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.