Friday, March 7, 2008
Last Day
Well, today is my last day here in Bangalore and I must say that I had a great time. I was very lucky to have a great driver and meet some great friends at work. The hotel staff was also great and they made my stay enjoyable even though the hotel is little too posh for me.
Last night the guys bought me a Sherwani and I promised them I would wear so they could get a picture of me. I have posted the picture for all of you to see. The guys said was a styling but you can decide. It was pretty comfortable and I thought I looked good in it. I real
ly appreciated the gift even though I got a little embarrassed. Anyone who knows me knows that is just how I am.Anyway, I will truly miss the guys that I work with here and Lawrence the driver. Goverdahn, Sushant, Sandesh, and Nagadrena were nothing but great to me and they made sure I enjoyed my stay. Those guys will always be friends of mine and I plan on staying in touch with them for a long time. Maybe one day we can get them to the US so I can repay the favor and make them feel at home. Anyway, here are some more pics. See everyone on Saturday night!
Right Pic: Sushant and I (he is in a meeting)!Bottom Pic: Left to right is Nagendra, Sandesh, me and Goverdahn.
Going out to the Movies with the Fellas
On Thursday, the fellas and I decided to head out to the movies. The plan was to leave work at a reasonable time to make the 8:10pm showing of Vantage Point at theater in th
e mall. The nice thing about here in India is you can actually select the seats that you want instead of the mad rush that happens in the US.
All was well and we left work. Sushant, Goverdhan, and I headed out the cab while Sandesh rode with Nagendra on his motorcycle. We actually left a little earlier than Sandesh and Nagendra but that did not matter. Lo and behold, Bangalore traffic had something else planned for us. We hit the hugest traffic jam trying to cross a railroad. The drivers don't make much easier nor do the lorries. Everyb
ody is trying to get through and all that happens is everyone gets jammed up.
I think we were stuck there for about 45 minutes and then we got through. We were still confident that all would go well because we had assigned seats and we would only miss the previews. Wrong again! The theater had something else in store for us. They would not let us bring in out backpacks with laptops. We ran around the mall trying to find a place to
store them to no avail. In the end, we missed the movie.
So what to do next? We decided to go have some dinner at the Hotel Empire. Again, a place where you eat with
your hands. We had a good time there just chatting and eating. After that, we hung outside for a bit chatting some more than called it a night.
I still had a great time with the guys even though we did not make the movie. We certa
inly tried our best but stuff happens. Anyway, these guys are great and I enjoyed just hanging out with them for the night. I have attached some pictures of us and the mall and eating. Enjoy!
e mall. The nice thing about here in India is you can actually select the seats that you want instead of the mad rush that happens in the US.All was well and we left work. Sushant, Goverdhan, and I headed out the cab while Sandesh rode with Nagendra on his motorcycle. We actually left a little earlier than Sandesh and Nagendra but that did not matter. Lo and behold, Bangalore traffic had something else planned for us. We hit the hugest traffic jam trying to cross a railroad. The drivers don't make much easier nor do the lorries. Everyb
ody is trying to get through and all that happens is everyone gets jammed up.I think we were stuck there for about 45 minutes and then we got through. We were still confident that all would go well because we had assigned seats and we would only miss the previews. Wrong again! The theater had something else in store for us. They would not let us bring in out backpacks with laptops. We ran around the mall trying to find a place to
store them to no avail. In the end, we missed the movie.So what to do next? We decided to go have some dinner at the Hotel Empire. Again, a place where you eat with
your hands. We had a good time there just chatting and eating. After that, we hung outside for a bit chatting some more than called it a night.I still had a great time with the guys even though we did not make the movie. We certa
inly tried our best but stuff happens. Anyway, these guys are great and I enjoyed just hanging out with them for the night. I have attached some pictures of us and the mall and eating. Enjoy!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Dinner with the Fellas
On Tuesday night, the guys I work with took me out to a restaurant called Samarkand. It was awesome experience and the food was great. The cuisine is based on the Mughals and I definitely tore it up. The chicken was so good and there was this sauce that was nice and spicy. I could handle eating at the place all of the time.
The only thing that might get some people is eating with your hands. The restaurant will provide silverware if you ask but hey, just do what everyone else is doing. I ate with my hands and I had a great time. Here are couple of picks of the guys (Nagendra, Sushant, Sandesh, and Goverdhan) and I.
We ate a ton of food and then had some desert. I had some ice cream made from almonds that was pretty darn good. I also took my turn with digging into everyone else's deserts as well. Sandesh had this pie that was made out of dates and all other fruits that were smashed together and covered with wheat crust. I must admit that it was great as well. To finish the night off we had this thing that helps with digesting the food. I don't know what it is called but it did the trick.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
They swarm
Man, I got to remember to put on bug spray everyday. I just walked out on to my balcony and I got about 15 mosquito bites in about 2 minutes. This place is worse than Ft. Polk, LA.
Missing home
Today, Sunday, I really started to miss home. I had a good time watching the cricket match, India won by the way and they need one more win to win the Cup and under 19 Indian cricket team beat South Africa for the Cup, but after that I really started to miss home.
What I really miss is my wife, my cats, and being at home with them. I miss spending time with them and I miss American TV. I don't mind watching TV here but there is not a lot of programming on that I like so it gets old quick. I also miss my car and the freedom of being able to go wherever I want whenever I want to go. I also miss my friends, my Sister and nephews, my co-workers and US traffic.
Oh well, I am just complaining and I will get over it. Anyway, I come home on Saturday so I just need to get over it. I was just feeling this way because I was off. Once I am back to work on Monday all will be fine.
What I really miss is my wife, my cats, and being at home with them. I miss spending time with them and I miss American TV. I don't mind watching TV here but there is not a lot of programming on that I like so it gets old quick. I also miss my car and the freedom of being able to go wherever I want whenever I want to go. I also miss my friends, my Sister and nephews, my co-workers and US traffic.
Oh well, I am just complaining and I will get over it. Anyway, I come home on Saturday so I just need to get over it. I was just feeling this way because I was off. Once I am back to work on Monday all will be fine.
Being bad tastes so good
I was determined to be respectful to the people of India so I was not going to eat any beef while I was here. I did not want to have somebody serving me beef who is totally against eating beef. In case you didn't know the cow is sacred in India. Well, I couldn't take it anymore so I ordered a burger from room service. I figured that if I ate in my room I wouldn't feel as bad for eating beef. I still feel bad but the burger sure tasted good. Now that I got my beef fix I am pretty sure I can make it until I get home on Saturday.
Since I am talking about food I will go into the menus. Most menus will have a "veg" and "non-veg" menu. Some people will eat chicken and it can be found in most restaurant menus. As a matter of fact when I went last night to have a beer with Sandesh at the local sports bar, Amoeba, I had some spicy crispy chicken strips. They were darn good, nice and spicy and made my nose run.
Another thing that seems funny is the Pizza Hut, KFC, and TGI Friday's that are down the street from hotel. They always appear to be busy so I guess people here like it. I am not sure how the food is because I haven't eaten at any of them but you can click on the names to check out the menu if you like (except for KFC because I can't seem to find a menu on the net). I will try and snap some pictures of them and post them. That is it for now.
Since I am talking about food I will go into the menus. Most menus will have a "veg" and "non-veg" menu. Some people will eat chicken and it can be found in most restaurant menus. As a matter of fact when I went last night to have a beer with Sandesh at the local sports bar, Amoeba, I had some spicy crispy chicken strips. They were darn good, nice and spicy and made my nose run.
Another thing that seems funny is the Pizza Hut, KFC, and TGI Friday's that are down the street from hotel. They always appear to be busy so I guess people here like it. I am not sure how the food is because I haven't eaten at any of them but you can click on the names to check out the menu if you like (except for KFC because I can't seem to find a menu on the net). I will try and snap some pictures of them and post them. That is it for now.
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