked me shortly after we returned home if I were going to be up for another road trip soon....I say BRING IT ON.
That's all for now folks,
Later
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