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Bangalore Trip, Day 5
Feb. 4th, 2012 04:14 amToday is Saturday so I have the full day to myself.
I was up early, around 7am local time or so. My night owl habits in DC are unchanged: it's just that the daylit hours have shifted around me so my work-much-better-at-night-and-sleep-in tendency has made me a morning person.
I caught up on some office-related stuff since California was still tapering off their Friday evening shifts, then set out to do some site-seeing and souvenir shopping.
Lesson #1: Stores here typically open at 10am, and even that's just an approximation. While I got to do a lot of window shopping at a nearby mall and had thousands of rupees burning a hole in my pocket, there was nothing to be done but wait for the shops to open.
I had lunch at Pizza Hut. Yeah, I know it sounds stupid to travel half-way around the planet to eat at a chain with shops all over North America, but (a) I wanted to sit down, and (b) the menu is similar but also different from the US/Canada menu. For starters, my preferred meat lover's pizza doesn't exist on the Indian menu --go figure. I did enjoy their chicken aachari pizza (255 rupees, about $5) and a lemonade (59 rupees, a bit more than $1).
Just recently, I realized I twice broke the rule about not having ice in one's drinks as an extension of the don't-drink-the-tap-water rule. Oh, well.
Lesson #2: A huge portion of the economy is off the books. How can you tell? See if the business charges the VAT (value-added tax), a national sales tax. Pizza Hut charges VAT on my bill; three shops in which I bought various items later did not.
Lesson #3: Small shopkeepers definitely try to build personal relationships with customers they perceive has having deep pockets. All the better to up-sell their goods, of course. Two of the three later shops invited me to stay for tea and took great pains to describe the slow & intricate process by which their goods were painstakingly created in exotic locations. Seriously dude, I was looking at the 100 rupee elephant figurine, not the 25,000 rupee scarves from Kashmir. One listens politely, then politely decline and move on.
I'm now back in my hotel room at approximately 3pm. My feet hurt and I think I got too much ultraviolet radiation so I'm going to lay down, possibly nap, with a wet cloth on my scalp & forehead for a while, More news later.
---
Later that same day...
My would-be nap didn't work out so well. Shortly after laying in bed, there was a knock at the door by the hotel staff, just a courtesy visit to ensure everything was going well with my stay. Yes, all is good, and I laid back down again.
Just as I was drifting off to sleep, the telephone rang. It was the hotel front desk wanting to let me know that the spa facilities are available if I wish. Great, thank you ver much, and I laid back down again.
Just as I was drifting off to sleep, there was another knock at the door. A hotel staffer was asking if I'd like 'evening service,' whatever the hell that is. I gratefully declined, finally put out the damn "do not disturb" sign and went back to bed. Where I stared at the ceiling.
At the moment, I'm feeling a little blah and listless. I think this morning's adventures were a little too much exertion and I definitely got a lot more sun than I thought: my forehead and nose are red and my scalp is tingling a little. Hopefully, it will all be better in the morning. I'm wearing a hat tomorrow to ensure I don't get any more ultraviolet radiation for a while.
Not feeling very sociable or presentable to the public, I ordered room service tonight. I do feel much better for the food & drink, but still can't quite bring myself to do much more than some light playing around on the computer and perhaps having a warm shower before reading in bed. On the whole, I'm doing well but I'm sure a good night's sleep will do wonders.
I was up early, around 7am local time or so. My night owl habits in DC are unchanged: it's just that the daylit hours have shifted around me so my work-much-better-at-night-and-sleep-in tendency has made me a morning person.
I caught up on some office-related stuff since California was still tapering off their Friday evening shifts, then set out to do some site-seeing and souvenir shopping.
Lesson #1: Stores here typically open at 10am, and even that's just an approximation. While I got to do a lot of window shopping at a nearby mall and had thousands of rupees burning a hole in my pocket, there was nothing to be done but wait for the shops to open.
I had lunch at Pizza Hut. Yeah, I know it sounds stupid to travel half-way around the planet to eat at a chain with shops all over North America, but (a) I wanted to sit down, and (b) the menu is similar but also different from the US/Canada menu. For starters, my preferred meat lover's pizza doesn't exist on the Indian menu --go figure. I did enjoy their chicken aachari pizza (255 rupees, about $5) and a lemonade (59 rupees, a bit more than $1).
Just recently, I realized I twice broke the rule about not having ice in one's drinks as an extension of the don't-drink-the-tap-water rule. Oh, well.
Lesson #2: A huge portion of the economy is off the books. How can you tell? See if the business charges the VAT (value-added tax), a national sales tax. Pizza Hut charges VAT on my bill; three shops in which I bought various items later did not.
Lesson #3: Small shopkeepers definitely try to build personal relationships with customers they perceive has having deep pockets. All the better to up-sell their goods, of course. Two of the three later shops invited me to stay for tea and took great pains to describe the slow & intricate process by which their goods were painstakingly created in exotic locations. Seriously dude, I was looking at the 100 rupee elephant figurine, not the 25,000 rupee scarves from Kashmir. One listens politely, then politely decline and move on.
I'm now back in my hotel room at approximately 3pm. My feet hurt and I think I got too much ultraviolet radiation so I'm going to lay down, possibly nap, with a wet cloth on my scalp & forehead for a while, More news later.
---
Later that same day...
My would-be nap didn't work out so well. Shortly after laying in bed, there was a knock at the door by the hotel staff, just a courtesy visit to ensure everything was going well with my stay. Yes, all is good, and I laid back down again.
Just as I was drifting off to sleep, the telephone rang. It was the hotel front desk wanting to let me know that the spa facilities are available if I wish. Great, thank you ver much, and I laid back down again.
Just as I was drifting off to sleep, there was another knock at the door. A hotel staffer was asking if I'd like 'evening service,' whatever the hell that is. I gratefully declined, finally put out the damn "do not disturb" sign and went back to bed. Where I stared at the ceiling.
At the moment, I'm feeling a little blah and listless. I think this morning's adventures were a little too much exertion and I definitely got a lot more sun than I thought: my forehead and nose are red and my scalp is tingling a little. Hopefully, it will all be better in the morning. I'm wearing a hat tomorrow to ensure I don't get any more ultraviolet radiation for a while.
Not feeling very sociable or presentable to the public, I ordered room service tonight. I do feel much better for the food & drink, but still can't quite bring myself to do much more than some light playing around on the computer and perhaps having a warm shower before reading in bed. On the whole, I'm doing well but I'm sure a good night's sleep will do wonders.
