Sunday - Run for the hills!

On Sunday we had a lovely trip to the Nandi hills. A hilly area about 60km north of Bangalore, the closest hills to the city. We went with Shravan (a friend from AZ) and his wife Sowmya. It was a very windy day and we had a great time flying their kite. Apparently they have taken it on trips all over India and this was the best wind they have had anywhere!

I'm sorry to disappoint, but we didn't climb this one, we drove up to the top and then had a wonder around, flew the kite (with a LOT of interest from the assembled crowd, who didn't seem to quite understand that they shouldn't stand underneath the kite!).

The view from Tipu's drop - apparently where he (a Sultan of Mysore) fell to his death. Or maybe not, as many hills claim this! 

Trying not to get blown off!

Only the monkeys weren't interested in us

Ben the proud teacher teaching Shravan to loop the loop (even if he was showing off a bit!)

Surprisingly we managed not to get rained on!

On the way back we had some chad (street food) in a little restaurant which was very tasty (although may have been to blame for some very unhappy tummies for the rest of the week!).

Ben cooling some Indian filter coffee by pouring between steel mugs.

Filter coffee is made by pouring hot milk through coffee grounds.

A selection of chad including Pani Puri (crispy hollow balls, stuffed with spiced potato - add your own sweet and spicy water before eating whole!)

All in all a lovely day out and it was nice to have some local guides we understand!

This week I have started a Calligraphy course, and have booked up a North Indian cooking class for the week after next. So things are getting busier. This weekend we have booked to go on a trek with the Bangalore Mountaineering Club all day Saturday, so looking forward to telling you all about that!

Love to everyone,

Kathryn & Ben

Saturday adventures

So, we had a lovely weekend this weekend. We started fairly slowly on Saturday, but then went to Bangalore Palace in the afternoon which is beautiful, although in quite a bit more of a state than it would be if it were in the UK.

The drawing room -Bangalore Palace

The elephant above the main door

The ballroom

On Saturday evening with  went out with one of Ben's colleagues, Jagannath. For a drink at a microbrewery followed by a trip to the Ramzan (Ramadam) food festival on mosque road. 

Jagannath sampling the delights of the microbrewery

The crowds breaking the fast - or just coming for the food!

Pathar ka gosht - spicy beef cooked on a stone

Finishing off with Kulfi - A kind of Indian icecream made with condensed milk, but no air. 

Good food, but very full!

Apartment

So, we successfully moved into our apartment on Saturday, photos below! We are also now set up with internet.

It tends to feel like things like moving in are things that are being done to you rather than things that you are doing here! There are just so many people trying to 'help' that everything becomes rather confusing. They tell you not to worry about things a lot. They mean well, but it leaves us quite confused!

Anyway, we got the keys, and got to the bottom of dealing with rubbish, electricity bills, the number to call if we need a new gas bottle etc. and with a promise that the internet guy would be back before 4pm to choose the package and get things set up we were finally left to it.

A trip to the on site shop for cleaning products and we set to a couple of hours cleaning. Needless to say the internet guy hadn't shown up by 4.30 so we went shopping for the essentials to go to bed that night.  

Lounge/dining room taken from the kitchen

Lounge area taken from the balcony door

Dining room & kitchen from balcony door

Kitchen

Main bathroom

Spare bedroom

Our bedroom

Our ensuite and wardrobes

I really had never imagined that buying bed sheets could be so complicated! There were singles, doubles, king-sized, queen sized, large double! And whilst trying to figure out what we actually want and what will fit the bed there are about 10 staff all trying to be helpful (and of course sell you more than you want!). The whole process was really not helped by the the fact that all the packets of sheets have a photo of a bed as you would have at home with a duvet in a cover with the pattern of the one you have picked up. This is not what is in the packet! It is a flat sheet and pillow cases, no duvet cover in sight. Soooo, confusing. We got half way there in the end. We have a duvet cover, pillow cases , flat sheets and a bedspread all of about the right size. The only thing we managed to mess up was the duvet itself which touches the floor all the way round, so we need a smaller one! Having said that we may not get one as it is probably too warm for a duvet, after all that!

We are, however, very pleased with the beautiful bedspread :-) and have had lots of fun choosing crockery etc.

I have been quite busy cleaning and getting my head around cooking, shopping and the like. I think generally cooking is going to take longer than it does at home. The shops generally have mostly dried ingredients (apart from fruit and veg). Even the big supermarkets only have a very small fridge section with a separate 'non-veg' section which is fun. Most aisles are full of packets of spices and spice mixes as well as all kinds of pulses, rice and a lot of things I can't identify! The local supermarket only has curd, butter and cheese that in the fridge! As a result I think a lot of time will be taken up with soaking pulses, chopping veg, juicing fruit etc. I also need a lot more plastic container to keep everything in!

I am looking into some cooking classes to help me out and keep me busy!

Ben says hi

I hope everyone is well. Looking forward to seeing you all soon (I can't believe we come back in 8 weeks!).

xKathryn

First Impressions

Hi All,

Sorry this has been a while coming, and so far I seem to have only taken pictures of random things!

Ben and our luggage on arrival (I think we will be shipping some stuff back!)

So we have been here for 2 weeks now and are starting to get things sussed out a bit. Although we have been in a hotel, so there are a lot more challenges ahead I'm sure!

I guess in general it is very westernized, there are plenty of standard shopping malls, just like you'd get at home (and a lot of the same shops which in some ways is a bit disappointing!), but then you go outside and the pavements are falling apart and the traffic is crazy and they'll be a cow in the middle of the road or torrential monsoon rain! 

The scariest thing so far is definitely crossing the road! But at least none of the traffic is going very fast. I am very pleased that we are not driving here, although it is very strange having a driver. I feel like I have to go places even if I don't really need to! It does make me feel quite awkward to know that if he say takes Ben to work and then I go shopping somewhere in the afternoon he is just sitting outside waiting in the meantime. Really weird! But that is his job, and I just have to get used to it. 

Yesterday Lata (the sister of a friend of my aunt and uncles) took me to the nearby Russel Market (including a kitchen shop with amazingly big pans!). There are of course plenty of supermarkets, but the market was fun and I think I will do my veg shopping there, or at least try it. 

Lata in the kitchen shop

I seem to have spent quite a lot of time visiting malls in the area, I haven't really bought much, but have been trying to get an idea of what you can get and how much things cost etc. 

We have also spent some time looking at different apartments, but have found a really nice one which we move into on Saturday. 

                                   Menu on a ipad (a 1st for me!)                      Post office - a very confusing place but I think we                                                                                                          managed to post the letter! 

The food is generally really good, sometimes a bit too spicy (for me) but I'm getting used to it. There is plenty of western food available. It is really funny that (as we would to Indian food I guess) most things get Indianized. From the McSpicy range advertised at Macdonalds to the grilled chicken and pasta dish we had the other night which was far spicier than any curry we have had. Even the crunchy snack things I bought the other day were spicy. Although you can ask for it to be less spicy in all the restaurants (I guess it just depends how it started off!), in fact you hear locals asking how spicy things are too, which makes me feel better!

Ben's job is going well. I think he is enjoying having the morning to get some work done before he ends up spending half of the afternoon on the phone to the UK. Now that the admin side is getting finished then he can start settling in to doing some proper work. 

Love to everyone from both of us,

Kathryn