Saturday was basically a trip to the Forum mall for a look around. We found the restaurant which has carriages akin to a train. It comes highly recommended from Sonia and Shaokat, so definitely worth a visit at some point.
After a good wander around the mall, we also discovered the Gold Class Cinema, and we decided to come back later that evening to watch a movie. We went back over to the 13th floor for a couple of drinks and then came back for the 10pm screening. We were so lucky to get the last 2 tickets to see Vantage Point. The gold class cinema is a proper cinema screen, but it’s 2 and a half times more expensive and can only fit 32 seats. The seats are massive armchairs that fully recline flat, there’s also a table a button to press to call a waiter where we can order food and drink. It’s possibly the best cinema I’ve ever been to! The only annoying part was when the movie just stopped half way through for a break!
On Sunday, we headed over to the Leela Palace Hotel for the famous Sunday brunch. It was really good, but quite expensive at approx £30 – definitely the most expensive meal I’ve had out here. It was good though, they kept topping up the glass with champagne (German style champagne) even after just a mouthful! It was a buffet, so it was eat as much as you can. Tom reckons it’s the first time in many years that he had only one meal in an entire day! The picture was taken where we have Sunday brunch.
After a good wander around the mall, we also discovered the Gold Class Cinema, and we decided to come back later that evening to watch a movie. We went back over to the 13th floor for a couple of drinks and then came back for the 10pm screening. We were so lucky to get the last 2 tickets to see Vantage Point. The gold class cinema is a proper cinema screen, but it’s 2 and a half times more expensive and can only fit 32 seats. The seats are massive armchairs that fully recline flat, there’s also a table a button to press to call a waiter where we can order food and drink. It’s possibly the best cinema I’ve ever been to! The only annoying part was when the movie just stopped half way through for a break!
On Sunday, we headed over to the Leela Palace Hotel for the famous Sunday brunch. It was really good, but quite expensive at approx £30 – definitely the most expensive meal I’ve had out here. It was good though, they kept topping up the glass with champagne (German style champagne) even after just a mouthful! It was a buffet, so it was eat as much as you can. Tom reckons it’s the first time in many years that he had only one meal in an entire day! The picture was taken where we have Sunday brunch.
Tom wanted to get measured for a suit, so I went shopping for a deckchair and also took a wander back down Commercial Street for a little while. Tom and I both managed to get our deckchairs after he finished with the tailors so I’m looking forward to getting out in the sun some weekend to get tanned. This picture is of Commercial Street.
As I was wandering around Commercial Street, this melon vendor saw I had a camera and insisted I took his picture, so I was happy to oblige!
After getting deckchairs, we headed home to find that the cleaners had locked us out of the villa. To cut a long story short, we had to break the door down, but in true Indian style, we got someone else to do it for us! The door had been bolted from the inside and they left through the other door (which we don’t have keys for) so the guys who seem to always be around the villa had to force the door open and in doing so, detached the part where the bolt slots in, from the doorframe. From finding out we were locked out to getting in, took just under 2 hours. We had a lot of crossed words because the apartment manager decided to go off on holiday and we couldn’t get hold of him, so we couldn’t get his spare key.
Monday was a trip back to Sunnys with Toms mentor who was visiting from the UK (he bought us dinner – result), I’m definitely a fan of Sunnys! It was a really good night.
On Tuesday, I helped Tom move out of his room over to the new apartments. That took a little while and it ended up being quite a late night. The new guys were arriving the following morning, so we made sure there was something to eat and drink for them arriving and sorted out putting keys in the relevant hiding places.
On Wednesday, the new guys arrived at approx 5am – I heard them come in; I was going to go down and say hi, but I fell back asleep. I didn’t see them again until much later in the evening – they went out shopping for rugs.
Thursday was dinner in Savannah to welcome them all to India and answer their questions etc. It was another good night. A few of us then headed over to the sports bar for a quick beer and a shot on the cricket machine.
On Friday, I booked Ebony and the 13th floor for all of us (both are in the same place) so we had some great views and got a little bit tipsy. Some of the cocktails they do there are great fun!
We went gokarting on Saturday, which was good, but we had 7 people in the vehicle and it took quite a long time to get to the gokart track. We unanimously decided that anything further away than town would warrant two vehicles, not just one! I’m getting better a gokarting now and managed not to burn myself – although I did make the front right wheel come off my kart, and the next cart didn’t seem to have any brakes! On the way back, I managed to get a shot of a 'bucket bike' - these bicycles have about 100 buckets on them which are all for sale. It's an amazing sight to see.
Sunday was another trip to the Leela Palace for lunch – it was pretty nice there again, but not sure if I could do it every week though. The guys booked themselves in for pedicures, manicures and massages which didn’t appeal to me, so I planned to visit the cave temple nearby. I got dropped off on MG Road then caught a tuk for 63 rupees! I arrived at approx 4:30 and it wasn’t going to open until approx 5 so I decided to wait it out on a nearby bench. As I was sat there, a young girl (possibly 4 or 5) came over to talk to me – she had obviously never seen a white person before, so I was quite happy to talk to her and her younger brother who joined us later on. She kept calling me ‘uncle’ which apparently is a term of respect to an adult who is not your relative! I never quite got into the cave temple because it still wasn’t open by 5:15, so I grabbed a tuk to complete the second part of my day, which was a trip to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. It cost INR 10 to get in and was worth ten times that! It was really good to take a walk around a lake and look at some sights without either being in a vehicle or breathing in car fumes. This first pic is of me in the back of a tuk.
After getting deckchairs, we headed home to find that the cleaners had locked us out of the villa. To cut a long story short, we had to break the door down, but in true Indian style, we got someone else to do it for us! The door had been bolted from the inside and they left through the other door (which we don’t have keys for) so the guys who seem to always be around the villa had to force the door open and in doing so, detached the part where the bolt slots in, from the doorframe. From finding out we were locked out to getting in, took just under 2 hours. We had a lot of crossed words because the apartment manager decided to go off on holiday and we couldn’t get hold of him, so we couldn’t get his spare key.
Monday was a trip back to Sunnys with Toms mentor who was visiting from the UK (he bought us dinner – result), I’m definitely a fan of Sunnys! It was a really good night.
On Tuesday, I helped Tom move out of his room over to the new apartments. That took a little while and it ended up being quite a late night. The new guys were arriving the following morning, so we made sure there was something to eat and drink for them arriving and sorted out putting keys in the relevant hiding places.
On Wednesday, the new guys arrived at approx 5am – I heard them come in; I was going to go down and say hi, but I fell back asleep. I didn’t see them again until much later in the evening – they went out shopping for rugs.
Thursday was dinner in Savannah to welcome them all to India and answer their questions etc. It was another good night. A few of us then headed over to the sports bar for a quick beer and a shot on the cricket machine.
On Friday, I booked Ebony and the 13th floor for all of us (both are in the same place) so we had some great views and got a little bit tipsy. Some of the cocktails they do there are great fun!
We went gokarting on Saturday, which was good, but we had 7 people in the vehicle and it took quite a long time to get to the gokart track. We unanimously decided that anything further away than town would warrant two vehicles, not just one! I’m getting better a gokarting now and managed not to burn myself – although I did make the front right wheel come off my kart, and the next cart didn’t seem to have any brakes! On the way back, I managed to get a shot of a 'bucket bike' - these bicycles have about 100 buckets on them which are all for sale. It's an amazing sight to see.
Saturday was going to be Boney M night, but it never happened – I could have gone on my own, but didn’t really feel like it. Apparently the guys found somewhere to watch the 6 nations Rugby (England v Scotland) so we went to that place instead (it just happened to be the sports bar we always go to!). However, the Indian guys had no idea what rugby was, let alone whether they would be showing it. It’s a real shame because I would have enjoyed watching the best team win! This picture is of me drinking Kingfisher - everywhere in India sells Kingfisher!!
Sunday was another trip to the Leela Palace for lunch – it was pretty nice there again, but not sure if I could do it every week though. The guys booked themselves in for pedicures, manicures and massages which didn’t appeal to me, so I planned to visit the cave temple nearby. I got dropped off on MG Road then caught a tuk for 63 rupees! I arrived at approx 4:30 and it wasn’t going to open until approx 5 so I decided to wait it out on a nearby bench. As I was sat there, a young girl (possibly 4 or 5) came over to talk to me – she had obviously never seen a white person before, so I was quite happy to talk to her and her younger brother who joined us later on. She kept calling me ‘uncle’ which apparently is a term of respect to an adult who is not your relative! I never quite got into the cave temple because it still wasn’t open by 5:15, so I grabbed a tuk to complete the second part of my day, which was a trip to Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. It cost INR 10 to get in and was worth ten times that! It was really good to take a walk around a lake and look at some sights without either being in a vehicle or breathing in car fumes. This first pic is of me in the back of a tuk.
This is my tuk driver for the day! He loved having his picture taken!
This guy wanted me to buy some papers from him - it was a bit pointless, considering I can't read any Indian languages!
This is of Lalbagh lake - it was so nice to be around water.
This is a little path through part of Lalbagh Gardens - it's very nice there and I will have to go back to spend a day there at some point before I leave.
Another shot of the lake.
This picture was taken of the lake, directly into sunlight and it came out quite well I thought.
These palm trees were massive and it was really cool to walk between them.
In the park, I saw the glass house, which is really cool. I continued along and found this natural rock formation thing which made a natural stage and there were lots of people sat around and music was being piped through a huge PA system, so I decided to take a seat (it was great to sit down on warm stone) and eventually some guy came on the stage and starting pulling stunts on a bicycle. It was great – totally unexpected. After bike man came bongo people who were happily drumming away and singing something (probably in Hindi, but may have been any other Indian language). Then the main event started, unfortunately it was in Indian, so I had no idea what was going on, but it involved singing and more music – meanwhile, the sun was setting to my left and the birds were going mad overhead, so it was really good. I left about half an hour after it got dark so I could see the glass house in the dark – that was definitely worth seeing. Possibly one of my highlights so far. I took a few pictures, but I had taken so many that day, I had drained the battery on my camera so it was my mobile phone taking a lot of the pictures. This is hte glasshouse (or at least part of it,.).
These palm trees were massive and it was really cool to walk between them.In the park, I saw the glass house, which is really cool. I continued along and found this natural rock formation thing which made a natural stage and there were lots of people sat around and music was being piped through a huge PA system, so I decided to take a seat (it was great to sit down on warm stone) and eventually some guy came on the stage and starting pulling stunts on a bicycle. It was great – totally unexpected. After bike man came bongo people who were happily drumming away and singing something (probably in Hindi, but may have been any other Indian language). Then the main event started, unfortunately it was in Indian, so I had no idea what was going on, but it involved singing and more music – meanwhile, the sun was setting to my left and the birds were going mad overhead, so it was really good. I left about half an hour after it got dark so I could see the glass house in the dark – that was definitely worth seeing. Possibly one of my highlights so far. I took a few pictures, but I had taken so many that day, I had drained the battery on my camera so it was my mobile phone taking a lot of the pictures. This is hte glasshouse (or at least part of it,.).
This is a temple that I discovered in Lalbagh gardens near where the concert was happening. It was lit up at night and looked really good.
Here is me and the lit temple.
This is the stage show, you can just about see a smoke machine and a guy on a bike pulling tricks. Smoke machines seem to be quite popular in India. The show was great though!
Here is me and the lit temple.This is the stage show, you can just about see a smoke machine and a guy on a bike pulling tricks. Smoke machines seem to be quite popular in India. The show was great though!The glass house at night was amazing. I strongly recommend heading over to Lalbagh at night, if you're ever in the area.
On my way out of the gardens, I found a large map next to the exit (I came through a different entrance) and I realised I had missed a lot of the sights to see, such as a bonsai garden and a cactus house, so I will have to go back at some point to see them. It was a really great time.
I got back to Brigade Road and managed to catch a lift back with the guys who had finished their pampering for the day.
It also transpired that Jess was pretty ill during her treatment, so on Monday she went off to Manipal Hospital to get checked out – Tom went with her. She seemed to be ok, but the docs gave her pills to treat a suspected virus. I also managed to get to the gym today (Monday) and cycled 11 miles. I’ll do cycling and weights on alternate days and see how that goes.
Matt also came back today, but he was too tired to come out and play, although I did get a call from Sonia who was back from visiting her parents, so Sonia, Roger, John and I went out for a meal in Savannah. It was great! I really like Savannah, particularly because it is so close by. I bought a pair of sandals on Sunday, so I wore them out tonight and I quite liked them. I came to India with 2 pairs of shoes and a pair of trainers – I now have 3 pairs of shoes, two pairs of trainers and a pair of sandals. I didn’t really expect to come to India and buy lots of shoes!
I think we are heading back off to TGI Fridays tomorrow then to somewhere else. Matt and Sonia are coming too, by the sounds of it, so it should be a good crowd tomorrow night.
Tonight was a late one in the office – but I was more than happy to stay because I learnt about stuff that I’ve been waiting to learn about for absolutely ages! It was a pretty busy day in the office – I quite like it when it is like that though.
Jess is still ill and she will probably head back to the hospital for some treatment tomorrow. Shame she is having such a rough time because she should be enjoying herself, just like everyone else here is.
We went over to TGI Fridays after work (I met up with everyone a little later because I worked late) and then went to Barbecue Nation for some food and more drink. It was a really good night. There were some people from the UK, a grad from last year (who had recently been promoted) and some people from the Czech republic who now work in the USA. A pretty good mix of people and it was a very good night. It’s always good when people come out to HSC because we are always out with them.
Barbecue Nation was quite interesting, but they were quite stingy with the food in the end. We had little barbecue grills on the table and the waiter brought kebab skewers with food on them over to us, where we barbecued them some more. It took quite a while to get some food though and drinks took a long time – it was worth a shot, but not my favourite place. The company was great though.
Matt was back on the scene tonight, so it was good to catch up with him. Unfortunately, Sonia never came out with us, but we are heading over to the Golkunda Chimney tomorrow, so there should be a few of us out there.
I plan to get to the gym again – I really enjoyed cycling yesterday and want to do some more. I’d be quite happy to try and hit 100+ miles a week on the cycling machine.
Managed to get back to the gym today after work, so I racked up another 16 miles on the cycling machine. I’m assuming the machine measures in miles, rather than kilometres! A lot of the guys came to the gym today too, so it was quite good to have a group of us there.
We all went out to the Golkunda Chimney for a meal. There were 10 of us in total; as well as the 7 of us, Matt, Sonia and Ben also came out with us. It was Sonia’s last night in Bangalore before she heads off to the UK, so I hope she had a good time. I made the mistake of ordering an aloo roll as a starter, which completely filled me up and I barely touched my main meal.
Plans seem to be underway to make good use of the Good Friday holiday here in India, and all of us are quite keen to go away somewhere. The venue of choice seems to be some kind of nature park/safari with the possibility of some white water rafting, if possible. A few venues have been chosen, but as it is the Easter weekend, getting booked in somewhere may cause a slight issue. Hopefully we can get somewhere though.
I forgot to mention that we are getting new apartments on the weekend. I have mixed feelings about that because I just feel as though I’m getting settled and now I have to move again (this will be my third move in 6 weeks). I’m quite happy where I am, so we will have to see what these new apartments are like. We should get the keys on Friday to take a look around.
Friday is also Chak De Tesco, which is the 3rd Anniversary of HSC opening and there’s an entire evening of fun planned. There’s a marquee/tent/temporary building being set up in the campus grounds, so it should be a really good day – I’m quite looking forward to it. Will have to remember to take my camera – bound to be some good photo opportunities there!
On Thursday, I went back to the gym, so I’m up to about 43 miles this week on the cycling machine. The fitness instructor in the gym asked me if I wanted a training program; I may take him up on the offer because cycling combined with some weights will probably be quite beneficial overall. I just stayed in during the evening and did some ironing, ordered a pizza (which was pretty awful – I’ll be avoiding the Garlic O pizza’s in the future) and watched some DVDs.
On Friday morning, we were taken over to the new apartments to take a look at them. Although they are furnished to a good standard, they are a LOT smaller than the previous apartments. The new apartments are both on a single floor and the current apartments both have 3 floors each. There are no balconies in the new apartments either. I’m disappointed to lose my balcony because I used it a lot and planned to sunbathe on the weekend. On the plus side, it seems as though the apartments will be serviced better and we have already met the apartments manager and the ‘caretaker’ not entirely sure who the caretaker guy is, but it seems as though he will do the manual work required in the apartments. The kitchen is in a much better standard then the current apartment. We are also getting an unlimited broadband package sorted out (we have had an 8GB limit and between 4 people who work in IT, it doesn’t bode well). It also seems that we can have someone come in and cook us breakfast – I rarely eat breakfast anyway so I’m not bothered about that.
Jess stayed overnight on hospital on Thursday, it seems as though she was getting worse. She came out on Friday though and seemed a bit better when I spoke to her.
We went to the Foundation Day at work. It was really good – the window above my desk has a view of the canteen and just outside the canteen there was some drumming and some guys dressed up in what seemed like some kind of tribal/traditional costume and playing drums. Needless to say, I took a wander down to take a look. After the guys did their thing, I took a wander around some of the stalls that were set up – it was just things like hoopla and throwing a bouncing ball into a bucket (the type of thing you would normally see in a fairground). I had a go on a couple of thing, then headed over to the auditorium where there was a lot of dancing going on. It was quite interesting. After the dancing and a couple of games, I joined the other guys in the big tent for the stage show. This is a picture of the drummers building a human pyramid!
This was taken in the auditorium where the gils were being taught how to dance - it was really entertaining. They had the guys up as well earlier on - I don't think anyone told HSC there is a dancing ban in Bangalore!
On the way to the stage show, these guys with big heads were dancing away!
The stage show was really good – they had some people from HSC doing their thing (bands, dancing, performances etc) and some professional acts too. One guy was Robotboy and he was all painted in silver and pulled some excellent body popping moves (dancing like a robot) and did a lot of thing in tune to music and different sounds (for example pretending to shoot guns and laser beams and then being shot himself). Even though there were huge gaps between one sound a the next, he was pretty much spot on with his timing. I really liked his performance. He came back on stage later on and performed a routine from The Mask; it was good, but not as good as his robot one though.
Roboboy took his mask off and went running down the aisles with his arms locked in an unnatural position. He was really good!!
There were different types of Indian dancers and also a Russian dance troupe too. There were some guys from Kenya called Safari Cats who did limbo (the bar was on fire), some acrobatics, fire breathing and a few other tricks. They were really good as well. The top/upper management of HSC all starred in a Bollywood spoof movie which they showed. It didn’t last very long, which was just as well because I think it was in Hindi, so I obviously didn’t understand it. Overall, it was really good fun and definitely worth seeing. I think these guys were managers because all the people in the audience went wild when they came on - no idea who they are though.
These guys are the Safari Cats - they were really good as well.
After the final show, we headed over to Cosmos mall for some food and a beer (and a game of cricket) in the sports bar. I had to stand my ground (again) to get a table that would fit 8 people because I went in a bit earlier than everyone else because they all had to wait ages for their food. The waiters were trying to tell me that the table I took was reserved but after a few minutes I managed to convince them I wasn’t moving and there would be 8 people in. Of course, it only ended up being 3 of us and we only had one drink each lol. We played cricket on the machine though and the guy (he must be new) was trying to explain what I needed to do. I told him I knew how to hit the ball with the bat and then showed him how it was done. It’s quite good fun.
We are still planning to go away on the Easter weekend, but because it’s getting quite short notice to book somewhere, everywhere is full up, so I may just head off somewhere on Friday morning if nothing gets arranged by Tuesday. Domestic flights are not usually full, and the closer it gets to take-off, the cheaper they become, so I may just hop on a plane and see where I end up – it’s bound to be somewhere interesting! I’ll see if anyone else wants to join me for a couple of days.
On my way out of the gardens, I found a large map next to the exit (I came through a different entrance) and I realised I had missed a lot of the sights to see, such as a bonsai garden and a cactus house, so I will have to go back at some point to see them. It was a really great time.
I got back to Brigade Road and managed to catch a lift back with the guys who had finished their pampering for the day.
It also transpired that Jess was pretty ill during her treatment, so on Monday she went off to Manipal Hospital to get checked out – Tom went with her. She seemed to be ok, but the docs gave her pills to treat a suspected virus. I also managed to get to the gym today (Monday) and cycled 11 miles. I’ll do cycling and weights on alternate days and see how that goes.
Matt also came back today, but he was too tired to come out and play, although I did get a call from Sonia who was back from visiting her parents, so Sonia, Roger, John and I went out for a meal in Savannah. It was great! I really like Savannah, particularly because it is so close by. I bought a pair of sandals on Sunday, so I wore them out tonight and I quite liked them. I came to India with 2 pairs of shoes and a pair of trainers – I now have 3 pairs of shoes, two pairs of trainers and a pair of sandals. I didn’t really expect to come to India and buy lots of shoes!
I think we are heading back off to TGI Fridays tomorrow then to somewhere else. Matt and Sonia are coming too, by the sounds of it, so it should be a good crowd tomorrow night.
Tonight was a late one in the office – but I was more than happy to stay because I learnt about stuff that I’ve been waiting to learn about for absolutely ages! It was a pretty busy day in the office – I quite like it when it is like that though.
Jess is still ill and she will probably head back to the hospital for some treatment tomorrow. Shame she is having such a rough time because she should be enjoying herself, just like everyone else here is.
We went over to TGI Fridays after work (I met up with everyone a little later because I worked late) and then went to Barbecue Nation for some food and more drink. It was a really good night. There were some people from the UK, a grad from last year (who had recently been promoted) and some people from the Czech republic who now work in the USA. A pretty good mix of people and it was a very good night. It’s always good when people come out to HSC because we are always out with them.
Barbecue Nation was quite interesting, but they were quite stingy with the food in the end. We had little barbecue grills on the table and the waiter brought kebab skewers with food on them over to us, where we barbecued them some more. It took quite a while to get some food though and drinks took a long time – it was worth a shot, but not my favourite place. The company was great though.
Matt was back on the scene tonight, so it was good to catch up with him. Unfortunately, Sonia never came out with us, but we are heading over to the Golkunda Chimney tomorrow, so there should be a few of us out there.
I plan to get to the gym again – I really enjoyed cycling yesterday and want to do some more. I’d be quite happy to try and hit 100+ miles a week on the cycling machine.
Managed to get back to the gym today after work, so I racked up another 16 miles on the cycling machine. I’m assuming the machine measures in miles, rather than kilometres! A lot of the guys came to the gym today too, so it was quite good to have a group of us there.
We all went out to the Golkunda Chimney for a meal. There were 10 of us in total; as well as the 7 of us, Matt, Sonia and Ben also came out with us. It was Sonia’s last night in Bangalore before she heads off to the UK, so I hope she had a good time. I made the mistake of ordering an aloo roll as a starter, which completely filled me up and I barely touched my main meal.
Plans seem to be underway to make good use of the Good Friday holiday here in India, and all of us are quite keen to go away somewhere. The venue of choice seems to be some kind of nature park/safari with the possibility of some white water rafting, if possible. A few venues have been chosen, but as it is the Easter weekend, getting booked in somewhere may cause a slight issue. Hopefully we can get somewhere though.
I forgot to mention that we are getting new apartments on the weekend. I have mixed feelings about that because I just feel as though I’m getting settled and now I have to move again (this will be my third move in 6 weeks). I’m quite happy where I am, so we will have to see what these new apartments are like. We should get the keys on Friday to take a look around.
Friday is also Chak De Tesco, which is the 3rd Anniversary of HSC opening and there’s an entire evening of fun planned. There’s a marquee/tent/temporary building being set up in the campus grounds, so it should be a really good day – I’m quite looking forward to it. Will have to remember to take my camera – bound to be some good photo opportunities there!
On Thursday, I went back to the gym, so I’m up to about 43 miles this week on the cycling machine. The fitness instructor in the gym asked me if I wanted a training program; I may take him up on the offer because cycling combined with some weights will probably be quite beneficial overall. I just stayed in during the evening and did some ironing, ordered a pizza (which was pretty awful – I’ll be avoiding the Garlic O pizza’s in the future) and watched some DVDs.
On Friday morning, we were taken over to the new apartments to take a look at them. Although they are furnished to a good standard, they are a LOT smaller than the previous apartments. The new apartments are both on a single floor and the current apartments both have 3 floors each. There are no balconies in the new apartments either. I’m disappointed to lose my balcony because I used it a lot and planned to sunbathe on the weekend. On the plus side, it seems as though the apartments will be serviced better and we have already met the apartments manager and the ‘caretaker’ not entirely sure who the caretaker guy is, but it seems as though he will do the manual work required in the apartments. The kitchen is in a much better standard then the current apartment. We are also getting an unlimited broadband package sorted out (we have had an 8GB limit and between 4 people who work in IT, it doesn’t bode well). It also seems that we can have someone come in and cook us breakfast – I rarely eat breakfast anyway so I’m not bothered about that.
Jess stayed overnight on hospital on Thursday, it seems as though she was getting worse. She came out on Friday though and seemed a bit better when I spoke to her.
We went to the Foundation Day at work. It was really good – the window above my desk has a view of the canteen and just outside the canteen there was some drumming and some guys dressed up in what seemed like some kind of tribal/traditional costume and playing drums. Needless to say, I took a wander down to take a look. After the guys did their thing, I took a wander around some of the stalls that were set up – it was just things like hoopla and throwing a bouncing ball into a bucket (the type of thing you would normally see in a fairground). I had a go on a couple of thing, then headed over to the auditorium where there was a lot of dancing going on. It was quite interesting. After the dancing and a couple of games, I joined the other guys in the big tent for the stage show. This is a picture of the drummers building a human pyramid!
This was taken in the auditorium where the gils were being taught how to dance - it was really entertaining. They had the guys up as well earlier on - I don't think anyone told HSC there is a dancing ban in Bangalore!On the way to the stage show, these guys with big heads were dancing away!The stage show was really good – they had some people from HSC doing their thing (bands, dancing, performances etc) and some professional acts too. One guy was Robotboy and he was all painted in silver and pulled some excellent body popping moves (dancing like a robot) and did a lot of thing in tune to music and different sounds (for example pretending to shoot guns and laser beams and then being shot himself). Even though there were huge gaps between one sound a the next, he was pretty much spot on with his timing. I really liked his performance. He came back on stage later on and performed a routine from The Mask; it was good, but not as good as his robot one though.
Roboboy took his mask off and went running down the aisles with his arms locked in an unnatural position. He was really good!!There were different types of Indian dancers and also a Russian dance troupe too. There were some guys from Kenya called Safari Cats who did limbo (the bar was on fire), some acrobatics, fire breathing and a few other tricks. They were really good as well. The top/upper management of HSC all starred in a Bollywood spoof movie which they showed. It didn’t last very long, which was just as well because I think it was in Hindi, so I obviously didn’t understand it. Overall, it was really good fun and definitely worth seeing. I think these guys were managers because all the people in the audience went wild when they came on - no idea who they are though.
These guys are the Safari Cats - they were really good as well.After the final show, we headed over to Cosmos mall for some food and a beer (and a game of cricket) in the sports bar. I had to stand my ground (again) to get a table that would fit 8 people because I went in a bit earlier than everyone else because they all had to wait ages for their food. The waiters were trying to tell me that the table I took was reserved but after a few minutes I managed to convince them I wasn’t moving and there would be 8 people in. Of course, it only ended up being 3 of us and we only had one drink each lol. We played cricket on the machine though and the guy (he must be new) was trying to explain what I needed to do. I told him I knew how to hit the ball with the bat and then showed him how it was done. It’s quite good fun.
We are still planning to go away on the Easter weekend, but because it’s getting quite short notice to book somewhere, everywhere is full up, so I may just head off somewhere on Friday morning if nothing gets arranged by Tuesday. Domestic flights are not usually full, and the closer it gets to take-off, the cheaper they become, so I may just hop on a plane and see where I end up – it’s bound to be somewhere interesting! I’ll see if anyone else wants to join me for a couple of days.
My mission for tomorrow is togo to the gym and do at least 7 miles, so that will take me up to a round 50 miles for the week. After the gym, I'd like to go into town to do a bit of shopping then head back over to Lalbagh gardens. I really enjoyed going there last week and there's still a lot more to see. I'll also check out the Gold Class cinema and see what is being shown there, if it's either Jumper or 10,000 BC then I think I'd go there.
