10th to 11th Januray 2009

What a great weekend I have to say. It's been nice as I have had little work to do so I have been able to take a break a bit and relax. I am never truly chilled though as I know that I may have to answer a call, or set up a flight at any moment. I must stress that this is not because of any pressure from work, far from it, it is just me. I need to learn how to take the opportunities to relax as and when they present themselves.
I have developed a new medical condition called 'Blackberry Paranoia'. Let me explain, my blackberry is set to vibrate when it is in its holster and attached to my hip, every time an email, text or call comes through. A useful feature I'm sure you will agree but what it does mean is that I find myself imagining it is vibrating when it is not. To tell you the truth I am almost disappointed when I remove the phone from its leather prison and find nothing has been received. Please.....please tell me that, those of you who have had blackberry phones with work or for personal reasons.....please tell me I am not alone in this condition?
On Saturday 10th, myself and a colleague, went on a mission to get stuff for an improptu barbecue. We managed to get pretty much everything you would have such as sausages, prawns, fish, chicken etc etc. What we could not get, we made, such as burgers using Halal mince and onion. What made the evening though was that so many people came. Most were people from work, but they brought their families and we all had a good night. What topped it off was being able to watch Newcastle vs West Ham on the Indian equivolent of Sky Sports. As it was a 3pm game in the UK it would have been on TV so I was in charge of reporting the main events of the game to my friends in the UK....how ironic is that eh? I am 5500 miles away, on a different continent, and I am able to watch a game that those who are only 200 miles away and in the same country!
Sunday was even better. I finally got around to going and exploring the botanical gardens adjacent to the villa. It is very much a work in progress, with so much still needed to be done, but I am sure when it is done it will all be worth it. Not that what is already there is not nice enough you understand.
On the way back we wandered through a collection of shops that we had not experienced before.....and have christened 'Little Pakistan' for reasons that will become apparent later. It is not like a shopping complex you would know back home with nice, brighly lit frontages and clear signage. These were more like a series of shutter fronted small units that you don't actually go into, you just wander up to the counter and point at what you want. These shops were clearly there for the locals and it showed I can tell you.
For a start, we found the local butcher and it had good points and bad. To the left of it was a cage full of live chickens and you are supposed to walk up and "select" your dinner, which they kill, pluck and gut right there and then so you do at least know that it is fresh. Personally I could not do that. I could not even go into a posh restaurant and pick out a lobster because I prefer my dinner to be already dead. Call me fussy if you will? What also puts you off buying at these places is the fact that they had some already plucked chicken carcasses hanging up at the front of the shop. It's 28 degress celcius and they are not even being refrigerated. However, it is difficult for the sun to get to this meat and start the putrification process when it cannot circumnavigate the colony of flies that was in its way. Some of the meat was starting to go black already and the smell was more than noticeable I can tell you.
Unpeturbed by this, we wandered on. Half way round I could not help but notice the collection of Pakistani flags everywhere. They hung from every telegraph pole, shop, bike and any other solid object....hundreds of them. A bizarre show of national pride by what I assume to be Pakistani immigrants, given that they are not the most popular nationality in India right now! After having our photo taken again by some locals fascinated with "pale-face" people, we returned to the villa.
The day was not done though. It was only 12:30pm and we elected to experience the Novotel. What a deal, you pay no more than 1500INR (about 20GBP) and you you can eat (and drink) as much as you can possibly handle. The food is varied and of a very high standard, consisting of Indian, western, a la carte, pizza, roast chicken, lamb chops and a fantastic sweet trolley (amongst many other things).....they even had potato shapes and breaded chicken nuggets for the kids. A few plates, and a couple of beers (yes only a couple as I was taking it easy) and we headed for the pool. What a civilised way to spend a Sunday afternoon eh?