chip.......shop.......chips..........

Sorry Joanne for not keeping up with my food diary, here's some more........

I have the bestest news ever from tindia......There's a cafe not far from the apartments that does chip shop chips, me sooo happy. The chips are even better than those from Family Friends!

On Monday after I finished work early, like a right skiver, I went with most folks to ABC Farms, it's a collection of restaurants and bars all together. We headed to the Sheesha Cafe (I think that's what it is called) for some tea.

I ordered Chicken Shenzel (150rs!), it was 2 medium sized chicken schnitzels really, quite tasty. There were vegatables on the plate and everything (they are on the rare side here). I asked the waiter did it come with chips and he nodded, when the plate came there was a massive splat of soggy mash so I was quite disappointed. However, a couple of minutes later he brought me a plate of chip shop chips, mmmmmm they tasted soo good. I am now going to go there on a regular basis for chips.

The best thing about this place, apart from the chips, is the Kingfisher, a regular bottle is only 70rs. It's well cheap.

Yesterday I made 2 hours back from my skive and finished work at 10pm. Me, Paul and Chris stopped off at the Ship for something to eat. I got chicken strips in sweet and sour sauce, I was expecting 2-3 decent sized chicken strips (like at KFC) and a pot of sauce. I didn't think this would fill me so I ordered some garlic bread and cheese and some wedges.

The chicken came first and it was a dish mounded high with small chicken strips already in sauce (it was yummy).....the garlic bread with cheese came next, 6 slices, then came the wedges the same size portion as the chicken. Needless to say I couldn't finish everything....though I did try. It was washed down with 2 large Kingfishers all for 750rs. You can't go wrong.

Working 2-10 today, intregration is looming and the process may be changing a bit too. Hiren keeps joking that I need to apply for citizenship......................

Laters dudes

Sunday, the day of the Taj

We rose early and were on our way, I was so excited at the thought of seeing the Taj.

We were hoping to be there before dawn so we could watch the sunrise behind it. Regrettably, our driver thought we were ahead of schedule so we stopped for a break and this stop cost us the dawn, BAH! We hate Mr Singh and his stories of Tea, there's tea and tea with milk and masala tea and tea with lemon. There's darjeeling, that's another type of tea.....(OMG!!).

However, it was still good that we arrived early as we missed the crowds and that.When we got there we walked down through the outer bit and there is a massive gate house before you get to the garden and the Taj. The gate house itself is a fantastic structure.

I know this will sound like a cliché but when I walked through the gate and saw the Taj my breath was taken away, it was beautiful, there are no words to describe it. I couldn’t believe I was there, this will sound weird but it was like I didn’t believe that it was real until I saw it in the flesh so to speak.

We spent some time looking at it from the gate house and then we walked part way down the garden to the middle where there is a raised plateau, where our Di had her picture taken in 1992 bless her. We took a few more pictures and then we walked down to the Taj itself.

We removed our shoes and climbed the stairs to the terrace that runs all the way around it. On the left side of the Taj is a Mosque that is still in business, to the right, to ensure symmetry there is a building the same as the Mosque but it is royal apartments.

You can go inside the Taj but can’t take any photos. Inside you are taken to see the sarcophaguses of the King and his favourite wife. The walls have some excellent marble work on them and there are screens surrounding the sarcophaguses which are carved out of a giant slab of marble. It took 22 years to build then the King started building one for himself across the river but apparently his son was unhappy abut the money the King was spending so he had him thrown in jail where he died. The son stopped construction of the Kings Taj and stole all the gold out of the one he’d built for his Missus, that’s why the king in the Taj Mahal.

After we saw the Taj the guide took us to a '5 star' hotel for something to eat......hmmm, it was minging.

We then went to a workshop where the descendants of the marble workers on the Taj still make marble stuff today. We were shown a demonstration of how it’s done and then we went into the shop. Though I think Marble is tacky a bit I really had to admire the work that goes into making the inlays and stuff.

I bought a coaster with a lotus flower on it, it is really cool and cost 850 rs about £10, a bit dear but there was a lot of work that went into it. It will be my new teapot stand. I helped Gav pick some coasters out and Paul bought an efephant which I'v yet to see.

After we’d been in the shop 1 car of people went back to Delhi and the remaining decided to visit the Agra Fort before leaving. The fort was brilliant, you can see the Taj from it and everything. Again the stonework and carvings were something else, there was also a lot of marble work in it as well.

When we left Julie, Dee, Karin and Paul power walked out of the place, I was just wandering as usual getting my last picture and that. Unfortunately, as I was alone, I was instantly surrounded by about a million hawkers selling their shoddy gifts. They wouldn’t leave me alone and I felt most uncomfortable.

We got to the car and began the never ending (la la laaa la la laaaa la la laaaaaa) ride home. It seemed to take ages, I kept falling asleep and waking up to find there was still miles and miles to go.

When we finally reached the hotel in Delhi, 5 hours later, we had some tea. I got a 4 cheese pizza, it was really nice, almost, but not quite, as good as the pizza I had in Florence. I got a dark chocolate and Kaluha mouse for dessert , I felt overly full after finishing both and rather sick to boot, but it was worth it…….

And that’s it, apart from my livestock count:

Sunday: Dags, Cows, Goats, a Camel, Horse, 2 Parrots (it was bright green but it was disturbed before I could get a picture), chipmunks, tadpoles (in one of the water features at the Taj), loads of Monkeys, a truck full of chickens, a donkey, a Snake (and it’s charmer) and 2 wild boars. The count: 13. Paul says I missed a Goose while I was sleeping. Bah!

Well that’s all folks. Sorry it’s so long I bet you’re well bored. I’m on nights again this week so I may have nothing to report, although I’m working early on Friday so I can go to the all you can eat and all the wine you can drink buffet at Le Meridian, mmm mmm mmm..................

it's a long 'un

Howdy folks.

Sorry I’ve not posted over this last week. I’ve been on the night shift so not up to much really. Just sleeping in and eating McDonalds, KFC and Pizza boring!

But we had the bestest, if most tiring weekend, ever this weekend.

Gav arrange a trip for us to go to Delhi and to visit the Taj Mahal. Though I am totally exhausted and got sun burnt on my feet and neck I had a fantastic time.

This is real long so I'll do 2, 1 for each day.

SATURDAY


On Saturday morning at 4:45am the cars came to collects us and take us to the airport, there were 15 of us in total. We flew from Pune to Delhi.

On arrival 2 things hit me, firstly the temperature, man it was hot, secondly, Delhi is like a real town. I’ve been in Pune for 3 weeks now and have come to assume that all towns in India are like it, bumpy roads and all that, but Delhi is something else, they have smooth tarmac (what luxury!) and tall buildings and everything.

We transferred to our Hotel and checked in, after a few minutes to freshen up we met in the lobby. To start with we did some sight seeing, we saw the Presidential palace, Parliament and India Gate.


This is the presidential Palace, rather nice, it has 340 rooms Mr Singh, our annoying driver, said.

After doing a bit some folks wanted to go shopping and some wanted to do more sightseeing. I chose to sight see a bit. We went to this cool place Qutub Minar. It is a mosque site, well it was it’s a ruin I suppose really now, and it has a 5 storey tower. The tower was awesome, the carvings on it and the stonework were amazing.

By this time the temperature was 36 degrees and I was starting to frazzle, I was hot and sweaty and red all over. It was time to dine, we went to a nice restautant called Essex. I had a mutton biryani which was nice, though I don't know why they leave the bones in the meat....I tried some of Dees Daal, it was nice, it would have gone great over some chips.

After dinner Julie, Paul and Karin decided that they would go back and chill at the hotel, while Dee and me decided to go and do a bit of shopping.

The plan was to meet up with Al and co but we got way-laid. I asked our Driver if he knew of a silver shop or market. He took us to this fabulous store and we spent probably the best part of 90 minutes marvelling over the jewellery and choosing our purchases. I bought 2 silver rings which I’m currently sporting, I got a pink Jade bracelet, it’s got beads on a string that you tighten by pulling on the 2 end bits, I really love it and am going to wear it every hour of every day that I’m not in bed or the shower.
I also got a necklace and pendant, the necklace was a silver snake chain and the pendant is about 1.5 inches long with several Garnet stones making up a flower design. The lot cost me £46 which I thought was very reasonable.

At night we went to a restaurant called Gaylord’s……Vince wanted his photo taking outside it.
Apparently it’s a national chain, what a peculiar name though and to be honest it was the first bad meal I’d had since I’ve been here.

I got a chicken and asparagus bake with a cheese crust, served with veggies. Firstly there were no veggies and secondly there was no cheese crust, there was lots of chicken in a cheesy sauce though it was agreeable it was not delicious like I’m used to.

Our Al got lamb chops and potato wedges, they looked delicious and he said as much. It is Liz’s birthday on Wednesday and Gav arranged for the restaurant to bring a cake for her. I’ve tried a few cakes while I’ve been here and they haven’t been that nice, compared to ones at home, but this cake was delicious.

By this time it was after midnight and we were leaving for the Taj at 2:30am so we left and went to bed.

livestock count for the day - 7 :Dags, Cows, Snake (with it’s charmer), Lizard (it was on the wall in the cash point room), a Chipmunk, a giant ant (not kidding it was over an inch long) and monkeys.

bling

what a great day.......

We had a great day on Sunday.

To start it off we saw an elephant walking down the street, if we hadn't of been going to a lunch date we'd have stopped and had a ride, we are going to save that for this weekend I think.

Me Julie and Kerry were meeting Karin at Le Meridian for the lunch buffet. On a normal day it's 550 rs for all you can eat, however, on a sunday it's all you can eat and all the sparkling wine you can drink for 750 rs. Me and Julie got our moneys worth I tell thee.

You should see the buffet it's amazing, there's soup and loads of salad, different breads, cooked meats and cheese. There's rice and about 12 different curries, on Sundays they have an extra buffet, a dosa bar and a pasta bar and then there was also roast duck and potato wedges. The desserts are something else too, mmm mmm mmmm.

Karin went for her nail appointment and we stayed having drinks and keeping Dee company as she came late to dinner. Kerry then left for her hair appointment and Alex came to have lunch, he'd been to pick up his outfit for the wedding. Julie went for her appointments and then I left for mine. We met back up in the lounge and ordered cocktails while we waited for the outfit maker to deliver them to the hotel.

The outfits came, they all looked nice so we went and changed. When we went down stairs and walked through reception everyone stared at us, 4 white chicks in traditional indian attire....We sent to the bar and ordered cocktails again and waited for everyone else to arrive.

We left late because of Francis and by the time we go to the place we'd missed the actual wedding. They asked us to stay for food, it smelt nice, but the toilet facilities left a little to be desired so we thought best not to, just in case of a disagreement.....
We said our hellos and goodbyes, gave the card and left back to Le Meridian and back to the bar for drinks and snackets. We left about 12:30am and came home.

As for your comments German Man I think I'm having enough 'disagreements' that I won't put much weight on (I hope).

That elephant was so cool.

no rain........?

That doesn't sound right....no rain yesterday and none today so far....

Howdy from Pune.

We went to Mainland China on Friday night, it was a nice place, we sat outside and the food was great and I would like to take this opportunity to shock you all.

Are you sitting down? Then I'll begin

Alex tried something new and spicy and.............LIKED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you ok guys? I was rather shocked myself, but I'm so pround of the boy still, suffice to say it didn't last long, for tea yesterday at Le Meridian he had Fish N Chips and ketchup, but from small acorns.......

The food as I said was great, I shared a Dim Sum platter with big Paul for starters, the menu suggested that some would be fried but they were all steamed (as a rule, yuk) . Even so the most of them were nice, I think there was one with Tofu in and it was minging.

For my main course I had: Yang Chow Fried Rice and Prawn (2) in my choice of sauce, I chose Cantonese and I thought that 2 prawn was a bit tight. When they came it turned out that they were massive, they'd been butterflied but were as big as my hands, and we al know how chubby they are.... The Prawns were good, the rice was good and they were washed down with a pint of wine (that's how the waiter described it to me but it was actually a 50cl bottle.) I stole a leather coaster as a souviner, hee hee hee.

We went to Lush after; it's a club a couple of doors down and had a few drinks in there and were home for around 3am I believe. I gave our Carl a bell to try and get him really excited for his time out here, as it turned out he was already extreamly excited.

On Saturday we rose early and went shopping down MG road. On Friday evening we found out that we were invited to an Indian wedding on Sunday evening so we needed something to wear. We all opted for traditional Indian dress, a salwar kameez (it's touusers with a long tunic top and a scarf) we went into a store and chose the fabric, got measured then the guy left the store on his motorbike and took our stuff to get stitched, we should have it by 5pm I've to give him a bell later today. Mine only cost 1100 rs about £13.

I picked up a new cover for my mobile, 4 films, I got Romancing the Stone (yeeeaaahhh!), The Spy Who Loved Me (does it play any other tunes?), A View to a Kill (I have been known to dabble) and Chuck Norris in A Force of One, (he can hear the silence, he can see the darkness etc) I remember watching a load of Chuck Norris films when I was younger so it should be a right blast from the past. I also got some glitter bangles (for the wedding you understand). I was also out of credit on my phone after taking to Carl, I think the mobile prices are very cheap here. I was on (shockingly) for 75 minutes and it cost about £8, that's 10 rs a minute which is about 11p not bad considering the distance. it's only 5rs to send a text to the UK.

We then went to Le Meridian for tea, me and Jules got a mutton Rogan Josh, rice and paratha, it was delicious. Then I went for a pedicure while Julie had her hair washed and blow dried. I have to say that it didn't enjoy the pedicure so much, the prodding at my toes made me feel a bit ill and she was very tickly with the massage, I don't think I'll have one again.

After we'd done at the beauty parlour I bought a Femina magazine for my mum while Julie looked at the jewellery. I was a couple of nice rings that were totally B.L.I.N.G. My favourite one was too small so I bought my second favourite one. I'll try and post of picture of it. It's got real gem stones but the real sparklers are zirconia not diamonds. It's a nice ring anyway.

We went back to the apartments changed and chilled a bit and then went to 10 downing street for drinks. As there was about 20 of us or something and only 2 cars me Jules and Kerry left first about 2am and sent the car back. There were no takeaways open which I thought was weird so we fried up some chicken nuggets at the apartment.

Today, well in about 30 minutes, we are going to Le Meridian for the 750 rs all you can eat and all the sparkling wine you can drink buffet. A few folks have some beauty appointments and then, hopefully, our outfits will be delivered by about 5pm. I so hope that it fits ok and more to the point looks ok. I think this wedding will be great, of course there'll be food after............

my apologies

hello

Firstly, I would like to pass on my most sincere apologies to Mr Reed. Sos mate but I just had to have the boys here with me, i can't cope without my Jam Sandwich!!!

Avril, my dear, Julies hair - it's extensions........She does look like a model thoughright enough!

Al has just been up using the internet, it doesn't work in his apartment, Mr Dixon is moving in with him on Saturday, he's bring us some sausage rolls and salad cream, mmm mmm mmm. When another Steve comes back from Cardiff Al will be living with 3 Steves......

After work this evening we went shopping. There is a Lacoste shop by Pune Central, that department store I went to last week. Anyway, it's well cheap. Kerry got 2 ladies cap sleeve tees for about 12 pounds each. I'll have to get a few hot curries down my neck so I can fit into them....!

After the Lacoste shop we went to Pune Central. I bought some skin stuff, a new mascara, 2 CDs, a butter dish and some snacks from upstairs in the foodhall. I also got some microwave rice and a butter paneer masala for my tea, they were very very nice.

We don't have an oven in the apartment, apparently they are not common kitchen accessories in the sub continent, and I saw a toaster oven with a rotiserie attachment for 1800 rs, so I may see if folks want to share of it so we can do roasties and roast chicken and everything.

Due to problems with the training rooms, I have to do a late shift for the next 2 weeks, bah! On Wednesday though I'm doing a day shift as it's Amandas last night and we're all off out to say byeeeee.

Tomorrow night we are off to Mainland China, we are going to book this time......so no doubt I'll have another gastronomic review for you.

Al says that he and Steve are off down MG road on Saturday to have an Elephant ride, if they find an Elephant that's where I'll be going next week.

Today I saw about 4 buffalos and 2 baby buffalos on the way to work, a dead buffalo by the side of the road, dags (as usual), a puppy dag and some donkeys. Livestock count - 3.

That's it I'm off to bed, me sooo sleepy and it'll be a late 'un tomorrow.

Laters

It's been a few days since I've posted, it was Sunday in fact.

On Sunday evening we went to our local The Ship and had a few drinks. We got mixed up with the Leeds match, it wasn't on but we watched the charity shield.

There were 4 on our check; I had zucchini fritters to start with and then some chutney chicken for my main course, Jules had Steak (a little under cooked if she did complain herself), Al had a steak sandwich and potato wedges and Steve had some lamb chops or something. There were 3 wines, 2 cocktails, 3 beers and a water (they didn't charge for my 3 tia maria & cokes) and the bill came to 3800 rs. Cheap as you like!

I like it in the ship, it's all decked (geddit) out like a ship. In the toilets theres pretend portholes with pictures of the sea showing through. There's sails on the windows and the bar is shaped like a viking longboat.

Oooh that's the door, my pizza has just come.

mmmm that was delicious. a chutney paneer pizza and garlic bread with cheese, from pizza hut for 293 rs.

Anyway The Ship. It's cool, it has a big screen and they show all sports. The food is really nice, the falafel is good, they even do steak and kidley pud, but it's more like a pie, with lots of kidley though (makes a change).

We got tuk tuk home, they are so cool.

On Monday it was Phil's birthday and we decided we would go to Mainland China for something to eat. It's suposed to be the best Chinese in Pune. When we got there they said there wasn't a table till 10:45 pm it was 10:00 pm so we left and decided to go to Le Meridan for something to eat.

We got there and went to the bar to wait for everyone as we were in 4 cars. We got a drink in and listened to the Polish lounge act, the guy is ginger and was wearing a bright lime green shirt, he looked really silly. They sung Achy Breaky heart by billy ray cyrus, jesus!

We decided that we'd go to the Chinese/Thai restaurant at the hotel. I got chicken wonton for starts and for my main course I got a lamb thai curry, boy was it hot; it didn't stay with me long...! I even made a point of asking them to make it mild. Simon got king prawn in batter for his starter, they were 5 of the biggest prawns I'd ever seen, they must have been at least 6 inches long each, and it only cost 650 rs.

After the meal we went to Scream, the club in the hotel, it isn't usually open on a monday but because it was independance day on tuesday (a dry day) it was open. it was like a private party there was only us and 4 other people in there, we were out numbered by the staff.

We left at 1:30 am and got tuk tuk home, cool. me love tuk tuk.

On Tuesday we got flags for tea, me and Amanda got 4 starters a breadbasket and 2 ham chimichangas between us. it was very nice.

Today most folks have gone out for drinks and then they're going to watch the England match at Scream I think. I was going to go but I'm too tired. I've been wrestling with systems all day, it has been very frustrating and I'm just sitting in with a beer watching Die Hard with a vengence (a recent VCD purchase) and updating you guys. I've not had a minute to myself since I got here really so it's nice to have some alone time.

That's me caught up. I think my shift is changing next week, I may have to work 2-10 for the rest of the training, there's a shortage of training rooms or something, does that remind you of anywhere..?

laters

hangover central

Well good morning or should I say afternoon? I'm feeling a little on the rough side today.

Friday was a quiet day. After work we retired to our apartment, ordered a Chinese(delicious and only 250 rs), had a few beers and watched No Sex Please We're British, a classic.

Saturday dawned and we were up early. Saturday was shopping day. Our car came around 11am and we drove to MG road, the main shopping street (don't think Briggate though), and set off for bargins.

The first store we came across was a music dvd store, I bought The Jewel of the Nile on VCD (199 rs), I love that film, I'm going to look out for Romancing the Stone.

MG road is something else, there are proper shops and shack style shops and uk style shops and The Bombay Stores, a cool department store full of Indian delights.

We saw dags, nothing new there as they are all over the place, but we saw a camel and cows actually sleeping on the road.

The only downside is there were many beggars with knarlled limbs and women with children pulling on your clothes and small boys asking to shine your shoes and old blind folks with tin cups. It was awful ignoring them, but you can't do anything else, if you give to 1 a million will show up within 5 seconds.

I got a few cool things though, I got a ganesh figurine and an intricately carved elephant with a little elephant inside it. I got a pull-back tuk tuk, a suede bracelet thing, Die Hard with a Vengence and some soap to clear my skin up.

We called the driver and he came and took us Le Meridan hotel. We had a buffet lunch, 550 rs each and there was stacks of stuff. I had the best mutton rogan josh ever, we filled up on main course and then came dessert, I tried 4 different ones and had some fruit just to be healthy...... it was all delicious.

We settled up and then me, Jules and Amanda went to the beauty parlour. Amanda had her nails done, Julie had her hair washed and dried and her feet done. I had a french manicure and an arm massage with a mango mask spa treatment and a hair cut (she did a good job, though I was a bit disconcerted when she just started cutting without asking what I wanted to do...) I couldn't believe the bill when it only came to £12, I pay £41 at home for just my hair!

We got the car back home and changed for dinner. The day guys from the General thread had asked us out for dinner to Riverview which they said was real near our apartment. Our car came and we set off, after a few calls the driver said he knew where he was going and we were on our way.
After 30 minutes of driving Kerry kept getting calls from the guys wondering where we were. It turns out that the driver had misunderstood the directions and we were heading in the wrong direction. After 30 minutes of driving back the other way we saw our apartment, we drove passed the end of the street and took the first right and we were there.....! What a dingbat!

When we got into the place it was an outdoor restaurant right by the river it was really nice, if you go during the day the view would be really nice. You have to take your own booze so we went prepared. There was a steady flow of nibbles, paneer, chicked pieces, chicken in batter, minced chichen in batter, cubes of potato in spicy breadcrumbs and some other potato things, they were all georgeous.
Well we thought that was it and was about to say our goodbyes, but no there was a main course buffet too. I tried 3 different curries and some rice all mopped up with a couple of roti, delicious. Then came dessert, ice cream and mango mousse, it only cost 500rs each.

When we left we saw a frog in the fountain by the enterance.

The driver waited for us and we went to The Ship for 1 before going to a club called Cavier. Not my type of thing it was rather RnB style and apparently the club is in a bad part of town. The driver waited again and took us home, by 3:15am I was watching Jewel of the Nile.

On the way home we saw pigs roaming the streets, buffalo sleeping on the path and donkeys snacking on the contents of a skip.

We are chilling today and going to the Ship this evening to watch the Leeds match.

Livestock count for the day........7 different animals.

I've some more pictures to post but blogger is not playing at the moment, i'l add them later.

still raining.....

well hello, it's been a couple of days since I last posted. How is everyone. It's really great to hear from you guys, ba ba ba ba baaaa I'm loving it.

On Tuesday I got a Maharaja Mac burger from McDonalds. It was likea big mac but chicken patties and spicy sauce, it was very nice. We didn't do anything in the evening, just ordered a take away and listened to some music in the apartment, being rather socialable for me. I wanted a paneer tikka pizza but they were all out so I got a Hawaiian Delight (110 rs), it was a pineapple pizza, no ham. It was nice though.

It's kinda weird here as there are loads of different religions living together, some don't eat pork and some don't eat beef, so the main meat is chicken. There's chicken everything, you wouldn't believe it, there's salami, sausages, frankfurters and more. Aparently there is a store on MG road where you can get pork sausages (Al is delighted) and real bacon we may check it out this weekend.

On Wednesday we went out as some of the guys from Cardiff were leaving. We went to The Ship for a bit of something to eat. I had chicken satay, it was delicious but very spicy, so much so it was burning my lips. It sat well though which I was suprised about. We had a few beers, Al got totally wasted, and we left about 11pm to go to Scream, the nightclub in the Meridian Hotel. The clubs here are cool, ladies get in for free....

Boy that place is posh inside. Before going down to the club we went to the lounge for another beer, they poured mine into a ladies glass, tres sophisticated. There was a Polish lounge act, they were real dire, but they gave eye of the tiger a good run for its money!

The club itself was pretty good, the music wasn't really to my taste, it was a bit techno, but I've heard that on friday it is a rock night.

The drive home was fun, the car we had was a 4 X 4 there is room for 6 really as there are 2 seats in the boot. Last night there were 5 of us in the boot. There was me, the 2 Steves, Chris and Al effectively crowd surfing over the top of us, it was funny when Steve almost de-kegged him.....

I had my first 'disagreement' this afternoon. Lets just say that I won't be getting a chicken tikka Subway again any time soon. I got a BMT the other day which was nice, even though it had lamb salami (?!) in it.

Tomorrow we are going to brave the canteen. Me and Jules went to the snack bar at lunch today I got a slice of death by chocolate cake and a mango slush puppy for 80 rs, mmmm mmmm mmmm.

After work today a few of us went shopping. We went to Pune Central, a department store. I bought a blue plastic cuff bracelet and a leather wrist thing too, it is really nice. I also got Police Academy 3 on DVD as I hadn't brought it with me, it only cost 199 rs so it was a steal.

Jules stripped the store bare almost, she bought loads.

There is a supermarket on the top floor so we got some bits and bobs and that and went outside to wait for the car to take us back to the apartments. There was a kebab stand outside that smelt great. I'd of got one but I'm not sure whether I dare yet, my constitution needs to be strengthened a little more first.....

That's you up to date.
I'm looking forward to some of my loyal readers coming out soon. You'll have an absolute ball, I really mean it. I'm still finding my feet but I'm not phased by anything anymore. I thought it would take me ages to get into the swing of things but I feel like I'm already there.


Byeeeeee

And Jules says hallo everybody

rain, ran and more rain!

It's raining, traffic here today has been chaos, one of the bridges into town is closed as it's flooded!

Yesterday when me and Jules went to the store we had to traverse some terrible terrain. We left the apartment and turned right down our 'road'. When we got to the end of our 'road' we turned right and started to walk up the 'main street'. At this point we were questioning the walking part of going to the store; the road was like a river, we were wading through almost knee high water, almost getting run over by tuk tuks and a ferral dog kept sniffing round Julie - it could smell her fear.
My flip flops kepy getting stuck in the mud and flosting away when I stepped out of them, so some of my journey was bare foot, hmmmm.
It was worth it though, we got coat hangers and oreos and milk and pop and cheese and adaptors that don't fit our plugs and alsorts.

When we got to the store we did our shopping and were escorted to a tuk tuk in the parking lot. Regrettably, they guy wouldn't take us to our apartment so one of the store boys got on his bike to find a tuk tuk guy who would, all this time we were stood in the rain in the parking lot with a massive trolley full of shopping.....

Last night we went to a bar/restaurant called The Ship. It was really nice, they had the cricket on and the grand prix. We all got steak for tea, it was delicious. I tell you those Kingfisher lagers are going down a treat, mmmm mmm mmmmmm!

Today we went to work. It took all morning and some of the afternoon for me to get logged on. Dee took us out for a nice lunch and we got back just a few moments ago. My wireless is now sorted out however, the signal dies when it gets to my room so I'm currently sat at the dining table and as promised I'll upload a few photos.

That you all for getting back to me, it's great to hear from you.

Hey Jam Sandwich, how's Christobel? You see, Dave, Jam Sandwich is Christobel's biggest fan......

Dave, I'll pass on your comments to Al, he's feeling a bit homesick at the moment and is being rather mardy, heigh ho!

Laters

the leeds crew albeit a bit blurred
our kitchen
my workstation/dining table
the drive to Pune from Mumbai
Aaawww look at da monkey

yikes.......

You'll be pleased to know that my debit card arrived on Thursday. The Halifax were certainly under promising to over deliver methinks.

Anyway, I'm here...........

The airport, OMG! There must have been at least a million people stood outside, each of them trying to push my trolley for me, it was not a pleasurable experience.

We landed early on Saturday morning and were transported to the Intercontinental Grand Hotel in Mumbai. At about 4am we left Particks room and went to our own, I checked out the TV, they get NCIS and Friends and Seinfeld and Becker, how cool?

On Saturday afternoon we drove to Pune.....I don't know how me made it alive, the traffic is crazy; if there's 2 inches of room there's a tuk tuk or a motorbike or a cow or a push bike or a pedestrian or a truck or a car trying to get in that 2 inches and get forward. (only joking about the cow, they stay by the curb)

After we cleared Mumbai the drive was nice, it was raining (obviously) but I bet on a clear day that you can see for miles and miles. We saw some monkeys, they were so cute, by the side of the road and stopped to take a couple of photos, I'll post them once our wireless connection is up and running.

We stopped by McDonalds on the way for a toilet break and something to eat. I got essentially a McChicken sandwich medium meal for about 1.40, not bad eh, and it was good.
When we walked out of McDonalds we couldn't see our driver and walked round the carpark in the rain. We thought we saw the car, I tried the handle but it was locked and, on inspection, there was actually someone, not our driver, sitting in the car.....We saw our guy a moment later he'd parked right in front!

After our almost 5 hour drive we landed at the apartment, wow is all I can say. It's massive, I even have a balcony.
After unpacking and showering we and the rest of the guys went to a pub called 10 downing street, it was a really cool place. There was western music and Indian music all fused together, they even played some Rammstein I couldn't believe it!

2am we retired to our apartment, I was so tired after having only about 4 hours sleep in 2 days that I just crashed.

We're going to the store today to get some essentials in, how exciting I hear you cry. The folks that were already here had arranged to go horse riding or something today, I want to have an elephant ride, I havent seen one yet though.

Work tomorrow.......Bah!

the day before, the day before, the day before I travel

As I stood at the atm yesterday my heart sank as the machine decided to re-boot in mid transaction and keep my card.

However, after the initial trauma and accepting that my bank may not be able to get a new card to me by Thursday, I feel a lot better as, with a little help from my beautiful friends, I now have an emergency measure in place to get cash while I'm away.


Anyway, the tickets came this morning, weeeeeeeeeeee!
I'm getting excited.........