Happy Birthday Erin

On February 17th we had a small birthday party for my friend Erin - it just so happened that her father was in Bangalore on business. And not only was he in Bangalore, he was in Whitefield Bangalore. His hotel was right around the corner from our doctor's office.

Happy Birthday Erin!

Dad's visit - London and home again...

Hi All

I arrived in London at 7:30am London time. It was raining and about 40 degrees. It is now 1pm and it is still drizzling and has only warmed up a few degrees. Needless to say, my planned walk to Hyde Park has been canceled.

I had an interesting stay in Delhi. Glad I visited in the south before going to the north where it is more crowded. One the way from the airport to the hotel, my driver told me that you only need 3 things to drive successfully in India: (1) a good horn, (2) good breaks and (3) lots of good luck. He didn't mention number (4) which is an ability to play chicken. The car whose nose is in the intersection the farthest goes first!!!

Travel is fun and I did a lot on this trip. Helen and Erik were great hosts. The grandkids were fun. I am already thinking about my next trip, but first I need to get back to Dublin and especially spend some time with Kate.

All for this trip.

John

Dad's visit - The End/Delhi

Dad's e-mail:
Hi All
I am now in Delhi.

You have probably asked yourself - what is the difference between Delhi and New Delhi. Well, it turns out that Delhi has been here since before Christ. New Delhi was an area created by the British in 1911 near the center of old Delhi. The British built a Palace and a bunch of government buildings in New Delhi. When India gained its independence in 1947, they turned the Palace into the Presidental residence and office, much like the White House in Washington, DC. So the capital of India is officially in New Delhi.

From the airport I had a driver and a guide. We stopped and saw some momunents, a church in the shape of a lotus flower, the site where Ghandi was cremated and some of his ashes stored and a big shopping center near my hotel. Most of the shops were closed as it was Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow I will walk over and check it out.

There are 4 English language channels on TV, so I watched Back To The Future II before going down to dinner.

KU won their basketball game against Iowa State and coach Self earned his 400th coaching victory. Pretty good for a coach who is only 47.

Helen took me to the Bangalore Airport this morning. I was surprised how fast the 9 days went. We did a lot and saw a lot in a very short period of time. They have a very nice set up and are really enjoying the experience. I can see why they would be happy to stay another year or two in India.

Annika and Auggie say good-bye to Grandpa.

Bye Papa! It was a wonderful visit! Come again soon!!

All for now

John

ps Helen - I saw a Nano on the street today and got a picture.

Dad's visit - Tandoor Restaurant

Dad's e-mail:
Hi All
It is Saturday night. We have just return from the Tandoor Restaurant where we had a fantastic meal. We had the following: Papaad (spicy crispy bread), lamb (boneless leg of lamb with the king's spices), Spinach w/ Paneer cheese cubes, Tandoor baby potatoes, stuffed tandoor mushrooms, fried prawns on a stick, dahl makhani (black lentils in cream sauce) and Paratha Bread. We each had a different dessert. I had rice pudding, Helen - carrot pudding and Erik had Gulab Jamun (a dough-nut ball with a sweet rose syrup).









We also had a couple of drinks to start the evening. Helen and Erik discovered a drink that they liked on their recent trip to Goa. It is fresh lime juice, soda water and sugar syrup and then a shot of local Indian rum called Old Monk. Two of those made the whole meal go down very smoothly.

Thank you Fred, Mike, Katie and John (and families) for the gift voucher which covered our feast!!! Helen and Erik thank you too!!!

This morning we dropped Auggie at his drum lesson and then went to the post office to buy stamps for post cards. Then back to the housing compound where Helen left me. I then walked over to the club house and took a 60 minute massage. Very nice way to spend part of the morning.



By then Helen had collected Auggie and Annika and we went for Chinese food for lunch. We all had Won Ton soup and pot stickers. The kids ate really well. (Note: If you haven't noticed by now, a lot of our activities revolved around food.)

We like to visit the goats behind the Chinese restaurant after the meal.



Tomorrow morning Gopi is going to be here at 7am to drive me to the airport. Helen will go along, but Erik will not. He and a bunch of his friends play volley ball on Sunday mornings and then drink beer to cool off. Then some of them go on scooter rides in the village. I will miss that adventure much to Kate's relief.

All for now.

Will post something from Delhi or London if I get a chance.

John

Amma is coming!

Dad's visit - Leela Palace/Fish Spa

Dad's e-mail:
Hi Kate
This morning we went to a 5 star hotel and had breakfast. Helen wanted me to see the hotel as it is one of the nicest hotels in Bangalore. I took some pictures. Really fantastic place. Out of my price range as a place to stay.





Then we did some shopping and Helen ran a few errands.

We thought it would be fun to have some fish nibble on our toes/feet.




We had a little bit of time available downtown before we had to head back to Whitefield so Gopi gave us a short driving tour of the sites.

After that we had a snack before meeting Annika at her school bus.

Dad's first Dosa.

(L) Masala Dosa (R) Rava Dosa Mmmmm...

Annika wanted to go home with a friend, so just Helen and I went to see Erik at his studio. Pretty amazing place. Over 700 employees working on all kinds of animation projects.

This evening we are off to have Korean BBQ. Helen has arranged a baby sitter, so we can enjoy an adult night out.



All for now

Love, John xxoo

Dad's visit - Downtown

Dad's e-mail:
Hi Kate
It is Friday morning. Yesterday we went downtown and did some walking around and a little shopping.


We went to a place called Russel Market which is a large indoor souk. Lots of stalls sells fruits, vegetables and other food stuffs. Helen was able to find fresh dill for our boiled potatoes and broccoli.






We then had lunch where the meal was served on a banana leaf. We had rice and a couple of dishes to mix with the rice. A little spicy, but good. Helen had eaten at this restaurant several times and likes it. She is much more willing to try different foods than I am. The good news is she has been here 1 1/2 years and has never had an upset stomach!!!






We stopped at the fish market on the way home. She chose a pomfret (sp ?) and they cleaned it for cooking. It was very nice.

I helped Auggie with his homework last evening. He is pretty good at math even though he is just in kindergarten.



This morning we are going towards downtown again. Helen wants me to have breakfast at this fancy hotel. Then we have some shopping to do before picking up Annika at 2:30pm. She is going on a field trip today to a biscuit (cookie) factory. At school they are studying food (from the field to the table). Then we are going to visit Erik's studio and get a tour. Should be interesting.

All for now

Love, John xxoo

Dad's visit - Bannerghatta National Park (the Zoo)

Dad's e-mail:
Hi Everyone

Wednesday we kept the kids out of school one more day and took them on a trip to the zoo.

The zoo is on the other side of Bangalore and it took 1 1/2 hours to get there, all on city streets. The zoo is in two parts. The first is like a wild animal game park where we were loaded into buses and driven thru fenced-in areas. The 1st contained several types of deer, the 2nd black bears, the 3rd lions, 4th tigers, and the 5th white and regular tigers.





I was sitting near the front of the bus on the left side and I could take pictures out my side. Whenever there was something on the right side, the bus driver would ask for my camera. (Like England, they drive on the left side of the road here in India) He was a very enthusiastic photographer. Where I might take one or two pictures of a tiger, he would take 5 or 6. This happened several times. At one point Helen told me he is being so helpful because he wants a BIG tip at the end of the ride.


When we got back to the starting point we went into the zoo proper and saw monkeys walking around the park looking for food and taking stuff out of the dust bins (trash cans to you Americans).


We saw a lot of animals that you might find in most zoos. However, they had a couple I've never seen before. One was an Asian porcupine. Very large with a long black body with white quills. The other was called an Indian Giant Squirrel. It was red in color and about the size of a large cat with the typical large tail.



Helen and I each got our picture taken with an elephant. The trainer would have us put a coin in the elephant's trunk. Then the elephant would drop the coin in the trainers hand and then put its trunk on top of our head and hold it there long enough for a photo to be taken. It was heavy. And I now have a brown smug on my hat. Another souvenir from India.




We stopped at a Subway sandwich shop on the way home from the zoo. It was late afternoon and we hadn't eaten lunch.


Got home about 5 pm. Another long day. But not nearly as long as Erik's. He went to work at 9am and didn't get home until 11:30pm. He had to pay the piper for taking Monday and Tuesday off work.

Stand by for another exciting installment of the Adventures of John in India.

John