The Art of Being Spoiled

This weekend I went to the Oberoi Hotel in Bangalore for the weekend. I checked in on Saturday morning. The Oberoi is a 5 star hotel and the brand is known for it's excellent service. When you arrive at the Oberoi you have to go thru a gate that is opened by several uniformed guards. Driving thru they snapped me very professional salutes, like I was some visiting general. The car has to go thru as security check with a mirror poked under the car, presumably looking for bombs. Pulling up to the front entrance you are saluted again by the front entrance staffed dressed in traditional Indian costume, complete with the turban hat.

When I exited the car my small overnight case was whisked out of the car and was given to the staff manning the X-ray scanner. A young lady took my purse to scan it and asked me my name. I went thru the metal detector and entered the hotel. Here is where one of the Oberoi magic tricks occurs because as soon as I enter the hotel a check in agent greets me BY NAME as if he has always known me. "Hello Miss Steiner... " Somehow in less time than it took for me to enter the hotel the lady at the entrance must have passed my name to the hotel clerk.

Checking in I was given a room on the top floor (5th) that was quite beautiful. Each room has a semi circular balcony that overlooks the garden and pool. The room was equipped with a walk-in closet and the bathroom had glass shower (which doubles as a steam sauna), bathtub (heaven since my current hotel doesn't have one) and TV/Phone.The balcony has a flower planter around it planted with a variety of flowers. They must be very popular with butterflies because the pretties blue and green ones were always fluttering around it.

I was advised by the gentleman that took me to my room that I had a butler on the floor that could pack and unpack my things. As well as being at my beck and call 24/7. I am sorry to say I couldn't think of a single reason to either beck or call the butler. I only had 1 night stay so I didn't have a lot of clothes to "unpack". I was kind of embarrassed for the butler to see my haphazard packing job. I guess this is proof for that despite my mother's assertion that I am completely spoiled rotten.

Anyway, I had a spa appointment in the afternoon and the next morning I had the Oberoi Sunday brunch. Their brunch is literally ROOMs of food. Excellent, mouthwatering, 5 star food. It makes a Las Vegas buffet look cheesy and anorexic. I met a very nice American now living in Israel and he invited me to his table. He was a fascinating conversationalist and we grazed and talked from 1230pm until the buffet closed at 3pm.

Overall it was a great weekend for being pampered. Oberoi staff are very gracious and helpful without being obsequious. 

Happy Diwalli

Today is Diwalli in India which is called the "Festival of Lights" a celebrations of lights and small explosive devices. The feel of it it a little like New Years with people wandering around on the streets at night combined with Fourth of July on steroids and a dash of warzone.

At night everyone goes out on the street. The buildings are all decorated with lights, lanterns, candles and flower garlands. When I asked the people at work what they were going to on the holiday they all answered... they were going to "set some crackers on fire". Initially... I thought...fire crackers. No big deal right? I was repeatedly warned to watch myself if I went out on the from the "fire crackers". Of course being an American I took this warning very lightly. Please we have the Forth of July, I am familiar with fireworks and fire crackers DON'T scare me. Well they DIDN'T scare me...

If you are imaging a fireworks holiday like we have in the states let me tell you... no not even close. In the states we have rules, and laws and limits to these things. None of which seem to apply in India. When they say the will set fire to some crackers... They don't mean some. They mean ALOT. For instance in this photo if you can see the red line come from the fire... That 10-15 foot line is just hundreds of fire crackers strung together. They just burn down and set each other off. Stand to close and bits and peices fly off and hit you in the head. Once it gets going it starts to real rock.

They also have the usual fireworks. Starbursts and rockets, etc. All of that combined with the lanterns and strands of lights make for a festive fun feel. They do have these fireworks that don't let off any light they just make a HUGE boom. It's hard describe being on a street with all these flashy fireworks going off and suddenly hearing this LOUD BOOOOM right next to you. After about an 1 hr and 1/2 of that I was starting to flinch at every flash and noise thinking that huge BOOM would be going off near me. I ended up heading back to the hotel whimpering like a little girl.

What I really feel for is the stray dogs during this. India has a ton of them and they were scared to death. You'd see a dog running breakneck down the street then 5 seconds later it would be running past you going the other way. Poor things. One tried to follow me back to the hotel.

Overall a fun holiday in short duration. It really puts the BANG in Bangalore... Ha ha. LOL


Here is just a few quick photos I will try to upload and album later.

Exotic India

My first day I was in India, I woke up at 6am and had some time on my hands. I went up to the fitness center and was working out. Looking out on the view from the fifth story of the hotel you can see a lot of the local neighborhoods and the trees that stretch out over the roadways. While working out would see these birds flying around. Each time I would watch the bird and wonder what kind of bird it was. Each time one landed near me it would be a pigeon  not some rare Bangalorean pigeon but your standard gray, bread crumb eating, statue perching pigeon  I bring this up because before I go talking about all the unique things I experience in India it’s important to remember there is whole lot of usual in unusual and extraordinary is just ordinary with a little something extra.Apparently the pigeons perch on the building across from my room so every morning I wake up and have 5-6 beady eyed, gray feathered "ordinaries" staring at me. 

Now with that said. Let’s talk about cows! First thing I see when I leave the apartment is cows. This neighborhood has a little mini herd of about 5 cows that come out mid morning  I have taken to calling them the Moo Crew. Cows are not unusual in India but I haven’t seen them gather in groups. There is even a little calf and a bull. Cows are just not something you see on your average walk to the grocery store in the US. 

From what I understand the cows do have owners but the people who own the cows will turn them loose during the day to fend for themselves and the cows will come home in the evening when they need to be milked. They visit the various heaps of trash in the neighborhoods where people have thrown out food and "graze" on these piles during the day. 

I have to admit to being a bit nervous having this many cows right on the street. They tend to block the sidewalks so you have walk behind them to get around. I have always heard that walking close behind large animals with hoofs is BAD. But you can't get too far into the street or the traffic will kill you. Kind of like being caught between a rock and hoof place. People here tell me that these cows wouldn't hurt anyone and they are perfectly safe. Sure easy for them to say. They are not carnivores! I seriously caught the red one giving me the evil eye.

Navigating the TSA line

Hello from Banglore! I arrived at 3am India time last Sunday. I am just now getting to start my blog. It’s hard to describe what a trip like this is like. From the time I left my home till I got into the hotel was over 24hrs of elapsed time. No matter how much “sleep” you get on the flight… (sleeping upright in a chair is not real sleep) you always end up exhausted at the end of it. The only way I can describe it is it’s like running a marathon while standing still.
Overall the trip went like clockwork with the exception of the TSA line in PDX. You would think that with all the press on TSA on the news that people would have figured out how to navigate thru the line. When I went through TSA there was a women 2 people in front of me who took about 5 minutes to get her stuff on the scanner for TSA. First she took all of her loose articles and artfully arranged them in her three bins. That took 2-3 minutes. Only then did she start to UNZIP her jacket remove it and put it in the bin. She took it off like with all the speed of a snail doing a striptease. Finally, she put her case up on the table…. And ONLY THEN started to unzip her case to remove her laptop and her liquids. At this point the three of us right behind this women (guy in front of me and one behind me) we all turned and looked at each other with a look of utter disbelief. We all seemed to simultaneously have a verbal exclamation in response to this 5 minutes of complete TSA ineptitude.

I just thought now would be a good time to discuss some pointers in navigating the TSA screening. The TSA screening is a process whereby we eliminate the possibility of violence occurring on the plane and replace it with the possibility of your being lynched in the TSA line. Take too long to get thru security and your fellow travelers might pick you up and stuff you head first into the Xray scanner. It could happen.

1. Don’t dress to impress. Dress to undress. You know you have to go thru security so think about what you are wearing before you go. If you absolutely feel you must impress your fellow travelers by wearing your entire jewelry collection. Wait till you pass security to put it on. I keep my jewelry in my carryon until I pass security. Slip on shoes are the best but if you must wear shoes that tie, tie them loosely until you get thru the security line. Also once you pass your ID check you should be unzipping your coat and compartment for your laptop.

2. When you get to the front near the scanner get your bins and put your stuff in them. Now is not the time for arranging your things in the bins with the same meditation used in arranging a Japanese rock garden.

3. Take your coat off and dump it in the bin. Don’t stop and fold it using a flip and fold. It’s only going to be in the bin for less than 2 minutes. If your clothes can’t make it thru the scanner without being carefully folded you are going to look like a piece of failed origami when you get off the plane anyway.

Follow these simple tips and the rest of us will keep the tar and feathers in our carryon.

Lists...

So less than 48 hrs to go and I am down to a bunch of lists of things to do.

• Don't forget passport  Already packed in carry-on
• Don't forget carry-on (See above regarding passport)
• Don't forget wallet Already in purse
• Don't forget purse (See above regarding wallet)
• Don't forget brain Already in head
• Don't forget to have head attached to body (See above regarding brain)

Anyway everything is list right now so here is a couple of others.

Top 5 things I look forward to in India:

1. Food: India is a great food country and my favorite is Masala Dosa. Yummy and I have missed it since I left last time.
2. Sights: India is a technicolor, overly saturated vision. Great for photography because there is so much to see just in a walk down the street.
3. People: Indian people very gracious and welcoming they make it fun to be in their country.
4. Housekeeping: I don't like cleaning OK? 7 weeks of someone making my bed and cleaning my room for me... paradise. I can't help that I have CDD (Cleaning Deficit Disorder).
5. Buying Stuff: India is a stuff buying magnet. You find such interesting, inexpensive neat things that you can't help but buy them and I do love to shop. Unfortunately, on my first trip I went a little overboard. I had so much stuff that I couldn't fit it in my suitcase. Luckily a BCD manager was on a passing visit to India. She was sad she hadn't been able to do any shopping on her trip. So... Presto... instant suitcase bazaar. Yep, I was hawking stuff out of my suitcase in a way that would have made a street vendor envious.  

Top 5 things I will miss:

1. Sam, my dog: He is already giving me moppy looks as I pack. I keep trying to get him to crawl in the suitcase but he won't do it... even for a biskie. Oh and yes I will miss CodyBear, the insane cat and Terra the Terriorist (my mom's dog)
2. Fast food and TV: Disgusting isn't it? Oh well the hotel has a work out room so I can use that time I would watch TV to work out. I really intend to do it... ;)
3. Black Friday: Turkey Shmurkey... the main geek holiday is Black Friday. What can I say... I love cheap tech. Oh, and November 20th... Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G LTE Wireless tablet launch day... sorry I won't be there for your launch. I will have to buy you when I come home.
4. My Car: Initially, it's fun to have someone drive you around but towards the end I just miss grabbing my keys and going for a ride.
5. People: Of course I will miss everyone at work, my family and all my friends. I will miss you all.... almost as much as my dog. :)

 

Packing is such sweet sorrow...

Here I am less than a week from my next trip to India. This trip is going to be a 7 week trip to Bangalore. I love to travel, I ADORE it. I don't really even care where I am going. I am always just so HAPPY to get to go. Which is why when I say... as much as I LOVE to travel. I HATE to pack. I actually have nightmares about packing. Not just vague feelings of distaste for packing but actual "wake up in a cold flop sweat of fear" nightmares of packing. You see in my dreams I am always rushing around to pack at the last minute. As my flight is literally taking off I am trying to find my stuff and the stuff I need is never anywhere to be found. I look everywhere but I can't find it.

And to make matters worse right about this time before a trip everyone is always asking... "Have you packed yet?". Yes I have... I took all the stuff I use and need everyday and stuck it in a bag, zipped it up where I can't use it for a week.

Of course I haven't packed yet but I am in the early stages of packing right NOW. This stage is the "procrastinating about packing by writing a blog" stage. Next I may move to the "staring at my closet moodily" stage which is always followed by the "trying on clothes I know don't fit me" stage. Of course once my dreams are crushed by the trying clothes on stage I will finally move on to "randomly throwing clothes in my suitcase until I have overfilled it." Then, finally, I will pull out the random crap I tossed in my bag, sort it, cull it, and carefully pack it.

It's really a very simple process and I don't know why I have nightmares about it. I should be done packing by 2:15pm on Friday, October 26th at the latest... It's really too bad my flight leaves at 2:00pm.

Good night, good night! Packing is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.


 

The Joy of Rationalization

Well it's been a long time since I posted (According to blogger 2 years, 2 months and a couple of days) and I kind of let this blog die a while ago. Why the sudden revival? I am going to be doing a 365 Project, i.e. take a photo a day as an exercise in discipline.
How did I get started with this idea... well I wanted to buy a new camera. Mostly because I am frustrated with the focus on my current camera when it comes to macro photography. Original idea: take a photo a day for every month I took a photo a day without missing a day I would put $100.00 in the "camera" kitty and at the end of the year whatever I had I would use to buy my new camera.

Nice plan... Until I found the camera I wanted at a pretty good price. Here is where the rationalization comes in. "Hey.. the camera I want is at a good price now (older model so may not be around next year). Wouldn't it make more sense to BUY the new camera NOW and I can use the Project 365 to learn to use my new camera? I mean really why spend all that time using my current camera (which I already know doesn't do what I want it to) only to have to learn to use my new camera next year."

When I put it like that I almost HAD to buy the camera now right? Ok. So let me introduce my new camera the Olympus E-PL1 (came with two lenses). Cost of the camera $469.00 so I am starting the project in the hole and I still will need accessories for it as well. Let's see how long it takes to get my project in the black!

Check out my 365 Project at 365 Project. I will post some blogs on here from time to time about how the project is going.