18 Feb 2013 ~ Ruh

Listening to: The Beatles ~ Honey Pie

Happy Birthday to Yoko Ono who turned 80.

The first half of the class concluded on Friday so we took a group picture.

And those of us from out of town were treated to dinner by the Instructor's manager at the restaurant Ruh.

http://ruhrestaurant.com/

The restaurant has a Mediterranean/Arabic/Indian theme with really cool "table" seatings.

I'm glad we didn't sit in these swinging chairs, especially after a couple "Vampire Martinis".

This is the table we sat at.

Here's an after dinner picture.  We did not line up on purpose in order of height.

The gentleman on the far left is from France, and has a 1 1/2 month old son born on New Year's Eve.
The next guy is a student in class.Then the Instructor, me, and the girls are from Manila. (The girl next to me was celebrating her birthday.)

14 Feb 2013 ~ Delights of India

Listening to: Delroy Wilson ~ Get Ready Here I Come


Happy Valentine's Day.

I still haven't ventured more than 2km from the hotel (but tomorrow night I'm going out with some students and I have day trips planned for the weekend). That hasn't kept me from eating some great food such as...

Eraichi Kri Vadai (Minced Lam Patties pan fried with freshly ground spices)

Mixed Salad with Grilled Haloumi Cheese finished with balsamic dressing

 

 

Chicken Biryani served with cut vegies and raitha served with an Indian red wine.

 

 



Today for lunch we went to a buffet at the office and for starters we had chicken soup and fried okra (both delicious!) black dal (lentils), fish masala and thai chicken. Unfortunately I cannot bring a camera to the office, so no pictures of those.

12 Feb 2013 ~ Pool Day

Listening to: Doobie Brothers ~ It Keeps You Runnin'

The hotel I'm staying at is near the office I am going to for training, but it's in an IT Park, and although my colleague said I could walk to some shops, I'm not feeling that adventurous (and I didn't really see anything going to the office).

So on Sunday afternoon I hung out at the swimming pool.

The temperature is perfect....high 80s with no humidity. [When I went to the pool on Monday in the sun the temperature said 109, but it didn't feel hot at all. Luckily I only stayed in the sun a short time, but even then I got tan lines.)

I finished the book Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Kept me guessing to the end and a good airplane/poolside suspense novel.

I was getting thirsty from all the sun, so went to grab a beer at the XYZ bar, and practiced up on pool playing. Notice how empty the hotel is.

I am in the Workday 9-Ball Pool Tournament - both singles and doubles. Unfortunately I've already been knocked out of the doubles league in round 2. The rounds are best of 5 and both rounds we ended up going to 5 games and down to the last ball.

I haven't started the singles tournament yet, so hopefully this practice time will benefit me.

Back in my room I have a great night view of the pool. Oh! I just realized my reflection is in the mirror.

 

10 Feb 2013 ~ Travel to India

Listening to: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ~ Push The Sky Away


I'm not in Napa anymore (although I still have more pictures to share, they are not on this laptop).

I arrived at 2am in Bangalore India.

The trip itinerary took my from San Francisco to Frankfort, Germany. Total flying time = 11 hours.

I got some sleep on the plane, so felt ok during my 3 hour layover. I spent the time in the airline lounge, so helped myself to some champagne (to help me sleep on the next flight) and a very typical German meal: sausage, soft pretzel (both with mustard of course), Potato Salad (the Munich variety) and a big pickle.

What a difference flying to Europe than flying to Asia. First, my blond-ish hair didn't stand out. There were cuckoo clocks instead of buddhas at the shops.

When we landed, I noticed snow! I haven't seen snow in 2 years (except on the news), so I tried to take a few pictures of it on the tarmac (yes, I realize the snow was melted at this point)...

and through this window. (It's the specs of white in case you couldn't tell.)

The flight from Frankfort to Bangalore was only another 8 hours. The champagne did help me sleep through most of this flight also. I fell asleep to the movie "Taken2".

Getting through immigration took forever. And the ride to the hotel was another hour. I didn't see anything, obviously, during the drive. But the roads all seem to be under construction.

I am staying at an Aloft Hotel which is part of the Starwood chain. Funky carpets and lighting covers.

I finally crawled into bed around 5am. It felt soooo good to lie down. And I slept until 2:30 this afternoon.

6 Feb 2013 ~ My First Visitor

Listening to: Robots Don't Sleep ~ Don't Wake Me Up


It is so great when you get to hang out with friends you haven't spent time with in years - literally - and to have every moment be like you had never been apart.

And even better when that friend's company requires her to come to California, and she ends up at the hotel across the highway from where I work!

Coming from Chicago...rejoicing in the 50 degree weather (where the high that day was 2 degrees).

We went to Casa Orozco for dinner...ceviche, margaritas, tacos...mmmm.....

She won a camera in a dance contest (ha...it must have been rigged!)...so we took pictures with her camera and mine to see the difference in close-up shots.

Here is my camera showing salted almonds....

...and the lime in my margarita glass.

No need to show the pics from her camera. :)

3 Feb 2013 ~ HK Escalator ~ Come Along for a Ride!

Listening to:  Santana ~ She's Not There


As I previously mentioned, the one thing I miss most about HK is using the escalator to get to work.

I pulled out these videos so you can somewhat see what I meant...sorry they are shaky, but it's hard to walk and keep the camera steady!

This first one is just leaving my house and going past the mosque.

http://youtu.be/EvP4iLGdlvs

This one shows that there is some walking involved...and people have bad public habits you want to get around as quickly as possible.

http://youtu.be/CJB0qcPGNHw

Lots of pubs and restaurants along the way...didn't have time to visit everyone, but I tried!

http://youtu.be/fxbBhkoF8eE

My favorite wine (and beverage) shop...SOHO.