Handbag Happiness!

This was just a bit of dumb luck that I'm so pleased about.  At the end of my last trip, I saw a great handbag that I absolutely loved.  However, it was the end of the trip, I had spent my fair share and really, do I really need another purse?

I know I moaned about it to some you and I even checked online, just in case I might be able to order but it was lost to me forever.  Or was it?  There is a mall a very short walk from the office and I made my way there for lunch.  As luck would have it, right beside the escalator that I'm on, there is a stand alone store of the purse's brand--and displayed in all it's glory is the purse. Fate was smiling on me as it was the last one in the store.  I am now its happy owner and tonight will be the first outing.

I don't think the picture can do it justice.  It's a dark olive green.  The perfect shape and size!  Now I can come home. :)

Fruit

One of the big problems for me when I'm traveling is getting access to decent fruit.  I don't know what is is, but it's just something I crave.  When I mentioned it to one of my colleagues here that I'd gone to my local grocery store and the fruit was awful, he told me that's not the way to do it.  Instead, he asked his mom to place an order with their fruit guy.  Yum and yum.  I now have a nice stockpile of apples, pears and the tasty, tiny bananas that one finds here.

While I type this, I'm eating my other treat, black grapes.  They are DELICIOUS.  Long and slender and a very deep, dark purple, they have and really sweet flavour.  I am truly addicted.  I love grapes and these are the best I've ever eaten.

It's cold!!

When I was packing to come here, I pulled out my summery clothes and sandals.  At the last moment, I tossed in a few sweaters and I haven't taken them off since I got here.

When I leave in the morning, it is cool and when I leave the office at night, it's cooler.  The office has the air conditioning cranked like it is 35C outside and I spend my days shivering and spending my free time lounging in a sunny corner absorbing the heat like a lizard in the desert.

Yesterday was particularly chilly.  This sounds silly to almost all of you, but but it was only around 15 degrees during the day and there was nasty wind.  Definitely not short-sleeves and sandals.  I was so chilled when I got home that I crawled under the covers (with the McNuggets) and turned off the air conditioning.  Apparently this weather is expected to continue for a while, when it normally starts to warm up this time of year.

I thought one of the benefits of being here would be warm weather?  I'm sitting here (and yes, under the duvet) typing this with cold fingers.

http://truthdive.com/2012/02/09/mumbai-city-shivers-on-coldest-feb-day-in-four-years.html

Long Day

Unlike the last trip here, work is taking up more time.  You know it's been a long day when you're eating Chicken McNuggets in bed and watching a movie in a foreign language because the remote is on the other side of the room.

I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but it doesn't really matter.  Just to slip into work speak for a moment, but it's really interesting how to TV stations here handle how they schedule the Bollywood movies.  There is unedited version, which is what I'm watching.  All the random dancing and singing one could expect.  With commercials this can bring a movie to four hours.  There is also an edited version that runs like a regular movie for a mere two hours.

The costumes are the best.  It takes a confident man to pull off a silver sequined suit and look good in it.  The women are completely gorgeous and each sari that they wear is more elaborate than the last.  Maybe it's a good thing that the remote is far away.

And small hooray--it's midnight and I'm actually tired and ready to go to sleep.  Finally more than four hours of sleep!

Jet lag

I suffer from terrible jet lag.  I think that I'm just prone to it in general, but I think it has more to do with how much and how well I can sleep on a plane.  It doesn't matter if it's a flight for an hour or  ten hours, the second I sit down and get comfortable, I can feel my eyelids droop and I want to nod off.  

I made it through the first couple of workdays because I had to and was thoroughly relieved when I found out I didn't have to work on Saturday, because it would give me a chance to get out.  I mentally made plans to get up early, grab a few groceries and make my way down to Colaba to my beloved Taj Hotel and have high tea.

The reality was this:

1)  Woke up early and continued to overplan my day.
2)  Went down to breakfast where I had two enormous cappucinos
3)  Got back to my room and thought, well, maybe I'll read a few pages before I walk to the shops
4)  Hmmm, am feeling very tired, maybe a little bit of a nap
5)  Slept through the alarm and work up shortly after 4
6)  Finally made it to the shops (found a great shirt on sale for 300 INR--6 dollars), got my few groceries and              started home.
7)  Stopped at a restaurant for dinner.

Then the fun started.  I was still really tired and had that clumsiness that comes with that.  The restaurant that I chose was rather dimly lit (I say this in my defense) and I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to my surroundings.

Once I was done and ready to leave, the first stupid thing that happens is as I'm putting my bag over my shoulder, I knock off my glasses and they go flying at least ten feet.  One of the waiters has to find them for me because I can't see them on the dark floor.  Thank him, get to my feet, and boom! down I go.  There was a little step down that I hadn't noticed and bags, everything, went flying.  I felt like a total idiot.  Again, the waiter helps me get my things together and then worst of all, makes me take the elevator the single floor down to the entrance--and comes with me.  It's been a long, long time since I've felt that foolish and embarrassed..  The saving grace is that the meal was mediocre at best so my decision never to show my face there again is not at the expense of a good dinner.

I did end up with a pretty amazing looking bruise on my left knee.  A bit of a war wound of sorts. :)

Arrived!

I've started writing, but haven't had much time to really review my posts and get them up, so I will be catching up over the next day or so.

The flight was great and I was particularly happy with the second leg of the journey.  I flew on Jet Airways, which is an Indian carrier, and the service was outstanding.  Of course, what also helped was the very nice Bollinger champagne  that was being poured like water.  After about three glasses (and the glasses were truly full), and a very good Indian lunch, I settled in for a nice long snooze.  The only downside was that my TV wasn't working so sadly no Bollywood movies for me, instead I dozed over a book for the remainder of the trip.

It was gorgeous when I arrived in the early morning.  I remember how steamy and tropical it was the last time I was here and the weather is nothing like that now.  This time, it is the dry season and it was a lovely 26C.  The perfect nighttime temperature for someone coming from Canada. It was such a pleasure to take off the light jacket that I had worn.

Finding my driver was just as crazy, though.  The arrivals area  for the airport is outside of the building.  Only people with tickets can get in or out of the airport and security guard make sure that once you've left, you are not getting back inside, no matter what your problem is. This results in a huge throng of people waiting.  It has a carnival atmosphere though and goes on all night.  You can get the requisite flowers and stuffed toys for your loved ones and, of course being India, yummy looking food that I have not been allowed to eat, to date.  This time, I will try street food.  I was constantly warned against it before and yes, some of the vendors are obviously dirty, but there are also better ones and that's what I intend to find and enjoy, despite my weak, western stomach.

Now that I'm back, I'm happy to be here again.  I would never say I know the city, it's way too massive for that, but I recognized the way from airport to the hotel and was happy that "my neighbourhood" hasn't changed.

Coming back to the hotel was the best part, so far.  I was checked in by someone who remembered me me and when I came down the next morning for breakfast, my server immediately asked if I wanted scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast (my standard breakfast when I was last here).  It's like I never left and I like that.  It helps make an extended trip like this that much easier.

On the Road Again

Am having deja-vu.  I'm sitting in the Maple Leaf lounge at the same table that I was sitting at the first time I posted on here.  And am heading back to the same place.  After much moaning and griping on my part, I'm on my way to India again for another month.  Oddly enough, now that it's officially official, I'm looking forward to the trip again.  It's not quite the trip I expected.  My original itinerary had me spending a day in Zurich that I had been really looking forward to, but things change, my trip was delayed, and I'm now flying over London and then on to Mumbai.  Zurich will have to wait for another day.

I'm looking forward to a few places that I didn't get to the last time.  There is a market called Crawford Market that's apparently massive and interesting and if I can talk someone into joining me, I'd like to take one of the colourful, too full ferries to Elephanta Island.  More on those places when I get there.  Oh, and I suppose I'll do some work, too.  It's going to be very busy and I don't think I'll quite have the same amount of time to poke about as I did in August.

I was crowing earlier about getting a month's worth of clothes packed in a single suitcase but I've already realized that I've forgotten an umbrella (although that is just a reason to get a new one), and my guidebook.   I really hope that is it.  I was extra methodical, but I'm still worried.

I'm interested to see how the flight to Mumbai is.  I'm travelling on an Indian carrier called Jet Airways.  A friend of mine who travels quite a bit has told me that they have terrific service.  I'm looking forward to it.  Maybe paneer (one of my favourite Indian things) will be on the menu in some fashion.

Next post will probably be from Heathrow, I've got a bit of a wait there.