I'm Coming Home

Lots of changes going on with my job in terms of management. My boss is leaving April 11th and I am so sad about it. In addition our general manager will be retiring at the end of April. In light of those two events my boss and I decided it was best for me to come home. And quite frankly I would not want to be here in India without him supporting me. So I'm coming home - YEA!!!!! Now part of the agreement was that I get a week vacation to be taken while I'm here so Billie and I are trying to get to the Andaman Islands April 5th to the 10th. I really did want to come home on April 11th but the BA flight is sold out in business class and there is no way I'm flying coach. So I'll have one last day and night in Bangalore and then I'm out of here. And it all kind of works out because Billie is leaving April 11th.
We did have some fun this weekend which is good because I've been working till midnight and later almost every day this past week. Yesterday Billie came and hung out the pool and then we met up with our Swedish friend Benny and we went to Commercial Street. I had also met this guy at the pool who was asking me about shopping so I just invited him to come along. He only stayed with us part of the time - he had to come back to the Leela to meet some folks for dinner. But then we went and picked up Nicole and went to this crafts fair. It was pretty cool. We found my wallet guy and Nicole was thrilled because she really liked the wallets I had bought and also this purse. I bought some raw silk and took it back to my tailor Kamal today so he could copy this jacket I have. He was already copying it for me in red and he's making me some pants. This should be interesting to see how it comes out.
Today Billie and I went back to Commercial Street - she wanted to look for fabric. It was relatively quiet. We were shocked.
So now it's Sunday night and I dread working tomorrow but what are you gonna do. I'm just so excited to be coming home and being with my Chester boy again.

Mudamalai and Ooty Weekend

Ganeesh (the elephant) and his Mahout
Monkey in a Tree
Wild Elephant
Peacock
Danny - the Nauturalist at Jungle Retreat

Ganeesh getting a bath from his Mahout

Ganeesh

Monkey Family including Babies
Momma Monkey and her Baby
Monkey Family

Wild Boar

Spotted Baby Deer
Monkey

Monkey

My Bed in the Bamboo Hut
Gunda - one of the domesticated dogs at Jungle Retreat

Duke - another domesticated dog at Jungle Retreat

My Bamboo Hut
Masimi the 15 month baby elephant
Masimi the 15 month old baby elephant giving me a Kiss

On Friday I started my journey to Jungle Retreat in Mudamalai in the misty rain. Just me and my driver Sentheil. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - only 5 and1/2 hours. Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to grab one of the pillows from bed in the hotel because I just curled up in the back seat and went to sleep for most of the journey. Until we entered the Forest that is. There were monkeys everywhere. I got out of the car and was able to get really close and take pictures. I had also brought some bananas with me so we stopped and I threw those out the window to the monkeys. Did you know monkeys don't peel bananas - they just bite into them - peel and all. One of the monkeys almost jumped in the window which silly me had rolled all the way down.

Anyway, we made it to Jungle Retreat and let me tell you this place is in the middle of nowhere. We had to ask 4 times how to find it. We pulled up and I immediately fell in love with the place. It's set on 35 acres of land in the jungle. I didn't know what to expect with the bamboo hut but it wasn't bad as you can tell from the pictures. A little primitive but it did have lights, a ceiling fan and an attached bathroom. However there was no phone reception, no TV and not even a phone for a wake-up call. They actually came and knocked on your door when you wanted to get up. I went for a walk around the property and saw wild deer, all kinds of birds, some really trippy plants.

At 4pm I went on safari. I was so disappointed the elephant camp was closed but I was very lucky and had a really special treat the next day but more about that later. So the first stop on the safari ride was the river where you could see the Mahouts giving their elephants a bath. A Mahout is the man (never a woman) who trains and takes care of the elephants. One must be born into a family of mahouts. This tradition is passed down generation through generation. Now the elephants we saw being bathed were either abandoned or rogue elephants that had been brought to camp and rehabilitated and are now working elephants - logging elephants. They get bathed twice a day. The one elephant you see here in the pictures is Ganeesh. Ganeesh was a rogue elephant who killed 17 people but they were able to capture him, bring him to camp and rehabilitate him. He looked like he was in heaven getting that bath. And at this elephant camp they do all the training with voice commands and a stick. There are some elephant camps where they use a hook which is quite painful and something I would not want to see.

After seeing the elephants we went riding through the jungle and saw deer, wild boar, peacocks, pea hens, woodpeckers and most exciting a family of wild elephants. We really wanted to see a tiger or leopard but the tiger family in India is rapidly becoming extinct so it is quite rare to see them.

Got back to Jungle Retreat around 8pm and washed up and went for dinner. Danny, the naturalist, had introduced me to another woman - an Indian woman who lives in London, who was also traveling alone so we had gone on the safari ride together. As we were having dinner Danny came over and we excitedly told him about seeing Ganeesh getting a bath. He told us although the elephant camp was closed to tourists if we wanted he would bring us the next morning because there was a baby elephant, Masimi, at the camp. Naturally after finding this out we said forget the walk and let's go to the camp.

Went back to my hut around 10:30pm and went to sleep all the time praying when I woke up I wouldn't see any bugs in the mosquito netting. At 6am they knocked on my door and I opened my eyes to no bugs - thank god. I am not a fan of the insect world.

On the way to the elephant camp to see Masimi Danny told us her story. She had been abandoned in the jungle when she was 15 days old. She was so small they were able to put her in the back of a jeep to bring her to the camp. Now she is 15 months old. As she is still a baby she has not been put to work - she gets her bottle, her bath and socializes with the other elephants. The mahout and his wife actually live in the hut with the elephant. They sleep on a mat on the floor and do nothing but take of her round the clock. I found out the way to greet an elephant is to put your hand in its mouth and that's exactly what I did. It was a trip. And then I just kept petting her. Elephant hair is like the wire on a brush - not soft at all. She was so cute - what an experience. You can take all the cities in India with the billion people, the noise, the pollution, the traffic- put me in the jungle with the animals.
Danny asked if I wanted to bathe the elephant but after watching the elephant piss in the river while he was having his bath I decided against it.

Went back to the Retreat and had breakfast. It was not a nice day - misty and rainy but I didn't care. It was just nice being able to listen to nothing but birds and play with the dogs Gunda and Duke.

Around 1pm Sentheil and I took off for Ooty. Now Ooty is 6,000 feet up in the Niligiri mountain range otherwise known as the Western Ghats. The road to Ooty has 37 hairpin turns and the scenery even with the rain and mist was pretty spectacular. We reached Ooty about 2:30pm and went to the hotel. And let me tell you it is cold outside. It was like being in San Francisco on a rainy day in January. But the room in my hotel is awesome. It has a wood burning fireplace, 16 foot ceilings and a flat screen TV. Quite a difference from my bamboo hut. I dry out my shoes from the muddy trek I had taken earlier, wash my face and go back to the car. I had Sentheil take me to the Tibettan marketplace where I bought a wool cap for 40 rupees and a wool shawl for 170 rupees. That's how cold it was. Seeing as the weather was so miserable -although it is cool in Ooty the rain was most unusual - I really wasn't much up for doing anything. In Ooty the big thing is to go trekking and if was just cold and not raining I would have been totally up for doing that but not in the rain. So off I went back to the hotel, built a really big fire and watched Rocky IV on my flat screen TV.

Got up around 9am - had breakfast and met Sentheil the next morning. Although it wasn't raining it was threatening. I went searching for a couple of places in Ooty where there was suppossedly good shopping but I did not find that to be true. And seeing as it was so crappy there was no point in going to the lookout because all you would see is fog. So I said let's just go back to Bangalore. So off we went.

So Mudumalai - two thumps up - I'd back there in a heartbeat. Ooty - big deal - I really wouldn't recommend it unless the weather was going to be awesome and you could do a lot of trekking.

Off to Mudumalai and Ooty

Okay everyone check out this website - Da- all you have to do is put the cursor on it and click.

http://www.jungleretreat.com/

Then click on rooms and tarriffs and click on the bamboo hut.

This is where I'm staying Friday night March 21st in the Bamboo hut. I must be out of my mind. I'm not even sure this hut has a toilet in it -it's probably just a hole in the ground if there is one.

So the plan is on Friday at 7am my driver and I go off to Mudamalai and that will take about 5-6 hours. The activity guide will be at the lodge around 2pm and I hope to go on a nature walk for about 2 hours or so. And I'll see about going to the elephant camp.

Then on Saturday it's off to Ooty - that will take about 3 hours on that crazy road with all the hairpin turns. And I'll stay in Ooty Saturday night. There's a Tibetan Marketplace open on Sunday so I'll check that out and then figure I'll leave to come back to Bangalore around noon on Sunday.

The trip back from Ooty is going to be a killer - it's around 8 hours and I'm sure I'll be bored out of my freaking mind. I mean there are only so many personal I can ask my driver :) and believe me I've already asked him a lot.

BTW - I have a new driver because Manu got into an accident with me in the car about 3 weeks after I arrived. I didn't even ask to have him removed but apparently the company thought they should do that. Then they sent me a series of drivers who were very unreliable so I basically had a fit and then they sent me my current driver who is prompt, courteous and a really nice guy. The other day I asked him if he ever watched American movies and he said he liked Sylvester Stallone and the Rocky movies :)

Okay next blog will after my trip with pictures. Bet y'all can't wait.

Bangalore Weekend

Well it was with great sadness that I said goodbye to Billie on Thursday as I knew I would be alone for the next couple of weekends. And I thought what the heck am I going to do?
Honestly I think I was still so exhausted from all the traveling the fact I pretty much did nothing was a good one.
Saturday I spent the day by the pool and then a couple of hours at the gym. Now one of the things I really enjoy when I'm here on the weekends it sitting on my balcony reading my book, drinking a diet pepsi and having some peanut butter crackers. My balcony looks out over the garden so if block out the horns honking it's actually fairly peaceful. I finished my book just as started getting too dark to read and decided since Duffy had given me the American Gangster DVD I would set my laptop up on the balcony and watch the movie. Like being at the drive-in except I could pause when I had to go to the bathroom :)
So I set everything up and am happily watching when all of a sudden there are flashes of lightning followed by huge claps of thunder and then the deluge. Of course I was completely protected on the balcony so I just stayed there and after a couple of hours it was over. I love thunderstorms so this was a real treat for me. First off we rarely get thunderstorms in San Francisco and it's not like it's nice outside so I have no place to watch them from anway. That's what I thought was so great - I was outside but protected and got to watch everything.
Sunday was hot and humid - very unusual weather this time of year. I was told there was a tropical depression somewhere in India that was causing this weather. No matter - it was nice enough for the pool and then of course gym.
Later in the day I met Nicole and she was thrilled because I brought her back her favorite chocolate from Trader Joe's as well as Mac and Cheese. She's been here since August so she really appreciated the goodies. We hung out and had dinner at the Asian restaurant called Zen in the hotel. They have great soup - you can actually identify the chicken as chicken and it tastes like chicken - what a concept. And the vegetarian spring rolls are pretty tasty. Being that it's in the Leela the prices are a little on the high side but like I said at least you can identify the food. Always a big plus in my opinion.
This coming weekend my driver and I are going to OOTY which is also known as the Scotland of the East. It's way up in the mountains and is the centre point of the Niligiri Range. It will take us about 8 hours to drive and apparently at one point you take the Kalhatti Ghat Road. This road has been described as the closest you can get to the stairway to heaven. It's supposed to give you the heebie jeebies but as my driver is from the OOTY region I have ever confidence in abilities to deliver us both there safe and sound. So at long last some new pictures will be added to the blog. Hopefully they will be of elephants, flying squirrels and other assorted critters.
Back to work for now - damn how that interferes with everything!!!!

Back in Bangalore

I'm back in Bangalore and of course the screwiness begins :)


Yesterday Billie and I went to a crafts fair on MG Road. Seeing as she stays out in Whitefield she hired a taxi through her hotel and came to pick me up. So the taxi driver has been on the job for one week and not only does he not speak English he also doesn't know Bangalore. Lord knows where we would have wound up if we weren't paying attention to the route he was using to get us from the Leela to MG Road. As it was he went past the turn and we had to tell him to make a u-turn. But we did finally make it to our destination.


The crafts fair was pretty cool. It was government sponsored which means the vendors and the quality of the goods has to be a certain standard - in other words they can't tell you something is leather when it's not. So we meandered about the craft fair for a couple of hours - bought some items and decided we had enough.


Our driver was waiting in the parking lot and we get into the car and the engine won't start. Our driver decides he's going to pop the clutch to see if that will work. So he has 3 other guys come over to push the car with Billie and I inside. In the meantime I'm trying to let him know if Billie and I get out of the car it will be a lot easier to push but I might as well have been talking to a brick wall. So the three guys push the car through the parking lot and then out on to the street. Meanwhile the engine still isn't popping over and I'm thinking to myself this is an accident waiting to happen. The driver is coasting down the side street - in the opposite direction of MG Road where we could have found an autorickshaw and an ATM - and Billie and I are just looking at each other. I said to her - it's a good thing this isn't my first or second day in Bangalore because I'd be freaking out - now I'm a seasoned vet so I just take this all in stride. Anyway, about halfway down the block he stops the car - and not over to the side of the road - just in the middle of the block. He gets out - opens the hood and starts fiddling about. We have no idea if he's out of gas - or if something else is wrong and Billie has called her hotel to have them send another taxi and all of a sudden he gets the car started. So off we went - me back to the Leela and Billie back to Whitefield. When I saw her in the office today she confirmed the car made it back without breaking down again.

Always an adventure.

It was nice when I arrived back in the leela to have everyone say how nice it was to see me again - probably lying through their teeth. I'm very upset though because Krishna, my floor butler, now starts work at 8pm and I never see him. Apparently he told the new floor butler all about me though because he's taking pretty good care of me as well.


That's all for now.

Back to Bangalore

So I'm back to Bangalore. Being able to get back to the states was really a godsend. I so desparately needed the break - it was great to be with Chester and for those I didn't get to see it was just insane - between working, the doctor appointments, getting my taxes done etc. I just couldn't do everything.


Then it was off to Dallas for meetings and let me tell you they kept us going morning, noon and night.


I just left Florida last night and am now in London -I've got a meeting with a customer tomorrow and then Friday I'm back to Bangalore. The good news is I get to come home around May 11th so I'm going try and travel as much as I can although most of it will probably be on my own.

Anyone want to come visit??????

And now I site back in the same British Airways lounge I sat in just two months not knowing what I was getting in to. This time I know the drill - will go directly back to my room at the Leela - pass out for awhile and then meet Billie around 2pm to do I have no idea. At least when she leaves on the Ides of March (the 15th for those of you who are challenged) she'll be back on the 24th. I advised her I will no doubt be heading back to the states for good around May 10th. It's certainly been an adventure but I've decided I'm the type of gal who likes to use to Charmin to wipe and wants something that flushes after I go to the bathroom. I'm sure 20 years ago it all would have been so great but now I'm old, cranky and set in my ways. No more 3rd world countries - I'm a western gal.

So the next post will be from India.

A Night of Indian Dance

I'm quite the social butterfly here in Bangalore. Last night I went to see a "cultural" performance of Indian dance. It was pretty cool. I just love the way they use their arms and hands - it's so graceful and beautiful. And then afterward Nicole and Brian were hungry so we went to the mall - well actually since they were on their scooters they went first and then Vick and I met them. Anyway when we walked into the mall I noticed there was Italian Gelato stand and so I got a combination strawberry and lemon sorbet and it was divine. Then we went upstairs to the food court to find Nicole and Brian and they had gone to a stand which they thought said Hot Dog and they got what was the most disgusting looking thing and ate it. Then they looked at the box it came in and it actually said Hog Dog. I wonder if they were sick today :)

Spent a lovely day at the pool. It was beautiful here today but very hot - even me the sun queen had to sit under the umbrella after an hour. Then I went to the gym and here I sit working away and counting down the hours till departure.

Three Days and Counting

Can you tell how excited I am to be coming home. I shall kiss the ground after I get done kissing Chester. Bottom line is no matter how much we complain about our country with all its faults and inequities we still have it better than many other places in this world. Okay - that's enough rah rah America from me.

I shall spend my weekend lounging by the pool weather permitting and am debating about getting one more massage before I leave. 23 hours in coach is not going to be fun and the only reason I'm taking the more indirect route coming home is because Singapore Airlines has an extra inch of seat pitch and leg room and their service, even in coach, is superior to the other carriers. I shall try to remain in an Ambien coma for most of the flight but somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

In addition to looking forward to my capuccino from Peet's I can't wait to hit the boxing gym - see the lads - and hit some bags. Shadow boxing just isn't the same. So what I've been doing while I'm here is something I haven't done in a really long time which is traditional weight lifting, running on the treadmill, the exercise bike and the elliptor machine.

Okay -the next time you hear from me I will be stateside.

Christain Music Anyone

OMG!!!!! So Saturday night I went out with Nicole to hear the band and it turned out that after the first three songs all the rest of the music was Christain Rock - she was mortified - I thought it was pretty funny. I mean if you didn't pay attention to the words the music was not bad. Really the best part was her friend Vivi came with her sister who happenned to be a documentary filmmaker. She was very interesting - about 2 years ago she did a documentary on the Brothels in Mumbai and young girls forced to work in them.

On Sunday I just chilled by the pool all day and went to the gym in the afternoon.

I know you've heard me say this before but I'm going to rethink this whole Leela Palace thing when I'm home. What prompted me is this morning my taxi never showed up and I started thinking the only reason I'm going into the office everyday is because the cost of the internet access in the hotel is so freaking expensive. Not that I have to pay for it but I guess I'm trying to be a good corporate citizen - UGH - should I throw up now?

Okay - have to work - you know folks you can leave a comment for me on these blogs or just email me directly - I appreciate everyone's wise ass comments - just remember my father reads this :)

Raining in Bangalore

Wow - I woke up this morning - didn't even bother to look outside and went directly to the gym which is on the bottom floor of the hotel with no windows. I was there doing my workout for about 90 minutes and came back upstairs only to discover it's raining - not hard - a drizzle but raining nonetheless. So much for my plans to hang out the pool. Hmmm - what to do, what to do... Might just hang out on my balcony and read my book because I don't really think I want to do any shopping. It's supposed to be like this tomorrow as well - at least according to weather.com. It's not like i can turn on the TV and watch the Indian version of the Today Show with Al Roker giving me a weather update.

I'm going to listen to some music tonight at a place called Opus. The woman, Nicole, I met at the expat dinner invited me to come along. I believe there are a couple of guys she knows that play in this band - she said it's American kind of folksy music. I have no idea what that means but I guess I'll find out.

Tuesday night the Overseas Women's Club is having their Professional Women's Group meeting so I'll be attending that. It cracks me up that I'm considered a Professional Woman when the the truth of the matter is you all know I hate the corporate world with a passion and would rather be hanging out with dogs. And don't even get me started on the fact that India is still very much a male dominated chauvanistic pig country - makes my skin crawl. Ya think I'm ready for my break to come home???? (ha-ha)

Random Thoughts

Or as Arsenio Hall would say things that make you go hhmmmmmm

I notice they are always mopping the floor in the various establishments but I never see them with a bucket of water when they are mopping - kind of makes you think they're just pushing dirt around on the floor not too mention making it wet, slippery and dangerous

They have something called elephant showers which is basically when you go on an elephant ride they make sure you go to a stream and then the elephant showers you with their long snout - do you think put a filter in the elephant to make sure the water has been decontanimated???

Well I'll be in Bangalore all weekend most likely hanging out by the pool after the gym and a leisurely breakfast. If I get really brave and don't mind sharing my day with 12 million other people maybe I'll go over to Commercial street and do some shopping since there really isn't anything else to do here.

I'll keep you posted because inquiring minds want to know :)

GO GIANTS

I can't believe I was able to watch the SuperBowl live. It was awesome - GO GIANTS!!!! I really thought they had blown it after New England scored with only 2 minutes left in the game. As a matter of fact I only had a few minutes worth of time left on my cell phone but I called my brother to tell him the Giants sucked - little did I know that two minutes later I would be doing the victory dance in my hotel room. Whoo hooo!!!!

I'm also excited these days because in two weeks I get to come home for a visit. I arrive back in SF on Feb 19th and get to stay until Feb 25th. Abe is going to try and pick me up at the airport with the Chester boy and I can't wait to see my baby. I don't care how rainy it is I will be in the park with my boy at the usual time on the 19th.

Well have to go meet my driver downstairs. I've got some late conference calls tonight - these are killing me.

GOA WEEKEND

Woman Selling Roasted Nuts at the Beach
Hanuman (Monkey God) Temple
Saying Hello to the Elephant
28 year old Female Elephant
Elephant Family
Women in the Water in Their Saris with Umbrella
More Women in the Water in Their Saris
Men in their Bathing Suits

Self-Explanatory
I think They're missing a "B"
No Lawnmowers - People pick grass to maintain the lawn
Francis our Guide at the Spice Plantation

View from the Pier/Jetty in Dona Paula
Dogs on the Beach
Smoothing Concrete on the Pier
Shopping on the Pier

Sunrise View from My Room
Birds at Breakfast
Wooden Boat
Wooden Boat

Well I think I’ve discovered one of the reasons why people love India. I had the pleasure of spending the weekend in Goa which is on the Arabian Sea. Goa used to be a Portugese colony so there is a lot of European influence here. And unbeknownst to us this weekend they were celebrating Carnaval. So there were floats, music and plenty of traffic.

Goa is actually a state and there is a North and a South. Billie had found a place on Craigslist, Zuarti View, in a place called Dona Paula which turned out to be a fishing village. The place was in a great location, the rooms were clean and I had a great view out my window and off my balcony of the inlet and all the fishing boats. Right across the street was the Arabian Sea. Never in my life did I think for one second I would be standing with my feet in the Arabian Sea. Pretty long journey from Valley Stream, Forest Rd. and South High School.

Our colleague Sergey and his dad Basil (who is from the Ukraine) were staying in town so we met up for dinner Friday night. We tried to get in to a place that was recommended call Mum’s Kitchen but they were all booked up so we decided to take an auto rickshawe back to a place across the street from where Billie and I were staying. It was hilarious because they had this live music – two Indian guys singing Rhinestone Cowboy. We could not have asked for a better location because we were hanging out with our feet up looking out and listening to the Arabian Sea lap on the shore.

I learned how to toast in Russian – Nastrovia – which means, “To Your Health”. It was quite the interesting evening as Sergey’s father does not speak any English but somehow we managed. I also learned to count to five in Russian. I’m so global (ha ha).

On Saturday we all did a tour together. We went to a couple of churches, a temple, a spice plantation and then to the beach. I’m over the churches and the temples – don’t care if I don’t see either of those for the remainder of my time in India.

The spice plantation was really interesting. It’s in the jungle and there is a guide who takes you around and talks about the different spices and how they are not only used for cooking but to cure a variety of ailments as well. The best part was when the elephant came by. I don’t remember her name but she was 28 years old and really friendly. I could have gone for a ride but those rides are bullshit rides – they’re like 15 minutes and you basically go around in a circle. I want to do a elephant trek through the jungle that would last at least an hour or longer. I’m sure I’ll find one somewhere.

The beach, Calangude, was actually pretty disgusting and very surreal as you can tell from the pictures of the women in their full length saris standing in the ocean. Also the people coming up and harassing you to buy their crap is never ending. I swear they don’t understand the word NO and it gets to the point where you just stop being polite about it.

Sergey’s dad decided he wanted to go for a swim and also ride a jet ski so Billie and I decided to walk around town and check out the shops. The clothes are so cheap – like $3.00 for a shirt and everything is about bargaining. So you’ll see something and say how much and they say 300 rupees and you say 200 and they say no and you start walking away and you pretty much get it for what you want.

We went to dinner at a different place on the beach in Dona Paula Saturday night but again there was this music like a “lite music” radio station with Indian’s singing Glenn Campbell, Hank Williams and even an Elvis song. It was hilarious.

Today I did a very bad thing but I couldn’t help it. There was a momma doggie and her puppy and they were so skinny that I bought some cookies (I figured since they eat whatever they find on the street cookies wouldn’t be all that bad) and fed them. I didn’t feed them by hand – I broke the cookies up and threw them over to them. It’s really hard for me to see those doggies and not want to take them all home – clean them up, feed them and give them a taste of the Pac Heights life.

So Billie gets to go back to the states tomorrow and I’m here for another two weeks before I go home. Bangalore is a hard place – it’s dirty, the pollution is terrible – there is no infrastructure and it takes an hour and half to go 8 miles. I am going to be very sad without her but Sergey is here. He is going to take a few days off the week after next and go to OOTY which is up in the mountains about 6 hours from Bangalore. There is much to do there and he’s invited me to join them on the trip so I just may ask Richard if I can take a couple of days and go do that.

Three Day Weekend

Happily Putting my Shoes Back On

The Puppy and The Monkey

Decorated Ganeesh

With the Serpents


Happily Leaving the Temple

The Inside of The Temple (of Doom)

With the Cow

Woman walking up the hill

Woman putting holy water on her head

Holy Water Pool
On Line to enter the temple

I’ve been offline for several days because it was a three day weekend here and honestly I did not feel like being wired in. We were going to go to Goa for the weekend but it was all sold out so we said let’s wait until next weekend. Before I get into the weekend I want you all to know I’ve discovered the “Target” of India and the best part is it is right down the road from the office – within walking distance. Actually, let me amend that – it’s the “Super Target” because it has a “food” section in it as well. So everyone put your orders in now for all the Ayuverdic products which cost big bucks in the states and nothing here.

Saturday was Republic Day – a national Indian holiday celebrating 58 years of independence and as such the office was closed on Friday. So I spent a leisurely morning at the gym and breakfast and then Billie picked me up and off we went to Brigade Road as she had to pick up her suitcase which had been fixed. Brigade Road is a very popular shopping area and boasts the oldest supermarket in Bangalore. It’s called Nigrili’s and was founded in 1905. It’s actually a pretty nice market and the best part is they sell essential oils like jasmine, peppermint and ylang yling to name a few. This is the oil that you put a few drops in the thing that holds the water and you light the candle underneath and it makes the room smell good. It’s also supposed to have these health qualities like for calming and anti-anxiety. It cost like nothing so I got some oils and essentially transformed my room into a spa.

From Brigade Road we walked over to the Tibetan store – Billie is far braver than I am about crossing the street as pedestrians mean nothing here in Bangalore. She ordered a rug to be handmade and in a way it actually made me yearn for my very own house – she’s got a 3,000 square foot home in Texas. And the cost of the rug seemed to be fairly inexpensive – about $200 USD and Billie said it would easily be worth $800 USD. Anyway since it was a Tibetan store it had these chanting bowls (well I think that’s what they were – I mean you all know how spiritual I am – NOT!!!!!!!) but there was one bowl in particular which was not for sale and was also used for chakra. So the owner of the store made me lie down and then he hit the bowl and while it was chiming he put the bowl on my stomach – something to do with my chakra- absorbing the vibration- I really have no idea but it was pretty fun. Plus he also had some fabulous jewelry – very tribal – sterling silver and turquoise. But I held back – well for now anyway.

Chakra Baby

Then we went off to Commercial Street because in my book, In and Out of Bangalore, there was a tailor who could copy clothing. So we went up and down Commercial Street looking for this tailor and since there are no numbers on the storefronts it makes for an adventure. We also stopped at almost every fabric store, and believe me there are plenty, because Billie had some beautiful green silk she was going to have made into a jacket and she was looking for some silk to use as a lining. Seeing as we were there around 1:30pm it was nothing like that first Sunday I was here and went which was totally overwhelming. You could actually walk and not worry about getting run over by a car, rickshaw, motorbike or bicycle. We finally make it to the tailor only to find out it had been taken over by someone else and although they did tailoring they did not or would not copy. They did tell us to go down one of the side streets off Commercial and there would be a tailor there who could help. I must say that’s one thing I noticed about the shops here – if you are looking for something specific and they don’t have it they will tell you where you can find it and if you have no idea where they are talking about they will actually walk you over to the place. So long story short we found Billie her tailor – he told us where to go to buy some lining and she gets to pick up her tailor made items on Friday. By this time it was after 4pm, Commercial Street was getting really crowded and I was getting really grumpy – I know – what a shock J. So I came back here to my little oasis and Billie went back to her hotel.

Saturday the plan of action was gym and then chilling by the pool till around 12:30pm and then I was going to meet Billie and Sergey and we were going to take a look at the “lower level” room at Palm Meadows. As mentioned in one of my earlier blogs the Executive Suite was $340 per night and they weren’t coming down in price so I thought well let me see the other room which would be $275 a night. So off we went and I took one look at the lower level room and said NOT!!!!!!!! Bottom line – I’m staying at the Leela Palace. And now Sergey and Billie have nicknamed me the Leela Princess. After we checked out the Palm Meadows room we went to see this woman Billie knows named Nita. Nita lives in the Palm Meadows development and she makes jewelry. Not only does she do her own designs but she can pretty much copy anything you bring and because she transformed her garage into a showroom she doesn’t have the overhead the stores do. What I’m saying is her prices are much less because of this. Not too mention she is a lovely woman and she takes credit cards. Sergey actually took some pictures of various pieces of jewelry which he was going to email his wife and wait for her to say which one she liked.

We then came back to the Leela because one of the people I met at the American Expat Meetup Dinner called and wanted to know if I wanted to meet her and her friend for coffee. There’s a place called Barista at the Leela Galleria so we met over there – all five of us. Nicole (she’s the woman I met at the dinner) is very interesting. She is here on a fellowship – has been here since August and she works for a NGO (non-government organization) that feeds children. They feed 830,000 children a day – think about that folks – that’s more people than live in the city of San Francisco. And her friend Brian is here working on a social networking project as it affects financial planning. It’s in conjunction with a study some MIT professors put together. So they both live on peanuts and here I am talking about struggling to decide if I should stay at the Leela for my entire stay in India or find a service apartment. The unanimous vote was for me to stay here.

Nicole and Brian had to be somewhere at 7pm so they took off and Billie, Sergey and I decided to head over to Church Street in search of some dinner. Now those two have fairly adventurous palates and can easily eat pretty much anything. I, on the other hand, am the problem child. So we found a place called 20 Feet High which had a mix of everything. I figured if I ordered the roast chicken with no sauce and the roast potatoes how could I go wrong. Geez – shall I count the ways. First off the waiter was amazed I didn’t want any sauce for the chicken and kept trying to convince me I should get some. He finally realized that trying to talk me into something I didn’t want was a fruitless scenario and moved on. So the chicken comes and I take one bite and I swear to you they had just killed out it back – it honestly tasted FOWL – no pun intended. So then I figure let me try the roasted potatoes. They were sooooooooooo spicy I thought my mouth was on fire. Let me tell you I couldn’t wait to get back to the room and have a power bar. Someone is going to have to send me a care package with my Pure Protein bars because I’m running really low and don’t think I can make it until I get back on the 19th. Oh yeah and I only have 5 jars left of my Skippy Low Fat Peanut Butter and no more Carr’s Water Crackers – CARE PACKAGES PLEASE :)

SUNDAY – SHIVAGANGA

One of the guys who works on Sergei’s team invited him to go on a hike and Billie and I were invited to tag along. Shivaganga is about 60km from Bangalore and is a hike up a mountainside that has several temples dedicated to Gangadhara and Honnadevi on the way. It’s a rather strenuous climb but the view is magnificent. Sergei and Naveen immediately climbed to the very top without really stopping to take in the temples while Billie and I meandered stopping to look at everything. We didn’t go all the way to the top as the trail became very steep and although climbing up for me is no problem I have a touch of vertigo and do not like climbing down. So we went about ¾ way up the mountain. Anyway, we were the only white people and so people were rather fascinated by this – some of the children in particular who called us Auntie and asked us to take their picture. And they all wanted to know where our native was and our good name. It was really unbelievable because you are here at these 800 year old temples thinking how on earth did they ever get up this mountain to even build this and you’re surrounded by garbage – plastic bottles, juices boxes. It’s pretty disgusting. But I was a trooper and took off my shoes and went into this temple built into a cave in the side of the mountain. It really was like the Temple of Doom. I was doing okay until I saw the cockroach crawling across the floor. And of course my Princess Leela nickname immediately took hold and I started to hyperventilate. At that point I really couldn’t wait to get out of the place – it was wet and hot as hell but there was a line so I had to wait for the folks in front of me to dip their hands in the holy water and move on. And let me tell you fast is something they aren’t. Have you ever heard the expression if you went any slower you’d be going backwards???? Okay now you get the drift. The best part of the adventure was, of course, the monkeys. They are so adorable and there were tons of them. And you can get really close. They’re such inquisitive little buggers. And at one point one of the many stray dogs actually walked with us part way down the mountain to another temple. NO – I did not talk to the puppy or encourage the puppy in any way but Billie and I like to think she was protecting us from the monkeys. Anyway, we get to this other temple and the puppy just walks right up to a monkey and lies down next to him and the monkey just hangs out with the puppy right there. One monkey was going into a trash container and picking out juice cartons and then ripping the carton apart with his teeth and licking out whatever was left. We were there for about five hours and although the place is interesting it’s also very dusty and it was hot so all I wanted to do was get back to my little oasis and take a shower. Billie, Sergei and Naveen went to have some lunch and I came back here. And here I sit on my balcony – laptop plugged in writing this blog.

Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil
Baby Monkey
Billie and Friends