Finishing the Bangalore bucket list!

So, last few weeks in Bangalore! We've been thinking about the things that we have been meaning to do for a while and made an effort to tick some of them off!

Cricket, we did just before Malaysia (I'm counting it even if it was only half a match!). In the last couple of weeks we have ticked a few more things off the list.

A performance at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall, an impressive building built in the shape of a Violin. We went to see Vir Das, a Bollywood actor and comedian. The basis of his comedy act was a collection of stories about his past, some of which were true, and some which were not, you had to guess which were true. He was very good, although I think we only understood about half of it! Some of the time the punch lines were in Hindi and sometimes the lack of Indian background let us down. Jokes about Indian Prime minsters are a little beyond us! The hall was cool too.

Chowdiah Memorial Hall

The hall from the higher up (courtesy of Wikipedia), hopefully you can sort of see it's shape though!

I have been planning to try making Dosa (a typical South Indian breakfast food, a bit like a pancake) for a while and haven't got around to it. Particularly since I discovered it is not really like a pancake in composition, but is a fermented batter made from rice and a type of lentil. So, we decided to see if the lady who I had had a couple of other Indian cooking classes with would do a Dosa class for us. Ben had had a couple of late meeting with the UK, so was able to join me. It was good fun and nice to do it together this time. We made Dosa, Appam (a Keralan pancake, this time made with rice and coconut milk), Keralan vegetable stew to go with the Appam, Idli (another South Indian breakfast food), chutney and Sambar. The plain breakfast foods are always served with green coconut chutney and Sambar, which is kind of a thin vegetable curry. And then we ate the most massive breakfast! :-)

Us and our feast!

Clockwise from top left - Dosa, veg stew, Sambar, Idli, Appam and Chutney

Indira Gandhi musical fountain -  this is in the park opposite where Ben works and we have been meaning to go for ages. We finally found out the timings and went along for the 30 min show after work one day last week. It was good fun, and surprisingly busy, given that they do 2 shows 6 days a week. But then, or Rs15 per person (about 15p) who's complaining!

The musical fountains

Next up, gold class at the cinema, mainly because we wondered what the deal was with it, and because, even though it's expensive for an Indian cinema, it's still half the price of a UK cinema. Well worth the trip for the experience, you get a welcome drink, a bottle of water, you can order food and drink to your seat, and the chairs a really comfy. The film was quite fun too, we saw Tomorrowland, not a must see, but not bad.

Luxuriating in gold class!

It wasn't really on the list, but we tried out the planetarium on Wednesday. There happened to be an English show at 12.30pm, and it is very close to Ben's office, so he had an extended lunchbreak. He says he's never been to one before and I think he quite enjoyed it. I don't really remember enough about the London planetarium to compare, I must have been about 7 when I went. Probably not as good, but worth an hour and 35p.

Apart from a night trek this coming Saturday night, I'm not sure we have anything left now. I am leaving in just over a week! Just one more trip with Brittney and then it will be time to say goodbye.