India - Day 6 - (Sunday)

Yesterday was a full day and then some. Suman said that we could go see a movie or something today and I was hoping that it would be later in the day.

I ate breakfast at the cafe Lido at the Ista Hotel, where I stayed, most mornings, both because of its proximity to where I was and because the breakfast buffet was good. Lido was not considered to be their restaurant, but the staff was always waiting on you and willing to get you whatever you wanted.

Being Sunday, things were not like they were during the week. There was a brunch rather than a breakfast - which started at noon. I figured that I could wait until noon and just have a long meal; the food was very good, so I am glad I did. The best part of the meal was the lamb shank with a rosemary au jus. There was live entertainment, which I really like. There were only two guys - a guitar player and a saxophone player and they played songs from mostly the 70s, but were good enough to keep me entertained. I found that people in India were not much on applauding the guys, but I did anyway.


After eating brunch and taking a nap, Suman and I went to the mall to see a movie. We saw Death at a Funeral. If you like British humor, this is the movie for you. If you are not into the Monty Python type humor, you had better skip it.

When you go to see a movie, there are always snacks. Not only did I find normal popcorn at the theater, but there was also sweet corn that you could get seasoned in one of many fashions. I decided on the black pepper corn and sweet butter. It was pretty good, but it does not compare to regular popcorn. One of the other oddities at seeing a movie in Bangalore was that they created an intermission about half way through the movie so you could take a bio-break and buy some more snacks. Not a bad idea.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as taking them to the movie when they could really use it.

India - Day 5 - Part 2

We left the 3 rivers and it was time to get lunch. We did not just go anywhere to get lunch, we went to a hotel whose slogan is, "We're not a palace, but we'll treat you like a king."

This hotel, Lalitha Mahal Palace, pictured on the right, was built in 1931 and is humongous. It was built by the Maharaja of Mysore to host the Viceroy of India. If you decide to eat here, make sure to bring your credit card (or take out a second on your house), as it is not cheap. The food is very good though.

We finished lunch and made our way to Mysore Palace - one of India's best kept secrets from the rest of the world - albeit it is very well known in India.

Now the Mysore Palace made the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel seem average size. This palace was built in 1912. Before you can enter the palace, you must turn in your camera to a camera room, very similar to a coat room. You also need to take your shoes off prior to entering the palace, but your shoes go to a different place than your camera does. There is a standard fee charged for shoes here - 1/2 Rupee. I think I got more than my money's worth this time as they had a watch my size-15 shoes.

I got a kick out of walking around the palace and watching the reactions from kids and a few adults as I meandered the hallways. I already stood out from the crowd because I am white and it looked like I had not been in the sun for months - I live near Portland, Oregon, what do you expect? - but I towered over the majority of the people there as well. The little kids would look up and me and I would smile at them and they would smile back. The adults, on the other hand, looked like they were a little worried. The average height in India is about 5'5". The average height at the palace was doing good if it were 5'. There were many people shorter than than that, so those people were having to look up at least 18". My height was an advantage as I could look over the top of the majority of the people to see whatever there was to see in any particular room.

Words cannot describe the architecture and craftsmanship that was put into the building of the palace. Built way before the time of power tools, remarkable is not a strong enough word to describe it. I have no idea how they built the structure as tall as they did. If you ever go to India, I do recommend going to see Mysore Palace.

Our last stop prior to heading back home was to see St. Philomena's Church. The Gothic structure was built in 1956 and is a marvel to the eyes. While we were there, a wedding was happening. It was rather cool to see a historic building actually being used for what it was originally intended.

The trip back to Bangalore seemed so much longer than the trip to Mysore. I think the reason was that we were tired from our adventure and that we did not have any stops along the way to entertain us as we made the stops on our way out.



Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as showing someone the sites around your area.

India - Day 5 - Saturday (Part 1)

Today we went to Mysore. Mysore is noted for the grand palace that is there, but there are also wonderful attractions to see while on your way to Mysore. Now to travel to Mysore from Bangalore by car is no small trip - it is not an hour and a half like some tourists are lead to believe - it is about 3 hours if traffic is good.

The day started out at about 6:30 AM. My Driver Rambas came by the hotel and we went out to Suman's place to pick him up as he was going to show me around so I would not get too lost.

Our first stop along the way was to get some breakfast. It looked similar to a rest stop on the side of the highway back home, but then you went a little ways back there were at least two different outdoor restaurants and both were extremely crowded. We sat down at the first one and found out that they were not serving breakfast, so we decided to go to the next one. It seemed to be more crowded than the first, but it was a buffet, so people were constantly moving around giving it the feeling of being overly crowded. The food was good - so it was understandable to why it was so busy.

Our first official stop was in Srirangapatnam (don't even think about asking me how to pronounce the city name). The picture at the top of this blog is of Tipu's summer palace. Its grounds were so peaceful filled with many very colorful red trees. This is also where the Tipu Sultan is buried next to his wife and son. There are also numerous other tombs around the grounds; some are adorned with silk covers. We could not figure out exactly why some were and some were, but our best guess was that they ones covered were those of women. Before you can enter the palace, you must take off your shoes. No big deal. I take off my shoes and one of the guys manning the shoe area hands me a red token with a number on it. Suman takes off his shoes and does not get a token. We go touring and when we are done, we go back for our shoes. Suman walks out without any problem. I try to walk out and I am blocked until I give them some rupees. I can just see the headline - Man heald hostage for his size 15 shoes. I give the man 10 rupees and I go on my way. I tell Suman and he says he must have gotten lucky.

So we start on our journey again and we make a stop at a park where the three rivers all meet and flow into one. It is well off the beaten path, but it is definitely not unknown by people, because there are vendors and people everywhere. There were organized vendors with some facsimile to booths and others who tried to solicit business by going person to person. If you did not pay attention to them they would yell either Hello or excuse me or both. I felt like I was being rude to them by not turning back around, but I did not want to buy what they were trying to sell. The coolest attraction I saw at this park was the river rides (pictured to the above left). They would take people on short rides around the river on the disc-like boats. Suman and I both decided that it probably would not be a good idea for us to go on a ride on a disc for two reasons. Firstly, the disc probably could not support my size and weight. And secondly, the drivers probably would not know how to balance one with someone my size on the boat and then everyone on board would end up going for a swim. I did not exactly feel like getting that wet and having to remove leeches from my skin.

I must stop for now as I need to get ready for the day. I will continue the trip on my next blog.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as showing someone the sites around town that they have never seen before.

India - Day 4 - Friday

I have not been able to tell what time the sun rises here in Bangalore, as it has been overcast each morning. The sun did come out for a little bit, but it turned to rain later in the day.

Today I went to lunch at a different style of Indian restaurant - don't even ask, I have no idea, other than it was not a place that I had been to yet. Suman ordered a green salad for an appetizer (known as a starter here). I expected lettuce for a green salad, but it was cucumbers, carrots, red onions, and what I thought was a snow pea. I really like snow peas, but it looked like there was just one snow pea, so I left it for a while to see if Suman was going to eat it. Well, after sometime, he did not eat it, so I decided that it was fair game so I ate it. After about 30 seconds, I found out that what I ate was not a snow pea. I started sweating like someone opened the dam gates. I told Suman that I ate something hot. He asked what I ate, and I told him the snow pea, and he said that was not a snow pea but a green chili pepper. I tried eating the chips, drinking the coke and eating more cucumbers and carrots, until the heat finally became bearable. Then our main meal came. With the meal came naan, which would have been really great to have had to get rid of the heat of the chili.

Back at the office, it has been enjoyable to see how fast the team - Vamsi, Suman, Mrinalini - has been catching onto everything I have been trying to teach them.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as getting them a couple of pieces of bread if they happen to eat a chili thinking it is something else.

India - Day 3 - Thursday

Today is a holiday here in India - Labor Day. Since the Ness office is closed, I worked from the hotel so I could try to catch up on my regularly assigned work. My hotel room has a broadband connection - and they do not offer it free here - so it is almost like working from home, but not quite as fast. The power outages are definitely a challenge here.


The picture above is the pool at my hotel, Ista. The hotel and people are very nice.

I did see something very strange to me though. A car was smoking very badly in front of the hotel and I saw that a person was putting the smoke into the car - at first glance, it looked like the inside of the car was on fire. I found out the reason for the smoking of the car was because a mosquito was found in the car. Mosquitoes are carriers of Malaria and they were doing what they could to get rid of the bugs.

I ate lunch at the hotel restaurant. I had a minced lamb and coriander soup that was really tasty. On the whole though, I prefer the restaurants that Vamsi, Suman and Mrinalini brought me to eat.

Jet lag hit me today. I think I am over it now.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as holding the elevator door open.

India - Day 2

I got to go to two different restaurants today. China Pearl was the first place we went. The menu had lots of items on it that I had not seen before. One of the interesting traits of the menu I thought was the quantity of different soups. Suman and Mrinalini asked me what I wanted to have, and I told them I would like to have something they would normally eat, so we each selected an item from the menu to have. Other than chicken and fish, I have no idea what we had, but it was good.

Then later in the day, Vamsi and Suman took me to an Indian restaurant for a snack. Unlike the Indian restaurant that I went to on the first day with Vamsi and Suman, Vamsi and Suman were not the only Indian patrons at the place. This place today had lots of Indian patrons and I think I was the only non-Indian patron. Vamsi ordered us what he called breakfast for snack time. It seemed like a cross between a pancake and a crepe filled with curry potato. There were a couple of dipping sauces for it as well. I would eat them again.

No more mugging attempts today, so it was a good day.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as asking them to go to lunch or snack with you.

India - Day 1

After having breakfast at the hotel, which had lots of fruits, including mangos and papayas - I found that I like mango juice - I was driven to the EDC office.

I thought the drive from the airport to the hotel was an experience - the experience going from the hotel to the office was much more of an eye opener. Two inches seems to be too much room to have been vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles or people.

The folks at EDC are very nice and accommodating. Suman is in the picture to the right. When we went to lunch, we walked the few blocks to the restaurant. On the way back, there was this little girl, about 8 or 9 years-old, carrying a small bamboo basket. She starting speaking in her native tongue, needless to say, I did not understand a word she said, and was gesturing with her free hand like she was saying someone was talking a lot. Suman shooed her away. I asked him what that was about. Suman said that she said she had a snake in the basket and if we did not give her all our money she would let the snake out to bite us. He said he told her to go away because that trick does not work on him. My first day in India and I nearly get mugged by a little girl who was not even as tall as my waist. My wife got a good laugh after I told her.

Make someone's day and perform a random act of kindness. It could be as simple as saving someone from getting mugged.