Hide and seek

That's a cow, just hanging out in some tall grass to cool off on the narrow road home. I don't think it was pleased we stopped near it for awhile to get the picture.

Back to "Home"

[Sorry sorry for the long delay. Renu and I have been working long long hours at the office during the day, enjoying a couple of drinks and a meal each night, and then sleeping right after.]

As we left Mumbai we had one final day with Renu's mom in Delhi. We made the most of it by doing a bit of shopping at a couple of different places. The most notable was an "underground" market. As you walk down the steps of what looks to be a subway station, there is a hazy heat to rush up and greet you. Caused by the packed crowds and constantly burning incense, it makes it tough to stay for long. The aisles were at most 7 feet wide with garages on each side for stores. In them you could find just about anything, but most were filled with shoes and clothing. And there was the constant sales pitch, people yelling out for you to stop in. Renu found some shoes and her mom bargained them down to about 50% of the original price.

This lady was not one of the ones asking us to stop in the store.

There we unfortunately had to send Dr. Hermon back stateside. After over two weeks and travels to Delhi (twice), Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai we dropped her off very late at Delhi's airport. We certainly miss her guidance here!

Sunday is an off day for Think Tank's workforce, which means celebration. A common brunch spot for Pritinani (Renu's cousin) and Vishal (our boss) is Yum!Yum! Tree in Delhi.

Vishal making a fast break for the table. 

There we had one of the most memorable meals of our lives. For less than 2,000 rupees (under $40) we got our choice of UNLIMITED sushi, sashimi, dim sums, soups, deserts, lamb ribs and more. On top of that, you also got UNLIMITED drinks between beer, martinis, a bloody mary with wasabi in it, and more. We ended up staying for 3 and a half hours enjoying every possible dish, some many times over. Vishal and Priti nani are very well known in that place, and now we know why: - they have to keep coming back or one good lunch and we'll put them out of business.

Dim Sum stacks of duck, chicken, and more. 

As Renu and I told them about our frequent visits to our favorite sushi in Michigan with Ed and Rene, we told them that we had a Volcano roll they had to try on a visit to Michigan. So we had the chefs there prepare their version. 

While it'd be very difficult to overcome the Oh! Tokyo style, this was very different and very very good. 

Monday was Renu and I's first day of work at Think Tank Games. While they've been in a different form for the last eight years, Think Tank itself is a very new company which brings a lot of talent. Renu and I are luckily to have an opportunity with such a young company in an exciting field. The past few days we have been learning their product line, which consists of single and multiplayer puzzles, board games with a strategic twist, and mind challenger style games. Needless to say, we each spent some frustrating time trying to make a square out of rectangles, and trying to line up 5 rows of 4 trees each out of 10 pieces. 

Also, last night Vishal, his mother, Renu and I went to a beautiful buffet at the Park Plaza hotel in Noida, the city just outside Delhi where we live. The items were written as pictured below, and is the reason we joined the local gym today:

I think next time we'll just make a food blog. 

The Bombay Contrast

From Bangalore we flew to Bombay (British name) aka Mumbai. Up to this point, everyone had warned us about Mumbai with how busy and different it was. It was much like the rest of the USA would describe the density and chaos of New York City. We first went to Mahim, which is where Renu's Dad's parents owned a flat for a long while. Luckily, there was an old couple renting the place and (in probably a bit of confusion) let us in so Renu's mom could describe what she remembered.

We then went to Renu's Aunt's sisters flat in Mumbai to see their newborn baby. They lived in an incredible apartment building with marble everywhere and doors that hid the hallway to the bedrooms. The beautiful contrast was the true definition of life in Mumbai (and much of India): a huge high-end complex surrounded by factories, slums, a view of the bay and other large top notch buildings. While there are neighborhoods within the cities, it isn't uncommon to have a beautiful new multi-national corporate building next to one with garbage and concrete dust flowing out of it. While stark and even shocking at first, the unity and flow of India is moving.





We then got back into tourist mode to visit the waterfront in a part of the city known as Colaba. Within one shot you can see the Gateway to India, built by the British, the Taj hotel, where one of the country's worst terrorist attacks occured, and the bay. It was filled with people and street vendors and brought back Renu's mom's memories of playing around the monument as a child.

On the way to dinner that evening, we stopped at the Queen's Necklace part of Mumbai. There is a road that hugs the large 'U' of the Bay and gives you a full view of Mumbai's incredible skyline. Bombay certainly lived up to the hype as one of the most exciting cities that we've visited.

Bengaluru (Bangalore)

Hey everyone! We have been flying all around the country and having a blast. When we were in Bengaluru we met with a bunch of my dad's side of the family. Because so we had a limited amount of time but wanted to see everyone, my mom and Divya set up a huge luncheon. There were over thirty people who came, ate and caught up over the course of the afternoon. It was really wonderful to see so many cousins/aunts/uncles after many years as well as meet some relatives for the first time!

While in Bengaluru we made a trip to the hospital to visit my great aunt. She was looking well and was discharged the following day. She is almost ninety years old and couldn't be more hilarious and quick witted. She was quite taken up with Ryan and whispered something to him that he still won't tell us!

The next day we went to the UB Mall, located within UB City. "UB" stands for "United Breweries", created by Vijay Mallya. He is the chairman for Kingfisher beer as well as creator of Kingfisher airlines. The mall was done in a style very similar to Ceasar's in Vegas and was chock full of high end stores like Versace and Jimmy Choo.

Needless to say that window shopping was all we could afford. We did, however, have lunch on the terrace area of the mall. The restaurant was called "Rajdhani" and served food in typical Rajistani fashion. It was an all-you-can eat meal; the waiters walked around filling up any cup/dish/open space on our plates until we were bursting at the seams!

Afterwards Divya, Ryan, my mom and myself all had a quick drink in another nearby restaurant, "Shiro". As soon as we entered we were greeted by high ceilings lined with bamboo and a strikingly serene statue. We were told that we were't allowed to take pictures so here is an undercover shot Ryan got (you can also find professional pictures online "Shiro UB Mall"):

To cap off our outing, Divya took us to her favorite hangout, a charming tea joint called "Infinitea". We each were given a little pot of our tea of choice and and an hourglass/sandtimer to make sure our tea was perfectly brewed. While waiting we shared some potstickers.

Though we were moving non-stop, I've only shared a few highlights of our time in Bengaluru - we still have to save a few stories to tell you all in person! :-) We were very lucky to be able to spend time and share meals with so many warm, hospitable people. More stories and pictures to come!

Chennai

Hello again! We have so much to catch up on since we didn't have any internet in Chennai! Our trip to Chennai was short but packed full of food and family. We arrived to my Uncle Alex's house in the early afternoon. Their house is beautiful with a full garden in front.

The first night we went to visit St. Thomas Mount where St. Thomas the disciple was murdered. The memorial and church are on a high hill that overlooks the city. I had been there before, but the experience at night was much different especially with an almost full moon above. The city was lit up and the breeze felt perfect.

The next day we spent a lot of time in the heart of the city. We went to visit my Uncle Alex's property/building named "Alexander Square".

That night we made a quick stop at the beach. It takes approximately fifteen minutes to walk from the edge of the beach up to the water! It is one of the broadest beaches in the world which makes for a huge expanse of sand. Though there were quite a few people on the beach, everyone was very spread out.

We were lucky enough to meet up with more of Uncle Alex's family as well as Dr. Hermon's nephew Sunny bhaina at the club they belong to.

We are now in Bangalore, home of IT giants such as Infosys and WiPro. There is a much higher concentration of younger people and it seems to be a very "fresh" city. However, due to the sudden growth the quality of the air is severely diminished. This is the first time we have noticed the smell, which is like following a bad diesel truck on the highway.

We started at my godmother's sister's house in the heart of old Bangalore where we had an incredible South Indian meal: sambar, russum, crab, daal, pickles, paratas, chicken curry etc. They live in a house with four generations of family, from great-grandmother to two little ones.

We had dinner at Kobe Sizzler (the constant food is starting to show), which was a hotplate joint where we could finally reuinte with beef.

There was also an American radio station on, so with steak and Eminem we felt a bit like home. Ryan went with the Pepper Steak, and I split a couple of dishes across the table.

This is Ryan's Pepper steak which cost 390 rupees, or only about $7.50. Some of the prices around here are just incredible.

We have a huge luncheon today with Renu's dad's family, expecting about 35 people to come to the hotel to meet us. We'll send pictures soon!

On The Road Again

Well today we are leaving Bhubaneswar, which is always hard because of the wonderful family I have here. However, we are starting our journey to Chennai then Bangalore then Mumbai and then back to Delhi. We will of course be visiting more amazing family and friends at each stop :-)

Farwell Bhubaneswar, we will see you in a few months!

Sports.

So yesterday my cousin's two little boys, Anshul and Avi, taught Ryan how to play cricket! They were so bewildered that we didn't know the rules. Although most of the time was spent looking for the ball, Anshul finally got Ryan to swing a little more like cricket, and a little less like baseball ;-)

So then naturally, Ryan had to show them some Michigan Football clips to explain to them what American football is!

P.s This is some fresh papaya that we had. I can't even explain how wonderful it was. I've never had anything so deliciously sweet.

Go Blue!

Although my family was kind enough to set up Skype so Renu and I could watch the game, we found it on TV! Let's Go Blue

A taste of what is coming...

Monkeying Around in Orissa

Photo warning: While we figure out how this new fangled thing works, we'll just upload the photos directly to the page. If it's loading very slowly, please say so in the comments so we can figure out something better. Thanks!

I should let Renu write these because she certainly has a better memory than I, but she's out with a bad headache this morning.

Sanamamu was kind enough to bring a masseuse to the house for a morning massage. A stool was set up outside near the road and, although a bit in the open it was excellent.

Sanamai brought us to Udayagiri caves, one of the more famous tourist attractions in Bhubaneswar.

It was a sprawling ground of hand dug caves and cells where the Jain ascetics lived. Basically a gathering of rock holes for sleeping, with other caverns for cooking and praying.

There was also a beautiful temple that was on a hill across the road that Renu and I visited, but didn't enter.

After we walked over from the caves to the temple, enjoyed the surroundings and went to leave, we were approached by a man selling cones of newspapers. Following him over a small ledge were a group of monkeys looking for the peanuts wrapped up in the newspaper.

There were about 15 other people and 20 monkeys near us, with another 50 or so below the ledge. Aggressive ones that would shriek, monkeys that would jump on you if they saw you with the peanut cones (I may or may not have thrown the cone at Renu when one jumped on me), mothers with babies were all throughout the pack.

This particular one took kindly to Renu. The monkeys would take one nut from your hand (unless they were attacking you for the whole cone) crack it with their teeth, pull out the meat and toss the shell and grab another. The little one in the picture used his other hand to lightly hold Renu's wrist so she wouldn't take the rest of the nuts away.

It was an incredible experience. 

We visited the factory that Sanamamu is now working with as well to take an extensive tour. As a manufacturer of power and other cables, it was interesting to see each step in the process although Renu and I could only make out about 30% of the words.